Coauthored by: CadetNewb, TheCountryWarrior, Wallflower
????, over a century after the fall of Hillsong
Planet Lihana of Solaris Lihana, continent of Goedwig, outskirts of Hillsong
The decade of strife against the extraterrestrial invaders was a one-sided slaughter of the Aos Si. What little of their mana remained was quickly drained away shielding their cities against rains of fire and lead, before the survivors were forced to flee into the forests, mountains, and sands as the invaders arrived on foot and took away the Aos Si's cultures, their homes, and planted their own banners in the rich hills and valleys across the continent, replacing the cities of the Aos Si. But then, just as the Aos Si were pushed to their limit, firing their last arrows and eating their last meals... the invaders abruptly left without a word, like a hive mind, collectively returning to their fortresses among the stars, leaving behind their offspring to continue infesting the planet.
What seemed like a miracle was ultimatley bittersweet. With the last of their mana gone and their pride stolen, the Aos Si became lost, reduced to farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not even skeletons of the past remained to inspire them, to remind them of their past glory.
For the Aos Si residing on the Goedwig continent, the invader city that replaced Hillsong was the biggest reminder of their failures and the invaders' brutality. It spread out like a tumor, not only covering the old extent of Hillsong but further beyond, with the invaders' machinery cutting down the great Red House tree forest and replacing it with their own roads and buildings. To be sure, the Aos Si once expanded by removing nature as well, but the methods were far more diplomatic, promising it co-existence within their cities while helping it expand into uninhabitable lands. The invaders were cruel in comparison, souless with their machinery.
Now Aos Si could only watch from their hidden forest village as the invaders went about their daily business. The village's population was but a fraction of that of old Hillsong, and this was including those of neighboring cities. Though hardly respite for their situation, the invaders seemed to have withdrawn their armed patrols in the last decade, allowing the Aos Si to sneak further forward to learn of the invaders' daily lives. It seemed so familiar. Souless as they were, the invaders build farms to grow food in glass domes and travelled around on roads that resembled those of the Aos Si. Their physiques were similar as well, though the Aos Si were clearly the physically superior, and the invaders seemed to age faster as well, perishing within a single century.
Not that Amisra would care. As she carefully stalked wind bison, her footsteps had to be deliberate and precise.
There was a continuous roar overhead: another of the invaders' machinery, one that was all too familiar to the Aos Si who fought in the war. It wielded rapidly spinning blades, and the air it billowed out violently pushed apart the vegetation on the ground. This one didn't carry the "lead rainers" or "fire bombs" that killed so many Aos Si, but that hardly mattered, since they sometimes concealed the invaders themselves within their compartments. This one seemed to be no different, as it stopped in place not far from Amisra.
Two ropes were let down from the flying machinery, and with it three invaders. Unlike those during the war, who were covered in armor, their faces hidden by helmets, these three were in simple clothing with brown and red camolauge that matched the forest, while wearing blue helmets that matched the color of the sky, a sky that both the Aos Si and the invaders shared. Two of them seemed to carry large "Thunder Makers", while the third had nothing in his hands and simply carried a backpack. Oddly, his left arm seemed much shorter, with a knot at the end tying up his sleeve.
One of the armed invaders put on lenses over his eyes and looked around the area. Looking in Amisra's direction, he stopped and spoke to the unarmed invader, pointing in her direction. The unarmed invader shook his head and waved his hand. Instead, he looked towards Amisra's position as well, seemingly waiting.
Showing her face for just a moment, the redhead withdrew into hard cover and the thick leaves beyond, certain that they had seen the heat that she had radiated. It was a fact hard learned early on, but even so, it was something they had taken advantage of as they could But this time, they didn't seem to chase after dropping down from their air ship. At least, not right away. Sluggish and graceless, these were not the near-peers that had been sent after her people like hounds in the early days of the war. No, they were somehow even lesser. Clumsy, awkward. Slow to take notice of the trail of clues the ranger left behind.
Despite her colors being smeared to better fit into the forest, the color changing paint long since having died, Amisra felt no safer. Something was wrong. Reaching into her pocket, she quickly pulled out a scroll and scrawled a note, tucking it away and sending the cricket off to Gwaedcryf.
Even in their reduced state, word spread like wildfire about the return of the invaders. Many had prayed to their silent gods for them to never return once they had retracted like a leech that had finished feeding, but Sai knew better. They would return, and return they did. As long as there was blood left to subsume, the parasite would come back to its scar. Sai, armed with blades, hid just within the treeline nearby the Aos Si they had spotted. Her heart raced, and the resurfaced memory of the sound of this vehicle still rang deep into her heart.
Sai did not hide herself like the hunter, she did not expect them to look over her, as they could see through rain, fog, night and walls. They still didn't have a perfect understanding of the enemies limits, but they knew, roughly what they could do. After all, they had learned to use some of the salvaged gear against them.
These, however, were different from prior invaders. They seemed uncertain, and Sai slowly stood, her muscular form rising from the bushes, a camoflauged poncho hiding her right arm, an intricate mask of carved wood covering her lower face. They never waited this long, they rarely came in so few numbers, and she had to know more, so she simply stood, and waited.
The unarmed invader watched as Sai rose from the vegetation and examined her facial decoration and the intentional concealment of her right arm. He grasped his own left arm, and, sincerely or not, gave Sai an apologetic expression. He then addressed out loud, somehow trusting that the Aos Si could hear his voice even under the roar of the air ship above.
"We come in peace. Trust me or not, those who wronged you decades past are gone. We now seek an audience with your leadership. In exchange, we brought food and medicine. Our biologies are not so different, and I hope that can be a basis to mend our relations, miniscule as it may be." The invader spoke in slow, rigid, but ultimatley coherent Aos Si tounge.
Even as she heard this though, Amisra stayed on guard. The foe was wiley and clever. Always was. Always would be. Traps like these had been sprung several times in the past. There was always a trick. Mechanical birds. Warded items of tracking. The ranger was on guard for them all and more. But perhaps, more importantly, there was no way even a genuine offer would be this incompetent as to arrive armed, guarded, and within one of their air ships for transport. It invited nothing but suspicion from the weary warrior. No, the naive young one out there, she should have known better.
Once, Amisra would have tried saving someone like Sai from themselves. But not this time. She faded into the woods like a shadow. She'd have to go look for herself. To find out what, if anything, had changed amongt this invader.
????, over a century after the fall of Hillsong
Planet Lihana of Solaris Lihana, continent of Goedwig, outskirts of Hillsong
The decade of strife against the extraterrestrial invaders was a one-sided slaughter of the Aos Si. What little of their mana remained was quickly drained away shielding their cities against rains of fire and lead, before the survivors were forced to flee into the forests, mountains, and sands as the invaders arrived on foot and took away the Aos Si's cultures, their homes, and planted their own banners in the rich hills and valleys across the continent, replacing the cities of the Aos Si. But then, just as the Aos Si were pushed to their limit, firing their last arrows and eating their last meals... the invaders abruptly left without a word, like a hive mind, collectively returning to their fortresses among the stars, leaving behind their offspring to continue infesting the planet.
What seemed like a miracle was ultimatley bittersweet. With the last of their mana gone and their pride stolen, the Aos Si became lost, reduced to farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not even skeletons of the past remained to inspire them, to remind them of their past glory.
For the Aos Si residing on the Goedwig continent, the invader city that replaced Hillsong was the biggest reminder of their failures and the invaders' brutality. It spread out like a tumor, not only covering the old extent of Hillsong but further beyond, with the invaders' machinery cutting down the great Red House tree forest and replacing it with their own roads and buildings. To be sure, the Aos Si once expanded by removing nature as well, but the methods were far more diplomatic, promising it co-existence within their cities while helping it expand into uninhabitable lands. The invaders were cruel in comparison, souless with their machinery.
Now Aos Si could only watch from their hidden forest village as the invaders went about their daily business. The village's population was but a fraction of that of old Hillsong, and this was including those of neighboring cities. Though hardly respite for their situation, the invaders seemed to have withdrawn their armed patrols in the last decade, allowing the Aos Si to sneak further forward to learn of the invaders' daily lives. It seemed so familiar. Souless as they were, the invaders build farms to grow food in glass domes and travelled around on roads that resembled those of the Aos Si. Their physiques were similar as well, though the Aos Si were clearly the physically superior, and the invaders seemed to age faster as well, perishing within a single century.
Not that Amisra would care. As she carefully stalked wind bison, her footsteps had to be deliberate and precise.
There was a continuous roar overhead: another of the invaders' machinery, one that was all too familiar to the Aos Si who fought in the war. It wielded rapidly spinning blades, and the air it billowed out violently pushed apart the vegetation on the ground. This one didn't carry the "lead rainers" or "fire bombs" that killed so many Aos Si, but that hardly mattered, since they sometimes concealed the invaders themselves within their compartments. This one seemed to be no different, as it stopped in place not far from Amisra.
Two ropes were let down from the flying machinery, and with it three invaders. Unlike those during the war, who were covered in armor, their faces hidden by helmets, these three were in simple clothing with brown and red camolauge that matched the forest, while wearing blue helmets that matched the color of the sky, a sky that both the Aos Si and the invaders shared. Two of them seemed to carry large "Thunder Makers", while the third had nothing in his hands and simply carried a backpack. Oddly, his left arm seemed much shorter, with a knot at the end tying up his sleeve.
One of the armed invaders put on lenses over his eyes and looked around the area. Looking in Amisra's direction, he stopped and spoke to the unarmed invader, pointing in her direction. The unarmed invader shook his head and waved his hand. Instead, he looked towards Amisra's position as well, seemingly waiting.
Showing her face for just a moment, the redhead withdrew into hard cover and the thick leaves beyond, certain that they had seen the heat that she had radiated. It was a fact hard learned early on, but even so, it was something they had taken advantage of as they could But this time, they didn't seem to chase after dropping down from their air ship. At least, not right away. Sluggish and graceless, these were not the near-peers that had been sent after her people like hounds in the early days of the war. No, they were somehow even lesser. Clumsy, awkward. Slow to take notice of the trail of clues the ranger left behind.
Despite her colors being smeared to better fit into the forest, the color changing paint long since having died, Amisra felt no safer. Something was wrong. Reaching into her pocket, she quickly pulled out a scroll and scrawled a note, tucking it away and sending the cricket off to Gwaedcryf.
Even in their reduced state, word spread like wildfire about the return of the invaders. Many had prayed to their silent gods for them to never return once they had retracted like a leech that had finished feeding, but Sai knew better. They would return, and return they did. As long as there was blood left to subsume, the parasite would come back to its scar. Sai, armed with blades, hid just within the treeline nearby the Aos Si they had spotted. Her heart raced, and the resurfaced memory of the sound of this vehicle still rang deep into her heart.
Sai did not hide herself like the hunter, she did not expect them to look over her, as they could see through rain, fog, night and walls. They still didn't have a perfect understanding of the enemies limits, but they knew, roughly what they could do. After all, they had learned to use some of the salvaged gear against them.
These, however, were different from prior invaders. They seemed uncertain, and Sai slowly stood, her muscular form rising from the bushes, a camoflauged poncho hiding her right arm, an intricate mask of carved wood covering her lower face. They never waited this long, they rarely came in so few numbers, and she had to know more, so she simply stood, and waited.
The unarmed invader watched as Sai rose from the vegetation and examined her facial decoration and the intentional concealment of her right arm. He grasped his own left arm, and, sincerely or not, gave Sai an apologetic expression. He then addressed out loud, somehow trusting that the Aos Si could hear his voice even under the roar of the air ship above.
"We come in peace. Trust me or not, those who wronged you decades past are gone. We now seek an audience with your leadership. In exchange, we brought food and medicine. Our biologies are not so different, and I hope that can be a basis to mend our relations, miniscule as it may be." The invader spoke in slow, rigid, but ultimatley coherent Aos Si tounge.
Even as she heard this though, Amisra stayed on guard. The foe was wiley and clever. Always was. Always would be. Traps like these had been sprung several times in the past. There was always a trick. Mechanical birds. Warded items of tracking. The ranger was on guard for them all and more. But perhaps, more importantly, there was no way even a genuine offer would be this incompetent as to arrive armed, guarded, and within one of their air ships for transport. It invited nothing but suspicion from the weary warrior. No, the naive young one out there, she should have known better.
Once, Amisra would have tried saving someone like Sai from themselves. But not this time. She faded into the woods like a shadow. She'd have to go look for herself. To find out what, if anything, had changed amongt this invader.