Abysians
30-08-2004, 23:11
Blood of Man flowed strong within the Abysian populace. The humanbreds as they called them, spread faster than they had anticipated. They had thought they would be able to control their growing population, but they had been wrong. So wrong that it sealed their fates. For years they thought they still were in control, although the humanbreds had already begun to spread all over the lands. Humanbreds were different from humans... Yes. They could live where humans could not. Their resistance to heat and fire enabled them to live in the wastelands themselves.
The Abysians could only admit that they had been wrong - and that they could not control the growth of the humanbred populace. No, instead their numbers grew exponentally every year, and after a few Abysian generations, there were so many humanbreds when compared to Abysians that one could say that they were simply a small minority compared to the enormous humanbred population.
The numbers of Abysians dwindled as their feeding grounds, great fortresses, every place they had made for themselves were flooded by humanbreds. Those left of the Abysians could find comfort in the fact that those who had taken their place were still a half breed of their species, so whilst their own once great species would cease to exist as a dominant force, the humanbreds would still keep their legacy alive. As long as there were Abysians in the midst of the humanbreds, they stayed loyal.
From the humanbred's point of view, the Abysians seemed almost like gods. Something they would always strive for, but would never quite reach. They themselves were resistant to heat and to fire, but the Abysians... They themselves burned like the Sun itself, lighting up the barren lands even during the darkest nights. The humanbreds felt that they were simply a shadow of the greatness of the Abysians, of beings that were dying out for some odd reason. They could not ever quite understand that it was them who were killing their masters, but it was not their fault, no. It was the arrogance of the Abysians that made them obsolete in the grand scheme of things.
Even during the years of the great decline of the Abysian species the wastelands had begun to cool. No longer did their burning bodies cause the land to stay in a perpetual state of hotness. The rain water did not evaporate completely anymore. First time after the Abysians had emerged from the Smouldercone and had burnt practically everything in the process, signs of life began to appear.
First it was simply plantlife. The still remaining Abysians thought that they could make the humanbreds eat human food instead of what they ate by giving them seeds and teaching them how to cultivate land that was unusable by the Abysians now. They taught the humanbreds how to bring water from the small lakes created by great amounts of rain to their fields. They even taught them how to make different foods from the things they grew in their fields. They taught them everything to expedite the change of food they consume.
Then came animals. Birds, mostly. The Abysians taught the humanbred to use bows, things they could never use themselves as they were usually made of wood, something their bodies would burn, but they still knew of their existence and knew the basics of using them. The humanbreds learnt quickly how to use them. War was not unknown between different "tribes" of humanbred, especially of those with nomadic tendencies, so they added the bow to their more war-like arsenals as well.
But it was too little too late: While it saved the humanbreds in the long term, it did not save the Abysians. There were too many humanbreds by that time already, and the few Abysians could not teach them all how to find their own, human food instead of Abysian food. Not only that, some of the humanbreds thought that it was their sacred mission to imitate the Abysians to the letter. Not only had they created a breed that outbred them, but also a breed that was too much like them.
***
But all that is in the long lost past. The land cooled to a state where the Sun does not burn the savannah-like grasslands away and has remained so for several millennia. As far as the humanbreds can tell, they are the only ones that remain and they trust technology where their ancestors trusted "magic". Only few believe the myths of the great "true Abysians" and of their miraculous magics. No, the humanbreds ARE the Abysians. Even archaeology backs this theory. There is nothing that would indicate that "gods" walked with them in the times past. No self-respecting Abysian believes such nonsense.
They lived in buildings made of concrete now, surrounded by technological wonders instead of those of magic. No sacrifices of blood had been reported for several centuries, such cults had been eradicated as completely as possible. The magics of the Abysians had been lost, they were more human than Abysian in thought.
They had been on the verge of reaching the stars... That is, until a military coup took place, and for years, there was a bloody civil war that consumed many lives. In the end, the military forces won. All hopes for the counter-revolutionary forces of actually winning the war were crushed in no time.
For years the oppressive regime ruled. For so many years... Decades, maybe even a century or two. The regime was oppressive, yes, but it did not really do much to stop the people from going about on their daily business. They broke groups larger than those of five, with force if they had to, free speech was impeded, executions of dissidents were commonplace... But life went on.
But then, it just suddenly collapsed. With no warning. No one even knew it had fallen for the first week, until people began to realize that the military was being oddly... Lethargic.
What caused the collapse? No one knows what was the cause of the collapse, but everyone knows who emerged from its ashes.
Ba'al Chozron, one who calls himself the "Anathemant Warlock". A true Abysian. One who is not from Abysia can only guess the implications the arrival of such a being means for the country. Was he the last of the true Abysians, or were there others in hiding with him, waiting for the right moment to surface once again? All of the Abysians - that is, the humanbreds - rallied behind him after his coming had become common knowledge, as the humanbred had always been loyal to their "kind" masters. They were built that way.
But as it was said before, times have changed. The true Abysians are a thing of the past, while the current Abysians represent the current times and the future of Abysia. The humanbreds had broken free from the shackles of control of the "true" Abysians, and after a while, their enthusiasm subsided, and they turned their eyes to more practical things. While most wanted this Anathemant Warlock who had released them from the chains of dictatorship to rule the country - for the time being - they also wanted him to return the leadership to the Abysians after order in the nation has been restored, and much needed reparations for the nation's infrastructure are made.
And they had not forgotten their aspirations to reach the stars, no, the stories of the elder ones as well as the history books had only made them want to see space for themselves even more. Even if their technology had reached a point of "no return", in a way, they had been unable to make contact with other beings that might live upon the planet or anywhere else. Odd, to say the least, considering that the planet seemed to be massive. After all other reparations would be ready, they would once again continue their space program.
(OOC: All who love text must fear the typos. I'm pretty damn tired at the moment, so there might be great changes in the text itself and typo/grammar fixings. Bear with me. The Abysians are right now in an odd modern-future tech limbo with almost no capability to sail the seas.)
The Abysians could only admit that they had been wrong - and that they could not control the growth of the humanbred populace. No, instead their numbers grew exponentally every year, and after a few Abysian generations, there were so many humanbreds when compared to Abysians that one could say that they were simply a small minority compared to the enormous humanbred population.
The numbers of Abysians dwindled as their feeding grounds, great fortresses, every place they had made for themselves were flooded by humanbreds. Those left of the Abysians could find comfort in the fact that those who had taken their place were still a half breed of their species, so whilst their own once great species would cease to exist as a dominant force, the humanbreds would still keep their legacy alive. As long as there were Abysians in the midst of the humanbreds, they stayed loyal.
From the humanbred's point of view, the Abysians seemed almost like gods. Something they would always strive for, but would never quite reach. They themselves were resistant to heat and to fire, but the Abysians... They themselves burned like the Sun itself, lighting up the barren lands even during the darkest nights. The humanbreds felt that they were simply a shadow of the greatness of the Abysians, of beings that were dying out for some odd reason. They could not ever quite understand that it was them who were killing their masters, but it was not their fault, no. It was the arrogance of the Abysians that made them obsolete in the grand scheme of things.
Even during the years of the great decline of the Abysian species the wastelands had begun to cool. No longer did their burning bodies cause the land to stay in a perpetual state of hotness. The rain water did not evaporate completely anymore. First time after the Abysians had emerged from the Smouldercone and had burnt practically everything in the process, signs of life began to appear.
First it was simply plantlife. The still remaining Abysians thought that they could make the humanbreds eat human food instead of what they ate by giving them seeds and teaching them how to cultivate land that was unusable by the Abysians now. They taught the humanbreds how to bring water from the small lakes created by great amounts of rain to their fields. They even taught them how to make different foods from the things they grew in their fields. They taught them everything to expedite the change of food they consume.
Then came animals. Birds, mostly. The Abysians taught the humanbred to use bows, things they could never use themselves as they were usually made of wood, something their bodies would burn, but they still knew of their existence and knew the basics of using them. The humanbreds learnt quickly how to use them. War was not unknown between different "tribes" of humanbred, especially of those with nomadic tendencies, so they added the bow to their more war-like arsenals as well.
But it was too little too late: While it saved the humanbreds in the long term, it did not save the Abysians. There were too many humanbreds by that time already, and the few Abysians could not teach them all how to find their own, human food instead of Abysian food. Not only that, some of the humanbreds thought that it was their sacred mission to imitate the Abysians to the letter. Not only had they created a breed that outbred them, but also a breed that was too much like them.
***
But all that is in the long lost past. The land cooled to a state where the Sun does not burn the savannah-like grasslands away and has remained so for several millennia. As far as the humanbreds can tell, they are the only ones that remain and they trust technology where their ancestors trusted "magic". Only few believe the myths of the great "true Abysians" and of their miraculous magics. No, the humanbreds ARE the Abysians. Even archaeology backs this theory. There is nothing that would indicate that "gods" walked with them in the times past. No self-respecting Abysian believes such nonsense.
They lived in buildings made of concrete now, surrounded by technological wonders instead of those of magic. No sacrifices of blood had been reported for several centuries, such cults had been eradicated as completely as possible. The magics of the Abysians had been lost, they were more human than Abysian in thought.
They had been on the verge of reaching the stars... That is, until a military coup took place, and for years, there was a bloody civil war that consumed many lives. In the end, the military forces won. All hopes for the counter-revolutionary forces of actually winning the war were crushed in no time.
For years the oppressive regime ruled. For so many years... Decades, maybe even a century or two. The regime was oppressive, yes, but it did not really do much to stop the people from going about on their daily business. They broke groups larger than those of five, with force if they had to, free speech was impeded, executions of dissidents were commonplace... But life went on.
But then, it just suddenly collapsed. With no warning. No one even knew it had fallen for the first week, until people began to realize that the military was being oddly... Lethargic.
What caused the collapse? No one knows what was the cause of the collapse, but everyone knows who emerged from its ashes.
Ba'al Chozron, one who calls himself the "Anathemant Warlock". A true Abysian. One who is not from Abysia can only guess the implications the arrival of such a being means for the country. Was he the last of the true Abysians, or were there others in hiding with him, waiting for the right moment to surface once again? All of the Abysians - that is, the humanbreds - rallied behind him after his coming had become common knowledge, as the humanbred had always been loyal to their "kind" masters. They were built that way.
But as it was said before, times have changed. The true Abysians are a thing of the past, while the current Abysians represent the current times and the future of Abysia. The humanbreds had broken free from the shackles of control of the "true" Abysians, and after a while, their enthusiasm subsided, and they turned their eyes to more practical things. While most wanted this Anathemant Warlock who had released them from the chains of dictatorship to rule the country - for the time being - they also wanted him to return the leadership to the Abysians after order in the nation has been restored, and much needed reparations for the nation's infrastructure are made.
And they had not forgotten their aspirations to reach the stars, no, the stories of the elder ones as well as the history books had only made them want to see space for themselves even more. Even if their technology had reached a point of "no return", in a way, they had been unable to make contact with other beings that might live upon the planet or anywhere else. Odd, to say the least, considering that the planet seemed to be massive. After all other reparations would be ready, they would once again continue their space program.
(OOC: All who love text must fear the typos. I'm pretty damn tired at the moment, so there might be great changes in the text itself and typo/grammar fixings. Bear with me. The Abysians are right now in an odd modern-future tech limbo with almost no capability to sail the seas.)