The Allegory Of Triberias: The Call Of Destiny .

prologue

ELYDRIA,
Eastern Continent
2400 AA, (After the Great Ascension).

A gentle breeze stirred across the land. Sand shifted as the gale wafted across an empty beach and across the rocky terrain that stood behind a great wide cliff. Across the moors and woodlands it drifted. Stirring up the moths and the fireflies to dance among the long blades of grass and among the crowded flower patches.
It raffled up the foliage and stirred up the scents of the savannah. The fragrant aroma of blossoms, the rich smells of the earth and the warm grass that was mixed in with the smells of the ocean and the taste of salt that still hang in the air long after the wind had blown by.
Apart from the wind, all in the peninsula was quiet. Still like the calm before a storm in the seaport town of Bethesda.
The breeze continued to grow stronger. Carrying in with it some small flocks of thick grey clouds from the edge of the sea where the sky kissed a shimmering surface. A chilliness that took away the heat of the humid air that had once scorched the land at midday began to settle in as well.
Another day was ending.
A half-turn of the globe and just like that, the light had faded away like the passing of the gentle wind. The day's joys and its conquests would soon be forgotten with the descent of darkness that brought forth the advent of night.

There was no way around it as there was no way to escape the dark curse.
This was a fact that was well known by the residents of Bethesda and it was evident in the way they now carried themselves. With the sinking of the sun, the merchants, swiftly packed away their wares even as they left behind a town square that was also quickly emptying out. Everyone to his own place. To his own abode or lodging with just a glimmer of hope that they would live to outwit the curse and wake up to see the light that was the herald of a new day.
Unlike the town square, the docks had already emptied out. The fishermen having hauled out their nets some hours before sunset, and now, all that was left behind was just the tethered boats that kept swayed on deceivingly. For the gentleness of the rippling waves did not foretell of peace, but rather in this era, it was the tell-tale calm before the storm. A storm that would soon unravel before them and only with the coming of morning would they finally be able to tell of all its ravages even as they salvaged whatever lives it had found meet to leave behind.

The town square quickly emptied, and all that was left was a multitude of empty little sheds and wooden stalls. The noise of shutting windows and doors filled up the suburbs, even as the strong wind continued to howl. Growing stronger with every passage of time.
A woman was seen rushing out. A terrified expression marring her face and moments later, she came back holding a screaming toddler who seemed restless to leave her arms. Still, the woman's mien was more relieved than before.
There were still some
signs of distress though, but she was happy she had made it. It would have been terrible if she had been caught outside, but she had beat the dusk. They would be safe now, or at least she allowed herself to hope so.
Elsewhere, a little lamb bleated. It followed its mother and a large ram into a makeshift shed that had been erected inside a house's basement. No chances were being taken. Every pet was grabbed from the streets, and all the animals were also locked in. Did the darkness distinguish between animal or human? No and no one wanted to find out. The price of discovering things in this world was often too steep. For the many that had fewer animals and a humble background to return to, that was not a choice that they could afford to make with the way their lives now were. The dangerous stuff was always left to the military. Thus, this was the hassle that every living creature in the seaport town of Bethesda knew to abide by. For the norm was to withdraw inside in order to survive. And as such, this was the curse of this world. To never see the stars as they twinkled in the heavens or the moon as it journeyed across a vast sky and to do otherwise would mean certain death.