Emovere

Turn 1: You Are I, But I Am Not You

It was a surprisingly quiet day, the first one in months that Felichs could remember. They lay on the ground beside a tree, legs crossed, running their fingers through their curly, brown hair that was just barely darker than their skin, while drinking water gathered from the nearby lake.

"Ouch! Stupid knots! Ughhh, sometimes I really hate my hair. And this water...this can't be potable. This is life in Pauper I guess. My pants are all ripped up and full of holes. Shirts barely even a shirt — practically wearing a bra — but aye at least my shoes look cool. Although they're kinda tight, man I wish that guy had bigger feet." Felichs groaned to themselves as they stood up stretched. "In three months it'll be my birthday. I became an adult last year and what have I got to show for it? Mom's still sick. No medicine. We barely have any food. What am I doing with my life? I don't care what happens to me, I just needa find a way to get mom better already. I hate this shit and I hate this nasty water!"

Felichs took another long, deep breath before pulling out a few chess pieces from their pocket.

"A rook. A knight. Some pawns. And a stupid queen. I never understood why the queen's so loved. Like, sure, she's powerful, but so are the others. Besides, anybody can become a queen, hell even I could if I wanted to. Imagine me, Queen Felichs, ruler of Emovere! That would be something now wouldn't it...except nobody would want to call me queen because 'you're a boy not a girl' so stupid I swear. But at least I'll always have chess. It's a stressful game that's for sure, but the good kinda stress. The one that helps you forget about life's worries, take a deep breath, and completely and utterly dominate your opponent in many, many ways. Plus you can play by yourself too! Which is great...seeing as I'm always alone. Eh, at least I got that old man in Mediocris I can visit from time to time. Then again, he's probably mad that I stole from the shop next to his. At least he let me take these pieces from his old chess board. Huh? What's this on the queen? Some kinda flower carved into the bottom?"

As they held out the queen suddenly a loud cry could be heard coming from the middle of Pauper.

"MÉNOS IS REAL! TOURNOUÁ TOU MÉNOS IS REAL!" Shouted a man on horseback.

"Great...And just when I thought I heard enough of this stupid Ménos, here comes another idiot to spread the good news..." grumbled Felichs as they put pieces into their pocket.

They climbed the tree to get a better view of the situation. As they scanned over Pauper, Felichs spotted a guy whose skin was as white as snow matching his hair. He wore jeans and a jacket that were both made of leather, topped off with spiked boots to match. He charmed no facial hair making his appearance to be of someone in their early to mid twenties. He rode through Pauper on horseback shouting as loud as he could as if to make sure the entire town heard him. Many were startled, not only by his shouting but by his odd choice of fashion.

"Who in Eirini's name would ever dress like that?" One man shouted from a fish stand.

"Come here sonny, I could use a new trash bag." An old lady gestured as she slapped her knee.

"Look, mama! I think he's the one who stole our tarp!" Shouted a little girl pulling on her mother's dress.

Pauper was an extremely poor town, one of the poorest in all of Emovere. Every building was made of old wood and if the wind hit hard enough all would come crumbling down. There were no conventional roads either as they were all made from dirt. The city had a foul odor fuming through it that, unless you were from Pauper, would make a nose bleed profusely. The council of Perdita had little to no care for the town as they removed the police force, hospital, and all other council-owned buildings.

This meant its residents either visited the local "doctor" who would give out stolen medications they did not know much of, or went to Mediocris which laid five miles to the north. So, to see someone like this was an anomaly to those of Pauper. The man continued riding through until he was stopped by members of a local Pauper gang, The War God's Reapers.