Chapter One - The Conflict (December Lore 1/2)

Chapter One - The Conflict

On the planet known as Geo lives a group of mythical foxes. These foxes are a peculiar  kind of fox whose body is made of cactus. They have needles hidden beneath their fur and can absorb water through their skin. Ven was the first born cactus fox. A cactus fox is born when a great legendary crystal known as The Desert Crystal chips due to erosion or other causes and becomes buried underground. After several years a cactus forms around the crystal growing into a fox and emerging from the ground.

For a long time Ven was lonely. She was glad however that she could always talk to the crystal by pressing her head against it and sharing her crystal’s vibration. She often wondered what could lie beyond the desert, beyond this planet. Eventually the desert crystal chipped again. This time into a much smaller shard which eventually grew into Ven’s kin. Ven would become the leader of twelve young cactus foxes.

She taught them about the desert and the various creatures living there. They wandered the sandy hills spreading their joy and light to the many inhabitants of the desert. Each day they would bring a handful of golden moon coins (the local currency) to the relic beetles who would happily drag them back into their holes.

One night while the cactus foxes slept beneath The Desert Crystal a deep bellowing sound came thundering out of the sky. Ven runs to the hill to see what caused the sound. She sees a large meteor falling from the sky. All shades of red and yellow trail behind the meteor in a blaze of fire across the night sky. It crashes into the surface releasing a massive shockwave across the desert causing the young cactus foxes to run for cover.

Ven stands firm against the shockwave. Her fur rustling around her body furiously. She grows worried. She looks at the young cactus foxes. They know what her stare means. They dare not leave so they stay put shivering beneath the crystal. Suddenly she dashes across the desert towards the meteor.

In the solar system lives a group of alchemists whose bodies are made entirely of a metal known as vexillium. These beings are called Vexel and tend to use alchemy in most parts of their culture. They are cultivators of otherworldly beings called stone plants. These stone plants take hold of the land and consume resources from beneath them. Using these resources they grow across the land and excrete vexillium as a waste product. The Vexel consume the vexillium to sustain themselves and also use it as a powerful catalyst in alchemic experiments.

A young vexel alchemist known by many as Vex has been commissioned by the council to take a small group of scouts to survey a new planet for resources and a suitable place to create a new habitat. He has taken a stone plant seed to plant there if the planet is deemed suitable. After a long journey they touch down. Their ship sinks into the sand and the hatch slowly opens revealing a dry desolate desert.

Vex bends down and rubs some of the sand between his metallic fingers. Some of the iron from the sand gets drawn up into his magnetic hand. He drops the iron and pulls a small triangular stone from his deep red cloak. It pulses and glows in his hand as he digs a shallow hole and places it into the sand.

Vex looks up at the horizon. A cactus fox is standing on a nearby sand dune. She seems defensive. Her needles slowly extend. Ven is terrified. if this Vexel plants a mountain here he could potentially consume the entire desert and harvest the crystal potentially killing the cactus foxes in the process. She cannot let this happen. In a fury of emotion Ven dashes towards Vex. He whips his cloak open revealing a dark emptiness. The light and air around him is pulled into his chest like a black hole. They clash and a huge shockwave is released blowing sand everywhere and causing a dust storm. The shockwave travels off of the planet through space knocking asteroids off course and creating dust storms on nearby moons.

Eventually the shockwave reaches the Star of the solar system. The star quickly takes notice. What is that? It thinks to itself. I thought I was alone.

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