1 An Excerpt from Enclave's History

The Suzerain and the Founder of the Enclave

Prince Krowell, the third Prince of Oleander empire, was exceptionally intelligent and talented. He would have been considered a perfect prince save from one huge flaw.

Krowell has affinity for darkness. He has an uncanny ability to see things and creatures that normal people can't. Additionally, the young prince could manipulate shadows.

What made it worse was when he was twelve, his powers had awakened and he had discovered necromancy.

Fear gripped the emperor and his subjects. Thus, Krowell was thrown into Nerium, a neglected and impoverished village.

Although, it is one of the borders, Nerium was thought to be barren and due to several natural calamities, the population had been declining.

If Krowell was alone, he might have given up and succumb to his ill fate. But he had a companion, a young wizard, Kreuz. Though the prince was banished, his loyal and trusted aid accompanied him.

With Krowell's effort and dedication, as well as Kreuz's assistance, life in Nerium started to improve.

By the time Krowell came of age, he married and settled down with that village chief's daughter, Adelfa. They lived in harmony for a few odd years.

Krowell seemed to enjoy living a slow life in the country side without any care about the chaos in the empire.

Unfortunately, some people had found him a great nuisance. Since he had been installed in Nerium, the place had thrived.

Although the taxes remained the same, due to the fruitful harvests and discovery of resources, Nerium began to change from a poverty stricken place to a blossoming trading area.

With famine spreading in the empire, the nobles from the imperial city and the prince's half-brothers were blinded by envy and began scheming.

It had happened during the time where his Highness's wife was pregnant with their second child. Krowell was summoned back to the capital to pay homage to the emperor and to give tribute from the bountiful harvest.

Krowell was actually happy that his father had summoned him, thinking that his father had not forgotten about him.

But what waited in the capital was simply condemnation. He was framed and accused as the leader of rebellion. Thus he was detained for several days.

Kreuz came to negotiate and set him free. The prince was released but news that Nerium had been attacked soon reached them.

Krowell and Kreuz pushed their horses and traveled back to Nerium. It would usually take a few weeks to travel to Nerium but they managed to arrive within five days with minimal rest.

When they arrived, they saw the entire village in flames. The crops were destroyed and the homes were all dilapidated.

"Adelfa!" Krowell shouted as he ran to the lord's burning manor.

Kreuz cast water magic to quench the flames. Then the prince and the wizard ran inside. The two of them were stunned at the scene.

Lady Aldelfa was lying by the foyer bathing in her blood. At that sight, Krowell knew she lost their unborn child.

Trembling, Krowell approached and embraced her body. "Adelfa…" he cried.

Lady Adelfa opened her eyes and weakly muttered. "they… took our son." Those were her last words as she breathed her last.

Due to his anger, he unleashed his power, shadows whipped around him in agitation. Kreuz was blown away by the force and landed hard on the wall.

Fortunately, Krowell seemed to have regained his senses. He drew his long sword and turned to the wizard.

"Kreuz, those people should be near. They couldn't be that far for them to do these crimes."

As his vassal, Kreuz lend him a hand to hunt down those perpetrators. But even though they found and apprehended the culprit, they could no longer find the boy.

While investigating, one of the captives managed to choke out.

"It was all of his majesty's doing. We cannot allow a disinherited prince to gain power and usurp the throne."

"where is my son?"

"By now, that little prince is dead." The noble man spurted blood and died.

"They couldn't just leave me alone. They already threw me away. Why did they have to ruin my life and destroy my home and my family?" he cried out before unleashing a tremendous amount of mana.

Then a blue pentagram formed around him. Shadows swirled before enveloping him. Then Krowell's golden locks turned jet black. His sky blue eyes became fiery red. His once gentle and calming aura was replaced by a dark ominous one.

Gone was the prince who was adored by many. In his place was a creature of malice, hatred and revenge.

The two went back inside the mansion. Kreuz thought that they would clean up, but instead Krowell took his dead wife and placed her on an improvised altar.

Though he had necromancy, he never used his skills to bring the dead back to life, saved for that one time when his powers awakened.

But no matter how much he tried bringing his wife back to life, his efforts were in vain.

"Her soul must have already departed." Kreuz said as he tried to comfort his friend. "please let her rest."

"This blood cries for vengeance." Krowell said as he let the shadows encase his wife. The murky waters cleared up and Adelfa lie frozen in the coffin of darkness.

"Kreuz lend me your hand."

After that, Krowell had begun wreaking havoc across the land. He reclaimed his territory, overthrow the imperial family and usurp the throne.

But he wanted more. In his throes of insanity, he began conquering other nations while destroying those who stood in his path. Henceforth, he became known as the Dark Suzerain.

Many soldiers were sent but no one could stop him. Only a handful managed to survive and they fled knowing that the Krowell will not spare them

The destruction of the Krowell's wrath spread far and wide and people began to worry about their own lives.

Though Kreuz had promised to stay by his side, he could no longer watch his friend, sworn brother and lord, destroy so many innocent lives.

"It is a vassal's job to assist the lord. But the most important job is to stop that lord if has done something evil." His master had told him.

Thus, Kreuz look for an opportunity to kill his master. However, although he stabbed his heart. Krowell did not die.

"Why did you have to betray me?!" in his anger, Krowell unleashed his shadows to kill his friend.

But with light magic, Kreuz repelled the darkness and slipped away.

Kreuz was able to escape, but was devastated that he could no longer stop his friend. For months he wandered and gathered information about his Krowell's curse.

During his wanderings, he saved a three young adventurers; Thyme, a swordsman; Cilantro, who wields a glaive and Ervain, an archer. He had trained and raised the three teens and soon they formed a party of four.

In one of the quests they took, their party ran into Hellebore, a scout, Larkspur, a healer and Zale, a warrior. They decided to join forces in order to subjugate a group of undead under Krowell.

With Kreuz, they formed an alliance to stop the Suzerain.

They united as one fought a long battle against the Krowell. But since Krowell could not die, they had a hard time defeating him.

Kreuz found a ray of hope when he came to the Forest of Silence. A guardian deity had granted them several items to help seal the Suzerain.

The seven spirits' relics were blessed by deities and they were used to fight and decrease Krowell's prowess.

Furthermore, with the two divine objects, they managed to separate his soul and his body.

With the tears of light, they managed to seal the soul and with the eye of god, they had sealed of the body.

The seven heroes liberated the other nations. As reward the seven brave heroes were given territories and made into rulers.

Peace returned to the continent and until now it is being protected by the alliance which is known as the Enclave of Kings.

However, although the Suzerain was defeated and sealed, he had vowed to take revenge.

He will shroud the land in darkness and death in order to acquire the thing that he desired the most-Revenge.