Elect to Change Prologue

Gaskarii

(summer, 850 Terrenden Common Era)

Off the north coast of the land of A'mara, is Gaskarii - a remote island where the weather tends to be rainy, windy and generally miserable. The only exception is the almost-dependable hot and dry spell in late summer, which turns it into an attractive holiday resort for that month of Casminari. Few return for a repeat visit, and fewer still are tempted to call the island home. In fact, many of the Gaskarii youth leave as soon as they are able. Most leavers never return except for the odd visit to see family.

Other than the tourist attractions, Gaskarii rarely makes any headlines. The out-of-the-way location, and stagnant population makes it uninteresting for business. The residents are poor enough to not be able to support commerce or even very much gambling, but they are also rich enough in the essentials to make them proud enough to give even the Silatians little hope in converting them.

In general, the Gaskarii people keep to themselves and do not cause trouble beyond what the tiny police regiment can handle. Although not specifically disallowed, the A'mara have never been particularly welcomed with open arms either. The law-abiding Gaskarii see little need for A'mara and distrust outsiders who do anything other than stick to tourist attractions. For that reason, there has been no A'mara presence in several generations.

Yet, it is this very reasonable apathy which can hide real trouble especially when the capital, Loxos, is in the run-up to a surprisingly-heated election. In this excitable time, danger can lurk anywhere and pop up when least expected... 

Pronunciation of places mentioned in Elect to Change

• Gaskarii - (gas-KAR=ee)
• Loxos - (LOX-ohs)

Image information and credits:

• Cover art based on image from Pexels () – creative commons, no attribution required.
• Shaze based on a katana from Pixabay () – creative commons, no attribution required.
• Shaze chapter ender from Wikipedia Commons () – used within terms of license – sword adapted for use as a shaze.
• Divider art: from Pixabay -  – creative commons, no attribution required.

All maps and image editing done by myself.