The Keilantra Codex

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

February sixth…

It’s been 142 years since I last wrote in this journal… Had to use a spell to restore it, it had gotten so crispy from age…

I sit at a desk in a treehouse in the great city of the elves. Reading the entries here, it feels as if my heart has been hammered by a smith and put back into my chest. So long ago, yet the memories come back as fresh as if it was yesterday.
(more…)

Tags: elves, ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

(This page was found loose in Ven’s journal, folded there between the pages I have already given you and the ones yet to come…)

Taelin tried to kill me again today, and I almost didn’t realize it was her. I was able to misdirect my spell at the last minute, and only injured her. I teleported away as quickly as I was able, and spent the rest of the day recovering from the spell. I hate teleporting even worse than flying. I know she thinks I’m running away because I’m a coward, but I honestly can’t bring myself to kill her. She’s declared vengeance on me for what I did to Marcus and Amaya, and I understand that completely. In fact, if it were anyone else who had done the killing, I’d have helped her extract her vengeance. As it is, I can only avoid her. (more…)

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

16 September.

Before I set this journal up on the shelf in my new study, I think I’ll fill in the pieces a bit. I have become the archmage, and the only thing I can think of to do is leave. Can the archmage leave? I suppose they can take excursions and such. This is one of the reasons I didn’t want to take this position. (more…)

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

September the Twelfth.

I almost burned this journal today… While moving all of my things to the Archmage’s apartment it dropped onto the floor from a pile of clothes. I must have tossed it aside sometime in the last few weeks. As soon as I saw it, I thought of her. My dear, sweet, Amaya. She is being tormented in the afterlife right now because of me. I tried once to find her spirit, and Marcus’s, but I caught only a vengeful thought before their souls fled my presence.

Now I am the Archmage. I admit it was my own foolishness that caused their deaths, but that pompous… arrogant… bastard… I can’t believe he had the gall to try to trick me and use my emotions like that. He paid for it. He burns in hell right alongside them now. And I am the Archmage.

This is the first time my wrath has abated enough that I can think straight, and I don’t like the turn my life has taken. I never wanted this position, but now that I have it, I will keep it. She wanted it for me. She thought I deserved it. Maybe I do. Damn. I guess we’ll find out.

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Fourteenth July

Well, I must admit that there hasn’t been much happening these past few days. A guy can only write about studying and sword practice so often before it gets boring. I was going to walk past this journal again tonight, but as I went through my day in my mind, I remembered something that was a little out of the ordinary.

I was walking down the hall, alone, minding my own thoughts. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the archmage of Spirit ducking behind a corner. Off and on since then I’ve had the feeling that I’m being watched. Maybe I’ve grown paranoid. Damn… I think I should consider leaving the University. Amaya won’t like it, but I don’t want to play these games right now. I don’t want the damn chair of the archmage, and I don’t care for his scheming.

Yes… I think it’s time to start thinking about an excuse to leave. Amaya’s going to kill me.

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Eighth July.

The little brat nearly kicked my ass today. Marcus wanted me to fight her so he could watch her style more closely in action. I think if she hadn’t been trying not to kill me, she would have beaten me. Though that runs both ways. My magic isn’t as compatible with swordplay, but it is certainly effective. As it is, I have a shallow cut across my ribs and one across my right thigh. I left my mark on her as well, but only bruises. The funny thing is that she seems to have a little more respect for me now. I think she’s the first person I’ve encountered that is more impressed by my fighting skill than my magic. (more…)

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

July the fifth.

Well. Marcus has chosen his apprentice. For all my previous bantering about the appearance of an apprentice being tied up in fate, I must confess that it resembled just that. His new apprentice is a young girl of about sixteen that arrived at the university yesterday. We walked into the arena after the last of the interviews yesterday, because Marcus needed to let loose a little frustration. She was there, swinging a wicked looking sword against a practice dummy. Marcus and I watched for a few moments before she paused and noticed us standing in the corner. I don’t know what I would have said in that moment, because Marcus took the initiative and drew his sword. Neither of them said a word. He advanced and she dropped into a low defensive crouch. (more…)

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

July the second…

That was really a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. I didn’t realize how afraid the young magi are of me. I think I might actually have started to develop a complex if I hadn’t been sitting in the same room as the man who had just kicked my butt the day before. The bruises are starting to show up today. Ouch. My illusionary opponent doesn’t hit that hard. Anyway, the interviews today were some of the most interesting conversations I have been privy to in years. The first few went by pretty quickly. The young men were entirely too concerned about what my presence meant, and that distraction failed them in Marcus’s view. (more…)

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

The first of July…

I think I mentioned before that I don’t like practicing my swordplay in front of an audience. Well, I like losing a match in front of an audience even less, but when your opponent is the predominant war wizard on the continent, it tends to attract attention. Out of respect for my “squeamishness”, Marcus and I usually try to duel when no one else is around. He’s been gone for two years though, and everyone is anxious to see what new skills he has learned, thus an audience is what awaited us when we entered the arena. I didn’t bother to count, but I would guess at least three dozen people saw me get my ass handed to me tonight. The moves I had worked so hard to perfect had gotten a grunt of approval from Marcus before he countered them all. It was quite disappointing, really, although I shouldn’t grumble too much… I’m one of a handful of men that Marcus would even bother fighting against. (more…)

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

June the thirtieth?

Marcus managed to prove me wrong once again. He arrived early in the morning on the thirtieth, despite my grumbling insistence to Amaya that he’d stroll in around nightfall. I’m sure that if I hadn’t said anything, that’s exactly what he’d have done. He always seemed to be one step ahead of me. I think that’s why we get along so well, he reminds me that I’m not infallible and I make him work at being so perfect. The gods know we both have our pedestals. (more…)

Tags: ven, Ventrovius, walking the dark path
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