The Grace Stones- Vaion Sithiri

[Andross]

OoC: Well, I decided to start up a character fiction thing for my character. It will be about the events that led up to how Vaion is today. Well, hopefully you'll like it. Also, I do admit it starts out kind of slow, but trust me, these first few posts are setting up the plot for the first part of this story, which will be about the war. Action will start pretty soon...

Note: There will be perspective shifts throughout the story.

BiC:

Chapter One-

Valken, a human of the age of 35, walked along the dirty stone pathway, towards the old stone tower, outside the town of Galea. He was smiling. Something important was about to happen. Something important was about to happen to the Order of the Cleansing. Valken, garbed in a hooded robe as dark as the night, tapped the old wooden door to the tower. An eye peaked through a crack on the left side of the door, and dissapeared. The door slowly opened.

Valken walked in. Candles decorated the hallway ahead of him. He walked down the pathway, paying close attention to the paintings which decorated the walls. Each one was a painting of the Foredemons, terrible beings of immense power. He came to the end of the hallway, and stood before three stone stairways- Two leading up, one leading down. He stepped down the lower staircase.

He finished climbing down the staircase, and walked into the basement. There stood eleven similiarly robed figures, and one garbed in red. "Valken! What news do you bring?" asked the red garbed figure. Valken's grin grew. "Callicos." was his reply. All of the robed figures suddenly turned to Valken, and the figure garbed in red put back his hood. The hood revealed an old face, with a metal sheet replacing his left eye. He had gray, withered hair, and a gray beard, which ran down from his sideburns and connected to his mustache. He stared at Valken, curiously.

"So... The war has started, then?" asked the old man. "Why yes, Master Zykan. The war has started. Callicos is already sending his troops across the sea." The audience started to murmur. Zykan walked down to Valken, and took off his hood. It revealed a bald man, with scars across his face. "Thank you for this, Valken..." said Zykan, softly. "Sithiri will be pleased."

Zykan then walked back to his seat. He sat, for about twenty seconds, pondering. The audience's murmuring had become louder, and Valken had looked all the merrier. Then, Zykan sat up. The audience stopped murmuring. Valken stared straight at Zykan. "Callicos will be attacking Feliade soon. This will give us the chance to obtain the Grace Stone." The audience was silent. "However... Callicos's target is the same as ours. He wishes to gain access to the Spirit Realm." The audience's silence remained.

"Luckily, he is too ignorant to comprehend what he deals with. A shell of Sithiri gaurds the stone. This shell will defend against all intruders. If the shell is destroyed, then all the better. Sithiri will be freed. But, we know not where the new Sithiri incarnation will spawn. That is why we must make sure we obtain the Grace Stone before he does."

Valken mentioned something. "We must also make sure the Velean does not die in this battle." Zykan looked up, as if he suddenly remembered something. "Yes... We must make sure she must not die. There is a human village, right outside the Pantheran lands. It has sided with Callicos, and if the Pantherans find it, our hope will be lost. There is a young Velean living there, by the name of Violet. She is the key to Sithiri's success..." The audience murmured in agreement. "When dawn comes, we will send Valken and two other Cleansers, all going separate routes, to make sure that our plans are not ruined."

Once again, the audience murmured in agreement.

OoC: Well, what did you think? Hopefully it was good...

[Andross]

OoC: Maybe a bit early for a second chapter, but the first didn't set 'everything' up, and since the chapters in my story will switch perspectives, I believe it is best to post the next chapter.

BiC:

Chapter 2

The wind was blowing across the grasses outside Veklian, the capital city of Feliade, on a cold night. These plains were normally quiet; separate from the civilized world. However, on this particular night, things were different- The Royal Pantheran Army was sending out it's troops. One of the divisions of this army, consisting primarily of foreign help, was ordered to march to the town of Gangrigar, where they would battle with Callicos's forces.

Vaion Kakreka was part of this division. He felt out of place in this division; most of the people in this division were humans. Humans and Pantherans never saw eye-to-eye. There are few who know why the hatred exists between these two races.

Vaion had to endure the torments from these humans. Vaion would ask these people why they were helping the Pantherans if they hated them so; they would claim that it was just for the sake of stopping Callicos's expansion.

Vaion believed that he was out of luck. He had to work with a group of racist humans, and he was away from the comfort of his brethren. He was going off to war, to face this terrible threat. The psycological torment this group put him through, as well as the incompatibility of the two races, would most likely make this mission unsuccessful... However, Vaion pulled through. This may be because of the help of a close friend of Vaion's, a human by the name of Ralleck.

Vaion knew Ralleck from a previous encounter. In a previous battle, where the Pantherans were defending one of their cities, which, coincidentally, happened to be Gangrigar, Ralleck saved Vaion's life. They were fighting against The Order of the Cleansing, when the organization was most successful, and had the most members. There was one member of the Cleansing, known as Valken, who nearly killed Vaion, in the Cleansing's raid. However, a human that was assigned to work with the Pantheran Royal Army, saw that Vaion was injured, and stopped Valken, right as Vaion was about to recieve his death blow. They became friends after that.

Ralleck claimed that, before he was assigned to this mission, that he was working 'undercover'- He had to live in a human Trade City known as Hillsborough, which was under the control of Callicos. He and his family had to live there, and gather as much information about the shipments in and out of the trade city as possible.

Vaion was glad that Ralleck was in the same division as him. This mission didn't look as bad as it was before.

OoC: Alright, I know there are a ton of problems here. Please point them out to me, so I can go back and fix them.

BiC:

Chapter 3

The castle known as Galehold was a grand site. It was a large structure, consisting of four 'districts'- Each one of the districts looked as if it was a small village, consisting of a few buildings, and large gardens. The main towers consisted of four cylinders, each extending from a large dome, at the center of the castle. This grand castle loomed over the metropolis of Dainam, the center of Emperor Callicos's vast empire.

But that name- Callicos- Is definitely an insult to the ancestors of Dainam, who built that beautiful castle. The royal family of the past, the one before Callicos, was known for it's great rulership of the Dainam Empire. Callicos, however, shattered that long tradition of noble leaders. The world, which once looked upon Dainam with love, began to hate it. The only people that would ever like the nation now, were the citizens of Dainam itself.

What would cause this hatred for Callicos and his accomplishments? Maybe people did not like the fact that he was so young. Afterall, Dainam has seen most of her Emperors come to power at the ages of 22 to 24, but he was still young, of the age of 14. Maybe, he had alot to live up to, considering that the previous emperor had brought so much prosperity to the Empire. Callicos's father, Maxius, was probably the most famous of the Dainam Emperors. Or... Maybe, it was greed. Greed, and lust for power.
----------------

Callicos looked up from the book he was reading. It was a dusty old text, describing the 'Spiritual Realm'. He looked across the room, spotting Derihem, one of his most valued generals. "Derihem... Nice to see you..." said Callicos.

Derihem looked at Callicos, a tall young man, with long, blonde hair, and green eyes.

"The armies have reached Feliade." was Derihem's response. Callicos smiled, knowing that his war had begun. "So, I take it that the public still thinks of the Pantherans as a menace?" replied Callicos. Derihem sighed. He knew the true reason for Callicos's war. Callicos wanted the Grace Stones, so that he could enter the Spiritual realm, and claim it as his own. "Yes, sire..." Derihem responded.

Callicos walked over to the large, rectangular window at the other end of his study. He looked out across the city of Dainam, from the north Galehold tower. He could see the sea off in the distance. Seeing this gave him an even better mood. For, somewhere across those seas, was Feliade. And, the war in Feliade has begun.

Callicos walked back to his chair, sat down, and pulled out another book, entitled 'Pantheran Lore.' Derihem looked at Callicos, and then looked at the book. He came to the conclusion that Callicos was looking for information about the Grace Stone found in Feliade. Callicos had obtained the other two Grace Stones, the Grace Stones of Killiath and Mortivan. All he needed was the Grace Stone of Sithiri...

Derihem left Callicos. All Callicos would do, for the rest of that night, was study... His research was fueled by his ambition, and his ambition was fueled by his longing for the Grace Stones.

OoC: Decided to add another chapter... I am going to have the first several chapters switch perspectives, every chapter...

BiC:

Chapter 4

Blood of one of the local Hillsborough guards stained the walls of a dark alley.

"Ugh..." is all the guard could make out. Slumped down in the corner, bleeding from his chest and his mouth. "So, do you know where the Velean is?" Valken asked loudly. "I... Don't know..." is all the guard could say. Valken walked around, to the back of the man. He knelt down, so that his face was beside the man's ear. He spoke in a sinister tone. "Do you know... A man named Ralleck?" asked Valken. "R-Ralleck...? I think... I think I know... I overheard a m-man mention the name Ralleck..." replied the guard, fearfully.

Valken stood up. "Then, do you know where this man is? The one who knows Ralleck?" asked Valken. "He said s-something about Gangrigar... Maybe he went off to fight for Callicos? Maybe Ralleck is there as well?P-please... Can you let me go?" answered the guard. "Gangrigar... I'll be on my way." replied Valken. "Oh! Thanks for sparing me!" answered the guard, as Valken walked out of the alley. As Valken walked out, the guard continued to thank him. However, Valken was not as kind as he seemed...

"Thank you f-for... Eh? ARGH!" screamed the guard, as a ring of fire appeared around the poor man, devouring him in a vortex of flame. The flame extinguished after the man completely disentegrated, leaving no traces of the terrible event, except for the blood on the walls, and ashes on the streets. By the time the flame extinguished, however, Valken had already left the village.

"So, Gangrigar... This is a ways away from Hillsborough. Best to keep the battle away from this town, instead of searching each house for the girl...", muttered Valken, to himself. He walked through the fields, remembering past events that happened at Gangrigar.

So, fate returns me to this town... Oh, what a humiliating defeat... That damned Zykan, thinking he runs things perfectly... Oh, you wait, Zykan... I believe that the Order will soon no longer need you... Valken soon ended his recollections when he realized that his thoughts were turning into fantasies. Fantasies of the Order of the Cleansing, with Valken leading the way. Fantasies of Zykan being sacrificed to Sithiri. Oh, how he wished these fantasies were realities.

Valken continued to wander across the plains until he spotted smoke in the distance. "So, the fighting has already begun, has it?" he thought to himself, as he looked across the fields, noticing a fiery building off in the distance. The fighting in Gangrigar had begun. This was a perfect chance for Valken to take advantage of the situation.