The Black Rose

"{{ The night is cool and peaceful around teh garrison at Icehold. Within the walls of the citadle the Lord Jaric sleeps, his night troubled by the power of his Vistani sight.}}

The scene appears as if looking down from a great height through the eyes of another. Below the ground is shrouded in fog and mist, making it difficutl to see the shapes of men that were known to be present and moving. Through the power of his blood-given sight he watches the mist clearand for the first time witnesses the destruction the Enemy has wrought. Below the ground is frozen, the once lush vegetation of the island witherred and dead, frozen by a cold more bitter than any had ever felt, even in Aurora. As he watches through the haze, the tiny figures of a dark army began to move, an army of the dead and of Ice.

{{ The mental iamge shifts as the Auroran king lays sleeping, his features frozen in a look of grim determintation.}}

" Lord Jaric, Captain Zertan reports that the Aegis soldiers have fallen back to the palace as commanded and are now takign their positions to guard the Queen." The messenger's face is haggard and beaded with sweat.

"Good, send word to the Queen to hold there, if they breach our defenses what we have left will move to reinforce her, but there will be little enough hope if that occurs. Tell her to hurry with the spells..."

Jaric's Eyes are cold, his voice betraying no emotion. This is a battle feild, the true court of the Black Rose. The messenger quickly departs to be replaced by another.

" Lord Jaric, Commander Vackor reports that the Enemy has taken Marloc and is moving to seige IceHold yet again. Their forces should be there within the hour."

" Dispatch a detachment of Dwarves to reinforce the Yellow Rose, they are to Icehold at all costs until word is received from Lord Victor. They can not have our ports or we will be cut off from reinforcements." Young Sarah Winterhaven had proven herself more than useful before, enough so to earn her place on the council of Aurora. Jaric prayeed that her magic would be enough to hold against the foe.

" My lord, Victor has already returned, the enemy has frozen the coast and locked the fleet in ice. His men arrived no more than an hour ago and have taken up their places with the others."

" Send Victor to me at once. Cancel the reinforcemtns, and dispatch men enough to get Lady Winterhaven and her soldiers out of there and back to the line."

The messengers departs, moving to carry out the Lord's orders with a speed and alacrity that belies years of training. He is quickly replaced by a third message bearer. As he departs Jaric looks to the three dimensional map of Aegis that rests before him, placinga green flag over the site of Castel Marloc, and removingthe small silver-colored ships that represented Victor's fleet from the board. Two months ago the enemy had come, a demon born of Ice and shadow leading a horde of fell beasts crafted of ice who could kill with a touch, causing those that died by their claws and blades to rise again as undead horrors. The beast and his army were something from an Auroran nightmare, save the beast had come from Aegis.

"What reports of the Baron?" Jaric's half-brother, the master assassin, had gone earlier to do what he does best, kill the leader fo the army and thereby weaken the enemy with a mortal blow. The Baron's words still echoed in his ears..." If I do not come back, tell Ava I love her."

"There has been no word from Baron Vladmir. It is beleived he is dead."

Jaric nods silently, " Blood for blood demon, a debt paid...I swear it." With those words he removed the blue flag from the map. The Auroran's had fallen back already to hold a wall of men and trenches between the horde and the citizens of Aegis. Nearly the entire army of the Winterlandsstood ready to fight and die for their allies while the Aegis soldiers, not as well equipped to fight in ice and snow as the Auroran Army, withdrew to the palce to guard the Queen and her mages whel they worked to find a spell to defeat the Enemy.

" You sent for me milord?" Vicotr enters the command tent and stands in formal attention, his armor dented and broken, his face showwing the wearines of travel even though he is a vampyre.

Jaric feels it before he can speak, before the warning horns can sound. The bitter, razor-edged cold that marks the demon's approach. Without a word he leaves the tent, brushing past Victor. With a jump he launches onto the back of his warhorse Shadow, removing the ring from his hand and shifting his body to an incorporeal state, becoming the Wraith Lord, his mount becoming a thing of shadow and flames.

Victor looks up to him just as the horns sound.

" Take a horse, find Lady Sarah and ride for the palace. Tell the Queen it comes..we go to hold the wall as logn as we can. Do not fail me Victor."

He draws the holy blade "Angelfire" and rides toward he coming battle......

{{ For hours later Jaric lays in his bed, replayign the images and words over and over in his mind. Since childhood he had been cursed with the Vistani sight, this had been no dream, but a vision of a dark future, one that began in the mountains of Aegis, and one that must end there before th events he had seen could unfold.}}

You face twilight and winter now Aegis..areyou strong enough to survive? "


It has come to mind that the visions regarding the enemy may serve us later, so here I write what I see. Though I am not certain that the beast can be defeated, we have brought the full might of Aurora to bear on the realm. If it can be fought with steel and faith, then the Dragon Knights shall battle to the last, even if my own life be lost in the process.

I fear for the Lady Trixie. She is a good woman, for a fae, and does not deserve to see her home furhter ravaged, but I see her having a part in this play and dare not send her to the Winter Lands. Her fragile heart could not bear the harshness of our frozen home, nor could she possibly understand the tales of what I have done in the name of justice.

The weariness of travel overcomes me. I was too long without a human body and I tire easily these nights. My return from paradise has cost me my wife and children a second time so that I may fullfill my duty to my realm and my brothers... gods grant that my sacrifice was not in vain.

We have landed. 10,000 strong and ready for battle. I sit surrounded by the might of Aurora, the strength of Aegis, and in my heart I know that the battle will be won or lost by events beyond our control. The men beyond these walls arrived her knowing that they would die, alone, without the grace fo seeing thier families, there graves shall be dug on forgeign soil, and their memories, if we fail, forgotten save by those at home that mourn them..and perhaps teh few survivors that escape should our efforts prove for naught.

I have not seen sign of my brother since my return, the Baron is no doubt with his Queen. My warnings of the Demon's hold on her shook the vampyre to the core. I have never seen Vladamir care for a "living" being so much before. I am nearly certain he would betray his own blood for that woman...I know not whether such a thing is praise worhty or detestable. Love is a double edged blade..it can oft-times make us do what we would otherwise not...and many times we find ourselves sufferring for the sake of what we beleived a blessed thing.

Enough of such ramblings. To dwell to long on the joys of another is to bringto mind the sorrows of my own wife's passing. My beloved Aerilyn, and then dear Alexis....twice I have given my heart to another, twice they have been taken from me by uncontrolable forces. It was a loss that I relive every day, a failure that rests in my heart and haunts my nights and dreams...I shall one day, perhaps, give what is left to another, but such thoughts are weakness at this point. I must purge myself of such frivilous thoughts and focus on the task at hand...killing the beast and all it brings with it.

The citadel readies for war....I am proud of my soldiers, they weatherred the trip well and the change has not affected the precision with which they perform. If this enemy can be fought with force of arms...then it will fiond itself facing the finest fo soldiers.

I must go now, I ahve to see to Lady Trixi before I go to meet my advisors and battle leaders...we must prepare for war.

Things grow strange. I have seen more, the shadow that hovers fo the realm now ohovers over my sleep. I can feel the darkness building as if it were a physical force. We are in the calm before the storm and still we do not know what it is we fight. Only that we must do battle eventually.

How do I tell these men, these warriors, that they have coem thousands of miles from their homes to do battle against a foe that may, in the end, prove undefeatable. How do I ask them to die for me?

The weight of a crown is measured, not in the metal of the item, but in the countless number of soldiers and innocents one must ask to do the near impossible.

Already you have captured our Queen...but the game may yet be won by our Knights.

Your move demon.

Over, finished. The demon is gone from the realm and the dark armies that obeyed him as well. The names fo the dead re beign recorded, their deeds in battle written so that the families they leave behind may know that they died as one should...blade in hand on a feild of battle.

I could not be nore proud of my men. They stood the feild when all seemed lost, even when it became apparent to them that the skeletal armies could not be harmed, the infantry and common soldeiry remained firm. They did what i would ask of no one, and they did it out of loyalty.

The twice damend demon too SoulReaver, the dar-bladed twin to Angelfire's silver light is lost to me. Perhaps never to return. I can feel the strength growwing in me each day now that it's hungry aura is no longer preent, but Ifear waht may happen should some one of a darked nature ever acquire that hell-forged sword...

My men have poerfromed bravely, and there is a grand matter to which I must attend, now that the ar is doen, there are reasons for celebration, for both the realm, and for myself. As soon as is respectful for the departed, the walls of this castle will sing with the sounds of celebration, rather than mourning.

It has arrived. I am amazed that he crafted the item for me, knowing what I do of his magics and his animostiy, but he did it none the less. A debt owed and repaid... Now I can go through with the matter in a fitting manner, one that will make them all act as they should..or face my wrath.

The baron and his little freinds are in for a rude awakening. I grow tired of the games played in my castle and there will be no more of it. I intend tomake an example of them all, a very harsh example indeed.

The interminable council meeting is done. To think that the Queen would have the audactiy to ask me to marry her as a sham, a ruse to fool her realm. To ask me to lie is one thing, to ask me to violate the sanctity of marriage...that is unforgivable.

The ball goes ahead as planned, and I look forward to introducing my future bride to the realm. It is going to be a more than pleasant evening...followed by a rather interesting night.

Gods help any who cause the night to go foul...for I am certain that not even THEY could stay my hand from punishing them.

The ball was a disaster, we were attacked, and by my own flesh and blood no less. I will have Victor's head before the winds warm in Aurora.

MY bride to be was injured, though sh ehas recoverred.

I will be returning to Aurora shortly. Winter approaches and I will be needed to oversee the defense of the realm, it is the Stag's campaign season.

I have yet to tell trixie, or to ask her if she will accompany me. The winter lands are harsh, and I am not sure the innocent one will be able to survive the lessons she will learn so quickly there.

Vladamir will remain as my eyes and ears, Winterfell will be handed over to House Winterhaven to govern in his absence, Daenerys has proven most capable since the death of her sister and I am sure she will handle the matter in a way that even the Baron can be proud of.

Time grows late...I go for now.

2000 years the walls of Raven'sCrest have stood, no force in the world capable fo laying low what I fought to build. And in an instant the armies of the stag over-ran her and have laid claim to what was once my home. And all through the treachery of my own flesh and blood.

Now the people of my Kingdom sit gatherred in a small patch of land, nestled in the confines of Aegis, and all eager to return to repay blood for blood. The Winter Folk are a hard breed, we do not easily dismsiss such afronts to honor or attacks on our homes.

I have placed the Queen on the Auroran council, she now holds the title of Archmagus of Aurora, a dubious honor, but a necessary move. The people need a leader, and sadly she is the best there is to offer them, and the one easiest to trust. With time and her forces we will be able to march back to our home, and p0ossibly, for the firstime in millenia, be able to breach the Watch wall and enter the Frozen Realm from the south...or we will die in the attempt.

My wedding to Trixie is drawwing closer. I will have a Queen when I return, and as a wedding present I will personally present her with the Stag's hide for a rug.

Vengeance is a dish best served cold demon...and nothing is colder than the wrath of an Auroran King.

I have met a child I never thought to see. Her mere pressence was enough to trigger the memories of AngelFire's bound soul, to call to light the mind of the Angel that forged the great blade I bear always at my side. And now I see that child in the grips of soem enchantment, being used as the pawn in a game she can not even begin to understand.

There is much she needs know that I can teach her, but it is fo rher to coem to me for such answers.

The Baron stands accused of a crime, and for once I beleive they may actually catch him out. it will pain me to send him to the gods, but justice is justice, and the will of the Silver Lord will be done

The wheel turn, summer fades and darkness and winter ever come for us all.

The dark blade has resurfaced. I had hoped it destroyed when the demon left this realm, but alas it seems that it merely destroyed the creature, only to be found by a powerful beast ... a dracolich. With the recent events around Salarain and the revelations of mistress Angel I can only reach one conclusion...the Dark Angel is returning and there stands no one left to fight it. My own soul is too dark to fight the monster, my undead nature prevents me from ever fully realizing the strengths of the holy blade...

...which is perhaps why Angel was sent to me. She has come seeking training in the martial skills of an Auroran Knight. She seeks to one day claim the title and position of a Dragon Knight in service to HIM. Were she ever to learn the balance required to serve him she would flee this place and not return, for our god is one of ultimate balance. For every light there must be darkness...for every soul redeemed one must fall.

I worry for the one called Midnight. For when the child rises to her final place in this grand dance I far he will be the one meant to keep her in balance...her closest companion shall become her darkest foe...but such is the fate of those destined to change the world.

May she prove up to the task, as worhty as her father hopes.

I remember fondly the nights I spent regaling Lilanthallis and Narcissa with tales of battle and heroes, I can still hear them giggling and laughing and want nothing more than to protect them...and yet in the end they were taken from me in a flash of steel and a flurry of vengeance.

And now I find myself the protector of yet another child, and this one faces a dilema which far surpasses the mere petty refvenges of an angerred mage. I must send Angel to near- certain death to save the realife to the hands of the gods to maintain the balance of the world and ensure teh safety of the greater good. If I could take the child's place I would gladly do so, but it is not to be, The Sword has already told me that it will awaken for none but the heir to the weapon...this poor frail child who does not even recognize who she really is.

I pray to the Silver Lord that she discovers what she is truly capable of before the final battle arrives.

A growing sense of dread hovers over the keep. After the Queen's disruptive behavior and more than usually annoying acts cost me Lady Trixie's hand, I am faced with the prospect of a growwing war on teh horizon and the fact that the last few battles have left my numbers in a sad state.

Our plans are as set as any can be when one is fighting an unknown force. We can only hope to strike fast and from surprise, otherwise I fear the demon's powers will quickly tip the scales in his favor. He has had time to bhuild his following, and his strength. Our victory in the desert was hard won, and I fear that the next time we meet on the feild may not fair as well for our men.

The burdens of a leader grow heavier with each passing year, and each fallen soldier laid to rest at my command...

I have lain to rest another vallaint soldier, adn his comrades. And yet again the realm is safe thanks to the actions of the Dragon Knights. It is a shame to say this, but I begin to wonder if this realm is capable fo protecting itself.

Those thoughts are unfair. It was Angel's ties to the blade that allowed her to defeat him. And she was of both realms, despite her desire to be only Auroran.

The demon lays dead, the realm secure, and now I must contend with the marriage proposal of a wounded knight, and her traumatic dissassociation from reality. I can not seriously consider her as a wife, nor do I even beleive I can look at her as a woman fully grown, and yet I can not refuse her outright, since she has saved us all , and her mind is currently fragile due to the death of her long-time comrade Kinsen, and the battle with the demon.

It is a far easier matter to send men to their deaths than to break a woman's heart...the dead are less likely to grow vengeful.

I red the words written alst in these pages and find myself slightly amused. since theri addition to this book I have already renderred them meaningless and accepted the proposal of the Lady Angel, now Queen of the Frozen Lands, and Lady fo the Black Rose.

It was against the advice fo my councilors and advisors that I made her my wife, and with a hint fo dark joy, knowwing all too well that my brother was attempting to make her into a tool to be used in his games, and that should I make her my own, his plans would turn to dust and ash. I ask the gods for forgiveness for using her in such a manner, but it is for the safety of the realm and her that it was done.

Check Baron...your move.

The relm recovers swiftly from it's loss and the damages of the war. We have dispatched our engineers and workers to Grorr to assist Duke Ralean in rebuilding the fortress there to his specifications, and are preparing to send men onward to Draco to aid in the reconstruction of the library. I am to understand that the Baron has granted access to his own substantial collection of books for copying so that the knowledge lost in the disaster will not be gone forever.

Aegis appears to be well on its way to recovery, whcihis why it is time for my own people to return to their homeland once again. I am preparing the departure of the vast majority of my people to Aurora and will leave behind only a small garrison of troops as we were originally granted permission for.

Ah, to see Raven'sCrest once more. To stand atop the walls of my family's castle and look out across the frozen lands again. Long have I wished it, and yet it seemed as if we had lost our home for good. I shall enjoy showwing the new Queen her realm, if only to allow myself to ride once more through the dark forests of home.

I must give my brother credit. He has outdone himself this time. He saw his fate as I have so many times, and has yet again manged to elude capture with a well timed feint. Alas dear brother, this will save you not at all.

Word has arrived from home, my messengers have managed to regroup those forces scatterred across the realm and as we speak they are returning to their posts. Soon our nation will be whole again, far sooner than i have allowed the Baron's spies to realize.

Should he prove to be problematic, then I will simply be forced to use our superior numbers to take this frealm from unworhty hands and deliver it back into the hands fo the gods.

I have been informed that Alexander has returned to us. This is joyous news, it hs been some time since I have seen the youngest of our house, and I have missed his good cheer. It will be a delight to have him once more within my walls.

My wife has grown more accustomed to her people, she quickly learns the ways of those she is around to make them realize she is one of them, nad not some foreign noble intent on making hem bow and change to her whim.

With the Baron gone from my halls I can now begin to root out the worms that work for him and cleanse my realm of his doings. I will enjoy this greatly, since I have been deprived of granting my brother the eternal rest he is so overdue.

For now, well played Vladamir, but do not think that this is over.

My brother has made a move that I had not anticipated. He has stolen the demon sword from me. I do not know ofhis plans for it yet, but knowwing my brother as I do I can be certain that they benefit no one but himself, and that it will all end in blood. To that matter, I have made the necessary arrangements to retreive the blade. It will be unpleasant, and my people have seen enough fo war, but to allow the Baron to possess such a potent and truly evil weapon is not something I can permit

Angle preaches peace, and wishes to settle the matter in a manner that causes as little blood shed as possible. I fear that she is still an idealistic child in many regads. She does not understand the depravced monster that we face, nor does she comprehend the necessity to take this island from my brother and his demon whore for the better of its people. While she agrees that they need to be removed from power, she can not accept that many will die to do so. Such loss is, unfortunately, unavoidable in war. Many will die, we can only hope that most of the deaths are theirs.