Shorter Works Regarding Aeliad

Regarding Hextor and His Rise

Of the True Origin of Hextor
Hextor was the bastard son of a Human mother and a Trall. His mother had been abducted during one of many of the Trall's raids on the old Kingdom of Calophaen's fledgling colonies north of the desert. She was kept in captivity for years by the Trall and was used as personal servant to the tribe's chieftain. She bore him a child. Soon after, a rescuing party found the tribe's camp and liberated the captives, Hextor's mother included, but the surviving Trall kept the child and retreated to their nation's capitol in the southern region of the desert. The Trall looked after the child as one of their own, and he grew to become the most powerful leader the Trall had ever known, eventually surpassing their highest rank. He continued to gather more and more power to him and gain more control over the Trall. Soon he ruled over them with utter authority, and he was known as the "Lord of the Desert." His arrogance knew no bounds.

It is said that of mortals only Hextor himself had before his ascension made a journey into the Untamed North and there he met the dragons and treated with them. He offered to them all the wealth and riches of the kingdoms of Dwarves and Men in return for there services; and the dragons were bemused and intrigued. So after his ascent Hextor returned to the North, and with the Fire in him spurred the great ones to the ruin of Men; but he had not seen yet the strength of Heironeous, nor the thirst for vengeance in the hearts of some.

Long Hextor had secretly worshipped Death, but he became arrogant, and a thirst for power more unto a god befell him; and so marked his descent into one whom all should fear for the ending of the world. He betrayed his master in thought and soon after in deed as he cast the madness of ages onto Morodrum to take the Impregnable Shadow for himself. In no record or tale save the recall of Hextor knows that great and perverse magic made such an effect as to madden a god, but surely it was terrible to behold.

Hextor's plan to become a god was not simple. It involved basically "starving" Morodrum into weakness and insanity by deriving him of souls to consume. He did this by several means. The first was using his uncanny political influence to protest against all warring. The people listened, and during the last few years of the Golden Age there was practically no struggling for land or money among the nations in Aeliad. Individuals lived lives longer than ever before. Hundreds of miles away in the desert, Hextor and his priests were employing a dark and forbidden magic to bind all the mortal souls in the world to the Material Plane, further keeping Morodrum of his source of power, his need to draw the souls of the dead from the world. Never has there been even as a whisper of such a powerful magic as this was, and the wiles and might of Hextor were great indeed.

Hextor's empire was centered in Scarab City, a great fortress-city in the deep south of the desert. Hextor and his priests attempted to open the gate to Thanatos in the dungeon and proceed to the second stage of Hextor's plan – bringing the broken and insane embodiment of Morodrum into the Material Plane. But this had some effects that Hextor had not expected. Morodrum came into the world with a tremendous explosion of negative energy, which destroyed the castle and everyone inside, except Hextor. Awaking days later in the ruins of his empire, Hextor committed to revenge. His plan had not gone as he had envisioned, but he drew a great strength from his hatred, and he vowed to fulfill his destiny and transcend into godhood by devouring Death.

Hextor realized he had to bide his time, so he made his way to the North and lived among the people in Mynoren. Hextor wandered in disguise during most of the Terrible Era, during which time he began to sew the seeds of his religious following. People saw him as a prophet because of his sorcerous ways and his knowledge of what would transpire with Death Incarnate now loose. One event he had not foreseen, however, was the direct intervention of the other deities, and he discovered the Battle of Eden as it was unfolding. He arrived at the battleground just in time to witness his scheming go all to ruin as the flames of Tuhrag scorched Morodrum and defeated him. Hextor saw Malenfere lean on his axe and sigh a long, heavy sigh. Hextor was beyond rage. Blinded by hatred and anger, he drew his blade and advanced, catching the god of Fire off his guard, and he cut Malenfere's head from his shoulders, "killing" him.

And so Hextor's plan was realized by chance. He had completed the third stage of his plan, using Fire in place of Death, but he had succeeded nonetheless.


The Destruction of Kartslan
Tyrus the Younger descended in full force upon old Kartslan, dusk, the 28th of Suntide in 16 SA. The Church met him with resistance, but fell swiftly under tooth, claw and bile. In the last moments of the battle, Heironeous himself was said to have flown straight into the maw of the beast, keen sword shining in the twilight, and cut out the dragon's tongue and several of his teeth. The dragon bit Heironeous fiercely in return, and smote him into the ground before withdrawing from the city in retreat. Heironeous would die soon after. Tyrus, in his anger and pain, crashed head-first into the Tower of the Citadel, exploding it into rubble that rained down upon the city. The dragon flew off to the south and sought refuge in the marsh, and there he sired the black dragons that now poison that land. But Tyrus was to pay fully for his wrath.

The city lay completely uninhabited for some forty years, and the refugees had scattered far. This marked the end to Heironeous's First Church in Aeliad, but the Church's ideals were carried on by some who had survived. In 56 SA, a powerful and wealthy statesman name Artur Mernith proposed the reconstruction of Kartslan, which included building a connecting bridge to the eastern side of the lake. Artur Mernith was also the head of a new face of power in Aeliad, the Circle of Hextor, an organization that was at that time praised for maintaining law and order. Some even likened it to the First Church, though its members shuddered at such a comparison. Mernith's proposition was enthusiastically accepted, and the reconstruction was begun, with the Circle of Hextor as the primary financer. The people, seeing the gracious works of the Circle, left the rule of the new city in the hands of Artur Mernith and his ilk. But some in that place still feared the return of the dragon.

In 71 SA, Tyrus was hunted down and slain by Vassalis Morro, the grandson of Halis Morro, one of the survivors of the attack. Vassalis, the second son of his father, had returned to Kartslan to request the service of some of the Circle's military force, known as "Fists," to aid him against the dragon. They arrived in the Red Marsh on an overcast morning in Frostfall, and slew the great beast in his lair. Tyrus's body was burned – his skull was crafted into a shield and his bones into a sword, and the dragon has since become the symbol of the Morro family line. And what a line that has become; the Morro family crest has decorated the court in Tyrus since those days. The family holds a great deal of political influence in the city, though in these days, many see the family's connection with the Church of Hextor to be a potential threat to common welfare. The wealth recovered from the dragon's hoard was used to help rebuild the city, renamed Tyrus in memoriam of those killed by the dragon, though the tower still stands in ruin.

The Arms
There has come into my possession a certain curious artifact. Not being one for the glorious art of warfare myself, I still intended to study this item for its historical value (and the item is indeed a weapon – a scimitar, black and evil-looking, but obviously of wondrous make). I have been around a long while, I have more than a firm grasp of the history of this world, and I say that with no modesty. The design and apparent age of the weapon led me directly to the old Scarab Empire.

Information regarding that particular period of time is difficult to find; even the Elves have allowed much of that history to drift away. Well, they allowed me great access to their archives and, lo! the scimitar and its brothers were there to be found, for this was not a weapon the Elves would soon forget. Some recalled even encountering it personally in ages past. This weapon was not a mere black blade of the Trall'Arhk, but one of a set: arms forged for one whom the runes name "Lord of the Black Desert." I believe that this blade, which the Elves name "Blightsabre," along with its brothers – "Meteorfall," "Gyrspike," "Bloodshine," "Moordenspyre," and the "Pillar of Wrath" – were the mortal weapons of the one we now know as Hextor. Even more disturbing, I believe I have seen many if not all of these weapons in the hands of some of the most dangerous individuals I can name. Sword, axe, pick, flail and mace. Well, here is one weapon yet the Tyrant will not regain.

Locations of the Arms
Meteorfall – In possession of Halknid Redcrest III
Blightsabre – Buried in the collapsed ruin of the Old Manse of Aran Gray
Bloodshine
Gyrspike
Moordenspyre – In possession of Ragnas Rolandt
Pillar of Wrath – In possession of Arden Mernith


The Rise of Heironeous (a rough outline)
-Mynoren becomes fed up with the Circles activities
-Trade control, rumors of slavery, building an army, espionage
-Alderos decides to handle problems diplomatically, but his ambassadors are assailed
-One returns possessed and challenges the king and then kills himself
-Alderos and the army ride out to meet the Circle and its leader
-Hextor himself reveals himself on the battlefield and proceeds to strike down Alderos
-It is at this point that Heironeous is raised into godhood, and he takes up the Sword of Purity to turn the tide

Ere the killing-blow on the crown of Alderos fell that the sword of the king as of its own will arose in shimmer and glory and drove with a swiftness into the Tyrant’s breast, and terrible was his cry as he was borne aloft by the invisible hand and the blade; but he knew what befell him, and he and Boleros with a whisper and an awe were vanished. The outcry was great and the Men of Mynoren rushed to the aid of their fallen king, and they saw his wounds were grave.

-The two mortal deities engage in a pitched duel inside the lighthouse, destroying it in the process
-The battle is ended when Hextor, a whirlwind of Fire and steel, staggers and vomits forth the fledgling form of Malenfere, reborn from the flames of struggle
-Stunned and repulsed, Hextor flees
-Heironeous delivers the infant Malenfere back to the Plane of Fire
-The people of Mynoren are due to begin the Church anew
-Alderos is left in critical condition after the battle and lies on his deathbed
-Caretakers are stunned when he emerges, miraculously healed, clutching Boleros in his hand
-He preaches the following of Heironeous and eventually gathers most of the kingdom behind him
-Reforms the First Church
-But the Circle is left somewhat is disarray after the flight of their leader
-They scrap their plans for war with Mynoren and begin to sink into hiding and scheming


Other Writings of Aeliad

From the mouth of the creator
Aleksander Montag is a cleric of Malenfere. For ranged Aleksander mainly uses either his crossbow or fireballs. For close range combat he uses either a mace or his fists. He wears rather ornate Scarab armour, which was crafted by his parents and given to him as a gift. When not wearing his armour he goes around in a simple robe with his chain mail underneath. He is opposed to racism believing it to be a trait of someone who is weak-minded (He took up a job fighting against hobgoblins alongside elves) and is opposed to slavery due to his being raised around Dakarans who despise slavery being descendants of slaves. Will pick fights with people who show racist attitudes or who have slaves, mainly because beating them in fighting makes him feel good about his point of view. Rarely calls anyone his friend and those who he considers friends he is loyal to them to a fault. Feels most at home either in a desert environment or an environment among warriors.

Dakara
Human society in the desert started in the later years of the First Age, coinciding with the rise of the Greater Scarab Empire or the Hextorian Empire. Humans were often captured during raids on the neighboring nations by the Trall armies and taken back to the desert fortresses to be used as slaves. The fortress-city of Hassir-Staj or Scarab City utilized thousands of Human workers during its construction. Trall and Human cultures began to be greatly mixed, a trait that has survived in desert Humans to this day. After the sudden collapse of Hexor's empire, his servants dead or in disarray, the slaves fled, some to the north, some to the south. They were simply desperate, trying to survive. The majority fled north, to the river, and built the southern part of what is now Dakara.

The main part of the civilization is located along the eastern Dakaran River, towards the delta and the coast. There are two main provinces: Azer'bainah, north of the river, and Dehli'bainzi, south of the river. The seat of the government in Dakara, as well as the majority of the population, resides in the southern province. The central city lies just south of the river and in the almost exact center of the nation. A rather impressive wall of sandstone blocks surrounds the city in its entirety. The wall is dotted with high watchtowers along its perimeter, and a single, massive gate is the only way in or out of the city. Another (unfinished) wall exists around the edge of the entire southern province as well, to better protect against the monstrosities in the desert.

(from Reuben)
         The beginning of the second Dakaran empire, most of the settlements are in close proximity to the river. Used to contol a large part of the Northern desert. The First Dakaran Empire began when roughly a dozen settlements of various sizes formed a unitary government. Dakara, being the largest of the settlements, was chosen as the capital of the new kingdom. All the militias of the various settlements were formed into the Dakaran Army. Helios (sic), having the most followers became the diety of Dakara. Eventually all of the settlements along the river joined with the Dakaran government. The Dakaran people looked toward the seemingly inhospitable desert to the west and began to expand. Building a vast irrigation network the Dakaran people used it to expand west, taking much land from the nomadic Trall. Upon taking control of the northern desert, the overeager Dakarans began to expand south. Eventually they reached the boundaries of the ancient Hextorian Empire. Being overconfident they attempted to expand into the old empire with disastrous results. Aside from having to deal with the ravenous creatures inhabiting the land, many people living in settelments in the area began to go mad after a few years. The settlements are abandoned and no more attempts are made to inhabit the old Hextorian empire.

Fall of the First Empire
         The winds that blew from the Hextorian empire carried a terrible thing with it: black sand. The black sand swept across the various settlements, causing the dead to rise as zombies, who then would destroy all the settlements near them. The Dakaran army attempted to put a stop to the creatures, but all they were able to do was slow them down, mainly because they couldn’t stop the black sand and also anyone who was killed by the zombies soon became one of them. After about a decade the creatures (something) outside Dakara, and eventually it along with all settlements on the west side of the river fell to the creatures.

Cutter Island
This place was first discovered in the early years of the kingdom of Men and was used in the Second Age by Mynoren as a land of exiles, a prison island where they sent undesirable and irredeemable criminals around the Plains and the Coast. Unfortunately, it was greatly overused. The violent convicts on the island eventually became far too numerous, and they revolted against their captors. Forming their own nation on the island, they became pirates, plundering the coasts and accosting ships passing between Mynoren and the Coast of Aesir. In the Third Age, the pirates have become quite a powerful force, but have no interest in the goings on of the mainland. Their patrols make crossing the sea an extremely hazardous affair.

The Nature of Life in Aeliad
Eden is a force of infinite creation, shapeless and chaotic. It is the duty of the gods to shape that energy into the living creatures on Aeliad. Lycanon draws that pure energy from the Source and forms it into the creature's soul; Harbolin provides the raw material for the creature's form; the fire of Malenfere forges the material and shapes it; Aixania quenches the newly formed creature and flows life into it; the creature is carried on the winds of Spiria to its existence on the Material Plane; and when the creature's time is up, it is the duty of Morodrum to reap its life force and return it to the Source.

In death, all are called before the gaze of Morodrum and kneel in the Hall of Obsidian in Eden to receive their due. Those worthy must by writ be released and are allowed to wander to the halls of their deities, and there shall they wait until the end of time; but only those of patronage are called into the home of the gods, and whither go the other creatures in Aeliad, not even the gods know.

Undead are not natural. They are a stain on the world, an unfortunate side-effect of the Terrible Era and the insanity of Morodrum. Due to the efforts of Hextor, the spirits of the dead became trapped on the Material Plane. Some wandered aimlessly as ghosts, longing for their ultimate peace. Some, murderers, cannibals, and psychopaths among them, had their souls twisted and deformed by evil thoughts and forced their way back into their bodies, resulting in unholy mockeries of life that stalked the night, terrorizing the people of Aeliad and feasting upon the flesh of the living. The enormous amount of negative energy released upon Morodrum's entry into the world permanently tainted the southern desert, dyeing the sands black to animate the corpses of those who lie upon it. The shackling of Morodrum meant that the souls of the dead would resume their journey to Thanatos and their ultimate peace of returning to Eden, but, even now, some restless souls are unable to be freed from the Material Plane and are doomed to wander the earth in search of their peace. Beginning in the Second Age, Morodrum took a sadistic pleasure in using existence as undead as a cruel punishment for those he deemed unworthy of their ultimate peace, and a reminder to the servants of the other deities of his power, as well as offering the power to manipulate undeath to his followers.

Willie's story about a wolf or something?
The great Grey Wolf, Ondjage, terrorized the city of Galewind for years. The town's guards had nicknamed him the "terrible dog". Ondjage would cause serious problems for the bustling trade route running through the Azure Mountain Range, attacking Caravans regularly. The young and fierce Arthur Redcrest III was assigned to kill the wolf by his church as a Fist of Hextor induction trial. He ventured onto Mount Tarnosa, believed to be where the beast's cave was. Arthur was attacked by Ondjage, and got caught up in a battle that lasted for no short time. Arthur had sustained serious wounds, but he survived. He brought the wolf's body back to the city to show the church. His father had the great beast's soul binded to a necklace to serve the Redcrest Dynasty and as a symbol of the Family's strength and power. It was a present for Arthur III's new life as a Fist of Hextor.

The Tears of Spiria (unfinished)
The origin of this marvelous weapon involves the coming of terror from the worst of things imaginable – something beautiful. During the Golden Age, when the gods walked among their peoples and all was good and right, Spiria's patronage stumbled when she fell in love with a human. She was ultimately betrayed by her lover. He cursed her name and rejected her as a god and a lover (though it is uncertain as to whether he was aware the two entities in fact to be one). This is the only known instance of the Wrath of Spiria: that she in return cursed this man to walk the world forever as her servant, stripping him of his free will. He would be a zombie, a mindless automaton to do her bidding, and the Tears of Spiria would be his weapon; a symbol of her unfathomable sadness; he would carry the weight of his betrayal for all time. (The Weeper may still exist, maybe almost completely destroyed or disabled in some way, or somehow he loses the Tears of Spiria, maybe he could become a villain in some way. The Tears should cause some sense of sadness/depression to whoever wields it. Another weapon that would be cool is a flaming gauntlet (doesn't do gauntlet damage. I was thinking of a 'blade' of flame or something similar) that was left behind by Malenfere, but I don't have any ideas for the story of it. Fist of Rage.)

The King of the Highwaymen
This sword is aptly named, as imprisoned within the cold, hard steel is the soul of Gor Brendas, one of the most notorious brigands ever known in Calophaen, a murderer and a robber. Thirty years ago, Gor Brendas was captured by the high sheriff of Calophaen and brought before the courts. His sentence: to be forever imprisoned within the sword of the high sheriff, to be used as a tool against that which he propagated so much in his life - crime and disorder along the highways. Several years later, the High Sheriff was found killed in the line of duty and the sword was nowhere to be found, presumably taken by the assassin.

The theft of the sword (as well as the murder of the sheriff Galvas Richter) was in fact the work of Gor Brendas's son, Erik, who sought revenge for his father, whose sentence he regarded as "unfair." Erik Brendas is not an evil man, and was quite respectable, but he flew entirely off the handle upon hearing of the true fate of his father (he had always been told growing up that his father had been killed while serving in the military). His original intent was to release his father from the sword, but he had not the means to do so (his father's body had long since rotted in the tombs of the peasants, and Erik Brendas hardly possessed the powerful magics necessary). This drove him over the edge.

Erik Brendas has snapped. He has allowed himself to become nothing more than a body to carry out his father's wishes, which are communicated to him through the sword. Erik wishes nothing more than to please his father, and the sword grants him the strength to do what his father asks of him.

(The Plot Thickens)
The Band of the Evernor was and is the largest underground criminal faction in all of Calophaen. The eponymous Evernor is the symbol of the group, a large, blackish gem of immeasurable value, which, until his capture, was in the possession of their leader, Gor Brendas. The circumstances under which Brendas acquired the gem are unknown, even to his most trusted associates. Most believed it simply to be a treasure acquired during one of his many jobs earlier in his career. For years, Brendas wore the Evernor on a golden amulet, a display of his vast, ill-gotten wealth, but in the weeks leading up to his inevitable capture by Sheriff Richter, he started to become increasingly paranoid about the gem. He no longer wore the Evernor for all to see, though those around him were certain he still kept the gem always very close to his person. The Evernor was taken from him at the time of his capture, but it seemed a minor grievance when compared to the greater peril facing Brendas at the time. After Erik Brendas acquired the King of the Highwaymen, the loss of his precious Evernor began to burn at the back of Gor Brendas's mind (as that is, indeed, the only part of him left). Erik sought out the old members of his father’s gang and, making use of the fortune he had inherited from his father, reformed the Band of the Evernor. Many of the thieves were somewhat hesitant to follow the will of the King, especially as Erik's sanity began to deteriorate, but they could hardly argue with their payment. Having regained control of his band, Gor Brendas turned the majority of their efforts towards recovering the Evernor. Of course, Brendas has yet to discover that the Evernor is no more; it was used by the mages of the court for Brendas's punishment, consumed by the powerful magic that bound him to the sword.