Shadows of Arkellia

By Rova (Joe)

Prologue -



There is a land, they say, that lies far, far away from this place. It lies across several thousand miles of seemingly endless ocean, an ocean which has no real landmarks or any given way to navigate straight across it. For it was made to be so. The land, or rather, the continent, has no real distinct features. In fact, it is so much like any other type of landform you would come across that it would just as easily be passed up as just another large island. But island, it is not, and it is about as far from ordinary as you can get. The continent is home to the vast Arkellian Empire, which has thrived for generations, developing technology that has been surpassed by none. The empire is vast, covering what appears to be a giant plateau. It has forests, mountains, plains, deserts, volcanoes, and even ice fields. In each of these environments lies several villages, most of them small, but with one large town in each. These villages, in turn, are home to the citizens that populate the vast empire. Each town is unique, and their people are even more unique. Without them, the empire would not exist.



Our story begins in a little traveled area of this vast continent, towards the northern end of the land: the savage and inhospitable Sabure desert. It is night. Overhead, a clear starry sky accentuates the barren dark crests of the endless dunes that lay below it. All is quiet, peaceful. A chilling wind blows from the north, kicking up some of the sand and tossing it awayo ¦ unearthing a tragic and deadly secret just underneath the swirling dunes. As the sand is blown away, the earth reveals, just for a moment, the tops of sword hilts and bits of armoro ¦ broken shields, tattered flags, and boneso ¦ before the sand covers them once more. It is like this for miles and miles: veiled secrets of what took place here in this corner of the empire less than a year ago; natureo s way of keeping memories of a time where peace once existed, where now there was none.



High above the dunes, up towards the faintest of the clouds high in the atmosphere over the desert, a faint sound can be heard. Soon, lights appear, and the sound begins to take a shapeo ¦ a jagged point that slowly forms into a sharp contour, followed by a dark black hull riddled with plated armor and cannons covering every possible angleo ¦ dark sails deployed in all their glory, bearing the great crest of the Imperial family. As the vessel comes into full view from behind the clouds, it is evident that the craft is shaped like a gargantuan dagger. This then, is the Imperial Battleship Tetrarch. While it may not be evident, the great ship is in actuality, stalking prey. For that is how warfare is done in this current day and age: when airships are preparing to strike, they deactivate all of their engines and run on full sail and levitation crystal. In this case, the strategy is working. The other ship, a smaller vessel roughly half a mile in front of them, was still running on full engines, steaming ito s way north as fast as it could go, seemingly unaware that it was being stalked. It is onboard this smaller ship, the Memory of Kyussai, that our tale begins. Though the horrors of the Summonerso War are over, the age of peace has saved its best heroes for lasto ¦