Urk was going to war, too long had the beast reigned over the seas, and for too long had it plagued the city. Preparations are made and a procession is held in the worship of Xon. In the streets did the people of Urk march, singing hymns and offering praise, worship, prayer, and material wealth to the god. It is unknown if such a thing would have drawn the attention of the great god themself, so the people were desperate. Urged by the leaders of the city they began to sacrifice several animals still in the city.
The offering of blood drew something. It was faint at first, but soon the city glowed in a light that could only be considered holy. Sparked into action the people soon turned to celebrate the blessing of the god, and soon after diplomats would return bringing word of the world. Of the two cities that the diplomats were sent to, only one set returned. Whether it was treachery, the sea, or more was unknown for now, but they would get no help from the mainland.
As for the city sent to Arba, they would report little help from their fellow city. Denied access to the Tyrant they would approach the Tyrant's sons. The Elder Son Zija when approached scoffed at the diplomats and offered no support. Even though they would make promising allies, the tyrannical son would focus on gaining the support of the powerful within the city. The Fisniket were a class of people standing above the common masses, powerful from being one of the original twenty citizens selected during the founding of the city to assist the Tyrant with maintaining his hold over the people. These twenty families would gather power until they were a threat to the Tyrant himself, of course, the Tyrant curbed their power severely in response, but they still hold enough power to not only do their tasks but influence who the heir may be. The son would find some assistance there, a few thinking he was unproven and leaning to be neutral. One family stood out in their immediate support however, the Zjarf family would tie their power to the heirs almost immediately. Offering a daughter of their clan to him to truly bind them together.
The diplomats would then approach the second son, seeking help and attempting to convince him that their cause was just. The laughter was not what they expected, for the younger son was uncaring of the city of Urk, he only sought to gather power by uniting the common masses, and sending help to the city would only weaken him.
As they sought help from any that they could from the streets only for gangs of thugs from both sons to beat them and practically banish them from the city in their fighting. The only consolidation was that the merchants funded and created some kind of pathways of dirt for easier travel. It took more than a bit of their remaining "funds" to return to the city.
For the city of Urk, there was now a choice, they were ready for war against a beast, but with recent events, their authority and city had been humiliated. They had the choice of fighting the beast and potentially destroying it with what they had now, or lay siege to their neighbor who had scorned them and force them to help kill the Beast whether they wanted to or not.
The city of Lurya was in danger. Not the danger of death and destruction, but falling prey to a monster. The Lion of Lurya required bait to beat the creature. Hearts, Livers, and potentially more would be needed, so he asked his people who amongst them would be willing to make the sacrifice, who amongst the dead and dying would offer a sacrifice so that the beast may be slain.
None strode forward, they were afraid and hesitant. Seeing this, the Lion without hesitation draws his blade and carves himself open. He slowly, and painfully rips out a part of his liver to show the people that he is willing to make the same sacrifice as them.
Offers would soon flood in, hearts, lungs, livers, and more would all be sent to the hunting party. They, with their bait and new specific weapons made to kill the beast, would march out of the city. Laying a trap the Lion and his men would lay in wait.
Soon a beast would show, one more horrific than any of them could describe. It was not a lion, for it was too malformed to be called that. It was not alive, for it was plagued with pus and cyst. It was not a beast, but a Monster of unknowable origins and monstrous shape.
But the hunt must go on. Devouring its feast it did not see the team until the attack began.
The poison on their arrows would not harm the beast, but it seemed as if it only made it stronger, and their spears could not escape from its hide when pierced into the beast. The arrows never seemed to hit it.
It escaped the hunters this time, but it was scared away for the rest of the year. In the absence of the beast, the Lion sought to expand the fields and work as a city to tend and assign land to be harvested.
It would work for a time and as always troubles, but the wisdom of the Lion was up to the challenge. Then the Beast of Lurya returned and plagued the people once more and once again the people looked toward their leader for help.
The city of Heltor was ill at ease, the people were afraid, and rightly so. So Heltor sought to give them strength, using words he would direct their attention to the enemy of the city. The tribes around them that deserved their hatred, speeches would rile up the people, soon instead of feeling upset or scared they felt anger and righteous hatred of the tribal savages who laid siege to their city time and time again.
Hundreds would join the army in the aftermath, and soon Heltor would march out. He would subdue and enslave several large tribes, taking as many as they could captive and dragging them back to the city in chains. Salvaging what they could from the savages the people would then begin selling the tribesmen within the city. Hundreds of men, women, and children would be haggled over and sold within the city and taken elsewhere if they were lucky.
Those who were not sold would be put to work in the fields, forcing them to farm for the city the people would have had they not been attacked. They were barely fed and the citizens thrived. Smaller tribes fled away from the city, and several of the large tribes that were not targeted moved to safer locations. However, rumors appear of a large gathering of the tribesmen for something, it bodes ill for the city in any case.
How would the wise Heltor move forward in these coming days?
The Tyrant of Grobiņa would expel citizens of his city out into the savage outside to create new farms and quarries. Soldiers would be made loyal to only the Tyrant Kangars, these soldiers would watch over those in the wilds to ensure that they followed the will of the Tyrant. Oppression was everywhere and it was chafing the people and the Elders.
The Elders would meet in secret and the son Kaupo would support the Tyrant in public, even by paying for some of the newly trained Soldiers, not enough to make a difference but there were a few, more than a few actually, who listened to Kaupo first and the Tyrant second.
Apo, the son thought to be lost to the sea and wilds, slain before he could finish his righteous quest, lived. After making his way to Hydriss he would move to the City of Heltor where he would see the newly enslaved tribesmen. He would rally what few he could and free them before moving on. Escaping from the city and its newfound hatred of outsiders, he would head north further and eventually make his way to Medias where he and his band would hear about the request and declaration. The rewards offered would gather quite the crowd.
The rewards themselves would be a treaty of eternal friendship with the City, marriage to the most beautiful woman of the city, or the artifact known as 'The Thousand Tears of Discord'. It was unknown exactly what the Son would do in regards to this quest, but the request may be exactly what he sought.
The call for action would not only bring Apo to the city of Medias but bring multiple roving bands of heroes and adventurers who would seek the rewards offered. They would charge into the unknown looking for the artifact that would save the city.
Many would make progress but none would claim the reward for themself yet, the location however was narrowed down somewhat more. The artifact they sought laid in the northwest, amongst the highest points of the known world. But beyond the declaration, the city would be mobilized to build public works that would stop flooding and potentially store it for future use. These works would work for a time, but the rain just kept coming and it would overwhelm everything they built... in time, but it held strong for now.
Thermodia, the lover of outsiders, would learn from the tragedy of their founding, and instead of hoarding their prosperity, holding onto it with every fiber of their being, they would instead invite the inhabitants into the city.
A speech celebrated by the people would be given, "Rich is the soil of our land, filled our silos: we shall offer them from our harvest and instead of great festivals, we shall commemorate Thermodia, by acting in her deeds memories and standing together with those strangers we invite to sacrifice together with us and praise the gods that have led us together and given us the means to support them in their need." The leaders of the city said, they were cheered for and the people accepted, but some were surprised by how generous the leaders of the city were.
"We will offer them land to till, food to come over the winter and a share in seeds to begin tilling their fields when the next year comes. We will do our best to integrate them into our community, to let them partake in the sacred rites, and to have the gods bless our renewed Synoecism." Surprised the people would chatter, and whisper.
"We shall see that they will be given land not any worse than those of the villages that already exist and their woman may be inducted into the priesthood. We shall see if we can strengthen our bounds by an exchange of gifts and maybe more familial ties. But those who do not want to stay, we will offer to spend the winter with us, to live among us till they set out again in the new year – and to return for our fests and sacrifices to the gods as friends – not strangers anymore."
It was madness, plain and simple, but a good kind. The people were less sure about this than the first thing, but they would trust their leaders… for now. With that said, the leaders would do exactly what they said and the tribes who were once separate from the city become one of the people of Thermodia. Some would abuse the kindness of the city, but they were rebuffed with ease, for the city was easily defensible and the people strong. Whispers bring the declaration of kindred far and wide, however, and soon people from far off lands would arrive alongside with dangers.
Raiders and strangers would begin to haunt the outsides of the city making it harder to get the much-needed food for the city, and while the people were happy, the food was running out. Soon they wouldn't have enough unless something changed.
The city of Hydriss would prepare and rebuild. Permanent structures would be worked on and more would be made. Starting with a great wall to protect the city within the events of an attack on the people and the city itself.
But, thinking of the future they would integrate a good portion of the sea with the city, opening it up to the sea so that they could not only benefit from its bounties but prosper in the events of a siege. Docks would be made, leaders and guards selected and trained, and while unnatural to the people of the city, they would begin acquainting themselves with the ways of war upon the land.
It was here the queen made her move, Queen Hydriss aimed to sate the desire for vengeance by focusing on moving people forward – let them not forget past sins of Merencia but vow not to repeat them. She would call on Merencians to challenge themselves to surpass old civilization and old ways.
"Don't aim vengeance at others, use feelings as motivation to do better. While not abandoning Tome of the Sea, move from Tome of the Sea to Tome of the Land to signify Merencia's new reality." she proudly said.
The people of Vul would invite the leaders of the clans who sought to join Lumen, they would be told of the truth in regards to the situation of the city, of how there wasn't enough to go around and from there they would offer a solution.
The city would offer one of three ways to be accepted into the city itself. The first way was that the people of the tribe must prove their prowess during annual competitions that will happen every year until all of the tribes have joined. The next way would be proving that you know the ways of the people and contribute in some fashion by saying what tradition they would bring to the city in return. The last way would be by proving that they hold the will to join the People, by toiling alongside them and working together to build their new home, only then would they join.
Many would leap at the chance of combat, thinking their warriors and tribe the best. Only a few would choose cultural integration or attempt toiling with the people of the city, this would lead to many tribes being denied entrance into the city, and from there several clans would feel scorned and leave the queue to ally.
The alliance would slaughter some of the tribes seeking to join, as well as the people of Lumen should they venture outside of their city.
For Khivasi the hunt for the monster that plagued the land would go on. Hunters and more would be sent to gather as much information on them as they could grab, and while there would be losses, the information gained would be valuable.
The monster they sought, it appeared as if it was one of their own, a member of the Khivasi… At first, when its fangs were revealed it would drain many of the people sent to look for it before drawing back, seemingly sated by the blood it consumed.
In response, the city would have what little lands they controlled fortified, walls, and more built rapidly in an attempt to keep the monster out. It was during a sacrifice to the gods that the priests finally made their move. Where they had once been neglected they now claimed as one that the monster was punishment for the people's refusal to listen to them.
Many would-be swayed and the clergy would rapidly become a moderate power within the city. Thankfully they seemed to be focusing on the consolidation of their power, which allowed the city to approach the nearby tribes and force them to pay tribute to the city in return for protection from monsters and… worse outcomes. Many would accept fearing the might of the city. Only a few do not pay tribute… their tribe's burning camps are all that remains of their people.
The Temple would be built, the people would see to it. The only issue is that the people are unable to fully repair the temple with what they have on them, the Prophet-King Pawl of course did the only reasonable thing in response.
He would lead the people in prayer to beg for Heyzeus' interference and for him to give them the materials needed to rebuild the temple. They would give him prayer and sacrifice, and in return, they were given what they asked for.
From the waves came thousands of pieces of some kind of pure white stone, some claimed it was marble, others pearls, but in either case, their God had spoken and the temple would be finished and repaired with the white stone, and in many cases, the old stones replaced with the white materials.
The city of Pillars would unite, under one identity and one city they would all come together and begin building and enhancing existing religious festivals, holy days, and ceremonies to serve as the foundation of the common Shaaitha culture. An example of a set of rituals they would focus upon enhancing would be the fact that the traditional Shaaitha rituals were heavily bound into the cycle of salmon runs, harvests, potlatches, and communal buildings and projects. But as they advanced as a city culturally, they would also begin building up physically. Their focus would be around the creation of farms, palisades, longhouses, temples, storehouses, and ships, both for fishing and to hold their forming military.
Some of the most popular decisions and events would be the fact that masked priests and actors re-enact hero sagas and religious fables. These would be chosen by Xhuuyaa and Kuuja to present morals and messages of unity and coordination hidden within songs, legends, and stories told to young and old alike so that they may learn. On the militaristic side, they would focus on keeping an eye out for troublemakers and the like, thankfully for them, there did not appear to be any coordinated or real hostile threat facing them... for now. Everything was going great for the City of Pillars, they were joyous and united in their culture.
War would be waged. Phlegethon and Tyrea would both independent of each other send their armies to take and attack the other. Their armies would run into each other, and the advantage would fall with the new Tyreans who saw the attackers first. Using the alliances they had brokered to originally keep the Phelgethon army at bay, they would harass and attack the approaching army, hoping to break them or stop their advancement.
This would only work for so long until the armies of both would be forced to fight. Outnumbered the army of Phelgethon would fight hard and manage to win against the alliance… or so they thought.
While they were fighting it appeared that the tyreans would raid their city and steal the materials they needed. This would ironically work in the Tyrant's favor, however, as they attacked and stole from the priests and the like, which allowed him to integrate them into his tyranny as scribes and members of his court, they would welcome this in the aftermath of many of their temples and priestly supplies being stolen and their positions embarrassed. So while there was no plunder from their expedition, something good came out of it… but the failure to defend the city from the raid did open another weakness for his detractors to attack.
Tyrea however, sends out ships on the river and sea so that Tyrean traders would search for trading partners and colony sites to deliver raw material back to Tyrea; by again setting up a web of supplies and resources to funnel in back to Tyrea, the city can be rebuilt efficiently.
With the influx of materials to be traded and sold, their efforts would prove to be more than effective, but their "colonies" would fail due to a lack of protection needed from the wilds.
Tirtanda would send out explorers and adventurers looking for something. Numbering four in total the first two parties would travel by the coastline, east, and west, carrying goods that could be traded. They would meet only tribes to the east and bring back only materials and news of potential cities further east.
The western traders would stumble across Thermodia and be welcomed into the city, where they would trade and both share and gather news and information on the culture and peoples here.
The next group would go to the sea to gather fish being their main objective, they would bring a paltry tribute at first, but disappear when heading out once again. Search parties could not find any sign of the group.
The last part would travel along the river making contact with the peoples alongside it. By the time they reached the end, they would hear rumors of a city in the mountains, cursed for their hubris. They brought this information back before being sent to help find the missing fishermen.
Xentiterek would gather its armies, as would the people of Kyrennes, their goal would be to work together. Calmer minds had won in the end and peace was made… for now. They were united in a singular goal to hunt the monster that was a potential threat to both of their cities. Working separately at first they would be forced to work together as the beast proved to be strong enough that alone they could not hope to defeat it.
The beast itself was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size; so big in fact that its quills were twelve paces long and thick in proportion. And it is so strong that it will seize even the largest animals in its talons and carry them high into the air and drop them so that they are smashed to pieces; having so killed them, the bird would swoop down on its prey and eat it at leisure.
Working together, however, they would lure the beast into a trap, bringing it crashing to the ground the two would stab and bleed the monster until its death. Victory and peace are born from the blood of a monster. In response to both its appearance and death, the city of Xentiterek would explore the lands looking for materials to build up their Ziggurat as well as generally increase farming efforts in the wild. Docks would be built to travel up and down the river near the city, but in the end, the biggest thing they did was restart trade with the city of Kyrennes.
Speaking of Kyrennes, they would begin prospecting efforts, to learn more about the region around their city. Their focus would be on finding Quarries for stone, Clay, Copper, Salt, Meteoric Iron, Lead, Tin, Silver, Gold, Unique minerals/metals. Xentiterek would claim the only nearby locations that would make good locations for quarries, as well as locations for clay and salt.
But the city would find large quantities of copper, tin, lead, gold, and a strange shining metal of some sorts. The city would begin exploiting what resources they could get ahold of, but there was only oh so much they could do with the materials they had on hand and access to. Thankfully trade allowed them to pick up the slack so to speak.
Other investigations would show a high level of Aurochs, felines, and general wildlife. Though upon further investigation they would find the nest of the former plague on their land. In its nest would be twelve eggs of large quantity. All of them appear to be alive… for now, and near the point of hatching. What would the city do with this information? None would tell… for now.
Elfangor of Mor'Karrion would begin crafting something, none could say what, but that was secondary to what he had planned. He would focus on the demographic crisis, and gather his magic for a great ritual of some sort, but lacking certain ingredients he would be forced to prepare for the future.
Adrehel on the other hand would travel amongst the surrounding lands tempting men from tribes to wage war upon one another for her affection, and amusement. They would give her tribute and more just for the barest glimpse of her, and soon war waged all over the mountains.
Gaellynora would in an opposite manner trick beasts into attacking those who were smart, or safe enough to avoid the troubles caused by the brides of Elfangor. Many tribes were extinguished from the monsters unleashed, but there were a few that remained untouched by bride and beast.
The people of Mon'Karrion would be spurred into motion by their leader and his brides, using the chaos caused they would steal child, beast, and souls. These materials would be given to their savior, and from there they would find their population increasing as the ritual Elfangor prepared for went off without a hitch. The people of Mor'Karrion grew crueler with this ritual, but their population would continue to grow.
Was the price worth it? None could say, not yet.
With the closing of the three years, the cities moved forward. Preparations were made, wars waged, beasts killed, celebrations had. Yet time ever moves forward. What would happen next, none would know.
