AARIUS GRAIL The Last StoneCipher | By @WendyyWolfe

The Lore of the Kingdom

ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵇᵒᵒᵏ ⁱˢ ᵈᵉᵈⁱᶜᵃᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᴷᵒᵈᵇʳᵒ
Kodbro

Age of the Sage-Masters

ONCE UPON A TIME, an unknown time in the history of mortal men and a time when great mysteries were being formed, two great continents appeared on the surface of remoteness and they were called Hannelore and Hannelora.

These were the Kingdoms of Elidurre, a far and away place, perfectly situated some would say, beyond all the known oceans so that if one wanted to find it, Elidurre hid itself in veils of mist and magic.

Known as The Marvelous Kingdoms by the peoples who existed in the first place, there were windswept mountain ranges which touched the sky. Demure plains of waving grasslands and blowing sandy coastlines decorated with flowering shrubs.

Giant, leafy green Ivy propelled upward, winding, and tangling along ancient stone walls and cottages that lined cobblestoned paths of serene hamlets.

Nearby, whitewater rivers fed the land here as they had done for the ages past, turning into meandering rock-strewn brooks over which wooden bridges connected hill and dell.

Rich farms dotted the countryside and magnificent defensive castles fortified, governed by the valorous swordsmen of Riagon Nor, the Blade Forged.

Noble warriors and trusted men of The Oath who maintained order in the land. Beyond the bustling cities and markets, primeval forests of Purple Lavender Tree and Mammoth leaved flowering Catapar inter-wove with Tamarisk and ancient Cone Pine living in harmony with other strange and unusual plant life of herb and fruit as they stretched onward to the coast.

These shaded bowers gave way to beaches of sandy dunes, ragged mountainous cliffs, sea-spray, and hidden coves. Here, the Gray Gulls and Black-Bellied Terns nested to raise their young among stunted shrubs and blowing grass land.

It was into this world that a young girl, Fynna and her ancestors, made their lives. Mixed among the common folk of the land, they were the Sage Masters. Before them, the lands of Elidurre had been home to the Stone-Ciphers, a mystical people who etched their lore in caves and on monuments found scattered throughout The Marvelous Kingdoms.

When the Stone-Ciphers disappeared the understanding of this lore was lost along with them. Now they were little more than an obscure legend. Only the indigenous people, the primordial Daturuu and their servants the TsuTomu remembered the Stone-Ciphers.

The Sage Masters had now lived in peace with the Daturuu for three hundred years, protecting them and the docile folk which the Daturuu called the Grells. It was said by the Daturuu that the Grells had come from beyond the sea. From a war-torn land to which they would never return.

In exchange for safe settlement they gave up the magic they had used to find Elidurre becoming farmers, teachers or developing industries of trade and commerce.

The Grells were master ship wrights and mariners soon helped the ancient Daturuu to expand the old city of the Stone-Ciphers on the Othmann Coast, creating a free common market and thriving seaport.

Elidurre flourished in those days, ruled by the Daturuu House of Canticles and its Orator Ymoso began sending Grellian delegations to lands beyond the sea, trading dutifully with those of other nations.

Then one ominous day a fleet of unfamiliar vessels arrived on the Emeralding Coast. A strange and exotic people were once again welcomed on the shores of Elidurre, but it soon became evident these were not here for goodwill and trade but for fortune and war.

They took the House of Horeg that had belonged to the Stone-Ciphers and Oath Guard Tower became the fortress of Medgar, a faction of Mage Evokers who used their magic to gain control of the Marvelous Kingdoms.

In his quest to rule Elidurre, Medgar forced an alliance over the Grells and took Grellian children into slavery, giving them no recourse but to obey.

The shining city on the coast of Hannelora fell and Ymoso retreated beyond the Sphalerite Mountains, deep into the primal forests of Narthium, unable to overcome the evil sorcery of Medgar or his wizards.

Odric Grald, the Guild Oath of Hannelora and his Oath Guard swordsmen escaped, fleeing to Hannelore. There they joined Riagon Nor in Delthir Pel to gather and train an army, but their efforts remained mostly futile against the powers of Medgar.

Today, Riagon Nor continues the battle with the help of his famed Vintenar chiefs and their troops of Twenty but they have set their sights on a different tactic than in the past.

Not long ago a secretive TsuTomu tribal elder sent word that an ancient magic was available but only to one who could read the Stone-Cipher runes. Runes that held the key to a legendary arcana found all over Elidurre. Runes that were etched into the Bones of Horeg.

Bones, which once held a place of honor in the Reliquary by the House of Horeg at Oath Guard Tower, but only Oracle Ymoso knew where they were now.

As they search for Ymoso, Riagon, keeps his rallying cry, 'Give Not-Yield Not!' to muster strength in the people of Hannelora to defeat this other worldly empire.