Abomination

“Somewhere deep within the Silvan Woods, there is a chest full of ancient scrolls that contain the secrets to shape shifting and the forgotten arcane secrets; if something is ever to happen to me, I want you, Elaina, to find them and study them and learn everything they have to teach you. Can you promise me you’ll do that?”

“Master, you speak of nonsense for nothing will happen to you because you are immortal and even if you were not, there is no one in this whole universe that could defeat you!”

“Hush. You know very well of what can destroy me and one day, they just might. Now promise me, Elaina. Swear to me that you will find them and let nothing get in your way of doing so.”

“Argon, something is going to happen, isn’t it?”

“I need you to swear to me-”

“I know. I swear I will find the scrolls Master Argon. Even if it kills me.”

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I opened my eyes slowly from my sleep, wary of someone watching me. I noticed that my fire pit was still strongly lit so I couldn’t have been asleep long.

When my eyes were fully open, above me I saw a pair of eyes staring at me from the tree I was under. I could clearly see that the figure is a bird, but its eyes… they look so human and I believe that is the only thing keeping me from cooking the thing from the inside out. Then the creature extended its wings and I saw that in place of claws it had a serpent-like tail and its face, covered in scales, had the features of a dragon. This beast is unlike anything I have ever seen.

In my training with Master Argon I learned of dragons, even slain a few, but I have never seen or read of this mysterious, beautiful creature. It flew off with more grace than I have ever seen displayed. More grace than when the nymphs dance, or when a unicorn is able to run free.

I could not fall back asleep after my encounter with the serpent bird, so I packed up my camp and continued my quest to find the ancient scrolls I promised my master I would find.
Months ago he and I were attacked by a horde of fel mages at our camp. The fel mages consist of once powerful and respected mages that have been corrupted by the taint of demonic blood. Demons are especially drawn to the magic that all mages excrete therefore making the life of a mage a very dangerous one. Once someone has tasted the blood, they become addicted to it, and only very few people have the will to resist it. Demon blood grants anyone who consumes it with unbelievable and effortless power. Because of this, weak creatures are usually poisoned when they come in contact with the blood and become ravenous because of the unbearable surges of pain in their body. If these once weak creatures don’t kill themselves, like most do, and are able to withstand the pain, they are said to be born again as new and completely different beings. These beings are sometimes even more powerful than those who are already of great power before being exposed to the blood because they are unable to control themselves, “like children are unable to control themselves when they are young; they are full of energy and cannot sit still for very long,” is what Master Argon told me.

Master Argon told me a story once of a demon who captured weak and vulnerable creatures then chained their limbs to a wall so they couldn’t move. He then fed them his blood and made them undergo the agonizing transformation. He created an army which he referred to as The Children. His intentions were not completely understood. He sought dominance and control no doubt, but he never really made an effort to take over anything.

This demon was very intelligent and left hundreds of journals which indicated that he kept his army dormant for many years. His journals were full documents on his “children”. He noted how animals and humans reacted differently to the transformation: animals became more ravenous and wild while humans had more self containment; humans also seemed to go through more pain than the animals did. The demon thought this was because humans were more aware of what was happening and the whole thing was psychological.

The demon then started to experiment with elves, dwarves and ogres. He discovered that elves became the most vicious and were more interested in torturing rather than killing; the dwarves on the other hand became extremely violent and killed most anything including themselves.

Ogres were already stupid creatures and after the transformation they became even more stupid. This became especially useful to the demons army because the ogres were very strong and could probably over throw the demon if they were capable of coming up with the idea. The ogres were extremely obedient and only acted on what they were told.

He then moved on to studying the effect on humans. Though humans had more self control of their power, they also had more of an ability to think for themselves. Humans crave power; the demon did not know this. He was able to contain common people; people who were trained in the arts of killing such as rogues and warriors were harder to control but it was not impossible. Mages on the other hand, were who the demon had the most difficulties with controlling but they were also the easiest to give into the taint.

Because most mages did not use their magic to kill but rather just for the knowledge, when they became fel creatures they became more corrupt than any other species. Their magic became unbelievably strong and more than anything it was the power that corrupted the mages instead of the taint alone. Mages are more prone to being lured into the fel demons because magic is very strongly linked with demons and once a mage reaches a certain level in skill, magic excretes from their pores and it become a part of them.

The fel mages are who over threw the demon. They took over his army and made plans to conquer all of Ponoreus, but before they could do any real damage the Fel Fighting Alliance was formed and they were able to destroy The Children and the mages with the help of Ponoreus’ three other secret societies: in Carmen there is The Alliance of Magi which consist of some of the most powerful mages; In Furtim there is the Stealth Alliance which is made up of some of the best assassins and thieves; then in Bellator there is the Alliance of Strength where the most skilled swordsmen and most brutal warriors serve.

The Fel Fighting Alliance is made up three people plus the commander; there is one warrior, one rogue, one mage and then the commander may be any of those depending on their level of superiority. The alliance only recruits the most specialized and powerful of their class. There is a “waiting list” if you will, and the people on it have no idea that they are. The Fel Fighting Alliance is the most secret of all the alliances in Ponoreus and anyone who knows too much about it has to be killed immediately or tested for recruitment; that is the only time that the alliance may have more than four people in it.

Master Argon was once the commander of the Fel Fighting Alliance which is how I know so much of it. He left the alliance many, many years ago in search of the God of Life’s tomb where it is said that any man great enough to get to it will be granted with immortality. Though he has never told me much of his venture there for it is sacred information that he swore to the gods he would not reveal, I know much of feat he accomplished getting there. On his way out down from the Misty Mountains, where the tomb is hidden, he found me abandoned when I was a baby. Argon brought me with him to his new camp and taught me everything he knows of the arcane magic. Most mages can only specialize in one class, but since Argon started training me at such a young age I am able to learn more than the average mage. Argon also taught me healing spells, and how to harness the power of nature. At first he had intended to train me enough so I could one day become a part of the Fel Fighting Alliance but he changed his mind, and said he I was too special for them and then told me to find the scrolls in Silvan Woods, which I am doing now, so I could master shape shifting and learn ancient arcane magic.