Yesterday was my fourth birthday, and while nothing particularly special, it marked the beginning of my learning. I was somewhat expecting a preschool of some sort but instead I was taken to a room with three desks. The wood itself was dark, but I was more curious about the books on it.
Sadly, I couldn’t understand a single word of the titles. Not even the letters on it, but what caught my eye was the lack of any art on the covers, and it seemed as if they were handwritten. My attention was soon thereafter drawn to the man who entered followed by two other children, my brother and some kid I had never seen before. His hair was a dark shade of green, and his ears were a bit different from mother’s or Juno’s, still pointed but rather furry.
There are other kinds of elves?
My brother sat down, and was soon followed by the other kid. Keo flashed me a big smile, and the other one didn’t even look at me. Rude.
“I am Iberis,” the man at the front of the room said, “And as of today, I shall be teaching you, Miss Astrid, alongside Langford and Thois.” The two boys nodded, “Seeing as today will be Astrid's first lesson, this will serve both as her first lesson, and a review for you two. As such, we will start with the story of how our Empire began.”
-O-R-
The lands of Gunzinbia were not always so united, rather the people of the land were forced by dire straights to work together. The true name of the threat has long since been lost to the winds of time, and hasn’t been seen since the birth of the Empire and the end of the Age of War. The story begins on the southern shores of Nelverc.
A town of men had long prospered along these shores, bringing prosperity and wealth to its land. However, as the harvest reached its peak one year, the moons cast their shadows upon the land and fire rained from above. This was the day of Envy, as their neighbors brought havoc upon the town and all that remained were the smoldering ruins of what once was.
The nearby towns and villages escaped into the lands to the east, where the elves reigned, and to the mountains, home of the groundfolk. The elves, however, had brought a calamity upon themselves at the same time. Legend says it was an elven child who awoke the threat when she accidentally stumbled upon its den, but such things matter little in the face of death.
A creature of Calamity, the child of greed, had awoken for the first time in millennia. A dragon unlike many others they had seen was bringing rot upon the forest, it’s breath poisonous, and it’s scales a sickly deep green. Fraithus, the ancient dragon of rot, had descended upon the mortal races once more.
The dwarves, who had long relied on the others for food and many goods, found themselves expending food and supplies faster than they could replenish them. Within mere months, the dwarves were in a similar state as the refuges. Such was the Age of War in its coldest days. However, unbeknownst to the races, warmth would soon return.
The northern enemies continued their march south, claiming land as they could and killing all who had stayed behind. In this dangerous place, survivors gathered, and three made to lead them.
Out of the south, a human saw the suffering his countrymen.
Out of the east, an elf saw the end of life.
Out of the earth, a dwarf saw strength.
When the Age of War first began, all three were young, but all were wise beyond their years. The human took to the sea and brought food to his country while building up walls to prepare for war. The elf watched the enemy and studied them, all while laying traps at their feet. The dwarf brought hope, telling young and old alike tales of earth and mortal lives.
Perhaps, in an era of peace, the three would never have met. However, war soon arrived at the walls of men.
In Kizin, the lord Alois Dahl called forth any races who would respond. The elf, Nimue Vistrina, saw the flags of war and answered. The dwarf, Fovron Lauridsen, whose tales had spread amongst the people and relit the fires of hope, soon followed. So it was, three began the end of the Age of War. Lord Dahl greeted the others with open arms and his back bent. So it was, Fovron and Nimue saw not the arrogance of another man in power, but a man scarred from battle and burning with hope and righteous vengeance.
Alois Dahl and the words he spoke defined the Age of War.
“Death and ruin are at our heels, it is only together we can stop this tyranny in its march.”
Little is known about what else was spoken that day, but Fovron left towards the mountains and Nimue disappeared into the eastern forests. Kizin continued to gather the refuges, many of whom scarificed their lives at the walls as the city came under siege.
In the mountains, before those who had escaped there, and a great number of groundfolk, Fovron gave a speech to the people. These words defined the spirit of Gunzinbia and ignited the strength of its people. Perhaps because Fovron was a talented wordsmith, or perhaps simply because the people sought to end their desperation.
“To the south and to the west, the flames of war are fed not just by the lives of men, but by the march of an enemy who seeks to ruin them. We, the groundfolk, have dwelled beneath the land for far too long and grown fat with sloth and greed. The time has come that we aide our neighbors before we too find ourselves at the mercy of death! The lord of Dahl has said that it is only together we can survive, and his words are the truest I have heard. Men, elf, dwarf, and all those who would dwell in these lands, it is time we march south to the aide of our people.”
Legend says the battle cry shook the mountain itself.
In the eastern forest, while Fraithus wrought destruction, Nimue greeted the elders of several tribes. Unlike man and dwarf, her words are unknown, but what is known, is that the last vestiges of elven cities and villages, met Fovron before marching towards Kizin.
So it was, after a being sieged for several months, on the dawn of spring, the city of Kizin was greeted for the final time by its enemy. Atop a hill outside the city, where the enemy made their camp, Fovron and Nimue led the people to attack, and for the first time since the war began, Kizin opened its walls and the people charged forth upon their enemy.
Their loses were great, but a great deal less than those of their enemy. The northern army was extinguished and their camp lad to waste.
This day was the Solstice of War.
-OR Iberis POV-
Once I finished speaking, I cleared my throat and looked towards the children. Langford was watching me, well behaved, but I was well aware he had heard the story before. His dark red hair was ruffled as always, he gave me a smile as our eyes met. I rolled my eyes with a small smile at his cheek.
Thois, by contrast was almost asleep at his desk and amongst his longer black hair, a long furred ear poked out. I watched him for a moment before it twitched. The child really was asleep, as per usual.
When my eyes drifted over to little Astrid however, the girl looked positively enraptured. Amidst the black curls of her hair, the same amber eyes as her mother’s were nearly sparkling and the girl had leaned forward on her desk to listen. Only four, of course, but all of this must have been fairly-
“Sir? What happened to the dragon Fraithus? Who were the enemy at Kizin? Does anyone know what Nimue said to the other elves?” the girl was staring at me and I could almost see her bubbling in excitement.
I smiled and held back my chuckle, “I’ll tell you the answer next time, but for today we’ll be going over more modern history. For example,” I unrolled a map and held it for the children to see. Langford watched me silently and Thois sat up and rubbed at his eyes. “As you can see, our Empire is quite large, but we haven’t taken any land in quite some time. The areas north of the Ulna mountains were the last added some centuries ago.”
I half-expected her to lose her enthusiasm but her eyes never left the map. “Those areas were claimed during one of our last battles with the Zamunzians. As of today, we suffer less of a threat from them because of this, but our neighbors are still subjected to it. To the north, Stilia has been at war with them for the past hundred years. To our west, the Shogunate has been at war since it’s founding two hundred and some odd years ago. The Grand Duchy separated from Zamunzia only six decades ago. As such, while we are not fighting them directly, many consider this to be the second Age of War.”
Astrid raised her hand, and I raised an eyebrow, “Sir?” she asked, “Could I look at the map closer?”
“Certainly,” I laid the map out and flattened the sides with a paper weight, “You haven’t learned to read, correct?” I asked as she walked up and poked her little head over the top of the desk to look at the map.
“No sir,” she answered.
“If there are words you don’t understand, I shall read them to you,” I smiled before moving my chair out from behind the desk. Before she could respond I lifted her up onto it.
“Oh, um, thank you sir,” she said as she went red. I stifled another chuckle.
She pointed to the northern portion of the map. “Is this Zamunzia sir?”
I nodded, “Correct, though it’s technically the Zamunzian Empire.”
She nodded before tapping the western portion of the map, “The Shogunate?”
“Correct again, that would be the Kanuan Shogunate.”
She pointed upwards, “Grand Duchy?”
“Correct. In full, the Grand Duchy of Fard”
She pointed to the far east, “Stilia?”
I smiled, “Got them all in one miss Astrid. That is the Kingdom of Stilia.”
At least one of these children seemed intent on learning something from these lessons. Perhaps the next few years would be more entertaining than I thought.
