I dug under my collapsed tent and searched it to get my things. Most importantly, I grabbed my teleportation rod. It was a standard traveling tool given to all of Jenathar's apprentices. It allows for instant teleportation to Gatestown from anywhere in Arghard, as well as for quick travel within the city of Re'Cas. I looked at it for long, and then I put it away.
Jenathar would probably know what had happened, yes.
But would he even listen? Would he even bother to hear me out?
I killed three of his apprentices, my own fellows. I did so in the shape of an uncontrollable creature. Jenathar is strict. He would see a grave danger in me, he would see me as a man who would potentially do this again. He would not take this risk.
I knew, that returning to Jenathar would be my death, and then I'd never learn the truth.
But what could I do? There's nowhere to run from him, from the all powerful Supreme Councilor Jenathar. Not in this world.
Not even in other worlds.
Except for one...
And there, in that world, there was one man who might help me, or so I thought. I knew that there was a chance that this man would not even hear me out. A great enemy of Jenathar, but a man of great wisdom, as the legends say.
I had to take my chance. Either that, or face certain death.
I had to know the truth! So I made my decision.
I had to flee to the world of Kh'Tal. To do that, I had to go back to the city of Re'Cas. To the Summoning Chamber. I did not have the power to simply open a Portal to another world. Some powerful mages can do it but I could not. To open a Portal, I required a magical construction that can focus the energies required for planar travel. Such magical constructions are called Gateways. Most of them are built for travel between two specific worlds, but some have the potential to conjure a Portal on demand to nearly any other world. The only such Gateway I knew of was located in the Summoning Chamber inside the city of Re'Cas. So, I had to go back, in the greatest of secrecy.
I also had to make sure that no-one would know of what had happened here before I could escape.
I did the only thing I could do. I set up a large funeral pyre. I gathered their wands and teleportation rods and quickly buried them in a shallow pit next to a tree; it would have been too risky to take so many magic items with me to Re'Cas and it would have been dangerous to burn them. I gathered everything else in the camp onto the pyre, and finally carried the remains of my fellows to it, gently placing Carrie's corpse on the top. With tears in my eyes, I finally set the pyre ablaze.
I stayed and watched as it burned. I used my magic to let it burn faster and more thoroughly. When it was all gone and there were only ashes left, I used magic to raise the ashes from the ground and cast them to the wind.
`May the wind guide you all back to your homes...' I said silently. Then I turned away.
*
I wiped off the tears from my face, and braced myself for what was to come. I pulled out the teleportation rod and activated it. Moments later, I was in Gatestown, right in front of the Gateway to Re'Cas.
Gatestown was just a small settlement housing the Gateway. That's how it got its name. Its only purpose was to guard the only known entry point into the City of Mages. Re'Cas was built in a very small, artificially created plane of existence. A pocket plane, as some call it. The only way there is by means of planar travel. Though some claim there is a secret way or two, the only known entry to the city is through this Gateway in Gatestown. All other means of entry are supposedly blocked by the wizards of Re'Cas.
True enough, I've never heard of intrusion, aside from a few rumors, and I could not waste time on chasing rumors.
The Gateway was always guarded, but apprentices of the Supreme Councilors were allowed passage without much delay. I walked steadily towards the Gateway.
`Greetings, Jason!'
One of the guards greeted me. They knew my face well, I came and went a lot.
`Greetings!' I told him.
`Just by yourself? Didn't you leave with your fellows some days ago?'
`I did. We were separated. They should be here soon. If not, I shall go look for them, but first I need supplies. My wands are running low on charges.'
`I see. Go on then!' he said, and finally he stepped aside.
I stepped right in front of the Gateway.
It was a ten foot tall construction made of stone, carved full of magical runes. To the unknowing eye it was but a frame for a door that was never built. For us mages it was the frame for a Portal that could be summoned at will. I touched the Gateway on both sides once, and uttered the magic words necessary to activate it.
A few moments later, a shimmering, watery surface appeared within the frame. The Portal had been conjured. I stepped through.
*
There I was, in Re'Cas, the great City of Mages, the most magnificent city ever built by Arghardians. A great city of splendor and grandeur, where tall buildings of majestic architecture tower above, reaching to the vividly blue sky. The pavement is full of intricate designs, mosaics and carvings alike. Beautiful trees line most of the roads, and there's a unique kind of monument at every crossing, be it a statue, a fountain, or some kind of surreal artistry. A truly beautiful city, the very sight of which brings peace to one's soul. But my soul could not find any peace that day...
I immediately used the teleportation rod to teleport into a distant building, my destination, the Palace of the Council. I arrived just in front of the door of the Summoning Chamber. I touched the door and it opened up for me. This meant that the Chamber was empty.
I did not expect that it would go so simply. I was fortunate.
The first thing I did once I stepped inside, was shut the door and invoke the necessary incantations to magically seal the Chamber. It took a while, but it was necessary. It was strictly forbidden to open a Portal to Kh'Tal. I knew well that once I began conjuring the Portal, Jenathar or someone else would become aware of what I was doing, and would try to stop me before I could succeed in opening the Portal. I needed time.
After sealing the Chamber I walked to the largest Gateway in the far back of the Chamber. The Summoning Chamber housed many Gateways to many different worlds. Among many things, Summoning Gateways to all four Elemental Planes. These could be used to summon elemental creatures with little effort. Hence the name Summoning Chamber.
In the far end, two things were kept separately from all else. In the corner, stood something covered with a black canvas. The Demon Mirror. A dangerous artifact that has not been used since Jenathar found it and brought it here centuries ago. When it was created, it was meant to serve as a Summoning Gateway to the Hellish Planes, but it doesn't quite function like mages would like it to. It is very dangerous, and Jenathar almost met his doom when he attempted to use it. Since then, it has been in the corner, covered by the black canvas, protected by powerful spells. All who are given permission to enter the Chamber are told never to uncover the Mirror under penalty of death. They are also told, that should they manage to break the wards and uncover the mirror and then look into it, they would likely not live to face the death penalty in the first place.
I however was not there for the Demon Mirror, but for the large frame that was mounted on the wall thirty feet from it. This massive construction was a Gateway that allowed a skilled enough mage to conjure a Portal to any of the Material Planes. My studies had not reached so far, but I had spent countless hours in the Great Library, studying tomes and trying to learn more than what Jenathar would teach me. From these tomes, I learned the basics of planar travel, and learned the incantations for a few worlds that I found interesting. Including the forbidden world, Kh'Tal.
I had never tested my skills, I had never tried if the incantations in those tomes were correct, but I had to take my chance. There was no other option. I took a deep breath, stepped forth, and touched the Gateway on both sides.
As soon as I uttered the first word of the incantation, I heard something massive impact into
the door of the Summoning Chamber from outside. I heard the voice of Jenathar.
`Jason! You cannot escape! Wherever you would go, I will follow you and find you!'
It seemed he had learned of my arrival before he even realized where I was planning to go. I knew he had a lot of spies all over the city. I was truly fortunate to have made it into the Chamber in time.
I did not let his voice or the banging on the door distract me. I had to complete the incantation uninterrupted in order to conjure the Portal. I continued, uttering word after word, and focusing on the Gateway. The banging got ever louder, and Jenathar's voice got ever angrier.
`You can run as far as you wish, but you can't hide from me! There is no point in this futile escape!'
I didn't let him distract me. I knew what would happen if I failed.
It took several minutes until I was finished. Eventually I reached the end of the incantation and the Portal appeared in the frame. Jenathar made one final attempt to make me stay.
`If you step through that Portal, you're finished! Close it and surrender, and you will be shown mercy!'
Just a moment later, I heard that the door finally gave way to the onslaught of my Master. The seal I had conjured could not hold him up forever. I knew this well.
Fortunately the Portal was already conjured. I did not wait for Jenathar to appear in the remains of the door. I faced the Portal to the forbidden world, and leapt through...
The black magician
Somewhere in the world of Kh'Tal, fifteen years ago (17 years, 7 months, and 21 days before Twilightfall)
I stared at the Portal for several minutes after my arrival. To my surprise, it stayed open. I thought it would close behind me quickly, but it seems Jenathar held it open. He held it open, but in the end, he did not follow me.
Just a few minutes, and the Portal closed. He wouldn't come to Kh'Tal. Ever. I knew this well. It filled me with relief. Had he followed me, it would have been over. Sometimes, I wonder if it had been better that way...
After the Portal closed I finally had the chance to examine my surroundings. It was night, shortly before midnight, and the moon and the stars were shining bright up in the sky. I was at a clearing in a forest, with roads leading through the woods in several directions. There were no signs by the roads, but I didn't need any. My magic showed me the way. Fortunately, I had not long to walk. Sometimes I felt like I was being watched, but nothing attacked me on the way. Perhaps they sensed where I was going, and dared not attack me.
In this short time of peace, I could enjoy the scenery on the way. It was a truly beautiful sight to behold. Even in the dark of night I could see that all the leaves of the plants were bluish in hue, instead of the green I was used to in my world. It was alien, with a strange beauty of its own. I wondered what it would be like at day. I also wondered if the legends were true. The legends which say, that a gigantic storm cloud follows and always covers the sun in this place, and that just before dawn, a violent rain begins to fall each and every day, one that lasts until shortly after dusk. In time, I learned that the legend was true. I've also learned that every night is a full moon in Kh'Tal.
Truly, I was left awe-struck by the environment of the forbidden world. It was nothing like what I had been used to in Ess'yer. Delamar is mostly dominated by vast plains with the occasional small forest here or there, but the rest of Ess'yer has a much more varied environment. For example, Ordhiar, the land of the orcs north of Delamar, seems very familiar to Delamar upon first glance. A vast plane dominates its western half, which is much like Delamar, only the climate is colder. However, its eastern half is dominated by a vast forest of pine trees, the sort of which can't be found anywhere in the human lands.
As far as vast and unique forests go, there is nothing more vast or unique than the dense tropical forests of Endarryn, the home of the elves. The forest of Endarryn stretches from the Silver Lake almost all the way to the southeastern edge of Ess'yer. A truly majestic forest that the elves are rightfully proud of. To the south of these dense woods lies the desert area of Envorryn. A mostly uninhabited, harsh place full of dangers. I had never been there, but I'd heard many tales of how it is full of vicious beasts, including man sized scorpions. To this day Envorryn is uninhabited, except for the multitude of night elf fortresses at the southern edge of it, by the seashore. These fortresses were supposedly built at the time of the separation of wood elves and night elves, and while several of them were abandoned over the ages, most of them stand to this day, dominated by the largest of them all, the massive and intimidating fortress of Sil Envor. Supposedly they are often besieged by various monsters pouring out of the desert, yet the night elves would never abandon their greatest fortress.
Then there are the expansive cold mountains in the west of Ess'yer, stretching along the entirety of the continent. The northern half is inhabited by trolls, while the southern half is dwarven territory. Those mountains have supposedly always been full off vast natural caverns, and over the ages the dwarves built an empire within those caverns. Their one of a kind architecture makes those caverns a surreally beautiful sight to behold.
During my apprentice years, Jenathar usually sent us to Delamar to perform his menial chores, but on occasion, we had to venture further. I had been to Endarryn and the caves of Arudden on several occasions, and once even in the eastern half of Ordhiar. So, I had seen many different environments in Jenathar's service. Kh'Tal was very different from all of that. It was completely alien. With all the rain I would have thought that perhaps the lands of this world would be similar to the forests of Endarryn, but they were nothing like it. The forests in Kh'Tal were not that dense, and the shape of the trees was also different. Despite the apparent lack of sunlight, the plant life was unexpectedly lush and vivid, and Kh'Tal was not as cold as one might expect. The climate was in fact surprisingly moderate. The very atmosphere of the world was simply stunning. I could find no words for it...
After barely two hours of walking among the trees in this dark and yet beautiful world, I arrived at my destination. Before me towered an enormous castle, the magnificence of which surpassed that of the entire city of Re'Cas. The home of the man whom I'd come to see.
I knew not how he would react to my request, but I had to take my chance. He was my only hope.
For many long minutes I just stood in front of the main gate of his castle, pondering on what I know of him, and on the history of our world. The time of the war against the dragons, nearly a thousand years ago.
The dry land regions of the world of Arghard are dominated by two great continents: Ess'yer and Draconia. Ess'yer is populated by what the dragons call the lesser races: humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, and trolls. Draconia is the home of the dragons. For ages the dragons kept to their home continent, but a thousand years ago, they invaded Ess'yer.
I remembered the stories about the Great War. They say the dragons came in legion, such that they covered the sun like an enormous cloud, threatening to unleash a storm like no other. That's precisely what happened. Except that instead of rain, fire stormed down from the skies.
It wasn't long until they laid waste to the greatest cities by the Dire Sea, starting with Port Cehir. Then they went for everything else, burning everything in their path. They came at a time when Delamar and Ordhiar were - unsurprisingly - at war, and it took many months until they realized that the common enemy is a greater threat than anything they had to face before. Likewise, it took long for wood elves, night elves, dwarves and trolls to realize that alone they were all too weak to defeat the dragons. Before they knew it, the warlords and elders of all five lesser races were defeated and killed by the dragon hordes.
Each race eventually found someone new to lead them against the invaders, but still each race fought alone. It wasn't until a new leader took command of the remaining armies of Delamar, that it became possible for an alliance to be formed. His name was Baron Keldel. He was the Baron of Ashkel and the surrounding area, and he was one of the lucky few
that survived when the dragons laid waste to the city of Ashkel. He arranged for the new leaders of each race to meet. He negotiated with them and convinced them to form an alliance. The Ess'yerian Alliance of the lesser races.
The Alliance merged together an army with the unique skills of all races. Together, they were a force to reckon with. Together, they fought the dragons back.
The Dragon Lords realized what the source of this new power was, and they sent assassins to put an end to it. After weeks of successful warfare against the dragons, the Ess'yerian Alliance suffered a devastating blow when Keldel was found dead in his tent one morning.
The Alliance was doomed to fall apart the very moment Baron Keldel was killed. Many believed that he had been assassinated at the order of a rival among one of the other races. Most of Keldel's army accused the orcs, while the orcs pointed fingers at the other Barons and Keldel's own generals, claiming he was murdered by a rival within Delamar. Tensions arose again, and the dragons used the ensuing chaos to fortify their weakened positions. Once more, they were at the advantage.
So came the night of the battle, which many felt would be the last stand of the lesser races. The main army of the dragons, commanded by the three Dragon Lords, descended upon the united armies of the Ess'yerian Alliance. Outnumbered, outpowered, and in a state of confusion and despair, the lessers stood no chance.
Then, he came...
A human mage with immense power under his control. He came, and he turned the tide of the battle.
His name was Kurt Aurach. Barely a few knew him, but after the battle, every living soul knew who, and what he was. He was celebrated as a hero throughout the lands, for it was his intervention that allowed the forces of the Alliance to once again gather their strength, and fight back. It was his dark power that ultimately lead the Ess'yerian Alliance to victory over the dragons.
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