Descent

The Tale of Beshkel

Our tale is old, but intertwined with new things that have come to light. We reign from an ancient village by the name of Beshkel. While some of it may be hard to believe, all I tell you today is truth.
    The village of Beshkel was a beautiful village. Hidden among the trees between two sacred mountains and surrounded by the light of Shai for protection against the elements and to be hidden from those who sought to hurt us.Shai- a strong woman with power beyond outsider's belief- was our forgiving and humble leader.
Beshkel stands in a realm that seems almost locked in time. What the village looks like now, I couldn't tell you. It's been years since the realm to Beshkel has been revealed. But, I can tell you this, it was sought out by every living and dead creature that could walk for many reasons. The main being the keys.
    The three keys are one of the most sacred things to our realm. They are valuable beyond belief and have been protected by our village for hundreds of years. It took time, but eventually the one thing that we couldn't hope to defeat found us; we have called it the Darkness. A soul lost to us before we had any knowledge of the world around us. One that seeks only vengeance, power and death. How he found us, we may never be fully sure. But we will always wish he hadn't.
    We never thought he would take the form of those we loved the most. He descended on our village in the night and, without being noticed, took over a host in order to blend in. We will never be sure how long he had been there or just how many people he went through, but he when he had what he needed to know, he was able to reveal himself. He called to his followers in the North and killed the man he used last as a host.
    They had no need to wait until night, for the Darkness himself expanded around the village and blocked the light of Shai, revealing us to his army. They attacked us all; arrows from on high burned our homes in large blazes,letting looters gather all we had. Yet, they were still unsatisfied. The Darkness yearned for the keys and wouldn't rest until they were found. Shai fought as hard as she could, leading our warriors into the short battle against the raiders of the North, slaying many men and ghouls alike. The flames forced their way in and some of us were able to escape into the burning trees. Shai fought the flames and gave everything she could. When Your Uncle and I saw her and tried to help, she only pulled us in close and told us to keep watch. She unleashed one of the keys within her hand and opened a portal leading out of the realm, pushing your Uncle and I through into a forest of Earth. 
    With nothing but the keys in hand and the weight of lost lives in our hearts, we sat there for what felt like ages- while it was really just until the sun rose that morning.
    We had no idea where we were. Everything was so.. different from where we had come. Instead of large, dense clumps of green hanging above in the grove, the trees here were barren, leaves scattered and dying on the ground. The air was chilled and the world started to wake up with the sounds of birds and wind passing delicately through the forest.
    It took everything we had to look around. We never did agree on what made us move. James remembers looking for a way back: I remember looking for a way forward.
    We found a clearing not far from where we were dropped with a small stream and promising soil for growing food. We slowly worked through the Autumn weather and built a small hut to keep out the rain and wind during winter. We lived off of whatever we could grow or hunt and we eventually built that hut into a cabin. We lived there until we found Evesville. Which, at the time, was much nicer and was full of wonderful people. We decided to play small parts in this community and once and awhile go back to the cabin to keep everything running in case anyone fell into our situation and could tell us more about Beshkel... if there was anyone still alive besides us.