Lore:The Knights of Seris

Chapter 1: Armor of Shadows

By the Year 144 NT during the last quarter of the Great Uprising the human kingdoms continued to make advances against the Ageless, but a number of smaller kingdoms still without major alliances were struggling and often found themselves unable to hold their lines in the war. An unnamed nobleman from the kingdom of Rinn commissioned from the greatest craftsman of their kingdom, Zeikel Taeryl, the creation of a sword, shield, and a helmet hewn and forged from the rarest metals fallen from the skies and a set of armor cut and sewn from the hide of a creature most all people of the era believed to be nothing more than a myth. It is not known how this eccentric nobleman came to possess the materials he brought to Taeryl, but it did take several heated negotiations to convince Taeryl to eventually accept the commission.

Zeikel Taeryl had the tools and knowledge to work with seryll, but the hide he was given to work with was something far outside of his usual work materials. He considered his tools to be among the best anyone could possibly make, but the hide stubbornly refused to cooperate as his tools would bend and break in the attempt to work with it. Even his best scissors and knives would dull in a single pass. Several times Taeryl sent boxes of broken tools to the nobleman who commissioned him as a statement of the sheer exasperation at what he was being asked to do.

It was not that Taeryl hated the challenge, in fact he relished it, and was looking forward to the day he could present this work on completion, yet he still had to contend with the simple fact that his tools were not going to get the job done and knew that some form of new metallurgical process would be required to improve the tools he was using. The nobleman, listening to the troubles that Taeryl was encountering sent a squire to The Foundry of Mt. Riverhorn to the distant east as Taeryl had heard a few rumors concerning a new method of mixing metal ores to form a much stronger metal.

A journey of three weeks by horseback would be required for the squire to complete his task, but upon his return the nobleman quickly provided Taeryl three scrolls containing new formulas that required higher heat, longer heat, and ores of higher purity, along with some additives. Following the formulas provided, Taeryl was able to forge new tools that were indeed stronger but unfortunately more brittle. This was a major step in the right direction and he was able to begin working with the hide as he would get a few hours of usability out of each set of newly forged tools before fatigue would cause them to break or otherwise become useless.

Taeryl and his troop of artisans and priests worked tirelessly toward the goal of crafting the commissioned set and four of his artisans would spill blood in the daunting effort of its creation. The first accident was from a falling anvil breaking the leg of one of the blacksmiths which was typically a mortal wound in this age as amputation was usually the only solution to avoid infection. The second accident would cost one of his ore smelters an ear as an air pocket formed and blasted molten metal across the side of his face, which Taeryl would make him a mask to cover that part of his face and head which made him a celebrity in his performances on stage for his dramatic appearance. The third accident occurred while they were cutting the primary patterns from the hide and one of the assistants helping the leather cutter had his hands in the wrong place and lost a finger as they were using a hammer to tap the stronger scissor blades through the material, this would end his dancing career as the finger he lost was very important to the traditional folk dances of the area. The final accident occurred when one of the more brittle awls snapped and shot the leather tailor in the eye, which may have been the origin of some of the one eyed monster legends in the area thereafter.

After six grueling months Taeryl presented the finished works to the Arch-Prelate of Rinn for blessing. This was a wholly natural process for any armor which was intended to be bestowed upon the higher ranks in their armies, or for the royalty. While blessing the armor during the edification ceremony, all the shadows of the patrons in the great hall pointed unnaturally towards the armor as if it was trying to draw them into the depths of its black hue and steal them. This event led to the name the armor is known by to this very day ‘Shadow Wraith’.

The sword held an almost mystical aura that seemed to make the courage and strength of the wielder grow with each strike of its lethal blade.

The shield resonated with a penetrating wave of power that shattered the concentration and fortitude of any that struck it with harmful intent toward the wielder.

The helmet was believed to instill fear in the enemy anytime its gaze was on them, and as a work of art in its own right it commanded respect from friend and foe alike.

The armor was pitch in color and possessed an aura so ominous people believed it could steal the vitality from your body if you dared to look at it too long.

It is said that all of the people of Zeikel Taeryl’s troop that contributed to the items creation, including Taeryl himself, fell unnaturally weak and died soon after the armor’s edification ceremony. Not long after their deaths, the nobleman that commissioned the set was found dead in his house as was the squire that retrieved the scrolls from the Forge Masters at Mt. Riverhorn. Their deaths ensured the dark secrets of how the Shadow Armor and it’s companion shield and sword were actually created would be taken from the world and into the grave.

Chapter 2: Prince Lehimn

Even beyond the rather morbid creation of the Shadow Wraith armor, many soldiers felt this was the mark of a powerful armor that needed blood and would grant divine protections to the wearer while in bloody battle. The armor would be bestowed upon Yeagar Lehimn, Crown Prince of Rinn. He was physically strong and stout built after years of training meant to make him look the part of a strong leader. He was not a battle hardened fighter, but he took to the battlefield as naturally as an eagle takes to the sky. With a strong, loud voice he instilled a sense of heroism and invulnerability in all who would follow him into battle.

The following years of the war would be good for the small kingdom of Rinn and their allies as they finally held their own and fought over three dozen successful engagements in the campaign against the Ageless. Reports from the battles detail the daunting challenges faced by the soldiers and speak of the almost inhuman strength of Prince Lehimn while wielding the Shadow Wraith armor, and its companion shield and sword. He endured blow after merciless blow by their enemies including attacks of mystical nature yet barely a bruise upon him was left. Much of their success during these years was attributed to having the Prince and his armor in play on the field of battle.

During the year 147 NT, late in the Great Uprising, Prince Lehimn would wear the Shadow Wraith armor for the final time in the campaign against the Ageless as their fortunes would be quickly reversed when the Ageless unleashed a new terrifying weapon against them.

On day of the Tears of the second week in the starfall of Omens, the armies from the kingdoms engaged with the forces of the Ageless at first light for the battle of Kells Valley. The strategies were almost predictable by this point and the Ageless offered nothing new but fresh fighting forces against Prince Lehimn and his soldiers. The fight raged steadily for the largest part of the day with strategic skirmishes aimed at thinning numbers from both sides and then entered into the fiercest and bloodiest part of the main conflict as the sun started to wane in the sky when the main bodies finally clashed near the northern end of the vast, wide open valley.

The kingdom armies were making steady gains against the Ageless forces and no one would have blamed anyone for betting on Lehimn’s forces being the victor with as strong a showing as they had presented during this battle as they had others before. Then as the Ageless’ numbers continued to decrease, a change in their tactics would change the fortunes of battle away from the kingdoms favor.

Prince Lehimn was in the thick of battle along with over two thousand soldiers and mercenaries from Rinn and their allied kingdoms. He was facing down two of the Ageless’ warriors poised to strike when a sharp blue fire sent from another of the Ageless’ force split and went around the two warriors approaching in front of him and then recombined to strike him.

A survivor recounted that the mystical blue fire stopped short of striking Prince Lehimn direct and immediately changed into a blinding mass of hundreds of arcs of lightning and entered his armor through his hands, head, and feet. The Prince shook violently for over a minute and then the blue light of the new weapon faded and the Prince fell to his knees never to move again.

As the Prince died, so did the future of the smaller kingdoms allied in the battle of Kells Valley, and no matter how hard the rest of the armies fought, their strikes had lost their edge against the Ageless. Their will to fight was still there, but somehow their bodies lost the strength to carry through. Their attack force was utterly and brutally decimated by the Ageless force after the fall of the Prince that day.

To Be Continued...