The Beasts and the Brave

Prologue : Aethoria

The beautiful land of Aethoria used to exist a long time ago, even before you and me could imagine. Tales of it still drift around in the whispers of those who luckily know about it, but the number of those few people is dwindling day by day. The tales are always centred around the greatest Aethorian king ever to have existed, with powers unimaginable for the mere human mind. But what's more interesting is what happened before his birth. Thus begins the saga of the mysterious ancient land of Aethoria.

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Aethoria was a fascinating land hidden in the bosom of the Highland mountains and the twisting river Sìth. The majestic castle of the royal family was set gazing over the ever flowing rippling waves and the lush green landscape. At the end of the miles long river was the Misty Forest, a dark foliage hiding unknown mystical beings. The river was said to have gotten it's name from the faeries who once used to bathe in it's clear blue water. Of course no one had ever seen them since they were supposedly one of the many unique inhabitants of the infamous impenetrable forest, and soon as human civilization grew along the riverbank, they were seen less and less until they completely vanished.

Unfortunately amidst the thriving citizens and the abundant flora and fauna around the Maighdean fall, unrest was growing in the royalty. The  founding emperor, Aidan the Beautiful, was a man of unknown origins, and seemingly appeared overnight and built his empire. He was a man of unparalleled beauty, strength and justice. His family, citizens and even the mystical beings loved him to death, and obeyed him liked God. The glorious age ended with his demise, and stability followed as his son, Eoghan followed in his father's footsteps and so did his descendants.

Such a lineage was supposed to be prosperous throughout its reign, right? But Fate is such. The last king became a deviant and killed his wise brothers, and sat upon the throne forcefully. His authoritarian rule puzzled and depressed his countrymen, but they couldn't do anything except curse their downfall day and night. Until a gallant knight from the Order of Fianna, the legion of the highest ranking knights in the kingdom, decided to step forward and overthrow the king once and for all. Gofraidh, as his name was, led his knights to mutiny, and bloodshed followed. The Sìth ran red with the blood of her warriors, but eventually, the reign of the deviant was ended and Gofraidh was crowned the new emperor of Aethoria. He married the beautiful princess Lilith of a neighbouring kingdom and began his peaceful rule.

But unknowing to everyone, he had a child with an unknown confidant, who helped him win the war. Now that he was king and rightfully married, he couldn't keep the illegitimate child. The darkness in his heart had started manifesting as he relished in his newfound power, and he saw no harm in disposing the newborn into the nearby palace fields. He ordered his guards to do so, and the boy was thrown away into the fields. But Fate kept it's watchful eye on the child, as a farmer couple found him in the wee hours of the night, and being childless, considered him a gift from God and started raising him as their own.

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