War of the Races - The Verdant Realm

Chapter 1- The Artifact

In the near future-

The world is no longer the simple human world we once had. Of course, in reality, the world was never simple. However, now, it is infinitely more complicated. How is it more complicated? Well, to explain the future, I have to tell you about the past. Have you ever heard of the ‘Flood’? You know the biblical catastrophe?

Yeah, that happened, but there is so much more to that story, which coincidentally was mostly wiped out except for one source. So, how is this relevant? Just this: all the races of mankind share a common ancestor, but anyone who has gone to Sunday School knows this. What most people don’t know is that there used to be so much more diversity among humankind than there is now. For instance, the Alfari are known by most as elves. The Dvergr, the surly Dwarves of fantasy. The Jotunn, the enigmatic giants, and even the Asgardians and Vanir- they all really existed, and many more.

In that first Age of Mankind, they were known as the Patriarchs, but after the Fallen’s arrival, they began separating their families by tribe. Once segregated, they established small kingdoms, and to organize their efforts and to try to prevent skirmishes, a Council of the Races was created. However, the Fallen from heaven quickly corrupted the Council with promises of forbidden magics and knowledge of science, and within the span of two hundred years, humanity leapt from what archaeologists call the Stone Age to a technological and magical Golden Age that inspired tales such as ‘The Lost City of Atlantis’.

Of course, some rejected the Fallen and the temptation of their magic and science; however, it was not enough. It was truly an Age of Wonders that also became an Age of Violence. By the time the Fallen began openly manipulating the Council of the Races, they were too blinded by their own greed to see that they were being manipulated against each other into waging wars on a scale never before seen. Those who weren’t killed by the wars soon succumbed to the rampant lawlessness, while millions more died by famine and pestilence. Amid the turmoil, the Fallen started bio-engineering hybrid races capable of reproducing at astonishing rates. Based upon human and animal mixtures combined with their own supernatural genetics and forced together with magic and science, they had only one goal in mind. Fight their way into the ‘Garden’ of the Creator and seize the fruit from the ‘Tree of Life’. However, in the end, war consumed everything and everyone until a Great Cataclysm was prophesied to come and wipe out everything. The Council of the Races decided then to switch priorities and throw all of their newly acquired knowledge of science and magic into creating a way to escape destruction. No one knows if they achieved their goal.

A little over a hundred years ago, a discovery was made beneath the Sphinx in Egypt. A hidden room, and very soon afterwards, the authorities were called. An investigation was completed, and, coincidentally, the archaeology team died of mysterious causes soon after. The room was once again hidden, and ever since then only one government agency has ever seen or had access to the room and the ‘Artifact’ inside. That is, until someone leaked the ‘Artifact’s’ blueprints to several newspapers, science magazines, and conspiracy newsletters.

The blueprints depicted what appeared to be a science-fiction ‘Gateway’ combined with a DnD fantasy ‘Portal,’ possibly built by aliens with many panels covered in complex hieroglyphics, runes, and a strange Sanskrit that matched no known language on Earth but seemed eerily familiar. It was Pandora's box. The Agency disappeared into the ether while subtly insinuating that the ‘Artifact’ was nothing but a hoax, urban myth, and conspiracy theory. However, to some scientists, the ‘Artifact’ became an intriguing topic of what-if conversations and debates and brought together mathematicians, physicists, astronomers, linguists, archeologists, and even scientists of far less repute into a dynamic and often coital conversation. But when no one could figure out how to make it work, it quickly lost its popularity and became a topic of scorn and was condemned as an impossible puzzle and a waste of time. It wasn’t until years later that a young DnD game master researching for a campaign for his club came across his father's notes and the schematics of the ‘Artifact’. Seeing an opportunity, he decided to create a new computer-based DnD MMORPG centered around the ‘Artifact’ as a portal to another realm. Unfortunately for him, for the first time in more than four thousand years, something actually happened. The game was called ‘Dimension’, or so it had been when I was alpha-testing it.

——(!)——

More than 50 years previous -

December 12, 1989 - Midgard Time

I still remember that fateful day so many years ago, waiting for my IBM 80/486 to load and the DOS prompt to appear. I sat there in eager anticipation and soon was typing ‘Dimension.exe’ in the command prompt. While the game was loading, I went and poured myself some coffee and ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. When I returned, there it was, the login screen.

A magical rune-inscribed gateway to another world on a simple black background, and the title of the game overhead: “Dimension.” Mousing over, I double-clicked the ‘Gate’ and was presented with my first major decision. My new character creation. With great diligence, I made my selections.

What Dimension would you like to visit?

There were five options available, all of which were question marks. The sixth option was (Random). Making notes, I described the error for my report. Returning to the game, and since I had no idea what the question-marked locations might be, I chose (Random).

What s*x would you like to be?

There were only two options: (Male) or (Female), so of course I chose (Male).

Your Race will depend on your Dimension. Would you like to choose your Race?

Oddly, again, there were over a thousand question marks for this answer, but only two choices were highlighted that I could choose from: (Human) or (Random). After making more notes on the errors, I continued and chose (Random). Then, with a deep sense of disappointment, I pressed (Enter) to continue.

From this point on, you may choose a Class and Profession. However, upon choosing the (Random) option, there is a slight chance that a Class can be upgraded to an elite class or have an added Sub-class. The same is true for Professions. Would you like to choose your Class and Profession?

Selecting the option to choose my profession, I was immediately moved to the next page and presented with thousands of question marks for selection options. With a sigh, I made more notes and then selected the Return to the previous page icon. Given the opportunity to possibly be upgraded, I like this option better anyway, and selected (Random).

What would you like to name your Avatar, or have a name randomly generated?

This one took me a little while to think about, but in the end, I typed in (Viridian).

Once my character choices were made, it was with great expectation that I hit the (Launch) button. The computer CPU fan revved up, the runes and hieroglyphs began to glow and dance across the surface of the Gate, and when the runes stopped moving, a swirling rainbow of color filled the space inside the Gate—then, everything went black!

——(!)——

Bauda bum—

Bauda bum—

It felt like I didn’t have eyes to open anymore, but at the same time, I was aware that wherever I was, it was completely dark. I felt warm too, not too hot and not too cold. The most uncomfortable thing, however, was that even though I couldn’t see anyone, I felt pressed in upon all sides.

Bauda bum—

Bauda bum—

I could hear, almost feel, a constant low drumbeat. It never stopped. It was always present. Sometimes it would race really fast, but most of the time it was steady. It sounded so familiar; I knew I should know it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember.

Bauda bum—Bauda bum—Bauda bum.

The drumbeat was racing so hard! I was starting to feel a little worried that it was going to break. Then, all of a sudden, I was being propelled forward. To where I didn’t know. Everything was still completely pitch-black, but I was definitely moving forward, even with the incredible press of other things all around me. I was moving at a crazy speed, flying somewhere so fast I was beginning to panic about the impact when I finally arrived wherever it was I was going. Suddenly, the press of bodies all around me was gone. I was flying free in a black void!

For a long time, that was all there was until, finally, the darkness lightened to a dark burgundy for only a moment, and then everything was black again. I moved forward somehow for what seemed like hours with nothing to see but darkness. I felt like I was on an airplane ride from hell with nothing to do, nothing to see, just darkness and waiting. I lost track of time; wherever this was, time had no meaning here.

Some excruciatingly long amount of time later, finally, came the first change in my surroundings, and it was smell. I didn’t notice it at first, but once I did, I recognized it immediately. It smelled like fresh snow on a cold winter day. It smelled like freshly baked sugar cookies. Licorice and lavender. It smelled like spring rain. Somehow, instinctively, I suppose, I turned towards the source of the ambrosial aroma. How long I flew, or swam, or whatever means of moving forward I was under, I had no idea. It felt like forever but could have been only seconds or minutes or hours. However, I had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to be, so I figured I might as well keep going towards whatever smelled so good. At some point, over the next few minutes or millennia, the next change came when I started hearing music. A wonderful, almost celestial sound that invigorated and rejuvenated me. With a surge of energy, I moved faster than ever. Wherever I was going, whatever smelled and sounded so good, I was headed towards it as fast as I could!

The darkness spread out before me in an unending vastness until, finally, one tiny pinprick of light appeared. As time passed, the pinprick grew to the size of a bright shining marble, and I found myself sighing in relief, ‘Finally! I’ve found my way out of this infinite darkness!’

Then, the marble of light grew to the size of a baseball and still I moved closer. It grew to the size of a softball, then a soccer ball, then a basketball, and then a huge inflatable beach ball. The light grew larger and closer, and the aroma that I smelled and the music I heard for so long grew stronger and louder until, in a frenzied panic to finally arrive at this new destination, I sped up.

I don’t know how long my last mad dash for the light lasted, but what finally loomed in front of me was a gigantic blue sphere of light. It appeared to be an enormous blue planet. A water planet. Excited and aroused and intoxicated beyond all reason, I didn’t slow down for a second. Instead, I hurled myself at the planet like a tiny hurtling meteor flying at supersonic speeds.

I hit the atmosphere, and it felt weird, as if it were partly gelatin. Still, I was burning up! It felt as if my skin was burning away! There was so much resistance, too much resistance! Whatever transportation I was in, it was coming apart! It burned up! I was burning up! Then, just as my ship broke through the atmosphere, I was ejected from my ship to continue plummeting toward the surface!

There was a vast, glowing blue sky. I had no idea where I was going, but wherever it was, I was traveling there very, very quickly. I was sure this was a planet. However, as I flew through the endless blue sky, I wasn’t seeing ground, earth, landmasses. Instead, a giant purple sphere appeared in front of me. It wasn’t a big deal at first, only a matter of curiosity. However, as I got closer, I could tell that whatever I was hurtling towards was not a planet at all. I didn’t know what it was, but at the speed I was traveling, when I hit it, I was going to go ‘Splat!’

For the final few seconds that I was conscious, if I had had a voice, and if there had been anyone to hear me, I would have been screaming in terror. When I hit the giant purple planet-like thing, instead of slattering across the surface, I punched into it like it was jello. I had time to laugh that I was still alive, and then the world exploded!

——(!)——

Nine months later -

September 5, 1990 - Midgard Time

Pressure. Intense pressure woke me up. I felt so confined, and then squeezed. I was being pushed—somewhere. I could feel myself moving. It was all highly uncomfortable. I remembered being comfortable. Warm. Safe. And now, the darkness suddenly became a brilliant, blinding light. I was so warm before. I hadn’t even realized how nice it was before, and now I was so cold!

Rebelliously dissatisfied, I cried out in protest. Why I did this, I didn’t know. I was a grown man. I could take care of myself. I just needed—a blanket, or maybe some clothes. I opened my eyes, but everything was a blur. I was grabbed by a giant and rubbed with a towel. What the hell? Where am I? Why am I so small? Who are these giants?

I was then passed around from giant to giant to giant. I screamed and yelled in protest, but they didn’t seem to care at all. I could tell, though, that one of the giants smelled very good, like fresh snow, and sugar cookies, and licorice, and lavender, and spring rain. I knew this smell, and I loved it. I knew that I would be safe with this giant, and I wanted it. Eventually, I was handed to the giant that smelled so good, and I felt warm and safe.

I stopped yelling in protest and looked up at the blur in front of me. I could tell by the shape that this giant was female. An extremely large-breasted female. Then the giantess pressed something against my mouth. It seemed to be her breast. She smelled good, she was warm, and now she was pressing her breast against my mouth!

Eagerly, I latched on to the giantess's n****e, and I started suckling for all I was worth! Then, the most unbelievable thing happened. The giantess started lactating! Milk! Beautiful! Tasty! Womanly milk started squirting into my mouth, and I ate it up eagerly!

Only once I started suckling did I realize how hungry I was, and soon I was dozing off. I didn’t stop suckling though, and I screamed in protest when the giantess pulled me away from her breast. However, she quickly flipped me around and pressed my mouth to her other breast. I was overjoyed!

Sometime later, my eyes cleared up, and I was finally able to see the giantess before me, and the first thing I saw was a humongous, softly glowing, snow-white breast. I was suckling the softest, warmest, tastiest n****e ever! Cutting my eyes to look up at the giantess, I broke away from my suckling to gaze in awe at the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Her skin glowed faintly white like the moon. She had a sharp jaw, a plump bee-stung mouth, a small turned-up nose, long pointed ears, and eyes that were black orbs as vast and unending as the universe and filled with tiny filaments of light like stars and galaxies.

“Hello, my wonderful little boy,” She purred in a soft musical voice. “Welcome to the world, my son. You are a child of love and commitment. You are the son of Summerset Vale, and I am your mother, Glen’nathel Moonlilly, a priestess of the moon goddess, Selene. And you, my beautiful boy, with such beautiful, vibrant green eyes, I name you Viridian, Viridian Vale.”

‘What the hell?’ I thought to myself. Was that my conception I experienced? And now my own birth? Not only that, but I also remember my entire previous life as Daniel Reas. All twenty-three years. My previous childhood. My mother, Helena Reas. Growing up without a father. school. Being a nondescript teenager in middle school and turning into a DnD nerd all through high school and after. Actually, now that I think about it, I died a virgin. I died, right? Because, here I am! Reborn!

Looking into this new giantess’s starry black orbs, I knew—I knew! She was my mother, and somehow I was her child.

I understood every word she said. However, when I tried to answer her, all that happened was that I turned back to her lovely, soft, softly-glowing moonlight-white breast, and I started suckling until eventually I fell asleep.