THE LOST LANDS
The World of Emerus has was lost to time. Gods have been lost to the world by fleeing for their lives or perishing to keep it afloat. The cause? A merging of worlds, Thousands of worlds all at once. They tried to preserve stability, those who chose to stay, but all they got was a slow death.
This is not where our story took place; in a land lost to time and lost to the people, there is a hostile place where just surviving is a challenge. The Cracked Desert, called for its appearance, is a wasteland of rock. Massive structures that look like trees are sparsely spread. Packs of creatures, canine in appearance but far larger than any wild dogs, stalk through the stones and cracked earth for their pray, hiding among the stone trees. Vultures soar high above the clouds, search for their meal, swoop in unannounced, and carry their prey into the sky to feast.
In one of the larger cracks in the earth, faint voices carry into the wind. Past massive Spears that were cut from the stone and the many walkways that cross the chasm, around the spring that powers its machines, and into the depths, we find the city of Mortholow, a forgotten city. Here is where our story will begin.
CHAPTER 1
Deep in Mortholow, where all the city's refuse gets dumped, the Heap, Jaxon was searching through the pile of garbage looking for tonight's dinner. Pulling a rough bag out of the rise and searching inside and finding an old rusty and dull knife with a half-eaten piece of fruit. Excitedly he runs home; a tent-like structure built with old hide and large bones comes into view, a girl roughly 12 years of age standing at the entrance, keeping watch. "Isabelle," Jaxom cries, "look at what I found today." Isabelle looks over at his proud face, quickly stands while rushing over.
As she comes closer, dirty streaks can be seen running down her cheeks. Worriedly Jaxom quickly hugs her as she buries her face into his arms. Isabelle, his long-time friend, and only family, cries as he looks back into the tent and spots nothing but destruction, things are thrown about, and pots smashed to pieces. "What happened?" Jaxom's voice cracks as the words leave his mouth. "Sherman is what HAPPENED!" she shouts "he came while you were scavenging, and I was sorting through our things. All of our stuff is gone or smashed," sobs coming through in between.
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Jaxom puts down the bag inside and begins putting things back in order. Isabelle, who was coming over beside him, opens the bag. A slight squeal escapes her mouth as she finds the fruit. "Go ahead. You need it after what happened, Izzy," he says softly. A choaked back "thank-you" coming back as she stuffs the fruit into her mouth.
"Sherman!" reaching over to the broken shelf and grabbing an old wet stone, Jaxom heads for a small drip behind the tent with the rusty knife and begins to clean and sharpen it. Thoughts were racing through his head of finally getting rid of that bastard of a boy, a growl escaping his lips. 'I know that I'm not the fittest of kids but, even with my average height and sinewy muscle, I believe I can take down that hulk of a brute. It's too bad our classes start tomorrow, and we need to get cleaned and ready.'
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After spending an hour cleaning the blade, Jaxom heads back to the tent to prepare dinner. Looking through the mess that is the tent, something catches his eye. Under the shelf where he kept all his hard-won coin, a small jar still safe and full of fungus flour. Just enough to get them by for one more day. Grabbing the flour, he heads outside to start preparing dinner. The old pan, dumped down here, from The Reach still usable though it is starting to get holes. Grabbing what little flammable material they have, Jaxom strikes the rocks with a piece of metal, hoping for a spark. Isabelle, meanwhile, goes to the small drip to gather some water for cooking and drinking.
Dinner is a quick affair; with only the flour and a cup of water, they quickly finish what they have. Done with dinner, they stare into the distance, dreaming; dreaming of a day, they finally leave, dreaming of the day they can see the sky or even feel the wind blow.
Small lights decorate the dark around them, the hills in the distance not truly a hill, but a mountain of garbage from hundreds of years of build-up.
Screams can be heard, carried by the wind as people fight for food or warmth. Tiny pinpricks of light flow down from the surface, giving the few who have built their homes under them a sense of safety others have never known. Looking up, Isabelle nudges Jaxom with her shoulder, saying, "what do you think will happen tomorrow? Fitch is finally opening up his doors again to teach us. Maybe we can finally get some real food instead of the dregs we usually have." Jaxom, who is startled at first, leans his head on her shoulder replies, "who knows? For five years, we have survived down here together, and for five more, I expect us to survive whatever comes our way. Hopefully, we both have a good aptitude, and we can go to the Maw of Mortholow to delve or maybe even leave this place. Who knows what's out there? No one here does, or else they would have left long ago." Looking up through ever-crossing paths that litter their sky, both of them sigh in worry and excitement for the future.
As the light streams start to fade, screams fill the air. Yelping cries of excitement and terror reach their ears. "Time to get inside, Izzy," Jaxom says with worry. Quickly putting out the fire, Jaxom and Isabelle rush towards the tent, closing the flap and weighing it down with large pieces of rubble.
Cuddling together for warmth and safety, Isabelle starts to fall asleep, a pattern that they always follow. Two hours of sleep then rotate; the things that crawl through the Heap are not to be underestimated. Spiders covered in stone crawl along the hills, looking for stragglers, small humanoid-looking beasts with long noses and pointed ears prowl at night looking for scraps and people who are alone. The Heap is never safe at night.
Jaxom, while holding Isabelle, listens to the symphony of the night, waiting for the next day to come. Hopefully, nothing comes to their tent tonight.
The following day Jaxom and Isabelle go behind the tent with a small piece of fabric and start to wash. Looking away from Isabelle with flushed cheeks, Jaxom quickly tries to finish cleaning himself. 'It has been years already; why am I acting this way,' he thinks.
Heading out, they are quick to arrive at the "school." It is a small building made almost entirely of fallen stones, decorated with bone shards carved with different images of beasts that live on the surface. One a great giant of a man that looks to be build of stone. Another a four-legged canine with spikes running down its back. The last, a great tree with no leaves, strangeling one of the hounds. Today it begins.