House of the Rising Phoenix

By Merlock Hamburgian, Phoenix Wizard

A long, long time ago, during the Age of Chaos, there lived a man named Daephron Illian. Illian was a dark elf, a Faendryl. He was no ordinary Faendryl however. As a master of both elemental and spiritual magick, Illian thought he could do anything possible, and his arrogance showed. It was eventually this attitude, thinking he could do everything, that cursed Illian's life forever.

When the undead war started, Illian was among those who research the spell to defeat Despana. Eventually the time came, and Illian led the attack against Maelsyve keep, where the spell was cast. Daemons crawled out, summoned by the spell, and fought against Despana and her keep. After a short battle, Despana was defeated and her keep crumbled to the ground. Naturally, the other elves were scared and frightened of the magick, and banished the dark elves to the caves beneath Rhoska-Tor. Illian was not satisfied at only releasing the daemons though, and continued his attempts to pierce the veil in a mad search for power.

Weeks, months, and possibly years passed by as Illian researched various methods to release daemons from beneath the veil. One fateful day, Illian discovered the truth. Daephron Illian had set up a private workshop beneath the caverns in Rhoska-Tor, and there he worked alone. Alone, his search for power finally came to a halt when one day he discovered the key. Combining new found knowledge with ancient lore, Illian gestured menacingly. In an instant Illian knew something had gone drastically wrong. Instead of releasing the lesser daemons of the Ur-Daemon, as Illian had hoped, he released something far more terrifying. In his attempts to pierce the veil, Illian summoned the Vvrael -- collective sentient anti-mana.

Illian was a powerful fool, and in his arrogance attempted to control the Vvrael. The Vvrael were not to be controlled however, and as the rift in the veil grew, the Vvrael began to feed upon the surrounding reality. As foolish as this Faendryl was, he still had a small bit of common sense, and realized he needed to trap the Vvrael. Daephron sat still for a moment, engulfed in thought. Meanwhile, the Vvrael were slowly becoming stronger and the rift in the veil was growing. Suddenly, Illian sprang up from his seat and shouted some arcane words, then slowly began to weave the most powerful spell he would ever cast. As Daephron finished gesturing, he began to seal the breach in order to contain them (the Vvrael) there. Using all of his life-force, Illian began to trap the Vvrael within a small modwir box he had lying around. His blood and life became the keys and chains to the prison of the box, and with that Illian converted his form into that of an elven child, and hid himself in time. When all was said and done Daephron had disappeared, and along with him his workshop which had collapsed into rubble, and the Vvrael which were trapped. Alone and untouched amidst the ashes sat a small enruned modwir box.

Centuries passed, and the Vvrael somehow began to appear again, aware of the box that was hidden beneath Rhoska-Tor. The Vvrael were not stupid however, and corrupted the soul of a knight, to make him search for the modwir box. The now blackened knight set out to the caves in order to find the box. It wasn't long before he found it, and the Vvrael started to search through the threads of time for Illian, to learn how to open the box. The Vvrael did not yet know Illian's blood and life were the keys. The search was long, but Illian was found, hidden as a small elven child in this era. It was at this time that an elder empath started to receive visions of this elven child, in grave danger. Thus, the modern story began to unfold, page by page.

Those who knew about the child were soon graced with the presence of the ghost of Malaphor. Malaphor blessed the bystanders with 3 words to remembers, "The box, the key, and the babe." After a short while, a warning sounded in the elven village, and reports were heard of a black knight wandering around the area. Many rushed to the scene, but the knight quickly did away with them.

The Knight was not as smart as its masters however, as it shone itself to attack. One sorcerer and one wizard combined powers to defeat the knight, while many others distracted it. Overwhelmed, the knight was defeated, and its body fell limp to the ground. A great cheer rang out among the village, and the elven babe, who now thought itself safe, stepped out from the shadows. Local adventurers showed the babe to safety within the village. Once inside, the small enruned modwir box which was found on the knight was handed to the child. As the lad slowly traced his fingers across the box, time began to catch up to him, and he slowly began to age. Along with his aging, he told a story -- a great story, much of which has been told already. At the end of the story however, the now Aging Faendryl Elder attempted to warn those listening of two things. First, as the story goes, the Faendryl warned the bystanders that the Vvrael were still out there. Unfortunately, as the elder Faendryl began to say the second, its eyes shut, and its mouth trembled. He then fell back to the ground, motionless. The only things left behind were its diapers it wore as a child, and the box. The local elves had been watching, and as the people began to stand up and leave, they warned two words of advice as well. The first was not to tamper with the box, and to keep it safe. The second was to remember the name Daephron Illian, as no-one knew at the time the babe was he.

As time continued to pass, more bits of knowledge were obtained about the Vvrael, and eventually enough was learned that this story could be written. We have realized that Lorminstra has the task of picking 13 people to fight against the Vvrael, 7 of who are known and still alive. The Vvrael are formidable competitors, as they ride on the wind, and live in the shadows. They are immortal and have the powers of the gods, yet are not gods. Such is their power that all of the Arkati must join together to keep the veil sealed; anything which disturbs them could have horrifying results. The Vvrael have already tasted the souls of many,and have increased their power tenfold.

Let us all pray that the chosen are victorious in the final battle, so as this story can have a happy ending written to it. If they fail, catastrophe strikes, and this story will most likely be lost in the rubble.