CHAPTER 2

Velas and Malfer, a long time ago

Once upon a time Velas was a land like any other land in Raal. The sun would rise in the south and lazily crawl to the north. And once the ever-fierce globe disappeared beneath the tall north mountains, lush green forests all over Velas would wake up from their slumber, growing and giving life.

On sapphire coloured meadows the proud elf cities stood, tall and beautiful. Almost as beautiful as their builders. Almost. Few were brave enough to set out into elven lands. For thousands of years they thrived, while their might and hardened silver weapons repelled all invaders.

Then came the disease. The bright-eyed silver-skinned warriors turned into bloodthirsty monsters. Almost a third of the population succumbed to this new illness. The monsters hid in the dark and waited for night in search of their next meal. They were hunted at every turn, but it wasn’t enough. Nights became a source of fear, menacing and uncertain.

The Velas elves were losing their homes, losing their blood and their future to these creatures of darkness. In their bright towers, the high council of the elves, the most powerful lords and ladies of the land, were powerless against this madness. Until one idea changed their whole world. In their despair one idea seemed as good as any other.

An old elven legend spoke of a dark race that could control the powers of nature. The race was so horrible and powerful that they eventually destroyed themselves. Their legend told of a few survivors trapped under the lands of Durtan Sedil, their last battlefield. The legend called them demons and their power magic.

What if their old myths about the demons were true? What if there is magic; what if there is someone who can command the sun? What if the sun never sets? Without darkness, the vampires who terrorised their lands would wither and die.

The high council mounted an expedition and sent it to Durtan Sedil, a barren and charred wound under Raal’s sun. The expedition consisted of the best elven soldiers, scientists and scholars. Their names, their courage, their fears, the horrors they faced, all lost in the relentless passage of time. Yet, this expedition created a new age in Raal, the age of magic. The expedition found the demons and made a deal with them. The demons taught them magic. And froze the sun.

Velas, once a land where the sun rose from the south and disappeared beneath the tall northern mountains, became the bright land, the land of the frozen sun, the land of eternal day. The age of magic begun. Without the darkness the vampires died of starvation. Some managed to flee and find refuge in other lands, but those were few and not much of a threat anymore.

With their newfound power, for a time, the elves prospered again. They built special schools and more and more powerful sorcerers emerged. But as their magic grew the sorcerers became divided. Gradually two factions appeared. Dark academies, where mages were trained in the magic of earth, air and death, and bright academies where practical lessons were performed with light, water and life elements.

Over time, dark magicians began to demand the return of the sun to its natural state. The light sorcerers were against. Power corrupts even the purest of hearts and soon both sides resorted to violence. The power of magic tore down the tallest of towers and raised entire districts to the ground. Blood flooded the mighty elven cities once again.

After years of fighting the sun-soaked elves prevailed and banished their brethren to the land of Sogorim, north of Velas. Sogorim was known at that time as the grim land, the land of eternal night, because the frozen sun did not reach there anymore. As time passed these elves became known as grim elves and their brothers in Velas the bright elves.

East of Velas was Malfer, a land that stretched from the far south to the far north and was inhabited by a race known as humans. People there were not as tall and beautiful as elves, they did not have powerful weapons of hardened silver or cities that stretched high into the sky, but they had a determination that no other race had. Their homes were modest and small, grouped together for better protection from the beasts lurking around.

The middle region of Malfer was rich in dark and fertile soil, suitable for cultivation, and in time the people there dug fields full of rich crops and built pens full of tame domesticated animals. The northern region of Malfer was rich in game and the people of that region became known for their hunting abilities. The southern region was poor in fertile land or game but had an abundance of stone and metal and the people there became known for their skills in handicrafts and construction, as well as for their warrior ferocity.

After many years of looting and warfare, as nature’s call for survival is strong, societies formed, trade flourished and all of Malfer prospered.

Then came the age of magic. Magic spilled over borders, as a force of nature always does, and human children learned to wield magic just as well as weapons made of metal.