The mood in the hall was tense. The guards watched as an King Theogan the third, single most powerful man in the known world, sat stooped over a small piece of parchment. His ancient hands trembled slightly through age, physically the King was now a shadow of his former self, when once he stood over six foot tall and could weild a sword with the strength of two men. Now sat hunched in his throne for days on end allowing other younger and ambitious servents to carry out his bidding. But with age had come wisdom so that now after over four decades service as King of the Kingdom of Roldor the nation was enjoying a near unpresidented age of peace, wealth and prosperity.
The message had been delivered several days hence, at first it was the cause of little attention many such notes and messages arrived from all over the Kingdom each day, it was only a select few that made it through the levels of the Palace bureaucracy into the King's hand itself.
As he began to read the message King Theogan's ancient features revealed a slight hint of anger,
"To the King of the Roldor,
This is a message written on behalf of Gormoath Lord of this World,
It is our masters intention to claim back all of the lands East of the Zellian Ocean, these lands along with all the lands of this planet were owned by himself it is his darkness's bidding that your lands be reclaimed, and restored to his rightful ownership.
An emissary shall be sent to you to state the demands of Gormoath and terms underwhich you will join his Darkness's the elustrious empire. The emissary will reach you shortly after the thirteenth sunset following the delivery of this message. Your cooperation with the envoy is commanded and to be unconditional"
By the time he had finished reading onlookers could see this had passed as he glanced up from the message.
"Send them in" said the King with a note of disdain in his voice.
At once two huge doors slid slowly open as if by magic, to reveal three figures standing outside ready to enter. As the doors finally became fully ajar, the three were signaled to come forward by the palace guards stationed at the door.
Before entering the hall all visitors were stripped of any possible weapons and it had already been reported that the two large men on the left and right of the three had been relieved of a veritable arsenal of equipment. The other however had been totally unarmed, and it was the centremost figure that captured the kings attention. As the three come slowly forward their footsteps echoed throughout the hall and the central figures features began to become clearer.
Dressed all in black was a woman, or to the king's eyes she seemed little more then a girl. Compared to the huge male figures to her left and right she seemed tiny by comparison. When the group reached the King's Throne they stopped and as custom dictated the men on the left and right bowed. The striking woman in the middle however did not bow to the king, she stood before him looking him directly in the eye with a knowing smile on her face. There was a certain aura about her, her shoulder length blonde hair hung loose at her sides. Now she was but a few feet away the king could see her clearly. Her brown eyes which stared directly into his were in contrast to the brilliantly pale skin of her face. The black outfit she wore was that of a warrior not a lady, which seemed to be so tight it left very little to the imagination. She wore not a skirt but tight black shorts similar to those often worn by barbarian warriors designed not to hinder mobility, her top clung to her body in a manner that appeared scandalous to those of court present. On her feet she wore black boots, which despite the distance their message claimed they had travelled the King noted were surprisingly clean and free of dirt from the road...
"So you are the person that was spoken of in the letter?" asked the king. He spoke only to the woman guessing correctly she was the only person of any note present. She contunued to stare back at the king inquisativly, then smiled before replying.
"Indeed you majesty I am, my name is Tula i speak with his Darkness's mouth we have travelled a great distance in the hope of enlightening you and your people. We very much hope a peaceful arrangement can be found whereby my master can take back these lands which as I shall explain are rightfully his..." she was interupted by a huge outbreak of laughter. Shouts of "you can't be serious" and "she's out of her mind" filled the hall as well as a few cruder suggestions from many of the younger men who were obviously more interested in admiring her tight fitting outfit and bodys curved outline then actually listening to anything she had to say. After a few moments of this the King raised his hand for silence,
"Indeed? and if we should refuse to adhere to your master's most resonable demands and not hand back his undoubtably rightful lands upon which my decendants have lived for many hundreds of generations what terrible fate is due to befall us prey?" sneered Theogan.
He could barely conceal his contempt as he spoke.
The whole thing was propostrous and he was sure not one person in the hall took this emissary seriously, the very idea of Roldor being invaded was nothing short of laughable. Willim the kings city and Kingdoms capital alone contained over thirty thousand men at arms. The borders of Roldor's great nation spanned thousands of miles and its influence spread still further. If needed the king was capable of commanding over a million troops. Nothing the Roldor had ever come across in the known world could even match the citys standing garrison at Wilim. Frankly he was amazed that the palace officials had allowed this woman into his presence. Now it had come this far he had little patience to carry on this charade.
At this Tula lost her smile slightly before continuing,
"Refusal is not an option for you, my lord. His Darkness is prepared to be merciful and forgive your people's centuries of tresspass as he understands that this has been conducted through ignorance in his absence from this world. Indeed he is even prepared in his mercy to allow you to sware feilty to him. However now that he has returned Gormoath is taking back all of his rightful territories, and I must warn you that if you are not wise enough to give them back to us willingly then my lord shall take them back unwillingly." more laughter followed this statement, but less then last time. There was something about this woman a certain presence and aura, she did not strain as she spoke but her voice carried effortlessly to everyone in the hall, there was also it seemed a hidden power and menace behind her words.
"Be warned woman whoever and whatever your master may be I shall not be threatened in my own hall. Whilst you are here you are under my power and you would do well to remember it."
Tula smiled again at this; "and you oh mighty king would do well to remember that this world in which your nation resides is a vast place and there are many powers of which you are ignorant, up till this day your little Kingdom has had nothing to challenge it but I warn you war with my master will bring you nothing but distruction."
There was no laughter this time, the King's fury was plain to see never before had his will been so challenged in the very heart of his nations power.
"Enough! I've had enough of this nonesense it is against the way our our people to harm any foriegn emissary that enters OUR lands, whilst you are here you remain under my protection. I bid you go back to Gormoath and tell him this. Tell him that I will not tolorate threats and insults delevered to me from the mouth of a woman he sends because he is to cowardly to meet me himself. Tell him also that his life is forfeit as of this day unless he personally comes before me to beg forgiveness for the grave insult he has caused me this day. If he should not do this then rest assured that should any word reach my ears of your master's location he will be brought to me by force be it dead or alive." Theogan had risen from his throne during the coarse of his speech and now stood staring down at Tula with open fury on his face.
Tula returned the gaze no hint of a smile left on her features.
"Old fool, very well you choose death, this offer shall not be granted again. Others before you have refused to bow before His Darkness, all have met with the same fate."
She took a couple of steps forward towards the Kings throne;
"Your answer was not unexpected, my master has another message which he bid me give you if you refused to accept his dominion." by some strange magical agency her voice grew in power as she spoke the next words and so that every citizen in the entire city could here;
"My master bids all to know that any who defy the will of Gormoath shall face destruction!"
She raised her hand high overhead, and all voices in the hall fell silent, even the sound of the summer breeze ceased. All present felt sudden terror and Tula began to summon power towards her.
Amidst her hands a huge fireball was growing rapidly. Sencing danger stratigically placed archers throughout the hall opened fire from hidden locations. Tula's two bodyguards fell to the ground dead instantly being struck by countless arrows but all missiles hurled at Tula fell away harmlessly as if they hit some hidden barrier. Finally after what was only moments but felt like an age to those witnessing Tula released the fireball, hurling as if in slow motion directly at the King who still stood transfixed, still stood at his throne frozen in place as he was engulfed in flames and disintergrated instantly.
There followed a flash of light, and Tula was gone.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Chapter 1: Discovery
Anton shivered as the howling wind pierced through his slender outer garments. The rain had started lashing down several minutes ago and he now sought shelter underneath some of the large trees which were situated at the edge of the forest also overlooking the sea. He ran one hand through his now drenched short blonde hair as he considered his predicament.
He looked down at the raging ocean beneath him and knew that the sensible thing to do would be to return home to the town of Hillerthorn, but with a twelve year olds temper he was determined to stay out all night in order to cause his parents maximum distress at this mornings hot words.
Hillerthorn was Roldor's most north western town, it was a major sea port on the Western ocean and was also situated very close to the Great forest which spread all the way from here many hundreds of miles eastwards.
Anton considered his situation, he was crouched beneath two towering tree's which at first had offered some shelter against the storm. But it was clear that rather then relenting after a short period, the storm was only gaining in ferocity. He was already cold and wet but he had no desire to spend the whole of the night like this. One thing he wasn't going to do however was return home tonight, he had only run away that very morning and it was not in his nature to back down so quickly. After a few moments of thought he turned and headed deeper into the forest.
As he entered deeper into the forest glade the wind lessened until it was now only a howling moan in the distance. Some of the raindrops still danced their way through the canopy above him to make it to the ground but for the most part the rain had lessened to a distant beating above his head.
This was not the first time he had ventured in here, for as long as he could remember he had held a facination with the place. Like all children of his age he had often been warned of the dangers hidden inside. Tales of goblins who would come and take children away in the night were mainly dismissed as old wives tales, but it was well known that the forest was still home to many wild animals such as Bears, Wolves and Tigers. However he had the confidence of any Roldor twelve year old in his ability to fight off danger with the help of the short dirk he always carried at his side.
As he continued walking something ahead caught his attention, the deeper he got inside of the forest the darker it became but ahead he thought he could see a small pin prick of light. Curious he headed towards it, being careful to tread as silently as possible. After several minutes he got close enough to make out three figures huddled around a camp fire, he was still not quite close enough to make them out clearly but they certainly didnt look human from this distance. Intreagued he drew his dirk and crept further forward, curiosity overriding his sense of caution.
As he crept closer still he began to hear a faint hissing which he imagined must be coming from the creatures. He was now close enough for the first time to detect the smell of something cooking above the fire, although it was not a smell he recognised.
Before the camp area was an ideally placed boulder just large enough to hide him from view whilst allowing him to get a clear look at these creatures from only a few feet away. He crept towards it, sure at any moment that the beating of his heart would give away his presence. As he reached the boulder he took a few moments to compose himself. The hissing was now louder then ever, it was clearly a form of communication that the creatures were using, he noticed that each one hissed in a slightly different pitch. Conflicting emotions battled inside Anton, his plan had been to get close enough to take a good look at these strange creatures but now he was here a sense of caution was taking hold. The sensible thing to do would be to turn around and leave, to be honest with himself that would have been the sensible thing to do from the very start. However it was not in Anton's nature to always follow the sensible option, however he was not stupid and he realised just what a dangerous position he had put himself in. After a few moments thought he came up with a plan, he certainly wasn't going to leave without getting a good look at the creatures but he wasn't going to risk being seen himself whilst they were awake. Surely they had arrived at this place to camp for the night? He would remain hidden until the creatures were asleep then it would be much less risky to take a look at them.
So he waited... until finally after several minutes had gone by without a single hiss he was convinced the creatures had finally nodded off.
Gathering up all the courage he could muster he peered from around the side of the large rock.
A nightmareish scene awaited him...
He almost let out an audible gasp as he peered around the rock. The nearest creature was only a couple of feet away from him! He had not realised it was there as it was sprawled out leaning against the very large boulder that Anton was couring behind! Luckily this meant that it had its back to him and he remained undetected. After a few seconds frozen in place Anton regarded the other two creatures. They were huge, it was difficult to tell exactly how tall they would be standing up but at a guess they would be at least two feet taller then any human Anton had ever seen. They were covered in a green reptilian scales, the most strikeing thing about them was that each had one huge eye in the middle of their foreheads. None of them seemed to have hair on any part of their visable bodies, each wore a kilt like garment around the waist which was the only cloathing was apparent.
Anton continued to watch them for several minutes, determined despite the danger to find out as much as he could about the creatures and gain as much information as he could as to their possible purpose here so that he could gave a full and detailed report when he returned home to Hillerthorn. The creatures did not seem to be terribly active however, the one nearest to him leant against the rock was clearly asleep, and given the thing's loud and heavy breathing Anton wondered at himself for not recognising its presence earlier. The other two were similarly motionless, however it was difficult to tell if they were actually asleep as they did not seem to posess eye lids of any kind. There was just this one forever open unblinking eye disturbingly and constantly stareing out into space. After a few more minutes of this Anton decided to leave, it was tempting to think that he could continue watching from his concealed hiding point for many more hours as the creatures showed no sign of sturring but eventually Anton knew they would once again be on the move and despite the fact he was confident in his ability to outrun any normal man in his native woods, he still had no idea how fast these creatures could travel or indeed what their intentions towards him would be should he be discovered. He had a feeling that discovery would not be pleasent and he certainly didn't want to find out, nor have to put his pursuit theories to the test.
As he was about to turn and leave something caught his eye. In his study of the creatures Anton had so far failed to notice a small leather bundle which lay next to the dosing creature slumped against the rock nearest to him. The bundle was certainly reachable but he would have to expose himself momentarily in order to obtain it. Given the fact that none of the creatures had shown any sign of life for several minutes he was fairly confident that they were all currently asleep and it would certainly add merit to his story when he returned to Hillerthorn if he could bring back some token to prove his version of events.
He leaned out from behind the rock, sweat poured down his brow as he did so. this was the moment when he really would find out if those forever open eyes were actually asleep as he was now exposed to the creature directly opposite the campfire. He held his breath ready to spring away at the slightest sign of movement... there was none so far. Encouraged he leant far enough out to lay a hand on the bundle, the matirial it was made of was rough to the touch and seemed to be made of the same scale like matirial that coated the creatures skin. As he slowly lifted the bag he was surprised by the weight of it, it was much heavier then he expected. Finally he slipped both himself and the strange bag back behind the relative safety of the rock.
Anton knew that he now had to get away quickly as should any of the creatures rouse they would be almost sure to notice the bags disapearence and begin a search of the area which would more then likely proove disastarous unless he could open up a large enough gap between himself and his pursuit. He had no idea if they were skilled at tracking but ideally Anton wanted to be safely back behind the tall castle walls of Hillerthorn before morning.
Slowly Anton crept away, not dareing to walk upright until he had crawled far enough away so that the creatures camp fire was just a faint glow in the distance. Once he had got far enough away that he could no longer hear their hiss like breathing he stopped and opened the bag.
Inside he found several pieces of paper, he did not look at these in great detail, some appeared to be maps which undoubtably would be useful to someone older and undoubtably alot wiser then himself back home. There were other parchments covered in a strange writing, Anton did have some writing skills which he had learnt from his tutorlidge at Hillerthorn but none of this was readable to him.
At the bottom of the bag was he found the heavy object he'd been looking for. It was some sort of purple stone which was extreamly cold to the touch. He picked it up out of the bag and examined it in the failing light on his palm. It was perfectly smooth to the touch and surprisingly heavy for its size.
To his astonishent after a few moments of contact with his skin something strange began to happen, the purple stone seemed to grow warmer in his hand and then it began to emit a purple glow. Faint at first but after a few seconds it grew brighter until the surrounding trees nearby began to reflect the purple light such was its brightness. Hurridly Anton shoved it back deep inside the bag worried that it might give away his position, there would be better times and places to examine the bags contents he decided.
With a last worried glance over his shoulder he turned and began to head for home.
He had not travelled far however when an earsplitting howl split the night, it had come from the direction of the creatures camp it seemed the bags absence had been discovered, then a few seconds later to his horror a second answering howl was heard, this time from a different location further to the north. "Damn! What the hell was i thinking" he murmered to himself. It was certain they'd find his trail on the mudsoaked ground, and he had hoped to be at least twice as far away as he was currently before the theft was discovered.
Sure pursuit would now be hot on his heels he said "Ok lets find out if those ugly bastards can run..." and he set off at break-neck speed towards home.
He looked down at the raging ocean beneath him and knew that the sensible thing to do would be to return home to the town of Hillerthorn, but with a twelve year olds temper he was determined to stay out all night in order to cause his parents maximum distress at this mornings hot words.
Hillerthorn was Roldor's most north western town, it was a major sea port on the Western ocean and was also situated very close to the Great forest which spread all the way from here many hundreds of miles eastwards.
Anton considered his situation, he was crouched beneath two towering tree's which at first had offered some shelter against the storm. But it was clear that rather then relenting after a short period, the storm was only gaining in ferocity. He was already cold and wet but he had no desire to spend the whole of the night like this. One thing he wasn't going to do however was return home tonight, he had only run away that very morning and it was not in his nature to back down so quickly. After a few moments of thought he turned and headed deeper into the forest.
As he entered deeper into the forest glade the wind lessened until it was now only a howling moan in the distance. Some of the raindrops still danced their way through the canopy above him to make it to the ground but for the most part the rain had lessened to a distant beating above his head.
This was not the first time he had ventured in here, for as long as he could remember he had held a facination with the place. Like all children of his age he had often been warned of the dangers hidden inside. Tales of goblins who would come and take children away in the night were mainly dismissed as old wives tales, but it was well known that the forest was still home to many wild animals such as Bears, Wolves and Tigers. However he had the confidence of any Roldor twelve year old in his ability to fight off danger with the help of the short dirk he always carried at his side.
As he continued walking something ahead caught his attention, the deeper he got inside of the forest the darker it became but ahead he thought he could see a small pin prick of light. Curious he headed towards it, being careful to tread as silently as possible. After several minutes he got close enough to make out three figures huddled around a camp fire, he was still not quite close enough to make them out clearly but they certainly didnt look human from this distance. Intreagued he drew his dirk and crept further forward, curiosity overriding his sense of caution.
As he crept closer still he began to hear a faint hissing which he imagined must be coming from the creatures. He was now close enough for the first time to detect the smell of something cooking above the fire, although it was not a smell he recognised.
Before the camp area was an ideally placed boulder just large enough to hide him from view whilst allowing him to get a clear look at these creatures from only a few feet away. He crept towards it, sure at any moment that the beating of his heart would give away his presence. As he reached the boulder he took a few moments to compose himself. The hissing was now louder then ever, it was clearly a form of communication that the creatures were using, he noticed that each one hissed in a slightly different pitch. Conflicting emotions battled inside Anton, his plan had been to get close enough to take a good look at these strange creatures but now he was here a sense of caution was taking hold. The sensible thing to do would be to turn around and leave, to be honest with himself that would have been the sensible thing to do from the very start. However it was not in Anton's nature to always follow the sensible option, however he was not stupid and he realised just what a dangerous position he had put himself in. After a few moments thought he came up with a plan, he certainly wasn't going to leave without getting a good look at the creatures but he wasn't going to risk being seen himself whilst they were awake. Surely they had arrived at this place to camp for the night? He would remain hidden until the creatures were asleep then it would be much less risky to take a look at them.
So he waited... until finally after several minutes had gone by without a single hiss he was convinced the creatures had finally nodded off.
Gathering up all the courage he could muster he peered from around the side of the large rock.
A nightmareish scene awaited him...
He almost let out an audible gasp as he peered around the rock. The nearest creature was only a couple of feet away from him! He had not realised it was there as it was sprawled out leaning against the very large boulder that Anton was couring behind! Luckily this meant that it had its back to him and he remained undetected. After a few seconds frozen in place Anton regarded the other two creatures. They were huge, it was difficult to tell exactly how tall they would be standing up but at a guess they would be at least two feet taller then any human Anton had ever seen. They were covered in a green reptilian scales, the most strikeing thing about them was that each had one huge eye in the middle of their foreheads. None of them seemed to have hair on any part of their visable bodies, each wore a kilt like garment around the waist which was the only cloathing was apparent.
Anton continued to watch them for several minutes, determined despite the danger to find out as much as he could about the creatures and gain as much information as he could as to their possible purpose here so that he could gave a full and detailed report when he returned home to Hillerthorn. The creatures did not seem to be terribly active however, the one nearest to him leant against the rock was clearly asleep, and given the thing's loud and heavy breathing Anton wondered at himself for not recognising its presence earlier. The other two were similarly motionless, however it was difficult to tell if they were actually asleep as they did not seem to posess eye lids of any kind. There was just this one forever open unblinking eye disturbingly and constantly stareing out into space. After a few more minutes of this Anton decided to leave, it was tempting to think that he could continue watching from his concealed hiding point for many more hours as the creatures showed no sign of sturring but eventually Anton knew they would once again be on the move and despite the fact he was confident in his ability to outrun any normal man in his native woods, he still had no idea how fast these creatures could travel or indeed what their intentions towards him would be should he be discovered. He had a feeling that discovery would not be pleasent and he certainly didn't want to find out, nor have to put his pursuit theories to the test.
As he was about to turn and leave something caught his eye. In his study of the creatures Anton had so far failed to notice a small leather bundle which lay next to the dosing creature slumped against the rock nearest to him. The bundle was certainly reachable but he would have to expose himself momentarily in order to obtain it. Given the fact that none of the creatures had shown any sign of life for several minutes he was fairly confident that they were all currently asleep and it would certainly add merit to his story when he returned to Hillerthorn if he could bring back some token to prove his version of events.
He leaned out from behind the rock, sweat poured down his brow as he did so. this was the moment when he really would find out if those forever open eyes were actually asleep as he was now exposed to the creature directly opposite the campfire. He held his breath ready to spring away at the slightest sign of movement... there was none so far. Encouraged he leant far enough out to lay a hand on the bundle, the matirial it was made of was rough to the touch and seemed to be made of the same scale like matirial that coated the creatures skin. As he slowly lifted the bag he was surprised by the weight of it, it was much heavier then he expected. Finally he slipped both himself and the strange bag back behind the relative safety of the rock.
Anton knew that he now had to get away quickly as should any of the creatures rouse they would be almost sure to notice the bags disapearence and begin a search of the area which would more then likely proove disastarous unless he could open up a large enough gap between himself and his pursuit. He had no idea if they were skilled at tracking but ideally Anton wanted to be safely back behind the tall castle walls of Hillerthorn before morning.
Slowly Anton crept away, not dareing to walk upright until he had crawled far enough away so that the creatures camp fire was just a faint glow in the distance. Once he had got far enough away that he could no longer hear their hiss like breathing he stopped and opened the bag.
Inside he found several pieces of paper, he did not look at these in great detail, some appeared to be maps which undoubtably would be useful to someone older and undoubtably alot wiser then himself back home. There were other parchments covered in a strange writing, Anton did have some writing skills which he had learnt from his tutorlidge at Hillerthorn but none of this was readable to him.
At the bottom of the bag was he found the heavy object he'd been looking for. It was some sort of purple stone which was extreamly cold to the touch. He picked it up out of the bag and examined it in the failing light on his palm. It was perfectly smooth to the touch and surprisingly heavy for its size.
To his astonishent after a few moments of contact with his skin something strange began to happen, the purple stone seemed to grow warmer in his hand and then it began to emit a purple glow. Faint at first but after a few seconds it grew brighter until the surrounding trees nearby began to reflect the purple light such was its brightness. Hurridly Anton shoved it back deep inside the bag worried that it might give away his position, there would be better times and places to examine the bags contents he decided.
With a last worried glance over his shoulder he turned and began to head for home.
He had not travelled far however when an earsplitting howl split the night, it had come from the direction of the creatures camp it seemed the bags absence had been discovered, then a few seconds later to his horror a second answering howl was heard, this time from a different location further to the north. "Damn! What the hell was i thinking" he murmered to himself. It was certain they'd find his trail on the mudsoaked ground, and he had hoped to be at least twice as far away as he was currently before the theft was discovered.
Sure pursuit would now be hot on his heels he said "Ok lets find out if those ugly bastards can run..." and he set off at break-neck speed towards home.
Prologue
The Kingdom of Roldor had its beginnings rooted in times long forgotten. For over a thousand years its civilization and culture had grown until the empire now spanned from the Western Ocean, to the uncharted eastern lands, which are still even in these later days, wild and uncharted.
It's influance and reputation extends still further far beyond the nations boundries.
In a dark and barbaric world, Roldor shines like a beacon. For over a thousand years it has stood as a bastion of peace and justice throughout an otherwise harsh world.
However, it was not always so...
It is said that for years uncounted "The Roldor" like many other cultures lived a nomadic life. In these dark years the lands of the nation were filled with wild dangerous beasts and creatures and could not be travelled safely in few numbers.
Legend has it that one day the people of The Roldor" grown weary of the constant struggle for survival in the wild came upon a place so beautiful that a great number of them could not bring themselves to leave. Strife broke out between two rival factions, those wishing to move on and those wishing to remain. In the end council was taken and it was decided that the people should split into two groups, many did indeed continue onward and of them history tells us nothing more.
However a great many remained and formed the first setlement under the leadership of King Willim who it was said was a ingenious visionary and wise leader whom the city is still named after to this day.
As the years passed the Roldor people of Willim endured, life was harsh at first and many perished to the wild things of the land. After a few years had passed word of the now thriving City had grown and it began to attract unwanted attention. The people faced their biggest test as an army of Orcs, Wolves and men of the wild decended upon them suddenly and without warning. Had the attack come in the early days of the city then they would have quickly been overrun, however King Willim had not been idle in his leadership and had fortified a great area into which the people gathered. It was a close thing, the heavily outnumbered Roldor were under siege for weeks. Even Women and children were given swords as they fought for their very survival. Finally the attack was repelled from the walls one last time. Then in a brilliant manovour and King Willim personally led a charge forth from the gates ahead of over a hundred horse soldiors which after the Orcs defeat at the gates, finally broke their attack and sent them scattering away from the battlefield. The attack was not without loss however as the King had been mortally wounded from an arrow laced with poisen. He survived just long enough after the battle to name his Heir King Henry 1st, as he had never wed.
In the centuries that followed the nation of Roldor expanded, more cities were created, concoured and brought into the empire. Many others joined the empire willingly as they saw the wisdom in the security offered from the now mighty armies of Roldor.
Some of the early history of the empire was undoubtably bloody, little is written of that as history is indeed written by victors, however by enlarge to the outside world Roldor, along with its great capital Willim was unique. However no matter how large and mighty the Nation became, the uncharted world is still a vast place. Outside of its borders the world was still wild, creatures driven out of Roldors lands still roamed the lands and they were unsafe to be travelled without great numbers.
To the east lay races of men not of the Roldor, many were nomadic as the Roldor themselves once were, others had themselves established independant city states, with their own Kings and rulers. Though none had managed to create a civilization anything like as cultured and vast as the Noldor. To the North lay huge forests where deep within were said to be a free but elusive race of elves. Little is known of these creatures but it is said they are human like in appearence. To the south-east were dwarves. A short but strong and sturdy people, who it is said have been around for much longer then the Roldor. The Dwarves have always been a free people and whilst the relations between themselves and Roldor would never be described as friendly, trade has developed and as a result mutual respect between the two people's.
In the History of the Roldor, since the early days at least the empire had not at any point been under threat, with a massive populance at its disposal the nation had continued to maintain a well organised army. Each city had its own garrison, the capital city itself has over 10,000 troops in total. Whilst life inside the nations borders was relitivly quiet it was a different story entirely at the borders. Where constant fighting was the norm, no major battles had been fought for over a generation but constant attacks from orcs and other wild creatures meant that any green soldior placed at the borders soon became veteran. For this reason units within the Kingdom were regularly rotated and any soldior can expect to serve a year or two of his carear repelling hostile border attacks.
The Kingdom had now grown so much though that despite the constant border strife no real serious threat had faced Roldor in living memory, they were now a peaceful people no longer interested in conquest for glory or honour.
In a wild and hostile world Roldor is a beacon of light.
It's influance and reputation extends still further far beyond the nations boundries.
In a dark and barbaric world, Roldor shines like a beacon. For over a thousand years it has stood as a bastion of peace and justice throughout an otherwise harsh world.
However, it was not always so...
It is said that for years uncounted "The Roldor" like many other cultures lived a nomadic life. In these dark years the lands of the nation were filled with wild dangerous beasts and creatures and could not be travelled safely in few numbers.
Legend has it that one day the people of The Roldor" grown weary of the constant struggle for survival in the wild came upon a place so beautiful that a great number of them could not bring themselves to leave. Strife broke out between two rival factions, those wishing to move on and those wishing to remain. In the end council was taken and it was decided that the people should split into two groups, many did indeed continue onward and of them history tells us nothing more.
However a great many remained and formed the first setlement under the leadership of King Willim who it was said was a ingenious visionary and wise leader whom the city is still named after to this day.
As the years passed the Roldor people of Willim endured, life was harsh at first and many perished to the wild things of the land. After a few years had passed word of the now thriving City had grown and it began to attract unwanted attention. The people faced their biggest test as an army of Orcs, Wolves and men of the wild decended upon them suddenly and without warning. Had the attack come in the early days of the city then they would have quickly been overrun, however King Willim had not been idle in his leadership and had fortified a great area into which the people gathered. It was a close thing, the heavily outnumbered Roldor were under siege for weeks. Even Women and children were given swords as they fought for their very survival. Finally the attack was repelled from the walls one last time. Then in a brilliant manovour and King Willim personally led a charge forth from the gates ahead of over a hundred horse soldiors which after the Orcs defeat at the gates, finally broke their attack and sent them scattering away from the battlefield. The attack was not without loss however as the King had been mortally wounded from an arrow laced with poisen. He survived just long enough after the battle to name his Heir King Henry 1st, as he had never wed.
In the centuries that followed the nation of Roldor expanded, more cities were created, concoured and brought into the empire. Many others joined the empire willingly as they saw the wisdom in the security offered from the now mighty armies of Roldor.
Some of the early history of the empire was undoubtably bloody, little is written of that as history is indeed written by victors, however by enlarge to the outside world Roldor, along with its great capital Willim was unique. However no matter how large and mighty the Nation became, the uncharted world is still a vast place. Outside of its borders the world was still wild, creatures driven out of Roldors lands still roamed the lands and they were unsafe to be travelled without great numbers.
To the east lay races of men not of the Roldor, many were nomadic as the Roldor themselves once were, others had themselves established independant city states, with their own Kings and rulers. Though none had managed to create a civilization anything like as cultured and vast as the Noldor. To the North lay huge forests where deep within were said to be a free but elusive race of elves. Little is known of these creatures but it is said they are human like in appearence. To the south-east were dwarves. A short but strong and sturdy people, who it is said have been around for much longer then the Roldor. The Dwarves have always been a free people and whilst the relations between themselves and Roldor would never be described as friendly, trade has developed and as a result mutual respect between the two people's.
In the History of the Roldor, since the early days at least the empire had not at any point been under threat, with a massive populance at its disposal the nation had continued to maintain a well organised army. Each city had its own garrison, the capital city itself has over 10,000 troops in total. Whilst life inside the nations borders was relitivly quiet it was a different story entirely at the borders. Where constant fighting was the norm, no major battles had been fought for over a generation but constant attacks from orcs and other wild creatures meant that any green soldior placed at the borders soon became veteran. For this reason units within the Kingdom were regularly rotated and any soldior can expect to serve a year or two of his carear repelling hostile border attacks.
The Kingdom had now grown so much though that despite the constant border strife no real serious threat had faced Roldor in living memory, they were now a peaceful people no longer interested in conquest for glory or honour.
In a wild and hostile world Roldor is a beacon of light.
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