Lines of Ages Past-The Tolvera Incident

[Kuri Shardweaver]

Few records remain of that time, so long ago, when the race of man was young, and the world yet a place of untold wonder to them. We were in our infancy still, scattered tribes of loosely-bound nomads just trying to etch out a living in the sprawling lands of what we now call Alteiryn. Yet no matter where we traveled, how far we reached, they were there.

The Ohnyrek had always been about, wandering nomads like ourselves, and while not particularly cruel, the raids came anyway, and often. They lived by the oldest of laws: Survival of the fittest. They were stronger than us by far, and by this law most natural it was their right to take that which they wanted, including our hard-won stores and supplies. The Berylanx, then mysterious fey of the woods to us, tried to help us in their near-boundless compassion and taught us how best to work the land and grow our own food instead of completely relying on foraging.

It would have been a wonderful gesture, had it not only increased the frequency with which our people were pillaged. And so it is said that we began to band together. Generations of raiding had taken its toll on the race of man, and tribes were few and far between, but each had experienced more than their fair share of suffering. Larger encampments were settled, half a dozen tribes uniting in one location for strength in fellowship and larger fields to sow. We entreated the Great Bull above to lend us its strength that we might protect ourselves from our oppressors.

It should have stood to reason, even then, that the horned brutes were favored by The Bull. We had been so beneath their notice that their full strength had not been warranted. How foolish we must have been to think ourselves safe. The Ohnyrek descended upon these primitive villages in greater numbers and with greater force. The Berylanx, ever kind, did their best to aid us, but they were never a warring people by nature.

They called it The Eve of Awakening in what scraps of text remain, a night when the will of man was reforged, and our fate forever changed. Xan was but a farmer, no greater than any other, none the wiser either. But it is said that when an Ohn raider moved to make off with his eldest daughter, that man had enough. Not a man lives who experienced that night, but legend across the lands of Alteiryn agree; the ground beneath the humble farmer erupted in column of heatless flame of purest white that illuminated the sky as day and was seen across the continent.

Xan the farmer died in that flame, and from it stepped Xan, Lord of Leyht. It is said that a coronet of brilliant crystal grew upon his brow, his eyes aglow from the brilliance of a mind expanded, and in that moment he became the first of mankind to harness the power of the Ley. With a single glance he cast out the intruders of his village, and with a mere gesture raised from the earth a great and mighty wall to repel further attacks. Where the column of light had not been seen, word still spread like wildfire from tribe to tribe, and the nomads flocked to this fortress of stone that repelled even the most awe-inspiring of blows from the Ohnyrek.

Tribe after tribe sought the safety of these walls, and to praise the name of their savior, Xan. In time, they would come to refer to themselves as the Xanethi- the People of Xan, and within these great walls the Xanethi Kingdom swelled. From each direction, Lord Xan chose a student and gifted them with a circlet of crystalline make similar to his own, and instructed them in the ways of channeling Leyht, and so The Enlightened were born.

The Enlightened learned at a voracious pace, devouring everything Lord Xan could teach them and passing it on to the tribes they had hailed from. Under such wise and incredible tutelage as that of Lord Xan and his Enlightened, the Xanethi people evolved rapidly, far faster than should have been possible, mastering agriculture, architecture, forging, and crafting of all types in decades.

In a hundred years' time, the Great Xanethi Kingdom became simply too vast to contain in one area, and so The Enlightened took their most accomplished students and the families thereof, and set off to the distant reaches of Alteiryn to found new kingdoms and further their own studies. It was this division, according to our best accounts, that lead to the downfall of the first Great Xanethi Kingdom. First contact was made with the Earthshells during this time, as it is rumored a sole individual appeared in the kingdom to warn Lord Xan of the folly of his peoples rapid advancement.

Away from the wisdom of their teacher, The Enlightened became arrogant and proud from decades spent only pursuing their own interests, and in time what began presumably as friendly competition between Gar, Enlightened of Automation and Del, Enlightened of Creation culminated into a brutal and cataclysmic war, the climax of which deadened two Nodes, the backlash of which destroying both kingdoms almost entirely. It was for this, The Garick War, that the automation of inanimate objects through Leyht is still forbidden in Alteiryn. But its greatest effect was far more troubling.

Deeply saddened at the death of two pupils, yet more so at their hubris (and his own) for not heeding the Earthshell's warning, Lord Xan ordered his people to leave his kingdom immediately. As the great stone gates closed behind the last former inhabitant, the entire kingdom vanished in a blinding flash of light. A fitting moment for the beginning of the Unenlightened Age, for without their greatest leader and the loss of two of his students, the Xanethi people descended into an era of infighting and power struggles, destroying much of what they had worked so hard to create in the first place.

But time heals all wounds, as they say, and eventually this unfortunate, bloody era paved way for the present-day kingdoms, and we are left with but these scraps of the past, spurring the need to know more about these ancient times, so that we might avoid a similar fate.

The Tolvera Incident

The figure did not halt in its breakneck pace towards the gates of Tolvera. Neither the halting shouts nor the arrows of rampart archers dissuaded it as pounding feet raised a cloud of dirt and debris from their frenzied fury. The midday sun pounded down upon the armored bowmen, one pausing to wipe sweat from his brow as they knocked new arrows.

Closer the figure drew, still in a mad dash, but close enough now that its shape could be more distinctly made to the eagle-eyed marksmen. An Ohn woman, tall frame powering over the land as she approached the gate. Occasionally she would stumble, arms flailing oddly..wildly..before catching herself and scrambling forward anew. Again the gatekeepers called for her to halt, and still their shouts fell on deaf ears. The portcullis was lowered as her gait did not slow despite her proximity to the entrance of the city.

The wooden barrier splintered, sending a spray of shrapnel through the air as the hulking figure burst through, tumbling end over end. Shafts of arrows sunk deep into her flesh broke free, feathered fletchings mingling with the scattered shrapnel. Finding her feet beneath her again, the Ohn resumed flailing chaotically, giving the swarming guards a moment's pause.

She was tall, as all Ohn were, nearly eight feet, her deep green skin marred with half a dozen broken arrows and blackened wounds that almost seemed to smoke. A few strands of long black hair remained atop her head, appearing almost as if the rest had been torn free somehow. And she was Hornless, splintered stumps atop her head, the mark of an Ohnyrek who has lied and thus broken the brutes' strange code of honor. Her flailing limbs slowed in their pace as her powerful frame withered before the guards' very eyes, an emaciated figure staggering to stay upright seconds later.

A guard tackled her to the ground, his comrades rushing in to help pin the strange intruder as another dashed to call a healer. Still she struggled, screaming gibberish as white, sightless eyes searched the air about them. Hands clawed at whatever they could reach as the guards kept her as flat against the cobblestone as they could.

"Sir!!"

"Hold her steady!! Let the healer do his work, then we can question her!" The order was barked back, even as the man pinning her upper body rose to object.

"SIR!!" The healer, in his coat of pockets plenty, ran towards the scene, drawing salves and bandages from said pockets to serve as concentrated Foci.

"THAT'S AN ORDER! Stay in pos-"

"Her heart has not beat this entire time, sir!" Slowing to a halt, the healer's look of determined hope began to fall, and the soldiers backed away from the twitching female frame.

With a sudden, shrill screech of breath that should not have been drawn, the Ohn woman spoke words in a howling hiss as her back locked into an arch.

"The Neverwas does not slumber, the Cannotbe must not become!! Unbound in naught, Netherwhere they seek...the seventh shade is not safe!!" Falling rigid back to the ground, a viscous smoke, black as night, flowed from her mouth. Curling downward instead of up, the wisps pooled on the ground before evaporating through the cobblestone.

All was still for a moment, taking in the horror of the scene. With trembling hands, the healer knelt next to the nameless Ohn and closed the lids of her sightless eyes. A soft light suffused his hands as they swept about her body. A troubled look fell upon his wizened features, and sternly he looked to the captain of the guard.

"Captain Vicks, send a runner to the Crown Prince immediately. Tell him to gather his best channelers and most sage of scholars."

"Pardon, good healer but..."

Rising to his full height, he turned his back to the grisly scene. "I might not be the best in his majesty's employ...but even I know this: Those dead a day do not normally charge through a gate and speak words that sound of prophecy, Captain."

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With this post completed, Seeking The Eternal Conflux is officially OPEN. Word of 'The Tolvera Incident' is spreading across the kingdoms faster than a plague. Has your character heard of it? What is their reaction? Do they journey to Tolvera out of curiosity? To answer the Crown Prince's call for brave adventurers to seek out the tribe of the mysterious Ohn woman for questioning? Does your character even care?

This is but the beginning of one story of thousands. How will it affect yours?

Edited May 21, 2011 by Kuri Shardweaver