The Eastern Plains

1. Wyndham

It was still very early in the morning when Lisa Manore already woke up, which was to be expected, for March 21st wasn't just any day for her: it was her 18th birthday. As soon as she had opened her eyes, she jumped out of bed, got dressed and ran to her father's room to wake him up, because she didn't want to miss a single moment of this day. After all, turning 18 was something she had been looking forward to for years, because as of today, she could finally become her dad's apprentice and learn a proper trade!

Lisa wasn't just an average girl, mind you. From a distance, she just looked like a normal, fragile girl, with long dark-brown hair, clear-blue eyes and a fairly slim build, but underneath that look hid a girl with the strength of an ox, maybe even 2 oxes on a good day. That is also the reason why her father had no ground to argue when Lisa had suggested that she wanted to become a blacksmith as well, by becoming his apprentice. And now that day had come.

Their house was located near the edge of a town called Wyndham, not far from the eastern mountain range, which was perfect, because it gave them some privacy from the guards. Not that those guards were that annoying in Wyndham (at least not as bad as in some other towns), but the distance between their house and the centre of town gave them enough opportunity to occasionally do something the guards might not approve of.

See, March 21st isn't only special because Lisa was born that day; it also marks the 18th anniversary of the victory of The Western Empire over The Eastern Plains, a country which includes Wyndham. That victory, unfortunately, is not much reason for celebration for the inhabitants of Wyndham, because ever since that day, the Eastern Plains have been suppressed by Garth, a mad sorcerer from The Western Empire.

That victory led to the usual issues: high taxes, obligated military duty and a list of forbidden practices. Not that the Manore family actually obeyed those laws, but it were definitely not prosperous times for the people of The Eastern Plains, and disobeying the law came with a great risk, for the guards under Garths command weren't all that merciful.

Anyway, one of these laws was that civilians were not allowed to train themselves in the art of fighting. It's not hard to imagine, though, that for a blacksmith, living on the edge of town with all sorts of weaponry around him, it might be rather difficult to obey that law. And that is why Lisa and her dad went to the forest in the mountains every night to practice with sword-fighting and weight-lifting, so that if there ever came a day when they had to fight for their survival, at least they would be prepared.

However, today, that would be different, because Lisa had other plans. Since they weren't actually allowed to celebrate birthdays and since the whole town had been on rations for the past 18 years, meaning they could also not have a good feast, Lisa wanted to get straight to it: she wanted to learn how to be a blacksmith.

Fortunately, her father, William Manore, was just as excited about it as her, so it didn't take much time to convince him. He was so proud of his daughter's interest in his trade that he showed her everything he could think of, right on the first day. He even let her forge her own blade, which was an amazing experience, even though it went horribly wrong (she let the iron slip out of her hands while it was still hot, making it scatter all over the workplace). Regardless though, it was the best day she had ever had.

In the following 3 weeks, they worked in the smithy every day to keep up with the high demands of the Empire, while Lisa started to get better and better. Naturally, she still lacked the experience to forge a proper blade, but after 3 weeks, she finally managed to forge her first wieldable blade: a small but heavy 1-hander, strong enough to hit an armourpiece without breaking.

The next day, they went to the forest to train with sword-fighting, as they still did every day, but this time, Lisa brought 2 swords: the sword she had received for her 17th birthday, a long and light 1-hander, which was much stronger than it looked, and of course the blade she had forged herself. It appeared to be quite difficult to fight with though, resulting in her losing against her father, something she hadn't done in a while.

That is also the reason why, after about an hour, she was disarmed, making her blade fly through the trees and onto the plains. William laughed, clearly relieved that he could still beat his daughter in some way, while Lisa walked back onto the plains to fetch her sword. It was starting to get dark, though, so William decided that it was time to take his daughter home and began collecting their equipment.

When he was done, he looked up through the bushes, slightly worried that Lisa had been gone for quite a while. At that moment, he saw her running towards him, so, relieved, he walked in her direction, still with a smug smile on his face from his victory.

That is, until he saw his daughter's face....