Fall 2009 Backstory

How things started
As you all know from the Backstory part 1 and 2, a group of people basically followed the disturbed dreams of a single individual to escape the troubles of their kingdoms. They landed at this island and built a city. However, things aren’t as they seemed and the Island is basically considered haunted – people still live there anyway and get by and have done so for a few centuries. However, this hasn’t changed the fact that there is something underneath the ground, deep in the Earth that is effecting things.

Suffice it to say, a lot of people tried to figure out what it was, but many failed. In those attempts however, the Observatory (or the Society/Belvadare Society as we’re thinking of calling it) arose, using the scientific advances to industrialize the city and setup a neat hotbed of invention to fill this need. However to date nobody has found out what it (or even if there is anything) is.

I will describe what it is in a bit.

What exactly happened
The current Governor of the island, after loosing his wife, decided to get to the bottom of the matter and sought a way to drill deep into the Earth. His desire was fulfilled when a strange man came from the east, promising to build a machine.

Little did he know that this man was from the Monastry – a religious group known for its reverence to keeping order and dedication to maintaining the wheel of life. However, the man disagreed with the group’s principles – he believed the wheel was constantly changing and their efforts were countermining this effective change.

He received a disturbing dream one day; one that he claims was a vision that gave him simple purpose and direction – enlightenment, in essence. He set off immediately for the west, where he claimed there was someone that would bring about what he desired. It was a week before the Monastry took heed and realized their error in ignoring the man’s ravings – and thus they set off to stop the madman, whom by now was building the exact machine the Governor desired. They arrived too late to stop the machine as it – and then the Governor – descended into the ground below.

What happened exactly is unknown, but the machine hit that something beneath the city and triggered the events that occur now – at least, that is what people suspect. Those of the Governor’s personal regiment and his royal guard believe, however, that it triggered the apocalypse – that the entire world has actually already been destroyed, save this one section, this tiny little island – and then only thanks to the Governor’s actions wherever he is now. But even this tiny remnant of humanity is being threatened by the awakened and the “bubble” is slowly destabilizing.

The Monastry simply believe the machine has acted as a stick; jammed into the spokes that is the wheel of life and making it stuck. They believe the apocalypse is actually a sign of the wheel weakening as it struggles to advance forward and thus seek to destroy the machine, allowing it to continue as it should.

The Observatory however, believe that the machine is far more than it appears, having tapped into an area of theoretical research at the time; one where magic could be used to effect time. They desire to retrieve the machine intact, so that they may repair it and end the cycle – but at the same time gain an increasing understanding into time itself.

All three factions have one thing in common: they are all wrong. The machine, while a direct cause of the events, is only a catalyst. What the machine did, my friends, was awaken the Panopticon.

Backstory - Part 1
It started with thirty ships.

They had set sail across the great ocean in a desperate journey guided by the dreams of one man, Illious Demar. He had promised them a new land across the ocean; the one chance of freedom and escape from the horrors of the kingdoms they had left behind. Many that went were those that had been trapped with no hope until he had come. Thus they followed his dream, in hopes of finding their own salvations.

But the journey was not easy. It was as if the very ocean craved their flesh; dragging those unfortunate enough to fall overboard into the murky depths before they could take even a breath. Monsters lurked within every eddy, every wave; their eyes staring hungrily at the passing crew from the darkness below. The very wind itself held upon it the cursed song of sirens; tempting the grief-stricken into jumping to their doom.

Yet they ventured onwards, into territories only madmen and the damned would dare enter – which is what they were; for nothing but death waited them should they ever turn back.

After sixteen arduous months and many losses, three ships landed at the shores of a strange, mist-covered land shrouded in mystery and surrounded by storm. It seemed almost blind luck that they would find such an island of calm in the raging seas all around them – but here they were; relatively safe. The survivors immediately declared Demar a hero and appointed him the ruler of the new settlement. In time, the settlement grew and became to be known as Sedaire – or “calm”, due to its peaceful location. Immigrants flocked from all over the world and for decades it prospered.

But not all was well in Sedaire. As the settlement grew stronger, Illious Demar grew more worried. It is said he became incredibly restless a couple of decades into his rule and was constantly plagued by what he called “The Great Dreamer”. He would receive terrifying nightmares; dreams of things that no human should ever see – and a constant calling from something underground. He sent people to dig outside the city and to travel across the mountains that bordered the city on all sides. The former found nothing. The latter never returned.

Fearful for his sanity and health the court brought in many a physician to examine the King. They even resorted to bringing in a witch doctor at great expense from the Far East – but all to no avail. Eventually Demar began to shrivel and waste away. Then one day he simply disappeared. At night he was in his room; at dawn he was gone. Nobody saw him leave and the only exit was locked from the inside. The entirety of the castle was searched – but there was no trace of the king. His sudden disappearance left Sedaire briefly in turmoil as Demar had neither heir nor family. It was finally decided that the current Governor, a man named Alexis, would take over, forming a new nobility and royalty that would descend from there. For the next few centuries, Sedaire would prosper, becoming a fully-fledged city-stage.

But it did not grow without its problems.

Over the past six generations the new royal family has become increasingly isolated within the castle. Rumors have abounded of how those that work or sleep within the castle are haunted by strange dreams and nightmares; terrible visions of how the world ended and the strange feeling of being watched from below. Children within the royal family would also suffer from physical deformities at an alarming rate; often seeming more like beast than man in some cases. Others would just have strange auras around them; ones that seem to animate their entire rooms or objects – but were strangely devoid of magic once examined.

It wasn’t entirely isolated to the royal family either. The dreams and nightmares were sometimes intense enough to drive many a servant – most of whom slept in the lower quarters of the castle – mad with sleep deprivation or hallucinations. But their demises came so swift that it was never sure if it was real or just an accident.

Stranger things were reported to be happening in the castle’s dungeons, where empty cells would seemingly cry out in pain or have blood flowing along the walls; or the dolls of one of the dead princesses appearing, animated and akin to a living person as they roamed the prisons. All of them had one thing in common though: they pointed to something strange underneath the castle. Investigations always revealed nothing. The diggers could never find anything, nor could the priests or any witch doctor or Shaman. Scientists came to examine it and found no magic; inventors tried to observe it but saw nothing.

At the end, people just accepted it as a strange part of the land and lived with it.

That is of course, until Governer Vandalis decided to do something about it. The current leader of Sedaire and a powerful, boisterous man, Vandalis was fortunate enough not to suffer from the delirious visions many of his predecessors did. However, his wife was not so lucky and perished just two years after they were wed. Distraught, Vandalis vowed to find the root of this matter and put a rest to it.

Unlike the rest of his predecessors that had tried though, Vanadalis decided to straight to the root of the problem; to find essentially what was underground. Where teams of diggers had failed before though, he would use machines. He sent a call across the land and the ocean for inventors to build a device that would explore deep underneath the castle. Many came and tried and all failed for the rock was too thick, the technology too primitive. For twenty years Vandalis had no luck finding anyone that was capable of doing it and was on the verge of giving up. It was then that the right person found him.

One day a strange man approached the court. Offering no name and dressed in simple robes, he had a strange air about him – a look in his eye that could only come from a madman or a man whom understood everything. Dressed in the simple robes of a monk, he claimed to be from the Far East and had heard of the Governor’s request. He told Vandalis that he would build a device for him that would be not only capable of digging through the rock, but would create a passageway for his troops to follow. This intrigued Vandalis, whom asked what the man wanted in exchange for this.

The man simply said that he was just as curious about the entire affair as Vandalis was, having heard of what had happened and experienced some of the dreams himself. He requested however, that the entire affair remain absolutely secret, as he feared others may try to steal his invention. This was all Vandalis needed to hear before he approved the man’s plan and the building began in the castle’s dungeons in the utmost secrecy.

Fierce construction continued at the man’s instructions – going at a hectic pace both night and day for a full fortnight before the contraption was done: a strange, pod-like clockwork machine with a drill bit. Even though it had windows and a strange, mesmerizing light in the interior, there were no doors – no way to get in. Looking in was nearly impossible as well, for the light occluded everything.

Vandalis and his troops stood ready as the strange man activated the machine and it began its slow decent down into the rock face. At first it went slow; threatening to give out against the face of the Earth. But then it plummeted down at an inhuman pace, leaving in its wake a dark abyss.

For a half hour they waited and watched for the signs that the device had hit bottom…signs that anything had happened. Finally, the machine lurched to a stop - it had hit something at the very bottom, almost half a mile down. Even amidst the cheers of the men around him however, Vandalis had a sudden feeling of dread. The strange man had disappeared into thin air and there was something about the entire thing that felt fundamentally wrong. As he stared down into the black abyss, he couldn’t help but feel it stare right back at him. There was something down there - something waiting for him.

His legs moved on their own will even as his mind urged him to turn away. He stepped onto the elevators as a group of his bravest soldiers followed – men and women whom knew no fear but still had the same feeling in their eyes as in the pit of his stomach. With but a nod, they began their descent into the dark abyss.

Part 2
As the elevator descended, strange things happened. Despite having over a dozen torches, the field of light gradually grew smaller and smaller the further they descended. The walls became dimmer and dimmer, until only a field of black surrounded the elevator on all sides. Vandalis was silent though, his mind focused on suppressing the butterflies in his stomach. He was finally close to finding the answer – finding what he and countless others had sought for so long.

It was exactly because of this, however, that Vandalis was terrified. He had read the records; the countless accords of what had driven so many people mad. He had seen the effect the dreams had on his wife; vivid recounting of strange monsters trying to claw their way up into the minds and hearts of all humanity - and here he was, crawling right into their parlor.

There was something else as well – something a fair bit more disturbing. Vandalis couldn’t place it, but it felt like there was something looking at him. But it wasn’t coming from the darkness around him – but rather, inside his head. It felt like a pair of eyes were watching through his, seeing his very thoughts and judging his desires. Every inch of his body wanted to stop the elevator, to send it back up, bury the pit and forget about it forever.

Instead, Vandalis simply remained silent as the elevator continued to descend. Something pushed him onwards – whether it was that same presence or something else, he wasn’t sure. For a half hour he said nothing, did nothing even as the bodyguard shifted their weight and looked around nervously, their weapons ready for anything. Eventually the elevator stopped as they hit rock bottom with a loud thud. This was somewhat surprising as they had expected to land on top of the digger – but it was nowhere to be seen.

A silent hand movement was all the group of soldiers needed. Silently they lit up several oil rags, tossing them into the darkness. The collective light was enough to illuminate the somewhat large cavern they were in – but the device was nowhere to be seen. Vandalis suddenly began to move, his legs moving against his will towards one corner of the cave. By this time he was only a witness to events as they unfolded, having no control on how to change it.

As they approached, they found a massive hole in the wall - probably only recently made by the device. It was an unnatural angle though – going upwards a fair few degrees. How the device had somehow managed to turn a perfect 90 degrees and then go up was a concept that escaped his understanding. All Vandalis knew was that this was the way to go. He raised the torch to survey the entrance and spied something on the wall.

Amidst the grey and brown rock was red. Blood, but not quite. It looked more like a strange kind of oil. The soldiers followed, but apparently weren’t able to see what he was judging from their expressions – not that it mattered. Vandalis studied it – the blood wasn’t smeared so much as it seemed to be constantly flowing. Vandalis approached closer, raising the torch up to it. It was only then that he noticed it wasn’t just one line of blood, but multiple.

They formed lines and patterns in a way that resembled writing and language…but it was a language that no human had ever seen. The symbols were alien; constantly shifting and changing as the blood flowed, but their one message was all too clear to Vandalis: turn back.

The very words sent a chill down his spine as he glanced back towards where the elevator was…and realized that not a single soldier stood behind him.

Vandalis’ eyes widened in surprise and terror as he waved the torch from side to side – but there wasn’t a single soldier there – only darkness. As he stepped forward, his boot hit something. Looking down, he saw it was a soldier’s torch. Moving a bit more, he found bits of uniforms, tattered clothing and a helmet.

He looked up, glancing to where he thought the elevator was – there was only darkness that way. As if to make matters worse, a loud [i]clank[/i] followed suit, indicating that it was going back up. A moment later Vandalis was now alone, countless hundred feet beneath the Earth and in the middle of darkness. All his soldiers were dead – to what, he had no idea. The sheer terror Vandalis was feeling right now was enough to cripple his mind and make him want to just flee and hide – but his body was not his own anymore as it slowly turned around and headed into the crevice.

Vandalis walked for what felt like miles, squeezing through crevices and cracks he normally didn’t think was possible. He climbed walls and dropped down gigantic gorges. He came across strange, frightful creatures he had never seen before – giant bats that stood from the floor, their wings made from liquid oil that permeated through their transparent husks and eyes as they stared at him blindly.

Other eyes stared at him from the shadow – even merely glancing at them would make his head hurt from the strange, inhuman shapes that seemed to permeate across time and space. Sometimes he would hear strange echoes coming from the cavern – whenever a drop would fall and hit the ground, it would feel like the sound was just covering the tail end of a thousand human cries.

And yet he pressed on until, finally, he came across a large opening. His torch was now almost empty; its flame flickering in the light and barely illuminating the ground beneath his feet. But there was another light– an eerie yellow glow that illuminated some of the cave ahead. Stepping through the entrance, what Vandalis saw surprised him greatly.

The machine sat ahead of him; atop of a mound of dirt and surrounded by a pool of blackness. From its windows the eerie yellow glow illuminated the low ceiling of the cave. Vandalis took a step forward, dropping the now-extinguished torch behind him. He staggered forwards again, his legs finally giving in under the exhaustion and terror before looking down at the black pool in front of him. He reached forward; tapping the surface with one hand. It stirred, not unlike oil.

Vandalis’ head snapped up towards the machine as the lights suddenly flickered. His eye caught something for the briefest of moments but he couldn’t make out its shape. He looked back at the oil below him…and it was gone. He stood up, frowning – only to realize that the oil had withdrawn back to either side, clearing a path towards the machine.

With a hesitant step, Vandalis entered where the pool was. When the oil didn’t seem like it was going to fall back on him, he moved onwards towards the machine, glancing at the oil nervously. A strange humming filled the air the closer he got to the machine and the rest of the cave seemed to dim out.

The glass was opaque and impossible to see through. However, close examination of the outside surface revealed something that Vandalis hadn’t quite seen before: a panel. He tried pressing a few buttons on it: it was apparently successful as the window slowly turned transparent, the soft yellow glow turning into a harsh white one. Still, Vandalis couldn’t help stare into it.

After a few moments he could actually see inside of it – and what he saw surprised him. For a moment Vandalis stood, dumbfounded at what he was staring at even as the machine seemed to wind up; it’s clockwork components protesting with a loud squeal as they struggled to work. Then the moment passed, and he understood.

He understood everything. From the start of thirty ships to the dreams and why he was here – he understood it all.

And he laughed at it.

It was a hoarse, dry laugh at first, but became one that simply grew in intensity even as the oil swept back, cutting off the gap. It only grew louder, more manic as the lights inside the machine began to dim and flicker in rapid succession. It seemed to grow even louder as the entire cave shook and the machine rattled.

It continued even as the light died out suddenly, plunging him into darkness. The cave only seemed to shake far more fiercely; the very world around him becoming undone. But Vandalis didn’t care – he only laughed and laughed and laughed at the absurdity of it all even as the ceiling cracked and the stalactites fell around him. He continued to laugh until the very last moment of his life before the cave roof collapsed and buried him alive.



But things did not end there. For at the exact moment of death, something strange happened near the elevator. A massive eruption from the cave below would kill every person around it, including the next group of soldiers that were heading down – and shake the entire castle in the process. All of this would coincidentally occur not one minute past the stroke of midnight.

During the day that followed, the castle would go into lockdown as the ministers tried to discover what happened. They would spend the entire day trying to get into the dungeons, only to be blocked at every turn by strange creatures that would ascend the dig site. A last ditch attempt would try to get close around midnight. But at just one minute before the hour, time suddenly changed.

And the day began again, with the king's disappearance and the strange rumbling and the castle being rocked. People would awaken, they would respond to the emergency. They would try again and they would fail.

Then it would happen again.

And again…and again…and again…