Thread: The Erindoor Fantasy RPG

The air was still, not a whisper of wind disturbed the forest. The afternoon sunshine slanted through the green leafy canopy and cast patches of shadow on the valley floor. Birds sang quietly, and the occasional quiet shuffle in the undergrowth indicated a deer or rabbit grazing.

Raevyn took a slow, deliberate breath, sighting along the arrowshaft as she drew her bow with all her strength. She focused on her target absolutely, knowing she just had the one chance to make the shot. Carefully she adjusted her weight, maintaining her own silence so that she would not been noticed by any potential enemy.

Taking another slow breath, Raevyn released her arrow on exhaling, the string thwacking harmlessly on her armguard and watched it whip away through the trees. With a dull 'thock' it hit the target, and elated, she ran forward to the base of the old quarry where many of her fellow townspeople came to learn and practise shooting with reletive safety to see how close she had got this time.

The green-fletched arrow was a mere three fingers from the targets centre and Raevyn did a silent little victory dance. She was getting so much better!

"Raevyn!" she suddenly heard a voice call her. She recognised it at once. No doubt she was going to be in big trouble for skipping out on her chores to sneak out to the archery range. She had thought she may get away with it, as she was the only one around for miles but with her brother calling her name she suddenly doubted it.

"Rae! Are you down here?" Corben's voice reverbrated through the small valley and echoed against the granite walls of the old quarry. Raevyn set to tugging her arrow back out of the target whilst she called back to him.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Rae, come quick!" Corben's round face was alight with something and Raevyn stared at him curiously as she walked forward to retrieve her quivver. Clearly she wasn't in trouble judging by the look on his face.

"A messenger has come!" Corben panted as he arrived at his older sister's side. "A messenger from the King! Everyone must gather at the Village Square to hear him. Come on, we must hurry!" he was all but dancing in his excitement. Raevyn's eyes lit up. Messages from the far off King were rare to the small and insignificant village of Doorn. Her curiosity was immediately piqued.

Gathering up her belongings, Raevyn ran after Corben back along the path to the village. Threading her way through the trees she wondered what the message may be.

As they neared the village, and the forest thinned and opened out Raevyn saw many others approaching the square too.

"Wait! Cor!" she called. Corben stopped impatiently.

"I have to hide these." she held up her bow and quivver in way of explaination. Corben nodded suddenly, he knew how much trouble Raevyn could get into for persuing such nonsense past-times rather than doing her chores.

"You go, I'll be along in a minute." she told him and the boy took off like a hare. Raevyn turned and ran lightly around the outskirts of the village, careful to avoid the other villagers she saw on her way home. Within a very few minutes she had reached her home and her father's forge.

She dashed through the open door into the warm, empty forge and quickly stashed her gear back in its place behind a rack of farming tools her father had made. She hurried to the big water butt beside the house and splashed her face, washing away the traces of dirt and sweat. Dusting off her dress she quickly pulled her pocket-comb through her hair.

"Raevyn!" her mother this time. Raevyn spun around. "Come on child, where have you been?"

Without waiting for an explaination her mother chivvied her away from their cottage.

"There's no time, get a move on, didn't Corben tell you there was a message?"

"Yes Mama." Raevyn answered and the two women hurried toward the Village Square. The sunlight had changed as evening set in. As they came to the square, the hum of hundreds of voices reached them. They joined the curious, waiting crowd.

Ade had seen the messenger before anyone else in Doorn because he hadn't been in Doorn at the time. He'd be out by the roadside lake, relaxing in the sun, when the purple clothed messenger had passed by on his way towards Doorn. Upon seeing the man Ade had picked up his wooden practice sword and run home to find his father, easily making it to the village before the messenger.

But he wasn't currently thinking about the messenger and the note he carried. All he cared about now was matching each of his father's moves so that the sharpe point of the older man's training sword wouldn't cut him open like it had last time. His own practice sword met each of his father's flicks, lunges and slashes in almost perfect synch with his father's fluid motions.

Ade laughed and he kicked the front door open and their sparring match spilled out onto the streets. His father grinned and renewed his attacks with the youthful vigour that his son always instilled in him. Ade almost got a smack from his father's sword and in retaliation he spun round behind his father and smacked the back of his right knee with the flat edge of his wooden sword. His father fell to one knee and Ade rested his sword on his neck,

"Had fun dad?" he asked with a confident chuckle. His father laughed,

"Yes but there's that messenger you told me about." he said, pointing to the square. Ade turned to look and his father struck, smacking his sword into Ade's gut before standing up over his winded son, "What have I told you a thousand times Ade?"

"A man breathing... his last breath... will fight harder..." he weezed. His father nodded and pulled his recovering son over to the gathering crowd.

Eunice stood next to a little streem. All her attention was focused on a frog that arrogantly sat on the other side. It was almost daring her to catch it. In her mind she made a plan on how to do it. She would put her foot on the stone next to the stream. She would hold on to the branch of the willow tree and then she would surely be able to catch it. When she believed it was perfect she executed it. Very slowely she moved her foot onto the stone and with her hand held onto the branch. She tried hard not to scare of the frog. She leaned over and just as she was getting close enough to catch it the branch broke. With a splash she fell into the stream and startled the frog jumped away. Eunice sighted and then laughed at herself.

As Eunice got up she noticed the mess she had made of her dress and shoes. Her dad would not be pleased. Quickly she walked home and as she got close she tried to approach as quietly as she could hoping he would not notice her. She had almost reached the door when she heared her dad sigh 'Of all days, you had to try to catch frogs again. Go upstairs and change quickly. We need to go to the village square inmediately as there is a messager with news from the king'.

Eunice quickly ran upstairs and within five minutes she had changed into a lovely pink dress with a dark pink ribon around her waist. She quickly ran downstairs again and together they walked to the square. A message from the king? What could it possibly be? It had to be something good. Eunice had a feeling about that. It had to be good.

Above a slow moving stream stretched a sturdy wooden bridge. It stood at the outskirts of Doorn. The road that led away from the village passed through many towns before ending at Erin.

From under the bridge a rock skipped across the stream. James looked up at the bridge as he heard someone run across it. In one swift motion he stood and scrambled out from under the bridge. He saw Ade carrying a wooden sword running toward their village. James watched him until he was out of sight.

He turned to go back to his spot when he saw a man clothed in purple walking toward the bridge. As the man reached the bridge he hailed James, "Greetings lad, what is your name?"
"I'm James, sir." Since James wasn't sure who the man was he decided to bow as he said sir.
"Well then James, would you be so kind as to announce my arrival to your village and ask everyone to gather in the village square. I have an important message from the king."
A huge smile stretched across James' face. "Oh yes sir." James did a quick about face and tore off running toward Doorn.

This is so cool, he thought, this messenger asked me to help him tell everyone he was here. Now it was time to have some fun. Upon reaching the village he slowed his pace a bit and yelled at the top of his lungs all through the village. "A messenger from the king comes. He wants you all to meet him at the village square!" As he ran he changed his message a bit. "Come to the village square to hear a message from the king!" Men, women, and children looked up as he weaved in and out of the shops and market square. James recruited some of his friends to help him and the word spread quickly.

Breathing heavily, James finally arrived at his families farm. He stopped beside his father who was preparing the soil for planting this summers crop.
"Where have you been?"
"I ... have ... been telling ... everyone ... that we must gather in ... the village square to hear the messenger from the king."
"I meant before that."
"Oh, I was skipping rocks under the bridge." James grinned at his father.
"You know what I mean. I was expecting you to help me here."
"But, if I had been here I wouldn't have met the messenger today."
His father gave him that look James knew too well. It meant that was no excuse at all.
"How about I help you tomorrow?"
His father sighed, "Well the day is coming to an end and since we must not keep that messenger waiting it will have to be tomorrow. Go tell your mother."

The three of them were among the last to arrive at the village square since they were one of the furthest from it.

Raevyn and her mother arrived into the already crowded square and immersed themselves in the noise. Raevyn was amazed, she had never seen the square so crowded not even on Midsummer's Eve or the Spring Festival. Every villager, even the farmers, goatherders and shepherds who very rarely came into the town had arrived.

Raevyn reached Corben and her father who stood, almost a head taller than the others, his broad shoulders and thick beard giving him an almost bear-like appearance. Corben flashed an excited grin at her but didn't halt his coversation with his best friend Petru as the two boys speculated on the reason for the message.

Raevyn noticed that James, one of the farm boys and his father entered the crowd right by them and stood close to her, his father talking with hers. She smiled, James and she had always got along well - both being born within days of one another and both having simular interests. They'd often got into trouble together as children and even now would occasionally sneak off for a hunt or archery practise together. It was because of James that Raevyn's skills were improving so rapidly with the bow.

"Hello James," Raevyn spoke above the noise of the crowd, "amazing, isn't it?" she asked him, a movement of her arm indicating the vast amount of people packed into the square. Although Doorn's population was small, no more than 300 people it was the most Raevyn had seen all together.

Before he could answer, there was the sound of a bugle and the crowd parted hurriedly. Raevyn saw immediately the High Priestess of the Temple of Inanna on her litter being borne into the square by her servants, behind her the other Priestess's hurried along, robes billowing behind them. The Priestess' had always intimidated Raevyn with their isolated lifestyle and superior knowledge but she knew they were vital to the entire village.

"This must be important, if they've come down off their mountain." Raevyn overheard one of the old ladies gossiped to another. It was not often the Priestess' were seen in the village - only at events of great importance.

James smiled at seeing Raevyn. He replaced it with a scowl as the bugle interrupted him from talking with her. He liked talking with her and going on bow hunts together.

When the sound faded enough that he could talk he said, "Hi Raevyn. Yes it is amazing. I can't believe everyone in the village would actually stop what they were doing to come. What do you suppose is so important to send a messenger here?"

Ade yawned and sat down on the ground between James and Raevyn with a frown,
"Down in front!" he called out before laughing. He jumped to his feet and patted James on the back, "Nice to see you too man. Personally I think its gunna be something trivial like a tax hike."

"The Weak must be terminated. Only when Inanna is sated by their blood and true chaos rules can true believers be truly rewarded. This is Inanna's main mantra for our people: Survival of the--"

A sudden rap at the door made High Priestess Lilith pause from her writing. She blotted her quill and, when composed, called out: "Come in," in a stern and cold voice. A young Priestess, Lamashtu, entered and kneeled.

"May Inanna be merciless," she said timidly.

"Speak."

"A messenger has been sent by the King to the Village. It orders all to attend to hear the message."

Inanna sat back and thought for a few moments. Dare she refuse the King?

"Then we must attend. We do not want to increase our persecution, before we fulfill our sacred duty to Inanna. Prepare my litter."

***

Lilith lay on her bed of furs, while lowly Priestess' toiled beneath her and more senior ones cleared a path in front. Many people were pushed out of the way, all in the name of Inanna, of course. waited at the back, having a clear view of the procession. She tapped her cruel, sharp crozier impatiently. She wasn't known for her patience and at that moment she was just short of cursing the messenger in the name of Inanna.

Eunice looked at the other's and then at her dad. He read her mind. 'Oh go on'. Eunice jumped up and ran excitedly towards James, Raevyn and Ade. Her dad followed her to ensure that he could still see her from where he was standing. 'He guys'. She looked at Ade 'No, no not a tax hike. It's going to be something good. I can just feel it'.

Ade laughed,
"You can feel it if you want but all I'm gunna say is this..." he went serious, "If it was good then why are THEY here?"
He pointed to the Preistesses. He sighed,
"I know I'm suppose to be a knight and so I'm suppose to thank their weird goddess for each kill I make but... it's just weird. They're not people, they're treated like royalty."

Eunice looked towards the priestesses and her smile faded 'I prefer REAL royality over them anyday. They are just scary'. Their rituals and their faith in Inanna scared her. She trusted nature and the people she could see, not higher powers.

Raevyn grinned as Eunice danced lightly through the crowd to join them, she always liked the strange girl and felt oddly protective of her.

As the discussion shifted toward the Priestess' of Innana she shifted uncomfortably. She was always brought up to be respectful, and the Priestess' were certainly feared by the villagers - nobody wanted to be punished for disobedience to Inanna. Raevyn thought of her own mother who still worshipped the Old Goddess in secret, the Goddess whose name was still whispered in safe places and quickly changed the subject.

"I think we're about to find out." she nodded toward the little platform built into the side of the Sovereign of Doorn, Aaron's home which was used for occasions such as this. Sovereign Aaron, his wife Micha and his young son Ben had just climbed onto the platform. The purple-clothed messenger was with them. Raevyn's eyes found them all just as Aaron began appealing for quiet.

As the villagers began to fall silent, Raevyn studied the messenger. He looked young, but older than she by at least three or four years, much closer to Ade's age. He looked tired but cheerful, his mission complete now she supposed as Doorn was the most far-flung village of Erindoor.

The palace finery he wore was travel stained, now she looked more closely however the man carried himself proudly and confidently which drew attention away from the details of his clothing. He carried a sword, but no mail and he wore a beard that was short and a little straggly.

One by one the villagers fell silent, all eyes expectantly on the platform.

"Good people," the messenger boomed in a carrying voice. "I come from his Royal Highness King Thaumann the Third with an important message for all of his subjects."

The messenger rolled out a parchment he'd held in his hand and began reading aloud.

"It is the command of His Majesty, King Thaumann the Third of that name, Lord of Isle Icatus and Master of the Seven Keys that all unmarried young people no younger than sixteen and no older than twenty five, are to travel forthwith to the Royal Palace in Erin to appear before His Majesty on the first day of summer this year." He read.

"No matter status, birthright or class, no matter job or position in society or the home, no matter man or woman. All must be present at this, special audience without exception. That is all."

Immediately a hubbub arose as people again began to wonder aloud, some women began to weep and clutch at their older children fearing to lose them. Corben and several other youngsters began protesting loudly - they were too young to go.

"Please, friends." Sovereign Aaron began, his voice rising above that of the villagers. "It is His Highness' command and we must obey. We have but a month until the first day of summer, so I suggest that those of you who will be travelling to go to your homes to prepare and say goodbye to your families. You must leave at first light tomorrow if you are to make it on time."

Raevyn was speechless, the command so completely unexpected. She gazed wide eyed at her friends for a moment. The proclamation gave rise to more questions than it answered.

James intent expression as he listened to the message gave way to a smile that grew as the impact of the message sank in. He ended up with a silly grin from ear to ear as he looked at his friends. He and they were all included in the summons.

It was very timely too. Now he wouldn't have to help his father in the fields tomorrow. Even better, the king had just preempted his fathers authority and liberated him from the command of his father to not leave home.

The next thing that came to his mind arrived at his mouth before he could stop it. "Cool, no parents to tell us what to do!" James eyes sparkled with the prospect.

Ade turned to his father. The older man gave a single nod. He laughed and ran back to his house.

After only a few minutes he came rushing back out, some strange clothes and weapons in hand. He laughed manically as he reached his friends again,
"Finally! This will be my test!" he jumped up and down on the spot before throwing his trainning sword away. The wooden sword was quickly followed by his hunters' vest and his under shirt. He then delved into the pile of odd looking clothes and pulled out a white jacket. He put it on and tied it closed. Laughing again he drew a silvery sword from the bundle and stabbed it into the built in hilt on the back of the white jacket. He pulled a spear out next, the pole of which was extending. He grinned from ear to ear, "All I have to do is do what the king asks and I'll pass my test of manhood!"
He threw the spear into the open ground in front of the crowd and stepped over to it,
"It is the duty of any self respecting parent to have their children work in the service of the King... For the King!"

"No matter status, birthright or class, no matter job or position in society or the home, no matter man or woman. All must be present at this, special audience without exception. That is all."

Eunice intensely listened to the message and when it had finished she giggled. An adventure, that would be wonderful. She jumped up and danced around hapily. It would be a great adventure. She would meet lots of really nice people, she just knew it. She had felt it all along, it was something good.

At the same time her father felt concerned. In his eyes Eunice was much too young for such an adventure. If not in age then certainly in heart. He knew however that he would not be able to refuse the king. All his life he had protected her and now he would have to let her go, just like that. Quickly he walked over to Raevyen. He looked at her seriously 'Raevyen, I probably have no right to ask you this, but I know you get along well with Eunice. She doesn't recognize danger even when it is right in front of her. Would you please keep an eye on her when you go?'.

"It is the duty of any self respecting parent to have their children work in the service of the King... For the King!"

Her father turned towards James and Ade, who had just thrown his spear into the open ground 'You too, please?. She is so.....' He looked at Eunice and sounded almost desperate when he said 'Well look at her'. Eunice had continued dancing and stopped for a moment when she noticed a little robin. She smiled at it and said 'He there, little friend. I'm going on a great adventure'. Her father sighted 'She really is just like a butterfly and they break so easily'. Tears appeared in his eyes. His little girl was leaving and he would not be able to protect her any more.