The Civilizations Released

[frostwhisper]

May I Present to You:
The Civilizations of Northrend

This is a fantasy novel I am writing that connects the world of warcraft with our own. I will update the story as I write more... (or stop if it is considered too dumb)
Enjoy...

Chapter One: A Breakthrough

The shores of Bulgaria were not what they used to be. Overpopulated by money-hungry merchants and pleasure-seeking tourists, they had long lost their true purpose. It was said that sometime in the past, mighty cities serving as both trade and cultural centers were built along the coastal line of the Black Sea. Yet, the faint descriptions of this ancient civilization existed only in myths not known by many. This and the fact that concerning the historical background of Europe the myths were absurd made Jane Hasley believe her trip to Bulgaria to be of little importance, and its outcome- disappointing. Her personal opinion aside, she had no choice but to get off her taxi, enter the vast flow of tourists, and make her way towards the Victoria Palace Hotel of Sunny Beach resort.

With anger and irritation following her as a shadow, Jane signed the entry documents and climbed to her room. Taking no time to relax and enjoy the breathtaking view the balcony offered her, she sat down within the darkest, most quiet spot she could find, and began research on the area she was about to explore the following day. “Just as I suspected”, she murmured to herself with a tone of delight, “Nothing thrilling that this wasteland can offer me. No possibility of cities even existing in this climate and terrain.” Indeed, the maps clearly showed nothing but sand and rock formations further north from Sunny Beach’s end. Any ancient city or temple would have left some trace in the coastal line. Besides, the soil of the region could not possibly sustain large structures of any kind. Any professional archeologist would know better than to look for any signs of civilization in that desert. That was the fact that angered Jane when she was put on this assignment. Furthermore, the leader of this expedition was none other than her biggest rival, the English explorer Hemet Nestingway. For all his life, Nestingway followed ridiculous stories and legends to distant lands with no guidance at all, and still managed to get more attention. Jane, who always followed straight historical facts never actually made any real discoveries, but, as she constantly reminded herself, neither did he. For the next half hour she thought about Nestingway and all the money he made by dazzling the public with stories about lost Chinese pottery that emitted magical energies, while her remarks about Chinese colonies not existing in those areas were rejected. “This time he cannot afford to make any mistakes, because I’ll be watching him closely. If I catch him telling one lie, that so called archeologist’s career is over.” She paused and glanced at the charts of the Bulgarian coast once more, “And judging by the facts, he’ll tell quite a few.” Jane’s certainty managed to overthrow her irritation, and she smiled. The rest of the evening she spent on her balcony gazing into the clear waters of the Black Sea, which, like a dynamic mirror, created a distorted image of the setting sun. The thought of her theory proven within the next 24 hours and the dazzling waves of the sea made her leave her pessimism behind and for the first time since she came to Bulgaria, enjoy her stay.

The next day Jane awoke from the song of the seagulls. It was about seven in the morning, and seemingly forgetting the lovely sunset she enjoyed last evening, she was overcome by her usual mood: annoyance. Her thoughts once again stirred in the direction of Nestingway’s previous conquests. She kept repeating to herself that his current theory was too absurd to be true while she packed her belongings in the next hour. In eight fifteen, she exited the hotel from the rear entrance, but her worries made it out right before the door closed. A small bus awaited her on the other side of a wonderful marble fountain, which stretched to the roof of the lobby. Jane made haste towards the bus but just as she entered she felt a large seagull excrement fall on her shoulder.

“By the love of… Don’t they teach those blasted birds to mind themselves?” she yelled, “First the constant quacking in the morning, now this! I can’t believe it.”

She climbed inside the van, breathing deeply because of her anger only to hear a calm voice which made her freeze with one arm stretched towards her briefcase:

“Now, now, of all people, you should know better than to yell at the seagulls, Jane. After all, you did spend your childhood in Los Angeles; you should know how to deal with them.”

“Nestingway?” Jane gasped, “What are you doing here? We were not to meet until I arrived at the dig site.”

Indeed, he stood there, a man in his fifties, with the posture of a traditional English gentleman, with long white hair and mustaches. He wore a fine coat, a golden wrist watch, and an explorer’s hat. His warm smile only made Jane more antagonized, as she threw her briefcase into the van with her eyes staring through him.

“A pleasure to see you too, Miss Hasley. May I offer you my coat? It gets rather windy in these parts during September, and the front window is broken, so…”

“Cut the formalities Nestingway. I can take care of myself.” Jane growled, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Nestingway smiled and gave the driver a signal to start.

“I figured you would spend your entire morning trying to gather facts proving my theory wrong, and later in the afternoon debate with me in front of every member of this expedition, thus ruining your stay on the lovely coast. So I came exclusively to warn you.” his tone suddenly changed to mystical and serious rather than joyful, “What you are about to witness is something you have not imagined, something you will have a hard time believing to be true even after you saw it. It is a breakthrough in archeology, which might be the missing link between mythology and fact.”

Jane gave him a criticizing nod: “I see you’ve done your homework, but do not think that the fancy words you used to convince the Chinese will work on me. I’ve seen through your lies, and I assure you, I’m keeping my eyes on you.”

“You just wait and see, Miss Hasley…”

Neither of the two spoke for the next couple of hours, as the van drove beyond Sunny Beach’s borders, climbed steep hills, passed through thick pine woods, crossed many rivers, circled around swamps, stumbled upon rocks, fell down steeper hills, stopped in a couple of settlements, and finally was brought to a halt in a sandy region, north of the Kaliakra foreland. Just as Jane’s laptop and charts showed earlier, nothing but rocks and small hills could be seen for miles. Nothing, except a small camp situated around the tallest and nearest hill.

“Right this way Miss Hasley” Nestingway said, “You will find your tent in the western end of the camp. I assure you, it has the best view over my discovery. Take in consideration that there is a meeting of the expedition in ten minutes and I expect you to be there.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything”, thought Jane as she followed a Bulgarian worker to her tent and unpacked her things. On her way back she noticed a large cargo of ammunition and rifles near the edge of what seemed to be a large crater covered with wooden planks and leather. Some people near the central tent gave her a signal to come, so she abandoned the peculiar crater and continued.

“Ladies and gentlemen…” Hemet Nestingway had already begun his opening statement when Jane arrived, “The reason for us to be at this seemingly desolate beach in this small country which many others have overlooked is nothing seen before in the history of archeology. It is true that Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula have a distinct and rich history, but what I have unveiled is not found within the textbooks…”

“Here we go…” murmured Jane.

“As I have always said”, continued Nestingway, “History is not always about, forgive me Jane, facts, and geographical data.” He gave out a laugh along with several other members of the meeting. “The history I’m about to show you was until just recently considered an absurd myth.”

“Get to the point, will you?” interrupted Jane.

“Right,” her rival sighed, “If you would follow me.” The public directed their attention to the covered crater, as Nestingway made his way towards its edge. “Gather around, gather around,” he added, “Just mind your step.” The party situated itself at the border of the covered hole.

“Under this cover, under this entire beach, lies a hidden city. Observations show the style of the buildings to be of medieval England, the objects inside carry the same traits.”

“According to Balkan Peninsula history, no cities with that style were ever built in this area,” Jane interrupted again.

“The real mystery here,” Nestingway raised his voice in attempt to muffle her remark, “is that age status shows these buildings to be more than 40 000 years old, which is to say, older than the Egyptian empire and Ancient Greece.”

“You cannot believe such nonsense, can you?” Jane, in turn, raised her voice, “What he just stated is completely irrational…”

“But words are not enough to convince certain people among us today,” Nestingway managed to overthrow her voice once more, “So let me demonstrate my discovery…”

With the help of two workers he lifted the cover and waved his hand towards the crater. Jane, along with several other members of the party gasped as they saw an ash covered street with lamp posts and cathedrals about fifty meters under their feet.