Sphereverse
IntEarth — A Living World

The world I called home for many Cycles is known to its inhabitants as "Sphereverse", sometimes also called "Intearth". It is a place that is similar to my original home. Here is an address you may recognize:

"Earth,
Sol System,
Orion Arm,
Milky Way Galaxy,
Local Group,
Laniakea Supercluster,
Observable Universe,
Real Realm,
Universe"

This may be the place you are experiencing my story in.

The Sphereverse is a vast and mysterious place, filled with wonders and dangers beyond anything I had ever imagined. The Real Realm (your home perhaps), is a vast and mysterious "Universe" that spreads infinitely in all directions, expanding endlessly into the unknown. Somewhat similar but different, the Sphereverse at its heart lies the Spherve, a massive sphere of debris that surrounds a supermassive white hole known as "Lum". This enigmatic source of light and matter emits the gasses and materials of countless celestial bodies, pulled from regions beyond my understanding.

If a gazer looked out into the distance, they could see the upward curve of the surface as it is when within a sphere, dotted with distant cities that glimmer like points of light. The larger settlements appear as brighter dots against the vast curve above. But the true nature of this world remains shrouded in mystery, as no civilization has ever been able to map the entirety of its surface. The most distant cities and wonders are unreachable within a single mortal span of Cycles. Any immortal who attempted to cross the entirety of the surface would find that after reaching the point at which they had started, its geography and inhabitants would be different from those they had left at the start of their journey.

Yet still there is more to this place than its surface alone. Beneath lie vast deposits of minerals, ancient fossils, and even subterranean civilizations. Author only knows what other secrets and wonders lurk in the (possibly) infinite depths below?

I will try to share the mysteries of this vast and strange yet familiar world, and uncover the hidden treasures and warn of dangers within.

Numerous species both magical and strange live on and below the surface and in the air. Civilizations come and go, natural disasters are frequent and include meteoric impacts of a planetary size (ejected from Lum), earthquakes that raise or level mountains in mere Lumends, sinkholes of tremendous depth. Gravity seems to behave differently. Imagine the feeling of being pulled in two directions at once (toward Lum and toward the surface). Though the force pulling you from below being the stronger of the two when you are standing at surface level. A little dizzy? Not to worry, this only gets harder to understand. The laws of motion make themselves very apparent when walking atop the tallest mountains.

*The rest of the journal seems to have been torn out*

Expos stood in a room of complete darkness. A single spotlight illuminated a table. On the table sat a short mushroom stuffy. Expos stared at it, hands folded, face expressionless. Expos gasped and quickly began walking out of the room and down the hall. Expos walked into the entry hall of the Darp Tower. A tall thin person with light hair and light features was sitting on a half log stool that had been expertly crafted by some ancient occupant of the tower.

Expos: "Ah at last! My successor, I have waited many Cycles for you."

Zeshin raised their head to see a short, stout person with dark hair and dark features standing in the hall.

Zeshin: "Hello, I am Zeshin. I do not know how I got here. I do not consider my mind to be the most reliable when it comes to reality but this is a first. Which is saying a lot considering the life I have led."

Expos: "Quite the life it was, truly. I am your largest fan. I had been hoping you would be selected, and it seems the tower has decided at last. Come along now, you are The Most Worthy."

Zeshin: "Evidently you have me at a disadvantage. May I ask your name, largest fan?"

Expos: "Folks call me Expos, and I suppose that is my name in the sense you mean."

They walked together down a hall that curved so slightly it almost had the appearance of being straight, except that looking down its length, one could see it inevitably curved, hiding the end from view.

Zeshin: "How big exactly is this tower?"

Expos: "I am not sure it has a true size. It is as infinite as the universe."

Zeshin: "The universe is finite. We know the Spherve has a diameter; we just have not been able to calculate it."

Expos: "Dear, dear Zeshin, the universe is so much larger than just the place you call home."

No. 2 kneeled on a stump three Lu in diameter. Their lumite armor, typically a pristine white void of color, now bore a deep green hue from the plant life that had taken root on its surface, thriving off the passive energy of the complete set. The stump had benches carved from its bark, upon which two richly clothed people sat conversing. A city had developed around them while they awaited in a meditative state of non-existence. They considered, for a fleeting Lumin, how long it had been, then their subconscious policies of existence engaged and they rose to pray.

The enormous person shot upward, standing at a full height of two Lu. Vines of ivy fell to the ground as they moved. The two bourgeois people before them jumped back, each letting out a gasp. The bustling trading hub reacted in waves: some stopped and watched, some turned and ran, and some, peculiarly, began to walk toward the statuesque No. 2, talismans in hand and voices lifting in gentle prayer.

No. 2 raised their arms to the sky and prayed, marking Lumora Cycle 4,162,500.

No. 2: "O Great Author, who pens the parchment of this world with precision, who determined the Lumspan and set the Cycles in motion—hear my words. I am Your instrument in this story, a sword within the eternal pages of Intearth. Grant me the wisdom to walk the path You have written, and the strength to turn the pages yet unseen."

They lowered their head to look at the gathering crowd.

No. 2: “Written favorably are those who walk through these texts with humility, that their deeds may be preserved in the eternal pages of Intearth. Written are those who mourn; their chapters shall end, and they shall find eternal comfort and rest thereafter. Written are the meek; for it is for them that Intearth is chronicled.”

Before No. 2 could continue, a voice rang out from the audience. One of the richly clothed people, whose robe shimmered with intricate embroidery, stood and scoffed.

Lord Veyren: "Enough of this drivel! You speak of meekness, mourning, and humility, yet look around you! I am clothed in finery, my coffers overflowing, and I have knelt to no Author, bowed to no Cycle. Where is your so-called reward? If such virtues are written into your precious Text, then why does power and wealth favor the proud?"

The person laughed, loud and sharp, a sound that rippled through the crowd like a stone cast into a still pond. Several others chuckled nervously, glancing between the speaker and the giant in lumite armor standing before them.

No. 2: "Who are you, that you would blaspheme against the Author? Speak aloud your name, that it might be known. Tell me was it for you alone that the Author has stirred me from my slumber to bring judgment? Have I been awoken to cleanse this whole land of its sin?"

The person straightened their shoulders, as if the weight of their embroidered robes alone proved their worth.

Lord Veyren: "I am Lord Veyren, a citizen of this country and a member of the Verdant Council! These lands thrive thanks to our judgment and how we choose to spend our coin! Your Author may satisfy the prayers of the poor and the market folk, but it is the Council that decided to build the roads and buildings you see around you."

Veyren laughed, emboldened by the soldiers gathering in the town center, equipped with swords, staffs, bows, and all manner of weapons.

Lord Veyren: "I do not know what you are or what power you hold, but your god is a relic, a story told to children! I stand here, empowered by the will of Verdance, by the will of civilization itself!"

At a sharp gesture from the lord, some soldiers cast their spells, weaving enchantments into Veyren. Energy flared. Veyren rose into the air, growing in size, their flesh hardening into a living carapace of polished steel. Their once-fine robes burned away, leaving them draped in raw sorcery.

Lord Veyren: "Look upon me and see where true power dwells! Kneel, before the will of peoplekind!"

Around them, people gasped, some shielding their eyes from the harsh glow of the spellwork. Others whispered prayers, staying true to their faith and recognizing the divinity of No. 2, who did not stir. No. 2 remained like a mountain unmoved by storms, their gaze steady, the mark of the Author etched into every fiber of their being. No. 2 looked upon Lord Veyren, and the corners of their mouth turned downward, their brow furrowing deeply.

Slowly, No. 2 raised their arms to the sky. Their voice, when it came, was quiet and strained:

No. 2: "O Great Author, who set this Cycle in motion, who wrote each character with care and burden alike, forgive this one their folly, though judgment must fall. Have mercy upon the ink of Your own pen. For they are blind by Your hand, and I strike by Your command."

The crowd fell silent, a stillness heavier than any chant or clash of arms. For a moment, it seemed as if even the Wakes themselves paused, as if the very fabric of Intearth waited to hear the Author's answer. No. 2 lowered their hands, their body braced. No. 2 moved.

There was no warning cry, no battle roar, only a blur of motion as they crossed the square in a single, tremendous leap. Their great blade, mounted at their hip for swift use, flashed from its sheath in a single smooth motion, cutting the air with a sound like tearing parchment. In one brutal stroke, they cleaved Lord Veyren cleanly in half. The lord let out a wet gurgling gasp. Blood and viscera burst outward, painting the polished stones of the square and splattering those unfortunate enough to be standing near.

The soldiers, wide-eyed but disciplined, began to fall back, shields raised and weapons tight in their grasps. They retreated in formation, their captains barking sharp commands over the stunned murmuring of the crowd. Their boots pounded against the stone as they withdrew toward the north gate, where the castle loomed beyond the city wall. There, they would regroup and prepare to defend their stronghold against what they now knew was not merely a person, but something far older, far more of a threat.

No. 2 lowered their blade, their hands steady. They stood still amid the ruin, the body of Veyren laid unceremoniously at their feet, making even more of a splatter than the original cut. They bowed their head.

No. 2: "Forgive me fellow, for I was written to end your story as you were written to serve as my introduction here."

Around him, chaos unfolded. Those who had held faith in the Author fell to their knees, bowing low, weeping prayers into the blood-slick stones. Their voices, though jumbled and desperate, rose upward across the vaulted world of Intearth itself, toward the mirrored lands above, and to Lum, the living light between. Others who had scorned the old ways fled in all directions, desperate to escape meeting a similar judgment to that they had just witnessed. Among them, people of every kind scattered No. 2 raised his voice to the gathered peoples of Intearth, them still faithful to the Author.

No. 2: "Beware, The Old Ones have returned. They once again seek to escape the confines of our story. When I wake, it is by the will of the Author. The Author's hand stirs me from Leep, summoning me to prepare the Faithful of Intearth.

Look for the signs: when a shadow is cast upon Lum, when the waters freeze over, when forgotten things rise from the soil, and when the winds whisper of ancient names. All is not lost, and not all of the ancients awake. The eternal egg still incubates in its orbit around Lum. The Author has blessed us at this time, for when it hatches, even I will not be able to mitigate much of the destruction. The names of the Ancients are on the tongues of the unfaithful. In those moments, help your fellow Intearthians, and the Author will view favorably any who provide Intearthian aid. Our trials have been foretold, and our purpose awaits."

A furry bipedal person approached the area where No. 2 was giving the speech. They had not been in the square during the previous events and had just arrived for the warnings.

Council Person Vissira: "How can you expect us to be faithful to a God not even willing to prove they exist? I am sure your power is impressive and your magic old and abundant, but it is far more likely that you, like many others, have fallen victim to the sickness of magic. The words you speak are of that illness and have no more truth or evidence than any other words of anyone here. If the Author were real, we would only exist when the Author was writing about us. All our lives leading up to the moments that we would appear in their pages would be left up to imagination. Assuming the Author even writes in a book. Who knows what a God would use for the passing of knowledge and information. We would have no free will. Everything we chose to do would be directly chosen by the Author."

No. 2: “I will provide proof that I am no mere prophet. I am No. 2 the right hand of the author himself. I enact the will of the pen. First I must ask, what are you, that you have these tall pointy ears on top of your head, and a bipedal model of a human?”

Council Person Vissira: "I was made this way when I still resided in my bubble. My creator dedicated 30 Cycles to my creation, which is what has set me so far above all these other citizens here before you. I was made, and my creator is tangible. They raised me and they made me do what I was made to do very well, which has caused me immense success in life and improved and held our community. I am a council member here, and my name is Vissira."

No. 2: "Very well, Council Person Vissira. What would you have me do to prove the Author's existence?"

Council Person Vissira: "Well, therein lies the problem. There is so much that magic can do. Whatever your Author needs to do as a miracle has to be astronomically impressive. So if the Author is real, have them darken Lum. Surely Lum is one of the ancients you speak of, and it is not returning—it has been here the whole time, always providing light to the world of Intearth. Those of us who dwell on the surface, that is."

No. 2: "This is acceptable."

No. 2 began to rise into the air as if pulled by their chest. Their head hung back, their arms limp at their side, their legs limp and dangling. Their sword remained sheathed, their armor now clear of any of the growth that had covered them. They whispered incoherent sentences, pausing for twelve Lumends between each one. The questioner stood with arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, the corner of their mouth curled upward. They had gone as far as to summon a small clown bird, which flew in circles around No. 2. Members of the crowd looked down, interacting with invisible displays and laughing. An elephant-trunked person who stood twice as tall as many of the other members of the crowd spoke to an invisible audience, framing themselves in front with No. 2 and Lum behind.

The Communication Network: *Users commenting about No. 2, Lum, etc.*

Then the unthinkable happened. Lum itself darkened.

Great avian people, their feathered bodies clothed in armor and sashes, took to the sky in panicked flocks.

Slender, scaled people with serpent-like bodies slithered into alleyways.

Hooved people leapt over merchant carts in their haste to get away.

Magic users vanished into thin air.

The square emptied like a breached dam, leaving only the bowed faithful and the looming figure of No. 2 — a silent monument to the weight of divine will.

The wake began like any other for Sam, he woke up in the barn he had begun to call home, Sam got out of his hammock by throwing one leg over the right side of it then rolled landing on the floor and rudely awakening the nearby cat that had been sleeping on his stomach. Slowly raising his rear end and outstretching his forelimbs out in front of him then arching his back Sam stretched like a cat. The cat whose name was Tom skipped his own usual stretch, as he was more interested in a scratching noise coming from the corner of the barn. Sam stood up and made his way to the ladder and climbed down to the ground floor. Tom followed behind quickly with a small mouse in his mouth. Sam pet Bessie the horse on the nose, she was an old mare that was unusually fat for a horse she almost looked like she was carrying a bubble child all the time, though she was far too old to have a foal.

Sam had been living on the Colt Farm for two cycles, Farmer Colt owned five thousand luminares of land and let Sam and others live on the farm in exchange for work. Sam primarily worked on making a road that was intended to span the whole farm. This wake though he decided he would take the wake off and gather apples. Farmer Colt of course believed this was the only life you got and if those boys who worked for him wanted to enjoy a little bit of it then by all means they should, though when the time came everyone ought to do their share of the work. This method of management was why farmer Colt had been so successful. He was one of the largest landowners in his county. Sam had arrived at the apple trees with a burlap sack. He began to climb the largest tree at the head of the orchard when an apple the size of his head pegged him in the face.

Disembodied Voice: “Gotcha sucker.” *playful laughter*

Sam fell from the tree and landed on his butt.

Sam: “Ed I am going to climb up that tree and knock you from your perch.”

Ed: “I would like to see you try.”

With that the trial had begun Sam making a quick pace up the massive tree and Ed throwing a barrage of oversized apples. A few made contact with Sam but knowing they were coming he was able to brace on to the tree to hold himself up. As he approached the branch Ed had been sitting on Ed panicked and decided to jump to avoid being thrown off. He had a rough landing and got a few scrapes and bruises but otherwise he was mostly unharmed. Sam, rather satisfied with himself, collected five apples filling his bag and made his way back down to the base of the tree.

Ed: “Are you leaving the farm too then Sam?”

Sam: “No I was just in the mood for some apples, why? Are you leaving?”

Ed: “I guess you haven't heard, considering you are on the farthest border of farmer Colts land though I would have thought he'd have sent someone down to let you know.”

Sam *now a little perturbed* demanded: “Out with it Ed you buffoon.”

Ed: “A plague has fallen on the land the county has gone to war with three of our neighbors in a fight for food. It's a free for all, martial law has been declared and everyone is either running towards the fighting or running away from it but you can bet no one is staying where they are.”

Sam paused for a moment to take it all in. He did not like the sound of any of that at all. But he would have no choice but to make a decision.

Sam: “Ed what are you going to do?”

Ed answered *in a less ominous tone*: “Well I am going to paradise of course.”

Sam: “What? We already live in Paradise.”

Ed: “Not the county! The actual real paradise like the concept, travelers have spoke of the county to the South, there have been strange going ons but word is there was a wizard war and the winning side made a place with unlimited water, food, and no one has to work I guess the wizards all study or research, it's hard to get entry but if you do get in your set for life.”

Sam: “Well that sounds better than going to fight, mind if I tag along I make good company and I can hold my own in a battle with bandits.”

Ed: “Course you can come you are free folk aren't you, master of your own fate I couldn't stop you if I tried.”

Sam: “I asked if you mind not if I was capable, you have some gall trying to correct me with how dumb you are."

Ed *laughing*: “I’m the one with gaul? well at any rate I planned on eating my fill then leaving.”

They both proclaimed aloud “let's eat!” and feasted on the savory apples. As leep drew near Tom arrived, and climbed the tree that Sam and Ed had settled in to rest for the leep. Tom had a bloated belly, he had eaten his fill of field mice. Tom climbed to the large branch Sam was resting on and laid in his lap. Sam pet Tom with his back leaned against the bark of the great arbor. Tom was a welcome companion Sam spoke to his cat of his plans to travel with Ed and asked him to come along. Tom nodded almost as if in acknowledgement of what Sam said. They both faded to sleep.

Sam woke up to Ed stepping on his head in his descent of the tree. Tom had already departed from Sam's lap probably off warring against the lesser powers of the farm Sam thought. Ed apologized for stepping on Sam but it was about time he woke up anyway, they would leave soon so they both topped off their sacks with Humungo apples (the name the people of Paradise county called the enormous fruit).

After reaching the base of the tree Sam noticed tracks in the dirt just around the dirt near the building roots,

Sam: “Looks like a band of horse mounted soldiers or merchants came through while we were sleeping and they must have been in a hurry.”

Ed: “Let's travel with haste then I don't want to find out what was chasing them.”

The path was a somewhat well traveled one but it was not lined with brick or rocks. Sam had a momentary thought that he might build on this road like he had done so many of the others on Colts farm. It passed as quickly as it had come remembering his life of road making was in the past, a new journey was ahead of him and while he might have chosen better company if he could, he was stuck with Ed. Upon examination of the tracks Ed announced there were likely six riders.

After a moment of silence from each of them Ed said “let's follow the tracks and see if we can gather more information on the party but keep your distance.”

They began their journey following the exact path of the group ahead of them to give some semblance of hiding their own tracks. Sam thought on the fact that it was the perfect wake to start an adventure. Lum was bright in the sky and it looked like it would be a clear wake. The birds had begun their morning gathering of worms, bugs and berries. It was very peaceful. The two of them were well rested sleeping in the sticks was not at all uncommon for them and they both were as ready as they would ever be. The idea of the horsemen having been in a hurry became abundantly clear as the horsemen had left small trails of blood from where their spurs struck the horses and left a periodic trickle of blood.

After a few Lumers of silent travel between the two companions a small noise could be heard in the direction they were going. As they came closer Sam thought the noise sounded foreign unlike anything he could fully comprehend. Sam was an avid practitioner of the saying curiosity killed the cat, he of course was unaware of the second part of the saying “satisfaction brought it back.”

Sam: “I don't really care to find out what that noise is.”

Ed was the curious sort and wild images ran through his mind as to what fiendish thing could make such a sound.

Ed: “whatever it is I have to see it, but you needn't worry I will observe from a safe distance.”

Sam walked a short way off the path and hid in a large fairly inconspicuous looking bush.

Sam: “Well I will wait here, but not for very long so you had better make it quick.”

Ed took off ahead traveling along the brush just off the road, so he would not be easily visible to the thing making the awful noise which seemed to be getting louder but he was sure it was just because he was getting closer. Once he was within viewing distance he gazed upon an old person rolling around in a mixture of mud and blood. The person was yelling in two voices, one of an older person and that other worldly, screeching noise. Ed watched for a Lumin and decided someone ought to help the man, and no one else was around so it would have to be him.

He slowly got out of the bush he had been hiding in, he took each very careful step as slowly as he could. He was only a few Lu from the writhing old person when he tripped on some invisible thing then fell into an invisible wet puddle of liquid. It was not the mud that was clinging to him as he lay for a moment but some unseen liquid. Ed thought it smelled of blood. He got on his hands and knees then noticed the noise had stopped. He brought his eyes to where the old person had been rolling. Now Ed saw a pair of feet, he raised his eyes following the feet to a pair of legs then a stomach, chest, neck, and stopping on the face of the old man. It was like no human expression he had ever seen, it was closer to a wolf's snarl. In place of eyes the old person had black pits. He was growling in the other worldly voice. Ed, now back on his feet, began to back away slowly. The old person raised his hand holding the open claw position and aiming at Ed's heart. Ed turned and ran back in Sam's direction. Ed could hear the old person beginning to chant

Old person *chanting*: “Eternal Dark, hear my call, if it is your will strike this child's heart and take what you desire.”

The voice grew distant as Ed got farther away, Sam popped out of a bush he had been hiding in.

Sam: “What did you do!?”

Ed: “Nothing, he just started chanting some weird stuff about eternal darkness.”

Sam: “Who.”

Sam looked back and saw an old person walking toward them with a goofy smile on his face. Though he had heard the chanting from that weird voice it had stopped and only this old person to show for it.

Sam: “Ed it's only an old man.” and walked over to him.

Ed: “We need to run now!”

Sam *casually walks over*: “Hello.”

The old person gave an uninterested sweeping motion with his hand. Then a strong gust of wind picked Sam up and smashed him against a tree. Sam’s back made contact first, he slid down the base then his butt hit the ground hard, he grunted and his eyes shut. Ed fell over on his butt as well only for him it was out of fear. He put both his hands up as if preparing to block any magic the old person could throw at him. Instead the eldritch voice once again began chanting.

Eldritch Voice: “Eternal Dark, you will hear my call! You will consume the one laying before me. I offer The Stone Of Abandon as offering to take the one before me I command it!”

The old person repeated this line as he pulled a purple stone out of a small bag attached to his waist. He raised the stone to the sky and an ominous tempest gathered from all sides leaving the eye of the storm directly above the trio. Ed was paralyzed with fear unsure of what to do even if he could bring himself to move. Lightning bolts began to strike the ground all around Ed, he brought his knees to his chest and buried his face in them bracing for what he feared would be his death. He thought about his short life on the farm that had not really amounted to anything so far. Then the chanting came to a complete halt and a awful noise but one Ed could comprehend, furios screeching and yowling came from the direction of the old man, Ed raised his head and could see Tom tearing into the old man's face, apparently he had no passive defensive magic because Tom was quickly covered in blood, the pair of them were hissing, screeching, and yowling together now. The old person tried to rip Tom off his face but the cat had a firm grip and held tight. The tempest retreated, leaving the sky blue and Lum shining. To Ed’s surprise the old person began walking backwards and tripped on a large rock behind him. He fell and hit his head on a much larger rock. His eyes shut and he fell unconscious.

Ed sat for a Lumin to take in all that had happened. Ed felt like the luckiest unlucky guy walking the surface. He ran over to Sam and put his hand over his mouth to see if he was still breathing. His breath was ragged but definitely there, the impact had done some internal damage, Ed was unsure of how much, he knew he would need to take Sam to a medicine person. Now that he confirmed Sam was still breathing it was time to deal with the old man. Tom was sitting next to the man's head. The cat was licking the blood from his paws in the typical feline fashion. Ed walked over and looked down at the man's face. He gasped in shock, the blood was gone and he didn't have a scratch on him. Ed had never met a wizard before. With his limited knowledge of magic folk he knew it must take a very powerful wizard to heal themselves while unconscious. Though all that was hearsay, could it maybe be possible that healing magic was easier than most folk had seemed to think?. The wizard was still breathing, Ed couldn't decide if that was good or bad. On one hand he had tried to kill them, on the other hand he was a living person and it wasn't Ed's place to take life. He took Sam's apples out of his sack. Placed the now empty sack over the wizard, removed the lace of his boots and tied the string around the wizards hands and feet. Ed did remember something about needing to use hand gestures in spells so that should do well enough for stopping his magic. Ed leaned the wizard up against the opposite side of the tree Sam was leaned up against.

Ed walked over to Tom and began petting him, after a few Lumins of this he scratched Ed on the forearm signifying the end of the petting he would tolerate. He decided now may be a good time to examine the contents of the bag on the wizard's waist. Tom walked off into the woods without a care in the world. Ed kneeled next to the unconscious wizard, he gripped either end of the relatively small bag and drew it open, it was too dark inside to see anything. Ed cautiously reached his left hand in the bag and gripped something soft but stiff. He pulled it out and it was a pair of leather shoes.

Just as soon as he had the shoes out of the bag he heard a noise coming from down the road in the direction they had come from that morning. He put the shoes in a satchel he wore around his right hip and dragged the wizard and Sam into a nearby bush to hide them from view. Ed rushed up the tree, climbing to a branch that blocked him from view of the road but allowed him to see out. A band of twelve horsemen came down the road at a galloping pace. Just as they hit the muddy section Ed and the wizard had fought in, their horses tripped on something, probably the same invisible thing that Ed himself fell victim to. The back four members of the twelve person group were able to stop in time but the other eight fell over each other and the horses quickly regained their footing and stepped just off the path close to where Sam and the wizard were hidden. Among the back four, one person rode a tan horse speckled with black spots. He was cloaked, his face obscured, wearing a backpack and holding a staff in his right hand.

*raises staff* :“Dispel.”

A light flashed from the end of his staff, revealing the scene fully. Six horse and six mangled human bodies lay scattered across the ground, clad in red uniforms featuring chainmail at the joints and metal plates on broader surfaces. The newcomers wore similar attire but in yellow, distinguished by a different emblem. Whereas the uniforms of the deceased bore a sleeping raven symbol, those of the living featured a howling wolf.

Another of the back four, the apparent leader of the group, called something out to his men that Ed didn't understand. They rapidly started getting on their horses Ed was directly above one the men getting on his horse, the thought crossed his mind that this would be an opportune moment to kill this warrior if he was going to end up fighting them that could be his best chance. But he would surely die to the others. Judging by their garb they had four mages in the back, four archers ahead of them. two spear wielding warriors and two sword wielding warriors. You could tell the leadership of militias in the land by the colored pauldron on their right shoulder. High command typically wore gold and small group leaders wore silver. This one was wearing silver. The mage who used the spell called out to the other men shouting what sounded like an order in another language. The group continued down the path the direction they had already been heading, leaving behind the dead bodies.

Ed felt the adrenaline and shock begin to dissipate from him. This wake could have gone worse but it was shaping up to be one of the worst he had ever had. Ed worked on the Colt farm as a plow. He usually pushed an enchanted boulder buster in front of him and pulled a rake that divided the front row created by the boulder buster into six smaller rows. Others would later come and plant seeds in the furrows. He knew he had the strength to transport both bodies of Sam and the wizard. First he would need to make a gurney. Sam was the better craftsman of the two of them but Ed had spent enough time working with them to figure something out.

After some searching he was able to find two sticks that were straight and cylindrical enough to serve as an axel. Donut stones, ancient runes from some previous civilization were easy to find and came in standard sizes. They held no more magic but served well as wheels due to their unusual durability and shape, a circle with a hole in the center. Ed whittled the ends of each axel until they could almost fit through the center of the stones. Then forced the slightly oversized branch through the wheels getting them stuck on either end of the axel. For the platform the bodies would rest on he found vine leaves. They could be found on dying trees, like the trees the constricted they were enormous large enough to carry most adults. They also had vines that grew from one end to the other end of the leaf in random patterns. Normally the vine would go around the tree holding the leaves flat to the trunk or branch they were gripping. Due to the wild nature of the plant often you would get leaves that grew off other vines that did not touch any part of the tree but still had the looping vines beneath.

After some searching Ed found two leaves that had vine loops that were in the correct position for his need to wrap around the axel. He had to cut a wheel from each axel once he realized the vine loops were not large enough to go around them, then run the axel through the vine loops and attach a new wheel to the end of the axel. Ed wished Sam would wake up already. He did not like being called dumb by Sam but even he had to admit stupid mistakes like that wouldn’t happen if Sam had been the one making the gurney's. Finally Sam took some vines without leaves and tied them to the opposite end of the leaf from the axel he was pulling, then around his shoulders so he could pull the Gurney. He placed Sam on this one. He found some straight branches and pierced them through the leaf he would be pushing. He placed the wizard on this one so he could keep an eye on him while they traveled.

*The species of Intearth do not produce bodily waste and have no need to go to the bathroom, all living creatures have some bit of magic inside them that helps their bodies digest all of whatever they consume. This is mostly an advantage over the waste methods of species from The Real Realm with one drawback. If a poison is consumed the body has no way of expelling it regurgitation is only known in a limited number of species and usually used as a weapon. For poison control magic is required or someone must consume another substance that alters the composition of the poison in the body.*

After around half the wake he was done crafting and ready to begin traveling again. He ate some of Sam's apples but his own sack of apples on the gurney with Sam then began carting the two down the same road the party had traveled earlier in the wake. By the time it was leep Tom had returned and laid upon Sam's chest who was still asleep. Ed put both of them down in the brush just off the path so they would be out of sight of any travelers. The land they were traveling to had a lower elevation and the further someone got the Lun the colder it was, Ed wanted a fire but thought better of it and went into a deep sleep as he always did after a hard wake of work.

*”Yum Bird” is a spherical animal that lacks appendages. “Bird” is used for any feathered creatures that fly in Intearth. In truth Yum Birds float, like most organisms their magic ability is highly specialized and serves the basic functions and the floating ability. The more magic the Yum Bird has the more robust and colorful their plumage. A Yum Bird completely out of magic has no feathers at all. To my knowledge essentially their only form of defense is to float out of reach of predators, They eat worms primarily and during the act of eating is usually when they are hunted.*

Ed awoke to the smell of breakfast being cooked. Sam was cooking disks of meat on a thin plate shaped strone [metal].

Ed: “Is that Yum Bird you cookin?”

Sam: “Sure is, we must be getting close to where that old witch lives, she was the one that set the birds loose on the land, or so says Jams.”

Ed: “I didn’t think it was safe to have a fire in case those soldiers came back or more came behind them.”

Sam: “I thought the same at first, but go ahead and look around.”

Ed after taking the half cooked piece of Yum Bird out of the pan with his bare hand and shoving it in his mouth, began to look around into the distance. There was a dark smog that surrounded them and made Lum look red.

Sam: “Those soldiers must be burning the town ahead, probably started a forest fire too.”

Ed: “The whole county will be smoky for Spanths, did they really think that was going to help them find this guy?”

Sam: “The villagers probably did not cooperate with them, even if just saying no the wizard isn’t here was enough to satisfy the soldiers, consider the general mental attitude of the people we know…”

Ed thought about it for a moment, The people Ed knew were stubborn to the core, The local culture was one of no snitches. If something got stolen and everyone but the sheriff saw it, not a soul would tell the sheriff. Ed knew the local culture was considered strange to most travelers. Often mishaps with neighboring counties would occur on communication problems alone. Colts farm was one of ten farms in the county and no one else could start a new one because of the stubborn farmers who refused to sell land. Regardless of potential gain in terms of money, It was standard practice to pass your land, possessions, servants down to your selected heir. The stubbornness of the locals would never let any of them break this tradition.

Ed: “I think know you mean, well I am glad we get to eat at least, did you try waking him up.”

Sam: “I think he is going to need magical help to wake up, he stopped breathing at one point. He seemed peaceful when he was dead. But he began to glow red and his body jerked then he started breathing again. I think the noise he made is what woke you up.”

Ed: “The county witch doesn't live too far from here, do you know the way?”

Sam: “Yea I finished a road from her castle to the North East corner of the farm a couple Cycles ago, she used to let me read the books in her library on my breaks. That's why I am so much smarter than you buddy.”

Ed: “I guess the first thing to do is to get this guy some help then how long you think its going to take to get there.”

Sam: “Its about a wakes travel from here if we set off soon we could get there before leep, I am not sure I want to help this guy though.”

Ed: “How can you say that? The sick will always be helped in Paradise county, it says as much on the welcome sign at the south entrance.”

Sam: “Remember I am not from here I just ended up here I'm not stubborn like you folk, I always thought that was stupid. People will get into a street brawl after a leep of drinking, then the guy that beat the other guy near to death takes him to the farm healer right after.”

Ed: “You think its better to just leave them in the street to die then.”

Sam: “If I was mad enough to beat someone near to death I have no interest in trying to get them help after.”

Ed: “Well I am Paradise folk my family tree goes back to the first settlers here, We came from Lum that's why we have six toes and finger on each limb.”

Sam: “You have six toes and fingers, cuz you are inbred, families shouldn’t make kids together.”

Ed: “There is no reason families can’t make kids together you all same the soul multiple sibling contribute some soul they are just reuniting the pieces of the parent who split their souls to make the siblings in the first place.”

Sam: “Have you ever heard of anywhere else where siblings make kids together?”

Ed: “Our people have been doing this from the beginning.”

Sam: “Your people you mean, and I do not doubt that your people have been doing it ever since you arrived. In fact it's true that your ancestors came from Lum, In the witches castle I read a book about the arrival of people in a Stone vessel that carried them from their home through Lum then they crashed landed here and started Paradise, Which it apparently must have been in comparison to where they came from.”

Ed: “What, is the book still there. That must belong to our people the witch shouldn’t have it, can I read it.”

Sam: “The book is there for sure but you don’t know how to read Ed…”

Ed: “Well we will take it and you can read it to me on our journey,”

Sam: “Alright Ed you have persuaded me, in your own stupid way you had a good idea, grabbing some books for our journey, lets get this wizard to the witch.”

Ed rather pleased with himself continued to eat Yum Bird slices. After they were done eating Sam put the fire out and they set off, leaving the road they had been traveling on behind, to walk through the farm land which had dirt paths that wound between sections of plants. About half way to the castle Sam stopped and raised his open palm to signal Ed to stop.

Ed: “What is it?”

Sam: “Sounds like a Gavulox”

*Gavulox are somewhat ox like in appearance and a hazard to farmers across Intearth, The have a magic specialization that allows them to manipulate dirt and rock, They can stick their horns into the earth and uproot a whole field in less than a Lumin, They also have sharp teeth and clawed feet instead of hooves, that help them when feeding on the farm animals. There skin is scaled, they can grow to any size, they start out the size of cat.*

Ed: “How big is it?”

Sam: “I can’t see it but from the sound its bigger than a cow”

Ed: “What can we do about it? Colt’s dogs are all being kept near the Colt farm house to protect the Colt’s, even if we had whistle to call them they wouldn’t come”

Sam: “We don’t need the dogs to kill the beast, we just need to get by the beast, let me think.”

Sam sat in thought for a few Lumins before the earth beneath there feet began to move like waves of water. The crops they had been using as cover all fell over, the bull sized creature made eye contact with Sam and charged. Ed dropped the gurney and ran the opposite direction from Sam. The Gravelox covered the distance between itself and Sam in mere Lumends. Sam could feel adrenaline rushing through him, the mouth of the foul thing was wide open and about to clamp down on him, like slow motion he could see what was about to happen he let him self fall to the ground to avoid the mouth. The Gravelox got his arm though and just as soon as its jaws closed the arm was gone.

Sam rolled away, stood up and started running again. The Gravelox noticed at this moment the body sitting on the gurney. Graveloxen are known for being lazy and won’t pass up an easy meal. It placed its horns into the earth and the ground beneath the gurney began to move in waves carrying the wizard to the Gravelox. It opened its mouth wide to let the whole body move into its mouth, As the Gravelox brought its jaws down on the torso of the wizard, the thing's head exploded.

The wizard didn’t get by unscathed, bone shrapnel traveling at tremendous speed went through him like an arrow through a bed matt (typically cotton and fabric blood was pouring out of him creating a pool and he was raving mad again screaming and writhing on the ground.

Ed rushed to Sam's side tearing of his own shirt to make a turnakit then, leaving the unconscious Sam Ed rushed to the wizard. The wizards body began to sink into the pool of blood which was also beggining to drag down the Gravelox’= Ed grahhed tue arm of the raving person to pull him out of the pool but found the blood was like glue attaching him the the person and he took began to get pulled through the blood with the rest of everything else it touched. Ed was sy6=

Sam woke up to a
Strones, what the locals think of as heavy duty stones but really they are refined metal pieces from a larger structure that are scattered across the surface in some areas.

The yelling Halls,
Sam and his party of adventures Open the door to a cacophony of noises. People traveling down the Halls in the thousands, making all kinds of noises, hoot, toddlers, singing, whistling. Noise making devices everything you could think of that would make noise. Someone at some point was probably using it in that Hall. The ancient beings whose power allowed the travelers to go through held back and writhing in agony at the noise.

Sam: it seems a little cruel to those ancient things.

Guide: It's not done intentionally to harm them though the harm is a benefit. It's simply there normal reaction to noise. It's painful for them, but there's certainly things that we can do that would be more painful. And never forget that if the noise was not made in this Hall, these things would be able to traverse again between our lands in the agonies they wouldn't inflict on anyone. Individual would be a thousand times that of what each one of them. Accumulatively are suffering now.

Chapter One

Long before the era of kings, there were only scattered villages, and the people of these villages lived simple, contented lives. In one such village, on a Wake unlike any other, Lum burned brighter than it ever had before.

Joan, a young person, and Dorn, the first of his name, gave themselves wholly to one another beneath that intensified light. Whether knowingly or not, they poured the full essence of their beings into a single act of unity, leaving nothing preserved for themselves. When the next Wake arrived, Dorn and Joan were gone, and a baby lay alone in a field.

The village’s chief, Erik the Bold, had never chosen to bring forth life. Moved by sorrow, or perhaps fate, he took in the newborn as his own.

Erik named the child Egast. Egast never became the child Erik had hoped for. Erik was a large man, known to many as a bold risk-taker, while Egast was scrawny, articulate, cautious, and deliberate in every move he made. That did not mean, however, that Egast was afraid of a little adventure.

He was often seen running off into the woods, even though he had been forbidden to enter them on many occasions. The villagers wondered and feared what the boy might find or do in the forest. Yet most never dared ask why he went so often or what he did while he was there. They were all too afraid of the unknown.

Erik found cows in a field near the village. The first thing he tried to do was ride them, and that’s how he earned the title Erik the Bold. After failing miserably in his attempts, he brought the animals back to the village. They built a fence, and from then on, the village raised cows for generations.

Egast found the cows fascinating. He wondered how they could survive the winters without clothing.

Curious, he asked his father,

Egast: “Erik, could I have one of these cows?”

Erik: “One of my cows? What for?”

Egast: “I want to see what their hide is like.”

“Its hide? ... Fine, but only the smallest one, boy.” -Eric

Egast walked into his father’s field that same Wake. He sat on the fence and observed the cows for some time. As the great shadow of the stasis-bound beast began to drift across the land, dimming Lum’s glow in his region of the world, he knew which cow to choose.

Toward the back of the herd was a fully grown cow—slim, almost sickly in appearance. Egast doubted it would survive the cold cycle ahead, even if left alone. He approached it gently, petting its neck to calm it while the rest of the herd moved farther ahead. Then, with quiet purpose, he sealed its mouth and covered its nostrils until it passed. Egast worked through the Leep, skinning the animal there in the field. He buried its remains and stacked three stones as a marker of thanks for its sacrifice.

He cut the hide into squares and fashioned a rather crude, gaudy-looking book. Though his people already had a written language carved into stone, Egast became the first to put words on skin, using a branch from a coalwood tree—charred at the tip and used like ink.

Using the book and coalwood branch, Egast began documenting the animals he observed in the wild. It is thanks to him that many of that region's creatures were recorded and illustrated in his book, “The Natural Creatures of the World”.

In time, the village came into contact with others. Realizing they would need a name of their own, they called their homeland Moondor. To the south lived a people who had mastered the art of farming; they named their land Farveal. To the west, by the coast, a village had learned the art of fishing and called their region Waterdale. To the east stood a great forest, where folk lived by hunting and gathering; they named their home Tresor.

To the north lived greedy people who took much and gave little. They found shelter in caves and survived on what grew within them, digging for gems and other buried resources. Their land was called Mountour. These were the neighboring tribes known to Moondor.

At first, trade flourished between them. Each village offered something the others lacked. But over time, the people of Farveal stopped trading with Moondor, having found it easier to raise their own cattle than rely on exchange.

Once all the villages had named themselves, they agreed to begin marking time. A council of wise folk, some from nearby tribes and others from lands unknown to Moondor, was assembled. They established a calendar based on the rhythm of their world. Each Wake and Leep spanned twelve Lumers. A spanth was thirty six wakes and leaps, and a cycle was twelve spanths in length.

It was Cycle Seventeen, Egast had reached the age of twenty. By then, he had documented nearly every creature that inhabited Moondor and Tresor. His journey had taken him often to Tresor, where he spent much time learning from the forest dwellers. They taught him how to use a bow; in return, he taught them how to properly skin an animal.

One Wake, on his way back to Moondor, Egast came across a tree unlike any he had seen before. It seemed to glow faintly, almost whispering to him with an unseen voice: "Come to me. Come to me."

He placed his hand upon the bark and felt a slow, powerful rhythm pulsing beneath it like a heartbeat. The energy of the tree surged through him, warm and alive, flooding from root to leaf and into his arm. His hand began to glow.

At that moment, he felt the life force of the tree entering him. Then, before his eyes, the tree shriveled into itself and died. The forest around him fell silent.

Egast returned to his dwelling and carried on as though nothing had transpired. He awoke to heavy breathing though this time it was not his father’s. Upon further observation he came to the realization the sound came from all directions.
Stepping outside, it became clear: the breathing belonged to the woods themselves. Never before had he truly considered that the trees surrounding him were alive in such a way. Yet the matter pressing upon him was not wonder, but noise. The sound was overwhelming, a constant, suffocating rhythm occupying each passing lumin.
Egast knew he could not endure a life spent beneath that endless breath. In a desperate cry, he raised his voice into the Wakes and shouted, “Silence!”
At once, the world obeyed. The woods grew still. The Exhale of the trees had never cared for the realm of humankind, yet this one possessed power over them. Soon, what little breath remained thinned into hushed whispers.

This was no way to begin a wake. Nonetheless, he had to take it for what it was. Curiosity stirred within him. What else might now differ from the familiar? He set out into the woods, expecting their presence would weigh heavier than before, stripping them of their usual comfort. Yet the opposite proved true. Egast felt at peace beneath their canopy. Not only did he sense the lifeforce weaving through root and branch, he also heard faint voices. Egast followed the voice to its source.

There before him stood two skunks, speaking to one another.

Male Skunk: ”Come on baby, you know you love me,” Said the first skunk.

Second Skunk: “I won’t ever love a low class skunk”

Male Skunk: I can live with that but how about you and me baby, have some fun behind that tree” Replied the first skunk.

Egast stepped in at this moment
Egast: “If you don't leave that nice skunk alone I will have to stop you myself”

Female Skunk: “Oh my”

Male Skunk: “Since when could the walkers talk to us”

Female Skunk: “I don't know but I like it”

Egast kicked the male skunk across the ground. The male skunk hissed and then walked away. The female skunk thanked Egast and began walking away as well. Egast at this moment began to nerd out about his new ability. The ability to talk to the creatures and organisms of the woods would allow him to go even further in depth in his book, “The Normal Creatures of The World”. More than that he had to find out what these powers meant for him, and why he had them. Doing what he always did when it came to situations he did not understand, he began meditating. Today's meditation ended with an unexpected result, Egast heard a voice that seemed to echo throughout the forest.

The voice: “I am Dirnu, fastened to truth. I am the god of nature and from this day forward you will be known as East Father of Dirn. I created the creatures of the world and the plants they feed on. I have chosen you as my shepherd to guide the people of your world to the one true faith. I grant you permission to write a Codex for the People of the Dirn to follow and you will tell them to pray to me through temples of the various things I have put on this world.”

Egast was hesitant to listen to a voice in his head, but he did not see the harm in it since he had just about run out of things to do. Egast thought of the things he needed. Sure enough as the words registered in his mind “I need something to write on '' paper appeared, which was something he was totally unfamiliar with. Next he thought “I need a coal branch” and there it was. This intrigued him, was this also one of the new amazing powers he had been given? Also was it Dirnu who had given him all of the powers, and could he be trusted. At that moment Egast thought to himself “Can Dirnu read my thoughts right now, if he is so powerful?” With no response from Dirnu, Egast assumed his mind was a safe place to be and that Dirnu’s voice was external all along. Egast put his mind back to the task that was at hand. Writing a Codex for the People of the Dirn

Egast thought “Branch, write the following” and the coal branch began to move. He addressed the question, who would participate in this religion? He then decided the people he would want to shepherd were the educated and worthy. So the start of the page was “To those who seek knowledge and purpose, follow the rules of this Codex, and you will be given all you desire through the Dirn faith”. About a paragraph down the page Egast wrote “Rule No. ONE Do not kill in spite, killing is only permitted out of necessity.”. This was about all he could think of on the spot. So he did something that he would regret for the rest of his life, he thought to himself “I need something that can write this thing for me without my input”. Once again something appeared before him, this was something he had never seen before. To his eyes it was just a stick, but to the eyes of any magic knowing entity it was most definitely a wand. “Howdy, I am called Stix the wand but you can just call me Stix” said the wand floating in front of Egast.

Egast was pretty excited to have someone who could do his work for him, so he said “can you finish this Codex for me”. The wand responded “anything you wish” with a slight tone of guff. The wand swung itself in the air and words began to appear on the paper. “Rule No. TWO No creature or entity will perform magic without the permission of the council”. Egast looked at the wand and questioned “Wait what council? and what is magic?”. Stix ignored Egast and kept writing. “Rule No. THREE No law will be made outside of the original Codex for the People of the Dirn”. The wand began making words appear faster and faster. Egast could not keep up with the wand. “Rule No. FOUR The performance of dark magic as deemed by the council is strictly forbidden”. Egast did catch the sight of the word council and demanded “STOP and tell me what are these things you are writing” and though the wand was still waving above the book no words were appearing anymore. “Well if you must know it’s your future, the first five people you teach the art of magic will become members of the magic council, and you will be the leader of said council.” responded Stix once again with a guff to his tone. Then the wand began to make the words appear again. “Rule No. FIVE No one may share the council's secrets” The wand stated “almost finished” and began to write one final law. “Rule No. SIX The punishment for breaking any of the laws is trial before the council or death.”.

With the document complete, the wand floated the parchment over to Egast and flew itself into Egast’s back pocket. He looked over the paper and put his hand on a nearby tree and communicated his voice to Dirnu “would this Codex serve the Dirn faith properly Dirnu god of life” Egast felt a breeze through the trees that seemed excepting to Egast so he made his way back to the village. When Egast arrived at the village there was something foreign about it to him or it was more like he was foreign to it. Egast had a realization that he would not be able to make residence in this town any longer. He decided it made the most sense to grab a few of the boys who had no family from the streets and take them as his apprentices. Egast began to walk down the road when he came across the first boy. It was a child named Orleus. Egast walked up to the boy and said “you’re Orleus aren't you” and the boy responded “yes, that's me sir” with his head down. Egast said to the boy “come with me now” and though the child was hesitant he never dared to disobey his elders so he went with Egast following close behind him. It was at this time the two encountered Egast’s father Erik. Knowing this might be the only opportunity for Egast to tell Erik his intentions, Egast spoke “I'm leaving with some of the village children” and Erik almost didn't notice him, instead he kept walking and looked at Egast as if he was crazy.

Assuming this was some unknown effect of the magic he ignored the matter entirely and went on with his quest. He never felt all that attached to Erik anyway. Egast came across four children in total who came with him almost completely without any regard for their safety. The children were Orleus, Fafsior, Yothar, and Vigil. On their way out of the village Egast noticed a boy fighting one of the older members of the village.

The old person shouted “Give me back my knife boy”.

The boy responded “It's mine I stole it fair and square, if you liked what you had you should have taken better care not to have it stolen”.

Egast stepped in and said “hey boy did you take this man's knife”

The boy said “of course I did what are ya deaf I said clear as day I took it fair and square”

Egast grabbed at the boy's hand and was able to get a small pocket knife from it.

The boy shouted “Stop that’s mine”

Egast gave the old person his knife and the old person thanked him then left.

The boy asked “what's your problem man, mind your own business.?”

Egast told the boy “Your every action is my business now. I am going to teach you the ways of magic and make you my apprentice”

The boy had a quick tongue “Not on your life I don't want to learn nuttin”

Egast said “what do you want to do? if you don't want to learn anything”

The boy responded “my name is Emedus and I will die doing nothing”

Egast decided to take matters into his own hands, and use his magic to make the boy come with him. He thought “I need this boy to come and follow me” but nothing seemed to happen. Egast thought harder this time and these specific words “Emedus follow me”. Then the boy began to mindlessly follow. Egast left the village with the five boys in tow and made it back into the woods where he had found the tree that gave him his powers. The seven of them stood before the shriveled up tree in awe. It seemed different from any tree in the woods.

Emedus asked “what happened to it?”

Egast responded “It gave me magic so that I could give it to you”.

Vigil almost screamed “What? why only him!” as he stomped his feet on the ground.

Egast was angered by this, he said “Not only him boy!, all of you, you will be my apprentices until the day you or I die”

All of the boy's eyes seemed to sparkle but Vigil and Emedus seemed to be the most excited. Egast stepped closer to the tree and rested his pointed hat at the top of it. Egast then pushed the boys back away from the tree and put his hand on it. A light began to pulse where Egast’s hand rested then the same light began to swirl around the tree as it began to regain life. Emedus jumped on the tree just as it began to grow taller and soon he was ten feet in the air. Vigil followed and also jumped on the tree. Fafsior was the next to jump on though he did not wait very long after Vigil, as a result the two of them were mere feet from each other. Last was Yothar who did not seem to understand what was going on at all simply that what the other boys were doing seemed fun. Orleus stood at Egast’s side and did not even move an inch closer to the tree.

Egast questioned the boy “why did you not do what the other boys did”

Orleus said “I am not so quick to follow, not to mention we don’t even know how far the tree will grow”.

“Indeed you’re right but I do” as he kicked Orleus towards the tree.

Orleus grabbed on as he looked back down at Egast in anger. Orleus was in no way sure what to expect from this tree and he had no interest risking injury but he figured that at least Egast probably did not take them all the way out here just to kill them off. The tree grew eight hundred feet in the air which made it tower much higher than anything in the whole area. Egast shouted up to the children “whoever brings me back my hat wins my magic wand”. The nearest to the top was Emedus who was four hundred feet from it. Next was Vigil who was four hundred and fifty feet from the top. Fafsior was just twenty feet behind Vigil. Second from last place was Yothar who was now making a hasty approach on Fafsior who was one hundred feet from him. Naturally last was Orleus who was two hundred feet from the ground. Orleus just sat on the thickest branch in his vicinity as he decided he would just wait until one of them would come down and he would steal it from them.

Using magic Egast set up a small hut at the base of the tree with a table and two chairs. One end of the hut had a door about Egast’s size, the other had a hole that a deer could fit through. Egast pulled out his Book The Natural Creatures of The World and the wand which he had previously used to write the Codex.

Stix “asked how can I help you today, oh mighty and great wizard?”.

Egast frowned “frankly the only way you can help me is by keeping your mouth shut” said Egast.

Stix did not seem offended in the slightest it said “tis the nature of the beast” and did not say another word.

Egast apologized saying “I'm sorry I just need you as a writing utensil for the time being”.

Egast had never seen a wand before this one and it was the first wand to ever exist in this world, yet somehow he had a sense that it was not natural for wands to talk and something about it was altogether unsettling. The thought crossed his mind to do away with the wand entirely but as he processed the idea the wand seemed to heat up and almost burned his hand. Egast was unsure if it was his doing or the wands but he disregarded the issue for now and began to write in his book. He flipped to the first page of his book and read the title “The Albatross” ; this would be the first on his list of animals to talk to. He thought “Albatross come to me and answer my questions”. Sure enough an albatross arrived through the door egast had put on the other side.

Meanwhile at the top of the tree Emedus was making a strong effort to get to the hat but he was not the most athletic of the boys. For every foot Emedus was able to climb Vigil was able to climb two. Then gaining on him was Fafsior, the most athletic of the group who was moving at twice the speed of Vigil. His movement was comparable to that of a squirrel. Vigil looked down and saw his competition coming up quickly. He waited in place for a minute, which threw Fafsior off because he ran into Vigil sooner than he expected. Vigil proceeded to kick him in the face causing Fafsior to fall. He started screaming as he rapidly approached the ground. Egast looked up through a hole in his hut allowing him to see Fafsior was falling. He thought “Give Fafsior a soft and safe landing”. Tree branches began moving under Fafsior slowing him down gradually, until his eventual soft landing at the bottom. Fafsior took a seat at the base of the tree looking up in disappointment and curiosity.

Yothar was moving at about the same pace as Vigil and was a hundred feet from him. Emedus was now three hundred feet from the top and Vigil was still one hundred feet behind him. All the boys were making a steady climb up the tree when a ominous cawing could be heard. A great shadow was cast upon the tree and the immediate area around it. What looked like a giant black moving blob was directly above the tree and coming down towards it. As the blob approached, Emedus could make out that it was a murder of crows. Hundreds of crows were coming towards him and he began to climb faster. The first few crows swept by him scratching with their talons. They were able to draw blood, Emedus was covered with scratches already. He kept climbing he would not let a few crows stop him from winning. Most of the crows swooped around Emedus but some of them began going down towards Vigil and Yothar. The first few crows to strike at Vigil met a speedy demise. He would grab them right out of the air and smash them against the tree, then drop them down to try and hit Yothar. Meanwhile Yothar used his baggy clothes to cover all exposed areas to prevent the crows from scratching him. This strategy worked well but it slowed him down. He was now moving at half the speed of Vigil.

Emedus was now fifty feet from the top and drenched in his own blood he did not resist the crows in the slightest, ignoring them was his strategy. His blood was dripping down onto Vigil and Yothar who did not seem that bothered by it. But Orleus was incredibly bothered by the blood dripping down on him. He did his best to create a leafy umbrella but it only kind of worked keeping a majority of the blood off him but some still got through. Vigil was fifty feet behind Emedus and Yothar was one hundred and fifty feet behind Vigil. Emedus was growing weak from blood loss each branch he grabbed was painful to touch. He was so close he could see the hat and was positive he was going to win. He pushed through the pain and made it to the hat, it was as blue as he imagined the darkest depths of the ocean would be. He grasped it in his left hand and tried to lift it from the top. The hat would not budge it had to weigh thousands of pounds the fact that the top of the tree was supporting it was astounding. Emedus remembered that this was a tree infused with magic and went back to coming up with a way to get this hat off before Vigil got there.

Emedus tried everything he could think of from using leverage to get off, to just pure strength nothing seemed to work. Now Vigil was right behind him just ten feet away and covered in blood of different shades. Vigil's eyes at the moment were wide open, his smile was from ear to ear and it most closely resembled a serial killer about to partake in his daily killing. Emedus could feel an aura of pure evil coming from Vigil and he wanted nothing to do with it. He called down to Vigil. I give up, you can have the hat, I can't do it on my own. Vigil continued to climb with the same menacing look, he no longer paid any attention to the crows that would swoop down to attack him. He had his mind set on defeating his competition more than anything else.

Vigil reached up and grabbed Emedus’s foot. He pulled as hard as he could, gripping the tree with his left hand and the foot with his right. Emedus had both hands on the tree so his grip was much better than Vigil’s. Taking his left hand off the tree Vigil grabbed on to Emedus with both hands to rip him off. Emedus held onto the hat as tightly as he could but with Vigil pulling he noticed the top of the tree began to crack. “That's it” the thought registered in Emedus’s mind the hat was too heavy for the tree so the tree had a magic cast on it that allowed it to support the hat, by taking the tree with the hat he would be able to carry down the hat. Then the tree top snapped and it began to fall along with Vigil and Emedus. Just as Yothar reached the point that both Emedus and Vigil where at they fell leaving him at the top to have to climb back down. He let out a loud *sigh* and began to make his way back down to the bottom in a gloomy fashion. Vigil and Emedus were clawing at each other throwing punches and everything else under the sun to get the hat. In addition to fighting each other the crows had swarmed around the two and were ripping away flesh. They were falling fast as they approached Orleus the thought crossed his mind of jumping into the ball of blood and feather for a chance at the hat but he decided it was almost certainly not worth it and also began working his way down the tree.

With a big *CRASH* the boys and the birds hit the ground still ripping at each other. Egast finished the page of the book he was working on and closed it. After slipping it into some unknown pocket of his robe he began to walk towards the two fighting on the ground. The crows slowly began to dissipate into thin air as Egast got closer. Once Fafsior could make out the difference between Vigil and Emedus he walked over and kicked Vigil in the back of the head knocking him out.

Emedus stood up with the hat and stick in his hands proclaiming “I win I got the hat” as he ran over to Egast.

Egast responded “So be it, this was a learning experience for me and you”. He pulled the wand out of his back pocket and threw it to Emedus.

The wand said “Stix at your service sir… wait you're just a child I won't serve anyone I do not deem worthy”.

Everyone was shocked to hear this, especially Egast. Emedus said to Stix “Now you listen I was promised you as a reward for getting our Masters hat and you’re it so you had better behave the way I want you to”.

Stix responded “Sorry kid it doesn't work that way, when I was made I was given as much life as you have so I get to choose what I want to do and what I don’t”.

Egast walked up to stix put his hat on and grabbed him then thought “Stix do as Emedus tells you to”

Stix said to Egast “If you're trying to cast a spell on me you need to know my true name and that ain't information I just share"

Egast asked “Is your true name not Stix?”

Stix chuckled then said “obviously not it’s abbreviation of my full name”

Egast then said to Emedus “sorry to say but I did not promise anything more than my wand, the fact that you can't use it is not my concern.”

Vigil began to wake up now and the other boys found the whole situation fairly amusing. Emedus began to pout and at the same time look the wand over in hopes of finding some way to exploit it. Egast signaled for all the boys to follow him and began walking towards the small house he had made earlier. He put his hand on it causing it to glow, planks began folding off the walls creating floors around the building until they folded into what appeared to be a total of six rooms with a large meeting space in the middle leaving the small house a left wing attachment. They all walked in and Egast said “sleep and you will all awake healed I made this house with the intent of restoring any who rest here too their most perfect form, this way not only will we be healed but also animals and anything from tools to plants”. They each went into their rooms which were all identical aside from Egast’s room which had a very large bed and various animal pictures on the wall. Everyone found their sleep to be the most peaceful and wondrous sleep they had ever experienced like resting in the bosom of an angel.

Everyone awoke due to a loud *crash* from the room Emedus had chosen. Fasfior was the first to arrive at the scene. The roof had caved in and Stix was floating in the center of the room. Sitting on the rubble was a giant green person with fangs. He was more muscular than even Erik the bold, he was naked and looked very confused. Stix said “These are the new people of Farveal, next time you ask me to do something I will summon much worse, oh and they're called Orc's”. The Orc yelled “where am I!” as he began grabbing some of the rubble off the ground to throw at the group. Egast stood in the doorway with the other boys unsure of what to do exactly all he could think of was to stop the incoming projectiles. Meanwhile Orleus thought of a plan and Vigil seemed relaxed and enjoying the show. Fafsior ran at the Orc and punched it in the stomach which was about as high as Fafsior could punch. The Orc was totally unaffected by the punch and sweeped Fafsior with its fist throwing him against the wall. Fafsior landed right next to where Emedus had been lying under some rubble. He dug Emedus out as quickly as he could, then the Orc came up from behind, grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him in the air. Fafsior was almost positive he was about to die so in an act of desperation he decided to have a go at magic. He thought “Give me something that could kill this Orc '' sure enough a sword twice his size appeared in his hands. Using gravity and surprise as his ally he let the sword fall into the Orc putting as much force into it as he could. He managed to strike around the ribcage the sword sank through to the stomach. The Orc dropped Fafsior and fell to his knees crying in pain. Fafsior put all his strength into one great swing chopping the creature's head clean off and nearly throwing Fafsior off his feat.

Everyone was shocked even Vigil whose eyes were glowing with blood lust at the thought of killing Fafsior. No one noticed this though considering they just saw Fafsior not only perform magic without being taught but killing a creature three times his size. Emedus said “thanks for that Fafsior '' and Egast walked over demanding an explanation from Stix or Emedus. Stix floated over the back of Emedus’s pocket acting as if he were just some sort of pawn in all this and Emedus offered an explanation. He said “I demanded that Stix teach me the secrets it knew of the world that I did not and Stix said he would show me one thing”. The rest was fairly self explanatory so he left it that everyone seemed to understand and Egast told the boys “your next mission is to restore this room to its previous state you're welcome to try and use magic to do it if you think you can muster it, I have some business in the south.

Orleus thinking that would be simple enough rushed over to Fafsior and said “tell us how you performed magic so we can do it too ”

He responded “well I just thought, ‘give me something that could kill this Orc’ and the sword appeared in my hands”.

Orelus said to himself “I see so thought is how we perform magic, I imagine we must be very specific otherwise we could end up with an unexpected result”.

He said it loud enough that all the other boys heard it, Vigil said “so if I think Kill Emedus, he will just drop dead?”

At that moment Stix stepped in and summoned the Codex he said “all of you must know this text above all else memorize these rules and follow them that will be your one requirement if you want to be wizards”

Orleus asked “since when did you care about anything?”

Stix said “since I wrote most of the damn thing you ungrateful punk”

Vigil asked Stix “what if we don't want to follow the rules?”

Stix told him “That would be very problematic because each one of you will be in charge of one of these rules as each of you will become a member of the council of Dirn”.

Yothar, who clearly had a stronger understanding of this than any of the other boys asked “Wait, how do we decide who is in charge of what law, and will we have to do stuff?”

Stix told him “Frankly I can already tell who will be in charge of what law just by looking at you”.

“you can?” Yothar asked in desperation.

Stix responded “of course first is Fafsior who will be responsible for the first law of killing as he will be the strongest of you and able to handle those who break the law”.

Fafsior had a blank stare unsure of what to think of this but Vigil looked at him like he had been robbed of something.

Stix added “next is Yothar who will enforce the second law, followed by Orleus in charge of the third law, Vigil is in charge of the fourth law, lastly Emedus is in charge of the fifth law.

Orleus asked “what about the sixth law will the master handle that one”.

Stix said “of course not it will be shared between you when you find someone has broken a law you will hold council determine the punishment and the person in charge of that law will enact said punishment”.

Chapter Two

Egast was making his way to the south now, it had been a long time since anyone from Moondor had met the people of Farveal and Egast thought it was about time he found out what was going on. The questions were going through his mind: why did Stix say that creature was from Farveal, what could have changed them so much. He then had the idea to use magic to find the answer to these questions. He thought “Show me the people of Farveal”. A moving image of the town appeared in his mind, it was from the perspective of a bird. The town was completely changed from when Egast had visited seventeen years before. Where wooden huts once sat there were Stone towers. The windows of the towers had clothes lines between them with various garments hanging from them. The farms were still there but they were being worked by small green creatures with very apparent spines and large hands for their small stature. The biggest of them was at most four feet tall and the shortest two and a half. The town of Farveal once had a large trading market where you could get anything the other villages had but in its place there was a pit that seemed to go endlessly into the depths. The most notable difference was the massive fortress with huge stone walls around it. There were many Orc’s lining the walls with bows, spears and other weapons. At both the back left and right corner of the fortress was a large cylindrical tower with a bridge between them. At the center most portion of the bridge was a bulge with windows and a large fire burning on top of it. The bird swooped down to take a closer look at the tower and an arrow struck the bird then Egast’s vision ended.

Egast was still two days' walk from the town of Farveal and he was a little restless to get there. No definitive path had been made yet but there were some markings throughout the forest from traders that guided them in the general direction. While walking in the woods Egast began to hear what sounded like voices in the distance. He thought “Make me unsee” this turned him invisible and he began making his way towards the voices. He could make out that one voice was deep and each word was like a growl while the other voice was majestic but still firm and assertive. Egast got to a point where he could see a grizzly bear and a buck standing feet from each other holding a conversation.

The buck said “with that matter out of the way we must now discuss the issue of the green men coming further into our woods”.

The bear responded “they are no different from the others simply larger and more brutish I have found they are not a threat”.

“Not a threat to you maybe but countless deer have disappeared from the woods ever since their arrival. I fear for my species if they are left alone.” exclaimed the deer.

The bear did not look surprised. “I think you would find your inability to take care of your own is not my problem, but to help ease your burden I will provide you with information that may prove useful. The death of the deer is not due to the Orc's coming out into our woods it is because of a spirit of chaos altering your race into strange things that only come out at night”

The deer did find the bear's claims shocking “Orc's? how do you know all these things and what of this spirit, what can be done?”

“the bear clan has countless spies in these woods that's how we obtain all our information, as for your survival I recommend migrating elsewhere, don't eat anything new in these woods, and if you can make a deal with a spirit they will grant you strength” the bear said in a voice that was sorrowful but still unhindered.

“What do you mean make a deal with a spirit?” asked the deer.

The bear thought this was a good time to show the deer the changes he had undergone. He stood on two legs like he was about to attack the deer. The deer stepped back ready to fight but then the bear's hair began to recede into his skin and his face began to shrink. His body was that of a person and his face was very ugly but also that of a man.

“By taking this form I have been able to steer hunters away from the lands of the bear clan, in their tongue I am Sustin the ferocious.” He said now in his human form.

The deer gave one final comment before taking off “I think you will find the Orc's as you call them do not hunt for food they simply come to kill”.

Egast was not surprised to find that he was not the only person to have obtained magic but he had a sense that it was unlike Dirnu to grant powers like this to the creatures he made after the fact why not just grant the powers when he made them. He felt he needed to consult with Dirnu so he put his hand on the tree he had been hiding behind and made its bark open making a small hole for him to meditate; he then closed the bark when he was inside the tree. He thought “Dirnu please counsel me on these issues I need answers”. Egast had his eyes closed but he began to see a light. It got brighter like he was flying towards it. He put his energy into getting closer as he did not want to wait too long. Within moments he could make out what appeared to be a huge cave with giant trees lining the ceiling, walls, and floors. At the center of the cave was a ball of light illuminating the cave. He looked back and saw there was no entrance he could have entered from. He went back to looking around and directly beneath the light he noticed there was a giant creature sitting with legs crossed. He was floating towards it the closer he got the more of it he could make out. Its torso and neck were that of a man, it had a lion's mane and face of an eagle. Its legs were like the hind legs of a deer and it’s left arm was thick and like a bears while its right arm was thin and like a wolf's. Crowning its head were two antlers that connected to form a halo above its head.

The creature spoke “I am Dirnu, the one who talked to you before tell me what do you think of my appearance. You are the first to have ever viewed my true form.”

Egast responded with a question “It makes me wonder did you base some of the creatures off yourself or did you change your form to look like them.”

Dirnu told Egast “I let every original creature create themselves; some were humble while others were greedy.”

Egast said “I see, but more urgently I have questions that need to be answered. I saw one of your creatures change into a person before my own eyes. Why did you grant them this ability it is very different from the way I understood you to be”

Dirnu was silent for a moment then said “You are very wise it was not like me at all to do something like that as it was not me who did it.”

Egast almost interrupted Dirnu he was so eager to say “if it wasn't you, then who? I need to know what's going on here”

Dirnu said “I understand your need to know but you will need to make a contract with me if you want information, If you make the prime objective of the Dirn faith and all its followers to protect the sanctity of my creatures and aid their survival then I will tell you”

Egast said “very well it is your faith to command I will gladly obey.”

Dirnu seemed pleased and told Egast “ok I will tell all you need to know, I am not the only self proclaimed god there are four others like me. Mortem self proclaimed god of death, the beautiful Alchemea self proclaimed god of Elements, Exitus self proclaimed god of destruction, and Evant self proclaimed god of fate. Each of them have likely chosen a hero who is supposed to spread their religion. The more followers, prayers, and offerings we have the stronger we are.”

Egast asked “so which of these gods changed the bear to a man?”

Dirnu, disappointed this time said “none of them did, Confus the god of chaos is credited with all the unnatural creatures of this world, he takes our creations and alters them.”

Egast now understanding said “So what do you want me to do with these unnatural creatures?”

Dirnu Responded “I will let you decide what you think is best for your world just so long as you maintain our contract”.

Egast stated “then our counsel is over I thank you and I will now take my leave”

With that Egast thought “Return me to where I was before'' but it did not work. This time with an exact picture of the place he was before, concentrating as hard as he could he thought “take me to where I was before” with that he appeared in the forest right where he had left next to the tree. He continued his journey through the woods following game trails in the general direction of Farveal. Eventually Egast reached a small cottage on the outskirts of Farveal he had once met the family that lived there, a giant of a man, his wife and six children. Egast approached the door and could hear children inside playing. He hesitated for a moment then knocked on the door. The whole cottage became silent the moment he knocked, large footsteps could be heard coming towards the door and it opened. Standing before him was an Orc even larger than the one he had seen before so big he had to keep his neck bent to stand inside.

The Orc looked him over for a moment then said “what brings you to my neck of the woods stranger?”.

“I have come to investigate what seems to be a freak occurrence happening in Farveal” Egast told the Orc.

The Orc said “well that's no business of mine” and began to close the door.

Egast willed the door open and stepped inside then said “you see I used to know the family that lived here and I was interested in learning of what has happened to them”

The Orc looked angrily at Egast then responded “me and my family have always lived here we built this cottage” as he gestured towards his wife and six children who seemed frightened.

“Remain calm my friend I am not here to cause you trouble” said Egast

“I understand very well sit at my table and we can talk about this” responded the Orc

Both of them sat and the Orc asked his wife to fetch them both something to drink. The kids ran outside to play so they would not bother their father or his guest. Egast once again led the conversation.

Egast asked “If I am not mistaken did you not used to be the chieftain of this town?”

The Orc responded “No I was never the chieftain of this town. I was the mayor elected by my peers, back before we changed, and I still am the mayor of this town but we recently got a King who doesn't seem to think I am all that necessary anymore.”

Egast said “I am sorry but I am not familiar with the term King”

“Of course, a person came through one day with a cloaked companion, The person said that he would become the ruler of these lands and one day all of the lands. I told him I was the ruler of these lands and that if he wished to take leadership we could cast a vote to see who the people choose. He agreed to that and we held an election. He made all kinds of promises to the people that I could not, he said the crops would never dry up, the people would all be born strong and that meat would be abundant under his rule. Sure enough he got elected but once he was, he said he would not dethrone me as mayor he would simply become king making me a vassal of his. Then all the promises came true we all became these green creatures he called Orc's and we were all stronger because of it.” said the Orc.

“What intrigues me the most about your story is the cloaked companion who was with the new king. What do you know of him?” Egast asked

The Orc said “well he is currently heading the construction of a citadel in the middle of town.”

Egast thanked the Orc and said “with that I will be on my way expect another visit from me before I leave, also what was your name friend?”

“The name’s Agnark” Responded the Orc.

Egast left the hut and began walking to the large town. He was still at the outskirts of the town and walking past lots of fields with the little green men working them. It was now apparent based on what he could tell the Orc's were slave drivers and the small green men were slaves. Slavery was not common but sometimes people would swear their lives to another for one reason or another. This was the first time Egast had ever seen slavery on this large a scale. At the very least the Orc's did not seem to be overly cruel to the small green men so Egast did not concern himself with the matter. As Egast approached the end of the fields and the start of stone towers more and more Orc's were looking at him suspiciously. He saw an Orc say something to one of the small green men then it ran over to Egast.

The creature said “Hi I'm Bibs the goblin what brings you to Farveal?”

Egast told the creature “I have business with the King”.

Bibs responded “then let me guide you through town it can be dangerous to go alone”

“Then I would appreciate your company friend” said Egast.

After crossing the threshold from the farms to the towers it was immediately darker and the air was thick. All of the Orc's in the town seemed less happy than the Orc's Egast had previously seen on the farm land. There were also fewer goblins and the few that were there were treated very poorly. One Orc in an alley killed a goblin for sneezing, this made Bibs very uncomfortable and he walked closer to Egast after seeing it. Egast was already beginning to feel very glad this goblin had decided to help him because the town was very maze-like and he would have been lost without Bibs. There were lots of businesses at ground level from vegetable shops to weapon and armor stores. The Orc’s tried to get other Orc’s to come to their shops but none tried to get Egast to come over. After walking for fifteen minutes two very large Orc’s blocked the path for Egast and Bibs. Egast walked up to the two of them who were both wearing full plate armor and were a little shorter than Agnark.

Egast asked “would you two mind moving me and my friend are trying to get to the castle.”

They looked at Egast and one snarled “What business do you have in the castle” one said.

“My business is my own now make way, I don’t want any trouble” responded Egast.

One of the Orc’s said “well you got trouble the moment you walked into town” and drew his sword. The other drew an axe and was preparing to swing down at Egast. As the blade came towards Egast he thought, move me back three feet and they were both surprised to see him just disappear and appear mere feet away. The other Orc was about to swing his sword but Egast was too fast. He thought Heat their armor until it melts they immediately began to scream in pain. They dropped their weapons and both started to try to take off their armor but we're only able to get handfuls of molten metal, as their flesh turned into ooze. Egast gestured for Bibs to follow him and they ran to the end of the center of town where a great wooden gate was, leaving behind the two melting orcs.

An Orc called down from on top of the wall “What business do you have here?”

Egast said “I request an audience with the king”

The Orc asked “and what of the little one?”

Bibs responded “I am his guide and humble servant”

The Orc appeared to say something to someone behind him then after a few minutes of faint murmuring the gate opened. Egast and Bibs walked in the area they were now in was a courtyard above it was a bridge between two towers that had a bulge at the center. The wall and gate were connected to the towers which were six hundred feet tall. The courtyard was full of warriors who were training with many different weapons. Bibs was the only goblin to be seen in the courtyard; a few Orc’s even gave him the stink eye. An Orc approached wearing a robe that was made of red silk with golden trim. The Orc who was about Egast’s height looked them both over and gestured for them to follow him.

The Orc said “I am the king's advisor Edrik, follow me and you will have your counsel with the king” as they walked.

He opened a door at the base of the left tower then said “This is Tower Naples totally run by the Nap family, That other tower is Tower Palermo run by the Pale family.” said the Edrik

Egast asked “would you mind telling me of the two families while we walk up this seemingly endless staircase?”.

Edrik responded very excitedly “I would love to. I've never actually had a guest before so this is the first opportunity I have had to tell someone from the outside of this place. To start, the Nap family is named for the eldest member of the family Grikug Nap who always caught sleeping but was still a great warrior. Then there was Furbog a pale Orc so his name was Frubog Pale.”

Egast interrupted to ask “what does it mean for him to be a pale Orc?”

Edrik seemed pleased that Egast was listening and responded “It means his skin was white when we all changed to Orcs. We were all green except Furbog whose skin lost all color. Everyone in his family is the same way. The king saw that the other Orcs shunned them and were threatening to kill them unless they left the kingdom so King Rednar who found their skin to be very attractive and fell in love with Furbog’s daughter offered for them to stay in the west tower.

Egast asked “so why does the nap family get to live in the east tower?”

Edrik smiled revealing a lot of very ugly and scary teeth which seemed to go in every direction except the right ones then said “another very good question. You see King Rednar’s brother is Grikug Nap and their family built the whole castle expecting to be the only ones to live there. I bet you can imagine the Nap family’s surprise when King Rednar gave away half their home. You see they have a great lineage at the top is Grikug who married Prutha. They have six sons, Tilage, Mahk, Barnok… Oh we seem to have reached the top I suppose this will be a story for me to finish another time or if you prefer you could read my book on the great Orc familys of Farvael though it’s still a work in progress”

Egast said “I would be very interested in getting a copy of the book once you complete it, perhaps you would be interested in a book I wrote” He pulled out a copy of The Natural Creatures of the World and handed it to Edrik. Edrik was ecstatic as he put it away in one of his many pockets. The hall was long but you could just barely make out the main room. The hall was dark because the only light was from the windows. After five minutes of silent walking the three of them had made their way to the Throne Room. Sitting on a giant stone throne that went all the way to the ceiling was an Orc wearing a crown of stone with a stone scepter in his hand. He seemed bored until the moment he caught a glimpse of his guests.

He immediately sat up and shouted “Ah! my long awaited guests, come in come in”

Edrik quickly ran to his side and announced to the room which was empty except for the four of them “I present Egast of Moondor son of Erik the Bold and Bibs of nowhere son of no one, to you guest though he needs no announcement here is King of Farveal Rednar the first king”.

Rednar said “Don't be shy have a seat”

Edrik sat at the king's side on one of the steps of his massive throne. Egast looked around for a chair of some sort but other than a carpet that connected the two halls and ran through the room it was totally empty. Bibs sat on the floor then patted to his left gesturing for Egast to come over. Egast had no intention of letting this king treat him as an inferior. He walked over to Bibs and acted like he was going to sit but then thought Chair appear beneath me and another chair rise under Bibs then stop after being fully revealed. They sat in their chairs though Bibs seemed confused. The King was immediately enraged, his face grew red then he began to breathe deeply trying to calm himself.

Rednar said breathing heavily “*Heavy Breath* I *Heavy Breath* am *Heavy Breath* intrigued *Heavy Breath* as to *Heavy Breath* what brings *Heavy Breath* you to my *Heavy Breath* humble abode.”

Egast responded “I dare not be casual with the first king but pardon me for I know not the standard for addressing a king. I Egast am the first dabler of magicks in all the lands and have come to offer you my services provided you accept the one true faith of Dirn.”

Rednar now calmer began to laugh “you amuse me boy, you are not the first to come to me with such a proposition, how do you think we all came to be Orc’s and this castle erect. You see, a cloaked person came to me when I was nothing more than a contestant for mayor. He claimed he would aid me in the claiming of power but when I failed I cast him away. He returned saying why be mayor when I could be king. I promised to make all our city of Farveal full of strong men, women and children. Once they held me high and called me king he made it true and we all turned to these things which we have come to learn are known as Orc’s.”

Egast daring not to interrupt a king waited until he stopped talking then asked “and where might I find your person of magicks.”

Rednar stood more furious before “Do I bore you, if you feel you have somewhere better to be then why not be there”

He stood up, grabbed Egast and Bibs by the collar’s and threw them out a window behind them. As they fell Bibs screamed but Egast was more shocked than anything and in the last moments before he hit the ground he made Bibs and himself light so they would float down softly. Egast recalled being told that the strange person was heading the construction of a church. Now in the castle courtyard below there were pale orcs coming from the west and green orcs coming from the east all towards Egast and Bibs. Once each side was ten feet away, Egast thought Make Egast and Bibs invisible to the eye’s of mortals and snuck away. With no one for the orcs to unleash their anger on, they unleashed it on each other and a fight broke out between the green and pale orcs. Egast continued through the town with bibs while invisible until they reached a tall building with stained glass for windows which Egast had never seen before. He thought Make Egast and Bibs visible again. They appeared and some goblins who had been working on the church’s roof saw and were so surprised they jumped back and rolled off the building splatting on the ground leaving behind a mess of bones, flesh, and blood.

Almost immediately two massive wolf-like creatures ran out of the building and started ripping into the piles. Egast was surprised to see these creatures as he had not documented them in his book. Bibs stepped behind Egast’s leg crippled in fear and said “Wargs!”. A cloaked person soon came out of the building and whistled the wargs immediately stopped eating. They then fell in at his sides and he took notice of Egast.

“ahoy there friend what brings you here?” The person said

“I came in search of individual with great power” Egast responded

The person raised his eyebrows and said “we should take this talk inside would you be willing to come in” as he gestured to the half constructed building.

“lead the way” said Egast as he marched toward the building with Bibs who was hesitant but still followed.

The inside was far more complete than the outside. It looked exactly like a church with hues facing a stage that had an altar on it.

The person said “This is where the yearly sacrifice will take place”

Egast at this point was sure this person had the same responsibilities as a religious leader as he had and asked a question. “What do you sacrifice to your god?”.

“Whatever is most readily available, it’s not complete yet so we haven't done any sacrifices but I am thinking our first sacrifice will be one of the greater beast’s of the nearby forest.” responded the person with some menace to his voice.

“Say no beast was readily available what would you sacrifice then” -egast

“Whatever is most readily available” he said almost exactly the way he had said it. Before.

“But what name are you called?” Egast asked.

“They call me The Wizard around here. If you don't mind me asking whom is it that you serve? I can tell by your aura that you too must be a wizard” Said the wizard.

“I serve only myself,” he responded, hesitant to give away too much information. As they walked under a mezzanine which was mostly a frame at this point.

“Hmmm. You cannot fool me, your aura is not that of a lesser god's magic so I am positive you spoke to your God. But which one perhaps one that would send you in ill prepared like Dirn or Blank. You see, my god warned me there would be others and gave me much information that will prove quite useful. He even told me some gods put too much faith in men and would not tell them of the other gods. But you need not worry I shouldn't interfere with your affairs much at all. So long as you do not meddle with mine. These people known as orcs are mine. You can fight with the other profits for the other races.”

Egast said “I see know I am on the back foot in this conversation you seem to know far more than I but perhaps too much knowledge can be a weakness”

“Spoken like a true fool, knowledge is truly the ultimate power.”

Bibs who had been silent up until this point said frantically “time to go time to go” and ran out the door.

Egast said “until we meet again” and ran out the door after him.

He asked “what was that about”

Bibs simply pointed to the sky where a dark cloud had begun to circle around the church. Then the grass that had been on the ground in toy patches no bigger than four inches were now five feet tall and sprawling with life.

Egast now realized that the whole time they had been in the church his and The Wizard's aura had been battling and these were the side effects. Egast instructed bibs to follow him and egast began to walk to the hut he visited when he first arrived in the town.

As Egast left the town he had a newfound understanding of Orc kind and was interested in discovering other races of the land. First he had to check in and see how his apprentice’s were doing.

Same characters, different story.
Meanwhile in a totally different time and place there were events taking place that someone might actually consider interesting. A tale of ten kings, a girl and a land torn in two. This story takes place in a world not unlike our own very similar in fact. Close in scale and just as awful or fantastic if you prefer. Our story begins with a person and a small girl no bigger than your thumb.

“You think they will have pudding in Dabenshire?” Joanne asked.

“Of course they will have pudding. It's Debenshire the capital of the world” Alex responded.

The two walked down a dirt road the size of three of the largest fr

Test paragraph from Claude.