Post by Just Richard on Jan 31, 2011 18:08:23 GMT -8
((OOC: This is the beginning of a novel that Mat is writing for those who are interested. Mat might show people this IC. Otherwise, enjoy OOC!))
Why did it happen?
The Rift began with a spark in the sky. We thought it a natural phenomenon of our atmosphere: a reaction of certain gases, or an aberrant bit of solar radiation passing through (that sparked heavy amounts of worry), perhaps even the passing of a comet that slipped through our detection field.
We were wrong.
The Rift grew increasingly wider and wider, eventually becoming a strip of the sky across the entire globe. We knew it was beyond our realm of thought because as the sun passed by it, night fell and then resumed as it moved beyond the ring. It was as if it was something covering our world. Satellites confirmed this when pictures showed our planet cut in half. The center of the rift was a myriad of blue and green pulsating lights. At night things were worse, seeing the pulsating lights caused a reaction in some people. They went mad. Violence ran rampant across entire cities. We thought that in the day the frenzy would end. Again, our suspicions were dashed as the violence was sustained. The military decided that quarantine was the best remedy for the outbreaks and walled off the cities. Death was eventually prescribed as the default remedy.
Eventually the Rift stopped growing but not without extracting severe punishment upon our world. The planet was severed. Cut in two by the Rift. Furthermore, one half of the world was covered in the darkness and pulsating lights. The brightest being the steady bright speck in the center of the sky. We believed it was a moon or some other planet. Only a few knew of the truth. Some of the frenzied people had lucid moments where they spoke of creatures beyond imagination sending them forth from the brightest spot to spread chaos and panic before their coming; shortly after, these victims would simply stop living.
Years passed and society fell backwards with it. The larger cities turned to medieval states of government. All the other cities slipped into decay and destruction by the Frenzied, and the smaller towns turned to villages across the countries. Eventually we learned that on the other side of the planet the Rift had stopped completely. So our world was split completely. The Lighter Side and the Darker Side became the norm names given to our two halves. After decades, the Lighter Side stopped communications with the Darker Side and both were forgotten as ever being one planet.
I was not even a concept in my parents mind when the Rift started. When I was born the split had already been made and communications forgotten between the two sides. The Rift was normal for me. The darkness a simple fact of life. I was not one of the ones with the Frenzy born innately in me, and so I was given the freedom to grow and help around the village I lived in.
Then it happened and life changed forever.
Prologue
Why did it happen?
The Rift began with a spark in the sky. We thought it a natural phenomenon of our atmosphere: a reaction of certain gases, or an aberrant bit of solar radiation passing through (that sparked heavy amounts of worry), perhaps even the passing of a comet that slipped through our detection field.
We were wrong.
The Rift grew increasingly wider and wider, eventually becoming a strip of the sky across the entire globe. We knew it was beyond our realm of thought because as the sun passed by it, night fell and then resumed as it moved beyond the ring. It was as if it was something covering our world. Satellites confirmed this when pictures showed our planet cut in half. The center of the rift was a myriad of blue and green pulsating lights. At night things were worse, seeing the pulsating lights caused a reaction in some people. They went mad. Violence ran rampant across entire cities. We thought that in the day the frenzy would end. Again, our suspicions were dashed as the violence was sustained. The military decided that quarantine was the best remedy for the outbreaks and walled off the cities. Death was eventually prescribed as the default remedy.
Eventually the Rift stopped growing but not without extracting severe punishment upon our world. The planet was severed. Cut in two by the Rift. Furthermore, one half of the world was covered in the darkness and pulsating lights. The brightest being the steady bright speck in the center of the sky. We believed it was a moon or some other planet. Only a few knew of the truth. Some of the frenzied people had lucid moments where they spoke of creatures beyond imagination sending them forth from the brightest spot to spread chaos and panic before their coming; shortly after, these victims would simply stop living.
Years passed and society fell backwards with it. The larger cities turned to medieval states of government. All the other cities slipped into decay and destruction by the Frenzied, and the smaller towns turned to villages across the countries. Eventually we learned that on the other side of the planet the Rift had stopped completely. So our world was split completely. The Lighter Side and the Darker Side became the norm names given to our two halves. After decades, the Lighter Side stopped communications with the Darker Side and both were forgotten as ever being one planet.
I was not even a concept in my parents mind when the Rift started. When I was born the split had already been made and communications forgotten between the two sides. The Rift was normal for me. The darkness a simple fact of life. I was not one of the ones with the Frenzy born innately in me, and so I was given the freedom to grow and help around the village I lived in.
Then it happened and life changed forever.