The Silver Knights

The Silver Knights were formed at the same time the lantern was lite. They are its guardian and thus the guardians of all. They were given tremendous powers to go with their responsibility. For more then two thousand years the lantern stood over the western border of the world. Over time the Gralgamon family of knights took power in DuskHaven and has led the city over the last 400 years prior to the fall. The Knights are not a particularly religious order. Most are members of the Church of the Light but it is not a requirement to join. They receive the highest level of military training available and they recognize their weaknesses. As an order they are trained to stand against the disorganized demons of the Wastes. As such they have evolved their training along those lines. Most wear heavy plate mail and wield either Swords or large Hammers as weapons. Few receive additional training to fight in lighter armor and use lighter weapons including lighter swords as well as distance weapons such as the bow. The secondary troops use distance weapons almost exclusively. Bows, Crossbows, even slings are used to repel the demons. They have training with the spear as well in case the demons get too close. Unlike most medieval organizations the Knights recognize and respect the skills of the secondary troops and praise them for their deeds.

The very highest order of Knights are those connected to the Light. This is not a figurative term. Those connected to the light can “see” a beam of light within their minds and can make use of it against their foes. Common abilities include shielding the user in a suit of glowing armor, and shooting balls of light that can kill a smaller demon with one hit. Less common is the ability to “create” a Hammer of Light which can be used as a melee weapon or thrown at ones foes. It will return to the knights’ hand afterwards. Usually there are approximately 300 knights in armor at any time within the city with another 300 or so out on maneuvers along the borders. The secondary troops are mostly volunteers from within the city ready at a moments notice they number another 1500 or so men. The Knights have accepted a system of honor as the cornerstone of their beliefs without it the feel the lantern will falter. They may be right as the light has flickered in times when one of their numbers fell from the light and turned to darkness. Chief among these was Lord Danrael but his is a story for another day.

Most of the Knights were born and raised in and around DuskHaven but a few of their number have come from as far away as the Inner Kingdoms. These tend to be those able to wield the light as they will feel compelled to come leaving all that they knew behind them to fight against the demon hordes. No stigma is attached to those from outside. As long as they are willing to fight and able to take orders they are accepted into the ranks.

DuskHaven

It’s time to introduce our site name today. DuskHaven is the last human city in the West of Arquel. Beyond it lays more than a two thousand wheels of desert and Mountains. These seemingly lifeless areas are home to countless Demons and Creatures of the Underworld. Where they came from originally is unknown though ancient legends speak of a war that split the Earth open and from that crack they came. What is known is that they were well on their way to conquering all of Arquel when the Twilight Lantern was lite in DuskHaven. The Lantern contained the power to drive the demons back and so DuskHaven stood as the Sentinel on the Western border of life and civilization. DuskHaven was a large city with nearly ten thousand inhabitants within the boundaries of the city proper and more then twice that living in the surrounding fields. Besides its obvious military pursuits DuskHaven was also home to the Western most Speaking Hole known and several smaller colleges of magic. The Pool of Light at the cities center glowed with the light of the Lantern day and night and architects from as far away as the Inner Kingdoms would come to study the Government and Religious buildings surrounding the pool.

Built over the span of two thousand years DuskHaven shows influences from both Eastern and Western religions and architectural styles that culminated with the Temple of Light. The building housing the Lantern itself is quite plain by contrast as nothing has been touched on it since it was lite. It stands at the Western edge of the Pool with the Temple dedicated to it rising above the Eastern end. To the North are the barracks and training facilities for the Silver Knights and city guard and to the South lay the seat of Government for DuskHaven and the surrounding lands. The city government was divided into two branches with the head of Silver Knights in command of the military forces and an elected Prime Minister commanding the civilian branch. The Knight General of the Silver Knights acted as a defacto King over the lands but usually constrained his rulings to military matters. But the final decision of the Prime Minister could be overruled by the Knight General. The Knight General was also the head of the Church of the Light though again he left most day to day decision making in the Church to the secular branch of the order. Two Silver Knights who had access to the Light always stood on guard over the Lantern along with half a dozen of the secular lay members of the church. They were also connected to the Light and acted as the caretakers of the Lantern ensuring its constant vigilance over the surrounding lands.

We’ll go into more details on the Church and Silver Knights soon.

Why am I doing this

Today's update will shift away from DuskHaven briefly to talk about why I'm doing this. For the last few years I've had story ideas floating about in my head and I'd write a couple pages all excited. Then I'd read them back and go "Yuck, that sucks,” and crumple them up and toss them. Then in 2006 I heard about NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month is a non-profit organization with the goal of everyone writing a 50,000 word Novel during the month of November. I thought what the heck what have I got to lose. By forcing you to write quickly you won't be writing the next great novel but you will be forced to keep writing. I had no expectation of cranking out 50,000 words as that's 1,667 words a day. But to my surprise I loved it, I was not writing every day but when I did write I was writing with passion.

To my utter surprise I crossed November 30th with just over 50,000 words done and a sense of massive accomplishment. Then I reread my story. It wasn't great but there were scenes that I really liked. I took much of 2007 off and debated what to do that November and in the end I decided to expand one of the scenes that I really liked and try to make a full length novel out of it. The Flight of the Amadeus was much better written (IMHO) then the story that preceded it. While I didn't get 50,000 words I did get 31,000 much more coherent words. I then joined a group called NaNoWriYe or National Novel Writing Year. A much smaller group these were people that want to write year round. Unfortunately their current website is pretty unstable but they are a great group of people. During the first two months of 2008 I have continued my sci-fi novel with some success. But in March I needed a change and so I started DuskHaven. I have enjoyed every minute of writing it and I want to share it. I will be posting the first short story set in the world later this month and I hope you all enjoy it. My year long plan is to continue to work on my science fiction but take breaks every couple months for another DuskHaven short. I plan to do my November NaNo in the DuskHaven world and these shorts plus all the character and place descriptions that are going up here will help tremendously. I hope you all enjoy it as well.

World Info

As we get the site organized I'll start posting daily with details of the world. Today's post is a world overview.

The world of Jinadar is a slightly smaller but denser world from our own. Gravity and temperatures are fairly similar. The star it revolves around Shinta is a smaller whiter star than ours and Jinadar moves in a smaller orbit around it. Hopefully we'll have the first map online in the next few days. Jinadar has 4 major continents and several chains of islands. Arquel is the continent we will be centered on for the foreseeable future. Arquel is the home of the Inner Kingdoms of Arsel and Darset. Which have been in a state of underground war for centuries. They occupy the Central and Eastern portions of the continent. To the West lie the Borderlands of Shinon, Galashin, and Dornet. The border cities cross one of the narrower parts of the continent. Beyond them lay The Green Fields one of the most prosperous farmlands in the world. And to the West of that lies DuskHaven. Beyond DuskHaven are the Wastelands occupied by the Demonic forces of the underworld. DuskHaven is the sentinel city guarding the lands to the East.

Hooray we're online!

Hello all and welcome to the online home for Tales of DuskHaven. I'll be your innkeeper during your stay here. This is a world that I've been working on for some time. It is a fantasy world that is teetering on the brink of destruction.

Thirty years ago the Twilight Lantern in DuskHaven was extinguished by the demon hordes. It had guarded the Western boundaries of man for more then two thousand years.

The main character of these stories, Rolard, is the last of the Silver Knights, guardians of the Lantern and DuskHaven. He has traveled all the years since the lantern was extinguished searching for those that would help him reclaim his homeland and relight the lantern to drive back the demons. Over the next few weeks I hope to put together a glossary of the people and places in the Borderlands and I'll be posting the first short story set in the world.

So welcome again and let me know if I can do anything to make your stay more comfortable.