Antecedent Shorefallen

This article was created as an entry for a Summer Camp prompt! That means this article may be a rough draft, incomplete, or may not fully align with the world's lore.
If you want to see this developed in the future, let me know!

The myth of the Antecedent Shorefallen explores the theories and legends of the populations which once occupied the Auspicious Shores of Arsavela, especially the lands upon which the city of Ausper now sits.

Setting the Foundations

The "auspicious shores" are a fairly large sub-section of the Savelan Northlands, making up a hearty chunk of the eastern shores and a stretch of territory further inland, its effective western border being the stony cliffsides that make up the eastern edge of the capital city Aurel. This includes present-day cities such as Ausper, so named for the "auspices" of the shores that were settled. This city, in addition to Laoro, Damila, and depending on who one asks, Morningtide as well, make up the Auspivious Shores.

An Explosive End

The ruins of ancient civilization litter this region, stretching all along the shoreline in varying stages of disrepair. At each of the would-be centers of these ancient ruins sit massive craters filled with rubble older than the kingdom itself. All investigation has suggested that these explosions were sudden and unexplainable — the former civilizations disappeared with hardly a trace left behind to study the way they had lived or who they even were.

Due to the assumed age of the ruins, their former residents are assumed to be Antecedents, those who walked this plane long before humans found their foothold within it in their wake. Myth floats through these shores, spinning the tales of the magic these ancient predecessors to humanity once wove, and the blessings they had left behind in connection to the Ascended goddess Levje and her companions.

Holding Vigil

In cities like Ausper, who found themselves building lives anew within the ruins of these old civilizations, it became common traditional practice to hold vigil for the fallen historical occupants of their city. Ceremonies are held annually in remembrance of those for whom the people hold no memory. Over time, however, these vigils came to recognize even the lost from their own modern day civilization, each funeral service adding a known name to the ceremonies which honor the lost of the Auspicious Shores.

As the city developed and grew, funerary rites and annual vigils both became ways by which the residents of the Auspicious Shores could honor the fallen who came before them, as well as those who walked the shores with them in remembered history.