Shattered Dynasty is a novel I wrote by hand. It took me 12 weeks to finish it longhand, and will take me the next five months to type it out (adding more descriptions and character depth.) Before I show you the first 1 and a half chapters, I need to show you the list of towns/cities/continents/other pieces of land that will star in the series:
Morishijun
Ogrewood(AKRA)
The Mines (AKRA)
Akra
Croherian Borders
Croheria
Borseth
Krohitha
Rezbia
Krazbia
Shuzbia
Warrior's Hope
Hannan
Hannan Temple
Foot path
Pass 7
Pass 6
Pass 5
Pass 4
Pass 3
Pass 2
Pass 1
Bridge of the skies
New Cendia
Marsh of Skulls
Mage's Hope
Wall of Island
Forefront 1
Pajaya
Coral Barrier
Pajaya Border
Shift of tides
Mines of Bethulu
Centritia
Centritia Border
Forefront 2
Macrada
Ranger's Hope
Arrow's Edge
Exit of Islands
Macradan Stronghold
Sword's Edge
Zarintha
Taritiactar
Kresha Kingdom Borders
Kresha Kingdom
Magic's Edge (Start)
Magic's Edge (End)
Kajubo Reef
Tower of The Heroes
Rayzar Edge
Fushigia
Ridgz Edge
Smothz Edge
Discus of Ice
Discus of Thunder
Discus of Earth
The Twenty Island Shardstones
Discus of Fire
Zarian Border
Pod 1
Pod 2
Pod 3
Pod 4
Orkuis
Zarian Eye Rethia
Zarian Eye Lethia
Zarian Kingdom
Starzig
Endzig
Yinha
Yanha
Lunar Path
Rift of the Zhar
Solar Path
The nine islands of Rufhia
Rufhia Capital
Holis
Lohis
Stera
Fuhjra
Cremi
Damo
Svena
Kazo
Steppe of Damo
Tujthis
Twist of Deception
Fahlzis
The Ripples of Zhar
Zhar
Thorn Pit
Raindrops of Kazo
Mure
The Winds
The Fires
Hell's Pit
Burning Core
Hot breeze
Purity's Approach
Angel's Staircase
Floor 1500
Venhiea
Wings To The End
Universal Rift
Crast
Vhena
Jurapatha Sea
Clouds of Ninza
Ninza
Fhunje
Derijessien
Gashui
Rugen
Lavaisca
Far Portal
Glacious
Flammious
Earthious
Planetary Rift
Planetary Rift 2
Planetary Rift 3
Planetary Rift 4
Veshigen
Xeniva
Yeniva
Reggiz
Muddiz
Liftiz
Pass Floor 1
Pass Floor 2
Pass Floor 3
Top of the World
Approach 1
Approach 2
Hidden Path-Start
Hidden Path- End
Crezben
Left Wing of Crezben
Right Wing of Crezben
Magic Portal
Crystal Heart Core
Earth Platform
Goddess of Sadys: Refuge
Goddess of Sadys: Rest Eternal
Flying Resplendence
Port
Grace of Madness
Gate of Tega
Trial of Ignorance
Hovering Island
Spire of Grahdan
Hell's Telescope
Barrier of Myst
Solar Wing
Lunar Wing
Mountains of Disgrace
Intertwining of The Stars
Scales of the Universe
Steppe of Keran
Hegivsha
Nerves of The World
Overshadow Pass
Shade ice
Darjis Land Plate
Spire of Theseurus
Bridge
Cloud of Edges
Tower of the Goddess- Dead Path
(There are yes, 175 locations on the map of Sadys, which is the planet the book takes place in)

Here's the first 1.5 chapters (riddled with typos because I have no microsoft word!)

Shattered Dynasty
Book I-From The Start

By Alek Vincent Bock








First Printing: 2007
Note: all of the characters, lands, information, items, and plotlines are copyrighted (C)2007 by the SDCGD company. By a law in 1998, any information typed onto a computer is automatically copyrighted by its author. All of the content within this novel is (C)2007.















































Foreword by the author
Hello, and welcome to Shattered Dynasty- From The Start. I've written this story out of inspiration. Out of the blue, such a story occured to me, and I was compelled to write this down. All of the characters flooded into my mind like a river of creativity and a world of such massive proportions just continued to expand in my head. When I was writing this, the words in my brain flowed faster than the ink in my pen. It was as if a wave of the feelings and adventures of these characters took over me and it was like I became them, writing their story on these flowing sheets of such a tale.
This story occured to me one day in early February. At first I figured it would have been just another story for nobody to bother reading, or like a type of fanfiction... But then it grew into something more. Every person in this book told me to show you their words in text, and to reveal their lives to you. They all spoke to me crystal clear, like a flowing, endless dream. Their desperate pleas for their voices to be heard reached my ears, and it was a message that I immediately knew to record.
Upon receiving this message in my daydreams, I pulled a pen from my backpack and immediately began to scratch the white notebook sheets at breakneck pace. The adventure was written as if already subconsciously in my mind, hiding in the deep crevices of my head. Such a book could not have been left idly by in my memories, this had to be written... It was my duty to tell the story of these people from their world, in my imagination.
They want me to speak their words, the question is....

Will you listen?
























Prologue- A History To Remember
In Akra, a small republic residing in the midst of sadys, a child was born. Of course, you may think a child will bare no significant impact, but this was no ordinary child. A boy by the name of Shadu lived in such a place. He had hidden talents, those of which even his father did not know of. The boy was always curious of the world around him, but to be blunt, nosey would be a better suiting word. Shadu liked to help his father in the potions shop he ran, dilly dallying and looking on shelves. He mixed potions out of wonder to see what they would become, and usually resulting in a small disaster... Okay, to be honest, it usually ended in something catching fire, in more ways than one. Shadu also had a knack for getting into trouble, as you can see.
Many hours of his free time snooping around were of places he was not intended to be. Often Shadu poked into his father's herb lore laboratory, drinking chemicals to see what they tasted like. Even though it was not the healthiest of time consumers, he did it anyway. Once he had stumbled upon a shelf with a potion that was specifically labelled, "Do Not Consume". And, well... You know what results, actually you most likely do not- after drinking this chemical, he felt dizzy and struggled to stand. Moments afterward he burped loudly, smashing some potion bottles near him.
Although he did have free time, it was mostly occupied by getting into everything that was in his path. A large portion was spent just wasting time, and exploring the wonders of his small home. At age eight, he finally learned to fletch and carve branches. For his birthday his father scrounged enough disposable income to purchase a new fletching knife. The old one was becoming dull and less efficient.
Shadu then learned to make small trinkets for decorating the house. He carved paperweights to start with, becoming the beginning of his wide line of creations. The boy continued to practice and managed to learn how to make small boxes, which were placed all around his father's home to liven up the place. At age nine, he learned more about fletching and proceeded into more challenging tasks such as making small shields and practice swords. Most of his creations would soon go to his friends for play.
Replacing non-productive tasks, Shadu began to occupy his time with more and more hobbies. In the small home of the small village of Ogrewood, this boy dwelled. At the age of ten, he advanced to more challenging stages in fletching. He also spent his time creating inventory for a new small shop to bring income to the home. After a few months passed, the shop ultimately evolved into his source of all pay.
Wooden trinkets were not the only things he knew halfway through his tenth year of life. Shadu finally tried out potions for a change, although a novice, he was making up for it by doubling his skill in the first hobby of carving and fletching. Coin after coin, the more he saved up, the more his satchel of money increased in weight. This was around the time he learned to plan financially, even at the current age he was at.
Alas, eleven years old was the age in which he could travel to the mines southwest of Ogrewood. The grant is always given to every eleven year-old child showing improvement in development skills. Mining would once again accumulate more coins for him to save up. Exactly one month after his birthday, he received his mother's ring, a pickaxe, and an arm brace. All three of these items were now his encouragement to increase his wealth. It was the taking on of a new challenge which helped him to save up the piles of coins that came his way. This distracted him from wondering about his family's past... His mother Fresca passed on when he was six years of age, and Shadu did not know much of her, all he has to remember her by is her ring. Aging to thirteen, Shadu decided to participate in swordsmanship. While an apprentice, he began to learn somewhat quickly. He practiced every day to become like his father, training and using his talents to their full extent.
Although his swordsmanship did not improve, he began to quickly advance in herblore, and then he delved into rune casting. He started small by practicing on large rocks and wooden stumps, allowing for his aim of throwing to improve drastically. There were many places in which his potential branched off, and his childhood talent of fletching still continued to develop. His education also began to improve, learning of the weather and outside lands. Shadu always had a tall red bookshelf in his room, which had a lockbox with Fresca's ring inside, and all of his textbooks for learning purposes.
He had no more momentos of her, just specifically the ring. It was undetermined whether or not it was the wedding ring, but he kept it safe in the lockbox he made, behind his favorite three books concealing it away from sight. Finally reaching fifteen, Shadu was an exceptional fletcher and herbalist, and still struggling to keep up in swordsmanship. He became more and more intrigued in books after that, often adding more and more to his shelf to read. Theris began to see the remarkable progress the boy was making.
At last, several months after his birthday, Shadu asked his father if he could travel outside of Ogrewood. The answer was not instant, and there was long consideration before a decision was made. He was allowed to do so, and began to pack his things to leave. Curious of the world around him, Shadu brought a journal with him to take notes of his surroundings, as he traveled out of Ogrewood, and into this vast continent.
That was just the beginning.



















































I- Past OgreWood / To another region

The path past Ogrewood seemed to be endless. As Shadu began
treading,
the trees around him seemed more and more lifeless with his
progression. He
looked down the path way, and saw past the wintry fog of the Croherian
Borders. The hill beyond him was steep, almost like the edge of a
cliff.
Every tree in sight had lost its leaves, and they looked as if they
were
crying for help. Snow seemed to drop in sheets, the heavy snowflakes
constantly blanketing the ground.
Shadu enjoyed the sound of the snow crunching from underneath his
boots.
He noticed the wind was becoming colder as he took every step. Shadu
keps
marching forwad, until there was something that caught his eye. A small
block of ice was slightly stuck out of the ground. He walked over to
observe
it, and noticed it was firmly frozen to the snow-capped ground. Shadu
was
fascinated, he had never seen ice in this perfect of a shape before...
In
fact, the only time he had ever seen ice in his life was when he read
textbooks about them.
Such a finely cut block distracted him with its fantastic,
wonderous
cube shape. He never knew ice looked as such! Shadu pulled out a small
tablet and began to write about the block of frozen water.
Dear journal,
It has only been one hour and I have already found an amazing
discovery. This perfectly-shaped block of frozen liquid has appeared to
me
from nowhere in sight. It astounds me to what I have found in such a
short
amount of time, a frozen block! My father will be very surprised to see
these discoveries once I make more! I'm enjoying my time out of
Ogrewood,
even though it's my home. I really just enjoy the new scenery, some
change
for once. Anyway, it's getting rather cold standing here, so I have to
stop
writing for now.
Shadu closed the journal and continued onward. The cold air began
nipping at his face. Snow came down heavier gradually. he thought ice
and
snow were different worldly occurances than these. After all, Ogrewood
only
lets you out of the village when you are eleven years old, so it only
makes
sense he never knew of such complex weather.
Everything was new to him, the snow, ice, cold air, everything.
Shadu's
eyes began to tear up from the steadily lowering temperature. The sky
was
now completely gray, snow coming down faster than ever before. He
noticed
the snow crunching louder as he continued walking. Snow was falling
heavier
and heavier, in droves as Shadu continued walking into the unknown. The
path
seemed to be circular, almost in a complete spiral--It was taking a
very
long time to progress any further. He noticed the snow covering
everything,
almost making the path unseeable.
Shadu continued to walk through the white plains, noticing there
were
no more trees remaining. All of a sudden it became more frigid than
before,
the wind was fiercer than before. He searched through his deep pockets
and
retrieved a heat rune, and poured some restoring water to fill its
magic
power. He then carefully placed it onto the ground and then put his
hand on
it. His freezing bones thawed as the snow around him began to
dissipate.
Feeling refreshed, he put the rune and potion back in his pocket, and
continued forth. The area looked just like an empty white space.
It resembled the blank room in one story Shad read when he was
ten...
He would continue walking, except the faint sound of footsteps
disturbed
him. He paused and still hear the crunching of the snow. Someone was
following him.
"Hello?" Shadu immediately turned around, looking for someone to
respond.
Nothing, just the whistling of the frigid wind. He kept his guard up.
Someone was indeed following him, but he had yet to know who.
It could be someone meaning no harm, but on the other hand, it
could.
Until then, Shadu observed every inch of every solitary step he took.
He was
taking no chances. He took every single step cautiously as if it were
his
last. The footsteps returned. He turned around and still nobody was
there.
The wind picked back up and once again Shadu continued his trek through
this
frozen land. He prepared to refill the magic power of the heat rune
once
more.
For the third time, the invisible steps of another being commenced.
Shadu fully charged the rune and threw it behind him. Moments after, he
turned around and noticed someone appearing from nowhere as the snow
around
the individual evaporated.
"Whoa!" A little boy fell over and was surprised. Shadu could see his
pursuer at last.
"Aha! There you are!" He walked over and picked up his heat rune.
"W-what was that?!" The boy asked Shadu, rising from the cold ground
to
his feet.
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
"Oh. It's an element camoflauge." The little boy proudly responded.
"An element camoflauge? Never heard of it!" Shadu was deeply curious
about
this particular and perculiar little device. What were the secrets
behind
it? How did it work? And, how could he receive one? This odd item
perplexed
him, Where had a mere child acquire such a valuable and useful
accessory?
"Yeah.." The boy pulled out of his pocket a small purple device, and
presented it to Shadu.
"Wow..." He held the item in his hand, caressing it as it glowed in
its
entire brilliance.
"Where may I receive such a thing?"
"Well... You're not even at the border of Croheria as of yet." The
boy
took back the element camoflauge and continued walking.
"Hey, wait!" Shadu shouted to the child.
"Come on! I'll show you where to get one of these!" He gestured to
follow.
Shadu continued walking, and followed the boy's lead.
"So where is the nearest town?"
"Quite a ways away. Croheria is far from here."
Croheria... A new place to Shadu. Where had all of these places been?
He
neer knew of anywhere besides the mines and Ogrewood. Winter's harsh
grip
was new to him, and he was becoming colder, his clothes were not fit
for
such a journey.
"It's very cold, and white flakes are falling from the sky... What
weather
is this?" Shadu knew not of this condition, and why cold, white flakes
descended from the heavens.
"It's winter." The boy responded and then resumed walking.
"Winter...? I've heard not of this weather..." Shadu was instantly
bewildered.
"Winter's when it gets cold and snow falls." This little boy
continued to
tread as Shadu stood writing momentarily in his journal.
Dear journal,
It's me again! I just discovered what this beautiful yet
harsh
weather is! Something by the name of 'winter' ! It's fascinating! I
never
knew winter consisted of cold wind and flaky frigid pieces from the
sky. I
love what I have found so far, and it has not been a very long period
of
time! First, I discovered ice was in fact frozen water, and now I've
figured
out winter is piles of frozen flakes! So far I haven't even treaded a
great
distance away from Ogrewood, and already everything in the outside
world is
so brand new!
The boy signalled to keep walking. Shadu closed the tablet
immediately
and continued on. A frigid wind became colder and colder. The weather
was
near a deadly freezing point. Shadu fished through his bag once more
and
found a spell book. He immediately opened it and looked for the
advanced
heat rune spell Temp Norm.
The first few pages of the spell book did not contain what he was
indeed looking for. After several moments of searching through the
thick
spell book, he alas found the spell. Shadu then retrieved a blank rune
from
his bag for attaching the Temp Norm spell. The instructions stated the
spell
would modify the air around the user to body temperature, in order to
prevent freezing. Shadu took out the linking potion (which will tell
the
rune his body temperature), and then sprinkled a droplet on the rune
and
placed his hand on it. A small veil of heat made Shadu recover from the
blast of freezing wind. The border of Croheria was near, and the young
boy
yelled to Shadu,
"Come on! We're at the borders!"
Indeed the borders were right in front of them. A large metal gate
pierced through the snowy ground. The border seemed empty, as if nobody
was
standing guard. Shadu walked forth to the gate and did not know someone
was
indeed guarding the border, cleverly with an element camoflauge
equipped.
"Stop right there!" A border guard removed the element camoflauge and
stepped forward. He did not seem very pleased.
"Whoa!" Shadu jumped back and fell over.
"Hey," The boy walked forward and explained, "I'm here to go home."
"But who is this?" The guard stared suspiciously and not very
impressed by
the explanation.
The boy stood for a few moments, trying to think of a valid response.
What
would he say to the guard without getting caught? You would figure a
child
would not think of a clever way out of such a situation, but this boy
was
different. He was cunning and swift, unlike any average boy from
Croheria,
who could make up a rather unintelligent excuse. The question however,
was
how would the boy word such a lie to escape receiving punishment....
"He's... er...." He knew of the excuse to say, but his vocabulary
did
not extend far enough for him to state the lie. Desperately, he
torpidly
muttered, "Visiting family!" the boy was hoping this dimwitted man
would buy
the fib. With a rather stupid expression on his face, the man began to
think
deeply... The suspense was like a slap in the face, silence being the
current conversation. Although the temperature was at a deathly freeze,
beads of sweat rained from the bad little boy's forehead. He thought to
himself, "I don't think I'm going to get out of this one!". Perhaps he
was
correct, or maybe he was not. But for now, the current situation was
not
revealing anything.
"I have never seen him around here in these parts..." At last the
verbose lookout mentioned a somewhat obvious observation. Of course
Shadu
wasn't from Croheria, he hadn't even heard of snow until fifteen
minutes
ago! The hilarious notion was that the besotted border guard did not
even
suspect much. The boy had to think of another answer to get him and
Shadu
out of this rut, and he had to think fast. Although the patrolman was
not so
swift, he did expect a swift and intelligent answer... Even though he
wouldn't be able to interpret a response of an extensive vocabulary...
For a
single, solitary moment, the child came up with a clever, fool-proof
response. With a sly tone, he worded,
"You've only been guarding this border for two years, correct?" This
was
his only option up to this point. Any other excuse would surely have
had him
caught red handed. Another blast of silent air made the atmosphere once
again uncomfortable. Was the guard stalling for something, like his
mind
trying to catch up with his mouth... If he slipped up and said
something to
tangle the webs of his weaved lie, then Shadu would not be able to
proceed.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" A cocky look on the man's face signified he
tried to compensate for his lack of intelligent dignity. His stupidity
was
not well hidden, which made it far more easy than before for the boy to
verbally thrash him with a wonderful lie. However, the spawning of a
lie is
also the spawning of a series of cover ups that could catch him in his
own
untruth. The next response slid off the tongue, the kid cleverly
responded
with,
"He hasn't come here to see his family since three years ago." At last,
the
conclusion to a quick lie, and a clever one at that. Now all that was
left
to do was wait for the slow, insipid man to actually think of a
plausible
response.
"I see... Then you may proceed..." The border guard swaggered over to a
rusty wheel. He rubbed his hands together to prepare for the force
needed to
open the large gate. Shadu watched quietly as the lookout struggled to
turn
the heavy, rusted wheel to open the only obstacle remaining: the giant
metal
gate. The loud creaking and grinding of the cogs screeched loudly. All
of
the gears staggered to successfully operate, they seemed to be dated
and in
need of repair. The frigid air meant nothing now, since Croheria was
now in
the horizon.
"What's your name, kid?" Shadu never received the chance to ask once
before,
but now was the chance.
"My name's Tom, what's yours?" Tom sneezed and then continued to walk
through the tightly packed sheets of white snow. Crunch, crackle went
the
cold groups of flakes as Croheria became closer and closer from the
trekking.
"I'm Shadu. It's nice to meet you, Tom. Thanks for helping back there,
I
would have never made it past the gate if you hadn't conned your way
out of
it." Shadu laughed and then proceeded forth into the icy winter of
eastern
Akra. The clouds in the sky changed hue, and were now a dark grey,
almost
black instead of the graceful white it once was. A storm was
approaching,
and so was the mysterious, shady night. The once perceived harsh cold
was
now paled in comparison to what was ahead. The temperature steeply and
quickly dropped, almost instantly Shadu and Tom began to feel the
effects of
the winter. Shadu's bodily reaction momentarily kicked in, the shivers
of
the algid breeze had numbed his bones. 'Snowstorm' was not a word to
describe the bitter, benumbed waft that surmised past the duo.
An intensely, increasingly cold blast of air didn't even phase Tom. He
was
used to the weather. Shadu was curious, so he asked,
"Why were you out of Croheria? Was there something important for you to
do?"
"I had to go get resthium for grandpa. He needs to craft this weekend."
Tom
smiled and reached into his deep pockets. Pulling out his hand once
more,
eight small shards of resthium were in his palms. He seemed to be proud
of
the day's batch of mining loot. The gust knocked a piece out of his
hand.
"Oh!" Tom knelt over and stuck his hand into the cold mound of snow.
The
resthium was slippery now, melted flakes dousing it quickly. It was wet
and
quickly nipped Tom's hand. He quickly pocketed the resthium pieces and
ran
onward into the expanse.
"Hey, wait!" Shadu ran after Tom and slipped on the dangerous, frozen
terrain. The fall quickly startled him and he jumped back up to prevent
being further embarrassed. He quickly felt a brief sting from his left
arm.
Observing, he noticed a scrape that slightly bled. Shadu retrieved a
handkerchief and began to pat the small wound dry. After a couple
moments of
pressure, the tiny stream of blood stopped flowing, and the trivial cut
seemed to be reacting slower from the effects of the climate.
Continuing on,
Shadu walked more carefully this time, seeing as he just got scathed.
He
cautiously kicked off any of the snow left from the bottom of his
boots, so
he would not have to slip once more. Croheria's bridge was now in
sight, and
more and more violent the brewing storm became.
"Wow... It sure is dark out here." Shadu mumbled to himself. His
shivers
grew more violent this time around. Time seemed to stop, as if frozen
by the
temperature itself, quickly wind flew by and bit at his already
freezing
hands. Shadu continued to slowly but surely proceed into the wintry
storm
that was birthing from the devastating heavens. How would he reach
Croheria
in time if he continued to walk slowly like this? By instinct, his legs
picked up speed without his control whatsoever, his brain was telling
his
physical form that if he didn't reach Croheria with haste, he would be
in
the midst of the swirling, shivering deathtrap.
"You're all the way back there? Pick up the pace, or you'll get hit!"
Tom
waved his small arms gesturing with tension and worry, indicating to be
quick or death would surely be the only way out of this storm.
"I'm coming, I'm running as fast as I can!" Shadu was gasping for
breath.
The frigid air blasted into his lungs and cut short his stamina rather
quickly, making it more difficult to breathe than once before. He began
to
slow down his running speed in order to prevent from catching an
illness.
Tom quietly walked over the Croheria bridge, waiting for Shadu to catch
up
with him. A fierce, unforgiving gust swept up a large pile of loose
snow to
the right of the bridge, it was as if the wind were alive and preparing
to
attack. Snowy fog emerged from the frigid air, and Shadu sprinted one
last
time to assure he would reach Croheria in time.
"Gah! What's happening?!" Shadu yelped as he dashed past the tornado
that
just consumed where he previously stood. The weather was more fierce
than
the previous moments of travelling outside of Ogrewood's land.
"It's a winter storm." Tom scratched his nose, the penetrating wintry
wind
biting at him like a monstrous creature. The climate grew stronger as
if it
were a living beast, a monstrosity of nature. A gust slapped Shadu with
all
of its strength, stinging his entire body. The temperature was now
surely
below zero, and it gave shadu's body such a physical shock it paralyzed
him
for a few seconds. The shock of such a blast caused an unleashed force
of
physical damage that was near mortal.
"Are you okay, Shadu?" Tom ran over to him and checked to see if he was
in
good enough condition to continue on. The question was how Tom did not
feel
the same way from the impact of the storm. Perhaps he grew to bear the
wintry fierceness, but for now the main question was how Shadu would
get to
Croheria in time before his body died.
"What was that...?" Shadu quickly reached into his bag and used the
remaining magic power of the heat rune. Quickly the frigid air around
him
began to fritter away and he was able to move his frozen joints more
freely.
He started to breathe easier and then proceeded over the bridge. Tom
stopped
him quickly and said,
"That was just part of the storm." he followed Shadu into Croheria and
prepared to get indoors as quickly as possible.













II- Croheria's inspiration
Upon stepping into the misty, freezing village, Shadu's awe increased dramatically. Ogrewood was never like this, the houses here were so tall, and there was more life in the winds passing him by. Snow blanketed every inch of the ground, scarcely missing any part of the fresh earth. Shadu was quickly absorbed into the peacefully quiet atmosphere, as the frigid waft pushed back his raven black hair. Such a sight was ominous and struck a new part of his mind never once seen before. His words developed in his mind, but did not reach the air, he merely gasped at the tranquil setting of the world around him. It was as if he had stepped off of his own planet into a new one, a planet full of new weather, winds, and temperature changes.
This teen felt as if he ended up in an alternate world. It was quite a wondrous sight, there were no citizens outside, no birds chirping, just the pleasently sheltered winter thrashing through the freezing tempest of cold air. For a few more moments he let the environment entice him and caress him in its beauty.
"Honestly, I've never seen such a glamorous sight..." Shadu took in a breath of the wonderful blast of nipping cold zephyr. It was a great change for him, staying in Ogrewood was becoming rather tedious and boring. At last, a different task to accomplish: exploring the outside places, beckoned him to continue onward into the wintry mist of Croheria. Such a place would soon become locked away in his memories, which he would never forget. He stared up to the blackening sky, the heavens... They were slumbering in a nature-transcendent masterpiece of wind and cold flaking, along with small pieces of sleet gently flailing down into the ever white of this new territory.
"Get in before the storm gets worse!" Tom waved to continue on and hurry into his house. A small wooden shack oddly stood out from the other prodigious, towering other buildings surrounding it like guardians, sheltering it as if it were in need of help. Shadu gazed at the surrounding buildings, and noticed the snow capping each roof of every single one, not mattering in their height. The sky began to increase in darkness, it was a sign, a warning of what was to come.
Perhaps the storm was ready to unleash all of its strength on the naive little world of Croheria, at least it seemed to be. He stared closely and noticed a few white clouds were still in the distance. They were floating in a foggy mist, until eaten by the other grey clouds and immediately consumed. A storm was gathering power, and getting ready to explode. Shadu sprinted quickly to the doorstep of the small shack, instantly a warm blast of air consumed his soul.
He felt comfortable, the wintry storm nearly killed him, and it was now like a haven away from death. For now, Shadu could be at ease, and feel safe shielded by Croheria itself. He brushed the snow off of his shirt and was able to let out a sigh of relief. The door closed behind him with a quiet slam.
"Wow," he mumbled, "this house is so warm." Indeed it was, far more warm than the outside weather, and now it was another worry removed from the deep crevaces of his mind. Shadu was overjoyed to feel warmth once more, and felt more lively now that his bones were thawed. His joints felt more free, and he stretched in relief.
"I'll be upstairs," Tom waved, "come up when you feel like it." He quickly hopped up the rickety old wooden steps and closed the door to the staircase behind him. It immediately produced a loud slamming noise, and Shadu was able to be to himself for a few moments. For a second he could have sworn he smelled blueberry pie nearby. Through instinct, his eyes darted around the room to search for the source of the heavenly scent. His stomach began to growl lowly, and hunger had set in. Another scent appeared in his senses, small bursts of dust lifted slightly from the floor, indicating this house hadn't been cleaned in quite a long while. Once again Shadu's nose followed the smell of a pie. It was somewhere, but not in this room to be exact. He didn't want to be rude and snoop around the house, so he kept to himself.
He continued to look around the room for other things to distract him for a few moments. There was basically nothing in here, the room was somewhat bland, a table stood lonely in a dark corner in the left hand edge of this entrance. A rickety wooden chair was also there, as if keeping the table company. In fact, the book, the chair, and the table each appeared as if they were all keeping company, the dusty corner was a quiet refuge from the rest of the house. Shadu walked quietly to the silent corner and carefully reached for the book on the wooden shelf-like table.
The spine of the novel was worn, cloth ends shooting out of the paper cover, a sign of great age. The text on the front was almost unreadable, dust had made it wear away quickly. He quickly brushed off the dusty coat with the back of his hand, it seemed abandoned. Finally the layer of filth withered away with the wind, and the title of the book was revealed. The cover read, 'HERBLORE I'. It appeared to be a textbook of some sort, and it seemed to be unused for some time now. Shadu carefully lifted the cover. Crackle, crunch the spine creeked open slowly and the cover page was worn off. A desolate corner, lonely and full of abandoned materials.
Basically it was a wasteland in the crevace of the room, quiet, and dead. Shadu flipped another old page and noticed there were a few words scribbled into the side of it. They were illegible, until Shadu looked closer. 'Maujic suoard rechipea', it seemed to be written in another language, and he thought nothing of it. Perhaps it provided a message and needed to be unscrambled, but that was higly doubtful. He continued to flip pages in curiosity, maybe he could find a few ingredients in the damaged tablet of wisdom. Sheet after sheet, he became engrossed in such a simple thing, until finally reaching a foreword:
"HERBLORE: Basics of Sadys. Upon reading part I, you will learn how to make potions from the herbs around this planet. There are a select few that will not be covered in this volume for difficulty reasons, however all of the other potions for everyday use will indeed be written into this text. Among this large array are the following potions: flavor enchanter, air orb, herb seltzer, green liquid, flame dye, and most commonly the spice water. For more information, please contact your local herblore shop."
He enjoyed the brief read, but all of these potions were so brand new to his eyes. Flavor enchanter and air orb? Herb seltzer and green liquid? And lastly, what were flame dye and spice water used for? Indeed they were extremely odd potion types, and their names were even stranger. Perhaps there were more ingredients than the ones in the peaceful land of Ogrewood. Shadu placed the book back on the table and wiped his hands. The dust was everywhere, even on the floor. He remembered he was keeping the little boy waiting upstairs. Quickly and quietly, he treaded up the creeky stairs, and the lingering smell of food became stronger.
"Where is that smell coming from?" Shadu thought to himself. So many types of food flew through the air as he approached the top of the stairwell. Blueberry pie, soup, all kinds of goodies. The voices of two people fluttered around the nearest doorway. Shadu started to walk forth into the main room that branched off into even more rooms. Tom's voice grew louder as Shadu approached the room to the far left. This second floor of the rickety cottage had a small tea room, herbs were tossed everywhere.
"Hi! I'm back from the mines!" Tom reached into his satchel and retrieved his daily revenue of materials. Shadu walked in on the conversation and noticed there was no dust anywhere in this room. Tom seemed to be talking to someone, but the other individual's face was obscured from the hood over his head. Shadu had never seen so many research materials, it had become fascinating to him, Tea leaves were organized and alphabetized, neatly stacked on shelves from size, name, weight, color, and type. This was a surprise to him, because the rest of the house had been so messy and dusty. This partucular room was so clean and spotless, it felt to him as if he had walked into a new house.
There were potions hanging on strings alongside a white cauldron, steam rose from the giant pot and whisked by Shadu quickly. An odd scent blew by him, it smelled of tea leaves and something else... It smelled sweet and pasty at the same time. Neatly stacked books were in one corner, and a scroll stood atop of them.
"What did you retrieve today, my boy?" An old man's voice echoed past the silence.
"I found some resthium and a weird rock!" Tom emptied the satchel into his hands and presented his findings to the old man.
"What a great catch, thank you Tom!" The old man retrieved the rock and pieces of resthium and began to examine them. The eight small shards of resthium had a great luster in the light of the room. Perfect for crafting something. The question was, what to craft? The man began to examine the small pieces and he then began to organize them by shape.
"Oh, amazing!" The elderly man was fascinated by something, the rock was something he had never seen before. Shadu looked closer from the distance and noticed it was a rune! In curiosity, he walked further into the room.
"Oh, hello. Who may you be?"
"Grandpa, this is Shadu." Tom introduced the two briefly and continued to fish through his satchel to try and find more materials.
"Shadu, this is my grandad Carrith."
"Nice to meet you, boy." Carrith shook Shadu's hand and then immediately returned to his work. He seemed very distracted by the rune, and it was new to him. Shadu assumed this was Carrith's favorite room, basically because it was the only room in the house that was clean.
"It's er... Nice to meet you, too." Shadu chuckled as Carrith continued with his studies right after meeting someone new. His interest was definitely only in his work. It was fascinating to see the old man stand there and just blindly shut out the world, continuing with such a task. But it's trivial to wonder what goes through the man's mind, because you can never really read someone's thoughts. However, Shadu thought new discoveries engrossed the elder individual, and his assumption was definitely not far-fetched. Carrith stared deeply at the small pieces, but there was an odd symbol in one of them... It was a white circle just in the midst of the stone, like it had been carved into shape, perhaps for a spell.
Maybe it was just a plain old rock, either way, Carrith seemed to examine it closely, with the deepest of detail. He couldn't peel his eyes off of it, and yet it was such a simple object. Dumb, really... How could one be so engulfed into an inanimate object such as this, yet have such a seemingly high rate of intelligence?
"You do not seem to be from here." Carrith pondered, at last words ejected from his mouth, his full attention still pointed toward the small pile of stones placed onto the desk.
"He's not from here." Tom responded abruptly. Once again the conversation had ensued, and the three voices echoed throughout the entire room. Shadu's voice along with Carrith's voice filled the area and then Tom's continued the lengthy talk.
"Hm... How did he get in?" Carrith sighed. Human interaction interrupted his studies. Perhaps he was too absorbed into his work, or maybe it's just pure enthusiasm. Carrith wished they would just continue on being silent, but that was far too much to ask for. He thought that maybe if he let them talk, they might strike up something fascinating.
"Tom..." Carrith snickered. The stare was cold and swift, as if a storm were to result after the harsh lookings. It froze Tom solid and wrapped him in, obligating him to mutter a response of some sort.
"Er... Yeah?" He knew the barrage of responses were to come, and eventually he would have to spit it out and tell the truth for once. Boy would that be a feat Tom would forced to accomplish.
"You didn't lie to the border guard again, did you?" The question was right on target and was like a swift verbal wake-up slap. It rocketed toward tom and had stricken him like a dart, locking onto him and forcing him to spill the beans.
"Er... Um.... I---" He was caught now! An answer was needed and he did not want to provide one. Silence blasted through the night air and brushed past him, even though there were no windows opened. Tension had arisen throughout the room and a response was required for him to finalize the conversation. However, would he be punished, or would Carrith just brush it off?
"Bah, oh well." Carrith just shrugged his shoulders and continued to work with the small series of stones aligned on the top of the desk. His fascination showed, and was rather ridiculous. Shadu looked over the desk to see the blank rune in the center of the table top. He started to chuckle and then began to laugh loudly.
"What are you laughing about?" Tom was consumed by the laughter and was laughing for no reason at all along with Shadu... Laughing was contagious. Shadu sighed and stopped laughing after a few more seconds, however Carrith ignored the laughter.
"Welcome, Shadu. Why have you come to Croheria?" The big question was now on Shadu. He really didn't know why, he just did, and mostly he focused on seeing new places. His thoughts were engraved into his speech.
"I came here, because I came to see new places." A perfect response, now to wait for what Carrith had to say. A pause interrupted the start of the small talk, and Carrith's fascination of this mysterious rock ensued. Being so intrigued about a normal object was perplexing to Shadu, he turned his head and stared at Carrith, almost prepared to laugh again.
"I see," Carrith finally responded, "There is indeed much to explore at such a time of youth. Especially in Croheria." He continued to study and observe the blank rune for a few more grasping moments and then asked,
"You come from Ogrewood in the west, Correct?" He came up with an idea! If Shadu was from Ogrewood, then he could be able to tell whether or not what the rock was!
"Yes," Shadu mumbled, "I come from the west."
"I see, do you know of any rocks such as this one?"
"Yes, it's a blank rune." A splendid answer for an odd question.
~To be continued in writings, this is work in progress and will not be completed for some time~