Chapter 8
At this point, for you to understand the previous chapter and to understand some future events to come, some time must be spent in explanation.
The kingdoms of this land are all quite distinct from one another, but none are so unique as Onterrin. To understand this fully, you must know the legend of its origin and the odd ways of it’s people. I must also explain the current state of its population and how the other countries view them. This must be done for the full weight of Aylah’s confession to be clear.
Let’s begin with the origin of Onterrin.
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Long ago there was a wondering people known as the Antroke. These people claimed no place as their home, content to wander and keep to their own. All of the kingdoms can claim that one or more great weavers had come from their lands, but legend says that none could claim as many as the Antroke. It is said that their vast experience with many places, peoples, and creatures gave the Antroke an upper hand, as it were, in the skill of magical weaving.
During the earliest period of the time of the great weavers, the Antroke had an argument that left the already small people group divided. One side claimed that to wander and never settle would be the best means to preserve safety and anonymity from the other groups of people. The other side claimed that solidarity would be needed if the people were to get stronger and that a place to dwell would be necessary. For a wandering people to suddenly wander no more was a thought most could not bear and thus they divided.
One half of the Antroke disappeared almost in an instant, over night. The other half were going to make their presence known and seek a place to dwell.
Unbeknownst to the Antroke, the people of the land that would one day become
Eldaren pronounced any and all weavers to be a scourge and that they should be hunted and removed for the safety of all. As it was believed that the Antroke were there original weavers, they were targeted the most.
While this was a treacherous time, it also caused the numbers of the Antroke to grow tremendously, for they were seen as the only safe place for the weavers to flee. However, there did not seem to be a place where they could dwell. So, in desperation, they fled to the wild lands of Phelgan, believing that with the aid of so many weavers, they would be able to withstand the wild country. For a while, they were right. This was largely because the leader of the Antroke. Inoka was a weaver who possessed great skill with animals. His power was vast, but he excelled particularly in communicating with, taming, and teaching animals and creatures. This was one of the reasons they chose to name him leader as they entered Phelgan.
The lands of Phelgan rest at the base of what was once called The Skolrich mountains, or Heaven’s bridge mountains. These mountains make the Giant’s Garden in Tunaan look scrawny. The land below, Phelgan, is almost entirely uncharted. Very few who enter into these lands are ever seen or heard from again. Those who do return are either stark raving mad, or are honestly giving an account of their experience in these wild lands. If they are being honest, no one, brave or foolish, should go there. To do so would be a truly desperate last resort.
With that in mind, a good picture can be painted of the mindset of the Antroke as they took their first step into this treacherous territory.
The Antroke’s plan to use their new leader, Inoka, as the key defense against the wild creatures, was effective for many days… but Phelgan is a most unforgiving place.
After wandering through the incredible and deadly landscape, a day came when it seemed that every sort of dangerous creature came upon the Antroke people all at once. The people were forced to flee to the mountains.
Now, I don’t want you to think that these look anything like the red spires of Tunaan, being much wider and much taller, but these mountains certainly do have a somewhat similar shape. A typical mountain will have a wide base that slopes upward to a point. These mountains certainly have wide bases, but their slope is incredibly steep. For a short while one may be able to walk up the base, but said person would quickly discover that the path was now a sheer rock face that would need to be climbed.
Surrounded, the people had no choice but to climb. They lost many during this time, either through falling, deserting, or animals that would catch up to them.
Finally, they reached a plateau a good ways up one of the rock faces (not to the top) where they thought they would be safe. However, the creatures of Phelgan are persistent and hunt relentlessly. Cornered and afraid, the people had no choice but to fight for their lives. All seemed to be coming to an end for the Antroke people, but that was when it all changed.
From above came an imposing force of winged animals and creatures of all sorts. The Antroke lost hope when they saw them descending, believing this to be a type of reinforcement to the creatures below, but their fears were unfounded. These mountain dwelling creatures saw the Antroke as weak and defenseless and came to their aid. They drove away the horrors of Phelgan. The people were amazed.
It amazed them still farther when the creatures turn to face the Antroke with a fierce intelligence. Odd gestures and flapping wings were quick to follow. It appeared that these airborne saviors desired to communicate somehow.
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Inoka stepped forward and spoke to the beasts and learned that they were called Ontera from Onterrin. Inoka thanked them for the great service they rendered his people. He shared with Ontera his people’s plight. The Ontera spoke with one another and came to a decision, They invited the Antroke to live with them on the mountains.
After going through so much, the people were distrusting and were reluctant to let the beasts take them. Eventually, Inoka and the lead winged beast who called himself Freyor convinced the Antroke that to accept this dwelling place was the only course of action to take. Take it they did.
This is the legend of the origin of the kingdom Onterrin. Though the rest of the watching world would not acknowledge them until after a great conflict with the very people who had forced them into Phelgan in the first place; the people who now called themselves Eldaren. But that is a story for another time.
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Now to explain a little more about the people themselves as they are now.
At the very top of these incredible mountains there exists great plateaus with plenty of space for many homes, villages, and farms. The biggest of these flats is where the capital city resides. Most of the buildings are made of Wood from the various species of tree that grow on the top of the mountains, but the capital is Hewn from one of the raised sections of plateau on the greatest of these mountain tops.
Some of the mountain tops that are closer together are connected by vast bridges, but most travel done between these great mountains Is done on the backs of their longtime allies and friends, the Ontera. Every family it seems has a particular guardian Ontera, one that watches over them and helps them reach neighboring peaks.
Further information about their dwellings and ways is quite hard to come by as very few people are ever allowed or willing to visit. When an Onterrin would descend to the lower world, they were incredibly unforthcoming about their homeland, maintaining a serious distrust of all things below the almost ever present cloud line that separated the people.
How they even managed to live at the heights they do is a mystery to all but them. What is known about the country came mostly from king Eton, one of the few people ever able to be allowed up to Onterrin. What the king did write down and share was all that he was allowed to.
One of the most notable things about the Onterrins is their vast capacity in senses and physical abilities.
This is yet another mystery, but the people of that land have an incredible prowess. In some very old writings a battle is described between the recently established people of Eldaren and the peoples of the mountain country (the had yet to declare themselves Onterrins at this time). What is described was a vicious battle that the early Eldarens were not prepared for. Who won the battle is lost to history, but what was not lost was a gained general respect among all kingdoms for Onterrin and a knowledge that they ought not be messed with lightly. The strength of a single Onterrin easily outmatched that of three in any other kingdom. This was true of their endurance and sight.
Thus Aylah’s answer for her abilities.
That is a general understanding of the people, but there is another element that needs to be explained: how the Onterrins are viewed by the rest of the world currently.
In the Eldaren conquest that preceded the war, Onterrin was the only county that Eldaren “conquered” peacefully. Eton won a political victory that won him the Onterrin’s loyalty. He knew outright combat with these great mountains would be foolish and thus created a peace treaty that bound the lands together. He married Fara, the daughter of their chief.
The marriage was not his original plan. He was planning on negotiating for peace, but the one with whom he was to have these negotiations was his soon to be wife. They were quite instantly taken with each other. Over some time, Eton also had the good fortune to gain the respect of the other delegates and was given an incredibly rare honor. He was allowed to visit the upper lands and meet the chief. His visit was short as their weavers had to work constantly to keep Eton from dying due to the elevation change. In this meeting, Eton spoke to the chief about his love for Fara and they created the first peace treaty Eldaren and Onterrin ever had.
This was the first country that Eldaren had to “win” before continuing on to the others. However, when the war broke out and Eton and Fara died, Onterrin was stubbornly inactive. In a turn of events, the Onterrin’s closed their doors to Eldaren. Word got around that Onterrin would not their would be allies and the other kingdoms made note of that and sought them out as companions, but they were disappointed to find a startlingly violent opposition to aiding anyone in the lower world. Some still sought them out regardless and pleaded with them to help in their respective causes. The Onterrins would have been instrumental on any side they joined, as they are still home to the most weavers (though they no longer are home to any great weavers…no one is). All the pleading was to no avail.
This soured every kingdom against Onterrin. Onterrins had been long viewed as a strange and dangerous people and this affronting behavior, along with the general emotional uproar and political strife of war, created lots of hatred for the people who could have ended it all sooner.
In short, no one liked Onterrins.
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This brings us back to Diago. His mind on the matter of Onterrin is unfixed. His supreme distrust and distaste for Eldaren far outweighs that of any other kingdom. Having had no personal interaction with other kingdoms, while having many with the ever annoying Eldarens, he felt this perspective reasonable.
To him, Eldaren is the one who was the most to blame for the war and everything else gets murky after that. However, in that murkiness dwells many words and warnings against the traitorous Onterrins and their diabolical ways. Hence his current “open-mouthed” state. Not in absolute shock, mind you, but in complete ignorance as to how to respond. Whether Aylah being an Onterrin was a good thing or a bad thing was not something he was able to decide in that moment. He was kicking himself for not deducing that Aylah was an Onterrin sooner. Her general beauty threw him off, which he vehemently opposed admitting.
How on earth is he supposed to deal with this one? Yet another challenge he was completely unpracticed in taking on. Unfortunately for Diago…that would not be the last challenge he faced that day.
Diago and Aylah agreed to meet back at the same spot tomorrow. After that, Aylah sprinted off for the spire and Diago went home. Their separation was quick and uneventful after Aylah’s confession, she seemed unwilling to talk further on the subject. This was on his mind till he got home and opened the door to find his adopted father waiting for him.
Sullien looked up, looking ragged and worn. The look in his grey eyes was unlike anything Diago had seen before. Diago, having the gut feeling that something was off, was quite unsettled. When Sullien finally found his voice, it was low and serious and it sent a chill down Diago’s spine. Whatever Sul was about to say… wasn’t going to be easy to hear. What’s worse is that his opening line was the very one that every person knows to be a sure doom to the pleasantness of any conversation and ensures that it is going to be heavy and difficult.
“Diago…we need to talk”