As part of the bit update promised, here the second part of the Fanelia setting.
Enjoy and don't hesitate to leave me a review to let me know what you think.
Fanelia, how it began
King Gaou Fanel, is a respected and well loved king, kind but strict, who does not hesitate to fight to defend his people, and land.
As the only son of the previous king, and as his two sisters having married nobles of other countries, it behoove of him to go through the dragon rite when his father became bedridden after a hunting accident. He was 20 and succeeded with only a scar on his back.
After taking the crown, it took him five years to take full control of his new position, as his father's health declined, but his rule was still fierce, and was not ready to relent his power to his son. It was tense as such situations tend to be, but the death of the old king put an end to the growing unrest. Now fully in power at 25, Gaou was ready to take a wife and continue the line of the Fanel, but a war started with Basram before he could make any project with any of the eligible ladies who were interested in becoming queen. To protect his country Gaou became the pilot of the legendary Escaflowne and went to war. It lasted for five long years, and many were scared their king, even with the protection of the dragon, could die without an heir to continue the line. They begged him to come back to leave the battlefield to the soldiers and generals, but he refused, stating that his place was by his warriors' sides.
The war was almost over, and Gaou was 30, when he met his queen. One early summer night, in the east mountains on the other side of the borders of Fanelia, Gaou and his friend and general Balgus met her in the middle of the forest where they had set camp. They were out to replenish their water supply at the nearby lake when they saw her. She looked like nothing in the water, a pretty young thing, but Balgus was instantly on guard, one never knows afterall. Gaou on the other hand was immediately enthralled by her beauty, even when Balgus blacked at the sight of her spreading her wings. That night they both saw a living draconian for the very first time.
Balgus tried to prevent his king from approaching the girl, but Gaou wasn't scared, she didn't do anything, but he was already seduced. He reached her easily, as the water barely came to his knees, and she met him with an air of serenity. She knew who he was, and gave her name to him so easily : Varie. She was 19, and looked to have just stepped out of a dream, Gaou's dream come true. Even if she told him their meeting was fated, it was their choice to fall in love, and his choice to make her his queen.
His decision was not approved by all, of course. She was an unknown woman, from who knows where, without any proof of nobility, even if she was educated. Worse was the fact of her blood. Many in the priest and council members stated she would bring misfortune just like her ancestors. Gaou couldn't care less about their bigotry, Varie had nothing to do with her ancestors, he loved her no matter what they said, and she would be his queen period.
One foolish council member suggested that if he really couldn't part with her, maybe he should keep her as a concubine, rather than queen and take a real lady as his wife.
Never had the king been seen in such a state of rage before, he was roaring for a duel against the man for not only insulting him and Varie, but also his honor. Few kings before him had taken second wives in their lives, even less concubines, suggesting he did out of spite for the woman he chose was a crime, and he paid the price. The duel went as one expected, and the council man lost everything, no matter his many pleas for mercy to his king, or the other council members begging, Gaou would not hear it. Not even Varie managed to stop him or calm him that day, to her own shame.
The man lost the duel, almost lost an arm and a leg, would bear the scars for the rest of his days, and not only was he removed from his seat in the council, but was also exiled from the capital. Only Varie fervent pleading kept Gaou from killing him, and revoking his noble title, as she argued his family did nothing to her, and doing so would advance to nothing, only more resentment and unrest.
After that, Gaou could marry Varie without any more protest, the king gaining the moniker of a fierce dragon when anything would seek to arm in any way his mate, while Varie got the reputation of a merciful and benevolent queen.
After two years, their union was blessed with a first child, a healthy baby boy, the prince Folken. It was such a joyful event for the kingdom, but even more for the new parents, Folekn proved to be a rather easy going baby, and he grew to be calm and attentive. Smart too, too smart some would say, because, like every child, even the most mild mannered ones, he wasn't exempt from bouts of mischief here and there. When his wings first sprouted as a baby, his mother was as happy as fearful, not wanting her baby to go through what she had to endure, but Gaou was more than happy to see his son show how much he took after his mother. He quickly learned from his mother how to hide then use his wings, the palace being a safe haven not meaning he shouldn't be careful.
As he grew Folken showed good aptitudes with a sword, but was more keen to learn, it was obvious he would become a scholar rather than a warrior, but he still needed to learn the way of the sword, if not to be strong, to at least defend himself.
Balgus wasn't his first teacher, the samouraï having decided to travel across Gaea to perfect his art after his king 's wedding, only coming back from time to time to report to his liege. Yet the old warrior was glad to see the young prince progress and efforts with each visit he made. When Folken was 10, another addition was made to the royal family, and a second prince was born : the prince Van.
Folken loved his baby brother, often playing with him instead of spending time in his lessons, and like his mother was haunted by the fear of what the world could and would do to such an innocent soul. After his brother's birth Folken picked up his sword with a new resolve : to protect his brother, his family and home, to never let anything endanger their happiness and safety.
His vow was reinforced when Van was five, the day a report came to the palace of poachers raiding one of the tiger's villages. Immediately warriors were dispatched, but it was too late for most of the villagers. That day was the one Balgus came back from one of his travels and he took part in the hunt for the poachers, making sure they never would hurt anyone ever again. He came to the palace with the news, and with one of the sole survivors of the heinous raid, a small 3 years old tigress girl, scared and traumatized. She was small for her age, but in the hands of Balgus who was what one could call a giant, she looked even smaller.
Van and the girl, Merle, hit it off as soon as she got better, and Folken couldn't help but find the small kitten adorable too. Queen Varie saw the small girl, barely old enough to not be called a baby anymore, and made a demand to her king and husband.
King Gaou made an announcement that day, the child Merle would become his son's sister, his ward, and a princess of Fanelia. It was a gesture toward the beastmen tribes, to reassure them he would always stand by their side and hold them in high esteem, but also a gesture of repentance for not having been able to prevent such a terrible event from happening.
Thus princess Merle became part of the royal family of Fanelia.
One year passed and life was as good as possible, until the day the king fell ill. It was an unknown disease that spread across the capital. Many fell to it, and too few survived it, and so the king's life was threatened by it. No doctor, not even among the best healer of the wolves tribes were able to get the right treatment, and day by day the king was losing forces.
The queen tried to be strong for her son's and daughter, but nothing could douse the anguish burning in her chest at the idea that she could lose the man she loved more than her life to sickness. She continued with her duties as queen, doing everything in her power to get the best healer to treat the ills, and search for a cure, but it took a toll on her.
What if her husband were to die ? What if Van catches this illness ? What would happen then ? Folken would have to go through the dragon rite, and she was certain he wasn't ready, it would take her son and kill him, and she wasn't strong enough to lose him, any of them.
With each day her anguish grew, and her fears intensified, and she prayed. She prayed for someone to find a cure, for her husband to hold on, for a miracle, for the gods to have mercy on her, to take her instead but not them. In the face of such hardship something broke in the queen without anyone noticing in such a critical time.
Little did she know her prayers would get an answer.
As more and more people fell ill and were falling into despair, one young wolf came to the capital, asking to meet the queen. He came from the village of Arzas and had long been friends with Folken, but that day he didn't come to see his friend and prince, he was there on a mission given to him by one of the elders of the village, to save lives as he had been told.
His mission was to give a missive to the queen, the content holding the solution to the king's illness and the survival of the people of the capital. After queen Varie read the letter, she ordered all the healers and servants to get a list of plants and to prepare a remedy according to what the letter depicted. Hope, even if small, was back at last ! It grew strong once the remedy was given to the patients and bore results. The lives of thousands were saved ! The king would live !
Queen Varie fall down on her knees when the news reached her and she broke down in tears, holding her three children close to her heart
When asked about the sender, the young wolf answered that the letter came to the elders and not even them know who sent it.
No matter who sent it, this letter saved the life of the king and many of the denizens of the capital. This mysterious person was a hero, and if was ever found would be rewarded as such.
Many searched for the one who gave them hope, but the letter gave little to no information in it, no name, or sigil, no emblem. The paper was well made, the ink was of good quality too, but of unknown origin, the letters used themselves were crooked as if the hand was unsure of how to write the letters, or unused to writing at all, like a child's handwriting. The missive itself was short, aside from the list of ingredients for the cure and how to roughly make it, only a couple of phrases.
"You will need this to save the lives of the ones who mean the world to you, please believe me, I only want to help."
The letter was believed and lives were saved, even if the recovery would be long, and hard. After that crisis was settled, it sparked something in the heart of the first prince of Fanelia, the desire to learn more about life, and science. Now that the life of his father was safe, 16 years old Folken Lakour de Fanel decided to set on a journey, as he found himself lacking and not ready to go through the dragon rite if the worse were to happen to his father. He doesn't want his brother to go through it either, Van should never have to fight for his life against a dragon if he could prevent it.
And so after bidding farewell to his family, the prince left his lands in search of knowledge, his travel led him all over Gaea until he reached the land of the Zaibach empire. During his journey he learned many things, and saved the lives of several individuals who would always be grateful to him, but the prince of Fanelia wouldn't be seen in his own country for a very long time. Thus giving some naysayers fuel to speak ill of him now that he was gone.
Calling him too soft hearted, and son of a cowardly monstrous mother, unfited to ever try to gain the crown, that the miraculous letter was suspicious too, some even started rumors the epidemic and the cure were due to the draconinans etc…
Van who heard them was both scared, and angry at what was happening, and how he couldn't do anything. At 6 what could he do ? His father was still bedridden, even if he was doing better and better with each passing day, he visited him everyday with Merle. His mother was sad all the time, between her duties as queen, and her husband's illness, she had been really stressed, but seeing her son leave and not knowing when she would see him again broke her heart, and nothing Van did managed to bring her beautiful smile back. Sometimes Van was terrified of what would have happened if the letter hadn't come and saved his father and their people's lives. The only good thing was that Balgus was now back in Fanelia, he came back as soon as he learned about the king falling ill, and made it barely to see him recover.
A child he may be, but he wasn't blind at what was happening, and so he vowed to become strong. Strong enough to protect his family, to bring back his mother's smile, to get Folken to come back home, and to make both his dad and Balgus proud. He starts to learn the art of the sword from Balgus even though he doesn't like violence, and even if Balgus calls him too soft hearted he perseveres.
And so passed the next ten years with a diminished but still strong king, a still standing queen with a broken mother heart, and a prince stubbornly doing his best to become what his country needed of him, a strong heir. Merle did her best for her family, but was too often left with a feeling of helplessness at what was going on, as she was both too young, and terrified to lose her family once again.
Things could have continued like that for more, but the Zaibach empire ambitions changed things for the land of dragons and its royal family. At first, the empire tried to negotiate, and make more trade with Fanelia, and send emissaries, but things didn't go as the empire had hoped.
Between the snide comments about the beastmen population, and the obvious scorn at the kingdom beliefs, it was hard for the king to accept their absurd demands in energist, and other goods, not when they only offer to take some of their healers to "properly educate them in the science of medicine" as they said. Their arrogance was too much and Gaou Fanel was not a man who tolerated such behavior. Soon more suspicions rose when questions were asked about not only the rumored draconians settlement, but also the legendary guymelef Escaflwone. It was obvious they were up to nothing goods, and of course the deal fell through, giving the empire the perfect excuse to start their scheme of ostracizing Fanelia, but also, after a few months declaring them enemy and start preparing for a war.
Gaou was still king, but no longer able to go to war, age was catching up to him, and he never completely got all his strength back from the epidemic a decade ago. He was still a warrior, strong and skilled, but a war was something else. And so he wouldn't engage on the battlefield directly, leading to a decision he never thought he would have to make.
Without any news from Folken, Gaou had to declare that Van would go through the dragon rite, to be recognized as heir, and to become the new pilot of Escaflowne. To be Fanelia shield and sword, and future king, of course Varie opposed, and so did Merle, but neither wife nor daughter could make the king change his mind, even if he would have given anything to make their wishes come true. It needed to be done, Balgus understood his king's decision and did everything in his power to prepare his charge for the upcoming hunt.
Van Slanzar de Fanel, at the age of 15 went through the dragon rite, not knowing what would happen during his hunt, or what events would unfold afterward.