Phase 1

Once Upon a Time

 Another step up, and its bloodied hands aren't any closer. Upon the cliff sits a light, calling for it. "Help." It screams, though its voice only a whisper. Every night it screams and screams and still Ozhil cannot get any closer no matter how much it fights and claws its way up the obsidian cliff that fileted its hands and carved its hooves. Suddenly, the void in which this mountain sits rings with an ear piercing noise that shakes Ozhil's very being until its hands slip...

Suddenly Ozhil sits up, hair a mess and eyes unfocused as its alarm clock blares. It reaches over, slapping its hand against the bedside table until its hand finally finds the button that'd cease the excessive noise muddying its senses. It stretches with a loud yawn and a groan, feeling its back adjust with a satisfying pop before finally deciding to get up. Making its way to the bathroom, its hooves dragging against the matted floor, the mirror reflects to it a tired man with fur a yellow-hued tan and his hair a messy strawberry pink. Its blue eyes stare before it remembers to be alive, sighing as it splashed its face with water to wake itself up and get ready for the day.

After cleaning up and putting on its favorite sweater and jean shorts, it grabs its leather shoulder bag already packed with the necessities before rushing out his apartment door, his hooves hitting hard against the stairs as he makes his way down four flights. He makes his way down the block, his steps rushed and purposeful as he passes a book store with posters of the great heroes of the past and a small hat shop with a new, trendy head scarf on display. At the corner sat a retro cafe, built to look wooden and natural, the smell of coffee and pastries wafting from the door as above it hangs a small-shop name despite the food chain being well beyond that. Ozhil walks up to the counter, glad to have beaten the usual morning rush.

"Good morning, what would you like this morning," asked a bored looking cashier sporting a flattened horn and a nose piercing.

"I'd like a hot caramel zalha with extra caramel please. Medium sized, please." *Ozhil responded,* "Oh- and an almond custard pastry, please." The cashier rolled their eyes at Ozhil's politeness and just rang up the items, then looking at the pink-haired man with a blank stare, "That'll be 1300." Ozhil paid with two 600 coins and a 100 coin.

After recieving his receipt, though quite an old-fashioned habit, he walked over to a chair by the window, sitting down and opening his journal. He reads through past entries while waiting for his breakfast, only looking up when the usual grey-haired woman walked over. "Mornin to ya, Arosh." 

"Good morning to you as well, Ozhil. You're early today." She commented as she set the pastry and coffee down on the table.

"Gotta be, I finally got the green-light to scrounge through the old archives." Ozhil responded with the biggest grin.

Arosh just gives a polite smile, not wanting to break the young Elasmoth's spark, "Well, if you find anything grand I'm sure we'll all hear about it." As she walked off, Ozhil bit into his pastry as he looked at his phone, looking at the news. On it he scrolls past "30 years after the war: how to look for savages," "New fashion trend: tail beads!", and "Kingdoms becoming unruly: Empress to make an announcement by this evening."

In the castle above, the Empress sits upon her throne, two seemingly stone guards standing to either side of her, the only sign of life being their slight head movement and tense posture as the Empress moves. The moment is long and tense as the Empress' fingers gently tap against her throne before she decides to speak, every guard flinching along with her advisors, "... I think it's about time we get this country under control." Above the stone ceiling with the story of Elasmothus is carved, looming over them all.

A voice of a representative comes in, "Once upon a time... Long ago, the country was disorganized chaos. Dragons cursing the continent, Queens and Kings full of malice, a continent filled with famine and poverty. That is until our great Empress rose from the depths. Under her guidance, her disciples followed. A warrior disguised as brawn saved a distressed queen, creating the witty and naive. A winged siren sang the songs which led savage ships to the North to wreck, creating trickery and truth. An angel mourns her love, carrying him until his passing, creating sorrow and passion. A whisperer of the dead brings forth a new era from man to machine. Together they brought the kingdoms together and turned its people against the demon that had damned it."

Shots of each kingdom fade in: Ocean having thieves, Medieval kingdom's queen overthrowing its king, Mechanical kingdom's people being attacked by organic folk,  the North being inhabited by savage rebels, the East-most kingdom closed off in indefinite quarantine... and the central kingdom being civilized. Then comes in a news anchor voice, "To think that after all that work a country could be so divided, pain across every kingdom. Today, the Empress speaks to bring it together once more. Perhaps, even, to rid of the influences the old demon Athomazhrok once and for all."

Standing upon her platform, the Empress speaks up, the crowd going immediately silent. "In a world full of murderers and thieves, savages and conspirators, we have stayed civilized as a kingdom. Alas, we it time we spread our gift to the other kingdoms, but we first need to see firsthand the damage we are left to repair. Scholars of many kinds will be sent out to spread our gospel, and spread Elasmothakor's protection, to set them free. We will liberate this country, and become one." With that, many in the kingdom cheered in the crowd gathered below, Ozhil among them.