The Adventurous Vagrant

I have a particular set of skills. Skills I have learned and cultivated over time. Skills I combine and customize to suit my own tastes and styles, while also upholding efficiency. Skills that prove to be the winning formulas in finishing quests with flying colors. In the past five years, I have gone on several adventures. And in those adventures, I make sure never to forget her. She is my inspiration, my reason to keep on questing. My name is Walter Deschantes, the adventurous vagrant. Today is the 22nd day of Godmonth, in the ninth year of the current reign of His Highness the King, which is also the one thousand nineteenth year of the Common Era. After finishing a quest that involves securing goods for a roving merchant and collecting a handsome monetary reward from him... I leave for the nearest town, the town of Isiazeal, post-haste. … … ... So this is Isiazeal, huh? The houses are made of mud bricks, and most of the town's residents are master potters, proudly displaying their vases, jars, tableware, and other ceramic pieces of art on the streets not that far from the residents' houses. If I recall correctly, some of this town's best artisans exclusively commission their masterpieces to wealthier families in the capital as well as other towns within the kingdom I live and roam in. And like other towns in the kingdom, the houses here in Isiazeal are powered by what is called the “sparkgrid”. It is a centralized magical energy connection and relaying system that provides power to all homes and businesses, for multiple purposes such as providing lighting at nighttime or air cooling and ventilation during hot and dry months. The sparkgrid was developed by the kingdom's scholars as an efficient way to use naturally-occurring magic for the betterment of the people. Best of all, the service is free; as magic in the world I live in – the world of Amitabhilia – is perpetual and will never run out, due to the fact that it is never created nor destroyed. After seeing how content the people of this town are, I immediately use my Teleportation Feather to instantly transport myself back to the kingdom's capital. The Kingdom of Lebenswasserheim. The capital: Lebenswasserheim Burghal. It has been a while (and when I mean by that, I mean eight months) since I've visited the place where I was born and raised. This capital is as bustling with activity as it was in recent years. Of course, as the epicenter of all governmental and commercial activity, it is home to some of the kingdom's biggest markets as well as the headquarters of the military and constabulary forces. And don't forget the royal seat of power, of course. Lebenswasserheim Burghal is divided into several districts. The Administrative District is the seat of the kingdom's governmental power. It comprises of Lebenswasserheim Palace, the official and permanent residence of the entire royal family; the Royal Constabulary Headquarters, the seat of the police force; the Royal Armed Forces Headquarters, the seat of the military force; the House of the Representative Parliament, where elected people from all races and all walks of life are given a voice in drafting laws for the good of the kingdom; the Royal Supreme Court, the place where the highest of the royal judges try and punish the hardest of criminals, as well as settle massive legal conflicts between parties; and the Royal Departmental Offices, where the royal secretaries of finance, local government, education, health, and other aspects of public service hold their office. The Industrial-Financial District, as indicated by the name, is the center of all manufacturing and trade. It's home to some of the biggest factories and private offices in the kingdom, offering various high-quality products and services to all people in the kingdom and beyond. The Educational District is where the best and the brightest come and, hopefully, stay. The Royal Academy covers all aspects of a person's education from childhood to adulthood and is open to practically everyone regardless of race and social status. The Royal Research and Start-up Subdistrict is a recent initiative by His Highness the King, where innovative minds come to form small companies that have the potential to make people's lives easier and more prosperous, complete with funding direct from the royal family. His Highness saw the potential after the scholars that pioneered the sparkgrid were given accolades by the populace for making their lives easier. The Residential District is where many of the kingdom's who's who live. Despite being divided into three unofficial subdistricts that are indicated according to a family's social status (elite, middle class, and lower class), there are no signs of brewing class wars everywhere. Everyone plainly lives harmoniously, period. I myself belong to the middle class, by the way. And finally, the Poblation, or the burghal's center, is where much of its festive activity occurs, with a central park and amusement centers that dot its landscape. It is also where the famous fountain resides. In fact, the burghal and the kingdom got its name from this very fountain. The official history of the kingdom states that a thousand years ago, an experienced adventurer, tired from his daily walks through the wilderness, stumbled upon this fountain, which was guarded by a fairy. The fairy commanded the adventurer, “Oh weary traveler, I know in your heart that you tire of the adventuring life. Thus, you will be granted the blessings of this invigorating, never-ending water from the fountain I keep watch, as long as the water is kept in its purest state, untainted by both physical and ethereal pollutants. You will be the founder of what I will call 'the city of living water', and I will keep watch over you and your eventual descendants.” Naturally, the adventurer accepted the fairy's offer. Soon after, he founded a small hamlet as he invited other adventurers and even displaced people from other places to move into his domain. Years passed, and the hamlet grew into a town, then into a city, then into a prosperous kingdom... ...as long as the fairy's promises were kept sacrosanct. In fact, those promises now form the backbone of the kingdom's ethical and legal codes. I know all of these pieces of information... because this is the place where I was born and I grew up to love. After that long-winded recall of my hometown, a two-horse carriage then approaches me. The carriage driver asks me... “Mister Walter Deschantes! Great timing here!” “Well, what is it?” “His Highness the King wants to talk to you personally.” “Sure. It's been a while since I've last done that.” “Great! You can hop on in now!” With no hesitation, I hop inside the carriage that will head straight into the palace. I stay calm and composed inside the carriage as the driver holds his head up high, with his eyes on the cobblestone road ahead of us. Fifteen minutes later, we are now in front of the palace. The palace guards lower the drawbridge in order for us to pass through the palace moat, after giving us the clearance to enter the palace premises. Minutes later, I'm now at the palace's audience chamber. The chamber is decorated by transparent tubes that channel water from the fountain, the so-called source of life of the kingdom, into the many tributary tubes that lead to places such as the Royal Water Reserve, which lies just outside the capital, as well as irrigation channels that lead to farms near and far. At the center of the chamber is a huge, spread-out carpet that bears the official seal of Lebenswasserheim. On the shield, or escutcheon, is a depiction of pure crystalline water flowing from the source, the fairy in the story of the kingdom's foundation, which is located on the seal's crest that rests on top of the shield. The supporters on both the sinister (left-hand) and dexter (right-hand) sides are a swordsman and a mage, which alludes to the kingdom's founder being a retired adventurer himself. At the moment, it's just me, the most elite of the royal guardsmen standing guard with their spears pointing upwards, and His Highness the King himself. King Virgil Almarius, the ruling monarch of Lebenswasserheim. Clad in a red and golden toga on top of a white suit – and with the obligatory crown, of course – His Highness bears the aura of the highest of royalty without being too garish.