It takes the greatest trials for mankind to truly understand what they are capable of doing and just how far they can push themselves. In the most dire of situations, a man or woman is tested beyond their limits and either rises to new heights or perishes from this world. It is only during these great obstacles that reform can be made. Reform of the individual and of the population as a whole. Through such reform, a new generation can flourish beyond the decades or centuries of tradition. Families can be mixed or fall apart. Cities drastically shift culture. Empires are toppled. It is through such trials and journeys that history is made and the future formed. One such journey is about to begin for two seemingly ordinary children of greatness.
Azena Ortiz is one of these children. At the age of twenty-four, he is easily considered a grown man in this society. Soon to take a wife, sire children, and continue a family name for generations to come. This was his destiny. However, with the single, unexpected drop of a leaf, an entire destiny can change. This leaf fell like lightning. Men razed his village in the night and killed his father. Gerald Ortiz, the humble and decent noble presiding over Whitemist, had made many enemies in his years. With rumors of his swaying loyalty to the crown, his life became a pawn as a man tried to change his own destiny. Azena was caught in the crossfire and fled into the night.
The silver-haired half-elf, Azena was used to being a target. It was not until this day that he truly felt concern for his life. Death became a reality as the bandits gave pursuit into the blizzard. Azena ran for hours and sought refuge in the ancient tunnels that ran under Aldrina. Legends and rumors could be heard in every corner of the land about the evil that lurked in the Undercity. The young man was left with little choice and ventured in, knowing that his pursuers would not give chase in such a wicked place.
For days, Azena wandered in the darkness. Guided only by the flames he had been learning to conjure, he felt lost in the darkness. The treacherous paths carved into the walls and in the shape of natural bridges to cross chasms only led him deeper into the unknown. He did his best to avoid going down whenever given the option. The closer he remained to the surface, the greater hope he had to escape the endless caverns.
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Forced to feed on the disfigured and terrifying insects and small rodents to survive, Azena willed himself to push further. Fresh water became harder and harder to find as he knew the path had taken him below the strait separating Whitemist from the Genia mainland. It was his waning hope for sunlight that kept him moving. After nearly two months underground, Azena's persistence was rewarded. Fresh air and the dim light of a moon washed over him as he ascended into the freezing air of what he could only guess was the Shrouded Lands.
The frozen tundra that stretched across the north half of Genia was separated from the lush forests and plains by a towering mountain chain that stretched the width of the continent and reached high into the clouds. The Skyreach Mountains they were known as and they were the reason for the barren cold. They blocked the chilling north winds from the rest of the continent and kept the region in a constant layer of ice and snow year round. It was here that Azena's next trial would begin. Survival in any environment was difficult, but in this unforgiving climate it was all too easy to fall victim to the cold and hunger.
This was his destiny. Survive. Thrive. Then, reclaim what was lost.
Azena Ortiz is one of these children. At the age of twenty-four, he is easily considered a grown man in this society. Soon to take a wife, sire children, and continue a family name for generations to come. This was his destiny. However, with the single, unexpected drop of a leaf, an entire destiny can change. This leaf fell like lightning. Men razed his village in the night and killed his father. Gerald Ortiz, the humble and decent noble presiding over Whitemist, had made many enemies in his years. With rumors of his swaying loyalty to the crown, his life became a pawn as a man tried to change his own destiny. Azena was caught in the crossfire and fled into the night.
The silver-haired half-elf, Azena was used to being a target. It was not until this day that he truly felt concern for his life. Death became a reality as the bandits gave pursuit into the blizzard. Azena ran for hours and sought refuge in the ancient tunnels that ran under Aldrina. Legends and rumors could be heard in every corner of the land about the evil that lurked in the Undercity. The young man was left with little choice and ventured in, knowing that his pursuers would not give chase in such a wicked place.
For days, Azena wandered in the darkness. Guided only by the flames he had been learning to conjure, he felt lost in the darkness. The treacherous paths carved into the walls and in the shape of natural bridges to cross chasms only led him deeper into the unknown. He did his best to avoid going down whenever given the option. The closer he remained to the surface, the greater hope he had to escape the endless caverns.
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Forced to feed on the disfigured and terrifying insects and small rodents to survive, Azena willed himself to push further. Fresh water became harder and harder to find as he knew the path had taken him below the strait separating Whitemist from the Genia mainland. It was his waning hope for sunlight that kept him moving. After nearly two months underground, Azena's persistence was rewarded. Fresh air and the dim light of a moon washed over him as he ascended into the freezing air of what he could only guess was the Shrouded Lands.
The frozen tundra that stretched across the north half of Genia was separated from the lush forests and plains by a towering mountain chain that stretched the width of the continent and reached high into the clouds. The Skyreach Mountains they were known as and they were the reason for the barren cold. They blocked the chilling north winds from the rest of the continent and kept the region in a constant layer of ice and snow year round. It was here that Azena's next trial would begin. Survival in any environment was difficult, but in this unforgiving climate it was all too easy to fall victim to the cold and hunger.
This was his destiny. Survive. Thrive. Then, reclaim what was lost.