1 Chapter 1: Cryostasis, Death by Freezing?
net, at least right now. But the planet has constantly been subjected to violent conflicts and terrible wars raging across its surface in the past. It is because of those terrible wars that a once beautiful planet with lush scenery and breathtaking vistas, has now become a shell of its former self. Arkynor has become a barren, dry, and hopeless wasteland. Because of the constant wars breaking out, the planet has become unstable as well.
These conflicts were long thought to be the work of some of arkynor's own inhabitants who turned completely to evil. Those arkynoreans were known as "Kaizors". Kaizor was slang for Dark or evil arkynorean. However the real culprit of this issue can be traced back to evil that has gripped the inhabitants hearts and minds. To this day however, very few know what the true cause for the evil that's plagued this planet really is.
Arkynor is split into 6 different territories or kingdoms that make up the population of the planet. First there are the dwarven and fairy kingdoms of Avalon, Eden, and Caldern. Dwarves and Fairies only make up about 40% of the planet's population thoug, the other 60% is made up of Elf kind. The other 3 Kingdoms (which are predominantly of Elven descent) are Argonath, Odarinath, and Albanar. Of the 6 Kingdoms, Albanar is the largest and accounts for nearly a third of the Elven populace.
It is to the Elven kingdom of Albanar and the capital city of Xenia, we travel to begin our story. Our story begins on what seems to be a normal day in Xenia. However, even Xenia's citizens would agree that it hasn't been exactly normal recently. Normally, it would be the height of summer in Xenia since it was in the middle of the summer season. But due to some strange circumstances, the weather had been rather... odd recently. It was drastically cold, like it was in the dead of winter there. That didn't make any sense, it was supposed to be summer there. Instead of warm summer weather, it cold and even snowy as if winter had set in! No one really knew why, but it seemed like it had been getting colder recently. This was not just the case in Albanar, it was the same all across Arkynor. The reason for this was rather simple, the planet was starting to enter a state of Cryostasis. That meant, it was litterally and gradually freezing over.
A family was seen walking through the snow covered streets of xenia on this rather brisk day. This family was of course, the royal family. The citizens paid their respects to the family, but also just greeted them as they would anyone else per the royal family's request. They did this, albeit with a bit more respect than someone of normal standing. They were adored by the common folk because unlike others of similar standing, they were so down to earth and willing to understand what everyone was going through rather than handle things Royals typically did.
This way of ruling was very unorthodox and that's what made the kingdom of Albanar so unique amongst the Elven kingdoms. No other elven kingdom ruled in this way. No doubt, this probably exasperated the Elven nobles more than a little. At the same time, they never stayed mad at the royal family because the citizenry absolutely adored them and trusted them. Many Elven nobles agreed with their way of thinking eventually, even though they were opposed to it at first.
The way they treated everyone equally, fairly, and no more or less valuable than another was endearing. This way of thinking eventually won the nobility over. The nobility now swore their undying loyalty to the royal family and would do everything they could to help them as well as ser an example for the common citizenry to follow.
This particular day, they were just on an afternoon stroll through town. It was one of the few pleasantries they had. People waved and greeted the royal family as they saw them pass by on a leisurely walk. As they continued their walk, the youngest of the royal family spotted something that had caught her eye.
"Brother, over here Come quick!," a young elven girl called waving and laughing.
This is Sarai Albanar, 12 years old. She had vibrant crimson hair, beautiful pointed ears, tanned skin, and fierce flame colored eyes. Of course all Arkynorean Elves had that eye color as it was quite common. She also had vibrant violet and golden armor, much like a knight to go with the silver snow colored sword strapped to her side. A violet cape and a small golden tiara on her head then completed the look. Her family eventually caught up to her as they all stopped at the small shop to peer at what Sarai was holding.
Sarai held up a pair of feathered earrings that she thought were really cute. She looked to her family expectantly for their opinion.
"So? How do they look? Do they fit me at all, big brother?" Sarai asked.
The elf she asked was of course her oldest brother Odyn, the high prince. Odyn was well built from years of brutal training since he was a young child. He had long and dark blue hair, tanned skin that was a few shades darker than his siblings, and the same fierce flame colored eyes that all arkynorean people possessed.
He stood at around 6 feet and 3 inches in human height, but still had room to grow. Odyn wore a black hoodie with with silver armor attached to it, an army green parka type coat, silver fingerless gloves, a brown belt, and steel gray pants. The boy also had brown combat boots, and had his sea blue and silver sword strapped to his back to complete the look. Odyn did have several jagged scars littering his face as well including one that ran through his left eye and another one that ran down from his right eye to his jawline.
"I'd say they fit you just fine sis. They really seem to suit you.," Odyn chuckled.
His other brothers seemed to agree. Roy, Banryu, Ragnarok, and Zerick were his other 4 brothers. Roy's appearance was very much like that of a prince or the son of a Duke. He wore regal colors such as Blue and Gold, with the same gold crown/tiara that all the royals had atop their heads. His hair was violet like the queen's was, this paired well with the flame like eyes and the pointed ears. A royal looking crimson blade was strapped to the belt on his hip that had an odd gem in the middle of it that was supposed to allow the user access to elements they'd normally never have.
Next was Banryu who was darker skinned but not quite to the extent odyn was. His weapon of choice was a war hammer, the same as their eldest cousin, Kanna. His armor was silver and green. Apparently, he'd chosen to emulate his teacher Raptaryn who had the same colored armor. Out of all of his siblings, he was probably the least outspoken. That said, his siblings still understood what he meant even when he didn't verbally say anything.
Beside him was Ragnarok. He'd chosen black and purple as the colors for his armor. Ragnarok had always admired the feats and stories of shinobi, and as a result he modeled his fighting style and armor after them. The only thing he didn't have as the the protective head covering. He figured that he'd be fine. All of the siblings had the gold tiaras on the heads as a sign of royalty, Ragnarok and zerick included. He chose to have his blades crossed and strapped to his back like odyn did with his one blade.
The blades were ebony black and purple to match his color scheme, something Ragnarok requested. Next to him was Zerick, the 2nd youngest of the siblings at just a mere few weeks older than Sarai. His weapon of choice was of course a bow staff. His armor, he kept underneath his cloak. Zerick was probably the smartest of the siblings and a very adept magic user. His specialty was in casting magical spells to help his allies, but he wasn't averse to fighting on the front lines either.
Finally there were the King, Berethon, and the Queen, Hyatan. Berethon was a bit darker skinned than most elves, most likely a result of being what most considered to be a dark elf. He had a lighter shade of blue hair and a matching beard with those same flame like eyes every arkynorean had. A vibrant golden crown sat upon his head as a symbol that he was the ruler of Albanar. His armor was plated and jagged looking, this was for more protection. All of the armor for the elven lords was made of a very special metal that came from the dwarves called mithrim. Mithrim was very similar to mithril but much thicker and slightly less durable, though with the elves ability to reinforce their bodies for battle that weakness was pretty much covered.
Berethon's armor was a brilliant shade of crimson red and cerulean blue. He then had a gray belt and his trusty sword named Dunhendeim, strapped and sheathed to his belt. Next to him, Queen Hyatan was equally as protected as her husband. Her armor was the regal color of violet as it matched her hair color. She too, was a gifted swordsman and warrior. She had to be coming from the woodland elves of the planet of Tarria.
Her brothers nodded in approval and both of her parents smiled knowingly. This caused her to smile even brighter. As she tried them on, even the elven maiden who ran the small shop marveled at the princess's beauty.
"It quite becomes you, if I do say so princess.," the elven young woman said.
Sarai looked to the young elf woman and then to her family before speaking up on the matter.
"You really think so?," she asked.
The elven woman nodded in approval. Sarai then asked for her brothers thoughts on it, she wanted to know her family's opinion on it.
"I think it suits you sis.," Odyn said.
Roy nodded. "If you want them, I say they fit you perfectly.," Roy added.
Banryu looked at her and simply nodded and smiled. Sarai knew what he meant, even if he didn't say so verbally. Ragnarok was next and he needed no convincing, he thought the earrings suited her perfectly as well.
She turned to Zerick whose sentiment was much the same as his other 4 brothers.
"I think it looks really nice on you.. sis.," Zerick said.
Sarai beamed at this and thanked her family. She went to pay for it when Odyn motioned that he would take care of it. He fished into his pocket for the currency needed for the purchase of the earrings.
"How much for these earrings, miss?,",Odyn asked.
The elven woman waved her hands in front of her apologetically. "No, milord! Don't trouble yourself with that.. they're a gift for the princess. Besides, you and your family have done more for us than we common folk could ever hope to repay you for. It's on the house.," the epven woman said.
Odyn looked empathetically, like he wanted to pay for it. But, the store clerk assured him that it was a gift and that she'd be more than happy to have the princess take it as a gift.
Sarai then put on the earrings and spun around briefly, she liked them. Their shopping stop over, they continued on after waving farewell to the shop clerk.
They continue their leisurely afternoon stroll, while stopping to greet and mingle with the citizens. It was simply another normal day, or so it seemed anyway.
In another location
Not far from the capital of xenia, there laid a temple of a deity long since erased from historical records. This deity was the the false god Ashera, an evil god that sone of the arkynoreans had come to worship. Three figures trudged through the snow and ice to get to this temple. These three figures were of course all Dark Elves. They were Vladek Odarinath, Overfire Caldern, and Baron, the son of Overfire. When they arrived at the Temple, it had been mostly run down and abandoned.
The outside of it was a mess, broken cobblestone, splintered support pillars, and shattered or caved in doorways. Though it was a mess, Overfire figured the inside had to at least be serviceable enough for what they'd come to do.
"It does seem a bit run down, your eminence.," Blade said.
Blade was the younger brother of Vladek, the ruling Lord of the Odarinath Kingdom. Like Baron, he didn't dare to disobey his superior. Both of them could tell that there was something... off, not quite right about this temple. They didn't know how they knew, they just did. They also had a female companion with them, Hailfire. Hailfire was an orphaned Elven girl who'd been bought and then trained by Overfire himself.
She also had a feeling that something wasn't right here. Similarly to both Baron and Blade, she didn't dare to question her superior under fear of death. These 3 teens were the victims of very unfortunate circumstances, they never had a choice but to obey their superior officers. It still didn't make what they'd been forced to do right, it still felt wrong to them. They felt like the things they were ordered to do were... wrong and something that shouldn't be carried out.
What they were attempting to do could be described as Taboo in the truest sense. Arkynorean Elves were forbidden from paying homage to other deities, since they were a reflection of the humans themselves. They were thought akin to Angels in the eyes of earthlings or a reflection of the human race itself. And as human kind's protectors, they were to devote themselves into the service of the God of creation and life, Udiya.
Selling their soul to another deity or a false god as others put it, was seen as taboo and could bring a powerful curse upon those who attempted such a thing. Nevertheless that is exactly what Overfire and Vladek were attempting to do without realizing it.
Baron sighed. He knew this was wrong, yet, he couldn't bring himself to defy his father Overfire.
"You okay, Baron?," Hailfire asked concerned.
Baron smiled at his adopted sister, he was grateful for her concern. It was one of the few things he treasured and would fight for, no matter what happened next.
"I am fine, Hail. I'm just... worried that something could go terribly wrong here. But try not to let my worry wart ways get to you, dear sister. We must focus on guiding fath- no, I mean.. his lordship Overfire and Lord Vladek to their destination.," Baron said.
Hailfire liked it when her brother called her Hail, it was a nickname he came up with in their childhood. The trio of teens continued onward, leading their two superiors towards the inner parts of the abandoned temple.
The temple had been aged, and greenery spread throughout its interior. There were what appeared to be strange symbols and at points ancient writing engraved upon the hallway walls. Baron stopped when they came to a gate, most likely leading to where they wanted to go. A riddle was written on it. You who enter here, offer a sacrifice as payment. Demons light consumes the night, upon this pyre the key to realms unknown must be laid bare.
The riddle confused them at first, but it eventually clicked after several attempts of trial and error at opening the door. Overfire stepped forward. He held a cube with an unknown lightsorce within it. Apparently, it was flame from another realm that had been hidden for nearly a decade. He inserted it into the pedestal and shortly after, the gate opened.
Even more curious runes and images decorated the ceilings and walls as the elves walked towards the altar in the center of the room. The elf teens felt something.. cold and.. evil in the room. There was something about this room that.. wasn't right. Something felt... off.
Before Baron had a chance to stop his father, he walked towards the altar with the pendant resting on it in his sight. The pendant had a medallion in the shape of a skull in the middle of it. A sickly looking aura seeped out of it.
" No father, don't! That pendant.. it's cursed!," Baron shouted towards his father.
It was too late by that time, overture had grabbed the pendant. Its sickly black and purple aura spewed forth, creating a large crimson magic circle. The aura expanded into a dome and washed over them, dragging them beneath it.
Baron gained a sad expression because he knew, his father had done the unthinkable. There was no way to undo what his father had just done. The planet had undoubtedly been tampered with and now, everyone would suffer the consequences.
" Father. . What have you done?," Baron thought as he was pulled beneath the sickly dome of miasma.
The miasma would then begin to spread all across the planet. This unfortunately was just the beginning of the elves troubles.
