Nameless Lands

Long before the snowbeast, long before the wardens imprisoned the bearer of the light sword, a noble knight assisted a noble queen in her efforts to unlock the powers of the original psionics.

Some... an ignorant few.. called this power "magic"

The name didn't matter, its power was real.. What is called psionics today is but a shadow.. a glimmer, a torch light in the dark, of the true power of the primal essence of mental energy.

The queen? you know her.. we all know her.. she betrayed her mate and fled to the lands beyond the rift to perfect her art.

The knight? .. well, now thats the twist. Rumor has it that the knight (the ruler of this new land), may be far more than meets the eye. A servant of the queen? A practioner of forbidden arts? Thats certainly what some believe.

So whats new? A tear.. a small one.. has opened in the borderlands (between nork and the lands beyond the rift).. Why? now there is a question. Random cosmic event? or is someone dabbling with powers they can't possibly understand.

Graine has disappeared.. His clan claims he is going to rid the new borderlands of evil.. But now that begs the question.. what is evil?

I fear the average adventurer, sheltered for centuries from the consequences of psionics, is going to dive head on and join Graine in this insane quest to prove right from wrong. To rush in and confront this.. "Nameless" lord.. in the hopes that their finely tuned infantile abilities has a chance of overcoming a being infused with primal psionics.

But, what choice do we have. Who knows, Graine may be right. I even hear Dornar Dungeon was found there. And I hear akronium has been found there. I shudder to think what these neonates will do with akronium. But you and I know thats not the real issue.

I'm just one bard, I can't keep the psionic streams of nork/aleria/cobrahn in check AND deal with this. If its a hoax.. fine.. But..

..sigh..

If it really is Arcturus..

..

We're all gonna die

Part II

Soyer walked slowly down the hall towards the throne room, not even glancing at each of the dukes as he passed. The tension in the air was almost palpable.. The rumors seemed true, but he had to make sure.

Far ahead, he noticed there was no waiting Lord Summoner... And as he crossed the threshold into the throne room, a cold chill ran down his back.

Arcturus was dead.. It was undeniable. Graine was sure to revel in this victory.. Assuming he survived.

A snicker came from down the corridor behind him.. Turning, he noticed the treacherous dukes staring back at him. "There were none righteous in this fight" soyer thought to himself, "Evil vs Evil" he continued. "So what will you now, bard?" Marvin questioned. "Soon we will have the power of the rift, and will rule those untouched lands." he continued. "Uncontested, unchallenged, we will finally be out from under your thumb" he finished. Soyer smiled, stared down at a small scrap of paper, a land grant apparently dropped by its intended owner. "Not so uncontested.. I'm afraid." he interjected. "And as far your escape from my control, I'm afraid you misunderstand." Soyer continued. Soyer turned and proceeded down the corridor past the puzzled dukes. Turning a moment, he calmly whispered....." "I don't care.." "I never have.." "And quite probably.... " "I never will.."

In a rare maniacal moment, he had let something slip.. his guard was down and his tongue had wagged a bit too much.

A cold wind blew from the west. The dukes shivered.