The History of D'Vaed Kelutas - Part One
To begin at the beginning…
The Year was BC 400. The Roman Empire was only beginning to flourish and grow stronger. Caesars took the throne at various times, some reigning in peace, others in war. In the farthest parts of the newly-forming empire, religions and societies were allowed to continue as they had been, as there was simply not enough time nor man-power to solidify the outer provinces as yet.
In one such outer province, a small, relatively unknown temple’s guards finished their last rounds for the evening, only to find a basket lying on the temple’s front steps. Inside, they found a small babe, along with a small bag and a note, giving the child a name: D’Vaed Kelutas. Unexpected as the delivery was, it was not fully unheard of for the temple to find such things, as it was well known that the temple would take in any such foundlings as parents could not, or would not, support. What made this child different, however, was what they found in the bag: Money. A wealth of pure gold coins, jewels and gems, by far easily enough to support the small child.
Confused as they were, the temple guardians nonetheless took the child in, vowing as they had done so many times before to protect the child, in return for the service he could render, and promising his life, as their own, to the Goddess of their temple, to protect and guard her temple as long as she would permit them to do so.
Time passed, and the child grew in stature, strength and wisdom. Taught by the temple guardians in all the learning they possessed, he learned quickly to read and write, studying everything that came his way. His physical and mental speed of maturity were such that even the temple guardians were astounded, and quickly took to teaching him the Way of the Temple, hoping to make him the youngest Guardian ever. One cold, dark night, however, all their plans changed.
Every night, the lamps were to be lit and tended after, until the coming of day. It was D’Vaed’s duty to man the lamps that night, but at some time around midnight, all the lamps began to die out, until the Temple was left in darkness. The Guardians were furious – how could their prize acolyte fail them, especially after having done the same job at least a dozen times before? Storming into the temple-grounds en-masse, they sought out the young man, determined to teach him a lesson about the sanctity of their temple.
When they found the young man, however, all thoughts of punishment fled in terror. Lying in the center of the Temple’s paved courtyard, wrapped in shadow as thick as cloth, the young man they once thought they knew seemed wracked with an inner pain, as if fighting some dark, powerful force within his very soul. Unable to tell whether he was winning or losing, the Guardians watched in horror as the shadows began to take even more solid shape, driving into his back and forming wings of purest ebony, wrapping around his hands and forearms to form monstrous claws, piercing through his eyes and mouth as they sought to re-create his very being...
As the guardians watched in terror, too frightened even to move, they saw the monster rise up, the shadows cloaking him in midnight, and lean his head back, a soundless cry escaping his lips…
The next day, the people of the village came to investigate the rubble that was left of the temple. No bodies were found, and no traces as to what caused the destruction.
