War of the Seven Gods In a time considered by many of the current age to be mere legend and fanciful tall tales, the great houses of Vathria keep the histories of their lineage. The libraries of House Vikoya provide incredible details and insights into a period of time where the Gods themselves rained fire from the heavens, and fought endless battles that make the moon weep with blood. In this time the Gods had armies in the world below them to fight their battles, hundreds upon thousands died and died again as the war of the seven Gods raged on. In this time there were Great Captains, none of whom have a name that has survived the memories of time, but that they were great warriors chosen by the Gods is memory enough. One such Captain was the very first of the Vikoya bloodline, a man whose strength and prowess on the battlefield was unparalleled. He wielded incredible powers and called lightning from the sky to do his bidding. He was a legend in his time, and would inspire pride in every Vikoya that followed. Age of New Kingdoms When the ash and blood of the Demonic Invasion settled the Vathrian nations began to heal. The people of the world had banded together to fight the hordes of evil but once the enemy was vanquished the petty squabbles and fighting started once more. Settlers of the Northern lands of Mt.Mavak were already a hardy group living in the lands of ice and snow, but the invasions from the otherworldly monsters made them more so, they for a time became a brutal people focused on domination and political control of the north. It took House Isdottir to try and regain a semblance of peace and normality to the lands by doing their best to unify the warring families of Mt.Mavak. To their surprise this operation proved not only successful but also relatively smoothly with few lives lost in battle. The Vikoya family however remained indignant, they clung to their heritage and belief in their bloodline reaching back to their Great Captain ancestor. In the Age of Freedom, the name Vikoya was associated with jealousy and desire, the pushed back against the Isdottir and the newly form coalition of northern Houses. Isdottir could accept it no longer and launched a counter attack crippling Vikoya and in one day brought the House and family to its knees. Vikoya lost its placement of power and became one of the lesser Houses, humbled by force and made to take a knee and pledge allegiance. - Tragedy in the Family The story of the Vathrian Champion Annika Vikoya, is one of loneliness and tragedy. As a young girl she often felt different from the other children, more on edge and prone to violent outbursts than others around her the same age. She had many tutors who struggled to teach her and many potential suitors who were arranged to court her. One by one all would eventually run away in tears. There was something practically electrifying about Annika, and it concerned her father, Lord Vikoya and Head of the House. He had noticed her little oddities since her birth and dismissed them as standard parental worries and flight of fancy. As she grew though into a young child, those oddities began to appear more violently and Lord Vikoya realized what his daughter was. She carried the same blood as he, the blood that connected all Vikoya's to one of the legendry great Captains during the war of the seven gods. The difference however for Annika it seemed, was that her blood held a stronger connection than perhaps any member of their family in living memory. She was strong in her talents, but this gift she had been given could not be controlled. One day Lord Vikoya conceded, it would cause harm or devastation. His mistake perhaps then was not to seek help from the mages of Frost Fort, instead he tried to teach Annika himself, and read her books about magic instead of finding practical teachers to help her learn her power. The Lord of the House tried to keep her gifts hidden so as not to incite violence from other House members. This hope of his would inevitably come crashing down like the electricity Annika could seemingly channel at random. During a stormy night, Annika was heard arguing and fighting with her younger sister, the further Vathrian Champion Lena Vikoya. Their argument may have been trivial for ordinary children, but for her it proved too much. Lena ran away from her sister in tears as Lord Vikoya entered the child's room to see his older daughter in great distress, electrical patterns discharging all around her. He felt his hair stand on its end, and felt the taste of metal in his mouth. Lord Vikoya though, ran to his child with arms out stretched, he ensnared the girl in a hug and witnessed as the lightning crashed through the window beside them striking them both killing him instantly. Annika was unhurt, untouched, unmoving. Her father collapsed to the floor, smoke rising from his charged corpse. Annika's mother was aware of her abilities, but had even fewer ideas than her late husband on how to help their daughter. It was determined that Annika would be locked away in the family home, with limited to no interaction with others anymore. Annika lost her freedom and her father, but her unstable powers would continue to build. The Current Age - The Vikoya Sisters Later in life Annika assumed the role of head of her house after her mother's death. The time spent alone, she had attempt to improve her control over the lightning but found her control marginal at best. Annika in truth never learned how to harness her raw power. As much as she hid and hid her gifts, she had the ability to unleash the wrath of the lightning at any moment. Now finally free and in control of her parent's estate and people's, she at first thought herself reborn. Fate however found her and she was exposed not only as a lightning mage but also as the culprit of her father's death she fled with her sister narrowly escaping death. The pair left their family estate, pursued by all those years before. She came to her sister and formed a plan. They made an agreement, to travel together to Frost Fort and learn magic. Daeros Vikoya, uncle to Annika and Lena launched a coup de 'tat against the girls and their control of the House, assuming leadership of House and family name, along with its wealth and military. He ordered the two young women to be hunted down and killed, his reasoning as he saw it was to ‘avenge the death of his brother, and bring to justice finally Annika for the crimes of parricide'. Their plan was thwarted and the two separated though during their journey during an attack where Lena believed Annika had been killed. To honor her sister, Lena made her way to Frostfort Academy alone and heartbroken. Lena pledged to learn the ice magic and return to her home to oust those who had forced her and Annika to flee. Lena however struggled to control the power of the Northern magic. She failed repeatedly to wield it and came close to leaving the college entirely having built up a reputation for being talentless with magic. She withheld her true identity to others and so most saw her as a useless fool of no real value, though some took notice. She began to receive private lessons from an old friend Nico Falke who also studied at Frost Fort and once upon a time held desire in his heart for Lena. He was capable at harnessing ice magic and pragmatic in his ability to teach. He wanted to show off to the young Vikoya girl, he wanted to impress her and prove that he could make her into something more. He built Lena into a weapon, and the scared heartbroken girl who entered Frost Fort was no more. For Annika being separated from her sister and hunted down by her own soldiers under Daeros's command, it hurt her deeply. Having lived most of her life alone and separated from people and the world suddenly being free in it felt overwhelming. Annika had no plan but knew should she head to Frost Fort she would be putting Lena in danger, both from Daeros and herself. Annika decided that for her to master her the lightning, she needed to train. Time passed and Annika remained unfound by Daeros. Daeros was incensed and enraged at his armies' inability to capture the sisters. He put out notices, bounties with large rewards, and hired assassins. None were successful and some never returned at all. Lena to his knowledge had all but disappeared, but Lena…Daeros from time to time would receive reports of rumors from Mt.Mavak and beyond, where a young woman called down the lightning itself to serve and protect those in need. The rumors would often say this figure destroyed almost as much as she saved, but one by one a picture began to form. Daeros knew that Annika was alive and she was making her way back to Mt.Mavak. Lena at the Frost Fort also began to hear whispers on the wind, and talk around the college that Annika may have survived, rumors of a powerful and greatly undisciplined lightning mage began to permeate through the lands and Lena needed to know if it was her sister. She took her abilities and her new found strength and departed from the safety and insular world of Frost Fort in search of answers. The Ages yet to come The histories of tomorrow are awaiting an author, one who would tell the stories of the Championes and events not yet known. House Vikoya was once grand and vast but time and over confidence brought the House crumbling down, its members today fight one another hard for power and glory to reclaim what was taken and what was lost, while the true heirs to the House are missing. However for now, those stories are unwritten and the outcomes unknown as the looming threat grows larger across Vathria. . .