Haveneast: The Angel's Secret Trilogy

[Hibou]

So... Witchcraft d20 isn't finished and neither is there a posting of the accompanying setting I had planned for it, which you can probably guess by this posting is called Haveneast. A friend recently inspired me to do some writing, and what better place to do so then in my new setting and what better place to post it than the CBG. So here it is, the beginnings of a three part series. This is going to be VERY long when it is finished, and in several separate spoiler blocks. All there is at this point is a prologue (though Chapter 1 of the first book is in progress), but more will come. Feel free to post and comment here, because all three of the books are going to be fit into this one post eventually... unless there's a post size limit. If that happens I'll work something out. Enjoy. :)


Book One: The Druid and the Knight

[spoiler=PROLOGUE]

Even an angel cannot escape a storm of vengeance.
-Amaebic Proverb


The bridgeâ,¬,,¢s creaking mingled with the lonesome sounds of the wind as a man trudged across it, pushing through the snow that made it a wintry blanket. It crossed a ravine that was only one of thousands in the mountains wherein this man dwelt, and where the gapâ,¬,,¢s bottom was none who looked would be able to tell, for it was deeper and darker than the most secretive of caverns. Were it a brighter day it might have been a little more well lit, but seldom were the days luminescent in the Yundararch Mountains, and because of the fading sun and the chaotic snow this one was quickly becoming darker. Perhaps that was why the man began to quicken his pace.

Across a narrow ledge and then up a ladder of snow-covered rock he went, moving almost as if he were unaffected by the slippery and uneven quality of the terrain. His brown cloak blew back and forth and snaked across the top of jutting bits of stone as he scaled the treacherous climb, and when he finally made it to the top he paused for many moments before hauling himself over the edge and onto the landing. As he stood the cloakâ,¬,,¢s hood fell back and his hair and face were exposed to the elements, revealing long, wavy brown hair that was tussled by the wind. His age was unknowable, for though his features suggested a man barely meeting his third decade, there was something... ancient about him. His blue eyes seemed focused on nothing at all as he casually strolled forward through the gathering drifts and into a tunnel.

Minutes later he came to a door, and went to open it but paused. His eyes drifted to the hinges and about the walls, but then he pushed it open and walked inside. Closing it with a tap as he passed its threshold, he walked forward to a table in the center of the dark room and slid a few papers aside until he found one of interested. This is going to be a long week, he thought, looking ahead to the hearth. At least she started a fire.

From behind him came a female voice, speaking in a tongue he hadnâ,¬,,¢t heard in so long, yet every word was as clear as they had been when he himself used the language frequently. He didnâ,¬,,¢t seem alarmed at all, nor did he look eager to turn around and see the face of the speaker. â,¬Å"Iâ,¬,,¢m glad that youâ,¬,,¢ve come Nawa,â,¬Â said the man, sounding uninterested, â,¬Å"but no Fhandoric today.â,¬Â Her words seemed to echo in the form of a whisper even after he had finished replying to them.

â,¬Å"The trolls are out again for the third time in two days, and theyâ,¬,,¢ll most likely prowl throughout the night.â,¬Â Nawa let out a chuckle, and then without any sound of a step forward, her voice got closer. â,¬Å"The spirits are restless.â,¬Â

â,¬Å"Your arrival told me that,â,¬Â the man replied as he turned. When he did there was no one there, but then he felt a presence just over his shoulder. It was warm, and almost made him feel happy.

â,¬Å"Oh, come now, lighten up,â,¬Â Nawa said, and then suddenly the warmth of the presence faded. â,¬Å"You know what has come.â,¬Â

He turned to face the spirit, and this time she was there when he looked. She sat there atop the table in her typical deep red tunic, the buckle of her belt glimmering. On her feet she wore brown boots similar to his own, only in a womanâ,¬,,¢s fit, with gloves on her hands to match. A greyish cape of sorts hung behind her and lay pinned beneath her form as she sat atop it on the table, her long brown locks resting on its upper section. Her cheeks were impossibly rosy and only added to her beauty. The only thing that was strange were her eyes, which were blue like his own, but unlike his, hers shone in the darkness. They gave her away as the dream elemental she was. They could change their forms a thousand times, but the one thing none of them could hide would be the glowing of their eyes in dim or entirely dark settings.

Absorbing her words, he drifted off in his mind to another place far away, and another time equally distant. He wondered as the images came to him if his visions were in part influenced by her presence, and a very light chuckle from her confirmed it as his senses left the present. Suddenly his sight showed him a temple atop a hill, and his ears told him the words spoken by those present. The land in all directions was a sea of green, with hills that looked akin to the waves of a stormy sea. He watched as three figures dressed in robes stood on a platform and held their hands up, touching them together and forming a triangle as they chanted. The faces of the three were hidden by their pointy, wide-brimmed hats, but the tone of their voices gave away their moods as feelings of intense anger and frustration, and perhaps a little fear. Those who stood nearby looked at the ritual and at the horizon, where over a distant hill came a black wave of nightmarish creatures, led by a flying figure that could have been mistaken for an angel were its wings white instead of black and its garb not stained with blood. They advanced at a terribly quick pace, and within moments they would be upon those watching them.

The three who performed the ritual began to increase their volume, and what began as a whisper was now a mighty shout of archaic words in a language so old that the phrases should have crumbled as they were spoken. Then, with a loud crack of thunder and a sudden darkening of the sky, the rain came. But unlike any other before, this storm was so powerful that in mere moments the depressions between the rolling hills of the land were filled with water, and many of the advancing troops were drowned as their heavy armors weighed them down, while those fortunate enough to be near or on the top of a hill found relative safety. Soon the water rose higher, and only a few hilltops (including that of those taking part in the ritual and the twenty or so others watching) remained un-submerged. And though the torrential rains had halted the army upon the ground, their leader, the angel with black wings, was little more than annoyed by the rain. Before his would-be victims he came, beating his wings in the air in defiance of the meager defense the druids had summoned. He looked down upon them, his eyes glowing ochre through the sockets in the strange mask he wore, his grin wider than any humanâ,¬,,¢s could possibly be. It was a terrible sound as he began to speak, as if his voice was tearing apart their eardrums as his words left his mouth.

â,¬Å"May you know before you perish that you could not hold back the storm that is Melechadus with any storm of your own. An angel am I, but I unlike the others see what must be done for order to reign. This is the end. Weep, children of time. Weep.â,¬Â

High rose the sword of the twisted angel Melechadus, and with unholy power it was infused. He laughed a terrible laugh and prepared to swing, but as he heaved it downward a great howl of otherworldly irons was audible, and as those present gazed on, they were astonished. A beam of pure electricity clashed with the blade of Melechadus, the weapon of an angel whose radiance annihilated the darkness that the angel with the mask had emitted. Melechadus looked at the other angel in growing anger as two more angels wielding great white bows, flying from the clouds, came to hover next to their commander. The dark angel withdrew his blade and then swung it at the one who had stalled his strike, and unsuccessfully swung again and again. It became clear that Melechadus was no match for the glimmering angel as he parried each one of his aggressions. With one great roar he attempted to bring it down atop the defending angelâ,¬,,¢s head and hew him in two, but the white angel brought high his blade of energy and by some divine grace it shattered the blade of Melechadus as he drove it down. Then the savior heaved a foot into the dark angelâ,¬,,¢s chest and knocked him backward into the water between the hill they were just above and another several hundred feet away. Melechadus lay floating in the water as pain wracked his body, for the mere kick of the shining angel alone was filled with sacred energy. Slowly the good angel flew to Melechadus and when he reached him drew him from the water by his scalp; the defeated being could not resist. He was brought to the hill where the mortal men and women looked on in wonder and fear. As Melechadus sat on his knees, the bows of the two escorting angels trained upon his head from behind, the glimmering angel landed before him, sword in one hand and a great book in the other.

â,¬Å"I am Jadicoh, servant of Azlorn and the Angel of Justice,â,¬Â said the angel. You, Melechadus, a traitor to the good and the purity of this world that is Haveneast, have forsaken all things sacred to the Azlornian way, which is a deed punishable by an eternity in the Midnight Worlds itself.â,¬Â The two met eyes for the first time, as Melechadus brought his head up to look into the gaze of Jadicoh and grinned, as if he were not afraid of the angelâ,¬,,¢s coming enactment of justice. â,¬Å"However,â,¬Â said Jadicoh, meeting Melechadusâ,¬,,¢s expression with cold disgust, â,¬Å"there are three edicts of Azlorn which you have forgotten and your disobedience in these cases cannot be ignored. You will be reminded of them before your end.

â,¬Å"No man born a mortal shall make himself an angel; no angel shall twist and corrupt the gifts given to him; and no gift of the heavens shall be used to despoil the beauty that embraces the world. No mercy shall be given to one who has given none to thousands. The storm of vengeance has come.â,¬Â

With a thud Jadicoh closed the heavy tome in his hand, and his gaze fixed on that of the traitor Melechadus. He only smiled. â,¬Å"My legacy has yet to show its ugly face,â,¬Â he said, as Jadicoh brought the sword in a crescent across the midsection of the dark angel and he was no more. As he died the mask he had worn fell from his face, and the angelic traits only it could have given were gone.

The vision disappeared. Suddenly, he was looking again into the eyes of Nawa, who looked at him almost with a look of worry on her face. â,¬Å"You know what this means, darling,â,¬Â she said to him. â,¬Å"The Legacy has shown its face. Iâ,¬,,¢ve heard the others whispering in the darkest of places. The nightmare spirits are preparing for something,â,¬Â she said, leaning forward to only inches from his face. â,¬Å"I know you remember what you have to do.â,¬Â

â,¬Å"How could I forget,â,¬Â he said in response, looking down. â,¬Å"They told me a thousand years ago, and itâ,¬,,¢s been in my head every day since then.â,¬Â

â,¬Å"Then to Flane you must go, and with haste!â,¬Â Nawa nearly shouted with urgency.

 He sighed at her. â,¬Å"Aye, and a long journey it will be. By morning I must be on the road, and by the end of next week I must be across the plains of Abaland and into western territories if I am to avoid being burdened by the trolls. Theyâ,¬,,¢ll be as far as Brargy and Alcumsahn in nine days.â,¬Â He wasted no time in reaching for this and that on all parts of the tables and the shelves of his bookcases, extracting all that was needed from all of the various secret alcoves and treasuries he had hidden about the abode.

Nawa moved from the table and began to walk around, looking at various objects as he took hold of them. â,¬Å"There are other ways to go that far, love,â,¬Â she said suggestively. â,¬Å"Quicker and more secret ways.â,¬Â

He laughed. â,¬Å"Iâ,¬,,¢m not taking that route. Iâ,¬,,¢ll come to Flane by walking eastward first.â,¬Â

Looking at him as if she had heard the complaint an endless number of times already, she returned the chuckle. â,¬Å"So be it then. Iâ,¬,,¢ll see you later love,â,¬Â she said to him as her form finally disappeared.

The man kept gathering various objects and stuffing them into a large sack. Though he couldnâ,¬,,¢t see her or hear her, he knew that Nawa was still in the dwelling, watching him and probably thinking a multitude of things. He didnâ,¬,,¢t mind it as much anymore; it was nice to have some company.

[/spoiler]

[Hibou]

Reserved: Book One (thanks to Phoenix Knight for clarification)

[Hibou]

Reserved: Book One (more)

[Hibou]

Reserved: Book One (even more)

[Hibou]

Reserved: Book One (I'm a space pirate)

[Hibou]

Reserved: Book One (harr!)

[Hibou]

Reserved: Book One (this should be almost enough)

[Hibou]

Reserved: Book One (done)