"Andera will fall by the hands of her own children, and my only hope is, for the sake of mankind, what presents itself afterwards spares us with as much mercy as possible" -- Awazanak Krieger IX, Archmage to the throne of Bvverik.
These forlorn words of a wizened old man still ring true today, 49 years ago, while the whole of Andera is still plagued with a world war. One may travel to each individual nation and receive a completely different reason why a world war is even occurring. Objectively, the world is at war because of land, resources, and the corrupt kings that held the reins back then. Some wished to expand their influence as much as they could, even to the point of treading on another's territory. As such, the other side did not approve, so they fought back. This was true for over half of the total nations, save for a couple that only wished to be left out and to defend the land they already had. For 49 years, Andera has had to endure the continuous barrage of steel and fire, but the 50th year presents a ray of hope.
The 50th year marks the end of almost all the corrupt leaders that participated in the great war, while the younger, more-promising generations took their places. Their first order of business was, as most weren't surprised, to bring a total halt to their expansions and a complete retreat of their forces back to the nation to remain on a defensive stance. Strangely enough, the collective royalty of Andera vanished to the commonwealths' eyes, with only a note decreeing that the nobility should "keep the nation under the orders which we gave, forthwith, until the world is at peace again". It was a very bizarre request to give to a group of people which controlled the nation financially. They ordered a search of their precious leaders throughout their lands, but to no avail. They were baffled why their newly-crowned kings would disappear, especially with only a couple trustworthy people to accompany them! If one was in possession of a noteworthy title, say, for instance, a king's spy, or the insight or wit of a Seer or Shinobi, that person would know exactly where they were heading--to the first assemblage of the entirety of the world's leaders in over 50 years.
The location agreed upon was to be an old, abandoned fort in the near-center region of Andera, which was to be renamed Fort Armistice. The participants were to enter two hours before the break of night, which was to signal the beginning of a new day, month, and year. Only two advisers were to accompany the leader and only one torch permitted to be lit. Guests, such as family members, were excluded from the limit, but was advised to not bring too many, as a large number of people can slow a group down, as well as being a big target for unsuspecting enemies. The fort was not a very hard landmark to find. A large structure of about 3 stories and jagged on every tip and corner, it sat on a plateau raised above the very few trees dotting the region. This was a very good defensive structure in regards to the defenders being able to pick off the siege with arrows and the attackers having to cross rough, rocky terrain to even reach the gate. Said gate was wide enough for 4 people to cross, but was old and decaying.
The participants arrived at the gate. 3 groups arrived via carriage to hold the guests and advisers in one safe area, but the magically-adept arrived by a method of teleportation. Those who arrived at nearly the same time did not engage in any sort of conversation, nor even exchange a simple glance; this was evidence of 50 years of internal conflict. For protective purposes, they were robed, cloaked, or otherwise masked to hide their identities. The groups did not converse with each other, but they respected them enough to not try any suggestive manner.
Down the fort they entered. The host requested that the meeting take place at the bottommost area of the fort. One torch per party was lit, at the behest of the host. The parties had already entered at nighttime, but every step down the staircase seemed to get darker. For some time, they continued to walk down the flight of stairs, until the time they reached the door to a small room that revealed the end of the staircase. When the leader of the parties opened the door and entered, their torches were inexplicably snuffed out, instantly, with a harmonic singe that echoed throughout the room.
The groups were suffocated with total darkness. Two non-recognizable voices murmured with the hint of panic. With the extending silence and blackness lingering, the number of people wanting to leave increased. They began to shuffle back upstairs when the fiery blaze of red illuminated the room, exposing a lit torch, the hand of a mage that protruded flames to light it, and two recognizable faces painted in the torch's sepia color tone--one slightly known, and one world-renowned.
"Apologies for the gloom", the assumed host uttered, "but no one outside these walls must know of this place". The same mage that lit the torch in his hand waved the twin. A smooth, crackling, grinding noise issued behind the parties like the sound of removing a stone slab behind a wall. They looked behind them only to see that the rickety door they opened was replaced by a cobblestone wall completely identical to the portions that complimented it. The parties were trapped, or so they thought. Now that the groups were surrounded by stone walls that could block out any form of light, the mage muttered a phrase that instantly lit a collection of torches--each of the parties' torches and the ones on each corner of the wall. This revealed nearly every face that was exposed to the light. Everyone was standing but the host who was sitting in a large, round table that took up the majority of the room's free space, a dark tinge and outlined with gold decoration. His face clearly shown to the parties, their mouths hung agape that they would be meeting face to face with him formally, not at war. The host was the world-renowned holy knight, Balnades Skryim. His hands folded and rested on his chin, he then brought his arms wide and lengthened in a gesture and spoke "our caretakers will wonder where we all are in a moment, so let's start immediately, shall we?"
Well the O in Our where Balnades is speaking needs to be capitalized. But other than that, there weren't major grammatical errors.
Since I know a bit of what this is about, I wasn't confused, but for someone that doesn't, I'm not so sure. You wrote this in mind... without taking the readers thoughts in. Make sure that when you write you write it for the reader, they are the ones that matter, really.
Try to keep it... simple, especially in the intro. Simple then complicated is easier to write, anyways.
I liked it, there were a few sections that seemed awkward in flow or word choice but it was relatively enjoyable to read. Although I can help but to ask for a background on the history and culture of this world.
