If you have found this then I guess that you are still looking for me. What else could you be searching these blasted lands for? the end of the sands beyond where anything truly living can survive but you found yourself here...don't stay in this place too long, these lands are empty for a good reason. I came back here for one reason and that was achieved so you should be fine...for a while. I will tell you the tale of some humans I once knew before...Well we will get to that in time...I'm sorry I'm rambling again. It's hard when my wife always told me to write my thoughts back so long ago. Here is a story of what happened when the gods saw the mortals start to grow.
The world was a smaller place back then everything, seemed much simpler. The farmer raised the crops, the fishermen went to sea and I back then was a traveller moving from place to place with small groups of fighters who the gods all ignored. Getting to the sands I wanted to see beyond it as did a lot of people. The advent of Ki was new at the time and all wished to test their might against anything....Till the threats ran thin, until the only challenge left was the cold frigid north or the endless unknowable ocean...or the challenge to take another man's life. One man or another has the will or is undertaking the challenges already though you either have or will find those stories another time, this however is the story of the forgotten kingdom of Suna and a quest that made me feel so small...But taught me a grand lesson I took into every life.
This brown ringed city stood tall in the harsh crimson sun. The sinking protection of the town stood tall as if it had been there since the start of time. I can tell it was made in the middle of the first era. Embellishment is a factor you cannot wipe from mankind but I digress. The people were a mixture of different species. A feat not many kingdoms of the time had managed to achieve. They all seemed as if the close vicinity of the homes made everyone know each other and it made for a pleasant walk towards the crumbling castle...That walk will always be remembered. Nature itself retakes the kingdom quicker than the people could handle, pushing the sunken castle ferver down into the forgotten sands to be nothing but a hazy memory from those who survived it's fall. Now nothing more than a fable lost in the winds.
As the dragons reclined themselves towards more of a solitary life, not wanting to make the mistake of their predecessors with the rules of the world...Sorry again I'm rambling. As the age of humanoids came into the world and the gods once again made these false promises to the people. Unkeepable ones I'd say. But these men did not follow the ways of a god...No, they instead worked on themselves and those around them. I would say selfless in aspects but at their core still selfish people...Nevermind that now. A drought drained the last of their water away and the traders stopped as the hot cursed sun had made it impossible for them to travel to and from their town. The only place they knew as home, their life's and their family were all at threat as I arrived in search of work.
Seeing these men, hardly resilient in the dead of night, left their family with the last of their rations. Leaving with nothing but the clothing on their backs with not so much as a fair well. Walking silently into the still warm air. Heading beyond the borders of their lands onto the unknown of the blasted lands, insearch of what? I'm still not sure but lead them away I did.
As they travel from the night the sand under their feet becomes coarser as they move. Stopping only when the bright light of dawn almost blinded them. beginning its accent and only briefly did anyone consider going back. Showing the resolve they shared and continuing their endless journey into the blasted lands.
The sun's rays made it almost impossible for any mere man to continue but they did. All following my footsteps and wondering where I drew my power from...They are happy they did not find out. Even as the hash winds began whipping up glass like sand, the men's skin was ripped open. But again they did not stop. As they day turned to night and back slowly but surely taking its toll on them before they for the second time stopped. Their feet burned and scarred from the heat and the sharp glass that was their endless walkway, skin now tattered in the ever glistening sun. One by one falling to their knees but refusing death's embrace. Before one by one they began to rise, the desert seemingly giving up on trying to take them as we made our way back though the desserts, each moment seemed easier as they followed my lead all the way home to the place they missed but could barely remember. As the dust came and the coldness of night created the warriors as they made our way to their home. The cover of night, a cloak as they walked through the seemingly sparkling town. An eternity seemed to pass as they waited to reunite with their family's.
The smell of fresh meat oozing with juices flooded their nostrils as the sense of hunger returned from the first time in what seemed like forever to them. They feasted ripping and tearing into the warm flesh filling they stomachs with anything in a long time savoring every last morsel of the meal before going to their beds the sensation of comfort relaxed their body's and minds as they slept the night calm as a grave as the town slumped In a peaceful silent night. I watched from the corners and enjoyed my fill but mostly enjoyed the resolve of the men of Ki.
Before the light of dawn rose into the sky the men awoke to the site of what they did, carving into their souls, seeing the body's of their family's picked clean. Devoid of any life. As if the scavenger plundered their body's stripping them clean of any remnants of life, leaving them barran as the sands
Howling out Into the light of dawn as it's light began enveloping the sands. As the light creeped towards them. It's purifying light then burning into their skin as it begins to ignite into searing ash, each of these abominations, beginning to rush towards the shade of the homes. One by one they crumbled to ash ash that clouded the air till there were only two left. Veiled in the smoke of their kin dragging themselves into the homes. I was powerless for the first time in my many life's and that...Will burn in my mind forevermore.
In the end nature always gets what it wants. Life and death is natural and not accepting that is the plight of all things that need to breathe and even some of the beings that don't.
The gods always find a way of mitigating your actions. Even with their own they set trials and tribulations. With some promise of betterment and pride. This is a simple rule that the mortals don't see but look at my story...I wish their ideals were true. This may seem like a rambling but trust your immortal soul that you seem so keen on. Leave before the sun bits the sky fully. I will be hoping you can find my next rambling. Until then.
-Signed Perry Lakefield