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Order of the Nine: The Stonebearers
pg. 2
Prologue
A fine mist fell as a result of the torrent of water spewing forthfrom the newly ruptured ground. Before her, the dead lay strewnover the broken earth as far as the eye could see. Tulbonae, theSeer of Ubera turned and looked up at the cliff face, some hundredmen high, where only yesterday lay the gently rolling fields of ebrotrees, their fruit nearly ripe for harvest. The sheer cliff facestretched off in either direction across the valley from the foothillsof the Uberan Highlands to the coastal mountains of the KulkyriForest. One land now sundered in two. The realm would now growseparate and distinctively different in the seasons to come.Tulbonae hung her head, heart heavy with sadness and guilt.
Order of the Nine: The Stonebearers
pg. 3
She had foreseen this destruction, and her hand had guided theevents to their deadly conclusion, for it was the will of Taloria, theBlessed Mother, and creator of them all. She turned back to thedead at her feet.The rising water lapped at the rotting flesh of Aerbogal, theonce iridescent skin of the mighty Ulsgareth, now dulled by death.His long, serpentine body stretched over the low rise, tail floatinglistlessly in the muddy water. The head, blown from its long neck had been carried away by the churning waters. Beneath his vast,transluscent wings, the husk of Lord Carimar lay, his body burnedfrom the inside out by the immense conflagration of energyreleased by the Spiritstone that rested with his broken ribcage. Hehad done what was expected of him, fulfilling his role in the Order,and would be forever immortalized in the lore of the realms.Tulbonae bent her tall, wispy body and lifted the wing, only tohave it tear and fall apart in her small, thin hands. She reached intothe body and lifted out the Spiritstone by its chain of golden links,
Carimar‘s bones breaking apart with the slightest effort. The
crystal, roughly the size of her fist, was now lifeless, its energy
drained in Carimar‘s final sacrifice to destroy the Chobelkan
Warlord and decimate the army of Hordelings that had come to
feast upon Taloria‘s children.Woe to the parent who lays waste to her own. Tulbonae‘sknuckles grew white as she gripped the stone. ―I shall not conspireto assuage your fears again, Mother,‖ she said, glancing westward
in the direction of Mt. Uber
a where Taloria resided. ―My will is nolonger yours.‖
This Change was done. The war was over, and it would bemany, many seasons before the realms would recover and rebuild
themselves into something capable of breaking free of Taloria‘s
misguided hand. It could be done. She had foreseen that possibilityas well, and that unique power would be the one thing to keep heralive long enough to see that the next Change would be different.
Taloria‘s children would learn to grow beyond her will and make a
new world for themselves, with or without her presence. For she
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