Family History
Sir Brother Wessick
Lived in Era 26, got 1 heir(s) (Vostov) and was a member of Paladins of the Order of the Frozen Flame
The tales of Brother Wessick are few, for he sought not personal glory...but the glory of his God. To know Wessick was to know a deity called Lothon the Ever Living. His people were a scattered race of humans which gathered into a great pilgramage into the western lands of the world.
In the 26th era, Wessick gave praise to Lothon as his people built a city to the south of the Seugey Woods and overlooking the River of Dathaya. They numbered few more then a thousand...yet they gave praise for their safe arrival.
Lothon was known as the Ever Living, for he had existed since time began...and gave prosperity to those that practiced the way of peace with nature. To say that Lothon was a God of nature was putting it mildly...for to harm a deer without his approval was a grave sin.
The first Cathedral of Lothon was built in the settlement of Sanctuary, and his following slowly began to grow.
Sir Vostov
Lived in Era 27, got 1 heir(s) (Kelnos) and was a member of Paladins of the Order of the Frozen Flame
In the years prior to the ending of the 26th Era, Vostov Gilnor was born to a family that was being slowly wiped out by sickness. It was in these years that he grew to depend strongly on himself as he watched his parents and siblings die around him...until at the age of seven, he had none left.
The city he lived within was Preatonia...and soon he felt a differant kind of suffering. That of war, as the armies of the Frozen Flame tore into the city and conquered it. The defenders held out for months, but without nearby reinforcements...their defeat was unavoidable.
As he sat within the rubble of a watchtower...bodies all around him. Vostov saw a man in grey robes come upon him. He was an aged man, yet seemed to have a caring manner about him.
"Who is this child?" The man asked of several armored soldiers near him.
"Probably a orphan your eminence...there are many this day. They fought to the last, commendable...but foolhearty."
"Silence Covenus...be more respectful of the dead. They are with Lothon even now I am sure."
"Yes sir."
The older man turned out to be the Viceroy of the kingdom who attacked the city. He took young Vostov in to learn more of his plight...it seemed the older man considered it a penence for all the death that had been caused.
Learning of the boy, made the man later chose to adopt him. And Vostov grew into the house of Tilakmen...as its second son.
The terrors of war had driven belief in some higher power from the boy. And no ammount of council changed that over the years. Still, he had his adopted fathers love of the less fortunate...and his ability to speak well to others.
Vostov took the position of Viceroy to the king when his father finally moved to retirement in his old age. Meanwhile, his brother Nolen continued in his duties as a knight to the king.
As a new era dawned, possibilties were endless...and the church which Vostov cared so little for, had grown into a very strong part of the kingdom...even now, lords of the kingdom spoke the name of his fathers God with reverance.
The forging of the New Era)))
As the era began and his father waited in a monestary in old Sanctuary...Vostovbegan to look to the lords of the kingdom. Many of them sons of the old lords, now retired. They were weaker then many of the kingdoms...far weaker. Consolodating their strength was needed, and for that they had to deal with a small kingdom to the north.
(((The Rebel War)))
Still weak from the civil war which marked much of the end of the last Era. The kingdom had a small confederacy to the north, which had formed a kingdom. The King gave the order, and the generals marched forth with thousands of soldiers.
Nolan, his own brother led the Royal Guard against the city of South Carolina, and a small army near it. Though beaten back by greater numbers, the Guard had managed to kill hundreds of enemy soldiers, while losing few themselves.
Driven back to Temple Yard, Nolan marched out once more. Vostov gave simple orders...draw the enemy out by making them think you weak. The tactic worked, and hundreds of enemy soldiers marched out of the city to the waiting arms of the knights of the Guard.
The Rebel Kingdom was defeated shortly after by Lord Razios and Lord Zango...their willingness to conquer caused some worry amongst the lesser nobles and among the clerics. Vostov did not hear these fears, for they were both his good friends.
(((The Betrayel and Civil War)))
Vostov soon learned that trust...was not so easy to believe in. His friends betrayed the kingdom, and began raising the great armies against it. Soon, the sounds of war erupted and the armies of the kingdom...once powerful, were soon against them.
Brother against brother...former Paladin, against loyalists. All the while, in the skies...Lothon wept for his children...for they had lost their way.
As the traitorus armies marched, messages reached Vostov...they wanted him to join in their rebellion. Vostov remembered well what his father taught him.
"Loyalty my son...is one of Lothons greatest commandments. Loyalty to king, loyalty to God, loyalty to brethren and family. Whether you believe or not, always remember that true honor is in loyalty."
He almost tore the papers up...but chose instead to use their own ways against them. Manipulating them so that he could buy the kingdom time to prepare. As the days passed and his messengers ran like the wind...loyalists began to raise armies.
The rebels would be met in the field with greater forces then they had imagined...believing that without them, the kingdom was weak. They had instead, awoken the burning flame of righteousness.
Lord Zango, attempted to play both sides against the middle...but found himself without allies when the war came to him.
The armies of the kingdom crushed the rebels one by one. Each city falling before them, making the kingdom stronger. It came to a point when the rebels were burning cities to the ground, choosing to destroy instead of heal. In this, they proved their unwillingness to do anything good. The priests of Lothon demanded the Royal Guard be sent to deal with matters...but Vostov refused, saying that priests did not run the kingdom...the king did. Until he recieved marching orders form his lord...he would keep the Guard unmoved.
The religious orders were mobile though, and captured several cities. As the war was winding down 2 months after it had begun...there was little left of the rebels.
(((Rebuilding and Expanding))))
With a death toll in the tens of thousands, the war had caused much suffering. Loyalty was now the watchword of the kingdom. As the cities captured from the traitors became once more part of the kingdom...the bells of the cathedrals rang out a new day. The war was over...the traitors killed in battle, or hung from the trees of the Segury forest.
But the kingdom had felt two great wars...and was now no longer going to be weak. Armies were forged and lands to the north and northeast laid claim too.
(((The Coming of the Red Hand))))
But sorrow seemed to be the greatest part of Vostovs life...for though the rebels had been defeated, they had many friends. These friends forged plans to bring low the kingdom...and they had with them the power to do it.
The kingdom was still recovering when the flags of the Red Hand waved against them. Nolen, his brother led the Guard against some of them...but his fate came when he was killed in battled trying to defend the northern expanse of the kingdom. Vostov wept as he heard the news...and he even grew somewhat angered.
How could Lothon be a good god...if one of his greatest servents now lay dead...and treachery grew from all around them. Vostov called a priest to scream at...for his anger was greater then his sense.
The priest merely sat quietly as Vostov screamed obscenities upon him...several minutes and then an hour passed before the voice of the Viceroy grew horse. He sighed and looked upon the priest.
"How can you stand there quietly... the enemy armies are upon us... and our soldiers are without ability to defeat them. The Templars are crushed... and my brother lays dead on foriegn soil. Where is your God Lothon now? Why has he not heard the peoples prayers?"
The priest smiled knowingly.
"In the old world....there was a man, like yourself. A duke, who spoke of politics and armies. When all the dark powers of that world had crushed his armies...who was there? Not the duke...no. When but a thousand of our people yet lived...who was there? Not the duke... he had trusted in his swords and soldiers. Only Lothon heard, and your father was his only speaker to the world."
"Speak not to me of my father... his body still rests peacefully...he cannot help us here. He was alive in this kingdoms glory days. Before treason and ill-fortune came upon us."
"Now another age has come...and Lothon still hears. The dark powers are too great here...their organization too strong. They have followed us here...to this new place. Only Lothon knows what to do."
Vostov remembered his fathers words from before his death. How Lothon had supposedly delivered a mere thousand people from death. And brought them to Zetamania....to prosper.
"You wish me to go."
"Lothon will chose who goes...You have a child do you not?"
"Yes..one that I have not told anyone about."
"No mortal at least my lord... but we know. You must give us the child...so that we may hide him away. The future king will need his services in the new world."
Meanwhile outside the gates of New Sanctuary...the enemy army unleashed untold fires...bringing low the pitiful walls.
"He is with his mother... go. I will see to the defences."
Like others before him... Vostov died as he lived, stubborn and unwilling to relent in his end. He led his solders in the last defence of the kingdom. And with a sword in his grip, he died along with his soldiers.
The story of the line of Wessick did not end with him. For the child of Vostov, born of an elf of the southern woods joined with Vostov, and helped to gain his child a place of rest. The Flame would not yet die.
Sir Kelnos
Lived in Era 27, got 1 heir(s) (Kelnos) and was a member of Noble Knights of the Orde of the Frozen Flames
Kelnos sat within the light of magically enhanced candle-light. He was reading one of the many ancient scrolls that had been given him over the years. They ran the scope of politics, and religion all the way to farming and mining advisements.
He was but a child when Brother Gregori took him from a burning city...he remembered little before this. Only a sad faced woman with ears like his own, and a man who seemed to have been worn down by years. As he finished reading a story about Lothon and the parable of the Broken Wall, he looked up to the sound of the door opening.
Gregoris' ancient features came through the door, a pleasant smile on his face.
"Ah my child...I see you read still. Anything worth noting?"
"I have read the parable many times brother...yet still do not completely understand."
"The Broken Wall...indeed, it is simple, yet not always so. It simply means, that no matter the strength of the makings of men...They will come to nothing in the face of determination and faith. The wall represents the arrogance of great powers coming to nothing."
"Perhaps I need to think on these things more." Kelnos sighed. He had been within these walls for more then a decade...and saw little of the world, save the valleys just north of the mountains.
"Time for that later my child...there is a man here to see you. A messenger I assure you that you must meet."
"Why Gregori? And how did they find us... I thought that you said we have no contact with the outside world. Not since the night you took me from that city."
"All will be explained Kelnos. In time, all will be explained."
Kelnos placed his adepts robes over his simple tunic and exited the room. He was led to a small conferance room, and was stunned to see a man in armor standing near the table.
On the table was laid the tattered remnants of a flag...the symbol of a burning flamed crown was emblazoned upon it.
"What is this?" Kelnos exclaimed as he stepped further into the room with Gregori.
"I am a servant of the one true master. I am a soldiers of the king, and like your father a knight."
"One true master...my father a knight? Who are you?"
Removing the helm...the complexion of an old man met his eyes. His features like Gregoris, only with strength and experiance behing them.
"I am Geln Lokari. I served for two generations your family...and the kings of the Order of the Frozen Flame. By the grace of Lothon the Ever Living my life has been extended for this moment. I fought in the northern wars against the Red Hand, and two civil wars at the right hand of your uncle Nolen." The serious expression did not fade as he seemed to judge his young greeter.
"What!"
"I come to you now once again as a servant of the Flame."
"But... Lothon fell, the world grew dark. I do not under-" His questions were met by a cold stare.
"Do not speak so easily of things you do not know. Lothon gave much of himself to ensure some remnant of the kingdom survived. Though his power on this plane of existance has grown weak again, his will for us remains the same. A new king has arisen...and he seeks those who would serve once more."
"I am just an adept...I have not even begun ordination training."
"It matters not. Priests Lothon has....soldiers and leaders he needs. You must take up the mantle your father lost in death. You are a viceroy and Knight of Lothon and the Flame."
Gregori stepped in at that moment. A hand upon his charges shoulder.
"Kelnos, times are changing. Lothon remains our master still...his grace upon us through our magic. But the dark powers of the world would destroy what small presence he has in this world."
"Lothon...the God of my Uncle... and my...Grandfather?"
"Yes... you are the Grandchild of Wessick Tilakmen, and the child of Sir Vostov. Both were trusted in the Order. You have your grandfathers faith though, at least in part."