Relias: Uprising (78 page)

Granlow Empire

The roots of the Granlow Empire can be traced back to Arthellice Granlow, who led a counterstrike against Demondrak in the 9th Century that led to its destruction. Over the next thousand years, the Granlow family would grow an army of werewolves devoted entirely to the destruction of not only the Vyna coven (whose hatred of werewolves spread throughout the bulk of the vampire race) but of the vampires as a whole.

     It was around the 10th century that the Granlow Empire evolved into a new entity entirely. With the organization being as large and as widespread as it was, it became necessary to establish a new, reliable source of income. And the resulting drug trade, which was meant only as a short term solution, quickly transformed into a solution for the long term and acted as a launching point for the Granlows to enter other less-reputable markets including weapons smuggling, prostitution and human trafficking.

     As pressure from the Arctanican Empire increased, the Granlows found that, with the Arctanicans cracking down on their business and demanding obscenely exorbitant fees, their efforts would no longer be profitable. With that in mind, the Granlow leadership relocated to Brún in the late 11th Century where they found that their business could not only be reached by a broader market, but they could still keep roots in central Arctanica and maintain a business presence there.

     Because werewolves have a maximum lifespan of approximately 250 years, leader after leader of the Granlow empire passed, with the bequeathing of control of the organization keeping congruent with societal traditions and passing it along to the first born son.

     This pattern would reach a kink in 210 M.I at the birth of Pontious Granlow, son of Carnway Granlow. With a unique mindset that served to separate him from his predecessors, Pontious came into possession of a copy of the
Gotho Vysta
, an occurrence that would ultimately change the course of the futures of both the Werewolf and Vampire races. With the teachings of Ava Malyvyn kept firmly in mind, Pontious began to question the ethics behind the racial wars between the vampires and werewolves. To make matters worse for the Granlows, Pontious insisted the discontinuation of business that negatively impacts the lives of others. (These requests were made when Pontious was barely ten.)

     Over the next seven years, Pontious' disapproval of the family business would cause him to refuse inheritance of the Granlow Organization, an act which his father Carnway shrugged off as immaturity. Pontious' views would eventually lead him to emancipate himself and lead an army of vampires and werewolves against both the Granlow and Vyna covens. With Vyvyr Syvyr in control of the Vyna coven, however, an alliance would be quickly formed. Shortly thereafter, Pontious would confront his father in what would eventually result in a fight to the death with Carnway meeting his demise. Following a peace treaty written and signed by both Pontious Granlow and Vyvyr Syvyr, the Granlow Empire would be soon dissolved in 227 M.I. at Pontious's request.

Syrvo Enterprises

During the Union, Syrvo Enterprises, based out of Pyre,  become one of the world's most valuable companies. Owned by Henry Fawkes (pronounced dead after a fatal car crash) Syrvo Enterprises played an integral part in the downfall of the Union. Being an international conglomerate, Syrvo had a hand in a broad number of markets. Its most lucrative market, by far, was the hand that it had in the oil industry. Using its vast influence, Syrvo withheld its oil in 'response' to terrorist threats made on the part of the Dakuya which would lead to an eventual crisis.

     As Furo was discovered, Syrvo would immediately absorb not only the technology but its inventor, Malcolm Rowlings, and make him their chief of Research and Development. Later on, Furo would be catalyst to the civil war that lead to the Union's collapse and its role would be orchestrated by Syrvo Enterprises and Marcus Lynch himself.

The Gotho Vysta

The
Gotho Vysta
is the compilation of writings of the Autocthonid Ava Malyvyn. It acts as a comprehensive guide to Randism and its core principles. Written circa 4000 Ae.E, the
Gotha Vysta
would serve to be one of the most influential literary works in history. It would also serve as a template for the Dexterian religious work,
The Vystas.
The membership of all the religions based off of the
Gotho Vysta
  or any of its literary offshoots would comprise just under a third of the world's population.

Halzetti's Disease

With first cases appearing towards the end of the 16th century, Halzetti's Disease would become the number one cause of death in central Arctanica around 2nd Century M.I. It's effect would further weaken the Arctanican Empire as it defended its borders from the Allied assault of the Durant, Vampire, and Werewolf armies. (Members of other races took part as well, though far less prominently.)

     Halzetti's Disease  is a virus that, when contracted, may lay dormant for long periods of time and, in some cases,  may never manifest itself. However, when it does manifest, Halzetti's Disease has a 75% fatality rate. It's less serious symptoms include difficulty breathing, vomiting (sometimes accompanied by blood) and extreme fatigue. It's most serious symptom, the one that ultimately defines the disease and makes it so dangerous, is considerably more serious. It attacks its host by latching on to bodily tissues and forcing them into decay. Over an average period of twenty one days, the virus will spread throughout the body, causing it to decay from the inside out. Day twenty two marks the day when the effected tissues will cease to function.

     Halzetti's Disease can be contracted only by hominids, however a certain body mass is required for it to manifest. In order to be susceptible to infection, a subject must have a body where their healthy body weight would be at least eight hundred pounds. This requirement is due to the virus's dependency on profuse amounts of energy. If it were to be contracted by a smaller being, say a human, the virus would become malnourished and die.

     Halzetti's is a communicable disease. Direct contact, though regarded to be the most common method by which the virus spreads, is ultimately a misconception, at least until the consequential decay has reached the skin's surface at which point the subject will have already been dead for nearly a week. Prior to the virus's late stages, Halzetti's is communicable only through the air and is only contractible by inhalation of infected tissue. This tissue comes from the lungs as they experience the initial stages of decay. As microscopic segments of tissue are shed from the lungs inner walls, they are then exhaled, the infected tissue entering the environment where it can survive for up to four days.

     While there are a number of treatments considered to aid in the destruction of the virus, they are not supported medically. And due to the degenerative nature of the disease, Elemental Healing is broadly considered to be ineffective while the effects that it does have are most often minimal. As such, there is no known cure for Halzetti's Disease.

The Supernal Tablets

The Supernal Tablets describe the locations of Durant Temples, the existences of which were kept a closely guarded secret. Mystically references the existences and locations of seven Durant temples including one in Andor. It's because the existence of Andor is believed to be part of an allegory that the Tablets are considered to contain partial truths as the existence of Olsgrad can, in fact, be confirmed.

Kreckis

The Largest labor camp during the Durant Relocation Act, Kreckis was a sprawling facility that would serve as the primary research facility behind the Durant Genome Project. It's here where many of the most influential Furo-based technologies would develop. It would also be a gravesite to over 1.2 Million Durants.

Temples

With ancient records detailing their construction as early as 3000 Ae.E, these temples were used as points of worship by Durant ancestors. While records detail the existence of eight temples, several are believed to be non-existent, instead being devices used in religious fable as determined by the impossibly fantastic characteristics by which they are said to possess.

Of these eight theoretical temples, only one has been discovered to actually exist. That temple, being located at the end of Olsgrad Canyon, proves that these ancient records were in the very least partially factual. However, due to Havok’s volatile nature and the extreme duration of time that had passed since they were built, these temples, if they had existed, are believed to have been destroyed either by man, nature, or the passage of time or have simply been hopelessly lost.

About the Author

M.J Kreyzer is 22 years old. He is currently attending college where he is working towards a Bachelors in Business Management. He loves rock climbing, swimming, and staying in spectacular shape. When it comes to looks, let’s simply say god must’ve been in a particularly good mood the day Mr. Kreyzer’s mother gave birth to him. He’d include a picture if he felt like it’d be worth the extra time it’d take to format it.

(Full Disclosure: M.J Kreyzer wrote
all
parts of this book.)