The Second Age Saga

First topic message reminder :

So, ever since we started discussing Non Player Quests, I've been thinking about doing a series set in the Second Age. With several unfinished projects already, I figured I probably shouldn't bother - but thoughts of this idea persisted longer than most of my thought's do, and I've decided it's time to at least get some of them written down. So here we go...



The Second Age Saga is, unsurprisingly, a series of quests set in the Second Age. You'll play as a human called Ivendir, an Icynae called Vivana and an Aviantese called So'kalan as they take on Mahjarrat, Demons, Vampyres and more in a struggle for survival.

The story begins humbly with a street urchin from Senntisten, Ivendir, breaking into a palace and stealing a staff to trade for food and climaxes with the epic battle for godhood between Zamorak and Zaros. Between, there are fights, puzzles and plenty of lore about the Second Age.



So let's start with the main characters. There are 7 major characters in the series - four already exist ingame, and the other three I mentioned earlier. They are:

Zamorak, the Mahjarrat

Hazeel, one of Zamorak's most trusted allies

Zemourgal, another close ally of Zamorak

Enakhra, eager to please Zamorak in the Second Age as she is now, Enakhra has left her temple in the desert in response to a request from Zamorak himself - how could she refuse?

Ivendir, the first of the new characters, Ivendir is a human who grew up in Senntisten. Ivendir was never strong enough to help build temples, and so found himself jobless and thus homeless when his Father passed away. Ivendir is weak and scared - good for nothing but running, but nonetheless has a great desire to become stronger and rise above his past. He also suffers from frighteningly real nightmares which some fear to be visions.

Vivana, the second of the new characters, is an Icynae heroine always looking for adventure. Bold, powerful and with a passionate hatred for Mahjarrat, she quickly offers to protect Ivendir upon his arrival in Hallowvale before the quest starts.

So'kalan, the third and final of the new characters, is an Aviantese who serves as a messenger between the Armadylian settlement of Lesarkus and Hallowvale. So'kalan is a close friend to Vivana and thus finds himself unwillingly involved in their adventures. Despite his desire not to fight, So'kalan is more than capable of battle should the need arise.

The colour associations are with the Empty Guardians, not Zaros himself, just so you know...

yeah, but the empy guardians are related to zaros

I must admit, Dusk, you've left me with a rather interesting challenge.

I must design a set of armour that is:

Heavy enough to be intimidating
Yet allows room for shapeshifting
Is distinct and unique
Masks the user's face
Can be fitted onto at least 4 different races, including 1 flying species

That's shaping up to be a very big brassard with an ornate full helmet attached... Yeah, I think that could work...

Chapter 2: The Crimson Beam

"I'll get her throat so she can't scream." chuckled Enakhra as she approached Vivana, curling her skeletal hands around the icyene's neck, as promised.
"Hazeel, zap her." Zemourgal demanded.
"With magic?" Hazeel asked.
"No, zap her with a sword..." Zemourgal retorted with extreme sarcasm. "Don't actually do that, Hazeel. Use magic."
A slightly confused looking Hazeel then lit the night an eerie green as he unleashed his power onto the helpless icyene.

Ivendir was crouched by the window, hands clenched around the ornate staff which had moments ago been lying in the corner. He knew it was what the mahjarrat were after, and he knew Vivana was being tortured so they could get it back. The light from Hazeel's magic lit up Ivendir's pathetic facial expression - caught somewhere between fear and self pity. A weak human like him could do nothing but watch as the green bolts of magic flicked around Vivana.
Yet something was compelling him. A little voice in the back of his head that told him he COULD help. He could stop being a coward and aid his friend.
But the compulsion wasn't enough. Yet.

"You zapped me!" Enakhra snapped at Hazeel.
"You got in my way." Hazeel responded.
"You have terrible aim."
"And your's is better" Hazeel growled "I don't even know why Zamorak made you come with us. Me and Zemourgal could've done this on our own"
Zemourgal laughed "Zamorak made Enakhra join us because he knows she'll do anything he says without question. It's quite funny really."
"I could do this without either of you. I don't know why Zamorak let you two join ME." Enakhra shouted. She turned away from her fellow mahjarrat and began to storm off.
"And where are you going?" Zemourgal asked.
"To find this staff myself, and prove my loyalty to Zamorak.". Enakhra was heading towards the house Ivendir was in. "I sense it already. It's close."
Ivendir, aware of all of this, could do nothing but clutch the staff tighter. Tears streamed down his face as he imagined all the ghastly ways the three mahjarrat would punish him. His doom seemed to be getting closer and closer, until...
"WHICH ONE OF YOU THREW THAT?" Screamed Enakhra.
"Threw what?" asked Hazeel.
"You're not funny!" Enakhra growled.
"We didn't throw anything... Women, eh?" Zemourgal said, the glowing lights in his eye sockets moving as if he was rolling his eyes.
"Then why is there a throwing knife in my back?" Enakhra barked.

The three mahjarrat paused.

"VIVANA!"

The voice rang out through the night as a flurry of throwing knives rained down upon the three mahjarrat. The source of the knives, an aviantese with silver plumage, swooped into view with a blood-curdling war cry.
"So'Kalan!" Vivana cheered. Free from the mahjarrat's grasp, she leapt onto her feet and launched a bright blue ball of light at Enakhra, scoring a direct hit in the chest. Enakhra sent a red fireball back, but Vivana leapt into the air to avoid it.

Meanwhile, the aviantese, clearly called So'Kalan, darted around the night sky, avoiding Hazeel's and Zemourgal's blasts of magic, and landing several hits with his collection of throwing knives. With a roar, Zemourgal turned away from So'Kalan and back to Vivana, launching a massive ball or black energy at her. It clipped her wing and knocked her out the sky. Almost as soon as she crashed, she got back onto her feet and looked Zemourgal straight in the eye with a determination written all over her face. She began to glow blue, hovered off the ground slightly and then let out a huge burst of energy, knocking Enakhra and Zemourgal straight off their feet. It was all over in the space of a few seconds.

It seemed now, that Hazeel had finally figured out he wasn't going to score a hit on his aviantese opponent with magic, and so used his shapeshifting powers to sprout a pair of dragonic wings. Taking the fight to So'Kalan, in seconds he and the aviantese collided mid air - a collision which hurt So'Kalan more than Hazeel. Seizing the opportunity, Hazeel blasted So'Kalan in the chest with magic and sent him flying to the ground. Seeing that Vivana was distracted with his two partners, who were back on their feet, Hazeel sent another blast at the icyene and scored another direct hit. His enemy collapsed in pain, and victory looked certain.

The voice in Ivendir's head was no longer a whisper, it was a scream. HELP THEM. IT CANNOT END LIKE THIS.

The three mahjarrat stood as victors over the two winged warriors in a line - Zemourgal in the middle, Hazeel on the left and Enakhra on the right.
"No more messing around. Finish them." Zemourgal hissed.
HELP THEM
Enakhra raised her palms. Purple orbs appeared in them, ready to fire. Hazeel clasped his hands together, and they began to glow that eerie green colour that caused Vivana so much pain earlier. Zemourgal clearly felt no need to charge up.
HELP THEM
"On three." Zemourgal said.
"One"
HELP THEM
"Two"
HELP THEM
"Thr-" Zemourgal was cut off mid-sentance.

Ivendir had listened.

A ferocious beam of crimson power blasted out from the tip of the staff, hitting all three mahjarrat at once, and, if the screams were anything to go by, causing them plenty of pain.

Vivana wasted no time.
"We need to get out of Hallowvale. Run!"
And the trio ran.

---

"Don't let ANYONE see you" Vivana advised her two companions, as they flitted in and out of the shadows cast by the spires and domes of the city. "And stick to the shadows. Saradomin curse the moon and it's light tonight."
"Where are we going?" Whispered Ivendir, as So'Kalan poked his beak round a corner to check for danger.
"Entrana. The staff should be safe there." Vivana whispered back.
"It's safe" So'Kalan said, as the group dashed across a moonlit street into an alleyway.
This exercise continued for some twenty minutes before the trio reached the city gated. The gang had nearly been spotted by a suspicious looking trio of icyene, and what appeared to be a human nearly found them in an alley, but they had, it seemed, remained undetected.
Two icyene guards patrolled the city wall around the gates. Though Vivana and So'Kalan was sure they weren't mahjarrat in disguise, they took no chances - Vivana fired a magic blast near one guard, and So'Kalan threw a knife near the other. Both went to investigate and the group made a successful run to the forests.

"I have to leave you now." So'Kalan lamented minutes after the trio made it to the trees.
"Why?" Vivana asked.
"By order of Armadyl himself. All aviantese have been called back to Lesarkus. Something really terrible must have happened..."

Chapter 3: Forests and Footsteps, part 1

"I think we're lost." Viyana said. The unlikely pair, the brave icyene and the cowardly human, stood on a ridge overlooking a vast mining site bustling with hundreds of workers toiling in the setting sun. "There are no mining sites between Hallowvale and Port Saradomin" she continued. After the mahjarrat had chased Viyana and Ivendir out of Hallowvale, they had decided to travel to Entrana to give Ivendir's staff to Saradomin himself, for protection. "I'm sorry, Ivendir. I didn't want to follow the paths because the mahjarrat would find us there, but I think we went the wrong way in the forests.".
Throughout all this, Ivendir was silent.
"I know where we are." He muttered, staring down at the scarred earth below him.
"Where?" Viyana asked.
"Kharyll quarry..." came the response. "Zaros territory".
Viyana put on a brave face. "Kharyll is the edge of Zaros' empire. We're not that far off course." she said. "Besides, I see an opportunity."

Nighttime. The quarry was empty. Save for two people, dashing out from the nearby forest. "Quickly, Ivendir, grab a pickaxe." Viyana whispered. Ivendir did, and the two set about frantically mining the quarry for its ore. Viyana, the stronger of the two, quickly gathered resources while Ivendir struggled. "That'll do" she then whispered, as the two made another dash, this time to a large stone building with an orange glow coming from it - a furnace. Viyana wasted no time smelting the ore and bashing it into various shapes. Within minutes, Viyana had smithed some crude metal armour - a set of purple-black shoulder guards, shin guards and vambraces. "Now" she said "I believe there's a fishing lake near here too..."

The second part of this chapter is coming soon, however I'm too busy to write it now. I thought I'd post this now so you have something to read for the time being

The next morning. The sun is rising, and the human and icyene duo were running once again, this time across a wooded mountain ridge

"I need a break" Ivendir panted as the pair reached a clearing.
"We can't" Viyana replied. "Not until we're much further away from Kharyll"
"It's not that easy for me!" Ivendir snapped. "I'm just a damn human, I can't run as fast as an icyene."
The duo paused for a second, silent as Viyana stood, reflecting on Ivendir's comment.
"I think that staff is changing your mood..." Viyana eventually said.
"I'm just tired" came the reply
"I've seen it before - good men come across bad artifacts and before you know it, they're nothing"
"I'll be fine. Let's just keep going, slowly." Ivendir insisted.
Viyana didn't reply.
"I thought you wanted to go fast" Ivendir said.
Viyana simply stood there with her eyes closed, her otherwise porcelain skin glowing a fiery orange in the sunrise.
She seemed to be in a trance. Ivendir shouted, hit her, waved his arms in front of her. Nothing worked
"Viyana!" Ivendir exclaimed.
"Ivendir..." she muttered.
"Yes?"
"He's here..." the icyene seemed to be talking to herself. "I can sense him. I can feel his power..."
"You don't mean..." Ivendir was scared to say it: "Zaros?"
The name snapped Viyana out of her trance.
"He'll have brought guards with him!" She suddenly exclaimed, drawing her newly forged sword and adopting a battle stance. "We HAVE to cross the salve gorge, NOW", she screamed. "Run, Ivendir"
Ivendir didn't need telling twice, and he sprang into action, hurtling across the ridge, dodging branches and rocks as if his life depended on it - it did, after all.
From what Ivendir could hear, it seemed Viyana was behind him, but he didn't have time to look.
Above the noise the pair were making, a new sound could be heard. Quietly at first, but steadily getting louder, as if something was approaching.
Whomph, Whomph.
Ivendir had heard it before, but he couldn't quite figure out where.
A tree branch seemed to jump out of nowhere, but Ivendir ducked at the last minute. Still the sound grew louder. Where had he heard it before?
A large boulder came into view. Ivendir jumped on it, ran along and jumped off. He was in the air for a few seconds. And that's what reminded him.
Flying! The sound was that of wings beating. He'd heard it when he'd seen So'Kalan fighting.
"Viyana, is that an icyene or an aviantese behind us?" he asked, optimistically.
"I'm so sorry, Ivendir" came the reply, "but look up."
Ivendir did as told. Only breifly - he couldn't take his eyes of his path for too long. But he saw enough:
The wingbeat was coming from a huge, black dragon.
Atop the dragon was a large, muscular, roughly human shaped figure, wrapped in black cloth, like a mummy, with a hefty, ornate purple brassard and face mask. In one hand, the rider took the reigns of the dragon, in the other, he held a sword almost as big as himself.
"Do you know what that is?" Viyana shouted to Ivendir.
Ivendir didn't reply to Viyana. He couldn't bear for her to hear his voice waver in fear so much. Instead, he chose to say the answer to himself, under his breath:
"An Empty Guardian."

Coming Soon...
Chapter 4: The Empty Guardians

Found this old gem and wondered if anyone's still interested in it?
I recall it being one of my more time consuming suggestions, so you'll be doing me a favour by being as honest as you can...