"Life outside the Wall wasn't always bad.
In fact, life in Jyn wasn't awful, in the beginning. Humans lived together in relative peace. It wasn't without its faults, as with any place in the world, but Jyn could boast being one of the most peaceful cities.
As with anything, their peace did not last long. Because of their abundance in natural resources, and their aversion to fighting, it made them an easy target for those with less of a conscious, and a lot more greed.
The Wall was originally built to be a first defense against attackers. It was thick enough that in the event of an attack, they would have enough time to evacuate those unable to fight, and arm those who could.
The war took its toll, both on the people of Jyn and the Earth. The resources that had been so coveted before were all but destroyed in the wars that took place.
It wasn't long after the war that the Wall became a barrier to keep humans out of Jyn.
The Wall was built to be just over eight feet tall and three feet thick. The outside of the Wall was made of stone, smooth to the touch to ensure no human would ever be able to climb it. Though over the years vines have grown on the Wall, they were much too thin to sustain any weight. The Wall was built around the entirety of Jyn, protecting them from all sides.
When humans were first banished to life outside the Wall, it was nothing but a war zone. Fighting over territory destroyed much of the plant-life nearest to the Wall. Any hope of being able to live near the Wall was almost immediately eradicated. That, and the threat of those who lived inside the City forced humans to set up settlements deeper into the woods. Eventually those who survived learned to work with one another instead of against.
Though things are far from perfect, they have vastly improved over the years. Fighting has all but died down, though those who remain are extremely territorial of their individual makeshift villages.
Still, there is the constant fear that one day those who live beyond the Wall will come after them. There are the occasional disappearance, if a human strays too close to the Wall. It doesn't happen often enough to cause alarm, but enough that humans are fully aware of the danger of leaving the relative safety of their homes.
And of course, despite the fact that Jyn may have been the first city to build a Wall, it was by far not the only one. Though the cities were not close together by any means, it was still safer to stay within the protection of the forest."
Excerpt from History of Jyn vol. 1
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Once Upon a Midnight: Wanted
Fantasy"Us humans, we ain't liked for some reason. I don't know what they did years ago, but we're paying for it now, which means we don't get to have some luxuries like dreaming of life beyond the Wall, okay? It's best if you just put that thought out o...