The Bastard King

I. Awakened

The wind blowing in from the south as the break of winter had come to the lands of old Vothguard. The spring brought forth warmer days and plenty of time for the farmers to begin their work. However this year like the year before is not what it used to be. The lands have now grown dark and chilling as the rotting and corrupted land was once beautiful for things to grow now with weeds and thorns choking out the soil. Our story brings in a small village just east of Starhold where a group of people dressed in black coats and lanterns guide their way. As they passed into the village of Silverwood the people noticed the group on the road coming to the town. Seeing this they scrambled to get into their homes in fear as the person on a black stallion came riding in. The woman on the horse pulls back her hood only to reveal Elena daughter of King Marcus. Behind her rolls in cages pulled by horses and in these cages are people brought from other villages. The peasants of Silverwood peaking through their windows trembling at the sight of Elena as she steps off her horse. Moments after big men with heavy axes break down the doors of the townspeople as the women scream while they take who they deem worthy. One man carrying a strange book caught the attention of one of the men who then proceeded to grab him and throw him in front of Elena.

"Your majesty, I found this man holding a religious text of some type. Do you think he might be worthy?"

Elena walked up to the man and reached for his book. He did not resist giving up his book and even reached out for her to take it.

"What magic do you practice, low?"

Elena said referring to him as a low. He only had to smile as his eyes lit up like rings of fire captivating Elena. She threw her fist into his face which knocked him off his feet.

"Charming me with your weak magic doesn't get you far."

Elena turned to a guard next to her and said.

"He's worthy."

As the guard reached for the man to pick him up and bind his hands suddenly the man created a gust of wind knocking the guard down. As the dust settled the man no longer was there as he had turned into a crow and flew off. All that was left was the strange book lying on the ground. Elena had never seen magic in that form before as transformation was deemed impossible in Vothguard. Not even the wisest in their magic could do what that low had just done. Elena now curious picked up the strange book and noticed the strange texture of the outer cover. It was rough and a deep brownish color. It was made of leather or anything common for a book but seemed more like soft tree bark. Elena opened the first page as the sun was covered by dark clouds and the wind completely stopped. The sound of crows flying away and squawking. The old text written was familiar to Elena but wasn't something she could understand. Elena heard a strange whispering noise coming from the right side of her ear. She looked over her shoulder quickly but saw that there was no one there. The sound kept catching her attention as it seemed like the source was in the dark forest near the village. Elena sensed something was wrong like a chilling dark force was now present. She ordered her men to continue their seizure of the town folk as she entered the forest. As she walked through the dark and quiet forest she noticed the whispering getting louder at what appeared to be an entrance to a cave. She hesitated as she conjured up a flame from her hand to light the way and slowly walked into the cave. The whispering turned into a hum one that felt ancient. A presence that was there felt like no other presence as it felt chilling, dark, and even twisted. The further in she went the hum began to vibrate the stone walls until she reached a massive stone door with writing similar to the book she had. The humming stopped.

"Elena."

A voice said behind her. She jumped forward into action looking behind her. But no one was there.

"Elena."

Another voice appeared and another. One after another appeared coming from all directions. Elena started to run out of the cave spoked she brought down the entrance of the cave using her flame causing it to be sealed by rubble. She didn't like the feeling of what was in that cave. It felt to her like a feeling of trapped souls pleading for help but what worried her the most was the presence of something far more powerful that could have been felt just beyond that massive stone door. She returned to the village placing the strange book in her satchel and they rode off with captured men and women from the townspeople and went off to Starhold.