Drawn by mysterious cries in the night, Amalia, Desmond, Samuel, Archebold, and Remi discover the whereabouts of the Voice in Hush.
History of The Hollowed Ground
In Big A(spire)ations a group of individuals consisting of Ronin, Ashetta, Koel, and Roana approach The Spire. They’re quickly intercepted by the guard of the Spire, a monster that appears to be…inorganic. Despite failing to defeat it, they gain relevant information for the future.
Thanks to The Voice Voice, Wessex is brought back to life. Read about it here
True to dramatic form, with Bastien cursed by Safrin due to some prior circumstances (to become OLD), he holds his own funeral in Bastien, Remembered. Chaos ensues.
Ronin and Vanya have a beautiful daughter, Aoife, but tragically, Vanya is lost in the longest night of my life.
With the barrier down, Jigano and his fellow Loreseekers head into the Greatwood, eager to explore and discover new information in Into the woods without delay. The knowledge they find, however, is that the Fae are more than willing to abduct and sacrifice interlopers. A rescue attempt is made into the Greatwood, in long may you run, but those within its walls have already been sacrificed to the Tulmhainar.
Following the defeat of the demon, dissent spread like wildfire among the inhabitants of the Hollowed Grounds. Two factions emerged - those who wished to breach the Spire, like, yesterday and those who wished to wait and to learn more about it. Eventually, the Spire was breached by members of both groups, - the Ascended proved the key to opening the monolith. And in they went...Roana, Are, Maea, Lucas, Kristopher, Jigano, Amalia, and Rory heading down into the Spire, and Samuel, Ashetta, Aedion, and Zariah going up. Both Kristopher and Aedion perished within. Below the Spire a strange pillar of light was glimpsed (Roana jumped in it and was spat out in the The Greatwood, huh) but the others were blocked from further exploration when the air decided to be poisonous. Faith was tested at the very top of the Spire, and Zariah promised her life in exchange for passage through to the final chamber. Her willingness to sacrifice herself and her courage proved to be just what was needed to open the door, and Zariah survived the encounter. Within, the group were confronted with the Core, the physical counterpart to the Voice who, after three hundred years powering the Spire (and thus causing her own entrapment) was nothing more than a mummified child. 108 sacrificed herself by removing the power cell from the Core... and thus the barrier dropped. The Voice explained that she was the reason for the Outlanders being dropped into Caido. Using the last vestiges of her willpower, she scanned worlds and realities for those who might best be able to free her. And here you all are! Following the defeat of the demon, dissent spread like wildfire among the inhabitants of the Hollowed Grounds. Two factions emerged - those who wished to breach the Spire, like, yesterday and those who wished to wait and to learn more about it. Eventually, the Spire was breached by members of both groups, - the Ascended proved the key to opening the monolith. And in they went...Roana, Are, Maea, Lucas, Kristopher, Jigano, Amalia, and Rory heading down into the Spire, and Samuel, Ashetta, Aedion, and Zariah going up. Both Kristopher and Aedion perished within. Below the Spire a strange pillar of light was glimpsed (Roana jumped in it and was spat out in the The Greatwood, huh) but the others were blocked from further exploration when the air decided to be poisonous. Faith was tested at the very top of the Spire, and Zariah promised her life in exchange for passage through to the final chamber. Her willingness to sacrifice herself and her courage proved to be just what was needed to open the door, and Zariah survived the encounter. Within, the group were confronted with the Core, the physical counterpart to the Voice who, after three hundred years powering the Spire (and thus causing her own entrapment) was nothing more than a mummified child. 108 sacrificed herself by removing the power cell from the Core... and thus the barrier dropped. The Voice explained that she was the reason for the Outlanders being dropped into Caido. Using the last vestiges of her willpower, she scanned worlds and realities for those who might best be able to free her. And here you all are! Read about it here
Smack bang in the middle of the Fiat Lux festival, a group of brave (read:foolish) Outlanders decided to take on the Spire Demon. Surprising no one more than themselves, Roana, Remi, Ashetta and Ronin succeeded, though not without great cost. Ronin died during the fight. Read about it here
Amalia takes a crew consisting of herself, Jigano, Lily, and Seiji down into the tunnels of The Underground, seeking Safrin’s library in underground, the stars are legend. They discover not only the library, but also a creature called The Prince.
A sickness has taken over the The Greatwood, called The Blight. Learn more about it.
On a routine check for predators in The Underground, Emmett went missing during {PQ} (HUNT) i put on my robe and wizard's hat and was later found dead.
Venturing into the Underground once more to find Safrin’s library, the group discovers information about portals, and a multitude of other things in what lies beneath. Later, Amalia takes another group into the Underground, and Safrin’s library, to retrieve the books in ’neath sleeping town, follow me down.
Ronin was returned to the land of the living thanks to a sacrifice made by his friends, making him the first on-site Demigod (not that he really knows that). He is the first of Safrin's PC demigods.
Read about it here.
Ashetta gives up her immortality in exchange for Ronin's life
Ronin falls from the sky as a star
In {KQ} Through and through, Loren, Wessex, Adam, and Jigano made their way back to the basement of the Spire, where they fought a giant serpent (and each other), culminating in The Voice intervening to place a threat against Jigano and further ascend Wessex into the demigod ranks. The Wraith then followed Adam and Loren through a portal to Halo: a harsh, frozen tundra full of unflinching cold and cutthroat demons under the rule of Neron the Hailstorm.
Following the opening of the Portal and her second ascension as a Demigod, Wessex came to the people of the Hollowed Grounds with an option: choose to keep her as their Queen, or elect another ruler. After much deliberation Rexanna the Penumbra was voted in as the new Queen. She swiftly went about soothing political tensions, leading to the The Greatwood being opened once again - to all but the Ascended, who the Fae still did not trust after the events of the Blight and the felling of the Mathair. Rexanna picks her council in the way in the life and the truth. Deimos remains in his militia position, Samuel becomes the Naturals advisor, Jigano for the Outlanders advisor, Phoebe for Health, and Amalia for History.
Utterly devastated by Aoife's death and Remi's perceived death, Ronin took his wrath to the gods, adopting the moniker of the Dark Star. Enraged by his mourning, the Dark Star attacked the The Temple in Sanctuary, intent on bringing it crashing to the ground. Though Amalia, Samuel, Amun, Jigano, and Wessex did all they could to stop him, in the end his wrath was too much for the ancient building to withstand. The five interlopers were able to escape before the building collapsed - some thanks to divine intervention - but the last one out, Amalia, got caught in the rubble, resulting in severe injury and lower body paralysis. As for Ronin? Well... after cursing Safrin he and Remi disappear simultaneously. Only the goddess knows where they've gone
{SWE} The Festival of Fiat Lux! begins in glory and brightness, with the denizens of the Hollowed Grounds and beyond coming together to celebrate sunlight, springtime, and Frey. There was {Mini Event} Spin the Bottle! hosted by Phoebe, {Mini Event} Capture the Flag led by Oliver, dodgeball ({Mini Event} dodge, dip, duck, dive, dodge) put on by Wessex, {Mini Event} riddle me timbers! (Riddle Contest) by Loren and the Loreseekers Guild, and a combat demonstration ({Mini Event} called to be bold) by Deimos, Loren, and the militia. It all had the makings of a perfect Festival, until... ...{KQ} boundless: a monster of memory mud came crashing toward the festival! Luckily Phoebe, Loren, Oliver, and Sunjata were quick to notice and respond, but wound up being too little too late. Though Phoebe was able to summon Frey for assistance and Sunjata did significant damage with his new orca shift, it was Loren's ice wall that was the group's triumph... and their undoing. Though the monster was slowed, it did not go down easy, shattering the ice wall before crashing into the festival, wiping out the revelry and leaving mass carnage and destruction. Among the countless deceased were Phoebe's young nephews Cormac, Rhett, and Jax... as well as Aoife, daughter of Remi, who barely escaped with his life, and Ronin, who arrived just in time to witness his daughter's death.
A spite wedding to end all spite weddings takes place in why do our hearts choose lovers that make us suffer. Sunjata and Phoebe are married by Frey - and not many seem very happy about it, especially the bride and groom.
Osozo, a demigod of the Voice, appears in test # [redacted]
The Voice has given the Ascended a choice to make in. Either slay the LongNight monsters or let them live. Wessex hosts a meeting in the safe house for them all to try and come to a unanimous decision, only to have that backfire thanks to Neron and Samuel, and the Ascended receive a patch to help them survive against the monsters of LongNight rather than to extinguish them all. They don't agree unanimously, and requested a year to get prepared. A request that the Voice agrees to in a robot congress.
Samuel parts from the Voice with severe consequences in et tu, Samuel?, but quickly returns to the Voice in The Prodigal Son.
LongNight begins with a bang, as Rexanna leaves The Temple when she realizes Clemente is stuck outside. Both manage to survive through the monsters, but Safrin's Door results in both of their deaths, the moment they touch it (Deimos (with the help of Safrin and Samuel) created a door that would help protect against the LongNight monsters, by making it impassable by the LongNight monsters.) This leaves the Grounds without a Queen. In the wake of Rexanna’s death, another must take her place, and Evie Wordsworth is crowned in a new queen. In {DROP} cleverly and quietly , Amalia, Ronin, and Wessex go to The Spire. Trauma runs abound as Wessex nearly dies in the top of the Spire, and Ronin and Amalia try to rescue a child who is 'chained' within. Ronin tries to mercy kill the boy, but the child detonates in Amalia's arms. Joshua meets his demise during LongNight in Who is Knocking, Me oh My?. Eventually, the Sparkbird arrives to the Hollowed Grounds in {RE} over and over again. Oia'i'o and Kaimana perish from venturing too far into the shadows.
Anonymous packages are sent to Torchline, Halo, and The Hollowed Ground with bits and pieces of Robin who was murdered just before LongNight.
Amalia gets called to Safrin's shrine in wrath of the lamb by none other than @Vi himself. She becomes a demigod for the god of life, and is given a task. She is then sent to the KQ brother where art thou.
Bastien intends to meet with the Voice, but ends up discussing things with The Core, in I believe her, I believe her.
Wessex opts to step down from leadership and into military status, holding conversations with Isla and Bastien, and passing them into the sovereign roles in why the most dangerous thing is to love. An official board notice goes here. Later, Bastien decides to step down from leadership, and take on an ambassador role in a Notice Board post here.
LongNight begins with a rogue LongNight monster appearing in ..Halo? in {KQ} midnight mass Sah, Kiada, and Neron manage to destroy the creature. Wessex, and Isla are attacked with snowballs from what seems like nothing in [se] people die and parties fail, but they ended up being rogue firlings!
Bastien is killed by a Land Shark in some nights Later, Darkeye tries to find and kill the landshark who took Bastien's life in Dionysian remains. Though a landshark is killed, was it the right one?
Though no one knows quite what happened, the bodies of Gideonand Samuel are found dead outside of the The Hollowed Ground. Read more in lying in wait
It is unknown how Gideon and Samuel ended up killing each other, but their deaths would spark quite the fire indeed. Found by Amun, Edrei, Wessex, and Cameron, in lying in wait, immediately Edrei set out on a path to take revenge on Stormbreak. With a dragon shift compliments of Sunjata (always searching for deliverance), Edrei, Amun, Wessex, and Nate set off to Stormbreak (airlifted by Sunjata). Arriving in Ligma, Edy immediately began to attack The Tower while Wessex used her illusion magic to try and corral the Stormbreak citizens to safety. Quickly, Edy was killed by Ronin, leading to Amun fleeing as Wessex kills Abraham. A deadly game of cat and mouse followed, with Ronin using the first instance of the Be the Hero prize to call down Safrin. After much back and forth with many chances for both sides to concede, Ronin kills Nate before Wessex flees back to the Hollowed Ground. When The Tower collapses, Seraphina and Luciana, as well as a number of others, die.
Led by Darkeye, Azrael, Ophelia, and Nikolai tried to find the Land Shark responsible for killing Bastien. Though they did find and kill one in Dionysian remains, there was no way to tell if it was the same creature responsible for Bastien's death.
The Hollowed Grounds have completed a Regional Quest to upgrade The Spire in consolidate their gifts. It now possesses the following feature: Energy Weapon | If activated by two members of the HG, the Spire can target 1 30ft sphere anywhere within the HG. Does 100pts of damage to anyone within the sphere. Requires a 5 post cooldown between uses, and a 1-post 'charge up' prior to use.