Age of Darkness

The prophesy foretold their coming. Dragons that would dominate the skies, eating up the heavens. Orcs that would flood all cities wreaking havoc and laying carnage in their wake. The warnings were never taken seriously and so the world was unprepared when it happened, plunging the world into an eternal darkness.

All hope wasn't lost as another part of the prophesy, revealed after years of seeking through endless dungeons heralded the coming of unlikely heroes who would conquer the darkness and restore the world to it's once peaceful order.

The wizard

Dark knights

He was a grumpy old man who lived at a dusty old cabin at the summit of mountains. Rufallostein was was rumored to be over a hundred years old, yet he refused to die. A proficient scholar in the myatic arts and a formidable adversary.

The Archer.

Dark Knights

A warrior of noble born, forced out of his land by the encroachment of darkness and loss of his whole clan and family. Blessed with the bow of the champion, he was said to be able to knock the wing of an insect's back from miles away. Using his arrow of doom he could take down a mammoth with one hit or level a mountain.

The Assasin.

Dark Knights

Descendant of a creed that dedicated their lives to sourcing for artifacts that can help the world become a better place. He's rumored to have killed more people than have been born since became an assasin. A master in the art of stealth and dungeon looting.

The Spectre

Dark knights

Cursed at death with the power of infamy to defeat those who betrayed. Years after accomplishing his task, he is left to roam the land in search of a warrior strong enough to defeat him and lay his soul to rest.

The City Of Easteros

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The day was dull with a palely lit sky. Darkness had descended on the city and the buildings were in ruins. The silence of the day proved deafening, safe for the occasional chirping of insects and crickets. Hoof beats echo as the archer rode into town atop his mount, armor glittering from the faint specks of sunshine. He passed by a derelict hall from where he perceived movements. He dismounted and leased his horse to a pole, walking casually towards the hall in an attempt to investigate the ruins.

Loud throaty growls and petrid smell were obvious even before the Orcs barged out of the door, such that the archer was already prepared for them the moment they appeared. He jumped over the first two to charge at him, the third Orc rushing out of the hall was filled with holes even before it could see the archers.

'Orcs.' He muttered. 'Do you speak?'

The Orcs showed no sign of intellect or recognition of language as they ignore the words of their prey and charged him. Lunch came early.

The Archer wasted no time in drilling holes in the orcs' empty skull with a barrage of arrows.

He examined the orc carcass and admist the green orc blood, he could discern the peculiar red color of human blood in their claws and jaws. They must have been feeding when he walked by.

With sure and steady steps, the Archer marched into the hall. The inside of the hall had high walls and rows of wooden chair, most of which were broken. There were lots dead bodies, both human and orcs alike. A fight must have occured. In what looked like a galley, he found a moving body crying for help.

'Help' The greying old man called out.

'What can I do for you.' The archer called out, taking a knee beside the dying man.

'You finally came.' The old man muttered. 'I was beginning to think you wouldn't.'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm Rufallostein. Wizard of the grass lake spring.' He coughed out a little blood. 'The orcs... They can sense the dungeons... One of our miners discovered a dungeon two weeks ago. We sent all of our adventurers down the tunnel. Only one survived. The others…' The old man went into another bout of coughing out blood.

'What happened to the others.' The Archer asked, supporting the old mand with his arm.

'The Orcs killed them all.' Rufallostein said. 'The dungeons appear around the world. They lead everywhere and they contain clues on how to end the darkness.'

'We need to get you to a healer.' The archer said.

'Don't worry. I'm not long for this world anymore... Take this.' He brought out a pendant. 'The light of the onyx will lead you to the others. Together, you can stop the darkness.'

The archer picked up the pendant from the old man's dead hands. The pendant glowed once and went off. He placed the pendant in his pouch and proceeded to bury the old man and all the corpses in the hall.

After the work was done, the Archer mounted his horse and set off in a slow gallop. Into the dungeons.

The inside of the dungeon was dark and humid. There was a stench of blood that refused to leave the air. He journeyed through the eternal abyss of the dungeon, going down the various levels of the dungeon. The adventurers had gone deep through the dungeon as was evident from the rotten corpses on the ground.

At the deepest level of the dungeon, the archer came across a hooded figure in a robe. The spectre was suspended in air, apparently by his magic. The Archer felt his pouch shake and he opened it to see that the pendant inside of it glowed.

'So, you finally arrived.' The spectre said. 'The one strong enough to defeat me.

'I come in peace.' The archer said. 'The darkness is consuming the world and I think with your help, we can stop the darkness.'

'I can care less about the world. It betrayed me once. All I want is my soul returned to it's resting place, for I have roamed the world countless times looking for an end to myself all to no avail.' The spectre turned toward the archer and his hands sparkled with electricity. 'And look who just happens to run into me.'

'You killed those Orcs?' The archer asked. A nod in the affirmative from the spectre answered his question. 'That shows how much you care. If you want me to kill you, fine. But first, I need your help to defeat the darkness.'

'Very well then.' Said the Spectre. 'I'll help you in your quest and I hope you will kepp your word and end my life once your quest is done with.'

'I promise.' The Archer was about to shake when the whole dungeon shook like it was being hit by an earthquake.

'The dungeon is moving.' The spectre said.

'I see you are quite familiar with the dungeon.' A lone figure said, coming out of the darkness of the dungeon.

'Who are you?' The archer asked, as he could feel his pendant glow.

'I am Malakai. King of the dungeon and I shall be taking your lifes-' The king of the dungeon didn't get past those words as three spikes protruded from his chest. Blood spew out of his chest and mouth as he slowly slumped to the ground.

From the darkness, another form materialize. It was a templar with a hood. The Assasin.

'My brothers said I would find a warrior from Easteros in these dungeons and that is where my destiny shall be fulfilled.

'Who are you?' The archer asked.

'I'm an Assasin from the order of the secret lotus.' The Assasin replied.

'I'm not from easteros but I passed through there on my way here.' The Archer said.

'The pendant you wear says otherwise.' The Assasin remarked. 'It is the light of the Onyx, given only to the chosen protector of the city.'

'Well, Easteros has been destroyed. I don't think there is a need for a protector anymore.' The Spectre said.

'Easteros may be destroyed, but the world still exist. Your duty now is to be the protector of the world.' The Assasin said.

'Protector of the world.' The Archer said. 'How do I protect this darkened world.'*

'I found this scroll in the ancient archives of the dungeons. It might help us.' The Assasin flashed a scroll im front of their eyes and put it back in his secret pouch. 'But first, we have to leave before the dungeon changes again.'

Outside the dungeon, the were in a city different from the one which the Archer enteted from. This city had people walking around the streets and engaging in petty activities despite the debilitafing condition od the city. There was a summit of mountains not too far from the city and one woild occasionaly see dragons fly away or towards the mountains.

'This is Lordos. The city of the saints.' The Assasim said, leading the Archer and the Spectre into an Inn.

For the next four hours, they read through the scroll trying to figure out the secret.

'I've cracked it.' The spectre said. 'All we need to do is get to the top of the mountain and destroy the Ozaki Orb on top of the tallest mount peak.'

'How do we get to the mountain peak.' The archer asked.

'The peak.' Said the Assasin. 'The peaks are unreachable. That's where the dragon lairs are. The only road that leads their has many Orc villages by the way.'

'We can not back down at this moment.' The Archer said. 'It's not an option.'

'Yes. We'll meed an army.' The Spectre said.

'Very well then. I'll take you to the Discord inn where you can find some steem monster bearers who would be willing to go to war with you.' The Assasin said.

The Assasin lead the Spectre and the Archer into the inn. The Assasin asking the occipantd to support their quest but none would agrer to cast hiss vote for some unknown individual. However, the Archer refused to back down and decided to address the entire inn.

'I might be new to your community. I might not know your ways and culture but all i will ask is that you listen to the mesage i have to pass across before you judge me as inconsequencial or unimportant.' The whole inn went quiet and everyone turned to listen to the Archer.

'I'll upvote that' Someone said from the crowd and everyone grunted in agreement.

'We,all of us, are in this together.' The archer continued. 'We should be able to put our personal differences together and fight on a united front against the monster that has come to claim what belongs to us. We should be ready to do whatever is necesaary. Ready to bear the risks challemging an unknown foe holds just to defend our home and what belongs to us.'

The Archer could see that everyone was rallying around him. Some had even summoned their steem monaters, prepared for battle. He knew it was now or never or the faith of the world was sealed. He whistled.

'With hearts of steel.' The Archer said as he mounted his stallion which came on his signal. He raused his bow in one hand. 'And a weapon of power. We shall forcibly take our world back from the bandits who sought to claim it from us. Charge!'

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The Archer , along with thousand of steem monster owners and both the spectre and the assasin went into a furious charge towards the road that lead to the highest peak, their hearts thumping. It was in the heat of the charge that the Archer realized that his pendant had been glowing all along. They were in the right and nothing could stop them.