A little background information on the Invasions, narrated by Zedd.
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"It's a long story, but I'll tell you what I know," said Zedd. "It starts thousands of years ago with a man named Huangdi."
"Huangdi is a man who became known as the Yellow Emperor, a great inventor and revolutionary who led an empire in the East to greatness," said Zedd.
"What happened to the Yellow Emperor?" asked Garnet.
"Like most people, he passed away of old age," said Zedd. "But, his empire still stands strong today as it continues to battle against the Invasion in the East."
"There's other places where Invasions occur?" asked Garnet.
"There are major cities built near the sites of past Invasions," said Zedd. "Antium as well. It was built as a military base meant to combat against the Invasions that appear in this region. But over time it changed."
"How many of these cities are there?" asked Garnet.
"I don't know," said Zedd. "But there's at least three that I know of. One is Antium, one was Constantinople, and one is Beijing. The one in Beijing is currently the one that produces the fiercest enemies, but they are holding on."
"Why didn't they summon a Hero?" asked Garnet.
"The conditions were simply not right," said Zedd. "A Hero can only be summoned when one of the cities near the portal is truly desperate, but as long as they are holding on, they cannot be desperate. Right now, they are holding on with a wall that spans the continent."
"What other conditions do you know of?" asked Garnet.
"There's requirements with the vessel," said Zedd. "The one that is known as great mana compatibility and it is believed that the vessel needs to be physical fit. But other than that, it is unknown, but it is likely that the mentality of the person has to be right as well."
"How is it that thousands of years have passed without much knowledge about this?" asked Garnet.
"A lot of knowledge is lost between summonings," said Zedd. "A Hero Summoning is very costly in terms of resources so few people are willing to try it. Hundreds of people die before there is a success and few mages have the power necessarily to summon one."
Garnet remembered the book of people that Zedd had tried. Those were the only ones he documented. She had no idea how many other people Zedd had tried it on before she became the success.
"Any other questions before I begin with the story?" asked Zedd.
"I'll wait until after," said Garnet.
"Alright, so I'll continue," said Zedd.
About four thousand years ago stood a great empire to the East. It is unknown how long the empire was around, but four thousand years ago was when they started keeping records of their own history at the request of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor. It was believed that the Yellow Emperor was a God that had descended onto the mortal realm in order to live with the people after he was bored of living with other Gods.
The first of his achievements, the building of great cities. In what is known as East Asia, he built ten grand cities. They are Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Taipei, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and Hangzhou.
"What makes these cities grand?" asked Garnet.
"Each one of these cities contains a population of over ten million people," said Zedd.
"Ten million each?!?" Garnet was surprised by this number. Even Antium and all of its surrounding areas did not equal to ten million people. The population of his empire was at least a hundred million. "How is that even possible?"
"It is possible because of the Yellow Emperor," said Zedd. "He introduced revolutionary technology that allowed them to feed and support such a large population."
"Over a hundred million people," thought Garnet.
"He did it with the Five Crops that we know today as soybeans, wheat, corn, rice, and potato," said Zedd. "These five items were able to feed armies and we continue to cultivate them today."
The second of his achievements, a unified reading and writing system allowing communication for the entire region. Everyone in those lands spoke a common language in addition to their native language. Every language in the world today is believed to be descended from that language, but it is referred to as "the common tongue." Then, the First Invasion came.
"The first ever?" Garnet asked.
"The first as far as we know," said Zedd. "It is possible that it existed before then, but we do not have any records of it."
Zedd described the story. A red moon appeared in the sky and cracked open, creating a hole. From there, blood oozed onto the land and turned it black. The First Invasion that arrived was an army of the dead. Skeletons rose from their graves and marched throughout the country. It was here that the Yellow Emperor created his first miracle that caused people to believe that he was a God. By calling upon the power of the land, he was able to mold and shape the earth itself into a weapon. Where there was dirt, the Yellow Emperor became a powerful warrior. That is the origin of magic.
"The Yellow Emperor was the first mage?" asked Garnet.
"Not the first, but one of the strongest" said Zedd. "He moved the lands with his power and he was able to use it to push back the invaders. After a few short years, they were pushed back."
What happened next was something they did not expect. An army of armored skeletons poured forth from the portal. Organized and fierce. The Yellow Emperor's army fought against it for a decade, but there was no end in sight. The enemy continued to receive reinforcements. It was there that the next miracle occurred. The Yellow Emperor trained others to use magic, these became the first large group of mages that worked together to cast powerful spells through a single magic circle. Soon after, it was discovered that it was possible to move water and fire in the same way. With their power, they pushed back against the other Invasions.
But that was not the end, when the undead army was pushed back, another great power came forth. The red star in the sky turned black as a mountain of bones and blood poured through. It turned itself into an undead that towered over cities. No matter how hard they fought, they could not defeat it. It trampled through Tianjin and headed towards Beijing, home of the Yellow Emperor. It was here that the Yellow Emperor devised the Hero Summoning method. In order to defeat a monster so great that no human could defeat it, they would call forth something that could. That is the origin of the Hero Summoning.
By overlaying multiple magic circles, it was possible to multiply its effects exponentially. By layering hundreds of them together, it becomes possible to call forth a being from another world. But, there was a price. The being needed a body as a host. So, the Yellow Emperor chose a slave, a slave by the name of Gilgamesh. This slave became the first Hero and slew the giant undead, but what happened next, the Yellow Emperor did not expect.
Gilgamesh abandoned the Yellow Emperor, saying that he was no true King. Gilgamesh united people to the West and created his own country to combat the Invasion. No matter how hard the Yellow Emperor tried to summon another Hero, it did not work. The person meant to become the Hero would die. This is why it is believed that there could only be one Hero in the world. So far, it has been proven true.
The Yellow Emperor did manage to defeat the Invasion after Gilgamesh stopped the giant undead, but it was only for a while. Shortly after, another red star appeared in the sky followed by another Invasion. The same happened in Gilgamesh's new country. There were now two Invasion points. Gilgamesh died in defense of his country, but his people managed to defeat the Invasion. But, before he passed away, he created a new type of magic. Summoning. One that could call forth other allies to help him fight and even out the numbers.
Upon hearing this, the Yellow Emperor tried again and managed to summon another Hero. He was successful after many tries. This woman became known as the Lady of Yue and is famous for bringing weapon skills, special skills and techniques that can only be used with weapons. Her skills were passed down to the soldiers who fought under the Yellow Emperor and with these skills they fought off the next Invasion, one composed of green skinned humanoids.
Soon after though, both of them died. The Yellow Emperor died after living for one hundred years and the Lady of Yue died at a young age of thirty from a mysterious illness. In her last words, the Lady of Yue asked to spread the skills she developed and the knowledge of the Hero Summoning to other places in case they faced similar threats. This is how the knowledge spread to Constantinople.
As knowledge spread, there were many who claimed the title of Hero, but only those created by the Hero Summoning spell are considered as true Heroes. The true Heroes claimed they saw things that others could not. They had memories of another life and grew powerful at incredible rates. But sadly, many of them died in battle, giving their lands a chance to defend their home. Many of their accomplishments became local stories and legends.
One of these people was Thoth, who was believed to have overcome death itself because when he died, we woke up after and destroyed the final creature from the Invasion before his body fell apart and he died once more. It was believed that the Yellow Emperor used his power to give Thoth one last chance to save his people. Others believe he overcame death itself and continue to walk the world today, teaching others to overcome the Invasion.
"Is there a way to know whether someone is a true Hero?" asked Garnet.
"We believe that anyone who can see the stats of another person is a true Hero," said Zedd. "This is the only common characteristic that has proven to be true."
"So that's why you immediately believed me when I saw it," said Garnet.
"Yes," said Zedd.
"What about Constantinople though?" asked Garnet.
"I haven't gotten to that yet," said Zedd. "I merely gave you the background information."
Constantinople was built out of the ruins of Gilgamesh's country. For some reason, Invasions were more frequent in this area, so in response, several kingdoms got together and built a great city that was also a fortress in the middle of the known locations of the Invasions. This was Constantinople. A city meant to collect knowledge as a way to combat the Invasion. From here, they devised numerous technologies and magics. Damascus weaponry, anti-fortress magic, summoning techniques, all of these are possible due to research from Constantinople. Travelers from all over the world would attempt the journey to bring knowledge back to their home.
When a Hero fell, they discovered a way to increase the success rate of the summoning. They would offer additional people as sacrifice in order to reduce the burden on the main vessel. These people would all die, and the Hero would be weaker, but it was a guaranteed summoning as long as there was not another Hero in the world. The weaker hero was essentially used as cannon fodder for a single Invasion or to delay the enemy, but it was not a viable long term solution because a single strong Hero was much more useful.
"Why is that city in ruins now if it was so strong?" asked Garnet.
"They faced off against the most powerful Invasion ever in an event that became known as The Great War," said Zedd.
The Great War began an unknown time ago. A black moon appeared in the sky and monsters poured forth from it and over a dozen eyes appeared. It was endless. For years, they fought. They summoned numerous Heroes. When one fell, they summoned another. In total, it is believed that they fought for over 50 years yet the Invasion had no signs of letting up. They believe that the Invasion was too massive, others categorized it into something different altogether. It was not an Invasion of a single type. Armies of millions marched through at a time composed of everything from undead to dragons. One Hero, by the name of Assad finally devised a way. He would send himself through the black star to the other side and see if he could stop it at its source.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"What happened to Assad?" asked Garnet.
"No one knows for sure," said Zedd. "He flew through the portal and stopped the monsters for many years, but after a few decades of peace, the monsters returned and people believed he failed. The black star did not disappear until Constantinople burned itself and destroyed nearly after luring all of the invading forces by itself. In total probably several million invaders were killed from that one event alone. But the fact that another Hero could be summoned means that Assad is dead."
"It feels like you skipped a lot," said Garnet.
"Much of the knowledge of Constantinople is still lost in the ruins beneath the city," said Zedd. "They have a recorded history, but not all the books have not been recovered. Assad was the last known true Hero before you. There could be more if there was history that covered the years in between Invasions, but as far as we know, there isn't."
Beneath Constantinople was the world's largest known library. Many of their books and much of their knowledge was stored underneath the city, which survived the fire. Somewhere under the city was the knowledge that Garnet was looking for. She was looking for both the magic to revive Riley and any knowledge of the Invasion.
"Why didn't Constantinople summon more after Assad?" asked Garnet.
"They simply did not have the resources anymore," said Zedd. "It is believed most of their mages eventually fell in combat and they did not have the mana to call forth a Hero, but it is also possible that they simply knew that they could not hold on any longer and just chose to take down as many enemies as they could by themselves."
"In other words, Constantinople has the answers to all of this," said Garnet.
"It's possible they did," said Zedd. "For some reason though, they could not use it."
"Fifty years of fighting, I cannot imagine that," said Garnet.
"It's usually what happens if they cannot clear out an Invasion before the next one comes," said Zedd. "At regular intervals, enemies will pour forth, if it is possible to defeat them all before the next one, then it is not a problem. Should you fail, then they will accumulate into a larger and deadlier force. There's also a chance that they will increase in frequency."
"Increase in frequency?" asked Garnet. "You mean less than five years?"
"Yes," said Zedd. "Rumor was that at one point, they were occurring every few days in Beijing, which is why they constructed the wall that spans the continent in the first place."
"How is it possible that these places can send in so many to fight?" thought Garnet. "They should have limited resources as well. Did they come from multiple different worlds? There were still too many questions."
"That's basically what we know, the rest is speculation," said Zedd. "It is possible that they have a much larger world and can mobilize such forces or all the dead enemies from the Invasion are somehow grown and replaced faster than we can destroy them."
"That's it?" asked Garnet. "What about other Heroes?"
Zedd gave Garnet a book. "These are the people we believe to be Heroes," said Zedd.
Garnet flipped through the book and skimmed it. There were descriptions of Heroes and their known achievements. It was possible that some of these people were not Heroes despite their huge list of achievements.
"Since then, most countries have followed the policies set forth by the Yellow Emperor and Constantinople," said Zedd. "A great country is supported by the Five Crops and they built a city that doubled as a fortress to fight the Invasions near where they were known to occur. For the most part, it worked fairly well."
Garnet's own list of achievements, lowered tariffs in Antium and convincing someone to rebuild the East Wall. It paled in comparison, but that was because she had not faced an Invasion yet. "Is there anything else known about the Yellow Emperor?" Garnet asked.
"Unfortunately, no," said Zedd. "There are stories that he returned to being a God once more after his death, but that's about it."
"So, the spell itself was created as an act of desperation, but they had trouble controlling the Hero," said Garnet.
"Most Heroes are unpredictable as the person has multiple personalities that are combined from the vessel and the spirit from another world results in something new," said Zedd.
"Has there been an instance in which the Hero turned against their summoner?" asked Garnet.
"Yes," said Zedd. "Some of them turned against their summoner when they saw that the people who summoned them were not deemed worthy, so they searched the world for someone they found worthy."
"How is that even possible?" asked Garnet.
"With great empires and great countries comes great pride," said Zedd. "Some of these rulers were so filled with pride that they refused to acknowledge the problem within their own countries and then the Hero sided with the people who then turned on its rulers when they realized that the rulers were not trying to protect the people, just their empires."
"Why would they even do such a thing?" asked Garnet. "Won't turning on them make things worse?"
"Not always," said Zedd. "The living conditions of these people were so miserable and caused by Kings and Queens who demanded that they pay tribute to support an army that could face off against the Invasions. Yet corruption led to a largely ineffective army that was useless anyways. The Hero saw this as a grave injustice that needed to be corrected before any real progress could be made. They saw it as something that went against stopping the Invasions."
Garnet probably would have done the same had King Caligula not died on his own. She would have most likely led a rebellion against the nobles for the people so that they had a chance to be ready to fight against the Invasion. Even Garnet's attempts to sabotage Arnold Gray and his operations could be considered the same type of rebellion. It just was not as severe as trying to kill King Caligula by herself.
"Funny thing is that many of these revolutions if done properly, actually made the country better off and prepared them to fight the next one," said Zedd. "It was almost as if these Heroes could not help but fight against what they saw as injustice."
"Did any of the Heroes live happy lives?" asked Garnet.
"A few of them did live long happy lives," said Zedd. "The ones that died young were usually those that were summoned long after the Invasion had started. They were often ill prepared and died in battle, but those who had time to prepare and train became very strong Heroes. Many of them even had families of their own and died from old age, not from battle."
Garnet had a chance to be one of those happy ones. As long as she could fight off the next Invasion, she had a chance to live a happy life with her family after. But, she would have to also make a body for Riley first and possibly fight off multiple Invasions until she could find a way to stop them.
"What about a Trial for a Hero?" asked Garnet. "Is there such a thing?"
"I know nothing of it," said Zedd. "I've heard of the Trial of the Warrior, the Trial of the Mage, and the Trial of the Ranger, but not the Trial of the Hero," said Zedd.
In other words, it was something unique to a Hero. The other people went through their normal trials, but only a real Hero would go through the Trial of the Hero. "What did the other people go through though?" thought Garnet.
"Does something like that exist?" asked Zedd.
"That's what I want to know," said Garnet. She was lying, but if other Heroes did not speak of it, there must be a reason why. There was probably some sort of secret to the Trial of the Hero.
"Why are there false Heroes?" asked Garnet.
"Some people want the fame and glory that comes with being a successful Hero," said Zedd. "Others do it to inspire hope in others. There's many reasons. I suggest you do not mention your status to anyone just to be safe."
"Why?" asked Garnet.
"They'll do things like demand proof or even try to kidnap you and force you to work for their country if they believe you are one," said Zedd. "After all, if you are a true Hero, you will have special abilities that they can benefit from."
It was best to not let people know unless she wanted to be targeted by other countries. It seemed like there was a danger to being anything special or anything that stood out. Dangers of being a slave. Dangers of being a mage. Dangers of being a Dark Mage. Dangers of being a Hero. It felt like there was nothing that was safe.
"Are there any false Heroes around now?" asked Garnet.
"I'm not sure," said Zedd. "You would have to travel East to Constantinople and find out, but I'm sure there's one or two out there. There's always people who want to benefit off of the title."
"Is there a way to check whether someone is a Hero?" asked Garnet.
"There's no certain way," said Zedd. "All we have are the witnesses to the Hero Summoning, though people have tried to do it by paying other people to endorse them."
"My witness is you," said Garnet as she pointed to Zedd.
"That is correct," said Zedd. "Along with a few of my guards."
In other words, people would not believe her easily unless they were desperate and just wanted something to believe in. "Wouldn't other attempts to summon a Hero just result in dead people as long as I am here?" asked Garnet.
"Yes," said Zedd. "After all, there is only one Hero in the world. That is why they usually only use it as the absolute last resort. After all, all those previous failures when I tried to summon you could be that there was another Hero still alive, but there's no way to be certain."
It was a horrible thought, but those people did not know any better. Without proper means of communication and extremely high amounts of trust, it was not possible to figure out whether someone was a Hero or not and to spread the information if they did discover a Hero. The only way was to earn recognition. Only then would they truly be recognized as a Hero.
"I need to become famous then," said Garnet. "That way people will recognize me as a Hero."
"That will be hard around here," said Zedd.
"Why?" asked Garnet.
"People around here usually see women as inferior," said Zedd. "You will have a hard time convincing them that you are a Hero."
"Isn't there anything else I can do?" asked Garnet.
"For now, the best thing you can do is successfully help King Charles lead the united army against the Invasion," said Zedd. "You will have to fight a little, but hopefully it will be enough to earn some recognition."
"How much time do we have left?" asked Garnet.
"Less than half a year," said Zedd. "I'm not exactly sure as there's always a little variance."
"I need to reach Constantinople and learn more about Invasions and magic," thought Garnet. Even with all of Zedd's knowledge, what he really knew was only the basics, the history of Invasions and Heroes. There was very little beyond that. There also existed the possibility that the Invasions were planned and intentional. Someone was doing it to weaken their world for some reason. However, it was unclear why someone or something would do that. Without more information, it was too early to draw conclusions.
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No change in stats.
Spoiler :
This is how Zedd sees the Invasions, which is different from what Riley knows from her contact with the Hero System.