It happened in the days of fear. When chaos covered the land, and life was a
constant struggle just to survive. In the times when the soulless fiends
rampaged across the land and turned all that they came across to death and
decay. But even in this backdrop of destruction, mortals find within themselves
the capacity to grow and to build. Nations rose, the grand edifices of power
were discovered and built, and life became more than the meagre hope to survive.
But when the fear of tomorrow disappears, it is replaced by a lust for power.
Disagreements turned into quarrels, quarrels turned into hostility, and
hostility turned into betrayal.

The community of Endel was created when survivors of several races banded
together after their homes had been decimated by the hunger of the soulless.
Foremost among these survivors were the Sileni, and they shaped Endel to a
beautiful city of knowledge and music.

Endel knew about the planes and how they were built up. They had knowledge of
the Cosmic and Elemental planes, and they themselves had forged a connection to
the Elemental Plane of Ether and the Cosmic Plane of Exusiai. They felt safe in
this dangerous world. Too safe.

The leader of Endel was known as Bern Nehana, a Sileni with many children and
grandchildren, known for his wisdom and patience. His wife was called Atina, and
she was famed as a skilled Ethermancer. She was also the tutor of their
children, but not all would listen to her. Their eldest daughter, Elisabeth
Nehana, was in many ways Bern's polar opposite. She had a deep desire for
adventure, swordplay and to explore the unknown. One day, unknown to all, she
took her daughter and snuck out of Endel, intent on leaving her old life behind.

While she was gone, disaster struck. Some of the ruling elite of Endel held
little fondness for Bern Nehana and the taxes he placed upon the nobles. A fact
Bern's treacherous son-in-law Barent, of the Almega aristocratic family, knew to
take advantage of. Through guile and poison, he framed Bern for murdering his
eldest son, the reason being blamed on madness due to the missing Nehana and her
child. With Bern's two eldest children gone, and Bern himself deemed unfit to
rule, Barent's wife was next in line. By using his wife as a puppet, Barent
removed the rest of the Nehana family.

Years passed, and Endel slowly fell into disrepair. The Ether Representative and
Exalted Exusiai were replaced with individuals more loyal to Barent and most
traces of the old Nehana family were removed, but there were those who refused
to subjugate themselves to Barent's new rule.

"Concentrate, kid. You need to concentrate much harder if you're going to keep
the pattern up for more than a few second!" An old, wizened crone of a Sileni
gazes harshly down upon her student. Her gaze carefully measures the sparks of
colour drifting out from the paws of the young furrikin.

The furrikin, grey-furred with large, floppy ears, buck-teeth and a pink snout
on his muzzle, gives his mentor a derisive snort, before he closes his eyes and
strains his body further, the colours before him coalescing into one
multi-coloured mass. The pattern starts to twirl around, and the furrikin lets
out a gentle sigh as he softly releases his hold upon the illusion. "Lady
Dinata. I hardly find myself a "kid" anymore. And as you can see, the pattern
sustains itself quite well." He proudly watches as his pattern weaves itself
through the room, flashing brightly in one colour from time to time, elsewise
drifting as a panoply of colours.

"Mhmm. And what if I do this?" Dinata places her left hand inside the cloud and
snaps her fingers, causing the pattern to dissipate and fade away. "Nope. Still
can't resist even a low energy dispel. If you can't do better than this... well,
there is no if. You must do better than this Daf."

Daf sighs loudly as he starts to wave his hands before himself again, weaving
new colours out of thin air. "My whole life, you have told me that I will have
to fight. But you never tell me why I must fight. When will you tell me?"

Dinata pats Daf condescendingly on the head. "You have managed to go a whole
week without asking me that very phrase. Truly, you are far too polite."

The young furrikin clenches his fists and throws them up in the air, the rainbow
patterin dispersing as he ceases concentrating upon it. "Yes. I am. Because my
whole life has been a study of heraldry. You have taken my life, shaped it, and
turned me into the warrior poet I am today. You have done this for a purpose,
now will you please share this purpose with me?" Daf stares intently at Dinata,
his nostrils flaring slightly and his floppy ears raised ever so slightly,
before he looks down and smooths a paw over his head, pushing the ears down to
his head. "I apologize for my outburst."

Dinata returns Daf's gaze and gives a solemn nod. "No. It is understandable.
You've been denied a lot. But... today I will answer you elsewise. Cease your
training and follow me." Dinata leads the way to a flight of stairs that Daf
recognize as leading up to Dinata's own home. The training he had so far lived
through had been done only in the underground caverns that criss-crossed the
entire city, and which were known to only the most trusted individuals of the
Ordo Exusiai and the Ether University. "Daf? Who is Lord Barent Almega?"

"He is a treacherous man, resonsible for the loss of Endel's original ruler. An
instigator of the decay that has befallen our home." Daf responds automatically,
the words slipping out of his mouth with no meaning, nor intent, beyond being
the same answer as always. While such public declarations of hate against the
ruler is punishable, the underground movement against him used such powerful
words. He had been fed this hate from a very young age, when he was selected for
this... "task". A nebulous purpose which saw him tutored by the old leaders of
the Ordo Exusiai and Ether University into a herald. No one ever suspected a
herald to fight as a warrior, so he would avoid the control the members of the
magical institutes of Endel was subjected to.

"Indeed. In order to acquire control of Endel, he devastated the Nehana family.
Almost all of them are either dead, or his unwilling pawns." Daf nods slowly,
his mind only half aware until he realizes part of what was said.

"Almost? You have never used that word before..."

Dinata turns and smiles towards Daf, before she continues to walk upwards. Daf
hurries to catch up with her, his ears perked up and ready to listen. She does
not respond however, instead opting to lead Daf further and further up, until
they reach what seems to be a dead end. Dinata taps on the wall a few times,
before the wall swings backwards, revealing a pathway into a comfortable study.
A window in the chamber tells Daf that they are several stories above the ground
floor. Dinata herself walks over to a door on the eastern wall and pulls on it,
ensuring that it is locked before she turns to Daf. "Some survived Barent's
extermination. Bern's eldest daughter and grand daughter still live. And this is
your purpose."

"Yes?"

"You are to find Barent's child and grandchild and bring them back here. This is
what you have been trained to do." Dinata walks over to a cupboard and pulls a
key out of her robe. She fits the key in the lock, unlocks, and slowly opens the
door, so that Daf can suitably appreciate the sight hidden away behind the doors
of oak. A beautiful lyre, crafted from cherry-wood and inlaid with star-rubies,
star-sapphires and opals. Dinata plays a tune upon the instrument, before she
hands it to Daf. "Take this. Practice with it, caress it, love it. This
instrument holds a lot of power which you will be able to utilize, should it be
neccessary."

"And you telling me what these powers are would be too easy?" His voice utterly
devoid of sarcasm as he quirks an eyebrow.

"Not exactly... truth of the matter is that I do not know exactly what powers it
hold. Just that it holds some amount of power." Dinata waves her hand
dismissively. "You're a smart kid. You'll figure it out on your own. However, I
have a few other things to equip you with." Dinata kneels down and opens a
drawer inside the cupboard. From inside it, she pulls out two belts and a
jewelrybox. "Here are the things that you will require upon your travels. In
this belt have I stashed various herbs that you can use both to heal yourself of
ailments, but also those you need to brew curative elixirs... for you did pay
attention during your alchemy classes, correct?"

"Yes I did." Daf responds flatly as he takes the belt and ties it around his
waist.

"Excellent. In this belt, I've stashed a few vials of rare concoctions that you
may not acquire the resources to brew yourself. Detoxified mercury, the powerful
allheale potion... even a small sip of the elixir vitae. A very precious liquid
indeed. Only use it in the most dire of circumstances. And finally, I have
enchanted a full set of jewelry for you to use upon these rings. There is also a
cube of raw, aethric power inside, so do not hesitate to use them, as they will
do you no good should you perish."

Daf accepts the gifts somberly and ponders the situation for a short moment.
"May I inquire why you are giving me these gifts now?"

"Yes... we have finally been able to scry Elisabeth, and if we can scry her,
then certainly so can Barent. From what our magic tells us, she is far to the
east. You will most likely find her in the wilderness of Jojatiim. You will
leave tonight, so hurry home and get some rest." Daf nods curtly and walks
towards the opening in the wall, halted only when he hears Dinata call out
behind him. "Daf... you can't fail. Protect them from Barent's assassins... and
don't die."

"I will fulfill my duty Lady Dinata."

But as Daf rushes back home with the gifts granted him by Dinata and her allies,
a far more sinister force brews in Barent's court.

"My Lord! They are here."

"Excellent. Send them in."

"Greetings my Lord. We heard that there was a matter most grave which required
our attention."

"Indeed. Long ago, one of the two holy swords of the Ordo Exusiai were stolen by
a cowardly thief. We have finally succeeded in locating the thief. He is on the
eastern edge of the Jojatiim wilderness. You are to bring back the sword, and
punish the thief for his crime. I expect you to succeed, and show him no mercy
for his blasphemy."

"Yes, My Lord. He shall not reach Endel breathing."