Chapter One: An Alliance of Evil
In a world parallel to Earth, there lies a lush green continent. This is the land of Great Germaine, rich in plants and animals. In this land, humans have learned to co-exist peacefully with creatures like dragons, dwarfs, fairies, and other magical creatures.
These creatures wield tremendous power that few humans have learned to harness, even through exhausting years of study trying to master that power. In the land of Great Germaine, magic is still carried in the blood of these creatures, unlike on Earth where, thanks to the greed of men, magic died during the medieval ages.
The people of Great Germaine live in small villages scattered across its vast continent in houses built from rocks and trees. The rooftops, covered with tightly wound strands of hay, barely shelter them from the harsh rains that sometimes fall. They retrieve their water from wells and cook their meals in large stone furnaces.
Some villages farm food, while others specialize in breeding sheep, using their wool to make clothing. The inhabitants of Great Germaine know nothing of money; everything exchanged by way of trade, between humans and similar species, and no one goes hungry.
Though life is often harsh due to the extensive work, still, the people live happily in peace.
A single king--King Demas--has been in power for three decades, the throne having been bestowed upon him by his father as a last wish of a dying man.
However, there is a law that governs the land--the strongest shall be king and at any given time, a challenge may be made. The inhabitants of Great Germaine respected the wishes of their fallen king--whom they loved dearly--and Demas went unchallenged for years.
Though the creatures of Great Germaine live in peace, there is one man who wishes to rule the land with an iron fist. His name is Balthazar Despot.
On his fourteenth birthday, Balthazar's father challenged the mighty King in an attempt to acquire the crown. The duel was a magnificent display of courage and technique, but in the end, his father fell victim to the King's sword.
At the moment he witnessed his father's demise, he swore vengeance against the King. Since he also lost his mother at a very young age and with no loving family to support and nurture him, he grew up to be an angry and bitter man.
He was jealous of the innate ability of the mystical creatures to wield powerful magic and sought to destroy them all.
For the next seven years, Balthazar desperately tried to learn magic, yet failed in every attempt. He was not a muscular man; in fact, he was a bit on the scrawny side. Magic was the only way to level the playing field against the skillful hand of the King, with each failure to wield magic serving to intensify his hatred of all mystical creatures.
When his hatred grew so much that it completely dominated his every move and thought, a dark and insidious force paid him a visit to make an offer, knowing it would not be refused.
Our story begins...