Historical - History of the Flan - Ehlissa The Nightingale - Part 1

Historical - History of the Flan - Ehlissa The Nightingale - Part 1

In ancient days within the Flanaess before the coming of the Suel and the Oeridians there was a great chieftain among the Flan in the east. He was called the Oak Lord though people of today might have called him the Over-King as he ruled over many tribes and chieftains. 

In those days kingdoms were not as we see them now with great stone castles in great stone cities with knights in armor and wizards in towers. The Oak-Lord's hall was wood and carved into every board, beam and branch were charms and tales of the Flan and a history of Oak-Lords and Ash-Queens past, now sadly lost to the fires of the heartless Suel and merciless Oeridians.

The Oak-Lord's eldest child, destined to become Ash-Queen, was named Ehlissa and her grace, intelligence and beauty were renowned throughout the Flanaess. Her voice, though, could charm any who heard it and she was called the 'Nightingale'.

 Sulorak the Oak-Lord was a weak ruler. He neglected his warriors, ignored the warnings of his advisors and foolishly turned his back on his many rivals. In the west, in the lands that are now the Gran March, Geoff, the Stark Mounds, a great warchief had taken the Crown of Leaves and began to carve away at the Oak-Lords power.

Meanwhile, in the north, the mysterious land of Blackmoor paid homage to the Oak-Lord and sent forth each year a powerful enchanter bearing offerings to the Flan and their greatest ruler. To the Hall of the Oak-Lord came Kempelen, wizard-inventor, gifted, powerful, cursed. Kempelen heard the voice of Ehilssa and was lost.

It was in that year that a poisoned thorn took the life of Sulorak and as the Oak-Lord passed into the realm of death Ehlissa arose and became Queen-Ash and rebellion fractured her realm. In the west Alte Zollem declared that he, the wearer of the Crown of Leaves, was the true leader of the Flan and for the first time in a century war between Flan and Flan rocked the land.

Here it was that Kempelen rose to great favor with Ehlissa. From the north came bands of centaur-warriors and archers allied with the rulers of Blackmoor and with them came the witches and wizards of that mysterious land to fight for the Ash-Queen Ehlissa who Kempelen loved. With them came Erik the White, a magician-acrobat, in his way as powerful as Kempelen and he too heard the voice of Ehlissa and was lost.

The War of the Trees lasted for many years and while Zollem could not conquer the vast eastern lands Ehlissa could not reclaim the hills and mountainous realms of the western Flanaess. In this time another war was brewing, unseen, within the hearts of the wizard Kempelen and the Magician Erik the White. Both men loved Ehlissa and while her own heart turned toward the magician her advisors and her gratitude turned toward Kempelen. Both men sought to out-do the other. Kempelen with his wonderous inventions and Erik the White with his conjurations and feats of skill and magic. It was during this time that the great mechanical nightingale was crafted by Kempelen and within it was a power from beyond the borders of Blackmoor in the Land of Black Ice which Kempelen had explored in his youth. This power was dark and malevolent even as the mechanical nightingale was a thing of charm and beauty which won Ehlissa's heart. Erik the White left the Hall of the Ash-Queen with a broken heart and is said to have taken ship east and beyond the tales of the Flanaess.

Kempelen became the Ash-Queen's consort and her chief advisor, but as the years passed no children came of their union but neither did the mark of those years appear upon the Ash-Queen. The years became decades and the brief love that Ehlissa held for Kempelen faded to duty and filled her with regret. 

Great was the power of Kempelen and his craft grew with those passing years. Each ruler of the Flan had a sacred tree which was their own. The great Ash was Ehlissa's and from the heart of this Ash Kempelen carved a child. Karl was born to Ehlissa, to the old-young Ash-Queen kept alive through the dark spirit within her marvelous nightingale, but it was this spirit that brought the ash-child to life and he was the undoing of them all.