A new world I created

 The Sword of Loran is a simple story wrapped up in the creation of a new world that now exists in a different dimension.  It is a story that is as old as the oldest mountains in my real world. There is intrigue and greed. There are brave men and beautiful women. Problems are created by schemers and masters of intrigue. Problems are solved, sometimes, with the applied use of three feet of cold steel.

In this world, there is a religion that is still not at a mature stage. The religion makes heavy use of mysticism, but at the same, is very much invested in science. As the story developed, I could see that someday, the circle would be completed. We would have mysticism moving to science and then science to mysticism. What are the differences between scientists of today and the priests of old?

Then there is Xanfolo, the hero of the story. He is a brave man, a proud man, and a man destined to reach great heights. That is obviously true because he is the captain of the only Montian battle-carrier.

The battle-carrier is a gigantic balloon. It is many stories high, and the top is flat and capable of holding weapons and men ready for battle. Mostly, the battles are to be fought high in the sky. There is a problem, though. The major threat is posed by the Barbos who hide on the ground far below the carrier.

Xanfolo is captain of the Montian army, and by law, he must marry the princess who will become queen of Montia when her mother dies. The captain of the army then becomes the Consort. The captain is always a product of the people. Xanfolo is the son of a “flower-girl” and his father is unknown. At the age of twelve, he was taken from an orphanage and made a soldier. Over the years that followed, he rose in rank. There is no doubt that he is a commoner. The queen that rules at the time of this story is married to a man who is supposed to be the captain of the army and Consort, but for some reason, he has been permanently assigned to a distant outpost.  Xanfolo is the captain, though not yet Consort.

We add to this mix the fact that the six city-states have formed a League of Cities. This came about after several small wars that evolved into what was called The War of Assassins. The ranks of the royals were depleted. The League was given limited powers. Each city contributed two delegates. The chair rotated periodically. The city that had the chair had an extra vote which served as a tie-breaker. There were frequent complaints that the delegates took too much power away from the city rulers.

The assassins had done their work. The royal houses were weak. Harg had a king, but he seldom ruled. Harg was really under the control of Kinsa. There were organizations of craft workers, and there was an organization of “gray” people who believed that there had once been seven cities, and the seventh city was named Loran. The Priesthood thought that was blasphemy. The seventh city idea was an old myth. Some people believed that Loran had been the only city, and the six cities now did not come into being until Loran somehow disappeared.

Throughout this story, there is much talk about honor. Maybe it is true that in most dimensions, when honor is most talked about, it is indeed a rare commodity. Honor is like gold. It is hard to find, and once found, equally as hard to keep.