Abberthorn

Peace Interrupted

The wind slowly swept its way across the open overgrown grassy plains of a land long since forgotten by time. This land is known to those who call it home as Abberthorn. It is a vast land that is divided into many territories, some are peaceful while others are anything but. Each of the many territories that make up the land is ruled over by powerful people from monarchs to lords and governors, each doing their best for their people and their land. One such place lies in the west of Abberthorn, in an ancient forest that appeared to play host to a feud between its grassy borders and the very trees that it is comprised of.

To those who called this forest home this feud between the trees and the grass did not seem so strange. As they were one of the few creatures that lived in this land and knew of the magical properties that gave the trees their consciousness. For you see, not all of the creatures that made this forest their home, was purely beast. What you would find, if you had the courage to venture in deep enough, would be an enormous kingdom constructed, inhabited and ruled, by human-like creatures of immense beauty and unequalled wit. These beautiful inhabitants of Riverside, so named because it happened to have been built alongside one of the oldest flowing rivers in all the land, had a few telling characteristics that would set them aside from any normal human. For one thing, they were all known for having long dead straight hair that was barely capable of covering their pointed ears. As you would have guessed by now the beautiful kingdom of Riverside was home to elves.

From afar anyone would clearly be able to see this large majestic city of white. It was built on the only large hill in all the forest, which could be found next to the oldest river in the land. This river provided the kingdom with a never-ending supply of fresh water. Leading to the stories told by outsiders, that millennia ago, the elves painstakingly brought the earth from all around to construct this hill, mound by mound, in order to provide their expert archers with a perfect vantage point, from high atop their fortified walls. This was preceded by a large gap of nearly half a kilometre of open fields, before the start of the forest all of which, helped protect their beloved city from foreign invaders.

The King of these lands, head topped with a simple, yet elegant well-polished crown made of only the purest silver. Found only in the Cronac mines of the Dwarven kingdom, forged by only the most skilled hands of an elvish smith. This simple crown perfectly contrasted the Kings long straight hazelnut hair. His hair fell gracefully to caress the shoulders of his blemish free, perfectly white robes. The robes hung so low that you could barely make out the brown of his clearly elegant shoes.

On this morning the King could be found pacing up and down his throne room, dealing with the duties of running is kingdom. He paused for a moment to gaze through a window, which looked down over his beautiful white city. The city made its way down the hill, from his large dreamlike castle with its three main towers. Each tower of the castle, was of a different height. The tallest being the one he was currently in and each was topped with a perfect tall circular roof. The castle was surrounded by a large wall that had just two well decorated gates made of pure silver, that when open allowed passers-by to gaze in at the splendour of the perfectly manicured courtyard. The courtyard led to the main silver doors of the castle, which had a large aged bronze statue of an Elvish soldier on either side of it.

From outside the gates to the castle you would find yourself standing on a street that wound its way around the castle's outer walls. The wall had several round holes with beautifully decorated silver bars that matched the main gate. There was also a smaller but no less elegant rear gate. All of this, was hand crafted from pure silver to reflect the splendour of the balance between the outside natural world and the magnificently crafted art. Leading up to and right the way around the castle was a perfectly finished cobble stone street, like all the others that made their way through the city. The streets had a slightly elevated walkway, which had periodically spaced circular holes, where small immaculately trimmed trees were given their home. On the other side of the street could be found the same sidewalk backing up to some of the most elegant houses in the entire city. Between every couple of houses could be found a magnificently crafted staircase, granting the citizens access to all the other levels of the city. Aside from the stairs, the main cobble stone street also made its way down, from directly opposite the main gate of the castle.