The Reminisces of Merkal Yorkshire

By Lavos

PART 1

Julius Thravos was born in the year 1350 and was raised in the city of Sigil in a middle class family. His father, the First Sword of Sigil at the time, taught him the ways of the warrior and the fighting arts. As well, his mother, a priestess from Rune, trained him such magical arts as healing, conjuration, and illusion. He trained fiercely during his childhood and teenage years to become the greatest warrior/mage to ever live.

By the time he was a youth of 20, he had become adept with almost every weapon and skill imaginable, and controlled more knowledge of magic than most wizards. He dreamt of creating and teaching in a guild where BOTH spells and proficiencies would be taught- the first ever of its' kind!

However, it was a well-known fact that before a guild could be opened, His Majesty Lord Vendredi must first be consulted. As anyone with that much talent and aptitude would do, Julius ventured forth into the castle with high hopes, only to find out that Lord Vendredi had acquired the deadly plague and wouldn't allow anyone, save for his servants, to see him. Julius was heart-broken, but not for long: the other close quest-master was in Vospire.

The mighty young warrior wore his armor, wielded an axe and was about to set off for Vospire, but his father wouldn't let him, insisting that the Ash Dragon would get him and char-boil his body before his quest could be completed! This crushed Julius' spirits even more, but being a child of such determination and sanguinity, he sneaked off in the middle of the night, armed with nothing but a strong will.

His journey was not a terribly long one, but it was a possibly life-threatening one, you see, rumors had been spread that there were strange, lizard-like creatures on the Mt. Vesuvius that ate anything that would pass through the north road! They were said to have been created by a mad sorcerer from inside the volcano and that they would attack anything upon sight, with breaths of fire, anyone whom they would detect passing their territory.

Julius had never passed through the area before and so had to stick to the North Road Leading from Sigil to Vospire. The road was horribly quiet and frightening enough in the morning, but now that it was night, there was not a single sound to be heard, save the occasional rustling in the bushes that seemed to follow Julius everywhere he went. Eventually the road got steeper as it reached the mountain, and the city of Sigil eventually turned into a slight blur. Julius trekked onwards and onwards until his legs collapsed beneath him with exhaustion. After tireless searching, he finally found a small cave in which he could rest. He decided against creating a fire, as it might attract the lizard-creatures. His weariness prevented him from concentrating enough to conjure up some food, he spent half an hour in attempt and ended up with a wheel from a cart, a skeleton hand, a broken helmet, and about 200 varieties of leaves. The worn-out Julius placed his head on the pile of leaves and fell into a deep sleep.

It was then I met my friend Julius. Let me explain how this occurred...

PART 2

My friend Julius, after a great deal of sleep, finally opened his eyes and closed them again in disacceptance. He even pinched himself-- at least he tried to. It was then that he realized he wasn't dreaming and that he was hanging upside down from the top of a cave from some sort of metal wire, with his arms and legs tied up. He looked around and saw me, suspended from the top of the cave in a similar fashion, my long black hair touching the cave bottom. I looked at the strange fellow. He was clean-shaven, with a stout build and great muscle. I saw a glint in his eye that forced me to have an instant infatuation for him. He noticed me as well and smiled weakly. He also noticed, next to me, a figure wearing a green robe with a hood over his head, grinning at the two of us as if we were the biggest fish he'd ever caught. I shuddered at the sight of him. The figure had white hair, and was hunched over on his back. He had a scraggly, white, beard and the most ugly, cruel, and twisted face one could possibly imagine. He was a ghastly sight indeed, one could even see some flesh falling off his cheek. I'd personally rather have been eaten by the legendary lizard-people than look at his ghastly face again!

After I had stared at him for awhile, trying to accept the fact that he was not just a figment of my imagination, the vision from hell spoke.

**Note to the reader: I shall address the robed figure as the vision from hell until the time comes to discover his name. I call him the vision from hell because no other words can describe his appearance.

"Hello, adventurers!" said he, grinning evilly "You are no doubt wondering what you are doing here and who I am--" He was interrupted by a loud grunt coming from the entrance of the cave.

What entered the cave now looked like a cross between a cat, a lizard, and an ape. The scaly, red creature stood on two feet, it's head looked like that of a Minotaur without horns- but with whiskers-, it had great white wings, a huge lizard-like tail, and looked like it was at least 8 feet high!

The creature grunted a few 'words' to the vision from hell, unleashing a smile upon his face, which as I mentioned before, looked more like a dead pumpkin than a human face; to this day, when I remember the sight of that ugly face smiling, I have nightmares for weeks.

"Urgforth asks if she can eat you yet," said the vision from hell, extending his toothless smile "These fire astronauchs tend to be somewhat impatient when they see a meal waiting to be devoured. The vision from hell began a conversation, or so it seemed, with the 'fire astronauch'.

While this strange conversation of grunts and sign language continued, Julius was quietly, but rapidly uttering some words to a spell. Suddenly, both of our metal shackles disappeared and even though we fell to the ground with a loud thud, he continued his incoherent muttering. The ropes around us loosened and I, being a monk and trained in the ways of the open hand, spinned a roundhouse kick directly at the jaw of Urgforth the fire astronauch.

The creature, with a fierce grunt, attempted to grab me with its arms when Julius thrust his hands into the creature's stomach and with a loud and sickening groan, it fell to the ground, bleeding from the hole in its stomach. I then noticed Julius' hands were flaming!

He uttered some more rapid lines of incoherent babble, and some sort of green, sticky, goo appeared out of his hands and onto the vision from hell, who quickly dived out of the web's reach.

As he got up, I quickly grabbed him by the throat and was going to administer a death grip when I suddenly felt a horribly cold feeling go through my body; I felt completely numb and couldn't move! The vision from hell started muttering something and thousands of electric, yellow sparks rose from his hands and flew towards Julius, who quickly uttered some more and as if to counterattack, thousands of blue sparks arose from Julius' hand and towards the vision from hell. What seemed like a stalemate continued for the next ten minutes, with sparks flying from one to the other and back! I hid under a large rock to protect myself from the backfire of sparks from their magic. Just then, Julius fell to the ground with a faint moan as yellow sparks flew out of the vision's hand and into Julius' chest. He screamed a loud cry of anguish. I growled and punched the figure in the stomach, when I realized that he was not only in front of me, but also behind. The Orseph behind me pulled out some sort of scepter from the back of his robe, and brought it down upon my head with such great force that I nearly fell unconscious. Julius tried getting up, but by that time, the vision from hell had muttered the words for another spell and the walls of the cave began flaming! Despite the fact that we couldn't escape, he continued with a line of spells that wrapped us in a web, then somehow silenced Julius, for a large piece of the web was over the poor soul's mouth.

"Now before I was so rudely interrupted, I was about to introduce myself…" said he "My name is Orseph, creator of the fire astronauchs."

"Why would anyone CREATE such evil creatures?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't I? You see, I am a necromancer and to find out how much potential my magic had, I came into these mountains and ran tests on my spell knowledge and learning abilities. The tests went incredibly well. I also tried to create new spells. After thirty years of intense training in black magic and its ways, I have, just last year, stumbled upon a spell that would create 'fire astronauchs'. They were formerly a legend, but now I've made them a reality. I've created a thousand of these and placed them around the North Road, to see how their battle skills were against humans and other creatures. It seems that in a matter of about three seconds, they could destroy anything, and anyone. You, young wizard, are the first to ever harm one of these beasts!"

"Anyway," he continued "I created a whole army of these and with the right amount of force, I believe I can become ruler of all Alyria! It was then that I realized I need some apprentices to lead these fire astronauchs wherever I order them to go."

"NEVER shall I work for such a cause!" my noble heart screamed at Orseph's mad delusions.

"Ah, but you wouldn't know you were helping me. You would both be dead. You forget that I am a necromancer- I can raise your corpses and tell them to do as I wish."

"If your army does attack, all of Lord Agrippa's soldiers will come and banish you!"

"Lord Agrippa's army is pathetic compared to my fire astronauchs. And once I teach them the magical arts, we shall be invincible!"

At that moment, I realized that Orseph wasn't delusional after all, that he really could rule over all Alyria!

"Now," smiled Orseph, pointing in my direction "Do tell me who you are..."

"What difference would it make whether I told you now or after I'd been raised from the dead?" said I

"I just wish to get acquainted with my future apprentices"

"I shan't tell you anything"

"SPEAK!" His smile had disappeared and he growled.

"No"

He was mad with fury, and then all of a sudden he calmed down and smiled once again. He looked at the pale body of the fire astronauch, lying on the floor. He concentrated on the body and began speaking strange words and in tongues that I'd never heard before. When he reached the climax of his mumbling, the creature's body began glowing with a light, pinkish, colour, and then began shaking violently. The hole in its stomach sealed and it snorted loudly as it rose to its feet.

"The great part about creatures that have been raised from the dead is that now they won't stop till their master's commands have been carried out."

"Now, Urgforth, kill the thin human and eat her as soon as I release her from her webs."

Orseph waved his scepter in the air and the sticky web around me fell.

Seeing a break, I ran toward the cave exit, but the astronauch grabbed me and pulled me in front of it. It towered over me, for I am only 6'4" tall, and it was almost 8 feet high. It roared and jumped at me, but I rolled to the left, pulled out my sword, and cut Julius' webs with it, for it occurred to me that he knew how to cast spells. He quickly ripped the webs from his mouth and spoke a short spell and there was an implosion of air in front of us, then an oval-shaped black portal appeared. Before I could stare at it, Julius pushed himself as well as me through the portal. The astronauch dived through it, but was too late and its head got seared and separated from its body.

It seemed that the sudden portal led us inside a marketplace because carts filled with vegetables and all sorts of foods, as well as people selling wares surrounded us. Upon stepping out of the portal, everyone stared at us for a brief second, then just applauded at Julius. My comrade bowed proudly and ushered me out of the market.

"Those people know you? How come they weren't surprised at your magnificent spell?" I asked him wondrously.

"I often test my spells around the town," he grinned "The people of Sigil don't quite mind."

"So we are in Sigil?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, my hometown. By the way, who, pray tell, are you and where are you from?"

"My name is Merkal Yorkshire and I come from the continent of Sepharia. I am a monk, and was born and raised in a monastery in the mountains of Rune. I am trained in the martial arts and my senses have been disciplined to detect anything out of the ordinary. Anyway, everyone in my clan has to perform a quest, man or woman, at the age of 20, when adulthood has begun. My particular quest is to search for a legendary kraken and bring back its head as proof. This brings me here." I paused for a second, remembering "I swam across the sea from Sepharia to this continent, Auryn. By the time I had crossed, I was exhausted. I made camp in the mountains north of here, and before I knew it, I was hanging upside down from a cave by a magical shackle!"

A look of empathy came across Julius' face. He then told me how he came to join me in Orseph's cave. After I had listened to his story, our eyes came into contact and we gazed into each other's eyes for the first time; and a warm feeling surrounded me within my heart.

"Er...Well...come, let me show you around." he stuttered nervously.

That afternoon I spent walking through Sigil with my only boy friend, as in my clan women aren't allowed to mix with men till their late 20s. I had already taken a liking to him and this tour let us get to know each other better. We walked by the attraction of Sigil: the general store, the armor store, the weapons shop, the library, the intricate labyrinth, and the island metal works. We lunched at Arthur's coffee and cakes, which by the way, makes marvelous food at a great price. Eventually, our tour led us to the northern gates of sigil, where my keen senses detected fire in the air.

"Does this place always smell of fire?" I wondered out loud.

"No. Never. Mt. Vesuvius is quite far away..."

"I sense something like a large forest fire northwest of here"

"It's most likely those dreaded astronauchs, Orseph may have decided to attack without teaching them the magical arts."

"The smell of fire grows stronger, I fear they're coming closer."

"Yes, even I can sense them now. We must warn everyone."

"Do you have an army here? With fireproof armor?"

"The sentry are strong. They may help us. We'll also send a plea for help to Vospire if these beasts are attacking."

Surely enough, from behind the distant hills, we could see an array of war banners proudly displayed over the heads of thousands of fire astronauchs, approaching at a steady speed toward us. Leading them was a shady figure, (from our distance), with a huge banner in front of him. Among all the chants and cries of the fire astronauchs, his shrieks of delight and anticipation were the loudest. We gaped at this spectacle with utter horror in our faces.

"Quick! They're approaching! Alert the sentry! I must ride off to Vospire and beg their help! There isn't a moment to lose!" Julius screamed these words at me, then grabbed a nearby horse hitched to a wooden post and rode off towards the west."

"Be careful, Julius!" I blew a kiss at him, which he caught just before fading out of view.

Dumbfounded as I was, I knew I had to act. I ran to the nearest guard outpost and alerted them of the situation. At first they seemed to think of it as a prank of some sort, then noticing the urgency of my tone of voice, they sounded the alarm. Almost instantly, citizens charged towards where I was from all over the town, armed with pots as helmets, and spatulas as weapons. The guards also joined in a minute later.

The head sentry raised his hands and the crowd's cursing and swearing slowed to a dull murmur.

"As you're all aware, rumors have been spread that strange lizard-creatures exist near Mt. Vesuvius. The alarm we sounded was to tell you that these very creatures are invading us. They will take no prisoners and neither should we! BUT, we're not perfectly sure that they're coming for us, but if they reach that hill…" he stopped yelling at the crowd and pointed towards a small, round, hill about 500 yards from us "…CHARGE!"

Everyone waited anxiously as they drew nearer and nearer. When the designated spot was treaded upon, and I saw yet the creatures were still advancing, the townsfolk all screamed loud cries of battle, and scurried into the fray. As helpless as I was, I joined in.

Orseph levitated into the sky and ordered his army to "ATTACK!" and as he sat in the air, you could see his hideous face smiling at the scene below him.

From that point on, a huge battle ensued, with human heads flying everywhere, and the occasional astronauch falling from a painful spatula-provoked wound. I myself was in the heat of the battle, piercing these seemingly invincible foes of ours with my bare hands and legs. I had just knocked down my current opponent, and noticed that next to me, an astronauch was about to lay a final blow over a small child, who had somehow entered into the confusion. I charged a spin-kick into its back and it barely moved, but now instead of finishing off the poor child, it fumed with rage at me. It dove at me, but I nimbly back-flipped into the air and heard it fall to the ground with a loud thud. I seized one of its legs and twisted it, hearing a bone crack. Satisfied, I walked toward my next victim…

The battle pursued, but with less energy- there were only a few of the astronauchs on the ground, which I dare say was my doing, yet several hundred humans lying incapacitated. The townsfolk were about to crawl on their knees and beg for mercy to the creatures, when we saw a cavalcade of lights and banners of war heading our way with top speed; in front of them, Julius was running, with a large axe in his hand.

I heard cries of praise and joy from the half-dead townspeople of Sigil like "Look! It's the Vospirian army!" "We're saved!" "These beasts shall get what they deserve!" and "God bless that young Julius".

Now night had fallen over the horizon, and the battle commenced all over again, and the power of Vospirian army soon started to overpower the fire beasts. They seemed to be on their last leg, when all of a sudden, Orseph waved his arms around and the beasts began glowing with shields of fire! To add to this, they even started BREATHING fire at us!

Our cheeriness faded and now we were on the losing side! In a matter of minutes, the most of the Vospirian army's armor was nearly burnt to a crisp. One of the astronauchs would have burned my legs off if I weren't as dexterous as I was. We were nearly doomed, when out of the midst rose Julius. He began speaking some words of a spell and almost simultaneously, the roar of thunder was heard overhead. The rain that followed after this thunder was a blessing. Smoke spewed from the astronauchs bodies and with the strength of the army of Vospire, they were soon overcome. But before any rejoicing could begin, all eyes turned to the thin, wet, man whimpering in mid-air. Julius started speaking the words of a spell with his hands pointed at Orseph, but before he could finish, the evil little man also cast a spell and accelerated out of sight, howling "You may have won the battle, but not the war!"

We watched him disappear into the shadows of the night. Then with sudden joy and with tears of victory and triumph in my eyes, I ran over to Julius and gave him a long and passionate kiss, one that I didn't expect to come from me.

After the troops from Vospire had returned, a victory march proceeded, followed by the biggest party in the history of Alyria with food, dancing, and good cheer spread everywhere. I undertook my quest and found a legendary kraken after much hunting, but at the prospect of leaving my newfound love, I didn't know what I was going to do. We eventually came upon the idea that Julius would come with me to Rune, and we did just that.

Now that I write these memoirs, Julius and I married upon our arrival to Rune, and we've lived here since, doing the occasional quest for Lord Agrippa. Julius decided against creating a magic/fighting guild in one room and instead built a small magic/fighting dojo in the mountains, hidden from sight, where he trains the most elite ninja armies with magic and fighting skills. If ever the threat of the astronauchs returns, we will be ready...