#The Island of Eschyl.

[the-shrouded-shards]

We're working hard...

[barbarezone14-blog]

au nord d'Athènes ; sur l'île d'Eubée ; se trouve la petite ville d'Érétrie ; lieu d'apparition précoce de l'écriture alphabétique par l'intermédiaire de graffitis sur des céramiques ; c'est cet alphabet en particulier ; dit alphabet rouge ; que les Étrusques transmettront aux latins ; en -490 avant Jésus-Christ la petite ville d'Érétrie voit ses sanctuaires incendiés par l'armée perse menée par le roi Darius au terme d'un siège de six jours ; bientôt ce sera la victoire des grecs à Marathon ; en -472 avant Jésus-Christ ; Eschyle écrit la plus ancienne tragédie qui reste à ce jour ; intitulée Les Perses elle s'appuie sur la figure centrale d'Atossa ; reine des Perses et épouse du défunt Darius ; qui apprend la défaite de son fils Xerxès à Salamine et Platées ; ce sont ces Perses que les grecs nomment barbares ; au bout de la jetée de la petite ville d'Érétrie se trouve l'île de Pezonisi ; reliée par une unique route elle a tout d'un paradis élancée dans le golfe sud d'Eubée ; point de départ des Achéens au moment de la guerre de Troie ; cette île fut surnommée dans les années soixante l'île des rêves ; Island of Dreams ; Νησί των ονείρων ; un complexe hôtelier y fut construit ; accompagné d'une boîte de nuit et d'une plage ; passée entre les mains de la junte pendant la dictature de soixante-sept à soixante-quatorze ; elle revient ensuite entre les mains de la municipalité d'Érétrie ; en 2008 ; suite à la crise de la dette publique grecque ; le gérant des cinquante-deux chambres d'hôtel et des quarante-six bungalows plie bagage et laisse l'île des rêves à l'abandon ; un projet de parc à thème sur la Grèce antique ne verra pas le jour ; les années qui passent métamorphosent le rêve en ruine ; tandis qu'à cent kilomètres de là les touristes du monde entier se pressent pour découvrir les vestiges de l'Acropole de l'Agora et les trésors du musée archéologique ; les ruines de l'île des rêves restent désertes à l'abandon ; les aiguilles de pins ont complètement recouvert le sol en béton ; des fenêtres et des portes il ne reste plus que les montants ; le four à pain sur la terrasse tient encore debout ; des débris de toitures de vitres parsèment la nature ; des frigos des fours des billards tout est encore là livré à l'usure et au déclin ; prêt à être examinés par les archéologues des temps futurs ; un nouvel alphabet a fait son apparition ; des graffitis sur les murs ; à l'intérieur des bâtiments délabrés ; des dessins représentants des corps d'hommes et de femmes ; des inscriptions ; et cette question ; the end ?

[the-shrouded-shards]

The Background.

The basic beginning plot of The Shrouded Shards.

This story takes place on the Island of Eschyl in the year 1676. The people of this island have spent a long era in isolation due to old disagreements among the Chromatics on how to handle the spread of the Shroud, a deadly infection that has run rampant in the dimensions for decades. The King and Queen are more than adamant on keeping this isolation, as it has only ever been to keep their people safe—it is all they have known for generations. They don’t know what dangers could be waiting out there for them...

It was only out of the kindness of their hearts until now. The rulers have started to… act strangely, shielding themselves from the public eye and keeping quiet about their decisions. Commonfolk have lost sight of their kingdom’s direction. They are starting to become agitated and afraid—

But Dekkam has always been.

His own sheltered childhood was the fuel to his fire. Prior to his birth, his parents suffered many losses; This (and rise of infection) caused Dekkam’s parents to become highly protective of him. Dekkam was defended from all dangers—no matter how slight, no matter how sham—and it was something he never understood. His kingdom was already isolated. Why should he bear this extra layer? Why should he be shut off, always hidden away in his home?

Still, as Dekkam grew older, his relationship with his father softened and became stronger. He had learned to find comfort in smithing, comfort in the arts. Comfort in creation. It distracted him from the quiet resentment he held to isolation, the lack of freedoms in his home.

But when the sunlight starts to slip away, when the shards are shrouded in darkness, when the dangers do all but disappear, when Dekkam is finally free—!

...He understands his father, his fury; the coming decay of the world he craved.

[the-shrouded-shards]

The Story of the Seven Shards | Aftermath, Eschyl

When the Shroud first came over the world, it was...difficult... to devise a solution. Every color was divided and trapped within their own personal wars and woes. It was understood among the many people that the newly born infection was a sort of Darkness—something they had overcome long, long ago—with the way it darkened the earth below their feet and severed people’s minds from their bodies. However, the infection seemed to be greatly beyond the intelligence of Darkness. It remained a hivemind, but it was as if the dark had learned from its past mistakes, learned from the people and learned from watching all these years... slowly spreading among the shadows.

Naturally, their earliest ideas related to the Hero. After all they had gone through, all they had overcome, who could stop them when united now? Surely, their coming together again would solve the problem easily. Ever since the great enemies of old, particularly the Void, their civilizations had grown amazingly in power. But they faced the age-long dilemma of every new loss of peace; their lack of crystals would sacrifice their immediate protection. They would have to rely again on a Hero, on one sole person.

... ... … ...

After about a year passed since the Shroud’s dawning, the rulers of each race were finally able to peacefully meet together face-to-face. [And so were the [REDACTED].] They had brought their crystals and were prepared to negotiate about creating the Hero. The discussion reflected their desperation for help. [The windows are darker than they should be.] They spoke for hours of candidates, armies, morals, massacres… and after that time had passed, they came to an agreement. [Nobody notices the flashing light outside.] A plan to protect all of their people together. They would still create a Hero, but to make things manageable they could—! [The signal flares fly into the sky.]

—An explosion shatters the walls, the windows. The meeting room caves and collapses.

The infection spreads in seconds across the ground like lightning etching its white, jagged scars into the skies. [The Queen of the Indigos smiles, swirls of a darker purple barely hidden beneath her cloak. She disappears with the cool night breeze. Was it her?]

All is lost.

The kings and queens of the Chromatics are found dead and infected under the rubble. Within a day, they will have decayed into Nothing.

When their people arrive to the scene, duly disturbed by the destruction and the losses of their rulers, the area is drowned in ash. They notice that some places in the stone and mist… glow. A dim shimmering among the dull gray ruins. A pulse.

49 shards.

Each chromatic crystal had split into seven pieces. [The witnesses who were there could tell you about the way the shards somehow seemed in... pain.]

So small, so weak...

... ... … ...

The apprentices, or the newly appointed rulers, made the collective decision to distribute the shards among the seven races. It was their only hope of protection.

A shard of each color to a shell of each ruler. The kingdoms were so quiet.

The unity and harmony that the Chromatics kindled before the assassinations began to crumble all over again. Distrust, disbelief, disparity. [War will break out in 2 years time.]

There are movements to unite again. To rekindle the flame. It spreads like wildfire, but remains unheard.

The people of one movement retreat to a distant island with three stolen shards. Red, orange, yellow. They call themselves "Eschyl—" and it means "hope."

Half a century passes.

A siren sounds throughout the island.

[Where are the shards?]

The sky goes dark.

The Movement resurfaces.

[But which one?]

[the-shrouded-shards]

Fun fact: The name Eschyl was taken from an undeveloped and abandoned story idea I had about some dragons and their riders. The unnamed protagonist was key inspiration for Dekkam. "Eshyl" (originally spelt this way) was the name of the kingdom in which they lived, part of a greater chain of islands called Arožei. They lived in their own isolation, but I never made a reason why.