Chapter 1 The Sorceress

“It all began with a sorceress,” recites The Hermit grinning with his pipe stuck between his teeth.
She desperately desired so much for her children to have immortality that she took them to the great creator god Alano to be judged worthy and dipped in the Pool of Immortality. Living creatures that walk to the afterlife are judged according to their past life for their placement in the many houses of the netherworld. Immortals are judged according to their future life before given the gift of everlasting life. Alano, who rules all heaven, earth, and deep blue sea, demands that immortality be entered with a child’s innocence. The Sorceress was delighted at her children becoming immortal and the predictions of greatness in her children’s futures worthy of legends recited for generations. She loved the idea of her children having the best she had to give and proud of her achievement at obtaining gods as betrothals for her precious daughters. She was disappointed however, her dream of having a goddess betrothed to her only son did not come true. The goddesses she beckoned turned their noses up at the suggestion of marrying a lowly elf with no fortune to inherit from his poor, hardworking father. Immortality and a heroic destiny did not make up for this fact. Her pride shaken, The Sorceress asked no other for a betrothal to her son.
The mortal sorceress raised her immortal children in these very woods and they walked where we now sit. They loved to swim, fish, and had fun with the river mermaids. They explored caves and played with fairies. Their father, a metal-smith, had a forge up in a cave beyond the waterfall. He bought his metal ores from trolls who still mine within these very mountains. His wife, The Sorceress, gave every weapon a spell that resulted in beliefs of elves having magical powers. The poor but respected elf family occasionally strolled to a small elf settlement inside a crater valley called Leesville. The village was founded a thousand years ago by an elf named Lee Olin. Leesville elves kept luscious gardens and hunted in the forested mountains. They built homes to blend in with their environment according to their mystic religion believing everything has a soul. Leesville elves cut large holes in humungous trees for their houses believing tree spirits guard against evil. Elves burned incense during prayers to ancestors, gods, and goddesses. Human traders passing through the marketplace believed elves were given magic powers by the centaur crafts god since elves worked with bronze, copper, flint, and obsidian tools much like centaurs do. The tradesmen treasured Leesville jewelry of magically twisted brass and gold chains and knots complete with embedded gems.
Inside the tree homes, brass mirrors with etched spirals and chains connected large embedded jewels to reflect candlelight in their dark homes warmed by brick fireplaces. Pottery made by sprites nearby held beeswax candles, dried herbs, perfume casks, mountain goat’s milk, and water from wells. Copper cauldrons cooked vegetable and meat stews. Baskets made from rushes stored their food underground and wood boxes held their meager possessions. They wrote stories of events on linen parchment paper with reed pens. Painted wooden shields from faraway places hung on the walls along with painted murals. Elves here stood at the same height as many humans, but projected larger facial features and saw through beady eyes. Elves often wore long blond hair displaying medallions of animals used to represent status and family connections. Their leather pants and boots were decorated with embroidery made of dyed unicorn hair. Elves also covered themselves with wool tunics from mountain sheep. Female tunics reached their knees while male tunics ended at mid-thigh. Braided leather belts with sheaths for weapons are exhibited over these tunics. Elf cloaks of linen, feathers, wool, and fur kept cold rain off their decorative clothes. Elves commonly did not raise livestock, but did keep wild animals as pets believing they had free spirits protected by nature goddesses. Bonfires celebrating festivals attracted strays, soon to become loyal pets of the elves. The most unique feature of elves is universal education. A large canopy of a tree served as a school for the elf children. The elf children learned from rotating teachers, such things as mathematics, writing, mythology, and languages to speak to the traders. Three days a week The Sorceress’s children walked to the school from their mountain side home. Flax, Gilda, and Alaric made many friends with the Leesville elves and exchanged gifts during festivals.
In school, the boy Alaric met his best friend. Alexis came from the chief’s family of five sons, who lost his wife to fever shortly after Alexis was born. Alaric and Alexis were inseparable. They explored caves together, sledded down mountains, skated on the river, dug for gems, and climbed trees. Alaric taught his friend magic tricks he learned from his mother. Gilda detested Alexis from all his magic tricks cast on her. After turning Alexis into a cat, and Alaric begging for three days for her to release the spell, did Alexis cease casting spells upon Gilda. She could never comprehend what Alaric saw in this imp. They bonded easily, living in the shadow of fabulous siblings, something Gilda could not understand. Alexis’s brothers were well known in the village. One killed a goblin that frightened the fairies. Another killed enough boars for a grand feast. With their hunting experience and tall stature, Alexis’s brothers had no trouble finding fair maidens. One brother married the wealthiest daughter in the village. Alaric’s sisters were betrothed to gods. That meant the sisters received fine gifts from their future spouses on holidays. Alaric grew jealous of his sisters’ gifts. They received jewelry, gowns, vases, mirrors, swords, and servants of odd creatures the elves did not know what to make of. All these gifts contained magical properties. The only magical object Alaric had was a crystal his mother gave him.
This village is long gone, but creatures still hear ghosts of the elves killed in a great battle. It was so peaceful that it never needed any great number of warriors to defend it. Soon Alaric and Alexis wanted their own glory to outshine their grand siblings. They thought an apprenticeship with a warrior would increase their status and wealth to gain betrothals. The centaurs knew of a human named Cossus the Dragonslayer who took in apprentices and lived in a nearby grasslands town to the north of the mountains. After much pleading, the metal smith and chief gave permission to their starry-eyed sons for an apprenticeship. The first day the sons walked into Brightsburg to find Cossus the Dragonslayer was an experience in itself. All the humans came out of a temple and the High Priest invited them in to the central fire. He gave the long traveled elf lads biscuits and cider as they recited who they were looking for. The High Priest paid a call to The Dragonslayer and introduced the boys. The man welcomed them in and read the letters from their fathers. He was amazed it was in human writing form. Extra places were set at the dinner table and the elves ate their first human food. Berries, deer, bread, and water were served at the table. The boys slept in a room above the stable with the other apprentices. The toddler daughter, with her mother brought up warm milk to help them sleep. Sleeping in a bunk beside the wall seemed like home. The next morning the son, Laeos, took the elves to the marketplace to buy new clothes for the apprentices. The boys were given human coins from their families they kept in a leather pouch. Their prominent elf appearance gathered whispers from humans they walked by. They wore linen tunics like elves with linen pants and laced up smooth leather boots. Humans in Brightsburg grew flax, wheat, hops, and vegetables in large quantities. Large clay jars and wood casks preserved the food in storage houses made of clay bricks.
The people lived in the village and worked their farmland outside the town. A family’s wealth was determined by how much land he owned. Status displays took the form of storage houses and barns containing livestock. Horses from the plains were tamed brutally, but always found their way back to the stable they lived in. Jewelry was prominently worn by both humans and horses pulling carts. Linen sashes displayed family connections worn over their clothes. Males wore linen tunic shirts and linen pants tucked into suede leather boots decorated with dyed porcupine quills cut into beads. Females wore linen gowns and suede leather shoes tied with linen laces. Winter clothing was of fur or wool. Leather jackets lined with fur and wool were popular in the winter as opposed to elfish woolen cloaks. Winter blankets and rugs were made of fur and wool. Bronze mirrors reflected light from beeswax candles. Humans cooked in brick fireplaces and worked with bronze tools. They worshipped gods and goddesses in temples singing praises by fires. They kept account of their belongings and transactions on clay tablets and wrote epics on linen paper with feather pens. High Priests and High Priestesses living in the temples were appointed by faraway lords who never visited their subjects. Brightsburg paid tribute in grain to the lord in exchange for access to trade routes and educated temple leaders. Education was limited in Brightsburg. The High Priest took in few male apprentices to learn human writing, history, medicines, languages, and astronomy to find their way along trading routes. The High Priestess taught female apprentices history, writing, medicines, tending animals, and midwife skills for the spring born livestock. The human community sacrificed crops and animals to obtain favor of the godly persons. They hunted only on their property and built stone fences to mark borders. Houses were of wattle and thatch with wooden doors. Windows were concealed by shutters that opened from the inside.
The market square was in the center of the town where carts were set up by vendors hawking their goods. From a rag bag seller, Alaric and Alexis purchased linen tunics with tied fronts, linen pants in a contrasting color, and leather boots decorated with dyed porcupine quills cut into beads. The lads refused to trade their elf weapons for lesser quality human swords. Laeos collected some fruit from another vendor for his mother. They paced by the ovens where the women bake bread and the creek where women wash clothes by beating them with twigs. They glanced out at the stream flowing into the faraway Olin Mountains wondering what their family was doing that day. Alaric and Alexis showed off their wardrobe and went straight to work chopping wood for the wife’s fireplace. They cleaned the stalls of cows, horses, pigs, goats, geese, chickens, and sheep. Once the morning passed and afternoon meal eaten, they learned to fight in exchange for their work. They practiced until dusk and ate an evening meal. Alaric wrote to his family and sent the message with his hawk. Alexis waited a day to send a message to his family. The boys received quite the education of the feuding empires to the north and south of the town. The Olin Mountain Range remained the boundary for the empires because few dared to discover Dragon’s Pass through the mountain chain. They learned, once upon a time, humans calling themselves Lotans were spread out all over the Blythe and Lotan empires with the Ice Mountains to the north and Kadacian desert culture to the west. A vast seacoast lay east and south. They lived in family clans near rivers to plant seeds. After the harvest was celebrated, hunting groups searched for wild beasts and traded along river borders. Then, a distant culture was removed from their island home because of a volcanic explosion. They settled along the coast of the Lotan kingdom as refugees. Lotans traded and intermarried with freckled refugees with red and auburn hair. This new Blythe culture improved Lotan technology and expanded their knowledge of the world. Trade routes lengthened and villages growing larger, the Blythe culture spread out to displace Lotans who lived on their land for generations. New leaders arose later to conquer Lotan lands and the Lotans united against them. Human, elf, sprite, and centaur heroes were born to fight the Blythan invasion and stop the swelling of this new brutal empire. Alas, many Lotans migrated north after several distressing battles won by Blythans. Lotans crossed the Olin Mountains into a confining area where they gathered in towns and cities. Warlords controlled trade routes until a grand leader appeared in the swamp city Tenochtilan and was anointed king by a powerful magician who helped lead this man to lower the threat of attacks on travelers following trade routes. Human heroes of the wars became lords of the land owned by the king as their reward for supporting him. Sprites, elves, and centaurs also separated the land into villages.
These long ago warriors became nobles paying tribute to the Lotan king. Warlords from Blythe and Lotan raid towns of opposing lords keeping these small communities from retaining wealth of crops. Cossus met his wife after a faraway raid, enslaved by a warlord. He traded a horse for her and married her that very day. The elves, sprites, and centaurs were also once more diverse over the landscape as humans were. Sprites are winged humanlike creatures that live in forest trees all over the Olin Mountains. Obscure from legends because they keep away from land bound creatures. They appear in treetops dressed in tied down fabrics because of their wings. Their facial features are small like humans, but much larger eyes. Their hair is a pale yellow looking white from a distance and their eyes are pale blue matching the sky. It is believed the sky god created his slegna beings to serve him, but some fell down to earth and became sprites. They worship nature goddesses and hold a great deal of knowledge of potions and spells elves lack. Alaric and Alexis knew sprites well from their clay pottery and bricks. Centaurs are half horse and half human. They settled in mountain forests and became masters of metals. They live in stone dwellings consisting of one room and cook over brick pits in the center of the home. They sleep on rushes and weave woolen blankets. Centaurs do not wear clothing, but often can be seen in headdresses and jewelry. Centaurs writing system consists of colored stone beads arranged in patterns and often worn as belts. They gather berries and fruits into baskets to convert into wine and cider. They grow herb gardens and hunt for fish in the mountain streams. They hunt wild boars and deer, along with herding sheep. They are believed to be created by the earth god to have warriors who could run like unicorns. The crafts god, who married the wisdom goddess, is a centaur and often regarded as the centaur wine god.
Through the years, the two cultures blended in the Borderlands stretching over the Olin Mountains and surrounding grasslands. Here in the Borderlands, festivals follow the seasons more than god celebration days of the large cities. Borderland merchants do not care who they do business with as long as they elect their own chief to act as judge, council leader, and defender against raids. Once a year the High Priest delivers the tribute for the lord and the chief joins the High Priestess in ceremonies. He also receives tribute for his services. Only one chief in Brightsburg’s history led a defense against attacking giants from the forests between the village and the capital city Tenochtilan. Most chiefs maintain order and make rules out of traditions. Alaric and Alexis were amazed at the thought of an elected chief. As Alaric grew up, he ventured out with Cossus to the capital Tenochtilan to make bows and arrows for the army gathering to fight the Kadacians to the west who had been raiding Lotan villages after bountiful harvests. The city was built upon marshland and still has many canals. Thick stone walls surround the city and tall temples grew higher than the walls. The marketplace was filled with scrupulous vendors. The Kadacians are shorter dark haired and tanned skinned people. They flaunt much gold and silver jewelry over their bright colored robes. These people ride hairy beasts called camels that are as swift as horses. On their feet were no boots or shoes, but leather straps tied to leather soles. The Desert of Kadacia is under the control of a matriarchal monarchy. A rich queen defends her territory well against expanding Blythans. These fierce warriors reminded Alaric of mermaids in battle. Lucky for Lotan and the king, this desert is separated from the grasslands because of the Anasazi Mountains that border both Lotan and Blythe. This courageous Lotan king was cheering forces to protect the border villages. News spread later of the raids ceasing and the return of the Lotan king to his loyal subjects.
Upon their return to Brightsburg, the village was raided by Blythans. Alaric and Alexis left with Laeos and Cossus to regain their villagers taken as slaves. Alaric and Alexis used their magic to rescue the women and children. As the slave traders rested beside a creek, Cossus and Laeos hid in the bushes to fire arrows at the slave traders while Alaric and Alexis encircled the villagers with magical fire to protect them from the arrows. The slave traders conquered, the villagers returned home. Cossus also brought the elf lads south to the Blythe capital Illium to trade for valued wine. Vineyards outside the walled capital made the best known wine. This was a more impressive sight with a tall stone lighthouse to guide ships through the coral reefs. Most buildings were stone, though many homes in the poor section were made of wood. The Blythans are great sailors and trade with far away places. The wealthy merchants and nobles dress in ankle-length robes compared to shorter Lotan tunics. The poor Blythans dress more modestly in buttoning tunics and low cut shoes. Their honey colored hair and shorter stature also stood out among the taller auburn colored haired residents. Alaric and Alexis took the opportunity to sell herbs that heal and make food tastier. As years go by, the apprentices learned archery, dagger fighting, sword fighting, and battle calls. They learned to fight on horses and boats. The elves helped the household and gained skill bargaining in the marketplace. They joined in the festivals celebrating the coming of spring, midsummer’s eve, the harvest, the new year, and winter solstice. Laeos’s cousin Modred never ceased his heckling of the strange elves. As hard as they tried to adapt to this human culture, they were still often viewed as outsiders. Modred led mock battles with sticks and primitive shields with his human friends only. The elf lads watched from the stable the human boys playing and wished to learn to lead armies in addition to their hunting skills. The apprentices continued their elf practices with prayer stones, songs, washing their own clothes with the women, and lavishing in food baskets from home. Mountain berries rarely made their way to the grassland humans. Once Alaric obtained a cauldron from his mother, the homesick elves cooked soups and potions to trade at the marketplace.