New Beginning to Chapter One

This part comes in directly before the part where Tanner is running from a man in the market. I think Regal's character and Zealonia as a whole really came out of nowhere and needed a few more paragraphs of background, though most will be revealed in later chapters.



Zealonia was a land where magic thrived. Its inhabitants were able to use the magic in varying ways. Generally, some were innately attuned to offensive magic and some were more attuned to defensive magic, though only defensive magic was now practiced in Zealonia. In addition to manipulating magic to offensive and defensive ends, one could feasibly generate fire, wind, lightning, water, or various combinations of the four.
Regal Altara was a mage trained in the defensive arts, the craft of the Inner Circle. He was also Zealonia’s most gifted archaeologist, which was a coveted position considering the high volume of ancient ruins in Zealonia. Regal was originally born in Zeal, Zealonia’s largest city, but had since moved to Mist, which was a small coastal village with a local ruin and large amounts of farmland. Regal didn’t mind living in a smaller village. For the most part, he found it refreshing. Deciphering the mysteries of the nameless ruin close to where he had erected a house took up most of his time. Every now and then he would spare a few moments to keep up with his Inner Circle training. Honing his defensive skills was never a bad idea.
In Zeal, Regal’s parents had pushed him to be both dedicated and insightful, his father being a professor and his mother being a talented mage in her own right. He studied hard at the magical academy, excelling in the field of archaeology, his curiosity shining through in all facets of his tenure at the academy.
Zealonia had been at peace for around five hundred years. Little was known about the war that once required the skills of mages trained in the offensive Outer Circle arts. In fact, all records of the enemy the Zealonians were fighting at the time seemed to be scarce and vague if found. It was these sorts of mysteries that drove Regal to pursue archaeology and his curiosity that made him so adept at solving them. Under his reign as de facto main archaeologist, Zealonia had learned more about its history in four years than it had learned in the last four hundred. Regal was slightly competitive as well, still looking for what would be his crowning achievement, but was more interested in satisfying his own curiosity and zest for learning than for gathering critical acclaim that would only be acknowledged in Zeal.
Regal was also becoming bothered by the monotony of meeting the same road blocks at every turn in his research and was yearning for something exciting to come his way. He always thought that some day he might find something so foreign that it would shake the very foundation of their society. A dream – but a good dream nonetheless. He hoped that there were others out there that shared his dream, and also his passion.