Alternate beginning for Eleusinian story

This is an other beginning for the story of Eleusinian/Mark of the Goddess

 

An old man walked slowly into town. His thirst and weariness evident in his stride. An old weather beaten tavern that's seen better days than this day loomed on the corner of a dank dark alley and the murky street.  Deliberately willing his feet to walk on, he headed toward the tavern to rest and to quench is thirst. A cow bell loudly rang his entrance, alerting the tavern wench of his arrival.

”WE’RE CLOSED!” she yelled as she swept the broken remnants of what looked to be a chair or table. She didn’t even look to the door to see who had entered her establishment.

”Oh, I am sorry to intrude, young lady, my name is Oberon and I was hoping that I could possibly trouble you to sit and rest my weary bones for a while?”

 

At his tired old voice she turned her head and noticed that he was just an old man, not some young sea dog looking for a brawl. Taking pity on the wizened man she smiled  tenderly and set aside her broom.

”Of course, you can stay, sir. My name is Luna Ma’on.  I am sorry for snapping at you when you entered. It’s just I had a very busy night and not particularly looking forward to the clean up that I have a head of me, as you can see.” She swept her arm around to show him the disaster that awaited her to clean it. “Please have a seat anywhere you’d like. I’ll bring you out a nice cup of cool cider. You look a bit parched.” The old man took notice of the exhaustion in this young woman as he sat close to the fire place. She looked like she had had a difficult life so far. He noticed the strands of auburn that had escaped the leather tie she had tied around the bushel of fire colored curls. He felt the magic that radiated from her as he had entered the establishment. He pondered the possibility that he may have just stumbled upon the one he searched for.

 

She returned quickly with a Kuksa (which is made of birch wood, light to carry with you, and you can use it for any type of beverages hot or cold) full of cool cider. The old man reached for his coin purse which was tied to his belt, but before he could even reach the worn velvet pouch a small calloused hand rested on top of his.

 

“The price of the cider is not that of coin. The price of the cider is your company and a good story. You seem like a man with lots of stories to tell. I am tired and would like a rest before I have to finish this project.” She held up a hand to silence his objections about the price a smile graced her pretty face. She knew that he feared that the girl’s employer may make her pay for this cider out of her earnings. “This is my place, so I can set the price of the cider. I would be much obliged to you for the distraction.”

 

“Very well,” he said as he took a sip of the refreshing cider, clearing the dust of the road from his voice. “I know just the one. Now,” he mutters to himself more so than to the girl, “how does it start again? I’ve never been very good with beginnings.” He chuckled as he took another sip of the cool cider. She joined him by the roaring fire very much looking forward to the story this man was going to tell.

 

“Ah, yes…" snapping his fingers in remembrance and began staring off into the fire, "it begins with the stars. Since the dawn of time Astrea, the Goddess of Light has watched over the world of Eleusinian from the heavens above. She had given us many wondrous gifts, bountiful harvests, abundant catch from the sea, moral guidance, and most amazing of all…the knowledge of how to control our  magical abilities.”

 

“I thought Astrea abandoned us and took our magical gifts away from us.”

 

“So it has been told through out the years. My dear child, Astrea can not take magic from the world. She is the guardian of Eleusinian… she does not control the magic that inhabits this planet.  The world is made of magic and therefore magic flows not just around us, but within us. We have always been able to control our magic; it’s just that we have lost the knowledge. We have let that knowledge fall by the wayside, let it be taken and destroyed without a fight. It was easier to give up our knowledge of the workings of magic and become enslaved by the political aspirations of an Eleusinian man who made a pact with the Lord of Darkness, than it was to fight for our freedoms and our magic. We were cowards.  It was not Astrea who took the knowledge, but man who destroyed the books, the scrolls, and the art works that contained it. Man, who betrayed our protector… our guardian that did not want magic to be part of the world, especially when Sama’el, a Warrior Mage of considerable dark power with allegiance to the Lord of Darkness, gained control of Eleusinian. He banned all magic usage, destroyed all the Master Mages and their libraries, had the worship of Astrea banned thus diminished her power and with her diminished power she was unable to appose the Lord of Darkness, Tyrannous and his evil ones. (Might change this soon)

 

Before the Eleusinians’ betrayal by turning our backs on her, Astrea, the Lady of Light, had battled Tyrannous, the Lord of Darkness for eons. It is an eternal battle that they fight to keep the universe in balance. But since the Eleusinians’ betrayal, Astrea has not had the power that she needs to continue her battle. She is loosing her battle, thus chaos will reign supreme not just over Eleusinian but over the Universe. The Gods of old, who appointed her as Eleusinian’s guardian have slumbered through the battle and know not of what is about to happen. Their sleep is a product of deviousness at the hands of Tyrannous whose power will grow tenfold with the chaos. When the universe is in chaos, the darkness will rule unchallenged. All that is good will be destroyed by all that is evil. We need Astrea to return to us to help us restore the balance. We need her forgiveness for our betrayal of her and for her to again teach us the way to control the magic that flows. But I digress from our story.

 

“In the first century, Tyrannous and his minions waged a great war to dominate the world, and he was winning. But the people of the world men, women,  magical beings untied behind the Goddess of Light, Astrea. She gathered her strength and with the help of the other deities, especially the warrior king Solaris, good prevailed. Light conquered Dark. Peace and balance had been restored to Eleusinian and we were saved from the terrible reign of Tyrannous.

 

“Unfortunately, this victory made the people of Eleusinian arrogant, believing themselves more powerful than their protectors. People began to command the Goddess Astrea to do their bidding. The Goddess’ response was quick and devastating. The cataclysm changed the very face of Eleusinian. The Goddess was never heard from again, leaving the people of this land to fight for survival without her help or guidance. Belief in the Goddess waned, shattering the unity of the races. Elves, fairies, and man grew to distrust and to fight one another.  And unfortunately, without her guidance, Eleusinian crumbled and Tyrannous swooped down from the Heavens staking his claim in our world. Without the guidance and support of Astrea, our mighty warrior king Solaris fell to Tyrannous’ warrior Sama’el. And so began the age of despair. One hundred and fifty years have come and gone. Tyrant after tyrant ruled Eleusinian with iron fists; her people crying, pleading for mercy, and yet the Astrea, our goddess protector, remains silent in the heavens.

 

“Do you think that she’ll ever return?”

 

“Unfortunately, the Lord of Darkness is more powerful now than he was before his control over us. The betrayal weakened Astrea to almost mortal status. Her power, the strength of her magic, is a direct result of how strongly the people of Eleusinian believe and respect her. Without our belief, without our faith in her, she remains powerless to help us overthrow the darkness. As the years pass, Tyrannous’ power increases making him a more formidable opponent however on the same scale Astrea’s power weakens. The balance has been upset. The darkness grows stronger as the light looses strength. Without the Lady of the Light to protect us, Eleusinian and all the other lands of our world are surely doomed to darkness.

Author's Note

An Alternate beginning. Not much detail. What do you think?

Reviews

[soulsearching]

Ok i must say i loved it. but im a star track fan and enjoy this type of material.
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