The Aegis Contingency - Akrash Disdain

[Kinsuke]

"What was, is, and shall always be. Primogenitus"

-Excerpt of the Akrash Apocrpyha

Time has moved drastically since the time of High Angel Malztiel's intervention. An event that had since come to be known as the 'Insurgence of Ten Thousand'. In these days, Aegis was a different continent but one overseen by those up high rather than the men of the Earth. However, the men of the land's faith began to waiver as the threat of Mordred the Perfect continued to spread chaos throughout the world. They would be met with the harsh truth, the Astaya rescued by the High Angel. All of them were outsiders to this land, and Aegis was of many Kingdoms, most of which had no interest in the sharing of their resources for the potential of gain. Of them all, the Kingdom of Akrash would react the most harshly.

The Kingdom was smaller than most of those found in Aegis, but their strength was in their heritage; dating back to the first men made by Kraus. As answer to the ten thousand they prepared to offer these people up so that Mordred would not turn his sights onto their lands for saving his chosen victims. Riders are sent out to inform the neighboring kingdoms of the decision made by Akrash, and to much surprise they would be met with resistance. The Kingdom of Magnolia would meet the Ten Thousand and offer them not only land to call their own, but the very rights to be recognized as an independent nation.

It would be seen as an act of spite to the Kingdom of Akrash. Their riders would report back to the Kingdom with this very information, as well as the news of the re-recognition of the Royal Petrakis Line. With such a thing done by the Magnolia Kingdom, it had tied the hands of Akrash. While they were an old civilization they could not oppose the now armed refugees of Ten Thousand strong. Because of the introduction of a stronger and more protected nation the people of Akrash began to outcry to their leaders. Nobles made claims that the Astayan people would inevitably rise up to stand against Mordred and may even go as far as to consume their lands for their own massive population.

Fear began to spread through the people of Akrash, as only a few years had come to pass it would seem an almost new Kingdom in the poorer districts. Despite all of the words made by the Nobles and the cries of the people in mass, the crown of Akrash would not bend on their decision to retract the attack. Nobles with fear of their losses would begin planning in the shadows. Magic became more and more prominent in the Kingdom that was once only known for its age and heritage. All the while, the youth of the nation began to dwindle. For a time, the middle aged of the Kingdom called for aid from the Nobles and aid from the crown to solve this mystery of missing youths. After a time, all of these calls fell silent. The poor had all but become extinct within the Kingdom of Akrash.

Great festivals were held by the night, where strange magic was used to portray things believed impossible. To the elders of the nation this was no secret in practice. It was the usage of Blood Magic, a long forbidden magic in many nations at the time. Such magic had become so strong that rumors began. Stories of how the Nobles of Akrash had become so terrified of an Astayan expansion that they made pacts with demons. These rumors would eventually reach the royal family of Akrash and to the surprise of none did the crown send their knights to investigate these festivals that were held nightly. In a Kingdom where age and history reigned supreme, it should have been impossible to have resources available for all these festivals. It was found worth the investigation.

There are many accounts of what happened the night that the crownguard infiltrated the ritual. No one can truly say for certain what transpired, however, but everyone agrees that magic not of this world took place there. Even from the distance, the cries and strange smoke could be witnessed from neighboring Kingdoms. Some say that a specter of Mordred appeared in the night sending a black corruption across the entirety of the ancient Kingdom. Others say, the crownguard tried to stop a Demonic Ritual and ultimately caused the ritual to go berserk. A few say that the peasants set fire to the market during the ritual taking place. Of all these beliefs, one statement remains unchanged through history : The Kingdom of Akrash burned that night.

A rider was sent from Magnolia to investigate the situation at the Kingdom of Akrash. When the rider arrived she would find not a single corpse anywhere in sight. Her writings on the smell, could not be mistaken, as the smell of rotting flesh. Throughout her time there she was only able to identify that the land had been greatly burned, the water had turned purple like poison, and the amount of Crellus in the land were more than anywhere else in Aegis. Never did she spot a sign of human or sub-human life, however. When she returned with the report, word is sent to the other neighboring Kingdoms that the Crellus cannot be allowed to remain in such numbers. As they would inevitably spread the corruption from which they come.

So with this a large assembly is conducted between the Kingdoms of Aegis of the time. They would strike the Crellus in their home and be done with them. There was still the worry of known rumors that these Crellus were the children of Mordred, and that murdering them would bring the Perfect Yokai's wrath upon the land. It would not be short work to rid Aegis of this insurgence of Crellus. A thousand warriors and mages would be sent to deal with the situation in the former Kingdom of Akrash.

Years would pass. Countless engagements against the Crellus performed again and again. Despite it all, the land of Akrash would always be populated by the Crellus again the next morning. Hope, strength, and desire to fight was low among the thousand that had gone. Even less among those who had survived the long years of battle. During a skirmish with the Crellus on the outskirts of Akrash land they would find an altar. This altar had never been reported by the previous riders nor had it been seen in the most recent of confrontations with the Crellus. It became a mystery and yet some recognized that this statue was the same form as the enormous creature spotted on the night of the great fire that burned Akrash. On its back were two large wings, and within its hand an enormous sword larger than any two horses put together.

There were no statements or signs of who made the statue. On it were runes of a make none could read. They looked amongst each other and debated hauling the statue back to Mangolia for proper inspection. However, superstition was strong amongst those present. Fear that moving the large statue may result in the Crellus to attack, or even to have triggered a trap laid by the Akrash. Arguments were born among those present and ultimately no decision could be made this day. So instead they would set up their camps not too far from the statue so that they may investigate it. Overheard would hang a red star this night, oft known as the Plague Stars. In its wake of existence, a distant land suffered. Though, even its light radiated down below and so too would these wretched lands meet its might.

Runes that marked the statue began to glow in the dead of night. Some would awake to bear witness while others would be trapped in a timeless slumber. The warriors stared in awe as each rune glowed a deep red and once all did. A deep, booming voice spoke from where none could tell. "Cultivated by woe, given form by ichor, and born beneath the moon." Some warriors roared in outrage then. Speaking of the work of Blood magic, it could be nothing short of the forbidden blood magic. A warhammer wielding magi of Magnolia approached and swung the mighty hammer upon the statue with the intent to shatter it apart. To his despair, the statue would move a hand and grasp his weapon. Fear struck the magi, true fear of the unknown as the large blade it held was swung to disarm him. Many warriors adorned the weapons and magic in response. A loud battle cry, as pain and fear of never loving their loved ones again took them. This night, they would face the statue that appeared from naught.

As the sun began to raise, few remainder upon the ground. The corrupted land was not kind to those who lay upon it as they cried out in agony. Woe took the area, ichor painted the land, and what remained of moonlight lit the remnants of their forces. The statue moved back to its original placement and stabbed its bloody blade into the earth once more. Before the eyes of those around the corruption of the earth would start to seep away. The ichor that marked a battlefield pulled into a single ball before the statue. Finally, the moon's light began to leave but before it did a form was made in front of the statue. A boy was dropped no older than five. His eyes as red as man's ichor, and his skin as pale as snow. The child looked perfect to al those who beheld him. It was miraculous to say the least of what was before them. Yet they would never forget what was said then, words in the tongue they knew and then words of a tongue too old for them to know. Those who stood fell to their knees as the sun took full hold and before their eyes the statue ceased to be. As if it had simply never been to begin with.

The boy made of man's ichor would dress himself in white, and using the very earth before him form a cross of Ivory white to hold firmly. Though he appeared as a boy, when he spoke to them he sounded like a fierce man who had seen hundreds of battles yet learned to calm his words through experience. All were left enamored. His words to them all, "All things that were will return from the dirt, and all things that are will return to the dirt. Akrash will rise just as Kraus rose when he gave life to the world. So too shall Akrash rise after giving birth to me." Not one who remained had the strength to raise their blades to him in this moment. Though, he would ease their sufferings with a wave of his hand as lights as bright as the sun itself took the land and embraced them. Magic that made their pain feel no different than a joy. Some would choose to stay at the side of this small boy, while others rushed before the day could pass to their Kingdom.

Reports would be given to the lords and ladies of Magnolia about the experience and all that had happened during the years. A large force would be amassed from Magnolia to ride to the lands of Akrash and deal with the demon born from blood magic. Once they arrived on the land they would find but only a few Crellus. The land hardly corrupted and off in the midst of the ruins of Akrash they would find a boy sitting in white. The same boy that had appeared that night, and believed a demon born from blood magic. He would be arrested without resistance and taken to stand trial within Magnolia to explain his existence as well as the many unorthodox and sacrilegious happenings surrounding him. When the day of trial came, the answers they received were nothing short of ramblings to their ears. The so-called method of touching the Lifestream passed down in Akrash, from the unheard of Ritual of Persistence. The courts would not hear out a child over the hardened warriors that had reported their sightings. It would be only weeks later that the defeat of Mordred by the hands of Arthur and Excalibur would surface.

It would be decided that the boy would serve his life within the cells of Magnolia. As the execution of a child, even one born of Blood Magic was simply too horrific of an act in the Kingdom of Magnloia. So the boy would be taken to the cells, but not those meant for the common criminals, a special cell beneath the Kingdom and Earth itself. Hidden away for the most vile of inhabitants. Here the boy would remain, and still remains even now thousands of years later still in the same garb and appearance as the day he was found in Akrash. The boy is not spoken of oft, but rumors circulate above the ground about a prisoner who has lived thousands of years and does not age, sleep, eat, or drink. A forbade rumor that gives credence to the proof of direct descendance from Krausborn, the first men of Kraus. As scarce as information is regarding the so-called boy who still lives beneath the Kingdom of Magnolia, there is another rumor who lives more in reality than the former. The appearance of the statue, which held the appearance of the Kaor Lords of old, still appears on the Outskirts of what was once the Akrash Kingdom. These rumors claim that a group exists who still follow the old ways of Akash and that to find one them one need only seek out the old passage : "By hundreds they hear, by tens they learn, by five they seek, and by five the way is opened."

"For what was made to be is meant to be. Natus ex Kraus."
- Completed excerpt from the Akrash Apocrypha