The Chronicles

Thousands of years after the death of the Brothers of Light, Raneleo and Leoran, peace continued to reign in the world of Auroa.  But that peace would not last.  Sem was ever so alive.

Pahzez’s Rebellion

The first of three major events that instigated the Great War was the political disputes in the north, and the proprietor of this was a dolcer who went by the name of Pahzez.  Pahzez was the first to decree a law that would cause tension between the regions of the north.  That law was to sustain the creation and usage of the element made strictly from technology, helin.  This decree was looked down upon by the political leaders, however, the idea of helin being used in everyday life was an idea that many citizens around the world wanted to see fulfilled.  Helin’s usage had already been noted as dangerous, however, the advancements it made in technology were greater than its hazards by a large margin.  Citizens saw this as perfect reasoning to allow the decree, but the political leaders, most of who at this time were Auroite Generals or retired Legionaries, found the few hazards to be too great of a risk.  Pahzez’s decree was therefore ignored, but Pahzez had the ‘People’ backing him.  Even without the political go-ahead, he was going to get his helin advancement started one way or another.  This, in turn, gave rise to rebellious helin users and manufacturers across the world.  The number of people on Pahzez’s side were too great to treat as a minor threat, so the first rebellion began, marking an end to the years of Peace that the Brothers of Light gave to Auroa.

Even though Pahzez’s Rebels were in large numbers, the rest of Auroa greatly outnumbered them with a ratio of a hundred to one.  With a ratio like that, the Auroites should have easily thwarted the rebels, but with war comes weapons.  

For the first few years of the war, Auroites were routing the rebels all over Auroa.  But soon, everything changed.  The first weapons of helin were made and used on the Auroites during Pahzez’s Rebellion.  These weapons were so destructive that they evened the ratio of a hundred to one because a helin weapon in the hand of a single rebel had the destructive power of a hundred Auroites; for the larger and more powerful weapons, the destructive force could have even reached the thousands.  Adding this to the shock and awe of the Auroites themselves, having never gone against these weapons of mass destruction before, Pahzez and his ‘Atlohs’ were looking very much the favorite in this war.

Yhelos and Yhelean

As Pahzez’s Rebellion lingered on for years on end, Pahzez himself died from old age, but his motive remained in every Atloh, the freedom of technology and advancement.  The man who took Pahzez’s place in leadership was a former Haltese Auroite commander, Yhelos.  And opposing him was his younger brother, Yhelean, now the new Grand General of Haltese Auroites and unanimously chosen by all regions as the prime leader of the war.  Yhelos was intended to be the Grand General, but his sudden secession to the rebels was completely unexpected.  Along with him, he somehow managed to get his personal army to join him in betraying the Legion.  Losing their most prominent young general to the Atlohs deeply scarred the Auroites, but the tenacity and resolve of the younger brother, Yhelean, put a new vigor in them.

Yhelean was the first Auroite to actually study the usage of helin and use his studies for the success of the Legion.  With the help of the Felini people who thrived on libretti, the ancient and mystical dialect of their ancestors, Yhelean learned that helin was an element formed through libretti and that the strange language that the Atloh had recently began to use was a condensed form of that very libretti dialect.  He learned that Atlohs were no more than users and manufacturers of a libretti-formed element that just so happened to have the ability of lethal mass destruction.  With this knowledge and the loyalty of the Feliniis who were previously neutral in the war, Yhelean set out with his force and the flying forces of the Felini Dragon Riders.

Yhelos and the Atlohs were no match for the surprising Feliniis with their mastered use of libretti.  The Feliniis knew everything about how helin worked since they, of course, were the originators of it.  Also, Yhelos had no battle plan against airborne attacks.  Atloh forces were being wiped out one by one and soon the entire Atloh army was backed into a small corner of Auroa—a seclude land mass that was known as Atlohtahem.  There the Atlohs held their defenses on a continent that once belonged to Haltese.  This was as far as Yhelean could push them.  Regardless of the Feliniis who helped him, the Atlohs had too much destructive power all in one place to be wiped out.  Yhelean decided on a peace treaty.  If the Atlohs would simply cease attacking and also give up their leader, Yhelean’s older brother, then the Auroites, too, would cease their attack.  The Atlohs agreed to these terms realizing that neither them nor the Auroites were advancing.  It was just pointless death after pointless death.  Yhelos was betrayed by his own men and handed over to his little brother.  Yhelean asked him why he chose to betray the legion, betray Auroa, and betray him.  Yhelos simply laughed and said that power was power and helin was that power.  He justified that by saying that even with the feliniis and how greatly Yhelean outnumbered him, the Atlohs were still there.  There was no way to wipe them out because of their sheer power, the power of helin.  Yhelos’s words were true but his reasoning for betrayal was purely selfish and evil.  Yhelean had his brother executed for the massive war crimes against the Auroite Corps and all of Auroa.  And in time, the Atlohs began to be known as the name of their wretched land of Atlohtahem so their name was spelled to represent it—Atlohs. With that, Yhelean became a historical figure, the Hero of the Atloh Rebellion.  But Yhelean and many of the Auroite Generals knew that this was not the end of anything.

A cautious time of peace was spread through Auroa, but how could there be true peace when the enemy was slowly growing stronger and stronger right in their midst and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.  Yhelean and the Feliniis agreed to start educating a new breed of Auroite forces, teaching them the ways of the Ancient Libretti dialect – at least as much as non-traditional Felinii Libretti speakers had the capacity to learn.  The one thing that Yhelean certainly wanted his Auroites to learn was the ability to train and ride dragons.  If nothing else, dragon riders had the potential to keep Atlohs at bay and perhaps in the future successfully defeat them.  Yhelean’s name for this new Auroite division would be The Auroite Libretti Sky Force.  During this time, the Sky Force was pathetically small in numbers.  The majority of them were Feliniis from their homeland of Ona Li located in the Naki Regions.  These Feliniis saw the glorious aspect in being an Auroite and simply wanted to become one.  Besides them, only a few Auroites were able to use libretti, and even less could use libretti enough to tame and ride a dragon.  Then even so, the only dragons that they were capable of riding were the basic unaggressive Urali dragons.  The Sky Force was basically useless and wouldn’t be a military asset for years to come.

Yhelead

During this time, the Atlohs were delving more into the capabilities of helin.  They discovered and invented new helin-powered technology, more weapons were made, bases were built, and construction of a massive helin-driven city had begun.  However, their most prized accomplishment was designed and constructed eighty years after Yhelean’s victory over them: the Airship.  The very first Atloh airship was constructed and flown.  This meant that the Atlohs now had a way to combat the dragons in the air.  Yhelean, now at the age of 100, was too old to do anything.  He passed away two years after that at the age of 102.  Yhelean’s Grand General status was passed down to General Yhelead, his grandson.  The position of Grand General was not normally passed within a family like some form of monarchy, but Yhelead proved to be all his grandfather was and more.  He was loved by all, served the citizens of not only the Haltese region but the other eleven regions as well with the utmost respect.  Yhelead was arguably the greatest Grand General the Auroites of all twelve regions had ever had.  He was smart, a great warrior, a humble leader, and to much advantage from a woman’s perspective, good-looking.  Also, he was one of the few non-felini Auroites to tame and ride an Urali dragon.  With that skill, he led the very first sky battle.  He and his small force of Urali dragon riders took down three Atloh airships in a single preemptive strike.  That feat sealed Yhealead as the greatest Grand General ever.  However, his leadership was cut abruptly short.  Yhelead was murdered in his sleep by a highly skilled assassin.  The assassin was never found and the proprietor of such a dire act could have been anyone.  

The death of Yhelead is what many considered to be the second event that instigated the Great War; Pahzez’s Rebellion being the first.  Yhelead’s death drove the northern regions to great distrust of each other.  Haltese, above all, was rampant after the death of their great Grand General.  Justice and vengeance was the only thing on their minds.  This mindset led them to choose a new Grand General, not by the merits, but through an urge for vengeance; thus giving rise to the infamous Haltese leader, Grand General Nalii.

Nalii of Jomo

The first questionable aspect of Nalii was that he was not Haltese born.  Never before had a region chosen a Grand General who was not born of its own lands.  Nalii was the first.  He was from a rocky mountain land between the two Auroite-less regions of Susinei and Gor, the land of Jomo.  Jomo was known for its great poverty and lack of resources.  It was only natural for a young man of Jomo to leave home and join the glamorous and highly praised Auroites of another region.  Nalii was no different.  After joining the Haltese Auroites, he surged up the ranks.  His adoration for the newfound glory and his hatred of the poverty that he once lived were the stimulus to his success.  His methods were very ruthless compared to the many Haltese born Auroites, however, that ruthlessness made him a very powerful leader.  So after Yhelead’s death, it was without question that the vengeful Haltese people choose Nalii with his merciless and unruly creed as the new Grand General.  Nalii, never turning away from a glory raise, proudly accepted the position.

It wasn’t long before he put his proud and arrogant leadership to politics and law.  First, and perhaps the only morally good thing he did as a Grand General was build up his home of Jomo.  It quickly became a very well known city and hauled in revenue from Haltese, thus making the land of Jomo a new wealthy parcel of Haltese Region.  In doing so, Nalii also added to its name his own.  The land of Jomo became known worldwide as The land of Jomonalii.  This arrogant act marked the beginning of Nalii’s conquering and treacherous leadership.

Nalii’s worst fear was failure and his greatest love was victory.  This characteristic of his was the driving force of the Haltese during his ‘reign’.  With the north already in a fragile state, Nalii shattered every tie with his sudden attack on the Phantei Region.  It was only an assumption, but Phantei was believed to be proprietor of Yhelead’s assassination and many people of Haltese wanted vengeance.  This urge for vengeance blended with Nalii’s own desire for glory, so an unruly attack on the Phantei was launched.  Phantei was not surprised by the attack because they knew of Nalii’s boisterous creed, but nevertheless, Haltese’s great strength overpowered them.  Phantei sought aid from the neighboring regions of Susinei and Gor, but Haltese already had a brittle alliance with them of the land of Jomonalii.  Thus, Phantei could only seek aid from the region of Jarka.

Jarka was one of the two regions of the north that had no ties with Haltese, however they had no ties with Phantei either.  The Jarka Region was under the leadership of Grand General Mirogo.  Many considered him a useless leader, as was many of the previous Jarkan Grand Generals.  Instead of looking to their leader, the people of Jarka looked to a small group of warrior people in the northern most part of the region, the Dalanians.  Dalanians lived by their own code.  Their creed was honor and strength, and it was this creed that made them such a feared people.  Many feared them in battle and all wanted them as allies.  Even though they were Jarkans, Dalania was not at all at the mercy of the Region leaders.  In fact, since they lived on the border of Jarka and Haltese, they tended to obey the orders of the great and powerful Haltese commanders more often than not.  So, when Phantei sought aid from Jarka and Jarka obliged, Dalania seceded to the Haltese.

After Dalania’s secession, the Haltese Region had never been more powerful than they were now, and Nalii, with his ever so glory-driven creed, used this as only fuel to his fire.  Haltese sacked the weakened Jarka in less than three months.  Following that victory, they marched into the Phantei Region with the powerhouse Dalanian troops leading the vanguard, and without even drawing a sword, they claimed victory due to Phantei’s quick and shameful surrender.  Nalii became crazed with the success.  He went as far as calling himself “King” instead of Grand General.  Not many disagreed with him.  No region had ever conquered such a vast amount of land in such a short time.

The Clash at Mili’s Edge

Nalii became too cocky.  The Haltese troops took over the desert region of Taoli, however, they could not reach the region of Mili.  For at Mili’s northern borders was a mountain range and on these mountains were a branch of the ferociously powerful Yazanians.  Dalanian troops were the vanguard of Haltese so upon reaching the Yazan Mountains of Mili, they were the first and only ones to face off against the powerful wolf people.  The battle between the Dalanians and Yazanians was by far one of the greatest and most historical battles ever recorded.  The Clash at Mili’s Edge, as it was called, gave rise to many great and heroic names such as Commander Raanel of Dalania and Hartrok II of Yaza.  Prior to this battle, Yazanians never appeared to struggle in a fight, however, prior to this battle, Yazanians had never went against Dalanians.  The bloody battle lasted many days before news of it reached the ears of the wolf people’s homeland, the northern most region of Yaza.  Great Wolf Yazan immediately responded.  He sent a force of battle-ready Yazan warriors so to aid his brothers down south, however, they would have to go through three Haltese-conquered regions to get there.

It was at this moment that many realized Nalii made a mistake.  Attacking Yazanians, no matter if you had Dalanians or not, was never a tactic that should have been in a commander’s arsenal.  The Yazanian force trampled through the ranks of the Haltese, and in doing so, they inadvertently gave the regions back to the rightful leaders.  Phantei, Jarka, and Taoli was no longer under Haltese dominion, meaning the Dalanian vanguard was behind enemy lines with a force of Yazanian warriors quickly coming up behind them.  The Dalanians called for aid, but Nalii would not give it.  His troops would have to stay near him in case of an attack.  Without the Dalanians near him and the fact that Yaza was now against him, Nalii was more vulnerable than he had ever been.  This was a difficult decision, but what was left of the great Dalanian vanguard retreated.  They were not going to fight for a leader who would not fight for them.  They broke their advance and fought their way through Jarka to get back home.  All the while, the Yazanian force marched parallel to them going the opposite direction through Taoli.  It was a narrow escape for the vanguard, but they succeeded in returning to Dalania.  It was then that the land of Dalania seceded from Nalii’s Haltese, however, they didn’t rejoin Jarka.  Instead, the small land of Dalania became its own region-less parcel.

Nalii’s Secret

The loss of Dalania and the failed “Clash at Mili’s Edge” was a wound that Nalii’s Haltese could not cure.  Slowly their mighty shadow amongst the other regions became smaller and smaller.  Over the years, Nalii became crazed as he aged and this craziness caused him to pick up many habits, one being mumbling in his sleep.  One fateful night, as he slept in the quarters of his castle, his wife over heard him mumble something that she could not believe.  It was specific details of Grand General Yhelead’s death, details that only the proprietor could know.  She was not willing to believe it; that her husband was the cause of her region’s worst demise.  She slipped out of bed and rushed out of the room to one of the trusted Haltese Officers.  She told him what she had overheard her husband say, and he responded by telling her to return to her quarters.  He and his fellow men would think of what to do.  She could only play along with Nalii as if nothing had changed.  The officer handed her a knife just to be safe and then she did as she was told and rushed back to her quarters.  However, before she got back into bed, Nalii woke up to the sight of her guilty expression.  He asked what she was doing, and she replied that she simply went to the restroom.  Nalii did not fall for such a lie, partly because her transparent nightgown did little to hide the knife that she was carrying.  Realizing that he wasn’t buying her fib, she told him what she had heard him say in his sleep and as she did, he smiled.  He got out of bed and walked toward her.  She, in turn, involuntarily backed away until she had backed into the large glass window that overlooked the Haltese capital, Hala.  Nalii gently rubbed back his wife’s hair.  “My dear,” he whispered.  “The fact of the matter is this; Yhelead’s death allowed me to claim position as the leader of Haltese and in doing so I was able to meet you.  If he had not died, who would have been my wife?”  His words and affection toward her eased her mind, but she still had to ask… “Did you kill him?”  Nalii coldly stared at her and smiled once more.  “Yes.”  Then he kicked her through the window and watched her fall three thousand feet to her death. 

Nalii’s head was wanted by all the vengeful hearted Haltese who were still obliged to Yhelead.  Certainly Nalii was not going to go free with the knowledge that they now possessed, that he was Yhelead’s long sought out assassin.  Certainly Nalii was going to pay for his crimes and his lie of a dictatorship.  That was not the case.  Even though many wanted to see Nalii’s head on a pike, Haltese was a new generation.  The loyal men and women who once proudly served under the Grand Generals, Yhelean and Yhelead, were dwindling from old age.  The region of Haltese had been replaced by a newer and younger generation who knew nothing about Yhelean and Yhelead’s victories; only stories that were told by their grandparents and great grandparents.  What they did know, however, was that under Nalii’s leadership, Haltese had become a powerhouse.  They had tasted wealth that was never before seen by a single region, they had conquered lands that stretched far into the southern continent and far west and east through the adjacent regions; people might as well had bowed down before a Haltese born man.  All of this was from Nalii’s leadership and even though they’ve backpedaled a little, that did not mean their dominion was over.  Why would they give that up?

Thus Nalii, backed by the younger power hungry generation, continued to reign as the Haltese Grand General until his death.  Before he died, however, he made sure to rid his lands of Yhelead forever.  He banished all those who were related to Yhelead and any who put Yhelead’s creed over his own.

Zhenou and the Fausemshi Religion

The death of Nalii was neither a sad time nor a glorious time.  For he died a man that lived a life of reverence, a life that he did not deserve, and now, after him, a new leader of Haltese would take his place and continue his creed.  That Grand General would be Jomonalii’s own Zhenou.  He was a prominent leader of the Jomonalii lands and sought to renew Nalii’s great leadership.  Zhenou would first go to Dalania and peacefully ask for their assistance once more.  He would promise them safety and prominence during his reign.  For he knew that was what Nalii lacked for them.  Otherwise, all of the continents would already be under Haltese leadership.  However, before Dalania could give an answer, the lands of Jomonalii were suddenly sacked.  Everything that was of Jomonalii was destroyed and the proprietors were none other than Yaza.  The Yazanians were not going to let another Jomonalii rule the Haltese and attack their homes like they did under Nalii’s reign.  The destruction of Jomonalii was a warning to not just Haltese, but to all the regions.  Yaza was not to be looked over.  Just because they were quiet and to themselves did not mean that they were going to let themselves be trampled; not with the strength that they possessed as a species.  A Yazanian messenger came to Zhenou soon after he received word of his home’s demise.  The message was from the Yazan military leaders.  It read:  “Keep the peace between us or burn with your home.”  Zhenou honored the letter.  Completely hurt and angered by the destruction of his homeland, he knew, unlike Nalii, that he had yet to gain a force that could rival the Yazanians.  Thus, he chose to start by regaining the ties that Nalii had cut.  Beginning with Dalania, he would regain trust from all the regions while hiding his true goal, to destroy Yaza and return Haltese to the glory that Nalii had brought to them and thus making Jomonalii the most feared land in all of Auroa.  The only difference between Zhenou and Nalii was one word… patience.

As the peaceful years of alliance-making and trust-gaining prolonged, Grand General Zhenou paid many visits to his homeland.  Jomonalii was once more a broken city, however, was this necessarily a bad thing for him?  Where did Nalii come from?  What influenced his methods?  It was this Jomonalii, it was this Jomo, the brokenness of this city that raised the greatest ruler that ever lived.  However, it wasn’t just the lands; it was deeper than that and Zhenou knew all too well what lied within its veneer.  

For years, a religion, thought to be long forgotten, was still being secretly practiced in the lands of Jomonalii and in many other areas around Auroa, the religion of Fausemshi.  Fausemshi consisted of a single high cleric that gave orders to multiple clerics who were next in command to him.  These clerics would then give orders to the Fausites who were the head of the Fausemshi practice in specific areas of Auroa.  And from the Fausites the orders fell upon the rest of those who practiced Fausemshi.   These orders, or as the Fausemshi called them, faushik, were believed to be consecrated by the high cleric’s powers of wisdom.  

Around Auroa, different Fausemshi areas were given specific jobs.  Some were politicians, others were scientists, and so on.  No matter what the occupation was, all was for the exaltation of the Fausemshi religion.  The Fausemshi of Jomonalii were assassins.  When a faushik came to Jomo, a willing and practiced assassin would eagerly take it upon himself to fulfill it.  There was no “why?” to it.  If it was an order that came down from the high cleric, then that was a valid reason enough.  The high cleric and many of the other clerics were unknown to even the Fausites and those who practiced the religion.  All that was known was that immediate benefits were gained after a faushik was fulfilled.

Zhenou knew that Nalii’s assassination of Yhelead was from a faushik.  Everything else that Nalii did was perhaps not, but the benefits of that faushik were clearly seen by all Fausemshi, the benefits of victory and conquest.  So Zhenou did what seemed most logical with his knowledge… focus solely on the growth of Fausemshi.  If Fausemshi was the origin of Nalii’s legendary success, then so it would be for his command of Haltese as well.  Thus the Fausemshi administrate and the quiet reign of the Jomonalii dead lands began.

The shadow of Fausemshi was cast across almost all of Auroa due to Zhenou.  Although Zhenou wasn’t Auroa’s so-called king, the Jomonalii Assassin incentive did much to insure his prestige and the Fausemshi authority.  Many people did not easily welcome the spread of Zhenou’s beloved religion, however, an easy welcoming wasn’t the Jomonalii Assassin’s forte.  Countless governments fell prey to the Assassin’s ruthless and unyielding persuasion and it wasn’t long before the world, or what was perceived as civil in the world, was under the might of Fausemshi.

The Great Atloh Assault

While Zhenou reigned over the lands, another movement was being made.  For it had seemed that the disputes and conflicts between the regions left a blind eye to Auroa’s true culprits, the Atlohs.  After years of being unwatched, they had become a powerhouse of helin powered gear.  Their population had grown immensely and their need for territory was dire.  This gave way to the inevitable world assault that the Atlohs knew was doomed to happen.  The strategic leader of this assault was a descendent of Pahzez, Pahzahiik.  Though this dolcer was no fighter, he had a mind like no other.  He knew that an unstable Auroa governed by Fausemshi was very vulnerable to anything, so he devised a plan.  Numbers had proven to be unreliable in past as it was known that the Atlohs had fewer numbers than the Auroites during the rebellion and still held their own.  So Pahzahiik decided to place Atloh battalions on all of Auroa’s northern borders.  A single all out attack was not going to be foreseen by the already Fausemshi led people.