The Path to Greatness/Chapter 1

My name is Thorne Lorin and I am knight in the Order of Lorithia. Please call me Thorne. You may wonder why I do not go by Sir Thorne. It is true I am entitled to use the honorary title, but the Order of Lorithia frowns upon such formalities. As a servant of the knights of the Order, my purpose is the protection of Creation and service to the Creator goddess Lorithia, who birthed the world in ages long past. The knighthood, however, has strong ideas about what that means and sometimes they seem very difficult to follow. This story is about some of those experiences and of the Order's learning of the return of the Devourer, who the Drakel kind call Uncreator, The'Galin.

The Devourer makes things pretty complicated; you see, even though he seeks to destroy all Creation, he is part of creation himself. So while we must try to stop him and his evil plans, knights of the Order must also try to save him from his foolishness and change him. This seems like madness, I know, but maybe now you know why I said the job of a knight of the Order is so complicated.

On the morning that this narrative started, I had just returned to Lolosia, where I maintain my residence, from an expedition oversea to the continent of Vandar. One of the perks of being a knight is the opportunity to travel a lot. Did I say opportunity? It's more like an obligation. Our job requires that we investigation the presence and actions of the Uncreator wherever it is evidenced, and consequently we must travel an awful lot. Anyway, I had just returned from Vandar, a long journey which had unfortunately been fruitless, when I got message from my Council Knight about odd activity that had been seen in my absence.

"Drakel seen in Skraeling Desert," one of the notes proclaimed.

"Greenguard Orcish village seeks aid," said the other.

I weighed both of these notes contemplatively. That the Drakel were wandering in the desert so far from their mountain homes seemed most peculiar. Since the Drakel were keenly aware of the movements of the Uncreator, as they called him, the presence of Drakel in Skraeling was bound to be significant.

On the other hand, the Orcs, normally a proud people quite capable of their own military prowess, had requested the help of the Order. Our code makes no exceptions for the foolishness of prejudices. If the Orcs had been moved to seek our aid, the situation they were in must have been quite dire.