Theme Story (May 2001)





Abstract

It was a time of great change. The impact of the great meteor had torn the land apart. Empires have been sundered, changing the balance of power. Great opportunities and greak risks abound in these perilous realms.


Story

......... Around a warm fire, the flames lighting the faces of those gathered, the old man began his tale...
In the past there were two great powers, the elves and the dwarves. Different nations there could hardly be. The elves heralded from a nation of forests, building their cities among the very trees, delighting in subtle games and the play of magic. The dwarves were much more creatures of the mountains, with mountain top strongholds, straightforward in their dealings and prefering honesty of action over word games. However despite differences both reached out from their homelands and the age of empires began. Nations fell before them until, as it had to happen, they met each other. It was a period of great warfare. Armies of elven soldiers with magically enhanced weapons and armour clashed with dwarfish warriors whose better weapon design and training more than countered the tricks of the elves. Over the years each learnt from the other and an uneasy peace developed. Small nations, like ourselves, survived, small enough not to be a threat but useful as a buffer. And then the world changed...

Our modern era starts with the great asteroid. One night the sky began to fill with streaks of light. Both elven and dwarfish astronomers explained that they were mere stones falling out of the sky like hailstones and that there was nothing to fear. This continued for several weeks and nothing much was thought of it but as a chance to enjoy the spectacular and for the young to play their romantic games under a firelit night sky. This all came to a sudden end with the arrival of the "Herald". One night a light crossed the sky, flaming so brightly as to make night day. The light sped to the east, dissappearing over the horizon. Minutes later a blast of light and heat raced from over the horizon. over the next few days storms raged with a ferocity rarely seen. The sky stones began to fall more frequently, now their tracks of fire could be seen during the day. We thought the end was coming, how were we to know how our fears would be proven?

......... The old man threw a new log onto the fire, throwing a shower of sparks into the night...
On the 5th day of October, the 1233 year of our lord, a great ball of flame appeared in the sky, many times the size of the "Herald". The light was so great that even the midday sun seemed to pale in comparison. The ball of flame dissappeared out of sight. Fearing the worst, the people gathered, prayed to the gods and waited. Soon the sky turned bright, the earth shook violently, a great ringing tone was heard and all went quiet.

Much changed after the blow of what became to be known as the "Hammer of the gods". The oceans rose, volcanoes erupted to the east. The great empires of both Elves and Dwarves were torn apart. In our land, once part of a great continent, the seas rose and cut the western region from the mainland, the ocean joining what once was the Inner Sea. The elven cities near the coast were drowned and the rest seperated from the homelands by a great expanse of ocean. To the east things were little better. The mountains once loved by the dwarves turned on them, volcanoes erupted across the entire range, covering cities in ash and lava. After a few years contact was regained with the rest of the world. The stories told were of destruction and devestation. Every region was struggling to repair the damage, each trying to obtain the limited resources available. A tense state had developed between the empires over olivine supplies, critical for the exercise of high magic in both nations. This meant that Midgard for the first time in centuries was able to expand, both nations' outputs had withdrawn to their strongholds, desperate for resources. All looked well for a while, until olivine was discovered in the new volcanic regions to the east. So far full war had been avoided but that didn't last for much longer.
......... The old man stopped, poked at the dying embers, and promised that tomorrow, the tale of the future of Midgard would be told, and with that walked off into the night.