15DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING IS A CODEX FOR A FAN FICTION. I DO NOT OWN FIRE EMBLEM OR ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE. THIS DISCLAIMER GOES FOR THE ENTIRE CODEX.
"The Orobian Timeline, Part 1"
A chibified Tawni appeared in a puff of blue smoke. "Hi, readers of Fire Emblem: Night of Tales!" Tawni beamed, waving at you looking at the screen. "Welcome to the fourth wall breaking lore series called, well, Night of Lore!"
"Seriously?" a chibi Janiya asked while she walked in. "The author of this universe couldn't think of a better name for this spin-off series?"
"Well, it's short, sweet, and to the point," a chibi Sulaiman said, walking in as well with Howe, the latter taking a drink of a bottle of ale.
"You guys need to have better entrances," Tawni pouted to the other three. "But there's so few options to call the unofficial official codex of the Fire Emblem: Nights of Orobia lore."
"Unofficial and official?" Howe questioned, setting down his drink.
"Well, it's unofficial because this is the lore of a fan-fiction setting," Sulaiman explained. "And it's official at the same time because this is the closest thing to a codex written by the author."
"Also, this is the first time the four of us are all in the same room," Janiya shrugged. "So, how do we start this thing?"
"Well, there's no wrong way to do a lore series," Tawni reasoned. "But to start this off… how about some history?"
"Wait," Howe interrupted. "Why the hell are we even doing this? Surely the history and lore of Orobia, Giuss, Argelia, Xuhua, and anything else will be covered in the main story. There's no reason to even HAVE a second fanfic cluttering the main page, but this one being mainly lore based, as well as non-canon mini-scenes starring the really shrunken down bodies with big heads like us."
"I believe the correct term is 'chibi'," Sulaiman said. "I've heard a Xuhuan diplomat tell my father and brother about it."
"...What," Howe blinked. "They have an actual term? On top of hating me, they have a term for… this? By the way, what inspired these forms of ours?"
"Well, there's a mobile game that came out nearly a year before our adventures started," Tawni explained.
"I owed my sister a favor," Anna called from offscreen. "Seeing as you all would never make it in Heroes because you're all fanfiction OCs, I needed to use your chibi versions SOMEHOW besides how they'll be used in Night of Tales!"
"Damn it, Anna," Howe groaned. "Alright, fine, we'll suffer through this 'chibi' part. But I fail to understand why make an entire separate spin-off when, again, we plan to do a lot of lore in the main story."
"Because, Captain," Janiya frowned, "there are questions nobody reading this will wait for the answers for about, well… everything about Orobia. This is an entire new universe being built from the ground up."
"Also, the more established of a setting we have," Tawni smirked, "the easier of a time people will have navigating it and express more interest."
"...Alright, we'll do this," Howe shrugged. "Where did we agree to start, again?"
"I was thinking history," Tawni recalled. She then reached in her pouch, and pulled out an astral crystal and plate, a pointer stick, and a pair of glasses. She then put on the glasses, and put down the astral plate. Sulaiman and Janiya clapped their hands together, and cast a spell on the crystal. Soon enough, a giant timeline manifested from the crystal. Finally, Janiya pulled out her sister's Fire Emblem fragment, which she waved over the plate. "We'll start with the ancient times, and work our way up to the present."
"Shouldn't we actually explain these astral crystals and plates for our first lesson?" Howe questioned.
"For Howe and the people reading this," Sulaiman summarized, "it's pretty much using the arcane arts of magic on crystals that can conduct magic to turn them into essentially 'batteries' to charge small stone plates from some other world known as the astral plane. Before anyone asks if this has anything to do with Fates' astral plane, well… yes and no. Yes, it involves small distortions in time and space compared to our 'real world'. But no, we don't get a customizable castle in a pocket dimension out of it, we get images projected from potentially far distances, as well as interactable images like this timeline we're about to go over. Oddly, the plates are easier to find than mines for the actual crystals."
"We'll cover this in detail, later," Janiya assured you reading this. "Anyway, can we get started? When should we start?"
"How about the earliest known thing?" Tawni questioned, looking at the timeline. Poking the timeline with her stick, she cleared her throat. "Alright, now, not that this is going to be really important, but we'll be talking about a few eras. The first of which is the era Before Rerci's Imprisonment."
"Oh, right, the Genie Dragon," Howe said.
Era 1: Orobia Before Rerci (1000 BRI-20 BRI… This might take a while)
Howe began, "So, let's make this short, sweet, and to the point: In ancient Orobia, humanity found themselves under the rule of the manaketes and genies. The genies were first, but the manaketes came and showed themselves just as powerful as the djinn. The manaketes mainly believed in your Charles Darwin approach to life, where the strong rule and weak were controlled by the strong. Meanwhile, the genies are the ones who thought that power should be spread equally. The manaketes ruled the west and the genies ruled the east, and both tribes reasoned that if they try to avoid each other, they could prevent themselves from tearing each other apart. Not exactly the most ideal coexistence, but it had worked. How long did this accord last, again?"
"I'd say about until 300 years Before Rerci's Imprisonment," Sulaiman answered, looking at the timeline, and pointing to a year labeled, "296 BRI". "That's the estimated year Gargec, the Smith Dragon, born about 1,700 years before that, met Awdue, the Harvest Djinn."
"Who was born about 1,500 years before they met," Janiya added. "A lovely relationship those two had, despite one being a brutish dragon and the other being a naïve djinn girl."
"Okay, what part of 'short, sweet, and to the point' did you royals not get?" Howe questioned.
"Captain," Sulaiman said, turning to an image of a giant red dragon with a large hammer over a bigger anvil, pounding away at said anvil, "these two characters are important to the context of Rerci. They're Her parents. Gargec was a fire manakete who channeled the draconic urge to destroy things and hold gold into a productive talent by forging materials for humans." When the dragon's work was complete, he turned into a much smaller humanoid wearing a long, thick red cloak but had green spiky hair, gold reptilian eyes, and a pair of thick red wings protruding out of his back. He then presented what it was he was forging to a group of humans: a large purple and green sword that seemed to have green smoke coming off it. "Whether they were weapons, armor, tools, ships, or treasure, humanity was grateful to Him and his creations. It kept the humans loyal to Him and His tribe, and He got paid well for his craft. Much to the jealousy of His younger brother, Stratreo, who craved war." He then turned to someone off screen, and asked, "Idris, can I have a bottle of wine? I'm going to need it." Pointing to himself and Janiya, he added, "By the way, we're carriers of two of Gargec's creations. Our dads each have other weapons of his, Witherbrand and Pillansufa."
"Where did Gargec learn book-binding?" Janiya questioned, looking over the dark blue cover of Hova with the white twister symbols etched in. "Also, where did he learn spell craft?"
"Elemental dragonstones can do a lot and he probably had a few friends who helped him figure it out, I suppose," Sulaiman shrugged.
"Where are OUR sacred weapons?" Tawni questioned, pointing to her and Howe. "Seriously, I'm waiting for mine."
"You and Captain Howe will get yours, Miss Tawni, at the end of your personal stories," Sulaiman assured her.
"Yay!" Tawni clapped her hands together.
"Guys, let's not lose the audience," Howe told them.
"Sorry," all three other "lords" apologized.
Janiya continued as a brown-haired genie woman with enchanting green eyes and a gentle smile appeared on the astral crystal's image, showing her surrounded by fertile farmlands, "Anyway, Awdue, although you don't hear much about Her, was a genie with quite the green thumb. She grew enchanting foods and made the soils of what would become eastern Orobia very fertile. Many travelers felt blessed by Her ability to create such bountiful harvests." As if to prove Janiya's point, Awdue in the image placed her hands on the ground, and multiple fruits and vegetables erupted. Humans soon flocked to her, grateful. "However, due to the genies' rather even distribution of wealth and power, there were some have nots in the genie clans. Awdue's family was rather poor, even with this vast creation of produce. Her family got desperate enough to decide, against the will of the genie clans, to travel west into dragon lands."
"It didn't end very well for Awdue's family," Tawni sadly said. She then noticed Sulaiman's retainer Idris, also chibified, walk in with a bottle of wine, and several cups. "Um, Prince Sulaiman, why did you have wine come in?"
"Because I promised myself that every time I have to talk about a backstabbing younger brother," Sulaiman said, pouring a glass, "I'd have a small drink. Care to join me, Miss Tawni? Princess Janiya? Captain?"
"I already have my drink," Howe said, pulling out his ale again. The two men clanged their cups, and drank. While Howe took a full swig, Sulaiman took a few sips before putting his glass back down.
"Sorry, but I have to talk about Stratreo again," Sulaiman apologized. "Born a bit after Gargec, Stratreo grew up agreeing with the typical ancient manakete mindset that the strong should rule over the weak. The problem, of course, was that He took it to its logical conclusion that ALL non-draconic life was weak… and should be purged. He especially hated genies, and humans he thought so weak they needed to be destroyed before they grew strong enough to actually oppose draconic rule. His brother making things for humans didn't help His opinion of them… or His opinion of Gargec, for that matter."
"Sounds kind of like an evil djinn I know," Janiya noticed, thinking of Sizah.
"We'll talk about Her later," Sulaiman promised. "But the infamous 296 BRI happened. Stratreo and Gargec, while on a scouting mission, happened upon a settlement near their home, one that the two smelt djinn blood, in violation of the accord. Gargec was willing to negotiate a deal with the settlement to keep them from trying anything that would affect the manaketes, but Stratreo, eager to exert draconic dominance and kill a few genies, pounced. It was only because of Gargec that Awdue and Her sibling survived the resulting massacre. It was at that moment Gargec knew His brother was a psychopath. Had He actually killed Stratreo here, maybe a lot of pain would have been avoided."
"Prince Sulaiman!" Tawni frowned.
"What, nobody here wasn't thinking it," Sulaiman replied.
"Anyway, Gargec took pity on the genies, and welcomed them into the manakete hamlet," Tawni said. "It was tough for the genies, but they were alive. Eventually, the sibling left, returning to genie lands and what would become Cruibia, meeting a beastfolk person from what would be Argelia, but that's a long story. Meanwhile, Gargec and Awdue would grow close. Although the two had very different opinions about how to rule and guide humans, both them saw themselves as givers to humanity… and realize they weren't so different from each other. Awdue saw a gentle side of Gargec that made Her feel safe with his flames nearby. And Garge saw a prideful, powerful woman who could sometimes outdo His own stubbornness and strength. Add in the fact that responsibility was suddenly thrust upon them when Gargec and Awdue were given a child to care for, and well… they eventually settled down themselves, marrying in secret."
"A child?" Howe questioned. "Was this child Rerci?"
"No, her older cousin," Janiya said. "Turns out that surviving sibling of Awdue's had a child, but due to the genie clan's opinion on hybrids, they were forced to give up the child, smuggling said child into Awdue's hands."
"The hell?"
"Yeah, we haven't identified the child, ever," Sulaiman said. "Poswa's best historians are on it, but we believe the child was half-beast, half-djinn. As a quarter-djinn myself, it kind of seems that hybrids were inevitable."
"Yeah, moving on," Janiya quipped. "Anyway, Gargec and Awdue finally got married in a private ceremony, and all should have ended happily ever after once their own child was born, right? Well… some human prophets thought otherwise."
Era 2: The Era of Rerci (20 BRI-10 ARI)
"Perhaps I should tell this," Tawni said, pointing to approximately 20 BRI. She then showed an image of a long, green haired young girl with pointed ears, unattached earlobes and glowing green reptilian eyes, and cute fangs wearing a green and white two-piece dress. "The year Rerci was born was approximately the same time a group of human mystics, the first humans with magic without the use of tomes, would receive a prophecy of despair and destruction wrought upon the world by a dragon with access to great magical power, who'd destroy everything they deemed impure. Naturally, Rerci's parents heard about this, and realized that humans would, sooner or later, turn to their little girl. So, they spent the next 16 years trying to hide it."
"Can I interject?" Yasmin asked, poking her chibi head in.
"Yasmin?" Sulaiman asked, holding his cup.
"Sulaiman!" the older princess beamed. Yasmin then tackled him, spilling his cup and giggling as she did so, and hearts were floating over their heads.
"Yasmin, we're in the middle of a thing," Janiya said while the two were enjoying each other's company. "You can be lovely-dovey with your betrothed later."
"I'm sorry, but I'm bored, and Sulaiman and I won't be in the exact same location until Act 1!" Yasmin pouted, letting Sulaiman go while a chibi Lamia walked in and helped him up. "Also, this is my favorite part. The creation of the Fire Emblem by Rerci's parents."
"I too wish to partake in this," Lamia chimed in.
"Ah yes, the title McGuffin of the series we're a fan fiction of, and you two religious girls worshipping it AND its original carrier," Howe said. "Wait, how's carrying a shield supposed to help in this case?"
"The Fire Emblem of this world is actually an enchanted magical lamp," Lamia said, adjusting her glasses as the image turned to a golden lamp. "Also, even though in the worlds of Archanea, Valentia, Awakening, Warriors, and I'm thinking most likely Heroes have the Fire Emblem as a shield, it has taken on other forms in other worlds. Heck, Fates had the Fire Emblem actually be a WEAPON for once."
"The Yato, I believe," Yasmin said. The image then turned to the dragon and genie duo working on the golden lamp, before presenting it to a little girl. The girl was awed, and hugged Her lamp before hugging Her parents. Both Gargec and Awdue smiled warmly before letting Rerci run off to play with Her new magic object. "Anyway, our world's Fire Emblem was forged by Gargec and enchanted by Awdue as a gift to their daughter, to pour Her excess magic into it so she didn't become too powerful and circumvent this dark prophecy. I still don't think She'd be capable of such evil, because the Rerci I've heard of and grown up hearing stories about was a miracle woman, granting humanity so many things."
"It was quite nice," Lamia agreed. "Although, Lady Yasmin, you forget that Rerci had to, in the west, hide Her djinn origins, while in the east, mask Her manakete features."
"It was hard, but she did it," Sulaiman said. "And then… Stratreo. Idris, can I have another cup?"
"You don't need to drink, Prince Sulaiman!" Tawni said, jumping on his back. "You have three lovely maidens right here to keep you company and sane!" Yasmin giggled, grabbing Sulaiman's right arm. Lamia sighed, and tried to scoot away, only for Yasmin to pull her in, and make her hug Sulaiman.
"Ladies…" Sulaiman frowned.
"Anyway," Janiya said, showing an image of a large black and purple dragon holding Rerci in His grasp in front of manaketes, genies, and humans alike, all awed by the sight of her, while Gargec, Awdue, and a girl not much older than Rerci were held back by large manaketes, "Stratreo finally could not stomach His brother's hiding of Rerci any longer. He exposed her status as a hybrid to others… and the djinn race's fear of hybrids with the manakete's self-centered belief of mixing blood was the trigger he wanted." It then showed the genies and manaketes charging each other, a poor, scared Rerci in the middle, curled up in a ball of fear while Awdue and the girl comforted Her and Gargec was in His large dragon mode, fiercely facing down both sides to protect His family.
"The Dragon-Genie War finally began not because genies wanted to reclaim all of Orobia for themselves nor because manaketes were done sharing Orobia," Sulaiman said, "but because both tribes were afraid of an incredibly powerful little girl who was trying to control herself, and she didn't choose which side of her was the side she leaned towards. But more importantly, because Stratreo decided he wanted to cause as much death and destruction as he could. It was His most wicked act that forever shaped Orobia."
"And humanity itself was caught constantly in the crossfire," Yasmin frowned.
"Can I be let go, girls?" Sulaiman asked.
"Embrace the harem, prince, not too many Fire Emblem protagonists would be able to get away with it," Howe quipped. "So, when did the Orobian humans decide to blame Rerci for their suffering, kill Awdue, kidnap Rerci, and seal her away?"
"Captain!" Yasmin, Lamia, and Tawni all frowned, still hugging Sulaiman.
"Ladies, seriously, please let me go," Sulaiman said.
"Sorry!" all three said, Tawni jumping off of Sulaiman while the other two let him go normally.
"Captain," Sulaiman sighed, brushing himself down, "you could have handled that with a bit more tact."
"Look, we're seven pages in the gods damn lore on Microsoft Word," Howe said. "We can only fit about nineteen or twenty on deviantART at a time, can we please start summarizing?"
"Fine," Lamia said. Tawni pouted, but relented while the image showed Rerci with a pair of orichalcum cuffs on Her wrists and tears in Her eyes, surrounded by five cloaked figures that looked human, and Awdue dead on the floor. The Fire Emblem itself was broken into several chunks. "While rather blunt, the pirate captain tells the truth. Five human mystics, one day, ambushed Rerci and Awdue in their hideaway. Thinking Rerci was the dragon from the prophecies, they slew Her mother, Awdue, broke the Fire Emblem in chunks, and captured Rerci, dragging Her away to a hidden location called 'The Eternal Forge'. They sealed Her away, bound to never leave the Eternal Forge." Rerci was then locked away on the image.
"But the mystics forgot one thing: papa dragons don't like their little girls get kidnapped," Yasmin smirked. On the image, the mystics were then set upon by a giant dragon, albeit one without wings. "Although He was too late, Gargec never gave up on trying to save Rerci. Of course, Rerci's cousin disappeared, but that's another story."
"Where are His wings?" Howe asked.
"Stratreo," Sulaiman sighed. "In order to really stop His brother from coming to Rerci's rescue in time, Stratreo cut Gargec's wings off. Gargec, before leaving the Eternal Forge, discovered from Rerci that the only ways to free her was with the Fire Emblem or with four legendary weapons. And Gargec decided to forge the four weapons himself." It was at this point that Sulaiman and Janiya pulled out their own weapons, and two more—an axe with a watery edge to it and a dagger that seemed to spark up in flames—showed up on the screen. Tawni and Howe both looked in earnest.
"Are those…?" Tawni beamed.
"I think they are…" Howe grinned. The two reached up, only to have their hands swatted away by Janiya and Sulaiman, respectively.
"Not until later," Sulaiman chided. "After destroying His brother for what Stratreo did, Gargec retreated to His workshop while the Valley of Fangs was formed in the final battle of the Dragon-Genie War. For a thousand and one Orobian days and nights, Gargec labored. Eventually, he made Taryn, Hova, and their two pairs you two will get, later."
"What about Pillansufa?" Howe asked. "You know, the lightning blade used by the Cruibian king?"
Darius poked his head in, and said, "It's actually the youngest of the known weapons. Why are we all tiny?"
"Well, Father," Yasmin said, "we're chibis!"
"Okay, I'm just going to go see if there's a way to summon a chibi version of your mother," Darius said. "What Orbs am I supposed to use, Anna?"
"Your wife was a swordswoman, so I'd say red Orbs!" Anna answered.
"Thanks!" Darius said before disappearing.
"…He does know Queen Minoo is never going to be in Heroes, right?" Lamia asked.
"I should let him know," Yasmin said. Kissing Sulaiman on the cheek, she beamed, "Good luck with the rest of your history, my stalwart turtle!" She then walked away, grabbing Lamia as she did.
"Oh thank the gods, that was short," Janiya sighed. "Anyway, before He could rebuild the Fire Emblem and then go to work with the weapons on the Eternal Forge, Gargec was ambushed by a young genie named Sizah, who blamed Him for the war that destroyed Her family, and ruined so many lives. She swore vengeance, and destroyed his workshop, scattering the weapons AND the fragments. He survived the ambush, and was only able to save one or two fragments or weapons. Gargec then disappeared off the main surface of the world, only showing up from time to time, the era of dragons and genies ruling coming to an end… and the rise of humans taking control began. But not without some serious bumps.
Era 3: The Aftermath of the Dragon-Genie War (11-1528 ARI)
"Alright, short, sweet, and to the point like the captain wants," Sulaiman said, "Rerci's name was still a little sketchy. There were many humans back then and even some historians today who blamed Rerci's existence as the catalyst for the Dragon-Genie War, and thought She was evil or Her power would corrupt Her. I won't argue that Rerci is right to be angry at humanity if and when She gets out, but at least some people remembered that in Her brief time walking among us, Rerci performed miracles. So, a religion was formed around Her. This didn't sit well with a certain ifrit…"
"Sizah," Tawni frowned, showing the Chaos Djinn's image. "If the stories I've heard are true, She became a scourge on Orobia, targeting and blaming manaketes for the war. She began a savage reign of terror throughout Orobia. Eventually, She started going after humans who worshipped dragons and hybrids of manakete blood, even declaring Rerci Her arch enemy."
"This is despite the fact none of us can actually find a date where Rerci and Sizah met, let alone fought," Janiya added. "But this was one of the few times Gargec was active. He defeated Sizah, binding her for the first time, and sent her into exile where Muazi, one of Gargec's few djinn allies, kept an eye on Her, while He left the continent for a few centuries to go to where Argelia and Xuhua would be formed, and let the Orobian humans start building countries and nations of their own, worshipping whatever gods they pleased and doing whatever they wanted without fear of the manaketes and djinn."
Tawni said, "It was scary for humans of Orobia… for so long, they had lived in awe and fear of the dragons and genies, they never really imagined a world where they would be the ones in charge. But now, here it was, and the opportunity may have never presented itself again. So, they seized it, trying to build stable kingdoms. Some worked, like Rusnad being the longest-lived nation, although its leadership has constantly changed. Others, well… they didn't."
"I just realized I never talked during this whole era," Howe said. "What's next?"
"The Conquests of Malsum," Sema answered, sticking her head in.
"Oh, right, I thought I was missing some notes," Tawni smiled. "Hi, Captain Askoy."
"Argelian!" Janiya scowled, gripping her sword.
"Princess Janiya," Sulaiman said, holding her back, "this chibi world is neutral territory. You can't kill her without invoking the wrath of the gods of Fire Emblem Heroes. Furthermore, even if you COULD kill her here, she'll just respawn, and it'll have no impact on the main story."
"…Fine," Janiya sighed. "I'll relent for now."
"Greetings to you, Orobians, Howe," Sema said, walking in. "I know this is mainly you all, but I wanted to interject and add one of Argelia's esteemed generals since HE did have an impact on your continent."
Era 4: The Conquests of Malsum (1529—1635 ARI)
"So, as our Argelian expert," Sulaiman said, "what is this about Malsum?"
"Well, Malsum was born in what would become Argelia," Sema began. "A powerful earth manakete and thought to be even the direct rivals to Cydris and Gargec, the only two beings in this entire world to have actually managed to defeat him. To put this into perspective, remember Sizah?"
"You're talking to the girl who has to fight Sizah in her story arc," Janiya deadpanned.
"He delivered to Her so much of a humiliating and brutal curbstomp, Sizah has NEVER returned to Argelian territory."
"This dragon sounds awe-inspiring," Tawni breathed. "Why isn't he on the front lines or considered a god?"
"Two things," Sema answered. "One, although he's powerful for a manakete, he never wanted humans to worship him, and he has a love-hate relationship with the rest of our kind. And two: well, if he was on the front lines more often, I would say Malsum would do more than enough damage to Orobia to make you surrender. The royal family seeks counsel with him, just as they do Cydris, but they let him keep to himself. After all, he did spend around two centuries ravaging Orobia."
The image showed a giant, bone white dragon, semi-tattered wings, gleaming golden eyes, sharp, jagged teeth, and tribal markings going down his back and even to his long tail, flying over a large city. This was followed by him landing in said city with an ear-shattering roar, followed by inhaling and unleashing a torrent of mud to ravage the city alongside other dragons coming in to continue the rampage while humans fled in fear.
"Gods," Tawni said, flinching away from the devastation and hiding behind Sulaiman. "That's terrible! And he's one of your generals!?"
"He advises," Sema answered. "Luckily for me, I answer to the Emperor Consort. He's still kind of scary to look at when you first meet him, but he's nice, he let me play with Princess Kadri when we were little girls, and he's a great boss."
"He's also the Big Bad's husband," Janiya deadpanned.
"Anyway, Malsum, back then, was a more ruthless manakete," Sema continued, ignoring Janiya's pouts. Showing the destroyed town, she elaborated, "Not only did Malsum conquer Argelia, but most of Orobia. He had the Orobian humans in fear, often tearing down their great cities for over a hundred years." Soon, though, a city was built atop of the ruins. "Survivors started offering him sacrifices to let them live in peace." As if on cue, Malsum was offered sheep, goats, huge mounds of fruit and vegetables, and even a bear. The bear looked at the people, giving them a "What the hell is wrong with you" look before being eaten by the dragon. "But this didn't sate Malsum's conquest. Despite their numerous setbacks thanks to our Earth Dragon ruler, Orobian survivors kept rebuilding, even after his rampages. Even when he tore them back down, they kept going." As if to prove her point, the city was then set on fire once again, only for it to be rebuilt. "He admitted to me during one meeting that he admires old Orobia's determination in the face of adversity like him. It certainly outlasted a LOT of his fellow manaketes. But Malsum didn't give up… at least, not then."
"So the ancient Orobians fought him and won?" Howe asked.
"Back then, it wasn't easy facing a manakete, since dragon-slaying weapons weren't as common," Sema nervously said. As such, a group of soldiers tried to fight Malsum, only to be easily crushed by him shooting giant boulders at them. "But despite the defeats, many pressed on and rebelled."
"So they couldn't win, conventionally," Janiya frowned. "What made Malsum give up?"
"He didn't exactly give up," Sema said. "A common human woman named 'Marina' opened his eyes." The image showed a young human woman bound in chains staring up at the white dragon. "When a village in what would be a part of Argelia couldn't offer their tributes in livestock, gold, or produce, they offered Marina to the manaketes as a sacrifice because she had pleaded for peace." The dragon grabbed her, and whisked her away.
The crystal then showed Marina in the manakete's village, being regularly abused. Malsum's large self then turned into a more human appearance, with wiry black hair, dark skin, narrow, golden eyes, pointed ears, and brown and purple cloak. Marina got onto her knees, and begged the manakete for something.
"Despite the torture the manaketes put her through, Marina didn't break. She kept strong, proud, and true to her ideals. But one day, she did beg Malsum for something. But rather than beg for her life or for her freedom… she continued to pray for peace between the dragon and humanity, and asked them to spare her village. A village that cast her out, no less. Malsum… was moved. Although it took years to win his people over and she never left the manakete village alive, Marina did, ending Malsum's conquest, and leaving Orobia and what would become Argelia in peace."
"Just like how you're going to leave US in peace and get out of here?" Janiya asked.
"I suppose I can wait until it's Argelia's history's turn," Sema said. "Until we meet again, Orobian royals and Roma. Captain, see you in our next chapter." Sema then walked away.
"Bye!" Tawni beamed. "You know, for an Argelian commander, she's nice."
"This is the same country who murdered our mothers, destroyed a city full of innocents, waged war on us for five years, and seeks to conquer Orobia," Janiya said. "All of this in cold blood." Howe nervously stepped away from her.
"There has to be more to this war than just black and white, Princess Janiya," Tawni said. "Case in point, I'm a thief, you've got serious anger issues, Captain Howe is a pirate, and Prince Sulaiman has apparently a literal evil side because he has trouble controlling his ifrit part of him."
'She's onto you,' a voice in Sulaiman's head scowled. Sulaiman saw a darker version of himself appear next to him. 'Figures the Romani girl would be the one to see me. You should silence her before she curses us. Don't fall for her beauty and wiles. She's only using you.'
"Can I have a drink, please?" Sulaiman asked aloud.
'You'll regret ignoring me!' the dark Sulaiman pouted, but vanished.
Turning to Sulaiman as he finally had a drink, Tawni asked, "So, what's next?"
"What's next is we should take a break," Howe said. "That's a lot of information condensed into eleven pages."
"We're already eleven pages in, and this is the abridged format?" Tawni asked.
"You'd be surprised as to how quickly background information can stack up," Sulaiman said. "Especially in a narrative format like this."
"Well, fine," Janiya said. "I'm kind of emotionally drained after having to deal with the Argelian woman."
"Alright," Tawni relented, taking off her glasses. "We'll take a small break, and finish this up in the next part." Turning to the screen, she waved, "See you guys later!" She then threw down a smoke bomb, which engulfed the screen. When the smoke cleared, all of them were gone… save for Janiya.
"…Oh, we're supposed to leave," the princess realized. She then walked off, grumbling, "Damn it, Tawni, cue this better."