Excerpt: Ecumene

During the war between the Kingdom of Stosia and the Empire of Lacon a string a large islands were discovered miles to the south and east of Ruma. The war had begun in the year of our Lord 1297 over disputes to the interpretation of the teachings of the daughter Sophia of our Lord Godesia. Until the Great Hunger of 1507 did the two warring states finally put an end to their many years of conflict. The Messenger Pious III who had been elected head of the Ruma Docian Church had also chosen to interven at this time threatening excommunication to both aggressors. In a speech to a crowd of 500,000 people from Pozeus' Cathedral in the Holy City of Tamica did Pious III call not only an end to the fighting but, "to turn our gaze away from each other and out to our newly discovered and long lost brethren found on the islands surrounding our great continent. It is our duty then, to Docianize them and to also learn from them as well." The thousands gathered had become energized by his speech and word spread to all known corners of Ruma that Pious III, the Messenger of Godesia, had called the peoples into action.

Initially the process of trying to bring our lost brethren back into the fold proved arduous and dangerous. Since the main powers of that time and fought themselves to standstill and ruin, along with most other states in The Bowl, smaller outlying city states such like the famous port Isephia shouldered the cause. From the docks of Isephia merchantmen, adventurers, monks, and many others from various parts of society took to the seas to engage in carrying out Pious III's call. By 1523 of the Year of our Lord The Bowl had freed itself of The Great Hunger and soon many other people where leaving the docks of Stosian and Laconese ports.

It was during the later years of the 1520's however, that word had come back to Ruma of a much larger land rumored to be hundreds and maybe thousands of miles beyond the now labeled islands of Sophia's Belt and Docia's Scarf. In 1534 the king of Stosia, King Noro, funded a large fleet of 20 ships to sail for these lands rumored to be located beyond Sophia's Belt. It was another 15 years before 10 ships of the original exhibition returned not only bringing confirmation that the lands existed, but with the exciting news that it was inhabited with more Ruman-like people who exhibited strange customs unknown to anyone they so far encountered. The Empire of Lacon during that time had sent an exhibition past the islands of Docia's Scarf east of Ruma which had discovered another unknown land. Only a few Lacon ships returned, what they returned with was not news of prosper and wonder; the sailors had news of death, sacrifice, horror, and tales of a frightening people who made mass public executions on enormous temples for their god(s).

Since the discovery of these two lands, more Rumans left to travel to these far off lands and learn about them, their people, their customs, cultures, traditions, and ways of life. In 1576 did Pious III appoint the many scholars of Tamica to collect the written records from the Rumans who had the keen sense to preserve their experiences. There were not enough scholars for the job so Pious III graciously asked the rulers of Stosia, Lacon, Isephia, and Fernople as well to collect the records from the various travelers who had been keen enough to create documents of their encounters in the new lands. Soon hundreds of invaluable works were archived and preserved in the Forum at Tamica. Of the hundreds of works that have been recorded several authors had become famous.

Excerpts from their most popular stories have been compiled into this anthology. Having worked as the lead Docent at the Forum I have taken the time to assemble passages from them into this volume. The Prophet Leonises study of the new religions, The Other Deity, introduced the twisted and shocking belief systems of the ancestors of ancient Ruman explorers as well as the pagan religions of primitive tribal people he encountered. The philosopher Zeno also wrote about the religion or religions of the surprisingly civilized Oraks, now known as the Grutchen, in his multi-volume work, Oraks: A Culture of Verde. Zeno's priceless work on the Grutchen gave rise to the belief that there were possibly more highly civilized societies such as ours in the world and we just had not discovered them yet. The continent that explorers from Lacon found, Morte, was itself inhabited by an highly advanced society. Yet the people of Morte seem to be no ordinary people. First encounters with them were never friendly affairs, affectionately known as the Lagarto due to their scale-like skin, the expeditions to Morte became militaristic over time. The Centurion Marximious led one of the first military expeditions into Morte's interior, his vivid account in Il Continente della Morte recalls what he and his men found.

What these authors discuss only scratches the surface of what we know of our world. We Rumans used to believe that we alone inhabited our planet. Now as our knowledge expands on what we used to know there seems to be no one way to describe the world in which we inhabit. The Grutchen call our planet Earth, but I prefer the term used by our long lost Ruman brethren, Ecumene. The reason I purpose this is that we live in one world; we may be made up of many different cultures, peoples, societies, and civilizations, but we all live in this one world. Ecumene.