Alzoru's World (Weekly Series)

[Alzoru]

I'm hoping to host it here ^_^

Spoiler

Alzoru's World, Episode 19: Nafinian Legends Series Part 5: Belaka's Lost Civilization

Belaka is a country well-known for its rich history, and indeed being the place where history was first recorded and bread invented. But Modern Belaka was once home to many warring city-states and a few rich civilizations that made the deserts and plains of the region their home.

But one civilization in particular remains shrouded in mystery, with legends of its riches still spoken of today along with stories of brutal warfare, slave labor, rampant sexism, and trechery. The great kingdom of Kixele is one that captures the imagination of many to this day, many a fantasy story takes place in this ancient place that thrived in Belaka for nearly a thousand years. Evidence suggests that the first city of the empire was built around the year -1500, and the site is still rich with pottery and other artifacts today.

The original name of the city is long-lost to history, but archaeologists call it Kixe-00 for simplicity. At the site one can see ruined houses, a temple to their ancient gods, and a bazaar, all made of various kinds of stone. The design style is very clearly Lynada in origin, and some reconstructed vases show off depictions of their deities, monsters, and other pieces of culture.

According to legend, the city started very small and was stuck in a rut for a long time due to a major lack of wood. The ancient people had to search far and wide just to find any trees, but things changed for them when one man realized that if they can grow food with agriculture, why not try to grow trees as well? And so, the city began managing one of the first tree farms ever, and it was a big success to the point that the site of Kixe-00 is now the third largest forest in Belaka- and every single tree is a descendant of the trees on that tree farm.

Now with a constant supply of wood, they could build more, and build they did. The city became bigger than Wyvitira was at that point in time, which was completely unheard of. They started training a massive military of Lynada, Lugani, and Munitara males that turned the city state into one of the first multi-city countries, and at its peak the empire of Kixele spanned almost all of modern Belaka and some parts of modern-day Tekale and Orkati.

But the most interesting thing about this ancient civilization was not its power, but its extremely sexist religion, and its form of government. The country of Kixele was one of, if not the only nation on Nafine to have a Pharoah- a monarch with absolute power revered as a god among men. According to their religion, the pharoahs were direct descendant of their chief god, Ervaga, the sun. The Pharoahs usually came into power at the age of 14, and their fathers would retire to lavish mansions or palaces to live life in luxury until they died, but occasionally, of course, a Pharoah would die young and his son would take the throne early. Or worse yet, a pharoah would die before having any children, in which case one of his brothers would rule in his place or barring that, his father retake the throne, and barring that, his closest male relative.

As for sexism, in their religion, females were nothing more than slaves to kept for breeding, and kept for breeding they were. The Pharoah, of course, got the first pick of the healthiest and most beautiful females which he kept in a harem of about 5-10. To add onto that, in the royal family, any female child was immediately murdered at birth since it was believed that female children in the royal family were bad luck. And to add to that, any of the Pharoah's Harem that gave birth to a daughter before the first son would eventually be murdered by their own son when he took the throne. Slave women were mostly kept by the rich, and the few poor who could afford one got the bottom of the barrel in terms of health and appearance.

The country's first Pharoah probably came into power around -1300, and it is said the first pharoah was buried with 70 metric tons of gold bars, a jewel-encrusted statue in his likeness, 1,000 of the finest vases that depicted his conquests in war, a whole metric ton of bread, several hundred kilograms of fruit, 1,000 offereings of meat, 1,000 jars of sealed water, 500 silver statues of soldiers, and his favorite slave of his harem murdered to be buried by his side.

And the stories of vast wealth don't stop there. If all legends are true, this empire has buried enough gold with its pharoahs to seriously devalue the modern cost of gold, and enough gems to keep every jewler on Nafine busy for years. So what happened to this wealthy empire of godly kings and female slavery?

In the year 300, the church of Akanotko spread into the region and began to convert some of the citizenry, as well as free the enslaved females, and thus did war break out. At first, the great empire had the upper hand with a much stronger military, but the followers of Akanotko were much greater in number, and very clever. They sent in spies to destroy the country from the inside, and in the year 474, the church managed to convince the Pharoah's favorite slave to murder him with poison, and then sent an army of female assassins to murder all of the pharoah's closest relatives, leaving the bloodline high and dry. They had cut off the head of the snake, and with no pharoah, the whole country quickly dissolved into city states that began to form into modern-day Belaka.

And then, the former slaves of the empire began to destroy historical records and deface monuments of the empire in an act of rage, rebellion, and excercise of their newly-found freedom. However, this act also did a lot of harm sincenow we may never know the secret locations of the pharoah's tombs and the unimaginable wealth therin. Now Kixele's culture, language, religion, and many other things about this ancient super power may never be known.

In the final month of 1936, a Pharoah's tomb was found on accident. In the tomb, archaeologists found a wealth of solid gold, immaculate pottery, a sealed coffin of gold and silver, golden statues of the pharoah encrusted with gems, and sealed boxes that would have been filled with food, jars full of water that of course is horribly fetid and disgusting at this point. And of course, many other riches fill this lavish grave. The treasures of this tomb alone total about 6 billion USD.

 

[Alzoru]

Weird one upcoming!

Spoiler

Alzoru's World Episode 20: Funky Fresh New Moon

It was the perfect night for a stroll, or so Timmy thought. Were-creatures were common in these parts, so most people stayed indoors on a full moon, but tonight was the opposite of a full moon.

A black circle in the sky, a New Moon was visible tonight, but only if you look really carefully. The park at the center of Zeller City was very ornately decorated with statues, benches, and fountains made of marble. Everything was carved by artisan hand and looked fantastic.

Everything was quiet except for the sounds of cicadas and grasshoppers searching for mates all around the park, and the frogs croaking in the pond. Nothing could possibly be more serendipitous, Timmy thought.

Then, 40 minutes into this late night stroll, he heard what sounded like music. Curious, he went to see what the deal was, though not in a hurry. It took five minutes, but in between three trees were three anthropomorphic wolves, two males and a female dancing to disco music from a boombox/cd player beneath a disco ball hanging from one of the three trees.

Timmy's jaw dropped and he screamed out, "What?!" causing the three wolves to notice him.

"Oh hey there my fresh little compadre, you want to join in on the groove?" One of the guys asks.

Timmy was fairly averagely sized, about 1.94 meters tall over all, but these wolf folks had to be at least 2 meters tall each, but that wasn't even his biggest concern, "Werewolves?! But the moon isn't full! It's the exact opposite of full!"

"That's just it, my little man! It's a new moon, a funky fresh new moon! Perfect time for funky fresh beats!" The she-wolf explains.

"Didn't anyone tell you disco is dead?!" He is so confused.

"Disco never dies, my brother. Not as long as hip guys like us keep up the funk and keep the music goin'!" the last of the wolves speaks up.

"How did this happen?!"

"My lil' man, you wanna know, leave it to us! Come dance with is and bask in the funky flow of a funky new moon!"

"I don't think so, I um... I really should be going..." The wolves surround him and take him over to their dancing area.

"We insist, man. Just one dance ain't gona hurt ya!" The she-wolf says, "Don't be a jive turkey."

Timmy rolls his green eyes and plays with his short blonde hair. He was more partial to 80s music... but if they insisted on it, he wasn't about to argue with potentially dangerous werewolves.

They put on some Bee Gees, and the four all danced together. He wasn't really into it, but then, in the middle of the song, the wolves all did the point, and pointed right at him, not realizing that they had poked him and drawn blood.

"OWCH! Hey!!" He groaned, not realizing either just yet that he was bleeding. But he was getting more into this dance.

"Sorry kid, out bad. We get carried away sometimes." The lead wolf explains, then asks, "What's yer name son?"

"Timmy," He explains, not realizing he was growing out more blonde hairs all over his body.

"Timmy, huh? That short for something?" One asks.

Timmy growled, not wanting them to know his secret. "Yes, but I'm not telling you what!"

They all shrugged, "Okay." and kept dancing.

That was it? Okay? They actually respected his wishes instead of being nosy? Maybe these guys weren't so bad.

Timmy was growing out more fur, and his ears moved to the top of his head, becoming pointed. He still didn't really notice, but he did notice that he was enjoying the dance more, and was sad when it stopped. "I could go for another," he says happily, and they oblige him.

His hands were already becoming paws, and his mind was changing yet more, he was starting to really enjoy this, even though he could feel discomfort on his chest. "Hold up, my funky pals, I gotta take care of somethin'." He took his shirt off and showed them his bound chest. He adjusted the bindings to be less restrictive and put his shirt back on.

"Woah, Timmy, you a lady?" The She-wolf asks.

"No sis, you got it all wrong. I was born a woman sure, but I'm a trans dude, you dig?" He admits.

"That's cool with us Tim, and you makin' a great wolf, too!" One of the guys tells him.

"Gee, thanks! I do make a good wolf!" His mind had already accepted the change, and his face was now a canine muzzle, and he had a blonde wolf tail. He howled up to the new moon with the others and danced with them, a new disco wolf who'd lose a lot of his inhibitions and anxieties with each funky fresh new moon.

A few weeks later, he knew the disco wolf gang in the world of daylight, and they would go do cool stuff together as friends. More wolves would join their pack in years to come, and each new moon they would dance the night away as funky fresh disco wolves.

 

[Alzoru]

I tried to make a really random one here... buuuut...

Spoiler

Alzoru's World, Episode 21: Yes

It is a fond day for fondling a basketball. But good luck winding Waldo, he has the basketball you want to fondle. You may need to settle for a softball.

Canada is nice this time of year, and even more so because it's Bieber season! Shoot as many as you want and have em' for dinner, best served warm with carrots and limes.

The best thing to do for summer is to plant bricks in your yard and grow Brick Trees, that way tou can build a brick shelter for the next winter. Make sure to use plenty of mayonnaise as fertilzer.

Saucy!

Can the walnuts at Walmart wall the stock market? Will there be glass in thiss glass cannon? Is watermelon... NOT MADE OF WATER?

Bees are the most powerful insects known to man. Children chuck under their beds for monsters, monsters check for Mr. T, Mr. T checks for bees, bees check for themselves.

Um, I'm gonna level with you guys, I didn' have any decent ideas for this week aside from some thing I wanted to do with Mylinta. I know I made a poll and Loopy's the ONLY person who voted (Is Loopy the only person who actually READS this series?), but honestly, I don't know if I have the right mindset for a good nonsense story.

So I'll dedicate the rest of this to Mylinta. Here's the keyboard, Myli.

Thanks, Al. Hello, I'm Mylinta, primordial goddess of Destruction and Punishment. I will be your host for today. What am I doing? Resting. I just finished tormented some evil souls- and believe me, if they're being punished by me, they are unbelievably, undeniably, irredeemably evil. Mass murder, genocide, mass rape, grand larceny, creating biological super weapons, every kind of abuse... you name it, these guys did it without remorse. So what do I do to them? I take everything they did to others and return it tenfold.

That's what I do. I'm a sadist by nature, and who better to unleash my sadistic madness on than these horrible, evil people? Hmm? You want to know what qualifies me for this? Listen up, I've got enough power to destroy a whole solar system in under an hour. I'm tied for second most power being in my universe along with my dear sweet sister Milira, and my bro Ejriman. I think I'm more than qualified to punish them.

Ah, so now you want to know about other, lesser evildoers? They're beneath my PERSONAL attention, but they don't go unpunished: That's what my demons are for. I let them deal with lesser evildoers. I only personally deal with the cruelest of the cruel, those who are so evil that people cringe and scream at the mere mention of their name. The rest I leave to my creations.

What about good people? My sister Milira deals with them along with her angels. Much like how I deal with the most evil souls in the universe, Milira only personally houses the most wonderful, most saintly, most awe-inspiring people in all the universe. People who were good, but not good enough for HER get catered to by angels.

Hmm? Who decides who goes where? My Nephew, Omyoriniyama. He's a good judge of these things... until he gets plastered, that is. But if he makes a mistake, he'll always fix it. And if you aren't good enough for one of the eight heaven, or evil enough for the eight hells... well, you just get to stay with him.

Now then, What's on my To-do list? Oooh, I get to turn a star into a black hole? Fun times. And another planet is ready for an apocalypse. How should I do it? Melt the whole planet into slag? Split it in half like a giant melon? Drench it in water? Freeze it into a big snowball? Oh sure, I COULD just break it into atoms, but variety is the spice of destruction. And life, too.

Hmmm? Who torments these guys while I'm gone? I have some kids who help me out. Demigods of my lineage ALWAYS come to me when they die... but not for the usual reason people come to me. Mommy's little helpers. I love them all so much~! Now then, unless you want to actually watch me destroy a bunch of stuff, I think this is all over. Here's your keyboard, 'Zoru.

Thanks for the testimony, Myli. See you all later. :3

BONUS!! Solar system details ahoy!

Spoiler

Alzoru's World Episode 22: A rundown of the Sevaza System.

Date: 42 Momokari, year 3553

I am Doctor Kanexaro Barujili. With the help of many understudies and several space probes being sent out across our solar system, I have the authority and knowledge to begin talking about each body as it is.

Sevaza itself is a medium-sized yellow star, about 5 billion years old now. Big enough to hold every other body in the system and then some, it is hard to imagine the sheer scale of it: Even the fastest spacecraft of out time would take roughly a third of a year to go around the surface of the star once, ignoring gravity and the fact that the plane would melt and then boil before it even reached the surface itself. The surface temperature is estimated at 73,000 Kurapa, which is, of course, extremely hot.

Sevaza is a composite name, which combines many names for the star over the years given by many cultures. The people of Kixeve called it Ervaga, the Ancient Ampitera called it Sexikari, The once great civilization of Kaliloko called it Zazamibo after their chief god. Thus we end up with Se (from Sexikari) Va (Ervaga) Za (Zazamibo).

Myths about Sevaza go back to time immemorial, some cultures believed it was a great snake that birthed the other stars in the sky with help from the moon. Others believed that was a three-headed Ordelaka man whose wisdom was great enough to become luminescent. Another legend states that it is a work of art shaped by Reniku who makes all the stars of the sky.

Of course, we now know that Sevaza is a giant ball of glowing plasma, rife with the vast energy of Nuclear Fusion. But even so, myths and legends are great fun.

The closest planet to Sevaza is the gas giant Izarto, named after a giant from the folklore of Ancient Tekale. The planet consists mainly of helium, nitrogen, and a small amount of Oxygen and other gases. The planet is about eight times bigger than Nafine, and covered with storms that travel in bands. It is known to have six moons, collectively known as "The Giant's six wives." The six moons are all volcanically active and extremely hot when at their closest to Sevaza.

The largest of the wives (Karumaru) is shrouded in a veil of volcanic ash, sulfuric acid, and various greenhouse gases that keep it hot at all times. Even at the planet's coldest times, the temperature is still hot enough to melt lead.

The smallest moon is a rock about the size of Wyveli that constantly spews lava and water into space through volcanic vents. It's known as Xalono.

The next planet from Sevaza is Abbumi, the smallest planet in the solar system. Only slightly larger than Sikiteriku, it's peppered with craters and contains more iron and cobalt than any other body in this system, as far as we know. Abbumi's most striking feature is a large fissure at its equator, running for a distance equivalent to three cities of Wyvitira. Close inspection of the fissure suggests that there is a LOT of Cobalt in there and possibly Platinum.

Abbumi is named after a god of ancient Kixeve, the god of agriculture to be precise. The planet is not easily visible from Nafine, and when ancient astronomers first got a closer look at its surface through their telescopes, they believed that Abbumi was full of large-scale farm communities that created dark patches on is surfaces. However, we now know that these dark patches are nothing more than shadows cast into craters.

Abbumi has no atmosphere, and reaches temperatures more than hot enough to boil water in the day- but by night, everything becomes as cold as liquid nitrogen. A perfectly inhospital world of nothing but craters and exposed metal.

The third planet from Sevaza is Lotomo, which lies at the inner edge of Sevaza's habitation ring. With a thin atmosphere, liquid water pools in several craters, and a few algal outcrops, there IS life here, but it's extremely primitive. Even so, Lotomo is a spot of major interest for scientists who wish to establish colonies on other planets in this system.

Lotomo is the name given to an ancient Ampitera god known from ancient wall paintings and pottery shards. From what little can be divined from this, Lotomo was a god of water. At the time Lotomo was named, it was assumed that the craters on its surface contained lakes of fresh or salt water. While not all craters contain water, all the water on the surface is in craters.

Lotomo has a moon, a very small one. This moon is little more than a chunk of granite only slightly bigger than the largest island of the Nokufu Chain. Other than a theoretical wealth of gems embedded in it, this moon is of very little interest to the scientific community.

Nafine is the fourth planet from Sevaza. Heavily supportive of life, heavily filled with water, it is the home of the seven Durakuni races and a huge amount of natural resouces. All the life here depends on Sevaza's life-giving rays.

Nafine has two moons, Sikiteriku and Nomati. Sikiteriku is the larger moon, and its name is a corruption of Xikikeleku, the Kixele goddess of the moon who was the wife and slave of Ervaga, the sun god. It was believed that Ervaga was a great serpent who met Xikikeleku, a turtle-like creature, and was smitten with her. But she initially rejected him, saying that he would have to defeat her to win her affections. Defeat her he did, and afterward she gave birth to a son, Nafine's other moon.

Similarly, Nomati is a corruption of Nomedili, the son of Ervaga and Xikikeleku. The people of Kixele believed that Nomedili was a creature combining the best of both his parent's features, and it was believed he would grow to beome bigger and stronger than his father, and eventually take over as the new king of the gods.

Both moons are barren, and have oddly similar features and composition, which has lead to a stunning theory: Sikiteriku really is, in a way, Nomati's mother. Scientists believe that during the formation of the planets, Sikiteriku had a major impact that caused a chunk of it to jettison off and eventually become Nomati.

Mudeka is a massive gas giant over four-hundred times more massive than Nafine. The System's fifth planet, it is also the second largest of them all. It has a very bright and noticeable ring system comprised of cosmic dust, ice shards, and a few large asteroids.

Mudeka is constantly engulfed by violent storms more powerful than any on Nafine. Lying just beyond the Habitation Zone, Scientists are constantly looking at this planet and its various moons to find the best place for colonies.

Beyond Mudeka lies a vast asteroid belt full of precious metals, and possibly rare gems that could one day be extracted by robots and astronauts looking to mine out the metal. The largest asteroid is known as Baga-345, and it's about as big as the fissure on Abbumi's equator.

The sixth planet, Oktara, is the largest of them all, 466 times more massive than our own. It has a ring system, and the highest official moon count of all planets in the system. Like the other giants, it has a complex weather system. It's so massive that it constantly attracts space debris with its gravity.

Oktara occasionally has persistant giant storms that last hundreds of year at a time. One storm larger than Nafine once lasted for at least 121 years before finally subsiding. In its tenure, this storm was known as "The Yellow Wind of Oktara."

Nologa is the last planet in the system, and it's only about double the size of Abbumi and has one moon. Nologa is a tiny planet with ammonia ice, iron, and other metals. It has no atmosphere, and is cold all year round. A visit from us is not likely to happen for another 50 years or so, but we're hoping that Nologa can give us some surprizes.

Beyond Nologa is a second asteroid belt, a cosmic dumpster of fragments left over from the birth of the Sevaza system. This is the outer edge of the system, and a few dwarf planets may yet lie here undiscovered.

 

[LoopyPanda]

I'm that one lurking reader who pops in, reads, and flees from detection. I'm the Solid Snake of readers

This one was pretty random to me, but I liked it. Reminds me of those Mad Libs from back in the day. I demand Waldo become a recurring character! 8U

The Solar System bit's pretty cool too, I like the names. They're unique but at least they're pronouceable to me (some ones I've heard sound like a leyboard mash if you gave it a mouth.lol!)

 

[Alzoru]

I may as well dedicate this series to you

 

[Alzoru]

With apologies to you all for my absence, I've been focusing on my novel.

Al has fun worldbuilding.

Spoiler

Alzoru's World: Episode 23, Al's worldbuilding session

So, time for some Nafinian Worldbuilding. I'll be telling all this as myself, Alzoru Ledura.

All Durakuni originally appeared on Wivetana, but in different places. And for the longest time, it was the only land they knew of. There came to be seven races of Durakuni, and some ledgends claim the existance of an eighth.

Long ago, many tribes arose on Wivetana, each with a different gift, different mindset, and often different languages and religious beliefs.

From what started as vague ideas, I've made several unique tribes that I guess I'll talk about here since hey: WORLD BUILDING!

The first tribe to talk about are the mysterious tribe of Ampitera that I call the Ampixari (ahm-pee-sha-ree). They appeared in the jungle a long freaking time ago and built their homes in the trees, along with other important buildings. They thrived for thousands of years, and their might was the greatest in the jungle.

The Ampixari were masters of using the jungle to their advantage and were very magically adept. They were highly in tune with nature, and worshiped the very trees they lived in, as well as the animals that they lived around. They seldom killed any animal, only doing so in self defense. And when they did kill, the body was never wasted but shared as evenly as possible by the whole village.

It was the Ampixari who invented agriculture, and passed their knowledge onto others. Very little remains of their civilization today, mostly because they almost never built with anything but wood. What little anyone knows about them comes from pottery shards, cave paintings, and extremely rare stone structure finds such as Ampi-001, a sixty-five square meter cobblestone square with only two standing walls, neither of which are fully intact.

Ampi-001 is believed to have been built over 6,000 (Nafinian) years ago (That's over 18,000 eath years!) and most experts think that it was a temple to worship nature and appreciate the world they lived in (And they're right). Excavation of the site suggests that there were once pools of water in the temple that likely served as bathing spots. Furthermore, small ditches around the temple suggest that the water would have once been diverted fron a local riverbed, which has long-since dried up.

Another noteworthy tribe was the Kotokari (KO-tO-kah-rEE) tribe, a tribe of Ordelaka that defected from their brothers in the mountains to live on the plains. They lasted for a thousand (Again, Nafinian) years before splitting into two MORE tribes. The Kotokari believed that the sun was the greatest power in the universe and worshiped it as their primary god. According the their beliefs, the sun gave its golden life giving rays to all things, and that any intelligent creature deserved to be treated with equality and respect. They built many ancient cities on the plains, some of which still remain today as haunting ruins. They very seldom went to war, but when they did, they had a reputation for being invincible.

The Kotokari accepted other races into their ranks with almost no questions asked. It was said that their hospitality and kindness had few equals in their time. They are often credited with having built a wordly utopia in their capital city. But eventually, something had to happen. The bigger a tribe gets, the more disagreeents happen, and the more likely they are to split.

And split they did. Nobody knows what the argument was, but we do know that one group would form the Kixele (Kee-shay-lay) tribe (remember that name? ) and the other group kept the name of Kotokari. The Kixele headed west and became a great power in their own right.

I talked enough about Kixele in another AW episode, so I feel no need to do so here. Instead, I'll tell you that the Kotokari still have decendants to this day, and some of their ancient customs live on in several parts of Belaka, Anylka, and southern Wyveli.

The next noteworthy tribe are the Ortolega, a warrior tribe of Ordelaka that stayed in the mountains for many centuries and built mant cities with nigh-impregnable defense. They believed that they were the strongest race on Nafine, and that the others existed to be their slaves- if they didn't surrender, they would die in the blink of an eye. They had might grreater than almost any other tribe.

It was the Ortolega who destroyed the great empire of the Ampixari and nearly drove the Ampitera race to extinction. They also enslaved most of the Munitara race for over a millenium, and commited many atrocities in the name of their racist beliefs. To this day, their name is another word for "Bigot."

It wasn't until they met a great tribe of united power that they began to falter and fall. But even today, some of their vile influence lives on in organizations like the Ordelaka Purist Party.

Along the northern coast of Wivetana, another great tribe called the Wyriri (Wye-ree-ree) built massive coastal cities out of stone, mud, and wood. They were comprised almost entirely of Wyrana, but were willing to accept people of other races... so long as they could defeat the village champion in a challenge of some sort. This tribe worshiped the vast ocean that they lived in and around. They believed that the ocean as a whole was a living entity that gave them their livelyhood.

The Wyriri would also eventually travel further inland and discover rivers that they believed were the daughters of the great sea, and even eventually the ocean's "bride" the great northern swamp. This tribe flourished anywhere there was water for thousands of years. They built temples in odd places like near the low tide marks on beaches, meaning their temples would be completely or almost completely submerged at high tide. They also built temples on river banks and at lakesides. To this day, their descendants know more about living on and near water than anyone else.

The Lidenari (Lee-day-nah-ree) arose in the deserts of Tekale, and orginally consisted purely of Lynada. Highly territorial and warlike, they took what they needed through conquest. This tribe patented the Skirmisher bands and Trapmasters that would me a staple of desert warfare for millenia to come, and they built sandstone cities that were primarily militaristic. However, they became truly great and powerful when they met the Kixele tribe who taught them about trade in exchange for their lives.

After this point, their cities were now half battle station, hlf trade post. They would even sell some of their weapons if they had surplus. They didn't have much of a religion, they just knew that the desert was harsh and that they had to be just as harsh to live there. Sometime after discovering trade, they began allowing outsiders join their tribe, provided they could either prove themselves useful in some way, or if they could defeat a band of skirmishers single-hand.

Some of their cities are still in use today, heavily updated and outfitted with modern structure and such. But most of their cities lie in ruins or buried beneath the sands.

The last tribe I'll speak of for now is the Aketmoli (Ahk-ate-mO-lee) tribe, the most successful tribe on Nafine by far. They began in the foothills of what is now Wyveli. At first they were a coalition of Wyveri and Lugani, but they accepted all races as long as they could contribute something and weren't intolerably annoying.

This tribe was the one that began the most widespread religion on Nafine today, the church of Akanotko with its many gods that embody various forces of the universe as well as abstract concepts. This tribe believed, much like the Kotokari, that all Intelligent beings were equal under the eyes of Akanotko and Momoxi, and went to great lengths to protect that equality.

They integrated ideas and survival skills from all races and many other tribes in order to become truly great, and after losing a few battles to the Ortolega, they started to see their weaknesses and steeled themselves for a huge turnaround. And then, this pack of underdogs not only repelled the invaders, they took their cities back and forced them back into the mountains where they eventually starved them into submission.

The Aketmoli also freed the slaves of Kixele and brought their sexist regime to its knees. Anywhere there was prejudice, this tribe fought to destroy it. To this day, their beliefs, customs, and overall mindset is by far the most common on Nafine. Their original language is even the main basis of modern Nafinian.

With that, I should point out that there are tens of thousands of other tribes that exist or did exist on Nafine at one point, but these are the most notable, most powerful, and most influential of them all. Thanks for reading.

24 brings us back to Yardolme.

Spoiler

Alzoru's World, Episode 24: Tales from Yardolme part 3- The swamp city.

The chirp of frogs is quite loud in the vast swamp of the water region. A sunny day makes the already tropical weather extremely hot. And with the forecast showing no rain today, the people in the village of water are all out swimming weather it me in one of the thousand lakes, or in the ocean itself.

In one particular bay, a villager named Camalgua is harvesting clay, as per his job. The axolotl man fills a large, wooden jar with his haul and carries it to the trader's cart.

"Salimaho! My brother, the clay is ready!"

"Camalgua, I need one more of the stuff! You know we alway carry thirty of them, I only count twenty-nine!" The trader says expectantly.

"That's impossible! I've been keeping track of how much clay I've brought. You know I never mess up my count, you live with me!"

"Brother, we all have our off days, maybe you made a mistake." He shrugs.

"I know there were twenty-nine when I left to get this last one, Sali!" He looks pretty upset. His ice blue skin begins to turn purple in flusteredness. "Brother, have you taken your eyes off of this cart at any time?"

"Only when I needed to go pee, why?" He responds. "Oh, I see what you're getting at! You think someone stole it?"

"The fire tribe and a few others value our clay. And the clay also contains vital nutriets that help a few people stay healthy and active. Perhaps someone stole it to eat?"

"Probably! But who? There aren't many people here who are malnourished or anything..." Salimaho brushes his exposed gills in thought. His light sea green skin glistens in the sun, "I know of one person with a sick relative in the village. Curond's younger brother is ill and she may have been desperate."

"I'm going to tell the elder." Camalgua says with a sigh.

"Do that." His brother hives him a gesture to move it.

He runs into the elder's hut, built upon the sea itself and partially submerged at the high tide. He swam over to it and knocked on the door of the second floor.

"Oh! Camalgua. Just the villager I wanted to see."

"Elder Peixigo, someone stole clay from my brother's cart." He kneels to her.

"Come in already, kid." Her deep blue skin glistened in the afternoon sun.

"Yes ma'am." They walk in and sit on some wood furniture.

"Like I said, our cart was stolen from."

"I know." She revealed the jar, "I'm the one who took it."

"Elder? Why?!"

"Several reasons. I needed to test you, I needed to get you to come me, and I wanted to give it Curond's brother."

"Test me?"

"I wanted to see if you'd do the responsible thing, and you did. As for why I wanted to see you... wait here."

He doesn't ask questions, he just watched her dive into the sunken lower half of her house. She returned about three minutes later with a vial of glowing liquid, "Look familiar?"

"Th-the god's essence? I- are you insinuating what I think you are?!"

"Yes. Drink this."

"Madam... I am honored. But why me? I have no combat experience, I can't be a champion."

"You are smart, responsible, thoughtful, and quick-witted. You are everything I could ask for in our champion of water!"

"I... I will learn all I can, ma'am! I promise you I will learn to fight."

"Shhh, I know you will. Do you still have your clay scooper?"

"Never go anywhere without it!"

The elder nods, "Don't forget to use some essence on it, too."

He drinks the vial of essence, saving three drops for his scooper. At first, nothing seems to happen... then suddenly his skin begins to change to a vibrant and bright blue, and his eyes to mint green. He felt himself growing and growing, suddenly he was too tall to fit through most doors in the village without bending over. His muscles began to bulge out, making him look stronger, and his gills turned green like his eyes. within him, he felt a surge of power like a tsunami crashing upon his very soul. And his scooper had become a giant spoon.

"A spoon? That's my champion's weapon? I think I would rather use a spear..." His voice was now deeper.

"Looks can be deceiving. It is not the weapon that matters as much as how you use it. And your powers. I will train you now."

"I await your word, elder." He kneels again.

"Oh stop kneeling you silly. Now concentrate. Hold your hand out in front of you. Can you feel the water around and inside of you? Your inner well runs deeper than lake, champion. Reach out and grab the water downstairs, call out to it. It is an extension of you, Camalgua."

He tries to do so, and succeeds! Too well, even! He sprays himself and her with ocean water. "Oops..."

"It's fine. You're just a rookie. You're not used to the awesome power you now hold. You will learn to control it in finer ways with time." She promises.

He nods and tries again, making huge water columns outside. "Hmm..."

In only a week, he would learn finer things like controlling a single droplet of water, pressurizing water into ice (and subsequently, making tiny ice sculptures). Soon, he would be able to join the other champions...

Be very, very quiet...

Spoiler

Alzoru's World, Episode 25: Tales from Yardolme part 5, A Sound Solution.

A knockout! The Champion of Sound had knocked out a large beast in the mines of Newdoni. He stood tall over the the beast and threw it over his shoulder. He could barely carry it, but he had to relocate it so it wouldn't bother the miners from the Earth and Iron tribes. He set it down in a remote and abandoned shaft. And what's more, he never even had to use his powers.

He spreads his white bat wings and starts flying back to Newdoni, many thoughts on his mind. He sets down near the village edge, and the villagers all make way for him, bowing their heads and making quiet hand gestures to applaud his success. His green eyes shimmer in the dark while his fangs glisten in the dark. His lon white tail waves behind him and a single black rhombus on his forehead is the only natural marking on his visage.

One of the villagers even quietly tells him, "Good job." And he responds with a smile and a pat on the villager's head. He finds a pen and paper and starts writing a note to give to the elder. Just about the only noise in the village were babies, the crackling of fires, and dripping water.

Only very rarely did anyone ever speak in the village. The people of the sound tribe had very powerful hearing, and abhored lous noises because of it. Which made it ironic that their champion now had the power to be louder than any other living thing on Yardolme.

The Champion wrote his note to the elder in silence... "Most gracios Elder Yaroslei, I have defeated and relocated the Namrotaq beast as you have requested of me. The other tribes may resume their mining works, and you will be pleased to know that I never used my powers at any point: only my wits, strength, and my champion's tool. I am prepared for my next task, if you have one for me. Best wishes, Champion Vlasnar. PS: I would highly appreciate the opportunity to take a bath. I have not bathed in a week now."

He folded the paper and walked to the elder's place of residence. He then did something that he and his kind hated so much, but knew was a necessary evil- he knocked on the door. Everyone covered their ears or stared in the direction of the noise, and the elder was swift to open the door. He motioned his champion to come in. Vlasnar obeyed his elder's beckoning and walked in, sitting on the floor. The elder sat down with him and got out lots of paper and ink for them to use.

Vlasnar started the written conversation by giving the elder his note. The elder read the note swiftly and wrote a brief message back, which he then gave. The message read as follows: "Dearest Champion Vlasnar, Your work to date has been admirable. I currently have no chores, quests, or missions for you at this moment in time, and give you my permission to relax. And yes, that does include, if you so desire, a bath. You're starting to smell quite rank, anyway. With all due respect, Elder Yarosei."

Vlasnar looked estatic and almost squealed his delight, but he stopped himself and simply wrote "Thank you so much!" on another paper in very big letters. He stood up, gave his elder a bow, and left the home. He opened and closed the door slowly and with care so as not to make too much noise. He then started practically skipping to the public bath house in unbridled joy.

The villagers who kept the bath house greeted him with a reverant bow and gave him a note saying that they would waive his fee. Being a champion had its perks. He wrote them a note of thanks before getting himself cleaned by the bath officials.

Once he was done, he started to walk to the Temple of Sound where he now lived, but was stopped by the elder, who gave him a note. He had a look of urgency upon his visage. Vlasnar took the message and read it. "Forgive the lack of formality, but the Champion of Air has apparently requested help in defeating a beast that is moving towards Newdoni. We cannot afford something that troubles even a champion to threaten us. Please go help!"

The champion merely nods and starts running to the city's gates. Once outside, he takes to the air and looks around. He doesn't have to look for long. The beast is at least sixty meters long, jet black, and thorny like a rose bush. Its  fur hides a thick hide, and it has great fangs that can crush boulders. It's known as the Kalmanqak, Mountain-eater in the tongue of the Earth-tribe who first named them.

The champion of air screeches and whips up winds and even tornadoes to deter the beast. It doesn't seem to work too well. He lands and pants. Vlasnar lands next to him and bows couteously. He offers a handshake.

"Another champion! Great! Hi, I'm Timefo! Pleasure to meet you!" He accepts the handshake and doesn't notice the pained expression on his new friend's face. "I could really use-"

Vlas held Timefo's beak shut and cleared his throat. "I am Vlasnar. I have very sensitive ears, so please do not speak so loud, okay?"

Timefo blushes and his bright green feathers ruffle up. His sky blue eyes look apologetic and he simply nods at his fellow champion who lets go of his beak. Vlas wraps his arms around himself like a cloak and asks, "Do you have a plan?"

"Right now, I need to rest. Mind taking over for a bit?" He asks in an embarrassed tone. His crest of lime feathers flared up as he rested.

"I will help. You may want to cover your ear-holes though, bcause I strongly doubt that I'll be able to stop this without my powers." He warns.

"Cover my ears? Oh right, Sound Tribe." He nodded and did so.

After that brief exchange, Vlasnar flies in and bombards the giant creature with loud screams and sonic attacks, hoping make them strong enough to be concussive. The sounds were of an unbelievably high frequency and VERY loud. These attacks could likely shatter glass or even ceramics in the general area.

The huge beast definitely started to back up and retreat a bit before making a loud roar of its own, which greatly hurt Vlasnar. "AHH!" He fell out of the sky and fell to the ground... "My ears..." He stood up and managed to avoid getting stomped on. But he had an idea. He flew over to Timefo.

"Wow, weak to your own powers, that's rough, buddy." He shakes his head in pity.

"Timefo, I have an idea. I think we're going about this the wrong way. It can't be lifted by strong winds, and its too loud for me to handle it... so let's try a more subtle approach. All living things need to breath, correct? And this thing needs air to breathe. If you removed the air around its head..."

"It would be unabel to breathe... Vlas, you're a genius!" He shouted. "He noticed the pained expression this time, "Eheh, sorry. I'll choke this thing now."

"In addition, if there is no air around its head, it will be unable to make noise... meaning I can attack and cause it to waste energy. Which would make it exhale a lot and make it need to breathe all the more." He reasons.

"The Vaccuum is GO!" Vlas hisses. "Sorry."

Vlasnar flies around the beast dodging it attacks and attacking it with concussive bursts of sound. Very soon, the beast is spasming around on the ground starving for oxygen... and then the dreaded mountain eater finally died. The two of them high fived in the air, and Vlas screamed out "YES!" which caused Timefo to cover his airholes and crash into the ground. "Oops..." Vlas blushes.

"And you say I'm loud..." Timepo mumbles on the ground.

Vlas lands, blushes, and covers his mouth.

---

More Pokemon.

Spoiler

Alzoru's World Episode 26: Tale of a Pokemon Trainer part 3

Ata and Jatak heaved a great big sigh as they were victorious once again! He looked down at the defeated Charmeleon with a smile on his face... and looked at the Gym leader expectantly.

"Not everyday somebody sweeps through my gym that easily! Here, take this Rook Badge!" The man says with a proud smile, "You earned it!"

Jatak quietly put the badge away, but as he did he noticed a bright light coming from Ata... "Ata...?" He looked back to see a Marshtomp standing behind him.

"Marshtomp!"

"Ata, you evolved! That's wonderful!" Jatak hugged him and Ata hugged him back. "You look great!" He exclaims

"Tomp, Tomp!" Ata Cheered. Ata jumped on Jatak's back.

"Whoa! Careful! I won't be able to carry you for much longer, you know..."

"Tomp!"

The pair leaves into the wilderness around Murmu City, and they look around for a new team member to catch, "Let me see... I know there are Combee around here, but do I really want to look forever for a female? Hmmm, I know we trained against some Geodude in the mountains, but trade evolutions are bullcrap. There are some Magby in the mountains as well, might grab one of those... you know what? I'm going to do it." He decides. He runs up to the mountains, but only makes it half way before he needs to rest, "Geez Ata, you're heavier than you look! Mind getting off of me?"

"Marsh..." He says sadly before he does as requested.

"Thanks... Hoo boy." He sits down and pulls out some trail mix.

Ata takes some as well, "Tomp!"

"Hey, ask first!" Jatak playfully flicks Ata's forehead. In return, Ata playfully sprays water in his face.

"Curse you, Ata!" Jatak shakes his fist and hugs the Marshtomp. The two proceed to eat more trail mix together, Jatak mildly soaked.

Soon, they stand up and run together in even pace towards the mountain that they knew contained what they were looking for.. but first, they'd have to fight past Geodude, Dwebble, Diglett, and Wobbufett. Magby seemed to be a rare encounter around here...

Jatak was very worried about those Wobbufett, he'd heard many a horror story about trainers having pokemon die to Wobbufett. But thankfully, he had a strategy for them- whittle them down VERY slowly and keep many a healing item handy. Eventually, he finally found it- a Magby! "There it is, let's get it! Body Slam, Go!"

Ata picked up the Magby and suplexed it. The Magby relaliated by headbutting him when it got up, and then it Fire punched Ata while he flinched.

"Ata, Body Slam again!" Ata once again suplexed the baby pokemon, leaving it barely able to stand. Jatak threw one of his many pokeballs, surprised by it being able to break free. It used an Ember attack on Ata.

Not missing a beat, Jatak threw a second ball at the weakened 'mon. This time, it stayed in the ball to get captured. He quickly left for the Pokemon Center to heal his new teammate... "What am I going to call you? Hmmmm... I'll call you Macbeth."

"Marshtomp? Tomp." Ata sighed and shrugged, not impressed with the Magby's name.

"Shut up, Ata. Let's see... Magmar and Magmortar are special attackers... how do I train one? I know! I'll have it breathe fire at rocks and try to melt them! And I'll train Special Defense by shooting a flamethower at him, at least that won't hurt too much. And I will train his HP by having him do cardio workouts... I'd have him row a boat like I did with you and Whairi, but that's a disaster waiting to happen."

Ata thought for a moment and nodded in approval. He flexed and prepared himself for a fight or two.

Sure enough, when Macbeth was let out of his ball, he immediately looked back at Jatak with a look of animosity. But nevertheless, he listened to him and followed his training regimen. Each blast of fire a bit stronger than the last... until his pilot light started going out, that is. Soon he couldn't even breathe out a spark.

Jatak had him stop and eat some trail mix, and generally take a break from his training. Macbeth found himself liking the trail mix a lot! This got him to trust his trainer more, but he was still wary on the whole. After eating and rest, his pilot light was right back on and his fire attacks were stronger than ever!

This training was kept up for days until Macbeth could easily completely melt a rock as big as Jatak's head into lava in only a minute. Once that training was finished, he was allowed a day to rest before he started his Special Defense training. Macbeth at first took more damage than expected from the flamethrower, but over each day he'd resist more and more damage until a point where he could go through a whole kerosine canister barely even noticing the attack.

After another day's rest, he did two day's worth of jogging with his trainer keeping stride with him as they ran laps around Murmu City. In good health, Macbeth seemed to be enjoying his time with his new trainer, but now it was time to go back home where it all started from.

Once on his home island, he visited his mom and Hemlock's aides before beginning his level grinding for Macbeth- he would have done it at the mountain near Murmu, but there were too many Pokemon there that could easily defeat or even kill him!

Once at a reasonable level, he took him to Umer City and its wilderness, where he knew there was mostly nothing but Combee, Spearow, Burmy, and Doduo. Training there was quite easy, and once finished there, it was a short distance back to Murmu City.

He climbed up the mountain (after healing, of course) and came back down the other side, now on his way to Trugaan Town- there may not be a gym there, but he knew that there was a nice restaurant and a few trainers hanging around. Bt the road there was rough and dry. Rock and ground types were everywhere with only rare grass types like Cacnea and oddish. It was a desert, one made by the Rain Shadow effect. Not even a sandy desert, either, this one was mostly rocks and barren wasteland.

Once he reached the town, which was only able to survive because of a river nearby, he restd in the pokemon center with his team, dreaming of his next big battle with a gym leader.

But that's not all he dreamed of. He saw in his dreams a giant dragonite, purple in color. It mopped the floor with his team, devoured him, and laid waste to his home island. He saw it tear across the land on a chaotic mission to destroy everything... until he suddenly woke up. "What was THAT all about?" He panted and sat on the couch in a cold sweat.

To be continued.

Spoiler

And now for something completely different.

Spoiler

Alzoru's World Episode 27: Sikiteriku

Fertilizing the soil was a major step in the process of terraforming on this lifeless rock. Though not lifeless for much longer, hopefully. Even so, the people involved kept working on it, gathering samples and spreading various fertilization agents. Even those with magic would be hard pressed to work here in such hostile conditions.

The Terraformers usually worked on particular areas of about half a square kilometer until the area could be called fertile, and then they set up devices to produces certain gases. Overhead the Ma-02X sattelites could be seen creating a magnetic field for the planet since its own was long gone.

Nafine looked so beautiful from here, a sight not many had seen before the space age. It was the Nafinian year 4275, and Humans and Durakuni both worked together on this project. The heads of the team were a married couple of a human male and Durakuni male, who worked hard to see this moon come to life. For now though, they had to return to Colony 001, they were all low on oxygen.

Elsewhere on the large moon, there were mining operations going on that dug up many a precious stone as well as just plain stone for building. This moon currently had roughly 12 colonies on it, and the fetilization process was almost done. Soon, they could turn on all the machines and start working on building up the atmosphere.

Colony 001 itself has had to be rebuilt and repaired a few times due to meteor impacts, not to mention the damage from the war. It was the pride and joy of Wyveli which built it several hundred years ago. Sometimes called "New Wyvitira" it is considered one of the best colonies on Sikiteriku.

First, Nitrogen machines were turned on, then the carbon dioxide machines (for the tree saplings being planted!), Then the oxygen machines, and finally the water vapor machines. Other gases would include small amounts of methane, argon, and probably others.

Within the first year of them being turned on, clouds started to form in the deepest valleys and crevasses, and within two years, clouds formed thin fogs over most of the surface of the planet. And while more water had to be imported from iceballs in the asteroid belt and the outer system, Sikiteriku's weather became more complex every year along with its rising cloud line.

Plants started to grow outside the colony domes within four years, starting with hardy grasses and certain shrubs, but soon even mighty trees began to flourish. Ten years after the machines were activated, Sikiteriku was habitable enough that the colonies could demolish their domed walls. But most would not for a couple of decades due to constant rainfall creating oceans and lakes on the moon.

Unfortunately, several mining projects were lost due to the big flood, but creatures were imported to the planet from Nafine and Earth to balance the ecosystem.

And now in the year 4461, Sikiteriku is the second most inhabited body in the system with even more colonies establishes, and new countries formed on the moon. And Nafine's other moon is halfway terraformed as well now. Many things have changed since the early days on Sikiteriku, but a few things stay the same as well- the highly profitable gem mining, the determination of its inhabitants and workforce, and the mountain that looks like it has a human face carved into the west side.

And now, one of my personal favorites!

Spoiler

Alzoru's World Episode 28- Nafinian Legends Series: The Ferati

Seven. Seven Durakuni races exist on Nafine, but pehaps there is or at least once was an eighth race. In ancient legends and stories, a name appears every so often, one associated with deep mystery and intrigue. What is the name, this race that seems to exist only in legend? Ferati.

The Ferati were a Durakuni race that supposedly lived beyond the sea and far to the north in a land of ice and snow. Very few claims of their existance even exist, but could there be some truth to these stories?

The first appearance of this race goes back beyond written history, to the tale of a king in what is now Wekasi. This king took a crew of fine sailors and body guards out to sea in order to flee from the armies of a stronger nation and hopefully find another land to rule elsewhere.

According to the story, this king sailed north, and lost many crew members in violent storms, along with losing lots of food to some pirates before finally running aground in a frozen sea. He wandered aimlessly across the ice, and into a snowcloaked world where he found a city made of stone and foreign woods amoung the drifts.

Mistaken for an invader, he was held prisoner for five years along with what little crew he still had. He had to try to learn their language in order to explain that he wasn't here to invade, and eventually he learned enough to get his point across. The Ferati, as an apology, made him a new ship and sent him off with with crew, fully stocked with food and precious metals, on the condition that he never reveal their location to anyone.

And so he returned home after several months of sailing and generally being lost. He gathered a force of assassins and took back the throne after being gone for so long. He told his tale to his people, but kept his world and never revealed the location of the Ferati Kingdom- He did, however, teach a bit of their language to some of his people.

This story was passed down mouth-to-mouth for generations before finally being written down in the year 101. Since then, a fascination with the mysterious Ferati sprung up and began to captivate people all over Wivetana, causing many a brave adventurer the seek out the strange butterfly-winged Durakuni of legend.

In the year 161, An explorer from Wyveli (Then just Wyvitira) named Devikoto, his wife, and many sailors went on an expedition to find the legendary beings, and according to Devikoto's journal, they met many difficulties on the way up north, like food mysteriously vanishing or spoiling too quickly, not to mention storms that caused or almost caused several deaths among the crew. Among the ones who died was Devikoto's own son, having been struck by lightning.

The cursed voyage found them losing their course and instead finiding the islands of Nofuku, which they decided to just stay on, except for three men who took their captain's journal back to the mainland. The islands were swiftly colonized by Wyveli, but the land of the Ferati was still out of reach.

In the year 261, several sailors and a female explorer named Kisepali left Kazane to seek refuge from a plague that was befalling their city, heading north in search of the Ferati who they thought may have a cure. They faced many familiar challenges- the same deadly storms and food rotting prematurely as well as a myserious dissapearance of a crew member.

However, unlike the other voyagers, they actually FOUND the Ferati, at least according to the Captain's Log. The Ferati briefly took them prisoner before using unknown magic to divine their purpose of visit. After discovering their intentions, they supposedly brewed a potion of great power and gave it to the escapees, writing down a message for the crew that they of course, could not read.

They took the potion and returned home, finding that whoever drank even a small amount of it was cured of the plague. The note supposedly written by the Ferati was on display at the Museum of the Ferati in Kazane until it was destroyed in a fire in 1773 (Several copies were made before then).

Many more voyages to find these mysterious people continued to happen, but most of them met the same ill fates over and over. One vessel deemed perfectly seaworthy even sunk for no apparent reason after two weeks at sea.

It wasn't until the year 612 that the Ferati were supposedly found again by an Orkatian explorer named Jikoma Kosakara, who was formerly an actor. He reported that after dealing with the usual hardships that come with searching out the Ferati, he found their kingdom which was now vast and beautiful, with many houses supposedly adorned with gold and/or silver. There was a castle supposedly made of Sapphire and emerald bricks, and the city walls were covered with a reddish-gold metal.

He wrote that they seemed to know immediately what he wanted and tried to use magic to deter him from entering. When he did not relent, they allowed him to view the city briefly, but made him promise not to tell the location of the city, just as they had the ancient king so long ago.

In the year 1167, A woman in Wekasi reported that a lone Ferati washed up on the beach near her house and tried to communicate with her in a tongue she did not know, and then died and transformed into a bed of grass and flowers that she'd never seen before, with only a skull left of the original body.

Finally, in the year 2,560, Kazane sends a huge exploration party into the north, and officially discovers the continent of Arix, but finds it far less frigid and frozen than they ever expected. And then Wekasi formed the first official colonies on Arix, and exploration began in earnest.

Sure enough, in the northernmost reaches of the continent there was a land of ice and snow, but to their surpise, the snow seemed to come and go at different times of the year (Keep in mind, the Equator runs RIGHT through Wekasi, the country is entirely tropical.)

While nothing as grand as described in most texts, there were ruins of ancient cities on Arix that were assumed to be ancient Ferati cities, but even modern Achaeology can't prove this true or false in the least.

To this day, no truly definitive proof exists to confirm or deny the existance of the Ferati, but their supposed written language inspired several characters in Modern Nafinian written language.

So what is the truth behind the mysterious Ferati? Were they real or just a series of elaborate lies? And if they are real, are they still around? Maybe someday we will find closure in the enigmatic tales of the eighth race.

 

[Alzoru]

Apologies to everyone, I keep forgetting to post these here. Though can you blame me? Nobody reads them anyway, besides Loopy :/

Anyway, AW is on hiatus.