Amethyst

Chapter 1: Prologue: The Obsidian King & Legendary Mines of Medura The Obsidian King    Across all lands and oceans, the children of nearly all countries and households grew up being told the incredible and awful legends about the Mines of Medura. A country whose cities and population willingly live primarily and preferably underground, in their laboriously carved cities. Interior statues and designs generations have carved into the walls of sections that have long ceased use for their original mining purpose. Instead, these were quickly converted into lavishly designed living quarters. No inch of wall left bare or without design. These etchings are always done with adoring labor by the Medurian people.   When a child is born in Medura, they say that one family member mines that very morning to determine that child's name.    Medurian's are real though they aren't so commonly seen in any lands. Medurian's are, almost always, encountered at the age of sixteen. They follow their tradition of "Passage," where they explore the earth for a time that the individual sees fit – before returning sure of their place in the world and confident of who they are. To find one that never returned to the Mines of Medura is rare, though not impossible. If they marry while on their travels, they are never allowed to return to their subterranean world. Those that remain end up some of the surface's best healers.   Sunken gardens and pools. Where the once underlying rock, sand, or soil collapsed from the surface above, creating openings to the sun, where crops and edible flowers are grown out of the suns harsh glare and away from the all-consuming deafening howl of the sandstorm gales that blight the arid lands on Medura's surface.    They say that when a child is born, within one of The 12 Medurian cities, one family member mines that very morning to determine that child's namesake.    Medurian's are real though they aren't so commonly seen in any lands. They are most often encountered at sixteen. They follow their tradition of "Passage," where they explore the earth for a time that the individual sees fit – before returning sure of their place in the world and confident of who they are. To find one that never returned to the Mines of Medura is rare, though not impossible. If they marry while on their travels, they are never allowed to return to their subterranean world.   One knows a Medurian's for sure by their intricate sacred patterns made with jewels, artistically, embedded into their skin. Some say it gives them powers, and others believe that it is the mere lavish flaunting of wealth. Though their patterns are as intricate and detailed as the walls of their underground cities. All 12 Cities. Each city's location was marked by one of the towering Glittering Cathedrals, which made all scenery around it pale in comparison. They are made of limestone of carved cities, encrusted with the most sublime crystals – they say that the cathedral's jewels shine like the night sky and even blend into the skies on a cloudless night.   Their cities are named numerically for the order of each mine founded. Though many call the cities for what they began to mine when the Obsidian ran out: 1. The Marble City.  2. The Diamond City. 3. The Silver City. 4. The Jade City. 5. The Emerald City. 6. The Opal City. 7. The Sapphire City. 8. The Ruby City. 9. The Topaz City. 10. The Serpentine. 11. The Garnet City. 12. The Quartz City.   So many cities, so many nomads with their way of life forever changed. Even after the fall of the Obsidian King. His ambition; his downfall.     Yet, the royals ensured that the mining continued and became a tradition. Anywho spoke the old truth within the caverns was killed. Now, none know their truth of how the Mines of Medura came to be. How their ancestor's blood seeped betrayal into the ground, and all that is held dear to their supposed Earth Goddess.   Before the rule of the Obsidian King began, his subjects – the Medurian people – were hardy nomadic farmers, living off of the arid land in various tribes of language and culture. Many Herding gold-horn antelope, or roaming in packs of war-bred jackguars: an omnivorous creature. They looked a mix between a hyena with a rump that sloped towards the ground and a rabbit-like face shape that still held canine features such as their bone-grinding teeth. With those innocent-seeming whiskered snouts and long, upright, ears one could understandably be lulled into a false sense of curiosity about this creature's nature. Especially someone unknowing.   The legends say that the mines and subterranean cities all started with the centuries-old lore of the ancient Obsidian King four thousand years ago! He must have been, one of if not, the first of Medura's royals'. When the Obsidian King first was presented with the black and glossy mineral - pulled from the stilled heart of a volcano- for the first time, rumored tells it was a gift from one of the roaming tribes. The tribe of Solarius had learned how to fashion it into weaponry. For blades and their spears, they were able to use both wild and bred jackguar attacks.  After the testimonial accounts, the nomadic tribe leader had given of its defense of his people, in part by gently running a blade along his palm. The gash was spilling blood onto the white marble floor as the chief squeezed his hands, demonstrating the effectiveness of this new black blade. It was also a simultaneous blood oath of truth; the King ordered this new material to be tested and tested repeatedly. Particularly against the steel of one of the King's finest knights steel. To be tested those who wielded best, a blade forged within in the Royal City - the city built entirely of marble.  This new material continued to outperform all other steel and metal blades when put to the test. It was found that obsidian could be fashioned into a sharper edge than any steel blades of the highest quality. The only downside was that if the black blade was wielded incorrectly by the wrong man or misused, it was brittle after the first blow.  The King summoned the greatest minds and blacksmiths from throughout Medura's lands. The Obsidian King to remedy this flaw, and it is gravely unfortunate that they did.      Within weeks, the King began demanding that Medurian tribes start mining the stilled hearts of dead volcanos to amass more of this deadly weapon. Many tribes refused to submit to this order, as it was not within their ways to remain anywhere long enough to be able to rectify a mine in the arid lands that had such little crop yield for even one of the larger tribes.   It was then that the Obsidian King became obsessed with obedience and submission of his subjects to his will.   Utilizing the black blades, the King began to "sentenced to death" those who refused to change their ways at his will. They were to remain and mine, indefinitely. At first, it was a defiant individual who was ordered to be ruthlessly slaughtered. Sometimes, King himself would have a black sword in hand, the blood of hundreds of men forever staining the white marble floor before the throne room. Then it moved up to small groups where the tribe was rejecting the orders of the Obsidian King. It got to the point that whole tribes were slaughtered: Men, women, and children. Often the tribe leader in the throne room, in front of their liaison party, of those left alive, one would be deemed the tribe's new leader – as long as they would do as told. May did, out of fear or a desire for power. However, many more did not. Some fled, and many tried to escape, risking their lives to the endeavor.   The Obsidian King amassed lands, armies, and weapons. In doing so, he desecrated his people. He defiled their ways of life and the old and sacred beliefs - all for the price of obsidian.  Innocence is both a beautiful and terrible thing.