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Durian and the Dragon Knights

Also included: Khel's Keep

Shroud of Madness

Intro

Evil surrounds him like a shroud. He casts a shadow over every life that he encounters. For good or ill, it's to the victim to decide.
He's been branded as both "the devil" as well as some sort of dark angel by various religions. He is an anomaly of the natural order. Everyone is so used to black and white, good and evil. No one ever stops to think of the gray fence in between the two sides of morality. He is the embodiment of this anomaly.
Insane, but stable. Evil, but noble. Dangerous, but compassionate. Devious, yet honorable. He is all of these. He is none of these.

There lies the contradictory nature of any God of Madness, and it confuses millions of people at a time.

He is Supreme Commander Matthias Swan, God of Madness. He has arrived in Tyria in his involuntary yet 'standard' realm-hop. Whenever this happens he generally does one of two things. He either repairs the realm, or destroys it.

Chapter 1, Part 1

Of course, there are those in Tyria that are not out to change the world, though it's exactly those who usually do.

So then there's Nikki.

An ordinary woman by most standards. Despite her love of nature (specifically, the snow), she decorates her hair with simple beads and string. She's of medium height, but is still short to most humans. This only amazes the Norn more as she is able to overcome any challenge set before her. They don't know the half of it.

An even more extraordinary feat by a rather simple woman; She was able to befriend a renegade Charr by the name of Crystalspike. She showed a heightened amount of kindness to him in his time of need, and he offered his sword, shield, and general companionship in return.
She spoke very little to him at first, but offered the most heartfelt smile. That seemed to ease the beast.
Even though she shows compassion to human and beast alike, her kindness is hidden behind the jaded exterior of her past. Nothing terrible traumatic or tragic, but she ran away from it for a reason.

One night at a campfire, Crystalspike had to inquire on her reasoning. It was a slow moving night that felt like daytime to them both as the moon and stars illuminated the snow around them.
"I have not asked much in return, Nikki. But there is something I would like to ask. I have only been given tidbits of your past and I have always had trouble piecing it together," Spike said, waiting on a response. She merely shrugged, silently giving him permission to continue.
"Finally, I understand it. All but one thing. You fled your royal bloodline because you were used, not appreciated. You have purged yourself of -that- family. Now, this is theoretical, but, would you try again? A new line, new family, new lands... And new people."
"I don't like people," Nikki stated.
"We both know that's a lie, Nikki."
She sighed, he was correct. She tries to distance herself from people and their politics, but she longed to interact with it all once more, under a different rule. Though, she would not admit this easily.
"That wouldn't be a simple thing to do, Spike."
"I like how you answered the question without answering the question, Nikki," he laughed. The charrish snarl very obvious now. He's normally very articulate. "You would make a wonderful politician."
Nikki couldn't help but give a short snicker in return, but the answer she gave was true to herself. Getting her back in power would not be easy.

Chapter 1, Part 2

In the Shing Jea Monastery, a young servant girl is being chastised by her dependent cookmaster. Another dream came to her, and as such, a new set of insults and other put-downs. She had a prophetic dream about a far away land later identified as Elona, but was insulted for being ridiculous.
If only this girl knew how correct she was. Years ago, she had a dream about an old mage man forming into a frightening Lich. That same one is hiding and preparing for his Armageddon. But she never hears a word.
Not very long afterward, she had a dream about Master Togo. He died days later in the Imperial Sanctum, it took several weeks for this news to get to the Monastery. But all of her acquaintances figured it to be coincidence.
Barely three years later, she had a dream about Kormir. And again, in her isolation she never knew if what she saw was true.
A couple of years after that, taking this story to present day, to a young adult woman named Caroline. A great fiery demon in the underground haunts her mind, and she is helpless. Useless, even, as some would say. She may never know the truth of it, if there is any to be found.

Caroline, an odd girl in her own right. Her name isn't terribly Canthan, but her skin-tone and other features prove it, at least for her guardians. She dressed in rags, often had dirt on her arms, legs, and face. She did however, try very hard (and succeeded) in making her hair very proper. Her parents are unknown, and she was 'dropped off' at the Monastery. Her early life showed that she was unfit to be a student, so she worked as a servant. She fetched food, cleaned, etc. She was never too angry about it, it's all she knew. She was on perturbed at being consistently rejected as an official student, despite her obvious displays of power, mind and general competence.

It could be, that she became too old for them. At this particular present, she was approximately twenty-seven years old. Some of the professors finally agree that this was too old to be either a servant or student. She was given a couple hundred gold pieces and set to the Seitung Harbor, and there she waited for the next ship to take her to Kaineng.

This confused Caroline to an extent. Why now? What will she do when she arrives? Sure, she has some common sense and accumulated knowledge over the years, but in the long-run she knew very little.

What's worse, she had no dreams or visions of this event.
She was walking blind.

Chapter 1, Part 3

In a different continent entirely, many years ago, there was yet another woman named Shizuma. All her life she lived in the solitude of her mother's Vabbian estate. Most of her intelligence was self-taught or tutored by her mother. The father went southward to help fight for the Kournans (which was his own nationality). Shizuma and her mother grew increasingly displeased with his absence and general lack of support for the family. (To be fair, it was hardly needed). A few days before his return home, the mother fired all the men in her lands and replaced them with women. Even the father was confused, as he wasn't allowed past the front door. Shizuma was approximately six years old at this point, and she peered out a window as her parents yelled at each other. To be fair once again, the mother did most of the yelling. Eventually, he left and took all his belongings (which were all conveniently stocked in a crude shed outside).
Divorces didn't happen very often, people generally stayed together until death or murder do they part.

And thus, began the warp of Shizuma's mind. Over the years she began to fancy other girls that worked for her, much like her own mother did as well. This personality quirk wasn't well hidden and they garnered a lot of criticism in their direction. All the same, it was never enough to have Shizuma's family banned from nobility.
Eventually, Shizuma did choose to leave the estate. She heard of the troubles outside, and when she was around twenty years old, she traveled to Istan to aid them.

Istan, to her, felt a lot like Vabbi. It has as much of a caste system and just as much drama as she's used to. It suited her.
It was here Shizuma met a very strange man. A man who did not dress like anyone she's ever seen. He wore a long black jacket, comparable to what some rangers wear. He had glasses like she heard the Asuran made for some people, but they were shaded. He wore gloves that seemed to be made out of a material she could not identify, and carried an ornate cane that signified he was some sort of noble. The most distinguishing feature, was his funny looking hat. She didn't know what to call it other than "Silly". Shizuma assumed he may have been Canthan.

Shizuma mulled about Istan for a few weeks, and the strange man she saw faded in the backgrounds of her memory. She helped the area a good bit, many of the locals were appreciative that the Vabbians showed interest. She had to respectfully correct them, noting she was there independently. No one seemed to mind this fact, they were glad to have her.

One day, she was sitting on a pier of Beknur Harbor, contemplating her departure as she heard rumors about Kourna. She then spotted the strange man from before, he was walking towards her. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him, as her disposition towards men hasn't gone anywhere but down over the years, but she'd be fair under the logic that if his garb was so strange, maybe his personality would be as well.
He walked next to the bench she was sitting on, and said nothing at first. He gave a large grin, which made her nervous. It wasn't the flirty kind of smile, nor the creepy 'I want to club you and drag you off to a cave' kind of smile either. It was the kind of the grin that gave an indication that this man knew exactly what he was doing at any given moment. Shizuma expected he would not stay silent for long.
Some minutes went by without a word, as they both merely appreciated the wind and water. The stranger took a deep breathe of clean Istan air and stated "Hello" in the same smug manner as his smile was.
Her impatience with him had built up ever since he arrived so she replied, "Do you want something?"
He spoke in the self-satisfying tone as before, starting a trend. "Why, yes. I want to introduce myself. I am Commander Matthias Swan. But please, call me M."
"M?"
"As in the letter, yes."
"Right. What do you command?" She avoided mentioning her own name, but a deep part of her, perhaps women's intuition, figured he already knew it.
"A paramilitary of sorts, called the Vanguard. An Agency that seeks to destroy any presence of demons, undead, and to a lesser extent, criminals."
M seemed very to-the-point, Shizuma thought. This only confirmed her previous theories that he seemed to know what he was doing, and this was no random encounter.
"You're telling me this... why?"
"Well Shizuma," he stated as if to confirm thoughts she had not twenty seconds ago. "I want you to be a part of it. A passive part, little conflict."
"Diplomatic in nature?"
"Precisely."
Shizuma didn't care much but asked anyway, "Does it pay?"
"Always," he grinned again. The devious smile seemed to be permanent.
"Alright. I guess I'll give it a go."
"Of course. However Shizuma, you don't get something for nothing. One tiny, partially irrelevant test. Find my base in the Desolation, I want to see if you're a good explorer and not just all talk and good-looks." Shizuma wanted to be offended by this, but it sounded more sarcastic than flirtatious. "We can speak further there," and with nothing else, he walked off. His job was done. Was hers?

Shizuma hated the Desolation. Despite it being a requirement to travel in a Junundu's stomach (they are as so kind to not digest her, though), the very air could be lethal. Not exactly a splendid afternoon at a clean Harbor.

After a couple of days at sea, another week of getting to the Desolation, and a few more for exploration, Shizuma was getting rather annoyed. Finally, she came across a black and green flag with a decorated letter "" on it. She had never seen this symbol before, and pursued the path. It took a couple of hours, but she sulfuric patches were less frequent and was in a mostly normal desert again. Right over a couple of dunes, she spotted a large skull on top of a seemingly abandoned temple-like edifice. She say the same flag, and went ahead inside.
It was very barren, only a few black-garbed soldiers were wandering around doing odd jobs like sweeping stairs or stacking crates of supplies.

Shizuma came across the main stairs, to what seemed to be a main platform. There was a single being wearing a sleeved robe with spikes and chains for decorations. Several symbols and runes as well, none of which she recognized. He was unhoodded. His hair was braided in rows, his eyes glowed red, and the most unnerving thing of it all, he bore demon-like teeth that also seemed to glow as well.
It took her a minute, but the being grinned at her and was immediately able to identify it as M, the man she met in Istan a few weeks ago. She was scared, and confused.
"Welcome to my humble abode," he said with a smirk. Though, his otherworldly look hindered her ability to read his emotions. But she can take a good guess.
"You're... M?"
"Yes I believe we met already, in a less truer-form," his voice scared her the most. It seemed distorted and possibly echoed, like ghosts in ghost stories. Despite all this, he seemed to take on a friendly demeanor to lessen the emotional impact of how he looks and sounds.
"So," he spoke to break the silence. "Are you going to stare at my teeth all day or would you like to get to work?"
"To the point as always, M." "Indeed. I need you to locate and recruit a woman named Nikki," he said. This pleased Shizuma already for... obvious reasons.
"I can only give a vague location, she frequents the North Shiverpeaks, among the Norn and their territory. She generally stays away from populated outposts. Doesn't like people. One thing of note, she is accompanied by a Charr, so she didn't difficult to spot."
"Okay, and...?"
"Ah, yes. The point. Apologies, my mind has been... fragmented of late. Yes, let her know what my Vanguard does, give her this location. A simple messenger mission, it doesn't matter if she accepts or refuses."
"Sounds pointless."
"Irrelevant. I just want her to know she isn't alone, and has allies in this world."
"Fair enough," Shizuma said, ready to head off.
"One more thing. Don't try to seduce her, please. There's enough on her mind, we don't need to toss romance in the mix," his grin wasn't there not. All business. Shizuma also blushed, wondering how he 'knew'. But she nodded, and shuffled off.

This all seemed very odd to her, however. Especially the relevance or importance.
She'll find out some day.

Chapter 1, Part 4

A couple of years ago, another woman's fate lies in the dark bogs of Istan. This one's name is Namuen, an Istani sunspear. She was a more casual spearwoman than zealous, occasionally doing her duty by clearing out Corsairs and brigands. To her, it was more like a job than Istani patriotism but she enjoyed it well enough.
One particular day, she followed a lead on a large corsair nest in the vicinity of Blacktide Den, and pursued it alone. This may have been a bit foolish but easy-information like the hint she received, generally prove to be unreliable. This time, it did not. She unwittingly stumbled into a medium-sized corsair camp. She was captured, but not after killing a few of their men.
Namuen was forced into temporary slavery or a few hours until they decided her resistant nature was not worth their trouble.

The next day, Ironfist arrived in the camp. He demanded entertainment and an improvised arena was made in the ground. Quite obviously, they decided to use their new captive as the primary opponent.
Man after man, Namuen slayed with her bare hands. Already knowing her fate, she studied escape routes, breaks in the corsair lines, and their fighting styles. Specifically, the sounds of their footwork. Ironfist, becoming impatient and unnerved that a lone sunspear woman was single-handedly killed a better part of twenty men, had the surrounding forces restrain her as he approached to rip her eyes out. For entertainment purposes, of course.
Part of her expected him to do something like this, and bested several more corsairs. Finally, she was able to break free from the ring of men to run off. Ironfist did not pursue, figuring her blind and useless, an odd thought after her resilience. It's possible that he secretly feared such a woman.
Namuen did not roam far for her sunspear comrades to find her. She was quickly aided, but her eyes weren't even there to repair.

It was here her life took a strange turn. The same night of the day her eyes were torn from her head, she had strange dreams. Like any dormant power of a human being, it often comes in the form of dreams and visions.
Namuen felt like she was in the mists, she could see hundreds of ghosts and spirits. They all hissed and clawed at the column she was standing on, out of their reach.
She woke up to pure darkness, and knew her only solace would be in her dreams, or another world entirely.

Namuen gave her farewells to her friends, comrades, and her parent's graves. She planned to head off for Cantha. There, she would plead her case and prove that she was able to see into the beyond. She was led to Shing Jea Monastery, where Togo's kind spirit allowed Namuen to become on of the only non-canthan students. (There have only been a few scattered in the Monastery's past).

For the next couple of years, she pursued the arts of the Ritualist. This was boggling to most, as very few ritualists are truly blind. This Elonian however, was.
She also learned a few languages (most of them Canthan in nature, of course) as well as battle tactics for the blind. She wasn't a top student, but was very competent and continued to prove that her admission to the Monastery was not a waste.
But over time, she also became very bored, and distant. There was very little for her to do in the ending years of school. Namuen was only able to see objects in her near vicinity, like people or objects. She couldn't read, or study. Overall, everyone but the professors alienated her.

One night, she dreamed of a being with red eyes and teeth. It was grinning at her.