Estalia and Tilea—these twin southern kingdoms.
They share immense similarities in culture, religion, and thought; their customs are linked, and their traditions tightly connected.
Many festivals between the two kingdoms simply have different names, with almost no difference in timing or specific content.
From folk customs to systems—had the Estalians not done some soul-searching after the Great War and reflected on the fact that they could no longer be as fragmented as in the past,
their nation, though called one country, was actually more disjointed than the Empire's Elector Count system.
Thus, the remaining Estalians had a closed-door discussion and created the City Prince system.
They elected a nominal common leader and simultaneously ceded part of their local power, weakening the autonomy of the former kingdoms that now formed the city-states of Estalia.
Finally, they formed the strange system that was half-city-state autonomy and half-union of cities.
Despite this, compared to the neighboring Tilean Kingdom—which remained fragmented with each city being an independent little kingdom living under the house called "Tilea"—it was a giant step forward.
Estalia and Tilea.
These two southern kingdoms share deep blood ties. According to historians and scholars, the two were actually one single tribe in ancient times.
They were the first humans to appear in the south, discovered by both Elves and Dwarfs.
After the Elves withdrew from the continent, these humans took over those magnificent Elven ruins, which seemed like temples of the gods to the barbarians still in a tribal society.
They then gradually grew in strength, and a portion of this group later crossed the Tamoto Pass in the Abaska Mountains.
They began to take root in the place now collectively known as the "Kingdom of Estalia."
Of course, this version of history isn't very popular in Estalia.
The idea that their ancestors came from the east or were remnants expelled after a failed struggle...
This was something the proud Southerners—in both kingdoms—found hard to accept.
So, in Estalia, the story is reversed.
The southern-marching tribespeople arrived in Estalia first, then moved east through the Tamoto Pass and across the sea to enter what is now Tilea. The order is swapped.
The two sides have been bickering over who is the older brother and who is the younger, or who is the father and who is the son.
Originally, the twin kingdoms shared the same roots, the same faith, and similar customs and culture.
Yet they were surprisingly protective of their national "independence."
If someone were to mistake an Estalian for a Tilean, or vice versa,
if the latter wasn't a spineless coward, he would likely draw his sword and challenge the mistaken party to a duel.
Al lamented after learning this; Southerners were as pugnacious as geese and as arrogant as roosters—singing loudly even while standing in manure.
Unless absolute violence was used—the kind where the nation's spirit is ripped out and its spine broken, like the Manchus entering the pass to slaughter everything—
it would be very hard to conquer this nation through force alone. Permanently scarring the soul and physical traditions of the Estalians was no easy feat.
If he slaughtered them but didn't "slaughter enough," then under Al's rule in the south, red and black banners would surely rise in rebellion everywhere.
So he had always been keenly controlling the hearts of the Estalians.
Here, he also had to thank that Greenskin Warlord whom he had never met, but with whom he shared a "long-distance spiritual connection."
The assassination, the North-South standoff, the atmosphere of division... the long siege, forcing Magritta to surrender.
Through this series of operations, the spirit and pride of the Estalians were severely crushed.
After their pride was trampled and ravaged, even "less than respectful" treatment became a life-saving straw they would be grateful for.
The Greenskin sweep undoubtedly created a favorable opportunity for Al to take over the Southern Kingdom.
He'd consider leaving the good brother Warlord an intact corpse later...
The best proof that the twin kingdoms shared a common bloodline—a single lotus with two stalks—
was their mythology and faith, which were virtually identical.
Before the Great War elevated Myrmidia to the throne of "Protector of all the Southern Lands and the All-Powerful Goddess of the South,"
there existed a widespread worship of "Classical Gods" in both kingdoms.
If the faiths in the Empire, including the White Wolf, were reflections of a harsh life,
then the "Classical Gods" worshipped by the Southerners represented a more refined, targeted conceptual faith.
Mercy, wisdom, justice, murder, honor, scribing, revenge, agriculture... and the most widespread and famous: war.
These Classical Gods, whose rituals and sacrifices were passed down by word of mouth among the ancients,
might many have sunken into the river of time like the Nehekharan gods, waiting for a day to suddenly twitch back to life and then continue to lie flat.
Some might simply not exist anymore, like the "Patron of Scribes"—that god might likely be nothing more than a "half-god" mask used by a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch.
But among them, some gods truly possessed divinity and divine rank; they were undisputed, unquestionable deities.
Setting aside Isha, Karnos (Taal), Morr, and Mathann (Manann)—whose existence predated the Southerners and who were merely localized due to their power and miracles.
There were also Classical Gods deeply linked with the Southerners who, while not as powerful as those world-spanning deities, still possessed unique traits and divine status.
And in Lileath's deal with Al, the promise she demanded from the boy involved two such figures:
Verena, the Goddess of Justice and Knowledge, who in the Southern pantheon is the wife of Morr, the God of Death.
And Aurora, a goddess for whom Al had to scour the All-Knowing Mother's library just to find a few scant mentions—
the traces of her existence were so thin that almost no vessels carried her mark anymore.
According to this rare knowledge, this goddess named "Aurora," meaning Dawn, was a mysterious deity who lived in seclusion within the Inara and Abaska mountain ranges.
Every fifty years, she would move her dwelling to another mountain range. At the very peaks of the mountains, there was a palace like an eagle's nest built for her by divine eagles.
Only a tiny few mortal heroes—fearless, brave, yet cautious,
possessing the triple symbols of strength, wisdom, and luck—could cross the numerous hardships to reach the highest peak.
After nine days and nights, at the moment the sunlight of the tenth day pierced the mist, these heroes could see that eagle-nest palace, bathed in gold and sunlight.
They could also see the silhouette of that mysterious goddess opening her palace doors to send sunlight into the mortal world.
Every hero who witnessed that peerless beauty from afar would thereafter walk toward a glorious, blessed life...
That was the story.
An interesting tale.
But what Al cared more about was: why did Lileath want them?
That green-tea stepmother told him clearly: Al just needed to prepare for the search, exploration, and fighting; she would personally help him find the tracks of the two goddesses.
In short, Lileath wanted those two gods.
Not even the Four Mothers could protect them!