Post by Umune on Jan 22, 2012 19:54:42 GMT -5
Notes: You may be wondering what that burning city in the desert is, that has just popped up. This explains it. Only the high ranking Woras know the text of the scroll. A few other people who have seen it, e.g. Blob, know where it is, but not the details of the actual city itself.
Go back several centuries. Make that a millenia or two. Actually, try three. Skalas is a very different place. The Elves have yet to arrive; humans are unknown. Only the Jaska inhabit the island, only operating the small trading village. Actually, there is another race. Not much is known about them, but they are suspected to be some sort of hominid, possibly analogous to the Woras of today. The desert is twice as large and crossed by several major rivers, allowing for easy movement and trade. It is the days of the Old Empire, and they are living in prosperity unmatched since then. Granted, the inhabitants of today know very little of their predecessors - most don't even know that their kingdom is not the original. In these halcyon days, the Old Empire had no enemies other than the savage beasts that roam the land even to this day. War was unknown. Things were as a whole pretty nice.
The Old Empire was a city state, with one large central city overseeing a few small towns and various villages scattered in the desert. The walls were small, only meant to keep out the roving beasts. Compared to the empires of today, it was rather quaint and small. Citizens fervently worshiped their gods and reaped the benefits of bountiful harvests and little disease. The Jaska spread word of this incredibly pious empire to the rest of the world, earning them much respect. And it was because of those intrepid Jaska traders that the Old Empire caught the eye of the Burning Hells.
The thought of laying low the single most holy empire in the world amused the arch-demons. Turn zenith into nadir, well, that would just be hilarious. For one of the few times in history, the three brothers worked together. Only one thing stopped them from outright feasting on the souls of the hapless inhabitants- their gods. Said deities would not just allow their most devout followers to be devoured. Someone had to betray the nation. The brothers began scouring the nation for potential traitors; they found one. She was soon serving Deceit. The summoning was simple, just requiring a bit of blood, fire, and obsidian.
Opening the portal in her basement, the traitor summoned Umunary Myriond into Skalas. The raven-headed father of lies stepped through the obsidian frame and uttered the words "Casus sperum sordidarum. Plenum sanguinis caedisque."* Shortly after came his brothers.
Then the fun began.
On that fateful night, the city watch noticed that the light from several villages noticeably increased and, suddenly, only darkness where once was light. Likewise for the towns. Several of the guards were sent out to investigate when the largest of the towns went dark. Minutes after they left the safety of the city walls, their screams of agony pierced the formerly tranquil night.
The king's astrologers noticed that there was a new star in the sky. It shone brighter than all of the stars around it, having a somewhat reddish light.
The city's priests felt as if they were suddenly alone, as if their god had suddenly turned his back on them.
The animals whimpered in their homes, knowing what approached.
Fire enveloped building after building. Bodies were tossed like chaff in the wind. Blood flowed freely throw the streets. Chaos reigned.
Demons bound those who resisted and threw them into bonfires in the streets. Others were impaled on spikes and hurled, still breathing, into the flames. The rest were carried off.
With a flash, it was all over. A crater marked the center of the city. The demons returned to their realm, debauched.
In a night, the Old Empire had been consumed.
Periodically, the city disappears and reappears. Recently, it has done the latter.
*"The doom of sordid hopes. Full of blood and slaughter."
Go back several centuries. Make that a millenia or two. Actually, try three. Skalas is a very different place. The Elves have yet to arrive; humans are unknown. Only the Jaska inhabit the island, only operating the small trading village. Actually, there is another race. Not much is known about them, but they are suspected to be some sort of hominid, possibly analogous to the Woras of today. The desert is twice as large and crossed by several major rivers, allowing for easy movement and trade. It is the days of the Old Empire, and they are living in prosperity unmatched since then. Granted, the inhabitants of today know very little of their predecessors - most don't even know that their kingdom is not the original. In these halcyon days, the Old Empire had no enemies other than the savage beasts that roam the land even to this day. War was unknown. Things were as a whole pretty nice.
The Old Empire was a city state, with one large central city overseeing a few small towns and various villages scattered in the desert. The walls were small, only meant to keep out the roving beasts. Compared to the empires of today, it was rather quaint and small. Citizens fervently worshiped their gods and reaped the benefits of bountiful harvests and little disease. The Jaska spread word of this incredibly pious empire to the rest of the world, earning them much respect. And it was because of those intrepid Jaska traders that the Old Empire caught the eye of the Burning Hells.
The thought of laying low the single most holy empire in the world amused the arch-demons. Turn zenith into nadir, well, that would just be hilarious. For one of the few times in history, the three brothers worked together. Only one thing stopped them from outright feasting on the souls of the hapless inhabitants- their gods. Said deities would not just allow their most devout followers to be devoured. Someone had to betray the nation. The brothers began scouring the nation for potential traitors; they found one. She was soon serving Deceit. The summoning was simple, just requiring a bit of blood, fire, and obsidian.
Opening the portal in her basement, the traitor summoned Umunary Myriond into Skalas. The raven-headed father of lies stepped through the obsidian frame and uttered the words "Casus sperum sordidarum. Plenum sanguinis caedisque."* Shortly after came his brothers.
Then the fun began.
On that fateful night, the city watch noticed that the light from several villages noticeably increased and, suddenly, only darkness where once was light. Likewise for the towns. Several of the guards were sent out to investigate when the largest of the towns went dark. Minutes after they left the safety of the city walls, their screams of agony pierced the formerly tranquil night.
The king's astrologers noticed that there was a new star in the sky. It shone brighter than all of the stars around it, having a somewhat reddish light.
The city's priests felt as if they were suddenly alone, as if their god had suddenly turned his back on them.
The animals whimpered in their homes, knowing what approached.
Fire enveloped building after building. Bodies were tossed like chaff in the wind. Blood flowed freely throw the streets. Chaos reigned.
Demons bound those who resisted and threw them into bonfires in the streets. Others were impaled on spikes and hurled, still breathing, into the flames. The rest were carried off.
With a flash, it was all over. A crater marked the center of the city. The demons returned to their realm, debauched.
In a night, the Old Empire had been consumed.
Periodically, the city disappears and reappears. Recently, it has done the latter.
*"The doom of sordid hopes. Full of blood and slaughter."
