It is hard to know where to begin a history. Our world has a long and rich history, full of mighty deeds, powerful heroes, treacherous villains and lost empires. Many a nation has risen to power only to descend back into the darkness from whence they came.
My own tale began at such a time. The last of the great empires, that of the noble Elfs, had retreated into its own corner. The world descended into squablling duchies, little pools of power with self-important warlords holding sway over small lands and fighting interminable, pointless battles.
Yet it would not remain so for long. Who knows why the swirling winds of history gave rise to so many great leaders at the same time? We know only that they did, and that after decades of hard fighting, the world was under the sway of...but wait. No need to spoil the end. Let us start at the beginning.
I shall call it year one. There are many calenders to choose from, of course. You could look at that of the Ratmen, or the Arthurian calendar, or the Wind-Breeze of Asrai, for example. I choose to date it from the beginning of the troubles that shook the lands and reshaped the continent as we knew it.
After some years of relative peace and quiet, leaders arose in various corners of the land. The Elfs of the forest, once serene and peaceful in their ocean-side glades, found such a leader in Jahn Etreemane, a wizened tree spirit.
Perhaps his leadership would have availed not had not Windstar walked the lands by the sea with Jahn. So Jahn sent for Windstar to bring the world under his sway.
Why did Jahn abandon the peaceful ways that had been so much a part of him for hundreds of years? Perhaps a woodsman cut the wrong tree or perhaps a shift in the wind caused the ocean salt to kill saplings, rousing his anger. Or perhaps the free spirit of Windstar with all his talk of traveling the outside world, of seeking after Elfkin from beyond their borders stirred him.
I suppose the same question could be asked of the two human commanders who also began their quest for empire at nearly the same time as Jahn EtreeMane and Windstar.
To the east it was General Patton and his violent subordinate, Captain Nemo. To the South it was Vindix of Sevasto. Vindex may have started without the sanction of his master, Galba, but it was soon obvious that Galba not only would not restrain him, but would actively seek to encourage his adventuresome ways.
Meanwhile, across the known world, on the far side of the continent, other forces were stirring.
Among the Ratmen there arose a mighty prophet, powerful in magic and able to motivate the ratmen to great deeds and aggressive cunning. Sending forth his hordes, he began expanding in two directions at once.
Close by, Titus the Titan awoke from his near-eternal slumber. Slain in the past by one of the mighty men of yore...some say by Emperor Mithridates himself, others that it was by one of the reptilian fighters.
No matter, it only matters he left his tomb and once more marched forth to war at the head of mighty hosts of the undead, sending forth Ded-lee to see where he might find enemies to conquer.
All these and more began almost simultaneously to seek lands to conquer, enemies to slay, people to enslave, and treasures to gather to themselves.
Their armies at first were almost laughably small. Their numbers would not even have matched up to scouting parties or even foragers from the Age of Valor. But that would change.
At first the conflicts were small, involving no more than 40 or 50 combatants to a side. Most of the encounters were more skirmish than battle. Yet even here one can find the seeds of greatness.And so we take up the thread to tell you of one of the exploits of Captain Nemo.
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