The Tragic Tale of Arch Duke Aramastus

I. In Dreams

The Ancient Temple of Pholtus by Justin Messner

In a time that had been long forgotten even many centuries ago, before the fisher-folk came to Saltmarsh, a great temple to Pholtus, the Lord of the Blinding Light, stood in this place where the Kingfisher River flows out into Salting Bay. The temple was home to a most pious and holy group of paladins lead by a beautiful young woman called Alesia Lancellar, known as Alesia of the Fire, so bright did her heart burn with the love of her god. Lady Lancellar was known for her incredible beauty and purity of heart. She was said to have been "as beautiful and as pure as the first dew of spring on the green meadows of the western hills". Yet soon after taking the mantle of leadership of the temple, the heart of Lady Lancellar became troubled. In her dreams she wandered in a deep forest, so green and heavy that it felt like the bottom of the great Azure ocean. There, in a glade barely pierced by rays of light from the sun that was the blessing of her god, she found a tall man standing, as if waiting for her. The man smiled with a disarming grin and bowed low before her. "Greetings my Lady, I have been waiting for you here. I am the Arch Duke Aramastus." With a flourish the man gestured for her to join him in the glade. Lady Alesia paused for a moment, considering the tall, pale man. He was undoubtedly handsome, and his eyes glinted with the promise of some hidden knowledge. "Please my Lady, join me, and I promise you that what I have to say will open your eyes to the limitless potential you have to spread your good faith". About to step forward Lady Lancellar paused, for there was a sudden warning in her heart. The silvery sun pendant she wore as evidence of her faith was burning on her chest, and she withdrew back under the green boughs of the forest. For three nights in a row she had this dream, and each time she withdrew and ignored Arch Duke Aramastus' invitation. Then on the fourth night of the dreaming, which was Richfest 4, when the moons Celene and Luna both ride full and heavy in the night sky, she stepped forwards into the glade and into the arms of Arch Duke Aramastus. In her dreams the following three nights were spent in the company of the Arch Duke. They spoke of many things; the true histories that had occurred in the depths of time, and the true fates that were yet to come to the world. And as they spoke their hearts were opened and love blossomed between them. Still the symbol of Pholtus on her chest burned with a warning fire, but in the Arch Duke's company it was but a dull itch. As dawn began to break on that seventh night of the dream Aramastus looked down at his new love, lying in his arms on the green sward at the centre of the forest glade. "Our time is up my love. I cannot visit you here again until the moons are once more in harmony. Yet we will meet again I promise, and until that day my heart will yearn for your company". Alesia said nothing, but bit her lip, drawing blood. At this the eyes of Aramastus flared sharply, and he withdrew from her quickly. Then dawn threw her arms across the world, and Alesia awoke in her bed at the temple.

II. Holy Mission

It was several months after the dreams that word finally reached the temple of the Beast of Springford. A messenger had brought a plea for aid from the town, which lay many leagues to the south, under the eastern eaves of the Fearwyd Weald. For weeks the small village of woodcutters had been terrorised by their local lord, who lived in a nearby stone keep that stood on a low hill within the great forest. Something terrible must have happened, for the Lord was known for his benevolence, and it was only recently that his kindness had turned to bloodletting. The messenger told the assembled paladins of terrible killings that displayed an unusual level of cruelty and knelt before them, pleading for aid. Lady Lancellar immediately aceeded to the messenger's entreaties, and two days later she rode out of the temple at the head of a cohort of twenty templars of the Sun god. They travelled south, following the coast for many days until they reached the mouth of the Feybend River. Along the way they did many good deeds for the villages and travellers that they encountered, and the word of Pholtus was spread. From there they struck inland, following the river upstream. Ahead of them the huge forest of the Fearwyd rose up like a great, green ocean, unexplored and full of hidden perils in its verdant depths. After another week's travel the paladins eventually reached the small settlement of Springford. What they found devastated them. Everyone in the village had been slain, and the corpses had been laid out in the grass before the houses. They were lying in a circle, hand-in-hand, as though fallen in the middle of a festival dance. Their entrails had been cut out and were arranged in long bloody smears inside the circle, forming some kind of strange sigil. They were also all missing their hearts, as evidenced by the rough holes that had been torn into all of their chests. The group made camp, set a perimeter, and began to investigate, blessing the unfortunate souls that had died and properly interring the bodies. During the first night of their camp in Springford two of the host went missing. Then on the second night the templars had a visitor in the dead of night... Alesia was called from her prayers by one of the camp guards. The hour was late, and the moons were both rising above the canopy of the forest. She pulled on a heavy fur cloak and followed the guard out into the chill air. The forest seemed quieter than normal. The guard lead her to a lone figure that was standing close to where they had found the corpses. A beam of silver moonlight seemed to be pointing the figure out, like a spotlight used by travelling players. It was him... Seeing him standing there in the flesh, no longer an avatar of her dreams, her mind went blank and she acted purely on impulse. She ran forwards, leaving her cloak in the mud behind her, and threw herself into his arms. "Hello my love," he said in a quiet voice with a hint of a strange, sharp accent. "We meet at last. In the flesh".

III. Love and Blood

Aramatus Keep in the Fearwyd Weald by Helen Khrustalyova

Arch Duke Aramastus and Lady Alesia Lancellar walked hand in hand through the quiet grove, close to the Arch Duke's tall keep. "When I came into my true power I found that I was drawn to you my love. I could not help myself; I was drawn like Luna draws the tides up the beach". He paused momentarily. "I projected myself into your dreams. I never dared hope that you would find me". "But I did..." she answered, staring into his eyes with adoration, and a hint of something else - almost a hunger. Aramastus had revealed his secret to her the previous night, over a glass of blood-red wine. In his youth the Arch Duke had been a lonely child, trapped by cruel, uncaring parents, and a feeling of powerlessness. He yearned for more. After the untimely death of his mother and father he had begun a search for something to give his life meaning. After many years searching he thought that he had found it - they key to unlimited power and dominion over those who had shunned him. Old books stolen from the ancient libraries of the tree city of Ull Caelora revealed to him the secrets to a dark ritual. Powered by the blood of his servants, Aramastus cast a ritual that summoned a dark presence from the Far Realm, and binding it, he made a pact that changed him forever. It was this new power that had allowed to him travel through the minds of common folk, and into the dreams of the beautiful young templar with whom he had fallen in love. But the power came with a terrible price. Each night he must drink the blood of the living to revitalise himself, and this constant preying on the weak and grown in him a hunger that he recognised, but despised at the same time. She pledged herself to him that night, and determined that she would free him of this cursed power so that they could be together.

IV. Imprisonment

Together Lord Aramastus and Lady Lancellar returned to the camp at Springford and, with her templars, returned to the temple of Pholtus near the mouth of the Kingfisher River. There, beneath the old church, a huge cavern was excavated and within a crystal cell was set up. Aramastus went willingly into that cell, for within he would be free from the dark side of his nature, warded by powerful runes and holy incantations, whilst Alesia and her clergy researched ways in which to remove the pact with the aberration from the Far Realm. Yet the Arch Duke's curse was never removed, for a great disaster struck the land. From somewhere deep within The Azure Sea there was a huge upheaval in the world's crust - an earthquake of unheard of magnitude. The seas and the lands shifted and huge changes were wrought to the geography of the region. The Tercana Bluffs rose up from the grasslands, and the mountains of the Balnoque Spine shook with pain. A huge tsunami washed over the land, destroying the temple and all those within. Except for Lord Aramastus, trapped in his crystal cell, undying and obdurate, caught in the curse he had taken in exchange for power. And now he was powerless to do anything.

V. Another Telling

Lord Aramastus and Lady Lancellar by Unknown

There is another, even darker version of the tale. In this telling something awoke withing Lady Lancellar after hearing of the Arch Duke's pact with the creature from the Far Realm. Her love had been plagued with a terrible curse, but also great power. If that power could be harnessed then the holy word of Pholtus could be forced onto unbelievers, whether they wished it or no, and she resolved to take that power for herself. Back at the camp the other templars looked on the recent developments with concern. They determined that their Lady was not herself and that something had to be done. The following morning, whilst Lord Aramastus slept, they took her, and killed her in the name of their Lord under the midday sun. Then they assaulted the great keep, and found the Arch Duke deeply asleep, not breathing, but also still alive. He was lying in a large, ornate ebony coffin in the deepest vault of the keep. They bound the coffin with bands of Celestial Steel and carried it out into the daylight. But rather than expose it's contents to the luminous gaze of their Lord's sun, they transported their cursed cargo back to their temple, and buried him in a warded vault deep beneath the ground. Within the vault he was sealed in a magical tomb and there he was taunted, provoked and used as a source of information by the servants of the Lord of the Blinding Light for centuries. Then came the great upheaval, and the temple was destroyed. It fell in ruins, and slowly, over time, sank into the earth and was forgotten, though it's prize was still held trapped within, as all around him decayed. Yet another version of the tale says that the Arch Duke believed that the beautiful templar he loved would find a way cure him of his terrible fate, but instead she coveted his immortality. He was unable to dissuade her, and so loyal was his love that he could not allow her to take his wretched curse onto herself. Adamantly he refused her supplications, and as punishment she trapped him there to suffer the torture of imprisonment for centuries.

VI. Epilogue

None of the endings to this tale are happy ones, though it has persisted down the centuries; a fairy tale to teach unruly children of the dangers of power and what happens to those who seek it out. It always comes with a price. Some say that the temple near the Kingfisher River was abandoned, and it's templars travelled south, eventually going on to form the Knights Templar of the Theocracy of the Pale. Many who hear the tale wonder what happened to Arch Duke Aramastus, and whether he still lies there in the dark, trapped in his cell, mourning the loss of his one true love. Others believe that only one born with a true heart will be able to find and open that hidden cell and release the Arch Duke from his curse. Finally, in other tellings of the tragic story, the Arch Duke is only referred to by his first name - Xolec.