Pine Hill

Pine Hill is a densely forested area in around the city of Pine in Zenxon. Though the reasons tend to be unclear, it is often considered a sacred place by sprites, many of whom make pilgrimage to the area and ask for their their death rites to be completed there. The true reason for this, though now lost to history, is that the area is a burial ground for the technology that once brought the sprites to Nideon.

Pine Hill has always been an important place for sprites. My parents taught me that. But if you asked me why, I couldn't tell you. I don't think they could either. It's just tradition, I guess.

From Milon to Nideon

by Boris Bobro

Though Astromythologists have long suspected the peoples of Nideon once came from another planet, most people suspect think of this as a conspiracy theory. In reality, it's true. Six original colonist groups arrived on Nideon landing in the areas of Diamondheart, Nefrale, Linakra, Brightland, Brek, and Zenxon, and in each area, magic affected the new arrivals differently. In Zenxon, many of the colonists changed as they developed an unusual connection to the trees and the wind that moved through them. They even came to resemble trees--with brown skin that bore markings resembling tree bark and hair the color of autumn leaves. These sprites, as they were called, were also clever and adapted quickly to new circumstances. Almost immediately, the sprites faced a difficult choice. Manipulation of magic on Milon had been rare and feared. While these notions were at first upheld against the new race of children, they soon saw the magical gifts were not innately malicious and learned to accept them. But they also knew that Milon would expect further communication with their new colony, and they knew other colonies had settled on the planet and might also try to make contact. When they did, the sprites were likely to be killed for their new-found magical abilities.

To prevent this from happening, the sprites made a pact to cut themselves off from their homeworld. They destroyed the technology they had with them and buried it, planting trees atop so that their roots would further disintegrate the technology and it would be difficult to dig up. The sprites also secretly planned to slaughter the remaining humans on the island to ensure that no one would try to dig up the technology or contact the Homeworld. This act was committed together one night as the humans slept. The bodies were then composted and used as fertilizer for the trees. Thus, the fear of magical people became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

From Reality to Myth

With the evidence of their former life literally dead and buried, the sprites began a new way of life on Zenxon, connected to the trees. They made their houses and clothes from the materials in Zenxon's forests and the composting of bodies to feed the trees became a traditional death rite. In the pact of Pine Hill, the sprites agreed to never speak of Milon or the atrocities they had committed to maintain the secret of their own existence. They even isolated themselves from other colonies, hoping that everyone from their original planet would presume they had died.

by Johannes Plenio

Though the sprites abided by the agreement made at Pine Hill and did not pass down the stories of their home planet, they continued to treat Pine Hill as a sacred place, and their children shared suspicions among each other. As the generations passed, suspicions became rumors and rumors became myths. But always, Pine Hill remained important in the eyes of sprites, though the exact reason has long since been lost to time.