Sun-King Avad's Selection

Prologue - Broken Trust and Broken Hearts

The city of Meridian, was the greatest place to be in the world beyond the Sacred Lands to the Nora. It was home to the tribe known as the Carja, who worshipped the Sun like it was a God. Full of noble families living in harmony since the end of the last civil war.

It was a city that sat atop mountains where the desert and the oasis met, like a border.  While the great city towered above, the villages and farms were below with golden elevators so one could go between the heart of the city and the village below. One could enter the city from the long route up the mountain or take that aforementioned elevator. Many Carja of less nobility or Oseram who had settled in the village, preferred the latter.

The main city was still the crown jewel with many market stalls, the Hunter's Lodge for the elite hunters of the world to gather and brag about their achievements and then there was the Temple of the Sun, where the citizens came to seek sanctuary, healing, or just a place to pray. It was true what they said, Meridian was like the center of the world, the place everyone wanted to be. It was also known as the City of the Sun.

But the most distinctive part of the city was the Palace of the Sun itself, its design of ornate sandstone spires with a copper touch truly made it stand out. It was a beautiful sight to behold and with Meridian's constant warm climate, almost every area was outdoors, sans a few shaded places like living quarters. Today was a beautiful day in Meridian and the heart of the palace, the central tower with a blue tapestry adorned, hanging from the balcony at the top, sat the city's current sovereign, Sun-King Avad.

Indeed he was someone to be admired, but something was amiss in his life. He was not completely unaware of what the world had become, even if he knew less than others. Earth used to be ruled by the Old Ones who had the technology, until what one would call an Apocalypse came and destroyed civilization. Nature reclaimed the world and soon the world was now ruled by machines of an origin unknown. Avad knew all this, but only someone else he once knew would be able to tell him where these creatures came from.

Humanity thrived anew in tribes despite that and Avad spent his days holed up in his palace, never dealing with these creatures. The only conflict that entered his life now was diplomatic issues like whichever Carja noble complained about the lack of food in the market stalls, or when the Oseram settled in the city were touching things they weren't supposed to. Maintaining the peace was not an easy job, but it kept him busy. However, what also felt difficult to him was his own heart seemed to be unable to repair itself from rejection not once but twice.

One would look at Avad and see him as an attractive young man with his tan skin, signature black goatee with a mustache, and a voice that sounded soothing when he spoke. He truly looked like Sun God in his red and white attire that bared his top half that wasn't covered with the golden breastplate, along with the white ceremonial robes covering his shoulders with a golden sun-like piece at the back of his head. Even the headdress he wore resembled a great sun-shaped crown made from machine parts that he wore all the time that covered his short black hair. He was a sight to behold in the eyes of many, or at least he thought, so why did he feel heartbroken despite his attractiveness one could not deny?

On this very sunny day, Avad sat on his throne waiting for his advisor Blameless Marad to bring in the next citizen seeking his help, on his mind were two women. Two women he thought would stay with him.

The first was Ersa, of the Oseram. Avad grew close to her when he usurped his tyrannical father, Jiran. Many of the previous Sun-Kings of the Carja had committed ruthless deeds, but Jiran was the worst, raiding, and sacrificing those of the other tribes, Avad had had enough of his father's brutal reign and enlisted the help of Ersa to put an end to his reign.

Still harbouring feelings for Ersa, Avad found himself unable to hide them as he took the throne and sought to rebuild his tribe toward a better future and ease the tensions between the other tribes. But some wounds would take time to heal, Avad feared he and Ersa could not be together as it would evoke riots in Meridian's streets, neither the Carja nor the Oseram would accept it.