The World of Havenor

By Carlo Carrasco

The World of Havenor is an anthology of fantasy short stories that follows the trials of seven people who share one common dreamfreedom from the evil clutches of the Vandorran Empire. Readers will meet Varna, a teenager whose mutation gives her the ability to manipulate metal through touch and focus; Rally, a navigator who was banished from the colonial forces when her superiors discovered that she is a lesbian; Brick, a former knight who leads a treasure hunting team to aid his kingdoms poor people; Savannah and Sage, siblings who wield magical powers that reflect their respective differences; Ryder, a young explorer who searches for lost books of ancient magic spells; and Laetitia, the daughter of a freedom fighter who is about to realize her destiny. Through their exploits, readers will witness unique adventures unfold as well as timeless themes that they can relate with.

Almost a hundred years have passed since the day the empire invaded their world. Through the decades, the Havenorians have lived in fear and could only struggle with oppression and abuse from the technology-armed colonists. Making matters worse is the impending arrival of Emperor Brutikus, who intends to make Havenor the new home world for his eight hundred million Vandorrans. Advising the emperor is Fesoj, the high priest of the Padsonian church of Vandorra. Fesoj rules with thousands of priests and clerics, waging a religious war against the Vivienite faith of the Havenorians, as well as their nonbelievers. As such, the Havenorians must unite and organize the fight for freedom before it is too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 20, 2009
• ISBN: 9781462818815

Carlo Carrasco

Carlo Carrasco was born in Makati, Philippines. He graduated with a degree in communication arts at Letran College in Manila. In 2004, he completed a basic film directing course at the International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT) in the province of Cebu. A longtime movie, comic book, and video game enthusiast, the author developed his passion for writing since youth. In 2009, he was honored by the Sun.Star Cebu daily newspaper as its Contributor of the Year (2008) for his articles. Carrasco conceptualized the core concept of The World of Havenor while relaxing at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.

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Contents

Acknowledgment

About the Cover Artist

Introduction

Havenor

The Paradise of the Universe

The Vandorran Empire

Invasion and Colonization

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

The Vandorran Emperor

Acknowledgment

I express my thanks to my parents and my brothers for believing in me and supporting me on my effort with this book. It has been an old desire of mine to establish my own fantasy universe as well as to become a published author. In relation to this, I acknowledge the professionalism of Xlibris and all of its members for producing this book.

I express thanks to my best friend Jong Jaucian for reviewing the text as well as providing crucial feedback and criticism. For much of the 1980s, my friends and I played lots of role-playing games of fantasy. Jong was always there, and I would not have discovered those immersive fantasy games without his help.

I also thank my cousin Sheena Solis for providing the wonderful cover artwork. Having learned arts at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), her artistry is great, and I am very glad to have her involved in making my vision of Havenor come true. I encourage everyone reading this to watch her work.

My thanks also go to my associates, my superiors, my closest friends, and my relatives out there.

Finally, I acknowledge the greatness of the following figures of world history—Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, John Locke, Lapu-Lapu, Oskar Schindler, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy.

About the Cover Artist

Born and raised in San Jose, California, in the United States, Sheenalyn Solis has developed her artistic skills at an early age. She graduated with dean’s honors at the University of California, Los Angeles School of the Arts and Architecture. Her work has appeared in various galleries in Los Angeles, California, and was nationally recognized for the National Congressional Award where her painting was displayed in the Oval Office in Washington DC. She has been critically appraised for her costume designs at the Ford Amphitheatre for her work in Ledges and Bones’s Departure from Commons. Her work was displayed in the fortieth anniversary of the civil rights movement at Loyola Marymount’s Laband Art Gallery Dissent! 1968 and Now. Sheenalyn Solis does commissioned work and will be launching a fashion boutique and gallery space in Los Angeles in the next coming year.

Introduction

As proven by history countless times, oppression is essentially evil. Not only does oppression harm liberty and free will, it also destroys humanity’s most basic values—freedom, love, hope, and life.

As a believer in secular law, civil rights, and liberties, I strongly oppose the idea that civilization should be overwhelmed by a single political system or by a single church or by any group that seeks to reform the whole world in its image. In my view, humanity deserves its freedom and independence. There is no good reason why people should be deprived of liberty, nor is there any justification that reason should be overwhelmed by faith. In addition, change is essential in the pursuit to keep civilization free and open to all kinds of people.

Every world has its nations. Every nation has its people. People have their own cultures, liberties, and lives.

When oppression happens, terrible things like slavery, discrimination, violence, and injustice often follow. Such tragedies and incidents happened so many times in the past it’s a wonder why cruelty continues to overpower the human judgment. Through storytelling, I aim to express a message of initiating change that can make civilization and the world better.

In this book, I share with you a series of fantasy short stories that reflects the adventures I enjoyed through playing fantasy role-playing games (RPGs). Prior to writing The World of Havenor, I conducted my own research on history, movies, graphic novels, and video games. As such, I wrote each story to reflect what kind of world Havenor is, why Havenorians are oppressed, and why the quest for freedom will never end.

I did my best to make this book entertaining as well as reflective of the events, concepts, and values that defined both history and humanity. I hope you will enjoy reading the text from the beginning until the very end. Always remember that empowering civil rights means empowering people and reason must always be prioritized over religion.

Havenor

The Paradise of the Universe

Deep in the galaxy is the planet called Havenor. Larger than the solar system’s planet Jupiter, Havenor is home to a few million inhabitants that lived with long-lasting peace and understanding between different cultures and races. The planet has varied types of environments and physical locations that are each beautiful and breathtaking—from tropical islands to frozen lands, deserts, valleys, and more. Much of the world remains untouched and unexplored.

Its civilized inhabitants are composed of humans, Hednines, dwarves, and elves. It is rumored that there are undiscovered races existing in the unexplored parts of the world. Several expedition teams were sent to explore uncharted territories and never returned.

Technology in the world remained very low as the Havenorian civilization aged a few thousand years. Steam technology is their most advanced technology that is widely available, and it also serves as the lone driver of local industry. Among them, however, are people who developed technological breakthroughs.

Havenor is composed of nine continents, and only two are occupied. Large numbers of people live within the walls of five kingdoms: In the continent of Vermillion are Diverbay (predominantly human, last led by King Ashton); Janis (predominantly Hednine, a race of human-looking Canids led by Queen Kadlade); and Helix (predominantly human, last led by King Trent and Queen Grace). In the continent of Liv are Extor (varied races—human, Hednine, dwarves, and elves—led by Queen Zal) and Breezeland (predominantly dwarves, led by King Jeremy).

Elsewhere, several towns and villages are scattered all over the occupied continents.

Almost half of all Havenorians share the same religion—Vivienity. They believe in their creator named Vivien, whom they address as the Eternal Mother, the Almighty, and the Goddess. Even though Vivien is human in nature, the elves, dwarves, and Hednines still believe in her as their respective ancestors were part of the creation of life.

In addition to being holy, Vivienity’s biblical records confirmed homosexuality as a part of its heritage. In the records, three of Vivien’s five children who walked the land were homosexuals—daughters Vanessa and Marliss and son Kenji. Homosexual marriage is recognized and accepted under the faith.

With Vivien as their goddess, many women served as leaders of Havenorian civilization throughout history. There are more Vivienite priestesses than priests.

The Vandorran Empire

Invasion and Colonization

In the year 3290, large space vessels from the planet Vandorra invaded Havenor with strategic methods and overwhelming military might.

Aided by advanced technology, the Vandorrans easily crushed Havenor’s defenders and claimed victory within nine days. While each kingdom surrendered, King Ashton and the people of Diverbay continued its resistance only to die from extremely powerful attacks by the invaders.

With the kingdom in ruins and its monarchy eradicated, the humanoid invaders rebuilt Diverbay and established it as their seat of power and colonial governance. Diverbay Castle eventually turned into a military base, as well as a new residence for the Vandorran emperor Tavius.

In power for decades, Emperor Tavius ruled with an iron fist and ruthlessness. He immediately ordered his troops to force Havenorians to submit to his rule and work as slaves for the empire. With High Priest Fesoj advising him, Tavius also issued an order to force Havenor’s people to convert to Padsonism—the faith of the Vandorrans.

As many religious traits of Vivienity directly contradicted Padson standards, High Priest Fesoj declared the Havenorian religion as evil and immoral. He promised the colonial troops that those who killed defiant Vivienites would go to heaven and live with their almighty Lawmaker. Religious intolerance drove Vandorran soldiers into aggressively terrorizing the people of Havenor.

Knowing that his own people needed substantial support, Tavius ordered his followers to establish new industries in Havenor with their technologies and consumed vast amounts of the planet’s precious resources. As decades passed, new factories spread, mines opened, farms sprouted, and military bases were built, gradually polluting the environment.

In 3375, Tavius died of extremely old age and was succeeded by his only son, Brutikus. At age twenty-three, Brutikus became the youngest emperor of Vandorra and swore to continue the imperial quest for interplanetary domination. Unlike Tavius, he dreamed of making Havenor the new home for his people as Vandorra itself had deteriorated with overwhelming technology and pollution.

Through the decades, the Havenorians lived in fear, and their patriots could only exist in hiding, often far away from each other.

Among them, however, were brave souls who desired freedom and sought an end to Vandorran tyranny . . .

I

Varna: The Mutant

The year was 3390.

Living alone in the family cottage, Varna Salkind could do nothing but worry and feel the weight of loneliness. Her parents, Franklin and Grace, still had not returned from the kingdom of Extor.

Where could they be all this time? Could those dirty Vandorrans have something to do with the delay? How long must I wait here? Varna thought while looking at their family picture on the table.

Her folks were twelve days late. With nobody to help her and no news about her parents, Varna contemplated on going to the nearest kingdom to find a job or to join a group of Havenorian freedom fighters. Being fourteen, she understood that some people might not take her seriously. She wanted to continue her studies, but Vandorran soldiers shut her school down as its teachers were suspected of using the school as a rebel recruitment center.

Before the school closure, she sent a secret message to Brick Houser, a well-known treasure hunter who was once a knight of Extor. She revealed in her letter to him a personal secret that would compel the colonizers to capture her as well as her parents. Knowing Brick’s opposition to the Vandorrans, she believed her secret would be safe.

At the dining table, she prepared to eat her lunch—a fish steak with mixed vegetables. After picking up a fork with her left hand, she realized that a knife was missing. Instead, she picked up another fork from a nearby box of forks with her right hand.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. In just seconds, the fork on her right hand gradually transformed into a knife.

This was her secret. She had the power to manipulate metal through touch and focus. It was not magic. Rather, it was the result of irregularities in her genetic structure. Varna was a mutant.

Due to her mutation, she was afraid that her fellow people would cast her out while the colonists would capture her and use her power for their own purposes. Varna first learned of her mutation three years before and informed her parents about it. Since then, they kept the mutation a family secret.

As time passed, she practiced her ability to manipulate metal through touch and focus. There were days when she helped her father repair shields and armors instantly, when she helped her mother turn scrap metal into new cooking pots, and more.

As she ate her meal, she instantly remembered the day her father taught her how to catch fish with a spear when she was just eight years old. She became proficient with fishing she took part-time jobs in catching and selling them to wet market traders. She learned how to swim as well, which impressed her mother, who never learned to swim in her youth.

At school, Varna took lessons in acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat. Her trainer wanted to send her to some competitions in Extor as a representative of the school. Unfortunately, Vandorran soldiers arrested him and closed down the school. Varna was one of over three hundred young girls who was deprived of their education.

Never a quitter, Varna insisted on completing her education. She knew some schoolmates who dropped out all because they were too passionate about becoming cultural entertainers, storytellers, and explorers. She had not seen them for almost two years now.

Just as she finished eating, an eagle arrived at a nearby window. On its claws was a piece of paper, a message from far away.

Hey, you’re a sight for sore eyes! I’m glad you brought my response, Varna said, then she got up from her chair and walked to the eagle to pull the message.

She opened it, and it read,

Varna,

I hope you are well reading this. As you wrote in your message, it is true that I knew your mother and father since my days as a knight of Extor. Several times have we traveled to different towns during our escort of the late Queen Zal. Your parents worked as helpers for Her Majesty. It saddens me to learn that your parents have not arrived, and knowing the tactics of the colonists, I fear that they may have been captured. The Vandorrans have tightened security for the last several months, which only confirms my fear that their emperor, Brutikus, is coming to our world. With the problem at hand, it is not safe for you to be alone at home. You need to travel far and fast before the colonists start patrolling your town. As for your secret, I understand your situation. I am willing to offer you help, but you need to travel all the way to Diverbay where I’ll be arriving soon. As of this writing, my team and I are on a dangerous mission to help the poor people of my kingdom. I promise to take you in as a temporary member of my crew. You must reach Diverbay as soon as possible. My assistant Henry will be waiting for you at the Graig Machines factory on Kelvin Avenue. Just show him your passport.

Diverbay is a few days’ travel by horse, so better prepare yourself for the long journey. Lastly, be sure to burn this message after reading. I’ll see you soon.

Brick

He can’t be serious. A few days’ travel all by myself?! said Varna, then she stared at the eagle with disbelief on her face. She traveled far away with her friends on camping trips before. She had been to Diverbay, but that was in the company of her parents. She also knew very well that swimming alone deep under the sea is nothing compared to riding out alone.

After reading Brick’s letter again, she burned it with a match. She took her dish off the table and placed it on the kitchen sink.

Varna entered the bedroom, which she shared with her mother and father most of her life. Immediately she started collecting her clothes, a few books, some personal items, and her passport. She also pulled out a huge bag of gold coins as well as a small box of bills. These were the hard-earned money that her parents kept for her in cases of emergency.

As her packing ended, she noticed a pendant on her bed. It is an eagle-shaped silver pendant that her parents gave her for her fourteenth birthday. She picked it up.

I love you, Mom and Dad.

Then she wore it with pride and love.

Afterward, she went outside the cottage and to the backyard where a brown horse was resting. She examined the horse closely just to make sure that everything would be fine for the long trip. By looking at the sky, she realized that she only had seven hours of daylight left. Their cottage was a few kilometers away from the town of Braire, and beyond it was the long isolated road that led to Diverbay through long portions of trees, hills, and snowcapped mountains.

Varna experienced long travel before, but that was with her parents and with her schoolmates. The feeling of uncertainty began to touch her. She remembered however that beyond Braire was a huge inn, which would take her several hours to reach. She hoped to reach it before darkness catch up with her.

While preparing further, Varna wondered if it would be wise to have a