Post by Sir Storm Brightblade on Dec 11, 2006 16:31:31 GMT -5
“Alone… that’s all I have ever known. No family…. Just the honor of family long dead…. Along with the dishonor…”
This is the story of my life and what I was doing before I came to the Land between the Lands, to the town of Mittel March.”
I was born before the beginning of the War of Chaos. I was young and lived with my mother, Angelina Brightblade. She and my father, Steel Brightblade, were married one year after he became a knight. I was born not long after their marriage. My mother and father loved me very much.
The year after I was born the War of Chaos broke out. My father left my mother and me in the port city of Palanthalas knowing that we would be safe there under the dark knights of Takhisis’s protection with my father being one of them. While the war raged on, my mother managed to transport herself and I too one place she was certain of my safety, the valen wood town of Solace. My great uncle and Hero of the Lance, Caramon Majere took us in at the Inn of the Last Home. When the war was over, my mother received word that my father was dead. My mother was upset and cried in our room for days.
Then the day came when the people of Solace finished the Last Heroes Tomb and placed my father inside. My mother did not want to be there, but she stayed out of love for my father. After the tomb was sealed my uncle told us that we could live with him and my aunt Tika.
With my father now dead, my mother declined and said she needed time to clear her mind and asked if I could stay with them. My uncle said that he would have been more than happy to have me stay with them. I was two years old at the time and that was the last I ever saw of my mother.
She wrote me letters once in a month for two years. But on my fourth year of my birth, I did not get a letter from my mother. After that I did not get a letter from my mother for the entire year.
By the time I was six years old I asked my uncle Caramon about whom my father was and about my family. My uncle decided I was old enough to know about who I was. He said to me that to understand my father I would have to understand my grandparents. He first told me about my grandfather, Sturm Brightblade. Sturm Brightblade was a Knight of Solamnia, the first knighthood to come into existence in the beginning of the world. My grandfather was the son of a Knight of the Rose, the highest ranking order of the knighthood.
When the Cataclysm happened, the people looked for the knights for help and the knights could not help. The peasants rebelled against the knights and the knights could not fight back because they knew it would be a man slaughter.
My great-grandfather sent my grandfather and my great-grandmother away to Solace until everything was settled. The knighthood fell into disgrace. But on the year three-hundred and fifty-two, my grandfather stood against the Dragon High lord, Kitiara Uth Matar, my grandmother. My grandmother killed my grandfather. My uncle told me that my grandfather saved the knighthood and everyone in the High Clerist Tower. My grandfather became a hero among the knights. He told me that they sing praises of him as they do Huma and that I was really honored to have him as a grandfather.
I then asked him to tell me of my grandmother. This is what he had to say to me. He told me that my grandmother was not as good of a person as my grandfather was. My grandmother, Kitiara Uth Matar, was a mercenary ever since she was old enough to be. My uncle told me that she was their biggest source of income since both of their parents died. When the heroes of the lance were traveling for a few years they all agreed to come back in five years and tell of their adventures. But when the five years came, my grandmother did not show up. The companions got a letter from her saying that she was not going to make it. Later during the war of the lance, the half-elf and my grandmother’s old lover, Tanis Half-Elven found her and saw what she was, a Dragon Highlord. He told me that she would sleep with anyone as long as she received benefits from it. Years later when his twin brother, Raistlin Majere, tried to become a god and destroy Takhisis, Kitara tried to kill Raistlin to allow her queen to enter the world and take it for herself. But she was killed by one of her lovers, the famous Dalamar the Dark.
Ten years after the War of the Lance, a woman, Sara Dunstan, came to the door of the Inn of the Last Home. She told my uncle that my grandmother had a son and he was the son of my grandfather. He could not believe that my father was alive; he did not even know that my grandmother had a son. She told him that she was taking care of him ever since he was born and my mother had left him. While my father was growing up, the knights of Takhisis heard that my father was the son of my grandmother and wanted him to join the knighthood. Time after time they tried to convince Sara to have my father join but they failed. Until one night, the lord of the Knights of Takhisis, Lord Ariakan came and offered my father the chance to join. My father did not know whether he should have or not. He had a war going on inside of him about whether he should have followed his father or his mother. His mother won the battle and he went with the Knights of Takhisis. Sara did not want her son to go with them but he did and so she joined too as a dragon trainer.
She asked that my uncle try to convince my father not to become a knight and take the vows. She begged my uncle to help my father keep from taking the vows. Along with the help of Tanis Half-Elven they took my father to the tomb of my grandfather. For the very first time my father saw his father. My father leapt at the stand where my grandfather’s body was and cried like a child. At that moment there was a blinding light and standing there was my grandfather in front of my father. My uncle said that my grandfather gave my father a star jewel that his elven lover gave to him. After that there was a bright light and my grandfather’s body was gone. My father not only took the jewel, but also the sword of my grandfather.
After my uncle, my father, and Tanis left the High Clerist tower my father went off and thought about what he should do. After several hours my father came back and he did not change his mind. After that he left them and left to become a knight. A few months past and the War of Chaos broke out. The battle in my father came to the worst part because my grandmother came to my father and told him that he could escape and leave the world that was ending. But father rejected her and with the remaining knights of both Solamnia and Takhisis went off with the remaining dragons to go fight the Father of All and Nothing. They won, but at the cost of most of the knights, among those my father.
That winter I went to go visit the tomb of my father. I sat there and talked with him about what had happened over since my mother left. Then all of the sudden there was a bright light and when it cleared a woman came out of the tomb and fainted. I ran over to see if she was alright and she seemed alright besides the fact she was cold. Some of nearby kender and I took her to the inn. When we walked in my uncle ran over and laid her down in a booth. After two hours had passed the woman finally woke up. She first saw me and then she asked if I was my father. My uncle walked over and told her who I was. When she realized who I was she began to cry and hugged me. She told me that she was my father’s adoptive mother, Sara Dunstan. I then stared at her not knowing what to say.
I hugged her and cried, “Grandma!”
She stayed for a few days and we did a lot of stuff together. She told me stories of my father; she let me ride on her blue dragon Cobalt. She gave me something, my father’s amulet. She told me to never loose it and to honor my family’s name. From then on I wanted to become a knight, but not any knight I wanted to become a Knight of Legion of Steel, to honor my father.
From then on I trained with my uncle in using the sword and the lance. He taught me to ride a horse and how to properly take care of it. My grandmother taught me the things she thought would be best for a knight
Ten years later I became a Legionnaire of Legion of Steel. When I was knighted, my grandmother came and presented me with my father’s sword. Also the previous Grand Master of the Knights of Solamnia, Lord Gunthar Uth Wistan, also presented me with my grandfather’s armor. He said that he cared for my grandfather like his own son and was honored to have seen his grandson knighted. There were a few changes to make it look more like the Legion than the Knights of Solamnia but it wasn't really major. That day my uncle came to me and presented me with a letter. It was from my mother. It said this,
“My dear son, today you have become a knight, just like your father. I write this as you lay asleep on the bed in our room. I just want you to know that I did not leave you because I did not love you. I left because I needed to clear my mind because of your father’s passing. I just hope you’re the man your father was. I do not know when I will return. If you ever come and look for me, go to Dalamar the Dark of the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas. He will help you in finding me. I am very proud of you and love you very much my son.
Your Mother,
Angelina Brightblade.”
I read the letter and almost cried. That day I swore that I would find my mother or find out what happened to her.
A month later I left the head quarters in Solace and rode towards Palanthas. When I arrived in the city, it was a beautiful city of white and bright colors. But there was a black line in the perfect white city, the tower of high sorcery, the place I was heading too. When I entered the tower, Dalamar was standing at the front door and welcomed me inside. He led me to his library. The two of us sat there and talked of things that happened in the past few years. He told me that he was a friend of my father. I then asked him of my mother and he said he knew my mother very well. I showed him the letter my mother sent me and asked him about it. He read the letter and a glint came to his eye.
He said to me, "If I wanted to really find my mother then that I should travel to the west and go to the farthest point you can."
I said farewell to Dalamar and left the tower.
I started traveling to the west. When I was traveling on the rode to the tip of Solamnia, a thick mist came and enveloped me and brought me to a thick forest.
This is the story of my life and what I was doing before I came to the Land between the Lands, to the town of Mittel March.”
I was born before the beginning of the War of Chaos. I was young and lived with my mother, Angelina Brightblade. She and my father, Steel Brightblade, were married one year after he became a knight. I was born not long after their marriage. My mother and father loved me very much.
The year after I was born the War of Chaos broke out. My father left my mother and me in the port city of Palanthalas knowing that we would be safe there under the dark knights of Takhisis’s protection with my father being one of them. While the war raged on, my mother managed to transport herself and I too one place she was certain of my safety, the valen wood town of Solace. My great uncle and Hero of the Lance, Caramon Majere took us in at the Inn of the Last Home. When the war was over, my mother received word that my father was dead. My mother was upset and cried in our room for days.
Then the day came when the people of Solace finished the Last Heroes Tomb and placed my father inside. My mother did not want to be there, but she stayed out of love for my father. After the tomb was sealed my uncle told us that we could live with him and my aunt Tika.
With my father now dead, my mother declined and said she needed time to clear her mind and asked if I could stay with them. My uncle said that he would have been more than happy to have me stay with them. I was two years old at the time and that was the last I ever saw of my mother.
She wrote me letters once in a month for two years. But on my fourth year of my birth, I did not get a letter from my mother. After that I did not get a letter from my mother for the entire year.
By the time I was six years old I asked my uncle Caramon about whom my father was and about my family. My uncle decided I was old enough to know about who I was. He said to me that to understand my father I would have to understand my grandparents. He first told me about my grandfather, Sturm Brightblade. Sturm Brightblade was a Knight of Solamnia, the first knighthood to come into existence in the beginning of the world. My grandfather was the son of a Knight of the Rose, the highest ranking order of the knighthood.
When the Cataclysm happened, the people looked for the knights for help and the knights could not help. The peasants rebelled against the knights and the knights could not fight back because they knew it would be a man slaughter.
My great-grandfather sent my grandfather and my great-grandmother away to Solace until everything was settled. The knighthood fell into disgrace. But on the year three-hundred and fifty-two, my grandfather stood against the Dragon High lord, Kitiara Uth Matar, my grandmother. My grandmother killed my grandfather. My uncle told me that my grandfather saved the knighthood and everyone in the High Clerist Tower. My grandfather became a hero among the knights. He told me that they sing praises of him as they do Huma and that I was really honored to have him as a grandfather.
I then asked him to tell me of my grandmother. This is what he had to say to me. He told me that my grandmother was not as good of a person as my grandfather was. My grandmother, Kitiara Uth Matar, was a mercenary ever since she was old enough to be. My uncle told me that she was their biggest source of income since both of their parents died. When the heroes of the lance were traveling for a few years they all agreed to come back in five years and tell of their adventures. But when the five years came, my grandmother did not show up. The companions got a letter from her saying that she was not going to make it. Later during the war of the lance, the half-elf and my grandmother’s old lover, Tanis Half-Elven found her and saw what she was, a Dragon Highlord. He told me that she would sleep with anyone as long as she received benefits from it. Years later when his twin brother, Raistlin Majere, tried to become a god and destroy Takhisis, Kitara tried to kill Raistlin to allow her queen to enter the world and take it for herself. But she was killed by one of her lovers, the famous Dalamar the Dark.
Ten years after the War of the Lance, a woman, Sara Dunstan, came to the door of the Inn of the Last Home. She told my uncle that my grandmother had a son and he was the son of my grandfather. He could not believe that my father was alive; he did not even know that my grandmother had a son. She told him that she was taking care of him ever since he was born and my mother had left him. While my father was growing up, the knights of Takhisis heard that my father was the son of my grandmother and wanted him to join the knighthood. Time after time they tried to convince Sara to have my father join but they failed. Until one night, the lord of the Knights of Takhisis, Lord Ariakan came and offered my father the chance to join. My father did not know whether he should have or not. He had a war going on inside of him about whether he should have followed his father or his mother. His mother won the battle and he went with the Knights of Takhisis. Sara did not want her son to go with them but he did and so she joined too as a dragon trainer.
She asked that my uncle try to convince my father not to become a knight and take the vows. She begged my uncle to help my father keep from taking the vows. Along with the help of Tanis Half-Elven they took my father to the tomb of my grandfather. For the very first time my father saw his father. My father leapt at the stand where my grandfather’s body was and cried like a child. At that moment there was a blinding light and standing there was my grandfather in front of my father. My uncle said that my grandfather gave my father a star jewel that his elven lover gave to him. After that there was a bright light and my grandfather’s body was gone. My father not only took the jewel, but also the sword of my grandfather.
After my uncle, my father, and Tanis left the High Clerist tower my father went off and thought about what he should do. After several hours my father came back and he did not change his mind. After that he left them and left to become a knight. A few months past and the War of Chaos broke out. The battle in my father came to the worst part because my grandmother came to my father and told him that he could escape and leave the world that was ending. But father rejected her and with the remaining knights of both Solamnia and Takhisis went off with the remaining dragons to go fight the Father of All and Nothing. They won, but at the cost of most of the knights, among those my father.
That winter I went to go visit the tomb of my father. I sat there and talked with him about what had happened over since my mother left. Then all of the sudden there was a bright light and when it cleared a woman came out of the tomb and fainted. I ran over to see if she was alright and she seemed alright besides the fact she was cold. Some of nearby kender and I took her to the inn. When we walked in my uncle ran over and laid her down in a booth. After two hours had passed the woman finally woke up. She first saw me and then she asked if I was my father. My uncle walked over and told her who I was. When she realized who I was she began to cry and hugged me. She told me that she was my father’s adoptive mother, Sara Dunstan. I then stared at her not knowing what to say.
I hugged her and cried, “Grandma!”
She stayed for a few days and we did a lot of stuff together. She told me stories of my father; she let me ride on her blue dragon Cobalt. She gave me something, my father’s amulet. She told me to never loose it and to honor my family’s name. From then on I wanted to become a knight, but not any knight I wanted to become a Knight of Legion of Steel, to honor my father.
From then on I trained with my uncle in using the sword and the lance. He taught me to ride a horse and how to properly take care of it. My grandmother taught me the things she thought would be best for a knight
Ten years later I became a Legionnaire of Legion of Steel. When I was knighted, my grandmother came and presented me with my father’s sword. Also the previous Grand Master of the Knights of Solamnia, Lord Gunthar Uth Wistan, also presented me with my grandfather’s armor. He said that he cared for my grandfather like his own son and was honored to have seen his grandson knighted. There were a few changes to make it look more like the Legion than the Knights of Solamnia but it wasn't really major. That day my uncle came to me and presented me with a letter. It was from my mother. It said this,
“My dear son, today you have become a knight, just like your father. I write this as you lay asleep on the bed in our room. I just want you to know that I did not leave you because I did not love you. I left because I needed to clear my mind because of your father’s passing. I just hope you’re the man your father was. I do not know when I will return. If you ever come and look for me, go to Dalamar the Dark of the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas. He will help you in finding me. I am very proud of you and love you very much my son.
Your Mother,
Angelina Brightblade.”
I read the letter and almost cried. That day I swore that I would find my mother or find out what happened to her.
A month later I left the head quarters in Solace and rode towards Palanthas. When I arrived in the city, it was a beautiful city of white and bright colors. But there was a black line in the perfect white city, the tower of high sorcery, the place I was heading too. When I entered the tower, Dalamar was standing at the front door and welcomed me inside. He led me to his library. The two of us sat there and talked of things that happened in the past few years. He told me that he was a friend of my father. I then asked him of my mother and he said he knew my mother very well. I showed him the letter my mother sent me and asked him about it. He read the letter and a glint came to his eye.
He said to me, "If I wanted to really find my mother then that I should travel to the west and go to the farthest point you can."
I said farewell to Dalamar and left the tower.
I started traveling to the west. When I was traveling on the rode to the tip of Solamnia, a thick mist came and enveloped me and brought me to a thick forest.