The two parties gathered together in a reletively small hall, illuminated by candlelight even though it was a bright day outside. It was sticky hot in the Trade Island city of Thusala, and busy as ever. Yet in this space, the world was a bit quieter. Not too many came around one of the Royal Sultan's compounds. These were the true leaders of the Trade with their own private armies.

On one end we...

It was midnight and Barbadd's tavern was closed and locked. From the outside, all the shades were pulled across the windows and the place seemed lifeless, other than the small glow of a dying fire in the fireplace. Inside however, the four friends of Edwin gathered to mourn their loss.

"He was a good man, and he was my friend." Barbadd said as he fetched drinks for everyone, Including Melethan w...

It was late the next morning before Melethan was finally taken out of the room. The zealots did not feed him or wash him or remove any bindings. He was loaded onto a cart outside the chapel and they proceeded to wheel him into the center of town with a parade to gather attention again. It worked, and Shandor had everyone's attention. The zealots put up a large poll, and then the stage was set. The...

I sit there and watch as time goes by,

The city glows under a sunless sky,

We doomed ourselves when we asked why,

Industrialization will occupy,

Down below are the machines of god,

Constructing new while they corrade,

Molten steel into useful rod,

This robotic production isnt flawed,

A river cuts right through its heart,

Oozing slime from end to start,

If soulless was a work of art,

T...

When they came to the northern village of skorn they made such an entrance that it was not to be ignored. It was full of all the pomp and circumstance of a changing of the guard. They brought horses and a parade, and swords and bows and everything Guldivine had been trying to warn Edwin about. The worshipers of Mardoc came to Skorn to spread their divine word by force if necessary it seemed.

Mele...

The sun was ever forboding on the island of Mardoc to Guldivine. The days were hotter than anything he had ever experienced back in the Kingdom of Darkwood. There was no shade, no releif from the constant heat. There wasnt even much of a breeze, or clouds in the sky. The days were much longer than he was used to as well. As Edwin had told him, this was a sign that harvest was approaching. When the...

"Hey."

"Hey mister."

"Hey."

Guldivine groaned and rolled over in bed and opened his eyes. To his surprise, there was a child right next to his face, staring at him.

"Are you awake, mister?"

"I am now." Guldivine groaned sorely, and tried to sit up in bed. Everything ached, from his feet to his head. He had been bandaged up nicely though he noticed, and cleaned with fresh drab clothes.

"W...

Bumps... Bumps... bumping of the head... Over and over in some rhythmic motion... the back of the head... not hard, but hard to keep the head straight...

Guldivine opened the slits of his eyes, feeling terrible from the night before. Bright light immediately flooded in and he closed them once more. He realized that he was not in any sort of bed... he was outside.

Tied to the back cart to be mor...

Guldivine found himself hung up on a sharp cluster of spired rocks out in the water. His makeshift raft had long since abandoned him, and as the night went into day, the storm continued onward, unweavering. He was weak and hungry and shivering cold. Off in the far distance he could see land, perhaps one of the Trade Islands he was sailing to. But the distance seemed to far to swim. "Not yet." He t...

High up on the northern cliffsides of the island of Mardoc, a middle aged man with a thick curly black beard sat upon a rock, packing his pipe while staring off to the southwest. The clouds over the endless oceans on the horizon were gathering and starting to flash and rumble during this peaceful sunset. The only other sounds besides the distant rumblings were that of crashing waves into the cliff...