The price of madness vol.01 : Dream and Condemnation

The end of the illusion

On the day of departure, the Dafaris house was silent. Still very damaged by recent events, drafts and freshness invited themselves to their lunch. The family didn't blame the witch for the recent events, after all she didn't want that either, but what surprised her the most was the gift they gave her the day she left. Amaril arrived pouting, a large object wrapped in a particularly clean sheet. She handed it to the witch without a word, who unwrapped it a little doubtfully. It was a magnificent staff of about six feet in polished apple wood and engraved with different designs, more or less childish. It was the color of still fresh wood and the branches were tangled on the top of the staff to make it more imposing.

"The kids spent the whole night on it..." Marcus told her.

"If I had thrown yours better, it wouldn't have been broken, that's all!" She

grumbled.

Julie put on a warmly melancholy face and approached her to pat her head in a friendly way.

"Thanks." She said soberly.

After a short farewell to the Dafaris family, not without a terrible time convincing Amaril not to leave with them, the two friends were on the road to leave the Oshensta Empire.

"Where are we going ?" Lucia asked.

"Are you sure you want to come with me?" Julie ignored her.

"The destination." The human ignored her in turn.

"Khairhania."

"Why there?"

"That's where it all began. My sister's ghost sends me there precisely now..."

Maybe I'll find something that will help me understand why she still haunts me.

"Speaking of which... Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"When you think you've gone mad, you don't usually brag about it." Julie defended herself.

Lucia nodded.

"Do you have anything else I should know?" She ventured.

"Not really." Concludes Julie, cutting short the discussion.

Julie was particularly grumpy during the ride. The more they approached the border with the Urtycia Desert the more agitated, uneasy she seemed. Unfortunately, they had to cross it to reach their destination and the place was not particularly inviting. It was dead land. Life itself did not want to develop there, leaving no chance for crops or animals and therefore for any civilization. The few species remaining there fed mainly on magic essence and gradually emptied the soil of this precious resource, causing the desert to expand over time. This expansion was long and did not particularly concern people. It must be said that it had the sympathy to gradually reduce the borders with Cigosia, the country of the elves in the North, the Deepland, the Sidhes kingdom in the East and Khairhania, the Nocturnal lands further south. This greatly facilitated the Oshenstan supremacy which was the largest fertile territory of Asterite moreover, the East and the North being completely arid or rocky.

According to the peoples of Asterite, their lands were once prosperous, with large forests or deep lakes. The high mountains of Burhia would have adorned themselves with their blanket of snow on many occasions and the stone forests of Toria sweated with a mystical energy not found today... Many spoke of this time with sadness but few reached the age where they could have witnessed it. All that would have changed centuries ago because of the failed magic manipulations of the Sidhes Seelie people who, in their arrogance of yesteryear, would have believed themselves capable of summoning an Executioner God... Only Dayand managed to pull out of the game in this corner of the world. Its hot desert was greatly appreciated by the Nar'Govath who fought ferociously to keep this land out of Oshensta's reach. He had huge reserves of magic crystals, other Sidhes relics, scattered in his desert. Their idea to ally with Khairhania against Oshensta comes above all from Elka the Golden, regent of the country, who according to rumors saw no evil in these beings coming from the Void.