It’s Chapter 1

What’d you expect?

 

            Mooshnai - a simple realm of mythical creatures and chivalry. Dragons, fairies, and knights…you know, the whole schlakus! Our story starts in this very realm, on the Continent of Kronus. To the north of this continent lies a small village in the Tikeno Kingdom, by the name of Nanuse. Famous for it’s wonderful taverns and dancers it…Well you know what I’m getting at, it was a pretty quaint yet alluring town. Our story begins…here.

            “Ohhh!” Darq rose that morning from his bed and stretched as he yawned an invigorating yawn. Darq Valuere – A Fairly tall man with long black hair, which was normally tied up with a red ribbon in a wild upright manner. His clothes seemed a bit medieval and yet a tad hip. He wore a black turtleneck shirt with torn sleeves, and gray baggy pants. His boots were almost clown-like because of their enormous size; the fronts of the boots were plated with bolted steel. He wore gloves with spiked bracelets around the wrist and black gloves underneath them with the fingers cut off. His face was like that of a curious child with a five ‘o clock shadow  and red eyes. His ears had a tendency to stick out when his hair was up, which proved embarrassing for the most part of his life.

            “Man, this is gonna be an awful week…. I can tell already.” He said with a grimace look upon his face. He tightened up his boots and walked to a small corner in his “hut”. With a swift gesture he snatched up a large dusty mallet. “Manus,” Darq whispered. The mallet was a large thing. Its handle was at least 5 ft. long and the head of the mallet had to be somewhere around the size of a golem’s thigh. Its faces were worn and the handle was wrapped with old tape. In the center of its head a yellow pentacle was engraved. With a small breath, he blew away the collected dust particles from the mallet and looked at it with pride. “Many an adventure old friend…many indeed.” Darq swung the mallet up, and over his shoulder with a grunt. His heels clicked as it landed on his shoulder, and he walked outside with a bit of a jump in his step. As he walked outside a man came running into sight. The man was about a few inches shorter than that of Darq’s height, and had spiky red hair. He wore a green tunic with a white stripe going down the middle. Numerous belts hang all over his clothing, and leather gloves and boots protected his limbs. To top the whole ensemble off was a dark brownish-green cloak. His face always had a look of disgust upon it and tiny wrinkle lines, caused by years of presumed disgust, surrounded his eyes and nose. He had green eyes with a yellow swirl, and shanks the size of a middle finger on the sides of his face.

            “HEY!!!” The man yelled with a commanding tone. Darq stared and slowly lowered his head with an annoyed grunt.

            “What do you want?” Darq inquired.

            “Whadd’ya mean ‘What do I want?’ The man asked. Darq grunted once again and decided to just let him talk. “What am I?  Some kind of stranger now?  Gods, you can be so rude!”

            “Gello! I’m going to be late if you don’t step aside and give me some room to breathe you leech!” Darq bellowed. Gello – Darq’s best friend…By choice? I think not. Gello’s father was the Famous adventurer Kuren Montrevere who, by coincidence, just happened to be Darq’s father, Xardian Valuere’s, best friend. When they were but boys of 13 they both lost their father’s when they left one morning for an adventure for some mystical treasure. They didn’t even get to hear about what this treasure was, or for that matter, why they needed it. They waited day and night, and their father’s never returned. They could only survive about a week without them. Darq’s mother died in a fire soon after, and Gello’s mother had died previously while giving birth to him. Henceforth, they left home and started life anew, as orphans. Our story takes place six years after this tragedy.

            “Late?” Gello screeched, “For what, drinking, guzzling hooch, or possibly, drinking some more?” Darq simply pushed Gello aside and started down a large hill towards the main area of the village of Nanuse. Gello ran after him screaming in his horrible demon-like tone.

            “Gello,” Darq said as he continued to walk, “let me put this to you as simply as I can. GO AWAY, I don’t feel like hearing your terrible voice blubbering about some pathetic quarrel that you think you have with me. If you want to follow me around and be my ‘sidekick’ just ask.  You’d be worthless, but then again, I’d still have myself an entourage. Hahaha!” Gello stared at him with animosity.

            “Sidekick,” Gello muttered, “Pfft…I’ll show you sidekick…bullya!” Darq then turned around, having heard the ‘bullya’ comment.

            “What?”

            “Nothing…” Gello replied subordinately.

            Finally, they had arrived at their destination, the village of Nanuse. Darq headed straight for the tavern and Gello followed, but not without mumbling curses in Darq’s direction. “Well,” Darq said as he rubbed his gloved hands together, “time for the day’s inquiries.” He headed toward the main bar counter and slammed two gold coins on it. “Hey Bar-Hop Ale…Lots of it!” Darq said as if it were his usual order. The bartender slid a large flagon of ale his way and pocketed the gold coins hastily. Darq sipped his ale and gave a gasp of approval. He soon set down his ale and stood up, dusting off his shirt.

            “So, wino what’re the plans for today?” Gello asked sardonically.

            “Humph…Well, I’ve just decided believe it or not! Ummm…It’s about time for…another adventure!”

            “Adventure? ADVENTURE? You’ve lost it, you barely have enough power to open up a chestnut.”

            “Well you’re one to talk…you walking twig!”

            “Harrumph!”

            “BAH!” Darq said crossly. He then looked around the full house for some sign of a decent conversation partner. “Now let’s see,” Darq said curiously, “What do we have here? Right, an old man with a big funny nose, a bar wench, some old drunks, a mysterious cloaked figure who probably is the root of all evil and is plotting to destroy the world, and that one guy who looks like he may smell appalling.”

            “DUH!” Gello squealed, “If you want a really GREAT adventure…talk to the guy who looks like he might smell dire!”

            “Outstanding choice!” Darq said favorably. He proceeded to stand, of course with Gello doing the same, and walked over to the putrid old man.

            “Hallo, old man!” Darq said optimistically, “Could you, that is, would you tell us of some sort of mystical treasure, or quest that would suit us well?”

            “What the hell?!?” the stinky  man thought to himself. “Well,” he said, “I mean, I guess I could maybe recall something I’ve heard somewhere before. I am a sailor you know.”

            “I bet,” Gello whispered amusingly to Darq

            “Hmmm…Now let me think …” The aged man requested. Darq looked back and forth, while tapping his left foot impatiently. “Well,” the old man said. Darq looked up with excitement. “Um…nope sorry. Can’t think of a thing. Too bad fellas, see ya later!”

            “For the sake of the Gods,” Darq garbled.  Gello looked about morosely and saw the elderly man in the back of the tavern. He tugged at Darq’s shirt excitedly and said, “Hey…How about that guy huh?!?”

            “Yeah…I guess he’d do ok.” Darq said tiredly.  They walked towards the man hastily and Gello bent over slowly to get a good peek. The old geezer was asleep. Gello poked him in the eye “HEY!” Gello said, “GET UP YOU OLD FART!” The shrouded, and wrinkled figure looked up with his squinty eyes. He looked to be about 102 and wore brown robes and a pointy straw hat.

            “Ughhh.” The old man replied. Gello Stood up straight again, and looked at Darq strangely.

            “Well, we tried!” he said.

            With a sudden snap the old man sat erect and began to glare at Darq with his old beady eyes. “UGH! You boys startled me!” the elder said with a hasty tone. Darq looked at the old man inquisitively, while Gello waited impatiently. He soon poked Darq and motioned to the old man.

            “Oh…yeah,” Darq said in acknowledgement to Gello, “So uhhhh…what’s the latest dirt on some mystical treasure around here old man?”

            “What?” the old man inquired.

            “Well…have you heard anything recently about some sort of new magic, lost kingdom, the usual…standard operational procedure for starting an adventure!” Darq replied

            “I’m confused.”

            “C’mon, out with it!” Gello demanded

            “Oh…you mean like um…sword-fighting? Women?” said the old man

            “Now that’s the stuff!” Darq said excitedly.

            “Well, there’s been a lot of travelers coming in and out of town these days. Real strange folk.  Carrying arms and supplies like swords and rations and what-not.”

            “What do you supposed they’re searching for?” Darq asked curiously.

            “Hmmmm…word has it that the search has begun for a special treasure, the most powerful in all the land. This search picks up about every 100 years or so. Eventually the people just give up.”

            “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?” Gello furiously inquired, “What…treasure?”

            “Why…the Holy Oracle…of course.” The old man stated rather pompously

            “Hmmmm…holy oracle eh?” Darq asked

            “It is said to have the ultimate power. That of the knowledge of this planet’s history. It knows all. Sees all. Feels all. It is the veritable source of all knowledge.”

            “So why are people flocking here?” Gello asked.

            “Because, this town is where it was stored when Mooshnai was a peaceful kingdom. Now there’s nothing but war and battle…battle and war. People constantly quarrel and the evil/good ratio grows ever unbalanced.” The old man replied.

            Darq stood erect and rubbed his chin with a curious look upon his face. “So it knows all huh?” He asked. “Well…. that could prove useful.” Darq kept his personal thoughts to himself he wondered – Where was his father? Why were his eyes the peculiar tone they were? What was in store for him in life…what is his relevance in the world?

His thoughts were cut short when an agitated Gello thwacked him sharply upside the head.

            “What the hell is the matter with you? We’ve just been given some pretty useful information. Let’s hit the road!” Gello demanded

            “Listen, fool,” Darq replied, “we can’t leave until we actually get a few clues as to the location of this item. Nor can we leave until we know our enemies and our allies, but we’ll have to be quick.” Darq hastily pulled out a map and circled Nanuse’s location on it.  “Here,” he said, “Nanuse, our present location. Now old man, where are we headed?”

            “What’s that,” the elderly man asked, “ummmm…I’m sorry but I don’t believe there’s an actual route planned for this sort of quest. It’s all about logic and connecting the dots on the map. But if I had to suggest a starting point…I would…ummmm…I guess I’d have to start by heading through the Dark Forest and heading towards the Library of Menkuala to do some research…good luck though. The Dark Forest is infested with monstrous creatures….that of lupines and the monstrous man-beasts!”

            Darq shuddered with disgust. “Ewwww….I hate lupines…hate hate hate them!”

            “Well,” Gello said reluctantly, “if we’re gonna get started, we’d better gather our supplies and head on south!”

            With that Darq and Gello started for the door, but in a sudden burst the old man yelled out to them. “YOU THERE! Young Mallet-Man! Be wary you of red eyes…they may be your downfall.” Darq paid no mind and continued out.

            This may be a good time to explain the social classes of Mooshnai. Magic users - that would be the entire population of Mooshnai. Everyone has the potential to reach magic using ability. To do such though, they must be in tune with their surroundings and themselves. Sound hard, well it’s not. Hell, a three-year-old could do it. Magic users are identified by their class, they are classified by their eye color. For instance Green…earth magic, that which has healing properties and renders the use of earthquakes available. Then there are those who are called the Mixtures. Mixtures have a combination of two or even three different kinds of magic. I.E. green eyes with yellow ring = earth magic laced with lightning attacks. Quite simple huh? Well guess what, now you know or at least now you can guess how to classify the people of Mooshnai! Oh but wait, I didn’t explain Darq’s situation. Throughout his life he has had what were thought of as brown eyes…which people believed to be the color of the eyes of those with non-magic properties. Although, Darq grew older and more defined his eyes began to change, they were a dark red, laced with a black marble color and white cracks. This type of magic uses had never been classified, therefore, people writ him off as a brown-eyed non-magic user. Oh but they’ll soon learn different. WHEW! I explained that pretty quickly huh?

‘