Artemesia Family/Garret/Tale of the Five

As a request from Garret Artemesia, a party of five Morekian nobles was asked to tell some tales of their pasts, to pass some time before yet another monster campaign. Being the one who suggested the idea, The Visionaries, Garret decided to provide an example, however bad the story would be.

Garret's Tale

We know who and where we are now, but what might not be as well-known, is how we came to be where we now are.

Perhaps I could provide a simple example with a truly unremarkable story about a young knight, with a lot of ambition.

Seven years ago, there was a young noble, just turned seventeen. He had left his home to go further into the east, symbolically, towards the rising sun, as he had taken it to be a sign that his skills and his prestige would rise with the light. This noble was called Galahad Artemis, the student of what the best in nobility had to offer in swordfighting, in military leadership, in strategy, music, decorum, bureaucracy, trade, chilvalry, and all the other noble activities. He had sought his future in a realm called Lasanar, then the greatest realm on that continent.

He had difficulty proving anything exceptional to his many peers, who were as skilled and some more skilled, than he. All that he could do, was try to learn, and learn he did, from the general, from the judge, the banker, and the many dukes and lords. But never could he determine how one could advance in the social nobility.

Soon, however, this point was made irrelevant. Lasanar was rendered asunder, into five distinct realms. Galahad was forced to choose sides quickly, and decided to support the duke he had come to see as a great figure of leadership. For his support, an infiltrator attacked him twice, stabbing him twice in each attack.

But Galahad recovered, and in his dedicated service to the duke, he was given the education of a duke, and a wasteland region called Upasael to show his understanding of the education he received. For three weeks he had to manage without knights, alone in a barren wasteland that spawned the walking corpses of soldiers fallen in battle. Alone he had to fight, with his small band of men. But never did he lose the region, and never was the region in danger of being lost.

Galahad was but only a region lord, and had no control over the realm his region would be forced to bear allegiance. The ruler of his realm decided to change his region to the remnants of what was once proud Lasanar. Galahad endured, however, and gained a knight. His successful tenure in Upasael looked to continue for a long time, despite the upheaval around him, as ironically, the chaotic wasteland proved to be one of the more stable regions in the unstable regions surrounding it.

He was a baron. He could have become a duke. He could have become a great leader, just as he had wanted. But he sailed away from all that, as he was a young and foolish noble. He was still an idealist, a romanticist. He stil believed in the great heroic legends of the brave nobles who went forth from the comforts of their homelands for the glory of humanity, to chart the unknown, and to tame the wild. And so he pursued this silly fantasy.

A month after his tenure as baron of Upasael, Galahad arrived in the islands that were home to Shadovar. As his past in the east would be worthless, Galahad contented himself with serving the islands as best he could. He served as trader, bringing food from the faraway city of Golden Farrow. He served as a bureaucrat, maintaining regions that were still rough with wilderness. He served as cartographer, mapping the western lands even when the majority was still a dark area on most maps. Although he had much less prestige in Shadovar, he was still content. The islands had become a challenging, but still enchanting, home.

This would end with the monster invasions, the arrival of colonists who wanted to create a realm dedicated to the dragons, and the betrayal that ensued. Galahad, who was still young, was forced to leave his home, and in his exodus, he traveled through the Desert of Silhouettes, where he saw a vision of a place he could not imagine. That night, as he lay exhausted in the cold desert night, he saw three red lights in the sky. And he followed them.

It is a boring story, I know. But I suppose it helps provide an idea of what I'd like to read, for entertainment? Of course, if it is indeed for entertainment, perhaps an actual story could be written better than my poorly penned one.

The next one to speak was also a young knight, named Velox Anima.

Velox's Tale

Sir Garret, your tale is touching, and I must praise you for your willingness to share your past. As always, you never cease to amaze me at how well you can write, despite what you have said. I do not have such a grand tale to tell as you do, but here is the jest of it:

I was born and raised on the East Island, or the Old Continent as I like to put it; in the fair county of Lorient, which belongs to the proud nation of Perdan. I was to be raised like all other men of nobility, but instead, something quite unique happened.

When I was but eight, a young knight not much older than I am today made a visit to my family manor. Being eager for adventure, I begged the knight to take me with him back south, and he reluctantly agreed, making me his page. A few weeks later, I witnessed for the first time, the glory of the battlefield, and I fell in love with it. Unfortunately, my stay in Caligus was not long. The knight went mad after the his hero, High Marshal Eagle's Reach died on the battlefield against the Yssarians and I was forced to leave.

However, my thirst for adventure had not died. I travelled throughout almost the entirety of the continent, serving under many different lords as page or squire, and learned many things. On my seventeenth birthday, my counsins plead with me to serve alongside them in their struggle to defeat the goliath that was Fontan, but I had no more interest in that continent. So I hired a ship to Dwilight, the New Continent, in order to tame this wilderness of a new world. And believe me, Sir Garret, by the light of the Bloodstars, Dwilight will be tamed.

And so came two stories, with three left to come. Next came Mervin Vetinari, another knight of Huanghai.

Mervin's Tale

I hail from Tara on Atamara. I had a good home, but I found Tara unbearable. My father would always regale me enthusiastically about some region which had been recaptured for the 10th time. As a child, it seemed to me an endless and pointless war in which the lands being fought over slowly deteriorated until the only thing that appears to grow is the piles of bones and carcasses.. I remember vowing as a child to never raise a weapon against another.

My father loved it- I suppose war was more carnal and real than his job as a bureaucrat. As I grew older, I realized the stupidity of that vow. Battle is inevitable and a man unwilling to lift a blade is a dead man. I learned all the things my father learned before old age finally conquered him. I still found war among men despicable, but accepted it as an inevitable evil. Rare is the war with the good cause.

When I was 20, I finally had enough and left for Dwilight. I heard it was a land overridden by monsters and decided I could cleanse my feeling of war without purpose there. There is little to regret in a war against monsters who kill children without a second thought.

The penultimate tale came from Vos de Zorro, knight of Donghaiwei.

Vos' Tale

Vos grew up hearing the exploits of his Uncle Vulpes in Lasanar, how he'd progressed from a dynamic general to duke and then to lead one the most powerful Northern nation. Although Vos grew up learning about him he did not wish to be like him, when called upon by the Order to help raise funds as a trader he had answered. Though the whole experience had cost him more than he made, which troubled him as he was doing it for the Order and not himself. He has dutifully followed Lady Alison and worked hard to support the Order where he could. Still young and undecided when asked to commit to the colony he thought this may be the opportunity to find his purpose...