Telak Ranks
Pre-Rank- Apprentice
Rank 1- Knight
Rank 2- Fighter
Rank 3- Avenger
Rank 4- Savior

Path 1- Order                                        Path 1-1- Judge             
Path 1-2 Justice                                     Path 1-3- Master of Order

Path 2- Natural Balance                Path 2-1- Ranger    
Path 2-2- Druid                              Path 2-3- Bringer of Balance    

Path 3- Protection                  Path 3-1- Defender
Path 3-2- Protector                  Path 3-3- Shield of the Innocent

Grand Master













 

Walker of Magic
            On a world called Helan, in a city called Velevon, in a simple hut, there was a child born. This child had an epic destiny, but he did not know it yet. All he knew was the sweet embrace of his mother’s arms, and the calloused hands of his father.
            Then, it was gone. The demonic armies of an evil sorcerer slew the baby’s family, burned this hut that was his world, and left this child for the wolves. Perhaps it was fate, or merely luck, that an old man found him first.
            “I’m telling you Leran, the demons don’t leave wounded to interrogate; they eat them!” Hakar said to the Grand Master.
            “Do not be so sure, Hakar, they might have missed one, or…” the old man’s sentence was cut off by the sound of a baby crying. “Do you hear that, Hakar? That may not be a demon, but it is success.” Indeed it was. They found the child outside of the walls of Velevon, and took him in.
            Leran raised the child at the Telak academy. This academy trained warriors to protect the innocent, and destroy evil wherever it may hide. The Telak are trained since birth to resist pain, physical or magical, and have defensive magic of their own. This is what the child went through, as he grew under Leran’s wing. When he was taken in, he was given the name Kelan, after Kelan the Savior of Terrathus. Kelan developed friendships over the years, and looked to Leran as a father. As time went on, Kelan became a force to be reckoned with, as did the others.
            “By the power invested in me by the city of Velevon, and the organization of the Telak, I grant thee the title of Telak knight.” Leran spoke these words with joy, as he watched the little children that were sent to his doorstep now become full-fledged Telak. He knighted many people. Finally, he reached Kelan. He spoke the single sentence, and gave Kelan the ceremonial armor, marking his new status, and the sword. Kelan was filled with joy, fighting back the tears that were in every one of the new Telak’s eyes.
            At the end of the ceremony, there was a celebration like Kelan had never experienced. Sure, he had been there for the party after the ceremony in the years before, but he enjoyed this one much more, because it wasn’t a reminder of what he could be, as were the ones before. This was honoring who he has become. It was the best night of his life, and he couldn’t be happier.
            The next day was spent fulfilling contracts that came for the Telak. Of course, he got simple tasks, as it was his first day on the job. Help with a raid on bandits; kill an orc terrorizing farms; interrogate a murderer, and other relatively small tasks. It was good work, paid well, and Kelan loved it.  He wanted to spend the rest of his life doing it.
Twenty- three years passed, and Kelan had ranked up to Telak Protector. Kelan was busy saving lives, and earning plenty of money. Granted, some jobs paid little or none at all, but he didn’t care; he already had more money than he knew what to do with. Of the fifteen Telak that he had grown up with, only nine were still alive, and none were as high- ranked as he. Luckily, most of the ones Kelan was friends with had survived, and the bonds of friendship hadn’t diminished. He had plenty of older Telak to get advice from, as few Telak were ever killed. Three hundred and seventeen Telak were still alive, including himself, and two hundred and seventy- three were still in action. Life was good.
            That all ended when he was called back to the Telak base via mental sending, while in the middle of an investigation. Kelan knew that Grand Master Leran (Who is now the ripe-old age of two hundred and thirty-seven) would never summon him in the middle of a mission unless the situation was dire indeed. A couple of hours later, he arrived at the academy on his war Wyvern, (given to him as a reward for achieving the rank of Protector) letting the servants take it to the stables, as he made his way inside. He was welcomed with the sight of all the Telak in the main room. Even the retired ones and those put out of action. This had never happened before, and Kelan had the creeping feeling that the situation was worse than he had imagined.
            “I apologize for the interruption of all of your contracts.” Said the familiar, calm voice of Leran.” I assure you that this is more important than anything that you were doing. We have found the man, or rather thing, which was responsible for the raid that took so many of our own twenty-eight years ago.” The man responsible for the murder of his family? Found at last? Kelan was shocked. He had always thought that the man had died after the attack, or was assassinated. “I know that this may not seem like much of a reason for a summons, but he has grown more powerful. He has been making pacts, drinking from the wells of power, and many other things. He has officially become a level 1 threat.” Level one? Kelan had only heard of one other occasion in the entire history of the Telak where there was a level one threat, and the world was nearly destroyed. As for the wells of power, Kelan had only heard of them in myths, wells that can grant the drinker magical power. This, along with pacts for power… “We shall send out thirteen teams of twenty, each with different tasks, so as to best draw down this sorcerer’s empire, before it can begin. The thirteen still active Telak and those retired will help with evacuation of the nearby cities. Let’s get to work.”
            The afternoon was long, as there was much work to do. First, there was splitting into groups. This was organized from highest ranking to lowest. The first group was full of Masters of Order; the second was Bringers of Balance, and so on. Kelan was in the fifth group, with other protectors. Most were older than him, since he was far above his class. His group’s mission was to free prisoners from the dungeons of the sorcerer’s stronghold. Kelan desperately wished that he could’ve gone with the top three groups; all of which were heading to slay this evil magician. He wanted revenge for the family he never knew. But, the rules of his current family prevented that.
            The group with Kelan slew the demon guards with ease, and broke the cages even easier. The group’s orders were to take the prisoners to safety, then meet up with groups six through nine, who were fighting the demonic army at the front of the base. This is what happened… for a little while. The protectors were walking for about half an hour before they were ambushed. Demons were hiding in the very sand that surrounded them. This wasn’t simply a few demons hiding, it was a small army. Demon after demon fell to the Telak, yet more took their place. The Protectors were doing well against the horde, but they didn’t stand long. More demons arose as they fell. Kelan realized this wasn’t a small army; it was half a legion. One Protector could easily take hundreds of demons, yet they still fell. One by one, Kelan’s companions fell. Kelan soon found himself alone amongst the remaining army of demons.
            Then, a thought occurred to Kelan. It was a spell that he had read about from an ancient book, the kind that was outlawed in any place civil. This book was one that he found while adventuring, used by the arch- demon Relevoir to almost conquer the world. A single page of this book burned in his mind, a single spell on that page. It was worth a shot, since death was the alternative.
            “Havrok Kor Tek Nell Convre Kak Toon!” He spoke these unholy words as he slew the demons that came too close. “Def Tan Wehah Koor Ton Vok Vareen Helav!” The words burned even brighter in his head, the words singing his mouth as he spoke them. He started to shout the final verse of the chant. “KOOVRE HAV GEN TOOK TEL HAVREE KORAN!” Then all went black.
            Kelan woke up in ashes. He looked around, and saw burnt soil for as far as he could see. He knew that he was responsible for this. The spell was one of total destruction, for about a mile around him. Luckily, the prisoners and his shield- brothers were already killed, and there wasn’t another soul for many leagues. It spared him the trouble of a cremation ritual, and killed the entire demon legion. Kelan didn’t feel lucky. He knew the cost of the spell; a bit of his goodness, a permanent stain on his soul. Now that he wasn’t in the heat of battle he had time to ask questions. Like, for instance, why was there such a large army of demons just hiding for these few prisoners? Twenty simple Protectors at the cost of an army? This made no sense, but Kelan had to keep moving. He still had to help with the stronghold itself.
            Two hours later, Kelan came to the top of a ridge to be greeted by the sight of the terrible stronghold. This keep was built with blackened stone, and spikes littered the walls. He could see from the distance that the gate had already been knocked down, as well as many demons killed. He quickened his pace.
            Ten minutes later, he walked through the decimated gate of the keep, to find even more bodies scattered. Kelan was surprised to find a large amount of Telak that he knew among the dead. He made his way up the main tower, hearing nothing but his own footsteps. Then he heard it.
            “Hello? Is anybody out there? Help! Help me, please!” Kelan recognized the voice as a Shield of the Innocent, whom he had gotten much help from in better times. Kelan took the steps three at a time until he made it to the throne room. There, he saw a sight that broke his soul. Death. More than he had ever seen before. Telak littered the ground, with no demons between the corpses. At the deathly throne, he saw a figure. This figure was at least ten feet tall, clasped in ebony armor, with darkness rolling off of it. In front of the unholy figure was the Telak he Kelan had heard crying out.
            “Hello Kelan. I’ve been waiting for you.” The dark being that Kelan had figured to be the sorcerer said as he took the life of his hostage. His voice was like a cold whisper that Kelan could hear perfectly, even through the distance. “I know you haven’t met me yet, but I know you. I know you have many questions, but I assure you they will be answered. First let me tell you what all of this is about.” Kelan didn’t want to hear another word out of this thing’s mouth. He tried to rush at the sorcerer, but the magician cast a spell that would freeze him in mid- run, to the point where Kelan couldn’t even force his mouth to move.
            “Not very patient, are you?” continued the monster. “I am Havorazen. I was once a simple mortal, as you are now. Then, I started to take up the study of demonic magic. I grew powerful, made deals, and raised armies. Along the way, I made a deal with a demon for knowledge of my future, and do you know what he told me? He told me that a mortal by the name of Kelan was going to be my end. I then lost my patience, and tried to kill you right away. Of course, fate, the devil that it is, decided to save the little infant that was you. I then realized that I needed more power to beat prophecy. So, I amassed my power, and I was going to come for you, but then you came straight to me. I ordered half a legion of demons to kill you, but then you went ahead and killed them. I didn’t think you had it in you to go ahead and cast such an unholy spell. Yes I know about your little sacrifice of innocence. While you were busy running back here, I had a little fun with your friends. So, why is it, that prophecy says that over two hundred Telak can’t scratch me, but a simple protector can?”
            “Because I’ve been faking.” Said Kelan. He realized that he would need demonic protection for this monstrosity that calls himself Havorazen. So he sacrificed a bit of his innocence once more, and cast a spell of protection beforehand, so that he would be immune to any spell that Havorazen could use. He faked the freezing to put the dark man off guard, and it worked. Havorazen was so shocked by the sudden movement, that he had hardly moved before Kelan stole the sorcerer’s blade from its sheath and put it through his unholy heart.
            Kelan awoke against a wall. He recognized the room to be Havorazen’s throne room. He looked around the charred room, estimating that there was an explosion after Havorazen’s death, and that must have knocked him out. His suspicion was confirmed when he looked at the helm of the sorcerer lying next to him. He reached for it, only to find a massive agony course through him, revealing that his right arm was broken in at least three places. Kelan then got up with extreme effort, picked up the helmet, and started to make his way back to Velevon.
            Kelan found his way home, and was honored. There was a celebration, as well as mourning for those lost. Kelan was made the new Grand Master of the Telak. Leran gladly handed him the mantle, as well as helped to rebuild the Telak. Kelan’s arm healed, as did his soul. There was a statue built in Kelan’s honor in the middle of Velevon. To this day, Kelan still has the helm of Havorazen in the main hall of the Telak, as a reminder of those who gave their lives on that fateful day, and a warning to those who do evil.