“How do they have tomatoes if they don’t have a tropical climate in this world? Aren’t they originally from South America?” Asked Katja, looking at her breakfast.
“I don’t know about the original climate of tomatoes, but humans aren’t the only Travelers, it’s also happening for other animals, as well as plants,” said Ollie.
“Wait, what?” Katja was once again caught off guard.
Ollie took a sip of his tea. “This world is like… mega-Europe. Ethnically the natives are like Europeans, from the southern Balkans to the north of Scandinavia; the climate ranges from Mediterranean to Arctic, with some Sahara-like hot deserts and Pacific Northwest-like temperate rainforests. Everything you see that doesn’t belong to this climate range comes from Earth.”
“I… I see. And how big is this world?”
“The region we’re currently in is called ‘Edengar,’ we’re in Nar Province, to be specific. This world is the same size as Earth but without the landmass of the Southern Hemisphere.”
“How many people are living in it? I don’t think you can support that much without, you know, globalization,” Katja said before taking a bite of what looked like pita bread filled with cream cheese.
“A couple of hundred million. About half live in Edengar.”
“And the political situation? What’s the political regime here?”
“This is where it gets tricky. Edengar is officially part of an empire ruled by an Emperor, but he ceded his power to a regent a few decades before the arrival of the first Travelers 500 years ago. Edengar was then unified 200 years ago under a king who established the Kingdom of Edengar. The Kingdom is still officially part of the Empire, and is nominally ruled by the Regent, but is effectively independent under its king. And to top it all off, it’s currently in a state of slow collapse due to a cold civil war that has been going on for decades, with the king having very little effective control over the east of his kingdom. So it’s kind of a degenerate feudal system, mostly, with political power slowly shifting towards the cities.”
“That’s a lot to take in,” Katja said, trying to gather her thoughts. “It sounds a bit like the late Holy Roman Empire or pre-Absolutism French ancien regime. Is the Imperial Family like the Imperial Family of Japan during the shogunate, kept aside to regularly produce a ceremonial head of state with no actual power?”
“Oh, you misunderstood, there is no Imperial Family, there is only the Emperor. And he’s still around, but only the current Regent knows where.”
“What? Is… Is the current emperor the same as the one who ceded power 500 years ago?”
“Matikael, or Matia, or Velan, among many other names and titles, or just the Emperor. He founded the Empire some 22 centuries ago. The calendar here literally starts at his birth.”
“So… All right, some people here are immortal? Or have very, very long lives. Is this common?”
Ollie sighed. “We’re getting into the weeds here.” He looked at his and Katja’s now empty plates. “Let’s walk.”
As the sun rose higher, its rays spilled over the hills, casting a golden glow on the dew-speckled meadows. The sky stretched endlessly above, with only the occasional wispy cloud drifting lazily across its expanse.
“Yes, some people here have very long lives, they age much more slowly and are referred to as ‘immortals’. In fact, they do die of old age but can live for many centuries,” explained Ollie as they walked on the edge of a wheat field. “The Emperor is different. He’s often called a ‘perfect immortal’; he looks just as he did in his early 20s, with no sign of age.”
“Some rare magical genetic mutation?”
“No, it’s about his very essence, he doesn’t have a human soul. This is borderline theology, but basically it’s like the concept of avatar in Hinduism, he’s an incarnation of some principle, or deity, called ‘Aciel’ or the True Light.”
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“Right, so a living god. Why did he retire from ruling his Empire? And I need to grill you on ‘gods’ and this ‘soul’ thing and its relationship with death later.”
“He ‘retired’ because he failed to… to prevent an event called the Corruption, it’s a long story, but basically since then the connection between this world and the aether is slowly fading. Travelers began to appear in the century that followed the Corruption, so the link is pretty clear.”
“Fading? What do you mean? It’s getting harder to craft and cast spells?”
“Yeah. It’s almost imperceptible from one generation to the next but, yes. As a rule of thumb, the older the spell, the more powerful it is. Even the worst dunces of the Magisterium before the Corruption were considerably more powerful than the average arcanist of our time. And only the greatest wizards can still cast their most potent spells.”
“All right. So magic is fading because of the Corruption that the God-Emperor failed to prevent, so he retired, gotcha.”
“That’s the gist of it.”
“Dude’s probably sipping margaritas on a beach somewhere. What’s the current year? In the local calendar?”
“2161. The Lorians count from the founding of their city, so for their calendar, you can add 3287 to the year of the Imperial Calendar.”
“The Lorians? And those are numbers I’m going to forget, except maybe 2161: it’s prime.”
“Don’t worry it doesn’t matter. The Lorians are another long story. They are the people of Loria, the greatest city of Edengar and the oldest in this world. I guess you can think of it as the local Rome. It was once a great empire in itself, far in the past, it went through cycles of fall and rise… The Emperor used to live there. We’re around 200 miles to the east,” he said pointing to the direction. “The Lorians are quite distinctive: jet-black hair, milky-white skin with freckles, very light blue eyes...”
As they walked, the morning air began to warm, bringing with it the scents of the countryside. Katja was deep in thought, trying to piece together the complex web of history and politics that Ollie had laid out.
“So, the Lorians,” said Katja, “they were once a dominant force in this world? What happened to their empire?”
“It fell. About 1,200 years before the birth of the Emperor, it’s very remote history. The Lorians were then exiled, forming a vast diaspora in Edengar, eventually they mostly returned to their city in the 3rd century before the Emperor, but you can still find Lorian communities all around to this day.”
“And how important Loria still is?”
“Loria is the largest city of Edengar, a center for trade, learning, and culture. Politically, its influence has waned, the imperial capital moved south with the Regent centuries ago, and the king of Edengar never lived there, but culturally and economically, it’s still a powerhouse.”
“Speaking of the King, you mentioned a… cold civil war?”
“Ah. The King, Arash, is well-liked by the common folk, but his rule is contested by several powerful noble families in the east. They’re vying for more autonomy, some even pushing for outright independence. His claim is also disputed because he’s the first king who isn’t a direct male descendant of the first king. The situation is tense, but has remained mostly non-violent since the last open rebellion, which was crushed at great cost to both sides during the rule of his grandfather.”
“And the Regent won’t interfere?”
“The Regent isn’t very relevant, he’s more like a figurehead, he’s in the deep south of the Empire, in Kân, the capital. He rarely ever intervenes in the affairs of Edengar; his main role is ceremonial here, keeping the memory of the Emperor alive.”
They reached a crossroads, with one path leading to a quaint village nestled in the valley below. “This is Alfor,” Ollie pointed out. “A typical Narian village. Let’s go have a look.”
As they descended into the village, the sounds of daily life greeted them: the clatter of a blacksmith’s hammer, the murmur of conversation from a nearby market, and the laughter of children playing.
“This seems so… peaceful,” Katja said, watching a group of villagers bartering in the market square.
“It is, for the most part. Life here can be hard, but there’s a sense of community that I don’t remember from back on Earth.”
They strolled through the village, passing by stalls selling fresh produce, handmade clothing, and various trinkets.
“How do they view Travelers here?” Asked Katja, “I mean, we’re essentially aliens to them.”
“Travelers are a known phenomenon and most people are indifferent or curious. In centuries of experience they’ve realized that we’re merely humans like them, with no notable characteristics beyond our unique circumstances. There’s a bit of a mythos around us, tales of strange people from another world, but we’re not treated as threats or anything; it’s more like, ‘Oh, you’re one of those Travelers, tell me about your world’ kind of attitude. They see us as exotic foreigners from faraway lands.”
After exploring the village, they found a quiet spot near a small stream to rest. The water burbled gently over smooth stones, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees overhead.
“So, what’s next for us?” Katja asked, looking at Ollie.
“We wait a few more days for the next caravan and we’re heading to Autermont.”
Katja let out a small laugh. “It seems that whatever world I find myself in, all paths eventually lead me right back to college.”
At the curious look Ollie gave her, she explained, “Both my parents were professors. I hardly ever left Cambridge in my life.”
She closed her eyes, feeling a soft, warm breeze in her hair. “I can’t say I miss the New England winter I left behind, though.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.