The History of Tortall
***ATTENTION***: This used to be chapter four. I mis-posted. There is a chapter that goes before this. The error has been corrected and I apologize for any inconveniences this caused. From now on, I WILL be more careful about what I post. Here's two bonus chapters that I finished for you, too. I hope this makes up for anything. Oh, and Merry Christmas.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters or any known history facts mentioned in the story. All others are strictly mine.
Note: Sorry about the delay in writing a new chapter. I had a ton of school work that had to be done as well as other matters first. I there is another chapter coming, which will be the final chapter of the year 448 HE. The next chapter after that (not yet written) will take place after The Immortals series. So, if you haven't read that, I suggest you do if you want to know what's going on when the time comes. Also, if anyone has any ideas for a Basic Plotline involving the quote or words, "History repeats itself." I have been toying with that idea and I can't come up with a sensible plot for it. If you could email me and let me know what your idea is, please, I'd appreciate it very much. If I use it, or even a part of it, I WILL give credit to you. But please, no plots where "he and she HAVE to get together because they're my favorite or they were always meant to be together" or "he or she HAS to die or move away because I hate them." That's not my philosophy in story-writing (for more info on that, go to my bio and read it). Just keep it simple, like maybe an evil mage comes and threatens the doom of Tortall or there was a prophecy made long ago that foretells of years to come or something along those lines. Keep it to at most three relatively short sentences. Thank you for reading this. Now on to the story (and Merry Christmas to all my American readers).
Note: Flat cakes are meant to be the same thing as American or Our World pancakes. I don't know what other countries who might be reading this call pancakes (they are also called flapjacks in some places, or at least they used to be called that). I don't know if Tortall even has syrup, but I'm making it so they do. What would pancakes be without syrup, huh? I'm also assuming they have dumps where waste goes. From the impressions I've gotten by reading the Tortall books, it seems as if they are a relatively clean city, so where does the garbage go? In my story they have dumps where all the garbage goes. Then, once a week, it is burned into ash.
448 H.E. A Meeting of Allies
Aaron returned to his rooms at Dunlath Valley and sent a message to Tristan that all was in order. Tomorrow evening, Tristan would have all he needed. Aaron prepared himself for bed and almost instantly fell asleep to dreams of screeching hawks and disgusting battlefields.
The next morning, Aaron woke with a start. He was standing by his bed, one hand clasped behind him and one gently shaking Lord Aaron. "What do you want?" Aaron growled, sitting up.
"If Your Lord pleases, Sir Tristan has sent me to tell you he has prepared a breakfast for you. He wishes to speak with you in his study," he said, helping his master to stand and dress.
"Very well." Aaron shrugged the boy's hands off him and waved him to the door. "Go tell His Lordship I will see him at once." He rushed off to do as he was bid.
When Aaron came to Tristan's study, he found a table filled with breakfast food. There were plates of sausages, scones, fruit, porridge and honey, little flat cakes made with buttermilk and tiny apple slices with a small pitcher of syrup next to it, bacon, sweet rolls filled with raisins and dried fruit, and hot, flaky pastries stuffed with meat and cheese or fruit. On a smaller table, there were several pitchers. One was steaming and Aaron assumed it to be tea. The others were most likely juice, milk, and water. Also, small and unnoticed in the far corner stood the boy, silently watching eagerly with his big brown eyes.
"Help yourself, Aaron," said Tristan, who was sitting at another table with two neatly stacked, clean, empty plates in front of him. "I ordered breakfast for you to celebrate your success last night. I hope you enjoy the meal. After all, you deserve it." He stood up and handed Aaron a plate.
Aaron filled his plate with fruit, a sweet roll, two sausages, and three flat cakes, over which he poured the syrup. He chose a cup of tea to drink. After they were both served and seated, Lord Aaron got the feeling that there was more to this so-called party. "What was your real reason for bringing me here, Uncle?" Tristan was not really Lord Aaron's uncle, but since he had decided to take pity on Aaron's poor state when he was a young adult and give him a home and wealth and a title, Aaron had taken to calling him Uncle. They were only ten or twelve years apart, but that didn't stop Tristan from acting like a kind Uncle.
"Whatever do you mean, Aaron? I truly meant to have a feast with you to commend your work," said Tristan, seemingly unaffectedly. He picked up a piece of scone and popped it into his mouth.
"Come on, Uncle. I know you too well. What are you really intending to do?" pried Aaron.
"All right, you are correct. I was planning to ask you if you wanted to be the overseer of all the immortals we are going to be in command of shortly. It's a position I am sure you would be willing to take, given your- knack- with influencing others. Do you accept, Aaron?" asked Tristan, shoving a piece of flat cake into his mouth.
Aaron choked on his own flat cake. "You want me to be Overseer? Wh- Why?" He took a swig of his tea to wash down the flat cake, not remembering it was hot. He gasped and tea went spraying everywhere. "I'm flattered you would think I'm capable of doing it, but you've never met these Immortals, as they like to be called. The Stormwing I met- that's the one with the steel feathers I told you about- they stink! They stink worse than the rotting garbage dump before it's burned!"
"Well then, I'm ordering you to take the position. I don't know of anyone else who would be willing to deal with the Stormwings. You do have scented handkerchiefs, do you not? Please, I'm asking you nicely. Take the position of Overseer. If you wish, I could pay you for your time. Will you take the job now?" asked a seemingly desperate Tristan. There was even a slight pleading look in his eyes.
"Of course, Uncle. I will take the job. It is not necessary for you to pay me, I take it willingly." Aaron caught the eye of the boy and beckoned him over. "Eat, boy. Eat well. I'm in a very good position right now!" He chuckled heartily and raised his cup of tea. Tristan did the same and they made a silent toast.
He was surprised. He had never been treated so nice. He grabbed the plate that Tristan handed him and went to look at the selection of food. He chose two flat cakes smothered in syrup, two sausages, a piece of bacon, a few pieces of fruit, and a cheese filled pastry. Then, when Aaron motioned him to a seat beside him, he sat and began to eat. Aaron patted him on the back and chuckled again. When he had finished eating, Aaron gave him the day off because he was in such a good mood. He didn't know why, but it didn't really matter. He was getting the first day off he ever had! Aaron had even given him a few coppers to spend on a good lunch and any sweets or toys he wanted to buy. He scampered off to enjoy the day. "Stay out of trouble, boy!" called Aaron as he left the room.
"Thank you, sir," he said, cramming the last of his flat cake into his mouth. His brown shaggy hair flopped behind him as he ran off. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Later, when it was time to go to meet Yahzkull Singsteel, Aaron made sure he had a scented handkerchief in both pockets of his coat, just in case. As he walked alone down the path to the woods, he was imagining what kind of Immortals he would meet.
When he arrived, Yahzkull was already waiting. He had brought some of his kind with him as well as an assortment of other creatures. There were horses with hawk-like features, giant blue semi-human-looking things, and several other stormwings. "I hope you like what I brought," said Yahzkull, who was standing a polite distance away from Aaron. Aaron also noticed the other stormwings were the same distance or farther away as Yahzkull.
"Tell me what you have and I will see if I like them," replied Aaron, maintaining the polite smell-free distance from the stormwing.
"Well, I have brought hurroks and ogres for you. The ogres I thought could do the work you asked me about. The hurroks will make good mounts for your human friends. My stormwing tribe will also be willing to do your bidding. Anything you ask we will do," Yahzkull told Aaron.
"Do they speak Common?" Aaron asked of the ogres. Yahzkull nodded as Aaron turned to the ogres. "I know you like to farm," he said. "I have something you might be interested in. We can give you all homes and something to farm. Would you like that?"
One ogre stepped up and said, "Iakoju likes that very much. Let me ask my people." The ogre (a/n I can't remember if it's a male or female. A little help, please?) turned to the rest of the ogres. They nodded in agreement. "We work for you."
"Good!" exclaimed Aaron. "What about the hurroks?" They nodded in agreement, too. They would work for him. "Well then, if you would all follow me, please." He turned to lead them to the crude, temporary shelters they had built.
When they arrived, Aaron pointed to three shed-like buildings. "This is where you will stay for now," he said to the ogres. "We did not know how many of you would come, so we didn't know how many homes to build. In the morning, we can straighten it all out and get homes built for you."
They nodded in thanks and began to set up their new homes. There were twenty- four of them and plenty of room for them all to sleep in the three buildings they were assigned. "Thank you," said Iakoju.
The hurroks were to be sheltered in two of the remaining four buildings. The stormwings would stay in the final two. There were about twenty of each. Yahzkull flew down to Aaron and asked, "Do you need more? It will be easy to find Immortals willing to work."
"I think we will need more ogres. The mines we have are pretty large and we need at least a hundred and fifty workers. We will be able to accommodate them. As for hurroks, I don't believe we need any more, but the more we have on our side, the better. See if you can convince some more to join our cause. More stormwings , too, if you can manage," said Aaron. "Bring as many as you can tomorrow. I may employ you further should the need arise."
"Of course, Lord Aaron. You are a good ally to have. In the future I will always do as you ask." With that, Yahzkull flew off in search of more Immortals to join Aaron and Tristan's cause.
~~~
Thank you for reading! However, because of the lack of reviews, I will not update until I receive 3-5 reviews for this! Thank you!
***ATTENTION***: This used to be chapter four. I mis-posted. There is a chapter that goes before this. The error has been corrected and I apologize for any inconveniences this caused. From now on, I WILL be more careful about what I post. Here's two bonus chapters that I finished for you, too. I hope this makes up for anything. Oh, and Merry Christmas.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters or any known history facts mentioned in the story. All others are strictly mine.
Note: Sorry about the delay in writing a new chapter. I had a ton of school work that had to be done as well as other matters first. I there is another chapter coming, which will be the final chapter of the year 448 HE. The next chapter after that (not yet written) will take place after The Immortals series. So, if you haven't read that, I suggest you do if you want to know what's going on when the time comes. Also, if anyone has any ideas for a Basic Plotline involving the quote or words, "History repeats itself." I have been toying with that idea and I can't come up with a sensible plot for it. If you could email me and let me know what your idea is, please, I'd appreciate it very much. If I use it, or even a part of it, I WILL give credit to you. But please, no plots where "he and she HAVE to get together because they're my favorite or they were always meant to be together" or "he or she HAS to die or move away because I hate them." That's not my philosophy in story-writing (for more info on that, go to my bio and read it). Just keep it simple, like maybe an evil mage comes and threatens the doom of Tortall or there was a prophecy made long ago that foretells of years to come or something along those lines. Keep it to at most three relatively short sentences. Thank you for reading this. Now on to the story (and Merry Christmas to all my American readers).
Note: Flat cakes are meant to be the same thing as American or Our World pancakes. I don't know what other countries who might be reading this call pancakes (they are also called flapjacks in some places, or at least they used to be called that). I don't know if Tortall even has syrup, but I'm making it so they do. What would pancakes be without syrup, huh? I'm also assuming they have dumps where waste goes. From the impressions I've gotten by reading the Tortall books, it seems as if they are a relatively clean city, so where does the garbage go? In my story they have dumps where all the garbage goes. Then, once a week, it is burned into ash.
448 H.E. A Meeting of Allies
Aaron returned to his rooms at Dunlath Valley and sent a message to Tristan that all was in order. Tomorrow evening, Tristan would have all he needed. Aaron prepared himself for bed and almost instantly fell asleep to dreams of screeching hawks and disgusting battlefields.
The next morning, Aaron woke with a start. He was standing by his bed, one hand clasped behind him and one gently shaking Lord Aaron. "What do you want?" Aaron growled, sitting up.
"If Your Lord pleases, Sir Tristan has sent me to tell you he has prepared a breakfast for you. He wishes to speak with you in his study," he said, helping his master to stand and dress.
"Very well." Aaron shrugged the boy's hands off him and waved him to the door. "Go tell His Lordship I will see him at once." He rushed off to do as he was bid.
When Aaron came to Tristan's study, he found a table filled with breakfast food. There were plates of sausages, scones, fruit, porridge and honey, little flat cakes made with buttermilk and tiny apple slices with a small pitcher of syrup next to it, bacon, sweet rolls filled with raisins and dried fruit, and hot, flaky pastries stuffed with meat and cheese or fruit. On a smaller table, there were several pitchers. One was steaming and Aaron assumed it to be tea. The others were most likely juice, milk, and water. Also, small and unnoticed in the far corner stood the boy, silently watching eagerly with his big brown eyes.
"Help yourself, Aaron," said Tristan, who was sitting at another table with two neatly stacked, clean, empty plates in front of him. "I ordered breakfast for you to celebrate your success last night. I hope you enjoy the meal. After all, you deserve it." He stood up and handed Aaron a plate.
Aaron filled his plate with fruit, a sweet roll, two sausages, and three flat cakes, over which he poured the syrup. He chose a cup of tea to drink. After they were both served and seated, Lord Aaron got the feeling that there was more to this so-called party. "What was your real reason for bringing me here, Uncle?" Tristan was not really Lord Aaron's uncle, but since he had decided to take pity on Aaron's poor state when he was a young adult and give him a home and wealth and a title, Aaron had taken to calling him Uncle. They were only ten or twelve years apart, but that didn't stop Tristan from acting like a kind Uncle.
"Whatever do you mean, Aaron? I truly meant to have a feast with you to commend your work," said Tristan, seemingly unaffectedly. He picked up a piece of scone and popped it into his mouth.
"Come on, Uncle. I know you too well. What are you really intending to do?" pried Aaron.
"All right, you are correct. I was planning to ask you if you wanted to be the overseer of all the immortals we are going to be in command of shortly. It's a position I am sure you would be willing to take, given your- knack- with influencing others. Do you accept, Aaron?" asked Tristan, shoving a piece of flat cake into his mouth.
Aaron choked on his own flat cake. "You want me to be Overseer? Wh- Why?" He took a swig of his tea to wash down the flat cake, not remembering it was hot. He gasped and tea went spraying everywhere. "I'm flattered you would think I'm capable of doing it, but you've never met these Immortals, as they like to be called. The Stormwing I met- that's the one with the steel feathers I told you about- they stink! They stink worse than the rotting garbage dump before it's burned!"
"Well then, I'm ordering you to take the position. I don't know of anyone else who would be willing to deal with the Stormwings. You do have scented handkerchiefs, do you not? Please, I'm asking you nicely. Take the position of Overseer. If you wish, I could pay you for your time. Will you take the job now?" asked a seemingly desperate Tristan. There was even a slight pleading look in his eyes.
"Of course, Uncle. I will take the job. It is not necessary for you to pay me, I take it willingly." Aaron caught the eye of the boy and beckoned him over. "Eat, boy. Eat well. I'm in a very good position right now!" He chuckled heartily and raised his cup of tea. Tristan did the same and they made a silent toast.
He was surprised. He had never been treated so nice. He grabbed the plate that Tristan handed him and went to look at the selection of food. He chose two flat cakes smothered in syrup, two sausages, a piece of bacon, a few pieces of fruit, and a cheese filled pastry. Then, when Aaron motioned him to a seat beside him, he sat and began to eat. Aaron patted him on the back and chuckled again. When he had finished eating, Aaron gave him the day off because he was in such a good mood. He didn't know why, but it didn't really matter. He was getting the first day off he ever had! Aaron had even given him a few coppers to spend on a good lunch and any sweets or toys he wanted to buy. He scampered off to enjoy the day. "Stay out of trouble, boy!" called Aaron as he left the room.
"Thank you, sir," he said, cramming the last of his flat cake into his mouth. His brown shaggy hair flopped behind him as he ran off. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Later, when it was time to go to meet Yahzkull Singsteel, Aaron made sure he had a scented handkerchief in both pockets of his coat, just in case. As he walked alone down the path to the woods, he was imagining what kind of Immortals he would meet.
When he arrived, Yahzkull was already waiting. He had brought some of his kind with him as well as an assortment of other creatures. There were horses with hawk-like features, giant blue semi-human-looking things, and several other stormwings. "I hope you like what I brought," said Yahzkull, who was standing a polite distance away from Aaron. Aaron also noticed the other stormwings were the same distance or farther away as Yahzkull.
"Tell me what you have and I will see if I like them," replied Aaron, maintaining the polite smell-free distance from the stormwing.
"Well, I have brought hurroks and ogres for you. The ogres I thought could do the work you asked me about. The hurroks will make good mounts for your human friends. My stormwing tribe will also be willing to do your bidding. Anything you ask we will do," Yahzkull told Aaron.
"Do they speak Common?" Aaron asked of the ogres. Yahzkull nodded as Aaron turned to the ogres. "I know you like to farm," he said. "I have something you might be interested in. We can give you all homes and something to farm. Would you like that?"
One ogre stepped up and said, "Iakoju likes that very much. Let me ask my people." The ogre (a/n I can't remember if it's a male or female. A little help, please?) turned to the rest of the ogres. They nodded in agreement. "We work for you."
"Good!" exclaimed Aaron. "What about the hurroks?" They nodded in agreement, too. They would work for him. "Well then, if you would all follow me, please." He turned to lead them to the crude, temporary shelters they had built.
When they arrived, Aaron pointed to three shed-like buildings. "This is where you will stay for now," he said to the ogres. "We did not know how many of you would come, so we didn't know how many homes to build. In the morning, we can straighten it all out and get homes built for you."
They nodded in thanks and began to set up their new homes. There were twenty- four of them and plenty of room for them all to sleep in the three buildings they were assigned. "Thank you," said Iakoju.
The hurroks were to be sheltered in two of the remaining four buildings. The stormwings would stay in the final two. There were about twenty of each. Yahzkull flew down to Aaron and asked, "Do you need more? It will be easy to find Immortals willing to work."
"I think we will need more ogres. The mines we have are pretty large and we need at least a hundred and fifty workers. We will be able to accommodate them. As for hurroks, I don't believe we need any more, but the more we have on our side, the better. See if you can convince some more to join our cause. More stormwings , too, if you can manage," said Aaron. "Bring as many as you can tomorrow. I may employ you further should the need arise."
"Of course, Lord Aaron. You are a good ally to have. In the future I will always do as you ask." With that, Yahzkull flew off in search of more Immortals to join Aaron and Tristan's cause.
~~~
Thank you for reading! However, because of the lack of reviews, I will not update until I receive 3-5 reviews for this! Thank you!