As he was crossing the Dakhota hills, his horse lathered and exhausted, Darthus stumbled upon a small hut on the top of one of the many hills. He decided both he and his horse needed a bit of rest, and it looked to be abandoned, so he tied up his horse, pulled out his bedroll and went to sleep inside. He awoke what seemed to be only a couple hours later, in the middle of the night. As his eyelids fluttered open, he noticed three hooded and robed shapes above him in the darkness. "Do you seek peace and enlightenment, my son?" the tallest of the three said in a deep raspy voice.

Darthus was very scared, but he remembered what he experienced earlier that day. The rage still smoldered inside him, for his father and how he had lived a life of luxury based upon the suffering of others. He responded with, "Yes, I do seek peace." With that the three pulled him to his feet with surprising strength. They led him silently through a trap door in the bottom of the hut, down a flight of dimly lighted stairs into a rather large chamber below. It looked as if there was actually a sizeable monastery underneath that small abandoned hovel.

The tall one slowly pulled back his hood and revealed a face with deep-set eyes. "I... am Mordicarnon. I will be your guide on the path to Enlightenment." With that, he was led below, and introduced to Kai-Shen, whom he was told would be his trainer. With that Mordicarnon vanished into the shadows and he began his training. It was long, hard work, practicing forms again and again, strengthening his body through rigorous exercise. But he found that the training and the daily meditation really did help him forget his old life, what he had realized. It calmed his guilty conscience.

Mordicarnon would occasionally return and check on his progress and would often extol his enthusiasm and ability to learn things quickly. Every time he came to visit, he would show Darthus a little trick, not often known, and said one day he would make a great Kharon. He trained alongside another monk, who was about his age, named Danicar. Darthus met other monks, returning from what they called their "pilgrimages". Monks like Morpheus, Uldrais, and Suffering, who all treated him well enough, but Morpheus with a certain disdain. Danicar began leaving with Morpheus on his Pilgrimages, and so Darthus was left to train on his own. By this time he had learned many secrets of the body and the mind, and had a few younger monks that Darthus had begun to train himself.

Soon Morpheus came to Darthus, and invited him to go on one of their journeys, with Danicar and Suffering. Darthus was honored and immediately accepted. They traveled long and hard, deep in the night by foot, across the desert, until they reached a city Darthus had never seen before. Danicar whispered excitedly that this was Shallam, and this is where their journey was to end. The four of them slipped through the giant gates, and they soon came upon a man in full armor strolling through the streets, apparently on watch. He turned and noticed them, in their dark robes, with cowls raised, and at first fear crossed his features, but was quickly replaced by a look of anger and hatred. He raised his intricately crafted saber that shone with its own light, and the monks were upon him.

It was hard fought, and the knight raised the call, "The Kharon are in Shallam! Come quickly!". A few other knights joined their brother-in-arms as the fighters raced through the dimly lit streets. Eventually the knight with the saber fell from his grievous wounds, and the others soon perished after him. Morpheus said solemnly, "Our work here is done brothers, let us return from our pilgrimage", his arms and feet stained with blood. They stole out of the city, and turned back in the direction of their secret guild.

Darthus was filled with adrenaline, but remembered the look of terror on the knight's face. He asked Danicar what had just happened. Danicar simply looked at him, and as Darthus looked into his eyes, he saw a look of pure malevolence that he had never seen before in his old friend and training companion. After several moments Danicar responded with, "That maggot was Thakren, an enemy of the Kharon, and he and the others have been given the lowly fate they deserve."

Penned by my hand on the 4th of Glacian, in the year 217 AF.