City of Tearsfall
Subway Structure of Tearsfall
~The City of Tearsfall~
The Founding
Founded circa b4205, this was the first major settlement of Clan Crane. Upon first breaking ground, the Crane Chieftain was said to have had a vision of a great tragedy occurring. He shed a single tear, and when he wiped it from his cheek, pronounced that the city would be called, Tearsfall. Lying at the tip of Grifon's Peninsula to the northwest of the isle, it has served as a major fishing and trade city since its founding. Even though it pulls in most of the income for Clan Crane, its real claim to fame comes from the fact that Tearsfall is the birthplace of "The Enlightenment"
The Enlightenment
When the Renaissance came to Mirioth, it brought with it an entirely new philosophy. "The Enlightenment" eschewed the Cedrist gods, and proclaimed that there was no higher power, only the seven cosmic energies that all creation was born from. Enlightened Priests claimed that each of the seven energies flow through the universe like light, and act as the mystical foundation for it. If the seven energies were to cease flowing, the universe would collapse. By meditating, one could tune his personal energy into one of the seven energies, and perform magic. You could only tune your energy once though, for to tune it more than once risked warping it. Warping was considered bad, because the magic that was performed usually came out... wrong. If one kept on tuning himself to the different energies, eventually his own energy would collapse, and become a void. Those with a void became soulless, mindless, and insane.
The Enlightenment started with a small group of seven philosophers and scientists who had formed a small scholarly group for the purpose of studying the secrets of Cedrism. After many years of dead-ends and questions with no answers, they grew dissatisfied with the excluding culture of Cedrism. Unless you were chosen, or were born into it, you were not allowed to learn any of the higher secrets. They would always excuse themselves with lines like, “The gods must keep their secrets.” or “The mysteries must remain mysterious.” One moonless summer night their leader, Jack Bennington, had gone out for a walk to clear his head, when he was approached by a figure shrouded in darkness. He handed him a package without a word, and then slipped back into the shadows. Upon arriving back at his house, he opened the box, to find that inside lay a letter and seven black rocks.
There was no signature at the bottom, and no date on it either. The following night, Jack called his comrades to a meeting at his house. There he showed them the letter, and the stones. He explained how he had come into possession of them, and asked if they would be willing to give it a try. With a surprising willingness on the part of all seven men, they began in earnest. Many months came and went, with all seven men spending the vast majority of their time in meditation. One by one, they all came to an epiphany, as their energies tuned into their particular energy.To Jack Bennington,
I have seen you and your group of scholars grow frustrated with the gods. I myself have long since given up any hope of ever being in their good graces, and sincerely sympathize with you. Several winters ago, I was a part of an expedition to an ancient cave system in So-Sara. Our Expedition leader, Doctor Jonathan Leonhart, had been given part of an untranslatable ancient manuscript by a local who had stumbled across the caves. Upon it were several sentences in a language we had never seen, and a picture of seven wavy lines, each in a different color. I was trained in the ancient languages of Shireroth at Yardistan University, and was chosen to be in charge of translating anything we found. We entered the cave system, but quickly grew frustrated with our lack of progress. We found many interesting things down in the dark caverns, but nothing pertaining to the manuscript we found. For days we continued deeper into the caves, looking for anything that might shed light on the manuscript we found, to no avail.
On the seventh day, we found a giant, underground lake. Our supplies were running low, as were our spirits. So rather than find a way across, we decided that we would turn back, and abandon our pursuit. As we turned around to head back, a terrible earthquake struck! When the quake died down, I fumbled around in the darkness for a lantern. When I was finally able to light it, I discovered that all of my comrades were dead, including the good doctor. Impaled or crushed to death by falling stalactites and boulders. The entrance to the underground lake had collapsed as well, leaving me alive, but stranded. I stumbled, dazed and confused, to the edge of the lake. Where before I had found nothing but water, there was now a rocky path into the darkness. With little choice, I set out on this stoney path. I walked for what seemed like days, contemplating and mourning the deaths of my friends, when I finally came across a spectacle like none I had ever seen before. In the middle of this underground lake, was a giant, stone building! Easily dwarfing me, I marveled at how massive it was. With my small lantern, I couldn't see exactly how wide or tall it was. Not until it lit up.
Yes, you read it right. It lit up. Well, rather, countless runes lit up on it, which allowed me to gaze at the width and height of it. Easily four or five stories tall, it seemed to be several hundred meters wide as well. I instantly recognized the glowing runes as the same undecipherable language that was on the letter. The outside was a soft, white color, that seemed to be made of a marble. It had a large terrace on the outside that was supported by large, smooth columns on all sides. This terrace than led to the inner room, that was surrounded by the marble walls. As I hesitantly stepped inside, I saw seven large obelisks, each lit up with a different color of the rainbow. To say that I was... awed... would do the sight I saw a great injustice. In this room I felt warm. In this room I felt... power. Like suddenly everything that had occurred in my life made perfect sense. Perhaps to you, dear Jack, I now sound mad, but for the first time in my life, I felt TRUE enlightenment. I wanted to find the secrets of the universe, and by the gods, or despite them, I had found it.
I slowly approached the white obelisk at the far end of the room. It's warm power increasing with every step I took. I walked closer and closer until finally, I was standing only a meter away. I could hear it humming, whispering secrets to me that no mortal had ever known. I was shaking. I was afraid.
I touched, the obelisk.
The room turned white, all five senses instantly numbed. I still cannot exactly describe the feeling. I knew everything, I WAS everything. I could feel the Octoclucks thundering across the great plains of Benacia, I could hear the sounds of atomic explosions on stars so far away from Micras, that they have not even been named yet! I could taste the cold ice of a comet as it made its way across the sun. I could smell the sweet cooking of an old lady, as she prepared dinner for her family. I could see the universe being formed for the first time. I knew it all.
The next thing I knew, I was staring up at the ceiling. I had been lying in a hospital bed at Tearsfall for seven years. The doctors and nurses had no idea what had kept me alive. Men of science and medicine had come from all around to study the 'Immortal Man'. When they inquired of me as to what had happened, I could do nothing but shake my head and tell my story. The last thing I clearly remember was that temple in the middle of the cave. They told me that they had found me in the middle of a field close by. After the interest in me waned (that is, once they knew for certain that no more information could be gleaned from me.), I found that I had come into possession of something most men dreamed of. That most men would have killed for.
I could use magic.
This was not the magic of the gods, nor of the daemons, or of the foreigners. This was the magic of the very fabric of the universe! I could make fire with a flick of my wrists. I could levitate boulders with my mind. I could see into the souls and minds of men. Nothing was impossible to me now! I amazed the nurses with my seemingly uncanny wisdom, I bedazzled the peasants with obscene displays of strength and agility. I watched with disbelief as I had lengthy conversations with the spirits of men who had been dead for hundreds or thousands of years! Once the novelty of being a god wore off, I wondered what I would do with myself. I was immortal now. Everything was different. After many weeks of pondering, I decided that I would do what any god would do. I would make a better man. That is why I have given you these seven stones. Meditate with one (and only one!) of these stones, and you will find yourself tuning your personal energy with that of one of the seven energies of the universe. At first, only basic magic will be available to you. But the more you meditate, the stronger your tuning will get, the stronger your magic will become. Remember that there are no gods (my own poetic flourish notwithstanding), only beings who have obtained a strong sympathy with the energies. There is no death, there is only the journey from one state of being, to another. There are no mysteries that cannot be solved with time. Logic will be your foundation, science will be your house.
Build yourself into a better man!
The first scholar attuned his energy, and discovered he had power over life.
The second scholar attuned her energy, and discovered she had power over death.
The third scholar attuned her energy, and discovered she had power over nature.
The fourth scholar attuned his energy, and discovered he had power over fire.
The fifth scholar attuned her energy, and discovered she had power over water.
The sixth scholar attuned his energy, and discovered he had power over the sky.
Jack, the seventh scholar, discovered he had the power of time and fate, who were the rulers of all the energies. All magic was open to him.
With their new-found magic, they began to perform 'miracles' for the peasants, and began to spread their philosophy (they refused to call it a religion) to the city. Within months, the Cedrist temple at the north end of the island had received word of heathen magics being performed in Tearsfall. The High Priest sent in the Inquisitors. A terrible battle ensued, with the end result being the death of all the Inquisitors. The peasants, upon seeing the Enlightened Priests best the Inquisitors, began to convert en masse to Enlightenment. From here, it spread to all of Yardistan.
At the height of the Renaissance, Tearsfall completely tore down their city structure, and rebuilt it according to the principles of Enlightenment. They built a single, massive wall in the shape of a five-pointed star, and at the tip of each spoke, built a 'Crystal Point'. This was a temple, with a single, massive crystal affixed to it. These crystals were attuned to the energy of death, and when activated, would form a single, impenetrable force-field that would bring instant death to any invader. It was the first, and last, city to be built like this.
Almost a full century after the “Enlightened Revolution” began, human hubris began to destroy the movement from within. The Cedrist hardliners continually warned the Enlightened that using this magic would only bring about disaster. Humanity was simply too unstable to handle that kind of power. That perhaps, what happened to the Khaz Modanians, would happen here. Instead of building a better human, they only seemed to build a better daemon. Yardistani historians generally start the industrial revolution about this time. Yardistan went from a beautiful, agricultural society, to a dirty, soot-laden bedlam. Civil war broke out between the various Enlightened factions, with the result being the complete devastation of many cities. With so much death and destruction weighing heavily upon the ancient seven (who were still alive, these many years later.), they recalled any remaining Enlightened back to Tearsfall, and destroyed any who refused the call. Fearing retaliation from the Cedrists, the Enlightened went into hiding, creating a secret society to protect themselves. Many hundreds of years later, the Enlightened still exist in small numbers in Tearsfall, and occasionally surface to help people. The Ancient Seven have not been seen since the formation of the secret society though.
Modern Tearsfall
The 'Old City' of Tearsfall today is built entirely with Neo-Classical Stone buildings. Outside the walls though, the styles vary greatly. Its population today is about 238,000 people, and is almost entirely urban. It is an unspoken rule that you do NOT mention the Enlightened, except in a historical context. It continues to have a thriving fishing and trade industry, and finds soccer to be its favorite pastime. The future looks to be very bright for Tearsfall, even while the past continues to cast long shadows.
