A Day in the Life of Tartessia: A Gods Unchained Story

What is life?! the man yelled. His scars, mangled ear, and pronounced limp told tales of his battles.

Life is Death!, came the reply.

What is Death?!

Death is War!

What is War?!

War is Glory!

The room rumbled with the thunder of the response from the assembled children. One hundred or so, all younger than fourteen. Both male and female, for in Tartessia, anyone who could hold a weapon was expected to learn how to fight. The teacher finished the traditional dismissal chant and the children spilled out of the school, planning their afternoon adventures.

There would be mischief, fights, both real and mock, and, among the older kids, sneaking off into the alleyways for dalliances of all sorts. Enjoyment of life was not discouraged in Tartessia, for death was always close.

A brown haired boy stopped briefly in the market square, where a troupe of Improvisers showcased their prowess. Their impromptu, 'demonstration' fights were brief, brutal, and more often than not ended with one or more of the participants bloody and unconcious.

He did not stay long. The Improvisers were not his lot. He held dreams of being part of a Skirmisher platoon, but more than likely he would end up as a standard spearman, like his older brother, who had marched off to war with Parthon just a few weeks earlier. As the boy slipped into an alley for a pre-arranged engagement with a girl just a year older, he wondered what glories his brother was finding on the battlefields to the north...

Four hundred miles away, the boy's brother, Jonha, lay dying on a corpse-strewn battlefield. Though not all on the field were fully dead yet, they were corpses just the same.

In the distance he could see the Demon-lord smashing into the foe's city. He grinned. For in his death there was a victory. The Parthenes would not last the night!

Coughing up blood, he cursed the one who had struck him down. Some dervish from one of the nine hells it must have been! That was definitely no ordinary man. The beast had hit the Tartessian lines with a whirlwind of steel, slashing his way through the ranks in a seemingly effortless display that left only broken and dismembered bodies in his wake. Even the most skilled among them hadn't been able to slow down the onslaught.

That is, until he faced off against the Demon. Jonha had seen it with his own eyes! That terrible axe wielded by their general had shattered the Parthene hero in a most satisyfing manner. Jonha turned his head toward the burnt circle that marked the spot where those mighty powers had clashed.

He blinked his eyes to try and focus but the red haze clouding his vision darkened. Fading into oblivion, he thought he saw something unsual -- was that some sort of golden glow...

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This is fan fiction written for Gods Unchained. It is not official lore.