Vitas' Tale: Might & Magic

~~Vitas' Tale~~

Mr Septonic

Prologue

At the early age of eight, a boy makes the life decision of how he will serve his city.  Whether it is being a cook in the castle kitchens, or an archer atop the gate, watching with a careful eye.  In the early days however, magic was just now becoming a popular thing among the lords.  And so all the boys followed suit; becoming wizards and magicians.  Some still went the other direction; becoming knights in their own right.  The thought of using magic was exciting for a young lad, prompting him to make it his goal.  And this seemed to go on for quite awhile.  Until the tables had turned that is.  Now wizards are in surplus, while becoming a knight was now very rare.

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A city by the name of Loftsdam, known as Loft by locals, was in such a situation.  Being located right on the coast, the place was known as a trading median, and had no need for a large army of any sorts.  Because of this, almost every single boy became a wizard.  All except for a group of fifty-seven.  Out of these fifty-seven, ten became cooks.  Twenty-seven went off to work at the harbor as sailors.  One left Loft to become a scholar, who is now famous for his work.  Seven became merchants, and ten went off to build farms and raise families.  The last two went up to the castle to meet with the lord, returning as knights.  At first they were ridiculed for choosing to go into such an old art.  But eventually they were praised after people caught notice of the deeds they had done.  These two knights stayed friends for a very long time.  Sixteen years and seven months to be exact.

The two friends eventually parted ways.  The one that left Loftsdam was Sir Josef, a kind man that preferred the large plains to the sea.  The one that stayed was simply known as Vitas.  Little was known about him as a man, but plenty was known about him as a knight.  A master with the bow, Vitas usually went on missions alone.  He could use a sword, but he was nowhere near as skilled with it as Josef.  He would have left with his friend, but he was a man of the sea, and loved his home too much to be parted from it.  A couple years after the departure of Sir Josef, a rogue warlock came to Loftsdam.  This warlock caused plenty trouble for the locals, who wish for the man to be dealt with.  So naturally they called on a skilled wizard to deal with the problem.  When the wizard returned he was badly beaten and was bed-ridden for weeks.  So yet another wizard was sent out, this time a much more advanced court wizard.  But he too was beaten, and came back ashamed.  Without any other choices the people turned to the only knight at Loftsdam.  At first Vitas was skeptical.  He was not a fan of magic in any way, almost hating it.  But after some consideration he agreed.  What better way to refuse magic than fight against it?

Very few people know what exactly happened that day, but everyone knew of the results.  Vitas returned to Loftsdam carrying the head of the wizard in his left hand.  People praised him for succeeding where their magic had failed.  But Vitas had not come back without injury.  For the man had an everlasting curse cast on him by his opponent.  After the warlock perished, Vitas felt a sensation coming over him.  This gradually grew into an unbearable pain that caused Vitas to fall to the ground, and then pass out.  When he awoke he felt no different, but came to quickly realize the results of the curse.  His body had vanished, leaving only his soul, trapped in his armor.  Because of this occurrence, the townsfolk have come to call him Vitas, the Ghost.