#tales of awreala

[the--kaleidoscope]

The last records of the Valiant

Voyage day 1:

I’m so excited to be writing this! So excited that I have decided to keep a journal which I can use so that I will never forget this journey for the rest of my life!

Where to start? Where to start? How about with my name? Yes that seems right, well my name is Jacob Fisher, I’m eighteen and this is my first proper voyage on a ship and what a ship! It’s the Valiant, but for the few of you out there who don’t know what the Valiant is and why I am so excited over this. The Valiant is a ship famous for making long voyages into Orax and for always bringing back the largest treasures and many a tale of adventure.

Well I was accepted to join the crew for my dexterity and that I can quickly climb to parts of the ship others would find hard to reach. Over the next few days I will try and meet my fellow crewmates and record them here.

Now comes the part I wanted to get to! Apparently there has been news of a large creature roaming near to Lanta on the Orax side and its core is supposed to be an incredibly rare one. Our captain is determined to be the one to claim it before another crews can get to it. This will be the greatest adventure!

Day 7

So I have met many of the crew and they are all brave and kind souls. I’m currently sleeping in a dorm with three others, Two men and a woman. I have learnt that their names are John Lutanis, Mary Shellingham and Albert Bickerton.

John and Mary are riflemen and Albert is one of our cannoneers. Out of the three, I like John the most, but I think I will be omitting this little line when we get back from this adventure, the other two are really nice and I don’t want to hurt their feelings.

John on the other hand is my age and was also hired at the same time as me! He also seems as enthusiastic as me which is wonderful! I hope to get to know him better over this journey and what is also great is that he is teaching me how to shoot.

So far the work has been tiring, but also pretty rewarding. Like that one time two days ago when I had to shimmer up the outside of the ship to tie a rope which was coming undone and would have let one of our skimmers plummet to the ground below. For that I got an extra helping at supper which I shared with John.

The captain also seems like a kind fellow, a little distant from the rest of the crew but still nice enough. I have only seen him mostly from behind with that long black flowing cape of his. Though he did give a speech today about making good time to beat the competition to the creature. We still don’t know what form it is going to appear in, but that fills me with excitement

Day 20:

We are heading over Lanta right now, so I decided to add another chapter to my personal record of our journey and what a lot of things I have to say! Let's begin with the most important things to me so … that is probably our mission and John.

Three days ago we managed to overtake another ship that was trying to get to the beast before us, that showed them for trying to mess with the Valiant. The ship I think was one from the South Orax trading company, it was certainly flying banners similar to theirs. We were probably lucky they were to be honest since they can’t touch us due to their rules and regulations and they were quite more armed than we were.

Two days ago I managed to get a ride in one of the skimmers with John, what an experience that was! I was in the spotter position while he was in the gunner point. Another crew member by the name of Grace Lee was the pilot, she is quite nice too.

I think me and John properly befriended her around four days before that over dinner when John managed to sneakily catch a bird for the two of us to eat. She caught the two of us, but didn’t decide to inform cook on us. (He doesn’t like others eating food that he didn’t make) We offered her some and got talking. Apparently she is originally from Lanta, which is another amazing thing about this ship.

The crew is sooo diverse. I meanwhile me and John are Rostran born and bred and it shows with how accustomed with ships, both naval and air we both already are. Grace is from Lanta as is our cook. Mary Shellingham is from Drakon and it really does show, her face has that slightly angular look which is common to that area of Awreala and don’t tell her I said this, but she does have the pride too which comes from Drakon. Albert I recently found out was from Rethait, he was picked up in one of the Valiants earliest adventures over in that area.

The captain I still don’t know, but I think he is from Dorwin. He is just too good at everything aboard the airship to be anything else. That ends my catch up messages for the moment.  

Day 50:

Wow, 50 days in huh? This one probably will have the least in it, which is weird considering it is the largest time gap by far.  Yet there is just more of the same so I will try my utmost to keep it brief and not bore all of you reading this to death. For as it is said, (I think!) when telling a story, if you think it will bore the audience or become too repetitive, leave it out. (Or something to that respect anyway.)

So, me, John and Grace have been becoming better and better friends all the time. She takes us out for special skimmer rides, and in return we teach her little tricks and things we know. It also turns out that the skimmer I saved right at the start was hers! Imagine that.

For the last few weeks me and John have gone stargazing together at night, we sneak out after dark and sit at the back of the open deck layer where the spotters on night duty don’t look. He managed to show me where the azure and emerald lord constellations are. They truly are beautiful… and in many respects more entrancing than the unmistakable fiery glow of the crimson lord constellation.

A day ago Grace told me that it is agonising for her to watch me and John together, she said that we should just get a room together. I don’t particularly understand her, we do already share a dorm so what could she mean?

On another note we met the Cook's wife properly two days ago, she is … well exactly what the stereotype of that profession is really. A kindly matron sort of figure and I feel a great balance to the gruff nature of Cook. I know some of you listening to this might wonder, why does he never mention the Cook by his name? Well apparently he liked being called by Cook so much he changed his name to it, I don’t mind, so long as it makes him happy then that's great!

I think that’s about it for the moment. See you in a few days!

Day 57:

Well I was going to wait another few days, but I just had to speak here. Well so me and John were discussing authors we enjoyed reading and he knows of the adventures of Constable Sawford too! For you readers who don’t know of these books, this entry will be of little use to you, but the need for me to talk about it was too great!

Well apparently there is a book four which was just published and HE HAS A COPY OF IT! Apparently this too picks up from the surprise twist at the end of book three which I won’t spoil for anyone just reading them, we decided to read it together at night while stargazing.

Grace told me and John a day ago that we were unbelievable for not getting the hints, what hints? I asked John about it and he said he had no clue either.

Either way I am really looking forward to reading it with John.

Day 70:

Boy do I have a lot to say and by a lot I mean so much has happened in the last thirteen days. I will save the biggest thing for last, so that it doesn’t take over the entire entry. But I will say that I finally got what Grace was saying.

So I managed to properly meet the captain a few days ago, he … is quite like I expected him to be really. He always feels quite distant when talking to him, even though he is standing right in front of you. It gave me a bit of chills to be honest

I mean well he seems more like the mysterious helper that appears in Constable Sawford than what I imagined an airship captain to be like. To be honest I must have been reading too much of Captain Braveheart.

You know I never thought to be saying this, but I miss the narrow streets and factories of Rostra… This feels so strange to me, since in all truthfulness I was so desperate to get on this voyage to get away from them. They just felt like they were tying me in one place which in a way made me scared, scared I was never going to see the rest of the world and end up spending my life only reading about the lands outside of Rostra.

John pretends he doesn’t, but in a way I think he is the same as me. He doesn’t miss them in the same way for their familiarity, but I think he misses his family. Wait … maybe he had someone back at home? No I don’t think so. Why do I care? Sorry this is rambling, so I’ll move on.

So Grace managed to help me and John sneak down to the engine boiler room and look around. It was so cool! All those cogs, diodes and piping winding about the room. It was like a heart, beating ceaselessly. I know now what I want to do, after seeing around the room how could I not? I want to be an engineer.

Tomorrow I intend to go down to the room again and ask David May, the ship's engineer to become his apprentice. Oh, I really hope he accepts me!

Anyway to the big thing, I think I figured out what Grace was talking about, she means that after this adventure the three of us should travel together, if we do that me and John should share a room again to maximise space.

I asked John and he agreed! So that was the big news, the three of us will continue to travel the skies together after this is all wrapped up and done! It's so exciting, the three of us, I can be the engineer, Grace can be the pilot and John can be our captain! We can go see all the wonders of Awreala with just the three of us.

Day 78:

Wow… I uhhh, wow. You know for once I am a loss for words, so I’ll start with the other stuff again.

So seven days ago I summoned up the courage to go down into the engine room and talk with David May and he said yes! I think I made him really happy that I wanted to study under him, he looks to be around 60 and I think he might get a bit lonely down in the engine room all alone. After a brief chat with the captain he agreed that at the end of the week I get to start working under David.

To be honest my hands are trembling while writing this with excitement. The whole crew seemed really happy for me especially my dorm mates who all wished me luck in my coming foray into engineering. I think I understand now why the ship always functions so well, everyone treats each other like an extended family. To be honest Grace is more of a sister to me than my real ones ever were.

I decided to celebrate this night with John and Grace out in our secret place out at the back of the ship. The three of us chatted long into the night and well, whether deliberately or not Grace sidled out of view to sneak a drink just as the emerald constellation came into view. Then it happened.

Me and John has been slowly shuffling closer to each other over the course of the night and now sat shoulder to shoulder. At the appearance of the emerald lord we turned to look at each other after a few seconds of staring at each other, he kissed me. It made me so happy for some indescribable reason that I kissed him right back.

Grace seemed to materialise a few seconds later shaking her head.  For a second I thought she was annoyed with the two of us until she told us that it was about time this happened.

How did she know this was going to happen?

Either way, I feel this is the start of something amazing for the two of us.

Day 100:

Wow, to be honest when starting this journey I had no idea I would be able to find things to do for 100 days. Especially not become an engineer, I learned many things to do with cores and the maintaining of equipment.

David said over the next week he would teach me about making and maintaining skimmers! Isn’t that amazing! I can build one for Grace and the three of us can fly wherever we want in the skies! Speaking of the three of us Grace is constantly encouraging me and John to get closer to each other, I think in her own way helping the two of us properly start being with each other brings her a lot of joy.

Speaking of topics like this I was talking to Grace about captain Braveheart and she felt that in the next edition he would finally confess his love to Maria … I didn’t even catch on to that, though when it comes to love she seems more knowledgeable than me.

On more serious topic yesterday we caught a glimpse of the creature we came here to slay and I have to admit, I never saw something … so well majestic and breathtaking. It's bright crimson wingspan took my breath away.

The sheer size of the core must make it worth more than I could even imagine. This will easily get me, Grace and John, enough to start travelling by ourselves. This can be the start of our magnificent journey!

Soon we shall fight it! I know it and then my life with John can begin!

Day ?:

Hello, I guess I should introduce myself. I’m John, the young and handsome man who is going out with the author here. Oh, how I wish I could say that in earnest, yet I don’t think I can … at least not yet.

So if you are all sufficiently confused I’ll explain myself now, when we came to fight the beast we underestimated it. The core was a reproduction one, no wonder it was worth so much. The ship survived for a long time, but in the end we were sent falling to the ground. Grace managed to save me and Jacob as well as David in her skimmer before the ship crashed. There on the ground we lived for a long time, how long I have no clue anymore.

The time I spent there with Jacob was some of the best moments of my life, no matter the bleak situation. He and David spent a lot of time trying to upgrade Grace’s skimmer so that it would be worthy of taking us back to civilisation.

Then one day, David didn’t come back from a trip to look for some scrap. So I went out looking for him, the fool I was. If only I had just waited!

Well, on my quick incursion a giant airship crossed the sky above me and I recognised it with a start that it was the one from the South Orax trading company. Rushing back to camp to inform Jacob I got there just in time to see a large skimmer waiting in the clearing. Jacob and Grace were already onboard alongside David who I assumed must have been found then lead the company back to our camp.

But just before I could board the ship, the creature appeared again and in a panic the driver of the heavy skimmer took off back towards the safety of the ship. Jacob and Grace both desperately tried to stop the takeoff, but the others of the ship ignored them. When realising this John almost threw himself overboard, thankfully Grace and David held him back.

I have no idea what happened to the three, but my guess is that the company will have recruited them. My only hope now to see them again is to become famous enough that they will be able to find me. So I’m going to do the only thing I can do, which is to become a merc and make my name that way.

I’m writing this so that I never forget him and as a promise to myself that no matter what I will never stop looking for him.

[the--kaleidoscope]

Tales of Awreala 1: The Rethait Civil War

An extract from the book: A military history of Rethait, Chapter 5: The Uncivil war

For a long time, the Rethait republic had, while not been at peace externally enjoyed a relative stability inside its home territory. The people were united in their struggles against Visrain in the north and in their apathy towards the proud people of Drakon in the south whom they had occasional border clashes with. To the east lay the deep ocean which held only the kingdom of Melias with whom Rethait never interacted.

Both the constitutional monarch and parliament held large amounts of power with the balance being heavily tipped in favour of the parliament. Together they led the collection of tribes and disjointed communities that comprised the Rethait Republic. However after a particularly ruinous war with Visrain in which both sides suffered horribly there began to show tears appearing between the monarchy and Parliament.

It began with the rise of a fervent loyalist to the monarchy rising high commander of the armed forces after the death of the last high commander during the war which ended a long line of loyalists to Parliament holding the reigns. Only a month later a new specialist force was set up called the Parliamentary guards, its commanders comprised of all the members of the army high command loyal to Parliament.

For a while that was all, the new group was created and everything continued functioning as normal. A few more border skirmishes were fought with Drakon, small skirmishing parties incurring into each others territory.

Then came the incident, no one knows what truly happened, yet the end result was known to all. During a border defence against a small force from Visrain, a soldier was shot from behind by a soldier from the Parliamentary guards. Afterward it was labeled as an accident by all sides yet there lingered resentment in the ranks of the army who saw it as a personal attack on them.

Slowly the divisions widened, the ranks of the military became increasingly monarchists while the Parliamentary Guard went the exact opposite direction, swelling in size as all those in the military who were Parliamentarians joined their ranks.    

Eventually, it became evident that things were going down an increasingly unstable and untenable route. The two different sides slowly began putting their troops into key locations around the country, occupying airbases or forts with solely their troops. Both sides, of course, denied that denying the other group access to this was their objective at all by these different moves and made a show of traveling to each different place.

However, even this show was soon to come to an end when the divisions became too prominent for anyone to ignore any longer. Families were splitting down the centre as they sided with either the monarchy or the Parliament. The whole situation inside Rethait was one that could not go on, something had to give.

Then in the third month of the year 1542(Impertian Calendar), something did. Some people say it started when the soldiers had been drinking too much, others say that the captains had been paid to start it, some more claimed that it was an argument between the captains. No matter what started it, late in the evening two groups of soldiers, one from each group opened fire on each other. One man from the Parliamentary Guard was killed and two from the regular army were severely wounded and bled out that night.

Parliament used this very quickly to give themselves grounds to arrest the monarch which they did only half a day later. This, in the end, seems a foolish move considering what we know it did to our country. We know that it did not prevent the ensuing civil war and the death that came with it.

The king's banner was erected at the army's largest airbase and from there all those in support of the monarchy raised their own banners. At first, there was little but minor skirmishes here and there, while both sides gathered together their forces. Then came the battle which afterward would be the battle that defined the war.

In the major industrial city of Ironbay, which as we all know lies across the hell’s gate channel. In the morning of the seventh day of the fifth month 1542, the Parliamentary forces arrived at the city which was currently occupied by the monarchists. They surprised and quickly pushed the monarchist forces off the North half of the city and across hell's gate. There they were stopped after the monarchists blew the bridges in their retreat.

This scene I feel perfectly encapsulates the war in all its bloody glory, that of a city cut straight in two with both sides lining each bank firing at each other while the city burns around them. This at first was thought to be it, with the bridges gone it was expected that the Parliamentary troops would settle down with their half and the battle to continue somewhere else. Yet this was not to be, the commander of the Parliamentary troops: a woman by the name of Faye decided that this was not to be the case.

She called for reinforcements and for seven days the Parliamentarians spend all of their efforts on bombarding the southern bank. By the end, cannon fire from both the heavy artillery and airship bombardment had left all the houses on the southern bank completely flattened.

Then on the morning of the eighth day, they began their crossing by both water and air. However, the monarchists were waiting for them, for they had pulled most of their forces back to avoid a death from cannon fire.

These troops now rushed forward, charging towards the bank and hurriedly setting up defenses. While at first, it looked like a hopeless task as the Parliamentarians were advancing with three airships while the Monarchists had none to easily counter them. They were saved however by the arrival of an armoured steamship which came rolling up the channel, placing itself between the advancing forces and the defenders.

Raising its main guns it charged forwards, firing straight into the belly of the first airship. The salvo hit the engine which exploded in a ball of fire and compressed steam, sending the mighty metal construction sinking in sheets of flame. Sensing the tide was turning their favour a cheer came up from the Monarchists side.

The other two airships finally noticing the danger raised their own guns and fired, ripping through the steamship, crushing many of its guns. As the cannons tore through the deck it still charged forwards, ramming some of the transport ships and sinking them too.

Finally, the Parliamentarians reached the shore and the attack begun in earnest. The monarchists put up a valiant defence, defending each street to the last man. It came to define the way battles were to be fought, neither side preparing to give any ground, each only being able to advance after all the opposition fighters were dead.

Eventually, the Parliamentarians won the battle yet at the cost of tens of thousands of lives from both sides. It was what gave both the city and channel its name. Hells gate was named after the way that after the steamship was destroyed the fire across the channel made it look like hell had opened its gates right there. The city was for the fact that so many had died there that it felt like you could taste the iron in the air.

The war raged on for a year with battles playing out in a similar one to that over the hell’s gate. The number of the dead continued to pile up and many cities stood in ruin, gutted by cannons and fire. Finally, it all came to a head in the final battle of the war and as such we come to the battle for the capital city: Aellyn.     

The battle started after Monarchists send their largest remaining army to Aellyn where they quickly breached the outer defences, yet the fighting for the streets became bitter and Aellyn burned. Flames running rampant around the city, toppling buildings and consuming entire rows of houses. Blood stained the streets, as hundreds of scattered bodies littered them. Many of the bodies were heavily burned or for some, they were charred beyond recognition. These people now stand in the graveyard of the unknown dead on memorial street.

Some of the dead wore the purple uniforms of the Rethait Parliamentary guard. Others wore the blue uniforms of the army and even more wore were simply civilians caught in the battle.  Anger and terror plastered over their faces, killed in this battle which had raged for almost a day by this point.

The husks of airships or armoured trains lay strewn across streets, fires still burning gently in the gutted wrecks of once majestic machines. In the end, the Parliamentarians were forced back inside the Parliamentary palace where the had been holding the king prisoner.

The gates to the parliamentary palace shuddered under blow after blow from multiple cannons shells which sailed through the air before smashing into the huge gates. The sounds of the explosions booming crashing into the mighty gates was said to have filled the ears of both those inside and outside the gates in an overpowering way.

Inside were lined up the valiant remains of the Parliamentary guards. Three rows of violet standing silently, rifles aimed at the gate. Ready in the fashion of the battles before to die before giving any ground. They supporting them was only one heavy repeater and two small anti-infantry cannons which were placed in the windows of the building.

Outside, stood row upon row of azure, the army forces linking together and preparing for one last assault. Each clutching their rifles to their body, a grim determination on their faces. It was said there was very little distinguishing between them for all of them there were stained in mud, dust, and gore. Covering their individual features and making them just more who were being swallowed up by the war.  

In the air, two huge airships arrived from outside the city, both of Zion class. These were both as you might know from one of the most heavily armed airship class at the time. Behind them followed another a Fortuna class airship, a giant troop transporter. One of the few left by that point during the civil war. All three flew the flag of the Rethait Military, their cannons readjusted and aimed at the palace gates.

It was said that most didn’t notice the arrival of the airships till they were almost overhead, so thick was the smoke and ash which clogged the skies. Only when the propellers began to slice through the smog did the combatants notice their arrival. Slowly they aimed towards the gate and in a yellow flash, their guns opened fire.

The palace gates disintegrated under the unforgiving blast, the air visibly rippling from the concentrated firepower. One gate crumbling to pieces and the other staying upright before collapsing inwards, this too was the model for another of the monuments which now line memorial street. The one called the open gates of peace.  

The first rank of soldiers advanced in an orderly fashion, moving into the courtyard yet this first charge was not one which went well. Greeting them was cannon-fire from the windows which plunged into the middle of their ranks. Bodies were flung like puppets by the blast, what had once been people were now just charred corpses. Those who were more unlucky were hideously disfigured, many being left to bleed out their last moments in agony. The remainder that managed to staggered through were met by an unflinching violet line.

Now before I go on I must make it clear why I go into such detail on the descriptions of the battles in the sensory terms rather than the strategic and logical. During the writing of this book, I was fortunate enough to uncover the personal memoirs of a man called John Stancliff who fought for the Monarchists during this battle and participates in the first of those final charges. The horror which he described during that part of the tale moved me so much that I decided that rather than give the cold logical side of our military history which the rest of the book goes through. I would for the events surrounding the civil war try and give an understanding of what it was like to be there, to understand why our nation has to stay united and to hopefully learn from this.  

I thank you for being such attentive readers and I promise that after this chapter I will go back to my usual telling of our military history.  Now without wasting your time further, I will get back to the story.  

The waiting soldiers of the Parliamentary Guard raised their rifles and staggered into three lines of growing height fired as one into the charging mass. The attacking forces went down in a scarlet haze, knocked over like wheat before a thresher. From windows in the building, more of the parliamentary guards appeared firing down into the confusion. Under this onslaught the soldiers of the first charge stood little chance, many falling as they scrambled over the bodies of their fallen comrades. Brave soul after brave soul had their little spark of life extinguished here and slowly the first charge disintegrated, torn apart by the onslaught shimmering metal and crimson fire.  

Here John Stancliff who's memoirs I used to learn about the battle in such detail survived by hiding under a pile of his dying comrades.  I shall spare you the details for they were too gruesome for even this book to recount.  But it perfectly encapsulates the horror of war.  

The remainder of rebels who had charged in through gate contained to fight piling up the bodies of the dead as makeshift barricades. The purple clad soldiers gave no ground or quarter. Sending volley after volley into the brave few who survived allowing no time for respite. Behind them the next wave prepared to charge inside the courtyard.

The troops outside raised their rifles and took aim inside the courtyard, then fired a salvo inside, over the heads of the few still trapped inside. Soldiers of the parliamentary guard fell, blood spurting out of their wounds and covering the ground. The rest did not flinch and stayed in formation, continuing to fire through the gate towards their attackers. The heavy repeater which was placed in an upper window opened fire and turned the front rank of the next wave into a mess of limbs and gore. With this initial exchange over the second wave charged in through the gateway.

Even though the defenders were horribly outnumbered, with no options left they fought with unnatural strength. Each taking multiple attackers with them before being brought down. An steam-car that rolled through the gates to support the attack was hit by a well aimed shot, the crew turned into a mushy pulp before the tank exploded. The courtyard was awash with the blood of the dying soldiers. It is these same stains which continue to coat the courtyard today,

For a while, no matter how many troops charged the building, the Monarchists failed to take it. The guards finally retreated out of the courtyard, yet the rest of the building held strong. The main reason for this was the fact that the Monarchists could not fire at the building for fear of killing the king and as such had to rely on an extremely costly infantry assault.

Eventually though the event which ended the war happened. Here I will use the exact words that were written in John Stancliff’s diary, “Then came that most terrible of noises, one which drowned out even the screams of my wounded comrades which lay around me. Pushing Alex’s charred body from off me I looked up just in time to see the entirety of the Parliamentary palace collapse in a storm of dust, ash and fire.”

“We knew then that our king had not survived, yet we still rushed forwards desperately searching through the rubble to find the man we had started this war to rescue. Hundreds of us swarming like ants over the crumbled brickwork in the vain attempt to find out leader.”

“An hour later we found his corpse, almost mangled beyond recognition. In an almost poetic way, he died like so many of us did, showing how little truly differentiated us from the royal family.”

The surprise collapse of the palace many claim was caused by an insider who blew the place sky high, or that one of the cannons failed and exploded, taking its ammunition and the rest of the structurally weak building with it. The full truth I fear we will never know, but we do know the result.

After the loss of the symbolic leadership of both sides, Parliament and the Monarchy the two groups agreed on a ceasefire. Then two weeks later the leadership met for a meeting, this took place in Ironbay. With Faye acting as the representative for the Parliamentarians and a general called Raven representing the Monarchists.

After long talks the state in which our current government resides was drawn up, this I feel is where it becomes rather a stark reality for pointlessness of killing fellow countrymen. The monarchy was to be recreated as was Parliament, yet in this new version the Monarchy was as we all know to be voted in from the ranks of Parliament, the person also needed to have the backing of the military and big businesses to create a unified nation.

With this agreement drawn up the Rethait Civil War came to an end.