New Beginnings Episode 1 - The Emergence of the Soulless By the pRO GM Team September 2006 The first born son of King Tristan III and Queen Aeslynn, Prince Cyric, will soon celebrate his 21 st birthday and the whole of Rune-Midgard is in a festive mood. However, Tristan III is restless. He knows for a fact that an ancient curse continues to haunt his royal lineage to this day—the first-born of the Mighty Seven's descendants are always bound to die before the rite of passage. But Tristan III has high hopes this time around, as Cyric does not exhibit any signs of succumbing to the curse. Alas, the revelry came to an unexpected halt. Strange things have been happening in the desert town of Morroc . Numerous monster sightings and attacks have been reported. On top of that, a mysterious disease has befallen adventurers. When inflicted by the disease, these adventurers become mindless automatons with zombie-like blank gazes, and making repetitive motions. They hack and slash through everything in their path, and no amount of reason seems to get to them. These people who become infected by the disease came to be known as the “Soulless”. Rumor circulates around the kingdom that the emergence of the Soulless is a warning of an impeding catastrophe. Oracles hint that this is a sign of the resurrection of the ancient demon-king, Satan Morroc. The sages of the royal court, alarmed by the spreading disease and the growing number of Soulless, advised the King to send out a party to investigate in Morroc. Tristan III chose the crown prince Cyric to lead this contingent. Meanwhile, while trekking the mountains of Mt. Mjolnir on an adventure, the Rogue Sigmund comes upon an old man named Torsten. Torsten told him that he must go to Morroc as the path to his destiny starts there. He willingly complies to the old man's wishes. Upon arrival in Morroc, he sees a contingent of knights bearing the royal crest of the Gaebolg family under attack from monsters and Soulless alike…