Falcor's Background

Essential background info - The world on which you live is known as Treddaria and is named for the God Emperor who rules the entirety of the known world. Treddar caused the world to come into being with the simple command 'Live!' and he immediately set about populating his creation with all life as you know it. From the smallest plant to the greatest animal, Treddar created them all - he loved them and they loved him. So, it was for countless ages, a world at peace with its creator, who lived among them and ruled them as their living God. The Great Destroyer, Eversor, saw what Treddar had created and was driven mad by the abundance of life and order, which he abhorred to the very soul of his being. Throwing all his might against Treddar, Eversor sought to bring ruination and chaos to the world. Although Treddar's power was ultimately greater, it took all his divine power to hold Eversor at bay. Seeing his world torn asunder and made foul and dangerous to the very creatures he had made it for, Treddar set his mind to bringing forth his greatest creation, man. Turning his will from the endless battle to repel Eversor, Treddar set man to be stewards over his world. He gifted them with language, that they might better communicate their love for him and taught them many skills with which to shape the world around them. He commanded the rulers of men to tame the chaos of the world and impose their will upon it in his name; in that way could they lend power to his fight against Eversor. These were the Dark Times before history as men recorded it, times of myth and legend when the greatest of heroes fought the minions of the Great Destroyer even while the Gods themselves were locked in a battle of wills. The first signs of the glorious Treddarian Empire emerged in these times as slowly men civilised the world and kingdoms were established, growing from amidst the chaos as spreading pools of law and order.

Many hundreds of years ago, even as the first signs of true peace were being seeded across the world, a new darkness infected Treddar, seeking to take advantage of his battle with the Great Destroyer. An insidious creeping evil that lived in shadows and corrupted all it touched entered the world from the halls of the dead. That evil darkness was named Karmana, which means 'defiler' in the language of the gods. At first Karmana came in peace, disguising her true nature beneath a visage of beauty, appearing as a lost daughter to Treddar and offering him her love and assistance in his fight. Appearing beautiful and kind, Karmana hid behind the name 'M'laada', which means 'chosen' in the language of the gods. M'laada tricked her loving Father, Treddar, into revealing many of his powers to her and together they created new life across the planet, always in the name of strengthening the fight against the chaos of Eversor. In this way, M'laada's creations infected every aspect of Treddar's world, exploiting the loving and trusting nature of the great God. Most numerous amongst them were the dark Elves in the forests and the evil Duar'evs in the mountains, where they spread like insects in the dark until their numbers were uncountable. M'laada's ultimate deception though was in tricking Treddar into the creation of dragons, mighty beasts, larger than any other living thing that walked the land. Abusing the powers that Treddar had gifted to her, she drew off Treddar’s own strength into the Dragons, gifting them many of the powers of the gods themselves, allowing them to conjure dweomer without any control from the loving Father, Treddar. So powerful was her deception, that M'laada convinced her Father to turn his sight completely from the created world that he loved so much and focus his mighty will wholly on the destruction of Eversor, trusting to the Dragons to bring order to the world.

Her betrayal complete, M'laada returned to her true form, the soulless evil known as Karmana, leading her dragons into battle she wrought chaos across the world. With powerful dweomer they attacked every settlement of man, burning whole cities to the ground with fire from above, supported in every attack by the Elves and the Duar'evs. The race of Man was driven almost to the point of extinction, fighting to defend every step of their loving God's creation. Returning his gaze from the battle in the heavens, Treddar wept when he saw his creation and vowed to avenge the millions of lost souls, all taken by Karmana to serve her in the underworld where the dead rule and the living are abhorred.

Land by land, kingdom by kingdom, the Emperor personally led his legions, growing in strength with every battle. It took but a heartbeat as the Gods count time but many generations of man to wipe the dragons from existence and banish Karmana to the underworld for all time, from where she continues to seek to extend her dominion over the living. With each generation the military might and dominance of the legions grew until they were the only serious military force in the world. Forced to once more return his attention to the eternal battle with Eversor, root of all destruction, Treddar commanded that the rulers of man used the power of the legions to seek out the very last vestige of the Elves and Duar'evs, wiping the world clean of Karmana's evil. So, it continues to this day, as the power of the legions extends their control across all the known world, guided by the priests of Treddar, whose role it was to remind the people of the love of their God, and the Mages of the Imperial College, to whom Treddar had granted the most powerful gifts of all, the ability to manipulate the very life-force of the world to bring forth great acts of dweomer. Over many hundreds of years, peace and prosperity returned to the lands of man, which endures to this day, with Elves, Duar'evs and dragons lost to legend in the minds of most citizens of the Empire. The Empire itself, meanwhile, is ruled by a triumvirate with their seat of power in the capital Treddar; the Council of Generals, the principals of the Imperial College of Mages and the elders of the Grand Temple each competing for dominion over the others while always aware that their God and Emperor could turn his attention back to the world of men at any time.

Falcor was born and raised in the Duchy of Maladan, the richest land outside of the Imperial Capital of the Treddarian Empire. Although a beneficiary of the Imperial Peace, Maladan remains the only independent kingdom in the known world. The Imperial highways extend through Maladan but the legions are not permitted to leave the immediate environs of the roads they patrol, limiting their role in Maladan to the maintenance of safe and prosperous trade, the lifeblood of the Empire. Relations between the vast Empire and the rich but militarily weak Duchy are completely peaceful; the Duke is sworn to uphold the God Emperor's peace but he is the only ruler to have never sworn his allegiance directly and given his soul to the God Emperor. Maladan's wealth is derived from the fantastically rich deposits of gems and precious metals found in the mountains in the far North. Known as the Teeth of the Gods, the permanently snow-capped mountains are the roof of the world and no hospitable lands can be found in the frozen wastelands beyond. Castle Maladan itself lies at the southern edge of the mountains; an impregnable fortress, it can only be reached via a single narrow road that ascends to its dominant clifftop position from the aptly named Castletown below. Extending hundreds of miles to the South, Maladan is a sparsely populated and largely agricultural Duchy, with semi-independent barons maintaining the Duke's peace from a series of widely dispersed castles and fortified houses. Bounded to the North by the Teeth of the Gods, to the East by the Great Gulf, to the South by the vast Inland Sea and to the West by the equally vast Dark Forest, Maladan is isolated from most of the Empire by more than just culture and governance.

Although strict religious observance is mandatory for all citizens of the Empire and any kind of blasphemy, including failure to publicly worship the God Emperor, is punishable by death through public execution, the citizens of Maladan are more lax in their recognition of the God Emperor. There are a few temples scattered throughout the Duchy, but the power of the priesthood is curtailed in much the same way as that of the Legions. Neither religion nor Imperial politics have thus featured heavily in Falcor’s life to date, although he is well versed in the creation stories, having been forced to learn them as a child, and this is reflected in much language and sub-culture. Blessings are offered to Treddar when things go well or favour is sought, Karmana is the ultimate curse, representing evil in its purest form and the name M'laada is synonymous with deception of the cruellest kind.

Maladan is also the only kingdom where talk of Elves and Duar’evs is not simply dismissed as myth and legend. Although Falcor has never seen either first-hand he has on rare occasions witnessed the Duke welcoming secret hooded guests who exuded an air of mystery and he always imagined fanciful backstories for these clandestine visitors. Miners returning from the mountains and soldiers returning from patrol can often be heard exchanging outrageous stories of mysterious encounters in the far north or the Great Forest once Ale has sufficiently loosened their tongues and raised their courage. They speak of mysterious and powerful forest spirits glimpsed amongst the mighty oaks of the Dark Forest or man-like creatures that can flow from solid rock in the mountains of the high north. Miners speak of encounters with giants twice the size of a man and, when truly heroically drunk, some even boast of spotting magnificent flying beasts circling the furthest peaks. Even the roughest of men are always careful though to curse the name of Karmana and call upon the God Emperor’s blessing lest his gaze and divine retribution extend into the far reaches of Maladan.

A foundling, Falcor was the adopted son of Oskar the Weaponsmith and Mary, head cook to the Duke's household. He was already taller and broader than any man in the castle save his adoptive Father and all agreed that he would be unmatched when full grown. Despite his humble origins, Falcor's path through life was changed forever by a tradition as ancient as the Duchy of Maladan itself. At the birth of the Duke Andrig's first, and only, son he chose from amongst the people of the Castle a child of humble birth to be the future Duke's companion and squire. Although ignored or subverted by many Dukes over the years, the tradition was intended to provide a connection between Duke and subjects. A much more deeply observed tradition also held that the children of the ruling Dukes would remain in Castle Maladan amidst the harsh mountains of the North until their seventeenth birthday, never permitted to visit the much more luxurious and opulent surroundings of the Summer palace in distant Ashphardum, on the shore of the inland sea in the far south where the administrative capital of the Duchy remained. Thus, it was that Falcor and Sarn, the Duke’s son and heir, would find themselves the only senior members of court in the Castle for often more than half the year, while the Duke was away in the South. The Duchy of Maladan was born in war and the Dukes of Maladan were fighting men at heart, so future Dukes were expected to be raised in that tradition. Perhaps more importantly, they were expected to maintain a strong connection to the mining communities responsible for the Duchy's wealth.

So it was that Falcor and Sarn were educated not only by the finest scholars that the Duke's money could buy but were trained also in the arts of war, primarily by Greldig, captain of the Duke's own guard and war master of Castle Maladan. Intelligent but easily distracted and frequently inattentive, Falcor struggled with academic studies, daydreaming his way through lessons on the finer points of history or the economics of the Empire and retaining very few of the dry facts as his grey-beard tutors droned though endless summer days. Where he came alive and truly excelled was with the sword and he idolised Greldig, the charismatic captain of the guards. Greldig seldom spoke of personal matters or of his own past but it was generally believed that he had served in the Legions many years ago before fate had brought him into the Duke's service. A strict but scrupulously fair leader, Greldig was loved by his men and had the respect of all the court. He was also rumoured to be the best swordsman in the land. He would never say as much to the boy but Greldig privately admitted to the Duke that Falcor would likely one day be his equal in skill with a blade.

It was only three weeks before Sarn's formal coming of age ceremony on the occasion of his seventeenth birthday when the First Legion appeared unheralded at the gates of Castle Maladan, instantly recognisable by their blackened armour and the Golden Dragon symbol on their shields and banners. Alone amongst all the legions, the First bore the symbol of the most hated and feared of Karmana's creations, a triumphant declaration of their pivotal role in the destruction of the most powerful of all the evil races. Appointed bodyguards of the God Emperor himself, the First Legion were never seen beyond the confines of the Imperial Treddarian capital unless accompanying the God Emperor Treddar into battle. Nonetheless, these were no parade-ground soldiers, being drawn from the battle-hardened elite of the countless legions that served the Empire. They were led by General Andivas, arguably the single most influential military commander in all the empire and it was Andivas himself at the head of his troops when the trumpets announced their arrival at the Castle. For any armed force to have reached the Castle unnoticed by the Duke's highly disciplined scouts was unheard of but for an entire legion to do so was simply impossible, stirring immediate suspicion in Greldig’s ever-cautious mind. Nonetheless, Andivas was formally welcomed by the Duke and invited immediately to a private audience, which naturally included Sarn but from which Falcor was excluded.

Not knowing what else to do after dining alone and with no formal duties when Sarn was occupied elsewhere, Falcor climbed to the top of the highest tower on the cliffside wall of the Castle, from where he would often wonder at the astounding vista laid out before him and loved to imagine himself with the power of flight, able to join the mighty eagles as they drifted lazily from the mountains to hunt on the plains below. More than anything, Falcor longed to leap into the air and fly.

That night, after the final bell signalled the closing of the castle gates and even as Falcor watched in wonder as the setting sun lit the far horizon with glorious fire, he heard shouts of alarm from the courtyard below and the instantly recognizable clash of steel on steel. Unable to imagine what could lead to violent conflict inside the near-constant peace of Castle Maladan, Falcor ran to the inner side of the tower, looking down with horror at the sight of the castle being rapidly overrun by soldiers of the First Legion, the God Emperor's own bodyguard, welcomed through the open gates as trusted representatives of a militarily powerful ally, now turning on their hosts in savage fury. With no semblance of understanding as to why, Falcor could see clearly that they must have launched their attack almost immediately that the sun set, slaughtering every member of the Duke's guard who came in range, most of whom were simply tending to their duties as the day drew to a close, some even unarmed. The Castle gates lay open even though Falcor knew with certainty that they should already be sealed. The highly disciplined troops of the First Legion would have quickly overwhelmed the few soldiers manning the gate-house, easily overrun from inside the walls though they could have held their position indefinitely against an enemy beyond. The remainder of the legion were already flooding the courtyard, flowing unopposed though the still open gates. No quarter was given and no mercy was shown as the legionnaires moved implacably and in absolute silence from wall to wall, courtyard to garden, room to room, killing every living soul they encountered, soldiers, servants, women, children, all fell to their swords.

From his vantage point Falcor also saw a shadowy form, taller than even his Father, drifting through walls and even rising on occasion from the solid ground. Seemingly fighting alongside the soldiers of the First Legion, the evil presence was black as the darkest of nights and wherever it went, death followed, the slightest tough seemingly draining men of their very life essence, leaving them crumpled husks on the ground, dead before they had even stopped falling. Even the Legionnaires seemed wary of their dark ally, taking care always to step clear of its path. General Andivas alone approached the apparition, and several times Falcor saw the two in apparent conversation, though well beyond the range of his hearing. Although trained in the arts of fighting, Falcor had never seen combat let alone encountered anything like this nameless shadowy horror whose mere touch brought instant death. For what seemed like an age, he was frozen in place by utter terror, staring dumbfounded at the massacre unfolding before him. Worse even than the shadowy wraith, was the fact that even the mortal enemy was apparently unkillable. On multiple occasions, he clearly saw Legionnaires absorb a killing blow from arrow, sword or spear, sometimes falling to the ground, sometimes just rocked in place, but always, without fail, they rose again to press the attack, seemingly immune to the weapons of the soldiers of Castle Maladan or, perhaps, immune to death itself.

Shaken from his paralysis by the sound of fighting on the stone steps just beyond the tower door, Falcor drew his sword and silently offered thanks to Captain Greldig for his insistence that the Squire to the future Duke should always bear arms. The enemy crashed through the stout door, quickly followed by the shadowy death-bringer that Falcor had already watched rob so many of their life. The wraith held back as the soldiers pressed forward and it took the full benefit of all Greldig's training and all Falcor’s natural ability with the sword to hold them back as they crowded his front-quarter, their short swords allowing multiple enemies to engage him at once where his more elegant longsword was ill-suited to the tight confines of indoor fighting. Though he could hold them back with frantic parrying and the occasional rushed counter he lacked the killing edge and the absence of any real combat experience was all too apparent. They continued to push him back towards the edge of the battlements that ringed the tower's roof, fighting all the way, until he was forced to clamber up on the crenelations, exploiting the high-ground to bolster his defence and press home his counters. Seemingly impatient with the fight, the wraith flowed forward with a hideous screech that froze Falcor's sword arm mid-strike. Utterly terrified, he stumbled backwards realising too late the precariousness of his position. Losing his footing almost immediately, Falcor fell backwards even as the wraith reached out to brush against his flailing arm. As he slipped from consciousness, drained of all strength by the death touch of the wraith, his vision exploded with an intense ball of flames that engulfed his whole body and yet there was a warmth and loving comfort to the flames, which brought not fear or pain but an overwhelming sensation of completeness. Swooping away on the wings he had always known he had and yet never knew were there, Falcor made for the familiar comfort of Malada's garden.