Mayiel

 

“As knights, as men, we must readily sacrifice our bodies, but hold fast to our souls.”

 

 

The Land Of Gillies

 

The events leading to the Great Synergistic Campaign terrified Earthworld. Fear drove various kingdoms to desperate, foolish acts. Earthworld have never seen the forces of chaos so numerous and potent. Fearing total against Salbrox’s forces, several kingdoms allied with him, most notably the Eastern kingdom of Landry, whose alliance with Salbrox and subsequent turbulent history of strife earned it the epithet “Dark Kingdom.”

 

But even kingdoms that stayed true to Lord Ligniel and Earthworld made grave errors during the Great Synergistic Campaign.

 

North of the Land of Mazes is a heavily forested land called Gillies. Gillies is known for its woods. The land is so densely forested that it contains two elftrees to the Land of Maze’s one, even though it is only about a fifth of the Land of Maze’s size. It’s wizards know more about elves than anyone in Earthworld and their knowledge on how a dead body turns into a living spirit through elfhood has given them an understanding of biology to rival that of the Morlochs of the Azure sphere. Their biological knowledge has allowed them to craft the greatest healing spells in all of Earthworld and invent the circle of protection spell, a spell which consecrated an area for miles and allowed for small towns and villages to protect themselves from the forces of chaos no matter how far away from the major castles of Earthworld they were. The circle of protection spell was also critical during the Great Synergistic Campaign as it allowed for units of knights to quickly make and utilize temporary fortresses anywhere they pleased. Some wizards attributed Lord Ligniel’s success in the Great Synergistic Campaign to the circle of protection spell as much as the Whisenwood orb. Because of this, many were hesitant to look closer at King Trek’s policies when his knights started dying in their beds.

 

Much has been written on King Trek, nearly all of it condemnatory, but consider the situation from his perspective. For years he has been told that the surge of chaos had been isolated to the Pedit caverns beneath the black castle Ramething. He had always assumed that his kingdom was safe, protected locally by his knights and distantly by the elves of his woods. Then the ground opened up and Salbrox’s forces spewed forth. They were everywhere. They killed the Cirilians and imprisoned their elves, converting them into screaming engines for their warmachines.

 

King Trek was not prepared to lead a country in war, and yet in an instant, his country was in a battle for survival.

 

He turned to his wizards, for all of Earthworld said they rivaled the wizards of the Ramething’s tower of wisdom in skill and all of Earthworld celebrated their circle of protection. His wizards had a solution–but it was one they dared not voice to their king, for they heard the desperation in his voice and saw the fear in his eyes. Then King Trek ordered his men to execute any knight that fled from battle, a tactic which decimated moral and needlessly put many useful knights to the sword, and a young wizard broke his vow of silence with his peers and told King Trek about the speed phials, believing that their use would bring an end to the “policy of courage.”

 

The speed phials were liquified Lifegems that when ingested allowed a knight to move at incredible speeds, speeds greater than even the transvection spell of Mersadian magic. But there was a problem–the solution was essentially poison. More than half that ingested a speed phial died instantly and those that survived were racked with intense, debilitating pain that spiked after the solution worked its way through their system. One day without a speed phial caused pain. Three days without a speed phial caused death. But even when a knight had a speed phial daily, their bodies and minds were crippled. They were no longer able to hold Lifeblood within their minds to cast spells and their bodies were weakened. The force of accelerating and decelerating tore their bodies apart in ways that magic could only partially heal. They became something traditional healing spells did not recognize as Cirilian, which made sense in light of the speed phials origins–they were not made to empower knights, but to allow wizards to assume a state between Cirilian and elf.

 

Not only did King Trek not end the policy of courage, he executed several of his wizards for keeping the speed phials from him and proceeded to covertly expose as many of his people to the speed phials as he could. He first announced to his people that his wizards had invented a spell that would empower the population–a spell similar to the spells of empowerment cast by the Whisenwood orb. But they wouldn’t know immediately who was affected and who wasn’t. It was an experimental spell. But if anyone felt a strange stirring in their body like the heat of a fever, it was a sign that the spell was working on them, and that they should report immediately to the castle to undergo the next step that would transform them into ultra-fast warriors.

 

As his wizards made pretty lights flash over Gillies, trusted henchmen began slipping the tasteless serum into the drinks of those that had potential.

 

The ones that died instantly of exposure were deemed by King Trek’s wizards to have died by a curse. In the early days of the Great Synergistic Campaign, there were many curses that circulated through the Cirilian sphere. It was very, very easy to pass off deaths from speed phial exposure as deaths from curses. And the survivors, of course, would fight harder for the sake of the departed.

 

The ones that survived the serum felt the stirrings and reported where they were given a choice–they could either take a speed phial and become a great warrior the cost of their health and a lifetime dependence on the drug, however long that would prove to be, or they could go home and wait for the spell to wear off. Those that took the phial were honored, and sent to fight on the fight lines. Those that refused “died of a curse.”

 

It was easy to make people disappear when no one took a close look at the circumstances. What was more, Gillies incinerated her dead, as no one had time to dig a hole, burry a body, and say a prayer to Michael. There were no bodies, and so no autopsies.

 

The speed phial knights were a tactical success–mostly. Some knights couldn’t handle their speed and perished crashing at the speed of light into trees. A change in tactics solved this problem. Speed phial knights were never to directly engage with enemies. The extreme force their accelerated bodies produced made them as much a danger to themselves as their enemies. Instead, they were to use their speeds to stay far away from targets, miles away, bombard targets with ranged attacks, and then zip away before the enemy could respond.

 

Visitors to Earthworld often make the erroneous conclusion that Earthwrold knights can only fight in melee due to their weapons. But every sword is able to project burst of light and energy. The knights of Gillies preferred to project this energy in the form of large, explosive arrows which left mile deep and wide craters per shot.

 

First among these speed phial knights was a knight born May, raised to the Dunniel name Mayiel.

 

Mayiel was a young and trusting knight. When other knights remarked on the uncomfortable way King Trek spoke and moved when he thought no one was near, Mayiel told them that they had no right to talk about their ruler that way. The weight upon King Trek’s shoulders was great and he was owed respect for bearing it. When he felt the stirrings of the speed spell working upon him, he was overjoyed, for it meant he could fight for his homeland all the better. He quickly became the greatest knight in Gillies. He darted across the Circilian sphere, slaying wight after wight without regard for his own safety. Every breaking bone in his body was a holy pain, a good pain.

 

King Trek once told Mayiel that he was invincible, that there might not be cause for other speed phial knights. Mayiel said that there would always be cause for stronger and stronger knights.

 

And, looking at maps of other kingdoms–other kingdoms that would be weak and vulnerable after the Great Synergistic Campaign–King Trek nodded silently in agreement.

 

Rusiel vs Mayiel

 

 

The seeming success of the speed phials caught the attention of Lord Ligniel. The greatest minds in Ramething’s tower of wisdom said that the speed phials were beyond their ability to copy. Their closest approximations of the speed phials, they claimed, would essentially be poison. Thus Ligniel had a suspicion that the phials were, in fact, poison. He sent Rusiel, who many said was the greatest of all Dunniels, to Gillies to investigate the speed phials, trusting to Rusiel’s reputation for cleverness to uncover the truth behind the magic.

 

Rusiel arrived at King Trek’s court and asked to be given a speed phial. King Trek and his knights gave him the usual excuses–the speed phial was too rare and precious to share with those outside Gillies, no one could be sure who was real and who was a shapeshifted wight these days, no one was sure what would happen if someone whose body had adapted to use Mersadian magic took a speed phial, etc.

But Rusiel, for the first time in his life, threw his fame around.

He demanded, as the greatest of Ligniel’s Dunniels, to have a speed phial, so that his unmatched skill might ascend to an even higher level. He caused a great scene in King Trek’s court, and when he left in a huff, several knights whispered to him that he was denied a speed phial for his health, though they would not elaborate when Rusiel inquired further.

 

Knowing that Mayiel was the most respected knight in Gillies, Rusiel approached him and asked him to speak truthfully and candidly. At first, Mayiel did not want to talk with Rusiel, for Rusiel had disrespected his king, but after Rusiel explained his actions, Mayiel was willing to talk–but only to an extent. Mayiel admitted there was a secret behind the speed phials, but refused to say what it was. The speed phials were important. They gave him the power to protect his home and friends. In dire times such as they lived in, they could not afford the soft-hearted courtiers of castle Ramething to influence Ligniel into outlawing them.

 

Rusiel could guess that the phials were lethal. He asked how long Mayiel had. He replied that it did not matter. No one knew how long they had in a war. Rusiel asked if he knew before he took the phial. He said he did. He said everyone did, and thus it was no one’s business but the knights of Gillies. Rusiel said it the business of Gillies was the business of Lord-of-Lords Ligniel, and that was when Mayiel drew his sword. He would not let Rusiel leave until he swore to drop all investigations into the matter. The honor of Gillies was at stake.

 

Rusiel pointed out that it was not only their bodies that King Trek readily sacrificed, but their souls. To draw a blade on a fellow Cirilian knight–what honor was there in that? But Mayiel would not listen. He only wanted the promise, and so, Rusiel drew his own blade and a duel commenced between the greatest knight of Mersad and the greatest knight of Gillies. Their enemies, the forces of chaos, were not merely outside the city walls prowling in the wilderness. They were close, wrapped in concepts of honor and duty.

 

Rusiel proved the better. Though Mayiel was faster, the gap in speed was mitigated by the guidance spell, which warped the space between Rusiel and Mayiel so that Mayiel was slowed relative to Rusiel, and the transvection spell. Rusiel only had to fend Mayiel off until he could capture him with the hold opponent spell, and that was exactly what he did.

 

He told Mayiel that his sense of duty had blinded him to his humanity. There was no way King Trek gave everyone a choice. According to what Mayiel believed was the truth, King Trek’s wizards identified a knight who’s body could handle the speed phials, then offered them the honor of giving their all for their country. Bur Rusiel believed there was something more than that. No one refused? No one? There had to be a greater dishonor hidden from the knights. If King Trek cared so little for his knights that he would execute them for fleeing and charge them with power until they fell apart and cared so little for truth that he would create an entire conspiracy to hide it from Lord Ligniel, then there was likely a deeper and far more terrible lie at work. Rusiel believed the curse that burned through the population of

 

And since Mayiel’s now owed his life to Rusiel, he was honor bound in helping him save bodies from the incinerator.

 

Mayiel was unwilling to believe Rusiel, all the way until the presence of speed phial serum was found in one body, and then another, and then another.

 

Then his world changed, and Mayiel learned why truth was valued for more than the sake of truth.

 

The arrest of King Trek came without incident due to the great respect the people had for Mayiel. If Mayiel believed the king was wrong, then certainly he must be wrong. Mayiel grasped King Trek on the shoulder and looked him in the eye. He told his ruler, the man he had pledged his life too, that if he was only truthful about the speed phials, he would have readily consumed all of them for the chance to protect Gillies. Then he led King Trek to the dungeons where he was imprisoned until he could be tried by Lord-of-Lords Ligniel after the Great Synergistic Campaign ended.

 

But there were supporters of King Trek–knights and wizards who knew full well the extent of King Trek’s corruption and feared the wrath of Ligniel coming down on their heads as well. When they saw their chance, they escaped with Ligniel, and went in hiding beneath the cover of the chaos of the Great Synergistic Campaign. Though the knights of Gillies had more important things to attend to than King Trek’s recapture, they still had to deal with the forces of Salbrox. They hid like shadows, and thus ended up fighting the shadows that naturally dwelled in their hiding spots. When the Great Synergistic Campaign ended, they made their way to Landry with the plan to win back their honor by ousting the leadership, which though were pardoned by Ligniel, still backed Salbrox in the Great Synergistic Campaign. Their coup, backed by agents addicted to speed phials, kicked off a political firestorm that would not subside until the Ika Dunniel, Joliel, and his orisi squire Zot Jr. traveled to the Dark Kingdom to bring its civil war to an end.

 

Slowing Down

 

Following King Trek’s escape to Landry, Lord Ligniel banned the use of speed phials throughout the Cirilian sphere, save in times of desperation. The knights of Gillies that survived the speed phials were exempt from these bans, as they needed a daily dose to keep their irrevocably modified bodies healthy. They are still famed for their speed, and every once in a while a foolish young knight kills himself by gambling on a speed phial in pursuit of that fame and disqualifies his name from being raised to a Dunniel. The orders of Lord Ligniel are the orders of Lord Ligniel.

 

Though they were frail of body, the surviving knights of Gillies were able to live as long as any Circilian, so long as they did not exert themselves too much and routinely took their speed phials. As their bodies were too frail for the rigors of combat and delves, the knights largely took up administration and teaching roles. Mayiel briefly became king of Gillies, then abdicated the throne to become a combat instructor in Mersad where his speed allowed him to more than keep up with the reflexes of young knights. Then he was asked by Lord Ligniel to become a special commander in his forces, a commander who used his authority over the knights and kings of the Cirilian sphere to protect knights from abuse by their kings. Mayiel saw the appointment as a way for him to prevent young knights from suffering what he had suffered and accepted.

 

When the Bedrosian knight Gen “Gentle Hands” was sent on a suicide mission by his lord because Gen was an Apshai and expendable in his lord’s eyes, Mayiel forced the man to go on a quest of penance. When Gen and his “brother” Abdual, a Circilian raised by Apshai,  formed the Eamon Guild with the renegade Morloch Ea and the warrior princess who slept from the Age of Tokgorin, Julie, Mayiel helped the newfound guild of misfits maintain positive relations with the Cirilian kingdoms. His help was so critical to the Eamon Guild that they attribute their success to him and have given Mayiel honorary membership.

 

Mayiel survives to this day, though he nearly perished fighting the invincible dragon Gnash. Gnash was enchanted by Salbrox, first minion of Grosp, with a trait that made him virtually immortal. As long as one part of Gnash was unharmed, all parts of Gnash couldn’t be harmed. Whichever part of Gnash lived, through an attack be it an eye, a scale, or a drop of blood, could near-instantly revive what parts were slain. Mayiel defeated this enchantment by pushing himself and attacking so fast he stabbed every inch of Gnash’s flesh in the same instant. This feat exhausted the Lifeblood within his body, and Mayiel collapsed atop the dragon’s corpse. His allies feared he had reached his elfhood, but miraculously, he survived, though he needed to spend a year recuperating under the ministrations of the Morlochs of the Azure sphere, the greatest doctors in all of Earthworld. Visitors to his bedside noted that he demonstrated his characteristic hardiness. He was noted to smile and joke with guests saying “Old King Trek said that I was invincible. It’s good to know that I still am, even after all these years.”