Cormak
Cormak's story...kinda.
This is sort of a continuation of My Story. Only not. It's one of those things where shit happens at the same time that other shit happens only you weren't told about it in the other shit and this shit mentions that shit. Does that make sense? Whatever, you get the idea.
Point is, this is it. If you see any problems, do let me know, I'm always open to any criticism you may have for me. ^_^
My story, yaddayaddayadda, no real events and people, blahblahblah, you know the drill.
Enjoy.
When I was growing up my parents would always say that I was born under one of Tonneau's own stars, that I was special, that I was meant to do something great for the world. Maybe this is true, but knowing my parents, to them this probably meant destroying Clan Jubatus and winning the war once and for all.
The Elders would always tell anyone who would listen how evil and terrible Clan Jubatus was. My parents, when I saw them, were no different. For a long time I believed them, hating these monsters who existed only in my imagination and in the stories the others told me. After I was apprenticed to the light mage, Lucifer, my ideas on the subject began to change.
My people have never been much for magic. The Elders employ a handful of mages from other races, and several of the Elders themselves possess some small knowledge of magic, but most children born to Clan Tigris are trained to be warriors. From an early age it was obvious that I would never be a warrior. I was always smaller than the others, not by much but enough that it was noticable. I never held the same enthusiasm for fighting and generally prefered sitting at home, reading and rereading what few books I could manipulate my parents into buying for me from visiting merchants.
When I first began to display talent for the Art, the Elders took notice. A long series of arguments spawned over my talent. First the Elders had to convince my parents to allow me to learn magic. After that the mages had to convince the Elders that they weren't equipped to teach me, followed by another bunch of arguments over who to send me to learn from.
During all this I was taught a few basic skills, how to properly channel magic and what few laws existed within the magical community. Eventually it was decided I would be apprenticed to Lucifer, a famous Human wizard that even I had heard of. He was thinking of taking on another apprentice and owed one of the mages a favor.
The time it took to prepare felt like an eternity, I had been given a taste of the power of magic and I wanted more. Finally, after like, fifty freakin' years(Ok, maybe a few hours, at most. But it seemed like fifty years back then), I was brought to the Tower of Light, home of Lucifer.
We were greeted by Lucifer's other apprentice, a Human by the name of Ionas Deschain. He explained that Lucifer was busy with vital research and that he had assigned Ionas to get me settled in, in addition to beginning my teaching.
Later that night, when I had finished unpacking my handful of possessions, Ionas told me that the first task in my apprenticeship was to educate me on the current state of the war between my clan and Clan Jubatus, as well as the true beliefs and motivations for Clan Jubatus. He explained that this would prevent the Elders from manipulating me into using the magic that Lucifer would teach me for unjust ends.
Time passed and my knowledge of the other Nojin clans grew. After I finished a study of Clan Jubatus I was assigned to study Clan Hyaenidae, and then Clan Silvestris and so on and so forth.
When I had finished studying my race, I was introduced to a greater study of the gods. Until then I had merely accepted that the gods were there, I had never really thought about them, dutifully saying my prayers to Tonneau and Bellum and Matenryu. As a Nojin I was expected to worship Tonneau above all others, and though the war between my own clan and Clan Jubatus made me question why Tonneau would allow his children to kill each other, I continued to worship him. I was introduced to the worship of Ariane, the goddess of magic, to whom all mages bent knee.
In between my studies of the gods and the Nojin, Ionas taught me magic, with occasional input from our elusive master, who seemed eternally locked in his study. Other than this, life in the Tower of Light was relatively dull. I spent all my free time in the library, reading. Entertaining to me, but hardly an action packed life of adventure. The days turned to months and then into years. The war between my people and Clan Jubatus raged on and, unbeknownst to me at the time, a cub was born to the Jubatus and given the name Eli.
My magic continued to grow, my hunger for knowledge knew no limit and my studies continued more or less uninterrupted. Eventually, I was allowed greater freedom in my movements. I was permitted to leave the Tower of Light and go where I would, so long as I returned at night and never missed a lesson.
Ionas' apprenticeship eventually ended, and he returned home to his family, the royal house of the country of Sondakh. I continued my explorations of the world, as best I could from being forced to return to the Tower of Light, and observed the ongoing war between my people and the Jubatus.
One day there was a particularly fierce battle in the plains outside the Tower. The Tower is completely hidden from view from the outside, so the warring clans never knew it was there. At some point during the battle I noticed a young Jubatus warrior break off from his people and make his way into the woods.
One of the first things Ionas taught me when I came to the Tower of Light was that the war was a disease on our people. He always held that, eventually, efforts would be made to counteract that disease but that someone would have to make the first step. A single act of kindness could change the world for the better. I hadn't payed much heed to it at the time, but now the words came back to me. What better way to start that process than to provide a sympathetic ear to a troubled cub?
So I found the clearing he was sitting in and made the first step.
When my own apprenticeship ended some years later, I left the Tower of Light and traveled the world as I couldn't when I was studying under Lucifer. I visited my parents and discovered that, during my apprenticeship, I had been blessed with a brother and damned if he wasn't the cutest little guy. I managed to sneak in several more visits, I never stayed home for too long lest the Elders catch wind and force me to fight in the war. They'd all but forgotten about me in the time I was away and I didn't feel a particular need to remind them I exist. I left a magical amulet with my parents, so they could contact me in an emergency.
More time passed and, as I explored the world, I also explored myself. One of the final lessons Lucifer taught me was that a mage must always be sure of who he was. If he did not have absolute certainty that he was himself, he would fall victim to those who would seek to manipulate him. So I looked within and tried to find the real Cormak. That's me by the way, Cormak, I think I'd forgotten to tell you my name until just now. But I digress.
I tried my hand at the love that dare not speak its name, but found that, while it was certainly an enjoyable experience, I still had a preference for females. For all the good that'd do me. I never spent enough time at home to meet a nice Tigris girl.
During my travels I was approached by a Human named Luthor Deschain, who I discovered was the nephew of my fellow apprentice. Luthor proposed a grand idea to me. He was looking for support in forming a sort of police force for the magical community.
As a rule most mages tended not to get along very well. They jealously hoard their knowledge and engage in massive magical battles against eachother over the most minute of secrets. Ariane had a delegate, the Nephrite, to handle certain violations of the goddess's trust, but this was typically limited to higher violations than mere infighting, and there was no concrete system to make the mages play nice.
So I agreed and with the help of several other prominent mages(my own master declined to speak with Luthor at all), we petitioned the Nephrite and were granted permission to form the Organizers.
During this, I met the young Jubatus cub from all those years ago, again in that same clearing, and I gained a new friend. I visited him often, always in that same clearing.
Then something happened. I was summoned home by my parents, who told me that my brother had refused to participate in an arranged marriage and had been expelled from the clan.
I was furious and stormed into the council chambers to confront the Elders about it. After a long argument, they finally grew tired of arguing and said, "We are the Elders of this clan, appointed by divine wisdom of Tonneau, by his law you will accept our decision or be expelled." For any other Nojin, had this been any other situation, the argument would have ended right there. Then I did something stupid. I shouted, "Then I throw myself on the mercy of Ariadne, and renounce the name of Tonneau!" After that I remember a sound of thunder and a bright flash and then nothing.
Never let it be said that Tonneau is a forgiving god. Tonneau is violent and capricious and petty. He created the Nojin and loves them as his children, and while this love knows few limits, his trust is very narrowly defined and his mercy is all but non-existent. The slightest violation of the trust he holds in his children typically results in death. Even still, among those Nojin who do not completely agree with Tonneau's teachings, it is completely unthinkable that any Nojin should renounce his name.
When I was born Tonneau took a special interest in me. He blessed me and gave me the mind of a scholar in a clan of warriors. For any Nojin to renounce his name, but especially such a Nojin that he had favored, was a massive breach of his trust. In retrospect it was probably the least intelligent thing I could possibly have done.
The first thing I remember thinking when I woke up was that something was different. I felt lonely, like there someone that should be there who wasn't. I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling of my room in the Tower of Light. I never thought I'd come be back here again. Compared to my current life, my time in the Tower had been dull and boring. Luthor was lounging on a fainting chair over in the corner of the room while a golem stood over him and fed him grapes. It was such a...I don't know... a Luthor thing to do, that I just had to laugh. He looked over at me and fixed me with a stare that I felt even behind those dark glasses he always wore.
"You know, when I asked you to help me form the Organizers, I was under the impression that I was the crazy one," he said as he snapped his fingers, sending the golem and fainting chair away, leaving him sitting in mid-air, "But never in a million years would I have made a bet that said that a Nojin would ever renounce Tonneau. You're lucky Ariadne didn't throw you to the wolves after that little stunt."
"How many?" I asked, dreading the answer.
He pulled down his glasses enough to fix me with a stare, his pitch black eyes boring into me for a long moment before he said, "Five thousand, six hundred and thirty-seven or about a quarter of the clan. All members of House Ak plus the entire Elder's council."
"And the war?"
"Oh, that'll be over before you know it. If peace isn't declared soon, Clan Jubatus will take advantage of the confusion and attack. House Ak had the best soldiers in the clan, and with them gone the rest will be easy pickings. Congratulations, Cormak. You've single-handedly ended the war between Clans Tigris and Jubatus. Enjoy the fame, and be sure not to forget the little people who helped you along the way." He snapped his fingers and was gone.
I shook my head and lay back on my bed and thought about what to do next.