Unsupervised Experiments

The small light flickered in the dark attic, drawing sharp shadows on the faces of the 5 teenagers, gathering around it, rendering their features monstrous and scary. The night has been all goosebumps, giggles and dares and they were anxious for the next thrill. Now it was Juranni's turn to tell a spooky story. She sucked in the air around her and let it whistle out through her mouth, leaning slightly towards the light. Her eyes were alert and spoke with the sense of urgency one has, when talking about something super important. Kroje held her breath in anticipation for what was about to come. Juranni was known for telling the best horror stories. It was very quiet in the small space between the friends, when she startet talking in a calm, clear voice: "In the night, when the wind houls and whistles through the cliffs between Uriturri and Joaten Utzi, you can hear the song of the 19. Whenever both the silver and blue moon are out, the frayed stone glistenes dark black as if the blood of the victims was still fresh..."

Summary

Joaten Utzi, the piece, that hangs onto Uriturri by sheer will, is subject to many urban legends and folk tales. It broke off about half a generation ago in the middle of the day and threw 19 civilians into the cracks beneath them. Curiously though, they were never seen again. TINK Inc searched their bodies for weeks, not a single hair could be found. The missing person's posters are still around town and can be bought at the Joaten Utzi Cliffs as a souvenir on dishware and fashionable items.

Some people believe, the missing 19 are still out there, others think they must have died falling down the cliff. Once every while a fanatic throws themsenves into the crack, because they believe they can gain powers, become invisible, immortal or vanish without anyone noticing and leave their life behind. To their great (mis)fortune TINK Inc. built a gravitation field down the cracks between the rocks, that stabilisies the air so that jumping down is like nothing more than a ride down a waterslide that leads into a special compartment, where the jumping person lands and gets scolded heavily.

The 19 have become a legend since then. Every child knows their names and fortunetellers deal with stones or cards with their faces on them. The families of the 19 are either grieving, glorifying and using their family member's dissapearance for profit, or searching frantically for clues to find them again. Everyone knows Lina Miranda, who has made it her life's mission to find her long-lost girlfriend Karaa Lioss and the Shrickson's, who are mass-producing souvenirs with their son Hondrak's face on them.

The names of the 19 are:

1. Monu Kroia (the blessed child)
2. Karaa Lioss (the beauty)
3. Hjuva Janssa (the craftsman)
4. Klork Krennt (the liar)
5. Okja Seran (the divine)
6. Hondrak Shrikson (the sad one)
7. Grudar Mlakar (the turncoat)
8. Takaas Glav (the chef)
9. Mjenda Olde (the mother)
10. Terk Holda (the best friend)
11. Priesk Sunda (the office lady)
12. Lokar Tresk (the healer)
13. Noke Kuruma (the lover)
14. Wan Demi (the wise)
15. Xaum Korau (the millionnaire)
16. Marus Tulnau (the twisted)
17. Hauk Mond (the blind)
18. Nui Luthul (the savage)
19. Pekna Thross (the generous)

There are many stories about what made Joaten Utzi break loose and even more about the vanishing of the 19. The most popular suspicion is, that a rogue mage experimented in secret in a lab inside the rock of Uriturri, which caused Joaten Utzi to break off and that the 19 got super powers through the experiment they were conducting down there. The 19 were then believed to be kidnapped or murdered, depending on who you believe.

Historical Basis

One a steaming hot day the citizens of Uriturri were minding their own business when suddenly heavy tremors went through the whole rock, on which Uriturri is standing. The tremors were strongest in the tourist district, where they caused furniture to break and souvenirs to tumble and shatter on the ground. Suddenly the stone opened up at the edge to the Joaten Utzi park. 19 civilians have been walking the street at that time and fell into the opening cracks.

The civilians who fell into the cracks dissapeared, TINK Inc. looked for months for their bodies or any hints where they might have been taken or went, but the search came up empty. They then declared the 19 civilians dead and held a big memorial at the cliffs now separating Joaten Utzi from Uriturri main.

TINK Inc. found a secret basement, where an explosion or corruption of some sort must have caused the stone to break, but it supposedly was empty and wiped clean when they found it. The stairs led up to a manhole to the main street of the tourist district and is now guarded by TINK Inc, who also does tourist tours down to the crime cellar.

Spread

The legend is spread through horror stories told by kids and teens, as well as the souvenir merchants, who print small pamphlets to go with their goods, the fortunetellers, who use the legend to make a coin and the books published by the Shrickson family.

Variations & Mutation

While the souvenir pamphlets and the "Hondrak's Tale" by the Shrickson's tell nosy tourists tales about heroism, loss and horror, the legends told by fortunetellers and kids seem to be the more creative ones. They claim the 19 to be spritual leaders, superhumans, ghosts or even more gruesome creatures.

Cultural Reception

Even if the incident happened just half a generation ago, people love telling tales of the 19. Over the years the 19 were ascribed different properties and became idols to look up to and sometimes even pray to. Lucky charms are being sold, the 19 are used to tell fortune and their faces and numbers are used in all kinds of illustrations and merchandise.

Some of the family members of the 19 use the hype to make themselves center of the conversation and make profit off their loss, other despise the stories and try to uncover the truth. Lina Miranda is leading a conspiracy group, trying to find any hints regarding the wherabouts of the 19. She leads expeditions and traces stories to find out what happened then, if the 19 are still alive and if not - where their bodies are.

In Literature

Apart from "Honrak's Tale" published by the Shrickson's there are a few poetry collections, some romanticising death, some preaching about heroism and some speaking about the loss of a loved one.

In Art

Kids and Teens love the "Joaten Utzi 19" Visual Novels, that tell tales of marvelleous adventures.
Artists have been inspired my the mystery and pain of the story in the first years after the incident, but lost interest eventually, when the urgency wore off. Contemporary Illustrations picturing the 19 are famous in popular media to this day.

I love Marus Tulnau

I love Marus Tulnau by Elisabeth Lehner

Fan of #16 - Marus Tulnau wearing Marus Tulnau Merchandise. The Marus Tulnau Colors are Yellow and Blue. Probably they also dyed their hair Marus Tulnau Yellow.