The Legend of Nidiz

The Legend of Nidiz is a short story written by Ben Hinks. It tells of events in the years 4556 [8:0]-4558 [8:2] in Nebulum, and is supposed to be the sworn testimony given by Nidiz, the sole survivor of the first army to investigate and attack the Dark Magicians.

Synopsis

Nidiz begins his legend by telling of the first signs of the Dark Magicians, a great storm of volcanic ash which fell for a month on the entire world. After the ash, the Great King Alasutham calls a council to decide how to deal with the new enemy. It is eventually decided to send a small army to investigate and find the source of the ash.

Nidiz receives the permission of his king, King Dasharpa of Vernon, to join this army and the following spring, they set sail for Etnyben. It is on the far side of the Red Mountains where they finally discovered the citadel of their enemy. Nidiz also tells of an interesting flower growing beside a large rock near the shore of the nearbyLake Icavor. On the rock, someone had carved the name Yanna'Reh.

The main purpose of Nidiz's account is to tell of the failure against the Dark Magicians and how he alone survived. Interestingly, he was among the first soldiers to attack and did manage to personally kill one of the enemy before everything went haywire. He attributes the failure to a lack of understanding of their enemy as well as the final orders given by Commander Sartona. During the ensuing chaos, he tripped over a rock and because he was on the ground, escaped the fires of the Dark Magicians which incinerated the rest of the army. When everything calmed down, he jumped to his feet and ran for his life.

Filled with fatigue from battle and shocked by the horrors he had already witnessed, Nidiz knew he could not outrun the one Dark Magician chasing him, and ducked down behind the rock beside the flower. Nidiz then claimed that a faint figure of a woman slew the Dark Magician and all that was left of his enemy were a few small shards of black rock.

Nidiz then begins the long journey home alone by traveling the length of the Icavor River, with brief stays at the villages of Sehol and Torheem. Upon his return, Nidiz feels out of place among the familiar feelings of home. It is doubtful he ever felt at home ever again.