Gloinus, the Unifier

High lord Gloinus Asram was the first emperor of the 30 Kingdoms, who was famous for his Unification pact that ended many conflicts throughout the kingdom and ushered in a new age of peace and prosperity that seemed impossible.

## **Prologue**

Gloinus was a highborn of Ascara, the city that he’d one day pronounce as the capital of his Unification. He was trained in arms and history from a very young age and groomed to become an advisor for the King of Ascara. He was not fond of the violence in his swordschool but became skilled with a blade due to much pressure and practice. His true love lay in the library: *The Diaries of a Doting Fool*, written by a Searund highborn who forsook his claim to the Kingship and joined a travelling performance company. These Diaries contained detailed and slightly exaggerated notes on each of the thirty kingdoms. The author, Leo Alfoy, painted wonderful pictures through his words and sketches of the great cities and kingdoms he visited. The sense of wonder Gloinus gained from reading the entries could not be replicated by the biased books on Ascaran history and punishing swordfights he had to endure. He felt compelled by his house’s duty to the King to carry on his education and take up his mother’s role in the parliament. However, he religiously reread the Diaries to hold onto that sense of awe, even though they were missing the final book. The final book of the Diaries was written by Alfoy a few weeks prior to his own death in a cabin in Astunlos, at the very ripe old age of 68. It was sent to Ascara to be transcribed and published, but due to a clerical error, it was lost in the library. (Ascara is known before unification as the capital of knowledge. It houses the largest library in the kingdoms, and many businesses work in transcribing and translating the works of scholars worldwide.)

Gloinus’s lifelong friend and bodyguard Pavan, a lowborn knight who excelled at the swordschool and became friends with Gloinus after bullying him in multiple swordfights, came across the final book in the library while retrieving a copy of the *Encyclopaedia of Victors, a summary of the Mainland Combat Championship.* Pavan was selected to fight in the said tournament and was getting prepared, while Gloinus burned through the pages of the final book.

The final book presented an older, reflective Mr Alfoy, who describes his daily life with his husband and wifewhile telling the reader of the eventual fates of all the people he had met in his travels. Alfoy concluded the book with a passage that made Gloinus realise that he could not settle for a life confined to the steep roads of Ascara.

**"***I often wander around the home with a purposeful look on my face, arms crossed behind my back to give the illusion that I am doing something important. Sooki sees through my guise but she is a true dear and lets me be. Ilyan, however, has made many an attempt to get me to help him with his new ‘construction phase’ he is going through. After many flat-out refusals and hissy fits, accompanied by aggressive spooning in bed I have convinced him to accept that my soft hands are of no use in building the extension to the patio, and to take (torture) the Soullosi boys instead.*

*The Astun sun shines brightly upon me, and it reminds me of all those days I spent with all the friends I made in kingdoms so far away. It weakens my heart to accept that many of them have passed on. Sooki saw that I was crying while staring at the sun, and for once refused to confront my dramatic behaviour. She came over and held me in her arms and kissed me on the forehead. She told me something that made the sun shine a little brighter that day. She said, “The world is full of love that you spread on your travels.” I replied, “Yes but so many of those I loved are gone.” I tried to sound strong by adding “I guess it’s better to have loved and lost than not loved at all”. Sooki held me tighter and said something that made me realise that it was time for me to end the Diaries. To you the reader I impart her words, with the hope that it would leave a positive mark on your soul as it did mine. “Oh, my love you have not. You have not loved at lost; you’ve loved and won.”* **"**

Gloinus realised that he wanted to travel and see the world but knew he would not be able to brave it alone. However, he did not want to travel like Alfoy, he wanted a purpose so that he would not just recreate the life of a better man. Creating your own path was the message behind the Diaries, after all. He convinced Pavan to travel with him, and Pavan agreed only if Gloinus took no offence to Pavan’s own goal of “fighting and fucking” at least once in every Kingdom. He had to accept this strange definition that Pavan had given to the phrase “A well-travelled man” but could not leave immediately, as the 2-month Championship was only a few days away.

## **Mainland Combat Championship**

The events that occurred during this tournament spurred Gloinus to strive for an idea that seemed impossible at first, the Unification of the 30 Kingdoms.