A Generals life is overlooked
I live a Jester's life from a Joker's book
With golden wells and pretty quills <- "golden wells" is in reference to the accompanying image - it WILL make sense eventually
Ink splattered flesh and thoughtless kills
I hit the bar and then I hit the floor
After a drink or two or three or four
Riding a dream and falling from sleep
And these pieces of you are the pieces I keep <- my favourite line
They decorate my home and adorn my walls
When I'm asleep I wander those halls
These random thoughts I'm not thinking
Yet I think, "I'm still sinking ..."
Escape to sea and swim to the sun
Feel the burn, it could be fun
The blackest Charr I understand
Dripping slowly from my hand <- the beginning is awkward
It lies in the corner on the ground
Blood makes such a pretty sound
Emotions surge yet I don't show it <- i don't like the end of this one
Yes I'm insane but at least I know it

Act I: Repeating the Past
“And when that end comes, the Holders of Judgment and Secrets will fall, the King of Battle shall denounce himself, and the King of Corpses shall wander off ignoring his new master’s orders. Only when the only wounds that he can suffer heal will he respond again.

Solitude will follow the King of Corpses. Years will pass by with him ignoring the word of his new master, and his life will be without devastation for a time. Time of calamity will come, for the Herald of Chaos cannot escape his nature. These calamities will be separated by peace, and some will be smaller and others greater. It will be when the Pretender King arrives that the King of Corpses’ first peace shall end and he shall once more be thrown into chaos.”

– Excerpt from the Tome of Time

Chapter 1

The streets bustled like a swarm of scarabs. The many high granite walls of Fahranur surrounded everything in the city, and at times even prevented the wind from entering. The only wind that entered the city came from the west, which was opened for the cliff’s edge. The city was built like a maze to ward off invaders in the early days of the kingdom. But there never were such invaders. Now, the winding and encircling passageways acted as ways to confuse travelers and give guides a large profit.

In the sunny day, there was only one cloaked individual in the city’s central plaza and bazaar. He stared up at the sky, the sun blocked by walls laced with vertical stripes and sparse reversed pyramid designs. The dirt was hardened by the heat of the sun, which also caused a slight rancid smell on occasion. The man’s hood fell off as he looked up, revealing his crimson hair and Orrian features.

The man sighed as he looked around. Those who were staring at him turned away. There were few Orrians in Istan, and all were viewed as nobles. Those who saw him would likely try to haggle him into buying unnecessary things.

He needed to leave.

“An Orrian traveler with blood-red hair? That’s pretty uncommon.” A quaking voice behind the traveler said. Turning around, he saw a small boy, perhaps around eleven or twelve, in rags with a huge childish grin on his face. “Can you really be him?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, kid.” The man said, walking away.

“You’re him right? Right?”

The man ignored the boy, who in turn simply repeated his question.

“I’m no one.”

“No one is no one because everyone is someone.” The boy said cheerfully. “I’m someone too!”

“Leave.”

“Answer my question please. You’re him aren’t you?”

“I am a guy, so I am a ‘him,’ but I don’t see how that is of any importance.” The two have passed several bazaars selling things from fish and grain to pieces of cheap jewelry and clothing; faces turned toward and away almost instantly as the two passed by. Neither were loud.

“No no, I didn’t mean that.”

The man whipped around, his cloak spitting in the air. “Look kid, I don’t have time for your childish games. So leave me be. I’d rather not kill a kid, but I will if it’ll shut you up.”

“You also have a temper. You must be him.” The boy said, keeping his wide grin.

“You have a death wish, don’t you.”

“Almost. I just want to be like you, Konig. You are Konig, right?”

The man stared in silence at the kid, and the kid just continued grinning. A minute had passed before the man turned around and walked away again. “Don’t mention my name again.”

“I knew it!” The kid shouted excitedly as ran to catch up. “So will you teach me? Can you make me like you?”

“No.” Konig snapped.

Konig began walking at a faster pace, hoping to leave the kid behind, but the boy managed to keep up while constantly asking questions. Without realizing, Konig had been going in circles in the halls surrounding the central plaza. Nearly an hour had passed without change.

The boy, no longer grinning, began to pout. “Why are you so stubborn?” When Konig didn’t answer, the boy ran up and kicked him in the back of the knee, knocking Konig down.

“Little brat…” Konig grumbled.

“There you are!” A woman’s shout sounded through the area. Donned in white armor with a golden circle shaped like a shining sun on the chest, a member of the Sunspear Guard, protectors of the continent, the woman strode up and grabbed the boy by the ear. “How many times do I have to go out looking for you? I’m taking you home immediately! And you, I’m sorry for any trouble this boy has caused you.”

Konig said nothing as he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his cloak. In doing so his hood once more fell off.

“You’re Orrian? My apologies, you must be one of the visiting nobles that the king has sent out for. I will gladly escor-“

“I’m not a noble. I’m merely a traveler, nothing more.”

“You are too something more!” The boy shouted, grinning once more. “You’re Ko-“

Konig quickly covered the boy’s mouth. “I would prefer if you didn’t announce my name to the world, kid.”

The woman pulled Konig away from the boy, her face now glaring with fury. “And why would that be? Do you have a bounty on your head?”

Konig stared at the woman, shocked by the sudden change in her personality. “No, I’m not that foolish.”

“Right, well if that’s the case, then I guess you won’t mind coming to my office to double check, would you? Or would you rather be dragged there for harming King Onrah’s son?”

“It’s okay, he’s not a criminal. He’s just famous.” The boy smiled. “And what he did was my fault anyways.”

“I don’t trust anyone who refuses to give their name to me.” The woman said before straightening up. “I’m First Spear Janah, Fahranur’s my territory. And I’ll be having my eye on you… the other on this kid.” She turned around and began to drag the boy as he protested.

Konig remained still, staring at the two. Minutes had passed after they were out of sight when he finally moved, bursting into laughter. Those nearby turned curiously at him.

“Reminds me of when I was young.” He said, remembering the time he’d sneak out of his father’s estate just to be dragged back by the head guard, Afzal.


Chapter 2

Konig deeply breathed in the humid air around him, doing what he could to clear his thoughts after his annoyance with the kid. He had a purpose in this city, a reason why he came, and he could not be distracted.

In order to prevent disasters like what happened during the War of the Gods, Konig decided to hunt down those who would abuse magic. That day, when he fought for and against gods, he saw the destructive powers of magic – power which he wished he had. He witnessed the ability to reshape the landscape.

He came to Fahranur out of rumors claiming mystical phenomena happening – though the rumors never said what these events were. Konig was rather surprised the rumors were true; he felt the magic in the air. A strong and ancient magic that was from the time of the gods that ended over two hundred years ago.

As he stood there silently, traders and merchants came up to him offering various unnecessary goods – various forms of jewelry were the most common. He simply ignored them all, and they left him grumbling shortly after arriving.

With his mind clear, Konig snapped out of his little meditation. Immediately after checking if anyone was around, and finding that he was being left alone, Konig performed a simple scanning spell, searching for concentrations of magic. When the spell found a strong abundance of magic, it was supposed to flare into an arrow pointing its direction.

Nothing happened.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, finding it odd that no powerful magic was detected despite being able to feel its presence, he walked around the labyrinthine city at random. He passed markets and tents, where those who didn’t sell items worked, and oddly considering the amount of people, very few homes. The homes he did pass were often simple shacks of the poor, living in the narrower ally-like passages. No one had well-structured buildings here due to the laws of the city, allowing business only to those who have permits which only lasted between a week and a month.

Every now and then Konig activated the scanning spell again, constantly getting no reaction. He looked up to the sky in frustration, attempting to clear his thoughts once more, trying to find out why there were no concentrations of magic around him. In the sky, he saw the looming towers of the royal palace that lied in the southern portion of the city. They were the only structures capable of being seen over the tall walls that encased him and everyone else in the city.

With a shrug, Konig decided to head there next, still activating the scanning spell every now and then just to be sure he didn’t miss anywhere. Despite it being not that far away, a hundred feet at most, walking to the palace still took over an hour due to the winding passages. Until the last century, the palace was in the deepest part of the city – since then, they removed part of the city’s walls and gave direct access to the outside of the city, which led straight into a couple canyons and eventually a bog, effectively replacing artificial mazes with natural ones. The only purpose of this was to create a palace garden.

Just outside the palace grounds, and out of sight from the dozens of Sunspear Guards that kept the palace safe, Konig once more activated the scanning spell. A glow appeared, but held no form. Grumbling at the spell’s ineffectiveness, and deciding on researching on a way to improve it, Konig realized what was happening.

The source of magic was somehow being blocked. He knew that Fahranur couldn’t have been built on a magical hotspot – none existed that the six gods didn’t know of, and he was sure that they wouldn’t have let their precious humans build a city on top of one, in case someone used it for harm. Someone, or something, must have brought magic into the city, it was the only answer.

And to find out, there was only one means. He’d have to get into the royal palace, where the magic’s source appears to be.
Firstwatch Janah watched as King Onrah scolded his son Cianius. He was a man that cared deeply for his family, and one that Janah admired as a daughter would her father. He was the reason she worked so hard to become Firstwatch of Fahranur, and she would serve his family in any way she could. To her, that’s what it meant to be of the Sunspear Guard.

“Cianius Joko, do not talk back to me! You know that it is not safe to go out nowadays!” Although Onrah had a furious look on his face, he scolded his son not out of annoyance, as he knew how Cianius felt, but out of worry. Lately there have been unusual deaths in the city, and he didn’t want to risk his youngest son to such dangers.

“But da-“

“No buts! Just go to your room or play with some servants, please.”

The eleven year old son pouted as he stormed off towards his room, most likely to study. He was unusual for a child his age, preferring scrolls and tomes over running in the fresh air. Even though there were no other children around his age, as Fahranur was a city of business and not living, and his twin siblings were six years older than him, he was an odd one. The only time he went out was in disguise as a poor child who wondered into the city in order to buy things to study in secret.

What the child was always studying was a mystery to Janah.

The king leaned against a pillar in the large hallway the two, now alone, were in. The pillars were circular and bare; at the time they merged into arches that crossed the hallway and between those arches on the ceiling were more that created x shapes. The few windows – all stain-glass that depicted the history of the royal family – in the hallway were five feet high and had slanted windowsills.

“What will I ever do with that boy?” Onrah sighed.

“What you can, sire.”

“Ma’am!” A guard shouted as he ran towards Janah. When he stopped, he turned and bowed his head in acknowledgement to Onrah before continuing his report. “A stranger approached the front gates requesting reprieve. He appears to be an Orrian traveler.”

“Orrian? Interesting, why don’t we let him in.” Onrah said with a curious tone in his voice.

“With all due respect, sire, we can’t let him into this palace without knowing who he is. Orrians may be a peace-loving people, but that doesn’t mean all of them share that view.”

“Then keep an eye on him.” Onrah replied quickly, his voice in an uncaring tone. That was the problem with the king – he trusted people too easily, despite knowing the potential dangers. So long as there were guards around, Onrah would let rabid demons into the palace without care.

“Did he give you a name?” Janah asked the guard.

“He claimed himself a ‘Konig Doric.’ Normally I’d have turned him away but…”

“A Doric…” Onrah leaned his head back with a smile. “I heard that those who don’t rule the kingdoms go into isolation somewhere. Now he’s even more interesting. Guard, let him in. Janah, inform my wife and her sister. The rulers should be kind enough to greet a descendant of the fabled northern king.”

Reluctantly, Janah agreed. It would be too rude to ignore the requests of a Doric. Not without cause, at least.