Book I (Ap.D): The Tale of Rhughash and Rhenna

This story was related to me by the grandchildren of Chieftain Thrakaduhl da Tharka, of Clan Dhakka, who would tell them the story when discussing his love for the elf, Kaira. Thrakaduhl’s grandchildren related the story to me as their grandfather had told it, complete with his particular way of speaking, and some laughter and tears shed for his memory.

Immortality in this life is over-rated. I know many humans long for it, wish for some way they can avoid their end, but you need to understand, there are things far worse than dying. I’ll admit, I don’t believe that we’re all dreaming. It’s the traditional orc belief, I know, that you can jump off some cliff and just pop back up somewhere else like some persistent gopher. But I’ve always held with the idea that we start with this life, and when we move onto the next, that’s it. No dying and coming back. It’s a one way trip. You get one chance at this life, so make it count.

I say all that because when I tell you immortality is a load of hog swill, I want you to understand that it’s because we get two lives for two different reasons. We get an afterlife that lasts forever, and we get this life, which doesn’t, and that’s the point. That’s what makes this life special. This life is short, so anything you gotta do, you gotta get it done fast, and not waste too much time on regretting and second guessing. Save the philosophy for the next life, you’ll have plenty of time for it.

That said, the story goes that a long, long time ago, there was a young orc named Rughash, who had a damned hard childhood. He was born in the middle of the biggest war between orcs and elves that was ever seen on this side of Kaleida. You see, after our common mother Hannoua died, the bonds between us and our elven brothers and sisters became strained. Orcs live only briefly, but elves live for a long time, so, not surprisingly, elves ultimately ended up running things. King Ellouin’s eldest daughter succeeded him, all of Queen Hannoua’s children by Dureshka being long since dead, and from then on elves controlled Lallau’s throne, and eventually everything else – even after our ancestors crossed the Morn Ocean from the Old Kingdoms and came to Feguncia.

Now, I’ll allow, it did make sense for them to run things. When an elf can watch two dozen generations of orcs come and go, you can be sure she’s going to be the wiser for it. There’re two problems with that idea though. The first is, there’s more to ruling than being wise. When you’ve lived that long, you forget what it’s like to be young, and you don’t think about how little time the rest of us have to get on with our lives. You start thinking you should be making decisions for everyone else, for their own good, but you forget what’s good for you isn’t what’s good for them. The second problem is, that while an elf might become wiser with time, they forget that some of them ain’t born with the sense God gave a horse. I’m telling you, it is possible to be so damned stupid that, if you had a hundred lifetimes, you couldn’t find your own ass with three mirrors and a court attending.

Now, problem was, in Feguncia the elves who crossed over from the old world had, for some reason I still don’t understand, allowed themselves to fall under the leadership of the dimmest elf that ever graced this hemisphere. The elven King Vlakahs was dumb as a rock. Most elves are like wine, get me? The bottle don’t change, but what’s inside gets better. Vlakahs was like bottled goats milk. In the end, he had less brains than a head of cheese, and unlike cheese, he didn’t get any sharper with age. But that didn’t matter to him because he was too stupid to know how stupid he was. Unfortunately for the rest of us, he was on the throne in Feguncia for centuries, which was more than enough time to screw the kingdom up royally. It was under him that the elves lost control of Facia to a race of bureacrats, and got hoodwinked repeatedly by Dwara in the west. Some of the other elves even tried to talk to him, explain what a damned mess he was making, but the words went in one pointy ear and out the other with nothing to catch them in between.

Now, where was I going with this? Oh, yeah, Rhughash. Rhughash was born after the orcs, and some of the humans who’d come to live beside them, had finally had enough and decided to split with the elves. Some of the elves wanted to join their fight against Vlakahs but the orcs didn’t want their help – said they needed to find their own way in the world and couldn’t do that with them hanging over their shoulders. And to their credit, those elves understood and agreed to simply be neutral. They up and left, and settled in the forests of northern Feguncia, on the coast of the Morn Ocean. Which, by the way, is where your grandmother’s family is from.

Anyway, I’m not ashamed to admit, our orc ancestors and their human allies got their asses handed to them. Vlakahs was twelve biscuits short of a baker’s dozen, but his military commanders weren’t idiots, and they knew more about fighting than three generations of orc warriors. In fact, I imagine they could have ended the war in just a few years, but the poor fellows had to deal with Vlakahs dragging them down. Almost inevitably, they’d be just about to make some decisive final victory when the king would suddenly take an interest in the war, would come down from on high, and start telling them how they should be doing things.

So about a century into the war, we orcs had gone and just about spent ourselves, despite King Vlakahs repeatedly providing the idiot’s equivalent of a divine intervention. We’d thrown everything we had at the elves as fast as possible, banking on our greater numbers and relative fearlessness to quickly overwhelm them, but it was like throwing a bucket of water at a wall. Our population was decimated – and I don’t mean that in the literal way your grandmother would say I’m supposed to use it, I mean that in the way normal folks use it; a hundred years into the war, the orc population was one tenth what it had been at the start, and that one tenth was now our entire standing military. Another defeat could have obliterated the orc population altogether.

So, that’s the world Rhughash was born into. His parents were soldiers barely older than you. They were too young to fight a war, and definitely too young to become parents, but back then orc kids were being encouraged to make babies as fast as possible, being told it was the only way to save the race. But about like you’d expect, his parents didn’t last long in battle against elves, and Rhughash was orphaned not too long after he was weaned.

Now, this part gets pretty hinky, doesn’t really make much sense, but I reckon I’ll tell it to you the only ways I ever heard it. The story goes that Rhughash was such a perceptive child, that he knew immediately what needed to be done to save his people, and that when he spoke his first words, they were a prayer to the Loutha. Now, the only way I’ve ever heard that explained, is that Rhughash was actually a Louan – a sleeper who chose to remember his previous dreams – and because of that he was able to call upon the awakened for help.

Whatever the case may be, he made a deal to become unkillable, or as the story would tell you, he made sure the Loutha kept him asleep for eternity. The idea was, an orc would finally live long enough to learn all the things the elves knew, and one orc, at least, would always survive every battle. Now, the catch was he couldn’t just restore the orc race by using the time he was afforded by his immortality to just start getting busy with orc women – he would have to be celibate – no relations with women. According to some folks, he was forbidden to love altogether. Well when Rhughash struck the deal he was an angry little boy, so he wasn’t concerned with relationships, and he agreed to it.

Now, I can assure you, it took a damned long time, but Rhughash eventually did what he said. He learned to fight, learned to win, and learned how to teach. The orcs began winning a few fights, then some more, and then a lot, and their population grew, while the elves began to wane in number. Partly because a lot of them were just tired of the war and up and left, but hey, I reckon winning is winning.

Now, in his long years of fighting Rhughash made many friends, fellow soldiers who followed him into battle and inevitably died, but he learned to accept that with grace. That is, until he met Rhenna.

Rhenna fought like a devil let lose in a locked building. No one could stand against Rhenna, so it was inevitable that Rhenna the Relentless would eventually wind up next to Rhughash the Unkillable on the battlefield. You’ve heard of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object? Imagine if those two things met, and then decided to come after you together. They crushed the elves again and again in one battle after another. And, with so much time spent fighting alongside each other, they eventually developed a bond that transcended the comradery of the battlefield.

Now, there’re two very different versions of this story here that orcs have argued over a lot for a mighty long time. I reckon it doesn’t really matter which version is true, but you kids should know both.

In one version, Rhughash had sworn himself to celibacy, and moreover, to never know the loving touch of a woman. Because of this, he never told Rhenna how he felt about her. She knew, of course (after all, orcs aren’t subtle), but there was an unspoken agreement that they must honor his vow to the gods. Unfortunately, Rhenna eventually died on the battlefield. Rhughash knew he’d lose her eventually, of course, but when Rhenna did actually die, with Rhughash never having actually told her he loved her, he was overwhelmed with grief over the loss. Moreover, because of his immortality, he fell into despair, because he knew he’d never see her again. He knew that if he’d consummated their love, they could have died together, and been joined in the afterlife, but he had made a vow, and could not break it now any more than he could have then. Nevertheless, he regretted his pact with the gods so greatly, that when they burned Rhenna's body, he could no longer bare the weight of it. He walked into the fire as it consumed her and begged the gods to withdraw the immortality he’d been blessed with. Now, legend has it, he went into the fire and never came out, but not one person in attendance heard but the pop and crack of the fire, and Rhughash’s weeping prayer to be reunited with his beloved Rhenna. That's one version, anyway.

Now, in the other version, Rhughash had foresworn love in general, not women. Now, to Rhughash, when he made the vow as a child, it was all the same. Everyone around him treated it the same – when a man grew up, he would love a woman, and she would bear his children, just as his parents had. That was what he vowed not to do, or so he thought. The problem was, eventually he met Rhenna, the unstoppable warrior, just as in the other version, but according to this version, Rhenna was a he – not a she. 

Just as in the other story, Rhughash loved Rhenna, but in this case, he didn’t leave it unspoken, he denied it to himself, because he did not believe it possible for one man to love another in that way. Eventually, Rhenna actually confessed his love for his leader, and Rhughash spurned him. To him it was nonsense. So, the next day, Rhenna went to the battlefield, and fought as Rhughash would – with no regard for his own safety. Legend has it he won the battle with his own two hands, but he succumbed to his wounds afterwards. When Rhughash saw Rhenna’s lifeless body, he was consumed with grief believing he’d never see his beloved friend again.

Story goes, though, that whoever he’d made the pact with was so moved by his grief, that they decided that Rhughash had fallen in love, whether he had admitted it or not. That meant he’d broken his vow, which dissolved the pact and ended Rhughash’s immortality. But, being the romantics they apparently were, they could not punish Rhughash by destroying him or denying him entrance to the afterlife, because doing so would be punishing the heroic Rhenna.  So, Rhughash’s life was ended, but he was reunited with the man he loved.

Like I said, I don’t reckon the difference between the two versions is real important, because the point is the same. Living forever doesn’t mean nothing if you never really live. Fall in love whenever you can. Don’t go being shy about it. And when death calls, don’t say ‘goodbye,’ just say ‘see you on the other side.’

Book I (Ap.C): The Tale of Dureshka Fal, Father of Orcs

This is the story of how orcs came to be, as related to me by Ygun of Clan Rohgar, who assures me it faithfully relates the same story her grandmother, Ygritte of Clan Rohgar, would have told Azraea when they met in the town of Defiance.

Once upon a time, there were two brothers; Dureshka Fal and Ellouin Fal. Ellouin was a stoic, methodical, and calculating warrior. He was a hero, and a true friend, but to many he would have seemed cold. His brother, Dureshka, was also a hero but he was less disciplined and less inhibited. He did what was right when he thought it was right to do so, trusting his heart to guide him, and perhaps not often enough his wits.

Now, Dureshka and Ellouin were not only brothers, they were fast friends, and they did everything together. It was sometimes said that, without Dureshka, Ellouin might never do anything, and without Ellouin, Dureshka might never live to do anything twice. They were two halves of a whole. Unfortunately, this also meant they both loved the same woman, the princess Hannoua.

Ellouin was dazzled by Hannoua’s unearthly beauty and grace, her white hair and blue eyes were so vibrant they were said to be like an icy mountain lake. Dureshka however, was enamored of her fiery spirit. She was filled with passion in all things, especially fighting and loving. [Ygun adds that, she personally would like to think that, whether he admitted it or not, this is also why Ellouin loved her – because she was so much like his beloved brother.] The three were all good friends, and had many adventures together, but this is the tale of how their adventures ended.

Hannoua’s father was the Mage-King Lallau, a powerful sorcerer and a devoted but perhaps overly protective father. Lallau was well aware of the attention his daughter received from her two friends, and was more than a bit uncomfortable with their tendency to whisk her away for quests and such. Lallau was worried that, one day, Hannoua might follow them and not return.

However, King Lallau knew that she loved her two friends so greatly that he could not forbid her to see them. He conspired, then, to bring their adventuring to an end the old-fashioned way – through marriage. Hannoua’s younger sister had already wed, and the time Hannoua spent with the two men raised many eyebrows in the court, especially since they were born of considerably lower station than the princess. Lallau, then, began to pressure her to marry. It was an idea she intensely protested, for she did not wish to be wed to some prince in another kingdom. However, Lallau suggested that, if she were to wed soon he would break with tradition and allow her to marry beneath her station – she could take one of the brothers as her mate, even though neither was royalty.    

It was an unusual concession to say the least, a compromise Hannoua could not refuse. However, she truly loved both of the brothers, each in their own way. Dureshka was passionate and exciting, but Ellouin was comfortingly reliable. One thrilled her, and the other made her feel safe. With one she could imagine growing old together, but with the other, she had to admit, she might not grow old at all.

Hannoua tearfully confessed her indecision to her father. King Lallau, however, was not so conflicted as his daughter regarding who to choose; he liked Dureshka better as a man, but if he was going to trust his daughter to someone, he knew it would be Ellouin. He kept this to himself, though, and promised to help make the decision by giving the two men a test. He would use his power as the king to give each of them one wish, and then, when she heard what each of their wishes were, she would know who the better man was.

So the king called the two men before the court, and made his offer. Because they had both won his daughter’s heart, he would give his would-be sons-in-law one wish each. Both wishes would be granted, and afterwards, the better man would wed his daughter. The two brothers pondered silently for a moment, and Dureshka began to speak first, as usual. Ellouin, however, stopped him and insisted he make his wish first. It was very unusual for Ellouin to do anything before Dureshka, for he never considered anything without lengthy contemplation. Because of the unusual circumstances, Dureshka honored his brother and was quiet, allowing his normally stoic friend to speak first.

Ellouin spoke of Hannoua’s beauty both inside and out, and wished that the king would use his magic to ensure that she never change, that she be not only young and healthy until she died [actually told as “until she awakened”], but that her wit remain sharp and her heart remain good. This selfless wish pleased the king, and he knew for certain, Dureshka’s wish could not surpass it.

Dureshka looked to Ellouin in surprise, but Ellouin simply smiled, and told him that all would be well, and to make the wish his heart told him was best. Dureshka looked to the lovely Hannoua, thought of their many adventures together, and told the king what his one and only wish was – Hannoua’s hand in marriage.

The king was furious with Dureshka for violating the spirit of the exercise, but Ellouin advocated vociferously for his brother, arguing that technically Dureshka’s wish must be honored. You see, Ellouin loved Hannoua but he knew his friends well. If Hannoua married Dureshka, Ellouin knew he would still keep Hannoua as his friend. But if Hannoua married Ellouin, Ellouin feared that he might lose Dureshka as his brother.  

The king had no choice but to grant their wishes. He gave Hannoua ageless beauty and strength and married her to Dureshka, appeasing all three. The king, however, did not like to be tricked, and the fact that Ellouin had been clever enough to do so only reaffirmed his belief that Ellouin would be a better husband, so he used his power to make Ellouin ageless like Hannoua, and he cursed Dureshka to age faster, believing the marriage would end quickly and Hannoua could spend the rest of her very long life with Ellouin.  

The king’s magic, however, had limits. Dureshka aged rapidly while Hannoua not at all, but in the few years he was with Hannoua, their passion for each other and their love of life was so great that she bore several children before Dureshka died, all of whom inherited their mother’s blessing, and their father’s curse – not those bestowed upon them by Lallau, but those bestowed on them by their own nature.

Hannoua’s blessing was that she was as beautiful and genuine within as she was without. Her heart was filled with love for the two brothers and for her own father, but more than anything, she did not want anyone else to be hurt by the choices she made. She was selfless at heart and that was reflected in her outer beauty. Dureshka was not as selfless as Hannoua but, for better or worse, his heart was honest. He knew that he might not have been the better man for Hannoua, but when asked what he desired, he could only answer honestly. Dureshka Fal’s outward appearance may not have mirrored his inner self, but he was transparent in all that he said and did. 

Thus, a child of Dureshka Fal and Hannoua is blessed and cursed, for his or her outward appearance matches the inner soul and nothing can be done to mask it. This is why all orc infants are identical, you see. People begin as blank slates, and so orcs are born all looking the same. We do not even have boys and girls as you think of them, just children who become, in their own time, what they will be. Like anyone, we all have a little beast in our heart, of course, but unlike most others our beasts always show through. Because of this, with an orc you will always know what you’ve found.

Writer's Notes! Vinny's 1hr Campfire Surprise

In the book, Vinny cooks a dish I experimented with in my high school Latin class. My high school Latin teacher, Stephen Boyd, actually found and sent me the recipe I used. It was from L. Giacozza's A Taste of Ancient Rome, and was titled therein as an "Onion Appetizer," a modern variation on a Roman "Vegetable Appetizer."

The strange dish made it into this book for three reasons: (1) the Gnomans are, as their name suggests, supposed to be analogous to Romans, (2) I actually liked it, though sadly I've not had it since high school, and (3) it fit the demands of the situation.

Contrary to its title, this "appetizer" is a very rich food. Assuming I made it correctly in high school, it is not at all appetizer-like (but then, the Roman cheesecake I made wasn't very dessert-like - even after quadrupling the honey in it). The preparation of the dish is also simple, and the ingredients are relatively cheap or easy to find substitutions for. Given the fresh meat required, it couldn't be cooked after a full day of hiking, but it's feasible for anyone camping within a few miles of a butcher, or anyone willing to make substitutions based on whatever wild game they could take down before dinner.

Main Ingredients:

• 7oz. Liver (Pork) - This was the hard part for me to get past as a teenager, but once it's mixed in with everything else, it's really not identifiable as anything other than meat. For health/safety reasons, we used beef liver. Vinny might have used deer liver given the opportunity, since (supposedly) it's delicious and safe for humans to eat. 
• 2 Thighs and Wings (Chicken) - What's important here isn't the appendages used, it's that you use dark meat; as I recall this dish, it would be pretty weird with white meat in it. That being the case, I imagine this dish could also be made with other forms of poultry more readily obtainable while traveling. Duck, in particular, seems like a good choice.
• 2lbs. Bulbs (Onions) - According to Giacozza, the Romans would have used wild gladiolus or asphodel bulbs, but edible versions of those plants aren't really available in the here and now. A Gnoman traveler would probably use whatever he could scrounge up near his camp site, though, so in that spirit we'll follow Giacozza's interpretation of the recipe and scrounge up some onions - I'd recommend white or yellow, but not red (though it might be interesting to try once).
• 2 Tbs. Olive Oil - Nary a Gnoman steps out the door without his trusty, multipurpose olive oil.
• 2 Tbs. Garum - Another necessity for Gnoman travelers. Garum was a sauce made from fish, which the Romans used a great deal. Know that person in your family who puts ketchup on everything? Two thousand years ago he would have been covering everything in garum.
• 2 Tbs. Wine - We used red wine. I recall the wine had a strong impact on the flavor, despite thorough cooking, so this may be the easiest place to adjust the recipe to fit your tastes. Just make sure whatever type of wine you use, it's going to go with the onions you picked. 

Sauce ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Wine - The sauce is nearly half wine, so like I said, your choice of wine is kind of important.
• 1/2 cup Passum - The other half of the sauce is more wine! Passum was specifically a sweet wine originating in Carthage that tasted like raisins. It was obnoxiously sweet, apparently, but popular with Roman women, since appletinis and birthday cake-flavored vodka hadn't been invented yet. If you can't find raisin wine or straw wine, look for something that's going to be ridiculously sweet. 
• 1 Tbs. Garum - More garum! Seriously, it was pretty typical for it to be in every recipe. Twice.
• 1 Tbs. Lovage - This is an herb that tastes like celery, though much stronger.
• Black pepper - Add as needed.
• 1 tsp. Cornstarch - Add before serving.

Preparation: Chop the liver and chicken, and slice the onions. If you haven't tried liver before, I'd recommend chopping it into small pieces, as it can be pretty chewy. Start cooking with onions (2 lbs.), olive oil (2 Tbs.), garum (2 Tbs.), and wine (2 Tbs.) in a sauce pan. Once the onions have cooked, throw in the meat. Cook for 30 min while getting the sauce ready. Throw all of the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch into a separate pan or bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the sauce to the main dish and cook for an additional 30 min. Mix in the cornstarch to make the dish thicker, and serve. If I were to do this again now, I'd probably serve it with white rice or garlic bread.

The old book I got the recipe from doesn't say whether to cook the dish on 'high' or 'low'. The omission of that detail makes sense, given Romans didn't really have those settings on their hearths (and our adventurers wouldn't have them on their campfire). This is definitely a play-it-by-ear (and nose) situation. While overcooked liver is not good, the dish will end up being pretty dark and thick, and given the sweet and savory flavor, and the pungent tastes of the onions, slightly burning it will not ruin the meal.

Reference: Caelia - History II

Even after the  Great Orc Rebellion toppled Feguncia's Second Kingdom, the elves in what is now Caelia retained control of the mountain-ringed plateau for quite a long time. However, after the rebellion, there was no shortage of men and orcs who wished to keep fighting. One among them, veteran commander Caelus Ravencroft, took his human and orc warriors from northern Feguncia up the Gygian and laid siege to the last great holdout of the Second Kingdom elves.

Although the elves initially put up a fierce fight, it was no more than a few years into their war with Caelus that the elves' orc soldiers rebelled and toppled the kingdom from within, This resulted in intense internal strife, as orc commanders declared themselves chieftains, carved the realm into holds, and vied for control of the plateau. With their unified defense broken, however, they were unable to resist the conquerors from the south. Caelus's army broke through the southern defenses and quickly laid claim to what has become Kingstown. From there, his forces pushed outward to the coasts, seizing control over what people came to call the Caelian Kingdom, and eventually, Caelia.

Owing to Caelus's intervention, the elves were not slain or driven out of Kingstown as they were elsewhere, and many were able to evade the wrath of the orcs in other portions of the country by cutting deals with their land's new ruler. Caelus's relatively light-handed treatment of the elves sat poorly with the orcs who'd overthrown them, making them even less inclined to sacrifice any measure of their newly won freedom. Having many orcs already within his command, Caelus offered governorships and commissions to any of the self-declared chieftains prepared to swear loyalty to him, but most refused.

There was no formal conclusion to the orc resistance in Caelia, but historians generally agree that after three generations it could no longer be considered as such. The orc military that had served under the elves splintered into warring clans after their masters were overthrown. Never unifying into a true resistance force, the clans turned to guerrilla warfare when they proved unable to face Caelus's armies in open battle. The orc guerrillas were succeeded by orc raiders, who plundered Caelia's countryside while dodging Caelus's armies, and fanatical orc terrorists, who attacked 'soft targets' with no real plan or strategy. Eventually all but the most zealous terror cells sold-out; they initially engaged in mercenary work to finance their aimless rebellion but finally ended up renting themselves out as career thugs and enforcers.

Ironically, many of these profit-minded orcs sold their services to elvish families who had survived the turmoil with their coin-purses largely intact. Three elvish families, the Biahnkarosas in Kingstown, the Cherneshypas on the west coast, and the Shirbaymunzas on the east coast, actually gained influence and power when their brethren were deposed. They sank deep roots through much of Caelia's economy, ensuring that they could never be easily dislodged, even by the considerable efforts of Caelus I's successors.

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Interested in reading more about Caelia? The Rise of Azraea, Book I,  is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon. 

Reference: Caelia - History I

Though overshadowed by the Gnoman Empire to its south, Caelia is a reasonably sized kingdom, hundreds of miles across at its widest point. Of course, Caelia was likely once much larger, but like Fugencia, much of it was claimed by the rising seas that followed the Star Shift. Now the ocean laps at the edges of its most prominent geographic feature - a concave plateau that stretches across nearly the entire kingdom. Dwarven geologists I have studied with suggest that the formation is a blast crater resulting from a massive volcanic eruption; there is considerable volcanic activity in the mountains north of Caelia, and there are some ancient structures in the Gnoma Range which historians believe are evidence that those mountains also hosted volcanic activity at one time,

Due to the encroaching seas, Caelia is now a geographic bottleneck between Fugencia and Quinox, Fugencia's northern neighbor. The entire country is effectively a landbridge between the two continents. Because of its concave topography, the country's most notable river, the Gygian, does not flow to either of Caelia's coastlines; instead, it runs from its headwaters in northern Caelia, through the center of the kingdom to the massive artificial lake formed by the Old Wall in southern Caelia. From there, the Gygian flows through the River Gate, cuts through the northern end of the Gnoma Range, and crosses northern Fugencia, finally emptying into the Facian Sea. In all of the known world, the Gygian is the only river known to have its headwaters and mouth on separate continents.

At some point before the decline of Fugencia's First Kingdom, the dwarven mines in the ring of mountains surrounding the area went rogue, separating from the First Kingdom and becoming small subterranean city-states. The renegade dwarves built a series of massive walls through the plateau's southern mountains, turning the plateau into a single, massive fortress. During that same time, they carved passes through the mountains on the eastern and western edges of the plateau, permitting easy travel from the interior to either coastline.

The city states lacked powerful offensive armies, and most of their inhabitants were leery of the surface world, but the densely populated dwarven cities were dependent on the crops grown in the basin and fish pulled in from the sea. As a result, the greatest power in the region was wielded by the dwarven rulers able and willing to fight for the world above ground. The dwarven history of Caelia is a dynamic and exciting topic in its own right, simply because the dwarves struggled to manage their conflicts with one another, while still contending with assaults from the South.

The last great dwarven power in the region was the Bhatt Dynasty. The Bhatt's emerged not from one of the old mines, but from the massive above ground city in which their First Kingdom masters once dwelt. More accustomed to life above ground, mingling with other peoples, the Bhatt's were eventually able to seize and maintain control over most of the river basin, and all the food grown within it. The Bhatt Dynasty formally began when Irir Bhatt shrewdly negotiated a union between his territory and the surrounding dwarven cities. People often refer to the Bhatt's as kings ruling over vassal cities, but that's inaccurate. The union functioned less as a system of government and more as business arrangement. The consortium that was created ensured that the Bhatt's would be able to trade freely with all of their neighbors, and the consortium controlled prices and capped consumption in order to guarantee that the Bhatts would trade with all of their neighbors fairly.

After the fall of Feguncia's First Kingdom, the consortium prospered. Over time, the Bhatt's gained more power within the consortium but, oddly, the trade between the Bhatts and the dwarven cities became increasingly lop-sided, until the Bhatt's were effectively paying the cities to maintain their alliance. When the elves of Feguncia's Second Kingdom came north with their orc armies, the last ruler of the Bhatt Dynasty, Rheyger Bhatt, was already straining to make payments to all of the allied cities. Because of this, the southern cities eventually abandoned the alliance. They withdrew their support from the consortium and made peace with the elves. Rheyger, of course, was forced to abandon the city which had, for so long, been the seat of power for his family. He retreated north, to the cities which were still loyal, but it was a hopeless endeavor - eventually Rheyger's forces were overrun, and the land fell under the control of the elves.

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Interested in reading more about Caelia? The Rise of Azraea, Book I,  is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon. 

Reference: The Gnoman Empire - Religion II

Under the dominant philosophy of Polyaspectism, all deities are assumed to be equally plausible, so the Gnoman Empire documents and formally recognizes many thousands of deities. Obviously, some gather more recognition and investment than others, however.

Theus

Pueraria's move to enforce Polyaspectism as the official religion of the Gnoman Empire resulted in some complications, as it married an innately chaotic philosophy to an incredibly structured legal system. To deal with the resulting disorder, her son and eventual successor, Pragmus I, established the First Church of Gnoman Polyaspectism, a structured institution tasked with officially managing and overseeing the worship and records of the Empire's gods. Pragmus himself was posthumously deified as Theus, the Gnoman god of organized religion, and eternal head of the church he founded. Due to the bureaucratic nature of Gnoman culture, Theus is also sometimes called upon in otherwise secular matters of legislation and organization, especially when ambiguous grammar may be a source of conflict. Biblical texts of any religion are considered holy to him, and to a lesser extent any formal doctrines, edicts, mission statements, and to do lists can fall under the scope of his influence. Theus is a sworn enemy of any gods devoted to anarchy, atheism, sloppiness, or improvisation. He is considered the divine frenemy of Dubia, the Gnoman's chief goddess of uncertainty. Per drawings from Pragmus's childhood, Gnomans generally depict Theus with two pairs of angelic wings, white armor, and a blazing sword of divine energy.

Dubia

In life, Dubia was Serise, Pueraria's daughter and Pragmus's older sister. As princess, Serise used her freedom and influence to become one of the most feared critics in Gnomania, but never herself showed any aptitude for an art - by her own admission, she could never create something that would satisfy her own standards. This likely contributed to her mother's decision to pass her over as successor to the throne, and resulted in a complex dynamic between herself and her younger brother. Serise had an unerring ability to point out weaknesses and faults in any idea or plan, making her feared by both sides of any debate held before her brother. She was posthumously deified as Dubia, a goddess of critical thought and skepticism, and is often called upon by Gnoman judges, scientists, or anyone else who wishes to see the potential faults in their own plans. Most commonly, she is revered by Gnoman agnostics and even moderate atheists, who believe that Dubia (if she exists) will defend their souls (if they exist) against any divine judgment (if it exists) that may be incurred by their skepticism during life. It is generally taboo to speak her name in restaurants, theaters, or during weddings. Dubia's representation is unknown, as Serise was never satisfied with anything she described as a child. As a result, in Gnoman iconography she is generally represented by an imperfect circle.

The Faceless

Secrecy is extremely important to Gnomans, especially to Left-Hands serving in the Sinister Legions of the Gnoman military. The Gnomans believe that there must be a god of secrets, but also believe that the true identity of the ultimate master of secrecy and concealment must be unknowable. Somewhat confusing outsiders, however, it is inappropriate for the followers of the Faceless to acknowledge this in conversation - as his/her devotees, they are expected to aid him/her in maintaining his/her mystery, by spreading misinformation at every turn. There is an annual Festival of the Faceless, but it is not held on a set date - instead, each year the followers of the Faceless interrupt another deity's festival, declaring for the day that that deity is, in fact, the true identity of the Faceless.

Reference: The Gnoman Empire - Religion I

The predominant religious philosophy of the Gnoman Empire is Polyaspectism. Myodes, third king of Gnomania, promoted the religion in order to stabilize his growing kingdom, and Pueraria, first Empress of the Gnoman Empire pressured the Gnoman Senate to recognize the religion as the formal state religion after the conquest of Facia.

Central to Polyaspectism is the idea of uncertainty in supernatural matters. Where most Kaleidan religions promote absolute certainty with respect to spiritual matters - to the point of questioning or even denying the mundane, Polyaspectism takes the opposite approach. To polyaspectists, only the physical, tangible world can be absolutely known - anything in the realm of the spiritual or metaphysical is beyond the capacity of mortal beings to observe and comprehend, and is therefore open to speculation. The traditional metaphor of Gnoman Polyaspectism is that of a wax seal created by a signet ring - the observable world is said to be akin to the impression made in the wax seal, while the 'true' world is comparable to the ring that made the impression. From the wax seal, one can make inferences about one specific aspect of the ring, but can say nothing else about the ring with any certainty. Accordingly, the existence of every deity is considered equally plausible, including those worshiped in other religions. Denying the existence of any deity is taboo and potentially heretical.

In Polyaspectism, everything that is, has been, or will be, exists not only in the observable, natural world but in the unobservable, supernatural world. This includes people, for whom the tangible, physical body and mind are only shallow impressions of a more complex entity. The other dimensions - are collectively known as the anima, or soul, with consciousness and unconsciousness being a bridge between the two. When a person's physical body dies and rots, the soul persists as a spirit, and if the person's legacy is powerful enough, the spirit may be elevated to godhood.

Note: In some particular cases, deities may also be formed from the collective will or consensus of many animae, creating a distinct entity some Gnoman writers refer to as a 'metagod'. 

According to some Gnomans, every anima is a god in itself, albeit one with a very limited domain. Other Gnomans might regard the anima as more comparable to a conscience (consulted when making moral judgments), guardian angel (interceding for its physical counterpart in matters of fate), or imaginary friend. In every case, though, the entity is considered to be both 'them' and separate from 'them'. This divergence between the physical and the spiritual is believed to be least pronounced among the young, and so most Gnomans encourage their children to think about their animae, describe them, and even try to talk to them while they are young, building a relationship between the mortal and spiritual aspects that will last throughout the Gnoman's life.

It's worth noting that, given the Gnoman's belief that the objective truth is unknowable to mortals, it is generally expected that children's descriptions of the anima will be outrageous and inconsistent over time, as the mortal mind struggles to understand its more complex spiritual counterpart. Gnoman philosophers and theologists have produced a large body of literature dedicated to interpreting descriptions of the anima, many of them written for parents as a means for better understanding and communicating with their children.

Note: Although Gnomans have a variety of colorful insults, the most severe are those directed at someone's anima, as making definitive declarations about someone else's anima infringes so severely on an individual's personal identity, that even praise can be considered taboo, if expressed in an inappropriate way. For example, to tell someone their "anima must be beautiful" would be offensive, as it severely oversteps personal boundaries by dictating someone else's anima to them.    

Unlike most other religions, it's well accepted that many Gnoman deities have been, or will eventually be, forgotten. Some may become irrelevant due to social changes, or they may be usurped by other deities. In fact, Polyaspectism lacks a traditional creation myth, partly because whatever entity was responsible for forming Kaleida is assumed to have long since passed from their knowledge.

Note: As an engineered race, the creation of the Gnomans and their close relatives are a matter of record, discussed academically by archaeologists, anthropoligists, and biomancers. The origins of the ancient humans that created them are unknown to the Gnomans, as are the origins of the physical world. However, such events are relative trivialities to Gnomans in the present - they enjoy stories and theories about such matters, but do not take such discussions especially seriously, dismissing any serious disagreements about the matter with the common phrase, "It's ancient history."

Some Polyaspectists fear that those deities, spirits, and even animae which are forgotten are consigned entirely to oblivion, and therefore place great importance on maintaining not only careful records of deities, but of family members and ancestors, to ensure that their spirits do not fade away entirely. They may even offer prayers and request unnecessary guidance from ancestral spirits and deities, simply to help them feel appreciated.

Other Polyaspectists, however, believe that the spirits of those who've passed remain relevant even when they have been forgotten, or are unknown. For example, a Gnoman traveling in a foreign city certainly does not expect to know the name of the local deity who governs pedestrian safety at a particularly busy intersection, but may have faith that such an entity does exist, and may reasonably trust his anima to make an entreaty to the unknown power on his behalf.

It is also considered acceptable to simply guess the name and nature of an unknown deity or spirit, and expect that - regardless of accuracy - the deity will appreciate the thought.

Reference: The Gnoman Empire - History II

Separated from their 'homeland' in the east for generations, the Facian colonists in Gnomania became "Gnomans" and prospered due to the good farmland of the plains, the rich mineral resources of the mountains, and the abundant lumber from the rain-forests to the the northwest.

Just as Gnomania was beginning to thrive, Facia reached its peak. The Facians had prospered a bit too quickly within the confines of their mountainous island, and after some attempts to colonize lands to the north and south failed catastrophically, and even a failed attempt to cross the Morn, it had become increasingly difficult to convince people to uproot from the overcrowded cities and leave Facia. Besides overpopulating the island, the Facians (who'd had gained little experience with agriculture even while serving the elves) had exhausted their limited farmland and even over-fished the waters off of their shores. They attempted to sustain themselves by pressuring their colonies to provide a greater share of their resources to the Facian homeland, but eventually the colonies rebelled and cut them off. Facia broke down into civil war, and all but destroyed itself.

And then the Gnomans stepped in.

Having followed the decline of Facia from afar, and having made a dedicated effort to learn from their kinsmen's failures, they eventually decided they couldn't stand by while the civilization that birthed them fell apart entirely. With great numbers of healthy and disciplined soldiers, the Gnomans swept across the sea from the west. They forcibly reunited the wayward colonies and eventually seized control over their ancestral homeland outright. This aggressive 'peace-keeping' endeavor marked the formal end of Facia and the beginning of the Gnoman Empire.

The Gnoman's next pushed westward into the mountains. The Gnoma Range was chiefly inhabited by the "dwarves", descendants of Fugencia's stout, powerfully built industrial laborers and miners. The Gnoman's initially clashed with these cousins over water-rights, the inhabitants of the great city of Dwara holding the headwaters of one of Gnomania's major rivers hostage. Eventually the Dwarans faltered, unable to hold their ground against a sustained siege by a civilization cultivating millions of square miles of cropland to feed their armies. Emboldened by their victory, the Gnoman Empire moved to seize control of the entire Gnoma Range, bringing them into conflict with all of Dwara's sister cities.

It was, initially, more than the Empire could handle, and it became their most costly war. The Alpine War finally reached a turning point when one of the cities negotiated its voluntary annexation, joining the Gnoman Empire under a charter which preserved a great deal of its autonomy. Many others followed suit, and the rest ultimately surrendered. As the dwarves bowed out of the war, the Gnomans' chief opposition became an alliance of humans and orcs organized by elves who'd returned to Fugencia's west coast. The elves had persuaded their former servants that they would eventually be annihilated by the Gnomans, and that their only hope was to seize control of a massive subterranean Fugencian fortress that the dwarves had been restoring in an attempt to tip the war in their favor.

The war's final battle lasted a full winter, and was fought at the gates of an ancient Fugencian citadel. The elves had laid claim to the place after forging an alliance with a number of dwarves who rebelled against the treaties their brethren had made with the Gnomans. The Imperials and their new dwarven vassals confronted an army of orcs and humans united by the elves and supplied by the rebel dwarves, but the long battle and freezing conditions eventually broke the alliance of the western kingdoms. The rebelling dwarves eventually surrendered to their kin, and the orcs and humans once again betrayed the elves, this time delivering them to the Gnoman Empire. In exchange, the Gnoman Empire absorbed the kingdoms on the western coast, forging the same agreements they had with the dwarven cities. The former coastal kingdoms and the inhabitants of the Gnoma Range formally entered the Empire as Western Gnomania.

From there, the Gnoman Empire spread along the Gnoma Range to what had been the northern and southern reaches of Fugencia.

The range trailed off into an island chain to the south, which defined the southern edge of the Facian Sea. The Gnomans had initially settled the largest of these islands, Tulusa, which also sat the closest to Gnomania, and had attempted to establish peaceful trade with the inhabitants of the hundreds of smaller islands that spread to its south. Unfortunately, ownership of those islands was contested by three different, powerful kingdoms on the mainland south of the islands. The Gnomans made multiple attempts to negotiate peace with these kingdoms, or at least some sort of treaty that would allow the Empire to trade with the islands unmolested as a neutral party, but after one treaty negotiation ended with Tulusa itself being attacked, the Gnomans' naval forces moved into the islands, formally claiming many of them for the Empire, and committing to an ongoing, four-way war that continues to this day.

In the North, the predominantly human descendants of the Fugencians had survived comfortably on the farmlands surrounding the massive Gygian river that cut through the Gnoma Range and emptied into the Facian Sea. The poor mineral resources had made metal tools and weapons a precious commodity, however, and they'd been unable to reclaim their ancestors' former glory. Many accepted Gnoman rule simply for access to plows and other work implements fashioned from Gnoman steel. This brought the Gnoman Empire's influence to the lands just south of what is now Caelia,


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Interested in reading more about Kaleida? The Rise of Azraea, Book I,  is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon. 

Reference: The Gnoman Empire - History I

On the eastern edge of the shallow sea, the Faci Mountains became known simply as Facia. In this large, mountainous, thickly forested island, the peace established in the wake of the Great Orc Rebellion did not last long.

The smallest of the Fugencian races had been crafted to handle the administration of Fugencia, and they had been among those who'd been most discontent with their roles in Fugencian society before the Star Shift. To add insult to injury, although these small people had comprised an extraordinarily large portion of those living in the cities, they had been among those given the lowest priority when the cities were finally evacuated.

Still, many of these people did escape to the relative safety of the mountains; unfortunately, most of these refugees had never left their city of birth before, let alone spent time in the wilderness. Given this lack of preparation, and their small size and relative physical weakness, it is remarkable that they survived the ensuing chaos at all.

According to Lady Heppa, their attention to detail, their capacity to learn and focus on complex tasks, and their ability to work for long hours with minimal sleep was "beyond human." Being urban dwellers, they were naturally more resistant to the diseases that ravaged the tightly packed refugees, and being exceptionally small, they could survive on less food than their starving kinsmen. Eventually they found comfort and safety in the high trees that covered the mountains, and life in the Facian forests hardened them, honing their innate mental strengths into what Heppa described as "remarkable cunning" and "breathtaking ruthlessness."

When the elves swept in with their orc armies, the former administrators readily turned on their prior masters, happily betraying them to the elves, who accepted their aid and granted them freedom and status second only to their own. They served happily in this capacity until the Great Orc Rebellion came, at which point, most of them stepped out of the line of fire and waited to see which side would come out on top.

Although orcs and elves alike knew that the small Fugencians' neutrality was a matter of self-interest, and denigrated them for their lack of loyalty, they assumed that the small Fugencians' intentions were to dedicate themselves to the survivors once the war was over. Much to the orcs' surprise, however, when the outcome was finally settled, the descendants of the seemingly meek administrative caste turned and struck at the victors. Their small size, quick bodies, and home-field advantage made them dangerous combatants in the thickly forested Faci Mountains, and after generations of war, the Facians ultimately drove the surviving humans, orcs, and elves from the island and declared themselves to be the people of Facia.

The Facians prospered, and after settling into a period of relative peace, they focused on developing maritime skills to match their proficiency in the forests and mountains. They became great shipwrights, fishermen, and traders, as well as explorers. They 'rediscovered' much of their lost country, colonizing scattered islands inhabited by orcs and humans who were too disorganized to fend off the coordinated tactics used by Facian invaders. The Facians eventually claimed dominion over the entire shallow sea to the west of Facia and named it, unsurprisingly, the Facian Sea.

About the Facian Sea: The waters are so shallow and often so peaceful, that it is sometimes possible to study the seafloor below. In fact, Facian mariners began mapping the sea floor as they rolled along the oceans above it, and as others have contributed since, we now have relatively detailed maps of what Fugencia must have looked like before its flooding. Of note, long, wide, deep trenches running along the sea floor have been determined to be ancient rivers. The longest of these, in fact, still connects to the mouth of the Gygian river, carrying cold river water along the sea floor down to the warm, tropical waters of the Facian Sea. Littering the seafloor, and particularly concentrated around these submerged rivers, are numerous ruins which now host massive coral reefs. Most of these ruins are nearly unrecognizable to the untrained eye, but one of these locations must be carefully avoided in rough weathers, as the structures remain tall enough to tear through the bottoms of ships.   

Eventually the spreading Facians reached the large landmass that had once been the expansive, high elevation plains that lay east of Fugencia's western mountains, the Gnoma Range. Shielded by the mountains, these plains had once been relatively dry, even desert-like in places, but thanks to the shifting climate, the rivers running down from the Gnoma Range had swelled and increased in number, turning the dry plains into verdant farmland. The Facians, of course, claimed it as "Gnomania" and took it for their own, gradually displacing or eliminating the disorganized clans of freed orcs and indigenous humans over the centuries that followed.


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Interested in reading more about Kaleida? The Rise of Azraea, Book I,  is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon. 

Reference: The Star Shift and the Fall of Feguncia

According to Thinell and other well respected elvish historians, when elves first arrived in Kaleida's western hemisphere, Fugencia was a single contiguous continent controlled entirely by humans.

These humans constructed massive cities using stone, sand, and metal, and created many elaborate contraptions. Most remarkably, however, these humans had used biomancy to reshape their bodies, differentiating themselves into different races specialized to perform certain duties within their societies. I have had the good fortune to meet and interview the Lady Heppa, an elf who was present when her kin crossed the Morn Ocean and first encountered the Fugencians. Heppa described the society as initially giving the appearance of harmony, functioning much like one of their miraculous contraptions, but it didn't take her or her fellows long to discern the discontentment among the various racially defined castes. She commented to me that a catastrophic end for the civilization seemed inevitable.

That said, even the elves were shocked by what eventually happened.

Any casual student of our world's natural history is aware of the dramatic, heavenly event that has been dubbed the Star Shift, and is likely just as aware of the cataclysmic events that the Star Shift heralded. The old saying, 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' proved very true in the case of Fugencian society - intensely dependent on their world's ordered infrastructure, the people could not recover from the disruptions caused by the unexpected changes that followed.

About the Star Shift: Some astrologists believe that Kaleida is not a stationary sphere around which other bodies move, but rather a moving body itself, coordinated with other bodies in a sort of elaborate dance. As proof, they point out that it is highly unlikely that the sun, stars, and all of the other celestial bodies moving around Kaleida would collectively alter their course at the same time and in the same direction. It would be far simpler to assume that something occurred which caused Kaleida itself to alter its movement, and that from our perspective it simply appears as if everything else has moved. Supporters of this theory describe Kaleida as a top spinning around an orcish hearth on a perfectly smooth floor; they believe our top "wobbled" causing both the visible change in the heavens and the catastrophic events which they seemed to foreshadow. Many question the plausibility of this, however, pointing out that when a top "wobbles" it does not simply lean a certain amount and then stop, it either returns to its original orientation or careens across the floor (with disastrous results). Two answers are given by supporters of the top theory: the first is that the critics are taking the metaphor too literally (Kaleida behaves like a spinning top, but clearly it is not a toy), and the second (more nihilistic) response is, "give it time."

The Fugencians were evidently immediately alarmed when the constellations, and even the path of the sun, shifted north permanently and (relatively) quickly. According to Heppa, they attempted to take action at a massive scale, as if they somehow already knew what would ensue. However, although they alone seemed to know what was about to happen, conflict among the castes and among the Fugencians' leaders evidently made deciding what to do about it impossible. Although it took months for Fugencia to feel the consequences of the changing climate, the only large-scale response was a badly organized attempt to evacuate the coastal cities.

Evidently, many of the lower castes never escaped the cities, attempting to 'ride it out' in the larger structures. The rise in sea level was apparently far greater than they expected, however, and what buildings were not completely submerged were eventually undermined by the waves, collapsing into the sea like sand castles. Heppa estimates the death toll at the hundreds of thousands, a shocking number to be certain, but I must note that I had the definite impression she was low-balling her estimate because she believed I would not believe the full story as she remembered it.

In the east, the Morn Ocean not only devoured all of the Fugencians greatest cities, it swept many miles inland, forcing urban and rural dwellers alike to move to the high ground of the Faci Mountains for survival. The refugees packed into the cramped mountain valleys to escape the rising water, but starvation, disease, and violence ultimately claimed most of the initial devastation's survivors.

In the midlands, the great river basin that defined the continent's interior flooded and became a shallow sea, wiping out most of the kingdom's most productive farmland. Although most of the midland people escaped to the west and north, the disruption and upheaval broke the back of their society. The refugees clashed with their own kinsmen as they crowded into their neighbors' lands, pleading and eventually fighting for food and shelter. As the kingdom fractured, reformed, and fractured again, frantic warfare brought it lower still. Small provinces became independent kingdoms, and those kingdoms in turn declined into barbaric feudalism or worse.

According to Lady Heppa, her people quickly determined that there was no real way to 'save' the Fugencians, and sailed back to the Old Kingdoms to carry word of what they'd discovered and seen. Of course, quite to their surprise, the Old Kingdoms were contending with similar problems, and in a desperate attempt to resolve their own developing refugee crisis, the elvish kingdoms committed their armadas to a one way trip across the Morn to claim Fugencia and "put what was left to better use".

The ships were packed to capacity with orcs, who were in that time the elves' servants. They endured extreme hardship - a long voyage through unpredictable weather with minimal supplies. Heppa claimed that the rulers of the Old Kingdoms had not been interested in whether the voyage was successful; faced with a sudden population crisis, they had decided that sacrifices needed to be made, and that those sacrifices should largely come out of the orc population. Organizing a seemingly doomed expedition had been deemed a palatable alternative to mass executions.

A note: As to why any of the elves joined this apparently futile effort, Heppa explained that motivations varied. Some of the elves believed that if they did not go, the orcs would not be convinced to set sail, and so they embarked with the orcs believing that they were sacrificing themselves for the good of their people. Other elves, however, couldn't accept the ruthlessness of the plan, and traveled with the orcs, believing that their leadership would give their servants the best chance of survival. Heppa herself claimed that she was motivated by ambition and a degree of youthful recklessness - on the chance that she survived the journey, she'd be given her own force to command, and would be entitled to whatever she could lay claim to.

Heppa estimated that less than half of their ships survived crossing the Morn, and many of the orcs on the surviving ships had perished from starvation or in accidents. Nevertheless, although the orcs and elves alike were in a pitiful state when they reached what was left of Fugencia, the Fugencians were fairing at least as badly, and were in no way prepared to fight highly motivated elves and orcs. The armies from the east easily seized control of the island that had once been the Faci Mountains, gathered their strength, and then spread across the shallow sea, sweeping across Fugencia and conquering everything out to the far western and northern coasts. The surviving humans were either driven from the continent, or joined the orcs in serving the elves.

However, as Heppa acknowledged, this proved uncharacteristically short-sighted on the part of the elves. Elves, of course, reproduce much more slowly than either orcs or humans, and so as they expanded their influence, they also thinned their numbers, to the point of (in a few places) having to entrust their orc servants to oversee themselves. Mixed with the Fugencian humans, who had not been cowed by generations of subjugation, the orcs grew restless and that eventually set the stage for the Great Orc Rebellion.

Though it was a long war, that the orcs very nearly lost, the elves were eventually defeated, and scattered to the fringes of civilization. With the elves defeated, the orcs and humans carved the remaining land into a number of smaller kingdoms, maintaining varying degrees of segregation and friendliness over the years that followed.

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Interested in reading more about Kaleida? The Rise of Azraea, Book I,  is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon. 

Reference: The Land of Quinox

Across the mountains to the north of Caelia lies the continent of Quinox, which is divided into two distinct regions – an icy western half and a warm green eastern half.

Western Quinox is dominated by glaciers that stretch from the mountains north of Caelia all the way up to Kaleida’s ice cap. At first glance these icy fields seem every bit as inhospitable as the ice cap itself, but experienced travelers with Arbarii maps and star charts can find any of the numerous geothermal caves, sheltered hot-springs, and volcanic oases that can provide drinkable water and game. Of course, Western Quinox is only thinly populated; to avoid over-hunting and in deference to some historical tragedies, constructing permanent settlements in or around the volcanic oases and hot springs is forbidden. There are a few fishing villages along the west coast, and one Dwarven city dug deep into Windchill Mountain, a solitary peak which the dwarves riddled with holes to house devices that would capture the wind to power their machinery. Though the machines have become rusting derelicts since their Dwarven builders were forced from the mountain, the tunnels that funneled the wind through for them now create a distinctive sound that can be heard from miles away. Windchill Mountain's visibility and distinctive call made the subterranean city a permanent trading post.

The volcanic forces that disrupt the ice along the west side of the continent are much more prominent along the east side of the continent. Possibly a continuance of the Gnoma Range, a volcanic ridge-line runs from the northern edge of the Caelian plateau up to the edge of Kaleida’s ice cap. There the ridge-line arches eastward towards the Morning Ocean, creating a barrier that holds back much of the freezing winds that would sweep down from the arctic circle. Eastern Quinox alternates between paradisal and terrifying. Besides the large volcanoes and jagged mountains holding back the ice to the west and north, the landscape itself is littered with hot-springs, geysers, and smaller volcanoes in much greater quantity than the continent’s western half. Thanks to the volcanic activity, the soil is rich with nutrients, the mountains are ripe for mining, and water is plentiful, but it's also not unheard of for lakes to suddenly boil or freshwater springs to turn toxic - shamans and scholars that can forecast these changes are among the most valued and respected inhabitants of Eastern Quinox.

The countryside is also crossed by multiple rivers formed by run-off from the glaciers to the north and west draining to the eastern coast, and moisture produced by the contact between the western glaciers and the volcanic mountains creates heavy rain in the lowlands.   The same forces that yield such plentiful rain also produce violent storms and erratic seasons, though, making growing seasons short and unpredictable for those who live there. Nevertheless, the countryside produces many exports, and is a primary contributor to trade moving into and out of Caelia’s eastern ports.

The ice cap north of Quinox stretches clear across the northern sea, connecting to the northern reaches of the old Arbarii kingdom in the eastern hemisphere. Aside from the now very outdated recollections of the oldest of the elves, the nomadic Arbarii traders who travel across the icecap on their building-sized mammoths, are the only source of information about Kaleida's eastern hemisphere. Unfortunately, since the fall of the Arbarii kingdom centuries ago, the Arbarii traders have been largely cut off from all but the northernmost fringes of the eastern hemisphere, and since the decline of trade through Caelia, trips between the hemispheres have become infrequent.

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Interested in reading more about Caelia? The Rise of Azraea, Book I,  is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon.