The World of Mystical Force: the Koldar Warriors
The Koldar Warriors are the evil counterparts of the Taman Knights. Unlike the Taman Knights who use the Kolri (inner light) to control their Koldar (inner darkness), the Koldar Warriors see the Kolri as unnecessary and even a hindrance that prevents them from reaching their full potential. The Koldar Warriors follow the same basic beliefs as the Taman Knights. They believe that the universe is energy which is composed of positive and negative energies (the Kolri and the Koldar). Unlike the Taman Knights, the Koldar Warriors don’t believe that they need the Kolri to control the Koldar. The Taman belief that good and evil exist in all people and in order to maintain balance in life one must use the Kolri (inner light) to control the Koldar (inner darkness) to maintain balance, peace and harmony in themselves and thus the universe is not shared by the Koldar Warriors. They believe that the Kolri weakens them and that using the unrestrained power of the Koldar makes them stronger. For them, power should be used to control and dominate. Those who do not share this view are seen as weak.
Since the Koldar Warriors are dark counterparts of the Taman Knights they have all the same powers as the Taman Knights. Like Taman Knights, their powers and abilities vary depending on the individual. Since they rely on their inner darkness, Koldar Warriors rely on their emotions (such as anger, aggression, hate) for their strength. The angrier or stronger their emotions are the stronger they are, but conversely it’s harder for them to control their powers. They are capable of using all the same powers as Taman Knights but they don’t necessarily use them, especially if they feel they have nothing to gain from it. Likewise Taman Knights are capable of using all the same powers as Koldar Warriors but chose not to because they cause more harm than good.
HISTORY:
The officially recognized origin of the Koldar Warriors began during a period known as “The Dark Times”. Even before the start of “the dark times” divisions were already forming in the Taman Knights. Some felt that using the Kolri to control the Koldar had been keeping the Taman Knights from exploring the full potential of their powers. Like many new religions, the Taman Knights were persecuted in their early days for having different beliefs than the established religions. Due to this persecution and constant attacks the Taman Knights were forced to endure in their early years, many Taman Knights began using the Koldar to strengthen themselves under the belief that it was necessary to protect themselves. A Taman knight called Turai-thol believed the only way to stop these constant attacks was by launching counter attacks at the various hostile groups. He felt the only way for the order to survive was to attack and destroy their enemies first. His growing aggressive behaviour began to cause concern among the Taman Knights. He began to teach others that the Taman Knights were above right and wrong and that they were justified in doing whatever it took to accomplish their goals. Proof of this came after he and a group of students were ambushed by pirates while visiting a small coastal town. After witnessing several of his students killed Turai-thol murdered the pirates in a fit of rage. This was a main factor in the decision of the knights to expel him from the order. When he left he took many other Taman Knights with him. These dark Taman Knights began forming their own code, a twisted perversion of the Taman code, one that stated that the Koldar was the source of true power and that the Kolri was not only unnecessary to control it but also held the Taman Knights back. They used their powers to subdue those who had persecuted them and rule over them. Since they relied solely on the inner darkness of the Koldar they began to call themselves Koldar Warriors. Eventually this term came to refer to any dark Taman Knight.
The First Koldar War:
The Koldar Warriors originally were devoted to destroying their enemies but soon realized that their powers made them superior and thus felt they should rule. They soon began building their own empire by attacking many of the other nations of Thalia. Seeing the threat they now possessed the many of the nations of Thalia (which had originally persecuted the Taman Knights) formed a truce with the Taman Knights to defend them from this growing threat. This was referred to as the First Koldar War. The Koldar Warriors were now their own religion, albeit not officially recognized. Their ultimate goal was the complete destruction of the Taman Knights and the complete conquest of Thalia. Ultimately what proved to be the undoing of the Koldar Warriors was not outside forces, but their own philosophies. Due to their anger, greed and lust for power many of them turned to infighting and constant rivalries broke out as various Koldar Warriors constantly tried to overthrow each other and seize power all for themselves. This allowed the Taman Knights to defeat them, since the Taman Knights were able to unite against their common enemy, while the Koldar Warriors were too busy fighting among themselves.
While the Taman Knights were able to defeat the Koldar Warriors, they realized that as long as the temptation of the Koldar existed, the Koldar Warriors would never truly be destroyed. Thus the Taman Knights set up a strict code (the code of the Alderoth sect) which hid all knowledge of the Koldar for fear that any Taman Knight who learned of this would be tempted by its power.
While official records of the era stated that the Koldar Warriors were destroyed, the truth was that some of them survived and went into hiding, waiting and plotting their return and the destruction of the Taman Knights. They spent the next several hundred years living in secret, plotting their revenge. Since there was no united front or even common plan of action the term Koldar Warrior went from a person belonging to the original organization to any Taman Knight who fell to their inner darkness. As a result little progress was made as the various survivors like, their original order were just as busy trying to undermine each other efforts as much as the Taman Knights.
The Taman Civil War & Rebirth of the Koldar cult:
Hundreds of years later, the great reform movement began when a Taman Master named Kamatra began to publicly question the teachings of the Taman Order. He felt that forbidding knowledge of the Koldar didn’t stop Taman Knights from being corrupted by it but actually made it more appealing. He felt it was better to teach Taman Knights about the Koldar to help them see the destructive power of it and thus help them be able to resist its lure. Despite this the Taman council was still set in their ways. Kamatra felt the Taman Knights were stuck in the past and that their destruction was inevitable if they didn’t learn to change and adapt with the times. His teachings were considered heresy and he was expelled from the order. As a result he relocated to another region of Thalia and started his own branch of Taman Knights, later known as the Kamatra sect (the one Shi-ria belongs to). One that didn’t forbid emotional attachment, nor did they follow the one master/one apprentice model. Another key difference is that they believed all beings had the ability to learn and use the Taman, thus anyone could join as there was no age restriction compared to the Alderoth sect.
When word of this spread, Master Daisho (grand master of the Alderoth sect) claimed these “false” Taman Knights had been corrupted by the Koldar. He claimed they were really Koldar Warriors who just deluded themselves by following a “false prophet”. Using his position as grand master and his influence on the government he started the Taman Civil War in his mission to destroy the Kamatra sect. Eventually followers of the Alderoth sect and the government began to see that in his zeal to destroy these “Koldar Warriors in disguise” he was slowly becoming the very thing he was trying to destroy. He was eventually stripped of his title and expelled from the order. Under direct orders from the government, the two branches of the Taman Knights were officially recognized and made peace through the Treaty of Jungsai. Despite both sects being officially recognized as legitimate branches of the Taman religion and officially being allies there still remained some minor hostility due to their differing ideologies.
When master Daisho was expelled from the Alderoth sect he took many loyal followers. Despite the treaty of Jungsai, he still refused to accept the Kamatra sect. He felt that the Taman Knights were traitors for this treaty and vowed to destroy all those he now viewed as his enemies. Although they originally believed they were true Taman Knights the reality was they had strayed further from the teachings of the Taman Knights and became a cult. Meanwhile the Alderoth sect covered this up to avoid a public scandal. When Shi-ria (then still an apprentice to master Kalai-Udon) along with fellow apprentices Rirk, Kurai and their master were attacked by members of this cult, they spoke to the Alderoth council who dismissed their concerns and accused them of trying to slander the Alderoth sect.
Meanwhile this Koldar cult (currently under the leadership of master Shodo), having learned about Zolida and Scarlet Knightwalker, and their ability to transport anyone anywhere in the galaxy wish to obtain this power for themselves. With such power in their hands it would allow them to instantly transport anywhere in the galaxy, so they could conquer other worlds and destroy any who would stand in their way. All of this and more will be explained in the next exciting tale of Mystical Force: Vol. 3 the Kolri and the Koldar. Coming soon to book stores and online retailers.