I'll do all that I can to ensure my words bear witness to fact and not fiction in this history. Mortal minds are subject to degradation just as leaves through the seasons. I remember things through diaphanous windows.
I came to Storm Keep, eighteen summers of age, and versed in Storm Keep's ethos by Shay. I had been granted a thorough education through my first cousin, schooled in the art of swordarm and in the old laws of San Gohdam.
During the time of my induction, Ihsan Madaur was Dark Lord, and I saw his reign throughout the duration of my aspirations to knighthood. There was an insurgence of interest, and fellow officers Arinas Schwartz and Kulinar Atennim came with me. We were all of us ambitious under Ihsan's tenure, and we all rose to knighthood within three months, the sons of our ancestors before us.
Soon after came Madaur's absence. Those who know him will say he was a heroic visionary, unyielding in his faith, and a fallen paladin who held to his virtues. He was believed to be either missing in action or a prisoner of war at this time, though he returned to Storm Keep later and approved Storm Keep.
"He's dead," came whispers through Storm Keep for weeks. Morale was destined to failure, and men of action sought to act. Skardin Varze was the first officer, respected universally in Storm Keep despite a past in Gaar Volen. Varze was a man of order. We all respected him, and with the aid of the Kingpriest Isadore Schwartz, Varze's campaign was successful. We pledged our allegiance to him. Many men of repute served with distinction at this time, among them Hsiu Wa, Keric Na'vor, Kulinar Atennim, Arinas Schwartz, Eldyn Amaricus, and Crelius Atennim.
Isadore's word carried the weight of omniscience. He was the Voice of Necrucifer, dictated so by God, and it was through Him that God spoke. He announced Mass, and through this meeting, His Will and His Way was incorporated into Storm Keep's ethos, co-written by the Kingpriest and the Bishop Seethe of the Templar.
Necrucifer came, and we felt His presence descend. We were ordered to take our belongings and sacrifice them in His name. We were ordered to fast for two weeks while studying His will and His way. We would not leave Storm Keep, until every man had remembered it entire.
After, we were called by God to charge His crusade. There was a fire in the soldiers of the men I fought. It was Godfire, and through it, it burned with the eternity of Man and all his Purism, fiercely, as never before.
Shay Kayen returned to Storm Keep for his final tenure. After Varze's reign and the morale of Storm Keep restored, I was announced his heir to the legacy he wrought. I bestowed it to Hsiu Wa, and Hsiu Wa to Fritzgrad Kayen. From there, the history falls into Modernity.
- Reklah Kayen