Now, before all critics and experts go all-maniac over what fantasy story was actually the first.. we have to remember how this fantasy became known to the public. It was an accidental archaeological discovery, that gave this story all the fame.

Archaeologists were digging up all sorts mud and rubble from the Bronze Age.. when within the ruins of a building they discovered the original version of "Nocrone". Well, the 'ancient-mud diggers' very quickly concluded that the book wasn't from the Bronze Age. Though, the actual date the book was written couldn't be found. A guess was made that the original version of "Nocrone" dated from roughly the Medieval Times. No later than the 1600s. Lots of guesses and myths and rumours were going around about the book. Even the place where the book was found is a guess. One rumour got the book Nocrone found in nowadays Europe, which seems likely because the story of Nocrone clearly portrays a European myth with much similarities to the European Middle Ages.

The original story of Nocrone has been translated into many languages, so it may be that some bits of the tale are missing out. But to give an impression.. the complete book was 2000 pages.. so, what is expected is that the highlights of the highlights have been translated into still one of the biggest, maybe the biggest, fantasy tale known to this day.

The story of Nocrone is actually about a classical fantasy scenario.. a young child discovering a book written by his granddad. The granddad had writting fantasies as a hobby and the young teenager couldn't resist to sneak one of the books to his bedroom.

So, you get the point.. this is a fantasy about a fantasy about a fantasy..

And this is how it all started..

One day, a young teenager was bored of sitting at home doing nothing. Work on the farmland, done. Playing outside with friends, done. Doing homework, done. Sitting outside in the sun in his chair, the young kid thought of anything he could do. 

Nocrone

When Darkness Was All..

The yound teenager quickly turned the page.. to read back what he had and hadn't read for years.

And as silent as the boy became, as silent will the 'story wrapper' become. From now on it will be the story of Nocrone as the intrigued teenager read it:

Just A Fly

The Wolf Clan crew searches the few streets of the village. Everybody gets questioned, nobody has seen the lady. Back at the bar the Wolf Clan sits down, Urgok gets his rum paid by the crew. All gets back to normal.

Bet it's one of the Skull Clan! One of the crew said half drunk.

We will get them back! Another of the crew responds.

Yes we will! Urgok shouts laughing and drinking.

None of the Wolf Clan could've guessed the true story behind the robbery. How would they've responded if they knew they were being watched.. From her Throne the Skeleton Queen is watching the crew through the fire of the fireplace, burning inside the bar. In her bone hands, she's holding the bag of coins that belonged to Urgok. Through a magic spell, she made one of the crew tell.. that it was the Skull Clan. The Skeleton Queen has an evil smile on her skull face, thinking about putting the Humans up against each other. Thinking about how Humans will fight each other, kill each other.. But why? For power? For world domination? No.. for fun. Just for evil fun. Already she's thinking of her next evil plan to put the Humans up against each other.

Already the Skeleton Queen thought of some sadistic fun.

A random farm is picked, one that got a fireplace burning. From a nearby graveyard, the dead are risen and sent towards the Human farm. During the total darkness of the night, the bone crew attacked the farm. Simply killing the Human family at the farm wasn't the fun part for the Skeleton Queen, but the Human family including three children running around screaming, yelling, crying for help. The hopeless fight for survival, the fear of the Humans and their final downfall at the bone claws of the Skeleton Horde, that did it for the Skeleton Queen. For now the sadistic Queen is satisfied..

One morning the Wolf Clan decided to take their 'deserved' revenge on the Skull Clan.

Too long the deeds of the Skull Clan have gone unpunished! The Wolf Clan concluded.

So at the door of the Skull Clan House they stood, all fifteen of the Wolf Clan. With burning torches in their hands they stood their for a while.

Next time it will be the Skull Clan crew burning! Not just their House! Said the Wolf Clan leader.

And after his words he threw the first torch ontop of the wooden Skull Clan House. All other fourteen crew members followed. The Wolf Clan stood there for awhile, watching the burning roof. Then they left.

At midday, the Wolf Clan heard someone shouting outside their Clan House. 

Step outside!

All fifteen of the Wolf Clan stepped outside, armed, angry, ready for a fight.

We had nothing to do with the robbery, but you gonna pay for burning our Clan House down! The Skull Clan leader shouted.

All twenty of the Skull Clan shouted with anger in response to their leader. So, both the Wolf Clan and the Skull Clan were ready for a fight. How could a fight be averted.. it couldn't. At one point the Wolf Clan leader had heard enough. He ordered his Clan to attack and to clear the village of any Skull Clan members. A fight broke out. Blood spilled, lots of blood got spilled. 15 members of the Wolf Clan against 20 of the Skull Clan, they fought it out for the lone hegemony of the village. No prisoners taken, no mercy given, no mercy taken. One dead, some wounded.. the fight went on. Fists, daggers, axes, hammers, armored helmets, armored boots everything was used as an attack weapon, a lethal weapon. The fight went on until the Wolf Clan leader got struck by a hammer.. 10 Skull Clan members left standing, 5 Wolf Clan members. Just as a lull loomed over the fight, the Skull Clan leader gave an order:

No prisoners taken! Hack them all down! The Skull Clan leader said it as he hacked his hammer another time into the other Clan leader's head.

With the orders given, the Skull Clan crew, with clear overhand, hacked and smashed into the remaining Wolf Clan crew. The remaining Wolf Clan defended and resisted, though with their leader down and killed, their morale seemed low, they clearly missed the leadership.

From now on the Skull Clan will rule over this village! The Skull Clan leader said, as he personally killed the last Wolf Clan member.

Victory for the Skull Clan! He added.

As he didn't hear the crew respond, he looked back. He saw three of his crew left standing. The others he considered as wasted. A shock took over the Clan leader's senses. A moment later after he said it, he wasn't so sure if it was a victory for him or his Clan.

In a different part of the world.. Humans were digging up precious goods in a mine. You see for Humans the most precious goods aren't food, drinks.. a house to live.. no. For Humans the most precious goods are gold, diamonds. With hundreds, sometimes thousands in one mine, they dig and dig in the search for their most precious goods. Not often are pieces of gold or diamond found, though. And if a Human has found a tiny bit of gold, he or she better keeps quiet. A lot of lucky golddiggers get ambushed, even on the way out.

And the ambushing isn't always done by greedy rival Humans. Orcs have the same need and greed for gold, diamonds. Only, they are either too lazy to dig it out themselves, or don't know how to. Never has an Orc been spotted digging out gold or diamonds themselves. It's always ambushes, raids, thievery how Orcs got their share of gold, diamonds. And all gold, diamonds goes directly towards the Orc King's Treasury. The Orc King keeps all stolen goods in his Treasury, for no other reason than greed. And the greed goes deep. The punishment for not bringing in the stolen gold, diamonds is been thrown into The Abyss. The Abyss, the black deep nothingness, surrounds the Orc King's Stronghold. Orcs, Trolls, Wolves that don't obey get thrown off the Throne into The Abyss. Even to the opinion of the Orc King this happens way too often. Sometimes Orcs just accidentally fall from the Stronghold's walls or the entrance bridge, being drunk. But in general the Orc King gets the impression, that he's losing his grip over his people.

All the spying on the Humans made my people take over some of their habits. The Orc King said to himself.

The greed for gold, diamonds.. being drunk like all the time.. being lazy.. disobeying orders.. rivalry.. infighting. Its all the fault of those Humans. The Orc King concluded.

So the Orc King was very quickly to come with an answer, the usual answer:

Those Humans need to be punished! 

And so the Orc King sends forth a Horde of Orcs, with the order to raid one of of the Human mines.

And bring all the stolen goods here! The Orc King shouted.

The Orcish Horde leaves the Stronghold in all haste, with no interest to end up in The Abyss.

As if the bad intentions of the Orc King weren't bad enough.. It gets worse. Through the fire burning on top of the Throne of the Orc King, the Skeleton Queen keeps a constant eye on the Orc King. If the Orc King knew, the Skeleton Queen would be in trouble, but the Orc King doesn't know. The Skeleton Queen learned about the planned raid on a Human mine.

This is an opportunity to trigger a bigger conflict between Humans and Orcs. The Skeleton Queen thought by herself.

Let me think of a way. She added.

Going underground, through a series of hidden tunnels, the Orcish Horde eventually reached one of the Human mines. The Orcish Horde entered the mine through a secret entrance. On their way the Orcish Horde slaugthered all the surprised Human diggers. The Humans were unprepared and not well armed. The Orcish Horde faced no serious resistance. All gold and diamonds that could be found, was put in some bags. With the mine cleared and all precious goods stolen, the Orcish Horde returned to the Stronghold.

Is that all? The Orc King shouted, while looking at three half empty bags with precious goods. 

Hmm well, bring it to the Treasury. 

Behind a door in a big cave, guarded by two Trolls, there is the Treasury. The horde empties the bags as ordered and leaves the Treasury.

This is not enough! The Orc King shouted with anger.

Filled with greed and anger the Orc King shouted:

Raid me some Human villages! Steal all worthy! Kill all!

As ordered, the Orcish Horde leaves the Stronghold, heading for some nearby Human villages.

Village after village was raided by Orcish Hordes. Not all raids went succesful, but most of them brought in more and more loot for the Treasury of the Orcish King. Not being naive, the Orcish King spied on the Human King City, to spot any counter attacks. Orcish Scouts followed every move of the Human King, every partol, every suspicious activity. The Scouts had to return upon alarming news and only then. The Orcish Scouts reported counter raids by Human Horsemen. Some Orcish raiders only narrowly escaped the Human Horsemen raids, sometimes only a few of the Horde returned, sometimes without any loot. Returning hordes without loot, found no mercy from the Orc King. Some days it was raining Orcs into The Abyss. Newly risen Orcish Hordes, from The Black Sources, replaced the old ones.

At one point, everyday there were attacks by Orcs on Human villages, Human mines. And everyday there were Human Horsemen doing counter raids. Some deep anger grew between Humans and Orcs. The conflict between Humans and Orcs widened. Many casualties, lots of blood wasted. Trolls and Wolves entered the conflict, as ordered by the Orc King. Human Bowmen and Human Swordsmen joined the fights. Surrounding the Orcish Stronghold a regional conflict was escalating. Humans against Orcs, Wolves and Trolls, was how the battle lines were drawn.

The day it all escalated, was a day the Orcish King will always remember. A loud explosion was heard below, coming from the deep. Orc Guards rushed to the scene. The guards warned the Orc King as quickly as they could, that he had to take a look. At the door of the Treasury, the Orc King stood. The Orc King was stunned, shocked, not sure how to react at first. The Treasury used to be filled up to the roof, with gold, diamonds, loot. Now the King looked at an empty cave with a hole in the ground.

Those filthy Humans! Was the first out of the Orc King's mouth.

The Orc King knew of the Human knowledge of explosion. His spies have seen Humans use it in the mines. Only one thing in the mind of the King, amid the escalation of hostilities between Humans and Orcs:

Of course, it's the Humans! 

Well then. From now on we will attack the Humans everywhere and anywhere! It's no longer about punishment! This is about annihilation! Total annihilation!

And all the while, two magical powered skeleton eyes spectated it all..

On a quiet peaceful farm, next to a waterfall, a Human Farmer is taking care of his farmlands. Surrounded by forests alongside a river, this farm is far far away from the troubles of the outside world. With his family, his wife and four children, the Farmer is living the better life. Some cows, some pigs and some hungry crows are all of his troubles. His wife is washing clothes at the river. The four children play outside the farm. The farmlands of the Farmer reach far. Several crops grow on his farmlands. From early in the morning until the sun goes down, the Farmer is working on the crops and the livestock. Sometimes the children help, but they are still quite young.

The biggest events at the farm are the changing seasons, the weather and the time when the crops and the livestock need to be made into food. In two big sheds next to the farmhouse, the gathered crops and killed livestock are stored. When the work for the day is done, the Farmer and his family enjoy from the sunset during a good meal. It's truly an idyllic place.

After a good night's rest, crows from the nearby forests wake up the Farmer and his family in the early morning. The whole day-to-day process starts all over again. The cows and pigs sound as they do, while the Farmer enjoys his early meal. The sun slowly rises from behind the trees of the forest. With the sound of the waterfall in the background and the sound of the river, the Farmer steps outside. From some bushes, singing birds cheer up the morning at the farm. Grabbing his tools, the Farmer prepares for his daily business, as does his wife. The children continue to play around the farmhouse, as they do all day.

A singing bird flies up from one of the bushes. The bird flies over the farmlands all the way towards the forest edge. In the forest, the bird disappears. Through the forest, its mostly the sound of crows that can be heard. Only sometimes you hear other birds, even fewer times you hear other animals. The forest stretches far and deep. On one side the forest follows a high cliff. Following the cliff, the forest ends up at a rough grassy landscape, hills. Eventhough it's hills, it's a valley from the position of the forest edge. The vast valley is a variety of hills and forests, sometimes as far as the Human eye can see. Some large mountainchains edge the valley, some of the mountains have snow on top. The mountainchains are here and there across the horizon of the valley.