The following is a taste of what is to come, a beginning of the known story of 3kds v. NwN2, which shall be named, Legends of the Three Kingdoms™

The name has real significance, truly, the legends of the Three Kingdoms, our world today, will have a special significance in this new world. What exactly, cannot be said. Not before it is time...

 

Quickjump: Part I - Part II - Part III- Part IV

-Dream Catcher-

Part I

Mage Rushkin sits in the topmost chamber of his tower, hunched over a parchment, the light of a candle shining out bravely, challenging the unknown, and the darkness that seems to push in from all sides, black as ink, thick and foreboding. The mage pays little heed, and sets his quill to parchment:

"Let it be said that I survived somehow. It was not the work of the Gods, they have forsaken me. I know not how long I wandered, it is still a wonder that I survived. More than once it sought me. Something I did kept it at bay. I shudder now, a grown man shivering to hold my mind together, lest it should flee from me and all vestiges of my sanity with it... every time I recall those encounters. No-one should survive such a thing. There are no proper words to describe the soul-destroying horror of it !

I know not if there are other survivors. May they find me here, I would lay out my most powerful wards in order to draw other mages, but I dare not, not yet. To do so would draw it... and I am still too weak from the last struggle.

But I live !

This shall be a new beginning for the world, and I shall be its chronicler.

The new beginning, I declare this year One of the new Euron. Godless, forbidding and unknown."

"Today a visitor came, I was not expecting one of his kind. He offered his aid, and said others would be coming. Slowly we grow, but never did I imagine this. My humble tower now stands amidst a small keep, and now we have so many to care for. The weight of it would be too much to bear, and I am truly greatful that I no longer work alone.

This newcomer, though, he is no Wizard. And yet his aura... he lives and breathes of a sort of manna, truly he is captivating. I've met his kind before but never thought any would seek us or to live here as we do. The other mages are still discussing the matter, but I tire of the chatter.

I have my studies to attend to ! The others should be as captivated by it as I, perhaps they are more patient. Some "book-lovers" they are ! (The mage Rushkin chuckles softly to himself)
The newcomer gave us a truly rare and precious tome, I pore over the pages in amazement. Even to me, much is obscure and difficult to understand, but he has said he will aid in this. Some text has been damaged, and there are even missing pages at the beginning. He said he knows the text from memory, and we have agreed to undertake reconstructing them together.

I grow and I learn, may I never cease to be humble in this life. How can I not be ? The danger is ever-present, ever-near. I am both troubled and captivated that our new guest could travel so far overland, and arrive unharmed..."

 

Part II

Mage Rushkin gave his new mentor a quizzical look.

 

 

"Even to me, these glyphs are confusing."

The being beside him smiled faintly, and tilted his head slightly. He was tall and fair-skinned, with markedly long, straight hair of a deep chestnut color, pulled back with a single decorated leather tie. At this close proximity, Rushkin once again noticed the surprisingly ornate decoration of the trim of his clothing (some of it carved out of thin strips of leather, some of it stitched), and the faint smell of scented oils. Foreign, but not unpleasant, and tending to release a flurry of old memories in Rushkin, some that had not come to mind in decades.

The elf's ears were indeed long and pointed, noticably not tucked under his hair. Noticing the human's brief glance, his smile broadened. "You need to be studying the page, not my ears, Rushkin."

Rushkin started and sat up once again, having been hunched over the parchment for far too long. "Even for me, and my years of study, the writing is cryptic. Beautiful, yes, but cryptic"

Neth (as the elf allowed only Rushkin and one or two other humans who had won his approval to call him) explained, "It's my name: Neth'iphant Gladha'o'Idhren Galu'uin'Gwaith. Meaning, loosely, 'young but old laughing-wisdom of the blessed tribe' . Well, that's how it's commonly written. If you were to say my proper full name - and humans never do - it is E'i'na Neth'iphant Gladha'o'Idhren Galu'uin'Gwaith, 'he who is...' ."

Mage Rushkin nodded, "You can exlain the why of it some other time perhaps. Why you were named "young but old laughing-wisdom", yes ?"

Neth'iphant laughed softly and sat back, tapping the other item before them on the table. "Back to the missing preface I have now restored. This is important and we need to continue."

Rushkin nodded again, and sighed as an act of refocusing, and once again hunched over the table. The candle-light was just enough to read by for him, but the low light didn't seem to trouble the elf any.

"When the text speaks of focusing inward versus focusing outward, is that meant to change the inflection that is used for the incantation ?"

Neth'iphant nodded in affirmation, "Yes, excellent. I think if you were not so wise for a human, I simply would never have the patience to try to help you with this !" and he laughed again.

The pair sat long into the night, discussing at greath length, many aspects of the studied papers. Of things stated outright, and of things implied or arrived at from careful re-interpration of the words.

Rushkin needed only two interruptions, one to relieve himself, the other to replace several candles that had burned out. The elf seemed hardly to notice, and this time around made no teasing remarks, as much as he seemed to enjoy them and as much as they always made Mage Rushkin sit upright and redden slightly in the face. Always, he assured the elf that he would endure no such thing from any of his own kind.

Finally, when Mage Rushkin started nodding with fatigue, Neth'iphant stood up to end the session. "Perhaps we can begin on the second page by the end of the week" he said, at once bringing closure to the session, remarking on how little progress they'd made, and yet finishing with a positive comment.

"Yes," Rushkin replied, pushing back at his sleepiness yet again. "Perhaps you can finally explain exactly why it is you're here at all..."

Neth'iphant tilted his head and smiled, raised his right hand upward and tapped his closed lips with the tip of his index finger.
"That, my friend, should be the least of your worries." And with those words, he turned and left silently, seeming to blend into the very darkness beyond the edge of the candle-light glow.

 

Part III

The darkness seemed to draw itself around them. "Do you see this title, can you understand its meaning ?" The Elf asked Rushkin, to which the mage bristled slightly. "Of course I can, don't take me for an old fool."

To which his companion laughed, "you'll soon be old for your kind, but not even half my age." Neth'iphant Gladha'o'Idhren Galu'uin'Gwaith, was now a well-known figure in what for long had been a mostly Human settlement. Proud even for an Elf, Neth'iphant Galu'uin'Gwaith was known not for his haughty appearance, as he was always quick with a smile and a witty comment. Yet he was often the talk of those prone to gossip: "So beautiful to look at, and yet so odd... had you ever seen one before him ?... I heard he knows great secrets and helps protect us somehow, but when I asked him he looked at me like I was mad, and laughed right out loud !" and so on, the tales did spread.

This night, he was again filling his role as a tutor to Rushkin, long the defacto ruler of the settlement now known as Havenhall. But not without recent controversy.

The Elf brought Rushkin's wandering thoughts back to the book before them. "The word "secrets" is in this section title for a reason, Rushkin. This is your copy of the tome now, one of only two !" The human pulled back ever so slightly, even he taken aback by the Elf's chilling emphasis.

"Never lose it, as if your life counted on it." Rushkin nodded showing his understanding.

"Nor must you ever discuss it..." Rushkin interrupted this time, "What are you saying, come now, I'm not some young flap-mouthed thing"

Neth'iphant grinned wide and chuckled. "Not even a word to that woman I've seen you spending time with."

Rushkin blushed such a vivid hue, it was visible even by candle-light.

"Don't suggest such things, my friend" Rushkin tried to pretend at offense.

The Elf held his grin and tapped his index finger to his lips before replying. "You forget who I am, Rushkin. I may know more of what is happening there than you. Don't be foolish ! And I mean that both as a positive encouragement and a stern warning."

"W-what ?" stammered Rushkin.

"Don't be thick-headed towards her and her affection, you're not so young any more. And do not ever forget your duty to safeguard this place, and that book."

The mage stared at his mentor and would-be romantic confidante, and said with controlled anger, "This time I will call and end to our session. My duty to this place was by my choosing, don't you forget that. I never have."

Neth'iphant was unphased. "Don't let your pride rule you. That's such a horrible human failing. You've much more to learn yet than you know. Inlcuding from her. Pay attention, she knows more than she lets on about a great many things. Still, remember: say nothing of the book !"

 

Part IV

Rushkin runs a hand over the solid surface that arcs continually upward, eventually towering overhead.

He feels its strength and coolness, an awesome might of inexplicable origins.

His mind drifts back to the meeting with his peers,

"We must never reveal what we know of it !" He urged as commandingly as he could.

"You mean, what we don't know of it," interrupted his nearest fellow mage.

"The elves already know, but it seems we can trust them to maintain their silence. It is for the best, people are so needlessly fearful and so easily upset."

"Yes, they seem to accept that this is our doing. Let us keep it that way, our Elven friends willing."

His mentor, Neth'iphant, had confessed that even he did not know the true origins of the many ruined texts they had found. Including the greatest of them all, the only one intact in any form (and still only remnants of its original content).

Neth'iphant had been permitted to borrow it, study it, and make one copy. He never did reveal where that copy was stored, but in exchange he and his people kept their promised silence about the structure.

"What mysteries does it still hold ?" He wondered inwardly. "We know it is vital to our protection here, and we understand so little about it !" To which he chuckled sadly."So much has been lost, so much is beyond my meager learnings and abilities, and yet I feel there is still so much it can teach us ! But its mysteries are sealed from us, solid as the structure itself, somehow surviving beyond the ages, untarnished while its precious contents fell to the ravages of destruction..."

 

 

Author: Dream Catcher