Once upon a time, in the mountainous land that divides the world into West and East, a great chieftain arose and overthrew the Caerdolan lords that had ruled from a dark tower overlooking the high valley. This lord was named Ferickje, and he was descended in long line from the original lords of the Faranx that came from the west with the conquering armies of Caerdolan. Lord Ferickje gave his name to the land, and built a strong castle on the edge of a precipice overlooking the town that bore his name. Over time this castle became more beautiful, as artisans and stonecutters decorated it with carven images and its walls and floors were draped in silk and woolen weavings. The line of Ferickje ruled strong and always with the blessings of the Lord Roski.
For generations the kings of Ferickje defended the mountain passes from brigands and the threat of invading Istarian armies, and from ogres and trolls and other monsters of the northern wastes. Then, at a time of long peace, when no threat had arisen in the life of the ruling king, a man appeared at the court of Ferickje. He was handsome of face and word, and clothed in black leather and fine furs, and he named himself Arpad, the Wanderer. He was welcomed with the hospitality that court held for well-bred guests, and soon became favored by king. In time it was evident that he would counsel the king in matters of state, and in the governance of his people and the enforcement of the law.
Then many who had once held the king’s ear were afraid, for their lord refused to hear their counsel, having ear only for his new advisor. And there was discord and dissent in the court, and there was talk of rebellion, though none of the lords of the court had said as such, and all were more concerned for their king than for their own places. But before any could speak out, there was martial law, and new men at arms, black-clad and bearing blackened steel, came out into the land, and many lords and ladies were imprisoned, and many charges of treason were heard by the king and his new advisor, and the execution of the law was swift.
Thus came a dark time for Ferickje, and more and more was the rule of the land given over to Arpad. And the king became sickened and weak, and his people lamented their lot, and there were bonfires where once had stood the homes of those who were still loyal to the king. And those that dared to speak out openly against Arpad were deemed treasonous, and were impaled upon pikes or nailed to the trunks of trees to become fodder for carrion birds. And the land was overrun by evil things, and werewolves prowled the forests and made the roads in or out unsafe for all travelers.
In that time the Hospital of St. Maruva was shut down, and its sisterhood driven out into the wilderness or made slaves for the amusement of Arpad’s evil warriors. Only the temple of Roski remained inviolate, and the relics of St. Reza, the warrior priest who had once led a miraculous victory against the armies of Caerdolan, were hidden therein, and the power of Roski still kept the evil of Arpad at bay. But only within its walls was their any sanctuary, and day by day the priests feared that they would die free from evil, but starved in their besieged, stone sanctuary. There the miraculous statue of St. Maruva was moved, whose tears run at times, and are said to heal all ills. There also were the mace and shield of St. Reza, yet little good were they against the Enemy since no man would stand up to the horror of his gaze.
In time it was known that the king had died, and there were those who believed his death had come to pass long before, and that his lifeless corpse was given the semblance of life by the necromancy of Arpad. Then the queen was seduced by Arpad, although some say she was bewitched, and her treachery was by reason of witchery and not fault. The queen and her handmaidens became things of evil; undead monsters who fed on the life blood of children, and with them feasted their dark lord, Arpad.
Alone of all the royal family survived the king’s infant son, Wencel, who was secreted away by a loyal nursemaid. And with him she carried the sword of the house of Ferickje, that is known as Winter Sun in the language of that land. The sword is said to have been forged by the First Men, the High Elves, whose ancient race had died out or moved on beyond the reckoning of mortal men. And the sword was said to have slain monsters and dark spirits of the First Battle, in which the Gods of Light and Order defeated the Gods of Chaos, and their evil queen, Bau-Tiamat. So had the sword been passed down to the descendants of these First Men, some of whom mingled with mortal men, and whose blood flowed in the veins of the lords of Ferickje. And Arpad feared this heirloom of the house he had overthrown, for in it lay the power of Light, and was anathema to him.
In the secret care of the priests of Roski the boy grew. But they were surrounded by the dark power of Arpad as an island is surrounded by a dark sea. And when he was strong enough to lift the sword, the young prince Wencel set out foolishly to confront the murderer of his kin. But the power of Arpad was strong, even as he feared the prince’s bright sword, he cast a shadow of deceit over the prince’s eyes, blinding him and slaying him who was not yet old enough to have lived. Yet Arpad could not touch the bright sword, and even his minions could not abide its power, and so it lay on the marble steps where the prince fell. And Arpad had a stone sepulchre built over the the sword so that he need never see its brightness. And there are those that say that the sword was recovered in later days, and placed upon the sarcophagus of the first lord of Ferickje, which lies in the ancient stone tomb beneath the great mound on the temple grounds.
In time the people of Ferickje fled or were slain, and only evil creatures roamed the town’s once beautiful streets. The priests of Roski were trapped within their temple, and there they starved to death, and the doors of the temple were blocked and barricaded with earth and debris. From his castle Arpad sent out his terrible warriors, and they terrorized the lands about. And the land passage from East to West was shunned, and the once pleasant valley of Ferickje became a place of horror.
When tidings reached the ears of the emperor in Korma, he sent many men at arms, and many knights in strong armor, and among them were holy Knights of Roski clad in bright mail and red and gold. They arrived in great might, and by the power of Roski which guided them, the dark warriors of Arpad were defeated, or driven into the distant wilderness, and Arpad himself was trapped within his castle with his harem of monstrous women. Then the castle was set ablaze, and parts of it fell to ruin, and many of the beautiful weavings and carven wooden beams were blackened and destroyed. But the stone walls of the castle remained strong, and there were many chambers and vaults that remained untouched by the rampages of the knights. Deep in one of these vaults lay Arpad, sealed away under tons of immovable stone, and with him slept the devil women, whose mistress was the former queen. And in the upper chambers, unsullied by fire and smoke, stood the Mirror of the Queen, greatest of all artifacts of Ferickje, whose glass was forged by Mahar at the beginning of the world, and whose power it is to see all things and to be in all times and all places at once.
Thus was Arpad driven underground to await a time of reckoning, and the land of Ferickje was pronounced accursed, and the line of its rulers broken, although there are some among their kin who wander still and who live in exile in other realms, perhaps awaiting their return to power. The pass through the mountains was opened once again, and for a long time became once again a well-used road, though few traveled there alone or in light company, but always in well-defended caravans. For the dread that had once stalked there was not easily forgotten, and there were still rumors of horrors in the ancient wooded mountain slopes.
For generations the kings of Ferickje defended the mountain passes from brigands and the threat of invading Istarian armies, and from ogres and trolls and other monsters of the northern wastes. Then, at a time of long peace, when no threat had arisen in the life of the ruling king, a man appeared at the court of Ferickje. He was handsome of face and word, and clothed in black leather and fine furs, and he named himself Arpad, the Wanderer. He was welcomed with the hospitality that court held for well-bred guests, and soon became favored by king. In time it was evident that he would counsel the king in matters of state, and in the governance of his people and the enforcement of the law.
Then many who had once held the king’s ear were afraid, for their lord refused to hear their counsel, having ear only for his new advisor. And there was discord and dissent in the court, and there was talk of rebellion, though none of the lords of the court had said as such, and all were more concerned for their king than for their own places. But before any could speak out, there was martial law, and new men at arms, black-clad and bearing blackened steel, came out into the land, and many lords and ladies were imprisoned, and many charges of treason were heard by the king and his new advisor, and the execution of the law was swift.
Thus came a dark time for Ferickje, and more and more was the rule of the land given over to Arpad. And the king became sickened and weak, and his people lamented their lot, and there were bonfires where once had stood the homes of those who were still loyal to the king. And those that dared to speak out openly against Arpad were deemed treasonous, and were impaled upon pikes or nailed to the trunks of trees to become fodder for carrion birds. And the land was overrun by evil things, and werewolves prowled the forests and made the roads in or out unsafe for all travelers.
In that time the Hospital of St. Maruva was shut down, and its sisterhood driven out into the wilderness or made slaves for the amusement of Arpad’s evil warriors. Only the temple of Roski remained inviolate, and the relics of St. Reza, the warrior priest who had once led a miraculous victory against the armies of Caerdolan, were hidden therein, and the power of Roski still kept the evil of Arpad at bay. But only within its walls was their any sanctuary, and day by day the priests feared that they would die free from evil, but starved in their besieged, stone sanctuary. There the miraculous statue of St. Maruva was moved, whose tears run at times, and are said to heal all ills. There also were the mace and shield of St. Reza, yet little good were they against the Enemy since no man would stand up to the horror of his gaze.
In time it was known that the king had died, and there were those who believed his death had come to pass long before, and that his lifeless corpse was given the semblance of life by the necromancy of Arpad. Then the queen was seduced by Arpad, although some say she was bewitched, and her treachery was by reason of witchery and not fault. The queen and her handmaidens became things of evil; undead monsters who fed on the life blood of children, and with them feasted their dark lord, Arpad.
Alone of all the royal family survived the king’s infant son, Wencel, who was secreted away by a loyal nursemaid. And with him she carried the sword of the house of Ferickje, that is known as Winter Sun in the language of that land. The sword is said to have been forged by the First Men, the High Elves, whose ancient race had died out or moved on beyond the reckoning of mortal men. And the sword was said to have slain monsters and dark spirits of the First Battle, in which the Gods of Light and Order defeated the Gods of Chaos, and their evil queen, Bau-Tiamat. So had the sword been passed down to the descendants of these First Men, some of whom mingled with mortal men, and whose blood flowed in the veins of the lords of Ferickje. And Arpad feared this heirloom of the house he had overthrown, for in it lay the power of Light, and was anathema to him.
In the secret care of the priests of Roski the boy grew. But they were surrounded by the dark power of Arpad as an island is surrounded by a dark sea. And when he was strong enough to lift the sword, the young prince Wencel set out foolishly to confront the murderer of his kin. But the power of Arpad was strong, even as he feared the prince’s bright sword, he cast a shadow of deceit over the prince’s eyes, blinding him and slaying him who was not yet old enough to have lived. Yet Arpad could not touch the bright sword, and even his minions could not abide its power, and so it lay on the marble steps where the prince fell. And Arpad had a stone sepulchre built over the the sword so that he need never see its brightness. And there are those that say that the sword was recovered in later days, and placed upon the sarcophagus of the first lord of Ferickje, which lies in the ancient stone tomb beneath the great mound on the temple grounds.
In time the people of Ferickje fled or were slain, and only evil creatures roamed the town’s once beautiful streets. The priests of Roski were trapped within their temple, and there they starved to death, and the doors of the temple were blocked and barricaded with earth and debris. From his castle Arpad sent out his terrible warriors, and they terrorized the lands about. And the land passage from East to West was shunned, and the once pleasant valley of Ferickje became a place of horror.
When tidings reached the ears of the emperor in Korma, he sent many men at arms, and many knights in strong armor, and among them were holy Knights of Roski clad in bright mail and red and gold. They arrived in great might, and by the power of Roski which guided them, the dark warriors of Arpad were defeated, or driven into the distant wilderness, and Arpad himself was trapped within his castle with his harem of monstrous women. Then the castle was set ablaze, and parts of it fell to ruin, and many of the beautiful weavings and carven wooden beams were blackened and destroyed. But the stone walls of the castle remained strong, and there were many chambers and vaults that remained untouched by the rampages of the knights. Deep in one of these vaults lay Arpad, sealed away under tons of immovable stone, and with him slept the devil women, whose mistress was the former queen. And in the upper chambers, unsullied by fire and smoke, stood the Mirror of the Queen, greatest of all artifacts of Ferickje, whose glass was forged by Mahar at the beginning of the world, and whose power it is to see all things and to be in all times and all places at once.
Thus was Arpad driven underground to await a time of reckoning, and the land of Ferickje was pronounced accursed, and the line of its rulers broken, although there are some among their kin who wander still and who live in exile in other realms, perhaps awaiting their return to power. The pass through the mountains was opened once again, and for a long time became once again a well-used road, though few traveled there alone or in light company, but always in well-defended caravans. For the dread that had once stalked there was not easily forgotten, and there were still rumors of horrors in the ancient wooded mountain slopes.
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