Athtar the Champion of the Virtues

Role

Chapter 8

Years had passed, and as time passed his understanding of the world grew. He had
learned so much within that abandoned inn, and now as he traveled east upon the
dusty East Sumners road back to the city he circled, he wondered what inside he
would find.

The city was not abandoned like so many villages he had found before it. Inside
there was not only life, but it was beginning to prosper. Armed guards roamed
the cobbled streets, all around him the bustling sounds of business and trade
could be heard. But there was one sound above all others that drew his attention,
and following it he traversed deeper within the city.

A matured warrior garbed in chainmail, covered by a tabard bearing an insignia
he did not recognize, spoke to a gathered crowd. He spoke of recruiting for the
crusade against the darkness, and revealed himself to be of the guild of the
Paladins. For hours he spoke, and the dwarf could not help but be intrigued at
every claim the Paladin spoke. Its words pierced through the dwarf, and it
rekindled all the feelings he had about the dreams which haunted his nights.
They were even more enlightening then his recent learning that he was not alone.

With the conclusion of the preaching, the dwarf approached the Paladin.
(You there, What is your purpose here?), the Paladin exclaimed pointing at the
dwarf.
(To give my blade to this crusade.) He responded.
(What do you call yourself, Citizen?) the Paladin inquired.

His mind flashed back to that day upon the mountainside, and he remembered that
tiny flower, which had endured the toughest trials the elements, the mountain
had threw at it.

(Ah am called Athtar)

*The memory fades*


((Sorry, quotations dont seem to work))

Role

Chapter 7

The young dwarf trudged up the mountain side. Days had passed since he left the
base of the mountain, but he was determined, even dedicated to reach the peak
of the mountain.

He had found many abandoned homes, even small villages, and everything he found
he studied intently. He had learned that this mountain was the largest, and many
of those before him would attempt to ascend this mountain, as a test of their
own strength, and their endurance to withstand the elements. Few he learned ever
survived, but those who returned never returned empty handed. Above the tree
line, where the mountains became more snow then jagged exposed rock there was
claim that a flower grew.

Despite the frigid temperature, the chilling winds and monsterous snow drifts,
this small white flower flourished. It was a testiment that one, any, may
withstand the fiercest of trials through finding the strength within oneself,
by tempering your mind, body, and soul.

The dwarf knew nothing but himself, his own thoughts, the sound of his voice.
The closest contact he had with anyone was as he examined the texts left by
those before. As he ascended further up the mountain, he felt more connected
then ever before, knowing that generations before men would ascend this mountain
as he did now. The very thought was rejuvenating, invigorating.

Near his fifth day he found a lone white flower in the drift, and shortly after
plucking it from the snow, his eyes grew wide in revelation. This moment, every
detail upon the flower he soaked in, few had every come across this flower, few
had ever gazed upon its beauty. Near legend and myth, after all this time and
days upon days of expedition, he finally found it. It was known as the Athtar
flower.

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Role

Chapter 6

Over the crackling of burning wood, dieing screams still pierced
through the darkness of night. The sky was illuminated by the
reflection of fires on the great clouds of smoke that dwelled over
the forest.

Covered in dozens of makeshift bloodsoaked bandages, Athtar made
his way through the carnage, a grim expression portrayed on his
bloody, exhausted face. All around him bodies lay, of all his men,
he was the only one left, the only one who had survived the battle.

The screams that were bellowed out into the night were the elves
who while inflicting wounds, were graced to live another day.
crying filled the air as husbands and fathers, wives and mothers,
children mourned over their fallen families.

It was in this eve, in this carnage, he came to realize that he
could not protect these people. He had raced across the continent,
even arrived with his forces at the battle began, but he realized
that one cannot simply be a shield for the people.

The world was cruel and grim, it did not know mercy, remorse, it
did not see man, woman or child, it did not differ between seeing
a warrior, or a simple farmer.

It was in this moments he realized the truth, and the meaning in
which Thror tried to express all along. One could not simply be,
for the fires of adversity spared no one. To play this role of
protector, he was infact weakening those he thought to protect all
along. He would be robbing them of the experiences which would temper
their body, mind, and soul. Strengthening their resolve to endure
the trials that all would be forced to face.

He would become a crusader, a force to strike against the darkness,
his blade would know no limits, and his retribution would be
unrelenting against the hordes he would face. He would forge himself,
and those around him, prepare them, train them to find the strength
within themselves to crusade against the darkness.

He would forge himself to endure against the trials, he would temper
his soul, his skin, his resolve, he would find the strength within
himself, within his faith.

Role

Chapter 5

Deep within the mountains, the clang of hammer upon anvil could be heard,
He knew it was there he would find what he sought, Lord Thror.

To be graced by his presence, was intimidating, all the confidence,
strength, and belief he had within him seemed be shaken to the core on
their first meeting. Thror was an renowned warrior, proud and wise,
he questioned all that Athtar had come to know, everything he had come
to learn, come to think. All the knowledge he had would be unfounded
unless this was a purpose.

Athtar left that shrine devoted to find such meaning within himself,
everything he had learned, everything within himself had led up to this,
but he still had much to learn, this much was clear.

In Athtar's sixty years, the world had become very different from the
one he knew all his life. The cities had come to life, and now civilization
was rampant once more, but like a weed that cannot be taken from the
ground, the evil which claimed so many before, began to take root again.

By Enlilth's demand, the imperials began recruiting to raise an army,
seeking to exploit the weakness of the fragile world, and the chaos that
was erupting from attempting to rebuild. This would be their chance to
establish dominance, and they would be ruthless in their endeavours.

They began in the lands they claimed their own, sweeping through the desert
city they began pillaging their surroundings. The dwarven city of Akan
was the first to bear their subjugation. Athtar, no longer a squire of
the paladin's guild, had quickly learned in his years that preparation was
needed for successful campaigns against their enemies. He, along with
various paladins and squires of the guild, would venture forth through
the mountain pass and intercept this imperial army as it assaulted Akan.

For days they marched, unrelenting, exhausting their mounts, blistering
their feet to make it in time. By the second day, a cloud of black smoke
could be seen in the eastern sky, and has the sun rose that morning, the
sky a fortelling shadow of pink, orange and red, it was clear that the
battle was over, and blood had been spilled.

The gates were in ruins, the dwellings all consumed by smoldering fires,
and smoke bellowed out of the now extinquished fires. Bodies lay all over,
severed limbs lay scattered about the roads, lifeless eyes looking up towards
the sky in shock and suprise. Men, woman, even children were cast down without
mercy, without remorse, without care. They were efficient, and anything
in their way was cut down. There was no Imperials in sight.

This was a blitz attack they learned, its sole purpose was to shatter any
opposition that might rise when the Imperials thought to claim dominance.
There next target would be the elves in the west, so it was there Athtar and
his squires would go.

Role

Chapter 4

This of course didnt mean that he didnt understand his own limits, various
events in the past were a harsh reminder to this fact, but he never
allowed it to limit himself. He would always push his limits, for it was
one more trial for understanding, for growth.

His pursuit of understanding the past forced him to cross mountains, forests
and deserts. He continually encountered reminders who those who came,
and at every place he came to he would inspect it with an intellectual eye.

From the Mountains he travelled east, where a white city rose from the ground,
he was at first cautious, and circled around it, wary of what could be inside.
Further west, upon a weed covered road, he came across an abandoned worndown
inn. It was there, he learned the most of the past, and of those before him.

Within an abandoned tower, behind the inn, he found a vast volume of texts,
and it was there he spent nearly a week reading and scrutinizing every word
within them.

He learned more of those before him, of light and dark, of those within the
Fortress, the Tower upon the island, the village within the ruins, the chasm
within the desert, those foresters of Thar-eris and the most importantly the
Palace, which was home to the Imperials. It was that lich, who belong to the
palace which was the source of the fate of those before him.

Learning of all this, there was so many emotions within him, he felt compelled
to act, compelled to do something, and so he travelled back east to the city
he past, and it was there he found the first signs of life besides himself,
and it was there he learned what it meant to be a crusader.

Role

Chapter 3

Years passed, and he became attuned with the mountainside around him.
His vision could pierce the darkest of nights, and his feet could take
him across mountains before tiring.

Deep within empty caverns, he found remnants of objects abandoned from
those before, and with no small hint of chance, and days of experimenting
he found himself within a blazing forge. Getting it started was the
most difficult part, and maintaining its intensity was no small feat, but
as he began to inspect the other objects abandoned, an odd sensation
filled him, he wanted to fix the broken objects, and so with further
experimentation, into the forge they went.

When he was not hunting or exploring, he was within that forge, and
through dozens of experiments, most ending in trial and error, he learned
the art of forging the abandoned blades to make them his own.

Nearly twenty years had passed, and his search for understanding was not
nearly quenched. He abandoned the mountains and went out into the world
in search of questions, anwsers.

It was in these twenty years he had found his independance, each day was
a test of his limits, he had learned quickly to find the confidence and
strength within himself, to combat any threat against his own strength of
arm and resolve. Through trial and error one may learn understanding, but
for many of his daily tasks, there simply wasnt room for failure. Such
responsibilities to merely meet the requirements of survival meant he
quickly adopted the persona to be unrelenting, to accept each task, each
trial, with a focus and clarity that went beyond his years. To prevent
failure, he would often consider each action, and how it would affect his
desired outcome, he was meticulous in his planning and execution.

Role

Chapter 2

Deep within the mountains, the child grew. He learned quickly on whaat was
edible, and what should be stayed away from. But such was necessity, food
and water were the essence of life.

His first days was spent within a large cavern that was blasted into the
mountainside, protected from the elements, there he would lay his head to
rest, and as each night beckoned to him, he would dream.

His dreams were not his own, at first they were confusing, uncomprehensible
flashes of images, words that seemed muffled, a blur of colors and sounds.
Each day he would awake in terrible pain, his body would ache, his head
throbbing, he often found himself lying in his own pool of blood. At first
he was wary, he did not understand what was happening, but each day he
found himself lured back to that cave, and each night he spent there he
would dream.

Months would pass, and as the sun would fall and rise, he found himself
understanding those dreams, each day revealed them to become clearer, more
lucid and vivid. Though it brought pain each day he returned to that cave,
he endured, he listened, he learned.

It would be decades later that he learned the true understanding of what
these dreams were, but the most vital of information that was gleamed from
these dreams was that he learned the language that those before him spoke.

He would later learn that these dreams were the final days of those before,
and the fate, the pain, and each moment was being relived to serve as a
reminder, a lesson.

Role

Chapter 1

There was nothing, For years the cities were left abandoned. Their inhabitants
gone, no sign of their departure, only the rotting food left upon the stands
within the markets was only trace that there was life once that traversed these
great barren stone cities that sprouted from the ground.

Beyond the eye, one would claim that life simple ceased to exist on thera, but
this was not so. Sparred the cruel torment that inflicted man for their actions,
their numbers began to grow. Balance was simply restored. Wildlife began to
increase rapidly in numbers, no longer burdened to fear the forest they lived in
as there was now no one to hunt them for game or sport. Plant life flourished,
reclaiming what was once lost to civilization, weeds and grass, fungus and mold
began to claim their habitat within the abandoned cities.

Near a decade had past since the last of man was seen to grace the land of Thera,
but the fate of those before would not mean the end.

Far away, deep within the mountains an infant's body laid lifelessly upon the cold
jagged rocks. A dwarven infant, one who had never known life, blood had never
coursed through it's veins, air never filling it's lungs.

A cold brisk wind chilled the air, and without warning, a mighty storm engulfed the
mountains. A barrage of hail and rain battered down upon the lifeless body and
surrounding mountains. Gusts of wind brutalized the body, like the beating of a
heart it pulsed against the body, over and over, unrelenting.

Just when it seemed the body of this lifeless infant could withstand no more, a
gasp of breath escaped the lips of the child. His eyes opening for the first time
in shock, it's body convulsing as blood traversed for the first time through its
tiny veins.

Life it seems, was not over in Thera.

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