Ordinary Joe and the Mark of Four

Dear Joe,

My name is Evlan Caldor, King of the realm of Hatriila, second son of Treyd Caldor, and I am your father. I cannot hope to answer all the questions you must have my son, but I will try to address those most urgent.

For this letter to be in your hands, you must have entered Antigol. The man I entrusted it to is an old friend. If you trust no-one here, trust him. He has pledged himself to the Royal House of Hatriila, and that includes you, Prince Johlen, second son to the throne.

You were born in Antigol, in the city of Hatriila, in a time of peace. It was not always so. Our early history shames us with its brutality, as men fought to rule the four Kingdoms of Aysh, Groll, Lotun and Hatriila. If not for the unity of Majia, we would be fighting still.

On Earth there are many religions and each man is free to choose which he will follow, but in Antigol there is only one. We live for Majia, the power of our world, which unites all creation. It is power without measure and our lives serve only to nurture the Majia we each hold, until it can return to the world. On Earth you might call it a soul and in Antigol it is our reason to live. We tend the Majia and through our actions enrich it, strengthen it, to return it renewed.

Many centuries ago our scholars were consumed by the study of Majia. To many this was a sacrilege but the warring Kings knew, a man who controlled the Majia could not be opposed. Our greatest discovery was to be our ruin, a power beyond all which preceded it; a fusing of the Majia to be harnessed by man. We called it Majiak.

Dreidlor, the King of Groll, took the power for himself and tried to use it to destroy his rivals. Had he succeeded our world would have perished. But the Majiak’s power was too great. Dreidlor was driven mad by its potency, intending no longer to rule the four realms, but to unleash the Majiak and destroy our world. He believed he was a God.

Mercifully, the power was too intense, even for a man of Dreidlor’s strength, and he was unable to bear it. Before he could turn it against his enemies, the Majiak destroyed him.

With our world on the brink of destruction, the Kings forged a truce, a promise of peace across all four realms. The Majiak was too dangerous, too powerful to leave in the hands of one man, and they agreed to break it into four, each King to hold a part within him.

So the bearing of four began and with it an era of peace lasting many centuries. But the Majiak was held at a cost. Only the strongest can contain the power and many Kings fell ill in their attempts. As Kings passed rule to sons, so the Majiak were handed from generation to generation.

In the aftermath of the Great War, many Antigolians saw the Majia as a curse, an untamed power which would corrupt and destroy us. They foresaw a great cataclysm which would engulf our world and Antigol was split in two, divided by those with faith in Majia and those without. Though you may find it strange, many Antigolians believe completely the words of the Prophecy, an ancient document which predicts the course of our world. Many of our scholars disagree over the translation of the text, but few doubt its final words foretell an end to our world wrought by the Majiak.

So the great architects created Earth, a sister world to our own but one free of Majia. To this world the non-believers were sent, a time we call the parting, and they were glad to go. Earth was a haven. It became known as the world of shades, a land where Majia lay dormant. They began their lives anew, in a world of their own. The Council of Twelve, a group dedicated to the glory of Majia, created powerful gates as a bridge between Antigol and Earth. When the exodus was complete they ordered all gates destroyed and our two worlds continued alone, along different paths.

I myself held the Majiak of Hatriila for 30 years. But time eventually defeats us all and there came a day when I could bear it no longer. You were three years old when your mother convinced me to pass on the Majiak, so you would know both a Father and a Mother as you grew. Do not think this irony is lost on me, considering the events which followed. I was reluctant to relinquish my crown, but she was right. I could not risk leaving her to raise our sons alone. I agreed to pass the Majiak on to my successor, your brother Avarat.

On the day of the transference, the whole of Hatriila united to celebrate the old King’s rule and the arrival of the new. Though you may know your brother as a man feared and hated in our world, it was not always so. Prince Avarat was well liked and the people of Hatriila welcomed his coronation. But it was not to be.

No-one can control the Majiak. We are only vessels to carry it through our world. Yet it can be influenced, and for many generations Kings passed the power to their sons, to continue to safeguard it and keep it forever from becoming whole. I released the power to your brother, knowing he had the strength to carry it that I did not. But it did not pass to your brother as intended. Instead it chose you.

Your brother suspected betrayal. He believed I intended to pass the Majiak to you from the start. Nothing your mother or I could say would calm him and he left Hatriila in a fury, vowing one day to return and claim his rightful inheritance.

I cannot find the words to convince you of our sorrow. You, along with your brother, were the sole reason for our lives. We knew you could not hold the Majiak and survive and were too young to be taught to release the Majiak back to me. We had no choice but to send you to Earth.

You will know by now that Maven secretly maintained a single gate for passage to Earth. It was your only hope. A place in which you would survive, with the Majiak dormant inside you until you were old enough to return. Only now, as a man, can you fulfil the prophecy and defeat your brother. You are the bearer of the mark of four and soon Antigol will unite behind you.

I must end this letter. There are many things you still need to know, but these I will share with you in person. For now, believe the words I have written, for each is true. I do not know if you can forgive us. It was the hardest decision we ever made and you are always in our thoughts. Each day we longed to bring you home, to find a way to take the Majiak from you. Sending you away broke our hearts, and though the pictures Maven brought were treasures to us, nothing could mend the hurt of not seeing you grow, and not having you here.

I will see you soon my son,

E Caldor