Home for the Few - The Awakening of the Silenced Ⅰ

I. Smokelands.

⊱ ☽   Prologue   ☾ ⊰

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   "You can hide the blood on your hands, but in the snow, it will remain." With a broken voice and eyes filled with tears, they fixed their gaze on the eyes of their victim, which were slowly losing the sparkle of life.

⊱ ☽ Thirteen years before ☾ ⊰

   Serendipia was the name that the ancient gods, Egot and Knglo, gave to the beautiful region at the beginning of the Third Era. Four regions lived in peace and harmony, among them the ruling continent: Vulpes.

   The books of Serendipia said something like this:

   The city of Vulpes was unique, its vastness unparalleled, its laws impeccable, and its beauty undeniable. Its greatness was due to the privilege of being located on the largest continent of such a small world. A society free from technology, where there were still many things left to discover, where magic had been extinct for so long that it was remembered as children's fables. Home to nearly fifty thousand inhabitants.

   The continent of Vulpes was characterized by its cold climate throughout the year. A constant snowfall kept the continent white but without falling into the chaos that such snow could cause. Its size, three times larger than the rest of the regions, had made it the main hub of progress, merchants, and the home of the royal family.

   The rest of the regions were very far apart; Vulpes became an inevitable meeting point.

   By size, it was followed by Mare Turtur, to the northwest of Vulpes, with hot, humid climates and exotic jungles, with a total of twenty thousand inhabitants. The vast majority of its territory was filled with rivers, lakes, swamps, and lagoons; this characteristic would never allow it to reach the greatness of Vulpes.

   To the southwest of Vulpes: Suscitavi, known as the savanna region, with five thousand fewer inhabitants than Mare Turtur. Its main feature was its large mountains that covered most of the land, making construction and progress difficult. A strange natural phenomenon kept it under a cold mantle, like a constant autumn, due to strong winds traveling from Vulpes.

   Finally, the island of Apis, the smallest region. Ten thousand inhabitants. With its eternal spring, green meadows, and tiny surrounding islands. Its size was incomparable to the rest, being a small portion of grand lands. To the northwest of Vulpes, it was forgotten among the citizens of the great city.

   One last land, desertic, arid, and covered in reddish sand, was located southeast of Vulpes. It had been named Verum, but it was barely considered a blot on their maps. These were forgotten lands, with a population of zero inhabitants.

...

   Altars dedicated to Egot and Knglo abounded on every corner of the kingdom, filled with flowers, herbs, liquors, and fruits. Two beautiful ancient temples located in Vulpes, built at the dawn of time, provided shelter to those seeking comfort and healing. It was tradition and custom to visit the temples at dawn on the kingdom's anniversary, walking silently through the streets of Serendipia with a candle in hand until it was placed at the foot of the altar.

   The ocean was a very dangerous place, unknown creatures and great storms raged at night.  Countless travelers, sick with delusions, tried to sail into nothingness, moving away from the continents under the promise of finding other lands or even other kingdoms... none of them were ever seen again.