Note from the author:
I've put my efforts toward writing something I think is a bit better than Empire of Steel. If you want more of that story, I'm sorry, you won't be getting it. And don't go into this story thinking it's a part of Empire, it's not. But it is leading into a story involving the Legion. I hope you guys like it.
War... War never changes. After atomic fire rained from the skies in the Great War, society was reset. Eventually tribes formed. Then nations. When two of these nations met, war ensued at Hoover Dam. But far to the north, a new nation was forming. In the ruins of British Columbia, a great tribe was rising.
Chapter 1
A man in great flowering robes stepped forward from the entrance of Geb's Temple. His robes were made of leaves and flowers, and a crown topped his head made of thickly woven vines and branches. Woven inside the crown were multicolored jewels arranged so when the sun struck it, on a rainy day, a dazzling rainbow appeared about its wearer's head. The man wearing these things was just as beauteous, with piercing green eyes that contrasted with his mane of black hair. He was young, no more than twenty five, and already the king of his people. His name was Atticus II, son of Atticus the Conqueror and his wife Helia. As the last of the royal family, he intended to bring his people to greatness. "Cascadia," he said, "the great earth god Geb has spoken to me, and divined his will. He knows of our great expansion in the last several years to the coast. He knows that we number more than ever. And so he sends us on a magnificent quest. Our lord, Geb wishes us to make conquest southward, that we may take all of the land he has promised us. The loving earth-father grants us the promise that our children and our children's children will rule a mighty kingdom if we do so. And so I issue the proclamation that we shall go with our swords and bows as far south as the land once called Oregon and unite this land as Geb demands. We shall have our promised land; Cascadia will be whole!"
His speech invigorated the crowd of tribals into an orderly frenzy. His people, the Cascadians, wore clothing made of animal hide and leaves. They slung bows on their backs and swords at the hips. Some bore war hammers and tomahawks. The priests and priestesses wore flowering laurels in their hair.
For twenty years the tribe had been expanding into the land promised to them by Geb, the earth-father. Only recently, last spring, they reached the coast. They battled tribes there and seized the wharfs and ports. They then introduced plant-life to the ruined cities, allowing Geb to once again have his land, as is their way. Under Atticus II, only months after his coronation, Cascadia finally destroyed the tribes that raided them countless times. They were now a formidable force, not a backwater nonentity.
His father, Atticus the Conqueror, died battling these tribes. A wise man, he knew he would not be the one to fulfill Cascadia's destiny. And so he taught his son all he could of military strategy, philosophy, politics, and diplomacy. The result was a brilliant boy, eager the avenge his father and destroy the wharf-dwelling tribes that murdered him.
An extension of the Conqueror's political genius is his wife, Helia. She was the matriarch of a somewhat larger tribe they neighbored to the east. When he heard she was looking for a husband, he quickly became her most spectacular suitor. Before long they were married and he was king of two tribes. When he showed her the wonders of Cascadia, she was quick to convert her whole tribe to the ways of Cascadia. He showed the new members of his tribe (now doubled in size) the art of agriculture, methods of living among nature, the glory of Geb and the nymphs and the dryads, and the proper way to treat a hunted or herded animal.
By this method, Cascadia doubled in size and stature in a year. The tribe spent the next twenty years warring with its neighbors so that it may have its promised land. At the time of the Conqueror's death, they had reached nearly a third of their goal. By reaching the sea, they solidified their position and could begin moving southward, with Geb's permission.
Atticus was the kind to waltz rather than walk, and so he moved with grace from the Temple to his his palace. The palace was little more than stone and mud and timber with large leaves overhead in case of a rainstorm so common in Cascadia. No guards stood in front of his home, as none were needed. If any thought to attack him here, they would first have to navigate the rainy jungle that was his country. Secondly they would have to sneak or fight past the mutated animals that Geb made to protect his people. Then this assassin would have to get past hundreds of Cascadians and their tamed animals. And if they managed all that, they would have to fight the king himself.
He entered the palace that was little more than a hut and sat upon his throne, the trunk of a fallen tree decorated with leaves and flowers. Priests and priestesses and servants sat around the multi-roomed hut. Some were drawing water from the small waterfall that cascaded down several yards behind the throne. Others prepared meals for themselves and their king. One servant offered him a glass of honeyed water, which he kindly accepted.
He set his scepter (a long wooden stick inlaid with gold and jewels at the top) to his left in such a way that it leaned against his throne, and took the honeyed water. When he lowered the glass after taking a sip, he saw that his chief advisor had arrived, and was now kneeling before the throne.
"You may rise," the young king said. The man who now rose was an older man, with gray wisps flowing through his black hair. Long hair like his was a symbol of honor in Cascadia. One may shave his beard or his moustache if he pleased, but if it lay upon your head is would not be shaved. Shortened, on occasion, but never shaved. The advisor had age in his brown eyes, as he had seen more battles and lived through more wars than most would ever read about. His name was Amet, and he served as a the advisor to Atticus the Conqueror mere months before. In the childhood of Atticus II, Amet had been a good friend, like a second father. He was the clear choice for his advisor.
"My king," Amet began, a smile fairly resting on his lips. He wore a robe like the king's, but shorter and less colorful. Upon his head he wore a laurel inlaid with gold, identifying him as an important man. "I have come to request that I lead the expedition southward."
"My friend," Atticus replied, "now is not the time to discuss war. The Feast of Autumn is nearly upon us. Now is a time to celebrate. After the Equinox and the Feast we shall have talks of war and expeditions. For now, we honor Geb and his daughters and thank him for giving us all we need."
"As you wish, my king," Amet replied, bowing graciously.
"Now come, we are having Yao Guai and I wish for you to be at my table. The hunt for it was excellent and I wish to tell you of it."
