JetKinen

This is just something i'm doing to see if i get better at writing in english. I'm going to try to translate "O Inimigo do Mundo/The Enemy of the World/The World's Enemy" a fantasy novel written by Leonel Caldela released in 2004, based around the national fantasy RPG setting Tormenta/Storm created by Marcelo Cassaro, Rogério Saladino and J. M. Trevisan.
Tormenta was introduced to the world around the late 90s and its a very hodgepodge of a setting as during the start it was mostly just a universal setting where the writers, who worked on a RPG magazine, could throw their ideas in. So you have a Darth Vader look alike trying to animate his giant mecha to rule the world, a dark alliance made of goblinfolk, samurais, and it had its serialized "manga" called Holy Avenger, which had some success here though it never really was my thing. It has its own TVtropes article http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...ok/HolyAvenger

("The Art of Holy Avenger" - the Cast of the comic)

Eventually the setting got more popular and nowadays its probably the most successful National Setting here in Brazil. Its mostly a generic fantasy setting. You have dwarves, elves, orcs, gods and shit. They all mostly live in Arton which is the main continent which half of it used to be ruled by elves but then they got their ass kicked by the said Dark Alliance made by Orcs, Goblins and whatnot and the other half(really the most important part) is ruled by the humans in a huge kingdom made by mini-themed kingdoms. You have the Main Kingdom which rules all, you have the militaristic kingdom, you have the kingdom that breeds good horses, you have the kingdom full of atheists and so on. You even have the kingdom of cholocate, called Hershey. It's all very dumb. The main "gimmick" in which the the setting is named after its the Tormenta (Storm/Tempest), which is a big storm that spits eldritch insect people from another plane that fucks with peoples mind.

("Tormenta RPG - Edição Revisada" - I'm fairly sure this is the newest core book for the rpg which now has it own D&D-like system)
This book, i'm fairly sure, its the first novel based around the setting and the first of a trilogy written by Leonel Caldela talks specifically about said Storm and the consequences caused by it. The setting was a fairly "immobile" one but the trilogy brought some big changes to the setting. When i read back in 2004, i thought it was a pretty alright book, but its been a while since i last read it, but anyway here we go

THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD
Written by Leonel Caldela(The front and back cover of the book featuring the main group of adventurers)

Synopsis

"THE FIRST BLOOD IS SPILLED"

"The Enemy of the World follows the adventures of 9 heroes in their hunt for the mysterious assassin known only as "The Albino" around the medieval world of Arton. But the hunt is much more than meets the eye, as the adventurers feel divine hands pulling strings around them - for them, their mission will be a journey towards hell

The Enemy of the World showcases one cruel, brutal and dangerous medieval fantasy, where the heroes could die, certainties are few and villains are heinous. The first novel of the Tormenta setting[Well there you go, now i feel silly] reveals the origin of the biggest threath to the world of Arton and will conquer any fan of the genre[we will see how it holds out under my watch]"
Index

Intro, Synopsis, Index, Map, Prologue - Here

BOOK 1
Chapter 1 - The Hunt
Chapter 2 - The Bridge

Prologue
Knowledge

The Dead Order Of Clairvoyance and Numerology never had visitors.

Their members were the biggest followers of Tanna-Toth in all of Arton, even more faithful than the own clerics of the Goddess of Knowledge. For the Dead Seers were not priests, they did not receive the blessing of the goddess and never were chosen to spend the rest of the eternity by her side after death. But even so, their loyalty was like iron and it never bent. They accepted to live and die inside their monastery, born from mother and fathers that were members of the Order, being raised alongside the other children of the Order, working on it their entire lives until the end, where they were cremated inside the monastery, while their souls were forever locked in artifacts of metal and glass. All this because their power has to powerful to be shared.
A Long time ago the members of the Dead Order of Clairvoyance and Numerology had learned that a pattern pervades all existence, all the mortal lives and the action of the gods, and so they could predict, with great success, the future of the universe. They did that through numbers. Their infinite equations, complex beyond all that was known, calculated the possibilities and variations of creation’s fate. They produced omens grounded on probabilities and statistics, prophecies calculated and transcribed in long scrolls filled with numbers. That why they were dead to the world. Actually, they were never born
The clerics of Tanna-Toth never can leave a question unanswered. It was the doctrine of the Goddess of Knowledge, the law that the ones who received her blessing should live for. The life of the members of the Dead Order of Clairvoyance and Numerology was to deny to answer. The Helladarion, the artifact that was the High Priest of Tanna-Toth, had all the knowledge of all the greatest clerics of the goddess that live and had lived. The knowledge of the Order should be out of reach from Helladarion, so their members never could become clerics. Even in death they could never risk reveal what they knew and were trapped for all eternity inside of the glass globes, a dark and motionless infinite. That was the price of knowledge, and of the supreme devotion to their goddess.
The visits of Tanna-Toth, the only one between gods and mortals that knew the Order, were the pinnacle of the life of any member, even if several generations passed without seeing the goddess. Even so the work continued diligently; the numbers, the calculations, the future and destiny of the world, and even the own fate of the ones who were born in the Order traced from the start. And death for those infants whose numbers denounced a future rebellion. The Dead Seers prayed that they never missed a calculation, but Tanna Toth never answered.
That is why there was panic when a visitor appeared in the monastery shrouded in mist of the Dead Order of Clairvoyance and Numerology.
The elf walked distracted through the many humans, almost all of them inside gray robes, that ran in various directions. Soon she was challenged by a dozen of men armed in swords, halberds and bows.

- You have two choices - said the one that seemed to be the leader, armed with a sword that was almost as tall as his height. - To live for the rest of your life, or to die right now. The existence of this place should not leave these walls.

The threats were real. Part of the members of the Order trained with fanaticism in the use of weapons, to get rid of any intruder that, for any misfortune, found this monastery that was hidden from the eyes of humans and god alike by impenetrable mists. The man that wielded the sword knew that, in other place, other Dead Seers were ready to destroy all the order’s records, should the intruder proved to be too powerful for their armed brethren. Better do destroy the work of ages than to reveal the forbidden knowledge
The ten guards waited in silence. Thanks to the lack of any answer they moved to attack.
The elf raised her eyes, and all saw in her face more sadness that they thought existed. Some felt on their knees, crying in convulsions. Others just stayed still, seized by a subit desire to comfort that creature of endless misery. All let their weapons fall in the floor. The short purple hair of the elf, even falling carelessly across her face, did not hide her tears. She kept walking, dragging her feet. A trail of tears followed her, and where the tears fell, flowers were born only to wither brown or blackish. The beauty of the elf was mesmerizing, but where she passed there was desolation and the stench of dead flowers.
The agitation ceased shortly, as the Dead Seers realized who was their visitor. None of their equations had predicted this event. The monastery went silent; even the children, sons and daughters of the Dead Seers already certain of their future silenced their small voice, even the babies stopped crying, even the animals become quiet. Not even a cricket, not even a rat. Only the steps of the elf and the sobbing from those that felt her sadness, a sadness that only death and destruction, without sense and purpose, can cause. The sadness of a race, that a few days ago, started to die. All the mothers that discovered their dead sons by the disparate parts of their body, all the sons that saw their fathers coughing blood, all their husbands that had to bury their raped and quartered wives cried with that elf, and so they were joined by the Dead Seers
The elf climbed the long stairs, spreading her unbearable pain, and so came the room of the Master of the Dead Order of Clairvoyance and Numerology. A big book, almost as tall as two men and thick like the trunk of a adult tree, dominated the room, held by a structure made of solid iron. There were other books and scrolls by the thousands, and pens and paints and abacus, and numbers, more numbers that a man could count in all of his life.A strong musky smell. In a corner of the room, there is an old man, in his gray robes, bent in a fetal position, his body jumping with his painful sobs. He managed to look in the direction of the elf and speak only one word

- Enough...

The woman sighed. Wiped her tears with the back of her hands, with an inelegance of one that does not care anymore. Her clothes were really dirty, her sadness was not worthy or heroic. It was just sadness and no words could ease it

- Tell me then what will happen. What can i do.

The old man managed to compose himself, cleaning the tears, saliva and mucus that had spread across his face in the middle of his desperate cry. Picked a small par of glasses from the floor, looked at the figure in front of him and decided that it was better to stay in smudge of myopia. This way he wouldn’t be able see those eyes. Straightened himself, with a sigh swallowed his sobs. He was almost doing something that hundred of ancestors, his parents and the parents of his parents had sacrificed themselves to make sure it would never happen. In the end, he answered the question.

- There will be a Storm...

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The elf returned to her home. Almost all the trees were dead, and she, little by little, started to realize that she didn’t have any more strength to take care of those that still lived. It was twilight for several days there, and all feared what could happen when night finally comes. An old human lady was sitting on the floor amid a pile of dead leaves. She got up when she saw the elf arrive and walked slowly to her. It was such a desolate place, it was hard not being sluggish.

- So, Glórienn - said the Old Lady - Did you find what you wanted?

Glórienn, the Goddess of the Elves, looked to her visitor. She felt when subtly another one of her children died. She made a grimace of pain

- Yes - she muttered - I found a weapon. I’m going to win

Tanna-Toth looked at Glórienn with an impotent piety. A few days ago, the elven kingdom, Lenórienn, was devastated by the Dark Alliance, and immense and terrible army of goblinoids that nobody thought it was possible. Led by the monster general Thwor Ironfist and loyal to the god Ragnar, the Alliance had slain thousands of elves em little time, and because of it Glorienn consumed herself in hatred. The Goddess of Elves was the type of victim that continued to hurt herself even after her torturer was gone

- Ragnar will fall - Glórienn spoke with certainty and cruelty that scared even the other goddess - Ironfist will die. All his entire race will die. All the goblinoids will die. Every last one of them...

Her anger was so unbearable that it morphed into physical pain, choking and drowning. Glórienn clenched her teeths until they cracked and buried her nails into her own hands, until blood started to drip from her fists

- Child - started Tanna-Toth, but was soon interrupted

- If all the elves die, I’m going to become the Goddess of Vengeance. I will be even more ruthless than Keen.

Tanna-Toth knew those empty threats. There was little that Tanna-Toth didn’t knew

- You know this is impossible. You are the Goddess of Elves, always was and always will be. Before the elves existed, you were the goddess of the elvish concept and values, and even before you created those, even then you were still the goddess that would create them. We can’t change. You know this

Glórienn did not answer. She continued to clench her fists and teeths. She let out a faint whimper

- Just like Khalmyr was the God of Justice even before inventing Justice and just like me who were always the Goddess of Knowledge before even creating it. We’re immutable. That’s why the mortals will always be superior

The other goddess relaxed her hands and mouth, and opened her eyes. She breathed with difficulty as she still had the feeling of being drowned.

- This is not true. This can’t be. The mortals worship us

- The mortals do whatever they want to do, Glórienn - spoke Tanna Toth. - And are what they want. They can be blacksmiths, shoemakers, wizards or guards. While we’re stuck in our jails of immeasurable power. We can never change

The goddess of elves looked like she was ready to crumble again. Her whole body shaking

- It may be easy for you to talk. You are the Goddess of Knowledge, worshipped by all races. But what i’m going to do after my children die? - And now Glórienn, looked more like a confused child, asking questions to the older woman while at the same time hating her for knowing the answers

- Believe it or not, we’re all weak as you are. If all the libraries burned, all the knowledge in the world would not last more than a few generations from the mortals, and we all know how fast they die. If Nimb makes a bolder movement, all the justice from Khalmyr might dissapear and even him will have some difficulty in teaching it again in a chaotic world. And that’s why we’re all as fragile as you are, and that’s why we must keep balance.

Glórienn knew the phrase that it was to come, but even so she couldn’t stop making a grimace of disgust after listening it

- And that’s why you shouldn’t, never, destroy Ragnar. If one of us fall, nobody knows - And she was interrupted again by the Goddess of Elves, but this time with a roar.

Tanna-Toth waited with patience until the other silenced. She kept looking with the eyes of a grandmother until Glórienn spoke.

- I’m afraid. So afraid... And if i...

- Die? - said Tanna-Toth unperturbed. Actually, a small spark of curiosity glimmered in her eyes, with the wickedness of the delicate scientists - Nobody knows. We never found out what happened with Sszzaas. If one of the Major Gods dies, we will then find out, finally, what is our fate after death. And so there will be knowledge

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The conversation with Tanna-Toth did not serve to dissuade Glórienn. Tanna-Toth owed this to her, alongside the others, for not intervening when the Dark Alliance destroyed Lenórienn. The revelation and localization of the Dead Order of Clairvoyance and Numerology was just the start of paying the debt. But now Glórienn knew that she would have a weapon if she could execute her plan. The storm that will come from afar will wipe away all her enemies.

The first piece was moved. In some place in Arton, a half-elf was adopted by the clerics of a temple to Lena, who decided to name her Nichaela.

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Well there you go. Only the prologue so far, which is probably filled with gramatical errors and whatnot. I around have full chapter ready to be released by i want to review not only that one but also this one that i just released. Oops.

Let's see where this goes folks!

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