and so it . B E G A N .

Deep in the heart of a world unknown to most lies the country of Alcoza. It began as a peaceful, prosperous country, but time and human imperfection will change it soon enough. Most of Alcoza is very rich and agriculturally strong – all except for a certain area just on the west side of the mountains of Ai, which marked the eastern border of the country. The neighboring country of Zanzhara was equally prosperous. They were the two largest countries on their side of the globe. They were the world powers in that time. Life was simple for people of both countries. Most people survived off the land, lived in relatively simple houses, and were quite happy.

Unfortunately, Alcoza and Zanzhara did not get along well, as could be expected of two countries vying for power. The serious dispute, however, didn’t begin until the small country of Vander came into view. Vander bordered both countries, and was almost equally divided between them, spatially. The King of Zanzhara decided to take Vander over and make it part of his country. Vander was lush and agriculturally rich – more so than either Alcoza or Zanzhara. It was quite wealthy because of it. Thus, it was entirely natural that King Renault, the king of Alcoza, was threatened by the idea of Vander becoming part of Zanzhara. He claimed that he had more right to Vander than Zanzhara did by far, since more of Vander’s border touched Alcoza. The king of Zanzhara countered by saying that Alcoza was already larger than Zanzhara, and thus it should go to him. The dispute lasted for years before it really erupted.

The real eruption was, in truth, Renault’s fault. Renault had been a good king. One of the best Alcoza had ever had, in fact. The people loved him. However, he had a bad temper. In a heated dispute with Zanzhara’s king during a meeting, he drew his sword and threw it across the table at him. He missed, luckily, but the deed was done, and war was now unavoidable.

The war was brutal and bloody, and did little good. In the end, Vander had pulled out and begun fighting for itself, and both larger countries, wounded by famine and monetary losses, pulled out at that point. Renault died shortly after from a wound he received during the war. The strain had been too much to allow him to recover. His wife, Helena, died shortly after he did – assumedly from sorrow at the death of her beloved husband, leaving no one to rule the country but their only son, Hashim.
The economy had thrived under Renault’s rule, and the country had grown and expanded, both in size and in wealth. His death was deeply grieved by his people, as well as his officials, generals and personal friends. His son, Hashim II, took over for him, and at first had seemed an apt and wise ruler. He was young – only about twenty at the time, but many thought he would fill the gap left by his dead father perfectly – to the mold. They were wrong.

Now, in the country of Alcoza, turmoil is rampant. Work is hard to find, and even harder to keep. Since the slave trade had begun to flourish under Hashim, few who had the money to hire workers had the inclination to since slave labor was free. Renault had done his best to abolish the distasteful practice, but his son had nothing against it, and thus it had come back full force under him.

The king, Hashim, was a terrible ruler, and his name had become more and more obscure on the list of those trying to find a solution for the desperately failing economy. After his initial take-over, he had seemed very capable and intelligent, but soon the façade fell away and his true character was revealed. He had no care for the people whatsoever. He preferred to wrap himself in lavish lifestyle and forget about the problems of his subjects. The country was ruled more by the king’s advisor, a dark character by the name of Noriev, than by the king himself. It was rumored that Noriev had actually had something to do with the death of King Renault, and possibly even with Helena’s death as well, but nothing could be proven. It was known, however, that most of the kings decisions were really manipulated rather craftily by Noriev.

The king lives in an enormous palace, with an entire city within its walls. Inside it, he seemed to have shut himself out of reality and let his focus rest on his own desires and pleasures. He is corrupt and selfish. He had married a daughter of a prestigious noble, whose beauty was rather legendary in the country. But that didn’t keep him from having a few flings here and there. In reality, he had a small harem of women who lived in and around his palace, whom he called on from time to time. The queen, Ysbail, was not at all blind to what was going on, but she knew she had no control over it, and she didn’t care too much for the king himself anyway. She turned a blind-eye to the whole practice and pretended not to know. Their son, the prince Niccolo, showed little promise of become anything better than his father, and many people worried that he could become worse, having no positive influence at all.

The prince, the heir to the throne of Alcoza, is as spoiled as one could imagine. Since his birth he has received anything he wished for, and no discipline whatsoever. He had been a mere toddler at the close of the war against Zanzhara, and now was just seven years old. He had no idea about the problems with the economy, and his father didn’t seem to have any clue either. Despite the problems in his kingdom, Hashim lived in lush pomp and comfort.
With the government so far out of hand, corruption leaked down to the nobles and other wealthy men. They began claiming even more power than they were entitled to in the first place, and often terrorized peasants simply for the “entertainment.” They took advantage of the poor and helpless, and rampaged through the country. Morality and wisdom were thrown to the wind and banished from their presence.

Thus the state of affairs in the previously admirable country of Alcoza was far from pleasant. Life was hard for everyone who wasn’t under the influence of the king’s favor, and to top it off, there was threat of famine in the country. The nobility only makes up about five percent of the population, and the other ninety-five percent is left in such a state of destitute poverty that even the hostile country of Zanzhara has forgotten about Alcoza in any terms of a threat. Some of the people of Alcoza have even attempted to escape the ruined country into Zanzhara and Vander, but the attempts are both dangerous and difficult. The government (under Noriev’s guidance) has closed its borders to any exodus so as to keep the country inhabited. Zanzhara’s king is a wise ruler, and the country is still stable, thanks to his wise guidance and reconstruction after the war. Thus the conditions there seemed infinitely better to the lower class of Alcoza.
There have been rumors, however, of a rebel group forming under the leadership of a man named Azim. Azim was the son of a noble who was killed by Hashim’s men (no doubt by Noriev’s suggestion) when Hashim took over for his father. Azim’s father had seen what Hashim would become, and had intended to oppose him, and had paid for that decision with his life.
Azim had been plotting to overthrow the corrupt government ever since then, for he was of the same mindset as his father. He recognized the retched state of the country he loved, and now he is out to fix it.

In response to the rumors, Noriev put together a select guard to search out and destroy Azim’s troops, if the turned out to be reality. The men in the group are trained rigorously until they are honed military machines.

The rebels know about the “Echos” as the task force is called, and have put together a counter strike – or an attempt at one. They’ve managed to place one or two men inside the palace, and even a few in the Echo forces as spies, but they aren’t the only ones with that idea. Noriev’s men have also been putting together stealth attempts to find the rebels and draw them out.

Who will you join?