Enthraller

Drindle started from the basics of the world around Lionel. He began to speak while flipping through the thick tome looking for something. Drindle's thin wisp of white hair was all that could be seen by Lionel behind the tall book. He mentioned a few common things Lionel had already known. The nobles seemed to own everything and peasants were little more than fodder. There were thirteen main noble families and one queen in the Wastrial Nation.

Drindle had barely begun to tell Lionel about the Wastrial nation that they currently resided in, when a low rumble could be heard from the vicinity of Lionel's stomach. Drindle peaked his eyes over the top of the book to look at Lionel. Lionel could see the furrowed overgrown brows peaking above the book. They were so overgrown that they almost hid the pale blue eyes.

"Ank, if you're hungry just ask. I don't want to repeat anything because you were too focused on your stomach." At those words Drindle dropped his head back into the book and the wisp of hair became the only thing visible to Lionel again. Slowly a plate flew from the counter and into Lionel's lap; it had some bread and cheese on it. Lionel immediately tore into it with no reprieve.

When he finished eating he looked back at the cover of the book in Drindle's lap. Peaking over the book was Drindle's pale blue eyes again. His eyebrows were drawn up into a curious, quizzical pose "Goodness boy, are you a dragon or what? scarfing food isn't what I expected but at least that is settled."

He muttered to himself while resuming his perusal through the large tome. Lionel could hear him say, "Got'a work on this kids manners.." mumble mumble.. "I swear.." mumble mumble.. "..like a dog spotting a female in heat.." Mumble mumble... "Geez..."

After a few more moments of grumbling it appeared the old man found where he was in his explanation. The world that Lionel and Drindle currently inhabited was known as the Realm of Man. The Realm of Man had one main continent that was a trapezoidal landmass. The continent was known as Slydall, and was broken into four almost equal sections. As Drindle continued to speak, Lionel began to wonder at how large the landmass truly was and butted in to ask.

"Where are we in Slydall?"

Drindle's head popped up where Lionel could see his eyes again. They seemed lit up at the unexpected question. Lionel had been relatively quiet up to this point and his sudden interest appeared to give Drindle a subject to open the book too.

Drindle opened the book wide and laid it down in his lap for Lionel to see. He pointed at a drawing spanning two pages of the large book. The pages were yellowed with age and the drawing before him was very thin lined and fairly detailed. Lionel could see the trapezoid shape that Drindle had spoke of. As Lionel was taking in the details of the drawing, Dridle's thin digit pointed down into the southwest corner of the map where the trapezoid landmass formed an acute angle.

"We are here" Drindle spoke with a serious expression.

As soon as he spoke Lionel asked another question. "Where is my house located?"

A serious expression remained on the codger's face as he answered. "Well on this map it is in the same general location. The world is too large to show your home relative to the Lonely Peaks. Your home is just a blip in the Wastrial nation."

Drindle began to point at different points on the map. He showed Lionel where the capital of the Wastrial Nation was located. The capital was towards the center of the map near a line that snaked its way North and South through the entirety of the landmass. As Drindle was speaking Lionel could feel the old man's eyes on him. As Lionel would look at details on the map Drindle would start to talk about those details as if to answer any questions. Lionel stared at the line that moved North and South through the continent; Drindle seemed to answer his unasked question.

That line was a river known as The Great Divide but most would call it The Canal. The Canal was the divider of the East and the West regions of Slydall. The East region was simply known as the Eastern Sector while the West was known as the Western Sector. On the Eastern Sector was the Eastern Empire and the Clergy of Carnage. The Eastern Empire ruled the larger southern side of the sector while the Clergy occupied the northern area. The same went for the Western Sector except the Southern area was owned by the Wastrial nation and the northern was controlled by the Order of Nephrem.

Hours seemed to pass as Drindle talked about the map. He mentioned the main mountain range the separated the Wastrial nation and Order of Nephem on the Western sector. He also told Lionel tib bits of history of the world. Years ago there was a spat between the Emperor of the Eastern Empire and the previous King of Wastrial. Both nations mobilized armies and marched to the Great Divide. Due to the Great Divide neither army was able to make a move and invade the other for a sweeping victory. The two countries fought back and forth for more than fifty years and finally settled down. The previous King of Wastrial grew sick just before the war ended and died shortly after the war concluded. He passed his crown onto his daughter Sophia.

Lionel also learned from Drindle that the current capital of Wastrial was born because of that spat. The majority of the soldiers stayed stationed near the border with the Empire to ensure there was no further conflicts. Due to all of that man power stationed near the Great Divide it seemed easier to house the troops and their families by building a small town. That town, over time drew many merchants and services for the troops. That town grew and grew until Queen Sophia even made a proclamation that the town would be the new capital, Kylia. It had one of the largest castles in the Realm of Man, as well as the most manpower currently stationed at it.

At some point Drindle stopped talking while Lionel continued to gaze at the open map. He had never been taught much about the world, it wasn't that his parents didn't know some of it. It was that there was never a need to teach him about it. He had learned to read, write and use arithmetic from his mother but that was pretty much the extent of his education. Based off of the map, Lionel had lived in a relatively unpopulated area with no major city nearby. he had lived far from the capital. It seemed, if he lived any further away he would have been in the ocean that surrounded the continent. The map was fairly large and provided only minor details of settlements, but gave him a clear understanding of the major towns and villages. When Lionel's curiosity of the map was finally appeased he looked up at the old man.

His bushy brows covered his eyes and looked as if he was in deep thought. His face was slightly crumpled up like he was wondering what to talk about next. Lionel sat there staring at the man before a low moan was released as the decrepit breathed out. It took Lionel only a second to realize the old fart had fallen asleep!!

Lionel sat there for a few minutes more before picking the book up from Drindle and returning to his chair to look through it. The book barely fit on his lap. It hung at a precarious angle while Lionel flipped to the first page. There on the yellowed parchment was a beautiful golden script. It was hard to read but he could make out "Dres... Du...Hurron Abul...". He couldn't understand the rest of the script and began to page through the book. Luckily the rest of the pages were written in a neat script that was easier to read. He saw at the top of each page was a subject and in the body of the pages were details on that subject. The pages were filled with words and even some notes were scribbled in the margins.

Lionel continued to page through and read some of the subjects stopping at a couple of pictures now and then. Finally he read a subject that fully captured his attention. In the same neat script was written a word he had only heard once. "Enthraller"