1. stolen moon

 

PROLOGUE | STOLEN MOON | WANING CRESCENT | SACRED SANDS | FALLEN SELENE | EPILOGUE

Stolen Moon

FIELDS OF SELENE
John Noble and his horse, Stella, emerge from a forest into a wide expansive meadow. John has been traveling for 2 ½ days and the pair take a break under a tree that sits on a hilltop. They look out over the surrounding countryside and see the city of Selene in the distance. Outside of the city is the small town of Skyvale at the edge of where the farmland begins.

John takes a drink of water as he contemplates his next move. He is reminded of something in his saddlebag and pulls out a small pouch. In it, he studies a golden medallion that shines in the daylight. He then hears a scream in the distance below the hill. John puts the medallion around his neck unwittingly and prepares to investigate the cry.

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As he rounds the hill, he sees two knights are engaged in a swordfight, one in white armor and one in black. The man in white defends a woman who is behind him. The man in white armor loses his sword and is knocked down. The man in black intends to finish him with his sword but John tackles him and they fall off of the road and into the brush.

The man in black chides him and asks what he is doing. John ignores this and attempts to fight him, taking a hit to the face. He retaliates but the black knight states that he is an actor. John is confused but before he can speak further, he turns and is hit with a blast of wind. The girl from before is kicking up a whirlwind around her and sends another gust at John, throwing him into a nearby tree. John realizes his mistake as guards from Selene approach.

The three knights investigate the altercation and the largest knight in expensive armor introduces himself as the Lunar Guardian. His real name is Michael and he wishes to speak with John privately. After the misunderstanding is resolved, the girl named Rosa, invites John to the play that they were rehearsing for. He finds that he came to Selene during the Summer Moon Festival and Rosa and the others are performers for the event. John thanks her and she and the other actors leave. Michael then speaks with John.

Michael asks him questions about his travels to get to know who he is. He explains that as the High Champion of Selene, he needs to know who is coming to his city and John had bypassed checkpoints on the roads. John explains that he wanted to stay off the roads and keep to the forest for some peace and quiet. Michael understands his need for solitude and welcomes John to Selene. He only needed to ask, as there have been suspicious characters lurking about, lately. He knows John is not one of them now. Michael then gives John a marker for a free stall for his horse at an expensive stable. Because of the festival, most other stables would be full at this time. John thanks him and rides toward the city gates.

THE STABLES
John crosses the southgate and enters Selene. He sees people of all ages hurrying toward the main square heading to the festivities. After finding the stable, he checks in and comforts Stella before he leaves. At the stalls, a young girl sees Stella and tells John how beautiful she is. The two start a conversation and the girl introduces herself as Nadia. She explains that she likes to see all of the new horses that have arrived before the evening. Nadia plans to walk the festival and asks if John would like to accompany her. He agrees and they leave toward the square.

THE FAIR
As they walk, they pass several events as well as a Black Jester who juggles for them. They pass several tents as they walk. The first tent is for vials of dye that Nadia is interested in for garment making. She, however does not buy a vial she was looking at. She had only wished to browse and continues to look at other trinkets in the next tent. John buys it for her in secret.

Before John can give her the vial, Nadia sees several games and excitedly urges John to play them with her. As they go, the pair almost bump into the Black Jester who almost drops his juggling sticks. Nadia apologizes as she runs toward an archery game. John then holds onto the vial for now. Nadia wins at an archery game and John wins at a puzzle game. After that, they reach the stage where the actors from earlier are in the middle of their performance.

The pair watches the play from the back of the stage as the two knight fight for the princess. John sees the end that he interrupted earlier, where the black knight disarms the white knight. Before the killing strike, the black knight is blown off the stage by the princess who is revealed to the audience to be a Champion. John tries to hide his embarrassment from his run in with them earlier. The performance truly starts there, and Rosa does a spectacular exhibition of her wind powers. She is apparently a Champion that can create gusts of wind with her movement. John is still somewhat skeptical of her powers but believes her to be a talented showman nonetheless. Nadia becomes visibly worked up by his skepticism toward Champions. John finally learns a little more about Champions and High Champions.

To smooth the situation over, John finally tells Nadia that he got his black eye when he interrupted their performance earlier. They share a laugh as Nadia teases him about it. John was embarrassed but finally sees the humor in it. Nadia sees John’s impulse to help. Before the performance ends there is a large gust that impresses everyone including John. It is here that Nadia's hood flies off revealing that she has small white antlers underneath her hood. Neither John nor anyone else notices because of the grand finale. She pulls it back on quickly before anyone notices. However, the Black Jester had been following them. He was the only person to see that she has the antlers of a Faun Elf as well as red hair. The Black Jester takes a strange interest in this.

THE FOUNTAIN OF THEIA
John and Nadia end the night at the statue of the late Queen Theia of Selene. John notices that the Queen’s crown resembles antlers. Nadia informs him that the Queen was a Faun Elf so they are actual antlers and not a crown. The statue sits in front of a fountain that overlooks a set of stairs and the main square below. Another set of stairs leads up to a courtyard in front of the Crescent Keep, the main castle of Selene. Nadia thanks him for a nice time and is disappointed that he is not staying in the city longer. John is disappointed as well saying the he hopes he will see her again someday. Nadia suggests they meet again somewhere and they agree that they meet at the lone oak tree in the Starfall Fields, where John rested when he first arrived.  One day they will meet again at the tree. They then part ways at the statue.

Nadia ascends the stairs and looks back to John as he leaves. She turns back to see the Black Jester juggling for her. John stops in an alleyway and looks at the vial that he forgot to give to Nadia. He turns back toward the statue to catch her before she leaves. As he returns, he sees the Black Jester put Nadia to sleep with some kind of powder. He attempts to call out but a fire breather blows a flame and John sees that the Jester is gone. The fireworks start as John loudly yells out about what happened. Two guards come from the courtyard and ask what happened. John exclaims that a young girl has just been taken by a Jester. He picks up a small broach that was pinned to Nadia’s hood that must have fallen off. The guards seem to recognize it and are even more concerned afterward. John sees the jester jump over a rooftop and gives chase. He does not hear the guards ask if the girl was a Faun.

Running through alleyways, John keeps up with the Jester as he disappears over the last rooftop near the wall of the city. John runs up the stairs leading to the walkway along the city walls but sees nothing. He looks over the wall into the moat and sees something in the darkness. The Jester had climbed over the edge and into a boat. The boat is speeding away somehow, faster than rowing and is nearly to the far edge of the moat.

The guards finally catch up on the wall and witness John jumping into the water in pursuit of the Black Jester.

Falling into Night

John Noble will be following the trail of the kidnapper in the forest surrounding Selene. He finds that their are tracks of a cart leading deeper into the forest. The Lunar Guardian, High Champion of Selene, will catch up to him along with two other guards. John explains the situation after the guards initially mistakes him as being part of the kidnapping. After confirming that the girl had red hair, they ask if the girl had antlers like a Faun Elf.

John doesn't know that but he then learns that Nadia is Princess Aletheia of Selene. The guards want to know how he could not tell that she was a Faun though John can only say that she was wearing a hood. Michael will clarify that Aletheia’s antlers would be smaller this time of year and a hood would cover them.

The Lunar Guardian tells John not to worry, that he will rescue her. Michael then insists that John return to Selene. John refuses and apologizes to the Selene Guard as he pulls the reigns from one of the horses. This knocks the guard off the horse and John jumps in the saddle riding off to continue his pursuit of the kidnappers.

PURSUIT OF THE JESTER

The Lunar Guardian catches up to John and the two agree to continue together. He sent the two guards back to relay the information to the Crescent Keep and the King. After spending time on the trail together, the two will learn more about each other including that Michael is the first High Champion. John also learns that Michael chooses not to wear a mask or helmet so as to endear himself to the public. This is something the other High Champions do not do. It may be touched upon that there are Three other known High Champions but they are not named or explored in detail here. Michael feels that a High Champion should be personable and the people should know him to inspire them. John has been away for some time so has not been familiar with the concept of High Champions, only hearing that it must be trickery. Michael soon realizes where the Jester has taken Aletheia.

AT STAR’S EDGE

Michael and John are surveying the area as they come near a river. They discover and knock out a mercenary scout as Michael realizes they are near to their destination. The two leave their horses by a river as they come up to a Ruined Keep. It was once called the Stars Edge keep long ago. This is where they have taken Aletheia. Michael forms a plan that will involve his capture, with John passing as a mercenary by wearing the uniform of the unconscious guard. John believes it is too risky but he agrees and puts on the uniform of the mercenary to pass off as one of them. John attempts to help Michael with his large sword but realizes it is not as heavy as it seems. John believes that Michael was lying about being a Champion. Before Michael can explain earlier two more guards arrive on a patrol.

John gets into character and holds his sword to Michaels back. The three then lead Michael to the gates. John feels animosity towards Michael after all of his talk of Champions and gifts, believing that it was all a lie. They arrive and Michael submits himself to surrender. At the gates, the other mercenaries surround him. The other soldiers carry in the Lunar Guardian’s sword. Michael is, shackled and led inside with John following behind the group. They have successfully infiltrated the Keep.

WITHIN RUIN

The Star’s Edge is built like a fortress which is essentially a castle within a mountain, with all the amenities afforded of a castle just within the dankness of a cave. It has become overgrown with moss and is falling away at some places though. Michael is taken through a throne room and into a dining hall where a man in white sits at the table with a raven on his shoulder. The man is somewhat surprised to see him but is actually enthusiastic as well. As Michael is led into the dining hall. John becomes crowded by other soldiers and is blocked from leaving the room.

The man in white is courteous and talks to Michael for a bit. After a brief conversation about Champions and rumors, the man tells his men to remove his shackles as Michael could probably break out of them at any time. He introduces himself as the Lord of Faces. His true name is Gilcolm Greve but he will not say this to Michael. Michael asks where Aletheia is and if she is safe. The Lord responds that she is fine, relaxing in the Drawing Room. He has high hopes for her and she will not be harmed. The Lord of Faces seems to enjoy hearing himself speak and talks to Michael a little more. He speaks about roles that people assume and how people act that is akin to a play. This is where the characters learn that the soldiers are sell swords called the Trionfi.

The Lord touches Michael's neck as he talks and has had all of his armor removed. He knows who Michael is and his rumored ability of Super Strength. Malcolm then scratches Michaels neck with a nail to the point where he bleeds slightly. The Lord then licks his finger and remains silent. Everyone watches as he then begins to violently spasm and writhe in seeming pain. John’s eyes widen as The Lord’s body contorts and bulges. His face and hair begin to change as well. The Lord of Faces is then still, sweating and breathing heavily. He then looks up and could be Michael’s twin. He has morphed into an identical copy of the Lunar Guardian.

The process lasted only for a few moments but seemed longer to John. Both he and Michael are incredulous at this demonstration. The Lord then continues his monologue notices that he is able to lift Michael's large sword. The Lord cannot copy powers of other Champions when he becomes them so the sword is truly light. He laughs aloud because there was a rumor that the Lunar Guardian’s sword was a fake and he was not a Champion at all. The Lord of Faces now believes that the rumor may have been true after all.