by Jace on Sat Oct 24, 2009 8:44 am
Yuntki, a mountainous world rife with war. In ancient times the world was teeming with life and magic, but as the planet progressed, it began leaning more toward technology than its old ways. Magic became a thing of weakness, to those powerful in the ways of machine, until it began to be forbidden all together. This began the purge of Dragons, beings that were crafted from the magics of their world. After the magic began to leave though, the citizens of Yuntki realized that it was the magic that sustained their precious technology.
The world had been cast back into the dark ages as the magic continued to bleed out, throwing the planet into chaos. For a hundred years they had fought for control of other nations, until one day some ten years ago a lone boy became lost in a certain set of caverns. In those caves he found a Dragon, supposedly the last Great Dragon to reside upon Yuntki. It was decided that the country which possessed that dragon, would possess the world.
His single step through the doorway within the Caste brought him to the side of a craggy hill, washed in darkness yet somehow bathed in moonlight, a blueness that was at first unnatural to his violet eyes. He looked up, searching the sky, and then finding the two opposing moons. One shown with a brightness that would put most to shame, while the other seemed to vibrate with a dark azure color that almost negated the brilliancy of the first. Not one to dwell on such things for very long, the young man bent his head back to the earth.
Slowly, cautiously, he made his way up the hill, placing his booted feet upon what seemed to be solid rock, ignoring those that looked as if they could fall at any moment. As he reached the crest he sank to his hands and knees, crawling the last few yards, making sure to keep his staff away from the ledge.
As he reached the tip of the rocky hill, he slowly lifted his body, showing only half of his face to the world. What he saw below him caused his pulse to pause for a moment. He had expected a host to be between them and the caverns, but not a true army.
On the other side of the hill, perhaps half a mile away, lay hundreds of cook fires. From the shapes around them, there should have been at least ten men at each, eating what must be a late supper, or early breakfast, depending on the time in this strange world. Upon first glance, the men looked normal, but as soon as one stood to its full height Kale knew his mistake. From the distance he watched at, the standing man should have been half as tall as he appeared, putting his height somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 feet.
Along with the men at the fires, he noticed what must pass for elephants in this land, sleeping standing up, their legs and tusks bristling with barb and tines.
“So, that’s all… just a couple thousand giants, and some pissed off elephants.”
He sighed slightly, and then looked past the army. In the distance he saw a mountain rising from the earth, a rock that looked more like a single thumb breaking the earth’s surface to reach towards the sky. It was at the base of that single mountain that the cave’s entrance would