Restoring Balance
Prologue The Order of Armonis
It was a cold and blustery evening at The Stronghold. Deep within, surrounded by many cavernous, candle-lit hallways and many elaborate rooms, sat Epicratus, the Strongholds grandmaster, in his private quarters; adorned with rich tapestries, marble statues and statuettes of the Greek Gods, baroque paintings, and surrounded by mountains of book-lined rosewood walls, Epicratus had spent 50 long years honing and mastering his ability to control the elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The Order of Armonis, as they identified themselves, have secretly been keeping balance on earth for centuries, blind to the human societies that inhabited the landmasses of the planet. He was a small man, standing at a mere 54, with short, dark brown hair and a deceivingly chiseled figure, which was completely unobvious due to his very bulky robes. His eyes were easily the most deceiving part of him; he could, by staring into others eyes, read their very intentions, their very emotions, and know more about people than they probably do themselves. A rare extension of Waterforming, as they called it, it was a gift seen only to a select few throughout history. Epicratus students and colleagues within the Stronghold often were amazed that not even a little white lie could slip his guard. Being magical entities, however, all Order members, although perhaps hundreds of years-old, appeared to be very young, as the aging process is slowed on them.
Epicratus was ready, however, to take his unique power to the next level, and be able to make his will law to other people. A power long lost to the Modern Order, and believed to be a Myth, Epicratus sought to recover this great power by deciphering texts recovered from Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. The problem was, the texts were written in code a code, which was used only by the highest members of the Order. Ten long years it took for him to finally decipher the power in secret and now he was ready to use it on someone he secretly lusted for dearly to restore balance to earth unless perhaps his secret love actually had the same desire.
Prologue The Order of Armonis
It was a cold and blustery evening at The Stronghold. Deep within, surrounded by many cavernous, candle-lit hallways and many elaborate rooms, sat Epicratus, the Strongholds grandmaster, in his private quarters; adorned with rich tapestries, marble statues and statuettes of the Greek Gods, baroque paintings, and surrounded by mountains of book-lined rosewood walls, Epicratus had spent 50 long years honing and mastering his ability to control the elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The Order of Armonis, as they identified themselves, have secretly been keeping balance on earth for centuries, blind to the human societies that inhabited the landmasses of the planet. He was a small man, standing at a mere 54, with short, dark brown hair and a deceivingly chiseled figure, which was completely unobvious due to his very bulky robes. His eyes were easily the most deceiving part of him; he could, by staring into others eyes, read their very intentions, their very emotions, and know more about people than they probably do themselves. A rare extension of Waterforming, as they called it, it was a gift seen only to a select few throughout history. Epicratus students and colleagues within the Stronghold often were amazed that not even a little white lie could slip his guard. Being magical entities, however, all Order members, although perhaps hundreds of years-old, appeared to be very young, as the aging process is slowed on them.
Epicratus was ready, however, to take his unique power to the next level, and be able to make his will law to other people. A power long lost to the Modern Order, and believed to be a Myth, Epicratus sought to recover this great power by deciphering texts recovered from Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. The problem was, the texts were written in code a code, which was used only by the highest members of the Order. Ten long years it took for him to finally decipher the power in secret and now he was ready to use it on someone he secretly lusted for dearly to restore balance to earth unless perhaps his secret love actually had the same desire.