Reply With QuoteLegend speaks of an old empire under the title of Al-ha, which was comfortably placed by the sea. The Al-ha empire was very wealthy, as it was a merchant's nation. Traders from near and far were welcome into the country, so long as they paid a tax to support the empire. In turn, it employed a very small militia, unable to defend the country against a large invasion, but more than able to protect any traveling merchants, caravans, and support a bureaucracy to keep the economy fair and flowing. No other countries dared attack the empire, as they pretty much supplied the entire world with any of their exotic needs. Due to this seemingly perfect system, everyone who lived there said the sun never sets on the Al-ha empire.
Because of its vast wealth, the country was able to maintain a decent realm of land. . It's rule extended well into the plains nearby, but stopped roughly where the mountains began. The plains were lush and grassy, locked in an eternal spring. The only was to discern the season of these time trapped plains was by looking at the flowers that grew there. In the spring, gorgeous flowers of purple bloom grew tall and in vast numbers. Each had a sweet scent that was rumored to remind any person of their first true love, and therefore hint to who your first love may be if you haven't yet met them. These purple flowers, the Amorias, gave way to the summer growth of Koroes. Koroes grew with blooms of bright red, never straying from a palette of shining crimson. Their special scent was a sharp, spicy one, said to insight rage in even the meekest of men. The red bloom of Koroes eventually die out, and in their place grow very wiry, almost pathetic light brown flowers. These were called Sighstocks, since their depressing stature and scent made most people lose interest in whatever they were doing. Lastly, to signal the approach of winter for the surrounding lands, a grey, four petaled flower grows. No one enters the plains when these flowers are in bloom. Since the plains had no seasonal flow of time to naturally enforce a life cycle, it compensated by giving these grey flowers the ability to take the life out of any living creature within three inches of it. The poisonous scent, taste, and touch of the Mortasias was so well respected and feared that the trade capital of the Al-ha empire became separated from the rest of the world during the winter.
The nearest country, Crao, lay beyond the mountains, the Al-Crao high wastes, which were declared as a No Man's Land since they were so treacherous and only traversed by the boldest of tradesmen. Crao was a warrior nation, where a new king was crowned every twenty years. The king was decided by the victor of a vicious tournament in the capital of Porr, in which all males of the Crao nation were required to battle in. Because of their brutal society, the Crao nation often makes a lot of their food and clothing from Koroes petals. This is the only reason they do not engage the Al-ha empire in war, as they know they don't have merchants who can cross the mountains and harvest the Koroes in the summer. Otherwise, the warrior nation was nearly always engaged in some conflict pertaining to conquest or another.
It was in the capital city that Emrys, the young teenager, lived. He was of average height, but a slight bit overweight. His hair was a fiery red colour, about neck length, messy and unkempt. His hair framed his round face well, brown eyes staring complacently forward. His father managed to become a relatively high ranking official in the Royal Army of Crao, not so high ranking that he became a household name, but to the point that he commanded respect for himself and his family. Emrys lived alone for most of the year, despite being only fifteen at the time. His father was deployed in some foreign country or another, and he had never gotten to know his mother. All he knew of her was what his father told him: that she was the most beautiful maiden in the entire Crao nation and territories, and also the most unfaithful.
Emrys never really minded living alone. Having to do mindless labor in order to support himself was a bit of a relief, as he was a pacifist in this nation of fighters. His only educational opportunities would have been to attend the Crao Military Academy, which he and his father both knew he would fail. Being a high ranking soldier, Emrys' father knew war at its worst, and would've launched a thousand raids in order to prevent his son from ever having to witness it, and therefore accepted his pacifism. As long as Emrys was working to do what made him happiest, his father was content. But, a fifteen year old boy rarely has his entire future mapped out, especially when given any option he could desire. So, for that point in time, he just focused on making enough money to last until his father came home on leave, and to compete in the Tournament of the King.
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Emrys locked the door behind him as he walked out of his house. Made of red brick, it stood proudly and firmly, two stories in height. To its left was a house of green brick, and to the right one of blue. These three houses were given to Emrys' father and two of the other officers in his squadron by the Royal Army. They were all connected a lawn of red grass, which was beginning to get slightly overgrown, Emrys noticed. Behind the houses was the large stone wall which fortified the city from invaders, still perfectly smooth and flawless on the inside. Emrys set out on a path that connected these three houses to a fountain area, paved with cobblestone. This fountain area was the hub of all of the paths for the district in which he lived, and the path that branched from North of the fountain lead into the city. The red grass was dry and in rough patches, despite being near the fountain. The soil throughout most of the Crao kingdom was of poor quality, which Emrys speculated was the reason it was so dependent on foreign supplies, and therefore so ready to charge in and conquer other nations.
As Emrys walked, lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice a group of three boys his age calling out to him.
“Emrys! Hey, fat boy! Are you deaf?!” shouted the first, a young man named Roy. He was shorter than Emrys, but a lot more muscular. He and his two sycophants, Mark and Andrew, made it their jobs to ensure Emrys was not entirely happy with his life. Roy and Mark lived next door to him, while Andrew lived close by on another path. All of their fathers scorned Emrys' for allowing his boy to be a pacifist and not stay in perfect physique. Sometimes Emrys wondered if their fathers made them harass him, or maybe that they were simply jealous that he had a free life with no one scolding his decisions and ensuring he became what someone else wanted.
“Uh, hello? We're talking to you, you little pig. It's rude to ignore people,” said Andrew, his dark, greasy hair falling well past his eyes.
“I'm the rude one?” queried Emrys, his face turning red, “Did you, or did you not, just call me fat and deaf?”
“It isn't rude to make an observation. In fact, it's key to surviving out on the battlefield. Not that little pigs like you need to know about that sort of thing,”sneered Roy, Mark stifling a chuckle. Mark never was a very well spoken person.
Emrys felt a wave of dread was over him, and wanted to run very badly. But, he remained where he stood; he was a pacifist, not a coward.
Roy ran his hand through his hair, which was a similar shade to Emrys', and said,”How about we give the little pig a lesson in war, eh guys? Since he doesn't go to school, he should learn it somewhere else, right?”
A crooked smile lit up on Mark's face, and Andrew began walking closer towards Emrys, a very peculiar light now in his eyes. Roy cracked his knuckle and began walking towards Emrys as well, the three of them beginning to close in on him.
“Listen, my dad is at the same rank as yours, he'll teach me later, but I, uh, I really need to get to work, okay?” said Emrys in a panic, trying to back up to start walking away. However, the three kept getting nearer to him.
“But he won't be back for a few days, as we all know. Who knows, you might need the knowledge tomorrow,” he Roy said, a smile growing large on his face. He raised his left hand up in the air, and then pointed at Emrys with a swift motion.
Andrew and Mark had Emrys by his arms almost instantly, moving too quickly for Emrys to see how they got so close to him. Roy swaggered and reared his fist back, aiming a blow for Emrys' face.
“If he doesn't know anything about fighting, why does it take three of you to take him on?”
A figure phased into view, standing right behind Roy. Its hand snatched Roy's and then spun it around behind his back, locking him in an arm-bar. Before he knew what was happening, Mark and Andrew were both stricken and lying on the ground next to Emrys. Two more figures then snapped into view, standing about a foot away from Emrys.
That's when it clicked to Emrys just who had come to his rescue; in a city where fighting is the common law, there are no police. So, a band of highly skilled vigilantes formed together, deeming themselves the Rooster Claws. They patrolled the streets using magic from another land that granted them invisibility, working to ensure that the weak are kept safe and the powerful and kept in check. There were about twenty members, excluding the current king, who had won the Tournament twenty years ago.
“Don't worry, kid. These guys won't want to pick on you again for a long time after today,” said Rocky, Roy squirming for freedom, despite it being a futile attempt.
“You should probably get going, if you were heading somewhere. Being late is never a good idea,” said Pete, a comforting smile on his face.
“What if you're late to a dinner, but it turns out someone was trying to kill you, and by being late you missed their assassination attempt?” Asked Chad, his tone making it unable to tell if he was being humorous or serious.
“Man, you're going to make the kid paranoid! Just get going, alright?”
Said Rocky, gesturing for Emrys to be on his way.
“Oh, uh, okay... Uh, thank you! I'm not sure what to do in repayment, but someday I will!” Emrys said, turning and waving goodbye. Setting back down the path, he felt truly indebted to these three strangers. He also felt as if he might actually be able to repay them someday in the future, despite not yet knowing how or when. Regardless, Pete had a point. Emrys wasn't sure of the time, but he was probably going to be late if he dawdled any longer.
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