Rose of the Desert - A Tale of Love and War

by Kossage

Based on the Gamer's Alliance ORPG and set before the events of the Great War saga. A tale of a restless wizard who would embrace the shadows in his quest for power and redemption, and a proud warrior of the desert who would rise to face insurmountable odds under the scorching sun. A black and white rose in bloom, their fates entwined in the harsh beauty of an unforgiving desert.

1. Preface

This work of fanfiction is intended to be supplementary material to the official tGA history. Future members of the Gamer's Alliance ORPG need not ask for permission to adopt this work into their storylines and refer to its events and characters; it is granted by this disclaimer.

Preface

A story has been in the back of my mind for a while now, waiting to be told in a non-RPing format. Ever since developing the intricate histories of the Houses of Ardyn and Saif and the roles their members would end up playing in the events of tGA's world at the end of the Third Age, I noticed there was a time period the RP's Godslayer Era storyline couldn't cover.

It was a story of how Belial de Ardyn, future leader of the Order of the Black Rose, met Razia al-Saif, future Sultana of Vanna, and how their stories would become irreversibly linked and lead to the eventual rise of the Sultanate of Karaganda while sowing the seeds of future conflicts that would engulf the continent of Libaterra in the flames of war. A tale of love, betrayal, hope, despair, war, and ultimately family.

The story will take place about three decades before the Godslayer Era storyline in the Third Age of the Land of the Living. A time when the dark clouds of civil war were looming over the soon-to-be divided Kingdom of Libaterra which had been living under the harsh reign of the Locken Dynasty for centuries, and when the Sarquil tribes of the Tronin Desert were but simple nomads who had yet to embrace the unity of a sultanate which would be forcibly offered to them by the city of Vanna and its rulers years later.

The story will include certain characters who have been active in the Third Age, some from pre-Cataclysm RP and others from post-Cataclysm RP, some perhaps featuring as nothing more than cameos. The focus, however, will be on the desert and the eponymous rose or two as the events of the story unfold.

The past will be revealed and, hopefully, the story will give people a new point of view from which they can look at some of the deceased or still living present day characters while acting as an enjoyable enough standalone tale even for people not familiar with tGA lore at the same time.

-Kossage