Storytelling 19.1.2018 by Urud (freely inspired from Aion’s lore)
Lord Lannok and Brusthonin
Before the Cataclysm, Brusthonin was the breadbasket of Atreia. One day, to celebrate the victory against the Balaur, who attacked Theobomos (200 BC), and to incentivate more daevas to join the fight against the Balaurs, the Empyrean Lords decided to hold a big competition in those green lands. The winner would have had a whole manor in the best spot, and the honor to train his own troop of knights.
The challenge consisted in a fight with spears, on horseback. Lannok was already a promising and well-known knight at that time, and he won the contest without any real competitor. Everyone congratulated and cheered for his victory, and many women started to flatter him, as he became a good party; a Lord nonetheless.
However, despite all the women that started to pay a visit to his new castle, Lannok couldn’t forget the beautiful face of a woman that he saw during the competition. He didn’t know who she was, but since the most important persons where present for that celebration, she had to be someone very important as well. And she was indeed: Karemiwen was the promised wife of prince Forgal, a tempered and influent noble man, despite the young age.
Lannok didn’t care. He was the strongest knight of Atreia, he had a whole troop of knights at his command, a majestic castle… and he was also a handsome man, desidered by hundreds of women. He had to have her. He gave the orders to some of his knights to kidnap her.
Prince Forgal despaired and raged for his loss. The fury on that sober man was completely unexpected and out of control. He claimed to the Empyrean Lords that his beloved were returned immediately. Lady Triniel, in charge of the protection of Asmodea, asked the Red Sky Legion to send someone to look for her. Virkel, the Brigade General of the Red Sky Legion, decided to send Villaire, one of his best men.
Being a veteran member of the Red Sky Legion, trained by Lady Triniel herself, Villaire was a good spy and he was able to find Lady Karemiwen at Lord Lannok’s manor. The lady wasn’t happy at all, since she really loved prince Forgal, and despite finding Lannok a handsome man, he was rude and violent, compared to her beloved prince. But Lannok didn’t care. She was too beautiful, and he started to abuse of her.
The deep rejection of lady Karemiwen though, let Lannok unsatisfied. The man had to quench his thirst of pleasure with many other women. One in particular, a Seiren that lived nearby the mansion, in the Nahor Castle, was abducted with sweet words, and then regularly raped, until she died in the prisons of the Lannok’s stronghold. Her sister was Sahnu, the Seiren that swore hate towards all the humans and daevas in particular. She will reluctantly help the hero/player to enter Adma Stronghold, during our campaign.
Sahnu: “Why do you come here, Daeva? What do you want of me? I know what you are. You speak with flattering tongues, make promises with lying words, then bring your steel and claws to bear when falsehoods fail you yet again. Go back from whence you came, Daeva, and let my hatred slumber once more. I have no time for your kind any longer. Lord Lannok took my home. He sang honeyed words to my sister, abused her, and then left her to die. I loathe him. If it will avenge her, I will help you.”
Then she sent you to Alukina’s Palace to hunt Seafoam Spirits until you obtained a Spirit Drop. With this, she transformed the player into… a Ribbit! “Ah yes! Does it hurt your pride? No more than you undoubtedly deserve. Fear not, though. My hatred for you is not sufficient to make it permanent. You will change back the moment you safely pass into Adma Stronghold. Now trouble me no more.”
In the meantime, Lord Beritra heared the rumors about the depraved Lannok. And he paid a visit to the knight. Beritra offered his help to manipulate Karemiwen’s mind and let her become Lannok’s faithful lover. In exchange, Lord Lannok had to provide his stronghold as Beritra’s temporary base, to gather intel about the daevas’ movements, from close. Rumors about the corrupt knight were already spreading all around Brusthonin, and most of all, Lannok was completely blinded by her beloved Karemiwen. He wanted her. And he needed Beritra’s protection.
During a night, Beritra cursed the crown that Karemiwen used to wear. It was the crown that her beloved prince Forgal gave her, so she always kept it on her head during the day. When she did it, she became Beritra’s puppet, and as consequence, Lord Lannok’s loyal lover. Beritra also discovered Villaire inside the stronghold, who was still spying Lannok’s behaviour, to send regular reports to the Red Sky Legion. Beritra suggested Lord Lannok to imprison him, in the underground, but not to kill him, to avoid the alert of the Red Sky Legion.
When the Cataclysm happened, Beritra decided to lead the Balaur legions in the attack against Brusthonin. After days of brutal fighting, the Red Sky Legion was able to banish the Balaur from this region, but paid a horrible price as they all perished in the process. In his rage, Beritra cursed the land after the terrible defeat. The Dragon Lord planted a seed of corruption inside Villaire, that transformed the soldier into a ghost, the ghost of a child. This was the root to spread the pollution over Brusthonin and infect all the inhabitants.
Later on, during the campaign, the hero/player will discover this secret by killing the ghost boy, and revealing Villaire. When you report the mission to Sigyn, he will say: “What? Villaire? He was one of the best of us… I’m shocked. I can’t believe Beritra could infiltrate even the Red Sky Legion. Lady Triniel should know. When she discovers the fate of her favorite, there will be hell to pay. Thank you for discovering the source of the contamination.”
During that plague, hundreds of people tried to hid themselves inside Adma Stronghold to avoid being struck by the rapid-spreading plague that transformed everyone into soulless zombies. However, Princess Karemiwen (that after losing her right mind became Lord Lannok’s wife) ordered the gates of Adma closed, fearing that some villager could have been already infected, condamning the many remaining to certain death. No one have been able to completely remove the corruption from the land, not even Lord Marchutan.
Yet, Brusthonin remained not entirely a wasteland. The northern and northeast portions of the land were not struck by the Plague. There lied one of the most beautiful landscapes in Atreia: Iollu Hills and Iollu Forest, the home of the Brohun. And about the destiny of Lork Lannok, Lady Karemiwen and Prince Fargal, no one knew anything more.
