1
Lorr was a small country in the Northern part of Aranlorr; covered in green fields and hills. It is one of the main trade and cultural centres of the alliance.
Lorr is one of the largest producers of food, clothing and weaponry in the north. In the days of peace, goods were shipped on a daily basis to neighbouring countries such as Mir-Corna, Ilendor and Naryndor.
Warrenford was a typical small market town on the grass plains of Eastern Lorr; small grey cottages lined the streets with several workshops nearer to the centre of the town, south of the river Warren where the town took its name.
Our story begins in the town blacksmith where a young boy is preparing to make a delivery.
"Everything there?"
"Yes sir, twenty short swords and eighteen double headed glaives, plus the custom order for the captain." The delivery boy stepped out of the workshop into the morning sun; he was quite tall for his age, with bright blue eyes and short light brown hair. He wore a stained white shirt with short, dirt encrusted brown trousers and a long, worn black cloak.
"Good, good where be ye t'morrow lad?" asked the blacksmith
"The southern pass, then after that Lorrineer, 6 day journey there and back, if I leave now."
The blacksmith chuckled, "see ye in a week then Rian, may your journey be safe and uneventful. "
"Err, thanks, I think." Replied Rian.
He walked over to the seat of his wooden cart and climbed up, grabbing hold of the reigns he urged the two yellow Chocobo's onward.
Rian soon left the town of Warrenford behind and set off along the Great Plains of Lorr en route to the southern pass that led to Lorrineer.
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The mood in Palenthir, the great capital of the alliance, was a morbid and anxious one. The city was far too quiet, even during the hustle and bustle that was daily life, the conversation in the markets and the parks was hushed and nervous. The citizens of Palenthir could hardly fail to notice the great increase in soldiers patrolling the wide, white, tree-lined boulevards, or the arrival of numerous great military and political leaders from around the Southernlands and the countries beyond.
The Great Council had called an urgent meeting to discus affairs in the North. Seven of the eight council members were present as well as the top military leaders of the Alliance members. They met in the great hall of the White Spire, a huge building constructed out of polished marble and white stone. It was constructed as a large solid column, peppered symmetrically with ornate windows and balconies and decorated with magnificent statues of leaders long past. Great spires stood atop each of the four corners of the structure, rising like horns out of the column's head. It was the tallest building in all of Aranlorr, rising far above the other structures and works of the city. It rose more than a thousand feet into the air, standing mighty and proud as a symbol of the freedom of the peoples of Aranlorr.
The main hall itself was elegant and beautiful; three large golden chandeliers hung from the large and decorated ceiling, each filled with magical candles that never went out. The walls were decorated with magnificent, gold engraved carvings, and the richly adorned flags of the member nations were displayed along the open gallery that circled the room. Large stained glass windows, each one depicting one of the thirteen Aeons, magical beasts that protected the lands of Aranlorr, encompassed the majority of each side of the hall, letting in large amounts of multi-coloured light during the day that made the ornate decorations sparkle and glimmer. In the centre of the room lay the octagonal table; made entirely out of marble, it had carvings of eight crests, each representing an Aeon, lying in a circle in the centre.
And so one by one the council members entered the room. First Aramore, high summoner of the Southernlands, and head of the council, a tall man, with long grey hair and matching beard, his hazel eyes twinkled in the candlelight.
Secondly, Krass, high summoner of Mir-Corna, a man of average build with bushy brown hair and blue eyes.
Next to enter was Xyl, the only female member of the council, she was the high summoner of Talland, slender and graceful, she had blue eyes and long golden hair.
Garan entered next, he was the high summoner of Westonmor, and represented the dwarves, he was small in stature with long fire red hair and orange eyes.
Eeloron the mountain elf entered next, he was tall and muscular, with pointy ears, short black hair and jet black eyes. He was the high summoner of Naryndor.
Lebross, the sixth council member entered next, high summoner of Llenoria, he was a forest elf, he was tall and quite thin, his hair was long and golden and his eyes were blue, although he did have pointy ears.
The seventh council member, Corran, high summoner of Glenrarr, was human, around six feet tall with blazing red eyes and fiery crimson hair. He was one of the more respected council members.
Inside the main hall the mood was as sombre as it was outside, the council were seated at the octagonal table and the generals stood around the edge of the room.
"These are grave times, Eeloron, our sources state that Kragor and his Imperial Army have begun advancing on Mir-Corna and Naryndor."
"You worry too much Lebross, the forces in both Mia-Corna and Naryndor can easily face up to Kragor."
"You forget that Kragor still commands the dark dragon Tiamat."
Eeloron shook his head, "it doesn't matter, we have the seven most powerful Aeons in the world at our disposal, if we act now we can…" his voice trailed off as Aramore raised his hand.
"Silence," he said, "the power of the Aeons is not to be used in this way, they are symbols of peace and power. They will not be used for war as long as I'm still alive."
"Then Aranlorr may be destroyed."
"You know something General Lukav?" asked Xyl, both curious and outraged that a mere general had interrupted them.
Lukav gave a twisted smile and approached the table, " I have received from my counterparts in Naryndor, this," he waved a piece of paper in the air, "a brief report on the current situation, I shall highlight the main parts, "the enemy has an army over fifty thousand strong, they attacked with powerful black magic, decimating our troops, then they sent in the dragon, it was then that the battle turned into a massacre, hundreds of men were killed with just one strike, he continued mercilessly, killing all that was in his path," it goes on like this, ending with "there are about fifty of us left now, if that, we have taken to hiding in the mountains. They took the capital of Decoras early yesterday morning, all hope is lost for Naryndor, it is now under Imperial control." There you have it my lords, you must act quickly, unless you wish for the same fate to befall all of the free nations of Aranlorr."
The council fell silent, finally, after some consideration, Aramore spoke, "we are facing grave times, as you all know, with the untimely demise of Lord Daras, Kragor is now marching against the alliance, we must not let him take Palenthir."
The council members nodded, Xyl stood silently, brushing her hair aside before placing her hands firmly on the table. "We should make a move against Kragor, I propose sending part of the Southern Army into Westonmor and Glenrarr, to stop Kragors' advance along the Grey Mountains, we should be able to contain him so long as we can catch him before he advances beyond Naryndor, this expeditionary force will rendezvous with the Westonmor and Glenrarr armies to improve the nations' defences along their Northern borders, whilst the rest of the Southern Army, the home guard, will join with forces from Talland and Lleneria to protect the capital should our first battle lines fail."
"Excellent plan." Most of the Council members gave small nods and smiles of approval.
Xyl smiled, the decision to mobilise the armies had been unanimous, Aramore now addressed the seven generals relaying orders, he then turned and dismissed the council. One by one the members left, followed by their respective generals, until only Krass and Aramore were left in the great hall.
"Anything wrong Krass?" asked Aramore. Krass shook his head and headed for the door, he stopped in the doorway and looked at Aramore.
"Do not try to stop us from using the Aeons, Aramore, we will use them if necessary." He left without another word.
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Rian was making good time; he had just crossed the Great Plains after two days travel and was now heading into the Southern Pass. This pass ran though the southern section of the Grey Mountains and led directly into Lorrineer, which was now just a day's travel away, over the mountains and then down into the Lorwater valley. Rian took the reins up tighter and the chocobos squawked and began trotting up the road.
The tall mountain slopes rose up either side of him as the ground in front of them slowly inclined upwards. Bare earth and stone replaced the grass fields, and it started to get noticeably cooler. An hour later, with the sun beginning to go down, he decided to make camp at the Lorwater Springs, a natural hot spring that was also the source of the River Lorwater itself, the river that went into the capital Lorrineer and then out into the Bay of Bern about sixty miles from that very spot.
The Lorwater Springs were in a small clearing in amongst a small grove of hardy mountain trees. Rian stopped the cart in a small clearing just off the road, and jumped out, landing squarely on the rough stones beneath his feet. His dusted himself off and looked around. There seemed to be no one nearby, the only sound was the bubbling of the spring, hidden from his view by a few trees and a small rocky ledge in front of him. He stretched and yawned, rubbing his tired limbs and gazing over the magnificent views all around. To his left and right were the mighty peaks of the Grey Mountains, snow-capped and ancient, the dull red light of the evening sun casting beautiful reflections from their cold and icy surfaces. To his front, where the trees allowed, he could see the Lorwater Valley and the road that lead to Lorrineer, a little white line snaking its way over a land of pleasant green pastures and shallow, rolling hills. He breathed in, taking in a long gulp of fresh mountain air, and smiled.
He walked forward towards the spring; he looked both left and right at the breathtaking scenery around him, no matter how many times he visited the spring he always found himself being surprised by its natural beauty, the beauty of Lorr.
Unfortunately for Rian, he should have been paying more attention to where he was going. His foot caught in a rut in the ground and he stumbled headfirst. After a moment of struggling to regain his balance he found himself falling off the ledge and landing rather undignified in the spring itself.
He surfaced quickly, spluttering and struggling. He managed to right himself and get his head above the water. He heard the distressed quacking of the birds as they flew away from the commotion. He blew a small sigh of relief, rubbed his eyes and turned around to exit the spring, however, he was totally unprepared for what was to happen next.
As he turned he noticed a figure standing in the water a few feet away from him, his eyes opened wide as the figure noticed him. It was a girl, as bare as Eve at creation. Shiny auburn hair trailed down to her shoulders, big green eyes opened wide in shock at this unexpected visitor.
Rian stared at her, he couldn't move an inch, as much as he wanted to turn away, his body wouldn't let him, all he could do was smile a little at her. She, however, screamed like a banshee, and in a flash she brought her hand up and slapped Rian around the face. He fell sideways into the water again as the woman turned and ran up and out of the spring, grabbing a few hidden garments from under a rock as she ran off into the trees, shouting wildly about peeping toms and perverts.
It took Rian a good couple of minutes to get over the shock of what just happened. He dragged himself back to his cart, his hand over his cheek where she had dealt the blow.
Dragging a blanket out of the back of the cart, Rian lay down on the soft earth and tried to fall asleep, however images of that girl came flooding back to him, and did not go away, just like the pain he felt in his left cheek.
As dawn broke over the Grey Mountains, Rian awoke from pleasant dreams and once more set off on his journey. His cart wobbled and jumped over the rough cobbled road as he descended into the Lorwater Valley, the distant stone towers of Lorrineer loomed up in front of him.
At around noon Rian finally arrived at Lorrineer, high stonewalls with guard towers strategically placed along it, surrounded the city. Inside the city there were a lot of small streets with cream houses with tiled roofs running along them. The city centre contained the cathedral and the main market. The military base was located to the north of the city and Lorren castle to the south.
Rian entered through the Eastern Gate and immediately began heading for the military base. Along the way he became immersed in the hustle and bustle of the city, the streets were full of people, either around small stalls selling groceries or pottery, or generally walking around.
"How much for the carrots?"
"Eight gil."
"I'll take three then."
Rian laughed silently to himself, he enjoyed just listening to people and watching how they went about their lives.
Eventually he reached the military base; the perimeter was surrounded by high stonewalls with two guard towers over the entrance. He rode up to the small black guard box that was situated next to the gate.
Rian smiled and flashed a small piece of paper, the guard looked at it and nodded
As Rian pulled up a tall withered old guard stepped out to greet him, the man had a long grey beard and even longer grey hair that trailed to his thighs, his blue eyes were squinted and almost covered by thick bushy eyebrows. He was wearing the traditional green armour of the Lorrenian army.
"G-g-g-greetings s-s-s-sir" he stammered, Rian struggled to stop himself laughing at him.
"ID?" asked Rian innocently.
"Y-y-y-yes." answered the guard.
After a couple of minutes as Rians' cargo was searched, the huge steel gates swung open. Rian smiled again, nodded and rode on into the courtyard.