The Story of L1

Chapter 1

There was once a kingdom by the name of L1. It was a small place, home to only hundreds of people. But its lush, green landscape supported the people who lived there well. L1 was ruled by a holy council, supposedly chosen by God as deliverers of truth and justice. But there are some who...

The sound of a wooden mug smashing the table echoed around the room.

"Pshhh, what sorta story is *that*?" asked Callum, the dwarf.

"If you wouldn't interrupt me, a good one" replied the elf, Lewdas, frowning.

"Now, now, let me show you what a *real* story looks like. Ahum...

"A elf idiot walked into a bar and noticed a handsome dwarf sitting with his friends. The elf walked up to the merry group, and started spouting rubbish tales of fun and games. The dwarf got up and split his head open with an axe. The end."

The elf's frown deepened. Before he could open his mouth to say something, the sound of a lute came forth from the shadows, and with it, a man. With the sound of the lute, this mysterious man sang:

"Let's not fight over tales of bad men, and instead laugh over bottles of beer again!"

"Our deaths may be yet young, but let not that diverge our paths long!"

"My name is Piano, and I am a bard from a land long ago!"

The dwarf picked up his axe and smashed its end on the table, causing everyone to jump.

"Anyone else want to introduce themselves and get it over with?" he said.

Just as he said that, the doors of the bar smashed open, and a cloaked man came through. If anyone was still talking after Callum hit the table, they stopped now. The man's body was completely hidden by the cloak, and on top of his head sat a pitch-black beret. He walked towards the barman, with everyone's eyes following him. He rapped his knuckles on the table, getting the barman's attention. This action revealed a shiny glint beneath his cloak.

"What'd you like?" the barman asked.

"Je voudrais... un croissant" the strange man answered.

"Where are you from?" Lewdas asked, his curiosity of the man beating his fear of him.

"I am from a land far away. You would not know of it..." the strange man replied in a unique accent.

"Then who are you?" asked Lewdas again.

"I am the one known as Moozor, king of France!" and with that, he stood up, his cape falling down to reveal a gilded breastplate underneath.

"King of what now?" asked Mouzyy, who was sitting beside Callum.

Moozor shook his head. "France? Biggest kingdom of Europe? You don't know *France*?"

Almost everyone in the bar started shaking their heads and muttered no. Moozor sat back down, dismayed. He mumbled something in French about the state of education nowadays.

"Well then, if that's all over, we can go back to our drinks" Callum said. And no-one argued.

Far away from the bar, in a castle on the mountains, commotion was brewing.

"What do you *mean* they breached the outer walls!?" shouted a well-armoured man.

"Sir... there were too many of them! We could not hold out!" replied the soldier, cowering.

All around them ran various people, scribes, soldiers, and couriers. Four people were sat around a u-shaped table, facing the scared soldier. The armoured man was standing, interrogating the soldier, who didn't know much. The four men were the leaders of the holy council, the ruling party of L1. The holy council consisted of Kowz, a man rumoured to have the strength of a bull, Ultima, a mage with the power to flatten mountains (given time), Valu, an elvish archer with the eye of an eagle, and Duvu, a man who's capabilities were unknown in battle, but who was a legendary strategist. It was said that Duvu could beat a thousand-man army with only a group of ten men.

Originally, the holy council consisted of 5 members, but one of the members dropped out to study magic. The dropped member was Salt, and he quickly became a powerful re-animator, giving life to things that are dead. Salt was part of the holy council because he was an excellent engineer, and now, with his re-animation capabilities, he is able to bring his machinations to life.

"I wasn't expecting this to happen so soon..." Duvu said. "We will have to speed up our preparations".

"Do you think we will need help from our allies, Duvu?" asked Valu, pushing a man who got too close away. "We also need a private room, this is a royal court, not a public square!"

"We do not yet know the enemy's strength; we've already underestimated them, and now they've broken down the outer wall" explained Duvu over the noise of the commotion.

"I don't think there's much to worry about since the outer wall wasn't built to slow down a even small army. It was built mainly to stop smugglers from crossing our borders" commented Kowz, sitting back down. "Soldier, thank you. You are dismissed". The soldier saluted and hurried out, worried he'd be called back.

"If this goes out of hand, we may have to ask Pasta for help" said Kowz.

Back at the bar, Callum has managed to put together a group of drunkards to take down the holy council.

"Who do we hate?!" shouted the dwarf.

"The council of crap!" replied the crowd, pumping their fists in the air. Some fell over from the exertion.

The group was Callum, Lewdas, Moozor, Piano, and Mouzyy. They also put together enough gold to hire Mel, a mercenary warrior. Being an orc, Mel is as strong as three human men. Orcs being dumber than Humans is a myth originating from racists abroad and Mel is just as smart or even smarter than the average man. The inhabitants of L1 are very accepting, and there are generally very low levels of hate crime.

"Let's go and take them down!" Callum shouted again. The group cheered as they left the pub, tripping along the way. They have a long way to go to the castle where the holy council rests, and so the group prepares for their long journey ahead by stacking as much food and equipment as can fit onto their backs.

End Chapter 1.

Characters so far:

Dwarf Callum, axe-wielder

Elf Lewdas, archer

Human Piano, bard

Human Moozor, King of France, fighter

Human Mouzyy, spearman

Human Kowz, holy council, fighter

Elf Valu, holy council, archer

Human Ultima, holy council, mage

Human Duvu, holy council, strategist

Unknown Salt, former holy council, mage

Unknown Pasta

Orc Mel, mercenary fighter