A Nirendia Journey: The Mallories
May 5, 2023 Leave a comment

The Mallories are one of two families that control the southern territories of Surdel. These families are so important and ancient that the scion of the family is officially appointed the title of High Lord by the royal family. The High Lord of the Mallory clan at the onset of the Age of Magic is Janus Mallory, father to Julian and Jayna.
Janus Mallory is known across Surdel as a pragmatic, bold, calculating, and even-tempered man. His family has repelled hundreds of orc attacks to keep the southeastern expanses of Surdel safe. The Mallories have also repulsed Visanthi pirates and armies sent to harass ports like Sevania and Fomsea and invasions that extended to Shirun and even as far north as Perketh and Dona. To keep the peace amongst the southern lords, arranged marriages are common between the Mallory and Vossen clans. Both families have rich heritages of Vossen and Mallory lineages, but no such marriage has taken place for Janus’ children, which is highly unusual. Tensions have risen and there are rumors of organized bandit raids in the Vossen lands that may have been ordered by High Lord Janus Mallory.

Janus first married Vanessa Vossen whom gave birth to a beautiful red-haired daughter named Jayna. Rumors swirled about Vanessa and infidelity for years before Vanessa died mysteriously without producing a male heir.
Janus remarried a local noblewoman Samantha Voltaire, who gave birth to Julian Mallory less than one year after the death of Vanessa. Because of the circumstances around Vanessa’s death and the rumor that Samantha was already pregnant when Janus remarried, relations between the Vossen and Mallory clans deteriorated further and quickly.

At the onset of the Age of Magic, the Mallory family is entwined in an unofficial feud with the Vossens. Raids have been reported on local tax collectors, causing the royal Eldenwald family to become involved by proxy. Meanwhile, Janus has requested High Lord Edward Vossen recognize and agree to formal marriages be arranged for Julian or Jayna, which have gone unanswered. The Mallory children are now in their early twenties and rumored to be inseparable, being often seen together at tournaments at Fomsea and King’s Harbor, a port in Vossen territory.

Explore the world of the Mallory family and the Kingdom of Surdel in the Orcusinian Box Set (Books 1-4 of the Age of Magic)
A Nirendia Journey: Cedric and Allison Arrington
April 27, 2023 Leave a comment
Cedric Arrington, son of Sylas and Henrietta Arrington, lives at the foot of Mount Godun in the Kingdom of Surdel. Like his father, he becomes a paladin through an unbreakable oath to the Holy One, and eventually he leads the order like his father did. He even marries the first female paladin in history, Allison Arrington, who wields the Twin Sisters, one sword of which is created out of thin air by the Holy One.
Paladins may be some of the most important and powerful warriors in the land, but a paladin’s life is filled with sorrow. Outcast by the Kingdom of Surdel and not allowed to own land or titles, they live as vagabonds in a country that persecutes them. They remain in Surdel because that’s where they’ve known the demons will be breaking through the surface, and they’ve known an apocalypse is coming for thousands of years.
Cedric and Allison raise two sons Jonas and Sylas, each destined to become paladins as well, and a daughter Sarah who looks up to her mother. While Cedric is the leader, Allison is one of the most important paladins to ever exist. Unlike all other paladins who specialize in smiting and attacks, Allison’s swords specialize in protective magic–without which, the paladins would most certainly be doomed.
By the time that Cedric becomes the leader of the paladins, their number is reduced to dozens, but they are the only real force on Nirendia capable of fighting and destroying demons, thanks to their pact with the Holy One. But the Holy One is the very reason that the paladins are outcast, hated, and driven from most towns. She’s not the goddess every male heir to the paladin title is promised. She’s something else entirely.
As the demon lord Orcus rises from the underworld with an army of undead, the world changes, and the perception of the paladins changes with it. The Holy One and her order of paladins change too, inheriting new powers as she takes on a general, The Necromancer Ashton Jeraldson. As an apocalypse threatens, Cedric and Allison must own their past, present, and future; not only for the sake of their children, but also for the sake of all creatures on Nirendia. For no parent wants their child tumbling through the terrible Void, falling in tortured agony until finally called upon by a demon lord to perpetuate their suffering on another. And nowhere in all of the worlds of the universe does anyone fight harder against this future than Cedric and Allison Arrington and their three dozen paladins of Nirendia.
Explore the world of Cedric and Allison Arrington in the Orcusinian Box Set (Books 1-4 of the Age of Magic)
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Filed under Age of Magic, Commentary, Nirendia Journey