L'anthologie Dystopique des Héros

Chapter 1 Section B

Note: Prometheus was immortal, but his liver was magically replaced after eagles swallowed it whole. 

A young and handsome prince of Troy, located to the north of the city-state of Thebes in northern Greece; in turn, located in southern Ishgar, named Paris kidnapped the spouse of the King of Athens and Mycenae, Agamemon. For ten years, the Mycenaeans and Athenians would fight Troy to reclaim their lost queen. In the end of the war, it was a success. She returned to Mycenae and the two royals remarried then lived happily ever after. The city-state of Troy however, suffered from the war and its subsetquent reconstruction. It was badly destroyed and their economy was crippled because they had to pay war reperations to the Mycenaeans, to prevent another war. Their reputation on the continent of Ishgar was tarnished by Paris's kidnapping. Foreign merchants that used to travel through the city in magical caravans, bypassed it. After 3 months of economic stagnation then depression, the Trojan elites overthrew him and his parents, the King and Queen of Troy in a coup-de-tat.  They were all executed by magical firing squad and the Trojan monarchy was abolished by referendum. A new government was formed led by an elected statesman that shared power with a legislative and judicial house of elders. The Trojan economy improved and the Republic of Troy was proclaimed in a celebration of the birth of Athena.

Meanwhile in Ishgar's region of Greece, there would be 400 years of peace and prosperity called the Pax Achaea. But it ended when the Mycenaeans and their sister tribe called the Minoans, who lived on Minos in the Island of Crete, were raided by Sea Dragons, wiping them all out. The Bronze Age in Ishgar had come to a violent end. Afterwards, the Dark Ages had begun with the establishment of new and powerful dark guilds in the ashes of older guilds, both dark and light, that were attacked and raided by the dragons. Families were destroyed when kids left to join dark guilds primarily for economic independence. The Gods and Goddesses were forbidden by decree from Zeus to help the humans survive the Dark Ages, so a mindset of independence began to take shape. It was in this time period that a young orphan grew up. 

His name was Norman Stewart and he came from a line of wealthy Mycenaean nobles on his dead father's side.  His mother was half-dragon, half-divine, as Zeus was his maternal granduncle. He was raised in a religious temple/orphanage dedicated to Hera, goddess of childbirth and marriage. The priests and priestesses treated Norman like their own child that was given to them as a gift by Hera, so Norman was happy to finally have a family. He never saw it coming, when human traffickers came and destroyed the orphanage, killing all the priests and priestesses. He was out on a hunting trip when the attack happened. A week later, Norman returned only to discover a building as black as burnt ash with hints of crimson red. He looked around for survivors, but he didn't find any. Norman buried the bodies of his friends and caretakers with honors then he wandered the world in search of a way to improve himself then get revenge for the deaths of his lost family.

An ancient and immortal dragon-slayer called Acnologia took him in. He called himself "King of the Dragons", so he taught Norman how to justly rule over humans and dragons. While he trained in politics, the young teenager discovered his mother's divine heritage and his father's aristocratic background. So Norman improved these characteristics by learning and mastering several levels of Elemental Dragon God Slaying Magic, from the beginner's Elemental Dragon King Slaying magic to the expert Royal Dragon God Slaying Magic. Thanks to his lineage to Zeus, Norman can handle the physical and mental strain of mastering all levels of Elemental Dragon God Slaying Magic. 

On the 7th of July, 777BCE, Acnologia dropped him off in Magnoliapolis, a city-state in the region of Greece. He joined the Magnolian army and fought in several wars against rival city-states, namely Sparta and Corinth. As a young adult, Norman was promoted to 7th Wizard Saint for his bravery in battle, and embarked deadly Hundred Year quests to improve his strength. However, the Magic Council grew suspicious of his inhuman strength because they were jealous of his popularity.

They forced him to take twelve Century Quests that brought him away from Magnoliapolis, so tensions arose to a breaking point. However when he returned, the city-state was devastated. Pirates from Sparta destroyed public buildings and bathouses, so the Council blamed it on him. In response, Norman was forced to retire from politics, but he never forgave them. One evening, a powerful middle-aged dark mage came up to his estate one day with an offer to join him. After weeks of deliberation, Norman accepted and became a member of God's Judgement. It was a religious dark guild that worshipped the Gods particularly, Hades, King of the Underworld and Eris, goddess of strife. Sexual assaults were justified as Aphrodite's will, among other criminal activities. Soon, the Magic Council was centralized and they started attacking the guild and trying to disband it. In response, God's Judgement secretly formed an alliance with Tartaros, Grimoire Heart, and Seven Commandments. The first two guilds were followers of Hades while Seven Commandments worshipped the Titans, a race of supernatural beings that came before the Gods. Together, God's Judgement, Seven Commandments, Grimoire Heart, and Tartaros formed the Balam Alliance, a coalition of powerful dark guilds that each controlled subordinate dark guilds.

For centuries, the Balam Alliance was feared by the people and the Magic Council, to the extent that light and independent guilds were banned from interfering by royal decree. Therefore, God's Judgement was free to do whatever they pleased, without retribution. By 630 BCE, millions of innocent people were killed by their mages, because they were viewed as "sinners beyond redemption". A majority of the victims were councilors and nobles, alike and were personally killed by Norman, Ace of the guild and right-hand man to the guildmaster, Leonidas of Troy. Eventually, the Council had enough and placed bounties on their heads, worth 50 thousand Drachmas-official currency of ancient Greece. However, nobody knew how they looked like, except for Norman. Everybody knew him, so the Council sent missionaries to interrogate each civillian he served in the past.

Afterwards, Norman killed every bounty counter that came to capture him, so the Council began asking for his capture then subseqent execution. Unfortunately Norman destroyed the Council's headquarters in a maroon fire that he blew at it, disguised as a dragon. "Fire Dragon King: Roar!!!!!!", he boomed. Almost all of the councilors were killed in the explosion that destroyed the building, except for the chairman named Remus of Athens. He ordered an emergency meeting and disbanded the old Magic Council and formed a new one. This time, the Council had the power to execute threats against their authority, without question by the incumbent King of Greece, Romanos XII. Norman disappeared after his successful raid against the Magic Council, never to be seen in Ishgar again.

Little did they know that after the Council announced his death, Norman had reappeared in the Alvarez Empire in Alakitasia, several kilometers across the Ionian Sea from his homeland...