The ball literally started rolling when Darius Traedore, head and heir of House Traedore rolled from a portal into an unknown land, where he came face to face with one whom he wasn't sure was friend or foe. This being was wild and fierce, but though she ran free in her world, she was hunted mercilessly. After a whirlwind experience of running away from hunters and mercenaries, Darius offered the strange woman a chance, by following him through a closing portal back to his world. Leaving her world behind, and truly becoming free, she followed after him.
Upon arriving through the portal, landing quite unceremoniously into his Castle's great hall, the strange woman would see her rescuer, and he, Darius, would explain his family's plight. By his side, with long, shining obsidian hair and piercing sapphire eyes, his wife, Quies Traedore stood strong, and unwavering. Together, they asked this stranger to help rebuild their family and strengthen the bonds so that they could take back their place as one of the Great Families. Proudly the woman took the role as 'The Shield of House Traedore' and vowed to protect her new friends and family with her life. Her name is Aria Traedore, formerly Whitebirch and she would see to it that Quies and Darius would succeed. As the family got settled into their broken castle, Dino Traedore came to live with with the family again. Despite being Darius' younger brother, he was a regular human, with no magic to speak of...yet. With such a powerful bloodline, as a family we would train Dino to become strong and independent.
For now, he stayed by Aria's side as much as she could stand him, as she was their protector and friend. But also because despite the luxurious castle, it had grown old with disuse and needed many repairs, so the manor was usually cold. With her fire magic, she kept them warm. When she was home at the castle guarding it from any unfriendly forces, Darius and Quies would journey to find and recruit more people to join their cause. Those of strong will and of able body were scouted and another joined ranks quickly. Rose Traedore pledged allegiance to the Traedore House, and once again the family grew. With a solid base, the family was growing steadily. With a strong head of House, whose loyalty and stubbornness knew no bounds; a queen and personal adviser who had wondrous elven abilities and powerful ice magic; and a loyal guard, a drow with a fiery spirit to match her magic, they became a force to be reckoned with.
Days had passed and repairs on the castle were going swimmingly. The family happy until both Quies and Aria, with their elven roots, could feel a darkness swirling in the forest that filled the valley behind the castle. Deciding that there should be an investigation, Darius, Quies and Aria set out into the valley to find the source of the sickening disturbance. Unbeknownst to them, as their focus was on the increasing magical pressure before them, Dino had followed them. Deep within the forest, a Jabberwock lurked, or so they thought. Unlike the beasts that usually inhabit this frigid place, this beast had no fur, the abnormality causing it to stand out. It's scaly, onyx hide was thick and the beast smelt of blood, and decay as it reached where the family had come to a stop. Dino, now discovered was left in Quies' care as Aria and Darius attempted to fend off the beast. As the battle progressed, a fearful being came into play, an Inquisitor, but as luck would have it, she was on their side. Despite warnings from Quies, the Inquisitor vanquished the dragon, leaving only a pile of bones on the ground. As night fell, the family returned to the manor. While they slept, shadows lurched as if of their own accord, and a gate to the netherworld appeared. Both Darius and Aria awoke suddenly, leaving Quies to rest as she now had a greater burden and blessing; she carried Darius' child.
A figure appeared to the family, a demon, his aura crushingly powerful and terrorizing, cursing Aria for murdering one of his shadow fiends. Despite the accusation, she vehemently denied it, causing the demon with the shocking silver eyes to threaten attack. But as soon as the shadow had filled the room, it vanished as morning came. In the night before the Demon appeared to them, as they had arrived back at the manor, it was agreed upon that the beast that they had fought was previously dead. A necromancer, a vile wizard or magical being with the powers to awaken and control the dead, had been the cause of this dragon's rampage and might be linked to the lupine beasts that lurked in the forest, silencing the animals that lived there. With crystalline scales of lapis blue, they blended into the icy backdrop.
In a meeting with Darius, it was decided him and Aria would investigate the corpse of the dragon. Alabaster bone was all that remained of the creature when they arrived, but while investigating, a blackened heart was still resting in the hollow rib cage. Reaching to touch it, Aria withdrew her hand, long fingers covered in ichor. Darius took the black, decaying heart into his gloved hands as Aria pointed out strange markings on the base of the dragon's skull. As she moved around the bone pile, the heart in Darius' hands would break apart, revealing an old ring, one that had been lost to his family for ages. His discovery would be bittersweet, as an heirloom was restored, but the question of why it was there remained. As Aria searched, she found a solitary scale, the blue sparkling in the light, and though unattached to the wolf like creatures it belonged to, it held a surprising amount of electrical charge. Taking what they learned, Darius and Aria returned to the manor to do some experiments on the strange scale. As they investigated, there was a link found between the blue lupine beasts and a dragon that Aria had seen in her world and had the unpleasant opportunity of fighting. Thunder dragons, massive, elusive creatures whose wicked mouth's spewed lighting and their roars were that of earth shattering thunder. While certain that they were not dealing with one, they worried that the necromancer, whose blue beasts had been running around the supposed Jabberwock, were somehow linked, as if parts of these dragons were taken to make the creatures, or that they were somehow bred.
Without waiting, Darius and Aria took to hiking up the closest mountain range to the castle to see if they could find anything that would point to a Thunder dragon in their realm. There was nothing, although a fire down in the valley distracted them, they decided to investigate further. The first mistake was made when Aria took the first leap from the mountaintop, her magic slowing her descent, only noticing what was wrong as she neared the bottom and looked up, seeing Darius thrown or kicked from the mountain's edge. As he fell, his magic protected him, until the bubble of power surrounding him was worn down and he was bounced off the mountain, crashing into a thatched roof of a house in a deserted village of the valley.
Aria couldn't reach him in time as he was thrown and watched his descent in agony. As she raced towards where he had landed, every alarm went off in her body. Eight crystalline beasts emerged from the thick forest, surrounding the building where Darius was, and Aria. With a heave, she coated the tiny shack in flame as she tried to stop the bleeding on the barely conscious house leader. Using her flames to heat her skin, she cauterized the wound on his head to stem the bleeding. The worse injury though, was the metal rod protruding through the side of his stomach. As stubborn as he was, Darius pulled the metal pole from his body, but the internal bleeding was severe. Apologetically, Aria plugged the gushing hole with a red hot finger, burning the hole closed as she removed it. The blood had mostly boiled away leaving an angry red mark.
As promised, she swore to protect her family, leaving the tattered building through her wall of flame to face the creatures alone. She knew she would need to tell them someday, but she would explain it to them later as she reached deep into herself, drawing her power from the endless molten pit. But she needed more, and thus she dove deeper, touching the pitch black beast that lurked deep within her.
A monster emerged. Her once blue hair, faded to an icy white. Eyes of forest green burned into a fierce sunset, and horns, red as the blood that covered her hands burst from her skull. On her back, wings as dark as the depths of the night unfurled. Red flame coated her body, fusing armor and transforming her wicked scythe. Within her psyche, her true self lay behind bars like a caged bird as this darkness took over her, ripping seven of the beasts apart as if they were nothing but paper. A war was waged within her as she confronted the last beast, her true self winning, only to be distracted as she transformed back. The creature lunged, powerful jaws tearing into her right arm, crushing the bone, but she would not waiver. Darius emerged then, having gained back enough of his strength. Pleading with him, Aria urged him not to kill the beast, as they needed to study it and find out it's connections with the necromancer. With a blast from his gun, the beast was ripped away from Aria, who used the last of her power to subdue it.
Quies, who had been resting in the manor, could tell that something was not right, running through the forest to find the grizzly scene, arriving right before Aria fell unconscious in front of her. While they were only thinking of her safety, Quies was furious at them for risking their lives like this. Rightfully so, her anger had no bounds, even as she helped bind their wounds and aided them as the moved back to the manor before evening fell and the valley would be dark. Reaching the manor safely, they tossed the beast into the most secure dungeon before going to get some much deserved rest. In the darkness, at the base of the mountain, a man cloaked in shadow smirked as he stood there, long after the group had left the forest, his wolves sitting nearby.
As their injuries healed, Darius, received a letter, black as the night, a blood red wax seal embellished with a V on the back. Inside, on crisp parchment, beautiful cursive writing held an invitation.
"In lieu of a member of your joining our family, we would like to extend an arm and reach out in hopes of forming an alliance. If you would be so inclined as to meet us, so that we may discuss terms."
As it turns out, Aria Traedore had received a formal invitation to join the Hellbond family, and after gaining the blessing from her Traedore family, she is now formally known as Aria Traedore-Hellbond.
It was dusk when they met, and they were greeted by two figures, cloaked in shadow. Darius was joined by Quies, his wife and advisor, and his Shield, Aria.
The two men shrouded in darkness introduced themselves as Vincent Von Hellbond, current leader of the Hellbond family, and Dyren Von Hellbond, Vincent's son and only heir, though soon to be head of the family.
Aria, as she was already acquainted with the Hellbond family, she spoke highly to them as she made known her Traedore family to them. As they all settled down, the discussion regarding terms came to light.
1. No invasions upon either land for any reason unless it is a documented visit.
2. Since the Traedore family is new and growing, the Hellbond family will help us with training of new recruits and providing training materials.
3. The Hellbond family, to help further the Traedore family, will help provide military battlements, soldiers and arms to secure more sites.
4. As equals, the Hellbond and Traedore families will be expected to back each family up on any battles that require aid.
5. Since Aria is a part of both families, if the Hellbond family requires her aid, they must ask the Head of House, Darius, for permission to take her from her other duties.
As all the terms were laid out before them, the party grew restless as the formalities were coming to and end, before Dyren stood, challenging Darius to a spar, to see what strength their new allies possessed. Staying to the side, Aria held Quies, to comfort his queen as he battled the Prince of Darkness.
Upon arriving through the portal, landing quite unceremoniously into his Castle's great hall, the strange woman would see her rescuer, and he, Darius, would explain his family's plight. By his side, with long, shining obsidian hair and piercing sapphire eyes, his wife, Quies Traedore stood strong, and unwavering. Together, they asked this stranger to help rebuild their family and strengthen the bonds so that they could take back their place as one of the Great Families. Proudly the woman took the role as 'The Shield of House Traedore' and vowed to protect her new friends and family with her life. Her name is Aria Traedore, formerly Whitebirch and she would see to it that Quies and Darius would succeed. As the family got settled into their broken castle, Dino Traedore came to live with with the family again. Despite being Darius' younger brother, he was a regular human, with no magic to speak of...yet. With such a powerful bloodline, as a family we would train Dino to become strong and independent.
For now, he stayed by Aria's side as much as she could stand him, as she was their protector and friend. But also because despite the luxurious castle, it had grown old with disuse and needed many repairs, so the manor was usually cold. With her fire magic, she kept them warm. When she was home at the castle guarding it from any unfriendly forces, Darius and Quies would journey to find and recruit more people to join their cause. Those of strong will and of able body were scouted and another joined ranks quickly. Rose Traedore pledged allegiance to the Traedore House, and once again the family grew. With a solid base, the family was growing steadily. With a strong head of House, whose loyalty and stubbornness knew no bounds; a queen and personal adviser who had wondrous elven abilities and powerful ice magic; and a loyal guard, a drow with a fiery spirit to match her magic, they became a force to be reckoned with.
Days had passed and repairs on the castle were going swimmingly. The family happy until both Quies and Aria, with their elven roots, could feel a darkness swirling in the forest that filled the valley behind the castle. Deciding that there should be an investigation, Darius, Quies and Aria set out into the valley to find the source of the sickening disturbance. Unbeknownst to them, as their focus was on the increasing magical pressure before them, Dino had followed them. Deep within the forest, a Jabberwock lurked, or so they thought. Unlike the beasts that usually inhabit this frigid place, this beast had no fur, the abnormality causing it to stand out. It's scaly, onyx hide was thick and the beast smelt of blood, and decay as it reached where the family had come to a stop. Dino, now discovered was left in Quies' care as Aria and Darius attempted to fend off the beast. As the battle progressed, a fearful being came into play, an Inquisitor, but as luck would have it, she was on their side. Despite warnings from Quies, the Inquisitor vanquished the dragon, leaving only a pile of bones on the ground. As night fell, the family returned to the manor. While they slept, shadows lurched as if of their own accord, and a gate to the netherworld appeared. Both Darius and Aria awoke suddenly, leaving Quies to rest as she now had a greater burden and blessing; she carried Darius' child.
A figure appeared to the family, a demon, his aura crushingly powerful and terrorizing, cursing Aria for murdering one of his shadow fiends. Despite the accusation, she vehemently denied it, causing the demon with the shocking silver eyes to threaten attack. But as soon as the shadow had filled the room, it vanished as morning came. In the night before the Demon appeared to them, as they had arrived back at the manor, it was agreed upon that the beast that they had fought was previously dead. A necromancer, a vile wizard or magical being with the powers to awaken and control the dead, had been the cause of this dragon's rampage and might be linked to the lupine beasts that lurked in the forest, silencing the animals that lived there. With crystalline scales of lapis blue, they blended into the icy backdrop.
In a meeting with Darius, it was decided him and Aria would investigate the corpse of the dragon. Alabaster bone was all that remained of the creature when they arrived, but while investigating, a blackened heart was still resting in the hollow rib cage. Reaching to touch it, Aria withdrew her hand, long fingers covered in ichor. Darius took the black, decaying heart into his gloved hands as Aria pointed out strange markings on the base of the dragon's skull. As she moved around the bone pile, the heart in Darius' hands would break apart, revealing an old ring, one that had been lost to his family for ages. His discovery would be bittersweet, as an heirloom was restored, but the question of why it was there remained. As Aria searched, she found a solitary scale, the blue sparkling in the light, and though unattached to the wolf like creatures it belonged to, it held a surprising amount of electrical charge. Taking what they learned, Darius and Aria returned to the manor to do some experiments on the strange scale. As they investigated, there was a link found between the blue lupine beasts and a dragon that Aria had seen in her world and had the unpleasant opportunity of fighting. Thunder dragons, massive, elusive creatures whose wicked mouth's spewed lighting and their roars were that of earth shattering thunder. While certain that they were not dealing with one, they worried that the necromancer, whose blue beasts had been running around the supposed Jabberwock, were somehow linked, as if parts of these dragons were taken to make the creatures, or that they were somehow bred.
Without waiting, Darius and Aria took to hiking up the closest mountain range to the castle to see if they could find anything that would point to a Thunder dragon in their realm. There was nothing, although a fire down in the valley distracted them, they decided to investigate further. The first mistake was made when Aria took the first leap from the mountaintop, her magic slowing her descent, only noticing what was wrong as she neared the bottom and looked up, seeing Darius thrown or kicked from the mountain's edge. As he fell, his magic protected him, until the bubble of power surrounding him was worn down and he was bounced off the mountain, crashing into a thatched roof of a house in a deserted village of the valley.
Aria couldn't reach him in time as he was thrown and watched his descent in agony. As she raced towards where he had landed, every alarm went off in her body. Eight crystalline beasts emerged from the thick forest, surrounding the building where Darius was, and Aria. With a heave, she coated the tiny shack in flame as she tried to stop the bleeding on the barely conscious house leader. Using her flames to heat her skin, she cauterized the wound on his head to stem the bleeding. The worse injury though, was the metal rod protruding through the side of his stomach. As stubborn as he was, Darius pulled the metal pole from his body, but the internal bleeding was severe. Apologetically, Aria plugged the gushing hole with a red hot finger, burning the hole closed as she removed it. The blood had mostly boiled away leaving an angry red mark.
As promised, she swore to protect her family, leaving the tattered building through her wall of flame to face the creatures alone. She knew she would need to tell them someday, but she would explain it to them later as she reached deep into herself, drawing her power from the endless molten pit. But she needed more, and thus she dove deeper, touching the pitch black beast that lurked deep within her.
A monster emerged. Her once blue hair, faded to an icy white. Eyes of forest green burned into a fierce sunset, and horns, red as the blood that covered her hands burst from her skull. On her back, wings as dark as the depths of the night unfurled. Red flame coated her body, fusing armor and transforming her wicked scythe. Within her psyche, her true self lay behind bars like a caged bird as this darkness took over her, ripping seven of the beasts apart as if they were nothing but paper. A war was waged within her as she confronted the last beast, her true self winning, only to be distracted as she transformed back. The creature lunged, powerful jaws tearing into her right arm, crushing the bone, but she would not waiver. Darius emerged then, having gained back enough of his strength. Pleading with him, Aria urged him not to kill the beast, as they needed to study it and find out it's connections with the necromancer. With a blast from his gun, the beast was ripped away from Aria, who used the last of her power to subdue it.
Quies, who had been resting in the manor, could tell that something was not right, running through the forest to find the grizzly scene, arriving right before Aria fell unconscious in front of her. While they were only thinking of her safety, Quies was furious at them for risking their lives like this. Rightfully so, her anger had no bounds, even as she helped bind their wounds and aided them as the moved back to the manor before evening fell and the valley would be dark. Reaching the manor safely, they tossed the beast into the most secure dungeon before going to get some much deserved rest. In the darkness, at the base of the mountain, a man cloaked in shadow smirked as he stood there, long after the group had left the forest, his wolves sitting nearby.
As their injuries healed, Darius, received a letter, black as the night, a blood red wax seal embellished with a V on the back. Inside, on crisp parchment, beautiful cursive writing held an invitation.
"In lieu of a member of your joining our family, we would like to extend an arm and reach out in hopes of forming an alliance. If you would be so inclined as to meet us, so that we may discuss terms."
As it turns out, Aria Traedore had received a formal invitation to join the Hellbond family, and after gaining the blessing from her Traedore family, she is now formally known as Aria Traedore-Hellbond.
It was dusk when they met, and they were greeted by two figures, cloaked in shadow. Darius was joined by Quies, his wife and advisor, and his Shield, Aria.
The two men shrouded in darkness introduced themselves as Vincent Von Hellbond, current leader of the Hellbond family, and Dyren Von Hellbond, Vincent's son and only heir, though soon to be head of the family.
Aria, as she was already acquainted with the Hellbond family, she spoke highly to them as she made known her Traedore family to them. As they all settled down, the discussion regarding terms came to light.
1. No invasions upon either land for any reason unless it is a documented visit.
2. Since the Traedore family is new and growing, the Hellbond family will help us with training of new recruits and providing training materials.
3. The Hellbond family, to help further the Traedore family, will help provide military battlements, soldiers and arms to secure more sites.
4. As equals, the Hellbond and Traedore families will be expected to back each family up on any battles that require aid.
5. Since Aria is a part of both families, if the Hellbond family requires her aid, they must ask the Head of House, Darius, for permission to take her from her other duties.
As all the terms were laid out before them, the party grew restless as the formalities were coming to and end, before Dyren stood, challenging Darius to a spar, to see what strength their new allies possessed. Staying to the side, Aria held Quies, to comfort his queen as he battled the Prince of Darkness.
