MedievalFanatic

Alexei Kuznetsov was born during the deep cold of 1652 in a small hamlet located in the wilderness south of Haense. As a young Highlander, he was taught to be tough, self-reliant, and a killer. His parents were hunters in their community and lived in a little hut located on the periphery of the hamlet, making Alexei and his family for the most part isolated. Alexei has heard tales of Norland, their great nation, now destroyed, alongside with the unity and identity of his peoples, and why his people live so alone from the rest of the world and other Highlanders. But as a child, he had always imagined how Highlanders once have lived, the citizens of Norland, how they built great castles and massive navies. The elders of the hamlet have told him of the Kingdom of Norland, which is where the entire hamlet came from, it was their people's old home. About Norland's humble beginnings in Thales, to their exodus to other lands. This made Alexei want to find Norland, to live in it, and to unite it. But of course, this was only an ambition.

Although the Norland-originating hamlet has pagan ancestors, they have been taught about Canonism, and by converting to this religion, the people of the hamlet have realized the flaws of their ancestors, one of their major flaws being the Red Faith. Norland wasn't destroyed by Canonism, but by the Red Faith. It was the Red Faith that instigated the Canonists, and by refusing to give up these archaic practices, it brought down the great Kingdom of Norland. The elders have told the hamlet this, and told them if they wished to stay united as a people, at least what was left of their people, they mustn't practice the Red Faith, and Alexei agreed with the elders.

For 15 years, Alexei had to stay at the hamlet with his parents, who taught him the essentials of Highlander life. Alexei was always a natural with the bow and quiver, being able to pin down an array for forest animals at an early age. Although Alexei was well known in his community to be quite the athletic type, he preferred listening to the elders and their stories of the past, as they intrigued him with stories of valor and bravery than how to make a fire or cultivate the farmlands. As he grew, Alexei would tire of the life of a simple hunter in a simple hamlet, and decided when he became of age, he would leave his home in search of a richer life, a richer future, and follow his ambitions, even if all of the adults would laugh at him for believing in such a dream.

When the flowers blossomed in 1667, Alexei said his goodbyes to his village and his parents. He took one of his family's donkeys for his travels, as well as his trusty bow and other items for life on the road. Once he was all packed, he was said to promise a new home to the hamlet when he returned, a home in Norland. Then, as he put on his fur cap and rode his donkey Northward, Alexei looked back at his hamlet, his birthplace, and quickly look back in front of him, about to await a whole new world, unexplored by anyone else in his hamlet.

Alexei's first destination was the city of Markev, the first time he even saw a building more than one story. The very moment he saw the sight of the city walls, it awed him. For a few days, he stayed and toured around the city, meeting people in such elaborate clothing and so many exotic products. But, Alexei could not stay for long at this wonderland, for he had a destination, that being Norland, to see what is left of his homeland, and to see it for the first time. He would follow the river next to Markev northward to Cyrilsburg. From there he would learn more about his homeland, and about his peoples, and from this would have a unique interest in the Red Faith, but not so much that he would worship the All-Father, for he knew it was that religion that destroyed his homeland. Following the river downstream, he would arrive at the ocean, where the city of Presa de Madera awaited him. From there, he would follow the coastline until he arrived at the marshes, where he wouldn't see another man for an entire year, alone with himself and nature. Good thing he brought his bow and knife, or else most of the animals in the marshes would've torn him to shreds and he would've starved.

After a year of not being able to see a ray of sunlight penetrate through the thick marsh canopy, he realized that the trees were beginning to decrease in numbers, with little foliage in his way now. Then, he saw it. "Ah, the Ocean, so we meet once again," Alexei would say, as the stench of the swamps would finally leave his nose, and then be replaced with the refreshing smell of the salty waters. Then, a seagull would fly near him and perch on a dead log that he was resting on. "Hello there," he would say to the seagull, curious at this human, all alone, and talking to him. "I'm guessing you also had a long journey to get here, yes?" The bird only replied to him in squawking and would fly to what seems to be a piece of masoned stone, which was next to an arched stone bridge infested with vines and algae. The bridge was in a clear state of disrepair, but was no doubt impressive, as it leads to an island in the distance. Alexei, thinking this place to be familiar, quickly took out his tome he wrote in his travels and came to a page that spoke of the bridge that leads to the chain of Norlandic islands. Alongside that page, was a reference drawing made by someone who saw the bridge in person. And by comparing the two, he realized that they were almost identical, excluding the moss and other unknown green specimens. At last, Alexei thinks to himself, I've made it. I've made it! "I've made it!" Alexei shouts the top of his lungs, scaring away his seagull friend.

He looks at the bridge one more time before putting a step on it, and as he walks on it, he looks around him, his excitement barely containable to see where his ancestors have come from. At least, he reached the island he saw in the distance, but what lay in front of him was overgrown ruins and another bridge, same as the last. Worried, Alexei examed the ruins, seeing charred wood and masonry reduced to rubble, and a few ballista bolts jutting out of the ground. This seems to use to have been a fort of sorts, he would think, But perhaps this was from ancient times, maybe the next island will have my people there. Again, Alexei would cross another bridge to be greeted by old stone walls, the gate busted down, and with massive gaps in the walls. At this time, Alexei had realized that the sky was getting cloudy and darker, and moved a bit faster into the fortified village-island. As he went through, he would see that nature took over many of the buildings, or at least what was left over of them. The wind whistled quietly, as Alexei is left alone in the ashes of his homeland that he always wanted to see. He knew that Norland fell, but he didn't think they were wiped off the map entirely.

Then, he got to the town center, where he saw things that would horror his life forever. A pile of bones, rotten flesh, and corpses have been scattered around an ash tree, some hanging from the tree itself. He could tell that some were children and women, all with a blank stare, their eye sockets with a dead emptiness inside of them. Some of the soldiers in the square were mounted on stakes, protruding from their mouth like a sword swallower. The town center was quiet, the only sound being the wind as if the souls of these people were whispering to Alexei, whispering to him to let them rest in peace. So he decided to make the wish of his dead people true. He located a few craters on the ground, possibly from ballista bolts or catapults and placed the bodies of the people in the town square to rest. But, he could only manage the women and children, as it was becoming dark, and he could hear the shrieks of the Boggens coming close from the castle that looms over the town. Alexei made his goodbyes to his destroyed homeland, as he would leave it just as his ancestors did long ago, but instead of his ancestors, he would vow to come back, and not just to pay respects, but to come back with an army, an army of his comrades, his people, to reclaim the lands that were taken away from them.

After his pilgrimage that lasted 4 years to get to Norland, he would begin another, but not to his Holy Land, but to find people with the same ambitions as him, the same people who wish to reclaim Norland. He left his hamlet as a boy of 15 and he would arrive at the mass graveyard known as Norland at 19. And the rest of his life would be unknown, and that's where we leave off Alexei Kuznetsov in his story, at least for now.