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This is a small history of my fanfic’s land, and people.
Threshold of the Chosen Introduction
There are three powers in the world: The Guild, the Nations, and the Frontiersmen. The Guild rules over all in its own way, controlling in small subtle ways. The Nations are the Guilds equal in power, and strive to administer as much control over the populace as possible. The Nations are in a constant stalemate for power with the Guild, and always have been. The Frontiersmen represent a coming age of upheaval and change, for they are outside of the influence of the Nations and barely heed the words and decrees of the Guild. The year is 1250 A.G. and the world is in turmoil. 150 years earlier a great disaster shook the world, and changed the face of the earth as we know it. War looms in the future as the colossal empire of Evomere prepares to wage an endless war against its neighbors. The mysteries of the past are centered on a select few, who are the only ones who know the truth of what happened 150 years ago. Amidst all of this chaos one boy must rise in power, or lose all he cares for. The threshold is approaching and none can go past its limits, save one.
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A war will be fought, a legend will come to life, and a new age will don.
This is the Threshold of the Chosen.
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The Tale of Origins
In ancient times there were three great nations: the Empire of Kairos, the Principalities of Hastae and the Land of the Dragon Tribe. The Empire of Kairos was mainly populated by human wizards and a now extinct race known as the Malus. Nothing is known about the Malus, except for their great skill in thaumaturgy and war. The Principalities of Hastae was the first and last land controlled by a dynasty of Felynes. The Hastaens were ruled by the descendants of a mighty Felyne known only as Cerbiruos the Great. Lastly, but not least in any means, was the mysterious people known as the Dragon Tribe. The Dragon Tribe was said to be the most advanced race on the planet at their height. They were masters of the land and sky, but their power raised the ire of the Kairosians. A great war, like nothing that the world has ever seen erupted from the haughty and arrogant actions of the Kairosians. Little is known about the war, or its outcome, but two things remain clear: whatever happened during the war the Dragon Tribe disappeared from the face of the earth and their decedents the Wyverians inherited their legacy, the Malus were completely destroyed, along with all of Kairos, and sank into the sea. The war vastly changed the landscape of the world and set back civilizations progress a hundredfold.
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The Legend of the Abyss
The Abyss was once a vast fertile crescent of land. Eons ago a colossal earthquake caused it to completely sink into the ground. Scholars from across the continent suspect that if the Empire of Kairos did indeed exist, that a likely area for it to have been would be in the Abyss. The Abyss is now the largest canyon in the known world, stretching almost one-hundred miles long, thirty miles wide, and an uncountable distance down, for every time anyone has tried to count the distance down into the blackened depths, they vanish without a trace. With a reputation like that the Abyss has remained one of the world’s greatest mysteries. The Abyss stretches all the way from the west, where it opens into the Cobalt Sea, to the east where it ends at the edge of the Great Desert. Many sailors over the centuries have tried to sail into the Abyss from the Cerulean Sea, but none return from that way either, nor is there any wreckage from any destroyed ships; it is as if they had simply vanished. The Abyss claims all who enter.
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The Myth of the Silent Sea
Far, far to the east legends tell of an area known as the Silent Sea. The Guild has forbidden travel into that part of the known world for the past hundred years. Before it was forbidden to go there the few sailors who managed to return, half mad, broken, and soul sick, told of islands covered with temples with dozens of colossal statues made out of gracium, machalite, and dragonite. Monsters that were the size of mountains, that would rise out of the sea, blocking out the sun with their bulk, as they crushed ships beneath them, to devour the crew. The legends grew so awe inspiring that a famous count in the fledgling Lysander court, decided to gather together an expedition and explore the Silent Sea. The expeditionary force was to be the first of many; over two-hundred ships set sail into the unknown. For five years the people of the Lysander received no word, and many believed the entire expedition lost to the sea. Then one day two lone ships appeared over the horizon. Nearly six years after departing the only survivors of a fleet of over two-hundred ships finally returned. When the ships neared the docks of Lysander’s main port town, Castenberg, the people gathered at the docks edge could see that the ships were severely damaged, with a skeleton crew running around on deck. Before the ships could dock, they each ground to a halt in the middle of the bay only two-thousand feet away from shore, with nothing blocking their way; and with the piteous, unearthly screams of the ships crew sank to the bottom of the ocean. This was just another legend of the Silent Sea, though this one remains the most infamous of examples.
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The Fable of the Invisible Army
Once, long ago, a king wished for his garden to have the most beautiful of fruits the world had to offer, so he ordered his people to gather for him all of the fruit plants they could find. For nearly a decade his people searched for all the known, and unknown fruit plants they could find. Finally an old wise man passed through the kings land, and hearing of the kings long search beseeched to him saying “Oh wise and powerful king! I, the sage Nerojha, have heard of a plant that is said to bear the most exquisite of fruits: the Sacred Pear.”
“Where is this Sacred Pear wise one?” asked the king “I must have it for the beauty that my garden must know.”
“It is not far my king, only three days travel to the east. If you decide to travel in search of this fruit you will find to the east an impregnable mountain range, known as the the Obelisk Peaks. At the top of the tallest mountain you will find a cave. Through this cave you will come to the Caverns of Unsung Beauty. After the Caverns of Unsung Beauty you will come to a valley. In the center of that valley there is the Sacred Grove of the Gods. In the center of this grove you will find the Tree of Knowledge. The Sacred Pear grows on this tree, but you must beware my lord! For a powerful monster guards the tree, and covets the fruit it bears!”
“One simple beast will not hinder my quest for beauty” said the king.
And so the king set out, with his most loyal and skilled soldiers, to seize this fruit tree from the grasp of the dreaded monster. They passed through the Obelisk Peaks without incident. When they reached the Caves of Unsung Beauty, the more covetous of the kings men looked on the cave walls formed of pure crystal and became full of greed. They cut free as much crystal as they could carry and tried to desert their lord and flee. When the king learned of their treachery he ordered them to be captured at once. When the soldiers that he had ordered to capture the deserters returned, they returned empty handed. Their captain went forward to the king and relayed what had transpired. By their honor he swore that the men had turned to crystal when fleeing and had fallen and shattered to pieces. The king, an unkind and brutish man, ordered that the captain and all who followed him be executed for lying to their king and after the deed was done continued on. As the king and his soldiers continued on they saw horrifying images in the walls of crystal, images of terrifying beasts and demons glared at them as they passed. Now, thoroughly unnerved, the king and his men finally arrived at the valley the wise man had spoken of. It was very humid, and completely covered in a dense jungle. Exotic birds flew through the trees, screeching as the king and his remaining men passed. Finally they reached the Sacred Grove of the Gods, and beheld the Sacred Tree. There was no sign of any monster, and the king thought the wise man mistaken. At the base of the tree they could decipher no evidence of any monsters in the area. The tree was quite large and every man searched for any fruit, large or small. Finally a man spotted one and called out. It was a pear of the utmost beauty, colored in tones of radiant gold, and surrounded by a halo of light. The king ordered his bowgunmen to shoot at the tree’s upper reaches to knock down any fruit. It was then that the monster appeared. First its shadow loomed over the king and his men, and then it appeared, as if out of the air, floating behind them. The beast had a black mane, two horns, powerful wings, and a long tail that ended with a sharp incisor.
“You, who would desecrate the Sacred Tree of the Gods, name your sacrifice, or suffer my wrath.” said the beast. The king stuttered and finally managed to give his reply.
“What do you mean payment?! I was not told of any payment!”
“Regardless of any knowledge of payment, payment is required to taste of the Fruit of the Gods. What can you sacrifice that is equal to the power of the fruit?”
“What power does the fruit hold?” asked the king.
“That is not my right to say, but know that you will find no other fruit in the world to match this fruit of the gods.”
The king thought for a long period of time and being a cunning and greedy man, finally came to a decision.
“I have no money to offer in payment for this fruit. I have no other worldly goods to offer either, nor do I suspect they would be worth anything in exchange for this fruit. Thus, do I offer myself and my men in a term of service to the gods; once I have tasted this fruit.”
“Your proposal is accepted ‘oh great king’.” laughed the beast. “Eat of this fruit and reap your reward.” And then the beast vanished, scattering away on the wind.
One fruit from the tree fell to the ground in front of the king; it was a large piece of fruit, glowing with untold power. The king greedily ate his fill, not pausing to share it with his men, as they looked on. A sudden cloud obscured the sun in the valley and caused all of the kings men to grow frightened. The king began to glow with a dark light and the men closest to the king saw that the fruit he had been eating was in the shape of a human heart, oozing viscous fluids. The king collapsed and soon all of his men began to feel strange: their skin began to feel cold, their breath became labored, and their vision slowly faded away, until they were nothing more than an army of spirits, forever separated from the warmth of the sun, and the freshness of the wind. Thus was born the Invisible Army, guided by their dead king, forever seeking an end to their torment. Only a person with a pure heart could unlock the chains of servitude that bind the Invisible Army.
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The Paths of Venom
Deep in the far reaches of the kingdom of Xylan lays the region of Aulande. This region has few settlements, for it is plagued by a rampaging monster, which only emerges once every few generations. The only marks of its destruction are the pools of venom it leaves in its wake. Many have tried to find and kill this monster, but all who have followed its trails of venom have found that they simply vanish at the edge of the many cliff-tops in the region. Even with a rigorous search of the surrounding area no clues are ever found. That is why only the brave or the foolhardy dare seek to live in this region; the area has fast become known as the Land of the Eternal Revenants.
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The Tale of the Princess and the Glutton
Long ago in the lost kingdom of Kenorra there was a princess most fair and sublime. This princess rose every morning, to the sound of skylark’s happy melodies. People from far and wide came to visit the city this princess lived in, for her beauty was said to not only be astonishing, but also it was said, a cause of good fortune. Her fame grew and grew, and along with her rising fame the princess had something else grow in her heart: pride. Years passed and the princess’ beauty never declined. One day, while the princess and her retinue journeyed through a terrible rain storm, the procession came upon a young man lying crumpled in the middle of the road. Not being a cruel person, the princess had the man taken into her custody and nursed back to health by her own personal doctor. Days later the man awoke to the beautiful sight of the princess watching over him. Upon locking eyes with each other a bond of deep passion awoke between them. The man revealed that he was the son of a minor prince from an obscure land to the east, and that he had been chased out of his country by his father’s enemy, of which he would say little. The princess loved the man, for his foreignness, sense of charm, and his uncanny ability to woo animals. He soon became one of the most powerful nobles in the princess’ court, and one of her closest confidants. Amazingly the man was unfazed by her beauty, and the princess loved him all the more for it. But nothing lasts forever, and change is always on the wind. The princess became a queen and the foreigner became her fiancée, the people of her kingdom sang of the many virtues that such a couple would represent for their kingdom, and time passed. Years later, during a violent thunderstorm, a wandering gypsy woman appeared at the queen’s castle. Without the guards ever knowing it this woman slipped into the queen’s throne room as the queen was holding court. The gypsy woman fixed the queen’s husband with a fiery glare and told him his time had come. The queen was confused and turned to ask her husband what the gypsy woman meant, but sitting in her husband’s throne was a great thunderbug. The queen cried out and her guards stormed into the throne room as the gypsy woman disappeared in a blast of light. The thunderbug then began to grow and grow and grow, until it was as large as a wyvern. Then the thunderbug spoke with the voice of the queen’s husband and said, “Forgive me my wife, for I have sinned, and must make amends” And then the thunderbug began to swallow everyone in the castle, starting with the queen. By the time its hunger was sated no one yet lived in the castle, or its surrounding city. Thus, whenever a weary traveler comes upon a thunderbug he immediately runs for his life, lest he be eaten as well, doubly so for any royalty in the world.
This post has been edited by Quel33: 20 November 2011 - 02:24 AM
