All eyes were now on the Holy Land as it held the last remnants of the futuristic past. Materials that were found far from Earth, barely functional tech, and prototype weapons and armor of war were kept far away from the kingdoms of Pope Sylvantic and Bernhard with the reason being that they were researching and recovering the knowledge on how to repair and use them. Both kingdoms agreed to let the territories in the Holy Land do this as long as they agreed to give them access to the fruits of their research once it was usable and they did agree though they secretly had an area where they kept the most destructive and volatile materials and tech for themselves for the safety of everyone in the world. After the transformation of Pope Sylvantic's Eastern Europe and the kingdom of Bernhard, the Holy Land kept their special possessions even closer than before even as the orcs of Bernard demanded the results of their research and the weapons they had prototypes of to push back the tides of ratmen and expunge them from wherever they hid in the kingdoms of men. Divisions started to grow among the people as some wanted to give what they had to the orcs out of fear, respect, or the want to protect themselves after two larger kingdoms weren't able to control the objects of the past.
Some in the orc kingdom began to grow violent and sent raiding parties to take what they wanted by force, which was supported by other kingdoms who had allied themselves to them. In addition, Pope Sylvantic's ratmen sent his own forces to steal what they could from under their noses, however, both forces faced considerable pushback since the land was heavily defended by a large portion of the Church's armies that still supported the Holy Land territories and right to decide what they wanted to do. One faction within the Holy Land had enough of the conflict and betrayed the others. They sent their forces to aid the orcs and during the conflict, what happened twice before happened again as the volatile materials and tech caused a chain reaction of explosions throughout the land. Unlike the ratmen, but just like the orcs, the people and environment in the Holy Land changed in different ways.
The people who had turned on their own now had red eyes, long ears, and gray or light blue skin. Their lands were now marshlands with trees and animals that could seemingly reach the skies. They could now wield dark magics that allowed them to slip into shadows, conjure fog, and spew acidic liquids from the palms of their hands. Because of these things and their actions, they became known as the dark elves, and their kingdom was named Abaddon. The weight of their sins caused many of them to repent and hundreds of their people enlisted in the army as penance and many more would enlist to fight once it was discovered that the dark elves could walk harmlessly in the wasteland of Eastern Europe.
Those who dwelt in the most conservative of the Holy Land gained sharp ears and golden eyes and skin. The sun seemed to shine longer in their lands and fruits, vegetables, wildlife, and life in general lived longer and were more abundant. Some of the people here could wield fire, beams of light that could blind and melt metal, and the light from their hands could heal almost any sickness or wound. These people became known as the high elves and their kingdom was named Oron. As it was before, the lands of the kingdom of Oron were the center of politics, knowledge, and best-kept secrets and treasures in the Holy Land. Not many of their number were involved in the Church's military and those who were became generals and soldiers of renown.
In stark contrast to their brothers, there is one section of the Holy Land where the ruins of the past have been completely erased and nothing but forests remain. It's almost as if God had reset the area to its original beauty since not one bit of the old world was left. The people here now had slightly brown skin, circular long ears, and shades of brown eyes. They could wield the wind and nature followed their every command. These people became known as the wood elves and their kingdom was called Matias. Like in the past, they acted separately from their brothers and compromisers who stayed out of politics and conflicts that didn't directly affect them nor influenced events that were small in scale. They made homes out of nature and hunted evil men and ratmen wherever they hid.
All the kingdoms of the Holy Land considered themselves blessed because of what they obtained. Even the kingdom of Abaddon considered themselves blessed in that their punishment brought most of them to repentance. Now that every bit of the past's technology and foreign materials obtained during it are gone, there is no going back to the space fairing days of the past anytime soon, which in itself was also considered a blessing by most as humanity moved forward into an uncertain future no longer worried about the remnants of the past.
No comments:
Post a Comment