A Day in Brocadia starring Dr. Dia DeMonde - Part 1

In ages past, there existed a great civilization capable of building great things, producing great people, and creating great ideas. And yet this civilization managed to destroy itself, its neighbors, and arguably 99% of its entire world. Pockets of humanity managed to survive, but they were isolated. Civilization had died, culture stagnated, and even the people themselves were changed. Into this came a strange race of spacefaring beings known in myth and legend only as the Earthmasters. They saw a world that had once thrived and introduced their servants to restore it to serve as a colony. The Earthmasters began to thrive on this world as well, building a network of fantastic devices that could transport a person from one end to the other in an instant.

Sadly, they, too, were not long for the world as their ancient Enemy, whom history does not even remember except within near-extinct Earthmaster records, followed them to this new colony world and continued fighting their ancient war. The Earthmasters and their enemies fought vicious battle after vicious battle until all present on the world had either died or fled to their parent empires. The Earthmasters' servants remained behind though, picking up the pieces of a broken world until the pockets of humanity, which now included strange children like Elves, Orcs, and Goblins, began to spread forth once more to reclaim what was lost.

Civilization was slowly rebuilt. New nations like Tentula and Brocaidia rose on the contient of Demova. Dwarves and Halflings and other races built nations of their own as man's desire to explore the unknown returned. Sadly, growth and prosperity brought with it another old, bad habit: war. Elves and humans fought for control of Demova, resulting in the near-extinction of the Elves except for a small enclave of pure-bloods granted sanctuary by the Queen of Tentula and their part-Elf descendents, the Middlings. Peace thrived until the Church of Azell realized that powerful magics such as the ones used against the Elves could be turned upon them or other human nations, beginning a war across Demova to bring all magic under the oversight of the Church, causing the near-destruction of the nation of Estella.

Once the Church was satisfied with its position, peace reigned across Demova. Publicly at least, for a shadow war was being waged between the descendents of the Enemy and a group of warriors working on behalf of the rulers of the Demovan nations. This shadow war lasted for years until an accident involved an Earthmaster site caused the "deaths" of the Enemy leader and the warriors. While their bodies were destroyed, scattered by malfunction Earthmaster artifacts, their spirits gained the ability to reach out to their descendents and grant them fantastic powers. With this new ability, the Enemy continued his plans against Humanity while the warriors, now known as the Forever Knights, sought him out and battled him when possible.

The year is 1568 of the Azell Calendar. It is an Age of Enlightenment and Exploration as new discoveries as made every day and strange lands are waiting to be discovered by Demovan explorers. The Forever Knights are active once more though, traveling across the world to reactivate the surviving dormant Earthmaster sites to give them an edge in their fight against the Enemy, whose plans are coming together after centuries.

Even heroes must rest though. After a harrowing adventure in an undersea city with multiple near-death experiences, Doctor Dia DeMonde, Middling surgeon of - in her own eyes at least - great renown, looked forward to spending some time in a normal, ordinary city. Her companions all had their own preparations to make, supplies to purchase, needs to attend to. That was fine; they had their things, Dia had hers, even if it was in a Brocadian city instead of one in her homeland of Estella. She was even tempted - nay, hoping - to perform a normal medical procedure on someone instead of having to sew her own abdomen shut or dissect some horrible fish creature to get access to the poison sacs in its face. Still alive, of course. She did feel somewhat out of place though, dressed in rather common-looking garments despite being a guest of the Brocadian palace while the natives all strutted about like peacocks in their fashions. Dia shook her head and went looking for the nearest apothecary to restock her surgery kit.

<DiDe, can we go to the candy store?>

Dia looked at her shoulder. Beneath her cloak, her shoulder bulged from a small lump perched there, hidden from sight so as not to scare the common folk. Its words went right into her mind, an easy way to circumvent the need for awkward conversations.

"Not yet, Nurse Teacups," she answered with a smile. "Behave and you can have TWO pieces."

The bulge squirmed until the head of a tiny dragon's head peeked out from beneath the cloak.

<Even taffy?>

Dia smiled at Izzy Teacups' enthusiasm, admiring once again the little creature, a once-dead fairy dragon she had restored using magic and science. She petted the little head and gently pushed it back under the cloak.

"Yes, even taffy," she agreed. "Now stay put. Peeking is NOT behaving."

<But I'm boooooooored.>

The surgeon shrugged with her unladen shoulder as she entered the apothecary she had been searching for. That was the end of her good experience with the shop as the proprietor took one look at her single pointed ear and sneered.

"Show me your coin before you waste my time asking for things, Middling," the clerk demanded.

With an annoyed sigh, Dia pulled out two things: a gold coin and a small amulet, her symbol of membership in Estella's hallowed medical guild. She waved both in front of the clerk's face while tapping her foot impatiently.

"I am Doktor Dia DeMonde, graduate of the Freiburg Universitat, dummkop, here on special assignment to attend King Louis-Dieudonné de Montaigne XIV," Dia said in introduction. "You may fetch me vhat I need or I shall return to the palace, explain to his majest vhat you hafe not done, and somevone vith a large polearm shall come to do my shopping, only he vill pay you vith a large fine for wasting the court's time. Good deal, ya?"

The clerk gulped as Dia produced a small ring bearing the royal seal, proof enough that she at least worked in the palace, even if in a far different role than the one she'd stated.

"Ah, yes, of course, Doktor," the clerk gulped, suddenly quick to respond to Dia's requests.

"And hafe a nice day," Dia said, smiling sweetly as she returned to town.

Outside, she found herself staring at a young boy, a fellow Middling judging by his ears and slight frame. She also found herself unable to get past without shoving him aside. The two stared at each other awkwardly until Izzy poked her head out of the cloak.

<This isn't the candy store, DiDe.>

"I know, Nurse."

<Then why are we just sitting here?>

"Zhat is a good qvestion," Dia agreed, turning to the boy. "Can I help you, knabe?"

The child stared at her for another moment, tilting his head. "Are you a healer?"

"A healer?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, one of those people who makes sick people better."

"Ah. Zhe proper term is doktor, but yes, I am a...'healer,'" Dia answered. "You don't look sick though."

"It's my papa. He came home sick, but he keeps going to work and getting worse. So I said to myself 'Pete, go ask a healer to make him better.' so I started coming here. All the healers look at me though and just want to see my money first," the boy explained. "But I'm just a kid; I don't have any money."

Dia's heart skipped a beat. Plain old ordinary medical emergency, helping someone in need, AND sticking it to the pureblood humans who probably did most of the medicine in this town? It sure sounded like a good deal anyway. "I see. And I take it you vould like me to help him, ya?"

The boy, Pete, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Yeah! Can you?"

Izzy glared from her perch, but Dia spoke before the dragon could get mad. "Certainly. Ve need to make one stop, zhen ve can see vhat's wrong with your Papa."

A quick trip the sweets shop later and Dia, Izzy, and Pete were on their way to the boy's house on the edge of town, not quite a slum but likely only because of an effort to gentrify the neighborhood. Nobody was on the street begging, but this part of town lacked the brightly-colored garments of the districts near the palace. Dia felt she had gone from being underdressed to overdressed as she walked through the streets, slipping back into an old habit of mentally diagnosing people's problems as she passed them. It'd been so easy to slip back into routine though that she also missed the sight of a bulky arm reaching out to her from behind a post.

For a five-foot nothing young woman, Dia wasn't a slouch in the strength department. She swatted the encroaching grasp aside and reached towards her belt, wondering what sort of weapon she should be reaching for as two brutish men stepped in front of her.

"Lookit here, Fenton. She's a lively one."

"Sure is. Spare a few pennies for a couple o' poor men?"

Dia snorted. Compared to giant reptiles, troglodytes, fish men, and the undead, a couple of muggers were nothing. She reached for her sword before remembering it was back at the palace. Same with her spear. At least she still had a kni-oh wait. That, too, was at the palace. Well, she still had a nice, weighty walking stick she could introduce their shins too. Or maybe she could use a spell. Or...she could be interrupted.

"What ho, ruffians! Back away from the lady!"

Dia, Pete, and the two muggers looked up as a blue blur fell from above, sweeping back a bright blue cape as it drew a rapier. In fact, it was a man dressed entirely in a blue uniform, right down to a blue facemask.

"I am the Blue Revenger and I am the righter of wrongs, thwarter of evils, defender of the weak, and...well...you get the gist of the," the blue figure said. "Leave this woman and her babe alone and I shall allow you to walk off unharmed."

Desperate the muggers might have been, but they were quite aware that neither of them were armed, counting on their strength and size to intimidate victims. Now someone else had the upper hand.

"Well? Poke poke!" the Blue Revenger said, waving his weapon about. "What say you?"

The reply was for one mugger to pick up a barrel, hefting it over his head in an impressive feat of strength to throw at the would-be hero. The revenger leapt to the side and the barrel bounced off the ground with a hollow thunk. With the thugs' attention occupied, Dia plucked her hefty walking stick from her belt and chanted a quick word of command, activating a strange ring on her finger. A gift of sorts from a Vedic noble, the ring soon turned her invisible, allowing her to creep up and club the barrel-thrower from behind, knocking him out cold with a single precisely-aimed hit.

Meanwhile, the Blue Avenger had begun hopping about, peppering the other thug with lightning-swift pokes from his rapier, drawing blood but inflicting no lethal wounds. Dia decided for all his eccentricities, he was at least quite skilled with a weapon.

"You swing your lists like a bovine," the revenger taunted, side-stepping a blow.

"Shut up and get hit!" the thug whinged, holding a spot on his face where he'd been slashed.

"Your odor is the only dangerous part about you!" the hero answered back, then slamming the pommel of the rapier upon the thug's head.

As the large sack of meat fell to the ground, the Blue Revenger removed his hat with a flourish and bowed gracefully.

"Worry not, my lady. You are safe now."

Dia sighed. Perhaps eccentric was too mild a word.