Chapter 9: Hogan Educates the Humans

~~ August - Week 31 ~~

Bentley asked Hogan what he knew about the Keltria people where he lived.

Hogan happily gave them the following narrative to his very attentive audience, which Bentley made sure he recorded.

“The people who called themselves the Keltria people had come from Earth’s past. They had left Earth over seventeen hundred years before. It could be a bit more, as the two planets weren’t precisely on the same time frame.

At the time, most of their histories were only recorded by the Wizards. The Wizards, Genteli nobility and their priests were the only ones who wrote. So, some things were vague, and many Keltria considered them just stories. A lot of their histories were lost in fires and due to wars, both before and since they left Earth.

Nonetheless, they all agreed that the reason they left was because bad things had happened to their races. New people had come to their lands, forcing them into smaller and smaller areas. Then a great famine came, with dark skies for weeks and cold weather for many moons.

The people, crops and animals were dying. So, the five great Wizards who had ruled their races for as long as they could remember had used great magic. They moved them here through five magic doorways to this new world.

The Keltrian peoples’ common language was a mix of Celtic, Germanic, Greek, Italian and even French. Their language had similar roots to the modern English language. But more closely resembles the English language of about third century Brittan, after the Saxons and then the Romans invaded the United Kingdoms.”

Bentley asked Hogan what he knew about the five races that came here.

Hogan replied, “The Genteli, are a long-lived matriarchal race. They live about 150 to 160 years, but they didn’t tend to show old age until very late in life. They don’t mature as early as we do either. The Genteli women can only produce a child about every four to eight years or so and often only successfully bear three or four offspring in their lifetimes.

They frequently had trouble with carrying and delivery of their children. They carried a child for a Utopian year before birth. The Genteli were not as numerous as the other races. However, they were the ruling class and made up the governments. They were the largest owners of slaves and land.

Their histories said that they were the only race who can produce Wizards. They would even encourage close family members to breed if psychic traits showed up. Some Pix and Genteli half-breed children Like Wizard Wii have psychic abilities, even though they were rare.

Richy (Richard Keating) told him that since the Genteli came here, they tended to have twice as many males to female children. It’s probably why most of the guys are bi-sexual. They tend to screw anything that moves and have vivacious sexual appetites.

Gender, family and race were fair game. They did, however, have to be willing, as they abhor rape even of slaves. The women, however, didn’t tend to indulge, if they were breeding, due to having a hard time with their pregnancies.

The Burgis clans are an interesting lot. They consider themselves as the free folk. They live about as long as humans do. These people are the shopkeeper’s, factory owner’s, small farm owner’s, hunters and fisherfolk. Some even made up the intellectual communities with the Genteli and Pixs.

Many also serve in the armed forces so they can remain free. Most of the prostitutes were from the Burgis race. They are happy to do service for money, and it is considered an honourable profession for young unmarried women and those few men so inclined. They tend to favour more monogamous marriages.

However, interracial marriages are considered acceptable among the Burgis as long as the parties were not slaves. Free folk can become indentured servants to pay off debts, and they wore a thin silver choker around their necks for the time of their service.

Prols are generally shorter than the Burgis. Richy believes these two races are more closely linked, as the Pix are to the Genteli. Prols liked mining and are often the farm and fabrication workers. They are not considered particularly smart, but they do work hard as long as they get fed and have their beer ration. They are used as foot soldiers in the Army’s and sailors in Navies.

They are very protective of their women and preferred not to use other races for prostitutes. A male always takes in single females without family, whether she wished it or not. They didn’t approve of inter-racial marriages or look well on, same-sex couples within their race. They prefer monogamy marriages.

The Prols were the shortest-lived, averaging forty to fifty years. They are also the most proficient breeders. Twins and triplets were common. A family of six to nine children is typical, and they mature and wed at around fourteen to fifteen years. A girl can be married off as young as twelve. To us, that is more like a sixteen-year-old.

Pixs tend to do lighter work. They are commonly utilised as house servants. This is mostly the females as they have other uses too. The Genteli often use them for their sport. Males were often employed as scribes, scientists and teachers. They often worked for the Genteli in lower-level government jobs and for the richer Burgis.

Genteli children from Pix relationships were rare, but the children were often gifted and are usually raised by the Genteli parent. Interracial marriages between the two aren’t allowed for some reason. But the Pix can be kept as body slaves.

The Pix averaged about 120 years, and like the Genteli, they didn’t show their age until very late in life. Families of four to six children were typical, often spaced in two’s or three over several years. They are also very short. 130cm is considered tall. They have pointed backwards shaped ears, long fingers and large eyes.

The Prols and the Pix are effectively slaves. They do most of the labour. Slaves can earn free folk status, and they wear a gold wristband and better-quality clothes than their counterparts if they did. Free folk or slaves who have misbehaved, have their heads shaved and wear a steel linked chain welded around their necks for the duration of their punishment or are imprisoned, if serious enough.

The Faeries, well they do whatever hell they wanted. They are considered very bright. They were generally used as messengers, due to their ability to fly. Since the scientists had developed the Chat-way, like our old phone systems, they mostly work for governments, the military and wealthy people that didn’t want their secrets known by all.

The faeries always honour their contracts and their word. They also make excellent spies and assassins. It is said they know how to create glamours to hide themselves, as they retain the knowledge of their ancestors. Some people say that they can also do mind control tricks, but I don’t know that for a fact.

They are, however, tricky little buggers. Never ever, cross or cheat a faerie. They don’t like living in larger communities. They prefer their own hidden villages in the forests unless they are under contract.

They too lived long lives like their Genteli cousins but could produce children, when they wish. The Faeries are also the primary producer of the silk threads and cloths used for the garments worn by the Genteli and the rich. They also supply communities with delicacies and honey from the forests.”

Kyle asked about the Wizards and the doorways.

Hogan nodded, “Well most of this is hearsay mind, but Richy said the Wizards worked out a way to create the portals to five different locations on this planet. They sent the people through one race at a time. They, however, told the Keltria people that the portals opened to the same site each time they opened, rather than the five different places they in fact opened on.

The races had wanted to set up their own villages, particularly the Prols and the Pix. But they found when they went through the portals in small groups, they did not all end up in the same place. The Wizards had wanted to own their own countries and to keep the people that they believed were from their communities on Earth together on the new planet.

They even had a charter the people had to sign before they went through the portal. They also planned to keep the current class system but didn’t tell the people this. The Wizards who created the doorways all died mysteriously within about five years of coming to Utopia. So, none of them was able to pass on much of their knowledge.

None of them had an apprentice at the time of the shift, due to warring with the invaders. So, there were no Wizards anymore, and there was no one to train anyone showing the tendencies. Hence, people had to develop new technologies to survive in this new place.”

Hogan asked the group if they knew the local names for the continents. Sean assured him they did, but they were happy to hear more. Everyone nodded. They had all heard bits and pieces about the Keltria but not as succinctly as Hogan was telling them. Kyle particularly wanted to know about the Wizards.

“Well,” Hogan continued.

“Wizard Rah was the Gold Wizard. He was not as lucky as some of the other Wizards and his people didn’t prosper well on the island he had chosen as his base. It was too hot being close to the equator. People were dying, and the violent storms made living on the island hard.

He had mysteriously died within the first year of coming through the portal. His son, a Genteli called Berin had found a map Rah had in his possession, showing where the other northern settlement was. So, he had his people build boats, and they sailed to Davinia to found a new colony there.

They built new settlements on Davinia’s west coast where they still live. After many years, they did find Davin’s people on the northeast coast and set up trade with them. They didn’t have as much to do with the war as they had stayed just in the tropics and generally stayed out of the arguing. It was the other bigger northern settlements that got bombed. They got stuck really hard.

Wizard Jahn, the Platinum Wizard, didn’t do any better than Rah in spite of being the High Lord. He had to move his people south to set up his empire. He too died suddenly about four years after arriving. His people scattered into small nomadic tribes. Some went to the south-east some stayed in the middle, but most went to the west coasts of Jahnville.

Jahn couldn’t go help the other Wizards because his portal blew up. Some rumours said he could teleport himself but not very far. It’s possibly why he outlived most of the other wizards as he was harder to surprise.

Davin was the Titanium Wizard, Antali was the Silver Wizard, and Que was the Iron Wizard. These three had picked better locations and were more selective in who they took and prospered better. The Davinians and Antalians did better than the Quelanders, but this had more to do with them pushing the bounds of technology and the Genteli being able to keep the slaves in line.

The Quelanders were happy to just, mull along as before once they got rid of Que. He was probably the longest living of the Wizards as far as I understand. Possibly, because his ring was further south in a better location, and he didn’t try to rule with an iron thumb.

The other two Wizards also didn’t live more than a handful of years after arrival. Many people believe the faeries were responsible due to the Wizards having broken contract with them. Which everyone knows is a bad thing to do, if you wish to live a long life. However, the Wizards all had progeny to carry on the lines and rule the clans and tribes.

The Keltrians found that Utopia in spite of their inauspicious start was a good planet to live on. As long as you didn’t live to close to the coasts. The tides tend to be a little fickle, and we get nasty storms and hurricanes. They had brought seeds with them and even pigs and ducks and some other animals. They found many new fruits, vegetables and other plants here that were edible. There were also some plants that weren’t, but that is life.

As for native animals, there are few big land animals most were smaller vertebrates less than two metres high, heaps of birds, reptiles and insects. They had each found animals they could domesticate and farm on their continents. While there are predators of all shapes and sizes, they didn’t pose too much of a threat if the right precautions are taken. The largest animals are in the sea, and they often present the main threat to boats.

Why the hell Que or one of his ancestors had brought bears to this continent, he had no idea. There is a rumour the Wizards ancestors had been able to jump through time. They had apparently collected animals and plants they fancied and dropping them off here, but no one has been able to prove this as fact.”

Tony and Von halted the discussion with a status report on Allan, and Lee and Kyle had dinner ready.

After the meal Gavin went back, to sit with Allan.

Bentley then asked Hogan about the Keltrian people’s current level of technology. He also wished to know what Hogan knew about the war.

Hogan explained, “The Keltrians, are closed-mouthed about the war. But Richy had a way for ferreting out information, and he had learnt a lot over the last few years.

The Davinians and Antalians were only separated by a couple of hundred klicks of treacherous sea. So, they were able to set up trade within about two hundred years of settlement. Once they worked out how to get across the equator and the hot zone without frying and how to survive the storms. They also exchanged knowledge and technology, some willingly some not.

Many things developed on Earth were not established here. They did, however, advance as the Genteli and the Pix, developed a thirst for knowledge. The Burgis with their desire for profit encouraged their advancements.

Interestingly enough a lot of the labour-saving devices predominantly domestic wise, we had pre our WWII hadn’t been developed. Mostly because they couldn’t see a point to making devices to reduce labour when it was free and bred prolifically.

Many farming and mining devices were designed for efficiency and production more than for any other reason. Transportation and power-producing devices were considered for similar purposes. For example, more efficient lighting meant slaves could work longer. Medicines were developed for the same reasons as sick workers reduce profit.