"The House of Borhe (Part I)" by Diogo Dionisio Teles

The House of Borhe (Part I)

The clash of steel against steel felt good in the morning, the best company for breakfast. Martin was standing in the battered dirt circle of the training ground where he tested the skill of his warriors, most of the time for his own amusement. He appreciated to see the results of his training and thought this was also a good way to keep his men in shape during this long time of peace. In fact he thought this would be the only fighting these men would do in a lifetime. The last war ever fought on The Kingdom Of The Elven Forest had ended at least three centuries ago, it was now nothing but old history.

His father insisted on maintaining a small fighting force for the protection of the palace. The numbers were exaggerated for such a purpose but still to small to be considered an army. The locals at Port City a few miles west of Gahald palace, appreciated such a force, as did the king in the south, for if need be all these small forces guarding the different noble houses could be mustered to form an army.

At Gahald palace dwelt one Velenor Borhe knight of the kingdom, but one who never really pledged alliance to the king. He was new in these lands, in fact very few years passed since he started to deserve the attention of the noble houses. Velenor was a young man of golden hair by the shoulders and distant blue eyes, taller than most of the locals. These were traits from far lands of the western continent for once there he dwelt, a paladin, a warrior of virtue and defender of good. But good can have many faces, and each one looks different to every observer. I the case of Velenor, good was dictated by the goddess Rhea the mother goddess of the greek gods, and by her followers.    

After his initiation as an errant paladin Velenor left his home to travel through the world of Khull defending his cause and sharing his faith in Rhea, very few still did such travels nowadays. Borhe’s travels ended near Port City, where he remained unheard of for one year. It was in the end of spring that a rumour brought news to the city, telling that in Wooden Prints Forest dwarves were gathering and had been putting down trees. In the clearing that was opened something big was being built, a palace or castle of some kind the rumour said. 

When the history of Gahald Palace is told to outsiders the first comment the teller usually hears is: “And your king did nothing to stop this invasion of land?” The answer to this is recited in the tale of the mysterious Elven Forest, an eight hundred-mile long forest, that spreads over almost the entire kingdom and of which Wooden Prints Forest is but a small fraction. This huge green mass of trees of all kind and shape was known to the eldest as the land of Feygreen, for fey they called to all it’s strange inhabitants, though most couldn’t be further from being described by that word. This forest was no land for men, and those who tried to use it for men’s purposes either disappeared or seemed to abandon whatever they were doing there, suddenly and without explanation. The king oversaw from afar the construction of the palace but never tried to stop it. He gave orders to the House of Ebonir, the ruling house of Port City, to refrain from taking action against the palace’s construction.

An so it is that in eight months aroused in Wooden Prints Forest a blue marble marvel of the world of Khull, a palace of such magnificence that should have taken eight generations to build and not eight months. It was then that Velenor Borhe was revealed to the kingdom and to the greedy and suspicious gaze of the noble Houses. Borhe requested an audience with the king and announced that he would make his home on this kingdom. He carefully added that from Gahald palace nothing but help in times of need should be expected. Velenor never pledged fealty to the king, for he could serve only Rhea and the purposes of the deity. Despite his warning, the king considered the presence of a paladin in his lands an invaluable aid, for these knights were known defenders of good causes and his was a kingdom of good will.

Velenor grew in respect and his reputation of good hearted warrior spread all around Port City. Soon people started to walk into the forest in search of this strange palace, most for curiosity but others seeking aid. Since the establishment of a temple dedicated to Rhea inside Gahald, followers of the deity came from the city and from the surrounding villages to participate in the temple’s affairs, and to seek council from it’s priests. Five months passed since the palace was finished. It was now a haven for the followers of Rhea in the surrounding villages, but Velenor had planned to go much further in the service of his goddess…