Tirest
07-09-2005, 23:38
((This thread is the first in a series of back-stories about the history of Tirest. It’s open to anyone who would like to participate, provided you keep things reasonable. In this thread, Tirest was not where it is now, so feel free to have you nation border it if you like.))
It came to be that in the fifty-third Year of the Domitor, a child ascended to the throne of the nation which would become Tirest. In those days, the Wandering Years had not yet come to pass, and the People were beset on all sides; from within as well as from without. The Choir spoke with one voice, the Boy-King with another, and all was in danger of being lost to the winds.
The boy, Seth by his name, sat quietly upon the Ash Throne. The throne had been hewn from the trunk of a single great ash tree in a time when all men were artisans or heroes, legendary times which had long passed even by the time of the Boy-King. This throne, a legend which could be touched and known for true, sat unassumingly in a hall built from timber and mud bricks covered with plaster. This was the humble palace of the kings of Tirest in those days.
The boy listened to the Choir. He was quite a grave child, very stern and serious with a pair of glasses perched upon his nose and a thick and dusty book in his lap. Even now, holding Court, he would peer over the rims of his glasses as he listened to the Choir report on the deteriorating relation with a neighboring country. How long until the border dispute would become skirmishing, and then full pitched battles? How long could Tirest stand in open war? The nation had not been tested in combat since the coming of the Domitor, and its army was sorely unprepared. The boy could hardly stand to listen to the shrill fear mongering of the Choir.
Then why listen to them?
The boy became very still and very serious at this thought, for he recognized where it came from. He knew the source to be the Domitor, whose thoughts continue to guide Tirest to this day. In the time of the Boy-King, though, the Choir and the Domitor, the King, were at odds with one another. The Choir still remembered how the Domitor had mastered them, and only tolerated the king because they could see no way to take his place.
So, for the time being, the Boy-King named Seth listened to the voices without and within, and thought very seriously indeed.
It came to be that in the fifty-third Year of the Domitor, a child ascended to the throne of the nation which would become Tirest. In those days, the Wandering Years had not yet come to pass, and the People were beset on all sides; from within as well as from without. The Choir spoke with one voice, the Boy-King with another, and all was in danger of being lost to the winds.
The boy, Seth by his name, sat quietly upon the Ash Throne. The throne had been hewn from the trunk of a single great ash tree in a time when all men were artisans or heroes, legendary times which had long passed even by the time of the Boy-King. This throne, a legend which could be touched and known for true, sat unassumingly in a hall built from timber and mud bricks covered with plaster. This was the humble palace of the kings of Tirest in those days.
The boy listened to the Choir. He was quite a grave child, very stern and serious with a pair of glasses perched upon his nose and a thick and dusty book in his lap. Even now, holding Court, he would peer over the rims of his glasses as he listened to the Choir report on the deteriorating relation with a neighboring country. How long until the border dispute would become skirmishing, and then full pitched battles? How long could Tirest stand in open war? The nation had not been tested in combat since the coming of the Domitor, and its army was sorely unprepared. The boy could hardly stand to listen to the shrill fear mongering of the Choir.
Then why listen to them?
The boy became very still and very serious at this thought, for he recognized where it came from. He knew the source to be the Domitor, whose thoughts continue to guide Tirest to this day. In the time of the Boy-King, though, the Choir and the Domitor, the King, were at odds with one another. The Choir still remembered how the Domitor had mastered them, and only tolerated the king because they could see no way to take his place.
So, for the time being, the Boy-King named Seth listened to the voices without and within, and thought very seriously indeed.