Backstory for Original Fiction
Posted: 2010-08-24 05:00pm
So, this is the backstory for a story I'm thinking about writing. The best genre name I can come up with for it is Modern Fantasy. It's basically a high fantasy world that's advanced into the modern world, and the way thing work from there. Below is the back story I've written for it. Bear in mind this is a rough draft, and is not fully proofread, and some details will be changed or given more information as I get deeper into the story. Also, there is a map I've drawn that details the locations of everything. I'm working on finishing it, and ASAP will scan and upload it for your viewing pleasure.
So yes, please tell me what the great community of SD.net thinks!
Also, I'm PRETTY sure this is where I'm meant to put something like this....but if I've placed it in the wrong area, I humbly apologize. I'll happily make the repost wherever necessary. So without further ado.....
In times of the distant past, the two great races of this world—Humanity and their distant cousins the Naymoro—had lived together in harmony and peace. While split up into many nations and tribes Humans were always the more numerous of the two races had long been a worker class. They tilled fields, made goods and all other manners of labor. They concentrated on the mineral rich and fertile south-eastern portion of the world, a land they called the Lubyak. In turn, their distant, elfin cousins the Naymoro dwelt in the southwest of the world in their own homeland of Egalintia. Together, the two races had founded a mighty nation that encompassed the entire southern half of the world. Despite countless invasion by bitter Northmen intent on ceasing the productivity for their own, the union state of Egaliak had grown and prospered. Humanity had tilled fields and worked in forges and mills while the Naymoro had used their races subtle gift of influence over nature to ensure bountiful harvests and prosperity for all.
Unfortunately, as all things in this world, peace and prosperity were not states that endured for long. As long years and seasons passed, changes were slowly wrought amongst the Naymoro. The subtle gifts that most of the race possessed slowly faded into nothingness, while a select few had their powers grow and grow. It was as if these select few were absorbing the strength of those who were weakening. As with all beings, as these few had their power grow, their pride and ego grew with it. Those with power grew arrogant, and began to view themselves and their kin as superior to all other life. Why should mere Humans stand side to side with them, the Undying masters of land, sea, and air? The Undying who could, with a mere thought, cause the sky to send deluge or drought? To make crops flourish or die? They and the rest of their race began to see themselves as superior to the Humans they had once worked alongside for the betterment of all. The Naymoro began to oppress the Humans. No longer did the two races live and work together, but now the Humans worked for the Naymoro as their servants and slaves. Their crops and wares were no longer shared evenly between the two, but sent ever more to the lavish palaces the powerful built for themselves deep inside Egalintia, while the Lubyak made do with what was left over.
Groaning under their slavery seeds of rebellion and resentment were planted deep into the Lubyak, and realizing that they would never be able to escape the changed that had been sent upon their former comrades in labor, the Humans of the Lubyak decided to dissolve the united state that they had lived in for generations on end was no longer their home, and the Lubyak declared itself free of the bonds the Naymoro had installed upon them. Meeting in the city of Erota—a prosperous trade city that served both the miners and farmers—the people of the Lubyak decided on a name for their new nation, free after many many years: the Union of the People of Lubyak. With a name in place, and laws decreed the counts, dukes, princes and earls that ruled the various parts of the new Lubyakan Union began to prepare for the war that they knew would come as the Naymorto realized what was happening in their prosperous western factory.
Soon enough, a representative of the High King of the Naymorto entered Erota, demanding to know why the city’s tithe to Egalinita had not been paid on time. Taking up his sword, the Duke of Erota, Nikolai Stravonsay declared to the representative that the Lubyak no longer served the High King, and with the cheers of the people, killed the representative with a single blow, and sent his body back to the High King on a food cart. With their army massed, the Lubyakans trained in their fortresses, cities and homes, and waited for the Naymoro response.
When the farm cart arrived at the Palace of the High King with the body of the representative, and the declaration nailed to his skull, the High King was furious. He decided that the upstarts must be taught a lesson, and that lesson would be the destruction of Erota. The city would be burned to the ground, its people scattered, its soil salted, and its memory burned from the records. It would be annihilated to serve as a warning to any others who may seek to throw off their oppressors yoke. With ferocious speed, he gathered his army, and marched towards the Lubyak. He and his mighty host expected and easy victory, for the average Naymoro was stronger, and swifter in both mind and body than any Man. Beyond that, their smiths had forged armor that could deflect even the mightiest sword strike or a shot from the strongest bow. They thought themselves invincible.
For a time, they were correct. The Lubyakan army, little more than a hastily trained civilian militia, crumpled and fled in battle after battle until the Naymoro host stood at the gates of Erota itself. In desperation, Duke Stravonsay turned to the one resource the Lubyak had that the Naymoro could not match. Numbers. When the Naymoro host began to surround Erota, expecting the army inside to hole up and fight against a siege, they were shocked when the gates of the city flew open, and nearly every man, woman, child charged out, wielding whatever weapons they could find. While each Naymoro killed nearly ten times his own number, and their mighty armor warded off dozens of arrows and swords, they struck down, a dozen more lept up to replace him, each one fighting with the burning zeal that only comes when the war is on their very door. Realizing his defeat, the High King fled back east towards his own homeland with but a tenth of his original host. The rest was left to die on the bloody fields outside Erota.
The High King was no fool, and realized quickly that the small fraction of his army that survived would not be able to destroy Erota. He could only hold out and wait for the rest of his lords and generals to arrive from Egalintia with reinforcement to continue the assault. By then however, the city would be fortified beyond belief, as every soldier in the Lubyak poured into the city, now more than ever the heart of their resistance. More importantly, word of his defeat would spread, and weaken his stand even further. He had to strike back now. Strike now and hard. With such force that any new of his defeat would be countered by the news of the horrific end the city had met for defying his will. But how?
Finally, it occurred to him. The lords that were journeying to meet him were all of the Naymoro who had seen their power grow to monstrous proportions. Nearly all the energy of their races latent gift concentrated in no more than a hundred individuals. The High King quickly gave word for all his Lords, Generals, and any Naymoro who had power to be gathered. He also ordered that a great disc of Noval Crystal, a stone that the Naymoro had long used to focus their gifts, to be made ready for this conclave. If Erota could not be destroyed by force of arms, then it would be obliterated by the power of the Naymoro incarnate. Swiftly, the lords and generals of Egalintia gathered, and began work on the spell.
Fortunately for the people of the Lubyak, a spy amongst the Naymoro camp brought back word of what the High King was planning, and Duke Stravonsay quickly massed all the troops he could and marched on the mountain where the entirety of those Naymoro who had gathered up their races power. In a great battle, the force of the Union defeated the remnants of the Naymoro host, but the remnants of the once mighty army had served its purpose. It had delayed the army of their foe long enough that only the Duke and his personal guard managed to breach the mountain fortress where the High King and his council were massing their powers. When the Duke finally entered the heart of the fortress, it was pulsing with power. Come face to face with the man who had led this revolt against him, the Naymoro High King acted in an unprecedented manner.
Instead of releasing the massed power onto the city as planned, he took all of it into himself. His Lords and Generals writhed and died as their very life force was drained from them into the High King. Bloated upon the energy of his entire race the High King met the Duke in combat, and defeated him with but a single blow. Gloating over his final victory, the High King failed to realize the approach of the rest of the Duke’s guard; distracted by his fight with the few remaining men to face him, the High King failed to notice the Duke staggering to his feet, and raising a sword. Struggling to even breathe, the Duke thrust his sword through the back of the High King. With a final scream the High King of the Naymoro fell, and the long existent power of the Naymoro died with him.
With the death of the High King, and the breaking of their power, the Naymoro gave up the fight, and granted the Men of the Lubyak their freedom. The title of the Duke of Erota passed on to the son of the great hero of the War for Freedom, and Erota became the capital of the new nation that finally began to stretch its legs. In offensive after offensive, the new nation drove its frontier deep into what had traditionally been Egalintia, until the border stood on the Anyo River. The remaining Naymoro were faced with the reality that their time as the rulers of the world were over, and that they could do nothing more than submit and try to hold on to what little they had left.
Even though the war was over, and Humanity raised to the same level of their former masters rumors quickly spread amongst the defeated Naymoro. They said that the great disc of Noval Crystal had actually absorbed the energy released by the death of the High King, and now contained the power of their whole race. It was whispered that the daughter of the High King, the last Naymoro to have concentrated power, had survived her father’s actions and had fled the mountain fortress to safety. These rumors formed the last hope of the Naymoro race. To reunite the descendant of the High King and the disc that had absorbed his power. They believed that to do so would be to bring their race back to the height of its power, and enable them to fight back. No longer would they fight to crush Humanity back into servitude, but they would fight to stop the ever encroaching border of the Lubyakan Union, for they know that without the power gifted to them in the ancient past, it is only a matter of time before the masses of humanity drive them from existence.
So yes, please tell me what the great community of SD.net thinks!
Also, I'm PRETTY sure this is where I'm meant to put something like this....but if I've placed it in the wrong area, I humbly apologize. I'll happily make the repost wherever necessary. So without further ado.....
In times of the distant past, the two great races of this world—Humanity and their distant cousins the Naymoro—had lived together in harmony and peace. While split up into many nations and tribes Humans were always the more numerous of the two races had long been a worker class. They tilled fields, made goods and all other manners of labor. They concentrated on the mineral rich and fertile south-eastern portion of the world, a land they called the Lubyak. In turn, their distant, elfin cousins the Naymoro dwelt in the southwest of the world in their own homeland of Egalintia. Together, the two races had founded a mighty nation that encompassed the entire southern half of the world. Despite countless invasion by bitter Northmen intent on ceasing the productivity for their own, the union state of Egaliak had grown and prospered. Humanity had tilled fields and worked in forges and mills while the Naymoro had used their races subtle gift of influence over nature to ensure bountiful harvests and prosperity for all.
Unfortunately, as all things in this world, peace and prosperity were not states that endured for long. As long years and seasons passed, changes were slowly wrought amongst the Naymoro. The subtle gifts that most of the race possessed slowly faded into nothingness, while a select few had their powers grow and grow. It was as if these select few were absorbing the strength of those who were weakening. As with all beings, as these few had their power grow, their pride and ego grew with it. Those with power grew arrogant, and began to view themselves and their kin as superior to all other life. Why should mere Humans stand side to side with them, the Undying masters of land, sea, and air? The Undying who could, with a mere thought, cause the sky to send deluge or drought? To make crops flourish or die? They and the rest of their race began to see themselves as superior to the Humans they had once worked alongside for the betterment of all. The Naymoro began to oppress the Humans. No longer did the two races live and work together, but now the Humans worked for the Naymoro as their servants and slaves. Their crops and wares were no longer shared evenly between the two, but sent ever more to the lavish palaces the powerful built for themselves deep inside Egalintia, while the Lubyak made do with what was left over.
Groaning under their slavery seeds of rebellion and resentment were planted deep into the Lubyak, and realizing that they would never be able to escape the changed that had been sent upon their former comrades in labor, the Humans of the Lubyak decided to dissolve the united state that they had lived in for generations on end was no longer their home, and the Lubyak declared itself free of the bonds the Naymoro had installed upon them. Meeting in the city of Erota—a prosperous trade city that served both the miners and farmers—the people of the Lubyak decided on a name for their new nation, free after many many years: the Union of the People of Lubyak. With a name in place, and laws decreed the counts, dukes, princes and earls that ruled the various parts of the new Lubyakan Union began to prepare for the war that they knew would come as the Naymorto realized what was happening in their prosperous western factory.
Soon enough, a representative of the High King of the Naymorto entered Erota, demanding to know why the city’s tithe to Egalinita had not been paid on time. Taking up his sword, the Duke of Erota, Nikolai Stravonsay declared to the representative that the Lubyak no longer served the High King, and with the cheers of the people, killed the representative with a single blow, and sent his body back to the High King on a food cart. With their army massed, the Lubyakans trained in their fortresses, cities and homes, and waited for the Naymoro response.
When the farm cart arrived at the Palace of the High King with the body of the representative, and the declaration nailed to his skull, the High King was furious. He decided that the upstarts must be taught a lesson, and that lesson would be the destruction of Erota. The city would be burned to the ground, its people scattered, its soil salted, and its memory burned from the records. It would be annihilated to serve as a warning to any others who may seek to throw off their oppressors yoke. With ferocious speed, he gathered his army, and marched towards the Lubyak. He and his mighty host expected and easy victory, for the average Naymoro was stronger, and swifter in both mind and body than any Man. Beyond that, their smiths had forged armor that could deflect even the mightiest sword strike or a shot from the strongest bow. They thought themselves invincible.
For a time, they were correct. The Lubyakan army, little more than a hastily trained civilian militia, crumpled and fled in battle after battle until the Naymoro host stood at the gates of Erota itself. In desperation, Duke Stravonsay turned to the one resource the Lubyak had that the Naymoro could not match. Numbers. When the Naymoro host began to surround Erota, expecting the army inside to hole up and fight against a siege, they were shocked when the gates of the city flew open, and nearly every man, woman, child charged out, wielding whatever weapons they could find. While each Naymoro killed nearly ten times his own number, and their mighty armor warded off dozens of arrows and swords, they struck down, a dozen more lept up to replace him, each one fighting with the burning zeal that only comes when the war is on their very door. Realizing his defeat, the High King fled back east towards his own homeland with but a tenth of his original host. The rest was left to die on the bloody fields outside Erota.
The High King was no fool, and realized quickly that the small fraction of his army that survived would not be able to destroy Erota. He could only hold out and wait for the rest of his lords and generals to arrive from Egalintia with reinforcement to continue the assault. By then however, the city would be fortified beyond belief, as every soldier in the Lubyak poured into the city, now more than ever the heart of their resistance. More importantly, word of his defeat would spread, and weaken his stand even further. He had to strike back now. Strike now and hard. With such force that any new of his defeat would be countered by the news of the horrific end the city had met for defying his will. But how?
Finally, it occurred to him. The lords that were journeying to meet him were all of the Naymoro who had seen their power grow to monstrous proportions. Nearly all the energy of their races latent gift concentrated in no more than a hundred individuals. The High King quickly gave word for all his Lords, Generals, and any Naymoro who had power to be gathered. He also ordered that a great disc of Noval Crystal, a stone that the Naymoro had long used to focus their gifts, to be made ready for this conclave. If Erota could not be destroyed by force of arms, then it would be obliterated by the power of the Naymoro incarnate. Swiftly, the lords and generals of Egalintia gathered, and began work on the spell.
Fortunately for the people of the Lubyak, a spy amongst the Naymoro camp brought back word of what the High King was planning, and Duke Stravonsay quickly massed all the troops he could and marched on the mountain where the entirety of those Naymoro who had gathered up their races power. In a great battle, the force of the Union defeated the remnants of the Naymoro host, but the remnants of the once mighty army had served its purpose. It had delayed the army of their foe long enough that only the Duke and his personal guard managed to breach the mountain fortress where the High King and his council were massing their powers. When the Duke finally entered the heart of the fortress, it was pulsing with power. Come face to face with the man who had led this revolt against him, the Naymoro High King acted in an unprecedented manner.
Instead of releasing the massed power onto the city as planned, he took all of it into himself. His Lords and Generals writhed and died as their very life force was drained from them into the High King. Bloated upon the energy of his entire race the High King met the Duke in combat, and defeated him with but a single blow. Gloating over his final victory, the High King failed to realize the approach of the rest of the Duke’s guard; distracted by his fight with the few remaining men to face him, the High King failed to notice the Duke staggering to his feet, and raising a sword. Struggling to even breathe, the Duke thrust his sword through the back of the High King. With a final scream the High King of the Naymoro fell, and the long existent power of the Naymoro died with him.
With the death of the High King, and the breaking of their power, the Naymoro gave up the fight, and granted the Men of the Lubyak their freedom. The title of the Duke of Erota passed on to the son of the great hero of the War for Freedom, and Erota became the capital of the new nation that finally began to stretch its legs. In offensive after offensive, the new nation drove its frontier deep into what had traditionally been Egalintia, until the border stood on the Anyo River. The remaining Naymoro were faced with the reality that their time as the rulers of the world were over, and that they could do nothing more than submit and try to hold on to what little they had left.
Even though the war was over, and Humanity raised to the same level of their former masters rumors quickly spread amongst the defeated Naymoro. They said that the great disc of Noval Crystal had actually absorbed the energy released by the death of the High King, and now contained the power of their whole race. It was whispered that the daughter of the High King, the last Naymoro to have concentrated power, had survived her father’s actions and had fled the mountain fortress to safety. These rumors formed the last hope of the Naymoro race. To reunite the descendant of the High King and the disc that had absorbed his power. They believed that to do so would be to bring their race back to the height of its power, and enable them to fight back. No longer would they fight to crush Humanity back into servitude, but they would fight to stop the ever encroaching border of the Lubyakan Union, for they know that without the power gifted to them in the ancient past, it is only a matter of time before the masses of humanity drive them from existence.