LEGENDS OF THE EBONY KINGDOM

By: Patrick Danielson

Book 1

THE GAUNTLET OF ANTUM

Chapter 1

The great horror called the World Eater stood taller than even the magnificent golden

colossus of Ebana. The thing didn’t shamble like the decaying army that had already broken

through and ravaged the countryside, no, instead it flowed like a thick writhing liquid as it

decimated the countryside. The appendages which hung almost loosely from the enormous

horror, swayed from the movement like waterfalls moving sideways along a cliff face.

‘Those appendages could be called arms,’ Longhorn thought to himself. ‘They appear to

be capable of latching onto and ripping apart anything that crosses their path. Then again,’ he

continued, second guessing himself ‘They could be considered tentacles with fingers.’ Thinking

wasn’t the giant barbarian’s strong point and he tried to avoid thoughts whenever possible. In

recent weeks he had decided to allow the smarter members of the group make the critical

decisions. Longhorn had a bad tendency to nearly get himself killed in his egotistical desire for

honor and battle. He recently decided to instead focus on his own strengths and talents which

ended up being forcefully removing or destroying obstructions in the group’s path.

Longhorn glanced down at his growingly tired war horse. The horse had been pushed to

its absolute limit over the past hour and he could hear the animal breathing hard as they raced

down the cobblestone road toward Antum. The roadway around him had become a destroyed

mess of uncontrolled fires, overturned carts and crushed stone walls.

The bodies of soldiers and rotting corpses dotted the roadside landscape. Many of the

soldier’s bodies lay in the street riddled with arrows or large gaping stab wounds. They had been

left to bleed out by the roadside by the emotionless horde. As a result, large pools of fresh blood

already formed in the gutters and wheel wells of the soft stone road. The lifeless soldier’s faces

continued to stare upward in wide eye fear and agony from the abysmal horrors they saw and the

plague that it left in its wake.

Longhorn never questioned his decision to ride toward certain death, it had been a

decision that he made long ago, long before he met Jack. He looked around at the staggering

amount death and carnage and wondered if Jack was still alive somewhere. The thought of Jack

lying in a ditch somewhere with a similar plague ridden face made his blood boil. Longhorn

clenched his teeth and forced the thought out of his head. Many of his friends were gone now,

and in the chaos of the recent events, he wouldn’t be surprised if they were all dead except for

him and the remaining few still riding behind him. Longhorn resisted looking back over his

shoulder toward his companions. He worried that if he looked back, he would see another

missing face.

As they neared the grand city’s walls, the sounds of battle still raging crept up on them.

The music of chaos began from far away and grew louder with every step their war horses took

along the mangled highway. From many miles out, he could already see the great ebony towers

of the palaces of Antum, but even they looked dwarfed compared to the huge billowing clouds of

black smoke rising from the city. Soon the abomination would be upon the city, and there was no

telling what havoc the beast would wreak once it broke through the walls.

‘Somewhere up ahead, perhaps in the city already, the traitor waits.’ Longhorn thought to

himself. The thought made him squeeze the leather bridle a little harder and clench his teeth in

anger. Longhorn thought about how much pain they had gone through and how much they had

been manipulated. This time he didn’t shy away, he let the anger build up in him like a power,

and he pushed the war horse to ride even faster. Bloodlust filled his veins and his vision became

sharper as if time slowed for the barbarian.

Longhorn’s war horse topped a hill and was suddenly ambushed by a sudden volley of

crude ancient arrows raining down around him. The arrows bounced off of the cobblestone road

and sunk into the newly abandoned wooden barriers built by the soldiers to keep out the undead.

They sunk into the discarded bodies of undead and fields around them alike. Longhorn hoisted

his traveling bag over his head for protection and pressed the horse not to slow down. “Archers!”

Longhorn shouted amongst the chaos to those following behind him. He looked out and saw the

empty soulless eyes of the small scattered platoon of skeletons on the ridge. They stood in a lazy

formation with their bows and crossbows firing shots high into the air toward him. An arrow

sunk into the pack he held over his head with a whistling thud. Longhorn ignored them and

quickly galloped out of range for their bows. Being shot at remained the least of Longhorn’s

concerns at the moment.

As the city grew on the horizon, the sounds of battle continued to grow louder and he

heard the faraway clang of sword on sword, women screaming and men shouting. Longhorn and

his warhorse rapidly crossed along the mountain pass below Raven’s Peak. The legend of Raven

was old enough that it became difficult to know if it had been true or simply made up to amuse

children. ‘I don’t care what you did, Raven, or how many monsters you fought,’ Longhorn

thought as he passed, ‘It was nothing compared to what’s happening now.’

In the valley beyond Raven’s Peak stood the grand coliseum of Antum. Every spring the

grand coliseum would be packed full of spectators when the game season began. Gladiators from

all over the world would visit and compete for fantastic prizes of gold and land, and the prisoners

who chose to compete rather than face a prison sentence, a possible pardon. ‘How long has it

been since I last saw the coliseum?’ Longhorn thought to himself, ‘I feel like it’s been years.’

The mountain trail ended and the valley below came into full view. Longhorn felt his

heart drop out from under him. The sky had filled with unnatural black clouds and pockets of

lightning. Somewhere above the thick layer of clouds the moon shone an unnaturally bright red.

The gleams of red pierced down through the thinnest clouds bathing the entire countryside in a

demonic shade of dark crimson. Longhorn saw as he looked down, that the fallen roadblocks and

battles weren’t restricted to the mountain pass. His gaze trailed the winding road and he saw that

the entire valley swarmed with battle.

Beyond the small battles and struggles to hold back the hordes, Longhorn saw the great

coliseum. It stood bathed in the fire light glow of several dozen torches burned along its stone

walls. The Antum military were fortifying the arena and using it as a base of operations. They

readily prepared for the advancing undead armies. The soldiers on the walls stood at attention

with crossbows and javelins in their hands while lines of men stood ready in the entryways with

spears, swords and maces at their sides.

Longhorn again saw the horror shambling across the valley and the blood drained from

his face. The creature thumped heavily across the countryside leaving deep divots of death and

decay in the ground where it stepped. Plants near the giant horror instantly shriveled, turned

black and died in the presence of the colossal monster. Behind the monster a long trail of

blackened plant life and foliage reflected its vile trek across the countryside.

Even now Longhorn still couldn’t fathom what he saw when he looked upon it. The thing

was indescribably horrific and unlike anything the hero had ever seen before. Longhorn felt the

tingling flutter of fear deep in the pit of his stomach. It was a sensation that he wasn’t

accustomed to, but for some reason the towering beast made his muscles tense up and his

stomach want to crawl into his throat. His body screamed for him to flee while his steadfast

willpower allowed him to continue to press forward. Longhorn owed it to his friends to push on;

he owed it to those who had fallen.

The road zigzagged through the valley and only separated from farmer’s fields by low

wooden or stone walls. The once tranquil countryside had become littered with makeshift

barriers and walls. It appeared to Longhorn that these barriers did little to slow down the march

of the undead. Many of the barriers now lay destroyed or riddled with arrows.

Longhorn’s speeding charge toward Antum would be dramatically slowed if he stuck to

the roads. He pulled the reigns of the horse sideways and the horse effortlessly leapt over a small

stone wall and into a field. The crops had rotted away to black mush allowing the horse to

maintain great speed across the land. Longhorn lowered his head to block the monstrosity from

his own eyesight and pushed the horse onward. The horse reluctantly continued their rush

towards the city.

The roads became more and more littered with the bodies of soldiers and undead corpses

the closer they got to the city. The carnage began to exceed past the usual foot soldier and began

to include the occasional officer and wizard alike. The roadside bore scars from the damages

caused by the spent wizards spells in the form of fires, craters and melting icicles. ‘The wizards

really gave it their all’ Longhorn thought to himself as he passed the remains of a magical wall

made of thorns. He saw a patch of living vines still clutched onto a handful of skeleton legs and

wondered if it had even slowed them down. Longhorn raced along the wall and pulled the

warhorse around the barriers and watched carefully not to allow the horse to step over any of the

city’s fallen defenders. In Nordic tradition, it is a bad omen to step over a fallen warrior.

Silhouettes along the hillsides showed battles still raging in the distance. Every member

of the Ebony Kingdom’s army stood lined in formation, desperately battling the undead threat

along the city walls. The clang of metal on metal rang out constantly and was only interrupted by

the shouts of soldiers. Slow shambling corpses damaged from previous battle still struggled to

maintain their march toward the city despite lack of legs or arms.

The horse jumped back onto the roadway and swiftly passed a loose band of damaged

skeletons. Longhorn kicked at the undead as he passed, caving in a ribcage and removing a skull

completely with his giant boot. The skeletons slowly turned toward him and raised their swords

to attack. Somewhere behind Longhorn, a pair of arrows found their mark and brought down

another two skeletons in his path. For the first time in several hours he felt comforted. At least

one member of his party was still alive and following his charge toward Antum.

The huge colossal horror approached the arena and the guards there let loose a volley of

arrows into the mass of murky slithering and scuttling blackness. It was impossible to tell if the

arrows had any effect on the indescribable monster. The terrible abomination flung a dripping

appendage sideways and an inky black slime sprayed across the walls and grounds of the arena.

The black pools bubbled and spat out thick streams of steam and choking smoke. Some of the

guards scattered away from the pools and smoke while other brave men screamed.

Haunting otherworldly moans bled out of the pools. Pale figments of tortured faces

appeared in the puddles speaking in strange garbled languages. The guards who looked into

those faces didn’t need to understand the language to know that they were suffering immensely.

Slowly the faces disappeared and replaced by forms resembling monstrously clawed hands and

leathery wings. These strange nightmarish creatures gradually clawed their way out of the

bubbling pools of blackness. Their bodies obstructed by the dense choking smoke. Soon the

entire arena disappeared in the haze of smoke and steam and all that remained were the haunting

sounds of the guards screams.

Longhorn didn’t have a plan. Longhorn never had a plan. ‘If Jack were here, he would

think of something.’ Longhorn thought to himself as he passed the coliseum shrouded in smoke.

Longhorn tried to block out the sounds coming from inside. He tried to not see the shadows of

the assortment of creatures that now shared the arena with the leaders of Antum’s military. ‘I

might even take a suggestion from Dok right now.’ He added as an afterthought trying to distract

himself. ‘No, I need to think positively. They may still all be alive. And if they are, we may be

able to save a few of these people.’

The repulsive creature reached the city walls, the same walls that turned back the

necromancers during the Necromancer War. It was the same wall that had even held back the

fantastic monsters that Raven faced upon Raven’s peak thousands of years ago. It was the wall

that had been built tall enough to obstruct the view of most of the city from the outside. The

monster approached and towered easily over the wall. Its tendrils sought out and wrapped around

the catwalks and squeezed. Stones exploded and giant bricks rained down on both sides. The

great beast slammed its immense girth into the wall knocking out huge chunks the size of small

homes with each hit.

Inside the walls people scattered away from the creature. They ran toward the far side of

the city hoping for safety and salvation. They took nothing but themselves and their loved ones

with them as the fled. Many citizens took shelter in the sturdy temples. There they prayed for

divine intervention or at worst, a quick death.

Every temple represented a different god. In a city the size of Antum, nearly all of the

Gods had a temple devoted to them. Even the evil deities had small hidden alcoves within the

city for the faithful to visit. Only the mysterious Gods weren’t recognized, the ones not fully

understood by modern society, or the ones that weren’t directly mentioned in any historical text.

The last of the city guard and the King’s royal guardsmen were all that remained between

the royal family and the eldritch abomination. They scattered across the palace steps with their

gleaming platinum armor and readied their polished swords. A general in full platinum plate

armor ran to the front of the line and unsheathed his own long sword. He wore an elegant helmet

with an ornate red crest of hair running along the top.

“We stand at the crossroads of the end of days!” He shouted to his men while pointing

upward to the giant monster “If all humanity is to end this day, then we will charge in without

fear or regret within our hearts! I know nothing of the afterlife, and no man lives forever.

Whatever glory awaits us, we’ll be in great company on the other side! To battle! We shall take

them all with us!” The men roared with energy and banged their swords across their shields.

‘It’s too late.’ Longhorn thought to himself as he passed into the monster’s long shadow.

‘I’m too late to stop it.’ The thought terrified him more than the beast ever could.

The road immediately outside of the walls of Antum curved and traced the cliffs

overlooking the Great Sea. The sheer vertical drop famously attracted artists and writers from all

over the world wanting to capture its beauty. The last line of city guards outside of the walls

stationed themselves near the gates. They stood shoulder to shoulder with their tower shields

propped up and prevented the creatures from passing into the city. They used their shield wall to

push back and force the undead over the cliff. The corpses and skeletons tumbled several

hundreds of feet down to the jagged rocks below.

Longhorn thought of the city docks at the bottom of the sheer cliff as he raced along the

road overlooking the ocean. He wondered how long it had been since he walked along the

boardwalk and climbed the massive staircase carved into the rocks below. Those peaceful days

seemed long gone. ‘Spring,’ he thought solemnly, ‘I last came here in the spring.’

Chapter 2

The once proud war vessel had long since become a twisted shadow of its former

glorious self. The old ship had seen bombardment from cannon fire, arrows carrying explosive

payloads and bloodthirsty pirates. It survived the greatest war time conflict in recent memory, yet

Captain Cid couldn’t help but feel sad. The greatest damage to the ship, came many years after

the war during a simple delivery mission. The gruff old captain puffed lazily on his curved pipe

and squinted into the early morning sun. The seagulls busily squawked a miserable morning song

as the first mate Lug tied the boat to the pier.

“It’s lookin’ to be a good ‘un, Cap’n.” The tall grey skinned Orc mentioned casually from

behind his oversized tusks. “Ya couldn’t ask for a better day to kick off the season, it is.

Cid continued to gnaw on the end of his pipe and grimaced at the early morning sun

while he listened to the familiar sounds of a busy port.

The entire length of the shipping dock bustled with activity. Fishing boats began their

early morning trek out into the sea while merchant ships hastily unloaded their cargo.

Somewhere the echoing voice of a foreman could be heard shouting out orders to workers on the

along the docks. Supplies and boxes were quickly taken off the ships and stacked on awiting

carts.

Lug smiled up at Cid and he quickly shot back a glare at Lug to show his unwillingness

to chat about anything so early in the morning. Lug instead busied himself by tying the Domino

II to the dock using oversized ropes.

Sailing proved an odd choice for Orks, since they didn’t usually take to sea travel well.

Many Orks despised the movement while others hated the confined spaces of the ship. However,

Lug had proven himself several times over the years and Cid couldn’t think of a better first mate

to have. For a moment Cid's thoughts turned to Squig, the original first mate of the Domino. Cid

wondered if Squig still lived somewhere out there.

Port Antum had always been the busiest port in the world because of the city’s

centralized location for many of the common trade routes. The accessibility allowed Antum to

become one of the most successful port cities and trading hub in the world.

A young and clean cut dock worker approached the Domino II and shouted up to Lug

“Are there any supplies that needed unloaded?”

Lug looked down at the man only half of his size and smiled. “We ‘ave one of the most

important deliveries to arrive at your dock this week, but I don’ think we’ll need ya to unload it,

boy.” The worker waved an understanding and turned to run back up the dock when he saw

something and stopped.

“Is this the Domino?” He shouted up to Lug while pointing at the battered ship, “The

blockade buster from the Merchant Conflict?”

“Aye, it is boy, it is. You heard of her?” Lug shouted back to the clean shaven young

man. The dock worker didn’t seem to notice or take offense to being called boy; he instead

continued his look of awe at their ship.

“What the hell happened to it? She looks like you pulled her up from the bottom of the

ocean.” The dock worker asked without looking up.

Lug dropped the rope and leaned over the side railing. He me the workers gaze and

calmly spoke, “Maybe we did. Perhaps we should call her the Phoenix since we’ve rebuilt her so

many times. Maybe this ship sank and we're all ghosts.” The dock worker's eyes opened a bit

wider. "Maybe this ship is here to steal the souls of every sailor in the port." Lug added smiling.

"Or perhaps we're just bad carpenters."

“So what’s the story? She doesn’t look like she should even be floating. A lot of these

boards have been broken in half and mended. Did the ship get ripped in half by something like

maybe a storm or a sea monster? Or did you run aground on a reef? “

“You ever ‘ear the stories about how it’s bad luck to ‘ave a woman on board your boat?”

Lug shouted again. Slowly the dock worker’s eyes rose from the shoddy remains of the once

glorious Domino and to the face of the first mate standing on her deck. The worker nodded

carefully as a superstitious fear washed over him. “Well they’re true. “ Lug responded.

Captain Cid eyed the dock worker who busy talked to Lug and he puffed out his chest.

Cid held the pipe firmly in his mouth while they spoke.

“Do you want me to fetch a ship builder for you? Get some repairs done while you’re in

port?” he asked spying Cid standing at the cabin door. “Antum has some of the best builders on

the continent. Unless you would rather sail around to Florartene and have the Elves fix her up.”

“Nay, I think she’ll continue to float for the time being. We don’t know how long we’ll

be in port before moving on.” Lug said waving the worker away. As soon as the worker left, Cid

exhaled loudly. There wasn’t any point in letting everyone know how incredibly hung over he

felt on their first day in port. Cid rapped his boot against the floor loudly and below deck there

came a sudden crash of pots and pans falling over in the galley.

The sudden bangs of sound made Cid want to curl up and cradle his head. But his

determination to convince the other sailors of his position among them held him fast to the deck

of the ship. Cid instead, bit down hard on the tip of the pipe and felt his skull flex.

The ship called the Domino had once been highly regarded as one of the fastest ships in

the armada during the Merchant Conflict. Many of the involved kingdoms tried to downplay the

severity by instead calling the war a conflict, however Cid knew better.

The Domino was no longer the ship that it had been during the war. At one time it had

been carved and made of the finest wood, strongest sails and lightest materials. The Domino had

been one of the fastest and most beautiful ships in existence. Now, it consisted of many of those

same pieces reattached with crude boards and quick sloppy craftsmanship.

Cid ran his hands down the railing and thought about his ship. ‘The same thing happened

to her as happens to all things. Time happens. Time passes and life goes on. Time and sea

monsters are the only things that never change.’

‘How many years has it been since the war ended, nineteen?’ Cid thought to himself

solemnly. Most of what they tied to the dock and called the Domino II actually came from the

ship of a princess that disappeared over a year earlier. ‘Squig wouldn’t be too happy to see the

shape his ship was in.’

A series of heavy footsteps moved sluggishly through the halls of the ship. For a moment

they stopped and were replaced with the sounds of groans before stomping up a set of narrow

stairs to the door behind Cid. The grizzled captain listened to the footsteps stop behind the door

and waited.

“We’re here.” Cid spoke through the door, “We just tied up the Domino II and you can

de board whenever ya feel like you’ve sobered up." Cid stopped to wait for a response and when

one didn't come, he continued. "I suspect that ya have a few hours before they expect ya to be at

the coliseum.” The person behind the door remained silent for a moment as this information

processed.

“How does it look out there?” came a heavy gruff voice speckled with hints of a

hangover from behind the door responded. The voice sounded deep and simple and carried a

heavy weight with it.

Cid again gazed up to the crisp blue sky, warm sun and the circling seagulls in the air still

squawking their morning songs. Cid then looked to Lug who showed no evidence of the night of

heavy drinking they had all shared the night before. “It looks damn awful out ‘ere.” He

responded in a grizzled old sea captain voice. “You sure you’re up for it? It’s been a long trip

and the Arena is on the far side of the city.” Cid added through the rickety door.

The person on the other side of the door exhaled loudly and Cid waited for a response

that didn’t come. “I thought ya berserkers were better at holdin’ yer booze.” Cid mentioned with

a chuckle. The stranger grumbled loudly and slowly pushed open the door. The thin wooden

door creaked and the whine it produced split both of their ears. The stranger took a deep breath

of the fresh salty spring air and exhaled loudly. Slowly the stranger’s gaze rose up the mast to the

flag waving lazily in the morning breeze. The fluttering flag proudly adorned the familiar yellow

and black insignia of his family crest, and from behind his mask, the stranger smiled.

“Hey Lug!” Cid shouted down to the Orc first mate. “Arrange for a carriage to come pick

up our passenger. We wouldn’t want him to get mobbed in the streets.”

Lug smiled a toothy tusk filled smile “Aye captain. Do you think he may like a chauffeur

that’ll sing him a lullaby as well or perhaps give him a nice foot rub?” Lug laughed. The stranger

paid him no attention and continued to strain through his hangover.

Cid thought for a moment before continuing. “Find an inspector too while you’re at it. I

heard those same rustling noises again between the walls during the journey from Ordius.” Cid

added.

“Are you thinking that you have rats?” The strange voyager asked

“We definitely have something aboard our ship, but I think they’re bigger than rats.” He

responded to the passenger. Cid looked knowingly down to Lug who nodded his understanding.

“Do you think we’ll need more than an exterminator for them Captain?” Lug asked

looking up from the lower deck. Cid thought about his response for a moment while he

continued to chew on the end of his long pipe.

“No, I think we’ll just need a sweeper to shoo them away. Hopefully they’ll be happier in

Antum and we won’t have to worry about them anymore.” Cid walked slowly down the steps to

the deck where Lug stood watching him. “You and I will head into the market and get some

supplies for the return journey. I don’t think we should be around when the inspectors come

through.” Lug nodded again his understanding of what his captain was telling him.

“I’ll take care of it, sir.” Lug added solemnly.

Chapter 3

The grand city of Antum stood as a shining pillar to the grand Ebony Kingdom. Antum

had always been the capital of the Ebony Kingdom and home of the towering Ebony Palace. Its

polished black spires stretched so far upward into fine points that they seemed to disappear into

sky itself. The ebony towers and spires glistened black in the bright sunlight and defined the very

name of the kingdom. The kingdom’s flags made of the finest silk waved in the warm breeze

from the palace windows atop the spires and along the walls making the already beautiful castle

a remarkable sight. The castle sat atop a lush green garden of exquisite flowers, fountains and

hedges. Many of the city’s citizens commonly strolled through the vast gardens and among the

hedges where they could enjoy the amazing view of the city around them.

Surrounding the Castle extending outward like spokes on a wheel, ran the six primary

roadways of the city. These six roads separated the various districts and markets within the city

and allowed for easy and safe travel.

The city itself sat defensively cliff side high above the Great Sea. The sheer vertical slope

of the cliff in addition to the height ensured that no enemy would ever dare attempt to attack the

city. The breathtaking overlook of the sea drew artists, travelers and pilgrims from all around the

world eager to experience the beauty.

The jutting towers of the college as well as the towers of the castle could be seen for

miles even behind the great city walls. These magnificent structures also acted as easy beacons

for ships trekking across the Great Sea. Antum harbor remained the greatest source of income

due to its centralized location. This resulted in Antum and the Ebony Kingdom being among the

wealthiest and most powerful of nations.

The seaport of Antum employed many of the city’s residents and fishermen, as well as

housed much of the kingdom’s vast navy. A long stairway, carved into the cliffs and caves leads

the traders and sailors a thousand steps up to the city’s districts. A hundred ships sail in and out

of the city daily trading and traveling to other kingdoms and continents. Antum fishing ships

famously caught some of the most delicious fish, sea-snakes and other creatures in the world.

The streets of Antum were paved with smooth carefully constructed cobblestones. These

well maintained streets extended through the city and extended out several miles along the most

common trade routes. The paved roads allowed for fast and easy travel from the many small

towns within the Ebony Kingdom. These roads were frequently patrolled by the kingdom’s

mounted military which severely reduced bandit activity within the state.

Below the city’s street ran a full aqueduct and sewer system. The complex sewer system

ran all throughout the city and provided the citizens of Antum a clean city and healthy lifestyle.

The sewer began as a series of tunnels created both for an easy escape route for the royal family

as well as shelters during the Necromancer War. For the past thousand years the sewer provided

an easy way to bring fresh river water into the city.

King Seraph Roguesong of Antum was renowned for his kind and fair attitude in both

national and local matters. The citizens of Antum regarded him as a King for the people. King

Roguesong selflessly regarded the needs of his people and subjects above all else. He maintained

an open court within the palace grounds to allow the public to air concerns and grievances

directly to his advisors. He made every effort to know the constant goings on in his capital and

kingdom. King Roguesong made fair decisions and was quick to act.

Strangely, most citizens knew little about his history or the royal family’s. Seraph had

been on the throne of the Ebony Kingdom for over sixty years but didn’t look any more than

forty years old. This resulted in many speculations regarding his ancestry. Many rumors guessed

that his ancestors had been Elves which were know to live for hundreds of years.

Many rumors ran rampant regarding the history of the Roguesong dynasty. Each

whispered story seemed stranger than the last. Some people believed that they had been chosen

for the throne by the Gods themselves at the beginning of the Second Age, while others claimed

that the family secretly held ownership of a rare magic artifact which granted their family the

position of King. Most citizens of the Ebony Kingdom didn’t concern themselves with such

stories. Citizens chose to leave the speculation and tall tales to foreigners and the imagination of

children. The citizens instead reveled in the wisdom and foresight of their King. They accepted

that the King’s personal history was only known by a select few, and many felt fine with that.

The city of Antum saw thousands of visitors daily. Most visitors were merchants and

farmers coming into the city to sell and trade their wares. Other times, these visitors were

pilgrims coming to visit the temples and shrines devoted to each of the many Gods. The vast

temple district had been built for quiet serenity. The streets were wide to allow plenty of room

for large groups of people and there were many benches and trees spread throughout the district.

Near the center of the district, the city constructed a large public garden filled with walkways

and exotic flowers. In the center of the park stood a large ornate fountain depicting brass statues

of each of the creation Gods as they had been described in ancient texts. The Gods surrounded

and looked upon the central fountain as if watching life first emerging from its watery spout.

The most notable district of the city comprised the most advanced and respected magical

facility in the world. Antum was home of the famous wizard’s college, Thorntwist. The college

consisted of a series of eight tall ivory white towers and several ancient stone buildings. The

towers were arranged in a wide circle encompassing the grounds. The awe inspiring ivory towers

reflect a brilliant contrast to the glossy black towers of the Ebony Palace. The Thorntwist towers

were interconnected together with many spider-webbing walkways and bridges. Each tower

represented one of the arcane schools of magic. Each towers contained offices, classrooms and

dormitories. A series of older stone buildings sat the foot of the towers. These buildings were left

over from the wizard coalition and the earliest incarnation of the college. As years went by and

the towers were built, these old plain buildings quietly became housing for the first year students.

Scholars occasionally traveled to Thorntwist College from all over the world. The

outland wizards typically make a pilgrimage to Thorntwist at some point during their training.

These wild wizards, usually taught by lone mentors, were recognizable by their simple robes and

handmade books. They came from all over the world to share knowledge, study magic and train

their abilities beyond what their teachers were capable of.

Alumni attending Thorntwist are organized by their area of study and expertise. Every

student and teacher are recognizable by their unique color of robes. Each color represents the

wizard’s specialty magic or area of study. On warm sunny afternoons, it became common to see

the students travel through the city during class breaks. The mixture of students, each with

different colored robes filing through the college gate appeared almost parade like to the citizens.

Despite the magnificent college and moderate student body, magic still remained a

mystery. Even the most veteran sorcerers openly admit to their limited understanding on the

subject. It was common knowledge that the majority of the magical prowess and understanding

had been lost long ago. In addition to teaching, the school also stands as a research center trying

to rediscover the long lost knowledge and the largest magical library in existence.

The arrival of spring became a monumental occasion within the Ebony Kingdom. Yearly

on the first day of spring, Antum hosts week long celebrations, parades and opens the coliseum

for the season. Alongside the spring celebration, Thorntwist also holds a grand festival. The

purpose of the festival is to allow the demonstration of various magical abilities and knowledge.

The college hosts tournaments of skill, knowledge and bravado between wizards and witches.

The tournaments typically drew in wild wizards eager to compete and compare their knowledge

to those from the college. The students loved to watch the Thorntwist tournaments. It allowed

them to see different magic in action and test their skills against their classmates. The tournament

also stood as the opportunity for outland wizards and scholars to come and showcase unique new

uses for spells, to show off and sell potions, or display captured magical beasts.

Somewhere a bellowing horn blasted a heavy deep sound sending flocks of birds from

their nests and scattering for the sky. The sound reached the farthest rolling farmlands where it

surprised farmers and their farmhands. For a brief moment of surprise, they stopped their field

work of planting the spring seeds. Their eyes rose to the horizon and the dusty road that lead

toward Antum. They recognized the sound as one they had heard before. The sound didn’t

frighten them any more than it did the cows who insisted on continuing their grassy breakfast.

The sudden blast of the horn vibrated off of the stone buildings within in the city. The

echo bounced within the city's outer stone walls surprising the elderly and waking babies.

Groups of homeless dogs stopped rooting through garbage and howled alongside the horn in

unison.

Even the blossoming trees throughout the gardens around the Ebony Palace seemed to

sway a little more than usual in the blast’s wake. Puffs of purple and pink blossoms fell and

circulated into the wind carrying them spiraling down the city streets.

People all over the city stopped and froze in the middle of what they were doing when the

horn fist blared and still looked vacantly in the direction of the sound long after the horn finally

died out.

When the horn’s blare finally stopped, the air became a vacuum of silence that

immediately felt strange and foreign. Nobody who had heard it moved and none of them spoke.

Slowly, as if waking from a dream the people of the city awoke from their daze.

For a long silent moment everyone in the city slowly blinked back into consciousness.

Some followed this with a dazed pondering of their surroundings as they search for the memory

of what they were doing before the horn had sounded.

Children all over the city grew large toothy grins and began tugging on the arms of their

parents. Young apprentices in the markets and stores temporarily abandoned their jobs and ran

out into the streets. Packs of people formed groups in the streets and moved together through the

city. More people came out of their homes, shops and stores and joined them. By the time the

various small crowds reached the gates of the outside walls, they had become large migration

masses of people.

Far above the crowds the city guards watched while standing atop the walls and within

the watch towers. The guards silently wore the Antum city emblem across their chest. Their dark

grey dyed studded leather armor didn’t reflect light and allowed them to blend seamlessly into

the walls grey stonework. The camouflage made it impossible to count the number of guards

standing watch along the wall.

They watched the mass of people pass underneath them with equal bits of envy and

jealously. They sneered as the masses passed by with looks of pure joy on their faces. The guards

wanted to join their friends, family and everyone else below them currently stampeding out of

the city.