Hollideus I: Year of Dragons is the first in the Hollideus project's novel series. The novel has yet to be completed, and is still in a very early state, being worked on by voluntary members from the Hollideus team - the writers making sure to improve the contents of the 20 chapters in no particular order, while the artists add artwork to match the events happening in the story, as well as contributing with concept artwork of the featured characters, locations and objects.
Hollideus I: Year of Dragons is split up in 20 chapters, constantly switching between different sub-plots with different groups of characters, which are all connected somehow. The goal for the overall novel is for it to be both action-packed, humorous, dramatic and purely epic, with a detailed and informative writing and related quality art! And of course it must make sense in the bigger picture, with the other novels.
Hollideus I: Year of Dragons is not based directly upon any of the Kaelicious events, but is purely made up for the Hollideus universe and explains how the story leads up to what happens in later novels. The novel focuses on the Mordan inhabitants' preparations of the great New Year Festival, the Cranda lords' attempt to awaken the great spirit of fire, to gain the Dragon Talisman of Fire. The Paladin Master and his apprentice, Paillan, goes to rescue the Grepett-slaves. Meanwhile, a war between the Wise-Horn Ministaurs and the Kardos Walrorcs rage on.
Chapter I ~ The Vision
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The beautiful early sun rays shone upon the lands of Mordan, bathing the peak of the calm volcano in its center in a layer of red light. Everything from the towering islands off the northern coast, to the coves bordering the sea to the east, to the vast hilly grassfields in the south all seemed so peaceful and quiet at this moment. The daily routine of the wildlife begun, spreading a wide variety of sounds across the four regions that Mordan had long ago been split equally up to due to history's scarring conflicts. Those times of war were long gone and on this day the landscape itself seemed to rejoice in the sun's warm embrace. Even the clouds high above Mordan had paced down to a relaxing state.
Except for one - a single unnatural enchanted cloud moved across the sky oddly faster than the others, and in a different direction too. Atop this mysterious cloud stood a grand marble palace consisting entirely of pure gray colors. This was the chosen home of one of the Vei - an agelss magical being who once helped piece together the world and the life to populate it. All the Vei had long ago decided to hide away from the peoples of the world, letting time and destiny unfold itself without their interference. They had agreed on only speaking to the few destinied mortals who came to posess specific magical artifacts. Those mortals would become known as Idols among the people, and each Idol came to posess immense powers, while rightfully claiming to speak for the Vei. Most others faithfully believed in the Vei despite never having seen proof of their existance, and inserted the powerful Idols as leaders of their various states, while in other places the faith had since turned to mere myths and folktales.
This Vei only spoke to his Idol indirectly through messages, even though he was particularly fond of all the mortal creatures and enjoyed observing them from his home in the sky. He tirelessly recorded down all of their history in the endless Book of Destiny, upholding his duty as the Vei of the world's destiny, all of its history, and the sacred winds of time itself. Like his divine collegues he was known by many different names in the mortal tongue - his real one was Veio Chranuaris.
On this fine morning Veio Chranuaris slowly opened up the glass door to his windy balcony, with a calender below one arm and careful not to spill any of his brimming cup of coffee which he held in the other. He was dressed in a beautifully decorated silk robe, as gray and pure as the rest of its surroundings. The wind got silent around him as he stepped in a straigth line towards the giant infinitely streaming hourglass on the balcony's edge. Other than a mere counter of time, the hourglass' second function was to be a strong pillar faithfully holding the upper reaches of the palace from falling down upon the old Vei and his balcony. When he had finally gotten all the way to the edge he carefully placed the cup on the piedestal before the hourglass, and grabbed the calender in both hands. The calender was made by mortals, featuring artwork of bikini-clad young women from twelve different races.
His tired and wrinkled gray face lighted up when he noticed the artwork for the month they were about to enter. It depicted a young Grepett lady - she belonged to a race Veio Chanuaris had shaped in the ancient past himself. The appearance of winged sheep wasn't a popular choice among the other Vei when he first created them, luckily natural evolution clearly had made them prettier than he could ever had done. Grepett models were usually the motive for January as their peaceful people were lone hosts of the grand New Year Festivals for hundreds of centuries. This lasted only until the Cranda Empire's invasion of Mordan resulted in the enslavement of the Grepett people, only one and a half century ago. Back then Veio Chanuaris was forced to do nothing but watch as his creations ended up as minions to the Cranda lords, but fortunately the passing of time also changed the two races' relation to a more equal peaceful sort, in some parts of Mordan at least. The Grepett people's last wish was also honored - to continue the New Year festivities, although now in the Cranda's ways.
That reminded the old Vei that the beginning of a new year also brought a little, but important job for him - the naming of the new year. He took a long-waited sip of his coffee and put down the calender the only place it could be on the piedestal - on top of the Book of Destiny. Veio Chranuaris then placed a hand upon the glass before him, the magic emerging from his palm searching for a single, very special grain of sand in the hourglass. There it was, surrounded by a magical glow - the only one to fall through at the exact second the new year had begun a few hours back. This single grain of sand held the very destiny for the whole year to come, and it would serve to properly name the year. He wondered what was in store - especially for the people of Mordan, with their recent economic crisis. The Vei pulled his hand backwards slowly, pulling out the grain of sand through the glass, letting it levitate through the air for a while and finally land carefully in his palm.
He was shocked when he received its vision! He had not expected the world's history to reach this drastic phase so soon, but now was not the time to wonder about it. He sent the grain of sand flying off the edge of his balcony, sending it towards the January Idol. As he watched the winds of time carry the grain of sand across the lands of Mordan, he wondered if he should consult the other Vei about what he had just witnessed or if he should just let destiny unfold itself. He took another sip of the coffee to calm his mind and headed indoors.
At first the grain of sand fell directly down from Veio Chranuaris' cloud-palace towards the southernmost end of Mordan, altough that was far from its final destination. It had its own life and would obviously reach the goal eventually, as it had been instructed, but a little detour wouldn't hurt. It fell towards the river that made the border to the rest of the world. A zeppelin was parked at a strange-looking tower guarding the border from both sides.
"What do you mean you have to check our storage, fishy? I was personally invited here by Lord Xol'vei!" the owner of the zeppelin said to the two guardians. He was a chubby man with fungi growing from his backhead and the lower half of his body like a spider's. He was being questioned by two fish-like guardians on the tower. Nobody seemed to notice the bypassing grain of sand, except one of the fungi-man's henchmen, a tall magician of some sort with a sinister facial expression. He only sensed its presence, but had neither the time nor the powers to read its message. So the grain of sand continued its journey to the north, passing the many farms, fields and the single palace of the grasslands, then a fortress by the foot of the great volcano, and finally reached the magnificent cliffs at the northernmost section of Mordan. Here lied the castle of Lord Kam'ger, one of Mordan's four Cranda Lords and the Idol that the grain of sand was seeking.
It landed quietly on his windowsill of cold stone. Lord Kam'ger sat closely by, waiting patiently for its arrival. The old Cranda, which had been granted the power of immortality by the enchanted shoulderpads he wore, rose up from his uncomfortable chair and grabbed the tiny grain with his sharp black nails, and lifted it up to his sleepless angry face. His perfectly round black eyes turned glowing grey as he received the realistic vision.
The view over the landscape outside of the window slowly changed for the Lord, and creatures approached his castle from the horizon, flying. The closer they got the more intrigued he grew, until they started breathing beams of various elements upon the buildings in his kingdom, which were leveled incredibly fast. They discovered Kam'ger and his castle, and the dragons all charged towards the lord. He shivered with fear and excitement as his home was destroyed, and he fell to his death.
The Cranda Lord woke up from the horrifying vision, his heartbeat and fast breath reminding him that it was not real. He sat up against the hard stone wall, and slowly started grinning to himself.
"It's the-, it's the-... It's the Year of Dragons!" Kam'ger said excited with a sinister glimpse in his eyes.
"Tian-Mong!" the Lord called, still sitting on the floor. His humble servant entered his quarters only a few seconds later.
"Fetch me some paper! And ready the ravens to the other Lords" Kam'ger ordered, and the servant bowed before hurrying back out of the room...
Chapter II ~ Cat's In The Back
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This late night the canyon was full of life. A cat-people band consisting of Juno, Kyo and Drum plays a concert in the Wise-Horn capital for a small crowd - using orange crystals on their instruments to enchant the sound waves. Wise-Horn Chieftain, his son Go'an Wise-Horn and his brother are watching the concert, clearly unimpressed by the strange modern music genre. More impressed, however, is the chieftain's human guests - Vincent of Nort Frandis, and his companion Ryan McDonald - who are there on a diplomatic mission (and on a personal trade mission, trading water supplies for thannalis and coffee). They are smoking thannalis together, and at the end Vincent asks where to find the backstage. Meanwhile Juno and the others sit in their van, complaining about the lousy payment and small crowd. Vincent knocks on the door, and is turned away at first, but once they realize he is the Culture Minister of Nort Frandis they welcome him inside. He praises their music and offers them to take a tour in the human cities. Vincent: "We're leaving tomorrow morning, join up if you're up for it". Juno: "Deal!". Ryan: "But Vi, we still need to go to visit the orcs!". Vincent: "Told you not to call me Vi! Also, those guys will just attack us, and time is running out, we need to go back". Kyo: "We still need to prepare for the voyage. You should enjoy this 2 more days you said you wanted to stay here". "FINE..." Vincent mutters "We will stay here two more days. But I don't want any complains Ryan!". "None what so ever my friend!" Ryan replies happy. Drum: "Well, I will go to buy some stuff, se ya!" he leaves. Juno: "It's late kyo, let's rest a bit, see you guys later!". Vincent: "It was a pleasure to make business with you, see you soon!" Vincent and Ryan leave. "See you guys!" Kyo says.
Left alone, the two cats look at each other for a while, until Juno says: "Wanna go see the stars?". Kyo: "No, I have other plans...". Kyo starts too undress, much to Juno's surprise. Kyo: "Is there something too matter?". Juno: "No no no no! I just... I... ummm...". Kyo: "Shhhh... let me get your voice out for you...". The two cats start kissing "we haven't done this in a while have we?". Juno: "N-No, we haven't...". Kyo laughs "I see you have forgot how it is, let my enlightened you...". Kyo removes Juno's clothes. The two cats show the love they have for each other the whole night.
Chapter III ~ Give Me A Name
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Gyro and his family work at Lord Daiston's peaceful and calm land. Gyro serves the lord personally at the house, supplying him with all the alcohol he want. Gyro's bartender skills are revealed, while their sons (Jilo & Cheng) play together - they say a replique or act someway, that can repeat itself in the very dramatic end of the story. Inside, old Daiston is observing the boys through a window. Lord Daiston explains to his old house slave that he considers him his closest friend and that he will speak to the three other Lords at the upcoming meeting - trying to remove slavery of the Grepett race. A messenger arrives, requesting Daiston attending a meeting in a few days at the neighbor castle.
Chapter IV ~ Give Me A Name
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Veio Chranuaris, Vei of Fire and Vei of Stone meet up in the Timeless Castle. Resulting in a quarrel between Fire and Stone - which again, leads to both sides openly declaring war against each other, using the forbidden dragon talismans.
Chapter V ~ Give Me A Name
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The Paladin Master is visited by an Angel messenger in his dreams, telling him that everyone he knows are now entering a life-changing year! PM: "To the better or worse?", Angel: "Not even the Father of Light can tell, but you must travel to the land of Mordan, now! And bring soldiers - the light needs you, innocent lives are to end in horrifying ways". He wakes up, calls Paillan, and they go to the little local port town, bribing a bunnycat ferry captain to wake up his crew (sons and daughters) and sail before time to the Mountain City.
Chapter VI ~ Give Me A Name
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Vincent, Ryan McDonald and co. visits the home of the Wise-Horn tribe, trading food supplies for thannalis. His female animal makes love to one of the Wise-Horn animals, and gets pregnant - much to Vincent's irritation. The God of Stone reveal the secret of the Stone Dragon Talisman, and old Wise-Horn sends his brother to retrieve it. Vincent and co. goes to Thylleon (and his assistant) at the Brightwing Tower and leave towards the Mountain City.
Chapter VII ~ Give Me A Name
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The Paladin Master, Paillan, the bunny-cat captain and his crew sails south through the seas. They cross into Furate territory, and is attacked. The bad relationship between the nations and races is explained.
Chapter VIII ~ Give Me A Name
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Lord Daiston arrives at the Volcano Lord's castle, seeing Dai Quong is already there. They discuss the upcoming festival, and the slave-law. Then comes Kam'ger: "What's the meaning of this - there are still 2 weeks 'till the festival...". The Volcano Lord reveals the painting of the talismans. Kam'ger and Dai Quong agrees to sacrifice 100 slaves each at the festival in order to summon forth a great spirit of fire that guards the talisman.
Chapter IX ~ Give Me A Name
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The Paladin Master and Paillan's journey on the sea comes to an end, and they arrive in the Mountain City, first meeting Vincent, Ryan McDonald and co. who is surprised and suspicious by the Paladin's presence - so Vincent secretly follows them. Paladin Master meet up with Alexandros, and get the Warriors of Light to join his quest, and walk the secret passage below the wall. Alexandros comments on Paillan's bad behavior.
Chapter X ~ Give Me A Name
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A party of Wise-Horns arrive at the swamp ruin, battling the spirit of Earth and gets the talisman. However, Am'ar Kardos and members of his clan ambush the Minitaurs, kill them and steal the dragon talisman.
Chapter XI ~ Give Me A Name
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Lord Daiston arrive at home. Frustrated by the Volcano Lord's orders, he tells Cheng not to play with Jilo anymore. With bad conscience, he picks out Grepett slaves to be sacrificed at the festival.
Chapter XII ~ Give Me A Name
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The Paladin Master and co. arrive at Mordan, sees the cliff where the Orcs can't get up. They venture north despite the old pact not to trespass the Cranda lands. They get to Lord Daiston's land.
Chapter XIII ~ Give Me A Name
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The festival begins, and the four Cranda Lords meet up. Lord Daiston goes against the orders of the Volcano Lord, and reveals the Paladins in his back, who tries fight them, but Daiston is killed by his enemies, the Volcano Lord, Dai Quong and Kam'ger.
Chapter XIV ~ Give Me A Name
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Am'ar Kardos is home, delivering the Stone Dragon Talisman to his father, who decides to take his war to the north too instead of continuing it in the Southern continent, because the Cranda's welfare will change everything for the orc clan.
Chapter XV ~ Give Me A Name
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The King, Vincent, Antonio, Kari, Loch Kael Harbor-dude takes part in the Council Meeting in Nort Frandis council Tower. Lizzie is there, on the Paladin Master's behalf. Vincent reveals the plans of the Paladin Master, to Lizzie's surprise, and the council decide to act, as his actions might result in a catastrophical long war.
Chapter XVI ~ Give Me A Name
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Jilo is killed, after he and Cheng succeed in saving almost all the other slaves. The replique from chapter 3 is re-used. The Volcano erupts and the Spirit of Fire reveals itself, giving Cheng the talisman of Fire. Much to the irritation of the Idol of January, the Volcano Lord who pushes the attack all the way south across Daiston's territory in Mordan. The Paladin Master retreats with his forces along with the rescued refugees.
Chapter XVII ~ Give Me A Name
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The Volcano Lord is killed somehow, and Kam'ger takes over the gloves which makes him the Idol of January.
Chapter XVIII ~ Give Me A Name
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When they are almost back in safety, the Kardos Clan attacks from the other side. Am'ar's father had gotten access to Mordan with the power of the stone talisman. Finally, the King's army come to save them all.
Chapter XIX ~ Give Me A Name
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Second latest chapter: Paladin Master, Alexandros, Paillan, Cheng and the devastated Gyro escapes back across the wall, when the King's forces + Vincent, Antonio and the wizards from Iskael come to rescue them from the Kardos attack. The Paladin Master speaks with angel, and gives the chance for Gyro and Cheng to spend one last night with the spirit of Jilo. The Paladin Master recieves a scolding from the King, as well as a praise for his bravery. He adopts Cheng. The King promises to find temporary homes for the freed slaves.
Chapter XX ~ Give Me A Name
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Viu Laehon rounds it all up in his book of history.