Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Of Dusk and Dawn - The Story



I've been working on the story for my dungeon for the contest today and I thought I would go ahead and post it up! It's not my best writing and I'm certainly not top of my game right now, but I think it'll due. I've laid it out here how I am presenting it in the dungeon. It's made so that those who don't want to read too much have a short summary of the purpose behind the dungeon. Those who want to read more can read through the backstory! More to come perhaps, we shall see!

DECORATED BY:
Neversea and Layla Crimsonblade

NOTE:

Please allow each of room of the dungeon to load in before racing through! To hear the story behind this dungeon, please take a moment to read through this book for a backstory. This dungeon is the first of a series of dungeons!

Be on the lookout for the continuation dungeons: Of Fire and ice, Of Earth and Air and Of Life and Death.

QUEST:

Hidden deep underneath the palace of the Royal House Swiftblade, there are dungeons of a frightening nature. Each dungeon was crafted to protect something of a powerful nature. Not even those of the royal house can call off the guards and enchantments placed within these dungeons.

You must take the form of a creature fierce enough to battle the enchantments, spells and monsters. Defeat the obstacles and obtain each set of keys to unlock the ancient towers.

Your first task is to retrieve the Shard of Dusk and the Shard of Dawn. Go forth now and complete your task!

BACKSTORY:
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Once upon a time there was a young girl with long golden hair that cascaded down her slender back. Her skin was as white as snow and her eyes were like two deep blue sapphires. Some had called her beautiful; others say that she was an angel sent from the heavens. Her name was Synnove and she was an elven princess of a royal house.

One day, Synnove s father gave her away in marriage to a young man. This young man was a prince to another, much larger royal house. He had deep, dark tanned skin and his hair was as black as the midnight sky. His eyes burned like twin lavender fires. His name was Prince Dusan.

In the beginning neither Synnove nor Dusan were too keen on the idea of marriage. They both believed deeply in marrying for love and not for estates. But as time passed, the two fell deeply in love with one another. It is said that their love was so great that it caused the very world to still for moments in time. Some say that the dawn would not rise until the couple had expressed their love for one another. Others say that the dusk would never come if the two were ever parted. For many years they lived together in love.

But then one day along came an old, wicked witch. The witch had been seeking for years to obtain a way to keep her youth and beauty, to become immortal. Her search brought her to the white marble steps of Dusan and Synnove s humble palace. Jealous of Synnove s beauty, the witch disguised herself as a humble servant. While Synnove slept one afternoon, the witch butchered the maiden s golden hair, stealing it away for herself.

Horrified to find her beautiful hair gone, Synnove locked herself in her room and allowed no one, not even her beloved husband, to see her. Distraught, Dusan fell asleep next to Synnove s bedroom door and while he slept, the witch plucked out his lavender eyes. Synnove heard her lover s screams of pain too late to help.

Cackling, the witch took off with her prizes and brewed up a vicious spell deep in the forest near the palace. She placed the golden hair and the lavender eyes inside the potion. Back at the palace, Dusan and Synnove found comfort in one another. Synnove wished to avenge her love, so she took up his sword, but he would not allow her to leave without him, so he took up his bow and the couple set off to find the witch who had ruined their lives.

As the sun rose and the moon began to sink below the horizon, the witch completed her spell. It changed her into a beautiful woman with golden hair; pale skin covered in deep blackened runes and eyes the color of twin lavender fires. Her magic had grown stronger with the completion of the spell and she reached out and plucked the very sun and moon from the sky.

Just then, Dusan and Synnove climbed over the top of the hill. Synnove lifted her husband s sword and ran to the witch. Dusan lifted his arrows and asked for guidance and truth to speed his arrow home. The witch, reveling in her glory, did not notice sword or arrow until both had pierced her body. She screamed in pain and agony, but it was too late. Synnove and Dusan had killed the witch. But the witch cast a deadly curse on the pair with her last dying breaths. She cursed Synnove to take the form of a wolf during the day. She cursed Dusan to take the form of a phoenix, but only during the night. The lovers would never be together in the same form again.

As Synnove s body transformed, Dusan took the sun and the moon from the dead body of the witch. As he held the orbs in his hands, he turned his sightless gaze to his lover and her new body. Though he could not see her, he knew that she was not the same. He knew that he could use the power of the dawn and the dusk to cure the curse, but that would leave the world with no sun and no moon, so Dusan returned the sun and the moon back to their rightful places in the sky.

Pleased with their return, both the sun and the moon each gave a fragment to Dusan. The fragments would allow Dusan and Synnove to take the same form for a limited time twice a day midnight and just before dawn. Dusan took the fragments offering the sun and moon thanks for their generosity.

That night as Dusan took the form of a phoenix, Synnove took the shards of the sun and moon. She had each crafted into a necklace. Synnove took the necklace of the sun and gave to Dusan the one of the moon.

It is said that the couple lived in peace for some time. Synnove s hair grew back, though much shorter than before. Dusan never saw anything again, but he became used to living without the use of his eyes. The pair bore one single child, a boy with dark red hair and his mother s deep sapphire eyes. After Synnove bore the child, she lay dying and asked Dusan to care for the child. Dusan promised he would and as he held his dying wife and his newborn son, he gave the necklaces of the sun and moon to his brothers, asking them to place them in a protected tower he had built years before. He feared someone would use them for evil.

The brothers took the necklaces from Dusan and placed them inside the tower. They took small fragments of each necklace and crafted these into keys. Then they placed enchantments upon the tower, binding it so that no one could ever open it easily. The tower possessed other treasure and powerful items that helped to keep it protected.

The brothers then took the keys forged from shards of the sun and moon and placed them inside the dungeons below the palace. They placed enchantments and spells of protections upon them. It would not be easy to remove these keys.

Dusan, being a powerful mage, drew out the spirit of the witch who had taken his eyes and now his wife from him. He took her spirit and split it into two forms, ripping her soul apart and binding both pieces to the dungeons, forcing her to protect that which she had once stolen. Any who venture into the dungeons will face the witch in her split soul form, the form of the dawn and the form of the dusk. To obtain the keys will not be an easy feet, but one day it will need to be done. The tower will need to be opened, one day.

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