Triquas

In the depths of the land known as Tritonia, the battlescorn High king Lirquas sits atop his throne. Something his family has done for generations. The Ahlorsath family has rightfully claimed the throne as theirs for hundreds of years. After all, it was their family who liberated Tritonia from “the treacherous”.

Triquas serves (or served) as heir to the kingdom, and despite his young age he was already well beloved throughout the land. Lirquas was known as a benevolent and kind king. Yet, he lacked not a stern side, and he had been known to lose his cool if either ignored or disrespected.
When Triquas was even younger than he is now, he developed a fascination for the magical world. Something otherwise only reserved for the highmages, and the “abovers” (the Tritonian name for the people living on land). It was taboo among the common people and unheard of within the royal family (with only a singular exception in recorded history.) However, Triquas’ interest grew ever stronger for the magical. Something that concerned his father, the king. Lirquas worried (perhaps because he could not fully understand the magical world) that Triquas could not rule as well as he had for so many years and therefore ensured that Triquas be kept far from any magic, Lirquas enforced this by imprisoning everybody who spoke or performed magic near Triquas. Triquas’ interest and thirst for more knowledge surrounding the magical aspect of things needed to be quenched. So frequently he snuck into the locked section of the royal library, where ancient books and texts about the history of the magical Tritons of yesteryear, lay abundantly.
Triquas was ecstatic and he spent many hours among the books, soaking-in close to all the information he could. This soon came to an end one day when he was spotted in the magical section of the library by one of his father’s guardsmen who was on his daily patrol but strayed a bit from his usual route. When Lirquas was informed he was furious. He banned Triquas from the library and demanded he be escorted to his chambers where he was to stay until the king deemed it appropriate. Triquas was saddened by this, as he believed that magic could help the people of Tritonia, and could be used for good rather than the evil it had been used for in older days. However, as days came ad wet his interest began to dimmer and soon it served as memory in Triquas’ mind.

Nevertheless, it all culminated on the day of the bicentennial celebration of liberation from “the treacherous”. With Triquas and the rest of his family at their residence, the parade came through and was scheduled to finish in the royal courtyard, where festivities would soon begin. Triquas though, ever attentive, noticed that something was not as it should be. He saw two men in an alleyway looking very murky. So, he decided to go and investigate. He stumbled upon the two men apparently scheming something and plotting to ruin the celebrations. Triquas decided to chase after the two men, who at the sight of the prince bolted, in an attempt not to be thrown in the dungeons. Triquas chased the men out of town and towards the “Trench of Poseidon”. He lost sight of the two men and decided to turn back. But when he turned a school of seaturtles came by, so he sought the seabottom as shelter until the school had passed. As the flock of turtles was quite big he decided to spend the time looking at where he stood, he happened upon a bag believed to have been dropped by an “abover” quite some time ago. He opened the bag and saw ring surrounding a partially intact piece of parchment that had some inscription written on it. Alongside this piece of parchment was a half-broken medallion, a small box filled with some sand, a few very small gems and some twigs and pebbles. Rummaging continuously through the bag he found some cloth, a couple of pouches filled with what looked like golden coins but in reality, they were copper coins coated in gold paint, and what looked like some sort of seal, allowing traders and merchants to travel between borders. Triquas fixated on the parchment and the inscription on it. It was a series of very strange looking words, and not really thinking more of it he tried pronouncing these words. “Halla, ym nekcihc denrut ot laoc. Luferac fo eht snamhctaw rebmun owt.” Triquas could not immediately see anything happen and noted no difference. Until a moment went by and he saw a flash of light beaming from the ring. Bewildered he examined the ring, yet it looked exactly as it had done when he freed it of its parchment, plain as an old button. He tried it on his scaly fingers and to his excitement (and somewhat trepidation) it fitted him perfectly. He read the words on the paper aloud once again and after a short while the ring illuminated, in awe Triquas looked down at his now glowing hand and felt a sharp, intense, searing pain, almost like from a stab wound. He looked around but, he was the only one in sight. He felt a rushing sensation through his body and an overwhelming headache that lasted for approximately 2 minutes. After this agonizing pain he looked down at the ring that once again looked like a plain silver button. On his way home, he realized what this might imply. The ring could hold magical properties and as his mind continued to think of these properties, he remembered a section from an old book ack at the library that contained details of magical rings that granted the holder powerful magical powers. Curiosity overcame Triquas, and so he took the old dusty piece of cloth from the bag, held it out in his hand and imagined it completely clean. Triquas’ eyes widened when he saw that the old, dusty cloth rag suddenly looked as if it was brand new and fresh from the tailor. Did he just perform magic?

Triquas took the bag home with him, and ignoring the questions about his whereabouts from his father, entered his room and examined this newfound magic further. He thought long and hard about different things that he could use this power for, and decided to try the cleaning spell again. He took some dirty clothes and just as before they turned brand new. Next, he sat on his bed and looked at the dresser. He tried to imagine a way for the small box standing atop the dresser to come to him. A hand-shape formed in his room, and tried to grab the box. The hand commanded following the orders given by Triquas’ mind, however, Triquas was befuddled and the hand, unable to completely follow command, accidently knocked over the dresser. A loud thud could be heard in the room and, to Triquas’ dismay, also in the rest of the estate. His father, Lirquas came into the room, investigating the loud thud he heard, and saw Triquas waving his hands around like a buffoon. He asked his son what he was doing, and Triquas, hoping that his father would have change his stern ways, explained what happened. Lirquas flew into a rage, his own son, the heir to the Tritonian throne performing magic in the royal estate. Fed up with his son not listening to his orders he demanded that Triquas be exiled from the kingdom. Triquas’ actions were intolerable and unforgiveable. Either Triquas left the kingdom, or he would be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life, having broken the law.
Disheartened Triquas had no other choice than to pack his bag and leave his home. His mother, crying, hugged Triquas farewell knowing that this could be the last time she ever saw him. Unbeknownst to Lirquas she gave her son the Ahlorsath family ring, and told him to be careful of thieves and tricky merchants. Lirquas did not say goodbye to his firstborn son, nor was he present when Triquas left.

Triquas took one last look at his home and left, not knowing where he would go, what he would do or who he would meet.