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Welcome to Cat's Cradle

04:39, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Cat's Cradle

Once Upon A Time...

...There was a town called Karick's Bend.  Set at the bend of a river, just south of the Scol Mountains, it started as a few, mostly Human, fisherfolk.  Times were hard back then - for one thing, the nearby T'skrang were better at fishing.  But the good folk at Karick's Bend adapted, and the town became a kind of trading post.
  The T'skrang sold fish, and bought tools.
  The Trolls to the north bought fish, and sold materials.
  The Iopians, further to the north, bought materials, and sold tools.

  As the town grew, the Elven court of Wyrmwood to the East also joined in, adding different foods, and crafts, to the cycle.  When Throal traded with Iopos....they met in Karick's Bend.  Yet the town itself stayed relatively small, comfortable, growing fat and staying friends with everyone.

  Times darkened.  The Shadows spread.  Trading became less a luxury, and more a necessity, and Karick's Bend...did well.  They bought the secret Rites of Passage from Thera without having to break themselves as many did.  Where other towns who bought them early were soon ransacked by desperate neighbors... Karick's Bend's neighbors didn't care.  The Trolls had their pride, and scorned the Theran Rites.  The Queen of the Elves declared they had a better way.  And Iopos had their own wealth.  Oh, yes, they sent some Ork Raiders in search of slaves and goods, but the people of Karick's Bend took the scorchers in, and promised them safety where Iopos promised slavery.  And the T'skrang...well, they were going to sleep.

  The Kaer was built, and kept its name.  Indeed, it kept its river, diverting it at the very bend it was named for, to run underground and, carefully Warded, through the Kaer.
  At the last minute, many Elves had second thoughts, and came seeking refuge.  The good people of Karick's Bend - now a mix of Races already - welcomed them, and they brought many gifts.  Karick's Bend closed its doors.  And the Scourge... well, it passed.  There were a few shaky moments - times when Something was pounding at the gates, or scrabbling about the walls - but the Wards held.  The Doors held.  People may have individual quarrels here and there, but the Kaer started with a solid supply and a solid plan, and no one came in with nothing to offer.  And after a while, it came time to look outside; and from there, to open the Doors, and rebuild...outside.

  Rebuilding the actual township is still a work in progress, but it's going along nicely.  Quite frankly, it's hard to imagine life could be very much better.

  There's only one thing that might be considered an issue, and really, it's more of a historical note than anything to fret about; the Adepts are gone.  Purely as a matter of attrition, the closed life of the Kaer was hard on their kind.  Apparently, every Discipline worked on a kind of apprenticing scheme.  Unlike honest professions, however, the magical ones evidently couldn't just choose their apprentices.  One had to be born at the right time, be found by the Master, and be trained as well as could be before the Master died...and however strong the new Master was, well, that was the best the next batch of Apprentices could hope for.  Assuming there was even a `batch'.  So over the years, first one Discipline, and then another, faded away, lost to the annals of memory.  The last to go was the Elven Troubadour, Lytheria, more than a hundred years ago.

  They're not forgotten, of course!
Stout Warriors, who could glide upon the air.
Archers who could pin a bullseye from across the Kaer.
Nethermancers, dark and grim; Illusionists, full of whim.
Stalkers, hunting Horrors in their very lair.
The Smiths of Old, with armor none could ever pierce.
Masters of Beasts both tame and fierce.
Elementalists, Nature's guide; wizened Wizards, full of pride.
Raiders, strong and deadly, who engaged in no commerce.
The Swordmasters, glittering blades flashing!
The Cavalry, steeds stampeding and smashing.
Thieves against whom no door locked.
The Troubadours, whose songs and poems no one mocked...  the rhyme, although clearly written after the passing of the last Troubadour, remains popular.  They live on in story books, like Thystonius and the Troubled Troubadour.  Children's games, like Old Blind Thief, or Elemental Stones.  They're remembered in song, and Swordman's Grace remains a popular dance.

  ...But they're not needed.  Karick's Bend does just fine.  Buildings are going up, and there's talk of making contact again with their ancient neighbors - assuming any of them survived the Scourge - and starting up old trade routes again.  Or new trade routes.

And that's when the strangers ride in...