The years begin in at Z.E. (Zarek Area). The time before that is known as B.Z.E. (Before Zarek Era).
The Forest Of Blood (Z.E. 3683)
A Lost Patrol
It had been three months since the Knights of the Sun went to the Blundoor Coast and stopped Captain Rotwinn’s plan to invade Eshia by sea. In that time the knights had been training in case of another situation that might put Eshia in danger.
One of those situations arose when there came many reports of a threatening red mist looming from the old prison came from the towns of Belar and Mohi down in the southeastern parts of Eshia. The reports told of horrible noises such as cries and roars coming from the forest at night. Some villagers heard what sounded like huge chains raddling in the forest. They even said that they heard sounds of construction much of the time. Of course, at hearing this Sun Lord William sent a small patrol lead by Commander Romino Furs to investigate. The patrol left for their mission from Ignis Village… and never returned.
A Postponed Journey (Z.E. 3683) - Around one month after the disappearance of Command Furs.
When William learned of Command Furs’ disappearance he was troubled much; however, he had many things on to attend to and his original plan to take a special force to the forest himself was postponed many times. Along with many diplomatic meetings with kings from the lands of Boashire and Moctroa, William was also preparing for the promotion of Sun Slayer Julius Hulius (Hex), which he would hold a feast for. However, finally… a complaint came that piqued his curiosity.
Dearest Sun Lord William Solarias,
I write to you to inform you of an attack in our area that we believe to have connections to the red mist that has overtaken our land. Two nights ago, we sent four woodsmen into the woods to gather firewood for the upcoming Sacred Fire Dance we do to Goddess Flamma here in the south. We began to worry when they had not returned from their trip hours later, and we went to bed wondering. However, they did return the following night… or at least some of them. Just around sundown we heard the normal strange noises from the forest, however this time they were louder, and getting closer. They were like grunts and groans… but worse. Finally, we saw what was making the noises. There were three things. One was what appeared to be one of the woodsmen we had sent into the woods, but it was different. His eyes were red, and his veins were popping from his arms. His skin was pale, and he was hunched over. His leg also seemed to be broken. Then we saw the second one. He was in even worse condition, with both of his legs broken and he was crawling on the ground. Finally, we saw the third one… he had no legs, and his arm was dislocated. His head was barely attached, and he also crawled. The fourth one did not come. They stopped moving as soon as they exited the forest. Please Sun Lord, we need assistance… this cannot go on any longer.
Baron Thuflo of Belar
This letter was what made William decide what need to happen. After the political meetings had concluded he put off Julius’ promotion and gathered his troops. Then he set off.
Arriving At the Forest (Z.E. 3683)
William and Julius set off for the forest with a group of fifty knights, a small yet stealthy group which they could use to their advantage. After around a ten-day journey they reached the town of Belar, where they alerted Baron Thuflo, the sender of the letter, of their presence, and then they went for the forest.
The Forest Path
They started from the main road, where Hex took a small team and split up, and then continued unto a smaller forest path. As they travelled down the road William explained the origin of the path.
“This whole forest was once the scene of a bloody battle that took place only a hundred years ago. Many of your grandparents may have fought in that battle!” As they walked more and more old ruins began to pop up. Some were walls and others were old buildings. William pointed them out. “You can see here where the old walls were. There seems to have been a huge land slide in this area telling from the amount of rubble all around here.” They continued down the path as they talked.
After a few more minutes of walking, they came across a huge wall blocking the way of the path.
“Well… that’s a wall.” Victor Jacksons, a Knight of the Solar Table, said. “How are we to get over it?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea!” William said in reply. But as he opened his mouth all around them the trees began to rustle. “What’s that?!” Then something fell, landing on its feet, from a nearby tree. Then another thing from a different tree. And then three more from three more trees. Then many more all around them.
“They are humanoid!” Another knight known as Joo said. “Who are they?” But before they got a chance to ask the things jump at them in an extremely fast fashion.
“Get ready!” William yelled. The things came quickly and there were many of them, however they were taken down easily. The knights formed a defensive circle where they struck at the things. However, after this a few of the things jumped into the circle and the knights dispersed into smaller groups. The struggled for a few more minutes but finally the things were dead, and only a few escaped into the forest. Then they noticed that during the fight the wall had collapsed a bit, and they were able to pass over it.
“Be careful knights, we cannot risk losing men.”
The knights continued down the path for a few more minutes until once again they heard strange noises coming from the trees. And once again more beastly things began dropping from the trees. This time however there were more; much more.
“Quick! We are almost to the fort! We can fight there!” William yelled, and with this the knights began to run. When they reached the fort, they noticed that they had lost the things a while back; however, they were not safe yet.
Beloros Courtyard
The knights entered the large courtyard of the fort where there were many ruined buildings. Strewn across the ground were old skeletons from the battle that had taken place there, and in the center there sat a large tower. The knights spread out around the courtyard and began to sit down and rest. But as they were setting down their packs there came a large roar from atop the tower. It echoed through the forest causing many birds to fly from the trees. All of the knights looked up in horror as they saw a large beastly creature at the top of the tower. It was a ginormous being with red eyes and huge popping veins much like the woodsmen described in the letter from the Baron. Part of its skeleton showed on areas such as its shoulders and knees, but the rest of it was covered by red armor. The beast gave one more mighty roar and then jumped down to the ground in a great thud, then it rose.
“Knights! Get on guard!” William called. The knights hurried to gather their equipment but before they could the beast jumped forwards and unleashed a flurry of supersonic punches. The knights in the attack’s area quickly jumped out of the way and hurried to their items. To buy the readying knights more time William ran up to the huge beast, and making his hand into a fist he called upon his Suraa Reservoirs. Little streaks of light began floating to his hand until finally it was engulfed in a golden orb. Then, he took his fist and rammed into the beast’s stomach. The beast flew back into the tower with a yell. By the time it had recovered the knights were ready to fight it.
This time the knights attacked first by sending a volley of arrows though settling dust at the beast. The beast, not expecting this was hit by one or two of the arrows but was able to dodge the rest. There was no rest for beast however, for when he moved out of the arrow’s path a group of knights came up behind him and began hacking at him. The beast looked back to the knights and swiped his huge arms at them, but they were able to easily dodge the attack.
Then one knight, who goes by the name of Charlom, came running in and stabbed their sword straight into the beast’s chest. The beast roared and hit the knight down to the ground. The beast then grabbed the fallen soldier and flung him at the tower. Charlom gave a yell of agony when he hit it, but he managed to stagger back to his feet.
Finally, it seemed the beast had had enough. For when other attackers came in, he quickly swiped them away. One knight would come from the side, and he would grab them, throwing them into another one coming from the opposite area. Then one would come from the front. In response to this he sent out a might punch, meeting with the knight’s head. The knights began to get less and less hits on the beast, and he seemed to only get more and more. And when things looked as if they could not get any worse… they did. For out of the woods came the pack of minion like things. Little did the knights know, although they had lost them for a little while, the things had been trailing them ever since.
The battle only got worse from there. It was too hard for the knights to focus on both the things and the beast. Seeing this, William decided to change his strategy.
“Everybody, focus on the beast. I will take on the things!” Therefore, the knights began to turn their attention on the beast rather then the things. Once seeing that all of his soldiers were out of the way, William began to use his Sun Magic to block the pack of animal-like attackers into a small area. Then he began to form something in his hand. It started off small, however it grew larger… and then even larger, until it was the size of a small boulder. Finally, when it was just a bit bigger than that, William threw the orb into the pack of things, burning them all into nothing.
Meanwhile the knights were having much more luck with the beast than beforehand, as they were able to all attack together in one force. And after a little more struggle, the beast fell.
As the dust was clearing the knights began to circle around the fallen creature, ready for another attack. William came over, dusting himself off. He looked closely at the beast.
“It lives; however, it won’t for long. I do not know why… but maybe we should try to communicate with it.” William looked around at his knights. “Anyone willing to try?”
That is when Vox Sur’thek (a knight one may remember from earlier lore documents) stepped up. "I will try. Vox walked up to and dropped to a knee. He looked around, not knowing what to say, and then looked back at the beast.
“What are you?” He asked.
“I AM DEAD.” The beast replied. Then to the knight’s surprise he continued. “WE ARE DEAD. BUT WE ARE BACK. AN EYE IN THE MOUNTAINS; AN OCEAN OF BLOOD. A MAN OF RED; A MAN OF GOLD. HE IS HIS SAVIOR. HE IS GOD. RIPPED FROM TARNIS, RIPPED FROM PEACE. HUNDREDS… OF… ME…” Then its head fell. “NOW… I SLEEP.” And it stopped moving.
Vox kneeled there for a moment longer, and then rose. “Well… that was rather strange.”
“Indeed.” William replied. “I am confused.” Will looked up at the sky. “A gold man… could that be Nyrissian? No, it couldn’t be! Eclipsus? I do not know. Anyhow, let us move on! We have a little ways left to go!” And they continued on their way.
The Prison
Finally, they entered a large clearing. Littered upon the ground were old carts and skeletons from a long past battle. Each little scene had its own story to tell. A knight who fell in battle to a giant. A father who watched his son die in his arms. Two brothers who could not be separated… separated. All scattered across the field. Looking past all of these, there loomed the large silhouette of the Choking Wolf Prison.
The knights spilled out into the area and looked up in amazement. Then from inside the knights heard a roar. A horrible roar of pain and anger. The knights looked around. Then William took a step forward.
“Well… are you ready?”