Worldbuilding: Mintauria
Northwest of the outer edge of the Rontak Empire is a land called Mintauria. Separated from the Rontak Empire by the dense Rogh'Hack Forest and from the Northern Elven Kingdoms by the towering Vushfall Mountains, Mintauria is mostly isolated from the rest of the Kraffnia continent.
Mintauria is full of hills, forests, and fertile land. Minotaurs native to the region follow a primarily herbivorous diet, supplemented by a small amount of meat. The fertile Mintaurian soil provides ample farmland for them to grow their food. However, Minotaurs are much larger than humans, and as such they require much more food to sustain themselves. Minotaurs spend most of their time farming and producing food.
Despite their formidable strength and endurance, Minotaurs are not naturally aggressive or warlike. Their internal culture is rather pacifistic. Minotaurs living in their homeland enjoy a peaceful agrarian lifestyle and conflict between tribes is rare. However, they will fight fiercely to protect their homes from outsider aggression.
Minotaurs from Mintauria generally have a low affinity for magic, but a medium affinity for life magic. This led to minotaurs developing an environmentalist mindset. Minotaurs use life magic to aid their farms, and to maintain and protect their vibrant natural forests. Some of those forests serve as important defensive barriers between Mintauria and the outside world.
Unfortunately for minotaurs, their size and strength make them highly sought after as slaves. The Rontak Empire routinely raids Mintauria through the Rogh'Hack Forest. The forest allows the minotaurs to take advantage of their close quarters combat advantage by setting up traps and ambushes. However, the Rontak Empire still manages to capture many minotaurs as slaves.
Slavers from across the western sea regularly raid the coasts of Mintauria and export minotaur slaves to the rest of the world beyond the Kraffnia continent. Only the most powerful slaver guilds can afford the upfront cost of attacking Mintauria, thanks to the minotaurs' combat prowess. Few slaves are worth more than minotaurs though, and a successful raid will bring wealth to all those who survive the endeavor.
Map of the Duremar Province
Chapter 7: The Expedition
June 28th, 2053
Duremar Plains, Fort Roanoke, 7:30 AM
Daniel was preparing for the expedition to Miretan to trade for Mithril. Miretan was roughly 350 kilometers southwest of Fort Roanoke. They were going extremely deep into uncharted enemy territory. If something went wrong, they wouldn't have any support.
Daniel knew this was a highly dangerous mission, but also an incredibly important one. If the 4th Deep Recon Team didn't bring back mithril, they would have no way of defending New York City, and the rest of the country for that matter, against demonic entities. Daniel knew his mission had to succeed, no matter the cost.
To that end, the 4th Deep Recon Team had been temporarily expanded to include an extra Rhino and two Abrams X2 tanks. They would be escorting three military cargo trucks carrying humanitarian aid and wyvern scales to Miretan. Elmot had assured them that the people of Miretan would accept wyvern scales as payment for mithril.
The tank and cargo truck crews added ten extra lives Daniel was responsible for as the commanding officer of the operation. Not to mention the three civilian scientists along with Eldryn, Elmot and Thungar. Daniel swore he would do everything in his power to make sure they all made it home safe.
As Daniel made his way out of the barracks towards the now complete vehicle depot, he caught sight of Benny and Thungar. They were heading to the vehicle depot as well.
Benny greeted Daniel with his usual boisterous energy. "Danny boy! Glad we caught you! I have a surprise for Thungar, here. You should come check it out too."
"What have you done now, Benny?" Daniel said mockingly.
"Nothing nefarious, if that's what you think. Come on, you guys are gonna love it!" Benny replied excitedly.
Daniel wondered what Benny was up to. It wasn't uncommon for Benny to be this proud of himself, but it usually meant that he did something he wasn't supposed to. They arrived at their Rhino and Benny, with a huge grin on his face, opened the rear door.
"Ta-da!" Benny exclaimed. "I modified this seat for you, Thungar! So you won't have to ride with your head sticking out the hatch anymore."
Looking inside the crew compartment, Daniel could clearly see what Benny meant. He had ripped out two of the standard seats and replaced it with a single larger one, more suited for a minotaur. It was a large white 3D printed seat in place of the standard black plastic seats. It looked very uncomfortable, for a human at least. Benny also removed the overhead storage compartment above the original two seats, to make room for the larger minotaur sized seat and passenger.
"Well? What do you think?" Benny asked excitedly.
Thungar was speechless. He was not used to being treated with this much consideration by humans. He sat down in the chair, testing it out. It seemed to be comfortable for him.
Then Thungar looked back up at Benny and said, "No human has ever shown me such kindness before. You have my gratitude."
Although Daniel was impressed by Benny's initiative and ingenuity, knowing Benny, he also probably violated a dozen vehicle regulations.
"Benny," Daniel began, "Did you get approval to modify this vehicle?"
"Well, no," Benny said sheepishly. "But when I submitted my request to the Vehicle Operations Manager, she didn't explicitly deny it either."
Daniel rolled his eyes, annoyed, "Well that's something, I guess." Daniel clapped his friend on the shoulder, "Great work, Benny."
Soon the rest of the team arrived, and they were ready to get started. Daniel divided his marines among the three Rhinos. The trucks and tanks had their own crews attached to the 4th Deep Recon Team for this mission.
Being the highest ranking officers besides himself, Daniel gave Emily and Liv each command of a Rhino. Daniel's command cabin was manned by himself, Benny, Marcus, and Eldryn. Benny was driving, of course, while Marcus manned the equipment operations station in place of Liv. Eldryn would serve as their guide through the Duremar Plains.
Soon the 4th Deep Recon Team was ready to depart. They pulled out of the vehicle depot and headed towards the south gate of Fort Roanoke. The single file convoy was led by one of the Abrams X2 tanks, followed by the Rhinos and cargo trucks in an alternating pattern, while the other Abrams X2 tank brought up the rear. This formation would offer them the best protection and distribution of firepower.
As they cleared the outer gate, Daniel looked out the Rhino's periscopes. His gaze was met with sprawling green grasslands as far as the eye could see. The Duremar Plains were mostly flat with some small hills here and there. There were a few scattered trees across the landscape providing shade to roaming herds of Rembles and other animals.
"Marcus," Daniel began, "Launch recon drones to scout ahead of us, and in a three kilometer radius around the convoy. If one of those demons comes anywhere near us, I want to know about it."
"Yes sir," Marcus replied.
He quickly relayed Daniel's orders to Emily and Liv in the other two Rhinos and coordinated with them to efficiently deploy their collective recon drones. A few minutes later, several drones launched from the tops of the Rhinos and flew off in all directions to keep an eye out for anything and everything.
A few hours passed uneventfully as the convoy traveled south across the vast Duremar Plains. There were a few crude dirt roads cutting through the landscape, but most of the journey was done off road.
"Sir, one of the drones has spotted a village, directly ahead of us," Marcus told Daniel.
"We'll go around it," Daniel said. "Tell the convoy to keep a distance of at least two kilometers. We don't want to frighten them by getting too close."
This mission was of the utmost importance. Daniel knew they didn't have time to stop at every village they came across. Marcus relayed Daniel's orders to the rest of the team. The lead Abrams X2 tank made a slight right turn to keep its distance from the village. The rest of the vehicles followed.
The drive was largely uneventful. They didn't run into any Rontak Empire soldiers and they avoided contact with any villages they came across. The flat terrain made for a relatively smooth ride thanks to the Rhino's robust suspension system. Thungar was surprised at how pleasant the trip was now that he was sitting in a seat rather than standing.
Their route took them not far from Rontak's Reach. Daniel regretted not being able to stop and gather intel on the city the abducted Americans were apparently sent to, but the mission to Miretan was a higher priority. God knows what those poor people were being subjected to, but until they had a way to defend against demonic entities, all of New York City was in danger. Perhaps even the entire country. The recon drones detected more than a few wyverns flying in the direction of Rontak's Reach, but none of them turned towards the convoy, so they weren't a cause for concern.
By the end of the day, the 4th Deep Recon Team had traveled almost 200km; more than halfway to Miretan. As night drew closer, Daniel kept an eye out for a good place to set up camp. He watched the overhead drone footage. The road they were on would take them through a lightly forested valley.
Benny, seeing the forest up ahead, said, "I don't like the idea of setting up camp in there."
"Neither do I," said Marcus. "If I were going to set up an ambush on these plains, that forest is where I would do it."
Daniel agreed that stopping for the night inside the forest would be too dangerous. "We'll set up camp on the edge of the forest tonight and continue on to Miretan tomorrow morning," he said. Daniel relayed the plan to the other vehicles.
The 4th Deep Recon Team found a suitable spot away from the road to park their vehicles and set up camp. They were about 500 meters from the tree line, giving them a good firing line if there were any Rontak Empire soldiers hiding in there. Daniel doubted it though; modern vehicles moved too fast for the primitive armies of the Rontak Empire to mobilize and intercept, even if they did somehow have accurate intel on their expedition.
The vehicles were arranged to form a loose wall around the expedition's camp. This time, their camp was much larger due to the extra vehicles and personnel. While the marines set up camp, the twelve droids from the Rhinos patrolled the area and kept an eye out for any threats.
As the sun began to set, the marines set up a few fire pits with wood gathered from the nearby forest. A marine bent over with a lighter and some firestarters to light the fire, but Elmot gestured for him to wait and said, "Allow me."
He pointed two fingers at the fire pit, and a small burst of flame shot out, igniting the wood. Elmot lit the other fires as well, in another small demonstration of magic. Whenever Elmot used fire magic, small red particles would float around his hand for a moment.
Daniel sat with Elmot and David, the team's physicist, as everyone broke into small groups and sat around the fires to eat their dinner. The MREs were unappetizing to the Americans, but to Elmot, Eldryn and Thungar, they were amazing. All the nutrients one could need were packed into a single small meal. Taste wasn't as important to them given their previously impoverished lifestyles.
"So, Elmot," Daniel began, "What exactly makes mithril 'magical'?"
"I do not know much about metallurgy," Elmot replied. "But all mages know the basics. Mithril's inherent magic gives it great strength and durability. There are not many blacksmiths who can forge a blade stronger than mithril out of a non magical material. It's also surprisingly light and radiates magical energy in the form of a slight glow."
"I see," said Daniel.
"What's mithril used for?" David asked.
"The Rontak Empire uses the mithril mined from Miretan to forge demon killing weapons. That's actually one of the reasons they chose the Duremar Province to create their portals," said Elmot. "My homeland uses mithril for much more than just simple weapons, but the Rontak Empire is not magically advanced enough for mithril to be widely used."
"So the elves north of the Vushfall Mountains have more magic than the Rontak Empire?" Daniel asked inquisitively.
"Oh yes, very much so. The Rontak Empire is magically inept by comparison. That's why they launch raids and take us as slaves. Our superior magical abilities are very useful to them."
Before Elmot could elaborate on the applications of mithril or elven magic in the Rontak Empire, one of the droids briskly walked over to the group. In its artificial mechanical voice it said, "First Lieutenant Ramirez, a patrol has detected a hostile lifeform approaching from the forest."
Before Daniel could ask for more information, a loud ghostly moan came from the direction of the forest. Everyone fell silent as they listened for what made the noise. Then they heard several gunshots coming from the forest; in seconds, the entire camp sprang into action. The marines were running towards the direction of the disturbance with their ARX-35 assault rifles at the ready.
As Daniel ran towards the edge of the camp he asked the droid, "Is it a Demon?"
The droid responded, "Negative. The lifeform does not exhibit the anomalous thermal signature of the entity that killed the 5th Deep Recon Team."
That was a relief at least. If it was a demon, the only thing they could do was get back in their vehicles and hope to outrun it. Thungar ran after the marines as they prepared to fight off whatever was coming towards them. He didn't have a weapon, but he was eager to see firsthand how these Americans would fight.
Daniel reached the defensive perimeter. The vehicles facing the forest consisted of an Abrams X2 and two Rhinos. The marines and droids took cover between the vehicles and readied their weapons.
The forest was about 500 meters away. Daniel's tac visor highlighted the outline of two droids running back towards the camp. Something was chasing them, but Daniel couldn't see what it was. More ghoulish cries could be heard in the distance as leaves rustled and branches snapped. Whatever was coming towards them, it wasn't human.
The droids were running faster than any human, but the lifeform seemed to be keeping pace with them. The marines switched off their safeties and took aim at the creature as it emerged from the forest. Their tac visors could help them see in poor lighting, but it wasn't as good as full night vision gear.
It was good enough though. Through the darkness of the night, Daniel saw what could only be described as a monster. It had a large humanoid body made of wood about 3 meters tall. It had moss and fungal growths all over its body. The creature had four long razor sharp claw-like fingers on each hand. Its head was some sort of animal skull with an array of long pointy antlers coming out of it. The creature had a dark aura around it that seemed to absorb the moonlight that shined down upon it.
Credit goes to the original artist, this image is not my own.
"Jesus Christ!"
"What the hell is that thing!?"
"It's coming right at us!"
Not wanting to get a close up look at the monster, Daniel shouted, "Weapons free!"
The marines and droids opened fire on the creature. Gunshots rang out through the night, but it didn't seem to do much. The creature staggered a bit under their combined firepower, but it was still charging towards them across the open field. The two droids it was chasing were almost halfway back to the camp now.
"It's too big!"
"Our rifles are no good!"
"Someone man the damn tank and fire!" Daniel shouted.
Marcus moved towards the Abrams X2, but before he could get to it, the creature stretched out its menacing arm towards the two droids it was chasing. Green particles swirled around the monster's arm.
Several thick vines suddenly erupted from the ground beneath the fleeing droids. They curled around the droids, splitting into smaller tendrils as they wrapped around the droids' mechanical bodies. The vines were tangled throughout the droids' joints and chassis. Then, the monster, still rapidly approaching, clenched its fist and the vines yanked the droids to the ground, ripping them apart in the process.
The two droids were now nothing more than piles of scrap metal. The vines retreated back into the ground, as if they were never there. The monster continued its charge towards the 4th Deep Recon Team.
Daniel watched as Marcus started to climb onto the Abrams X2 and open the hatch. He wasn't fast enough though. Daniel watched as a vine curled around Marcus's foot and pulled him off of the tank before he could get inside. More vines began to grow out of the ground around the marines.
Daniel felt something wrap around his leg and he looked down. He saw one of the vines wrapping around him. His fellow marines were in similar situations as more and more vines sprouted out of the ground beneath them.
They all scrambled to get away, having seen what happened to the droids, but most of the marines, including Daniel, were unsuccessful. The vines wrapped around their feet, tripping them as they tried to escape. Some of the marines managed to use their combat knives to cut themselves free, but new vines kept appearing. There were too many of them. The marines were helplessly pulled to the ground, tangled in the vines.
Thungar was nearby, doing what he could to help. He ripped apart the vines with his bare hands and pulled as many marines as he could to safety. Eventually a few of the vines managed to curl themselves around the minotaur. Thungar let out a distressed bovine roar as he was pulled down to one knee by the vines. Eldryn also tried to help, but he too was quickly subdued by the vines.
Daniel was on the ground, struggling with the ever tightening vines, as the creature got closer and closer. Before the vines could seriously injure anyone however, a beam of brilliant white light shot out from behind the marines towards the monster. The growing vines immediately began to loosen and wither away as the monster let out a terrible wail. The creature's ghastly cries of pain reverberated across the landscape.
Daniel wriggled free of the vines and got to his feet. He stared at the monster as it cowered against the intensity of the light. The beast held its arms up to protect its face, but it was no use, the light was too strong. Daniel watched as its shadowy aura was overwhelmed by the beam of light.
Daniel turned around to find the source of the light. He saw Elmot standing just a few meters behind him, his arm outstretched towards the creature and the beam of white light emanating from his hand.
Elmot was surrounded by a cloud of white particles. They seemed to flow around him and into his hand. Elmot's face wore a look of focus and determination as he used magic to defend his American allies.
Daniel turned back towards the monster as it let out one last cry as the wood that made up its body began to crumble. Piece by piece, the creature's arms, legs, and torso all fell to the ground, inert. The creature was finally gone, reduced to a pile of forest matter. The monster's skull sat atop the pile, staring at them ominously.
As the marines got up and processed what just happened, Daniel turned to Elmot, who looked exhausted, and asked, "What the hell was that?"
Elmot dazedly looked at Daniel for a moment and mumbled, "That... Was a forest ghoul."
Before Elmot could explain further, he promptly fell to the ground, unconscious. Daniel rushed over to him and shouted, "Medic! We need a medic over here!"
June 28th, 2053
Somewhere Above the Rontak Empire, 10:00 PM
Princess Maribelle was flying high above the skies of the Rontak Empire on her personal dragon, Rago. Her saddle was situated just behind the base of Rago's neck. Dragons were much larger than wyverns. While a wyvern was comparable in size to a car, a dragon, on the other hand, was a bit larger than an elephant. Unlike wyverns, dragons had a total of six limbs: four legs and two wings.
Rago's scales were a beautiful golden yellow, although it was difficult to tell through the darkness. His thick neck was topped by a magnificent head with a complex array of scaly protrusions and horns. Rago was a regular dragon, rather than an elemental dragon, and he was one of the only tamed dragons in the entire Rontak Empire.
Although she wasn't in any sense a mage, Princess Maribelle had a certain talent for psionic magic, specifically beast taming. She loved animals and beast taming came naturally to her. Working with elven beast tamers, she managed to befriend and domesticate Rago, who eventually became the namesake of the Order of the Dragon. Despite their name, the rest of the knights of the Order of the Dragon only rode wyverns.
Flying wyverns at night was very dangerous, as it was near impossible to see where you were going or land safely. However, dragons have excellent eyesight and could manage flying at night if the moons shined brightly enough, as was the case tonight.
Princess Maribelle was on an urgent mission to gather information on the Otherworlders invading the Duremar Province. Before she could begin her mission however, she had to meet up with the rest of her knights. She didn't want to waste time waiting for daylight.
It was rare for more than one division of knights to be summoned together for a single mission. Usually, the four divisions, Water Dragon, Earth Dragon, Fire Dragon, and Air Dragon would operate independently. However, the Otherworlders and their powerful magic weapons were an extreme threat to the Rontak Empire. Princess Maribelle had summoned both the Water Dragon and Earth Dragon divisions to Duremar.
The Fire Dragon and Air Dragon divisions were scattered throughout the eastern and southern parts of the Rontak Empire respectively. They were too far away from Duremar to arrive in time to be of any use on this mission.
Princess Maribelle's mana comm suddenly came to life with a panicked voice, "Princess Maribelle? Are you there?"
It was the commander of the Water Dragon division and Princess Maribelle's close personal friend, Ralva.
"I'm here Ralva," Princess Maribell replied. "What's wrong?"
"Thank Gwuardon you're alright! When we heard from the airfield in Vakria that you never arrived, we began to panic."
Gwuardon was the dominant deity inhabiting the Rontak Valley, where Ralva and Maribelle grew up. Princess Maribelle was supposed to have landed in the city of Vakria before continuing her journey in the morning.
"I promise you, I'm fine," she assured her friend. "I just don't want to keep you waiting for me at Rontak's Reach."
Coming all the way from Ronta, Princess Maribelle was the farthest Dragon Knight from Duremar. Many of the other knights she summoned were already there.
"You're still flying? Maribelle, are you crazy?" Exclaimed Ralva.
"Don't worry, Ralva," Princess Maribelle assured her friend. "I may not be able to see where we're going, but Rago can. He knows where to go."
Princess Maribelle used psionic magic to briefly confirm with Rago that he knew the way to Rontak's Reach. Using psionic magic to communicate with Rago wasn't like verbally speaking to someone. It was more like a sharing of thoughts and ideas than a conversation. There were no words, only a mutual understanding between the two.
Rago shared his thoughts of the journey with Princess Maribelle. She saw the world from Rago's eyes as they soared above the skies. She knew that they were on course to Rontak's Reach.
It wasn't too difficult for Princess Maribelle to use her limited magic to communicate with Rago. The more intelligent the animal, the easier it is to communicate with them. And dragons are some of the most intelligent animals in the world.
"Rago is already faster than any wyvern," Ralva argued. "At this rate, you'll get here before the rest of the Water Dragon division."
"The sooner the better," Princess Maribelle retorted. "Besides, you, Palok and General Rallek will have to update me on the situation in Duremar before we can begin our mission. That will give the rest of our knights time to arrive."
Palok was the commander of the Earth Dragon division.
"Alright, fine," conceded Ralva. "Just make sure you get here in one piece. The last thing we need right now is for something to happen to you."
Princess Maribelle chuckled and said, "I'm riding a dragon, Ralva, who could possibly harm me?"
Princess Maribelle and Ralva continued catching up for a while. After that, their conversation ended and the mana comm fell silent. Princess Maribelle was now alone with Rago again, soaring over her father's empire towards the city of Rontak's Reach.
Soon her mission would begin and Princess Maribelle would finally set out to gather information on the Otherworld invaders. Who were they? How big was their army? How many magi cannons did they have? For now, they were a mystery. But Princess Maribelle would find out soon enough. Her father was counting on her, and she refused to let him down.
Author's note: Sorry for the long wait! I had to draw the map and then I had writer's block for a few weeks. Chapter 6 was the last of my original outline, so the next few chapters might not come out as rapidly. Sorry the map label are a bit hard to read, I'll try to use slightly larger labels for the next map. Stay tuned for more American Gate!