07-16-2017, 05:54 AM
i. The Beginning
Decades ago, before even the memory of Isilme's ghosts, this land once stood raw and empty. But the gods themselves sought to fill it: from the earth they sculpted Nieque, first among the equine; seafoam dancing along the shore became Cinnoru, wisest of the unicorns; and the wind's mighty voice gave rise to Sepagus, the bold winged stallion. Fire burned hot in all three beings, drawing out both shadows and light. Throughout Isilme these mighty lords spread and sired many of their kind, filling the land with life and light. Magic flowed strong in the lifeblood of every horse and the three kings, nearly gods themselves, lived longer than many now could imagine. But they were proud; their children waged war in their names, and blood flowed across Isilme like the tide. Sepagus, Nieque and Cinnoru waged their final battle known as the War of the Three, in the place known today as the Skeleton Pit, and although each strove to prove his worth against the other, they were created as equals, and as equals they died.
The gods looked on at the destruction wreaked by their children, and they grew angry. For many days the sun darkened, and the grasses withered. All the death caused by previous wars paled in comparison to what came next, as horses grazed the fallow land to naked soil and perished. When at last the sun returned few remained, and those few were bitter. The herds each blamed each other and promised vengeance for the deaths of their loved ones. Many fled, and the three races of horse spread into the far corners of the world.
ii. Equine Empire
In time those outside Isilme forgot theirs vows while those within grew ever more hateful. Those who survived the fury of their gods had grown in number and began to amass armies and form alliances. By year eleven a mare called Black Minx, a descendant of Nieque himself, ruled the Emerald Valley where the equines held power, while Ignatius the Firesword ruled the unicorns' beaches and the fierce pegasus Naryl called the Cliffs her home. These rulers watched over herds that rivaled their ancestors' in size, and in time began again the savagery that ruined those mighty three.
The first bloody strokes fell when Ignatius attempted to invade the Valley, but his forces were driven back. He then offered peace to the equines and with their help turned a great invasion force upon the Cliffs. During this battle the Firesword fell, slain by Naryl who carried his horn until her dying day as a symbol of the victory. Weakened as the battles left his forces, it seemed no one would step up to claim his crown; however, leadership eventually fell to an unlikely young colt called Nepdon, and for a time the Tides saw peace. Satisfied with defending their home against outsiders, the pegasi roosted quietly in the red mountains and the equines retreated to the valley - but peace would not last.
Not long after returning home from her failed campaign, Black Minx discovered a strange cavern had opened up beneath the Valley's waterfall. Alongside the ambitious stallion Adalwulf, she explored the strange room. What they found in the cavern proved to be remarkable: a statue of Nieque himself that protected the Valley from natural distasters and kept Isilme's natural magic in balance. Unfortunately the two explorers were careless, and in their haste they knocked the relic to the floor, shattering it. Chaos was unleashed upon the Valley as three magic orbs contained within escaped, and disaster after disaster befell the Valley.
With the equines weakened, other creatures began to stir within Isilme's borders. The skull-wearing stallion Oblivion amassed a gang of nefarious followers and set his sights on the Mystic Woodlands, meant to be a place of peace under the careful rule of the pegasus Haliaetus. But mere days after Haliaetus had declared the forest a safehaven for all races Oblivion arrived and slew the winged lord, claiming the forest for his own pack of mixbloods and mongrels. Thus year twelve began in blood, and more was promised to come as the equines scrambled to restore their home.
While Oblivion made himself at home in the forest, Adalwulf and Black Minx searched for the missing orbs. Luckily their herd proved stronger than the curse that rained down fire over the Valley and opened sinkholes up beneath their feet: two mares, Requiem and Sunchaser, managed to find two of the orbs scattered in the farthest reaches of Isilme. With Black Minx herself in possession of the third, the equines had but one task remaining: slay a dragon on Nieque's altar.
With heavy spirits the equines searched for one of their own willing to sacrifice a very piece of his soul to their cause. They were weak without a doubt, and from the cover of the trees Oblivion watched them with hungry eyes. Despite the hell the Valley had become he wanted it; he craved power, and sought to exploit the weakness in Black Minx's herd while he had the chance. The Demonking's forces began moving covertly, exploring the Valley's borders and learning its weaknesses. Among them were refugees from the Valley herd itself: the appaloosa stallion Kaemon, and his white dragon Akira.
Akira's fate was sealed the moment the pair met Adalwulf in the Fever Creek. The white stallion was larger than the appaloosa, and more desperate: along with his own green dragon Nidhoggr, he captured Akira and with her fled back to the Valley, where he slew the white in Nieque's cavern and lifted the curse. Mere moments later Oblivion's army filled the Valley with their haunting cries, and as sweet rain soothed the smoldering craters the equine herd fought for their broken homeland.
How bitter the loss must have been when Oblivion stood victorious atop the wreckage.
iii. Pegasus Palisade
With the wicked pegasus Mesecoth standing in place of Black Minx, the Valley fell on hard times. Its defeated leaders gathered on the fringes of Isilme and hatched a plan to retake their home, but lacking the forces necessary they were forced to wait - that is, until the rogue known as Sylvanas Windrunner, a former captive of the very hounds now holding the Valley, offered Black Minx her aid. Alongside the Windrunner's band of mercenaries, the outcast remnants of the equine herd attacked Oblivion's stronghold in the Woodlands and forced him out. It was not their home, but it was a start. With the faithful warrior Akor named lead of the new territory, Black Minx began scheming to reclaim her stolen throne.
While Black Minx planned to take back what she'd lost, old magic stirred within the Cliffs. The small pegasus herd still living there had been quiet while it watched Isilme overcome by chaos, and soon more chaos came knocking at the red rocks: a mysterious cavern opened here as well, and within it the winged horses found another altar. This demanded little sacrifice though; in order to summon the ancient magic chained within, they must find specific items to unlock the shackles. Boldly then they went in search of a dragon's fang and a single scale.
The pegasi spread out across Isilme, and under the shadows of their wings the oppressed Valley herd rose up and overthrew Oblivion. Black Minx regained her place as queen, and at her side the loyal Adalwulf ruled as king. A time of peace was declared between the Valley and the Woodlands, now ruled jointly by Akor and Sylvanas Windrunner, who demanded a safe haven for her warrios as payment for services rendered in the battle agaist Oblivion. As for Oblivion himself: the Demonking hardly fled with his tail between his legs. No; after waiting just long enough for his forces to heal, he unleashed hell upon the Moonlit Tides.
A quick and brutal battle gripped the unicorns' shores that had for so long struggled to maintain peace amidst Isilme's constant power struggles. Young Nepdon had not proved to be an inspiring leader, and his dwindling herd fell hard beneath the hardened beasts led by Oblivion. The young lord was forced out, banished, and the Demonking found a new home - still a very real threat to the rest of Isilme's populace. Back in the Valley Adalwulf grew hungry for yet more power and led a campaign to take the Cliffs, but even distracted as they were the pegasi managed to drive him back. The balance of power settled for a time - before shifting radically again.
Although he had never proven to be anymore than a brash young idealist, the young stallion Nepdon found his calling in rallying the unicorns to war. Mere weeks after Oblivion took his home the Raindancer took it back, leading a revolt in the Tides that forced Oblivion's forces back to the outskirts of Isilme, where they paused to lick their wounds and plot their next moves. Thus ended year twelve, with the equines and their allies poised to take advantage of the power afforded by friendship.
Year thirteen began with yet another battle: when the young mare Lesse was slaughtered by the pegasus stallion Rana, Sylvanas called upon her allies in the valley and led yet another charge on the Cliffs. This time they won, driving the feathered beings from their home. Satisfied, Adalwulf placed the old warrior Gideon atop the Cliffs and settled back into his role as Valley king, although his queen had by now mysteriously vanished. The scattered pegasi were force to continue their quest without a home base.
After the many battles of the past year, a time of peace settled across Isilme. Amassing what power they could, the various herd leaders cast wary eyes upon each other and felt their weapons uneasily, each planning for the next invasion and checking any weaknesses in defense. Meanwhile, a secret organization of various races who opposed the constant hatred and the fighting gathered to oppose the wars. This group ended up waging a small war if their own against an army of pygmy goats who captured many of Isilme's foals and turned them into goats as well. While those in the herd lands knew little of this strange war, the children and the group members involved never forgot.
Soon after the kidnapped foals were restored to their proper forms and returned to their parents, the gods returned briefly to alter the land's history once more. This time, however they acted not with rage but kindness: a single member of each herd, someone shown to be compassionate and wise, was gifted with the magical ability to heal wounds. Soon after this surge in magic another miracle occurred: the three original stallions, forefathers of all horses in Isilme, returned from dead and walked once more amongst their children. With the return of their demi-gods, the herds grew even more restless than before.
Weary of living in Isilme's outlands, the stranded pegasus herd tried valiantly to reclaim their home in the Cliffs but were driven back by Adalwulf's ever-growing empire. With the Woodlands, Cliffs, and Valley all under their control, the equines proved a force to be reckoned with indeed. While he watched them from the Tides - Isilme's last free territory - Nepdon grew concerned and decided to deal a preemptive strike against the Valley. His invasion force failed horrifically, however, and before the defeated soldiers had even returned home Adalwulf arrived on the way back from his battle in the Cliffs to set the Tides ablaze. Nepdon was driven out, his herd thoroughly crushed, and the equines stood at the head of the mightiest empire Isilme had ever seen. The racist stallion Gunslinger was given control of the Moonlit Tides and under his rule all unicorns were driven out, forced like the pegasi to make a living on scraps and unwanted strips of land.
While none of them still held any real power, the Original Three still made their presence felt by participating in the wars amongst their children, most notably a ferocious battle that raged on between Sepagus and Nieque during the pegasus' failed attempt at retaking the Cliffs. The ancestor stallions were not meant to live forever, though, and as they felt their newfound power waning each chose a mare to carry his child. They felt only hatred for the new kings leading their children, and disgust for the lack of faith these new generations held. Their colts would usher in an era of greatness, they believed, and so they left their seeds to grow as they returned again to mere ghosts haunting Isilme's outskirts.
Just after the departure of the Original Three, the pegasi finally completed their first quest and summoned a great phoenix atop the cliffs, higher up than the equine usurpers could ever reach. A fierce battle raged in the skies before the young colt Voltaic struck the killing blow against the bird, earning a burning feather from its plumage that blessed him with fiery wings. In rapid succession then two more caverns were revealed: one that began a quest to summon the arctic, slain by soon-to-be leader of the pegasi Morgue and one that summoned the mighty roc, slain by the white angel Arcadia. Still the pegasus herd remained weak however, and even with these triumphs beneath their wings they were homeless and hungry.
During another lull in the constant fighting, the foals sired by the Original Three were born. Unfortunately their mothers, forced against their will to bear these demigods, quickly abandoned the boys. Aarde, Cielo and Imiq struggled from the very beginning, and even as more faithful horses adopted the foals, the mere presence of such beings created a deep rift in Isilme's power structure.
iv. Unicorn Utopia
As the original foals grew, the fragile balance of power shifted in Isilme once again. Old Gideon succumbed to his age in the Cliffs, and rather than attempt to fight the restless pegasi his mate Amani Leila handed the territory back to Kri, a fiery young winged mare who led her comrades with nearly the same ferocity Naryl acted with years before. As for Naryl: she had fallen to the same illness that cursed her mate Azureus with frothing madness, and full of doubt their children fled Isilme. Nepdon, no longer so young, left Isilme altogether in search of some new purpose, and Sylvanas Windrunner gave the Mystic Woodlands over to the care of her most trusted warrior, the sly Querida. Even Gunslinger disappeared for a time, leaving the Tides in the capable care of a mare named Aera. Adalwulf, of course, remained, but with so many new faces in its history the land trembled in anticipation of great change.
Of course, it may have simply been trembling in anticipation of the power wielded by those young demi-gods now rambling across its fabric. They were brighter, stronger, faster than most other horses, and they grew far faster than any normal colts.
While Aarde, Imiq, and Cielo grew, a terrible sickness gripped the already weakened unicorns. They no longer existed even as a herd - just a batch of wanderers here and there, small enough in number to ignore. Gradually their coats grew dull and their eyes tired; the great sea dragon himself grew tired of their impotence and cursed them with illness. Eventually the white mare Karisma called them to order and led her few comrades to the beaches, where their water god confronted them and set upon them three tasks: a test of strength, a test of speed, a test of wisdom. As the son of Cinnoru, young Imiq stepped up to lead his kin to glory, but largely ignored he was forced to stand back and watch as a rogue called Alexis defeated the massive equine Misery in strength. Not to be bested, however, Imiq challenged the pegasus Eve to a race across Isilme, and with these two victories under their hooves the unicorn herd stepped up to solve the riddles posed to them by the great dragon himself. Cunning, after all, was Cinnoru's great strength; surely his children would pass the last test?
While the horned ones whispered amongst themselves, Adalwulf launched a failed takeover of his long-ago allies the Woodlands. He was driven back by Querida's forces which bolstered now by Oblivion's troops, who had been allowed to return with the promise that they would aid in protecting forest. The Demonking was content with worming his way in from the ground up, but alas his plans this time were to be thwarted: not long after Adalwulf failed to take the forest, Oblivion's own trusted warrior Nato turned upon the beast and sought to kill him. The skulled stallion met his demise in the return of Sylvanas, who slit his throat before running off to greet her kin on the beaches.
Sylvanas found the unicorns gathered alongside Nepdon, who had also returned from his travels to find his kindred weak and scattered. With his aid they solved the dragon god's riddles and were cured of their illness, and full of brash fire the Raidancer called for an attack on the Tides that had been stolen so long ago. They invaded the Moonlit Tides with more power than anticipated, and slowly Adalwulf's empire began to crumble beneath the white stallion's hooves. Indeed, even as the white stallion fought a young unicorn colt known as Brisingr, Nieque appeared to the Valley king and threatened him: to leave Isilme forever or suffer the death of his beloved green dragon. Nieque was not interested in the Tides; he was interested in seeing his son come to power, and thus far young Aarde was far overshadowed by the old king. With little choice left to him Adalwulf fled from Isilme, and as the unicorns stepped back into their old home Nepdon stepped down, too, willingly handing over leadership to young Imiq. Soon after Cielo worked his way to leadership of the Cliffs herd after months of slowly gaining Kri's respect. So the sons of the Originals came to power, and so began months of terror and despair.
v. Rise and Fall
Not one of the young stallions now leading Isilme's herds had any experience aside from the memories imparted to them by their sires. They were young and bold and violent, and in answer to their very presence hatred bloomed in the hearts of Isilme's populace. The herds were torn: some trusted these strange young stallions while others openly abhorred and slandered them. The new rulers proved brutal; they waged wars upon each other that shook the earth, that tore apart the very fabric of Isilme's lovely face. None now recall who dealt the first strike, only that in time all races turned against the others, and even those who wanted no part in the fighting were forced to struggle just to survive. Magic tore through the land, destroying the Emerald Valley and the northern territories, and as all the herds rose up against each other for the second time, in a battle known as the Morning War, the gods looked down upon them in despair.
Then came the darkness.
It did not come as before: days long, impenetrable and terrifying. Instead it leapt upon them in the heat of battle, dropping warriors where they stood with sweat frothed across their flanks and blood pouring from their jagged wounds. The moment Aarde, Cielo and Imiq met in battle their magic sundered the land as not even that of their fathers had done, and the moment the three young stallions fell so fell their commanders and their children. So fell the young and old, weak and strong. The teeming magic unleashed from the bodies of these young demigods sundered the red mountains to the north, whipped up the ocean to a frenzy, and shook the earth. And all living creatures blacked out, fell to the ground as if dead.
Those who awoke faced a new world altogether.
In many ways it was the same Isilme they knew: the Tome Guardian's castle still remained untouched, and the barren scoop of land that had once been the Valley retained its sweeping contours. But much that was green was now brown, and much that had once been hollow now flooded and sprang to life. The Skeleton Pit grew in size as the survivors disposed of their dead, and many of the herds found new places to call home. The land had survived two disasters, but only just. Rebuilding would take time, and although it wasn't yet apparent, the damage was far deeper than mere physical scars.
