Song of the Winter Solstice (Gauntlet Series 1)

Chapter 3 -House Calore

The rhythmic canter and gallop of the giant wolves against the icy ground wakes me up. My face is covered with snowflakes. I feel my body carried by an old wagon. Pain starts to bury itself down to my skin. My hands and feet, tightened by a strong and heavy metal, feel the intense pang as we enter a castle that looks familiar to me.

House Calore.

Ang House Calore ay isa sa sampung pinakamakapangyarihang angkan ng Springgan. They rule the 7th region, our town that has the second largest population in the entire Springgan. Isa ito sa mga madalas maging kalahok sa Solstice and Equinox arena. Most of its households are of IV rank with 3-star mark, IV***. Calore can be the next ruling house in the next ranking elections or appointment if they win this winter's arena, if the House Felun gets defeated by the numbers.

This country is ruled by the ranking system. The rich gets the higher numbers and the poor are ranked with the lowest I. Ito ang katotohanang hindi matakas-takasan ng napakaraming mamamayan ng Springgan o mga elves.

No one wants to resist anymore because of the bloody history that marked the established ten regions of the nation.

Marami nang nag-aklas at tinutulan ang rank system. Marami na ring namatay. Napakarami na nagdulot sa mga mababang mamamayan na mas piliing mabuhay sa kahirapan kaysa harapin ang kaparusahan at kamatayan.

Thus, for decades, the ranking system lives, and its people live with the rules that is seemingly unfair to the poor elves but favorable to the rich.

Ako ay biktima ng isang tatsulok na hindi kailanman mag-iiba ang ituktok dahil ang pundasyon nito sa ibaba, ang mahihirap ay mas marami, takot at walang laban sa mga makapangyarihang royals ng bansa.

This is Springgan. A nation built by fear and ruled by power.

Springgan is divided into ten regions. Each region is ruled by a powerful royal family—us by the the House of Calore and the rest are ruled by blood that has been dominating the majority for generations.

The Five rules the City of Springgan—House Felun. They have the majority of high-ranked house members that's why they won the last appointment and became the ruling family. Their king, Ivorn Felun owns the most powerful rank which is a three-star rank five or V***, the queen holds the two stars, and their children bear a star. The ruling family and the heads of the ten minor royalties only holds household rank V.

The ten powerful houses which rule an equally divided region, which are from 1st to 10th, they are called the minor royalty. Each house has a king and queen carrying an emblem with a rank five - two star (V**), which has a power equivalent with the queen of the ruling house. The prince and princesses of the minor royalty are marked one-star ranked V*. Royal bloods are called the fives.

Mas mataas ang kapangyarihan nila sa mga powerful officials ng Springgan government mostly dominated by the ruling house, the Feluns.

High ranked government officials get a IV*** mark or a ranked four-three star emblem. Their tenure in service, house origin, influence, and public trust determines their star marking. The rank III are the warriors, legends, and champions or the ikons in the arena. Stars are determined based on their level of mastery and most importantly the number of the battles won, and arena kills.

Rank II are the ordinary warriors in the field. They can be one-starred participants or the newbies, two are experienced and the three-starred warriors are the experts and ready to become legends.

Rank I are the slaves, servants, peasants, laborers and ordinary people that has no emblem power or ungifted. Kabilang ako sa pinakamababang uri ng nilalang sa bansang ito. I inherited my rank since my parents are both ranked I**.