The Legend of Bālthazar Series Plot

Created and Written by Khali A. Crawford

Plot points/Scenes

Volume 01: Title Pending

Balthazar "Billy" Skyburner is a young man from the planet Mars who suffers a Realm Tear on his 16th nameday resulting in the apparent destruction of his world and the death of his mother. Billy alone survives and is recruited by 17th Division commander Maredudd Rhegdon for the Dragon Knights. Lordling Medraut is the son of a nobleman of the Mortal Realm Sarpedon who is set to wed Phadeiagny Kyōmori, Princess of Sarpedon and Heiress to Old Libyē, the most beautiful Gorgon in all the Realms. Before they are wed, Medraut suffers visions of a grim future, where his wife, children, and kingdom are laid to ruin by his own hands. Medraut learns, in reality, he is a clone of Mordred the Black and these visions must be the remnants of Mordred's mind. Medraut swears a vow to his fiance to return to her once he has rid himself of Mordred and begins a voyage to find the Dragon Knights to seek their aid. Ragnir das Nairobi Is the son of Kereenyaga das Nairobi, Named Prince of Ganeian, but was cast out by his father for his weakness. Trained by his Lord Uncle Inwear H’ring, Named Prince of Baile Átha Cliath, Ragnir is dismissed by his uncle to the Dragon Knights so that he may walk a different path. Inwear was also despised by his father for his weakness and he hates what that shame turned him into, he wants Ragnir to walk a different path with the knights.

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The three of them are trained as Squires on the planet Obbairia in Midgard for six years, after which they are designated as Fireteam Red-Tango (FRT) and dispatched to the planet Hazuro to complete a Quest and finally be knighted as Dragon Knights. Except they never make it to Hazuro and instead are pulled of course by Billy who leads them to the planet Bannavǫllr, a world that was ravaged by Khaos and was turned into a Prayer World by the Temple of Khaos to manifest a Champion of Khaos. FRT was drawn here by a survivor of the Khaos, a young boy, who wants to free his people and escape. They team up with the Blaq Sun pirates and slay both the Khaos Lich and the corrupted Kami of the planet before escaping to the Realm of Tears at the mercy of the Interstellar Banking Tower Trade Federation who suffer their civil war. In the midst of all of this, a Khaos cultist takes the partially manifested Khaos Champion and allows it to manifest inside the dragon of the Realm, Ysaeg the Great Devouring One, Lord of the Realm of Tears, Master of the Tower, Slayer of God-Eaters. Ysaeg is defilled and a Khaos Dragon is born who will consume the Realm. While the inhabitants escape, Billy and his brothers remain behind to slay Ysaeg and then face Cri'djen, the manifested Khaos Champion. With Cri'djen finally dead, the Realm begins to fall apart, and the three Squires, tired and spent from the battle, fade into oblivion.

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Volume 02: Title Pending

Components

Goals

Bālthazar Skyburner is the man who becomes the first Kensei (Sword Saint) in recorded history, and the Bālthazatīta is the story of this. Bālthazar was born under circumstances and raised under circumstances he did not choose. This is the life of everyone in the cosmos, all bound by the Chains of Fate, as they have been since the very beginning of time. The only thing standing between him, or anyone, and the future they want, the freedom to live as they please, is the Will to enact change. The last one to possess such a will was the Prophet Judas Iscariot, but his change was incomplete and only wrought ruin and stagnation. On his journey, Bālthazar sees the sickness that has taken root in the cosmos, the stagnation, and helplessness that people feel in the face of fate. And he will not let it control him. A Kensei is a Sword Saint, one who has mastered the sword. To understand this idea, first, the idea of Dharma, Forme and Function must be understood.

"That Forme dictates Function is the Great Lie (do not listen to this). What a thing can do is not defined by what a thing is. What a thing is shall be defined by what they can do. Mind, Body, and SOUL altogether constitute a person. The Mind is the Kiss of Intelligence and Sentience, but many beasts and animals also have a mind. The Body is some crude measure of flesh of nerve, but all creatures of the Realms are bound to Bodies. The SOUL is composed of infinite potential, it is boundless and because it exists within you, you must be boundless. For if you are boundless, the Lords of Hell nor the Heaven or even You yourself can ever truly reach the end of Your glories. It is the SOUL of Man used by a Right Mind with a Right Body¹ that defines the races of Men from the tribes of Beasts. Man has a Body like Beasts, Man has a Mind like Beasts, and Man has a SOUL like Beasts. Their Forme does not define their Function, but it is rather their Function, that of Self-Determination, that defines their Forme."

"Dharma, a term as ancient as the stars themselves, encapsulates the concept of living in harmony with one's true self and purpose. It represents the alignment of one's actions, choices, and intentions with the intrinsic essence of their being. To adhere to one's Dharma is to embark on a journey of self-discovery, embracing the unique path etched into the fabric of one's existence. In doing so, individuals unlock the dormant potential within themselves and tap into the wellspring of their inner strength. Just as a star, radiant and undaunted, shines at its brightest when it follows its destined course through the cosmos, so too does a mage's power reach its zenith when in sync with their Dharma."

Life is a block of stone, and the actions and decisions we make, our emotions and feelings, our love and hate, all of this is the tool used to shape our lives. Fate is a violation of this basic law, how can you call a sculpture your own if you followed another's instructions or if someone else guided your hand? How can your Dharma be your own if you are not even living a life you chose for yourself? Self-Determination and Self-Actualization are the key here. Your Dharma is the blueprint for your sculptures, and in life, your Will is a Sword that can cut and carve, and slice your unique path out from all others. A KENSEI is not a Sword King, one who has mastered the blade. A KENSEI has mastered the sharpest blade of all, their Will. And it is with their Will that they carve their life out, according to their Dharma.

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Balthazar is the 1st KENSEI. There have been others before him who have claimed that title, but Balthazar is the first person in recorded history, outside of Judas, to break fate, defy destiny, and live only according to his own Will. Balthazar Skyburner is the first Free Man in Reality. His Will is a great sword that he used to shatter the Chains of Fate and deliver Self-Determination and Self-Actualization to the infinite Realms of Yggdrasil. We are indeed all bound by chains in some form or way, but Man is allowed to choose which chains we bear.

Backdrops

Locations

• Planet Mars, Martian System, the Milkyway Galaxy, the Miðgarðr Realm, Mortal Multiverse: The planet Mars is the capital of the Martian Star system in the Milkyway Galaxy in The Outer Worlds. After the Realm Tear it suffered on Balthazar's 16th nameday, the planet was ripped from this point in space-time and locked into the skies of Josherynn, the Field of Golden Reeds, a Realm within the Unholy Multiverse. Balthazar would later defeat the Khaos Lord residing there and return it to the Martian system in the Mortal Multiverse.
• Planet Obbairia, the Iria System, the Milkyway Galaxy, the Miðgarðr Realm, Mortal Multiverse: Obbairia is a planet within the Irian star system in the Milkyway Galaxy. It is under the authority of the Iron-Horned Knights, the 17th Division of the Arthurian Knights, and serves as a popular location where Squires are trained for the 17th Division.

Past Events

Destiny controlled the lives of everything and everyone within Yggdrasil and the Gilded Order was maintained until it was not. The Prophet Judas Iscariot was a born enigma, a being born with the capability to enact change, independent of Destiny. Judas was a scholar but was easily seduced by the Temple of Khaos, he allowed the corruption to take hold and lost himself in the pleasure of entropy. Judas stole the Inverted Spear of Heaven and in the White City, murdered Talos, refilling his body with Khaos so that Khaos may seep into Yggdrasil and spread to all of the Realms on her branches. This began the Great War in Heaven (The Great Lie | The False War) where the Holy Multiverse waged war with the Unholy Multiverse. This war shattered Destiny and allowed for the breaking of several of the sacred seals, the real intention of Khaos. Yig sought to bring about the 2nd Argument without a Name of God to contend with, destroying Yggdrasil and returning all back into the Formless Mother.

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The Great War in Heaven was the most violent and costly war in recorded history, entire branches of Yggdrasil were destroyed, Realms were burned and skies boiled. Aside from the unknowable amount of dead, bodies piled so high new systems of counting needed to be invented to keep track of it all, Khaos (Entropy) seeded into the infinite branches of Yggdrasil and spread across all of the Realms, even Realms untouched by the war directly. Realm Tears were commonplace now, holes in Space-Time where Khaos Daemons from The Crucible could flood in and corrupt reality even more. The very fabric of reality was being digested by Khaos and slowly taken back into the Crucible.

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The war lasted 777 years and ended with Puppet King Geppetto taking control of Destiny to build the Chains of Fate, enslaving the Fates to his whim. This creates the Unmei Period, a time in history when destiny has not only returned, but has chained all things, beings, and ideas in place. Noting can progress and noting can change, a bid to prevent the remaining Seals from being shattered. But Khaos was never expelled from Yggdrasil, the corpse of Talos still lies defiled on the Almighty in the White City, khaos seeping into every realm of Yggdrasil. All the while, the very stars have stopped moving and the very idea of change dies. The Seals are safe, yes, but in this age of stagnation Yggdrasil is slowly dying, most of the Gods are dead, dying, or corrupted, the Unholy Multiverse is consumed by an intense civil war that will yield no victor, and Midgard is fading away. And nobody, despite millions having the power and ability, can stop Geppetto, let alone reach him. Fate prevents anything from changing. This is the end.

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This is the age that the 2nd enigma is born into, Balthazar Skyburner, a being who can enact change and possess the Will to do so. He must set the Gilded Order straight once again, or else all is truly lost.

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King Arthur Pendragon and his Knights of the Round Table

The Order of the Dragon Knights descends from The Dragon Cult who pray at the feet of Níðhöggr the Mother of All Dragons in Kaedia, the Foot of Yggdrasil. The Dragon Knights serve the Realms with The Imperium of Miðgarðr for the good of the Realms. They were originally led by King Eliwlod, the 34th Pendragon, son of King Madoc, the 33rd Pendragon. However, Eliwlod sullied the Order when he sided with Judas Iscariot to plot and slay Talos the 1st Name of God. Eliwlod's uncle, the mighty Prince Arthur le Fay Ambrosius the 1st, was named the 35th Pendragon and given command of the Dragon Knigts just as the Great War in Heaven began to come into full swing.

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The Great War in Heaven was primarily fought over the death of Talos by the Holy Multiverse on the Unholy Multiverse and originally did not concern Mortals. However, the Unholy Multiverse obtained control over the Chains of Fate which began to pull more Gods and Demons into the battle. This violation of the Order weakened reality and allowed Khaos to sew seeds of entropy. Realm Tears were commonplace now, holes in Space-Time where Khaos Daemons from The Crucible could flood in and corrupt reality even more. The very fabric of reality was being digested by Khaos and slowly taken back into the Crucible. The Mortal Multiverse was pulled into the war and soon all of creation was fighting itself while it also slowly died. Some didn't even know why they were fighting, others refused to fight on principle, and some reveled in the khaos, falling to the madness, and serving the end of creation.

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It was into this madness that King Arthur and his mythical band of knights emerged, 17 fabled lords, ladies, kings, and queens, great warriors each, who each commanded their own Division of Dragon Knights. They were "The Knights of King Arthur Pendragon" and they were mighty in power and name. Arthur led his Knights as a sort of vanguard advanced force, capable of lighting war tactics, hitting enemies hard and fast, too fast for a response to be mounted on their full force all at once. Lighting war was nothing new and many others used it, but Arthur cut through the fog of war and always kept his mind on an objective. They are most known for a gambit of legendary deeds.

1. The Defeat of the Seven Deadly Sins: The 7DS are the Icons of Khaos, the most powerful Scholars of the Formless Mother, only under Yig himself. They are true reality benders and their presence can erode entire categories of multiverses. The Temple of Khaos had completed a partial manifestation of the Sins but was stopped by Arthur and his knights. However, even in this partial manifestation, the Sins were mighty indeed and proved more than an equal match for the brave king and his loyal men. Arthur and his knights slew the manifestations but kept a small part of them. These partial manifestations were imprisoned at a facility unknown to anyone. In this way, even if the Sins were manifested ever again, they could not do a full manifestation.
2. The Shattering of the Temple of Khaos: The TOK was a very real threat, religious fanatics who worshiped Khaos and held the 7 Deadly Sins as revered deities of change. Despite being warned about them previously, Arthur ignored them until the event with the Sins. After this, he took a more proactive role in snuffing them out with extreme prejudice. By design, the TOK was not unified in any way, thus killing the leadership didn't matter because they would just splinter again and form new bodies and erect new temples. No systematic way of defeating them would work. To combat this, Arthur learned Kháos Magic and under his power, inserted a new doctrine into the faith of the TOK that split the temple forever against each other. While still very dangerous, they were consumed by the khaos of the war within instead of the war without, thus no longer threats to existence. This was known as the Doctrine of Pendragon Event and despite knowing about it, the TOK's philosophy prevented them from resolving this metaphysical threat.
3. The Defeat of the Morningstar and the Recovery of the Crucifix Weapons: Lucifer Morningstar is the ruler of the Fallen Angels in the Unholy Multiverse, he conspired with Judas as well to slay Talos the 1st Name of God and when St. Michael and his Angels came to kill him, Lucifer won. This was not a part of fate. The Defeat of St. Michael at the hands of the Morningstar shook the heavens, Michael was one of the oldest and most powerful Angles who served Talos, the First Name of God, during the 1st Argument against Yig, the First Scholar of the Formless Mother. To see him brought low and murdered by Lucifer was a signal that the war was far from over. Lucifer was a key figure on the side of the Unholy Multiverse, which was now actively absorbing Mortal Realms into it, ravaging entire worlds and galaxies. Arthur and his knights led the Hellbent-Heavensent Crusade, composed of two Campaigns. The first Campaign saw the Arthurian Knights fight their way into the Unholy Multiverse where they first destroyed the Hellmouth Machines, the galaxy-sized megastructures that were forcibly pulling Realms out of the Mortal Multiverse and into the Unholy Multiverse for consumption. This entire operation was spearheaded by Lucifer and for this his head would roll, but not on this day, they lacked the power. For now, they would settle for imprisoning him in the Abomination Vault. The AV was a superstructure built by the Fallen Angels to house Unholy Weapons of Mass Destruction, with a Lock of Absolution that would only open when the fated End War happened, but since Judas triggered the war prematurely under false circumstances, the vault remained closed. Anything could be deposited, but nothing could be withdrawn a perfect hole. The Arthurian Knights were aided in secret by one of Lucifer's Dukes, Mammon, the Prince of Possessions and master of the Legion of Gilded Chains, as well as the Archangels of Heaven. Lucifer was cut down and Arthur forced him into the vault, costing him several of his valued knights. With Hellbent complete, the Heavensent Campaign began with the Knights gaining entrance into the Holy Multiverse from the Angels to celebrate their victory, but once inside, the Knights turned on them and began their true operation. The Holy beings had constructed superweapons called Crucifixes, megastructures that were capable of exterminating Unholy Beings from existence. Normally, they only used them on Demons, but since Demons were spreading into the Mortal Multiverse and expanding their dominion, the Angels began to use the Crucifixes on Mortal Realms. Just one could sterilize an entire Realm, eradicating Unholy Beings and mortally wounding, if not killing Mortals. On occasion, the Angels would fire them indiscriminately, sometimes without even being sure Demons were present. Arthur went to the forge of the Crucifixes and violated it with Khaos Magic, he and his knights defiled as many Crucifixes as they could before they were forced from the Multiverse by the Gods. On their escape, they stole several unused for their purposes. The Hellbent-Heavensent Crusade prevented Mortal realms from being eaten by Hell or purified by Heaven.

Arthur and his Knights were influential players during the Great War and their next big Crusade was to secure the Chains of Fate, restore Order, and push Khaos out of the Realms, ending the war. And mayhaps they would have, had the Black Rebellion not happened. The story is well known, a bastard of Arthur, Sir Mordred the Black, born of incest, raised the Black Legion against his lord father and did battle with him across the stars. Arthur fell, his knights were destroyed fighting the Black Legion, a war of succession began, and the Order dissolved into civil war. By the time the Unmei Period is established, the Dragon Knights are a shadow of their former selves and hardly worth a footnote in history.

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Subplots

• Volume 01: New Title Pending

Related Characters

• Billy The Hero
• King Arthur Pendragon, the Once and Future King
• King Medraut of Old Libyē
• Mordred the Black
• Mythical Dragon-Knight Kyphnohaedra

Related Organizations

• The Cult of the Dragon
• The House of the Dragon
• The Imperium of Miðgarðr
• The Knights of King Arthur Pendragon
• The Knights of the Round Table

Related Locations

• Isharaat al-Arsh, the Congressional Seat of Power
• Mars
• New Libyē
• The Martian System

1. The Righthand Way | Fragments of Pythagorean Philosophy: "The Pythagoric Letter two ways spread, Shows the two paths in which Man’s life is led. The right hand track to sacred Virtue tends, Though steep and rough at first, in rest it ends; The other broad and smooth, but from its Crown. On the rocks the Traveller is tumbled down. He who to Virtue by harsh toils aspires, Subduing pains, worth and renown requires: But who seeks slothful luxury, and flies, The labor of great acts, dishonor’d dies."