Dark Isles

Though the exact origins of the Cataclysm are unknown, most suspect the wrath of the Gods, or more likely only the wrath of one God - the Eighth. It is known that the Free city Yarsin exploded in an instant, likely the first subject to such destruction. The Darkness, an impenetrable lack of light that seemed to corrupt all it came into contact with, began to quickly cover the world from then on. Most cultures were destroyed, and if not that, changed forever.

In Tarkas, the Skrel'eth inter-clan fighting ceased quite quickly, as the Skrell had to suddenly focus their efforts and their blades on combating the demon threat. Still, villages and land were lost quickly, dragged under the unstoppable hordes of destruction.

Meanwhile, in Heas, the city-state of Seahaven found itself under heavy attack. The city was not traditionally militaristic, and they were already fighting in a covert war with the Sayaki. However, fortune turned the tides of the battle for all as the Sayaki hometown of Kizuni Odawi found demons at its own door.

With a sudden truce neither side expected, the Sayaki were granted luxurious rights in Seahaven, on the condition that they would use Kizuni Odawi as a fort by which to guard Seahaven's western stretch of land from demon incursion.

In the east, the wolfwood stood tall and unswerving against the demons. Though residents of nearby Milford heard the deadly swarm coming, all that entered the forest of fangs, never returned. Thus, an unseen force halted the eastern advance.

Still, the Darkness encroached. Even past the barriers presented by stalwart defenders such as General Shinto Saiyura Ashikaga of the Kizuni Odawi, and the Skrel'eth clans of Tana'asht, Hope began to fade, and despair settled in among the ranks of those who would return the demons from whence they came.

It was five years later when the fortunes of man and demon began to change... On the Eve of Twilight, when all seemed lost, an elderly monk and his apprentice stumbled up the stairs to the most holy chambers in the Shrine of Balinand. Though priests and casual believers alike had prayed for mercy for years, only this priest had the knowledge and faith to conjure any measurement of divine attention.

The incense burned in the brazier with little noise other than the flickering, crackling sound of flames in the night, and the apprentice busied himself preparing scrolls and arranging offerings. The elderly priest himself, having spent just over a century devoting himself to his patron, Balor, knew that his final night was upon him. He had lived long enough, and now needed to insure the safety of those who would come after him.

Sitting down before the brazier, the priest gently recorded his final words upon the scroll to his left, and his first words on the scroll to his right.And immediately before him, a prayer for the safety of all things. For the strength to see through this Darkness, and combat it as fairly as one combats anything else. For the surge of power enough to see out this fight to the very end.

The aging man beckoned his apprentice Junyu forth, and he meekly stepped forward to receive the two scrolls to either side of the priest. The prayer scroll, however, both placed a hand on, and without so much as gritting their teeth, stuck into the fire. The flames consumed them, their hands charred by the ferocity of the blaze. Junyu's hand was without damage, when all was said and done, but turned deepest black, shining almost with the fire contained within it. And as for Mellishou, the old priest... He was but ashes upon the temple floor. In the instant that the fire consumed him, a wave of light, as powerful as any wave of the ocean that filled so much of the region, surged outwards from Balinand Isle, pushing back the Darkness where they met. Demons fled in a panic, and all of those who fought that night felt the strength of the Lion residing within their chests, guiding them to further victory.

The Age of Darkness had ended, in the Dark Isles- Now came the imminent reclamation of all that had been taken from them. The slow, bloody retreat had finally ended, with Mellishou's Sacrifice, and now it was up to the Skrel'eth of Tana'asht, the Sayaki of Kizuni Odawi, and the proud people of Seahaven to finish the job...

Junyu read the scrolls before him, hours later.

Upon the scroll in his right hand, were Mellishou's first words, "Balor, give me strength."