In the 462nd year of the Age of Portent, Larocia was at the height of its power. The Mage-King Malath had entered the declining years of a long and successful reign during which exploration continued into the north and many new settlements were established. The capital city-state of Orican had become a center of magical learning administered by Malath's three sons, Saveth, Kurth and Arcus. Saveth was the eldest, gifted with a shrewdly analytical mind and a true talent for the magical arts. Kurth, the middle child, had less of a knack for the Art as Saveth, but had matured into a mountain of a man, true to the Larocian barbarian blood in his heritage. Arcus was the youngest and most naïve of the three. His magical gift was so great that it outstripped both his brothers' considerable talents, and possibly even his father's.
Sunken Church in present-day Shatterspire
Throughout their formative years, each of the sons spent time assisting their father in the running of his kingdom. Arcus showed an aptitude for leadership, but was still very young and preoccupied with the intensity of his magical training. Kurth grasped many of the basic lessons to be learned, but proved easily distracted and disinterested in the long run. Saveth, on the other hand, relished every moment at his father's side. His sharp mind quickly and easily dissected political situations and determined the most effective course of action. Malath worried, though. While Saveth certainly possessed great skill at running a kingdom, he displayed very little understanding or compassion for his people. As the years progressed and age began to creep up on the mage-king, he found himself faced with a difficult decision.
The turning point came when Malath had his three sons accompany him on a royal hunt. The mage-king took great pride in his offspring and accepted every opportunity to teach them lessons that would shape them for the rest of their days. On this particular day, he took them in search of the placid ibiks, a two-legged creature renowned for its speed and usefulness as a mount or pack animal. As the four ventured further into the wilderness, Malath carefully instructed his sons in ways to use their magic to capture such an animal without harming it. Mercy and kindness, he counseled, were as important as victory.
While pursuing a particularly magnificent ibiks, Malath and his sons wandered far astray of safe Larocian territory and into the wilds where many powerful beasts roamed unchecked. In a particularly artful display, Arcus captured the elusive ibiks without so much as inflicting a bruise on it and presented it to his father. So proud was Malath that he didn't noticed another creature had been pursuing the ibiks, as well. A huge, black wolf bounded into the small group, smashing Kurth to the ground and charging directly for Malath. Saveth froze, too stunned to react, as the wolf bit deeply into the mage-king’s shoulder and bore him to the ground. Frightened for his father's life, Arcus dove forward and attacked the beast with his bare hands. Distracted, it turned on the youth, clamped its jaws around his forearm and shook him violently like a rag doll.
Bleeding profusely, Malath sat up and invoked a fork of lightning which blasted a hole in the wolf's chest, dropping it dead. Young Arcus stirred, wounded, but still alive, and Malath lay back down on the forest floor, reassured that his son had survived.
Both Malath and Arcus were returned to Orican for treatment. While the young man had escaped with only two broken bones, a few scars and an abiding fear of wolves, his father did not fair as well. Bed-ridden and rapidly fading, Malath knew his end was near. He had no choice but to name his successor. In seclusion, he prepared the official documents and made sure all things in his kingdom were in order. Then, on the dawn of the first day of AP 466, as if he had willed the moment himself, he passed from this life. That morning, when the former king was found in his bed, the entire city-state of Orican wept in grief. All but one.
Saveth read and re-read his father's parting wishes with compounding rage and disbelief. Instead of being crowned king as he and most others had expected, Saveth was forced to step aside to make way for his youngest brother, Arcus, to assume the throne. The young man's talent had grown exponentially since his early youth and it was clear that he had become a greater sorcerer than any since Laroc the Black. Silently, seething with envy, Saveth buried his outrage and bided his time.
Unaware of his brother's resentment, Arcus busied himself with assuming the duties of rulership. Saveth and Kurth took over instruction at the magical academy, allowing Arcus to devote more time to running the kingdom and city-state. Malath had indeed made a wise choice, for Arcus would rule for many years as intelligently and justly as his father had.
In AP 474, during a routine tour of Orican, Arcus was beset by a group of highly-skilled assassins armed with enchanted blades. They caught the young mage-king and his entourage off guard and struck quickly. Arcus sustained a grievous wound, but managed to defeat his attackers through instinctive use of his magic which had gone largely neglected for years since his coronation. The identity of the assassin's employer was never discovered, but their scorched bodies were hung from the palace walls as a warning to all who might consider a similar attack.
It took months for Arcus to recover, but he returned with a renewed drive to resume his magical training. Arcus turned his attention away from the duties of his throne, allowing his trusted White, Red and Blue chancellors to handle the day-to-day business of the realm while he concentrated on his studies. Despite the assistance of his cabinet, Arcus continually found that he simply did not have enough time to accomplish all he desired.
He took an apprentice, a young woman named Esinna, who had once been a student of his during his teaching days. Although she was an accomplished witch in her own right with the skill that rivaled the greatest magi in the land, Esinna chose to assist Arcus in his research out of a long-standing love she had harbored for him since their youths. Content just to be near him, she worked diligently to impress the mage-king, making great advances while he was occupied with matters of state. Almost exactly a year and a half after his near-assassination, Arcus completed a spell that would shield him from all harm from natural creatures, thanks in no small part to Esinna's contribution.
Despite the protection of his ever-present new enchantment, Arcus' chancellors urged him to consider the continuation of the magiocracy and take a wife in the interest of producing an heir. Arcus paid them little heed. Since the assassination attempt, he had grown less concerned with his kingly duties and far more interested in his rediscovered love of magic. Eventually, though, he surrendered to their insistence on the condition that he be allowed to continue his research undisturbed. In the summer of AP 477, Esinna became Arcus' wife and witch-queen of the whole of Larocia.
Saveth watched his little brother's progress with the sour taste of bile in his throat. Time was running out, as the possibility of an heir greatly complicated his plans. The assassins he had sent three years earlier had come within a hairsbreadth of ending Arcus' life, but such an attack would be useless now with his constant protective enchantment in place. Saveth's devious mind turned ever inward, plotting, scheming for a new way to claim the throne he believed to be rightfully his. |
|
As Arcus devoted himself to deeper and deeper research, command of the kingdom fell more to the mage-king's devoted wife and his White, Red and Blue chancellors. Little else mattered to him but his magic. More often than not, his wife found herself sleeping in an empty bed as he remained locked up within his lab and years passed without the arrival of an heir. It was this preoccupation that proved to be Arcus' undoing.
On the first day of winter, AP 488, Arcus received a summons from his chancellors. Absorbed in study, he ignored it as well as the six which followed it until, finally, Esinna herself had to break the enchantment which kept his door locked and speak to him herself. Grave news of an unidentified army approaching from the northeast had arrived shortly after noon. By the time Arcus responded to his chancellors, the mass of ogres, hobgoblins and wolf-riding goblins could be seen on the horizon bearing a frighteningly familiar standard. Saveth had reached the limit of his patience and decided to risk everything in a last, desperate play for the throne.
Esinna had already mobilized Orican's troops, but only an archmage could stand against one as powerful as Saveth. The betrayal had cut Arcus deeply and rage burned in his heart. He immediately called his brother Kurth as well as the headmasters of the magic academy to his side. He felt no fear of the coming onslaught, nor did he desire their help. Rather, he wanted an audience to witness how effortlessly he would destroy his brother.
Protected by the enchantment that Esinna had helped him create, Arcus waded into battle. Ogres fell to bolts of ice and goblins burst into flame as tongues of lightning struck from the sky. Walls of fire seared charging attackers to the bone. Arcus meted out fierce retribution on the creatures that had dared ally themselves with his treacherous brother. Still, a tide of aggression continued to thunder against the walls of Orican.
When the first breach occurred, Arcus blasted the area clear with a tremendous release of magical power. He did the same for the second and, as more and more walls crumbled to Saveth's assault, Arcus felt his resources weakening. And still, the traitor himself had yet to appear.
In the chaos of battle, Esinna found her way to her husband's side. Worn and wounded, she openly pledged her heart to her beloved and prepared herself to die defending him. Consumed with finding Saveth and destroying him, Arcus spurned her. Stung, she demanded he tell her the truth of their marriage. Without a moment's hesitation, he replied that magic had ever been his only love in life before he forged angrily back into combat.
The witch was heartbroken to hear the words that she had known to be truth for so long. Mustering her remaining magical reserves, Esinna vanished, turning her back on both Arcus and Orican forever and leaving them to their fate.
Arcus had not even noticed the result of his callousness. His magic waning, he took up a sword and drove headlong into the surging ogres, goblins and hobgoblins. As natural creatures, none of them could defeat the enchantment that protected the mage-king. Completely safe from harm, Arcus single-handedly cut a path through Saveth's army until he found the dark mage himself, calmly seated atop a dais supported by four huge ogre chieftains.
Arcus stood, jaw clenched and lips curled back in rage, while Saveth dismounted and met him with cool confidence. With his magic weakened, Arcus stood little chance of defeating his fully-rested brother, but Saveth, likewise, was rendered powerless to cause Arcus harm due to the enchantment which protected him. They appeared to be at a stalemate.
Focusing his power reserves, Arcus called his brother Kurth and the headmasters of the magic academy to him. They arrived at his side in the blink of an eye, all of them with nearly full power at their disposal. As the sun dropped down past the horizon, Arcus smiled grimly at his brother and bid him goodbye. To his surprise, Saveth met his smile with greater confidence and bowed deeply, wishing Arcus his own farewell.
Before Arcus could grasp the danger, the academy headmasters underwent a startling change. As the first rays of moonlight struck them, their bodies rippled with unnatural muscle and sprouted thick black and gray fur. Their faces elongated and their canines grew long and sharp. Fear struck Arcus' heart as he recalled the black wolf that had nearly ended his life so many years ago and realization dawned an instant before the first fangs found his flesh.
For years during Arcus' inattention, Saveth had been cultivating and promoting followers within the magic academy. And while the mage-king's studies had been hampered by his royal duties, Saveth had secretly been working away on a great magic of his own. By fusing the spirit of an enraged wolf to that of his followers, he had transformed them into werewolves, unnatural creatures who could bypass Arcus' protection spell.
The creatures tore at Arcus, snapping at his flesh and driving him to his knees. Arcus turned his gaze upward, weak and bleeding, as a wolfish version of his brother Kurth stood over him with a look of helpless resignation on his face and a dagger in his hand. The final blow pierced both Arcus’ spirit and his heart.
Sighing Towers Chamber in present-day Shatterspire
Arcus slumped over, his lifeblood ebbing away, yet he was determined to exact vengeance. Drawing on the deepest reserves of magic in his being, Arcus called forth a mighty eruption of pure energy and blasted the very flesh from Saveth’s bones. The magical discharge created tremendous, devastating shockwaves that rippled outward through the ground. Buildings collapsed and sank into the earth, the great spires of the royal palace crumbled into rubble, and the wonder that had been Orican was utterly shattered.
Drained completely by the effort, Arcus, mage-king of Larocia, is said to have died, ending the magiocracy and smudging its existence from the pages of history. The nation fell into disarray for nearly a century afterward as all thought of kings and mages was largely forgotten. Trade houses began to govern where necessary, and Larocia would cease to be a kingdom until Sebastian I united them under one rule and re-established a monarchy in AC 132, over two hundred years later. All that remains of the old city-state is scattered and sunken ruins along the southeastern portion of Larocia proper. Most people have forgotten its origin, referring to it only as Shatterspire, the Lost City. The place remains a common haunt for wild creatures and occasionally travelers can hear the far-off cry of a wolf. Little do they know, that wolf may once have been human.
- Kitterwen, Chief Historian, Ignilly University
|
