The Golden Hall

Chapter 9: The Age of Pointed Fingers

With the elven king’s once mighty army in shambles, government profits being practically non-existent do to the battle preparation, and his very worthiness to rule being secretly questioned by the nobility, both he and the nation's old church of Auskash -which supported the monarchy method of government- were stuck treading on thin ice. Their only hope to keep the loyalty of the general public would be to provide a scapegoat to shift the blame off of the truly guilty party.

It came to being the king's choice, and he picked his very own soldiers, the few men that survived the thrashing given by the humans. These veterans were the perfect target for aggression, being small in numbers, weak do to their losses, and lacking in credibility when compared to the authority of the king and the church.

The king first won the affection of the people, mostly the ones lacking in formal education. This group were very easily swayed compared to the members of the population that had higher education, especially with the recent crippling loss making emotion far stronger than reason in the minds of the people.

For the long, making his targets believe he was a ruler of the people proved to be a simple task, and so he began his plan’s second phase. Both he and the church labeled the war-scarred veterans as traitorous heretics, deserting cowards that threw down their swords the moment the battle appeared to be difficult.

The emotionally naive public was easily manipulated by these words. No matter what the veterans argued in response, no matter how much sense their words of reason made, their logic fell on the deaf ears of families turned into mindless, violent, almost zombie-like followers of the king’s hateful words and corrupt solutions. This blind rage soon spread from the uneducated to the children of the sophisticated, and then to the parents of said children.

All those who still contained an ounce of logic were either scared into conformity, or burned alive for suspected treason accordance with the orders of the corrupt ruler and the sacrilegious church.Some individuals managed to flee the terrifying regime and found refuge in neighboring lands that were outside their mother nation’s territory.

Across the many land masses and oceans, the allied nations of Kialwinsul faced their own issues. Throughout the years, many rulers have rained in the Omniscient Empire, it had recently started its second dynasty only four generations ago.

The colossal nation’s newest emperor, Emperor Iskelit (meaning The One That Follows) bore an inhuman hatred towards the other Anthropoids. He also was greatly opposed to his nation's research in the enchanted studies. The emperor claimed his grievances were based on morals, an argument that made little sense to the public, seeing as how no such morals similar to Iskelit’s existed in the empire’s society.

Though over the generations the authority of the emperor had waned, this disapproval proved to be problematic for the kingdom that valued arcane advancement above all else. Projects would consistently proceed without the emperor's knowledge.

Iskelit was extremely introverted, rarely even stepping outside of his study. His own wife, the empress, would only see him at night -if she stayed awake long enough- and when they attempted to produce an heir. Iskelit soon earned the nickname “King of Hermits”, he only found out about this mocking title seconds before his death, leaving his face to display his scorn for such mockery for the rest of time, but his death wouldn't come for a good forty years after the events documented in this chapter.

The emperor proved to be a thorn in the side of both the other members of the government and the public, but his interference proved to be a hindrance on par with a sore thigh. Many innovations were made that the emperor was completely ignorant of.

Discoveries in architecture, machinery, communication, and medicine were beneficial to not only the empire and its people, but the allied nations as well. But, a flower looks its most magnificent just before it begins to wilt. The more and more progress made, the more controversial the advancements became. Not only that, but with the news in the elven nation reaching humanity, questions on what action should be taken, if any, became subject for debate.

The coastal nations being Scialhig, Alshmire, Preskion, Lindfaol, Coursbaln, and Mireshail believed in keeping a close eye on the elves, and to be ready to place sanctions on the kingdom or even to war with them if need be. The landlocked kingdoms such as Hassbine, Coldshade, Frostgrahn, Holtum, Shelspiinc, and the Empire refused to get involved and proposed the continent adopt an isolation method in foreign affairs. This disagreement brought massive civil and political unrest between these two sides.

With the empire’s power and authority waning, the groups that made the kingdom’s many wonders were pressured into finding any way to reestablish the empire as the dominant authority of the alliance. Once sacred places were desecrated, forbidden areas were swept, even holes were dug into the ground in areas with a significant magical signature to find something, anything, no matter how ancient or forbidden that might help them. In doing so, they stumbled upon two divine artifacts; The Cloak of Nuk’tal and The Siphon of Julwin, as well as ancient war tomes containing forbidden spells including the breathing tactics of the Pale Dragons, and even an enormous fountain of liquified divine energy now known as The Fountain of Iyae’s Blood since it is believed that the liquid divine energy is the blood of Iyae.

In the elven kingdom, things were tragically bleak. Execution after execution of both the morally opposed and veterans would take place. The church, not even practicing worship anymore, spearheaded projects that would create unholy monstrosities for the sole purpose of creating a sizable army to fight the new object of their hatred. One of the more remembered tactics they would employ was the creation of “Super Soldiers”. They would take newborn infants from their families, if these families were opposed even in the slightest, they would be arrested for treason, and tortured to death without trial. These infants then would be exposed to various procedures that would biologically alter them. They would then be given brutal training from young childhood to young adulthood, most of them would die in this training. Luckily, the modification would accelerate the growth process during their adolescence, so the torture was relatively brief. By the end of this process, the resulting being would be a horribly disfigured war-slave both physically and mentally.

Back in the Empire, underground experiments were underway. First, they tested the fountain on animals, beginning with rabbits. A weak, feeble rabbit would enter the energy of the fountain, and a massive rabbit-like beast radiating immense power would emerge, but sadly, the body of the creatures were too weak, so they soon met a horrific end. With enough time, the mages discovered how to imbue items with the energy by placing it in the fountain and letting it absorb the energy. This process would create divine artifacts and weapons, divine crafting was born, and it soon spelled the end of man’s first peace. The wearers of the divine artifacts and wielders of the weapons were granted unfathomable power, and it was soon discovered that those who possess a divine item for long enough become immortal, even when free of the item. These individuals that gained this power also gained their own followings. Seeing as how mankind did not know of the true divine beings, these men and women were worshiped as gods. Now those who gained their power with this method are called Mortal Gods, Corporeal Gods, or Divine Giants. In these times however, they were seen as gods. Soon these followers would, through their obsession and blind faith, bring an end to the human kingdoms and bring forth a GodWar that would include the entire world's involvement. The Bloody GodWar was about to begin.