The Adventures of Brandar Odaron
Book 1: The Hidden Continent
Chapter 13 A New Purpose
When Brandar stood before the dark-skinned Strabos, Brakhus was by his side, to assist him with the Sereghran’s toungue, should he need it, though Brandar spoke with confidence to the old King, and gave a rousing account of the adventures of the Emissaries, from their preparations for braving the ranks of the enemy, through their battles with pirates upon the Great Eastern Ocean, their rowing through the Enchanted Mists, and then their rescue by Captain Ergon. And there was long and loud applause by all in attendance when he was done. Then Brandar answered questions the King put to him, which were many; for Strabos was concerned with the rise of the Sorcerer MorLome, though that one ruled on the other side of the world. And so moved was Strabos with Brandar’s story that he gave great honor to all Seven of the Emissaries, and named Brandar a Hero King. Hence, not even one among the Sereghran doubted even the most unlikely rumors about the Northrons, as the Seven were not the first to have come through the Mists.
The Sereghran were the descendents of early Heroes of the Mists, their Forefathers, who had accomplished many mighty deeds, in addition to coming through the Mists. And Strabos himself had been a great Frontier Warrior in his youth, and who sailed away from Arzultaur to brave the Mists and go out into the world, but who at length returned to the Hidden Continent, and was then made High King in Sunthakis. So, the Emissaries were counted among such adventurers, although the Seven had not been told something else which the People expected of them. Yet, their story, and that they had come alive through the Mists at all, was enough for the People to accept them, and wish for them to go, in time, to the Borderlands; as the People desired to expand their borders westward, and were certain that the Emissaries were sent by the Gods to aid them in that effort. And, as it turned out, this was indeed the truth. But the Seven could not then fathom what the Fates had in store for them. Thus, they but bided their time, accepting their notoriety.
King Strabos housed the Northrons in his very own castle; often inviting them to meetings with high officials and Lords of the Lands, and to royal functions, and to many banquets and feasts. And ever the women, young and old, and even the married ones, would make themselves available to all of the Emissaries, and were ever attempting to seduce them, much to the surprise but joy of the Volunteers. Yet, Brandar refused to be tempted, and no longer had dalliances with the ladies, saying that he was looking for “just the right one.” And he later met a woman whom he loved. But for now, he preferred to read and study in the King’s Library, and to converse with Strabos, for Brakhus had returned to his home in the north. Then it was that the Seven learned that the lives of those who dwell within the Mists are extended, as Men upon Arzultaur never age, but instead go on, lest they be slain by weapon or poison, or by unhappy chance. So the Seven found that they too would live on, as long as they remained in Arzultaur.
Upon a certain time, Brandar and Strabos were drinking together and talking in Brandar’s chambers, where Strabos told Brandar something of his own great tale, saying: “I took ship with a crew of brave Sereghran to go exploring in Esaereh, many years ago. And we passed through the Mists, just as you; though going west. Then did we sail and found Dolgondil, as you name it, but afterwards the island of Quiechios, and then the long coast of Weyilendeh. And we had many adventures there. But when we began to age, as do all Men outside the Mists, then did we know that the magic which kept us from aging was enclosed within the Mists, and should we remain outside we too would at last fall from old agedness. Then half of us returned, and made it back alive, thank the Gods. And we therefore won praise for doing so.
"With that, I went to the Frontiers, and made a name for myself fighting Durwolc, much as you have done upon your Westmarch, it seems. And the King in those days, whose name was Raedas, made me the Commanding General over all of the Frontier. But thereafter, so much praise had I won from my fellows, and the People, and the Lords of the Lands, that Raedas made me his heir, even above his oldest son, Raeden; as I am myself of royal lineage, and Raeden is altogether untrustworthy, dwelling still here in Sunthakis, angry with what his father has done. And ever does he scheme to undermine my rule. Yet, his father said to me that he believed his son would heap disgrace upon the throne. And he was disturbed and ashamed that such a son had issued from his loins, though he had other sons, not so ill-disposed. Even so, Raedas saw fit to proclaim me his heir, and after he passed I was crowned.
"It had come about that King Raedas was killed while foolhardily leading an assault upon the Dragon of the Forest. Then all of the People clamored for me to become the King, and that was done, despite Raden’s challenge, due to the fact that our Kings are not required to be of a given lineage. We take office by declaration of the People. But this caused strife between the followers of Prince Raeden, who are few, and the rest of the People, though his followers are wealthy, some being right powerful Lords. What is more, I did not desire the crown. Rather would I be upon the Frontiers leading armies against our enemies. But I accepted the seat because the People desired it, and I was the hero of the day. Thus, here am I, the High King, though I feel as if I am in chains, as I cannot walk away from the demands of my lordship.
“Aye, Brandar, I envy you. For, you are now as was I in my youth. Neither would I have called this doom upon myself, to be King, for I would have served the son as well as the father. The throne-room is like a prison to me. Freedom I crave. Even to being as you, and once myself as well, having the liberty to come and go as I please; free to seek places bespoken in legend, and to wield my sword against evil where-ever it be, or to once more earn a name for myself amongst the Warriors upon the borders.”
Then Brandar thought to himself that here was a leader with a heart like his own, and one whose orders gladly would he follow in battle. And the two were to become fast in friendship. But Brandar was surprised to learn that Strabos was more than six-hundred years old, though he looked no more than sixty. Then Bandar knew that the Sereghran were like the Elves, who never sickened nor aged, though many are counted as Men, even so. And when Brandar asked to hear more about this, Strabos said in answer: “Yea, we bend not with age as Men beyond the Mists, in lands upon which the Gods seldom tread; when they stood upon ground as do we. Still, we are indeed mortal, after all, and may be slain by accident or intent, else by some pestilence or poison sent by the Demon Lord. And there have been many, through the years, who slay themselves. But those we consider cowardly. With one desiring to die, we believe that the honorable way is to fall in battle on the borders. That urge do I feel, even in my own soul, as also do I believe was true of the former King, Raedas, and his reason for going forth to challenge the Dragon that slew him. Indeed, we all honor him for doing so.
“You see, we are unique in Esaereh, we of Arzultaur, though some have called it a curse over a blessing. Verily, there is magic here. An ancient and mysterious magic, wrought by the same Gods who made the Enchanted Mists, which keep us separate from all else that there is in Esaereh. And it saves us from the maladies of long agedness. Yet, it will not defend us from sicknesses, either of mind or body, which arises not from nature. We have often been assailed by our enemies with poisons and terrible plagues, in our struggles with Evil-Ones which the Gods have enclosed within the Mists. But it is the way of things here that many go to the Frontiers in search of death; often those who achieve the greatest of deeds by having no fear of being slain. To that I can attest, for I have been there and seen it. Indeed, would that I was there now, instead of trapped in this castle, though I do not seek death. Rather, I simply do not fear it. Yet, I shall not forsake my duty here in Sunthakis, as Raedas had done.”
Now Brandar kenned that Strabos was a troubled man. “Once I considered myself mighty,” said Strabos, ”when I went out and found that I lived longer than other Men, all but those Sereghren who went with me, following my orders. But when at last I had seen so many new friends die of old age, and gazed upon the faces of my fellows, I knew that the vigor of our youth had long passed, and that all of the magic of Arzultaur was closed within the Mists. And the longer we dwelt outside, the closer the doom of Men came near, which before we had not truly understood. Then half of us chose to return to Arzultaur, along with a few new followers. And as we were Heroes of the Mists, as also are you, we were put forward among the Warriors. Yet, to my sorrow, most of those who came back with me have been slain in battle upon the Frontiers. Now, only I and one other survive of those great Heroes. But I have already spoken of how the People made me their King.
“Long ago, does that seem to me now. And the years are like a weight upon my shoulders. But the People do not understand my sorrows. And I cannot explain it to them, for it is not a thing so easily made just. Others of the Sereghran have gone outside, of course, before and after me. But few of those before have returned, and none afterwards. You and your Volunteers are the first Heroes of the Mists since I and my followers returned. And those I left behind would all have fallen of agedness long hence. Such are the fortunes wrought by the flow of time, and the fate of those outside of the Mists."
The two were alone in Brandar’s chambers, high in the Northern Wing of the King’s Castle, where the King had taken to looking out the window as he spoke. Then he turned and looked upon Brandar. “Yes, there is magic here,” said he, ”unlike any other in the world. And you too may live on, just so, unless you return to Andaria. Let that be of some comfort to you, my friend, for I ken that you and your men were made distraught upon learning the truth of the Mists, that you have lost so much time. Do I not have that feeling in myself? Twice have the Mists taken time from me.
“But I say to you now, lift up your eyes, my Hero King. You and I have been shifted in time, but you are not I. You are as was I in my youth, full of strength and daring. And it is clear that a high doom awaits you, Bandar. Yay, even greater than mine.
“Already are you renowned in the Lands. The People are glad and excited that you Northrons have come through the Mists, and not just for your prowess in war, which indeed we honor. Nay, you have yet to be told the greater importance of your coming. Know you now, if you have not gleaned it yet, that we need your blood, not to spill in battle, but to give us in children. We need you to take wives for yourselves, and father children for the Sereghran upon Arzultaur.” Now Brandar was right puzzled by this. And seeing his confusion, Strabos explained in joyous tones: “Have you not seen that the Sereghran are a mongrel breed; a mix of many colors and creeds and races.” And Brandar was amazed that Strabos had seemingly insulted his own people. “Look about you. We all know this truth. It is a problem for us, though we do not frown upon marriage between the males and females of different kinds, quite the contrary. Rather, our family bloodlines are too few. We belong to old Houses which are right easily counted by our Loremasters, despite our having grown so numerous as to make the Lands we hold now seem narrow and confining. In the past, this was of no great concern. But with our increase in numbers, our bloodlines are not expanding outside of those Houses. Have you not seen the blending of the Elves and Dwarves and Men among the People? Few today are of unmixed blood, and all the Elder Sereghran who are unmixed we hold very dear, and do not let them go to war upon the Frontiers, for they are our treasures. Yet, their bloodlines have been with us for so many generations that there is some of it in all of us now. That is why we prize so highly those who come alive through the Mists, from the world outside, and not just because of their bravery.
"Yes, the People want you to go and do battle for us, to aid us in extending our Lands. But they want you to bear children ere you go. We need the new bloodlines, Brandar. We have a desperate need for you and your men to father children, and many of them. As many as you can give us!” Of course, Brandar was taken back by this revelation. “The Elders tell us,” continued Strabos, “that a mingling of kin is not good for us, as it weakens our progeny. I have seen this in my own lifetime. I know families who began strong a few generations past, but whose brood today are too often weak, and even slow of wit. For this reason, we have made it our law that none may marry closer than fourth cousin. Yet, those laws were made when I was but a boy, and I am now six-hundred and twenty-four years of age, as the Sereghran count days, though the Mists took away two-hundred and forty-three of those years. So, your coming is truly a gift from the Gods, my adventurous friend. We all want you here if you do nothing but father children for us. Even as we speak, mothers are schooling their daughters in the ways of pleasing their mates, both in and out of the bedchamber. Have you not seen how they parade the loveliest of maidens before you, like so many bright jewels to be desired, and loved? Indeed, our women are absolutely drooling over you Newcomers. Therefore, be of good cheer, Brandar my friend. Though you feel you have lost kin far away, perhaps you have been sent to gain other kin here, and dwell happily among the Sereghran. Indeed, I hold that this is your fate, Brandar. This is your fate.”
Many conversations did Brandar have with Strabos in those days, while he and the Volunteers continued to learn the lore of the Sereghran. Yet, after two months in the King’s Castle, the Seven remained sick at heart for their loss of time, despite their merry-making at banquets and feasts, and dallying with so many fair maidens so often and so willingly made available to them, with Brandar the sole exception; for all but he sampled those treats, only to ease their sorrows, of course. No, Brandar spent his time in the King’s library, or in the Loremasters Hall, and in consulting with Mages in search of some magic that could be used to go back in time and change the past, though none was forthcoming, and he could find no Mage able to devise such magic.
The Seven had been given an entire floor of the North Wing of the Castle, which was positioned upon the southern bank of a very large river name Livereiwos, which is Blue River. And on the farthest end of that wing was a large room which the Seven used as a meeting place. It happened one day, therefore, that they were there to study maps, and so the Volunteers were debating strategies for defending against an imagined attack from the Demon Lord, while Brandar gazed from the balcony and thought about what Strabos was saying. Then he beheld, as if for the first time, the grandeur of the city; realizing that this must be the most splendid place he had ever seen or heard of. Indeed, he kenned that it was the mightiest city in the world.
Here were towering houses, like mountains of wood and stone, of many colors, and many varieties of design and of fashioning. But the Castle was a small city within the city, with the King’s Palace midmost; being the tallest and most intricate dwelling of all. And it was a wonder to behold, though Brandar could not see it all from where he stood. Rather, he gazed upon what he could see of the city, through which flowed the river, formally named as “Maegan Livereiwos”, which is The Great Blue River. And at its mouth was a deeply dredged bay, from whose sandy shores many a mighty pier went far into the waters. But huge quays had been built upon the beaches, with smaller quays and piers on the riverbanks all the way to a line of great trees marking the edge of the Jungles west. And everywhere upon all the waters were the great ships of the Sereghran; including those wondrously huge vessels built for long voyages. But there were many smaller ships, and beautiful sailboats, and craft of many kinds, as far as the eye could see on the ocean, or on the river so wide and deep that even the largest of ships could sail inland to nearly a league. And many a craft were tied to where men worked at loading or unloading goods, while other craft were held in drydock, and yet others were being built, with one apparently new ship even now being drawn towards the ocean upon mighty wooden wheels. But the whole bay was bustling with activity.
Thus, with the noonday Suns high in the sky, and a cool breeze reminding him of the day the Seven had emerged from the Mists, Brandar marveled at how old the city must be. Then the view struck a chord in his heart, as he looked upon the vastness of the far-off Jungle, whose dark treeline could be seen far beyond fields to both west and north, with some trees standing even as tall as mountains. And the hazy sky above them shimmered magically.
Then Brandar called his fellows over to see what he was seeing, as if it were a whole new world. And he spoke of the feel of the sea when Wingaron had come suddenly out of the Mists, and of the smell of the air, and how they were singing when the sails caught the wind. But he spoke also of the High King’s words, and of the desires of the People. And he asked them: “What would you now? Far have you come upon my Quest, and endured much for your loyalty. Yet, your part I now count met in full. Did we not cause aid to be sent to Andaria? Was that not our first mission? And did we not brave the Mists of Time in search of the Gods of Old, only to find that the Gods have departed, and are not to be approached where now they dwell?
“You have done much. Neither should I have lived but for you being with me. Yes, I am your leader by birthright. But now it is up to you, for a change has come upon all of us, since here we may live on without end. So, you must each decide your course.
“Return through the Mists we may, if willed; and soon, if you wish. But the past is gone forever, and cannot be returned. And yet, more of our time would we lose going back, so that few of those we knew would remain to greet us in Romin. The old Wizard, I might guess, and mayhap some of the Wielders, and a few Elves. But lo, we ourselves would have fallen by now from agedness, which befalls all Men who dwell not within the circle of the Mists. Think! Even had we been made Inheritors of the greatest of the Palaklar, those who yet live would now be hobbling about with creaking bones, begging to die as a Warrior making one last stand upon the Marches.
“What would you now, my friends? Return to Andaria, or remain here and start anew in this wonderful country? Whatever you all decide I will abide by it. Yet, I, for my part, would leave off of sailing for a while, and take up my sword in a wide field of battle, with my feet set firmly upon the ground, and a fight to be fought in defense of good against evil, which can be had just as well here as anywhere. Do not the Sereghran have Marches of their own? And Arzultaur, they say, has Durwolc aplenty, who need driving off, as our forefathers drove the beasts from Rillguman. Indeed, were I alone, I would ask Strabos his leave to join the Warriors upon his Frontiers, beyond those Jungles. But here, it is time for me to lay down my leadership, and do what you wish me to do. So then, what say you? Shall we sail away or remain?”
Now, this way and that the Volunteers debated as evening came on. But at length, they renewed their vows to follow Brandar whither-so-ever he may lead, and likewise admitted that they were best suited to lives as Warriors, and should in time go to the Frontiers. And from that day forward the Seven embraced a new outlook in their lives. Hence, this is where some of the most famous of their adventures begins.
*******
I explain next somewhat the lay of the lands of the Hidden Continent, according to maps which Brandar brought with him upon his return. Arzultaur was in those days only the eastern regions that the Sereghran held, though in later days the entire continent would become known by that name. But for now, the city of Sunthakis sat upon the coast of a great natural bay upon the midmost, north to south, of the eastern coastlands, and which is called simply The Bay of Arzultaur. To the far south, yet also upon the eastern coast, was an even greater bay, but no city, and which was called Dragon’s Cliff Bay, due to great cliffs along the shore atop which dwelt a Good Dragon named Raudrogos, who was allied with the Sereghran, and whom the Gods had long ago asked to dwell upon the continent, and give aid to settlers from outside the Mists who may come alive through them, and make homes for themselves thereupon.
To the far north, on the eastern coast, lay the city of Baerakis, that city where the Northrons had been brought after their rescue, though this city was much smaller than Sunthakis, and had no bay, nor a great river, but had many a smaller river and stream running through it, on their way to the sea. And from there the coast curved west, where was a tremendous bay simply called the North Bay, midmost of the continent, east to west.
About that bay lay grasslands stretching from the coast to a great distance south, where they met the Forest, distinguished from the Jungle Lands east by the kinds of trees and plants it held. The Grasslands and Forest therefore encompassed the lands going east to west from the Jungles to a great mountain range, the only mountains there, called thus The Mountains, which went along a great arc north to south nigh all the way across the continent on its western side. But farther south, the Forest grew less dense, and then became what is called the Great Southern Wood, which thus stretched on to reach the Southern Coast, and east to west spanned all of the Southlands of the continent. And between The Mountains and the Western Coast lay the Western Wood, more narrow than The Forest to the east, but which Wood north to south ran the length of the range.