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We've reached four hundred chapters, and if you followed this far, hopefully you are enjoying the story.
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BECMI got all the way into the 30's at one point, but a slew of poor Ratings, and just not that many of them, has punched it all the way back to the 90's as I write this.
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Iotar rose like green jewels on the horizon, brightening from dark spots to glittering life as the sun rose behind us and washed across the ocean.
The islands of the kingdom were much lower, broader, and flatter than Omicra, with only short ridges running through the middle of them that eased into rolling hills and flat plains that were small and uncommon in Omicra. Rivers and streams snaked from lake to lake through the place, forests covered it in many areas still unsettled. Human settlents grew around those sources of fresh water, and it was easy to see the cleared areas where farms grew.
Although not quite as large as Omicra, Iotar had several tis the amount of arable land available, and the terrain was nowhere near as foreboding. So much good land, the best in the Remnants, ant that Iotar had been invaded repeatedly from all directions by tribes, clans, and kingdoms desiring its land for their own. Different areas were settled by different forces, and then they promptly went to war with one another to determine who was going to be on top and dominate the way of life of the island.
Continued external raids from the pirate islands and Thatallix, among others, as well as the rising power of Omicra, had eventually put enough pressure on them for the idea of uniting instead of conquering to take place. Enough power had slowly gathered behind the small kingdom of Iotar, which had developed a superbly skilled navy and even tolerance for civic-minded hydromancers who sailed with the kingdom’s ships and fleets, ensuring their speed, safety, and return ho.
Although the hydromancers had famously stayed away from the martial conflicts between the countries, their skill at managing drainage, water supplies, floods, and errant tides, as well as defending against invasions from other naval powers, earned them and Iotar a level of respect and trust that the various other native kingdoms could not match.
When a random Portal to Elental Water opened and a Hydrax kingdom on the other side ca through, attacking and devastating coastal communities, it had been the magic of the hydromancers and Lady Hydrosa who had shattered its attack, driven the intelligent crab-like things back, and Sealed the Portal so that they could not return.
Half the land’s dominions had been overrun and destroyed during the attack, and the rest were left reeling from the fallout. Lady Hydrosa had simply noted that in strength there was unity, and in division and fighting one another, nothing but weakness in the eyes of those outside the kingdom.
Also, Thatallix and the pirate clans were coming to take advantage of the chaos, and even Omicra was considering establishing a settlent on the fertile lands of the Remnant.
King Ogmin of Iotar had managed to unify the forces of the survivors on land and sea, and when the invaders ca, they found a savagely ready Iotari military waiting for them on land and at sea. It took three years of fighting to uproot and drive them off, but when it was done Iotar was the na of the nation, and King Ogmin was the first Iotari king.
Even now the seas around Iotari were alive with boats. The Iotari lived in a world with great seas, and knew that naval power was the best way to project strength here. They had the forests to make the ships, managing their old-growth trees very closely to make sure of that, and the food needed to support a strong and growing population.
Their martial reputation at sea was the equal of Omicra’s on land, and the skill and strength of their hydromancers was no small part of that. The Aquaria took students from all over Iotar who showed talent, was sponsored directly by taxes of the nation, and even taught so students from abroad who were on friendly enough terms, much like Terrestria would do.
That Hydrosa and Jaderose were sisters was never really a secret, and so even when their nations were at war or engaged in cold conflicts, the wizards of each School refused to attack one another, out of respect for their founding sisters. The simple yet absolute attitude had cooled a lot of war plans over ti, as the military forces of each side could not rely on the wizards to carry them through, only to protect, reinforce, and evacuate their n if needed.
That kingdom of hydrax, Ch’chkr’stiv, had attacked Iotar three more tis over the centuries, forcing open that Portal and spilling forth to raid and plunder each ti.
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When Hydrosa Ascended to her Primal Elental form, one of her first deeds was to lead an assault on that kingdom and crush it utterly, founding her own Elental realm upon its remains, as well as seizing authority over all Portals from Water to the Delphan Remnant.
Those people trying to take control of, restrict, intimidate, move against, or squeeze the Aquaria after she left often ended with the responsible parties found drowned in their bathtub, slipping in the rain and drowning in a puddle, sliding off a sidewalk and drowning in a river, or being swept off a ship by an errant wave and never seen again.
As a result, the Aquaria retained its neutral existence, stayed out of the politics of the royal court to a large degree, and concentrated on keeping the nation strong, while not catering to warmongers and empire-builders in the slightest. It ant that Iotar did indeed have a strong navy, but their desire to invade and conquer other lands was cooled by the disdain of the hydromancers for such thinking.
Now I was coming here to complete yet another project the hydromancers had been working on for many, many years…
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The nigh-sacred lake at the center of Iotar where the Aquaria was located was called Loch Monds, the Lake of the Moons. Delpha had once had a proud pair of moons orbiting it, but they had either been torn apart or hurled away by the Worldstorm, gone into the vastness of andrel, vanishing into legend along with all those upon them.
The lake had a big secret to it not many knew.
There were old legends of a secret city that had sheltered the oldest inhabitants of the island against the Worldstorm, the original Iotar clans, sothing scoffed at by later settlers, as the whole realm had long been explored and no such city was found.
It existed, directly below the Aquaria.
Loch Monds was the ho of the only surviving underwater city of the Delphans. Naturally building underwater was one of those big vanity projects done just to prove the power of the wizards who did so, but actually living there wasn’t actually that popular because of the prevalence of Fire and Air magic.
I’d been there, and Hydrosa had been one of the original wizards who worked on its construction, knowing what was coming. When the Worldstorm ca, the picturesque mountain city on the surface was scoured away with most of the mountain, but the undersea portion survived, even when the land shook and split around them.
The Iotar clans did indeed co from that city, coming forth to take back the surface, but given it was two thousand years ago, and the city was now the underwater training center of Aquaria, the details had been lost and were only known to the hydromancers, who as part of the School Oath did not speak about it.
Like Terrestria’s dungeons, the city below could be expanded remarkably and fit in tens of thousands of refugees without trouble if required. Supplying all of them would be harder, but that was a separate issue entirely compared to giving shelter when needed.
Also like Terrestria, the goal of Aquaria was to open up Elental specialization as an option for wizards, as well as attempt to make the Secret Schools accessible outside a betathaumic field. The latter had not happened, which was unfortunate, but happily specialization in Water (and Earth) magic had their own benefits if people chose that path.
Making the magical field friendlier to those paths of study was the goal of all this, after all.
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Duum winged his way over the countryside towards Loch Monds’ location in the middle of Iotar. He stayed Invisible, as there was so aerial cavalry around we didn’t want to be bothered with spooking, as well as magical flying creatures of so size. They weren’t a threat, but soone watching them scatter in terror and hide from the massive Bat soaring past trailing crimson lights could have stirred up interest we didn’t want.
The air Elentals trailing and swooping around us left after the Water magic in the air beca too irritable to them. Mists and fogs tended to accompany the winding rivers and streams below, all of them of remarkable clarity, and none of them damd up and impeding their flow.
That was because the flowing waters of Iotar were also a massive Runeform across the whole country, sothing very, very few people were aware of. The hydromancers mandated clear and natural water flow, and were almost mythically aware of twats trying to dam up streams and the like for their own benefits. Given the laws and authority and long-standing traditions, everyone knew you weren’t supposed to do that without permission, and so those who did often got to enjoy life as a trout for a couple months for wasting everyone’s ti, as well as a nice fine as the waterways were restored.
The ‘misting hills of Iotar’ were thus famous, and fogs were common across much of the island, contributing, so said, to the dour perception of Iotar natives as a whole. It wasn’t a concern of mine specifically, although I assud Vitae was entertained by the whole of it, and ‘stiff upper lip’ and mystical otherworldliness was a big tradition among the hydromancers.
There were lots of sprawling forests, broken up by artful streams and small villages with farms about. Mists persisted until nearly noon in so places, aided by the Water magic in the air, and the forests and farms were quite green, indeed.
We ca in over the containing hills of the Loch, the lake stretching almost thirty miles in length and six wide. It was the third largest in the country and the most centralized of the Star Lochs that ford a line across the middle of the nation, products of a split in the ridgeline of mountains forming the country that had almost broken Iotar in two.
Like Terrestria, there were Stillflight and Interdiction Wards in effect in many places. Again, I’d helped set up those Wards, and Duum sailed right into and through them without any problems.
This naturally caused so consternation among those on the misty waters below as we beca visible, but it was nothing we weren’t used to, and our approach was nothing if not direct.
“Lady Edge arriving at the Aquaria,” I inford everyone from three miles out. “We should set down within two minutes.”
In the distance, the main gates slowly opened up completely to admit . Startled heads turned to follow after my announcent, most wondering who I was, and admitting I certainly had style arriving as I did. The statue of Hydrosa that looked out over every port of this island nation were actually wrought to her current size, although only the most well-inford of magi actually knew that.
I watched the lines of students and faculty lining up by the entry to welco , the blues, greens, and blue-greens of their attire quite visible in the distance.
Duum had other concerns. “Are there any giant frogs around this lake, Mistress? I would like to sample them.”
It was a good question. Regional frog cuisine was a very important thing!
“I’ll ask,” I replied seriously.
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