It was an Era of great mystery, a world in which dreamers and selfish men alike could run wild, following their ambitions across the lands and seas. For it was ten years ago that the explorer Jon Marco found the ledger of the Golden King, a man once considered a legend, no more than a myth, until a part of his riches were discovered, along with the book telling of further fantastic treasure troves hidden across the vast world he had explored in his prime. But with no clues left as to finding these legendary treasures, all manner of men rose up, prepared to find them. Whether they were bandits, nobles, kings or simple treasure hunters, they took up the search for the greatest treasures the world had ever known, prepared to meet the trials that would face them head on.

Of course, with so many competing factions searching, sooner or later, they would trip over one another, and so with this single discovery alone the world was treated to a taste of chaos.The worst of all was those bandits and pirates that held no remorse for their actions, gathering men and scouring every place they could find. Not every man would make it. There would be losses, but also, there would be blood. Innocents would get in harms way. And for every innocent life lost, a new thought soon came to be spread. It was a curse. Finding the Gold King's treasure was a curse that corrupted the hearts of men.

Such pitiful beings

Among these many kinds of explorers, perhaps the most notable were the Treasure Hunters. They were curious people among their peers, strong, capable of traveling along or in fewer numbers, but anywhere they went, the scope of the world around them could change. For they had an ambition and drive that placed them in a different league. They would enter the dark places that no others would dare to tread. They would challenge ruins, filled with their ancient traps and either perish bravely or emerge victorious. The first of the era to truly return with treasures and tales befitting the Gold King's legacy. Yet it never quite seemed enough, as though they'd never found what it was they were looking for.

Many of these Hunters were different from the bandits and from the pirates, no-one knew where they first began, or if they were even organized. But with their strength they would defend towns, battle fierce beasts and face the harshest environments that the world could throw at them with honest to truth smiles on their faces. It was this growing number of extraordinary individuals that started to spread the light of hope into peoples hearts and inspire more to join in the true search. The search to break the curse of the Gold King, to find those legendary treasures and finally lay to rest the great ambition that threatened to tear countries asunder.

They are foolish

It was on the continent of Iskend the a new path had finally opened. A diving line of treacherous mountains known as the Dead Men's Spires had been broken through finally by a dedicated town of once-adventurers. Hope Town they called it, though others might laugh at their name and call them fools, they settle din place and challenged the mighty mountains, carving a path through its treacherous chasms and caverns until they finally broke into the mysterious land beyond it, a land untouched by the modern era for centuries.

It was said that those who first stepped into the light on the other side felt a chill across their bodies, though they knew not what it was. Whether it was the chill of excitement, the prospect of a whole new land to explore, the chance that the legendary treasures awaited them there. Or perhaps the chill of fear, the knowing that there were things waiting for them that they might never have seen in their lives, dangerous and maybe even beasts beyond their knowledge.

They disgust me

Some said that they felt as though they were watched, as if something knew they were there and it did not welcome them into its domain, but there was never any sign of anything to directly confirm that fear. humanity began to strive across this new land, this new world with the same confidence and ambition that drove it before, unaware that one among them would soon set them on the path to an uncertain destiny. And that one day, one among them might be at the center of the only hope for the future.

I will erase them

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How long has it been?
How long have I sat here?
I cannot remember.

I could not count the days. Though I know not if that even matters. I could not count the weeks. Though I know not if I should care. I could not count the months. Though I know not if it would have changed anything. I could not count the years. Though I know not if I even existed for them.

But perhaps they could have mattered, or I could have cared. Perhaps something could have changed. Perhaps I could know that I exist.

How long has hit been since I felt that familiar tremor?

How long has it been since.. That touch..

"How long has it been..?" The words gently echoed into the mind of the explorer as he touched the dark crystal that floated in the air. It didn't budge, as though it were stuck in place. But that touch alone seemed to beckon something from it, for the faint red glow at its core grew brighter, spreading from its source and filling the ancient room with its light,
"How long has it been..?" The crystal questioned again, the walls began to move. the narrow passageway began to broaden, the walls and floor practically came to life as it slowly transformed before the mans eyes, a platform raising from the ground beneath the hovering gemstone, it lifted the object only a little more before the red light seemed to draw itself back in, practically vanishing altogether.

The broadened expanse of the room, however, did not grow dark. Instead, shafts of light fell from the ceiling above, crystalline structures rumbling into view. A circle of large gemstones above glowed brightly, and the ground around the platform parted. A ring of light rose from below, engulfing it in the same gentle light from above.
The crystal shifted once more, raising into the air once more before red beams of light struck the explorer's body. Though they did not harm him, it was as if they passed through him, through his mind, through his hands, through his heart, they curled around him, ephemeral, ghostlike, eventually forming a pair of hands that silently stroked past his cheeks, drawing back through the air and vanishing.

Then once more the light spread from it, it fell like rain, or like water down a surface, but it didn't vanish, instead each part of the red light that poured down the invisible surface remained in place, taking shape, taking form, the more light poured from the crystal, the easier it was to see what was taking form before the man. A feminine figure hung in the air, suspended, as if held in place by the crystal. Her feet didn't even touch the ground with the tips of her toes.
Once the full figure of a red silhouette could be seen, it grew brighter, brighter and brighter still, until the surface seemed to explode, torn away, scattering across the walls. Flesh and cloth appeared in place for every part that was torn away, a head of hair, mixed black and white, a young, feminine face. Eventually the red light had vanished, gone, no longer was it needed, no longer did it compose the structure of the being it had created. The gem glowed softly in her forehead as she was slowly lowered on to the platform.

Her legs folded softly beneath her as she descended, like a marionette on a single string, her hands it the platform, but she continued to slowly and gently crumple in place until she laid quietly upon the stone surface, breathing slow, soft breaths, eyes closed.

How long has it been since I felt.. Alive?

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