Now, the history of the kingdom of Omsk is a fascinating one. Unlike Lucerne, who conquered left and right until at last came along a peaceful king, or Pommern, whose time was often spent defending against the conquering kingdom, or even Winterthur, who mostly kept to themselves and did their best to farm in the mountain cold, Omsk did something rather different; they had a civil war.

    Omsk, of course, is the one kingdom of the four to have ever had magic. Mild magic, it must be admitted, but magic nonetheless. While throughout their history great witches and warlocks have cropped up on occasion, most of the population could only do simple things. Healing balms, speeding crops, influencing weather, and things of that sort.

    However, not all of the people of Omsk had this touch of magic in them. And that upset a great many of them. So thus, a civil war was started.

    Those known to have magic were hunted down, some killed in dreadful ways if they were found. Others escaped to neighboring lands, hoping to leave their legacy of magic behind them in the land of Omsk. Yet others hid amongst the population, never daring to use their magic in fear that they would be found out and killed.

    Of course, this account begs the question of, why did the witches and warlocks not fight back? That, of course, is an excellent question, were one not familiar with the people of Omsk.

    The people of Omsk were a peaceful sort, most of the time. As a matter of fact, if one were to search the historical records of any of the other three kingdoms, there would be almost no mention of this small, insignificant kingdom. Having hardly gone to war, due to the small size of the kingdom, nor having great riches or items of value to sell or trade, Omsk existed unnoticed.

    So, one must realize, the magical people of Omsk were hardly going to fight back against their oppressors. This civil war thus ended rather quickly.

    For years, those people possessing magic continued to hide, to fake normality. For some, it was simple, but for others… it wasn’t. Some had become rather more dependent on their magic than others, and so continued to use it in private, thinking that they wouldn’t get caught. They were wrong.

    By this point, a new ruler had taken the throne, the daughter of the previous king. Ignoring the usual formalities of taking a husband before taking the throne, she chose not to have a husband at all. This, of course, sent the kingdom - or, now, queendom - into an uproar. They couldn’t have a queen on the throne, not without a king. It was tradition! they exclaimed. But the queen ignored them.

    About this time, there was another woman in the land who is worthy of note. She was, in fact, one of those great witches mentioned above. Where she came from and to whom she allied herself was, and perhaps forever shall remain, a mystery.

    But neverminding her lineage or allegiance, she plays a great role in the history of Omsk at this time. She was the first to come out of hiding, in rebellion against their new queen.

    Now, whether the two women had met before is unknown, but for some reason they were rivals, and perhaps always had been. All that the records have to say on it is that when the witch rose up, the queen just as quickly felled her. Or so it would seem.

    Now, before the witch disappeared - for that is the generally accepted notion - she did manage to display quite a bit of her magics. And before she was gone for good, she displayed what is probably the most tremendous magic that Omsk has seen in many centuries. This was not, of course, to say that it was good.

    The witch laid a curse on the land. This curse caused many to despair, for many had seen the witch as a form of salvation, whether from oppression or poverty. Instead, their hero had turned on them, becoming the villain.

    Of course, there are many who dispute the fact that the witch was in fact the one to lay the curse on the land or not. There are some who believe it to be the work of another warlock, determined to drive the witch out of the kingdom. Which, of course, they’d clearly succeeded in doing.

    However, this story is not for theories of the past. This story is for facts of the past.

    The curse took hold quickly, and soon it had covered nearly the entire land. This is, of course, where the queen comes in. In the absence of the land’s supposed heroine, the queen used what little magic she had, combined with the efforts of her court warlocks, to halt the curse.

    Unfortunately for the people of Omsk, much damage had already been done. Their fields had been torn up by the large roots of trees that should not be there; houses had trees sprouting through their roofs; and many of the farm animals had been lost in an endless forest of winding trees.

    While the kingdom of Omsk had already been a small one, the dark forest that had overtaken the land left it much smaller yet. Soon, all of the people praised the queen for what she had done in stopping the curse before it could reach any further. And at last, she was accepted, despite her lacking a king.

    What happened to the witch, one might wonder? That is perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of Omsk. Who was the mysterious heroine? Where had she come from, and where had she disappeared to? And, perhaps the most commonly asked question… why?

    Why had the witch, who had seemed so kind at first, turned on the people? Why had she sent the curse? And, if she hadn’t been the one to cast the curse, why had she done nothing to stop it?

    Perhaps one of the most neglected questions in all this, is why the kingdom needed a heroine in the first place. While the witch is often praised for her bravery and cunning, no records tell of her exploits. Against whom had she been fighting? And why?

    But, lacking information, one can only theorize. And theorizing did little to help the plight of the people of Omsk.

    Much of their farmland was gone, along with their livestock. Anyone who entered the forest either came back catatonic, or did not come back at all.

    And so the queen hatched a plan. A plan which brings us to the present day, and back to the story.

Queen Gisella - for that was the name of Omsk’s monarch - paced the halls of her castle. The halls weren’t the nicest, not for a castle. Made of stone, it was very much a castle, but a small one, and somewhat dank. It was unlike the great palaces of the other three kingdoms. Those palaces were made of fine stones, such as marble. Omsk had never been rich enough to build such a splendid place.

    No, instead it was a small, humble castle. And, to be honest, that peeved the queen. She longed for a larger castle, more servants, more land. If she had been able, she would have used magic to get herself those things, but alas, she could not.

    Hers was the curse of limited magic. She had often envied her great rival, the witch, for her incredible powers, and her ability to bend the world around her to her will. Such abilities did not belong to the queen, nor to any other person to which she had spoken.

    She had long searched for a way to achieve what she had wanted for so many years. But, for just as long, she had failed. No warlock was powerful enough, no witch great enough, to bestow what she wished.

    And so she had taken matters into her own hands. She wanted more land, more riches, a better castle. And she had concocted a way to get it.

    It was, perhaps, not the simplest plan, or the best, but she had gone over it many times, and she was sure that she would succeed. All she needed was a war. The first war in many centuries for Omsk, and in many ways it was a dangerous move. But how else was she to conquer more land and more riches?

    A war. It seemed like such a simple thing to begin, but it had taken much planning before she had discovered the one way to make everything work to her advantage. And, better yet, it would take down the largest, most envied kingdom, with a snap of her fingers.

    She would take down Lucerne, and she would do it with glee.

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A/N Slightly different chapter this time. I wasn't entirely sure about how well it fit with everything else, but I hope it makes sense to you all :) Let me know what you think, okay? Hope you enjoyed! xx