The Artifacts of Condir

 New 3rd Kingdom Novel in the works. - I have completed the first draft of a new novel titled "The Artifacts of Condir".  The story takes place in one of the harshest and most remote areas of the kingdom. Once the passes are closed, the entire northern coast, and its inhabitants, are closed off from the rest of the world. To assist any stranded travelers, the king has established a small outpost to provide aide, shelter and protection. Given its remote location and the scarcity of visitors, the outpost has become a dumping ground for outcasts, misfits if you will. A knight, who while still proud and somewhat capable, has a clouded past and consumes a bit more Ale than he should. A cook who would rather avoid any encounters with the law, and a stable hand who was about to become an embarrassment to his father. The newest outcast is Flint, a brilliant young man who loves to share his knowledge, even when the people around him don't care to hear it, including his commanding officer. 

It seems to be just another routine winter until they happen upon a shipwreck. Against all odds there is a survivor, a young woman in possession of some very unusual parchments, enchanted parchments. The parchments tell of the location of three very powerful magical items. It is said that if these items are every brought together, it would be catastrophic. The Wand of Time, The Pendant of Erring, and a Dragon Tooth Necklace, the Artifacts of Condir. A very powerful warlock known as Clovis seeks the artifacts, and he will do anything to possess them. His plan, to destroy the king and install himself as the rightful ruler. 

Just what are the artifacts of Condir? and how did they become so powerful that they can threaten the entire kingdom? It is a story not many want to remember, and few want to know...

Excerpt from "Artifacts of Condir."

 “The story took place during the reign of King Fellox, approximately one hundred and seventy years ago…

At that time there was a wealthy Lord named Seatter. Lord Seatter made his fortune importing and trading spices, mostly frankincense. He purchased vast amounts of land, which is what allowed him to become a Lord. He built a huge manor he named Condir. Supposedly it took nearly thirty servants to maintain the manor, which did not include the gardeners or stable hands.

As rich and politically powerful as Lord Seatter was, he had a secret, a dark secret. Lord Seatter was a wizard, and a very powerful one at that. Rich, influential and powerful was not enough for Seatter. He was obsessed with being the greatest and most powerful wizard of all time. Over several years he developed a plan and stockpiled the resources he would need to create the largest spirit trap ever built. To conceal the fact he was a wizard, Seatter built the trap in secret, disguising it as a massive garden element. 

The trap consisted of massive stones evenly spaced out in a giant circle. Once the stones, standing more than ten feet in height, were in place they were capped with bridge stones to enclose the circle. In the center a stone altar was constructed which sat just in front of a large fire pit. Numerous logs were stacked in the form of a teepee and soaked with oil. The artifacts were placed on the altar in hopes they would absorb the energy released by the spirits when they entered the trap.

There were three artifacts placed on the altar. The Wand of Time, the Pendant of Erring, and a Dragon Tooth necklace. To entice the spirits to enter the trap, Seatter had twelve virgins placed around the fire pit and altar. When everything was in place, Seatter had the fires ignited and everyone left the trap with the exception of Seatter and the virgins. He spoke the incantation that sealed the trap and Seatter began summoning the spirits. 

The trap and enchantments worked perfectly. Spirits began arriving and circled the interior of the trap. They were drawn both by the enchantments and by the purity of the virgins. Dozens of spirits filled the trap, but it was just the beginning. Spirits continued to arrive by the dozens. Very quickly they began to quarrel and fight among themselves, and it was then they discovered they had entered a trap. They began searching for a way out, but by now there were hundreds of them and none could move without causing more of a disturbance. In the confusion one of the virgins tried to run, but a powerful spirit snatched her up and threw her across the field. She impacted with the stone altar and her head smashed into the hard stone, her blood covering much of the altar. The sight of her pure blood fueled the frenzy even more and the spirits began to swirl around the outer edges of the trap.

The spirits began to manifest themselves as a flaming cloud that formed into a spiraling vortex, rising up from the center of the trap, extending up to the clouds, then spreading out like a large mushroom. Seven more of the virgins were killed in the turmoil. Sometime during all this they say a figure appeared at the altar and raised its massive arms toward Seatter. The beast, or whatever it was, gripped Seatter's head in its powerful hands. Then, all at once, Seatter entire body vaporized into a red mist that was instantly sucked up into the vortex. With Seatter gone, the enchantments began to break down. The spirits pushed against the outer edges of the trap, causing the vortex to bulge outward. Moment's latter the trap collapsed, and the spirits flooded out. Their power flooded out across the field in the form of a twenty-foot wall of flame.

The wall of flame rushed across the fields, consuming everything in its path. Horses, cows and goats were instantly burned alive. The remnants of the enchantments left some of the smoldering carcasses standing like grotesque statues. The flames consumed everything. When the vortex originally formed many of the servants thought it was a fire and were rushing to the field to help. The poor souls were swallowed by the flames before they could begin their retreat. Two nearby villages were also overrun by the wall of flames. The stone walls were toppled, the people burned alive and the houses, the entire villages were left in flaming ruins.

Two of the virgins that survived were so disfigured they barely looked human. Two were somehow physically fine, but they were never to speak again. They just sat and stared off into the distance, their vacant eyes seeing nothing but the terror of that night. 

Sir Herald was one of the first to arrive at the sight just after dawn on the following morning. Herald was the greatest knight of his day. He had traveled the entire kingdom and seen many things that would cause most of us to cower down in terror. In his first report to the king, he wrote, “Hell is empty, for today all evil has been poured out upon this field.” 

 “There was a rumor, or popular myth if you will, that tells what happened to the artifacts after the fires were put out,” Flint said.

Magnus did not seem pleased with Flint’s offering, but seemed resolved to hearing it. “Go ahead, tell us the myth.”

Flint smiled. “Herald had the area searched for survivors and any evidence about what might have happened. It is said the three artifacts glowed for several hours after the event. Two of the artifacts were brought to Herald. When the two came together the ground began to tremble violently. A massive fissure opened up and stretched across the field, destroying what was left of the alter and ripping a massive hole in the ring of stones. It continued its path of destruction all the way to Condir manor. It tore the very ground from beneath the manner, ripping the foundation away. The entire manor collapsed, barely one stone left atop another. Some say it was the artifacts attempt to wipe away any remnant of Lord Seatter. Herald realized the danger and had the artifacts separated. When he had, the shaking halted. Fearing what would happen if all three artifacts were brought together, Herald ordered them destroyed. To his horror, each of the artifacts resisted flame, axe and sword. None could be destroyed, the magic within them was simply too powerful.  Since they could not be destroyed, Herald had the artifacts taken away.

He assigned three knights to take the artifacts to distant hiding places. He sent Sir Mathis to the north, Sir Anthony to the west and Sir Karmen to the south. He told none where the others were going, but he wrote the location of where he was sending them in a report to the king. When the three knights returned over a month later, Herald gave explicit orders the locations were never to be shared with anyone. Herald then decided the danger was so great that the locations needed to remain secret, even from the king. He planned to destroy the parchments, but a powerful sorceress named Karteza feared the powerful magic would be lost and enchanted the parchments. When Herald realized he could not destroy the parchments he gave them to a courier and paid her to take the papers away to an undisclosed location. The parchments were never seen again, and their existence became mixed with myth and local folklore. These days most dismiss the story as nothing more than fable meant to scare children. 

Amber reached out and picked up the parchments. “These are the enchanted parchments,” she said. “These prove the story is true.”

The Artifacts of Condir - coming soon...