Distant Familiarity Free Excerpt

In preparation for things to come and it being Sample Sunday and all, I wanted to give my readers a taste of something new that I am working on. The name of this short story is entitled Distant Familiarity. This is part of a free short story that will be available very soon as a download. More later on when and where.

The story tells of the events that occurred just prior to the prologue from Covenant of the Faceless Knights, detailing what happened to the three former heroes now turned High Council members: Rolin Hardbeard, Nimaira Silvershade and Tiyarnon, the High Priest. As always, I hope you enjoy this brief excerpt!

.... He watched as the other two mounted their steeds. Then the gates of Oakhaven swung wide to allow them passage. Moments later all that remained of their presence was a cloud of dust, which quickly dissipated in the cool breeze of Winter’s Veil. A new year was coming in Wothlondia and Tiyarnon hoped that 66 P.A. would be an even better year than the last for the citizens of Oakhaven, and for the whole of Wothlondia. 

 The three of them traveled for hours heading south along the River Divide, whose current ran in a southerly direction hundreds of feet below them. The river was used by many to bring goods and services to other towns for trade along its banks. The three bridges that crossed the River Divide, including Nature’s Pass, were at extremely high points where ships could easily pass beneath them.

Nimaira repeatedly used her significant magical abilities to propel the horses forward at increased speeds for several minutes at a time to hasten their pursuit. This, of course, made Rolin feel very disgruntled. To him it was bad enough to be obliged to ride a horse at all, let alone having it run at two to three times its normal speed for minutes on end! The dwarf did not like it at all—not eighty five years ago, and certainly not today!

 Tiyarnon and the others concluded that the priests had not taken the northern bridge, as the guards or patrols outside the city would have spotted them and reported this as being the case. Eyewitnesses explicitly expressed that the group headed south out of Oakhaven the evening before last. And they most likely would not have crossed the southernmost bridge. They would be too exposed to detection as the south was barren and known to be full of wild beasts roaming those open plains. 

This all meant that they had to have traveled over the River Divide at Nature’s Pass, which would have had them passing directly through the heart of Amrel and close to the forest elves who made their homes there. The elves of Amrel would have certainly noticed the acolytes within their domain, although such a route would have also given the travelers cover.  No one—humanoid or otherwise—passed through Amrel without King Dorinthal’s knowledge, for his eyes were vigilant and ever-present. 

Tiyarnon confidently spurred his horse further south toward the elven-made bridge, hoping his theory proved to be sound.

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

Photo from Stock.xchng.

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted.

Founding of Oakhaven and the ‘Five’~

It came as a major surprise to the leaders of Krotto when the queen of the scorching drakes, Ashenclaw, led her kin to attack, turning the surface world into a burning cinder and reducing three quarters of the landscape to ash before disappearing altogether. Much speculation exists regarding their disappearance, with the two most realistic being hibernation and extinction theories.

It has been 66 years (At the start of Covenant of the Faceless Knights novel) since the assault of the dragon-kin and the people of Krotto have rebuilt some of the major cities and are in the process of restoring more. Trade has reopened as several people are building and harvesting once more and able to share their gifts or services with the other races. Elves, dwarves, halflings, humans, gnomes and until recently, even the orcs and their kin were trading with one another, reestablishing Oakhaven as a major trading city.

The city of Oakhaven became the lone center for safe trade between the many races immediately after the drakes disappeared. Humans gathered both within the walls and the areas that surrounded the city working diligently to protect the trade routes. High walls worked to keep the citizens safe from the chaos which had torn other towns apart. Following this model, four other cities were restructured or otherwise rebuilt with this architectural model in mind, one in each area of the continent: Norgeld to the northeast, Archinon to the southwest, Veldennia to the northwest and Safehold to the southeast, with Oakhaven at the epicenter. The elves worked in conjunction with the cities and spread their forces throughout the forests of the land to keep the evil forces from gaining additional strongholds.

Crime and Punishment~ 

Oakhaven was the most prominent trade capitol and was kept going with a small military enforcing the peace and honor of open trade, referred to simply as The Watch. Each of the ‘five’ has their own watch and military, differentiating them only by prefacing the city for which they are employed (ie. The Oakhaven Watch), otherwise they are regarded as one major force, with the governing body of each town having the final say when tactical decisions are necessary.

Rarely do any fights or riots break out and if they do, they are stopped with the culprits being escorted to Archinon for punishment. The cities hold criminals for weeks before sending them via guarded caravan to Archinon; this generally occurs once a month, unless the numbers grow too quickly for the city cells to contain them.

Archinon is one of the ‘five’ major cities that follow the architecture and general structure of Oakhaven. It is ruled by King Tallaruk, a fair and just man, whose family and ancestry are untarnished. The rulership of Archinon deviates slightly from the pacifistic ways of Oakhaven however. Where Oakhaven and the other cities allow for gambling and the like, Archinon goes one step further. The citizens therein have a more aggressive community that often enjoys viewing violent and often deadly fights in the arena.

The gladiatorial arena, called ‘The Pit’, is where many trained warriors and many hardened criminals can find either glory or death. All criminals from any of the major cities are sold to the owners of the houses as potential gladiators in exchange for staving off an execution or permanent exile.

  

The contract within the city set by the King is that any and all criminals may fight for a determined amount of time (determined by both the controlling house and the severity of the crime) and may gain their freedom if they survive. They may also choose to buy freedom or continue to earn a living fighting in the arena. Minor crimes such as minor assault, aiding a criminal or minor theft/damage to property would result in a 3-6 month sentence and major crimes such as murder, conspiracy, treason or kidnapping would net anywhere from 5 or more years of service all the way up to life sentences, depending upon the details or circumstances involved.

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

Photos from Stock.xchng

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted.