Of Gods and Men:
Journey into Fellmoorne
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Chapter 1 - A New Name
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Elias stood at the edge of the world staring into what The Elders had called the abyss. Just moments ago he had been lying in a wagon heading off to the Western Wilderness for unknown adventures, and now he found himself gazing at a boundless expanse. The Elders had called it the abyss, but there was something whispering in his ear “Expanse of Gods.” Suddenly his stomach began tying itself in a knot as two eyes were suddenly staring back at him, and his head had started to feel as if splitting in two. A voice echoed in his head “Who are you, and what do you seek? Why have you come to stand before us, and how?” Elias opened his mouth to speak but there was no sound, only a whisper, but on his breath the words carried like pollen in the air to the ears of the being before him and conveyed his message. “I am Elias, I seek adventure beyond the walls of the city I was born in. I know not where I stand nor who you are, only that I see the eyes of the abyss and hear your words.” The eyes, unblinking, stared with the same solemn expression they had when they opened. Unwavering and stoic as if they had seen the beginning and the end of life, and words once again echoed in Elias’ mind. “Then go, seek adventure beyond your walls and find this place again if you wish to learn who we are.” With those words still echoing in his mind he and before he could respond, he awoke in the back of the same wagon he remembered departing for the Western Wilderness in, befuddled and cold he stared at the night sky above him and drifted off to sleep once again with questions still lingering on his tongue and in his mind.
Elias awoke to the morning dew settling on his skin. The winds of the Western Wilderness rolling over him in soft waves, and the songbirds whistling hearty tunes into dawn’s horizon. The sun peaked above the hills and through the trees casting vicious and sweet shadows onto the wagon as he opened his eyes. The imagery of the abyss still seared into his mind as he started to clamber down from the wagon and thanked the wagoneer for the ride. “Don’t mind it son, I just hope you return from the unmapped wilds you’re venturing into. May the Old Kings guide you young one.” With those words the wagon departed back the way it came and Elias stood in the wilds on the edge of the only resting spot before the great expanse of the wilderness strangled out civilization’s light, Konec Drita. It was a small town located on the edge of the territory of humanity. The town served as the final stop for those brave enough to venture outside of human lands and into the unknown. Humans as a whole had an estranged relationship with the other races who existed thanks to the wars waged by the old kings. While the people of the Kingdom of Ersiat called it the Western Wilderness, the races that inhabited it called it Fellmoorne. The elves inhabited the forests, the dwarves claimed the mountain bases, the hobbits laid claim to the rolling hills, and the Dragons sat on thrones of gold in the mountain peaks. Elias had only his sword and journal to carry along with him and he could not help but beam as stared over the village from his hill into the vast and endless forest ahead of him.
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He made his way down the hill into Konec Drita, and searched for the local knights garrison to fill out the necessary paperwork to begin his exploration into the unexplored, grieving never being able to return to his home and family, but excited at what lay ahead of him. As he walked down the streets avoiding the hustle and bustle of the early hours market, he finally arrived at his destination, the knights garrison. As he entered the clamoring room, a smiling woman greeted him. “Welcome to the knights garrison, what could I help ya with?” The words spoken softly had startled him as he turned to meet her gaze. An elderly woman nearing 60, with graying hair and a soft smile stood behind a counter waiting for his reply. “I’m Elias,” he paused for a moment, “Elias Ambriel. I’m here to file for a leave of country to explore the Western Wilderness.” The clamoring room quickly became silent enough to hear the mouse scurrying underneath the tables, and a gruff voice from the back spoke loudly and sharply into the silence. “Why in the name of the king, would you want to go out there into that hellscape?” Elias responded quickly. “I’ve a mind for adventure even if it costs me my life, and I’d like to meet other races and exchange cultures and ideas with them. I want to see something outside of what the past kings have deemed ours. I want to see, for what reason, Ambrosis Ersiat waged The Luminous Crusades. I want to know what he wanted out there, and what lies beyond even that.” he said sharply and without an ounce of hesitation. “You wanna communicate with the other races?” the voice spoke those words lined with malice and poison. “Those races are monsters one and the same. There’ll be no speaking, only a dead lad and a new trophy for their mounts. Redalia, fill the papers and get his stamp, send the lad out there and ensure the guards don’t let him back in, same as the others. I’ve no mind to stop you, I only hope the Old Kings guide you safely. I’m Renlocke the Captain of this garrison, and I hope to someday see you standing in the tree line and know you are safe.”
Redalia finished the paperwork and explained that once he stamped it with his family’s seal he’d no longer be a citizen of Kingdom of Ersiat, and the guards would do nothing even if the elves hunted him down like an animal at the Grand Gate. Elias stamped the papers and thanked them in a hurry, before quickly escaping to the other side of the Grand Gate, and sprinting to the edge of the forest in the distance, hoping they wouldn’t notice the family seal was that of the Kingdom of Ersiat, and that he was the kingdom’s Crown Prince making an escape into what he truly wanted to do with his life. Elias Ersiat, had officially abandoned his country leaving his younger brother Arlind Ersiat as the Crown Prince and had taken on the name Elias Ambriel. A much needed relief he thought as he ran. “I always hated that my parents named me with two names beginning with E.” The winds rushed out of the forest as if embracing him as he neared and took his first steps into the undergrowth. As he began his long awaited adventure into the unexplored lands he had only ever read about in the kingdom’s library, he heard the alarms ringing as the garrison began to panic as they realized what had just transpired. He began to slow down, knowing the knights would never cross the Grand Gate and enter into the forest thanks to the pact made by the Old Kings and the denizens of Fellmoorne centuries ago. He let out a laugh and stopped to take in the sights around him. “Glorious, it’s as amazing as the books described. I can’t wait…” his words were cut short as an arrow flew past his head and stuck in the tree behind him. “Halt, present the papers showing you are no longer a citizen of the Kingdom of Ersiat and state your name!” A elven patrol had just happened to be passing by as he entered and Elias responded by presenting the papers to them. “I’m Elias Ersiat, I was once crown prince of the Kingdom of Ersiat, but sought adventure past the Grand Gate. I’m no longer a part of the country, nor its royal family. I’ll be known as Elias Ambriel, from this day forward!” He spoke with no lies in his words, as the books warned of elven magic and it’s ability to discern lies and truths. The elven guards checked his papers and heeded his words, and offered him escort to the elven town of Ylvalona. He agreed and set off on the path to new adventures, new friends, and to seek out the abyss he visited just the night before.