Preservation
Administrator
ooc: Wolf Tears[M:-10][M:-10][M:-10]
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Plot
Jul 10, 2011 15:06:47 GMT -6
Post by Preservation on Jul 10, 2011 15:06:47 GMT -6
Seven hundred and thirty-six years ago, the world was a place on the verge of death. Though its skies were clear and its plants green, and though diverse cultures thrived in many lands, danger lurked on the horizon. This unknown threat, known only as the “Deepness,” led the people of Terris to attempt to fulfill an ancient prophecy. They called forth the man who they believed was the Hero of Ages, and sent him on a quest to protect their world.
He failed.
Now, the world is trapped in a perpetual death. Kept alive by the Lord Ruler, a man so powerful he is as revered and hated as any god known before the change, it lurches along beneath a constantly grey sky. Green plants are remembered only in the most far-fetched tales, culture is forgotten completely, and the people are divided into two classes: the nobles, who live a life of elegant parties and nightly assassinations, and the skaa, who are used as slave labour and looked at as less than animals.
Throughout all threads the strange power of Allomancy, which allows people to ingest metals and use them to control fantastic abilities. For the Lord Ruler, it is one piece of the complex system he uses to control his subjects and the world they live in. For the nobles, it is a convenient tool; they beat their children to reveal those with the power, then train those children to become the most deadly pawns in the tangled web of family relationships. For the skaa, it is the only hope they have of defeating their oppressors and creating a world where they cannot be whipped to death for standing in the way a split second too long.
Right now, this hope seems to have backfired. Seven years ago a great rebellion began. Thousands of skaa traveled to Luthadel and rose from its streets, aiming to kill the Lord Ruler and anyone who got between them and their goal. In hindsight, it’s a wonder the rebellion went on as long as it did; perhaps the Lord Ruler was bored and wanted the amusement, or perhaps he wanted to keep the nobles on their toes for a bit. Either way, the skaa fought for three years, accomplishing little more than minor raids, toppling of a few planations, and occasional kidnappings, only to find themselves crushed in 731 at the Massacre of Tougier. Seven thousand rebels were cut down in no time at all, effectively ending the uprising.
Except that it didn’t- not entirely. Upset by the entire ordeal, the Great Houses- the noble families with the most power and influence- turned on each other to vent their anger, beginning a full-scale war that carries on to this day. Beneath this cover, some skaa are beginning to revolt once more. During the rebellion someone got hold of various metals beyond the basic ten, previously unknown to any but the most privileged and capable of giving the skaa tremendous if brief advantages. Now spreading into wider and wider circulation, these are being used to convince people that more than another massacre might lie in wait should they only dare to fight.
It will not be easy. The Lord Ruler has begun to set up Soothing Stations around the city, places where Allomancers who can dampen emotions are being set up to keep dangerous things like violence and hope from entering the populace. Obligators, the nobles who report directly to the Lord Ruler, and Inquisitors, assassins strengthened by hideous metal spikes in their eyes and skin, are hard at work trying to clamp down on knowledge that leaked during the rebellion. Meanwhile, the rebels are making themselves easy to defeat; their leaders were killed at Tougier, and now dominance disputes fracture the remaining fighters.
But hope always remains. If it didn’t, the Final Empire would have crumbled years ago. It is dangerous and foolish, and probably even misplaced, but for the people under the Lord Ruler’s iron fists, it is the only thing they have.
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