Rusiel

 

 

“Value yourself enough to know that you have but one life, and it is a fragile life. A humiliated soul that flees from danger can descend anew into the depths. A courageous soul that dies in the jaws of danger can do not but weep as he watches his peers march to where he fell from his helpless elfhood at Whisenwood.”

 

The Pedit Delve

 

Rus of Mersad was one of many young men who answered King Ligniel’s call to tame the chaotic forces gathering beneath the Black Castle of Ramething, down in the Pedit caverns. While teams of adventurers would quickly become the norm for subterranean exploration and combat, Rus ventured into the amber depths alone. He was a quiet, solitary young man by nature, and what was more, found that he performed best when on his own. When he was by himself, he could move around Pedit quietly, evading even the most alert minions of Salbrox. He could act without worrying about allies getting between him and his targets. He could be himself, and what he was was the greatest warrior of his time.

 

Rus was a cautious warrior. In the early days of the Pedit Delve, some warriors held the idea that it was valorous to rush fearlessly into the amber depths, striking at monsters in a single, mighty wave. They saw Rus, who waited at doors, listened at walls, and retreated whenever things did not go according to his plans, as a coward. But they died within the jaws of monsters, and Rus, through his caution, lived to ascend to the Duniel name Rusiel under the blessing of King Ligniel and to teach the replacements of his detractors that discretion was the better part of valor.

 

Rusiel was a cartographer by trade. Mersad is in the northern Caer Ohm region of the Land of Mazes and Rus spent his childhood helping his father map the mysterious ruins that gave their home its name, ruins whose origins are still unknown to this day. He mapped the regions of Pedit, even the deep regions whose walls changed with the pulse of the lifeblood that generated and maintained the universe of Earthworld. He was mocked for his constant mapping, and even he thought it was more a meditative exercise than a practical one, but his maps of the deep regions, when compared to one another, revealed that the shifting of their space was not entirely random, as Salbrox boasted it was. There was a pattern to the changes. Its movements could be predicted. Rusiel’s predictive maps become things to be studied by knights as much as lifegems, magic, and swordplay. What was more, the maps assisted wizards in understanding how the lifeblood pulsed within the many layers of their world. They allowed for the advancement of Earthworld magic and the creation of more powerful spells. For this contribution, Rusiel was granted the honorary wizard title of Archmagus, though like many who practiced the Mersadian style of magic, he didn’t consider himself a wizard, but instead a knight who used magic to protect himself and defeat his foes. He used the products of sorcery, but he was no more a wizard for using magic than he was a lapidarist for using lifegem armor and weapons.

 

Mersadian Magic

 

Rus was skilled in the Mersadian style of magic which stressed developing a knight’s lifeblood derived powers and skills across three aspects–the aspect of body, the aspect of mind, and the aspect of environment. Through the aspect of body, Rus used magic to strengthen both his physical body and his lifegem armor, forged by the skilled lapidarists of Mersad from the orange and black amber of Pedit. He also favored the body aspect spell transvection, which was often used by practitioners of Mersadian magic to travel quickly across the Cirillian sphere and up towards the Dome of the Stars. Transvection transported its caster through the air rapidly towards a given destination. Early knights that ventured into Pedit looked askance at transvection for fear of plowing right through the amber walls and potentially into a nest of monsters, but Rusiel favored transvection for its ability to grant quick escape and quick offense to those that mastered it. He could be down a corridor quicker than a flash of light.

 

Through the aspect of mind, Rusiel stored the power of Lifeblood within his mind and projected it forth in a variety of forms. Through the spell enervate, he could instantly will any living being he thought about to close their eyes and go to sleep. Against particularly energetic foes, enervate was not effective as it produced drowsiness but not complete slumber. For these foes, Rusiel turned to the spell will seize which allowed him to control the senses and will of the target, turning foes into allies. With these spells, Rusiel was able to not fight his foes, but execute them, and while many knights considered these spells dishonorable early on in the Pedit campaign, they quickly learned that monsters cared very little of honor. While enervate and will seize were effective against living creatures, against creatures without minds, such as the wights of Salbrox which were little more than animations of his will, the spells were useless. Against wights, Rusiel turned to the spell keybering missile, named so because it launched bolts of energy which tracked their target with the innering ferocity of a Grue’s hunting keyberings. Rusiel found that keybering missiles, while usually unable to destroy a wright off raw power, were effective distractions for wights, who were programmed to target what was bright, loud, and fast-moving in the corridors. Repulse was another spell used by Rusiel. It converted the Lifeblood within his mind to a continual pulse of force that pushed back enemies. Enemies had to essentially swim up through a waterfall to reach him. It could also be used offensively to slam enemies into walls, and Rusiel appreciated the subtle versatility of the spell.

 

Rusiel, as a testament to his skill, mastered the infamous spell Last Light, favorite of assassins. Last Light created a sympathetic resonance between the amount of Lifeblood in the caster’s mind and the target. As the Lifeblood was spent, so too was the target. Last Light completely drained the caster of Lifeblood, but whether cast with all the Lifeblood a caster’s mind could hold or the very last mote of power, the effect was the same–the total destruction of the target, their vitality gone as completely as the last drop of power from the caster’s mind. It was a spell of last resort, and many were surprised to know that a warrior known for caution like Rusiel knew such a risky spell, but Rusiel liked having all options open to him, even risky options.

 

Through the aspect of the environment, Rusiel shaped and channeled Lifeblood around himself, and in the caverns of Pedit, there was plenty of Lifeblood pulsing within the amber walls and floors. Rusiel liked the spell hold enemy for the same reasons he liked enervate and will seize. Hold enemy called upon ambient Lifeblood to spring forth and grip the target, leaving them helpless for the final blow. Elf light created a light that was as ghostly and captivating as the elves themselves, and Rusiel would use it not only to light his way but to waylay foes into ambushes. Elf cloak called upon Lifeblood within the surrounding space to twist the light and render him invisible–as well as any traps he set. He particularly liked making the space before his keybering missiles invisible so that the opponent would see them vanish before his eyes and then panic as they suddenly reappeared inches from his face. The spell expand mind mapped the caster’s mind to the surrounding area. The caster can feel the footsteps of those that trod the dungeon, be they friend or foe. The caster can see through walls. The caster can hear thoughts. This was one of Rusiel’s most-used spells, not only because it allowed him to know not only the locations of his enemies, but to attack them with his spells over distance and through walls. Guidance was a spell used by Rusiel to ensure his strikes, particularly those made while using transvection, were always accurate. Guidance warped the space between the caster and the target, guiding every blow to hit its mark.

 

 And, of course, he knew how to heal himself. Heal was the most common spell taught in Mersad, in all of Earthworld even, and simply involved converting ambient Lifeblood into energy that would close wounds and energize spent muscles.

 

Rusiel also knew the rare and esoteric spell uncreate, taught to him by Lord Ligniel himself. Uncreate was not a Mersadian spell. It was a spell of the Varget, of the language of Michael which created all of Earthworld and Homil, and it was cast with no lesser word than his own name.  Uncreate did exactly what it implied. It erased a being from existence, with far more surety than even Last Light. Being a spell borrowed from Michael’s power, it needed a considerable amount of Lifeblood to be available in the immediate environment, such as a vein of Lifegems, but it could destroy even beings from outside Michael’s creation, for it set off a vibration of pure entropy within the target.

 

Mentor of Orthan and Pellet

 

As Rusiel, Rus was considered the greatest of the Dunniels of the northern portion of the Land of Mazes, Caer Ohm, and some even placed him as the greatest Dunniel in all of Earthworld, but Rus cared little for the courtly honors of Dunniels. He was solitary, and frankly, shy. He would only come to court when personally asked by Lord Ligniel, and because he shunned the courtly life many found him snobbish and egotistical. Rarely did the bards sing of Rusiel, though all knew of his accomplishments and all respected his power.

 

When a promising knight known as Orthan rose quickly through the ranks of Pedit challengers and became the youngest knight to become a Dunniel, Lord Ligniel asked Rusiel to mentor the young Orthaniel. Rusiel doubted his ability as a teacher, but Orthaniel’s career proved that he was indeed an effective trainer. Orthaniel, using the skills taught to him by his mentor, single-handedly raided the reverse-tower fortress of Salbrox which the dark wizard erected within the territory of the Grue. Though Orthaniel was not able to confront the dark wizard before he fled, he was able to drive him from the fortress can claim it for the Land of Mazes, To this day, the tower remains under the control of Mersad, though the Grue lobby for its return to their control.

 

Rusiel was given a second apprentice–that of a charming swashbuckler named Pelletiel. Pelletiel was a favorite of the bards, and the ladies of the court. He was naturally spontaneous and lived entirely within the moment. He didn’t plan, he reacted, and got along with his teacher not at all. Pelletiel and Rusiel couldn’t stand each other at first, but they fought shoulder-to-shoulder enough times in the depths to become the closest of friends. Pelletiel was less taught by Rusiel and more influenced by, and his spells were considerably different from what Rusiel and Orthaniel used, but Pelletiel benefited from the influence of his mentor–and his friend.

 

When a powerful lifegem orb, a potent clot of Lifeblood, was discovered by the scrying of Ramething wizards to be held within the tangled roots of the Whisenwood Elftree in Pedit, Rusiel assisted Peletiel in its retrieval. As Pelletiel matched and overcame the dragon Rhindle, who coveted Whisenwood orb for its power, Rusiel retrieved the orb and together the two returned to the surface while Rhindle vowed to avenge itself upon their descendants. Rhindle would meet its end against Rusiel’s descendent Robinett, who slayed the dragon with the Sword of Truth, greatest weapon in all of Earthworld.

 

The Great Synergistic Campaign And The Wild Hunt

 

The power of the Whisenwood orb would prove critical for the defense of the Land of Mazes during King Ligniel’s Great Synergistic Campaign against Chaos. Beyond the farthest horizon, within the void of the gods, the creator deity Michael was dealt a horrible wound by the dark god Grosp. This wound empowered the Corruption of Grosp, which had lurked behind the walls of reality ever since the formation of Earthworld, ever since Grosp ambushed Michael and stalemated him in an eternal battle at the dawn of creation, leaving Michael’s work partly unfinished.

The wound of Michael granted the wizard Salbrox an enormous increase of power. He assaulted the Cirilian sphere with his forces. His phantoms, dragons, and grue were bolstered by a virtually endless army of wights formed and shaped from his bolstered power. Using the Whisenwood orb, Lord LIgniel empowered his armies, and those of allied kingdoms, to stand against the forces of chaos. Rusiel, Pelletiel, and Orthaniel all contributed to the war effort. Rusiel, under order of Lord Ligniel, was kept from the fighting as a strategist working with the Ramething wizards. Pelletiel and Orthaniel were made generals, and though the two often disagreed on tactics with Pelletiel favoring aggressive assaults and Orthaniel preferring to bait and mislead enemy forces, Lord Ligniel was able to construct effective compromises out of their disagreements.

 

After the Land of Mazes claimed victory over the forces of chaos in the Great Synergistic Campaign, Lord Ligniel shifted focus from raiding the depths to fighting the remnant forces of Salbrox that dotted the surface of the Cirilian sphere. Wilderness town was quickly formed as an outpost within the Elbaf wilds around the Land of Mazes to train knights to seek out and eradicate the hiding hordes of chaos that lurked within uncharted forests and caves in what became known as the Wild Hunt. The traditional Mersadian system of magic taught to knights was deemed too complicated for the massive number of warriors required by the great Wild Hunt. Specialization in one aspect of Mersadian magic was considered the new goal the newly formed Morielian style of magic, named so for the Dunniel Moriel, who pioneered the style, or rather styles, and formed guilds within Wilderness town to teach the styles to a new generation of knights. 

 

The valorous style stressed the aspect of body, and its practitioners were known formally as skirmishers, for they struck hard and fast and engaged their opponents in hand-to-hand combat and informally as brawlers, fighters, and fighting-men. The cunning style stressed the aspect of the environment, and its practitioners were known formally as Callers, for they “called out” to the environment and informally as healers, for their mastery of the heal spell ensured that they would always be treating the wounds of their allies. The wise style stressed the aspect of mind, and its practitioners were known formally as Mentalists and informally as “spell slingers” and “Lifeblood cannons.”

 

Knights were no longer expected to travel in small groups, nor did they want to. The Great Campaign gave them experience in fighting in large groups. They wanted to advance upon the depths as an army, found they had to compromise with the size of the tunnels, and settled on units of about 6-8, units that Rusiel, Pelletiel, and Orthaniel found far too large for their liking. Each member in the unit was expected to contribute to the whole. Skirmishers led from the front, Mentalists cast their spells in the middle of the formation, and Callers led from the back.

To the independently minded Rusiel, Pelletiel, and Orthaniel, these units seemed to have places for everyone–everyone but them.

 

Moriellian magic has pushed out Mersadian magic. Rusiel, Pelletiel, and Orthaniel went from being common Mersadian knights to rare masters of a system known only to the venerable. Their age had come and gone, and the three Dunniels retired–Orthaniel to Ramething’s tower of wisdom to join his father, an archmagus, in the study of Lifeblood, Pelletiel to Lord Ligniel’s court, where he proved an apt listener and witty conversationalist, aspects which earned him the position of duke of Caer Ohm, and Rusiel to his family’s print shop where he assumed a false name to hide from his reputation and busied himself with his first and greatest love–drawing maps. But his friends knew where to find him if they ever needed him. And they needed him a little less than a decade later.

 

Telen Of Gard

 

Telen of Gard is now known as a dark lord almost as infamous as Salbrox, but he was originally a student of Orthaniel, who taught the young knight the mystic arts and the old Mersadian style of magic. Telen was a slow learner and lagged behind his peers in the tower of wisdom. He was not assigned Orthaniel as a teacher for his skill, but for his lack of skill. Telen projected his shame onto his teachers and blamed them for his failures. Despairing at ever becoming Teleniel, he was approached by Salbrox, who offered him power in exchange for services. Telen agreed, and Salbrox imparted a significant portion of his power onto him. Salbrox tasked him with the extermination of several knights who had failed in joining the Guilds of Wilderness town for miscellaneous reasons. Salbrox said they were worthless. Telen had to agree. And what did they matter? Telen believed he got the better of Salbrox. So a few washouts died. So what? He had so much power. He would destroy so many wights.

 

Five failed knights perished in Telen’s first sacrifice to the dark powers. But the powers he earned from Salbrox were great. His teachers praised his rapid progress through the spells. Orthaniel said he was proud of him. None of them knew from where his new competence stemmed, but all appreciated it. That was more than enough for Telen.

 

Then Salbrox offered more power in exchange for the lives of ten low-ranking knights, knights who combined would never slay 1/10th the wights Telen had slayed, would never slay 1/1000th the wights Telen vowed to slay. But this time, Telen was caught by Orthaniel, who kept a close eye on his student and wanted to know where his new power came from.

 

Telen didn’t want to fight Orthaniel. In fact, he wanted Orthaniel to like and respect him. But his mentor struck at him, and struck at him to kill.

 

His teacher was willing to kill him–and for what? A couple of useless knights who might as well had never been born, who would never be as great as he was?

 

Believing that Orthaniel was jealous of his power, Telen finished his fall into depravity. He fled from Orthaniel and dedicated himself to Salbrox and Grosp. Telen broke every one of his knightly vows in a night of sacrilege and took up one single vow of darkness–to make Orthaniel and the world Orthaniel loved pay for not recognizing his talents.

Telen nearly started another war between the Cirilians and the Grue by slaying several members of the Grue royal family while clad in his Mersadian armor. The Grue were unwilling to believe that Telen was a fallen knight until Rusiel offered himself as a captive to the Grue in a show of good faith. Orthaniel, with the help of Pelletiel’s silver tongue, convinced the champions of the Grue to join forces with them in pursuit of Telen, who they tracked to the land of the Ika. Again, Telen nearly started a war, because the Ika refused to give their ancient Grue enemies passage through their lands and the Grue refused to be turned away, but the Dunniels managed to negotiate passage for the Grue by placing the Ika prince Strum in charge of the hunting party, who relished the opportunity to be the first Ika in history to command Grue. 

 

The unconventional group of Earthworld beings pursued Telen through the crystal plains and molten oceans of Ika territory until they cornered him with his conspirators–a band of Grue who wanted to rekindle war with the Cirilians because they believed that peace would lead to the eventual destruction of their race.

Telen was a mighty opponent, but he had a temper that made it  far too easy to bait and distract. While Orthaniel distracted him, Pelletiel and the hunting party attacked him from behind. Finding himself overwhelmed, Telen fled. He would eventually fall in battle years later against Rusiel’s son Robinettiel during the Quest for Homil. Robinettiel wielded the Sword of Truth, which was capable of cleaving through the lies of reality to reveal the truth. With this weapon, he struck Telen, and all the lies of his life fell away to reveal what he truly was–a hollow, chipped statue of a great warrior, identified on the base as “Teleniel.”

 

Mentor of Yomi

 

Through Rusiel’s line came the humble cartographer Robinett, who became Robinettiel when the Sword of Truth and Chalice of Creation chose him to be their bearer. Robinettiel would return the Chalice to the depths of Waterworld where it had been created during the Quest for Homil and stand alongside the Four Champions of Homil as they supported Michael’s grandson Alan in the final battle against Grosp. From Robinettiel’s line came Yomi, Alan’s student, who was chosen by him and Homil to be wielder of the Four Treasures of Homil.

 

Though Alan is Yomi’s main teacher, he is educated by many mentors, including Rusiel. Rusiel finds Yomi a difficult student, even more difficult than Pelletiel, as Yomi is incautious and impulsive by nature. But Rusiel is patient. He figures that if it took generations for Homil to create a being who could wield all four treasures like Yomi, it’s only reasonable to expect that it would take generations to teach him to be cautious.