The Mystery of Oisar — A Journey through Mystara’s Past and Future
by Jim RGF from Threshold Magazine issue 35
The sun began to set on the first day of the journey. The wagons of the caravan had come to a stop and the passengers all disembarked to prepare for the night. Tredzis remained in his wagon and stared at the western sky. He felt both excited and scared. He had never slept outside before, and was worried that he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep. He glanced around. Maiika was helping her aunt and uncle set up camp. The guards were organizing their equipment and securing the horses. He decided he should help out. He jumped down from the wagon, turned around and nearly bumped into Oisar.
“Sorry,” he offered hastily. “I didn’t see you.”
“There is no need to apologize, young Tredzis,” the strange man responded with a nod.
He looked at Tredzis in a way that unnerved the young mage. “Thou dost seem nervous. Is
everything well?”
“Yes. Yes, of course. Just daydreaming a bit.”
“I can relate. I was young once myself. I will see thee soon.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Regrettably, yes. I hope it is for the last time. I have been attending to other matters and they are almost concluded. Farewell.”
“Farewell,” Tredzis echoed as Oisar walked past him and headed away from the camp.
There was something intriguing about that elf. Tredzis just couldn’t figure him out. Who was he? Tredzis watched Oisar for several seconds and then turned around to find the others. Maiika was standing right in front of him. They both jumped.
“Oh, sorry,” she said. “I thought you knew I was here.”
“No. No, it’s fine. I’m sorry. I didn’t… my fault.”
“Are you alright? You seem tense,” she observed.
“Yeah. I just spoke with Oisar. There’s something about him,” he wondered out loud.
“Something a little creepy, right?”
“Something unusual, at least.”
“Yeah, I kind of feel it too. He’s been nothing but nice, though. Where’s he going?”
“I’m not sure,” Tredzis replied.
“Well, why don’t you come over there with us?”
“Sounds good,” he agreed and the two teenagers headed over to Uncle Khosu and Aunt Dukaina. They set up three tents in short order, and before long everyone was eating by the fire.
Image:
The Ruins
https://pandius.com/TheRuins.jpg
“I saw you looking at the ruins earlier,Tredzis,” Khosu began. “Do you know of them?”
“Very little, actually,” Tredzis admitted.
“They’re the remains of Krakatos. It was a town back in the days of King Halav.”
“Ah, the Song of King Halav,” Tredzis recognized. “I’ve read about that. Didn’t a battle take place near here?”
“Nobody’s sure,” Khosu answered. “I imagine that there were battles all along the Volga River. There were hordes of monsters battling the armies of the King and Queen. It must’ve been horrible.”
“There’s not much left here,” Tredzis noted. “I wonder why it hasn’t been torn down.”
“It is our history,” Dukaina answered. “So many Karameikans are of Traldar heritage. Sites like this connect us to our past and remind us of the struggles our ancestors went through.”
“That’s fair. I guess I don’t really think about history much.”
“It’s the Thyatian in you,” Khosu teased. “No, I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
“Well, I guess that’s true,” Tredzis admitted. “My grandfather always says ‘out with the old and in with the new.’”
“I
think it’s important to learn about the past so you can shape
the future better,” Maiika added. Everyone nodded. Tredzis
looked at her and smiled. There was a lot more to her than he first
realized.
They soon finished eating and everyone settled down in
their tents. Tredzis looked up into the darkness for a long time. He
just couldn’t relax knowing that there weren’t any walls
to protect him. He began thinking about how he could escape his tent
in the event he needed to. He then began to think about his spells.
He remembered the day he and Maiika practiced wizard lock back at the
school and it comforted him. He was soon asleep.
The sun was up early the next morning. Tredzis rubbed the sleep from his eyes and quickly sat up. He was relieved that the night had passed without a problem. He got up, got dressed and headed outside. It was a sunny, humid morning and people were scurrying about breaking down the camp. He saw Maiika nearby and headed over to talk to her.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Morning,” he replied. “We’re moving on already?”
“Yes. Uncle likes to be on the road as soon as breakfast is done. Let’s break down our tents and then we can eat.”
“Very well.”
Working together, they quickly broke down their tents. By then, the smell of potatoes and bacon was too enticing to ignore. Everyone ate breakfast, and before long the caravan was rolling again. Tredzis looked around at everyone they were traveling with.
“Where’s Oisar?” he asked Dukaina.
“We don’t know. He never returned yesterday.”
“Hmm,” Tredzis mused.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. The caravan stopped and pitched camp around nightfall. The night passed quickly, and the next day dawned cool and overcast. By noon, there was still no sign of Oisar, as the road entered a forest and the caravan wagons tightened up their formation. Afternoon turned to dusk, and dusk gave way to evening. The caravan pressed on. Tredzis started to become uneasy.
“Are we stopping for the night?” he asked.
“There’s a point just ahead where the road comes up alongside the Volga,” Dukaina answered. “It’s a good place to stop. Better visibility.”
“Oh,” Tredzis replied. A little while later, they came to the spot Dukina mentioned.
Everyone
went to work immediately setting up camp. They ate a quick, simple
meal and headed off to sleep. The sound of the nearby river was
soothing but irritating at the same time; Tredzis found that it
fueled his anxiety about camping even more than before. He tried not
to think about it as he crawled under his blanket for the night.
Just
then, a drum began beating somewhere in the distance. He sat up. It
stopped. He listened intently, but only heard the river. Again the
drum began beating. He jumped up and ran outside. Everyone was awake.
The guards had equipped their weapons and had formed a perimeter
along the road, facing the forest to the west. Two of them were
holding torches and the light cast an eerie orange glow across the
encampment. Maiika was crouched alongside her aunt and uncle against
one of the wagons. Both of them were holding small axes. All of them
looked frightened. Tredzis looked back towards the road, struggling
to see in the dimness.
Image:
Goblins
https://pandius.com/Goblins.jpg
“Goblins!”
someone screamed. Tredzis turned towards the voice. It was one of the
guards. As Tredzis watched, the guards formed a line as monstrous
screams echoed across the camp. Battle cries erupted from the line.
Tredzis strained his eyes and was just able to make out several
small, humanoid shapes.
He turned around to look over at Maiika
and as he did so, he caught a glimpse of shapes moving in the dark.
There were more goblins to the north, away from the guard line.
Tredzis froze. The guards didn’t see the second group of
attackers. He didn’t know what to do. If he shouted to the
guards, he’d be drawing attention to himself. If he ran to
Maiika, he might lead the goblins to her. His mind raced. The goblins
crept forward out of the trees toward the wagons. He had to do
something. He thought about his spells. He could cast fireball.
He took a breath and looked down. He began speaking the words to
summon fire. He steadied his shaking hands and willed the flames to
form. He focused his attention on the energy. It ignited and swelled.
It was going to work! He lifted up his head to choose a target for
his spell and his eyes fell on a man standing on the edge of the
camp.
It was Oisar.
He was standing in the dark with his sword
drawn. He was right in the goblins’ path.
What was he doing?
Was he part of the goblin attack? As these thoughts raced through his
head,he finished his spell. The energy swelled with fierce intensity
and Tredzis almost forgot to get rid of it. He hastily flung the fire
towards the forest. As it sped from his hands, he realized that the
fireball was flying directly towards Oisar.
Image:
Fireball
https://pandius.com/Fireball.jpg
“No,”
Tredzis whispered. He wasn’t sure what Oisar was doing here,
but he certainly didn’t want the spell to hit him. Should he
warn him? It was too late. The glowing fire flew towards Oisar at an
amazing speed and Tredzis held his breath.
With one swift move,
Oisar calmly spun around, waved his arm, and caught the fireball
in his left hand. The goblins were shocked by the sudden light
from the spell and paused when it went out. They turned their
attention to Oisar. Oisar held out his hand and the flame appeared on
his palm. He then stretched his arm above his head. The small flame
shot upwards and erupted into another fireball. It exploded
harmlessly in the air, but the flash caught the goblins by surprise.
They turned from the bright light, and in that very instant arrows
sprung from unseen bows and struck the goblins. The sound of twanging
bowstrings filled the night air, and seconds later the goblins fell
back in terror. Oisar quickly dashed into the forest and joined
several other shapes moving through the trees.
Tredzis suddenly realized he had been completely hypnotized by the situation. He shook his head and looked around. An inhuman cry filled the air from behind the main battle line. The goblins that were fighting the caravan guards scattered and retreated. Several of them dropped dead with arrows in them before they made it back to the forest. The guards slowly drifted back into the camp. Some were wounded. Tredzis blinked in disbelief. Maiika, Khosu, and Dukaina were suddenly by his side.
“What just happened?” Maiika asked.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Tredzis muttered slowly. His hands were shaking.
“Did you cast fireball?”
“I did but… he… he redirected it.”
“Who did?” Khosu asked.
“Oisar.”
“Oisar’s
here?” Dukaina asked with surprise. As if on cue, Oisar emerged
from the woods. He sheathed his sword and walked into the torchlight.
Behind him were a group of elves holding bows. The guards approached
Oisar with smiles and seemed to be thanking him. He smiled and shook
many of their hands. The elves politely stayed behind him and didn’t
immediately approach the humans. One guard walked over to them and
thanked them repeatedly.
The elves smiled in acknowledgement.
“I need to thank him,” Dukaina said. Khosu nodded and they started walking towards Oisar. Maiika put her hand on Tredzis’s arm.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I… I didn’t cast it right.”
“What do you mean?”
“It didn’t go where I wanted it to. I could’ve killed him.”
“But you didn’t,” Maiika reassured him. “Everything’s fine.”
“Yeah. I don’t know how, though.”
“Come on,” she encouraged, “let’s go see him.”
Maiika started to walk over to the others. Tredzis took a breath and forced himself to walk. He followed Maiika slowly and approached the guards. Oisar was helping a wounded man sit down, but stood up when Dukaina and Khosu approached. They each hugged him and he seemed somewhat taken aback. He smiled and began to talk with them just as Tredzis got within earshot.
“We can’t thank you enough, Oisar!” Dukaina exclaimed.
“For certain,” Khosu added. “Fantastic timing!”
“I’m actually here much later than I intended to be,” Oisar apologized.
“All’s well that ends well,” Dukaina encouraged. “We’re really glad to see you.” Oisar smiled and lowered his head. When he raised it, he turned to look at Maiika and Tredzis. Tredzis swallowed nervously. He wasn’t sure what he should say.
“I’m glad to be back,” Oisar added.
The camp quickly quieted down and everyone tried to get a little sleep. No one actually did.
When the sun rose, weary eyes greeted it. All of the wounded bodyguards seemed to be doing well. Camp was broken down, and once again the caravan began to roll onwards. As it did, Tredzis gently slapped his face to wake up. He was not himself. He was still shaken up from last night. A horse suddenly whinnied nearby. Tredzis turned to see Oisar riding alongside the wagon. Behind him, on another horse, was one of the elves. Tredzis looked at him nervously, uncertain of what to say.
“Good morning,” Oisar greeted him.
“Um… hello,” Tredzis replied with a mixture of uncertainty and embarrassment. “I, uh… I wasn’t trying to hit you last night. I’m sorry that I almost did.”
“There are no ill feelings, young master. Releasing a fireball is the hardest part of the spell to master.” Tredzis nodded.
“Where did all of the elves go?” Maiika asked casually.
Image:
Oisar and Yngal
https://pandius.com/OisarYngal.jpg
“They are tracking the goblins westward. Hopefully they will discourage them from following the caravan. Yngal decided to stay here with us,” Oisar indicated his elven companion. Yngal nodded. “Besides, we’ll reach Kelvin before nightfall. We should be safe now from any more ambushes.”
“And after Kelvin, we’ll reach Penhaligon, and then the King’s Keep,” Maiika added as she looked over her map.
“And then the mountains,” Khosu added.
“Snow that never melts, right?” Tredzis asked Oisar. Oisar smiled.
“Well, maybe not this far south but Ye shall see snow.”
Tredzis smiled and looked to the horizon. He may have misjudged Oisar. He had so many questions for him but he didn’t know how to ask them. Where did the elves come from? How did Oisar know how to cast spells? How on earth did Oisar catch that fireball? He ended up not asking anything at all. He decided it would be better to bring them up at a later time. Tredzis had doubted Oisar’s intentions, and he was feeling guilty over it. As he turned and looked northward along the road, he realized that he still had a lot to learn about a lot of things.