Achea - Divine Land

[Captain Dappet]

I have decided to give my epic fantasy story, based on a past RPG of mine a chance again. I've so far written one chapter, and the Introduction. Here's the intro for ya.

Achea � Divine Land

The seven races and the Creation.

There were once seven Gods. Seven gods and a great space. The leader of the seven Gods was named Cyric, he was the God of Light. He figured that a space is made to be filled with something, so he decided that he and the other gods would create a world in this giant space. Moradin, the God of Forges started forging a magic stone, which the seven gods were to use to create this new world. Each god blessed the stone with their special powers.

So the day came, when the seven Gods rallied around the stone and began the creation of the world.

However, a small incident occurred in the middle of the process. The Stone exploded into two stones, and were lost to the Gods. However, the world had been created successfully.

Cyric told the seven gods that each of them were to create a race to control that inhabited the world.

Cyric himself created the race of elves and put them to inhabit the great forests of Nalah Dah.
Moradin, the God of Forges created a short, but long lived race of Dwarves, that populated the huge underground mining community of Khaz-Modan.
The great Warrior God Thur created the race of Minotaurs in the Land of Ioklos and appointed nine with special powers, weaponry and immortality. These were the Guardians of Thur.
Hazaa�Cha the Berserk God created the fanged savage race of Trolls, and placed them in the lush lands of Tuvak�Dulas.
The Horse God Chanaal created the Centaurs to dwell in the steppes of Yevan.
The Arrogant Reptile Goddess Chagra Cha�ss created the race of Saurians, more commonly known as �Lizardfolk� because of their Reptilian Appearance to dwell in the endless swamps of Nyissa.
And lastly, Sargon, the God of Greed, Power and Passion created the race of men, who quickly started founding Kingdoms. The two Largest of these kingdoms are the Khalg�n Empire with its Eternal Legions and Namlionor, the kingdom of freedom.

And randomly among the mortal races were put individuals with the power of Sorcery. There are new Sorcererors born all the time, but most go through their entire lives without knowing that they have been bestowed with this gift.

There were more than seven Gods, but these were Lesser Gods, and they didnt have a race to control. These Gods had been defeated millenia before the world was created. All of these Gods had an Altar placed somewhere in the world. One of these Gods tricked some humans to start worshipping him by sacrificing sheep at his altar. Once the sacrifices were sufficient, the last God who perished in the War of Ancients and the most dangerous of the Gods of Darkness, Torak was reborn. He was obsessed with gaining power in this new world and found it in a certain people of men. The Khalg�nese.

After a while, Torak was not satisfied with having animals sacrificed, he wanted people. The Khalg�nese resisted, so Torak destroyed entire villages and killed hundreds of people. Eventually the Khalg�nese peoples gave in and the Order of Grolimen was created. This order consisted of Priests, or Grolims, that were fiercely loyal to Torak. The Grolims were Sorcerors and the ones that would sacrifice people to their Dark God.

Some of the Khalg�nese escaped into the mountains of Qandahar. These men and women were granted great wisdom by the Greater Gods and called themselves the Seers of Kazragore. They started writing two Prophecies, the Grolimen Code and the Thaseon Code, both foreseeing a single event. The Meetings of Light and Dark. The both Prophecies viewed the same event from two perspectives. The Grolimen Code viewed it from the Darkness, and it said that in the end Darkness would Reign, while the Thaseon Code viewed the event from the Light, and said the the Light would be victorious.

The battle of the Prophecies took place long ago. Torak used his Elven servants, that had been twisted beyond recognition and renamed the Orcs, and Demonic allies, that he had summoned through a great Portal, against the armies of Men, Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Minotaurs, Centaurs, and Saurians. The armies of the Free Races managed to fight back Torak�s Orcs, and the Child of the Light, the human sorceress, Jaina Dwayvle, met the divine Child of Darkness, Torak, in single combat.
After much bloodshed and hardship, Jaina banished Torak from Achea, and the explosion thar erupted with his death, created a crater that has lasted to this day. And even now, nothing grows there because of Torak�s evil taint.

But though Torak was banished, one problem remained. The Portal to the Demonic World, which the Demonlords and their minions used to enter Achea, was still open, and there was no way to destroy or close it from Achea.

Taljik Grimsight, the Emperor of the Troll Empire of Tuvak�Dulas, and direct descendant from the first Emperor of Tuvak�Dulas, the demi-god Zuljin, led the Troll Hordes through the Demonic Portal, and closed it from the other side, trapping him and his warriors to certain death on the Demon�s world, but saving Achea ultimately.

The world was largely damaged by the war, and the Demon�s invasion. The nations of Achea were weak, especially Tuvak�Dulas. Some nobles of men saw their oppurtunity, and attacked Tuvak�Dulas, only months after the banishment of the Demon invaders.
With their Emperor lost, and the majority of their army gone with him, the Trolls did not have much to put up against the human armies. The Trollish Empress was killed, and their cities razed. Tuvak�Dulas ceased to exist, and the lush forests and fields that it once had was divided among the Lords of Men, creating a number of new human Kingdoms.

Now, 20 years after the War, the world stands upon the brink of conflict, once again, as something sinister moves in Achea. Reports of the Orcs regrouping are heard throughout the world, and the mages of of Nyissa, the Human Kingdoms, the Elven Kingdom of Nalah Dah, and even the remaining Troll Shamans, sense a growing darkness emerging.

Something is moving in Achea. A New Destiny has been forged, and once again, there are two possible outcomes. The Victory of the Light, or the Darkness.

[Captain Dappet]

Kamos

�The trail ends here, Kamos� Tratos said, with a tone of confusion in his voice.
Kamos stroked his chin in thought. Kamos was a Minotaur, and one that had seen much throughout his lifetime. He bore scars over his large, muscular arms from past battles. He had one single scar in his face. It went from the start of his left horn and straight across his left eye, causing that eye to be blue-grayish in colour. Kamos was a known and respected commander in the Minotaur Army, and right now he was currently on the small tropical island of Salan, with a small group of hand-picked warriors.
Tratos was Kamos� right hand. Tratos was older than Kamos. About ten years seperated the two. The years had not been kind to Tratos. He lived with wounds from the wars and battles he fought. One of the more serious ones was that Tratos did not have a right hand. It was bit off by a Leviathan in his youth, when he tried to tame it by hand-feeding it. A foolish thing to do, but then again, Tratos was not such a bright bull when he was young.

Kamos and Tratos, and the four other warriors, Kantos, Kastor, Thaseus and Rahn, were on Salan right now, hunting for the Sorceror Kemsyt, whom they had been hunting for the past week now. Kemsyt was really just a bandit. He led a fleet of pirates, and had been bothering the Minotaur tradeships lately.

Kamos and his hunters had gotten Kemsyt on the run, and cornered him onto the island of Salan, where they were now chasing him, but lost the trace.

Kamos thought for a second, then took a few steps forward, past Tratos, who watched him with his dark, watchful eyes. The rest of the warriors scanned their surroundings carefully, should danger arise.

Kamos stayed silent for a while, then cursed silently.
�Where are you hiding, Kemsyt?� he mumbled, and then turned around to face Tratos and the others. �We will continue along this path for now� he commanded with his rumbling voice.
Tratos nodded and motioned for the other four warriors to follow, as he continued along the path with Kamos.

The path was small, which made it much less than easy for six two metre tall and quite large Minotaurs to pass unnoticed. If anyone lived in this forest, it�s quite likely that they knew they were here.
Kamos knew this, and had warned his men to more or less expect ambushes. So far, there had been none. This worried Kamos.

Kemsyt was a sneaky fellow, and Kamos suspected he might be up to something sinister this time, like many times before.

Kamos and his five companions wandered for a few minutes, until they reached the end of the forest. The tropical palm-like trees ended near a steep cliff, overlooking a long white tropical beach, and the blue sea. It was a clear day. When looking at the horizon, you could barely tell where the blue sky stopped, and the sea started.
Kamos looked over the beach, but didnt see anything. Tratos walked up to him and stood on his right side.
�Well?� the old Minotaur said.
�Well...� Kamos replied, and was going to admit that he had lost Kemsyt, again, when he caught something moving in the corner of his eye. He turned quickly around and looked at the moving object. A short, almost hunchbacked man wearing dirty brown robes limping across the beach.
Kemsyt!
Kamos raised his large arm and pointed at Kemsyt on the beach. �There he is� he growled, and then paused. �Catch him!� he then shouted. The ground trembled underneath his mighty voice.
At the very second of Kamos� order, he and his hunters jumped down the ridge they were standing on and onto the beach, running towards Kemsyt.

The human quickly turned around, staring at the six minotaurs running at him. He stood still for a second, and then ran, as fast as he could, towards a cliff wall at the end of the beach.

The sandy beach made it difficult for Kamos and his companions to run, but they did their utmost. They weren�t going to let Kemsyt get away from them this time. The sand blew around them as if it was a storm.

�I have you now, Kemsyt� Kamos growled to himself �There�s no way out�

[Captain Dappet]

Kemsyt

Kemsyt grabbed the cliff wall with his right hand to gain momentum, as he ran from the Minotaurs. He glanced back behind him, and then continued straight forward, towards the ship that laid anchored just behind the cliff he had just ran around.
�Go! Set sail!� Kemsyt shouted at the crewmen on the ship, as he waded out in the water, and crawled up on deck.
The men, a ... �colourful� bunch, hurried around the ship, and the vessel slowly started moving. Kemsyt got up and looked out at the beach.
At that moment, the Minotaurs ran around the cliff wall. Kemsyt waved at them, scornfully.
His weather-torn, scarred, bearded, and deeply tanned face was distorted into a scornful grin.
�Next time, perhaps, Kamos!� he shouted in at the shore.
The bull-man at the shore tensed his great muscles and raised his head, letting out a furious roar.
Kemsyt laughed, turned around and walked towards his cabin. He walked down the small steps and into a slim corridoor, and to his personal cabin. By the door stood a large, muscular man.
�Welcome back, sir� the man said and smiled, showing a row of yellow teeth.
�Thank you, Artek� Kemsyt replied, grinning.
�Did you find what you were looking for, sir?� Artek asked Kemsyt respectfully, not wanting to insult Kemsyt in any way at all.
�If you must know� Kemsyt replied, now getting tired of questions, and opened the door to his cabin, and looked at Artek �Yes, I did.�
Artek nodded silently, and didn�t ask any more questions.
Kemsyt nodded as well, pleased with Artek�s silence and then closed the door to his cabin behind him.
Artek had gotten smarter over the years. When he was new around he had to be...diciplined...often.
Kemsyt was content with this progress. It was certainly a lot of hassle having to make him understand things.
He pondered this progress as he sat down by his desk and pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket of his coat.
He unrolled it on his desk and studied it closely. It was filled with strange letters, and a couple of odd pictures. One of them depicted a bird...At least that�s what it looked like.

Kemsyt shook his head. Crazy people. He had been hired by a fellow named Sorchak in Maga Renn to find this piece of paper. It must be pretty important, as well, because this Sorchak had paid good money for it.

He didn�t know anything about Sorchak. Kemsyt usually wanted to get to know his customers a bit first, but this one didn�t look like the type of guy who answers questions. He was a Grolim, that much was obvious.

At least to one who pays attention.

Sorchak talked in that special way that the Grolims do, that�s what gave him away. The rolling r�s, and the raspy voice that most of them have.
Normal people don�t know why they talk like that. Maybe because no one really wants to ask them.

Kemsyt rolled the paper together again and put it into a drawer. He stood up, and walked along to the large window at the end of his dark cabin, overlooking the blue sea, and the tropical island of Salan behind them.
The scornful grin from before returned to Kemsyt�s face as he thought of the Minotaurs that was now about to return to their ship, no doubt, to start to chase him again.

He chuckled and shook his head. �You�ll never catch me, Kamos� he said to himself �You might as well give up.�

[Captain Dappet]

Kenjik

�There it is!� the human voice shouted. Kenjik spun around, and locked his yellow eyes on the humans behind him. They were aiming their bows at him, getting ready to drill him full of arrows.
Kenjik let out a threatening, hissing kind of growl, and ran off in between the trees.
The arrows flew past his big pointed ears, and missed him just barely.

Kenjik Bloodfangs was a Forest Troll. Bloodfangs was a name that was given to Kenjik 15 years after his birth, as was Troll custom. The Trolls chose only names that fit with the individual. The Trolls were viewed by the rest of the world as hideous half-sentients, even though it was in fact the Trollish Emperor Taljik, who had saved the world from the Demon invasion, and the Trolls were one of the first races in the world to practice magic.

Kenjik had a big, sharp nose, like all trolls had, a long chin. Out of his broad mouth, came two large, slightly curved, fangs, that were pointed upwards from his lower jaw. His hair is what made him unlike most trolls. Most trolls had colours like green, black or blood red hair. Kenjik�s hair was multicoloured. This was a rare trait, but not unheard of. Kenjik�s hair was mainly black, but in it were dark purple highlights, that became more and more intense, the farther from his forehead you got.
Like many Trolls, his hair grew naturally upwards, in a spikey manner, but only in the middle of his head, creating a large mohawk, that had, in Kenjik�s case, become so long, that it almost reached his backside.
Being a Forest Troll, Kenjik�s skin was green, to blend in with the forest environment around him.

These humans had been chasing him for three days. There were three of them. Originally, there were five of them. Kenjik especially enjoyed the dark-skinned female. Unfortunately, her three remaining companions did not allow him to finish his meal, as they found him in the middle of it. Kenjik was dissappointed by this.

Anyways, these humans were skilled hunters. Kenjik saw the possibility that he might not get out of this alive. If that was to come to pass, at least he would�ve died at the hands of worthy hunters, even though they were humans.

Kenjik took a giant leap at a tree, and then bounced from that tree to another, adjacent tree, which he then swiftly clung up and hid in.

It didn�t take long before the humans showed up, carefully making their way on the forest floor. Kenjik watched. And waited. Waited for the perfect moment to strike. He may be the prey in their minds, but a Troll is never the prey, always the predator. Never the hunted, always the hunter.

�Where�d he go?� one of the three humans said, looking nervously around him. This one didn�t look like much of a threat.
�He�s around.� The biggest of them replied. This one had a bearded face, and a booming voice. He seemed to be the leader of the pack, and a dangerous warrior. The third hunter was silent, and watchful. He had a brooding image about him, and his silent watching. Kenjik deemed this one to be the biggest threat, therefore the one to get the first punch.

Kenjik waited silently, until the silent one stood close to the tree he was hiding in.
Kenjik lept from the tree, down at the human, and clasped his two, large, green, three-fingered hands around his neck, and pulled him backwards into the tree, then swiftly sinking his short, slightly curved Trollish sword into the human�s gut, then quickly retracting it.

The nervous human stared blankly at the slaughter of his fallen comrade, unable to take action, until it was too late. When he started fiddling about with his arrows and bow, Kenjik spun around and swiftly cut the human�s head straight off his neck.

The third human, the leader of them, had time to prepare himself, and drew his sword, preparing to go head-to-head in single combat with a Forest Troll.
�Give it up, fiend, and I might kill you quickly� the human said, weighing his sword in both hands.
�Oooh, you could try yer luck, mon� Kenjik replied, with a smirk on his face. To his suprise, the smirk was returned by the human in front of him.
�I don�t need luck, you ugly bastard� the man said, and suddenly looked up and nodded.
Before Kenjik could react a big net was dropped over him. He was trapped, and at the mercy of these humans. He assumed this one had more companions, and he was proved to be right, as four or five humans emerged from the trees and bushes.
The bearded human looked down on him with a superior grin on his face. Kenjik looked up at his face, and gave him a wide smile, and chuckled slightly.
�You be tricksy� he said, chuckling, and pointed at him.
�Of course� the human replied, and then turned to one of his companions, a tanned, dark haired and beautiful human female �Take him back to camp� he ordered. The beautiful woman nodded, and along with her comrades, dragged Kenjik Bloodfangs to their camp.

[Captain Dappet]

Aria

�You get first watch, Aria� Arick Tross said to her, while looking at the caged Troll they just captured. It was currently singing a grotesque song in it�s native language. Arick shook his bearded head �He�s insane or something. Don�t let him look you too long in the eyes, I�ve heard that they can-�
�...turn you into stone. Yeah, I�ve heard that too.� Aria said in a tired tone. She didn�t believe that for one second. �I�ll manage, Arick, don�t worry.�
�Fine� Arick said, and corrected his sheathed sword on his waist. �Feldor will relieve you at nightfall. Be careful around him now. I�ve also heard that they like to-�
�...eat people alive. Yes, I�ve heard that too, and there might be more truth to that than the thing about them turning people to stone. Now, please, Arick, just go, I�ll manage, alright?� she said, becoming inpatient.
�Fine!� he said, throwing his hands up in the air. �Just don�t ask me for help when he starts chewing those beautiful limbs off of you� he said, and left her alone in the tent, with the caged Troll in it.

She sat down on a bench, and curiously watched the Troll in the cage.
Her name was Aria Aylomen. She was a huntress in Arick Tross� hunting party. Originally, they were out here to hunt boar, but after this Troll killed the biggest boar Arick ever saw right before his eyes, just as he was about to, they stopped hunting boar, and hunted this Troll instead. Arick was going to pull it�s fangs out and sell them on the black market in Namlionor.
Aria was a pretty lady, with tanned skin and dark hair, and deep brown mysterious eyes. She was an orphan, and Arick was like her father, and parts of the hunting party were like her family.
Not the ones killed by this Troll, however. In fact, she didn�t even like the people this Troll had killed, so she didn�t really mind.
She was lost in her own thoughts, when suddenly, the raspy yet booming voice of the Troll was heard in the tent.
�You have name?� it said, and looked at her with its glowing yellow eyes from the darkness of his cage.
She quickly realized that she had been caught of guard, and sat straight up immediately.
�I do� she said with attempted calm, which failed miserably.
It was silent for a second, then the Troll revealed his grisly teeth in a wide grin.
�Well...What is it?� it asked her, calmly and with no sign of malice in his tone.
�It�s Aria, if you must know� she said, and her hand automatically went down to her sheathed short sword.
�Mine be Kenjik� The Troll said, still looking at her with his glowing yellow eyes �Some dey call me Kenjik Bloodfangs�
�Bloodfangs? That sounds like a very nice and civilized name� Aria said unkindly, in a sarcastic tone.
�Hey, not me pickin� da name, oo�man� the Troll named Kenjik replied, throwing his hands up in the air �But, you know how it is, aye? I would�a picked sumthin� much better like...� he scratched his long chin, ran his hand from his chin, to his mouth, where fingered a bit on one of his two long fangs, and the proceeded up to his mohawk, which he ran his three fingers through �Woody� he said finally.
Laurie raised an eyebrow, and couldn�t help but smile warmly �Woody?� she said, putting her arms crossed on her chest, awaiting an explanation, still smiling.
�Aye!� Kenjik said nodding enthusiastically �You know...I live in da woods, and in da woods, dere�s wood. And I�ve always lived there, ya�know? So me �tink Woody would be more appropriate� he explained.
Aria looked at him, still smiling. He was pretty charming, for an animal, she thought.
�I can call you Woody� she said after a while.
The Troll looked at her, and a smile ran across his large face. �Whatever you wan�� he said, respectfully.
�Alright, Woody� she said smiling, and let the conversation die.

Then, something suddenly hit her. This creature was going to die, and she would have to see it. In fact, she might even be forced to do it herself. She wasn�t sure she could handle that, after realizing that this Troll was a sentient creature.

So, what was she going to do? Go talk to Arick? Yes...Go talk to Arick. He�d listen to her. He�d understand. She wanted to do it now, right away, but she couldn�t just leave Kenjik like that. He still could escape, and she wouldn�t want that to happen on her watch.

She got up, and poked her head out of the tent. Luckily, in that moment another hunter, the elderly, bearded skinner of the group, Dagren, walked by.
�Dagren!� Aria shouted, catching the old man�s attention. He walked up to her and said;
�Yes, child? What is it?�
�Could you guard our little guest here for a moment? I need to speak with Arick.�
�Sure thing, Aria� Dagren said, and pulled up his one-handed axe. �If it gets violent, I�ll let old Zareth here put it down.�
Aria smiled weakly, and nodded.
�Thanks, Dagren� she said, and walked past the old man, smiling at him greatfully, and then making her way through the camp to Arick�s tent.

The camp was posistioned in a large clearing in the middle of the forest. It was said that there used to be a Troll village here, but that the Ezrathic Armies had leveled it to the ground. Ezrath was the most malevolent of the new Kingdoms of Men founded in the former Tuvak�Dulas, and also the most powerful.

Aria would have shrugged at the destruction of the Troll village prior to today, but Kenjik had made her think. He didn�t say anything special, but the fact that he had feelings and intelligence was enough.

Aria entered Arick�s tent and found him sitting in a chair with a pair of half moon-shaped glasses far down on his nose, reading a book, and with a long Dwarven pipe in his mouth.
He looked up at Aria, slightly suprised, and put a bookmark in the book, closed it, and then took the pipe out of his mouth.
�I thought you were with the Troll� Arick said, in a suprised tone.
�I was� she replied �But not anymore. Arick, did you know that Trolls are sentient? They�re not animals, they�re intelligent beings, and-�
�I know this� Arick said coldly, interrupting her.
�You...You know this?� she said, slightly shocked, as she was beginning to understand. Arick was hunting them for his own twisted pleasure, not for revenge, and not for the fangs.
�Aria...� Arick said, and took off his glasses, and put them down on a small table next to him �The Trolls may be sentient, but they�re barbarians. They eat people, my dear. They don�t deserve to live. And their Shamans-...�
�They�re not humans, Arick! You can�t expect them to be like us!� she shouted, suddenly feeling rage and even hatred towards Arick stir up inside her.
�But they eat humans! We can�t sit idly by and let them eat our people� he snapped at her.
�Humans took their lands from them, Arick. What do you want them to do? Welcome us with open arms?�
�Of course not. They should be all dead. Aria, the Trolls, this Troll in particular, are dangerous. If we don�t kill them, they�ll kill us. We have no choice. Don�t you understand?�
Aria stared at Arick for a moment, then she sighed.
�I-..I guess you�re right, Arick� she said �I don�t know what came over me�
Arick replied with a smile �It�s alright. Now, go back and guard it again, okay?�
�Yeah...I�ll do that� she said smiling back.

She exitted the tent, and started walking back to Kenjik�s tent. Arick was such a fool. He really believed that she accepted his view there. She grinned mischeviously.

�Woody is about to get his green backside saved� Aria thought silently to herself.

[Pah-Wraith]

Very Good!

Blimey very good use of English for someone who's first language IS english, let alone for you, who picked up as a Second Language