The Divine/Godly Protector

The World of Aethion, is home to many wonders absent from the mundane world we live in. It is home to monsters and magic, but also so much more. The world of Aethion, is a place of rich culture and beauty, both in its inhabitants and its scenery. Humans exist in Aethion, but they are not the only inhabitants. There exist the long lived and beautiful Elves, the industrious and trade minded Thangar, as well as other races of a more alien nature to us, such as the reclusive and enigmatic insectoid Nah’ni.

Despite the overwhelming beauty and exoticness, it is a harsh and dangerous place. Though the gods have Blessed the Races, some more than others, they are not selfless, in Aethion, the strong must struggle for their strength. This is not always the case, there are those who are Blessed by the Gods, these individuals are rare, but they are more talented and generally stronger than others, in certain ways. The other exception, are the Summoned, also called Heroes, they are brought into the world by the Gods, through the Races of Aethion.

The First Summoning was of a man from Earth, he was a Japanese born man, from the Warring States era. He was blessed by many Gods, and was astonishingly powerful in battle; he fought against the First Demon Lord. Demon Lords were the Titles given to Monsters that evolved to become near godlike in power. The Demon Lords name was Rahdon, well, that was the name he gave himself, he was an actual demon, but not all Demon Lords are Demons, there have been Ogre Demon Lords, and even Goblin Demon Lords.

After the man killed Rahdon, he founded a country, the Drakon Empire, the Land of Dragons. It took heavy influence from his experiences in Japan, and was a feudal nation. It has remained a great power over the years, and has helped the world as a whole. It is one of the reasons that when the Overflow came, the Countries, Nations, and Empires of Aethion performed a Summoning. That was nearly millennia ago, and a general peace has reigned between the countries.

In recent years, skirmishes have happened between several of the Countries, just as War was to begin, the Overflow struck once more. Though Dungeons and the monsters within are a potential source of strength for the people of Aethion, they are dangerous. The most dangerous aspect of them however, is the Overflow, a period of time, usually after a Demon Lord is killed, when monsters usually confined to Dungeons and Labyrinths burst forth.

Though there is once more a threat against the Races, they are still far from united. Many of the Countries have performed the Summoning to bring Heroes, both to fight the Overflow and as a defense against other countries.

Chapter One: The Summoning

On Aethion

Within the Kingdom of Light, one of the Great Powers of the Continent of Estau, the main landmass of Aethion, much work was going on in the Castle. In the castle proper the numerous slaves and servants and other people were running about in a scurry finishing last minute preparations for the day. It was a rather important day, the Day of the Summoning. Most of the nearby countries on Estau had conducted their Summoning’s many months prior.

The Kingdom of Light had to take additional time to prepare as they were ordered by their Patron, Tamara, Lady of Light. They were attempting to common a very specific individual, though they did not know that. They, like all the other countries would attempt to bring many Summoned to their side. The Summoning Chamber was located deep within the bowels of the Castle. Once the Summoning was held the Throne Room but after a certain incident when they summoned a rather inhuman being, that practice was changed.

Now the Summoning was held in a circular room, many feet below ground. It was large, more than 40 feet across; the floor was stone with an intricate magic circle engraved into it. The magic circle had branches leading off into adjoined rooms, each with heavy metal doors. The rooms all had a magic circle similar to the larger one in the Chamber, which they were all connected to. The rooms were all secured and reinforced, there were 5 rooms in all, some larger or smaller than the others.

In the Chamber 10 holy men were arranged around the large magic circle. 9 of the men were Priests; they were all on their knees, silently channeling their magical power into the magic circle. The 10th man was standing, while the Priests were dressed in plain white robes, he however was wearing more ornate garb. His robes were a brighter white, with gold trim along the fringes of the robes, his headpiece was rather ornate as well.

He was reading aloud from a large golden tome weathered with use and age, its pages were frayed and dog-eared

“Oh Tamara, Lady of Light, our Patron, we beseech thee and your fellow Gods for their Blessings in this Summoning. We shall need Your Champions, Your Blessed, to survive against the heathens that seek to bring ruin to your Children, WE BESEECH THEE!!!”

As the Bishop’s words ended, they echoed about the room, during this the magic circle glowed brighter and brighter. An accompanying glow could be seen emanating from the smaller separated Summoning Rooms. The others attending, looked on with expectation, among them were the current members of the Royal Family. There were 4 of them; the most important of them was the King, Richard Luminus, a shorter jovial looking man, whose weathered face bore the stress of leadership.

To his left stood his eldest child, his only son, the Crown Prince Julius Luminus. He stood nearly a foot taller than his father; he was in his early 30’s. He was thinly built, and rather handsome to boot, most members of the Kingdom called him Julius the Blessed, which was one of his titles granted to him by the Lady. He gained the title nearly 2 decades ago when the Wildmen of the North pushed south with a massive army.

The Wildmen were mostly disorganized barbarians that roamed the Northern countries of Estau. Occasionally a Champion would be crowned, one Blessed by Aslak, the Old God of the North who held dominion over Survival and Winter. It was one such Champion who organized the Wildmen, his name was Moldof, a giant amongst men. He alone united them through sheer force of will and the power he possessed. They swept across Estau like a plague, they dealt much damage before Moldof fell assaulting Drakon.

The remains of his army fled west into the Kingdom of Light. It was at this time that Julius, who had been visiting a border village, earned his Title. He only had a few Knights with him at the time, just as the Prince and the village were both about to fall a pillar of Light descended from the heavens and enveloped him. From there the tide of the battle turned with the Prince rallying those with the will to fight and held out until reinforcements arrived.

Behind the King and the Crown Prince stood the Twin Princesses, they were widely regarded as being the most beautiful women in the Kingdom. On the left stood the Crimson Princess, the general of the Kingdom, she stood at around 5 foot 8. She possessed long crimson hair with hung down her back like some wild mane. Her hair was not what gave her that title however, it was her actions during an event only 5 years ago that did that.

It was when an OverSpill happened, they were similar to the Overflow, but localized to only one dungeon, usually ones inhabited by weaker faster reproducing Monsters such as Imps, Goblins, or the inhabitants of the rare Dire Animal Dungeon. The young Princess Emma, only 15 at the time, was at the estate of an Earl, visiting a friend when it happened. She had been in the town below the estate when they showed up, the Krystalou.

The Krystalou, were mutated Dire Animals, which were animals corrupted by magic, the Krystalou however, took that a step further. They were rare beings, they could only come into existence when a powerful Dire Animal consumed a Dungeon Core, or a portion of it. They could however be coerced into being formed, a Dungeon Master or Dungeon Lord, could feed a piece of the Core to a Dire Animal with a large Brood. Just as in humans, drugs could affect a feeding child; the power of the Core mutated the Mother and the Children, as they fed.

There were many Krystalou, around 50, more than had been seen since the First Overflow, where theyw ere first seen. They attacked the village, along with thousands of other animals, Dire and otherwise. They killed most of the villagers, but ignored those that escaped; they marched on the Estate, which was manned by only a few hundred soldiers. Emma was trapped in the village; she was attacked as she tried to flee back to the Estate.

A Krystalou in the shape of a massive wolf lunged at her; the Princess fell back and dropped the dagger she had been holding. She scrambled to recover it, she let out a cry of pain as the Krystalou latched onto her leg, she strained to reach the dagger, finally grasping it before she was pulled back by the monster grabbing her. The beast let go of her leg as she flew through the air, she impacted against the ground, somehow still holding onto her weapon.

It pounced towards her once again, this time aiming for her throat, to finish its pitiful prey off. The princess was trembling as the world seemed to slow and the deadly teeth inched closer and closer to her. Suddenly she heard a sharp yelp and a massive weight collapsed on top of her. She opened her eyes after a time, the Krystallou lay dead atop her, she was covered in its blood.

As the body vanished into dust, her wounds healed and she picked up her weapon, a voice echoed within her mind.

“Rise up Warrior, Rise up, slay your enemies and become forged through blood, become my Crimson Warrior.”

As the words of Denek, the Crimson God reverberated about her mind, more and more Krystalou and other Animals showed up. They gathered around her forming a circle with her and the fading pool of blood from the Krystalou in the center. There was a silence and a tranquility that descended, then it was broken as the animals all rushed towards her. That was how her Trial began and how she became the Crimson Princess.

Whereas Emma was a fighter, a warrior through and through, Caitlin, was the more societal of the two. While Emma was brash and prone to violence, she was also rather honorable and virtuous, Caitlin was cunning and manipulative. Truthfully, Caitlin was the only Princess, of the two of them; Emma gave up her claims when she gained her Title. Caitlin was the more suited for the role, but those of the Kingdom still liked to call the two of them the Twin Princesses.

As the light from the ritual grew brighter shapes and figures started to form. The King and Julius watched on with expectations in their eyes. Emma looked on with apathy, being relatively uncaring about those that would be summoned. Caitlin waited and gazed on with anticipation as the figures became more solid amidst the aura of light. During this the glow in the accompanying rooms died down, in all except for one that is, which glowed slightly brighter than the Chamber itself.