The Origins
Nate Ravenhurst’s (a centaur of humble beginnings) origins were born in a distant land of mysticisim, magic, sacred rituals and ancient gods and goddesses. The land of Osteloff.
Osteloff was not like most lands. There were many oak groves or hursts throughout the land. The oak hursts were sacred to the inhabitants, which were made-up of centaurs, wolves, humans, ravens, and other creatures and demi-humans. Among its inhabitants, were a mystical flock of ravens and pack of wolves. It is written in the lores that this flock of ravens were decedents of the ancient ones, hugin and munin, and were known as the hugmuns.
While the pack of wolves were decended from Fenris, the ancient wolf of legends and lore. Thus, this pack was known as the Fens. The hugmuns and fens had mystical powers that are as ancient as the gods and goddesses who created their forbears. The hugmuns were not only special messengers of the gods, but were warriors of the skies. The fens were of the noblest and mightiest of warriors of any land. They were ripe with courage and fearsome demeanors that would cause the grandest to kneel in fear.
The other inhabitants were mostly farmers and blacksmiths. Among these inhabitants was a centaur named Ulfrikr (ruler of wolves) that was a druid and lived in one of the oldest oak hursts. There he met with and forged a unique bond with the hugmuns and fens. Ulfrikr further performed ancient rituals of sacrifice and honor to the ancient gods and godesses. Because of this, others around began calling Ulfrikr the Ravenhurst. Eventually, this became his families surname.
The First Vision
As a centaur, a demi-human, Ulfrikr had a unique ability, in that he could sense things within their race. He could sense good and bad, dark and light. On one particular dark and dreary day beset with dense fog, Ulfriker began performing a ritual in the oak hurst during the winter solstice, when he saw a vision in the sky. In this vision, he saw the likes of an evil sorceress that turned good creatures into dark slaves. Ulfrikr thought, “What is this? Is this in the past? or some future time?” Ulrikr told his wife, Brunhelda about the vision. They wondered what it could be, what it meant. As the eldest druid, Ulfrikr called a druidic council meeting to discuss this vision.
The Council
The council meeting was made up of the eldest druids from each race. Here they discussed the vision of Ulfrikr. Other druids reported visions they each had on that day as well. After much discussion, they realized the time of the visions was during the Raven’s eye moon, which is the moon phase before the full moon or the wolf’s howl. Each one reported a different vision. Each seemed to be a puzzle piece to a bigger picture.
The one thing the druids realized was that it was some future event. The druids all agreed to write down future visions and share them at all council meetings. As the months passed, it was one wolf druid from the Fens pack that noticed something unique. This involved not only the evil sorceress, but also a young powerful female centaur. Who these were, no one had a clue or even where they lived. After some weeks, all visions had ceased. The druids all dispersed until their next winter solstice, when the duridic council meetings would commence for another few months.
A New Vision
All was quiet in Osteloff. As the years passed, and Ulfrikr grew old and eventually passed away, as did the other elder druids, the new generations came and went. Soon, the visions were forgotten.
One young centaur, Nate Ravenhurst, who was training to be a warrior, had a dream one night. It was the 2nd Raven Moon phase from when he began his warrior training. Nate’s dream was of an ancient ancestor, named Ulfrikr. Nate knew of Ulfriker from his parent’s tales of the Ravenhurst clan and it’s origin story. In this dream, Nate saw several books. As he opened each book, he saw the visions written down by the many duridic elders of the past.
Nate inquired of his parents, as his dad was a druid and his mom was a healer. Nate’s dad told him the legend of those books and the visions and told him the books were lost through time. Nate wanted so much to find these books as he knew the value of the information they contained.
Quest for the Books of Visions
Nate went about the area of the ancient duridic meeting place and the oak hurst his ancestor, Ulfrikr used to visit and live at. He noticed a raven statue in front of one of the oak trees in the hurst. As Nate looked around there, he noticed that there was somewhat of a hole underneath one of the edges in the statue. He moved the statue and found a deep hole filled with books. As Nate began to skim through the books, he realized they were the lost books of the many druidic elders’ visions. Finally, they were no longer lost to the clan or the druids. Nate gathered them and took them home to his father.
Nate and his dad read through each one carefully, looking for any clues they could find. The dreams and visions all seemed to be connected, including Nate’s dream. That night, Nate had another dream, a dream about an ancient house in a land he’d never heard of before. In this dream, he saw an emblem and an unknown centaur whispered the words, Glenstorm and Centauria. Nate immediately awoke as his dream felt surreal. It was as if he actually heard the whisper. Nate went to his dad and asked him if he’d ever heard of those two words, Glenstorm and Centauria. To his surprise, Nate’s dad said he remembered his grandpappy telling him bedtime stories about an ancient land of centaurs. He thought it was just a story, but now maybe, just maybe it might be a real place.
The Goddess with No Name
Nate wanted so much to find out if Centauria was real. He had asked every druid he knew of if they’d ever heard of it. To Nate’s dismay, not one centaur druid had heard of a real place called Centauria. The hugmuns heard of Nate’s whisperings regarding Centauria and the the eldest druid of the hugmuns went to visit Nate one night. He told Nate the dream he had had to be from the goddess with no name. The goddess with no name is a goddess from Centauria, but she has never revealed her name to the hugmuns; therefore, they referred to her as the goddess with no name. The only thing about her the hugmuns knew was they she had power over spring.
Centauria
Nate, with the help of his dad and mom, built a special boat, a sailing vessel that was wide and would not be tipped easily from the waves of the sea. Nate was determined to visit Centauria. So, with the help of some of the ravens from the hugmun clan, he sailed off on his voyage to Centauria.
After weeks of sailing the harsh seas, Nate finally arrived at Centauria. it was a beautiful land full of all kinds of creatures, not just Centaurs. The one thing Nate noticed was there was a sense of peace and turmoil. Little did Nate know that the creatures of Centauria had fought a great battle for the land to defeat an evil sorceress who was turning good creatures, especially centaurs to dark creatures.
As Nate began to explore centauria with his raven companions, Shabia and Feastus, he encountered and met many creatures. All were nice. One creature, a tiny little cat-like creature asked if he’d met the queen yet. Since, Nate just arrived, he replied that he hadn’t. The creature told Nate she would show him the way to the palace to meet the beloved queen. Nate followed the creature to the palace and was amazed by the breathtaking beauty of the palace and it’s many gardens. Nate entered and was introduced to the queen by his new creature friend.
Nate humbly bowed before the queen and said “Hi your majesty, my name is Nate Ravenhurst. I’ve traveled a long way to find this land. Up until now, it was never heard of in my home lands called Osteloff. I’ve been a warrior in training for many Wolf’s Howl moon phases. I would like to live here and continue my training.” The queen acknowledged Nate’s humble bowl and his contriteness. She responded, “it’s my pleasure to meet you Nate. My name is Julala.” Nate somehow recognized this name. Could it have came from one of the druidic visions? Since, he left all the books with the druids, he had no way to find out. All he knew was the same was familiar to him like a box of wildberries is to his belly.
Julala then told Nate about an ancient house of warriors called Glenstorm. Nate looked up with a look of pure amazement. Julala asked, “Nate is something wrong?” Nate shared his dream with her and told her about the words Glenstorm and Centauria that were whispered to him. It was this dream that set him out on this journey of discovery. Julala realized what had happened. Nate was led there by the goddess…Julala then escorted Nate to the House of Glenstorm land and introduced him to many in the house. Nate could now continue his training.
The rest of the story…