The Empire has successfully destroyed all possibilities of Rebellion and thus, the great Rebellion which was once almost as powerful as the Imperial Beaurocracy, itself has been wiped out. It started it fall when it was given the High Power by the imperial High Council and some of the major members of the Imperial High Council openly switched camps in favor of the Rebellion, announcing their allegiance and the justness of the cause of the Rebellion. This made the higher echelons of Rebellion over confident about their power and thus were either slowly assassinated or shunned away by the backstabbing Councilors, who made them believe that they were their allies. The Councilors on the other hand also used their popularity amongst the mass for directly opposing the Empire, to make the mass think that the Rebel leaders themselves were more tyrant than the Imperials were, as the Rebel Forces tortured innocents on their command. Thus the Rebellion lost its credibility; they also lost the support of the kindred or as the Imperials called them the “Half Breeds”, who found that the Rebellion was no longer representing them. Thus, the entire infrastructure of the rebellion was sabotaged from within and suddenly the Empire declared full war against them, with many prominent leaders either dead or banished along with their loosing popularity, the Rebellion crumbled to dust, only a few actions remained, who were too busy too solve their own problems rather than fight the Empire.
Yet, there are still a few, who hope that the Rebellion shall rise one day again and return to its former glory and shall succeed in its original mission of overthrowing the Empire. This was the dream of the young hunter of the obscure village at the Northern fringe of the Empire. One of the numerous villages dotting the Northern Fringes is where the story starts. He, accompanied by his brother and a girl of their neighbor left their village, when their father was murdered by the girl’s father who was the peacekeeper of the village. They fled for the youth feared his and his brother’s lives and the girl fiery with the injustice caused by his father and determined to find her elder bother who had left the home for the same reasons. They went through many dangers and met a band of gypsies, who claimed to be one of the remnant factions of the true Rebellion. But, they soon found out that they were actually Imperial Spies. Although this they never realized until the caravan was waylaid by one single strange man on a sturdy bicorn. He hurled strange weapons at them which looked like a cross between spear and mace and scattered the caravan. Then he alone rode amongst the gypsy warriors and wrecked havoc, with a saber of strange make. It was then that the leader of the Caravan threatened the mysterious man in the name of the Emperor and also brandished his sword of office, this made the strange cavalier all the more vicious, and he beheaded the leader shortly. Thus the three youths were saved and the strange man took them with him and started asking them questions. The strange man was called Borris as he called himself and asked them who they were and where were they going? On asking he informed them that he was a bounty hunter cum Soldier of fortune and he had the task of saving a rare artifact from the gypsy leader. He also said that they were not real gypsies, who roamed the Southern portion of the Empire, but these were the spies, who gathered information and killed possible Rebels. The Artifact he was looking for turned out to be a fire colored jewel, which, he said, was a rare high Phoenix Soul. He offered the youths to travel with him to the Forest of Assarin, where his paymaster awaited him to receive the jewel. The youths having no other options consented and together they traveled. The first thing about Borris was that he was multi talented. He had been to various exotic places and met many exotic folks. He had dealt with the Ice giants of the snow Mountains, the Amphibians of the Indigo Sea, the Ape beings of Assarin and Many more. And wherever he had gone he had learnt something. They were amazed to find out that he was an aeronaught and could fly an airship. He was also a skilled warrior and they were stunned to find out that he was a runologist as well, which meant he could manipulate energies with the help of runes, which he generously used to fight, his arrows did exactly what he told them to do as they discharged the energy stored in the rune which he etched on them. What the youths did not know was that this type of warfare was once prevalent amongst the elite enforcers of the Rebellion. When the Rebellion fell, the art of practical runology also became obscure and people expert in that art also dwindled. For maximum elite enforcers either died in battle or were slain or executed. The Alchemists of the Empire categorically and systematically wiped out the second front of power users who were almost equally strong as they were. Yet, Borris was found to be pretty proficient in such subtle art. If the youths knew better they would have understood then and there that he is one of the remnants of the old Rebel School and definitely anti-Imperialist for no one else would learn runology otherwise. Also his multitalented ways and strange weaponry clearly suggested that he was not a mere mercenary and a bounty hunter. He was mysterious; however, as they traveled to Assarin, they fell in the middle of a battle amongst two hordes. Two bands of outlaws were fighting for supremacy over a hill and a tower. Borris strangely intervened and took side with one of the warring bands and helped them securing victory. There he showed his capacity as a General and a warrior as well. After the war ended the leader of the winning band wanted to offer him a reward for his assistance as it turned out that the battle had made him the most powerful warlord of the local underworld. He had become the bandit king. Borris strangely did not ask for anything but asked for his undying friendship. The youths were amazed seeing a soldier of fortune act in this strange manner. They however carried on their journey eastward and went through many strange places until they reached the Northern fringes of the borders of Assarin. The great lord who wanted the fire jewel held his seat in a tower on a hill surrounded by a deepforest of ancient age. He was an ape lord. He presided over the bear people and the ape beings face, hands and feet like apes, giving them strength and agility and towering black bears who talked like men and fought viciously ruled the deepforest and these Suerin ruled. He was an outcast but so was his subjects, half-breeds they were called. Strong, brave and fierce in battle yet ruled and controlled by the Empire, they only took care of their internal disputes, the external problems were taken care of by Imperial Governors and they were in effect the true administrative power but wielding such unconditional power is not possible while dealing with such half-breeds for they instinctively distrust humans and they never accept full control of the Empire and live the world, if within their territory, in their own way. They don’t even think of raising and maintaining an army for all the able bodied bears and apes are already army and are unconditionally loyal to their liege lords. The youths and Borris, reached this place and found Lord Suerin in a very foul mood, for the Emperor have asked him to provide an army of two thousand apes and a thousand bears and get them readied and armored for battle to face a disturbance in the marshlands, where the Reptilians dwell.
The Lord could not overhear such a direct order but apes and reptilians have spent and maintained friendly relations for generations. Suerin did not want to undo what his ancestors had done. Also fighting the Reptilians in the marsh meant, not a single of his Ape or bear shall return. The Imperial forces shall be behind them, once the Reptilians are tired they shall join them and finish and massacre them. The half-breeds would be sacrificed before a human, specially an Imperial soul. Borris again displaying his strange nature advised the Ape Lord to march his forces and at the last moment form an alliance with the Reptilians and fight the Imperial army instead, the Ape Lord, was stunned as he could never afford to take up arms against the Empire and such advice from the odd bounty hunter meant that he was a rebel. It was then when Borris revealed his true self and informed that he was a Warden of the last independent faction of the Rebellion, and it was his duty to try to bring all the kindred, who were abused by the Empire as the half breeds together and create a common alliance of the kindred to fight beside the human rebels when finally the rebellion resurfaces. Suerin was still not convinced but then Borris said that they shall get the help of the Amphibians too and of the Grey Folks.
However Suerin was not convinced, it was then when Borris revealed the High Phoenix Soul as it turned out, Borris had been looking for the artifact all by himself and not under the orders of Suerin. Suerin was stunned by the brilliance of the jewel and then Borris explained the power of the jewel. It had the capacity of teleporting a person or persons or objects to anywhere the wielder of the stone desires, as long as he can rightly visualize the place. Borris advised Suerin and gave him an ingenious way to use the stone on all his people. He said that he could create a hold for the stone which he would carve with special runes of his own design, this shall have contact with the answering runes which he told Suerin to order his soldiers either to etch somewhere on their armors, garments or weapons The Summoning rune an the answering rune share as special quality and the Summoning rune drags the answering rune within a quarter mile of its existence, when it is activated. Now Borris said that if the hold with the Summoning Rune be teleported somewhere all the answering runes shall follow, they may be a little slower than the actual teleportation magic but only very little. So the answering runes shall also drag those who wear it along with them. Thus if Suerin needs to retreat and go into hiding they can do it along with all his all his people. Suerin was mighty impressed with this and he agreed to follow the plan of Borris and thus entire army of the Bear People and the Ape Beings where mustered for battle and the women and children with the elders were sent on a journey far into the South where some clans of the Apes and Bears still dwelt and this they did in extreme secrecy. Suerin anticipated that the Imperial Soldiers would be more intent on the march of the army rather than the exodus of the women and children, however Borris, being a man of extraordinary caution created and mesh of deep illusion amongst the caravans by creating extensive and complex rune nets, yet warned them to be extremely cautious while moving and counseled them to move by the dark and through the deepest of the forest and also not go with a large group but in small groups so that they may not be taken under suspicion by the various Imperial watchers on air.
