RJM Corbet
Deus Pascus Corvus
Here is Page Two. If you have not read Page One first, please find it below, in this Critiques Forum. Thank you …
**********************************************************
ERLOS
BOOK ONE – TWO WORLDS
Chapter One
Page two …
The King Dumarion Ben strolled in the gardens of the White Palace of Aazyr late on a summer afternoon. His long silver hair was twisted into a plait that hung down the back of his red cloak. Dumarion was no longer young. Late sunlight glittered upon the walls and steps of the White Palace – jewel of Aazyr, set among splendid gardens and tranquil waters upon which drifting lilies opened soft petals to the sky. A big frog croaked on a lily pad. Dumarion Ben was with his gardener, a stooped old fellow with a face as wrinkled as a walnut.
“King of the pond,” Dumarion observed.
“And if he enjoy so to boast, one day a big bird will swoop down from the sky and eat him,” grumbled the gardener.
“A humbling experience,” Dumarion agreed. He stooped to examine an unhealthy young orange tree. “’Tis dying downward from the top,” he said.
“Aye, but ‘tis so young and weak that I fear pruning,” the gardener replied.
“Now is the time; it must be done," Dumarion advised: "for if the disease holds further it will then be too late.”
He rose from his crouched position and laid a hand upon the gardener’s shoulder to affirm friendship. Blue eyes crinkled easily at the corners when he smiled. After a moment of indignation at the king telling him how to do his job, the gardener’s heart went out to Dumarion, realizing the wisdom of his judgment. He marveled that this man, who carried upon his shoulders the burden of a world, should stoop to concern himself with one sick sapling in a grove of healthy trees – a sapling he, the gardener, had given up as lost. The king however was thinking that, in many ways, he wished that he had been born to be a gardener.
They talked for a while and then Dumarion took his leave and walked back up through the orchards to the White Palace, pausing atop the wide marble stairway to look outward with a kind of fierce pride at the land that he had been born to rule. Here at the heart of the Great Continent of Aazyr was the true seat of power upon the world of Elotia. Dumarion Ben turned to enter the palace. He was expecting an important visitor – Shelron Hrothl of Erlos.
“Aazyr must take the threat seriously,” said Shelron.
“Why should we?” Dumarion was still dismissive: “The Ukonaai cannot live without Aazyr. No creature devours its own body.”
The planet ‘Elotia’ was largely given over to agriculture.
Above Elotia, ‘Erlos’ inhabited seven orbiting cities.
Few Erlotians would care to exchange their soft slippers for rough boots or sandals and walk the soil of their world of origin. Indeed, the punishment of ‘earthdeath’ – banishment to the surface of the planet Elotia – was the worst punishment an Erlotian could receive.
“Madness shows neither reason nor restraint,” replied Shelron: “Aazyr must arm herself. Be forewarned.”
Shelron Hrothl was three hundred and twenty years old. He was not particularly old for one of his race and, like most other Erlotians, was about five feet tall and hairless. His bald head was topped with the distinctive Erlotian triple ridge.
Erlotian mental and psychic development over the generations had pushed out lumps in the skull to accommodate new cerebral matter. As with most Erlotian men, the side bulges on Shelron’s head were the more prominent ones. With Erlotian women the central bulge was more pronounced. The same was true for some of the men. Erlotians’ fingers were slightly webbed.
The first Erlotian City had been constructed many thousands of years before and by now the Erlotian city dwellers had little in common with the surface dwelling Elotian race. 'Erlotians' and 'Elotians' shared distant ties of blood, but with the passing of so many generations the link had become a very distant one. Whatever contact there was between the two civilizations, was usually conducted between the Royal Family of Erlos – at that time represented by Shelron Hrothl – and that of Aazyr, represented by the King Dumarion Ben.
"Arms have no place in the garden kingdoms, Shelron. You know this,” said Dumarion.
“Dumarion – my dear old friend: how can I make you understand? Mykraamus has united the Ukonaai. Aazyr must draw armies from Llozd. You must do it now. Erlos is powerless to help you; we can only advise.”
Erlos was forbidden by its own High Law from any physical interference upon the planetary surface of Elotia.
Among the five continents of Elotia the ‘Great Continent of Aazyr’ was the greatest and most prosperous. The northern lands of the Great Continent were inhabited by wanderers and nomads loosely bound together in tribes and family groups – the Ukonaai. Although they did not live by the garden code of Aazyr, and were constantly engaged in petty tribal warfare, the scattered, argumentative Ukonaai had never thought to challenge the Garden Kingdom. The two cultures lived side by side.
Below the Garden Kingdom of Aazyr – which occupied the central part of the Great Continent of Aazyr to which it gave its name – stretched Llozd to the southern seas. The Llozdian people were tradesmen and merchants for the most part, and of greatly mixed blood.
The many small towns and villages of Llozd were loosely bonded by a central government whose main reason for existence was to distribute the food and other materials that flowed to Llozd in great abundance from the Garden Kingdom of Aazyr. Llozd’s own wealth came mostly from its mines. Thus things had stood for as long as any Elotian could read or remember.
The ‘garden kingdoms’ of Elotia – of which Aazyr was greatest – traded food and agricultural produce with the other lands – giving much of it away, because there was little the garden kingdoms required. The other lands of Elotia were largely dependent upon the daily free caravans that arrived from the garden kingdoms carrying grains and fruits and vegetables, legumes and nuts and oils, silks and cottons, incense, perfumes, wine and honey. From Llozd, Aazyr imported mostly metal artefacts and ‘hril’ spice. The hril went to the Erlotians.
“We know your law, honourable lord.” Dumarion pressed the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger: “You are weary, Shelron. Will you not bathe and refresh yourself before dinner?”
“No. I must return.”
**********************************************************
ERLOS
BOOK ONE – TWO WORLDS
Chapter One
Page two …
The King Dumarion Ben strolled in the gardens of the White Palace of Aazyr late on a summer afternoon. His long silver hair was twisted into a plait that hung down the back of his red cloak. Dumarion was no longer young. Late sunlight glittered upon the walls and steps of the White Palace – jewel of Aazyr, set among splendid gardens and tranquil waters upon which drifting lilies opened soft petals to the sky. A big frog croaked on a lily pad. Dumarion Ben was with his gardener, a stooped old fellow with a face as wrinkled as a walnut.
“King of the pond,” Dumarion observed.
“And if he enjoy so to boast, one day a big bird will swoop down from the sky and eat him,” grumbled the gardener.
“A humbling experience,” Dumarion agreed. He stooped to examine an unhealthy young orange tree. “’Tis dying downward from the top,” he said.
“Aye, but ‘tis so young and weak that I fear pruning,” the gardener replied.
“Now is the time; it must be done," Dumarion advised: "for if the disease holds further it will then be too late.”
He rose from his crouched position and laid a hand upon the gardener’s shoulder to affirm friendship. Blue eyes crinkled easily at the corners when he smiled. After a moment of indignation at the king telling him how to do his job, the gardener’s heart went out to Dumarion, realizing the wisdom of his judgment. He marveled that this man, who carried upon his shoulders the burden of a world, should stoop to concern himself with one sick sapling in a grove of healthy trees – a sapling he, the gardener, had given up as lost. The king however was thinking that, in many ways, he wished that he had been born to be a gardener.
They talked for a while and then Dumarion took his leave and walked back up through the orchards to the White Palace, pausing atop the wide marble stairway to look outward with a kind of fierce pride at the land that he had been born to rule. Here at the heart of the Great Continent of Aazyr was the true seat of power upon the world of Elotia. Dumarion Ben turned to enter the palace. He was expecting an important visitor – Shelron Hrothl of Erlos.
“Aazyr must take the threat seriously,” said Shelron.
“Why should we?” Dumarion was still dismissive: “The Ukonaai cannot live without Aazyr. No creature devours its own body.”
The planet ‘Elotia’ was largely given over to agriculture.
Above Elotia, ‘Erlos’ inhabited seven orbiting cities.
Few Erlotians would care to exchange their soft slippers for rough boots or sandals and walk the soil of their world of origin. Indeed, the punishment of ‘earthdeath’ – banishment to the surface of the planet Elotia – was the worst punishment an Erlotian could receive.
“Madness shows neither reason nor restraint,” replied Shelron: “Aazyr must arm herself. Be forewarned.”
Shelron Hrothl was three hundred and twenty years old. He was not particularly old for one of his race and, like most other Erlotians, was about five feet tall and hairless. His bald head was topped with the distinctive Erlotian triple ridge.
Erlotian mental and psychic development over the generations had pushed out lumps in the skull to accommodate new cerebral matter. As with most Erlotian men, the side bulges on Shelron’s head were the more prominent ones. With Erlotian women the central bulge was more pronounced. The same was true for some of the men. Erlotians’ fingers were slightly webbed.
The first Erlotian City had been constructed many thousands of years before and by now the Erlotian city dwellers had little in common with the surface dwelling Elotian race. 'Erlotians' and 'Elotians' shared distant ties of blood, but with the passing of so many generations the link had become a very distant one. Whatever contact there was between the two civilizations, was usually conducted between the Royal Family of Erlos – at that time represented by Shelron Hrothl – and that of Aazyr, represented by the King Dumarion Ben.
"Arms have no place in the garden kingdoms, Shelron. You know this,” said Dumarion.
“Dumarion – my dear old friend: how can I make you understand? Mykraamus has united the Ukonaai. Aazyr must draw armies from Llozd. You must do it now. Erlos is powerless to help you; we can only advise.”
Erlos was forbidden by its own High Law from any physical interference upon the planetary surface of Elotia.
Among the five continents of Elotia the ‘Great Continent of Aazyr’ was the greatest and most prosperous. The northern lands of the Great Continent were inhabited by wanderers and nomads loosely bound together in tribes and family groups – the Ukonaai. Although they did not live by the garden code of Aazyr, and were constantly engaged in petty tribal warfare, the scattered, argumentative Ukonaai had never thought to challenge the Garden Kingdom. The two cultures lived side by side.
Below the Garden Kingdom of Aazyr – which occupied the central part of the Great Continent of Aazyr to which it gave its name – stretched Llozd to the southern seas. The Llozdian people were tradesmen and merchants for the most part, and of greatly mixed blood.
The many small towns and villages of Llozd were loosely bonded by a central government whose main reason for existence was to distribute the food and other materials that flowed to Llozd in great abundance from the Garden Kingdom of Aazyr. Llozd’s own wealth came mostly from its mines. Thus things had stood for as long as any Elotian could read or remember.
The ‘garden kingdoms’ of Elotia – of which Aazyr was greatest – traded food and agricultural produce with the other lands – giving much of it away, because there was little the garden kingdoms required. The other lands of Elotia were largely dependent upon the daily free caravans that arrived from the garden kingdoms carrying grains and fruits and vegetables, legumes and nuts and oils, silks and cottons, incense, perfumes, wine and honey. From Llozd, Aazyr imported mostly metal artefacts and ‘hril’ spice. The hril went to the Erlotians.
“We know your law, honourable lord.” Dumarion pressed the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger: “You are weary, Shelron. Will you not bathe and refresh yourself before dinner?”
“No. I must return.”
