From the diary of Lekh Turokh, One of the former High Scholars of the Five Casters, Ancient Order of Yuno City…..
Day One: My Curiosity Wanders....
I really don't know why I have started keeping a record of my own personal thoughts....but I guess having to pore over too many books and record unnatural occurrences have finally caught up with me. Although I find it ridiculous to introduce myself to myself, I nevertheless feel that it indicates a new beginning in my life. Lekh Turokh is my name. Or it is according to my superiors who told me when I was a child. I didn't grow up under any parent's care other than the one person who would later found the Order of five, Ranhar Tomoth. I'am known as one of the most widely acclaimed scholars in Rune Midgard. I was once among the Order of Five (when I was younger and carefree), people who nurtured the minds of those yearning to become a bright young sage and if possible be made a scholar after necessary study. Oh I'm terribly sorry but I can't really describe about myself very much. I'am not like those who have good looks or those who wear a wise beard and have taken to other things in their lives. You could say that I' am a friendly person who likes to have fun, go on adventures and so on. But that would be too optimistic and I wouldn't want you to regret it once you have got the hang of what I truly do.
I have taken to studying and research in all kinds of gemstones and the amazing purpose they serve in the discovering of newer spells. Of course that is a boring job but it is always rewarding at the end. I have been hoping that one day I would create something special enough to help all the people around here. There you go, that's about it. Oh there's one last thing if you aren't tired reading this......it's my curiosity. I know it's a weird thing to be talking about, but it is this curiosity which has led me to make marvels out of thin air and unfortunate tragedies as well. But I have come a long way and I won't turn back now. Not when I' am close to revealing the place on which no living soul has set foot before. From here on I begin my journey towards darkness. Towards death. Towards peril to the nation of the dead. Niffleheim. One might wonder if I have become insane at my age of fifty, not to mention my childish nature of wanting to know everything, but I really intend to travel to that cursed place. I don't know whether it exists and I'm not about to find that right now in the middle of the Pronteran market.
One thing you have to really appreciate about this place is that it's like the central market area in the whole continent. Not that you wouldn't expect it to be so but you could get all sorts of things over here even if it means to get it in the "other" way. But don't get the wrong idea though. I'm not here to investigate these kinds of matters which are better left to the guards, although I suspect that they are being bribed into leaving these acts alone. I have taken to reading books on the land of the dead and their principles of afterlife. I have come to a point where the information contained by these books is not enough. Looking at the contents, one can decipher how many myths and legends are contrasted with real life incidents if looked upon with a careful view. The excellence lies in the way they are transformed into such stories that people make comparisons immediately and start following them as a way of life. But let me not deviate from my purpose for today. If everything goes well...I might just be able to get the higher order seal from King Tristan III and hopefully a delegation to accompany me as well on my journey.
I wondered if that would be that simple as I walked to the royal court and humbly stated my purpose before His Majesty. The result: being branded as a madman and a laughing stock in front of all the courtiers, one of them being the court jester who glared at me as though I had usurped his position. I was shown the exit far too quickly.
However, one person was genuinely interested in my efforts and he happened to be a young magician in training by the name of Sakron who greeted me at a tavern. An entertainer was singing a recitation which seemed to call wizards to take up arms and defend themselves from the oncoming doomsday. As we talked over a drink in the tavern, the young mage revealed that he was fascinated by the tales often told in front of campfires about the land of the dead. Few people rarely considered these stories and others brushed them aside as merely tales told to frighten young children. As for me I was deep in thought about how I was going to travel so far to a place which was shrouded in reality and fantasy.
"Mister Turokh?" said the mage a little louder than before. Eventually he waved his hands in front of my eyes until I gave a start. I was holding my half-finished tankard halfway to my mouth with the rest of drink having generously occupied my already dust worn robes.
"Ah yes?" I said setting the tankard down on the table. It would be a long time before I would consider drinking anything unless I was not daydreaming, "You were saying about the Geffen tower?"
"Precisely", said Sakron, "I've heard about the wonders that wizards perform at the topmost level and of the perils that lurk in the lower dungeons. Oh by the way you do believe about the city being built on the ancient land of Geffenia don't you sir?"
"As to that Sakron, I cannot be sure. I'm not even sure about my own destination."
"But this is different" said the young mage sounding confident, "There is evidence to suggest about Geffenia being buried in its own destruction by the infamous Doppelganger and his league of nightmares and his army of abysmal knights."
"How did you come by this "evidence" you speak of?" I asked surveying him closely. He seemed just the kind of a companion I would like to travel with and a likely candidate to become a bright sage.
"Well I had to research on it for quite a bit before I could be sure that I wasn't playing around with myself. It's all there in the old books of the library which strongly support the incident but somehow they never seem to mention the exact date. I say it happened behind the author's own house yesterday and I' am the witness for it."
And he suddenly began to laugh like a child lost in mirth.
"Sometimes I crack the best of jokes don't you feel so mister Turokh?",he said doubling over. The whole tavern's attention was suddenly turned upon us like birds watching their prey. Obviously they weren't happy to be interrupted. Sakron looked around throwing furtive looks at everyone as though waiting for applause.
I blinked. Was I taking a madman along with me or just another man who seemed on the edge of his own curiosity? I straightened, apologized to everyone and sat down. The atmosphere seemed to lighten at a snail's pace. I was the one who was the madman according to everyone except this young lad.
"Of course you make a good joke. But it doesn't get widely appreciated when it's intended only for the person sitting right in front of you", I said smiling.
I noticed that he seemed to gather that much from his glum look the next moment. Talking loudly about dangerous things like Niffleheim and Geffenia wasn't much the best thing to do these days, even if they were just tales. Besides we had been discussing about other trivial issues for a major part of the day and it was now well into dusk.
"I think we better leave it here Sakron", I said, "Lets worry about Geffenia and its merry band of monsters tomorrow. I need to turn in early if I have to wake at dawn. I'll be staying at the Pronteran Royal Inn. Do visit me there later if you need me."
"Of course sir. I daresay I will eventually come to you around tomorrow at noon? Perhaps we can decide when to leave for Niffleheim", he said grinning.
"Perhaps," I said and the meeting was broken. He said a quick goodbye and left hurriedly only pausing to listen to a few lines of the entertainer's song before he closed the entrance door and he was gone. He would be spending a few days at his uncle's place before returning to his home at Geffen for his further studies. I wondered if this lad's parents would approve of me taking this fellow along with me. Thinking that I would worry about this later, I paid for the drinks and headed out in the direction of the inn. The innkeeper chanced a suspicious look at everyone who was entering the inn when I entered and greeted me with obvious flattery. Still he was happy that he had managed to have many customers today and was greedily eyeing their money bags from time to time whenever he thought no one was looking. Refusing his generous offer to "help put things in order" in my room the next day, I started climbing the stairs leading to the inn's rooms, each stair making a creaking noise whenever I thought of my journey once again.
I stopped short at the head of the stairs and proceeded towards my room. The door leading to my room was slightly ajar. That's weird, I thought. I could remember closing it properly when I left the room earlier this day. Maybe the maids had been inside to make sure everything was proper or the innkeeper himself had chanced a peek to make sure that I wasn't smuggling anything worrisome under his nose. As I closed the door behind me, I saw an envelope addressed to no one in particular lying on the table next to my belongings beside the bed. I thought hard. I did make sure that the door wasn't open when I left the room earlier this day and I had surely not left an unaddressed envelope lying around. I casually took it and opened it as I sat down on the bed. The envelope contained a folded paper inside. The next moment my eyes widened as I saw what was the piece of paper inside the envelope. The paper had the familiarity of a royal object and it became more ludicrous when I unfolded and looked at it more clearly: someone had left me a paper bearing the seal of the king himself with orders to soldiers to accompany a person on an "important journey"…
It had been a tiring day for me and something like this turned up and left me wide awake when I should have been fast asleep instead by now. I pondered many possibilities, some including kind people in the court who risked their heads to help someone and others which had me brought before the court for stealing a royal order. I wondered whether this letter would help me but I wasn't eager to find out. Thrusting this under a watchful guard's nose would most likely make him suspicious rather than aid me in this. Then again, these were strange days. The frequency of the Dark Lord's attacks on Payon seemed to have increased at an alarming rate and it was only a matter of time before he burnt down the entire town. How he managed to gather such forces no one could comprehend for he seemed to summon monsters and demons from thin air. Some whispered about Niffleheim but didn't sound as though they believed it themselves. Payon was already brimming with zombies inside the sealed off area at the archer village which didn't look that strong anymore. With zombies at large and the Dark Lord himself at their doorsteps, the inhabitants of Payon had a lot to think about as their means of escape were now blocked from almost all sides save the route to Alberta. That road was long and treacherous enough to make the bravest adventurer faint with exhaustion. There wasn't one night without attacks by more monsters that seemed to gather courage with each attack on Payon.
As a result there had been a plea from Payon to send the most elite soldiers from Prontera, Lord Knights, to help stabilize their slowly crumbling forces. Voices were raised and decisions made in other cities as well on sending their own forces. Geffen had finally agreed to concentrate all of its Wizard and High Wizard manpower available to aid Payon while the High Priests in the Holy Sanctuary in Prontera had decided that now was the time to put an end to the Dark Lord's evil schemes. Aiding them were Crusaders and Paladins, powerful warriors of the light who always struck terror into the undead. All over Rune Midgard, each adventurer was rushing to lend his hand to the battle from the Agile Assassins of the Desert to the mighty Archers and Hunters in Payon who were fighting desperately day and night to help hold the monsters at bay. I thought of heading over to Payon but what use would an old man like me be to them? I thought. I could share my knowledge with them but I would only get in the way. I put the letter containing the king's seal into my rucksack at the very bottom for fear of it being noticed by someone else. I locked my door properly and lay down on the bed. Sleep was something more precious to me than a letter right now.
A/N: This is my first ever fanfic. Hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter! Will update the second one soon enough. And oh yes, please review my work when you have time. Your constructive comments are most appreciated. ^_^