by Кал » Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:40 pm
Synopsis
Version 2013-10-25
On the planet of Aurelion, an ancient coin holds the secret to preserving magic, now vanishing under the onslaught of high technology. The young elven pickpocket Aik steals this coin from a drunken mage-in-training and decides to keep it as his talisman, unaware of the peril involved. Kia, a young smuggler who pretends to be male in her full-body suit, saves the child from trouble—and lets him unlock a thousand feelings in her heart.
The victim of the theft calls his friend Mephodi, one of the most talented scholars at the local Institute of Magic. The conflict between mages and thieves ends in the city prison, where they encounter strutting paladin Raphael, who claims that the coin belongs to him since it is related to his father’s story. Mephodi takes over his mind, and the paladin sets them free, but the four are unexpectedly attacked by Dark Elves. The High Priestess of Darkonus has dispatched her most prominent warrior Valerion and his team to kidnap Aik because he is part of a prophecy concerning the world’s fading magic.
Mephodi manages to defeat the attackers, after they kill his friend. Kia steals a vehicle, and the three drive to a tutor of Mephodi’s. Raphael catches up with them there, but the professor urges the paladin to join the fugitives as their protector on a quest to the Temple of Nekros. Before Raphael, Kia, Aik, and Mephodi can head for the temple, they need to get a new vehicle from the base of Kia’s fellow smugglers.
Meanwhile, the Dark Elves break Mephodi’s spell, capture a patrol cruiser, and give chase to the fugitives. They overtake the group at the smugglers’ base, where Kia has bought herself from her mentor and fallen out with her best friend Dehenor.
Dehenor is captured by the Dark Elves. The others run away with a dwarven inventor and his shoddy turbozeppelin. In mid-flight, the zeppelin crashes onto the house of a solitary seer. The seer thrusts herself on the party, claiming she has a crucial part to play.
Passing through the Stone Forest, the zeppelin is attacked by a petrified creature that all but kills its crew. Fighting side by side, the reluctant companions are gradually turning into genuine friends.
Meanwhile, Valerion is beginning to feel sympathy for his captive Dehenor. Dehenor betrays Kia’s plans, just as he feels she has betrayed him in choosing to go with Aik.
The adventurers enter kobold lands, where, increasingly anxious about her inability to act as a parent, Kia makes up her mind to reveal to Aik she is a woman and take him away from the strange company. Just as she takes off her suit, kobolds capture her and Aik. She gets help from young kobold Kimle, who befriends Aik and shares his dreams of a life different from what kobolds are usually allowed. The characters are growing ever more aware of the similarities between Aurelion’s races.
In the meantime, class and racial wars have erupted on Aurelion. The depletion of magic and the unjust rule of the Higher Races fuel vicious conflicts. Fleeing from the kobolds, the party runs into one of these battles. A stray shell breaks the chain between their two wagons and separates Kia, Mephodi, and Raphael from the rest of the party.
Meanwhile, Valerion deserts from the High Priestess’s army and follows in the tracks of Kia. The Dark Elf wants to discover the secrets of his own race. Dehenor joins him in the hope of meeting Kia again and making sure his betrayal will not harm her.
It remains to be seen whether the friendships forged will triumph over blind fate and the calamities coming to Aurelion.