Runes Of Magic Chapter III – The Elder Kingdoms

22 Apr 2010 at 10:31:26 by Bill Vaughan

Frogster has given IncGamers an exclusive look at the background history of Runes of Magic's upcoming chapter III, The Elder Kingdoms. If you want to find out all there is to know about the six old principalities, take a look at the full run-down below. There's five brand new screens in there too:

The Six Old Principalities

Before the ‘Great Banishment’ Kalume, the king of the Humans, and Antaikolon, the king of the Elves, collected all the armies and forces at their disposal to fight the treacherous Demons. After a fierce battle which cost many humans and elves their lives the alliance managed to bring about the Great Banishment and dispel the Demons which finally brought peace back to the world.

Kalume chose seven heroes who had excelled in battle out of the innumerable allies who had fought in the war and appointed them as Lords with the responsibility of ensuring peace and freedom for the people. Only Tirsov Fireboot, the leader of the Fireboot Dwarves, rejected the offer and took his people into the recesses of the mountains where they could live out their lives without being affected by the outside world. As a farewell gesture Kalume presented Tirsov with the powerful Hurr’khan axe to show his gratitude for the Holy Oath shield which the dwarves had prepared. The remaining six military leaders were named by the king as Lords of the World, also to be known as the ‘Six Old Lords’. They owed their existence to the Kingdom of Dalanis and to the crown of Kalume’s descendents and always paid tribute to this.

The Six Old Principalities are:
The Principality of Aren, ruled by the descendents of Letin Mocliff, the ‘Unrivaled Shield’

Many parallels can be found between the childhood of Kalume’s most loyal confidant and Kalume himself. Both came from modest families. Kalume, who was later to become king, came from a fishing family, whereas Mocliff from a simple farming family. The Mocliffs did not have much to call their own but they were still happy with the little they had. At least until marauding Demons devastated the Mocliffs’ village. Whilst working on the fields Letin lost his home and his family in one day. Because of this terrible misfortune Letin almost lost the will to carry on living and tried to find relief from his sorrows at the bottom of a bottle. Mocliff became consumed by hate and remorse, bereft of hope and the desire to live. However, one day he met the then young Kalume who gave the rundown farmer his cloak and some words of encouragement. Kalume reminded this broken man of his own deceased son and he found out that this boy was there to set up a force to fight the Demons. Kalume’s noble plan to free mankind of the Demons awoke a long forgotten flicker of life in Letin Mocliff which he had abandoned in favor of alcohol. He joined Kalume’s army and was soon back to his old self after many hours of hard training. Letin forgave himself for not being able to save his family and avowed to protect his comrades and never to give up. The former farmer quickly found the army to be his true calling and his face and body became covered in scars after enduring numerous battles. This brave warrior was always the last to leave the battlefield and dedicated himself to protecting his comrades in spite of his own injuries as if they were his own family. He was given the nickname the ‘Unrivaled Shield’ by Kalume and became the young king’s closest friend and brother-in-arms. Since Mocliff had never forgotten his roots the cloak which Kalume had given him during the darker days became his most prized possession which he insisted gave him his power. In the later years Letin became a sort of cloak for Kalume; never leaving his side, always quietly present in the background, ready to give his life to protect the king. He wore this cloak until the day of his death and stipulated in his will that he was to be buried in it. However, Dalanis can expect little help from the descendents of Letin Mocliff in the Principality of Aren since they themselves are embroiled in power struggles and intrigues surrounding their country’s throne.

The Principality of Lechif, ruled by the descendents of the ‘King of the Night’, Shint Kanches

Shint Kanches was born in the port city of Lechif, a city on the island of Tergot'en without ever knowing who his parents were. This orphaned child was entrusted to the care of an old man whom Shint, and the other children he grew up with, affectionately named him master. From an early age he proved himself to be a deft pickpocket in the streets of the pirate city with extremely nimble fingers, and by the age of fifteen was considered to be the best by the other children. There was no lock that he could not pick, no door he could not open, and no treasure he could not steal. He was the unofficial king of the pickpockets until the day that he met the man who would change his life forever. This man was no less than the legendary king Kalume who took the young ragamuffin under his wing and into his army. His talent of hiding in the shadows quickly elevated him to the best spy in the king’s army. Since Shint grew up without a father he had the highest respect for Kalume and considered him and his most trusted Knight, Androth, as older brothers. Eager for knowledge, he absorbed everything the two men taught him. Although Androth wanted to teach Shint not only the skills of espionage but also the skills of battle, Kalume considered his ability to blend into the shadows as more important and thought attack missions against the Demon leaders to be too dangerous for his favorite pupil. The wise king was right after all.  During a planned attack against the Demon Lord, Sismond ‘The Slaughterer’, Shint was killed. However, the demons subsequently brought him back to life as an undead being with the task of murdering the king. The young hero was eventually killed by Androth at the tender age of twenty-four. Kalume posthumously named him one of the ‘Six Old Lords’ in order to express his pain and to pay honor to Shint’s memory and in doing so Shint’s legacy was known to all of Kalume’s people. The Principality was then named after Shint Kanche’s hometown, ‘Lechif’.