The Demon Quest Saga - Episodic Edited Version
Obligatory Introduction bit
The Demon Quest Saga. I wrote this in
2001 or 02, I forget which. The version you see here is mostly unchanged
from the original writing, there are a few spelling/grammar corrections
and the original fifteen parts have been condensed into ten.
The
story was originally a background story for Kryliene (cry - lee - inn), my main character
at the time (Xianghua, who I largely consider my "main" character, even
after Cate took over, did not exist at the time, although she was
planned to appear in a later story involving Kryliene which never
happened. Lore-wise, Xianghua is the only one of my characters who
did not "know" the others until much later than this took place).
This story is based in the world of Norrath, in very early EverQuest 1 timeline (before Shadows of Luclin existed). The premise, aside from being a background story for Kryliene, the main character of this story, was that I was going to run an in-game event based on this storyline for my guild. It just never ended up actually happening and I made a story of it instead. The lore and locations mentioned in the story were accurate at the time of writing.
The Ownage of Kryliene, Episode I
Kryliene Onsyou Kisaragi. Many have heard her legend. Many more have not. And so, here begins the chronicle of The Great One...
Kryliene
Kisaragi, born in Kelethin, was raised by her parents until she was
seven years old, at which point her parents were called to battle. They
had been chosen for a raiding party which was to travel to Crushbone to
assassinate the leader of the Crushbone Orcs at that time. The entire
party was eliminated with the exception of one soldier, a friend of
Kryliene's parents who returned with the news. Kryliene was shattered,
and vowed revenge on the Orcs. She took up training under a local Druid
guild to refine her skills in combat and the art of magic. She was given
a short sword by the sole survivor of the Crushbone raid, who was later
killed in a skirmish just outside of Kelethin. She trained everyday for
four long years, practicing hard and never giving up. One day she was
out for her daily run when an orc pawn attacked her from behind. She was
taken by surprise and without her weapon. She tried to run, but the orc
battered her ruthlessly. She awoke to find herself back at her home,
saved by a guard on patrol. Her hatred for the orcs grew and she decided
that it was time for her quest to begin.
She set off for
Freeport, where she fell under the instruction of a magician who taught
her all that she had learned from her combat experiences. Kryliene took
the advice to heart and improved her survivability even more. She took
up employment in East Freeport, killing the critters there and just
outside the city in North Ro for a small salary, but it was better than
nothing. After she had saved up some gold, she traded in her sword and
bought a scimitar. With her new blade in hand, she ventured further into
North Ro, but discovered that it was far too dangerous for her, so she
traveled back to Freeport to decide what to do next. That's when she
heard that the Deathfist Orcs had invaded the East and West Commonlands,
attempting to take over the land. Her past swept back to her and she
immediately set out to the East Commonlands to take up the battle
against the Orcs. She spent many weeks fighting them, suffered many
injuries, and became a better fighter. However, she wanted to do more.
These Orcs weren't much of a threat to the area, and it got to the point
where she was able to overpower them easily. She returned to Freeport
and asked around about the Orcs' movements, however, she wasn't able to
learn much information. She was thinking about returning to the commons
to resume the fight against the orcs when her Magician friend appeared
in front of her.
"Kryliene," she said, "If it is Orcs you seek,
there are Orcs in the Oasis of Marr. These orcs have moved in from South
Ro and are threatening the land upon which the citizens of Freeport
walk."
Kryliene jumped at this news, grabbed her Scimitar, and started to dash out of the door when the magician stopped her.
"Wait! You can't go to the Oasis yet...it is dangerous there, even for
myself. Dry bones skeletons, ghouls, spectres, and sand giants wander
about, not to mention the madmen. You must learn more before you can go
there."
"But," Kryliene whined, "I want to go kill the orcs now!"
"No," the magician answered, "they are too strong for you. The
Deathfist Orcs of the East Commonlands are nothing in comparison. Go to
the Northern Desert of Ro and refine your skills there. Once North Ro is
below you, you can proceed to the Oasis of Marr and resume your ongoing
fight against the Orcs."
"Oh alright, fine," Kryliene huffed,
clearly disappointed, but she knew the magician was right. She had heard
tales of the horrendous creatures that resided in the Oasis of Marr
from her friends and other passerbys. The next day, Kryliene set off for
North Ro, where she took up fighting spiders, sand scarabs, shriveled
mummies, and madmen. It took her some time to get adept at fighting in
the desert, but after awhile she reached a point where North Ro was of
little challenge to her. She considered staying there for a little while
longer, but inside, her soul burned to see the blood of a thousand orcs
spilled by her blade, and so she continued to the Oasis of Marr, where
she is currently in the fight against the Deathfist Orcs.
Kryliene did well against the Orcs, finding many who were willing to
help her out. After a few weeks fighting them, she returned to Freeport
for a short leave, where she purchased a Combine Scimitar. She handed
her older weapon down to an aspiring Ranger who was referred to as 'the
Archer' by her companion, another Ranger. On her trip back to Oasis, a
powerful Wizard appeared in front of her. He introduced himself as a
friend of her Magician friend. He handed her a Velium Scimitar and
continued on his way before Kryliene even had a chance to thank him.
She returned to the Oasis where she fought the orcs for several more
weeks, killing thousands upon thousands of them, but eventually, she
grew tired of it. Her combat skill had increased so greatly that these
orcs were about as much challenge as the East Commons orcs. So, she
decided where to go next. A friend told her that there were troublesome
Tesch Mas gnolls in the Southern Plains of Karana, so Kryliene headed
there at high speed. With her newfound ability to teleport herself
around the world, it wasn't long before she arrived. She found the
gnolls which her friend spoke of, and immediately joined a party to
combat them. This went on for about a month, at which point she found
the lair of these gnolls: Splitpaw. She entered with a group of
adventurers and found hard yet rewarding battles within. After about
three months of fighting within, she returned to Freeport for a
vacation.
On the way there she met an aspiring Magician named
Sandare Loire, one of the three royal Loire siblings. She was the the
middle child: Not as proper as Lenina, yet not as wild as Fenlael. She
took some time out of her life to teach the Magician some things and
help her out with her basic training. They spent about a month working
on the Magician's skills as Kryliene lent her healing powers to the
young Sandare, but eventually, Kryliene had to move on. She was eager to
return home to Freeport...