《After the Great War》 01 - Human Kingdom of Erros Pronunciation/Definition: Merels (Merr ¨C els): Unit of measurement. Equivalent to meter. i.e. milmerel, cenmerel, merel, kilmerel = millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer. Gress (Gra ¨C ess): A large river that starts in Andes Mountain range and runs through the Eastern Kingdom of Erros into the ocean. Greiuos (Grey ¨C ohs): The capital of the Dwarven Kingdom. Actually built inside of the Andes Mountain Range. Extremely defensive. Western Kingdom. Erros (Err ¨C ohs): Human Kingdom. Eastern Kingdom. Lorrells (Lor ¨C els): Name of the eastern lands of the Human Kingdom Erros. Borders the Daemon Continent. Lutoria (Lou ¨C toria): Ruling family of the Human Kingdom. Has ruled Erros for over 500 years. Also the Capital of the Human Kingdom. Most wealthy and defensible of all capitals. Getlocks (Get ¨C locks): Black/dark colored creature with 8 legs that towers to 3-4 meters tall. Known to ambush unsuspecting prey. Graus (Grey-ow-es): General of the 3rd Arms of the Kingdom of Erros. Fought and died on the Daemon Continent Dagon 873. Things You Should Know: Dagon 872, 2105 ¨C It goes like this, Dagon (Era) 872 (Years into the Era) 21st day of the 5th month. There are 13 months in a year and 33 days in a month. What does this mean? Pretty much for the planet this story is on, it takes a little longer for it to make one complete revolution around its sun than it does our planet. Hours do not exist. It pretty much goes dawn, mid-morning, mid-day, mid-evening, night. Rinse and repeat. If you really wanted an answer then I would say slightly longer days. Think of our planet only a little slower to revolve on its axis and slower to cycle around the sun. Maybe 30 hours a day or something but no one in this story will ever use the term hours. ************************************************************************************************************* Dagon 872, 2105 Mid-day Today¡¯s scouting patrol came back unexpectedly early. Out of the eight man patrol three returned alive, all injured and two of which were serious injuries. I went to the recovery tents to hear the details in person. The three who returned were covered in injuries. Armor torn to shreds and bandages covering his face, I asked the scout who was in best condition what happened. He described monstrous beings with dark skin and horns on their heads whom attacked his patrol. They came out of the shadows and tore apart the others without mercy. They were fast and strong. They screeched liked the damned and growled like beasts. I had him give the general location they were attacked. I will led a stronger force tomorrow and see what these new horrors bring us. I don¡¯t know why but I have this strange foreboding feeling about this whole event. -General Graus, 3rd Arms, 31st Regs, Kingdom of Erros, East Lorrells. How long has it been? Quite a few years since I entered the City of Kings. Normally I would hold no such thoughts of entering such a populated place were it not for the pleading of an old friend. Maybe I have gone soft? The city has grown in the last few hundred years. The populations of the various races have returned to their former levels before the Great War. Well most of them. Some have been destined to be lost forever, never to return to their former glory. I looked to the large fortress towering over the rest of the city. The larger ring of walls that made the outer ring of the city were easily several tens, if not hundreds, merels thick. The city, growing from the foot of the Andes Mountains made quite the impression to the rest of the Kingdoms. An impassable mountain to your back, which a large fortress that seemed to extend out of. A smaller but sizable ring which surrounded the fortress and much further than that a massive star shaped wall which encompassed the whole city. It defined the word ¡®impregnable¡¯. With the large Gress River flowing next to the southern wall and the minerals and metals mined from the mountain, it was a very wealthy kingdom with a lot of power. With the alliance to the Dwarf Kingdom to the west, who took it upon themselves to carve a path through the mountain, it was one of two center points of trade. The other being the Dwarf capital Greiuos on the other side of the mountain. Of course the Elves in the North and Beastkin in the South also enjoyed much trade. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The North was always more tame. The Elves are at peace with nature more so than the rest of the races so naturally caravans easily pass through to the North. Of course, the Elves watchful eyes also ensures those who wish to do harm in their territory, never leave it. It was always said by father to never cheat an elf. They are passive at best but protective when it matters. Beastkin have giant flying mounts that can transport goods long distances very quickly. They were always good with other beasts and monsters, taming the most exotic and useful beings. A quirky yet strong race. Easily physically stronger than any other race next to the Dwarves. Then there¡¯s the humans. The Kingdom of Erros and the capital Lutoria, jewel of the 4 Kingdoms. Ruled by the Lutoria family since the Great War. The fortress I am looking at consists of spires that shoot high into the sky with arches that contain towers which also contain spires that shoot into the sky. Why do humans always make such high pointy things? Curious. The fortress extends from the mountain in the shape of a rectangle and the arches are equally spaced along the long edges of the fortress. Reminds me of a getlock. I hate those. Nothing should have that many legs. *Shiver* Well, getlocks are black and the fortress is an off white so maybe I shouldn¡¯t compare so much. Suppose I should get on my way so I can finish what I came here to do and leave quickly. I don¡¯t like crowded places with people I don¡¯t know. Especially humans. ************************************************************************************************************* Author¡¯s Notes Well, that was fun. My first chappy of my first ever story! I have been an avid reader of these for a while now and had so many stories going around in my head and I chose to start with this one. For anyone who read this first chapter and liked it, I¡¯m glad! If not, sorry, hope you find something somewhere else you like. This will be a more realistic type of novel which is hard to call realistic since its fantasy. What I mean is there will be very few if any anime/manga stereotypes. Basically if you¡¯re looking for the elf with big tits or the typical loli entrance, then go somewhere else. I¡¯m tired of that shit. My females will have proper proportions that fit the world/race/lifestyle and I have no interest in putting little girls/boys into any type of figurative situations. I won¡¯t go as far as saying there won¡¯t be cruel depictions/gore such things because even children die in war but as far as the 10-year old girl who flashes her panties sort of thing, then NO, there will be none of that here. Or even the older lady/woman with a 10-year old body, another firm NO, not happening. It¡¯s just not really my thing or where my interest lies. Other than that how do you like it so far? A very mysterious MC no? I did this on purpose but you will learn more about MC very quickly so don¡¯t feel left out (see not even revealing gender, hehehehe). Any guesses on the race/sex of MC? It¡¯s already determined but I¡¯m just curious what people think. You can see the typical fantasy races but they may not be as typical to other fantasy races as you may think. More to come on that. I also will keep giving information about the kingdoms/world/etc at the beginning of the chapters. I wanted the story to be told from a person¡¯s point of view not an encyclopedia of the world. Whatever important information isn¡¯t given in the story about the world I¡¯ll add at the beginning of the chapters. 02 - Lutoria: Market District Pronunciation/Definition: Daemon (Day ¨C mon): A species that first made its appearance on the Eastern shores of the Erros Kingdom. Archon (Arch ¨C on): A variant of the humans. An extremely powerful mage warrior. Aoule (A ¨C ou - leh): A fruit of the Erros Kingdom grown heavily on the northern border to the Elf Kingdom. Similar to earth version of a peach. Did I forget anything? ************************************************************************************************************* Dagon 872, 1508 Mid-morning It¡¯s been nearly three months since that day in East Lorrell. I keep replaying the day over and over. I took twenty-five of my men into that forest to find these ¡®horrendous¡¯ creatures that tore apart my scout patrol. They didn¡¯t bother moving very far so we found them pretty quick. It was weird. Their skin was grey to dark. Some had a blue tint, red, purple, green, and others. Some had horns growing from their heads just above and behind their ears, which were slightly pointed. Some just had normal heads but with longer or shorter pointy ears. We couldn¡¯t understand their language if you could call it that. Snarls, hisses, growls, screeches, and other indescribable noises. None of them were armored, just leather or cloth but almost all of them had some type of sword. They didn¡¯t seem to care about their surroundings but they seemed anxious. They had guards posted but it seemed their concerns where elsewhere, further away from here. After observing them for a while I decided to capture them. Shouldn¡¯t had been too hard. Twenty-five of us to thirteen of them. We surrounded them and charged in with swords drawn. They immediately reacted by forming a circle with the weakest in the center. ¡®So they are intelligent and quick to act¡¯, I thought. I ordered them to surrender but they just glared at me. One of them snarled and growled at me then did something surprising. His hand lit up in black flame. They also know magic! The man next to me raised his bow to shoot before the creature could act. I yelled out for him to stop but it was too late. The arrow flew straight into the chest of the creature. All hell broke loose after that. I couldn¡¯t blame the kid. Nearly all the men in the army now-a-days never seen battle. Only Archons like me who live long enough remember the wars. Just like every battle I have been in, blood, time, blades seem to blur together. After about 5-10 minutes of fighting which seemed like an eternity, the battle was over. I looked down past my bloody sword to the last opponent I felled and to my horror found myself looking at a very young boy. Not even past 13 years, the same age as my boy. I looked around to see that nearly half of the corpses are young between 13-15 years of age. The rest are also young but slightly older looking in the face, maybe 18-22. ¡®What sort of hellish battlefield is this?¡¯ I thought. Within three months it was found that a massive force of these creatures we called ¡®Daemon¡¯ amassed by the eastern coast. The 4 Kingdoms quickly formed an alliance and started mounting a massive force to match these Daemon massing on the east coast. I am now one of three human Generals tasked to lead the human forces toward these Daemon. We should be ready and arrive to meet them at the East Coast within three more months. I cannot shake this feeling that something is very wrong with this whole thing. Like something greater than we realize is behind this. I pray it is not so but each night I see the young Daemon I slew on the ground with lifeless eyes and the blood that fails to fall off my sword. -General Graus, 3rd Arms, Kingdom of Erros, Lutoria It¡¯s actually not that hard to enter Lutoria, as long as you have some credentials. I¡¯m part of the Adventure Guild with an A Rank so I just flash my guild card and I¡¯m in. Well I say flash but they still take it and verify it with magic. There is no need to show your face or prove your identity. The guild card goes blank if you die or it is removed away from your body for a period of time. Makes it impossible for someone to steal or fake an identity, especially since they take a drop of blood and tie the card to each individual person. The best of enchantment from the Mages Guild. They are quite tight lipped about the making of how they do that too. Mages, they are pretty much tight lipped about everything they research and make. Pricks. As I walk from the first wall to the inner second I still notice a lot of curious stares. It¡¯s not surprising. It¡¯s unusual to see someone so covered up you can¡¯t see anything noticeable about them, whether it be their race or gender. Makes people avoid getting close to you. It¡¯s kind of nice, albeit the constant piercing, staring. Please stop. Well, when you¡¯re just that right height of little tall to be a woman and a little short to be a man and a shawl that covers your entire head and face, shit happens. Only my eyes are visible through the light blue shawl that covers my head and I wear a dark brown coat with hood so unless you stand inches from my face you¡¯ll be hard press to see my eyes. It could also be the fact that there are two large two-handed swords in a cross pattern strapped to my back with the handles sticking out through the cape. Or the two long swords strapped to either side of my hips, belt of throwing knives around my right thigh or the mysterious vials of liquid around my left thigh. Though, those are the ones they can see. Father always said the one who is least prepared will suffer the most misfortune. I have already suffered more than enough in this lifetime. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. As I move further into the crowd there are various merchants/farmers with stands openly selling their products on the street. It is truly an amazing site watching all kinds of races of people mingle together from one stall to the next as the sellers frantically call out to potential customers. You can literally feel the excitement in the air. This scent has its own appeal. Or maybe I¡¯m just hungry. Speaking of which there is a fruit stand nearby. I pick up an aoule from the stand with my left hand and gently squeeze. Firm but soft. It has a beautiful pale orange color and as I bring it up to my nose and breathe in it gives off a distinct sweet, fruity smell. My stomach growls as I give the human farmer a few copper which is standard price. He gives me a hearty laugh and a ¡®Thank you¡¯ before I back away. Odd human. One wouldn¡¯t normally be so friendly with an obviously covered, mysterious being. I lower the bottom of my shawl and bite into the aoule. Sweet. As I turn to leave a very feminine voice calls out. ¡°Please wait!¡± [???] I stop and turn to see a Daemon run up to me with two aoule, one in each hand. ¡°Here.¡± [???] She holds out the aoule in front of her. She is young, maybe 17. She has straight, dark brown hair that stops at her shoulders. Her skin color is almost human but you can see the extremely small scale like surface that indicates a Daemon. Possibly an elf or human hybrid, I wonder how I missed her? She has light blue eyes that seem to carry a warm soul. ¡°¡­¡± [???] I remained silent as I examined her. Slightly out of surprise of the encounter and slightly because I don¡¯t like to owe favors. ¡°Please!¡± [???] She pushes the fruit further into me which I stop by cupping my right hand over both of hers and the fruit and slightly with the left which is still holding the aoule with a bite out of it. ¡°Thanks.¡± [???] I manage to say. The Daemon girl¡¯s eyes open wide for just a second then removes her hands as I take the new fruit given to me but she quickly overlaps my hands with hers and slowly pushes them slightly further until my chest. She then blushes and gives me a grand smile before giving my hands a tight clench then releases and runs back to the farmers stall. I see, it¡¯s his wife. It¡¯s not too surprising. After the Great War the alliance between the 4 Kingdoms remained. Mostly due to the looming threat on the Daemon Continent but also because of guilt about what they had done. Many things changed after that. Discrimination had nearly vanished after about 100 years. Within 50 slavery was gone, except for those who commit crimes. Those are strictly regulated though along with extremely harsh penalties to those who abuse it. Many nobles died between all the races until slavery was abolished. The penalty for illegal slavery was death to the perpetrator and all immediate family after all. With those kinds of penalties people were fairly quick to abandon the trade. Especially when the whole continent agrees with it. Except for the dwarves, they never practiced slavery. But I hear if they find anyone in their empire who practices it illegally they make a statue out of you. As in, pour molten rock over you while alive. Then set you in front of the city gates for all to see what happens when you break the anti-slavery laws. You see a lot of interspecies relationships now. Though the majority of the population in each Kingdom is still their respective species, it¡¯s just not as uncommon as it was hundreds of years ago. Especially among Daemons. They are a protected species now. I take another bite of my aoule as I hold the other two with my right hand against my chest. ¡®Clever girl¡¯ I thought to myself as I continue on my way to the innermost ring of Lutoria. ************************************************************************************************************* Author¡¯s Notes Chapter Two! Some more reveals! If you haven¡¯t noticed, the first parts that look to be diaries, are just that. I always liked when authors revealed more in this way and I wanted to do the same. I also didn¡¯t want the story of our MC to focus on the past so I thought I could use these ¡®diaries¡¯ to explain more about the past and the world our MC is in. So any guesses to who our MC is? Race? Gender? Not sure if I will reveal MC completely in next chapter or chapter 4. We will see. By the way, pretty much what happened in the past up to now is set in stone. I pretty much already figured out what I want to have happened. But the future is still up for grabs. Well a little. I kind of already know what I want to happen the next few chapters but it gets blurry after that on what path to take. Is there anything anyone want to know more about? Drop a question and if I can answer without a spoiler I¡¯ll put it in the next chappy! There are a few things I haven¡¯t figured out yet that are kind of important but not critical. Like the name of the continent they live on and the name of the planet they live on, moon(s), possible other planets, etc. Also there are other races besides the ones that have been introduced but whether they are still around or not will be told later. I don¡¯t want to give away too much at once so, see you next chapter. Also the Title is kind of ¡®Meh¡¯ to me. I just came up with something just to put in there so any suggestions would be great.