Realm of the Mad God Trilogy ROTMG NOVEL ESP 1

You are a child of this realm.
Eternally blinded by ignorant truths,
Oblivious to the peripheral existence
Untold from this dreamless cycle.
…You are a child of this realm.

"…Life."

The girl resting upon the bed suddenly opened up her eyes and nearly jumped to her feet. She looked at her surroundings and saw nothing familiar of this room; it was made of wood (including the walls and ceiling), and a flame-lit candle rested on the desk beside her bed. Placed upon the walls were various housework tools, including rakes and shovels and brooms; there was a sack of hay lying beside the door. To the right of her bed was a small, low-roofed corner where a window resided directly above her head.

"Hello," said a voice that came from nearby. The girl turned her head to see the door to this room open, and in came a tall woman with curly brown hair and gray eyes; she was dressed in blue robes.

"What is your name?" the woman asked.

The girl lying upon the bed shuddered. "I…I don't know," she answered. "I can't remember anything." She closed her eyes, and began to think back to…whatever had happened before she woke up inside this strange room. Fragments of memories pieced themselves together to form various (and random) trains of thoughts, of old homes and familiar neighborhoods and a somewhat distant recollection of people that seemed, in the past, to be like friends.

She felt in her head a strange, swollen blackness; something about her memory was missing. A part of the past had been taken away from her, yet this past felt so distant, so unconscious, that it seemed almost like…it had taken place in some other form of reality. Nothing of what she was able to recall appeared in a clear and coherent manner; but eventually she became aware of a word, some word that she had been called throughout her whole life. It was…what was it the woman asked for again? Ah, yes. A name.

"Oh, sorry," the girl said. "My name…its Claire."

"Claire," the old woman responded. "I'm Kathleen. Nice to meet you." She stretched out her hand, and Claire nervously shook it.

"Where am I?" Claire asked. "And why can't I remember…anything?"

"Welcome to the Realm," Kathleen said, nodding her head.

"The Realm? What?"

"You don't know what the Realm is?" Kathleen responded. She smiled and began to back away from Claire. "Then you will find out soon enough." She slowly walked towards the door leading out of the room.

"Wait!" Claire yelled. "Where are you going?"

"To the outside, where the Realm is. I hope to see you again!"

Claire sat upon the bed with a confused look upon her face. What was that all about? Who was that woman? And…why can't I remember anything? Do I have amnesia? What happened to me? And…what is this 'Realm' thing?

She closed her eyes and let her body fall gently back upon the soft bed. Claire began trying to piece back her old memories again, attempting to recall something, anything that would give her an answer to the questions that plagued her head. She tried to think about what happened before she woke up in this room, but could not remember a single thing; the only emotion that she felt was a blackness, an emptiness of some sort taking over her mind. And it began by consuming what remained of those vague thoughts and memories of past consciences, taking them away from her minds grasp just when she thought that they would fall in place. Those words, those people, those residing in familiarity — they seemed to disappear along with this emotion, leaving nothing behind but emptiness, and her mind felt like a hollow shell.

With a sigh, Claire stood up from the bed and stretched her tired body. Just…who am I? She thought before walking across the room towards the door. Maybe if I can talk to that Kathleen again, then perhaps I could get some answers…

She cautiously left the room and found herself standing in a kitchen of some sorts. To her right there was a dining table, laden with empty plates of food — though there was still one tray which contained some bread and a small bowl of soup. Claire suddenly realized how hungry she was — she must've been asleep in that room for days — and immediately began wolfing down the food that was on this tray. While she ate, she heard a door open — it seemed to come from 'outside' this house — and saw Kathleen come back into this room.

"Hello, Claire," Kathleen said. "Yes, the food is for you. Eat as much as you want. I have lots more if you're very hungry."

Obviously, a slice of bread and a bowl of soup was not enough to satisfy Claire's hunger; she immediately disregarded her caution and asked Kathleen to give her some more food.

"Thank you for the food," Claire said as Kathleen brought to her an egg sandwich, an apple pie, a salad, and some orange juice. "But I need to know what is going on. Why can't I remember anything? And…what am I doing here, inside your house — I assume?"

"You are inside the Realm," Kathleen replied. "This is the world of the Mad God. It's your new home now."

Mad…God? What? Claire thought to herself. "Excuse me, but what are you talking about?"

"I mean exactly what I say. Go outside, when you are done eating your breakfast, and ask anyone whom you meet."

"Why can't you just explain it to me, though?" Claire asked. "Like, how did I get here? Is this another planet or something?"

Kathleen looked at Claire and smiled. "You are in this Realm because the Mad God willed it. There is no more, nor less that can I say to that. The Mad God is an immortal being whom we call Oryx, though his true name is unknown to all."

"God!? What God?" Claire responded a bit more frantically this time. "I don't believe what you're saying."

"Believe what you want. But I know that what I say is absolute truth, and you cannot deny it."

Claire closed her eyes and leaned her head back. This Kathleen sure is a strange woman. She's providing me with all this food, as if I was some guest in her house…yet, I have no idea how I ended up here! Did a 'God' really transport me into his…Realm? Where is this Realm, anyways? Is it another world or something?

"Okay," Claire said after calming down a bit, "What about my past? Why can't I remember it?"

"I can't answer that…" Kathleen replied. "Your past is your own business."

"Well, where did you find me? And what am I doing in your house?"

"Even if I told you, would it matter? How can you be sure of anything that happens while you're unconscious?"

Huh!? What is she talking about now?

Kathleen smiled at Claire once again. "The Realm may seem a strange place to you…if you're new here, that is. Take some time to explore it; become accustomed to the ways of this world. I shall be departing soon, and because I have to greet so many other new people, it is not likely that we'll meet again."

"'Greet other people?' What do you mean by that?" Claire responded.

"Nothing much, really." Kathleen walked into another room of her house, and came back a few seconds later with a short wooden bow, a quiver of red-painted arrows, as well as a small gray Trap-stone.

"Here are your weapons," Kathleen said. "Use them well, Huntress."

Claire stared at Kathleen strangely, as if the woman before her had gone mad. "…What!?"

"Good luck!" Kathleen responded, before leaving the house again.

Once more, Claire sat in silence, attempting to contemplate and make some sense out of all that had happened to her since she woke up. Just what am I doing here, in this place called the 'Realm'!? Why did Kathleen give me these weapons? I can't fight at all! What AM I going to fight?

She stood up, after finishing her sandwich and took the Shortbow and the arrows into her hands. Okay…am I supposed to go out and hunt some animals with this, or something? She slung the pouch of arrows across her back and gripped the bow tightly. What IS "outside", anyways? Maybe now I'll be able to see the Realm in its entirety…

Claire made for the door (that Kathleen had exited the house through) and opened it; this led to the front porch of her house. She stepped outside and was immediately greeted with some of the oldest and most unfamiliar of town-like scenery.

She walked down a street and observed the houses that were built in this town. They were not actually 'houses' (or at least not in the same way that one would call a personal dwelling a house); more like structures built into the very landscape of the town itself, and this 'landscape' was not of cobble streets, or of nature or dirt or soil or grass; it was a lay of solid white brick stones, so intertwined together that the town appeared to be made out of ice. And the dwellings of everyone were like doors, holes and porches — as well as roofs and ceilings — that had been carved into this very 'ice' itself, so that everyone's houses were actually built into the town, and not just a part of it.

Aside from this alien scenery, a few things remained the same. Not unlike a town taken from a medieval setting, the streets were lined with markets selling strange foods — meats of creatures Claire had never seen before, as well as very exotic fruits and vegetables — and also crates, wagons, and carriages led by beasts resembling black oxen (instead of horses). A few familiar-looking trees, of oak and birch and spruce, had been planted along the roads, and the skies were bright with a habitual sun rising from the eastern horizon. All this somewhat reminded Claire of the world she had come from, the world of her lost and distant past that existed outside of this realm…

And yes, indeed, Claire now accepted that she was in another world, though it was a bit difficult to believe; yet at the same time it was clearly possible, since Claire did not remember what world she had even come from. She was still not too sure who the Mad God was, or his intent — or of her past and how she got here — but now, she was beginning to understand the Realm just a little better.

About fifteen minutes later, Claire wandered into the town square, a small tree-filled garden that was surrounded by four fountains; they each flowed into small, lotus-covered ponds. There were a lot of people gathered here, specifically around a large post board that stood at the center of the garden. Some of these people appeared just as confused as she was; she noticed that they mostly tried to stay away from the rest of the crowd (and pretended that they were minding their own business). Claire approached one of them, a boy about the same age as her; he had round green eyes and long brown hair, as well as a wide forehead and hollow cheekbones. He currently carried a small metal stick resembling a wand in his hands, and wore bright orange robes.

"Hello," Claire said as she approached this boy. He immediately turned to look at her and waved.

"Hello," he replied. "Who are you?"

"My name is Claire."

"I'm Aaron."

"Hello, Aaron," Claire said as she shook the boy's hand. Looking into his eyes, she could see that he seemed a bit shy and confused, as if he had no idea what was going on inside this world. Just like myself, he probably doesn't know why he was taken into the Realm, Claire thought. I do hope that I look a bit more experienced than he is, though.

"Hello, Claire," Aaron replied. "Do you need help with something?"

"No…not really. Though I must admit that I am new to the Realm; I just woke up inside this strange world about two hours ago. What about you?"

Immediately the expression on the boy's face changed, and he became more hopeful. "Really!?" Aaron replied. "Me too, actually. Though I've been here for one day already…but I hardly understand what I'm doing inside this Realm."

Oh, dammit…so he is still a bit more experienced than I am, Claire thought. Regardless, since we're both new, I hope that we can become friends.

"Do you know anything about the Realm in general, though?" Claire asked. "I'm terribly confused about what I'm supposed to do in this world."

"I don't know much, either," Aaron responded. "But apparently, the Mad God Oryx transported us into his Realm to serve as food for his minions. Obviously we don't want that, so all we do here is fight and try to kill as many monsters as possible."

Claire frowned. That sounds quite dangerous, she thought. I never knew that there could be monsters inside this world.

Aaron started walking towards the poster board that was located at the center of the town's garden. "Here, I'll show you the map of this Realm," he said. "It's important to know where we're going if we decide to head on a journey."

Claire followed Aaron, pushing her way past the crowds of people that were amassing around the exact same poster board. Eventually, she made her way to the front of the group, where she was able to see the map.

"Here we are, at a town called Nexus," Aaron said, pointing to the center of the map. "It's quite small, of course, compared to the rest of this Realm. This is a huge world."

Claire nodded; she continued to listen as Aaron spoke, telling her of every other place that existed inside the Realm.

"This town is bordered by mountains to the north and to the east; one of its exits leads to the West Darylin Plains, which I heard is where a lot of this Realms' beginners start their journeys off since the monsters there aren't very strong. If you head further west of those plains, you'll reach Ranorn Forest, which is the only passage that we can take to the Eoryun Highlands beyond. Located to the south of the plains are the great Nidel Mountains, and I hear it's full of dangerous monsters — so we should best avoid that place for now. At the Eoryun Highlands, if you go further west you'll reach a town called Dale's Port, located right beside the Ocean; if you head north, you'll find a place called the Blue Wood, which is another one of this Realm's forests. Past that is the Lefran Snow Plains, situated at the base of the massive Northern Mountains; there's another town there, too, called Colberth."

"You seem to know a lot about this Realm," Claire replied. "Did you study this map all day yesterday?"

"Yeah. I'm good at memorizing places and directions, actually. Now, to continue: if you manage to cross the Nidel Mountains, then you'll arrive upon the Plateau Fields, which leads to another port town — the Village of Tianris — located beside the southern ocean. Back to Nexus; another exit out of this town leads to the South Darylin Plains, which also borders the ocean. From there, if you head west, you'll reach the Haragon Desert, and past that is the Plateau Fields also — though it's bordered by the Nidel Mountains to the north. If you head east, you'll arrive at the Laviel Hills, and there you'll find a castle: the kingdom of Fedrinas."

"There's a kingdom inside this realm?"

"Yes. It's located on the border between the lowlands and the Laviel, Hills, actually."

"What's beyond that, then?"

"Well, north of Laviel Hills is the Thamasan Forest, which leads to the ocean east of the Lefran Snow Plains; further east of the hills leads into the lowlands, where the Maduin Swamp is located. And at the far eastern corner of the world, past the swamp and the forest, is Amerdoth, the Shadow-lands."

"Doesn't sound like a very pleasant place. Is it where the Mad God resides?"

"I'm not very sure, but let's definitely avoid that place for now."

They stepped back from the map to let the other people (who had been crowding around them) see the poster board.

"Thanks for all that information about this world," Claire replied. "But I never expected to feel so…'fantasized,' if you know what I mean. It's like we're in some kind of a world stuck a thousand years back in the past. There are only four towns — if I can remember correctly — inside this Realm; all else is wilderness."

"I know; it's strange," Aaron replied. "But there's no denying it now that we're definitely in some other world; the Realm of the Mad God."

"Can't we just refuse to fight and settle down to live inside a town, or something?"

Aaron shook his head. "This world is plagued with dangerous and very powerful monsters. If we all stopped fighting, then every person inside this realm would become food for Oryx's minions. To earn a living, we have to go fight and kill as many monsters as possible; it's also the only way for us to get money."

"Oh, that's right…I recall passing by a few markets on my way to the town square. That's strange though — why do we need money to buy food and stuff like that if all we're doing is killing monsters all day?"

"Actually…I didn't exactly mean 'currency' when I said money. We buy our daily supplies by trading the spoils of battle that we acquire from battles out in the Realm. Most monsters will drop us something useful when we kill them — or, at least that's what I heard — like their weapons or some armor, and then we can sell them for food at the local markets."

Claire nodded. "I see. That's an interesting economy; a system of consumption based on one's worth in battle. That puts a lot of pressure upon our…well, fighting skills instead of our knowledge or education."

"It makes sense, though," Aaron replied. "Our purpose inside this Realm is to get rid of all these monsters the Mad God sends after us; it's the only way we could possibly live."

Aaron walked back towards where he had been sitting before, underneath a tall elm tree of the town square's garden. There was a backpack there — a large brown bag — and inside was some food, as well as various other supplies such as potions, bottles of water, medical aid, etc.

"Some nice person gave this to me the other day," Aaron said, smiling shyly at Claire. "It's probably enough to last both of us a week on our journey, though we'd have to conserve some of our food. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure. Why not?" Claire replied. "We're both new to this realm, right? So let's work together and see what we can make for ourselves in this world."

"Alright, then. Where shall we go, first?"

"This is quite a large town," Claire said. "But there's not much that's interesting for us to see. I think we should head out into the Realm, now."

"Really? There are monsters everywhere, though! Maybe we should find ourselves another companion."

Claire nodded. "Perhaps you're right. Though that's kind of awkward, going up to someone and asking if they would like to come with you on a journey."

Aaron shook his head. "No, not in this world. That's perfectly normal. Most people would not dare go out into the Realm on their own, anyways. And there's plenty of new people like us in this town, too."

Claire observed the crowd of people still amassing around the poster board, trying to get a look at the map of the Realm. This time, she didn't seen anyone who might appear "new" to her; they were all very loud and confident.

"No…let's just go out on our own for the first few days. I'm sure we'll meet up with some other people that'll join us on our journey out in the Realm, anyways."

"Huh…okay," Aaron replied. He reached down into his backpack and took out a tattered brown scroll; he unrolled it and the paper revealed another map.

"It's the exact same map as the one on the poster board," Aaron said. "But it's old and faded, and obviously not as clear or descriptive as the central map of the Realm. We'll use it as a simple guide when we're out on our journey for now. Where should we head?"

"Didn't you say that most 'beginners' go to the West Darylin Plains?" Claire responded. "Let's head there to start on our journey. It's not far away, is it?"

"No, not at all. Only about an hour's walk. Let's go."

Claire nodded, and they began on their way.

Well, looks like I've made a decent friend in just the first few hours of my journey inside this Realm, Claire thought. Maybe this world isn't so bad after all. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she began walking more slowly. I'm still rather confused though, about my past or why I'm here. What am I doing inside this realm, and why can't I remember anything of my life before I came into this world?

Claire looked at Aaron and sighed. I don't think it's just me, though. Maybe the Mad God erased all of our memories when he transported us into his Realm. Maybe he wants to make the Realm our only memory, so that we'll stay here forever…

She clenched her hands into a fist and gripped the folds of her red huntress shirt. I won't allow it, she thought. I'll find the Mad God — it'll happen one day, I bet — and give him a piece of my mind. In the meantime, I'll try to prove myself as one of the worthiest fighters inside this realm.

(Special Thanks to Chrono (a Rotmg Username) who was the original poster and creator)