the uprising finalized

7/27/2019 The Uprising Finalized

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The Story of

ALDARIONTEMBUSU ORIENTATION 2013


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Contents

Chapter1: The Invasion

1.1 Humble Beginnings 1.2 The Landing

1.3 Battle ofLal Pahar

1.4Elaan

Chapter2: Habituation 2.1 Silent Cartographers

2.2 Time

2.3 Growing Deviance

2.4 Hope

Chapter3: Secrets

3.1 Realization 3.2 The Imperius Curse

3.3 Houses of Tembusu

Chapter4: The Fellows

Chapter5: The Prophecy

Chapter6: The Uprising


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IChapter1: Invasion

Humble beginnings

Hidden in the world of Arda is a magical place named Tembusu home of the

Browns. Exactly why Tembusu was magical was something that nobody, not even

the Browns, had actually established. Not formally at least.

Perhaps it is the crisp, clean air that greets you every day; perhaps the pure,

sparkling water; or perhaps it was the people warm, friendly, and welcoming to

everybody who came.

The rest of Arda was sparsely populated. Tembusu was the only visible sign of

civilization in the explored parts of the planet. Immense segments of Arda remained

untouched, simply because what resources the Browns had was plentiful and

sufficient to sustain them.

They were highly intelligent beings, but the Browns were not the only ones that

lived on Arda. There were a few other races that dwelled in small numbers on the

resource rich planet. However, instead of typically marginalizing and governing

these minority races, the Browns included them in their society, and they bonded

together as one cohesive community. Everyone was happy and content the

harmonious equilibrium that existed in Tembusu was indeed sui generis.


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The Landing

One night, a night that seemed like any other night, there was a bright flash in the

sky one quite unlike those meteors or comets that occasionally passed by. This one

was different it lasted longer; it was brighter too, and had a strange after-glow to

it.

As the Guardians neared Arda, they huddled together in the assembly room of the

Albatross. It was an ancient ritual that had been practiced before every invasion

theyd embarked upon. This wasnt any different, except maybe the stakes were

higher. As the Albatross elegantly floated through Ardas outer sphere and into the

stratosphere, the green and brown land was easily visible from the blue bodies of

water.

Slightly less than a month ago, the Guardians had commissioned the Albatross a

state of the art battleship with unmatched capabilities across the known universe.

Arda had recently been discovered by one of the Guardians Scouts. It was a rare

find. So many minerals and in such vast quantities, particularly vauxite. Vauxite was

depleting rapidly due to its intense mining in the other Guardian kingdoms; andthey were desperate to replenish their reserves.

Capturing Arda was classified high priority. The Guardians had no idea if the

creatures on Arda were intelligent beings or would bow down. But failure was not

an option, not this time. The decision was made to err on the side of caution and the

Albatross was built specifically for this mission.

Tembusus vauxite fields sparkled in the sun. The massive ship slowed down and

docked itself on a plateau the vertical take-off and landing gear scorching the

grass in four neat, circular patches. After a cursory scan for hostiles, the Guardians

unloaded.

They savoured the environment. Inhaling air that could actually be described as

beautiful, they basked in the soothing ambient temperature. There was not a soul to

be seen for miles. The Guardians exited the Albatross and brought out their mobile

command base, the Ranger.

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Vendetta, the head of the Guardians contingent directed his elite guards to pile into

the Ranger. According to the report from their scouts, there was an academy where

the largest community of Arda resided. It had an odd name Tembusu.

Decrypting the name was not foremost on Vendettas mind. With a glance at

Albatross, he directed his men towards Tembusu and the Ranger silently moved off,

a barely-noticeable dust trail in its wake.

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Battle of Lal Pahar

There were signs after that night. An odd sense of foreboding was brooding in the

hearts and minds of the Browns. Not even a day had gone by before the Ranger

entered Tembusu Academy. Confirming the scouts report and map sketches,

Vendetta directed his reinforcements towards a rendezvous point just outside

Tembusu.

It was an open grassy space flanked by a hill. The Browns had no weapons or

ammunition. They came to what they knew as Town Green to see half a dozen

airships flying in.

The intruders wore a sort of armour that covered their faces with a ridiculous smile.

Some of the more nave Browns had brought fruit and flowers to welcome the new

faces.

Without any warning, Vendettas Guardians fired mercilessly A few Browns tried to

run for shelter. But few escaped. The hill bordering Town Green was re-coloured

crimson red, henceforth to be known as Lal Pahar, or Red Hill.

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Elaan

Vendettas clean-up crew had the hardest job. Nevertheless, by dawn, the Town

Green had been restored. It looked as if nothing had ever taken place there. Except

that something had.

While clean-up operations were on-going, the scouts were scouring the rest of Arda.

Throughout the rest of the night, they patrolled and rounded up the rest of the

inhabitants that were living in secluded pockets of the planet the fortunate ones.

They were brought down to the study, where Vendetta was lazily browsing

Brownian literature. As the door of the reading room opened, Vendetta cursorily

glanced upwards. Ten creatures stood before him. None of them was a Brown.

His second in command handed him a clipboard with the list of races: Bloodelf,

Beast, Naturekin, Warlock, High Elf, Shifter, Ogre, Orc, Dwarf, Fallohide. He grinned,

addressing them.

Their lives would be spared if they managed Arda for the Guardians.

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IIChapter2: Habituation

Silent Cartographers

The Ranger nestled into the vehicle bay of the Albatross. Vendetta dismounted,

strutted off, while the rest of his guardsmen scuttled to their posts. Motioning to the

pilot, he swiped in his arm in a circular motion, signaling that it was time to return

back to headquarters. As the engines revved and the ship began to ascend gently,

Vendetta allowed himself a smile of triumph. He felt reinvigorated by his latest

victory.

Dawn was approaching. The unforgiving rays of the sun were penetrating Tembusu.

An eerie sound resonated from somewhere. It seemed to be coming from the link-

bridge. The link-bridge connected the Academy to its Great Hall. Some rolls of paper

were levitating at the edge of the bridge. Upon closer inspection, the Ogre

proclaimed that it contained Vendettas instructions.

The paper showed the locations of Tembusus numerous vauxite mines. However, it

wasnt as easy as it seemed. Accessibility to the mines was restricted. In order to

gain access to the mines, they could take only certain routes deemed safe by

Vendettas scouts. They had until sundown to hand over the vauxite daily.

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Time

Was a routine. Waking up to the eerie sound that signaled the scrolls were ready;

collecting that damned piece of paper; letting it dictate the rest of the day. The days

seemed longer and nights seemed shorter. The sound had become a beckoning.

However, as time passed, the survivors found what the scouts had missed. More of

their own. More of each of their races in small pockets of land around the unexplored

parts of Arda. Eventually, they too were integrated into their respective clans and

the races began to grow.

The Guardians didnt bother this just meant more vauxite each day. As the

survivors got better and better at mining, they often met their daily quota before

sunset, and they gradually began to end their daily labour whilst it was still bright.

Days slowly started to show glimpses of life.

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Growing Deviance

Unrest was brewing. With more time to talk, people started getting ideas. And ideas

were dangerous. The Shifters had everything to do with it. They had invited

everyone to be present in the Great Hall for a town meeting, just like the old days,

like the Browns used to do it.

The leader of the Shifters glid to the front. As she cleared her throat, silence fell. She

began by thanking everyone in a shrill voice before slipping into a muttered

monotone. The crux of her speech revolved around increasing the combined vauxite

output to amass goodwill with the Guardians.

Unfolding a piece of paper, she narrated the story of a cousins planet which until

recently had been invaded and controlled by the Guardians. The survivors, over-

worked to exceed the expected daily returns of vauxite. And the Guardians

recognized their efforts Vendetta had personally flown down to Ursula to thank

them, grant them freedom.

Her story incited hope. And hope was dangerous. There was no telling what a

hopeful man might do because hope translated to possibilities, no matter how small.

It had begun to drizzle. The sun was nowhere to be seen in the darkening overcast

sky. Aisha straightened herself and addressed the people, imploring those who

were in favour of over-mining vauxite to raise their hands. Besides the elders who

remained cynical, all the others on the Town Green raised their arms immediately.

As the weather started to worsen, the decision of the people gave the community

that dangerous feeling a sense of hope.

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IIIChapter3: Secrets

Realization

It had been some time now since the excessive mining of vauxite had started the

vauxite ore was depleting. The entire planet was running dry. The races scoured

Tembusu, which had been left untouched so far. Soon they realised a small number

amongst them had amassed a vast quantity of vauxite over the years. They called

themselves the Fellows.

There werent many of them but they were much older and wiser.

They lived around Tembusu but were incredibly watchful of the rest. Now that the

Fellows had come to know that the races were increasingly desperate, they

resurfaced.

They presented a few options. In exchange for vauxite, the races would have to

complete tasks with the Fellows a cooperative that would ensure maximum

productivity. With little choice, they complied for the time being, at least.

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The Imperius Curse

Days went by with the survivors completing tasks for the Fellows. Still, the amount

of vauxite collected was falling, and the Guardians had noticed. After conferring

with Vendetta, the Scouts travelled to Tembusu to enforce the Imperius Curse.

Right after sunset as the vauxite for the day was collected, the curse was cast. As

the unfortunate ones writhed in pain on the forest floor, the Elders knew what

needed to be done.

It was said that Tembusu had five ancient Houses Shan, Ora, Gaja, Tancho and

Ponya. Each house had had a shrine on the Town Green. Prayers offered at these

shrines to the Brown with their House Flags could bring back the forces of the

animals from the time of the Browns. Over time the Browns had regrettably

taken them for granted; treating them more as pets, as totems even, rather than

appreciating them for the unique beings they were. When the Browns were

defeated by Vendetta, the animals had left. But now, the animals were the Elders

only hope.

Gathering on Town Green, the Elders retreated into solemn prayer, willing the

animals to re-emerge and save them.

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IVChapter4: The Fellows

The Imperius Curse awoke a certain spirit inside the residents of Tembusu. That age

old decision that they made against their Elders to overmine vauxite was coming

back to haunt them. Vauxite was now completely depleted from the mines.

Whatever was left was with the Fellows. The Fellows had met with the Elders in

the Great Hall after the Curse had been lifted to negotiate terms of exchange for the

rest of the vauxite. It was a heated affair the lives of all the residents of Arda were

at stake and even though the Younger Ones had gone against the Elders, they were

determined to save their respective races. The Fellows knew they too didn't stand a

chance against the Guardians and had to cooperate. The Guardians quota of

vauxite was to be met everyday. However, even with the current stash that the

Fellows had, they would only last two days. The terms were simple: the residents

would complete certain tasks that the Fellows had set for them. Upon completion,

the residents would get a certain amount of vauxite. The Elders knew that they had

brokered a deal that was temporary, something that would last them only a couple

of days. If a permanent solution were to be found, they would have to work even

harder.

The tasks were relatively simple. Throughout the day, the Younger Ones worked

with their Elders. At sunset, the handover took place. After the ritual, the Elders

gathered everyone, including the Fellows, in the Town Green for their evening meal.

Rather than disgruntled counterparts, the Fellows and the residents were now

companions. As they shared their meal, a strange thing happened. A trumpet

sounded out in the distance, similar to that of Gajas - one of the Browns pets. The

Elders had prayed for their help last night. Even though the animals were almost a

day late, they had done so. The Fellows suggested to the residents that they search

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for the animals after nightfall to learn how theyve been coping alone, in the wild,

away from the Brown. Everyone agreed and they travelled to the nearby jungle

towards the sound where the trumpet had come from. Sure enough, the Younger

Ones got to see most of the animals that the Browns had, in their previous

arrogance, kept as pets. They were amazed at how well they had adapted to the

wild.

The next morning came, with the similar tasks. Being academic by nature, the

Fellows had uncovered certain bit of information that seemed like it belonged to the

time of the Browns. Thus, these were included in the tasks. The Elders realized

what that information meant they were the words of the Pavan the Prophet, a

noted Brown in his time. Upon studying one of them, the Elders realized that they

had been fools all along. The prophecies revealed the powers of revival vested in the

twenty ancient rings of the Browns. Rings that ended up in hands of Vendetta. As it

was said that the rings gave tremendous mining ability which was the only thing

Vendetta cared about he had passed out a couple of rings to each of the ten Elders

on that night. The Elders had worn those rings since, but did realize any other

powers that they provided until the moment they read the prophecy. It stated that

if the rings were to be strung together using Green Unicorn hair, an unimaginable

force would return to Arda and the Browns would be revived. It seemed that their

prayers had been answered. There was no need of vauxite from tomorrow.

In fact, there had never been a need for vauxite. It was merely Vendettas addiction

to the mineral that had polluted everyones consciousness it was a false

consciousness, as it were. Now that they had seen there were other possibilities,

the potentiality for a different world dawned upon them.

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VChapter5: The Prophecy

Sunset came, bringing with it the ritual of vauxite. The Younger Ones were

confused. They had a general idea of what was going on, but it was not clear to

them what exactly was going to happen. The Elders gathered everyone on the

Town Green for their evening meal. Afterward, in the Great Hall they announced

their plan. They had no vauxite left to give to the Guardians. The Fellows stack had

been exhausted. The options were clear. Either wait for the Guardians to attack

again, or proactively attack the Guardians. Until earlier that day it seemed foolhardy

to plan coordinated attacks against the technologically advanced Guardians by

themselves. But the tide had turned: they had come across the prophecy of revival.

With the help of the Browns, they could thwart the Guardians outpost in Carantur

and send them a message.

They brought their rings together and waited. It seemed that nothing was

happening. Then out of the blue, Pavan and a few of the Browns walked into the

Great Hall. Everyone stared at them in awe. There was a hushed silence. Pavan

walked up to the Elders and thanked them for reviving his race. The Elders briefed

him on the situation. Pavan readily agreed to lead them into Carantur and face the

Scouts who were on the island. He broke the news to the residents who had

gathered in the Great Hall and narrated his plans for the next day.

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VIChapter6: The Uprising

Night turned to day. As slumber drifted from Tembusu, everyone prepared

themselves for the journey ahead.

A few hours after sunrise, they arrived on the sandy shores of Carantur. The Scouts

had an elaborate set of defenses that required a certain amount of physical and

mental strength to overcome. But, it was no match for the residents. They

conquered the defense mechanisms and pulled through to the heart of the Scouts

camp. The Scouts had been alerted to the intrusion. They were even ready to strike.

But upon seeing the Browns, they had a change of mind. It seemed as if that an

entire race had come back from the dead. With approval from Vendetta, they readied

their retreat. Fighting the seemingly undead was too much, even for them.

Retaining their sense of humility, the residents watched them leave with a sense of

relief and achievement. As their aircrafts became little black specks in the sky, the

residents erupted in joy. They had achieved freedom, fighting their oppressors.

Pavan thanked and congratulated the Elders on behalf of the Browns and invited

them the Dining Hall in Tembusu for a victory feast.

Peace has returned to Arda.

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Story by Arjun SahaArt by Marcus Tan

Layout by Chua Kah Swee

the uprising finalized

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