Of King Michel and the Micheline inheritance

1. The History of Michel

During the Time of Legends there was a plane comprising a number of continents separated by oceans and mountains. One such continent comprised the kingdom of Murandir, ruled at this time by High King Blaise d'Avandure, and divided into a number of smaller kingdoms and dukedoms. One of the sub-kingdoms of Murandir was Rol-Farintar, ruled by King Michel Rol-Dantigh.

War between the sub-kingdoms of Murandir led to the unleashing of great quantities of magic and power. This in turn gave rise to the “chaos storm”, during which a group of powerful Hepaths were able to create a permanent portal between their own home plane of the Abyss and a "weak" spot on Murandir where the largest of the conflicts was occurring. Furthermore, "neighbouring" prime material planes were similarly affected by the Chaos influx, such that the same single point on the Abyss (later to be called the Nexus) could also be made to connect to similar "weak" points on half a dozen "nearby" planes. These were points at which large battles also happened to be taking place, and which the most powerful of the Chaos Hepaths were able to turn first into Chaos Vortices, then into permanent gateways (see the First Crusade).

As the chaos storm raged King Michel rose to prominence as a champion of Law. This was to a large extent due to the accomplishments of his “Royal Fellowship”, a group of 4 Royal Counsellors and various other “countrymen” who advised and supported the King. The King’s countrymen were approximately twenty men of action who enacted the King’s commands, whilst the King’s counsellors were learned scholars who researched and debated deep matters that concerned the Kingdom.

The counsellors were:

• Rol-Sireth, High Priest of the Good Sphere;

• Rol-Aucus, High Priest of Neutrality;

• Rol-Ugere, High Priest of Nature;

• Rol-Soran, High Priest of Time (and seer).

The “Rol” prefix denotes a regal status and inner strength that gives great power and a very long life to this small and enigmatic group.

Amongst the countrymen were:

• Lord Sebastian, High Priest of the Good Sphere and one of several squires to the King;

• Duke Hanrow, Warrior Duke and vassal of the King;

• Taraman, an accomplished scout and information gatherer.

• Helios the Luminary, Sorcerer of light and the most accomplished of these four.

Woking together, Rol-Sireth and Rol-Soran created a series of invocations that protected the King and his countrymen from the taint of Chaos. Furthermore, Rol Sireth crafted a barrier, named the Forbidding Wall, that prevented creatures tainted by Chaos from entering a small area of Michel’s kingdom. This area became a sanctuary of Law, centred upon an ancient Temple: a tall, white tower in the northern province of Rol-Farintar, known as the Khorran Forest. However the Forbidding Wall could only be maintained by the continuous casting of 2

numerous priests and high priests operating in shifts. Therefore to permanently establish the Forbidding Wall, Rol-Soran sacrificed his life to the barrier. Unknown to all, however, was the fact that Rol-Soran’s sacrifice also changed the function of the barrier, so that as well as blocking the ordinary passage of creatures tainted by chaos the Forbidding Wall now acted to move forward, to a specific time approximately 1,000 years in the future, any creature who attempted to pass the wall by magical or powered means, regardless of whether they were tainted by chaos or not. The exact time of the person’s future arrival was governed by chance, but all persons moved forward through time in this way arrived within the approximately ten year time period prior to the Forbidding Wall’s eventual collapse. In some respects, those attempting to travel across the barrier by magical means became trapped in stasis within the Forbidding Wall, to be released only when the power of the Wall waned in its final years. To people crossing the Wall it seemed only the blink of an eye, but in fact up to 1,000 years had passed.

However, whilst the Forbidding Wall protected a number of Michel’s people, many others were still suffering in the raging Chaos Wars outside. It became apparent that one particular Hepath of Chaos was the chief captain of the forces that had overwhelmed the majority of Michel’s kingdom. At the King’s command, therefore, Rol Sireth and Rol Ugere crafted a gem that would imprison the Hepath. Michel, his countrymen and Rol-Sireth left the safety of the Forbidding Wall and quested to imprison the Hepath. After a mighty struggle Michel achieved the quest, but the majority of his countrymen perished, and he was himself struck down and fatally wounded by the Hepath, who imparted the incurable “wasting disease” that would trouble Michel’s people for many years to come. The four surviving King’s countrymen (listed above) carried Michel from the field, but at the point of death, Michel fell suddenly into a deep slumber, and began to physically disappear or fade from view. To the countrymen around him it seemed that they were surrounded by seven ghostly figures dressed all in white. As the body of Michel faded so the figures in white faded too, and within a few hours Michel has vanished forever.

Confused and amazed, Michel’s countrymen assumed that he had been carried away into the arms of the Good Sphere and began their journey home. On reaching the wall, however, only Rol-Sireth, bearing the gem, was able to cross since all of the others had been exposed to the forces of Chaos during the struggle with the Hepath and his minions. Helios therefore decided to teleport himself and his three companions to the inside of the Forbidding Wall, but instead they were thrown forward, almost a thousand years in time. When the King’s countrymen failed to arrive within the Forbidding Wall Rol-Sireth was horrified, and had no idea of what had happened to them. Concerned that the wall was becoming unstable to cross he decided to dedicate the great majority of his power to strengthen and seal the wall, so that it became an almost impenetrable barrier in both directions.

After the death of King Michel and the disappearance of his countrymen, the remnant of Michel's people sealed within the forbidding wall dwindled in numbers and knowledge. Isolated from everyone else in the multiverse, the centre of the world became known as the Village, and the Village was in the Valley, and all else was beyond the wall and Chaos. Much of the old times and the old ways were forgotten, and the village became a small, self-sufficient rural community. So it continued for many centuries. The three remaining King’s counsellors decided that the extremes of Michel’s time should be replaced with a more simple and balanced existence for the people. Rol-Sireth took up residence within the Temple of Law, called the White Tower, where he dedicated himself to learning, Law and maintaining the barrier against Chaos. he never forgot the King, and in his heart longed for a return to the glorious days of Michel and his realm. 3

About 200 years ago a group of Valley members re-discovered some of the ancient tales and teachings of King Michel, and elevated him to Sainthood. Assisted in secret by Rol Sireth, the Order of Saint Michel was founded, dedicated to follow the principles by which King Michel had lived and died. As these new Micheliners were generally unaware of the nature of Chaos as a Sphere in its own right, they interpreted King Michel's philosophy and deeds as Good fighting against Evil: a concept with which they were more familiar. Over time they persecuted and drove out from the Village those they viewed as corrupt and evil, establishing a core of disaffected people that would later give rise to the Dark Brotherhood, and threaten the future safety and security of the Village (see the Micheline timeline).

Meanwhile, outside the forbidding wall the remaining forces of Murandir banded together under High-King Blaise, and with several additional Lawful groups from the other planes, which were also suffering from chaos storms and the incursions of Hepaths, began to offer a co-ordinated resistance. A hand-picked group of the most powerful and intrepid adventurers from all the involved planes, including the renowned and ancient healer Moragar, mounted an expedition to the Abyss to isolate the army of Chaos from further support and reinforcement. At length, this mission was achieved by the formation of a "Barrier" around the Nexus in the Abyss, much like the Forbidding Wall that had already been erected around a part of Michel's kingdom. As a result, Chaos creatures could no longer reach the Nexus and were therefore unable to travel through to the six connected prime material planes. The end of the Chaos wars and the death of the remaining Chaos creatures now became inevitable. As things settled down in Murandir the system and style of government changed, with the High-King giving way to an Emperor, and an expansionist, human-centred philosophy that would eventually drive the remnant of Michel’s people from the plane (see History of the Empire).

The first people of Murandir to return to Michel’s old kingdom found the Forbidding Wall and marvelled at it. These people were all inevitably tainted by Chaos, and so could not pass the barrier by physical means. Magical transportation was therefore devised, to permit volunteers to explore this presumed vestige of Chaos, but since nobody sent through the barrier ever returned it was used, in later days, to rid the land of unwanted persons, criminals, etc. People passing through the wall were also moved forward in time, arriving at random within the ten year time window prior to the Wall’s final collapse. Most of these people sided with the Village in their growing struggle with the Dark Brotherhood, but some sided with Lord Blackwolf and the forces of Evil.

When Rol-Sireth judged that the time was right, he gave to the new order of St. Michel the gem that contained the Hepath imprisoned by Michel. Unfortunately, Rol-Sireth did not realise that removing the gem from the White Tower would allow it to exert a corrupting and Chaotic influence on those exposed to it, and this effect did not become apparent until many years later when the knights of the Order set the gem into the pommel of a sword. Thus it became Pelinor's bane, gradually corrupting the knights of the Order to Chaos. Furthermore, the Order now refused to give the gem to anyone, even Rol-Sireth, seeing themselves as being the most fit people to guard it. . However Rol-Sireth used his influence and power to reduce the corrupting influence of the gem, and temper the ardour of the Knights of St. Michel with others in a "Fellowship of Nine", that echoed Michel’s original organisation of government. The 9 consisted of 6 knights, Rol-Sireth, Orlon Tenquil and Celethon-Tar, representing an order of White Seers. 4

The White Seers were first established around 140 years ago (see the History of the White Seers). They seemed to appear spontaneously in a temple close to the Forbidding Wall, and were initially nurtured by Rol-Sireth, who saw in them an echo of Rol-Soran. As they began to develop, however, they found themselves hampered by the efforts of the newly-formed Dark Seers. Instead of looking forward, therefore, the White Seers began to look back, into the past of the Valley people, though not before announcing to Rol-Sireth that they had foreseen his imminent death in a battle with the soon-to-be-formed “Council of Ten”, at which no other White Retreat members would be present. This caused an increasing rift to form between Celethon-Tar and Rol-Sireth.

After some years (see below) the activities of the White Seers became concentrated along one line only; a search for the truth concerning Michel and his past. With many long months of hard toil and combined, concerted effort they were able to see, with clear certainty, his life as a King and his final demise, up until the point where he was carried from the battlefield to certain death. No matter how hard they tried, however, his seemingly certain death remained an uncertain blur. Celethon-Tar realised that the seers had in their hands the power to define that blur by "rescuing" and sustaining Michel in the present, should they so decide. Long debate ensued between the seers; could they, or should they, intervene? Calculations and research revealed that it would take the entire order concentrated in one place to sustain him and keep him from death. Though the debate was heated all at last decided to go, and go in secret since they knew that to bring Michel to the White Retreat, and reveal the truth to the knights of St Michel, would almost certainly precipitate a great and unpredictable upheaval. It seemed possible that if Michel the King were brought to the White Retreat the seers would be branded heretics. Furthermore Michel himself might be seen as unnatural or even undead, and attacked by his own followers. Most of all the Seers simply wanted to speak with him, and find the truth behind the name of Michel. Therefore a safe haven, guaranteed free of any disturbance, needed to be found. Such a place had already been located by their earlier scrying: Halmadon’s Height in the land of Orin Rakatha. A mighty tower where truly good creatures from all planes were welcomed and treated as equals in the fight against evil: a secure place where their charge would be protected. Thus the seers suddenly disappeared from the Valley and went instead to Halmadon's Height where they were welcomed, sustaining the spirit of King Michel whom they rescued from the battlefield in the final minutes of his life. Although his physical form was consumed by the wasting disease his spirit still lives, protected and nurtured by the Seers. In the Valley it was said that the White Seers had fallen out with the Fellowship of Nine and that they had left the Valley to escape the interferences of the Dark Seers.

As tensions increased, it became inevitable that a great conflict would occur between the Village and the Dark Brotherhood. The action of the now unopposed Dark Seers, coupled with the Dark One’s assumption of the powers of the Dark Oracle, meant that this decisive battle took place at the same time as the four remaining King’s countrymen, bearing testament to Michel as a King, arrived in the White Retreat, throwing the Order into utter confusion and paralysing it entirely at this critical time. In order to preserve Village morale a story was concocted that the White Retreat were fighting a separate action against the Dark One’s allies elsewhere, but in reality Rol Sireth was left alone to fulfil the prophecy of the Seers. Only a small force of loyal Micheliners left the White Retreat and guarded the common people of the Village, rather than taking part in the main action.

By the following year agreement had finally been reached within the White Retreat, and the Micheline Order and Fellowship restored under the new name of King Michel. With the death of Rol Sireth his title of White Wizard, the sword of Law and the White Tower passed to Cringe 5

and the Forbidding Wall collapsed, revealing a world beyond very different to that expected, dominated by the Empire. Members of the Empire, during their invasion of the Valley, would later slay Rol-Ugere (the “Valley Druid”).

The upheaval caused within the Micheline Order by the arrival of the King’s countrymen, and their revelations of the truth of Michel as a living King, were profound. Some of the knights of Saint Michel refused to co-operate with the new arrivals, branding them traitorous, and departed from the Order, some to join or found new organisations, others to retire from active service. Others who remained, most notably Sir Vanderloss, continued to revere Michel as a saint.

2. The White Seers

When Rol-Soran sacrificed himself to the Forbidding Wall (see the History of Michel) he did not die entirely. Instead a little of his spirit remained alive within the barrier, sustained by its power. His abilities as a High Priest of Time were wholly subsumed into the Forbidding Wall, but his associated powers as a seer remained. However his strength was small, and he could only see and influence the area immediately adjacent to the Forbidding Wall. He could, however, perceive both sides of the barrier, and the many possibilities of the future as well as the past. When he perceived that the barrier would fall within a century (and that the final vestiges of his existence would disappear with it), and that hard times would follow for the remnant of Michel’s people, he decided to act.

Rol Soran therefore began, approximately 100 years before the start of the HeroQuest campaign, to seek suitable individuals (i.e. people very strong in their faith in the Good Sphere) amongst those living within the Forbidding Wall who happened to stray close to the barrier. To those who were receptive he sent dreams and visions of past, present and future, and attempted to guide them towards understanding and the path of white seers. Some people resisted his promptings, but others responded, and soon a small group of varied individuals were regularly meeting in an abandoned building close to the Forbidding Wall. The building was transformed into a small temple, and within the temple 8 seats were set around a circular table that was aligned to the compass. Thus new seers took their seat at one of the eight cardinal compass points, with the exception of the North seat, which remained vacant.

Over time, and with the unseen guidance of Rol Soran (who the seers imagined occupying the North seat and guiding the “compass” of White Seers) the new seers developed skill in the arts of understanding, and of opening their minds to the mysteries of the Good Sphere. This allowed them to see across the many dimensions and sense the myriad of possibilities in what was, what is and what may be. Their endeavours were always, first and foremost, to give understanding and context to all the events of the world, to reveal cause and effect and hence find wisdom. This contrasted greatly with the Dark Seers the White Seers opened themselves to the Good Sphere with utter faith and trust, following the will of the Good Sphere without question or consideration of the personal cost.

Thus the seers attained great wisdom, but seemed increasingly strange and “touched” to outsiders. Indeed, it was only the continuing influence of Rol Soran that allowed the Seers to maintain a practical human function in the world, and which led the compass on a steady path. 6

After some years had passed, however, a significant problem became apparent. The seers did not teach their arts: rather they could only recruit to their number persons who showed natural aptitude and the willingness to open themselves utterly to faith in the Good Sphere. Thus the White Seers came from many different backgrounds, sharing only a natural talent for faith. There were, however, very few people with this talent, and when members of the order died it was almost impossible to find replacements. Twenty years before the start of the HeroQuest campaign the number of White Seers dwindled to four, until it became apparent that certain individuals could become seers by opening themselves to the Sphere in times of extreme hardship, challenge or endeavour. With an appropriate stimulus the powers of a White Seer could be “awakened” in these exceptional people, but not necessarily the understanding or ability to impose control. Such people were therefore labelled mad, or indeed became mad or even died as a result of the shock. If the white seers could find these people in time, however, then they could sometimes be saved and brought into the Compass. The problem was that the seers found it very difficult to identify where and when such persons would emerge,

The first white seer to be “awakened” by external circumstances and successfully brought into the compass of seers was Celethon-Tar, who occupied the North-East seat of the compass, and quickly showed himself to be a truly gifted and powerful seer. Within five years Celethon-Tar had become the most adept member of the compass, aside from Rol Soran, and increasingly represented the seers within the Valley. Therefore it was Celethon-Tar who, at the request of Rol-Sireth, joined the newly formed Fellowship of Nine. The second seer to be “awakened”, five years after Celethon-Tar, was Mallorm-Mar, who came to occupy first the West and then the South-West seat of the compass. Mallorm-Mar was a seer to rival Celthon-Tar, and it became apparent that the “awakening” process had produced a new strength and new kind of seer: one that was no longer so reliant on the guidance of Rol-Soran.

And so for the first time discord came to the compass of seers. Celethon-Tar sought to challenge the guidance of Rol-Soran, and to seek new directions for the White Seers. He realised that the Forbidding Wall would soon collapse, and that this could only occur as a result of the death of Rol-Sireth. Further, he realised that Rol Soran would also cease to exist when the wall collapsed. Celethon-Tar came to believe that Rol Soran had intentionally kept this information from the other White Seers, and sought control over the compass. In these views Celethon-Tar was opposed by Mallorm-Mar, who remained loyal to the teachings of Rol Soran, but Mallorm-Mar had recently joined the compass, and could not always withstand the will of Celethon-Tar.

Against the counsels of Rol Soran, Celethon-Tar warned Rol Sireth of his imminent demise. This produced a deep division between the White Seers and Rol Sireth, which made Celethon-Tar only more determined to demonstrate that the White Seers could be of genuine use to the remnant of Michel’s people, and to the Fellowship of Nine in particular, Celethon-Tar led the compass back in time, to seek out the truth of Michel and his deeds. Thus, the truth was revealed, and the seers found themselves with the dilemma of deciding whether to “rescue” Michel or not (see above). To Celethon-Tar this was the great task of the seers, which had been concealed from them by Rol Soran: to rescue Michel from death in the past and bring him, alive, to the present. Mallorm-Mar spoke against this, pointing out that if the seers did this they would have to leave the Valley that they were supposed to be helping, and they would be able to spare very little assistance for Michel’s people. However by this time the compass had been joined by a third “awakened” seer, Pirion, who sided with Celethon-Tar.

Thus the compass was decided, and the fate of Michel determined. Working together, all seven seers “rescued” Michel from the past and conveyed him to safety in Halmadon’s Height, where 7

they worked constantly to sustain him with their faith. This would not have happened had it not been for the views of the “awakened” seers, and yet it could not have been achieved without their power. The strength of Rol Soran was now fast diminishing, as the time of the Forbidding Wall neared its end, and when the seers departed he was, inevitably, left behind and alone within the Wall.

Finally, there is an important footnote regarding the end of Rol Soran. After the White Seers had left the Valley, Rol Sireth guessed the truth regarding Rol Soran’s presence within the Forbidding Wall, and travelled to the barrier to commune with the vestiges of his old friend and colleague, still residing within the Wall. They recalled and shared memories of the glory days of Michel. Rol Soran confirmed the fate of Rol Sireth, who at the last accepted this philosophically. Rol Soran also told Rol Sireth the truth of the seers’ disappearance. At first, Rol-Sireth was overjoyed at the thought of the return of the Michel, but Rol Soran cautioned that he had advised against this course, since the King would be greatly weakened and changed, and would not rule his ancient people for long before a new king must be found. Furthermore, he told Rol-Sireth that the guidance of the Good Sphere would be pivotal when the time came for a successor to be chosen. Rol Sireth thought long and hard on this and enlisted, for the last time, the help of Rol-Ugere in creating a crystal “soul vessel”, such as that which held the Hepath vanquished by Michel. Returning to the Forbidding Wall, Rol Sireth drew the very last essence of Rol Soran into the crystal and gifted this to Sir Clavados, the newest and least corrupt member of the Order of King Michel, instructing him to keep the crystal safe so that he could return to it at need.