The W&W of Amaranthia




Come in, Come in. You must be tired and drenched. Warm yourself by the fire. What are you doing out in such foul weather? Are you lost or just foolhardy? No matter. Sit here, I am sure you will find it to be most comfortable. You just sit back and relax. I think I can help you to get your mind off that terrible storm. Sip your warm cider and rest your mind, for I have a story that may be of interest to you. While you dry yourself and warm your bones, I shall begin my tale.







The Witches and Warlocks Guild

The Resurrection










The night was cold and wet, the storm was relentless in its pursuit of destruction, much like tonight. The wind was howling, the trees were bare and standing defiantly against the storm that made one feel they were being chased by the hounds of hell.




In the distance there could be seen a gray castle that had seen better days, but to the lone traveler, it was beautiful. The cold, exhausted and soaked man pushed open the doors and stood inside a dirt, damp and musky entryway. As he pushed the doors closed against the rain and the gusting winds, he had the feeling that he was not alone, that he was being watched. Shaking off the paranoia, he wandered through many of the rooms in the castle, he finally found a fireplace. Breaking some of the old furniture he found scattered about into kindling, he made a fire. As the chill began to leave his bones and his clothes and body began to dry from the rain, he still felt that someone or something were aware of his every move.




Suddenly the fire sparked and the flames jumped and caused the man to start. In that quick moment, he was astonished to see his reflection in an old mirror that was varnished with age and disuse. The man had long straight silver hair that reached his shoulders, he had eyes the color of death ~ the intense blackness of them was always a shock up first glance, his skin was the pale color of the moon on a clear night ~ it could even be said that he was the color of death, he stood tall and lean ~ but there was a strength inside that many men had the misfortune to taste firsthand. Chuckling to himself at his own fright at nothing more than his reflection, he turned back to the fire when he thought he heard his name echoed in the wind “Vlad. Come to me Vlad. Come home, return to us. We are waiting.”




Looking around he saw no-one and heard nothing more. As he was about to sit in the chair he had pulled near the fire he felt a hand on his shoulder and a soft feminine voice speak “Welcome home Vlad. You have been gone for far too long. Is there anything that you desire, Master Lich King?” Whirling around quickly he saw nothing more than a puff of smoke, or at least that is what he told himself it was. Seating himself heavily in the chair, he gazed into the fire and wondered if he were loosing his mind or if he were just delirious from exhaustion.

While staring into the flames, though not really looking at them, he was startled to be able to make out a woman's face in them. He could see her soulless eyes, her mouth, and her hair. While he watched mesmerized, he saw a hand form and reach out to him.

“Come with me Vlad. Follow me and be forever free.”

He had no recollection of moving, but something was pulling him to follow that voice. Just as the flame was ready to consume his outstretched hand, he was pulled back roughly by a pair of soft hands.

“No! Be gone, banshee! You shall not have this one!! He is ours and to us he shall return. So go now, before I call on the hounds of hell.”

Vlad recognized the voice as the one he heard earlier and watched as the face in the fire disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Suddenly feeling weaker and more tired than he had ever been in his life, he leaned heavily on the woman whose body was now his only means of support. Staggering under his weight, the woman helped him to the chair and found a small stool upon which to rest his feet. While she was busy looking for the stool, Vlad took that time to get a good look at the woman that had saved him. He already knew that she stood to just under his chin, and he was 6'2”, but now he noticed that she had long jet black hair that reached beyond her waist with streaks of silver, she had smooth white skin and eyes the color of the sea during a storm ~grayish green, her lips were the color of ripened strawberries and she had a full figure. Managing a feeble word of thanks, he fell into a deep and troubled slumber.




As he slept, he dreamed and the dreams were intense yet at the same time he knew that they were his memories.

He saw himself dressed not in the clothes he donned earlier this morning, but rather all black from head to toe and wearing a long cape of black with blood red velvet on the underside. He saw the woman from earlier, but could not recognise the name she uttered. There were children playing around him, or rather they were on the opposite side of the cobblestone street. Parents grabbed them and ushered them indoors quickly as he got nearer. There was the unmistakable stench of fear in the air as he passed by people and terror shone in their eyes, at least in the ones that were brave enough to look directly into his. He found himself standing in a long hallway and being escorted to room that was hidden from the view of the casual onlooker. As he seated himself he saw that there were many people here, men and women. They all seemed to look to him for guidance, for answers, for reassurance. Suddenly, there came into the room a stranger, though all were on alert, the stranger appeared to be harmless, only wanting to present a gift to the Lich King. After accepting the gift, a gold and diamond ring, the stranger left. Vlad saw himself return to what he gathered was his home, a huge gray castle that seemed to rise out of the very earth and was suspended by nothing more than his breath. Vlad watched his dream self retire for the night and rise the next morning. After putting on yet another outfit of all black and the now familiar cape, he left the castle and mounted a white stallion with black stockings and ice blue eyes. The scene changed in the dream to the room he had been in the previous day, as he roamed the room he could make out that the people there were searching for him and that he had been missing now for more than 500 years. Suddenly, someone barges into the room and is dragging the stranger from what was only a day ago, but actually centuries ago. The stranger stammers out that he was paid to deliver the ring of forgetfulness, funny how easily things spill off one's tongue when a blade is against your throat. Now that they knew what had caused him to vanish, they just had to find him, was the common cry in the room. The stranger, having been forgotten in the excitement, slid safely away. There was a murmur among the crowd that there had to be someway to locate the Lich King, something they have not tried. A woman came forward and said that there may just be a way. She cleared a section of the room and began to chant and sway. The faster she chanted the faster and more frenzied she began to sway. She stopped quickly and pointed to the east. You will find who you seek in the east, she stated just seconds before her exhausted body collapsed to the floor. The people all left the room and traveled to the east. There were only a knight in full armor and the woman who had found his location, left to safeguard the castle.




Vlad began to toss and turn and he could feel his heart beating faster and faster, just what was he seeing. He is something or someone called a Lich King, he knew this was impossible, there is no way he could be hundreds of years old. Just on the edge of wakefulness he could hear movement and the sounds of voices making strange sounds, not speaking but not singing either ~ something like a combination of the two.

He finally opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the woman from last night, and realized how much she resembled the woman in his dream. She began to approach him as he stood up. He was more refreshed and alert than he had been last night, and the closer the woman got to him the colder the air around him became. Seeing the confusion in his black ebony eyes, she halted her approach. With a feeling of deja-vu, he watched her reach out a hand in his direction – much like the woman in the fire last night. And just like then, he was compelled to take her hand, to step into something that he did not fully comprehend.




When he reached her side and actually touched her hand, he felt like he had been branded and frozen at the same time. She told him “My name is Maren, but Rhianon's Whip may be more familiar to you. Welcome home Lich King. You have traveled long and far, it is time for you to return to the fold now. We have searched the ends of the earth and the dips in time to locate you. Your transition back will be painful, but just for a short time, I promise. Are you ready?” Having not a clue of what she meant, but trusting the calmness in her voice and the conviction in her eyes he said yes and followed her. They ascended a set of circular stairs that ended at a long dark corridor. It felt as if they had been walking the length of this corridor for the longest of time, yet it really took no time at all. Vlad could barely make out the shape of another doorway ahead, and as he and Maren proceeded in that direction, there appeared a man in full knight armor. He barred their going any further. Maren took the man aside, and after words were exchanged between them – words that Vlad was unable to hear or rather understand, the knight stood aside and let them proceed. Maren turned to Vlad and answered his unspoken question. That man was Argoyle – The Tempestarii Knight, he is the keeper and protector of our sanctum.

She had just finished telling him about the knight, when he saw they were at the door he had seen further back in the corridor. The door was opened by two young men. They were almost as tall as he and they called him Master. He later learned that they were called Haggie – The Black Templar ~ who in the distant future would be known as Stevie and Nick – The Chaos Mage. He was passed to a group of women that were to help prepare him for the upcoming ceremony. The women were Ogre – Irmo's Weaver, Mythra – Nebet ~ Sekhemet's Heir, Witchcraft – Maleficious Lamia, and Tsis – Embracer Of The Light and The Dark, who bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman who danced and found his location in the dream. While he was waiting for what was to come, he looked around and saw a beautiful woman sitting in the midst of the walking dead. She looked at him and smiled. The look in her eyes was mirrored in the others that he had met, but there was something that set her apart from the others. She turned her attention back to the minions that surrounded her and laughed at his confusion. He later learned that she was Frost_ Star - Demon Hunter.

Maren returned for him and led him to a chair. A hooded man approached and he could feel the tension in Maren as she stood beside him, she stepped aside and the hooded man stood directly in front of him. Appearing to be presenting Vlad with a scepter, he managed to slide the charmed gold and diamond ring off Vlad's hand and replace it with an exact duplicate made of tin and glass. As he stepped away, Vlad saw that the man and Maren each exchanged some kind of commumication through a small, yet barely noticeable, nod. When she stood next to him again, Vlad could not feel a trace of the tension that was in her prior to this moment. The hooded man was later to be identified as Kleptin – The Black Dagger ~ Master Thief. Before he could ask any questions Vlad was again handed off to someone else. This time yet another man who seated him in the chair and arranged the others into some sort of circle. He will be later called Sierra.Freak – The Master of Past and Present.




No sooner had he been seated and the others positioned as they were directed, did he see fire appear and followed closely by another hooded figure dressed all in black carrying a scythe. The fire and the figure approached Vlad slowly to the rhythm of the chanting and ritualistic dancing of the others in the room. He could not see more people than those that he had personally seen, but the volume of the chants and various tones made him think there were many many more hidden in the darkness. The fire was the first to reach him. When it did, Vlad felt nothing but warmth, affection and kindness as it consumed him – the first time he had really felt those emotions in what seemed like a lifetime. As suddenly as those feelings came to him their opposites appeared – he felt cold, anger and evilness ~ these he knew well for they were old friends. Looking down he saw that he was on fire and the heat from the flames were unbearable and he could do nothing but watch and scream while he saw his flesh as it burned. Vlad wanted to rise from the chair, to escape, but something that he could not see was restraining him. The more he screamed, the louder the chants became. The louder the chants, the tighter the restraints.




The scythe wielder moved and drew his attention. The hooded figure had no face, empty sockets where the eyes should have been, Vlad knew beyond a doubt he was looking into the face of death. Vlad could only watch in horror as the tip of the scythe lowered slowly and began to slice bits of his flesh. He begged for mercy to whoever was listening, but the only response he got was the continuing mutilation of his charred body by the scythe wielder. The pain was intense and the agony was excruciating.

He wondered where the hell was Maren or the others, why didn't they say something or do something to stop this torture. He had taken all he could take and was just on the verge of either passing out or in the last stage of death, he never knew which, when the room got quiet and the pain was gone. Lifting his head he looked around and saw that the others were standing exactly where they had been before the torture began. With confusion he looked down at his body and did not see any burn marks nor could he discern any traces of blood on his clothes from the slicing done by the scythe. Not bothering to wait for answers, Vlad jumped to his feet and started to run for the door when he realized that he was not moving and that his feet were not touching the floor. He was floating. He turned back to the people that were somehow involved in what could only be termed – his nightmare. As he looked at them he realized that he knew them all by name.




Unbeknownst to himself his memory was returning. He raised his arms and uttered ~ Ultimae – Villdred – Septum – Lichkus – Oraflee ~ the room was suddenly bathed in light. Looking around him, Vlad saw his friends from long ago and the courageous ones that dared to invade his personal space to help him find his way back. He smiled at his family – for that is what they were, he muttered that it was good to be home and proceeded to repair the damage that time had done to his castle, their sanctuary...their home.





I can see that you are weary from your journey, you can rest here if you like. Fine, let me show you to your room. I can see that you have some questions, feel free to ask them. Hmmm.... Yes, I do believe that to be a true account of how that guild became resurrected. What is that you said? You don't think that there are such things as witches and warlocks? Ha- ha- ha. Well, well.... that is interesting. Well here is your room. I hope you rest well.

I shall bid you goodnight. You have two more questions for me. Ok, I will do my best to answer them.

Where did the Lich King go during all that time? To tell you the truth, no-one really knows. All that was heard and passed down was that he roamed the world learning more about mortals than any warlock or witch should or could ever hope to learn.

What is my name?







You can just call me Vlad or the Lich King, if you prefer.







Written by: Tsis – Embracer Of The Light and The Dark

~aka~

burnettchic8