The Lost Colonies

Alcumasius, the youngest son of Anaxaneas and his Western horse warrior wife, Mulashui, had built an enormous fleet and set sail to cross the ocean. None knew then if there were anything beyond, or if he would voyage around the planet. For all new, the suspended astronomical entities were a series of orbs orbiting orbs, since the time of the great philosophers. It was not until the modern era that we make ludicrous assumptions of man’s centricity to the universe. Though many left with Alcumasius, the cities of Rhodezephrys endured. Contact with the colonies was cut off for a time when terrifying storms wracked the Zephyr ’On. Once the turmoil subsided, the news, which came with the few ships who dared risk the journey, was horrifying. Some strange native tribe or race of monsters had been unleashed. The details were sparse, but at the time unbelievable tales spread like wildfire, causing few to risk the arduous journey. The resources found in this strange land were mostly claimed by a peaceful people, much like us, but hairier and with tales. They were no monkeys or apes though. Faces brimming with love and compassion gazed up at our intrepid adventurers. Large blue, green, and yellow eyes shone bright from wrinkled, knowing visages. These wondrous creatures had few implements for war but maintained great temple-fortresses in the mountain passes, which lead to a volcanic blasted land in the Southern portion of the continent. Power, in this primeval land, was not rooted in advancing civilization, as ours. Instead, a magic exuded from the pores of the land. Great conduits of nature guided by these unfamiliar people protected the land. Groves of massive trees, stretching to the stars, as monolithic rock formations sprouted from the most unusual places. Stories from returning explorers told of cliffs of bright red and orange rock tearing through thick jungle foliage, to mark the horizon with wondrous colors. The strange sun of this continent seems brighter, hotter than that of our world. This land was truly foreign. Our interference had caused a calamity to the equilibrium of this ecosystem. Our armies had invaded the blasted lands of the south, in search of precious metals and gems rumored to be horded there. I know not what that excursion achieved on their venture, only that they set off a chain of events, which would break this precarious balance. The fortresses of the tailed-men were overrun; our own settlements inland slaughtered. Vicious hulking beasts, or men turned grotesquely savage, the tales speak of only death, poured forth. The military might of the colonies was crushed, as storms tore across the seas, making a call for aid from the motherland impossible. By the time contact was reestablished, only a few paltry city-states were left, clinging to the coast, of a burgeoning empire. The troubles, after the collapse of Anaxaneas Empire, finally caught up with Rhodezephrys just as their colonies needed them most.