The Children of the Starless Night

Author note:

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This article is lacking my personal artworks as I were not able to finish them for the WA summercamp 2024 in time. If you enjoyed reading about the CotsN, please come back later or subscribe to not miss any future updates and artworks!

At the current time of Saigon and the events around the BlackBestia-HuntingGuild, the reputation of the CotsN is terrible. Nonetheless, there is a lot to look into and a lot to understand about these people, who once were faithful, honorable and integer individuals who praised the three main gods of the world and submitted their whole lives to them. How did we go from a civilization of high elves, with advanced life standards, plenty of scientific approaches and a culture of individual transcendence - to a community of individuals deprived of everything that is good about life - sunken in and black-inked eyeballs, pale skin, boney appearances and a heart so heavily fueled by rage and obsession? Well, one might wish the answer would be complicated to make it appear as if there would not have been any chance to help them, in the moment of their greatest desperation and misery. But, sadly, it is not. The mere ego of mankind and the decision to deny help to make use of one's suffering might have contributed to the rise of one of the most dangerous cultlike religions that walked Saigon in all of its history.

The day of their creation:

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The knowledge of how the situation came to be is rated as - unknown to anybod The majority of people who are alive now at the COTSN are considered maniacs, to put it lightly. Their own recollection of the events is blured and distorted by the trauma and eons of despair, radicalisation and powerhungry individuals, trying to benefit off a folk being stuck in a circle of pain about the betrayel they went through. If you happen to reach the "cathedral of the first child", you might find collected wisdom about the time prior to the anhiliation of the majority of Saigons people.

Aistirecam approches Dejukar in search of Help to form an Alliance

Aistirecam approaches Dejukar after they fell in disgrace with other big kingdoms such as Camulada and Peara.

Dejukar knows about Aistírecams missbehaviours and does not instandly agree to help them.

Aistírecam is known to be a brawler and a conquering kingdom that oftentimes uses opportunities to its advantage, regardless of the consequences.

AIS starts to manipulate DEJ.

King Harvradan knew that the prince of DEJ had feelings for his daughter, which he despised for her sheer existence. So throwing her in the pit, as a sort of trading object, came to him naturally.

Queen Velia, mother of Prince Aval, knew about the feelings her son had and agreed to negotiate the circumstances with AIS.

After the loss of her husband and Avals brother Xerom, Queen Velia felt as if she had no chance other than to try and help bring Princess Meri to DEJ. Knowing of the abusive behavior of her father, and the feelings her son had for her since their very first meeting over a decade ago.

Start of the Deal/Downfall.

In exchange for Meri, AIS resources but no manpower.

Camulada and other kingdoms approached DEJ as a result of this decision.

They made no secret about their dislike of DEJ helping AIS, and as a result of this the connection between the kingdoms did not break but became sour for the first time.

DEJ granted more and more resources to keep Meri.

As a result of the manipulation, Queen Velia granted AIS more and more things, as their king threatened to take Meri back to his homeland, if DEJ would not obey his "wishes". The atmosphere between the alliance kingdoms and among the people of DEJ became worse, and DEJ started to become more and more isolated.

Silent treatment and isolation followed; AIS started to become more hositle towards its neighbour kingdoms.

On different occasions, all the ruling parties of Saigon's Kingdoms came together to negotiate different matters, but Queen Velia noticed that her voice was not to be heard anymore, in any matter of speaking. Even worse, with AIS King starting to become hostile and brawling against the other nations, her attempt to ease the situation resulted in other people blaming her for the "comfortable position" AIS was in at the time given.

AIS asks Peara for a specific, extremly energetic kind of of relict, but Peara denies the request.

Assuming - but boldly claiming that he knew it - that Peara was in possession of said relict, AIS made a discrete offer during a visit to the kingdom, yet the request got denied. And sadly, apparently, in a very unfriendly manner. Referring to previous negative interactions with AIS, Peara not only denied the possession of the relict, but also said that even if they did have it, AIS would be the last one to get their hands on it.

AIS declared war against Peara and started to take its neighboring kingdoms' hostages.

From this point on, many people tried to bring the king of AIS to fall, or to change his mind. But the king of AIS managed to keep kingdom Revi and kingdom Otaka hostage by kidnapping dozens over dozens of people from there, in what appeared to be an "over-night-mission". Planned for a long time, executed with violence that searches for one of its kind to this day.

The Alliance of the North entered the conflict.

After Peara tried its best to solve the conflict, but failed, it aquired the help of other nations such as Camulada. Reason being, other kingdoms did not intervene, because of AIS clear statement, that every other intervention will cause the sudden death of many of its hostages, as well as the destruction already taken over villages in Otaka and Revi. Camulada, Gumo-Umin and Altiyuu stepped up, and started a direct confrontration, bringing the conflict to AIS.

The apperance of "Hat Neta".

What nobody had seen coming was the joker that King Harvradan had up his sleeve. The arrival of "Hat Neta" - a weaver that should never have existed in the first place, turned the table in a way that startled all nations from north to south. "Hat Neta", was the first necromancer to walk Saigon's surface in as long as history had been tracked back.

Era of Aistírecam

King Harvradan used his weapons in full force, pushing back the alliance that tried to defeat him at his borders, with full force. Hat Neta caused so many deaths, bringing back the comrades of the soldiers standing in front of him, only to let them die by the swords of those who once were their friends. No kingdom was able to stand up to the sheer violence that AIS threw into their faces. Only Potora'No Dhum, a neighboring kingdom that had not intervened before, was able to stand a chance due to their impregnable fortresses.

Princess Meri and Prince Hat Neta

After gaining knowledge about the person who entered the battlefield and caused so many deaths, Princess Mari fell into a deep state of distress. Learning who Hat Neta was, Prince Aval could not hide his desperation about the fact that Meri never once told him a word about her brother. He had to learn that Meri had several siblings, but her father used them for cruel experiments, while she had to play the innocent fawn and make the story of "the king who only was blessed with a single daughter" believable. Knowing the nature of her father, Aval believed that King Harvradan had threatened his own daughter with the deaths of her siblings, would a single word ever slip over her lips. Not only that, but learning that all the resources AIS had gotten over the years, were used to create a powerful drug that enhanced the weavers potential, by making their souls more permeable, was also devastating to Queen Velia.

The ongoing slaughter

With all the forces they could bring up, the alliance - and later also previously uninvolved kingdoms - tried to push back AIS, yet they could not defeat the cruel king and his abomination of a weaver.

Clutching for the last Straw.

Velia, by now drowning in the sorrow of her actions and their consequences, reaches for a last straw. Months prior, she had already started to sow the rumors, that the legendary relict, the one King Harvradan started this war for, had arrived in her kingdom. She started to taunt the king of AIS over several months, by sending people out claiming that the rumors were true. But it would not work until the very day, the right hand of the King, his personal counselor, Jerno confirmed the rumors to be true. Jerno had visited Queen Velia in desperate need of help to bring down his very own king. Together, they plotted the downfall of AIS and after several confrontations king Harvradan finally took the bait.

AIS turned its face towards DEJ

King Harvradan withdrew his troops from his borders that he had managed to extend into the lands of the other kingdoms around him, yet made sure to leave behind enough to secure his position. Since Hat Neta was unable to control the Fallen outside his eyesight, he had no chance to send Hat and a fair amount of Fallen towards Dejukar, crossing the sea and landing directly on their coast.

Facing the greater Evil

Queen Velia had planned for the arrival of Harvradans troops, yet she could not have prepared her soldiers in any way for what was about to come. While crossing the sea, Harvradan had ensured to collect all of his machines, to enhance the magical potential of Hat Neta, force-feeding him with human sacrifices and the drug he managed to create through alchemist experiments. When Hat set a foot on the sandy shores of DEJ, it felt as if the world had stopped turning. He rose his hand, and with it, dozens over dozens of troops that had found their end here at the cost of Dejukar eons ago - as well as a massive group coming from the sea, rose their swords and axes towards the soldiers of Dejukar. The kingdom of the eastern sea faced great losses on this day.

Forsaken Help

Instead of coming to help DEJ, the alliance of northern Saigon, had sent out ships to follow the troops of AIS, while they headed towards DEJ. At the very moment, when Queen Velias troops were about to be terminated, she found a glimmer of hope seeing her allies landing on her shores. Hundreds of small ships landed, from left to right. Could it really be? Had they finally taken down King Harvradan and now come to rescue her and her people? Whatever she had once agreed to with the kings of the other kingdoms - she was not prepared for what was about to happen. Her dear soldiers, holding out against the waves of the undead, fled towards the ships, but they should never reach them. Weavers, wearing all colors of banners, rose their arms, performing what should turn out to be a gigantic bending spell. The soldiers of DEJ clashed against the barrier, their faces distorted by despair when the realization hit. Nobody came to rescue them; on the contrary, they had decided to sacrifice them.

Overfed Necromancer

After days and weeks of his madness, Hat Neta had pushed the troops back towards the inland. His army of Fallen scratching at the gates and walls of Za'Thryme the capital of Dejukar. Surrounded by the magical machines close by, Hat Neta became a living conductor for what would be the largest amount of AO energy a single individual had ever had to endure at once. Entirely disconnected from his senses by the drugs, Hat rampaged, rather a wild creature driven mad, than the human that he had been before. The surrounding land decayed under his floating feet, with the connection between him and the energy system of the AO being so intensified.

Crystalline Judgement

It was at this very moment that the stone of the walls protecting Queen Velia and her remaining people, crumbled. When hundreds upon hundreds of Fallen stormed into the castle. When the queen, her son and his wife, stood beside each other, their hearts were in vain, praying to the gods of sun, moon and stars, with all their despair and helplessness. When Hat Neta, crossed the wall, his gaze, as far away as he had been, fell onto Meri. It was this exact moment when the planet shattered. When the AO sucked in all of his energy, ending hundreds of thousands of lives once, suddenly exploding his energy again...piercing his own surface crust with energy - energy that should pierce through Hat Neta ended his existence at once. The lucky shot also unleashed all the energy that had been stored in and around Hat's body. A wave of darkness unleashed, devouring every glimpse of light.

Shelter & Crystal plaque

The weavers of the queen could hold their protective barrier for a small amount of time, enough to block the first blast. The queen and her people died at the first heartbeat after the explosion, yet...her people had sought shelter in the catacombs below the castle. The aftermath of the explosion - the crystal plaque, would keep the people below the surface for multiple decades, many surviving only on the most inhuman things possible. Many fell ill from the effects of the Halorbitan that now filled their lungs and minds. A kingdom, once filled with life, people, dreams and fates, had fallen.

Creation of the Children of the Starless Night

After decades of hiding, the emerging people that once were the brave folks of Dejukar, emerged back to the surface. Finding their homelands destroyed, spiked with crystal shards and rotten by the aftereffects of Hat Netans weaver magic, nothing made sense anymore. Caught in the catacombs below the castle, pent-up like animals and confronted to make decisions far from humanity, many of the people had lost their minds, making up stories. In the distorted version of their "hope", and to give all the events a sense, someone, or something had taken over Hats body, and freed the darkness from within, causing him to die with all of his Fallen ones. In the midst of this darkness, the "one" had granted them a sign of hope, by raising the crystal monuments and idols of his reign. Being close to these crystals, would make you feel less pained, less hungry, and you could hear a heartbeat from within the crystal structures. When the people arrived at the surface, in the middle of a night, and no stars would be seen - all while there was no cloud covering the sky - they fell onto their knees, screaming praises towards the sky, as the true darkness would never be distorted by the flickering, deceitful light of a star or a moon. The Children of the Starless Night, had been born.

The path to real transcendence:

Over the time, the cult not only became enhacingly radical in their belives, but also their rituals became crueler. After emerging from the catacombs, in which not only the daily fight for survival decided about your current situation, but also weavers becoming corrupted from the Halorbits piercing through the ground, shaped the evolution of the people. Darkness became the single target of their hailing and their prayers, and priests forced the people to live by night, and sleep by day. One might think that after you have lived in the catacomps for decaded, deprived of light, sun and fresh air, you might be hungry for said things. But most of the old people were already deseased at this point and the younger ones, grew up in darkness, surrounded by whispering voices of prayers and the taste or iron on their tounge.

The CotSN today:

The religious folk lives, now approximately 800 years later, isolated and disdained on the island of Dejukar. Search missions and allegedly rescue operations were enforced, about 750 to 780 years after AO-Deton and their creation. Sadly, no matter if the approaching cultures came in peace and with the honest wish to look for them and help, or to look for resources to rebuild their very own kingdoms - Dejukar had nothing but spite and aggression to offer. The people of Dejukar, one of the very few species who had no chance to flee from the place of events, and approach the Halorbitans after they "cooled down and crystallized", emerged into a species of immensely powerful and skilled weavers. Fed the energy of the AO from early on, their potential is unmatched - even though most kingdoms don't want to acknowledge that. Yet, they still try their best to isolate Dejukar and ensure that the CotsN do not settle in any land that provides them with more resources like food, fresh water, shelter and everything else a humanoid body would need to thrive. For the very moment, they are stuck on a plateau because of the dreadful conditions their bodies are in. Many fear the day, when Dejukar gains back their strength, may it be through politics, cultural influence..or sheer physical dominance.

Apperance:

The CotsN are inking their bodies black, some of them going to the extend of not leaving a single flesh-coloured place left.
Their clothings are oftentimes the high elve stylized fabrics that the Dejukar had used prior to AO-Deton.-But in order to hail their new god and not offend the creed they imagined this being to has layed upon them, they dye every fabric regardless of its use, pitch black. Only the idols, anything that has a crystaline structure, in the colours of purple-blueish hues, are allowed to remain as they are.

Culture

There are two eras that you need to know about to understand the COTSN, as they have changed over the time. With the day of their creation - the first day of AO-Deton - emerged a feeling of being saved and seen by the unknown god of the dark sky. 'And'Hakara' became their new idol, and regardless of the religion they prayed to before, there is nothing left of it, aside from destroyed monuments and disgraced temples.
With the aggressive behavior, the Dejukar displayed in the beginning towards outsiders trying to enter their kingdom, they gained not only a bad reputation. The other three big religions also deemed their sole existence a sacrilege. With people from inside the CotsN preventing any good connection from growing and the people from the outside gaining a very distinct and dark image of the Dejukars, there was no room to plant a seed of cooperation and alliance.

Public Agenda

Known to only those who are living at Dejukar - and some whispered voices in the shadows - the CotsN are preparing for the arrival of their idol. The faceless one who unleashed the darkness and saved them from their cruel fate.
Because the people of Saigon have no knowledge about what the "AO-Deton" event was or what exactly happened to the world, there is plenty of room for misunderstandings, accusations and hatred. Oftentimes, you can hear people arguing at a random pub, in a random kingdom, that the "black faces" and their worship of some otherworldly god might be the reason for those crystalline constructs everywhere - all while the people of Dejukar are so isolated and distorted in their perception of the world, that they have no idea about how common these crystals are now, and that the entire world changed.

Assets

If one searched for an 'asset' in this culture, the most prominent factor would surely be their highly skilled weavers. Some scholars in today's day and age are convinced, that these individuals are so powerful, that they deem them a real thread to any society, may they regain their power and their ability to enter the new world.

Founding Date

Inoffcially with the day of AO-Deton - officially 750~ish years after AO-Deton

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Demonym

Children