Invincible

Prologue

It is a beautifull day in the kingdom of lordemar. The young prince Sigmar left his chambers quietly so no one would notice him. Only a couple of servants are already awake and already starting their monumental task of cleaning the castle. Yesterday the whole capital city of the  Harlothkingdom  celebrated the eleventh name day of the beloved prince Sigmar. The castle itself was filled with guests coming from all over the kingdom to feast and celebrate. But Sigmar wanted to escape the crowded castle and so he put on his most common outfit and his favorite wolf hide cloak so he could  once again sneak out of the castle through the servants entrance.

Almost the entire city was still waking up from the festivities which had lasted until deep in the night and filled all the taverns and inns of the city with guests from all kind of backgrounds. The Taverns closest to the castle held the lesser nobles and wealthier merchants. The prince loved walking through the city undercover without escort. He didn't like how people treated him when he was in his royal garments. They always see their prince in his prime and always offer him all kind of things. From fresh warm bread to the finest drinks they would produce. But now he wandered the streets and no one paying attention to a young cloaked boy. Now he could see the bakers starting to warm up their ovens. Leaving the merchant quarter of the city behind him he walked past the guards of the priest district. The two guards looked like the wine they consumed yesterday was still fresh in their minds and were looking clueless straight ahead of themselves  awaiting eagerly for the change of the guard. The Priest district housed the whole clergy hierarchy of the city and in the center of the district was the Cathedral of a thousand lights. The Cathedral was as imposing as the Castle of the king itself and even in the midst of the night it would always seem to be lit from the heavens. Sigmar sometimes snuck inside to follow the services with the common people. One of the orders which also resided in the district were the paladins of the lighted hammers. They were a combination of proud warriors but not only their strength made them formidable but they would invoke the light to strengthen themselves and all those around them. They were the champions of the light and the defenders of the faith. Sigmar always dreamed of one day joining the order and be able to train both his sword arm and embrace the strength of the light in his own heart.  But for now he left those thoughts behind him when he finally got out of the district.

After crossing the slightly darker downtown he finally arrived at the southern city gate. The guards were always busier checking who was getting in the city and not really paying attention to who got out. So Sigmar strolled past the guard and he probably didn't even think it possible that his prince just slipped out under his watch. Finally being able to take of his hood and able to feel the caressing touch of the early sun on his cheeks gave him the feeling he was alive. His long blond hair was moving feebly to the soft winds while he followed the golden road who headed north. A few minutes later he arrived at the border of the Eversang Forest. The forest had earned that name from the sound the small rivers made and always sounded like a soft song filling the background. The sound of the water was hearable all over the forest and it brought always a feeling of peace to Sigmar. He knew the forest wasn't without danger and he had snuck with him his small sword and a dagger wich he had hidden in his leather boot. His father had often tried to forbid him to venture in the forest alone and insisted the took a few guards with him to go with him. Sigmar preferred to wander alone and imagine he was on a great adventure and slaying imaginary foes along the way. 

A couple of hours passed by and Sigmar was on his way back when he heard noises coming closer fast from his left side. He gripped his sword tightly and hoping he would not come to his end without a fight. A boar almost as big as him burst out of the bushes and Sigmar threw himself quickly out of the way. The boar nearly hit him and while Sigmar stumbled to his feet the beast was preparing a new charge. Sigmar raised his sword and scrambled all of his courage to face the beast. The beast rushed towards him and he screamed while he started to charge the beast himself. Sigmar never felt so alive but also never experienced the kind fear not knowing what would happen if something would go wrong. He was almost on the beast when an arrow flew past him hitting the boar right in the left eye and piercing his whole head.  The beast dropped dead in his charge and ended right at Sigmars foot. 

Sigmar was breathing so heavily, the adrenaline filled every inch of his body but relief filled him while  realizing the foolishness of charging a beast that size without ever having proper hunting or decent fighting training except for swinging swords at training dummy's in the castles courtyard. Now slowly he started wondering who fired the perfect arrow saving his life. He turned around and looked right at a blue skinned woman. He never saw something or someone like her. His mouth was left hanging wide open in complete surprise. He had read stories of the elves but never expected to see or meet one. And now he stood before one and she just saved his life. " Are you an elf?"  Sigmar whispered. The woman answered calmly :" Yes i'm Shandra Halderstream," She eyed the young boy curiously.

A few hours passed and Shandra and Sigmar talked about a lot of things. Both curious about the other and where they came from. Sigmar learned more of the elves in one day than he ever imagined he would in his whole life. When darkness was starting to fall Shandra brought Sigmar to the edge of the forest and after a wishing each other farewell he started running towards Harloth impatient to tell his father what happened to him. 

And so Sigmar met another race for the first time in his life. And that night after he told the story to anyone who would listen he swore to learn even more about the elves and hoping he would convince them to open up some dialogues with the humans to be able to learn from each other.

Lying in his bed Sigmar imagined himself meeting al kinds of people and races.

And so his dream of uniting all races he would meet and creating the most versatile kingdom in the world was born.