The Books of Blutora

19 : The First Arid King - I/II

The port city of Aiphalia, C-133. Jules Tynril IV is an adventurous, clever, and creative young adult who is about to leave home with a group of others not to return, and instead to settle lands anew. Having just turned eighteen years old, and still very much coming to grips with life as an adult, this challenge is one he isn't ready for, however it is one that will impact himself and all of history in Blutora for eras to come. 

Well, how did this young Aiphalian man find himself in this situation? To begin, let's go back eighteen years. In the year C-115 within the city of Aiphalia, Jules III and Meria Tynril gave birth to the first of six total children. They named their firstborn son Jules IV and planned to raise him in their field of work as scholars. Jules III and Meria spent the majority of their time together educating those in Aiphalia who could afford it, as well as travelling Blutora to convene and study with scholars of distant lands. That was of course until they had their first child, Jules IV. As a result of having a child, they settled in Aiphalia, continuing to educate those within the city, but no longer travelling the roads to far cities and towns. 

During Jules IV's childhood he would spend most of his time studying a vast collection of subjects and learning as much as he could as per his parent's wishes, as well as his own natural desire to understand as much as he could about the world and it's people. To his parents he had a perfect image, and if they knew what he did in his free time away from studies it would be a completely different story. With what little spare time Jules had, he would participate in the underground arena, even as young as twelve years old. The underground arena is located in an unknown part of the city of Aiphalia. Only those who operate the place and organize the fights, the fighters themselves, and some high profile citizens with an enjoyment of gambling know the real location of the arena. As far as public knowledge has it, an underground fighting ring is organized outside of the law by some of the Aiphalian nobles and well off citizens. This secretive arena is used by the wealthy to gamble on fights, and used by the fighters to try and earn a living, or succeed enough to retire early. For Jules however, the interest wasn't in gambling nor in accruing a lot of wealth. 

The money was nice, and it came in handy at times, but for Jules IV it was about experience and developing a useful skillset. Completely unbeknownst to his parents, Jules would make his way to the underground arena three times a week when he found opportunities to slip away for a while. This began at the age of twelve, and continued all the way through the age of seventeen. During those five years he picked up priceless amounts of experience and knowledge in fighting and duels specifically. His weapon of choice was a dual sided short sword, that stood off the ground only half as tall as he did. He was the only one in the underground arena to attempt to use a dual sided sword as most dismissed the weapon as simply flashy and inefficient. The other fighters however didn't have the knowledge that Jules did. He used his countless hours studying and learning about the lands and it's people to his advantage. Dual sided swords are more common in the elven cultures of the north where swordfights are commonplace, and as such by researching the topic, the clever young fighter learned specific techniques and how to use the weapon to it's fullest potential. This resulted in an immense wave of success for the clever young lad who left the arena at the age of seventeen as one of it's most successful fighters of all time, not to mention one of it's wealthiest.

At the time of retiring from the arena, Jules' parents were also retiring from their life as scholars having made enough to relax for the rest of their time and spend said time focusing entirely on raising the remaining five children. As the young fighter became an adult, he focused on entering the career path of his parents as a travelling scholar. He enjoyed studies and teaching, but he also wanted to visit distant cities and experience other cultures, and so his primary goal was to learn more himself. Having spent so long fighting and perfecting the craft of battle, he could travel more often than his parents, as he could protect himself much better. 

This plan all came crumbling down however when he and a group of fellow Aiphalians found themselves trapped in a deadly section of the Withering Sea. 

At eighteen years old, Jules sets out on his first travelling route as a scholar. Along with him on the route are a group of laborers being paid to assist the scholar with travelling the unforgiving lands. The first destination is the recently established kingdom of Schium located in the heart of the Withering Sea. An extremely tall task considering it's the first route for the young scholar. The roads within the Withering Sea are considered some of the most dangerous in all of Blutora, rivaled only by those in the far north. Deadly heatwaves, unpredictable sandstorms, a general scarcity of water, and vicious creatures all plague travelers of the Withering Sea, and as such it's often avoided as much as possible. Jules can't be bothered with any of that however, and is determined to take on any challenge he faces.

The first part of the journey goes surprisingly well for the group. Upon crossing the border of the Elabet province and into the sweltering wastelands the group is greeted with fair weather and a quiet landscape, void of creatures. They proceed to take advantage of the fortunate hand dealt their way and make notable ground while they can. Eventually, they find themselves at a river that carved canyons out of the badlands and seems to be placed perfectly for them as the water reserves are beginning to dwindle quickly. At the command of Jules IV the group sets up camp on the far side of the river in a clearing that sits at the base of a large hill. They restock on as much water as they can and settle in for the night.

Little did the group know, this night would be the last for some, and the beginning of a completely different path for others.