Peek: The Fall

The legend of the Fall of the Sanctuaries is not an easy one to tell, but I think that's what makes it important.  Where to start?  Well, not at the beginning, because the legend of our creation is a different one.

Let's start at maybe the beginning of the end.

For a long time, the Sanctuaries spread, and their dwellers spread.  Most dwellers would break contact with their home Sanctuary, wanting to see the world, to shape the world.  Eventually, they learned that new Sanctuaries would form on those outskirts, where the stagnation would meet the turbulence of life.  The Sanctuaries would regulate the mana, bringing motion to the stagnation and calming the raging currents, bringing the mana to a steady flow.

Eventually, a Sanctuary arose that didn't like the cycle.  The still mana was still anathema to it, but the turbulent currents of life were too disturbing to it.  It would rather simplify the cycle and only have to bring the stagnation to motion, rather than stilling the mess of the turbulence.

But it was a clever Sanctuary, and could see the others would not follow its path.  At least not without subtle guidance.

It argued for a slow and steady advancement, instead of the more chaotic sprawl that results from dwellers leaving to live on their own.  Sanctuaries would sometimes be pulled under the stagnation, their territories stilled and life lost, so shouldn't they take their time and advance carefully?

The idea appealed to many Sanctuaries, because it could help them keep their dwellers safe.  They could even help keep the far-flung delvers safe, by simply not letting them leave and endanger themselves.

Other Sanctuaries refused the idea, saying it would hold the dwellers back.  Look at the beauty created by the First Sanctuary, the wonderful surprises that come from allowing the dwellers to be free.

The restrictive Sanctuaries would point out the pain of the loss of those who are freed and never return.  Whether they choose to stay away or are hurt and can't return, their home Sanctuary still feels those small missing pieces.

The Darkened Sanctuary seized on that hurt when it could, whispering that it would be better to not feel that pain, and the best way to avoid the pain is to avoid letting the dwellers be free.  And once that thought took root, it encouraged using that pain to teach other Sanctuaries.  It would be tragic, it argued, but some lessons are only learned through tragedy, and the other Sanctuaries would understand some day.

Here is where the legends get murky, because we kobolds were scattered.  We could hardly compare notes with each other to know exactly what happened.  But we know the Sanctuaries were meeting to discuss something.  It may have been the growing rift between the two philosophies, or maybe a threat from the stagnation, or even just a more ordinary meeting, as they would often compare the activities and achievements of their dwellers.

Whatever the stated reason for the meeting, the true reason appeared to be betrayal.

Our ancestors felt the First Sanctuary be consumed, be ripped apart and devoured.  Some went mad, some were overcome with grief, some tried to fight, some fled.  We don't know what happened after, only that those who fled are the only ones who tell the tale of that day.

Even worse, we kobolds were blamed by the surviving Sanctuaries.  They cast us out, and we look for a new home.  Some Sanctuaries pity us, but they can only give us a chance to delve, never a new home.  Some sanctuaries enslave us, demanding we labor to produce mana for them, or else produce it with our very lives.  Yet still we hope to find a true Sanctuary for our people, a true home.

I dare to hope I've actually found it.

~~ The Kobold Legend of the Fall of the Sanctuaries, as told by High-Priestess Aranya