724 - A Introduction to Madness
The world had changed quickly, powers from all across the continent of Aurinel were on the rise. Vying for improved influence in the world the preparations for colonisation of Fiela and Shtokar were now underway. With the industrial revolution that had originated in Holoska and spread across Aurinel, new and old powers alike attempted to gain prestige and to prove their worth on the world stage. Decades of relations both negative and positive would begin to take their toll on nations across the globe.
The fates of millions of Shtokar and Fiela natives were now, unbeknownst to them, brought into question. As the powerful steam driven navies of the Aurinelian powers began their potentially deadly voyage across the great sea. The dance of politics and gunpowder would begin in earnest as the colonisation of the new world began. Natives would stand unknowing of this coming wave, and settlers and soldiers alike would likewise be uncertain of the existance of so many peoples in their new territories.
The fate of all the world stood in the balance, and both groups continued to forge headlong into the potentially dangerous foray. What stood to question was the aftermath of such a momumentous set of events. Lives would change for better or for worst as the powers began their imperialistic endeavors.
724 - Understate Expansion
Grinsen Felhauzt was not an unreasonable Drotharii. He had been involved in his Understates machinations for almost a decade, and the events that were unfolding now deeply disturbed him. The new High Chancellor of the Confederacy was making troubling reforms with the approval of the Grand Confederate Kouncellery. Reforms that changed the traditions of the Drotharii, that had withstood the better part of two thousand years. Every Drotharii knew that the Overworld of the Confederacy was filled with horrors unimaginable.
The Overworld was said to be inhabited by demons of devious renown. It was said that they had no love for his people, and that only disaster would befall the Drotharii that attempted to tame the land of the tall skies. Yet despite tradition and the work of well know Drotharii heroes and philosphers, the High Chancellor had ordered that his people were to begin the process of building in the Overworld. Grinsen had been tasked by the Monarch of Understate Winterlich, Queen Ellara D’dary, to do his Understates part in such efforts. He had been assigned command of the first Drotharii expeditionary unit, the 2nd Regiment of Understate Winterlich, to begin the establishment of a settlement at the base of the Thalalean river.
They were to escort over two hundred first wave settlers and provide for their security. Grinsen didn't overly prefer the Overworld. It was covered in trees and high peaks, and there was simply too much space around him for comfort. In the Understates there were inclines and declines in its tunnel networks but not so great as the hills and mountains of the Overworld. A fact his unit and civilian entourage had grudgingly come to accept over the last week of travel. It would be a day yet before their arrival on the north side of the Thalalean river, where it joined the ocean. Already Grinsen could see the gray mass of the biggest body of water he had ever witnessed. It seemed as if in the Overworld everything was of a gargantuan size. As before Grinsen had believed some of the Understates were the largest object he has witnessed, and now he was finally coming to realize the scope of this new world.
Marching down the foothills of the Evercrier mountains the last dreg of the way wasn't quite as tedious as he had first imagined, and the train of wagons and their occupants seemed emboldened by the fact they were almost to their destination. They had been sent with nails, metal brackets, and a variety of materials that they would be hard pressed to manufacture at the settlements location. Grinsen had heard rumors that a new tunnel was being added to the vast network of pre-existing tunnels to connect the new settlement to the Understates. Grinsen didn't disagree, and if this was the new reality of the Understates, the settlement would need supplies from below to finish its construction projects.
As they drew nearer throughout the day, Grinsen spotted what appeared to be several clouds in the distance on the great sea. Though they were only a blur on the horizon, Grinsen would soon be faced with some hard decisions regarding his races new projection across the Overworld.
