Kathryn
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Karma: 1 |  | The History of Calla
« Thread Started on Sept 6, 2008, 4:56pm » | |
Beyond Shadow's End.
In a time far removed from ours, exists another world. It was once a place of sunshine, and light. Of romance... and of magic. It was a world that held great beauty, with its sweet, unspoiled lands and its thriving towns. The humans who lived amongst the beauty were an ancient race of people, led by a wise and kind King. The people of the Calla.
This was not a world the like of which you and I understand the term. Calla was a world of dreams... pure and unspoiled by the greed of man. Yet each and every one of us has known the Calla in some measure. Calla is the world that we feel when we slowly awaken in our beds with the dawn light streaming in through the window. Golden, and pure. Calla is the touch of the first snowflake... the trickle of the waterfall in the hidden forest glade. The laughter of a child... the sound of the summer rain. Calla is in our thoughts, interlaced alongside our own realities. It is the balance, and the reflection of our world. We have all seen a glimpse of the Calla, and may yet remember it as no more than a feeling. But it is real.. and it lives- and has lived, for a thousand eternities past our own existence.
But now, for the first time... the future of the Calla is threatened.
Noone knows how long ago it was when things in Calla changed. Only that once, there were golden days of light, and now there is only darkness. One day, the sun sank behind the Avalonian mountains... and simply never returned.
Calla was plunged into darkness, and when the morning hours brought no daylight, panic descended. The people of the Calla fell to their knees and prayed to their gods, but there was no help to be had. The next dawn brought no sunrise. Nor the next. The moon continued to rise for a few nights after the sun was blotted from the sky, then it too ceased to shine. Legend has it that it cracked in twain, and fell to Calla in shards- shards which are reputed to bring great power to the finder.. There are those who disregard the legends as foolery... just as there are those who have dedicated their lives to finding the pieces.
Calla has not seen the sun for what seems an eternity. Some of the Elders claim to be able to remember days of light- and there are references to the golden days in some journals and books. But to this day, noone knows why the sun disappeared, nor how to go about returning its light to the sky. Calla is falling apart... and there is noone who knows how to slow its descent.
The absence of the sun is bringing more sinister changes to the fabric of the land. Creatures are evolving to the darkness. Each year more hideous mutations crawl out of the forests... pale hairless creatures with milky eyes and hunger for blood and warmth. Unmutated livestock is valuable now, as is fresh fruit and vegetables- for they are only grown under the power of artificial light provided by those lucky enough to have generators. Money has somewhat lost its value- society such as it is now operates on a bartering system. Survival is the keyword now, with people scraping out existences in small settlements, using whatever light they can generate to live whatever way they can. Threats exist on all sides, particularly for the poor. The absence of the moon means lycanthropes have free reign with their wolves to transform at will... and vampires are constantly on the prowl. Demons, magic folk, gypsies, lone gunslingers... people of all kinds are now crossing into each other's worlds in a desperate attempt to find safety.
The creatures in the Forest are not the only things changing... and it is perhaps this that poses the greatest threat at all. Scholars who study the absence of the Light have observed a significant change in some people's temperament. They become angry. Murderous, and crazed. The darkness has pushed some people together.. but it has divided just as many. Lone wanderers lurk in the darkness, some seeking to make a profit, some seeking just to survive. All of them seeking to gain what they can, when they can get it. Trust, amongst a people that once loved one another, is now completely gone.
There is relative safety to be found in the few remaining towns, if you can afford it. The walled Golden Citadel province holds a town market, and several settlements. It is here that the one remaining University exists, where scholars dedicate their lives to studying how to bring back the light. It is here that the last vestiges of normality are retained, by the grace of generators and stoutly built walls to shut out the horrors of the darkened world outside. Here, there is almost salvation- and it is all centered around the last hope that Calla has for an end to the darkness. The Temple of the Oracle.
Noone has yet been permitted to enter. The magnificent Temple at the heart of the city is guarded by the mysterious 'Guardians of the Light'. They are rarely seen... but stories across the land are rife. Accounts of the Guardians appearing to save people who are being attacked, or are starving to death. Differing stories have them appearing in dramatically different ways- from white knights riding unicorns, to nothing more than a sweet smelling mist that glowed with light, blinding its enemies. But for all the discrepancies, one thing is undisputed. Since the King disappeared, The Guardians of the Light are the only symbol of justice and hope in a world that is falling into chaos.
It is said that the Temple holds the last piece of the moon. It is said that it is the last place in Calla where the sun still shines. It is said that it is the hiding place of the King, who has closed himself away to form his plan to save the land of the Calla. A thousand stories... a thousand hopes. But time is running out for the Calla people, and not just because of the threats they face every dawnless day.
Perhaps it is linked to the disappearance of the sun. Perhaps it is simply the stress of a world breaking apart. But the same hand that blotted out the light, also blotted out the fertility of the women of Calla. Since the sun disappeared, pregnancy has been rarely heard of- and those that do manage to carry to term often give birth to monstrosities. Like the creatures of the Forest... the fruit of the Calla women's wombs is tainted by the darkness... and in their fear for what may emerge, many women choose to terminate precious pregnancies before they even fully start. Time is passing... the people of the Calla are aging, and with each passing hour that healthy sons and daughters are not born, Calla edges one step closer to extinction.
Only one thing can save the Calla now... and that is the return of the sun. The race is on... to live. To love. To survive.
And to bring back the Light, so we may know what lies beyond the shadow's end.
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