Letter Bee
Fish of Oblivion
AndyC
Noctis
Bartimaeus
Changing Times
It was a time before time, when the first of us woke from our slumber. It was a long, arduous sleep filled with living nightmares and a constant unease in our minds. But then, we felt that call, that touch that sent a shiver coursing through our bodies and made us open our eyes. It was a feeling we knew we shared but couldn't explain the best we tried: we just felt it. On that morning when we left our homes we knew that there was something out there that had beckoned to us and changed us so we would seek it out. We didn't know if it was good or bad, but we didn't hesitate to pursue it. Little did we know that it would be our undoing hundreds of years later...
- Forgotten Mural Site
Day ???, Week ???, Cycle ???
On the steppes of the Takhal~
The ground shakes and the air trembles. A rumbling sound accompanies the beating of the drums as Daarö sings his song and the younglings listen to his tale. Yet there is a certain calmness in the air that cannot be explained in face of the ever intensifying beating of drums that all can hear and feel, their blood boiling within their veins even as chills run down their spines. As the song draws near it's end, the fire roars to life and begins to dance in vibrant colors, forming shapes never before seen to the young Takhal. It's powerful and intense, but it's oddly soothing at the same time as it enchants the eye.
Then the song comes to an end, and the fire hisses one last time before it returns to the way it was, crackling away quietly into the wind. Now they start to notice it: the wind has picked up as it rushes past them, blowing air at the fire and making it roar to life once more. Then hisses began to fill the air, and soon enough the first droplets of rain began to appear on the arms and legs of the Takhal. The sky is shrouded with clouds that darken even though it was clear not long ago. As the rain began to fall, the fire begins to crackle and dwindle in brightness as the approaching storm begins to soak the logs. There will be no fire here for the night, but there will be moment to remember for the Takhal young who listened to the song of Daarö.
In the swamps of the Sobek~
Unbeknownst to the group bickering over the skull of a Krollan, one of the Sobek hunters had made a discovery that would prove to be most interesting to even the most stubborn of the elders. Returning from his hunt late, distracted by prey he now brings on his back, the young hunter speaks of a cave the shone through the mist and the bushes covering the marshy lands around it. Nestled under a large mangrove that rivalled the largest they had seen, within the upturned boulders was a gleaming surface of green and azure that blended in with the undergrowth under the shadow, but as the sun shone on it it would make even the sobek hunter squint. It was like they had seen before: boulders moved in front of a cave to obscure it, the hiding spot of many Koibras where they consume their prey and lay their eggs. But these boulders were different as they reflected the light, their green and blue colors mesmerizing even the wildlife.
Within it's murky and dark depths laid a cave of not a Koibra, but a pack of Stillios who have made it their home. An unfortunate turn of events for the Koibra who might return to the nest in the next rainy season, but great news for the young hunter: his prey a young lizard impaled by spears and bit by sharp teeth, to serve as both a warning to Stillio and a relief for the Sobek that a mighty beast was not the inhabitant of the cave so close to the border of their hunting grounds. Perhaps a place worth visiting once more with a party of hunters.
Over the skies of the Gannor expedition~
The night had passed and the feast was held in honor of the hunters who would leave the village of the Gannor to seek out new and prosperous lands for their kin to settle and call their new home. The party venturing West was making great strides, their path unhampered by the forests the team heading east would have to face. The air was thin on the plateau and the snow covered peak shone brightly in the sun behind them, while the pines along the spine of the hill they descended on yielded softly to the cold wind the blew over the land.
A shadow slowly passed over them, and none bat an eye as the morning had brought clouds along with them that would often obscure the sky. But as quickly as it came it disappeared, and before they had a chance to look at the sky a deafening screech filled the air and shook the ground below them. They now stood in the shadow of a giant winged figure that obscured the sun, it's wings so expansive that they might as well have extended from horizon to horizon. All the Gannor knew the tales of the birds who would snatch people and animals alike, but few have ventured far enough to warrant such an attention. But now, they were face to face with a mighty Ruh, as it bore it's sharp claws at them and then began it's steep dive to attack the intruders that have encroached upon it's lands.
Under the murky depths of the Thugal village~
The water below the elevated village of the Thugal laid dormant for now, but not all was well with the water. The surface covered in thick foliage, little fish swam near the village to be caught. Even some of the larger predators of these marshy areas avoided the village, including the mighty Koibras and serpents that would have no trouble dealing with the ill-armed defenders of the village. But it wasn't for the fact that the Thugal were such a nuisance that the waters were devoid of animals, but rather something that the mushrooms would find it very soon.
There was a deafening crack, like a bolt of lightning that had struck near the village, yet the skies were clear of any clouds. Then a moment later another one, and the wooden supports shook violently along the edge of the village. One of the houses began to slowly list before splinters flew everywhere and to the sound of one last deafening crack the entire thing fell into the water, creating an explosion of water that sent droplets across the entire village. The ripples in the water were quickly absorbed the nearby plants, but on the spot of the once-standing house was now a large pile of debris that was cleared of plants that the structure had brought under. But as the last of the bubbles began to disappear, something else began to rise: flakes of silvery material that floated on the surface of the water, clumping together slowly and forming a shining spectacle in the sunlight to those who were preparing to retrieve what could be retrieved from the building. Perhaps an error on their fault creating the house... perhaps something else worth investigating.
Carved into the rocks of the Guarni~
A tale as old as time, all the Guarni have heard the tales of Carnog a dozen times, but it always inspired them of what was and what could be. Of a time when they ruled nature and not get ruled by it, and of a time when they will once more rule over the lesser races like the gods that had created them and cast them down to this realm. But for hundreds of years those tales have been told with no-one bringing about a change, and the hopes of reclaiming their ancestral place above others were shadowed by the needs of food and shelter, even if the Guarni had come a long way since the eons they've spent on this earth.
But as the sun rose and began another day on the island, some of the Guarni had spotted something strange in the nearby hills whilst looking for animals to capture and domesticate for their stay: a formation of rocks that were out of place even in the rugged terrain of their home.
The trip to the formation was unpleasant at the very least, even the large bodies of the giants taking considerable time to reach the stone murial that laid nestled above a rocky outcrop a few hundred feet above their village. It was easy to miss due to the face of the rock hiding the murial and the sun setting on the other side of the mountain and casting shade of these parts of the cliffside, but here it now laid before the giants. A familiar sight to any Guarni, yet distinct in it's own way to make them question if it was one of theirs from so long ago even their oldest remembrancer couldn't recall. Upon the largest boulder that perched upon the top of a pile of smaller rocks, there was a carving of unmistakably giant origin that depicted what looked like people eerily similar to the Guarni, standing atop a large mountain and towering over a crowd of smaller, hooded figurines that were offering bowls of food, animals and other items to the central figures. Perhaps the creation of a Guarni from so many winters ago most didn't remember, the peculiar nature of this giant carving was certainly worth investigating by the wisest amongst them.
@Willy Vereb@Crusader Lord@rezay@Klomster
