The Story Thus Far
Warren has just awakened from a five year sleep after being accidentally set under a spell when he inadvertently wandered across the lair of a sleeping dragon. He awakens to find that the world he once knew has changed drastically. The kingdoms are at war.
The war started a few years before when the King of Blue Garden was attacked by agents of Fal'Dune. The king's life was saved, but at the cost of his eldest son's life. He was also badly injured, leaving him weak and frail. Much of his ruling duties have now passed to his second eldest child, whom Warren is shocked to learn is his childhood friend Armitage!
Armitage was raised in the same orphanage as Warren, run by a kindly Fal'Dune man named Cid. They had been very close friends and Warren had been on his way to meet Armitage when he was cast under the spell. About a year after his sudden disappearance, a messenger had arrived at the orphanage. Apparently the queen of Blue Garden had given birth to a second child unbeknown to the main populous because the king had received a dire prediction from his most trusted seer that the child's life would be in danger on the day of its birth. The queen had gone away from the palace to have the child to protect her, but to no avail. The queen, sadly, died of complications during childbirth and the child herself was kidnapped. The intention had been to blackmail the king into doing the bidding of small group of extremists, but the kidnappers were attacked by kobolds during their travels and killed. The child was lost, presumed dead, but the king had been scouring the countryside for news of her existence ever since. He had been told that she had been born with a distinct birthmark, on the back of her left hand in the shape of a key, and it was by this that he would know her. A birthmark that Armitage had.
And so, she had been taken to the palace and swept up by the king as his long-lost daughter. Not only was she a princess, but she soon discovered that there was another purpose behind her strange birthmark. The palace seer had predicted that her life would be in danger because of the power she would be born possessing. Armitage was born to be the key. Literally, the key, a being of immense magical energy that can transform at will into a magical "key" that can lock or unlock any door or spell in existence, no matter how powerful. The seer foresaw that a time was coming when Armitage would be sought after by someone with a dark purpose, intent on waking Eisha's darkest secret. Intent on using her power to awaken the sleeping dragons and forcibly harness thier power. And the true culprit behind these attacks was not Blue Garden or Fal'Dune, but a third entity entirely, separate and bent on turning the two nations against one another so as to weaken them both for its inevitable takeover. A organization known only for their trademark symbol, the Crimson Eye.
Warren is pulled into this plot after meeting up with Armitage once again, the forgotten friendship and budding romance of five years ago rears up. He learns of all that has transpired so far and meets Armitage's guardian, an overly-protective half-demon named Julian who is bound to Armitage because she is the key, and has the power to heal her at the cost of his own life force. Because of the intense magical energy contained within her body, any wounds that Armitage suffers while she is transformed are life-threatening, not only to herself but to those around her because if she should die, the energy inside her would no longer be contained and would be unleashed against all of those nearby, friend and foe alike, destroying everything in its wake. Before she and Warren have a chance to reminisce, the palace is attacked by Sepulchre and his lieutenant Areena- a Fal'Dune pirate turned soldier. They lead a platoon of Fal'Dune soldiers against the palace's defenses and Armitage is forced to fight to protect her father. During the battle, she is wounded and, furiously attempting to protect her, Warren taps into his own innate magically abilities and is able to provide them enough cover to retreat. Areena questions Sepulchre's motives when he seems more then willing to sacrifice the lives of the Fal'Dune if it means achieving a means to his ends and it is revealed that he is working for the Crimson Eye. He attempts to attack Armitage but his efforts are thwarted by Areena at the last second. Realizing that she is the only Fal'Dune left alive and seeing her protect Armitage, Warren calls for her as they retreat and, after a moment's hesitation, she joins them. Julian manages to heal Armitage's wounds but it saps of so much strength that he is rendered unconscious for a time. Warren is frustrated with not being able to help more, and determined to protect Armitage whom he is realizing slowly, he is deeply in love with. He pledges fealty to her and asks to become bonded with her as Julian is, but she refuses. Secretly , she knows that she will eventually have to sacrifice her life to stop the Crimson Eye, and when she does the one bonded to her will also die. She loves Warren too much to ask him to give his life for her, but she is afraid to tell him her fate. She lies to protect him, telling him that only one can be bonded to her at a time, but perhaps when Julian awakens he can teach him sword fighting. Meanwhile, Areena is feeling awkwardly out of place in her new found group, but overcomes her shyness by focusing on her rage at Sepulchre. She swears to protect Armitage and the others until she is able to get her revenge against the man.
After fleeing the palace, they take refuge at the orphanage where Warren and Armitage were raised. Cid has grown a little older, and a little wiser and they are surprised to discover that he is operating a secret Underground protection, taking in orphaned Fal'Dune children as well as Blue Garden children and protecting them equally, despite the two nations being at war. While they are there recuperating, they meet a Fal'Dune man known only as Red. Quiet and mysterious, they discover him eavesdropping on their conversations more then once, but his true purposes are unknown. The Seer manages to escape the palace attack and finds them at the orphanage. He tells them that the king has been taken prisoner and the palace is under siege by Sepulchre and his men, all blatantly bearing the symbol of the Crimson Eye. It seems they have finally dropped their guise now that they are closing in on their target, which the group is alarmed to learn, is Armitage. The seer tells them that the Crimson Eye is seeking to find and awaken all of the sleeping dragons, though to what purpose he does not know. When he mentions sleeping dragons, Warren speaks up about the cave in which he was placed under the spell, which is nearby and contained a dragon. The group minus the seer who hastens back to the palace to try to free the king, heads to cave to see what they can find out. Once there, they discover that Red has followed them from the orphanage and he attacks them! To make matters worse, Sepulchre shows up, leading the simpering Seer who had overheard Warren speaking about the dragon before the attack and tricked them into revealing its location in exchange for his life. Sepulchre manages to capture Warren and using his life as a threat, forces Armitage to become the key and awaken the dragon. Once awakened, Sepulchre brings forth a crystal ball emblazoned with the Crimson Eye which sucks in and entraps the dragon! He is then able to, while holding the crystal, use the dragon's energy against them, sending them all tumbling through the back of the cave and into an underground lake with a blast of fiery breath. Warren manages to escape while Sepulchre is distracted and the man repays him by striking his face with dragon fire, burning a vicious scar across his cheek and chest. Warren blacks out just as he is tumbling into the lake, his last thoughts are of Armitage.
Warren awakens on the side of the lake, a concerned yet annoyed Julian peering over him. They are alone and must discover what has happened to the others. Meanwhile, Armitage awakens first, seeing both Red and Areena laying unconscious nearby. Where the others are, she does not know, nor how they will escape this place.
Home
