History of the People of Shadia
Keywords:
SHADIA-HISTORY
Once, long ago in the age before the Gods war, there was a great nation
upon Tirradyn called Breia. It was a nation of men and women, brave and
true, and the greatest of all their cities was Madri. The people of Madri,
like all people of Breia, were fierce and strong in their convictions. They
were a good people, dedicated to helping other nations and peoples even if it meant sending their own people to war in the name of another kingdom. They were a great nation, and there in their greatest city sat the council who ruled over all things with fairness and compassion when warranted, or
with justice and punishment if needed. The nation thrived for many hundreds
of years, and then came the God's war. The lands were thrown into chaos.
Empires and kingdoms that had long been allies were thrown into battle with each other, and those that had long been enemies either stayed so, or became
new allies. The world was in turmoil, and even the strength of Breia was at
risk. With battles threatening all of its borders, the council of Madri
searched for a way to gain advantage over their adversaries. Long had they
been delving into the powers of magic of all kinds, and it was within their
great libraries of knowledge where they looked. They drew from their oldest
books the secrets of magics long forgotten, shadow magics that had always to them been a forbidden road to travel, but in these times of hardship, the council felt it had no course but to use everything at their disposal, and so
they began to use powers they didn't fully understand. At first, it seemed
to work, their enemies were thrown back at every turn, but always they would
return to try again. The council of Madri began to see that no matter the
weapons used, the battles would keep coming, and the threat to their people
would continue unabated until the war's end. It was then that the idea was
proposed to cloak the entire nation of Breia in shadow so that none could touch it, until such time as the war ended and the shadow could be safely
lifted. They gathered 100 of their strongest Magi in the city of Madri
to do this deed, each of them linked to one another so that their powers
would join and be strong enough to cover the nation. For a full day and a
full night they worked, chanting and spreading their power into the world, and at the culmination of their spell, something went horribly wrong. Instead of cloaking the nation in shadow, a darkness surrounded the city of Madri, enveloped it, swallowing the city into shadow, and in their panic the magi released their hold on the spell and it sent an explosion of shadow
power sweeping out from the city to the corners of Breia. When this power,
as it exploded outward, came into contact with a living creature or person it would course through their bodies, killing them as often as it left them
unharmed. As for the city of Madri, it remained trapped in a cloud of shadow
for nearly a week. The people of the city found it impossible to leave the
shadow, so trapped they remained, and over the course of those days trapped
they were transformed. If they did not die a painful, withring death, they
were changed. They were no longer men and women, yet they were not quite
shadow either. They were something in between, a part of both worlds now.
When the shadow finally lifted, they found the nation weakened, over half
of its population dead from the spell that went wrong. Their enemies
were quick to take advantage of this new weakness, and Breia fell to its foes,
and faded into history, a nation no more. Madri, however was left to stand
alone. The plight of its people seen as a curse, and no one dared attack the
cursed city, so the people of Madri were left on their own, last survivors
of the great nation of Breia. After the wars ended and peace returned to
the land, the people left the city. No one would come near it, and so they
could get no trade, no supplies, and they could not live like that, and so
they sought a new home. They created a new place to live, a village, large
enough for their people only, and began to use their shadow magics to create weapons and armor that others would pay for, since they had no other means of
acquiring goods to trade. The god Trellan, who bore witness to the destruction
of Breia through shadow magics grew angry that they had not learned their
lesson. As punishment, he bound them to their village, so that they could
not travel to other lands, so that they could not grow and become a nation again, so that if they again brought such destruction, it would be only to their own village.