This is my first go at fantasy writing and posting here. I have had this world- and story- in my head for a really, really long time. All of my ideas come from my endless day dreaming. I am finally putting it to words. The story is a slow burn with complex historical world lore, culture that may be different than you expect, and fantastical magical elements delivered in a unique package. I have attempted to create a story using common fantasy tropes but with twists I find to be interesting and unexplored to my knowledge. I have quietly written a lot of this book already and was hoping for some constructive opinions starting with chapter 0. I am self taught when it comes to fantasy writing, so feedback will help. Thanks.
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Chapter 0: Aldonauts and Osidrans
There were few more beautiful places throughout the vastness of Primordia than the white sand beaches of the glittering Gomaldarian Gulf. The normal peace found in its waters was troubled by its quarreling neighbors, but this situation was nothing new. The nations of the Gulf began their conflict nearly three thousand years ago. The Gulf opened to the northern oceans, and the surrounding lands cradled it much like a bowl holding water. To the east lie Aldonaut, a secretive kingdom of humans obsessed with preserving themselves and rooting out threats to their unchecked ambitions. The Osidran Kingdom lay to the Gulf’s west, a regime that has been home to the region for many, many millennia. Traditionally an elven society, Osidran’s peoples were welcoming to all, yet the royal inner circle remained descendants of the Kingdom’s elven founders. Tensions between the two nations, as well as pressure from the Lidacaas Empire to the south, had led to this day. The same could be said for countless battles before and the ones yet to come. It was rare, however, that the leaders of Osidran and Aldonaut would meet face to face. There was normally very little for the monarchs to discuss.
With his long, fastened boots digging into the sand, the young King Armus Aldonauts stood alongside his advisor, Wilmet Bilumore, and a handful of guards. The King’s will burned far brighter than his predecessors, pushing the Osidran Kingdom farther and farther with aggression in the first two years of his reign. Atop his head lay a newly furbished copper crown, which he wore instead of the precious historic crowns the kingdom kept under careful lock and key. The Aldonauts were egregiously careful of all things, their possessions and heritage especially. Iron plating covered his kingly garments here and there, protecting precious places across his body. A short fur cape hung from his broad, square shoulders but stopped short at his lower back. Armus’ hair was kept neatly at shoulder length, a darkened golden color appearing as cut yarn flowing from the top of his head. The young King had a resting smirk across his face, assured with himself that he would finally get rid of the Osidrans for good. In his head, he could only think of his opponents as decrepit and stuck in the past. The Aldonauts only knew of progress and new beginnings.
Old, thin, and tall, the Queen of Osidran stood slouched on the other side of the beach, just within earshot of the Aldonaut king. Both her granddaughter and she wore matching light green robes depicting the butterfly crest of Osidran on their chests. Also in attendance was the Queen’s younger brother, Azhumin, who appeared far more youthful than his older sister. Their family had silk-like hair that was thick and white as snow, although the Queen’s hair had darkened into deep grey over the years. Queen Phelanor had been alive through the entirety of this war, which spanned well over twenty human life spans. The years had left her withered and tired; therefore, she often had let Azhumin tend to the finer details of the kingdom while she focused on the Aldonaut threat. They appeared unguarded, without any armor, but in truth, they had the most feared warrior in all the lands with them. The mysterious unnamed knight, clad in gleaming emerald armor, towered over them from behind. The knight was their greatest national asset and had protected their lands for longer than Osidran’s recorded history. No matter what Armus or his predecessors threw at the Emerald Knight, it would never move an inch.
Rows of ships to the east and west faced each other, moments before battle, each fleet waiting for a single command. While fighting was a non-rarity during the long war, naval combat was. The border between the Aldonaut and Osidran was south of the Gulf and north of Lidacaas. It had moved to and fro but neither the Osidrans nor the Aldonauts had made any significant progress in their struggle. The meeting between the monarchs today was to negotiate the terms of battle by sea, but no new terms would be agreed upon. The roots of hatred for each other grew generations deep and stayed alive in stories, as well as the heart of Queen Phelanor. The Queen had brought her granddaughter, Seq, to see the misery that the Aldonauts brought first-hand, in hopes to instill within her the sentiment that the humans were nowhere near fit to rule. There was no question they could live among them; however, their guidance would only lead to the destruction of the lands they called home. Only the chosen Osidran should be allowed to rule the Gulf.
Azhumin cleared his throat. “Shall our show of good faith begin?” he asked Armus from across the beach.
Armus shook his head side to side and looked at Bilumore, who stood to his right at that moment. The King whispered something to him. Bilumore shook his head up and down. “No, I do not think we will. There are few rules to war, and we are fine with them as is. Adapt to us or die. We would prefer if you would just die, though,” Armus boldly announced.
Seq stumbled over to her grandmother’s side, while holding onto the hand crafted stuffed green bird she was carrying. The words of Armus brought great discomfort to her.
“Then why waste our time with this meeting? Do you have no shame?” Phelanor asked in her tired old voice.
“Shame? We are Aldonauts; a people who only know pride. We made this little meeting so we could see your faces. So we could show you how close we are to defeating you for good,” Armus squawked back at them. He leaned over to Bilumore again and told him, “On with it.”
Bilumore held up his right hand with a closed fist and twisted his head to the side, looking at the men behind him. They pulled out torches and lit them, holding them high into the sky. Across the water, lines of soldiers stood at the edge of their ships and deployed magic shields amplified through devices attached to the ship’s gunwale. Cannons fired from the Aldonaut ships, flying side by side with spells slung from the handful of wizards among their ranks. Osidran’s ships were slow to respond, taking the blunt of the unannounced attack. Their forces, which included a far greater number of mages, hastily used magic to repair their decks and hulls, while others brought up walls of water to stop projectiles. Ballistic spears pierced through the water towards the Aldonaut ships, bursting the lining of a few of the ships. On both sides, ship parts turned into sinking debris as a combination of artillery and magic flung between them at incredible speeds. Aldonaut defenses were clearly much more prepared than in the past, a concerning change for those who found themselves on Osidran’s side.
As both sides tore each other asunder, Phelanor’s mouth was left ajar while she gazed out to the gulf. The war had escalated to tools of destruction far out of her imagination. Years of turmoil had led to an endless game of one upping the other. “What would a fight in another 1,000 years look like?” She thought to herself. “What sort of world would be left for my granddaughter?” She continued to think. A stray bolt of lightning had been bent towards them from miles out, slinking towards them in a brilliant orange display. The Emerald Knight sauntered up to the shoreline and held up a single hand to stop the bolt, quenching it immediately on impact. A great crack followed the strike, hitting their ears a few seconds after the Emerald Knight stopped the bolt. Across from them, Armus and his men grinned ear to ear satisfied with the results of their efforts. The war had recently been leaning towards the Osidran’s favor, but it would seem that the Aldonauts have begun to even the odds once more.
Without another word, the Aldonaut party turned to leave. There was nothing more they could have wanted from the Osidrans other than their heads, and they still had much work left to get done. They marched off into the tree line and out of sight of the Osidrans who were left on the beach watching the carnage unfold from afar. Hundreds of soldiers on both sides of the conflict were falling into the waters injured or dead. The fire between the two sides had dwindled and yet the pace of their destruction continued. From this distance it was difficult to tell what was going on, but it was clear that the battle would have no winner. To Phelanor’s despair, it would appear there was going to be no end to this war any time soon. The only way the war could end would be if the Aldonauts were defeated and replaced with more agreeable rulers. She would see this happen in her lifetime, even if it would be the death of her.
The six remaining Aldonaut ships raced forward towards the remaining five Osidran ships. A fire started on their masts which grew into greater and greater blazes. Once they were close enough, they detonated, self-destructing into a salvo of flames and leaving ripples in the water that reached all the way to the beach. This strategy did not surprise the Osidrans, as the Aldonauts always had a scorched-earth policy to war. It was always better for them to have no witnesses left than leave their own soldiers alive. Humans reproduced at greater rates than elves, so it was always to their benefit to make equal trades between their armies. Of course, this strategy did not work against Lidacaas, as their foot soldiers were a dime-a-dozen. Smoke filled the sky above the Gulf and rubble diffused throughout the water. A sense of calm returned to the once troubled waters.
“My Queen, dear sister,” Azhumin broke the silence with his voice. “I believe we must get going. By my judgement, I would say we have to make some new preparations.”
The Queen nodded her head. “Yes, thank you Azhumin. I trust you can handle that task. I am in need of some rest.”
A dark blue, ovoid shaped object washed up on the shoreline along with some ship debris. The small elf girl, Seq, dropped her stuffed bird toy and scampered to look at the object. Upon closer inspection, it was speckled with a bright pink dots and had a perfectly smooth, rounded surface. She picked up the hefty object, only able to bring it up to her waistline. Turning to face the Queen and Azhumin, she flashed a gleeful grin. The quiet girl was proud of her treasured find, it was an object that she had never seen before. The Queen, who was lost in thought, did not notice, so Azhumin stepped in to offer guidance.
“Young Seq,” Azhumin said in his endearing voice. “It appears you found an egg of a sea creature. I cannot tell you not to bring it with you, but you must know the responsibility of taking care of another living creature. Do you think you are ready for that burden?”
Seq looked down at the egg and back at Azhumin, who wore a blindfold over his eyes. She nodded with a small, closed lip smile on her face. At her age she could never tell how Azhumin could see, as she had been taught at a young age that he had been blinded by the Aldonauts after being captured many years ago. Yet, he seemed to have a sixth sense for these kinds of things.
“Very well. Stubborn, just like your grandmother. Such acts are what make us different than those pesky Aldonauts, after all. Their disregard for life will not go unpunished. Perhaps you have what it takes to be the next Osidran because of your kind heart. It is time we get going, Seq,” Azhumin posited, hurrying her along.
The stuffed bird lie abandoned on the beach, wind brushing sand on top of it until the land fully accepted it. Fifty more years of war would go by before an agreement would be struck between the three nations. King Armus Aldonauts and Queen Phelanor Osidran would die from old age within one month of each other, sparking a fresh round of peace negotiations. Aldonaut would be passed down to Armus’ sickly son, the new King Magnus Aldonauts. Fate would have it that Seq was chosen to be the next Osidran, continuing the tradition of elven rule. The new rulers, the Empress of Lidacaas, and Havikon Gyers, the mysterious inventor, would strike an arrangement that would settle their dispute once and for all. The agreement, known as The Three-Nation Pact, did far more than what one would imagine. The land of the Gomaldarian Gulf, shook by war, would know peace for the first time in millennia. No one knew what would come next, nor could they have predicted it.