SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY

ATARAH

A Starforged Fairytale

{ Esper Era one Century Before SFA : HAMMERHEART } Legend goes that, in the heart of the Lupin County garrisons (slang for slums) there lived a young man by the name of Peregrine Aletris. He was from a long line of lackluster fishermen, guardsmen, and bandits. He was a dreamer, with aspirations of attending the University of Perlah (University of Archeology & Magical Research & Defense) and escaping the poverty that had plagued his family for generations.

But fate had a different plan in store for him.

Peregrine's oldest sister Ruslan, a loyal soldier of the Golden Fleece order (faction responsible for the mass cleansings of Condemned Blight Zones, Virus Research, and the mercy killings of the infected) had returned home from a long and grueling deployment. She was extremely sick, and the family's meager resources were not enough to provide her with the adequate medical care she desperately needed. Days turned into weeks, and despite their best efforts, Rusaln's condition worsened.

Ruslan regularly came in contact with the infected and parts of the world so contaminated that not a single soul remained untouched, unravaged, and unmutated by FSV or BBV. In a short period, Ruslan began displaying symptoms of FSV, her skin began to peel and rot off the bone, flying into the air as if fine powder, her blood became like scarlet sand, and she suffered horrific nightmares. Her pain became unbearable, her flesh burned like fire, and gradually her body underwent mutation.

By law, all cases of contamination or instances of suspected infection had to be immediately reported to the Golden Fleece order. For obedience to the law and the report, payment would be awarded but for the infected, death was a guarantee and a long period of quarantine inspection was common protocol. However, Peregrine’s family refused to expose Ruslan and disfigure her good name and reputation in any way. She worked so hard to reach the level she was at and she was a somebody everyone in the garrison respected and admired.

Instead of reporting the infection, the Aletris family got together one night and decided that they’d scrape together all of their savings and pay for the most noble and compassionate solution…a mercy killing, the only discrete form of salvation they knew of.

For the price of 585 Aquas and 845 Bolts ( aka lightning Dobra, an oval-shaped blue steel coin depicting a thunderbird on the back and an azure blue lightning bolt emblem on the front, equivalent to 100$) a Psychopomp clad in cream-white, traveled to Lupin from the swamplands of Protea.

She came by way of a black carriage drawn by diomedes mares and brought with her a black leather doctor’s bag and a gargantuan war hammer made of olivewood and bound in thick sheep’s wool.

The Psychopomp sat in the Aletris family living room adjusting her pearl-strung cat eyeglasses while enjoying a packed lunch of fried bologna and cheese sandwiches, a pack of cream-filled coconut donuts, chips, and star fruit juice.

Between eating, drinking, and wiping her mouth with a checkered handkerchief explained the process of the mercy killing and assured the family that they had made the right decision by hiring her services and sparing everyone else in their garrison the cruel fate of pyres and flamethrowers, as she'd put it at times discretion could be an act of pure love and mercy.

That night, as Peregrine sat at his sister’s bedside, holding her frail hand, he listened to the psychopomp sing ‘Ruslan’, an ethereal lullaby, and watched as she burned to purify herbs and doused her diseased body with Phoenix ash. And with the heavy sobbing and weeping of his parents & siblings serving as background noise the psychopomp unwrapped her instrument of obliteration and raised it high before swiftly slamming it down upon Ruslan's head crushing the entirety of her face and skull leaving only shattered bone, brain matter, and a puddle of bloody mush staining the pillow and headboard. That night Peregrine screamed as he saw his sister’s head effortlessly explode as if a water balloon in a matter of seconds (Ruslan's corpse was fed to the diomedes mares afterwards before the sun could rise).

While still enveloped in a cocoon of shock and grief the family was hastily purified with Phoenix ash and wine imbued with Phoenix blood and pixie tears. The weight of Ruslan's passing left a gaping hole in their hearts, but in the days that followed they realized that it had also left a financial vacuum that threatened to consume them all.

With his dreams of attending university erased Peregrine found himself at a crossroads. Desperation gnawed at his soul, pushing him to take a gamble in a last-ditch effort to make fast money. And so, he made a decision that would change his life forever. On his 18th birthday, he joined an adventurers guild in service to the S.O.S Foundation (in association with the order of the Golden Fleece) and took his last few Dobras to pay for an Ebony membership medallion.

After becoming registered and passing the exams needed to acquire his license Peregrine was assigned to a group of three rookie S.O.S field agents, Sorrel Irontree Arcane Archer of Troubadour, and Bayard Caius, a Paladin of the Nappa Aisles. The two men were older and while rookie volunteers to the foundation appeared to be seasoned explorers and fighters.

His two teammates were perfect strangers but were just, if not more money-minded than he was. They’d buy him the necessary gear, mount, and weaponry along with a quality rainbow crow familiar (they can increase their size which is on par with an adult Drake and they can breathe fire by the time of the Black Cat era of SFA, hammerheart rainbow crows become extinct creatures). Their lives from that point on became supremely repetitive day after day traveling, tracking, and slaying monsters in the treacherous Blight Lands then scrambling to build a camp and secure wards and defenses before sundown.

It was a high-risk and dangerous occupation, but it offered the promise of flexibility, evergreen opportunities, career security, quick cash, and bonuses, four things seldom found in the local workforce. With each monster slain, Peregrine earned a good living that only seemed to get better the higher the quest levels became. The wages were more than enough to keep his family afloat and enhance certain aspects of life. But it was still never enough to truly lift them out of poverty.

One mellow summer day, as Peregrine was home from his travels, he taught his siblings how to bake, and a royal hunt was announced at the garrison square. Peregrine's mother brought home a flier and together the family would review it at the supper table later that night. Seeing it as an opportunity to permanently level up his family's fortunes, Peregrine gathered his arsenal and gear then rallied his party, setting off towards the Vermillion Forests of Atarah ( located in the Eden territory) determined to claim the ultimate prize—the Ulunsuti jewel of the Uktena Dragon.

Their journey was cutthroat and fraught with innumerable peril, as they battled against other adventurer parties who sought to reach the dragon before them. They faced treacherous terrains, deadly traps, assassination attempts, and fierce adversaries. But Peregrine's determination never wavered and although beaten and battered they reached the ancient forest and found the mighty Wyrm.

For thirteen grueling days and nights, they battled with the beast, with fire and fury engulfing all that surrounded them. Peregrine and his party fought with every ounce of strength they possessed and utilized enchanted silver pine cones to render the dragon disoriented and almost blind. Peregrine and his teammates using the pine cones to trap the Uktena within a circle witnessed a brief window of opportunity open up for them. Commanding his familiar to maximize, Peregrine climbed onto the crow’s back and flew around the dragon in circles as the rainbow crow baptized the Wyrm in white holy flame. Using a Fat Man rifle, Peregrine fired continuously with the thought of money the only thing on his mind. All the while his teammates launched a flurry of devastating attacks from below.

When the smoke cleared, Peregrine and his party emerged bloody but victorious, the red Ulunsuti diamond gleaming in his hands and the task of stripping the dragon's glittering scales ahead. These were prizes beyond their wildest dreams and made the three men unfathomably rich. Their triumph saw them travel to the Kingdom of Edall to present proof of their success to the Archons who ruled over all of Donibar. From the antique Royals' boons, land, the titles of Warden (the faction known as the Black Star Wardens originally earned their titles from the Archons for heroic deeds, impactful civil service, life-saving research, evolutionary invention, or acts of extraordinary courage) were bestowed and from a Bevy of Royal concubines Ambrosia, medals, and ten nights of passionate debauchery were bestowed.

When all was said and done Peregrine's Party disbanded with Sorrel and Bayard going their separate ways. After the long journey home, Peregrine's heart swelled with pride as he was given a hero's welcome and invited to attend the private parties of the garrison's warlords and Bandit Commanders. After several months of hard partying and celebration Peregrine restored and upgraded his garrison, became a benefactor to the local S.O S guild, and last but not least bought a 23k Frigate ship (named The Ruslan) and ensembled a crew deciding to pursue the path of a URN privateer. As the young Captain set sail towards new adventures, the world seemed brighter and filled with endless possibilities.

THE END

{In the Hammerheart Spin-offs I told the story of a pirate captain named Zelgius Endicott who inherited his title and ships from his terminally ill mentor. Atarah is the prequel story of that fallen mentor written as a short fairytale. When I wrote the outline for this story I had just finished rewatching Slumdog Millionaire, Cinderella Man, and a YouTube documentary about UFC fighters, Charles Olivera and Leon Edwards. As a result, I wanted to make a story of hope that’d serve as an oral legend retold/ exaggerated by those struggling to survive and escape the Blight Lands, century after century.}

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