alright. The old RP thread died, so heres a second one. It's going to be real fun, as its based off of a little short story I wrote. Ready? Go.

—in the beginning, there was a great pantheon of gods. these were not kindred gods, they were old gods. Gods of wrath. They wished to create a realm, with beings for worship, and sacrifice. However, they argued over what this place should look like. Should it be flat, with the possibility of falling over the edge? Or a sphere, so you could walk all around it. Should it be a cold place, of ice and snow? Or a hot place, of fire and ash? The elder gods argued long and hard over these ideas, and many more. Soon they were fighting, in that dark empty space full of forgotten ideas, and unfulfilled choices they existed in. and one of them, unleashing a huge amount of godly wrath intending to wipe out all the others, destroyed everything.
For a moment there was nought. Then there was the AllPower. The AllPower existed in a dark place, with nothing of comfort. The AllPower was not like the hateful elder gods. The AllPower was caring and warm. Soon the AllPower desired company. So the AllPower brought an energy into his void. The AllPower did not create this energy. Nor was it unique to this void. He merely brought it in from another place. At the time, in some voids it was called Zaokr. The Zaokr however, was not very friendly and merely wandered about, bored and looking for something to wield it. The AllPower had no interest in wielding it, it had enough of his own power if it needed something.
So the AllPower remained lonely. Until, it split to create another AllPower to give him company. This other AllPower however, was not very friendly at all. It was malicious and cruel, and merely sought to damage the AllPower. This EvilPower was not liked at all by the AllPower, and so the AllPower banished The EvilPower away from the area of void the Allpower resided in, Though he could never remove The EvilPower completely. Then, The AllPower gained an Idea. It decided to create a realm. One full of life, and happiness. And so the AllPower created the realm of Gorn. However, all was not well on Gorn. The EvilPower had a corrupting influence upon it, and so conflict came upon it.
Now the Zaokr was still wandering around the void, when it discovered Gorn. Gorn was so full of life, that the Zaokr decided it would reside there. And so it gathered itself into a ball, and went into the center of Gorn, where the first sprawling city of Jibbon was forming. It stored it's main energy focus underground, and sent a small bit of itself upwards, into the city proper.
There it manifested itself inside a new baby girl, the people who built the Jibbon city. The new baby girl was named felan. felan had remarkable talents since she was very little, due to the Zaokr inhabiting her body. She learned after 7 cycles that she could light a candle from ten feet away, or even just hold fire in his hand without it burning him. But as girl began to discover later on in her life, her power extended to far greater heights. She could heal, with a touch. She could drive a Man insane just by whistling at him, and then fix it with a touch on the head. he could inspire men to work their hardest, or demoralize them almost enough to cause them to retreat. By 50 cycles, Felan had a position in the high council. Other men, not knowing what to call this strange power, decided to make a name for it. Their word, was magic.
Now this magic liked the way men made use of its power, and began to inhabit itself into more and more people. Felan then decided to created an order of magids to teach younglings how to use their power.
The AllPower became jealous of men's love of the Zaokr, and decided to lend its power to a few men, which he bestowed the name of priest, they who communicate with the gods. He gave them certain powers, of healing beyond that of the Zaokr but wrath paling in comparison. However, he gave them knowledge, and they had wrath, however lesser it was.
During this time, the EvilPower had manifested itself at the bottom of the creation of Gorn. There it lay, chewing upon the roots of creation. However, this slow process of destruction was not enough for it. So it created demons. These demons were creatures constructed of hate and fire, and they spit molten rock. However they were hard to make, and so they were far and few in between. As their servants, he created trolls. Now these trolls were monstrous beasts, with burning red eyes and hair that grew down their spine. they had red skin, and their hair was usually bluish purple. they had very pointed faces, and usually went bair chested with leather pants, although their warriors wore chain-mail they hardly needed as their skin was like rocks. An elite sect of them practiced powers handed down from their demon overlords which in turn gained knowledge from the EvilPower.
Man went to war. They fought and fought against these horrible adversaries, until their magids exposed their weakness. Healing spells from the priests. They still were unable to destroy the demon menace, and to this day men and trolls still wage war.—

I've got no idea where to start from there, so if you don't mind.

14 Kenda, Year of our Lord 179 (100 years after the Troll War)
________

"Not like that, more of a flourish!" Ilnath cringed as the instructor berated him, then, with a flourish, set about casting the spell again. He felt a white heat surge throughout his being and a line of white-red flame shot from his finger.

"Too much!" The instructor cried as the flames blew through the practice dummy and incinerated the door behind it, revealing a rather startled looking apprentice.

"What is it apprentice?" The elder mage asked.

"Magister, the Guildmaster has asked for an audience with Ilnath." The boy said, still shaking from the attack.

"Well boy, get moving." The instructor said, forcing him out the charred remains of the door.

Zekgos, a troll commander with a reputation of leaving nothing but burning swaths of discord in his wake stared across the expanse with distaste. Even at this distance, he could smell the human scum's fear. Well, If they were afraid, he would ease their passings, that was certain he thought, runing his hand along the cruel twisted sword that had been plunged into the hearts of so many. After all cowardice is not a common trait among corpses.

Kardaq walked down the wooded path. As he walked, he tripped on a rock, and stumbled. "Kardaq, Kardaq Kardaq, you must improve on all this cloak and dagger stuff. You can barely walk through a path without waking up half the realm!" Kardaq was clothede in a leather vest, accompanied by a mottled green cloak, going down his shoulders. His hair was shaggy and fairly long though he kept his moustache and goatee neatly trimmed. "Thats why you were nearly caught at that mansion! You're running out of flash bombs too." He shakes his head. He talks to himself often, not as if holding a conversation, but more like informing himself of a known fact.

As he walks, he realizes, he is stark lost in the woods. Gah! "Oh well, nothing to it but keeping heading in one direction till ya find a path or the edge of the woods. Ye'll never make it to the port at this rate." There is a bush blocking his path. He attempts to hack at it with his long dirk, yet he succeeds in nearly losing the knife, while the bush remains unharmed. Pushing it aside, he looks out from over a hill. "Well, that didn't take long!" He has reached the port town. he begins to make camp, specifically by unrolling a blanket and lighting a fire. "Homes where the heart is!" he says cheerfully, then begins boiling water to make radish stew.

Ystin stumbled out of the tavern barely able to hold onto his sword while mumbling about being a hero of the next province over. Years ago he used to be but now he is a drunk that tells his stories of heroism for drinks and other pleasures of the flesh. While on his way to the next town he noticed that there was a house on fire at the outskirts with a woman screaming about her son being trapped inside. Ystin may be a drunk but his heroic side always popped up every once in a while. He broke into the house and looked all over until he found the boy hiding in the grand chest at the end of a bed and a handful of the gold coins that were stored in there too. Upon leaving the burning house to return the boy to his mother she thanked him and he returned down the road feeling like one small deed would help in the long run with everything he was most likely going to have to do the next town over.

Zekgos jumped when he first noticed the smoke to the East, quietly cursing himself for the momentary weakness. Was it possible they had been followed? No. An attacking force would know to use stealth in approaching his batalion. Still, he could not risk another incident like the one in Catherby. At the thought of this, he rubbed the scars where the demon's firey whip had rended his flesh. He summoned a scout and dispatched him to investigate the disturbance.

"And then report back here. No action is to be taken without my order, or it's your hide to pay."
He growled at the young troll, who scuttled away, terrified. Zekgos sighed, wiping this race out would be doing them a favor. It really would.

Kardaq was awakened by something tripping over him, of all things! "Oy! gerroff!" he shouted at what looked to be a troll in the dim light of the embers. The troll raised a fist, as if to punch him, as it was currently pinning him to the ground. He knew he was dead if that punch landed. It would shatter his skull. So he did the thing the troll least expected, and just about the only thing he was good at. He bent his legs, and shot backwards. Right into the embers. He picked one up, and despite the burning pain, threw it into the trolls hair. He then ran, ran as fast as he could, Straight for the gates screaming "troll! troll!"

"Thank one of those gods for my being able to see that those damned Trolls are head of me by at least a day or so." Ystin said to himself looking at the trail he just broke onto from the west. "Looks like there are a few of them... and too many to leave booby traps on the road... I hope." he muttered again as he palmed his dagger encase of traps or drunken trolls left to the elements by his troop. Noticing the warmth of the sun Ystin actually began to whistle an old battle tune he picked up as a private in the Legion. He missed those days not for his role in the Legion but for his dead comrades that helped him realize his reason there and why he was the last of his Century.

Zekgos cursed loudly and fluently as the human's screams echoed toward him. He would flay that scout himself. No reason to be quiet anymore.

"RAISE THE COLORS! PREPARE THE CHARGE"

The horns sounded a resounding call. Zekgos grinned, he was back in his element, it was time to redeem himself.

Iltnath knocked on the Guildmaster's heavy door, then opened the portal and let himself inside. The head of the mage's guild stood by a massive window with his back to the apprentice. He turned to face Ilnath, the bright light from the window obscuring his face.

"Ilnath, I have received reports from your instructors, all of whom recommend you for advancement in the guild." The guildmaster strode across the room and picked up a pair of scrolls.

"Sir, I am honored to be thought worthy, but I-" Ilnath started to protest but a raised hand from the Guildmaster cut him short.

"I have watched you myself though you obviously had not noticed my scrying, your offensive techniques require work yes, but your basic fundamentals and alteration magicks far surpass any other mage of your years." The Guildmaster handed Ilnath a pair of scrolls.

"As you know, to become a full guildmage an apprentice must commune with the spirit of our founder, Felan." The Guildmaster motioned to a pack and bedroll lying near the door. "You will take these things into the Forest of Hlati and there you will wait until the Mother Spirit appears before you."

The Guildmaster handed Ilnath a third scroll. "You are forbidden to cast any summonings in the Forest, if you do the Mother spirit shall contact me and you will be exiled from the guild."

Ilnath nodded, "I understand sir, when do I leave?"

The Guildmaster chuckled, "why, right now!" And with that, he poked Ilnath in the chest and the apprentice found himself outside the guild-tower.

Looking far to the east he saw a massive pillar of smoke, "Well that can't be good" Ilnath said, as he turned to the west and began his trek.

The 500 trolls decended like so much water apon the town, burning as they went. Leading the charge was Zekgos, clad in the armour his masters had made for him, forged in hellfire, and endowed with their power. His orders rose above the tumult of the charge.

"FORM RANKS! SWORDS IN FRONT, ARCHERS BEHIND! IGNITE ARROWS! CAVALRY SWEEP THE CITY, LEAVE NONE ALIVE!"

He grinned widely as he watched the humans scatter. He raised his arms, feeling the power spiking through them. These people had only just begun to experience his wrath. Lightning jumped from his hands and struck a pair of advancing guards dead, blasting their corpses into a group of their number. Zekgos reveled in the blood. This would be even easier than he had thought.

Ilnath lit his campfire with a spell, then sat down to roast the rabbit he had caught earlier in the day. All of a sudden he heard a loud crashing noise coming from the east. Ilnaths hand went to his father's crystal knife he forever kept in his robes, and his most powerful spell lept into his mind as the creature approached...

A doe leaped into the clearing, looked at the mage, and scampered away.

Ystin hears the sounds of the "battle" ahead screams to the heavens and all the gods "Damn you all! Why today?! Why Trolls?! Why ME?!" At that point his sword chimes in with a heavenly voice "You know if any of them are listening they aren't going to make it any better for you." To which Ystin threw the sword over his back and with a renewed vigor started to run towards the besieged town, the Troll army, and most likely a painful death that would most likely involve his sword in his gut telling him how he keeps ruining it's life.

Ilnath stepped into a clearing, an old statue of an angel stood before him, broken with age. A pale blue light lit the eyes of the woman and the stone began to move. The statue stared down at him and began to speak.

"So, this is what your guildmaster sends to me," She said, her voice reaching into the darkest depths of Ilnath's soul. "Well, you do seem to have potential."

"Lady, are you the Mother Spirit?" Ilnath asked, his voice just above a whisper.

"If that is what you weak-minded fools have chosen to call the founder of your guild then yes," Came Felan's thunderous reply. "Now, to business, this world requires a hero, a hero like the one's from days of yore. Old Yistin is more concerned with the drink now than he ever was with the slaying of trolls.

"I hereby charge you with removing the vile creatures from our fair city." Felan continued. "Obviously you cannot do that youurself, so I will have to provide you aid." The light left the eyes of the statue, and a pale mist formed at its base. The mist took shape into that of a beautiful woman who strode to Ilnath and spoke in a much quieter, more pleasant voice.

"Ilnath, I do regret that this task has been forced upon you, but it is the only way to end the conflict with the demons." With that the woman broke apart and the mist invaded Ilnaths senses. The young man retched and collapsed on the ground.

After a moment, the wizard began to change, his wiry mass of red hair thickened, straightened and turned jet black. His thin unmuscular body thickened and became stronger. His eyes, once bright with the light of innocence darkened and became the hard dark orbs of one who had seen too much of the world.

Kardaq Fled. The trolls had come to the port, seeking naught to destroy and burn. He ran to the forest, back, into the forest, to escape from them. He only hoped they wouldnt set it on fire. He climbed into the branches of one tree, and hid there for a very long time.

After a while, a troll came under his tree. Just an underling, a scout, not one of the leaders. Kardaq quickly dropped down and slit the trolls throat.

After the long run Ystin finally made it to where the town used to be but now nothing but ash and bones, what ever this town did to the Trolls or their masters they didn't deserve this. Upon finding a small band of guards Ystin dispatched them to hell. Even through the black blood his sword seemed to glow brighter with another "good deed" from the "old hero".

Ilnath awoke from his spirit-enduced slumber to a new world, or rather, to the old world from a new perspective. The trees around him glowed with a green aura and his own body shined with a dark blue light. The young mage had found a new power.

Kardaq awoke from his slumber in the treetops. He was incredibly glad that the trolls had not set the woods on fire, and merely burnt the town to the ground—The town! He ran to the edge of the forest, but the town was not there. He cursed. Now how was he going to get those jewels! He saw a man near the ash, he dispatched some of the trolls left behind to guard the city. Now thats odd? Why would the city need guarding? It was nought but ash, and what worth did ash have to the trolls? "odd" he muttered under his breath.

He set these musings aside and began attempting to find a way out of his predicament. He was running low on food, all he had left were 7 radishes left from the 15 he had stolen from a farmers field, and no money to buy more food. Hunting? He laughed out loud, a pure, clean sound helping him ignore all the waste and destruction only a kilometer away. He was no good at hunting, no stealth whatsoever. Maybe that man down there had food...

Ilnath sensed movement just outside the clearing, turning his head he notice the man had no aura. This meant one of two things, either he was an immensly powerful magi, or the far more likely observation, the man had no magial items of talent at all. Ilnath strode toward the man, preparing a defensive spell as he walked.

*snap* Kardaq spun around from his observations of the warrior down the hill. Approaching from behind, there was a man with straight black hair and long muscular arms

"Funny, I thought none but I survived, at least anyone with in a couple kilometers?" Kardaq says as he readies his dirk inside of his sleeve

"Y-you," Ilnath's new voice startled him, much more forceful than his own thin voice had been. "Who are you? and be you a friend to a humble wizard?"

"Don't have too many friends. I'm more of a loner, me'self"

Suddenly there was a tremendous crash in the surrounding brush, and several trolls leaped into the clearing. The man muttered a curse to himself and leaped up into the trees leaving Ilnath to deal with them by himself.

An unknown spell leaped unbidden into his mind, a spell not cast since the founding of the Order of the Silver Blade. His hands unconciously went through the motions and a chill wind surrounded him, the blades of grass beneath his feet became encrusted in frost, then shattered. An attacking troll was frozen in place as the other three collapsed to the ground shivering, then they lay still, their blood frozen in their own bodies.

Kardaq stuck his head out of the tree, hanging upside down by his legs. "Never seen that spell before!" He was a fair distance in having leapt from tree to tree after the attack. He saw the trolls all fall over dead, after some unfathomable hand movements by the mage. 'I wonder where he learned it'

The trolls finished and the theif vanished, Ilnath shrugged, inadverdently vaporizing a tree, and headed back to the destroyed village.

It was cold. to cold for karzic's liking. it wasn't so much the cold as the unnaturalness about it. but the cold didn't matter, the only thing that did were the trolls. He had to find them.it's your fault you know, you should have reported back. you should have warned the General before.... Karzic shook his head angrily. this wasn't the time for guilt. Those poor people. At least he had found this pack that had been left behind to clean up. With them i can find the beasts that did this and then...
A smile crept across his face.

Then he saw it... a troll frozen in place. Instinct took over curiosity. He immediately slipped behind a tree. He circled the area watching from the shadows. His bow in hand. What ever had done this was far more dangerous than anything he had ever come across. The general must be warned!. He shrugged the thought away. He had to find out what did this... and whether it needed to be eliminated or not. Don't make another mistake. You have to tell them, this is dangerous... even for you.. He scowled angrily... he wouldn't make anymore mistakes, not again.

Zekgos stalked away from the ashen remains of the town with a broad grin on his face. His masters would indeed be pleased. He might even be in the running for a promotion. He wiped off the blood dripping from his twisted blade, wondering vaguely whose it had been. Perhaps it was that guildmage who was too busy screaming to get a decent spell out before his life had been swiftly ended. But there was no time for this now. things had to be attended to.

"Lieutenant."
"Sir?" said a veteran troll archer.
"My scouts have not returned. Send a group of berserkers back to the town. If anything's breathing, ask it why it's breathing on my land."
The troll chuckled. "You never let me do it myself anymore."
"That was when you were a sargent."
"You mean before I killed that swordsman without waking up?"
"Exactly."
"Fine then commander. I'll get the berserkers right on it"
"'Commander' that still sounds strange coming from you."
"What, my dear brother is getting emotional?"
"Get the hell out of here or I'll take you down to lance corporal."
"Sir, yes sir."
He left, leaving only the stench of the gore and the victory cries of the grunts to accompany Zekgos.

Kardaq was still hanging upside-down in the tree when he decided to go check out that man down the hill near the ruins. he began hopping from tree to tree, when, near the place that he had seen the mage dispatch of the four trolls, a shadow flashed. Now what could that be?

Something odd was happening, after the coldsnap Ilnath had felt less... substantial. It was several minutes until he noticed that he was no longer casting a shadow, that he was no longer walking, simply floating several inches off the ground. He had become like the mist that had changed him, and he did not know how to change back.

Kardaq could have sworn he saw someone walk to the troll, then suddenly jump behind a tree.... silly fool. The troll was dead. Ah well, Kardaq continued on towards the edge of the forest so he could head down the hill to the food-man! or just the Possibly-food-man

Meanwhile, the young mage was stuck in his gaseous state, with no way to form the hand components of his spells, or a mouth to say the incantations. A new spell rippled in his mind and a flash of heat which scorched the ground and set several trees on fire deposited the coughing mage back at the feet of the statue of Felan.

Zekgos silently prepared his alter, going through the elements like a shopping list.
"Body of an innocent...." He dumped a small girl's carcass on the flames "mantle from a church..." He added this, still bloodstained from where he had pinned the pastor to it "and a circle of gold." He tossed in a wedding band he had prised from the corpse of one of the guards.
"Master...."He mumbled into the flames "I have come to report."
The sound of chaos arose from the fire, a sound beyond mortal imagining, if you listened closely you could hear pigs being slaughtered, and women shreiking, and a thousand other noises so horrible if I were to describe them to you, you would flee this place in horror. It seemed to make sense to Zekgos though.
"Yes, we burned it to the ground. I still don't know why though."
Again the noise, with an agitated inflection this time. Like a burning brand being thrust into cold water.
"Understood. that is not my business."
The sound came again.
"None that I could see. If any did survive, there will be nothing to return to."
The flames roared their loudest yet.
"Understood sir. None will survive. We cannot have another incident like Catherby, and that fool Ystin."
The flames roared once more, and extinguished themselves.
"....I'll see to it personally my lord." he whispered to the embers.
After all, taking care of that medeler would be a pleasure.

Kardaq began heading down the hill away from the forest towards the warrior... was he drunk? Might have food anyways. Or money. Money would be nice.

'Now that that's taken care of..." Ilnath muttered as he set off yet again, following the not-so-well hidden tracks of the bumbling theif.

The mage finally came upon the young man peering through a bush at the still smoldering town.
"What'cha lookin' at?"

'AH!' Kardaq jumps and yells, drawing his dirk. 'Stop sneaking up on me!' he shouts. 'ugh. I'm looking for some warrior. I saw him slaughtering Trolls down here, And thought he might have food. Or money.'

"And you propose to rob said warrior? with your puny little knife?" Ilnath chuckled, "well I wish you luck in your endeavor, I'll be by later to reassemble your corpse." The mage looked back at the theif, "I wonder if you'd make a good flesh golem."

'flesh golem? like dead then back alive without thinking just under your control type stuff? And no. There was to be no robbery. If he had food. And if it was to come to my taking his money-bag, It would be while he was sleeping. Never was good with the pickpocketing...'

Ystin sobered from his bloodlust and realized that he merely slaughtered a small band of scouts that wouldn't be missed except as cannon fodder, so chose to flee from the remains before he was discovered after taking the St. Brun medal from the neck of one of the dead Trolls. "Like damned crows, they will steal anything that shines." Ystin muttered to himself thinking about the Martyr and his role against Trolls as well. Ystin then fled into the forest hoping to put as much distance as he could from the Trolls and a certain death.

Ilnath watched the heavyset warrior rush off throught the woods, he looked down at the theif. "Well that was odd, is that your food-guy?"

'only if you don't have food. Do you have food?'

Ilnath looked down, "Man, I don't even have clothes, my robe must have fallen of when I was incorporeal."

'Yes you're going to have to work on that, preferably while my eyes continue functioning. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry, and my food-man is currently running off towards the woods.' Kardaq salutes, then spins on his heels and starts chasing after the warrior. He reaches the top of the slope, where the hills start, and notices something. Something running. Running towards them. Trolls, and berserkers by the looks of them. Kardaq sprints faster.

Ilnath stood, watching the monsters running after the humans, then conjured a silken mages robe and set out after the lot of them.

Kardaq ran. through the forest he went, the trolls following behind. suddenly, something ignites in his brain. He dives into a roll, while a bolt of fire goes over his head. He jumps from his roll, right into the branches, and continues running like that, branches behind him getting stuck with arrows.

"Damnit!" Ilnath cursed, "Even with Felan aiding me I can't aim properly!"

The mage came to an immediate halt as a contingent of Trolls spun about and took aim at him. "Well fuuuuuuck." Ilnath whispered to himself as he prepared another shield spell.

Arrows bounced off his enchanted robe as the wizard charged forward at super natural speed, he drew his ancestral dagger and drew his finger along its blade which glowed a fiery red and extended to the length of a greatsword while remaining as light as a feather. He swung once, twice, thrice, and three trolls dropped dead and the mage was gone, dashing into the bushes and out of sight.

Another ritual was taking place in the troll camp. Zekgos had skewered his sword through the head of another hapless victim, and into the ground. Black blood was dripping steadily onto the dirt.
"Point me." he said to the bloodstain.
No sooner had he said it than the blood formed an arrow, pointing back at the pile of ash that had once been a city. Already? Typical of Ystin. He always seemed to get involved.
Zekgos pulled his sword from the earth and cast aside the head with a casual flick.
"Well...not anymore." He thought. And he set out into the dusk.

Kardaq stopped, killing his momentum by swinging around on the branch. He perched on it, and watched the mage weilding a greatsword—a greatsword! The mage dashed off into the woods, but only after felling three of them. he's good kardaq thought. Just then the thiefs rotten perch snapped, and he fell to the earth with a crash. shit.

Linath rushed into the forest, came to a stop at the treeline, and collapsed against an oak for support. He noticed a figure lying in thie dirt near his feet, recognizing it ia the theif.

"Taking a nap are we?"

Noticing the loud racket coming from behind him Ystin stopped running a circled around to see if he was being followed the quietest Trolls he heard in his life or he was being followed by a third party. Upon finding the Third party of a young Mage that seems experienced yet useless and some thief that could be a problem some time soon. Stepping out of the woods scaring the thief out of his skin and bewildering the Mage, Ystin introduced himself: "I am Ystin Glenlivet Last Centurion of the First Legion... Last soldier of the whole St. Brun Army actually and bearer of his Soul Branded Claymore. Mind telling why you wish for a long and painful death at Zekgos' own hand?"

'I don't have much food. Hell, I wasnt even trying to kill the trolls. That was the mage over here. I was just running as fast as I could.'