Introduction
My father told me when I was younger, around the age of seven or so, I would ask "<<What would I do if the worst came true?>> in reference to the growing threats from Sylvamere. His response was always something along the lines of <Whatever happens, I would want you to survive. If I don't survive, I would want you to write it down when it's over.> and everytime when I asked why, he would respond <I believe there should be at least one recollection of the events from an honest, first person perspective. If no one else will do it, I would want it to be you.>
In honor of my father, I'm writing this journal, not only to recall what happened, but also to show how we have to live.
This journal is split up into chapters, each one representing an unspecified amount of my life, starting from when I was ten years old,
The Fall of the Sandsong Oasis, until I die.
-Salinto
Chapter One: The Fall
This night had been as quiet as the last, no stars above and not a window light. There was a distant chill, not from the cold temperatures, but from apprehension. The Adriex couldn’t help in any way, for the looming dunes could only do so much, may father knew it would happen someday within Ironclad’s rule, but he hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. The water lay as still as sand on a windless day, no chimes, not even a bird. As long as
Vortigern the Ironclad lived, we would never feel the freedom of safety. Al-Nasir had to be careful when they spoke, for Ironclad knew how to twist every phrase into something that can be used against us. It had been five years since he rose to power of Sylvamere, and in those short years he corrupted it as quickly as they rose to popularity.
He villainized us. Said we were dangerous to <the balance he strived to achieve>, even though his magic only existed with the existence of ours. Day is not a thing without night, just how light simply isn’t without darkness. Cold and warmth help the other to exist, while he wants us gone. By erasing us, he erases a steady balance we’ve had for centuries.
A flick in the distance could be seen by any waking person. All the children who were awake against their parents’ wishes, all the guards on night duty, and all the worried adults who feared for their lives. We all knew he would attack some day, it was inevitable as long as he lived. When I caught a glimpse of the flame, it was faint from the mirror against the scrolls. I saw it, and ran. I ran through the halls to where my father was, to alert him that it was tonight. Tonight they would attack. <May the deities help us in any way possible>, I thought.
There was fear where he sat, watching the flames. He spoke no words, not that any were needed at the moment. When he spoke, it was faint and sorrow-filled, <<Find your sister, and hide. They won’t be here until rise, but you should remain hidden. Leave if you must.>>
<What? You can’t make us leave. What about you?> I asked.
Before he could respond, a loud horn was heard in the distance. They were close, and were setting off a raging fire from the edge, crumbling houses and burning foliage. This was it. We had to hide, escape if we must. A barrier was placed around what was left of the oasis, shielding survivors. A smaller barrier was placed around the castle, where everyone hid. The larger one was a bluff, a buffer to buy time. We were told not to worry. But that was all we could do. We hid underground, and we heard it all. The screams, the shouts, the flames. The cries for help pierced the air. As it died down, there were swords clashing. The area around us would shift from bright to dark, until it all went silent. That could only mean one thing, my father died.
After what felt like days, one of the others went to see what happened. When they came back, they told us it was safe to come out and leave. The way we went led us out to behind what was left of the Hailad, and there I saw his body. Bloodied and limp. There was no sign of Sylvan troops, so I asked if we could bury his body, sending him off to the afterlife properly.
It was brief, but it was the right thing to do for my father. He protected us, gave us a place to hide throughout the attack. The last time I saw his face, there was fear. Fear for his people, fear for himself, and fear for his children.
I remember my sister asking, <<<Will we see him again?>>> and there I realized that not only had I lost my home and family, but most of the people who lived did as well. It was selfish of me to think I was the only one who lost something that day. And very insensible. Of course I wasn’t the only one who lost something. All forty people with me lost their homes and jobs, and most lost at least a part of their families.
My response to her question was, <<<Someday, we’ll see both him and our mother again.>>> That made her understand it after a moment. She was seven when that happened. We lost our mother three years prior to illness, far too sudden for us to be able to comprehend. Now I felt the need to take care of her.
As we fled, I thought about what could, might, and would happen. We could be caught. We would be far from the Adriex at the end of this. We might have to completely forget who we are to survive this.
<<If you want to live freely, it might be best to change your names...>> One of the elders who survived told me and my sister.
I wanted to refuse this suggestion because our names held great significance to us and our family, but I knew that he was right. If we wanted to live, it would be best to disguise ourselves to avoid target. We agreed on our names, mine being Salinto, and my sister
Safina.
Chapter 2: Through Intera
We traveled throught the Intera for aproximately two years, staying as far away from the borders of
Sylvamere as we could to reduce our chances of being caught. We often spent time near the edge of the continent, scattering a bit into the forest when resting. It was an attack tactic from the Sansoni army, and it was effective.
When buying supplies, either me of Safina would go with an adult it was how we bribed shopkeepers to give a discount when gathering supplies. That was a fun trick, <<<We have children! They need this! If you would be kind enough...>>> and it would go on. Good thing our aunties (older women with us, we weren't related) were good at bargaining.
We had to get used to the changing climate as we continued south and farther away from the dry Adriex. It didn't feel right, suddenly Safina and I have to change every little thing about us, from our names to our clothing to our mannerisms, just to survive. This journal will be one of the only things left tying this group of people to the Sandsong Oasis and the Adriex because there is no other record of people escaping, except for me and Safina not being found.
Some shopkeepers say that Sylvamere either is or was looking for us, but not leaving the Adriex because they believed we couldn't have fled that far away. It's said their death toll was perfect, <<every last Sandsoni was killed that blazing night.>>
It was tiring, traveling around to find the best place to live. There were expectstions and wants of the location. There needed to be farmland available, room to expand as necessary, forest for supplies, and livestock around the area. Some wanted ocean as an easy escape or for other food sources. It got crazy, arguing between the aunts and uncles of if that place we found is really the perfect place for us, until we got to the other end of Intera. I would constantly ask for help from anyone above,
Heka,
Theri, even
Mother Time herself.
Chapter 3: Founding
We made it to the other side of Intera, the farthest we could go without sailing, and none of us wanted to sail.
It had been three years. Three years had we been fleeing from our comfortable and familiar lives. We were with people of multiple age groups. but we had gone from one hundred people to forty. Most of us were twenty to thirty years of age, distinct families who were comforting each other through this. Forty people left to found a new village for us and other lost travellers to finally have a stable place to be and work and live.
I can't even remember how many times I asked the deities to help us, and maybe they listened. Maybe they constructed this place for us specifically to build a new home. Maybe this was a sacred land that we were alloweed to reside in. Or maybe this was entirely chance, and the deities didn't hear me. After all,
Thankoli had taken the lives of sixty survivors for what reason? What reason other than being the God of Death?
It didn't matter anymore what the deities had done to set this moment up anymore, because it was happening now. And what mattered now was to build shelter, build farms, and construct whatever we needed. We had to survive. We had already gotten so far, we couldn't give up now. This place on the other side of Intera had to be the place we stayed, for we had no other place to be. What we did now was up to us.
It started slow, as all things go. It started with a few huts for shelter from
Malifa's wrath and creatures that may want fo harm us. But it expanded to farmland, where travellers helped and stayed, growing the population of our small town. It got to the point where we had some pseudo-leaders. People we said led out home, but in reality were leading temporarily until I was old enough to do so myself.
I suppose I could take this time to also write down some legends and stories from the Oasis and the Adriex as a whole. Maybe I should start with Aklo, Sertos, and their children. Protectors of the home, children, and family. Their deific domains are sort of combined with Hesnisyi, but I still think of them as seperate deities. They are some of the last First Ones, before Galyin completely destroyed their planet. Aklo tried to reason with Galyin while Sertos tried to get everyone as far away as possible, keeping all families together. Asimfu, who was also trying to stop Galyin and save the animals he could, was able to tell Sertos that after this, he’ll convince the others to deify them for the next world the deities create as Protector Gods if they continue this work until the end of their planet. After Galyin destroyed the Planet of the First Ones, Aklo and Sertos were deified. Their children are with them and the other deities, said to help other children through imagination, taking the forms of imaginary friends while their parents protect the homes from harm.
Our home, now named
Argyrosa, expanded more and more as sailors and fishermen ended up on our shore, travellers found refuge in our houses and jobs on farms.
We decided to loosely base out government on the Sansoni government, keeping the counil, but expanding the topics. Agriculture, education, healthcare, courts, etc. Most other topics were grouped together in the three Sandsoni branches. The current pseudo-leader and I, along with some people with education in this field, have been writing up laws and our charter for, at this rate, seems to be expanding into a nation.
Chapter 4: A New Nation
I can safely say that the rest of the world knows of us. Not as Sandsoni survivors, but as founders of a nation founded two years ago. A nation known as Argyrosa. We were formally invited to our first world meeting a few months afterwards, I'm writing from the room the pseudo-leader and I are staying and•
The meeting has ended, and all the leaders were surprised to see me, an odd similarity to Malin, the last prince of the Sandsong Oasis, in front of them. When asked, I responded with the fact that many people can look similar, and I don't know any details about the Sandsoni Fall. I even said I didn't know the language. Most of these questions came from Vortigern, who is definitely the most suspicious and a lot more terrifying in person than described. I know, lying isn't good, but I couldn't risk anything. No one can know, not yet.
I've officially been put in place as the first actual King of Argyrosa. We fled the Oasis six years ago, we were travellung for three years, and we had three years worth of pseudo-leaders so I wouldn't be in charge at thirteen. Now Argyrosa was a fully fledged nation. Our language is evoloving with the people we meet and those who moved in, borrowing mostly from Sylvan and Solistek, but keeping some Sandsoni roots. While the survivors we have will never forget where we came from, it will be nice to start anew in a kingdom we made. Thank the deities. That's all I can say. I'm lucky to have lived this long, with all that has happened to us.
Vortigern is crazy. He is constantly pestering us on where we came from, and doesn't take our answers as fact. He doesn't like us because <<<we look too foreign>>> to be from a kingdom we
founded! I can't believe it! Of course we're foreign, we built the damn place from the ground because of him! Why did this have to happen? Everything that has happened to us, why? Mother Time? Goddess of Prophecies? I want an answer, if anyone can give it to me. Please, help.
Chapter 5: Survive
I'm only twenty and I still read through this to remember what I have already survived and that I can survive what comes at me next. But I haven't written in four years, so I guess I should continue. Vortigern is weakening in health, so he hasn't been as "on our tails", as the Belgora say. It was nice, having some more freedom. We had mangaged to bring back some reformed Sandsoni traditions with the excuse of travelers wanting to keep an old tradition of a dead kingdom alive in some way, though changed to fit better with the landscape of Argyrosa. We had dances and festivals for the harvest, but adding in a bell dance to accompany the stringed instruments which were brought with nomadic people. The bells, the stringed instruments were from oversees travelers.
Being a king sure takes up a lot of time. It's been three years. I'm here to celebrate. Vortigern is dead. It is against Sandsoni culture to celebrate death of people in power, but he almost killed our culture. I'm sorry mother and father, but I have to put him as an exception. We are somewhat freer, as the main oppressor is gone, and I hope to never see or hear him again, even in the Afterlife.
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