Prologue

The continent known as Utora went through many changes over the millennia. In the beginning it was relatively flat, scattered with a variety of wildlife and hunter gatherer human tribes. Daily life was the same for each creature on the continent, search for food, eat, sleep, and survive.

At some point the humans began simplistic farming methods, gradually moving from a nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one of small communities set up around fields of crops and domesticated animals. As these communities slowly grew, the area required for farmland widened. With the increase in population, the risk of fighting also increased, leading to the splitting of communities and the migration of humans further inland.

One human man lead a group of about one hundred people to the center of the continent, hoping to start a new farm community there, far away and safe from the growing hostility of the larger communities located closer to the coasts and streams. In the center, they found a glistening spring, full with an abundance of fresh water. Surrounding the spring were enchanting large trees, wide enough for ten people to join hands around the based and tall enough to reach the sky.

The ignorant humans, excited to start a new life in this fertile land, cut down hundreds of trees closest to the spring. They irrigated the lands and built lodgings with the abundance of natural resources found in this paradise like place. The seemingly never ending blessing of water and great trees lasted for generations, with the once small settling growing into an early civilization of tens of thousands of people. With the growing need for food, the irrigation was lengthened and more forest was cut down until the spring began to run dry and only the largest tree next to the spring remained.

Desperate to save their droughted lands, the decision was made to remove the final tree and dig deep to the source of the spring. With the great tree removed, a giant rock was revealed, where the source of the spring was suspected to be found. The humans spent weeks attempting to move and break the massive rock to no avail. No matter how much effort they put in, nothing could be done. Eventually, the leader of these people sent envoys to all the other human settlements in request of their strongest men and beasts, promising immense reward to anyone who could move the immovable rock.

Many responded to the request, with the strongest men, oxen and other beasts assembling at the center of the continent. Each man took their turn, attempting to remove the stubborn rock. One man came forth, not with a beast, but with an iron hammer, heavy enough it would require the strength of ten average men to wield it. With a mighty swing, the hammer came crashing down on the tip of the rock, revealing a small crack to everyone's surprise. Excited by the development, he continued to swing his hammer, further widening the crack. Other men took the opportunity to jump in and wrap ropes around the split halves of the rock, tugging from either side as the man beat down with his mighty hammer. A crowd cheered as the rock got closer and closer to being fulling removed, until one last push revealed the source of the spring and water began gushing out. Everyone present celebrated and danced in the water, now showering out in an arc from the spring.

However, the celebration did not last long, for without any warning the water began to gush out even stronger and the ground began to rumble, causing an uneasiness to quickly spread across the air. When the ground started shifting, people panicked and ran in every direction, trying to find cover from what was about to happen. Soon enough a bright light beamed out of the source, shooting towards the sky, opening a portal to another world. Strange creatures started to emerge from this portal and attacked anyone in sight, ripping off limbs and devouring bodies whole.

No one knew what to do. The entire scene was chaos. The man wielding the hammer managed the fight off a couple of large beasts and made his way to the portal with the plan of pushing the rock back into place. A lion like creature with two heads jumped at him from behind. He managed to dodge, but found himself falling into the portal he had been hoping to block. In an instant the bright light became even brighter, blinding him from everything else around him.

A moment passed and he found himself standing amongst the clouds, in an ethereal land floating above the world below. Luscious trees stood tall next to a glistening waterfall pouring from the sky into a golden pond where rainbow fish could be seen swimming beneath lily pads. A beautiful woman with long silver hair and green eyes sat next to the pond, feeding the fish with the bored stare.

It took the man a few moments to recover from the shock of being transported to the enchanting scene in front of him. Once realizing he wasn't dead, he turned to the lone woman for help, explaining the situation in the world below. She simply nodded and turned to walk away, disappearing behind the floating waterfall. The man was left alone to wait for quite sometime before she returned with four more beings possessing the same otherworldly beauty. They each, in turn, descended into the light portal through which the man had came until only the green eyed woman was left. She dipped a small goblet into the waters of the golden pond and handed it to the man to drink. With a little apprehension, he finished the contents of the goblet in front of him then he followed her back into the portal, and with another flash of blinding light reentered the world below.

When he returned, he couldn't fathom how much time had passed. What had been just minutes up there could have been millennia down below, for the tranquil scene that greeted him was drastically different from the chaos and bloodshed he had witnessed just moments before. The large rock, split evenly into two halves, sat on the side of a small lake surrounded by large mountains with snowy peaks. If not for those immense rocks he had split himself, he would not have believed this to be the same place. The four beautiful beings met them at this spot and convened with the woman standing before him. Three of them then disappeared into the light portal with the portal soon fading away behind them. The woman and a giant man with crystal blue eyes remained. In the blink of an eye, the giant picked up the human man, hoisting him over his shoulder, and set off flying in the sky above, leaving the woman alone by the serene lake.

They flew over great swaths of mountain before the giant man landed in a wide field of tall grass on the edge of the towering mountain range over which they'd just passed. He put the human man down in the field then disappeared just as quickly as he came.

Many generation upon generation have passed since that time. The numerous small tribes that once existed on Utora are long gone, now just a history for scholars to explore. A few great kingdoms rule over the continent and a greedy empire grows, eager to start new wars with its unwilling neighbors.

It is during this era where this story begins.