Rough Draft Prologue.
Summer breezes filled the landscapes that rolled across the hills of Abburth. Thaddeos Bolnor swept his dirty matted hair across his forehead. The air was so heated that sweat dripped from every inch of his face. How much he hated the idea of having to travel cross country by animal back. He was not successful in getting an alliance with the dwarves to make him a machine to fly across the landscapes, rather than having to wade through bogs or evade mountains, to this meeting. Oh how much he hated these meetings and councils about nonsense. The worst part is any idea that Thad had was completely destroyed and left as an empty shell and given back to him. He didn’t want to take another idea home destroyed, defeated, and worthless.
Looking across the small city of Claddath he could feel the eerie sense that one day this city would be changed by his hand. Of course he was the leader of the land, but he knew that the idea of creation that he had would bolster economy, create strong defense, and of course it would make him seem a god amongst men. That was the more important part, and that is to become immortalized. Gods amongst men did exist thousands of years ago. They are fables and tales that were passed down from father to child for centuries. Thad one day will be more than just a fable passed down, but a truth and an idea.
His ideas of course could come back to others as twisted or evil, but he knew them as beauty. Why could one take an idea that is completely sound and then say back to him that it is ungodly and one must be destroyed with these ideas. Every year this council joins together the lands of the east and the islands and he seems to fall into the back and never participate in these events, due to prior years of failure and rejection. This year will be different.
The city was bustling as Thad turned his Kripnota to leave the city. The peasants gathered along the edges of the street to wave their leader fair well. Men bowed before him, others made small explosions of earth in the air as they manipulated the spirit within the dirt. Each element has a soul shard, an element that drives it to exist. Thad was leader because he understood and could do anything with his ability of manipulating the earth to do as he will. It was the complete control that made him feel Godlike. He could never control the followers to do as he would like he could the rocks and mountains. He could never complain about this due to the fact that they are willing to follow him.
* * * * *
The country after two weeks began to wear Thad down. He disliked the appearance of the blood colored water, and the grey brown grass that spurted randomly throughout the hill side. He could only remember bits and pieces of the war that was waged between man and elf. He was only a child then and it seemed to be just a dream to a small boy in the country at the time. Elves and humans were once willing to work with each other to help create a world of peace and harmony. Humans then were sheltered from magic for their “protection” as the elves called it. Humans felt squandered by the race and felt they deserved to wield powers as the elves did. Soon the Elvin council stood together and created a way for the humans to learn to control elemental spirits. At least this is as far as Thad has gathered over the years.
The elves placed a block on the human cognitive control skills so as to protect them from dividing themselves with the magic. If one were to wield too much at a time it could render his soul from his body and leave an empty shell to be consumed by the slumbering dragons. No one knew where these dragons were or whether a man had ever been occupied by these shape shifting creatures, and by these thoughts. Thad felt that they were created by the elves to create fear in the human kind so as to control them to not go wandering into other realms of magic.
Humans were only capable of controlling one source of magic in their life time. If a man born in the country side dedicated to the earth wielders he would be part of that people and would learn the ways of them. If he felt that he could better himself in another aspect of magic he would be stripped of his powers in the original lands. For with the Elvin curse one got limited and would not be able to go on further with the original study or he would surely die. That is how Thad rose the way he did within the earth clan.
He was born in a control group who would be the successors of the throne. One by one the children were to kill the others with the powers they obtained over the years. Fear would strike the hearts of the very grown men that had been there to create them. This led to perfect heartless rulers who understood the powers of mankind. Thad killed all of the children within the first six months of the control group and so the king himself trained Thad since he was the age of eleven. This meant that he had been in the palace for far too long but no one could surpass his powers and that gave him he confidence that there would be no need for a successor if his plot came true today.
“I can see the clockworks from here turning in that strange head of yours Thaddeos” said the over boisterous voice. He had the deep ringing to it like it was built inside a large barrel of a chest. Thad rolled his eyes to the sky cursing his existence. He loathed this person for all that he stood for, his cocky attitude, his confidence in himself. He was arrogant. Foolish. He never thought before acting and this made him a plain brute. This would probably be the best description for those of Baerghel the land of Fire.
“I can see that you are as pleased to see me as I am you,” Thad said eyeing Markis Binner from over his shoulder. The perfectly set hair with his helm to his side as he strode on top of his strong brown horse clearly marked Markis as an arrogant, but impressive leader. The horse stood at least two feet higher than Thad’s own mount but he knew that his earth beast could muscle its way through any climate change, whereas a horse suffered from the conditions much quicker, “How has your journey been?”
“The same as it has been year after year old friend.” Mark said clapping his hand to belt and turning his steed toward the white walls of Maerret the city of water. The outer cloister would cover miles if one could see that far. But standing in the center of the city as tall as the eye could see were the distinct spires of the fortress where within the beautiful Seren stayed. The water kingdom never understood the need of the earth clan.
Each group within the magic realms played a part to help the survival of the humans. Ever since the war of eleven thousand years the land had been scarred by the elves so as to eliminate the human’s abilities and prevent them from continuing their destructive habits. Water was scorched with a blood curse to make it undrinkable. Plants suffered from the lack of water and soon poisons replaced fruits and vegetables, offspring from the blood ridden hills of Arnea. Thad smiled to himself, he knew that if the humans kept at the rate they were soon they would own Baelki and Arnea’s very existence would be theirs.
The water clan was in charge of cleansing water from blood to make it drinkable to sustain life. Without the earth clan crops would not be able to grow and this would limit people from being able to sustain life from the food that it produced. The wind clan cleaned the air from the poisons that were administered from the corroding hillsides. Fire was needed to create the actual steel, fortresses, and habitats that the humans lived in, and those of the spirit were there as the natural born leaders to guide and assist in the actual understanding and passing of knowledge. Thad learned these roles since a child and cherished the idea that he didn’t have to live on his own, but as he grew older he realized they could easily be manipulated by each clan if one clan decided not to participate correctly with natural procedures.
Thad smiled at the idea and turned his beast to follow the edges of the white walls. He was hoping to see the gates to the city filled with onlookers as he and Mark strode in, but to his dismay they stood empty. Since before Thad joined the council the last two groups to show up were the fire clan and the earth clan, and he always was left disappointed by the idea of being nearly forgotten. He wouldn’t complain too much for it helped him keep the atmosphere of either a perfect late arrival to stop a rash decision from being made, or from preventing some outburst that would result in a disconnection from the alliance.
“The city is dead as usual Thad … isn’t it?” Markis said. His voice startled Thad so much that his heart raced and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the ominous sound coming from the empty streets.
“Yes… yes it is Mark.”
“I suppose that the council has already started the party without us, how do you feel about making it noticeable this year?”
“I myself enjoy being conservative.” Thad said glaring a bit to the left and right of the street scanning for any person to be watching them. During the events of the council’s meeting often the people stay indoors and don’t work so as to create peace for the decisions. To Thad it felt a bit indifferent and he wasn’t pleased with the fact that there was not even the sound of a babe crying. He understood the need for quiet in some situations, but in this very large city not even the sound of a horses neigh made one recognize the ringing sound in one’s own ears, “Let’s just get into the meeting and pledge our ideas to the council and get this over with.”
* * * * * * *
The council gathered inside of the large hall of the capital city Maerret. Statues lined the walls of Seren Wilnateen and Thad felt that highly inappropriate for a council of the different clans to be gathered in this city instead of gathering in some hall created specifically for these meetings. No instead Thad had to stare at the over scaled bust of Seren. She felt that she was the fairest lady to have been born; it was true in Thad’s eyes. She was amazing in every aspect and that is the part that pushed him over the edge. He wanted her in more ways then she would ever allow him to express.
Looking over his should he eagerly glanced at the robed figures in the benches. The council of five was being audited by select governors of the clans. Thad glanced at them with distaste for these beings found themselves in a room where only the best belonged, and Thad was the best and he knew these men were not.
“That sounds like an excellent idea Seren; we can double our efforts to produce a counter to the religious movement of the non magical kind of the southern kingdoms.” Alexis stated. Words could not describe the cool, calm, serene attitude this man had. His eyes showed cool white milk edging the black empty abyss that would be called his pupil. One could be absorbed by his gaze without even realizing that had been staring far too long, “Thad what proposition do you have for the council this year. I heard from your fellow councilmen that this is a rather unique and trustworthy idea, so please don’t disappoint me.”
“Ah, um… you... er.” Thad lost his train of thought when he heard Alexis address him so. His heart fluttered as those milky eyes gazed him over and of course Seren breathing down his neck and Markis thinking that he and Thad had planned the whole thing together.
“I assume you want to speak to us in English Thad, I haven’t found myself well studied in the language that you chose to address me in.” A slow whispered laugh began to roll in the room as Thad’s face flushed with the mocking tone Alexis chose to speak to him with.
“That is Alexis, that I have a proposition for creation.”
“Creation? This intrigues me, do explain.”
“I am referring to creating and spawning a new race. We with each element have the power to create something living and controllable and create ourselves to become the owners of Arnea. I am pledging that with my ability in the Alchemistic community and with the dwarven alliance we gather the elements and create a beast that isn’t fully human but will have the cognitions and abilities of us so as to be the perfect soldier to pull the useless Pale Tipped Ears down from their hiding spots and address us THE TRUE OWNERS OF ARNEA.” As he stood to his feet toward the end of his speech, the crowd went into complete silence. Thad could hear his own heartbeat in his ears as Alexis eyed him with the idea.
“You mean to tell me you expect that each clan participate in creating a creature that you claim can be controlled if we combine all five elements, alchemy, and mechanics? Wouldn’t this create a being that we as humans would be considered inferior to? Mixing elements together into one being and make it Elf like by being able to wield all spirit shards, and not only that but be able to understand, learn and grow. This would create an opposition to the elves but it would also create a higher threat to us humans being the weaker race on the land.” Alexis’ words rang in Thad’s head as Alexis’ voice began to raise with each fact that he pointed out to Thad, “We as humans have been fighting to prove that we are superior, and ideas like this one create the idea that we are only a middle man unable to fight for ourselves and rely fully upon others to do our bidding. I will not stand for me, those of the alliance who is with me?”
One by one the audience members stood along with the other council members. Thad’s face grew hot and red from the rejection he just received, “I will prove it to you Fellow brethren.” With that note Thad turned his back on the council and strode off through the open doors where four guards had overheard the entire confrontation. They had axes and swords drawn and pointed them toward the room prepared to strike if the situation began to heat up more than it had.
One day the council would bow before Thad’s mind. They would realize that he was stronger than they were and had a better ability in many aspects of the elements. From bending and creating the very existence of what was present with the ability of Alchemy or whether it be engineering and manufacturing a different life source. He would find the loop holes to the missing elements in his creation. The Tieflings would be born. They would exist. He would have to find a link to the elements.
It was in that moment that Thad realized that there was a link between humans and the elements. It would be a bit inhumane, but that captured Thad in one word. Inhumane. He was going to stride into a realm yet never before fathomed. The link between the pale tipped ears, those evil wicked elves were not far from beast. Therefore what difference would it make then trying to create a human engineered with the elements than try to create a human mixed with the missing link between the elements and create an unstoppable beast that would be controlled by the single command of one man. Thad smiled to himself as he stepped into the brisk air of the water city. Rain fell on his face, and he raised his eyes to the heavens to see the floating islands in the sky. Baelki would soon be reaching its end and that day drew near by the work of Thad.
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