The age was 1324 IR. The war between Redcliff and Korblox was in full swing. Helping the Knight of Redcliff were the Knights of the Splintered Sky and our ancestors, the first Wizards of the Astral Isles. Korblox had hired a group of assassins known as the DarkAge Ninja to help them win. They were directed to deter the Knights from arriving at the wizard tower and aiding them in their defense.
The Wizards fought as hard as they could. They took from the age-old Archive ancient artifacts whose purposes were known not even by the elders. The artifacts corrupted some of the younger minds. The corrupted magic flowed through their veins and allowed them to use cursed magic. They meant to defend long enough for the Knights to arrive and help them, but it was too late.
The wizard tower fell. Many wizards were slain. The few that remained were too corrupted by the cursed magic that they fought so hardly with, and were enslaved by the Korblox. The Wizard Alliance disappeared completely in a matter of days. The wizards seemed to have been disappeared, with no survivors left.
Or so was thought…
“Are ye sure we’ll find ‘im here?” asked the skeptical Zauber.
“I’m almost certain he’ll be here, now quit yer complaining,” replied Invidia the oh-so-confident.
“What if he isn’t here, though?”
“We’ll keep on searching the relics for an answer, my friend.”
“And what if he IS here, what will we do then?”
“We shall do what we wanted to do since we first began researching the ancient relics of the Astral Isles.”
“Get some help from the Knights of the Splintered Skies?”
“No, you knucklehead. Ask ‘im to try to raise back up the Isles.”
“Oh yeah, that too.”
The two friends, Zauber Voxel and Invidia Hammerfist, have been researching the Astral Isles. Through Zauber’s connections and Invidia’s intelligence, they had studied the relics, runes, and surviving spells of the once-great faction of Wizards. They had concluded that a sole wizard survived the destruction of the Astral Isles, and was in hiding.
Though no knowledge if the wizard was still alive or not had come up, Invidia was confident that he was, and that the friends would find him in a small brick house on the West side of the great Mount Xargasdon guarded by a great forest.
“What’s that up ahead?” asked the in-need-of-a-break Zauber.
“Trees, trees, and oh look! More trees,” replied Invidia.
“No, over to the left of that rock. It looks like a thatch roof,”
“What are you talking abo- Oh dear Xargas, you’re right!”
As Invida raced to the house, Zauber slowly trudging behind him, the door flung open and a blue orb shot out. Invidia the clumsy tripped on himself at the sudden burst of excitement, and the orb went narrowly by his helmet, and straight into Zauber’s skull.
“!?em ot deneppah s’tahW,” exclaimed the more-confused-than-usual Zauber.
Invidia disregarded his friend’s backward talk, got up, and proceeded to enter the house when a sonorous voice sounded around them.
“Who are you and why have you come here?”
Surprised, Invidia replied, “Uhm hi. I’m Invidia Hammerfist, and the person you just shot with an orb is Zauber Voxel. We came seeking the wizard that we believe solely survived the Korbloxian attack on the tower.”
“You may enter!” boomed the voice.
Half-excited, Invidia took the confused Zauber by the arm and helped him into the small abode. The place was filled with tomes and flasks. Racks filled with bottles containing liquids littered the walls, and it would be hard for any visitor to find their way anywhere in the house.
After recovering from confusion, and becoming a bit impatient, Zauber asked, “So are you the surviving wizard, or are you just an old dude with sticks and an obsession with bottles and hitting people with orbs?”
“Nay, I am not the surviving wizard,” replied the mysterious old man.
“Then why’d you tell us to come in?!” retorted Zauber the angry.
“Could you let me finish speaking, you foolish child? No, I am not the surviving wizard. But you HAVE come to the right place. The survivor is gone, now. Forever interred. It’s been that way for the past few years.”
“Dead, but how? And how do you relate to him?” asked the now-quizzical Invidia.
“As you know, the tower fell long long ago. You couldn’t possibly expect someone to live THAT long, can you?” answered the wise old man, “And to answer your second question, do you really think the sole survivor wouldn’t have the wisdom or foresight to know that he’d need an heir?”
“An heir? What wizard would need an heir…unless he was the-”
“That’s right, you guessed it. I’m the son of the old Arch Mage of the Astral Isles. Now may I ask you a question?”
“Anything, ask away.”
“Why did you come and find me?”
“For the Arch Mage, you sure do ask silly questions,” said Zauber.
“Be respectful. Remember why we researched in the first place,” said Invidia to Zauber, “We came here to ask you to rebuild the Astral Isles.”
“Bwahahahahahaha!” exclaimed the Arch Mage, “Ye’d think it would be as easy as counting flocks of sheep. What do ye think my father tried to do? I don’t know enough people to raise up and lead the Isles.”
“That’s why we came here, ArchMage,” said Invidia, “to help you build it up.”
“We come from the Knight of Redcliff, and we can offer our help to the noble cause of rebuilding the Isles,” said Zauber.
“Is that so?” said the ArchMage, “Then we have quite a bit of work to do.”
“We won’t let you down ArchMage, sir!” said the excited Invidia.
“Please, call me SolarCrane.”