2 the beginning
our story begins on a beautiful bright summer day clear Blue skies gentle breeze nothing but grass and a few sparse trees dot the landscape in the distance lies the capital city of Darkmoor in just a few short miles outside the capitol lies a modest but nonetheless important village of Haven.
the importance of Haven lies in its Rich farming community Haven is the hub for the primary farms which supply food throughout the entire dark empire now despite its name the dark empire isn't all that dark or menacing as a matter of fact the dark empire wasn't always dark as it were you understand that vampires in this world weren't always a thing in fact in the beginning this world only had one sentient race humanity.
but more on that later let's return to our idealic day and back to the village of Haven now most Farmers don't actually live in Haven they have their own homesteads to take care of.
their fields however deliver food to Haven which provides a place for local farmers to bring their crops and supplies be sold at Havens market which Haven then turns to sell to the empire as a whole the bulk of what Haven receives goes to the capital.
due to Havens importance it's one of the few villages with stone walls and a dedicated Garrison of guards.
the guard is to protect the village from the various wildlife predominantly demonic beasts and raiders various bandits and so forth.
demonic beasts are wild animals that have been mutated by magic energy not all demonic beasts are vicious some possess vast intelligence and are capable of peaceful coexistence.
however the majority are as any other wild animal just a lot larger and a lot more powerful and like any wild animal they operate primarily on their instincts and require food like any other creature however due to their general large size they tend to have a rather large appetite as well leading to devouring local food supplies and seeking food in populated settlements which can lead to catastrophic damage.
now many farms possess wards they keep magical entities such as magical beasts at Bay kind of like a repellent now I know you're wondering why can't you just Ward a village well it's simple these wards are powered by the land itself the larger and the healthier the land more powerful the wards.
now unlike farms villages just tend to have less vegetation the land isn't nearly as healthy their purpose is to act as a hub for the empire for various reasons such as economic or agricultural like Haven.
to compensate for this many villages use walls.
most villages use wooden bulk works which are good for general defense and a few century towers on the plains is all you need to notify the village of an attack however Haven is a lot closer to the capital and contains the bulk of the capitals food supply thus they have a much more sturdy defense coupled with a dedicated Garrison this Garrison's duty is to protect Haven and the imperial roadway.
just one mile out of heaven is the largest farm that supplies food to Haven this farm is called Stalwards Haven and this is where it all begins.
(dark empire haven't heard of anything so ludicrous such a bright and beautiful day for this dark empire.) hmm(still got a couple weeks till harvest so much to do today..hmm.. what is today.)
as I look out over the fields of golden wheat having just finished my chores for the morning can't help but think that I'm forgetting something .....
( right I need to get the books in order so I can get the help paid can't run this place by myself after all.)
satisfied and thinking that I knew what I had to do I take one last look out over the field and see a figure running frantically towards me a very familiar figure someone I have known for a very long time who acts more like a man than a woman one of the two people that I put my absolute faith and trust in.
(hell if she weren't a woman I'd probably be marrying her..... in....stead.. marrying... ma..rry..iinng aren't I supposed to.)
I turn my head at and now very tired and very angry redhead my best friend Emily Thatcher.
"hey Raven how's your morning."
she says to me slightly out of breath in a little Haggard.
"well I'd say about the same as always I'm just finished my morning chores and was about to do some bookkeeping."
"right right okay being very important for any business I get it just as important as keeping track of your dates after all you need to know you know when to pay your employees best friends birthday your own wedding stuff like that right."
"right right very imp..."
she interrupts me shortly with a very evil smile on her face.
"and only a complete idiot would forget her wedding day and mistake it for just a regular day right.
I mean it's not like you were supposed to be at the church in your dress you know 4 hours ago or anything."
my face immediately begins to pail
"tttthhhhaaaatts to..."
"TODAY WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING!"
I begin to immediately start hyperventilating.
"oh,my,Goddess,what,am I I I supposed,to,do,what,time,is it,a,little,after,midday I I I was,supposed,to,be,at,the,church supposed,to,get,ready,to,walk,down,the,aisle,oh,my Goddess is,Jonathan,waiting,for,me,did,he,think I I I left,him,at,the,altar,what,am,I,going,to,do."
"whoa whoa whoa calm down everything's going to be okay you still got time we'll go grab the carriage get back to Haven and get everything back on relative track come on I got everything ready for you we just got to get going!."
she helps me get my ass off the ground and begins shouting at some of the hands as we make our way to the barn I can't really understand her my mind's a complete mess right now I mean how could I forget my own wedding.
it takes about 45 minutes from carriage to get back to Haven during that whole time I have my hands clutched to my head when my best friend tries to console me eventually only succeeding by giving me a hard slap across the face awake and alert I prepare to take my first step into my new life with the man that I love most in the world.
