MageLords of King Araya

Once a group of enlightened elites, these 7 Lords promised to serve King Araya's Will until their death. That promise did not include their undeath.

## ***The Tale of the Seven MageLords, a Tale of Forever***\*\*\*as recorded in his notes for "Wicked Trees and Blood" by the troubadour Snorri Sturlefson.

### ***The Return of the King***

Young Tom Araya arrived in Aqualon with the treasure he had risked so much to find. Risking death or worse, Araya had returned to his home with the seven lords governing the people well and a feeling of unity among his royal court. It was a day of everything for him and his close friend, the shaman Kerry King.

Young King Araya, a broad smile on his tanned skin, holds onto the railing of the gunwale. The fair skinned Kerry King trying to hide under his hood against the wind. The white cliffs and buildings of his home are within sight. The harbor he grew up in was busy today, perhaps to greet him. He had sent word of his return with birds to his palace.

Kerry King was happy for his friend. Together they had found the Isle of Tyrannus and the lost 'first wizard of Terra'. "The world is about to change Tom. You will be the greatest king of Aqualon."

Tom Araya's dark brown hair whips in the wind stream. "WE! We will change the world Kerry! The Wizard King's of Terra! HAHAHAHA. You can have whatever you want Kerry. We're about to take it all." The young King of Aqualon laughs heartily into the wind as the ship approaches it's home port.

The kingdom had been excited for the boy king's return. A Triumph celebration had been prepared and talked about since the few days before, when the carrier bird arrived in the aviary of the palace with a notice of success for the king. It was the first Triumph held in Aqualon's history. The seven lords of the king spared no expense for the celebration that lasted weeks.

It was in these few weeks of the Triumph that King Araya partied and planned. It's said that the King doubled the population with his own effort that moon. Other than the next generation of Aqualon, King Araya also planted the seed of death for Terra's children. In the heady days of the Triumph, the King, perhaps at a time he had been too indulgent, decided to explain the basic properties of magic he had learned, to his seven lords. In hindsight, perhaps a naive choice to gift so much power to those who did not properly quest it.

In a diary of the Head Librarian at the Great Library of Aqualon I found this passage:

"The philosophers that meet in the Lyceum are upset at His Highness for having reserved the entire library for so long. The King has locked himself and his immediate counselors in the main hall and have even withdrawn to the eastern wing at night. That's when all manner of perversions echo through these walls. I'm not sure when His Highness sleeps. Oh, the energy of youth.

Late into the night and early into the morning the seven lords and His Highness can be heard with loud yells and sudden blasts of noise. I have had to order a few replacement furnishings but the King is ever so apologetic and generous. I am only included to offer assistance in their studies by retrieving or showing books on the most ancient of myths and beliefs.

I have seen a set of tomes in their possession that I can only believe are the books of knowledge that contain the recipes for His Highness' new miraculous ability. The King and his closest advisers keep the set guarded with their presence. One or another is nose deep in a book that looks like they are bound with a scaled hide. Each tome in the set is of a different color. Half is of metallic colors and the other is of the primary colors.

Oh, if only to touch that amazing masterwork set and examine the craftsmanship."

### ***Marble and Steel, the Conquest of Vandal***

After their instruction in the ways of magic, the seven lords had become the Seven MageLords of Aqualon. The

### ***The King is Dead, Long Live the King***

Mortally drained of his might, King Araya laid his body down one last time. His long-time companion Kerry King by his side. His native city surrounded him.

"I shall leave my empire to you old friend, you are the wisest of all the land."

"No my king, I watch over you forever as I promised so long ago."

King Araya left the mortal world and took his rightful place among the legends of Terra before he could announce his successor.

The seven provincial lords, left with no king and no heir to the throne, divided the empire among themselves. They agreed to continue ruling as they had when Araya was enthroned, until their deaths.

The lords grew in magical power with time. Their every whim was catered to. The power of magic and the residual awe of King Araya's name kept them safe to continue their studies. As the years passed, they forgot their oath to Araya and to the people.

One fated night, on the Eve of the Harvest Moon, the lords gathered for their annual meeting to discuss the affairs of the empire. By now the meeting was about them and not the people. Now they gathered to demonstrate the power and opulence they each wielded. On this night, one of the lords had a power none other had. He had accomplished immortality.

The first immortal lord, Lord Therion, now wore the Mark of the Dragon Cult. He explained how he found the shade of an ancient dragon. The dragon told the lord he would grant the secret of immortality if they but served the dragon's Will. On that night, in the light of a red moon, they summoned the shade of the dragon and swore allegiance to It.

As the gods slept and the good people of the field celebrated the harvest, the MageLords were given undead power to sustain them, forever.