Prologue
Enter a World Unlike Any Other
Anogwin is a realm that is incomparable to another. Here, The Walking Races, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Dracose, and many other sentient races, have pressed innovation to the furthest limits. Magic is now far more than a mysterious force to be held by a talented few. Circuit boards of quartz, silver, and gold are found in millions of different forms of technology. The raw elemental component of magic, myst, is used to power everything from day-to-day appliances, to vehicles, weapons, war machines, and so much more. Yet in a world of cybernetics, zero-G cars, and wonders beyond imagining, there is still strife. Racism runs strong, gangs run whole districts of mega-cities, monsters roam the wilds, barbarian tribes raid small towns, drug addiction runs rampant through the weak-minded, mega-corporations tread on the impoverished even as the puppet governments, and there is more than one organization operating from the shadows. Tensions are tight between nations across the land and the threat of a war unlike any other looms over the horizon. Do you have the strength and wit to thrive in this world?
Prologue
Night cloaked the thick woods, drawing forth the sounds of midnight under the five moons. Owls, wolves, and insects, all sang into the night, little more than wary of the sound of pounding hooves as a cloaked rider drove her steed harder down the road towards the cabin in the woods. Thunder sounded a speedy approach as the looming clouds rolled over the moons, only letting a spare few beams of light through. Lightning lit the ominous cover overhead, startling the mount. The rider of the dark steed was swathed in a large and thick cowl, her features hidden from the few beams of light from the five moons yet the shape in her arms could not hide its oddly patterned skin from the nocturnal lights. The sparse light of the moons shone down upon the face of a dreaming infant, the nubs of horns rising from his brow, the pallor and pattern of his skin sure to make him stand out among the masses. Kella pushed her dark steed even harder as she cooed to the child in its sleep. As Kella passed around the bend she caught sight of electrical light shining from cabin windows in the near distance. As she pulled her steed to a hard stop the beast reared up on its hindquarters with a determined whiny, proclaiming his arrival. The harsh braying of the horse shocked the infant awake, its pitiful wails almost drowned out by a peal of thunder as the rain began to fall as if Neiria, the Titan of Water, began to weep for the pain that would come this night.
Shadows moved from within the cabin even as lightning flashed nearby, the rolling thunder could be felt in Kella’s bones as she pulled herself down from the dark steed. With a child cradled in her left arm, and a messenger bag at her opposite side, weighed down with something deep within, that had the power to change the world. The bag bounced off her thigh as she stormed up to the cabin. Kella landed three heavy blows before the door swung in to reveal a male Wild Elf. Standing at about average height for his race at 5’ 11”, the elf stood in the door frame, his short night clothes barely hiding his tanned skin and toned physique. His long black hair hung loose to frame his delicate features. His triangular teeth on open display to show his breed of elf. The wild elf Fermose rested a wary hand on a dagger at his hip in an unspoken question, demanding the identity of the figure beating down his door. Rain fell as the shadowed figure pulled back her hood to reveal pink-purple skin around a pair of horns rising from just behind her hairline.
“Kella?” Fermose gasped in shock. “My love, it’s been two years since you left me. Now you return with a babe in hand that is not of my blood and a look of true distress in your eye. Tell me my sweet, what do you need of me?” Fermose spoke from his heart, seeking to aid his lost love. Kella was the first woman to see him as more than a brute. The two years that she had been gone for were little more than two weeks to the wild elf, his lifespan reaching much farther than that of his Darkling lover.
Her motions displaying obvious panic she shoved the young babe into Fermoses arms. “Raise and guide him.” She whispered before reaching into her messenger bag to pull free a flat box of pure onyx. “Watch over and protect this.” Kella rasped as she shoved the strange box into Fermose’s free hand.
Kella turned from her former lover, her newly born son, and the device of her destiny as she mounted her Night Charger and without another word pressed forward, galloping off into the night even as the rain grew from a light patter to falling in sheets.
Fermose turned away from the door after a long moment of watching his love flee his sight for a second time. He kicked the door shut as he turned away, set the box in an old armchair before setting the babe down on a couch in front of his roaring fireplace.
“I can take care of that damned box later, learn how to open it if I’m lucky. But right now you” He said pointing at the young babe. “Need a name. Kella never told me your name, so If I’m gonna raise you, you’re gonna need a name.” Fermose perched his chin atop one hand as he eyed the fledgling. “If you came from Kella and are gonna be raised by me you’re going to need a strong name. You need to be a warrior, able to face down any challenge. How about I name you... Ivor?”
Almost in answer the babe cooed and gave a burbling giggle around bubbles of saliva.
“You know what, you right, Ivor is to set in stone, what if we change it to... Iver?”
