10-20-2019, 04:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-20-2019, 05:16 PM by TheNickelKnight.)
The origins of Halfroad, and the origins of Elain Glass are their own tales, but here we briefly pivot from my story. Halfroad was never really a city. Not as the peerage saw it. No, Halfroad had been a prison camp for rebels once. Rebels from the lower races. After the Patriarch’s death his two children refused to fight for his throne. Their plea for change went unheard amongst most of their Tel’fahrian kin in the ruling caste. Even if dismantling the patriarchy had been their father’s final wish. The Tel’fahrian ruling caste quickly splintered into factions. Those who supported his sons eventually broke away to found what would later become the church of the two pillars, even if the children who were supposed to be its namesake wanted no direct involvement. Their father had been worshipped as a singular deity. They did not wish to be worshipped as a pair. Of the two largest remaining factions you had the traditionalists who began to look for a way to anoint a new successor to the Patriarch’s legacy, and those who preached a certain brand of equality. That is, the type of equality brought about by violently overthrowing the ruling caste. The kind of diplomacy you work out with sword and spell. A coup.
Simply put, they stoked the fires of resentment long held in the hearts of the lesser races. The largest lesser race factions included the humans, the elves, orcs, dwarves, others too, but none that were represented by such a large number. It was said that if humankind hadn’t joined the rebellion, the Tel’fahrians would still rule their homeland. The elves were wise, owed to their long lifespans. Sages without peer. The orcs were steadfast warriors, a touch savage perhaps, but they too filled the ranks of city militias and private armies in those days for they made fine warriors and if you could earn it of them, finer friends. The Dwarves were master craftsman, able to outfit Tel’fahrias armies with the finest weapons, and armor. Their ingenuity, cleverness, and natural talent with their machines and tools brought all manner of improvements to Tel’fahria as a whole. Then there was humankind. Humankind, over whom the Patriarch was said to have doted. They were not singularly as wise as the Elves, as powerful and fearsome as the Orcs, or as capable as the Dwarves. It was true that rarities among them did aspire to those heights, or even surpass them. While humankind may have been capable of breaking the mold, they had one tendency the rebels could count on. Ruthlessness. Perhaps, in his wisdom, the Patriarch knew what was to come, but he’d acted to late and his life left him before he could see to change. The kind that only he could make without contest.
Humankind, more than any other race, was driven. The key thing that drove humankind, at least at first, was always fear. Their short lives, relatively speaking, made them naturally aggressive. That meant they were also expansionist. By comparison they bred very quickly. In their assemblies, councils, taverns, and living quarters they spoke of their generational links to Tel’fahria. How their lives, livelihoods, and legacies were on the line. It was laughable to the other races in that they spoke of mere decades whereas the elves could mark the centuries. Still, it was this tendency that the rebellion counted on most. It was true they didn’t think much of humankind, but they certainly understood how to use them as a weapon. So while the Elves in the rebellion sought to wield magic that might bring their oppressors to their knees, the orcs prepared for combat, and the dwarves fortified their homes called back their wandering kinsman, and shuttered their forges and armories the Tel’fahrians used to equip their own armies, what did humankind do? Humankind poisoned water supplies, burned foodstuffs, killed loyalists among the lesser races, all in the name of assuaging that fear. Given their relatively large population the traditionalists were quick to round those rebels up and at the slightest suspicion cart them off to encampments. Places like Halfroad.
Halfroad was, as it happens, the largest of these encampments. So large that by the time the rebellion ended, and the camps were being dismantled the nobility now ruling the land of Tel’fahria left it alone. A local from Halfroad, as most were familiar with it’s legends, would tell you that by the time the rebellion ended the prisoners had long since taken over the prison. By some stroke of luck not all within Halfroad’s walls had been savage and warlike. No, Halfroad was a microcosm. A world that accepted only as much rule as it wanted but had grown so much that the real rulers of Halfroad were some of the mercenary, adventuring, or merchant companies that had sprung up within it’s walls. That’s not to suggest it was lawless, but the peerage didn’t rule here. They left it alone at the end of the rebellion because they weren’t sure they had the resources to combat those companies if they united to throw off their new rulers. It still stood because infighting amongst the peerage meant that at least in my lifetime no single house had amassed enough soldiers and materials to conquer Halfroad.
Local legend regarding Elaine Glass claimed that her father was a mercenary and her mother was one of Tel’fahria’s war kindred. I can tell you, having met the woman, it is no legend, but the truth. The war kindred were the strongest in Tel’fahrias warrior caste. In their glory days they were bred and trained for the single purpose of battling demons. They traveled the void under the Patriarch’s banner battling demons in distant worlds wherever they might find them. Most never returned to Tel’fahria. Those who did usually lacked the refinement, morality, and civility Tel’fahrians usually adhered to. That is, they had become far too warlike for their peers. That is not to suggest they lacked these qualities entirely, simply that they didn’t meet the standards of the society they’d been bred to serve and protect. As such it was natural you might find one or two floating around Halfroad. None were especially accepted, but they weren’t shunned. It was a place for the dregs of society, those with dreams limited by their station elsewhere, and those on the run from the law. Both a holy land of opportunity, and the very epitome of a monument to sin.
Coin was the law in Halfroad, ultimately. Any crime could be squared away with enough compensation paid to the offended party. Even if the offended party was the entire city of Halfroad. The Shattered Glass was the singularly strongest mercenary company in Halfroad. As such, they could generally enforce the law as they saw fit. Truly, it was as Elaine saw fit. She answered to no one. Those that served under her were said to have unquestionable loyalty, and she was quite possibly the closest thing Halfroad had to a queen. Slavers were terrified of her, and noble houses only operated in the city either under her immediate protection or under the protection of those she wouldn’t cross. The latter was a very small number. The former even smaller. In her heart she was perhaps Tel’fahrian, but she did not find acceptance in their society. Her heritage was that of an honorable people who loathed slavery, lived for duty and honor, and once saw themselves as a shield to those who lived in their care. Those that had aided the rebellion that saw the traditionalists overthrown were not fond of her, nor she them, but they could not call on the remaining traditionalists to deal with her, and as long as she kept her activities confined to Halfroad most among the new peerage paid her little mind. After all, she was a half-breed upstart in their eyes. On that day, for a pair of orphans she was deliverance. On that day, for a would-be slaver and his foolish nobleman buyer she may as well have been the grim reaper. On that day one of the Two Pillars began to shift, and with him, so too did the land of Tel’fahria. I had no idea, that on that day, I was witnessing the beginning of the second war for Tel’fahria. History in the making. A war that still raged when I suddenly found myself swept away.
- Kal
Simply put, they stoked the fires of resentment long held in the hearts of the lesser races. The largest lesser race factions included the humans, the elves, orcs, dwarves, others too, but none that were represented by such a large number. It was said that if humankind hadn’t joined the rebellion, the Tel’fahrians would still rule their homeland. The elves were wise, owed to their long lifespans. Sages without peer. The orcs were steadfast warriors, a touch savage perhaps, but they too filled the ranks of city militias and private armies in those days for they made fine warriors and if you could earn it of them, finer friends. The Dwarves were master craftsman, able to outfit Tel’fahrias armies with the finest weapons, and armor. Their ingenuity, cleverness, and natural talent with their machines and tools brought all manner of improvements to Tel’fahria as a whole. Then there was humankind. Humankind, over whom the Patriarch was said to have doted. They were not singularly as wise as the Elves, as powerful and fearsome as the Orcs, or as capable as the Dwarves. It was true that rarities among them did aspire to those heights, or even surpass them. While humankind may have been capable of breaking the mold, they had one tendency the rebels could count on. Ruthlessness. Perhaps, in his wisdom, the Patriarch knew what was to come, but he’d acted to late and his life left him before he could see to change. The kind that only he could make without contest.
Humankind, more than any other race, was driven. The key thing that drove humankind, at least at first, was always fear. Their short lives, relatively speaking, made them naturally aggressive. That meant they were also expansionist. By comparison they bred very quickly. In their assemblies, councils, taverns, and living quarters they spoke of their generational links to Tel’fahria. How their lives, livelihoods, and legacies were on the line. It was laughable to the other races in that they spoke of mere decades whereas the elves could mark the centuries. Still, it was this tendency that the rebellion counted on most. It was true they didn’t think much of humankind, but they certainly understood how to use them as a weapon. So while the Elves in the rebellion sought to wield magic that might bring their oppressors to their knees, the orcs prepared for combat, and the dwarves fortified their homes called back their wandering kinsman, and shuttered their forges and armories the Tel’fahrians used to equip their own armies, what did humankind do? Humankind poisoned water supplies, burned foodstuffs, killed loyalists among the lesser races, all in the name of assuaging that fear. Given their relatively large population the traditionalists were quick to round those rebels up and at the slightest suspicion cart them off to encampments. Places like Halfroad.
Halfroad was, as it happens, the largest of these encampments. So large that by the time the rebellion ended, and the camps were being dismantled the nobility now ruling the land of Tel’fahria left it alone. A local from Halfroad, as most were familiar with it’s legends, would tell you that by the time the rebellion ended the prisoners had long since taken over the prison. By some stroke of luck not all within Halfroad’s walls had been savage and warlike. No, Halfroad was a microcosm. A world that accepted only as much rule as it wanted but had grown so much that the real rulers of Halfroad were some of the mercenary, adventuring, or merchant companies that had sprung up within it’s walls. That’s not to suggest it was lawless, but the peerage didn’t rule here. They left it alone at the end of the rebellion because they weren’t sure they had the resources to combat those companies if they united to throw off their new rulers. It still stood because infighting amongst the peerage meant that at least in my lifetime no single house had amassed enough soldiers and materials to conquer Halfroad.
Local legend regarding Elaine Glass claimed that her father was a mercenary and her mother was one of Tel’fahria’s war kindred. I can tell you, having met the woman, it is no legend, but the truth. The war kindred were the strongest in Tel’fahrias warrior caste. In their glory days they were bred and trained for the single purpose of battling demons. They traveled the void under the Patriarch’s banner battling demons in distant worlds wherever they might find them. Most never returned to Tel’fahria. Those who did usually lacked the refinement, morality, and civility Tel’fahrians usually adhered to. That is, they had become far too warlike for their peers. That is not to suggest they lacked these qualities entirely, simply that they didn’t meet the standards of the society they’d been bred to serve and protect. As such it was natural you might find one or two floating around Halfroad. None were especially accepted, but they weren’t shunned. It was a place for the dregs of society, those with dreams limited by their station elsewhere, and those on the run from the law. Both a holy land of opportunity, and the very epitome of a monument to sin.
Coin was the law in Halfroad, ultimately. Any crime could be squared away with enough compensation paid to the offended party. Even if the offended party was the entire city of Halfroad. The Shattered Glass was the singularly strongest mercenary company in Halfroad. As such, they could generally enforce the law as they saw fit. Truly, it was as Elaine saw fit. She answered to no one. Those that served under her were said to have unquestionable loyalty, and she was quite possibly the closest thing Halfroad had to a queen. Slavers were terrified of her, and noble houses only operated in the city either under her immediate protection or under the protection of those she wouldn’t cross. The latter was a very small number. The former even smaller. In her heart she was perhaps Tel’fahrian, but she did not find acceptance in their society. Her heritage was that of an honorable people who loathed slavery, lived for duty and honor, and once saw themselves as a shield to those who lived in their care. Those that had aided the rebellion that saw the traditionalists overthrown were not fond of her, nor she them, but they could not call on the remaining traditionalists to deal with her, and as long as she kept her activities confined to Halfroad most among the new peerage paid her little mind. After all, she was a half-breed upstart in their eyes. On that day, for a pair of orphans she was deliverance. On that day, for a would-be slaver and his foolish nobleman buyer she may as well have been the grim reaper. On that day one of the Two Pillars began to shift, and with him, so too did the land of Tel’fahria. I had no idea, that on that day, I was witnessing the beginning of the second war for Tel’fahria. History in the making. A war that still raged when I suddenly found myself swept away.
- Kal