Thread for Grimm Wars: The Beginning. Index | New Thread | Reply | Close | Stick | Delete  Grimm Wars: The Beginning. The Narrator 11:24am, November 30, 2012 [Edit] [Delete] Snow White. Big Bad Wolf. Cinderella....How many times have we listened and heard these tales before us? But simply because the storyteller stops telling, does not mean the stories themselves end. And in a time, a world much like ours the tale of what we refer to now as the Grimm Wars unfolds before us. The continent is a place of Northern Fables. And here, in this place the final battle was wrought that scoured the land. A war in which an alliance of Dragons, Fae and Humans fought for freedom and for their very lives against two figures...Demons. In every way and meaning imaginable. The first was a schemer. A trickster in nature. Some called him a fallen god, exiled when his brothers deemed him too unstable and his pranks far too costly. Exiled to a mortal plane, drained of much of his former power he schemed and he grew strong...Glutting on the excesses of humanity and how best he could twist it. Here, in the mortal races he discovered a new delight and eventually was given a name. "Balthazar: The Deceiver" and by the hand of the Round Table itself, he was scattered and sent to the abyss, though not forever. There was always others who sought power, wherever its source. And eventually, he found it in one person in particular. A young, bastard son of Arthur named "Mordred." Now here was a fitting tool for revenge. Molding Mordred into something to be feared and hated, by Mordreds hand and the kings best knights indiscretion with the queen, Camelot was thrown asunder and though it ended with the latter's death and Arthur himself striking off Balthazar's head, the damage was done. Camelot as a whole, was finished as a civilization and in time, they would regress into infighting. Clashes where men ruled with blood and fire over whose boot was placed on whose neck. Balthazar himself would be locked in a sort of purgatory. His spirit, unable to move or free itself save by an outside force...But mortal memory is so small, and in time he was freed once more. One of the noble houses though the weakest, sought power and by invoking his name in a ritual, they brought him back. They were ignorant...Gullible and alas, had only part of the ritual. Merely the summoning, none of the safeguards. And he took his chance, slaying those who thought to bend him to their will and sparing one. The daughter of the mage who called his name and intrigued by the spirit he found in her, he made a deal for his amusement. For every month, she would be taught by him in the arts arcane and on one day of each month, she would attempt to kill him. If so, then she would be free, and if not and by the end of the year he was still alive he would take her soul for himself. The deal was struck, and he taught her well. Under his tutelage, her attempts grew more wily. Her spells, more hastened and morbid in nature. In the end however, she lost...But to his surprise, he could not take the soul from her. How does anyone take something....If it belonged to him in the first place? He took the guise of a man, the woman as his bride and in that union a son was born. Balthazar had not forgotten the lessons of Mordred and he knew having one such person in his image loyal to him would be an asset and between his new family, the house he was meant to prosper with his gifts grew and flourished. He became known as a conqueror, and his armies scattered across the world gaining allies like unto him and new forces. In a minor campaign in the Far East, he encountered a newly birthed demon named Ophelia and she came with him when his armies left. In the South Shelf, he encountered a race of monsters called "The White Walkers" and left with the knowledge they existed for later use. By the time the other houses realized, it was too late and by that point revealing his true colors as Balthazar reborn, the Deceiver had obtained power to organize a force that had won over the civilized world. But as always in such stories, an enemy rose to stop him and to his blade, the free peoples gathered. Arthur, no longer Camelots king was yet alive. Merlin, though long since imprisoned now having took steps against such and bargained with the Lord of Avalon that his body might be taken there and kept till such a day when he was needed. Also alive was another...A Fae woman, enamored with Arthur who in times past had took the form of his queen and was the one who gave him the sword that he hated so. He vowed then and there, that he would no longer be so lenient as before. Arthur was too dangerous to be left alive, or even half dead and with this in mind the war began anew. And what might we say of that age, that war itself? Dragons from the skies burned the lands, turning night into day and the air an oven. And Wyldmagic from the First Race twisting many of the locations still feeling the fallout from its effects now. And the blood of many...Mortal, Immortal or Fell Creature summoned from the Abyss, Balthazar spent and shed it all till the fight itself drew him out to open combat. Many names of that time gained great renown. Among them Bastilla: Mother of Gold Dragons and one-eyed now from the Heir of Balthazar. Oberon, master of Avalon and Keeper of the Gate between Worlds. Father North, the Winter-Smith himself. And not simply the great names either. A human general of Balthazar turned on him in battle, and leading his forces to cut off Balthazar's reinforcements, Vlad Dracula forever earned the ire of both demons. In the end, Balthazar was defeated and his son thrown down with him and as both were sealed away deep in the mountains, all mention of them were likewise removed. No more would any man or sentient seek to bring forth the Deceiver and the Stygian Knight. His work done, Arthur could finally pass on to his rest and his sword taken and hidden away by the one who best could hide it. The dragons as a majority, flocked to a new world and the gate sealed behind them, save for those who chose to remain. The Fae likewise hid themselves, retreating back to their worlds and leaving the continent as it was. It was mortal mens time to shine. It was time for them to forge their own legends, their own world. And they did. Centuries passed and healing began. Which brings us to the world we find ourselves in now. Edited 10:53pm, November 30, 2012 by The Narrator, author.  Grimm Wars: Prologue The Narrator 12:03pm, November 30, 2012 [Edit] [Delete] Centuries had come and gone, and the world was in a state of if not true peace, at the least a time for rest and little violence. The Northern Continent in particular, had come to an equilibrium by the four Main Powers upon it. The first power was an enchanted Fae realm known as Oz. But in time, it was twisted from the innocent land it once was and became a nation of metal and wheels. Science had become the new magic and under the leadership of the House of Gale, it flourished into a cruel, if practical realm. Meanwhile, in between were two kingdoms. Somnium and Aurora. Both with strong roots in the Fae as well, but having grown up into two very separate sort of kingdoms. Somnium was a city of progress and guilds. Guilds of Science, Magic and every one of them was at each others throats in one way or another. For the social climber, court hanger-on or progressive, Somnium was the realm to be. Here, the glib tongue and sharp wit was as important as a soldiers sword was to his line of work, and was often more useful. It was therefore, with great surprise to many when the crown prince declared his marriage not to any of the "proper" ladies of the court... But rather, to a more humble person. A woman, a merchants daughter forced into labor by her stepmother and two stepsisters. This proved to be the most effective move he could have done in the end however, as not only was she beloved by all but she understood people and it was her advice to her husband that prompted many changes in Somnium. In time, she produced a family. Four children, ranking from eldest to youngest as follows. Salazar, a quiet studious boy whose childhood consisted mainly of listening in at his fathers political meetings. Saber, a boy who delighted in military matters and became an officer on the border. Synthia, the only daughter and a wild child who eventually found her niche as a diplomat in the Far East. And finally, the youngest son known as Severus. Somnium suffered many things over the years...The Savage Horde was always a problem, and a plague that threatened to take the life of Severus himself among many likewise had ill connotations but they survived. They thrived and while outwardly things were going well, from within a subtle core of blackness was beginning to tarnish this realm of dreams. Aurora on the other hand was older. More rural in nature then Somnium and rather then the flare of arcane studies and the click of gears and cogs, the chanting of prayers and the sounds of the harp were their own contribution to civilization. Despite the Time of Thorns, when their queen was cursed as an infant to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die, that too was thwarted. Not to say that all was well after that. Count Tharin Bennett, a noble of distinction was found guilty of dark experimentation and fled when the watch came to take him in. And they too had their share of bad times, of harsh experience...But with Somnium as a good neighbor, they too ended up flourishing and eventually, the queen and king presented to the world two children. Their eldest, a son named Julian and in time, a daughter named Emilie. The former would become good friends with Somnium's Severus, and in time would leave to the new colonies of the two to gain experience while Severus sought to understand his world through science. A strong friendship, and one not easily forged. It bode well for the kingdoms should either take the throne in time in their respective kingdoms. The final Super Power was a reminder of a darker time. A descendant of the empire established by Balthazar in days past and now today, known by the Common People as "The Dark Kingdom." Actually several realms in one, the Dark Kingdom was a splintered realm separate from the world in general by impassable mountain ranges. Perpetual fog and cold scourged this place, and the undead not only walked the night, but openly and as its rulers. At least in their own private piece of the Dark Kingdom as a whole. In the city of Stadt Des Drachen, Count Dracula ruled strictly to maintain his lands. In the Black Forest, despite the lack of conventional buildings in total, the woods were ruled under the shadow of the Big Bad Wolf and the cabal of Druids pledged to his pack. In a valley pristine and nigh untouched save for a somewhat large village and isolated homesteads, the Dark Sisterhood HQ was appointed and all witches subject to their judgement. And in the realm fast known by the vulgar name "Temptation" women with infant daughters would weep for they knew the danger that would come should they grow. And woe betide them if they were any sort of blinding beauty. This was the world that the stage was set, and in this world the players were placed though they knew not their role...Or the Game of Thrones that was to come. Index | New Thread | Reply | Close | Stick | Delete