The Yildae Stand

Tales from the Storytellers

When humans came to this land our ancestors were wild and free. We knew not what houses and cities were, and our number roamed across the many forests and open plains of this wold. The humans brought with them civilization, which was openly ignored until our numbers dwindled and we could take their hunting no more. That's when the cats rose up and began to hunt the humans back.

by RandoScorpio via MidJourney

---

by RandoScorpio via MidJourney

When the cats rose to stand against the humans they were woefully outnumbered by the human armies. They were organised and had strange weapons our ancestors had never seen. But the cats were clever, cunning, and began to collect the other yildae clans beneath them. The yildae didn't take on the human armies in direct battle they lacked power and it would have been a masacre, instead they sent rabbit yildae to lead great warrens of wild rabbits to eat the human's food, rat yildae helped direct plagues in the cities, and deer and horses were herded away from human towns. Wolves prowled around the mines at night killing miners in their tents, birds carried messages and intelligence of places and things humans were using for battle and those were targeted. We starved them of their resources and then struck their weakened armies.

---

It wasn't long after this that we began to build our own great cities, Yildasa was born from the desire to outdo the humans at their own game, to show our power and centralize our leadership. The cat clans of the yildae have been ruling ever since these early conflicts, their ability to rally and organise our people is highly regarded and you would all do well to be grateful for the protection that provides. Even separated from the rest of Costrus by the Wastelands we are not fully protected from the greedy and destructive nature of humans.

by RandoScorpio via MidJourney

Queen Renna Yildasa, First Queen of the Yildae, The Great Golden Tiger, Hunter of Humans, Mother of Yildasa

As the Humans Saw It

Victory over the yildae was all but assured. The kingdoms were aligned in their goal to wipe out the yildae that prowled the land and posed a risk to the safety of their people. Their armies combined should have been able to easily defeat the yildae, until the Divine Catastrophe began to ravage the land. Crops failed, wild game fled, their streets filled with rats, disease and random attacks on the mines by wolf packs were only some of the hardships the human kingdoms faced. Their armies weakened, morale plummeted and they were forced to retreat and focus on stabilizing their nations.

However, the damage was done. The defeat of the human armies and the food shortages caused upheaval and riots among the common people of newly formed kingdoms. They were furious with how things were and so coups were staged, royal families were deposed and wiped out, new boundaries were drawn, and peace resumed after a time.

Those who noticed the power that the yildae had through their innate magic began their research around this time. It is believed that this research and first mages were responsible for much of the reshaping of the human kingdoms.