The Avalon

Anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGnfFW-vyzU

The Avalon is a mostly peaceful nation of magic users, focusing on non-aggression until trifled with. Avalon focuses on having the largest standing military, as well as have trained commanders to lead them. A life in Avalon can be one of peaceful farming, magical arts, knighthood, or exploration.

Motto:

Forward we tread, from peace to war to peace again

Lore

An enchanted forest, the type not seen so often today, grew over the vast expanse of the world. The trees grew thick over the fertile soil, with small but distinct paths weaving through the ancient oak trees. A thick canopy of silverwood and allows only a few rays of light to penetrate. A cool breeze from the bordering beach rustled the flowers and ferns of a calm sanctuary.

This sanctuary existed for centuries untouched by outside forces, until one great leader opened the hidden sacred oak gates to aid a fallen traveller. The wounded man had been attacked by a bear that lived near the gates of the village, and was losing blood fast, so the beings of the sanctuary would have to act swiftly in order to help him. The leader of the village, Sepitus Autar, personally opened the doors to assist the man. The leader and man were both of pure hearts, but neither knew that their worlds would change forever.

The injured explorer was brought inside the walls of the sanctuary, and using the concentrated magic within, he was healed in a matter of seconds. The explorer was confused, and justly for it. He had travelled many far away lands, been to every corner of the known world, and he had never seen healing so powerful. This place, he thought, must be a very special place.

The next day, after he had a feast brought to him and had time to rest, he left the sanctuary. The forest returned to its natural state, but the traveller returned to his kingdom with a story to tell of a village with magic so powerful that he could be healed from a mortal wound in seconds. After all, no known place had powers like this.

This sparked the interest of many, leading to expeditions into the forest to find this hidden source of power that was so immense that it allowed the adventurer to recover. Knights, explorers, adventurers, and even common farmers entered the forest to find this place. One day many years after the original man fallen and was allowed access to the village, a child entered the forest.

This child had a pure heart. He was not motivated by greed, wealth or power. He instead wanted one single wish granted; for the great healers of the sanctuary, now called Avalon by the outsiders, to heal his father. He had been afflicted by an unknown disease, the kind which even the best healers in the land could not cure. This noble cause caught the attention of the leader of the village.

After a few hours of exploring the dangerous paradise the child was approached by a fairy. She claimed to know what he sought, and wished to show him the way to the gates. He followed the green and yellow wisp, barely due to his short legs, but eventually was showed the sacred oak gates of Avalon.

As soon as he entered, he was surrounded by the villagers of Avalon, concerned for the child who ventured so far through the treacherous landscape, and also wishing to see who was so brave as to do so willingly for those he loved. He was brought to a small house, in which an old man sat in a dark oak chair. The man introduced himself as Lestat, the healer of the village. The man asked for the story of why the boy was so determined to find the sanctuary.

The boy confided in the man, stating that his father, who had lived a noble life of selflessness and compassion had fallen ill suddenly to a disease that had no known cure. The disease caused pains to shoot through the body, which led to numbness and eventually death. The boy pleaded with the old man, but the man cut him off.

“You needn’t worry about your father now, I shall assist him in any way I can. He is deserving to continue life,” The old man replied. The small boy’s face suddenly lifted from the ground the man’s face, who was smiling. Soon, they departed Avalon to the small farmhouse outside of the kingdom which ruled over the family.

When he arrived, a wooden box was outside the house, nailed shut. The heart of the boy sank, as he knew what happened in his absence.

The old man, still in the red and white robes of the village, walked up to the coffin, and his hands let loose a faint red glow. The people surrounding him backed away and watched as a miracle was so openly performed. All of a sudden, thudding came from the inside of the box, and then it opened.

The boy’s father had come back from death, not only barely, but in his prime. The men who observed looked on in awe, as this was even more impressive than the stories of the village. The old man turned back towards the forest and started to walk, when the boy tugged at his robe.

The boy and his father stood side by side. The father asked to stay in the village of magic, with his son. The man agreed, but soon enough, it would be the end of his safety.

The man and boy moved to the village, and they lived there for decades before any other events unfolded. The explorations of the forest slowed until they came to a halt. The forest had become quiet, and it worried the people of Avalon. A sense of foreboding came over the village for weeks, until it reached a peak. A fire had begun to spread through the forest.

The fire was not natural. The kingdom in which the man and boy had originated all those years earlier had begun a quest the day that they left to find the secret to the power which not only saved life, but resurrected it.

Behind the fire marched an army five-thousand strong to find and conquer the village. Eventually the fire reached the gates of the sanctuary. They could no longer avoid the outside world, as it was heading straight for them. The gates opened, this time from the outside.

As the gates opened, A flood of merciless soldiers began to stream through, murdering all those in their path. They headed straight for the center of the village, which existed a cave.

The cave was extensive, and was a natural maze of underground water bodies, bats, and darkness. For now, however, it was filled with torches and civilians that evacuated the rest of the town. There only hope was the family that they saved.

As the army approached the opening of the cave, they were stopped by the boy and his father, now both men of the same age. They were garbed in golden plate armor, but moved as if they had only feathers on. The army stopped and watched the two men who were foolish enough to take on an army.

The men began, “This is your final chance to turn back. We will not attack those who flee, but those who stay will perish, begin when you are decided.”

Not a single knight turned back, and instead marched on the father and son. All of a sudden, a blinding light that was seen for miles erupted from them, and when the light lifted, the army was dead. Not a single man from the 5000 survived the attack. However, it came at great cost. Now Avalon could not exist in the shadows.

In the attack, the soldiers ironically managed to kill the one man that could have assisted them in their quest for immortality. Lestat, the great healer of Avalon, perished in the attack, along with all of the innocents that did not make it to the caves in time.

After the attack, Avalon was now a nation that existed in the full spotlight of the world. The power was now no longer an old wives tale, and was proven by the 5000 dead soldiers that were brought back to the kingdom in which they came from. For many centuries, the father and son led the nation of Avalon, the name outsiders gave to the village in which they destroyed, and brought it to the height of power. The father adopted the name Mazus, as the son adopted the name Drachen, as they symbolized power to the people of Avalon. However, Mazus, many centuries later, had been attacked by a loyalist from his old life. He perished soon after, as Lestat, the man who helped him long ago, was also taken by time. The son continued to lead the nation to glory and power, while keeping the true power of Avalon locked away, only accessible to those who were truly worthy of it.