Chapter 91: Dungeons and the Five Great Calamities Part 2
At sea, the fleeing Rhoynar and Guardians took only 1 day to leave Asshai's reach. And at that moment some men finally began to miraculously recover from the disease. But many were still dying and many others began to get sick. It was then that everyone on board realized that the dead always carried some item brought from the dungeons. In fear of death and with such information spreading among all the other ships, several items were thrown to the bottom of the sea and only then did the people recover.
Some people were so terrified that they got rid of everything that belonged to Asshai and Stygai from clothes and weapons to even gold and jewels. Others still took the gold away, but it was after that day that no one would easily receive the gold from the Shadowlands anymore. This is how the words "cursed gold" spread throughout the world through them. Still fearing the worst, the surviving Rhoynar and Guardians made a pact to destroy all items that were taken back to their land. Even though wasn't sure if they were dangerous or not.
This oath among the survivors gave rise to one of the greatest wars among their own people. The Cursed Relic War lasted nearly 40 years, ending with over 90% of the relics and magical artifacts brought from Asshai and Stygai destroyed, and thousands of Rhoynar killed. The Cursed Relic War also caused several other conflicts with other groups of humans who purchased the items and refused to return or destroy them.
Back in Asshai, a week after the small group of shadowmen entered the dungeon, the pale white mist that spread throughout the shadowland finally began to fade, as did the symptoms of the devastating Plague. Half a day later only half of the men who entered the dungeon came out alive. It was never said what item or creature within the dungeon caused such a calamity.
This group left Asshai and then they returned to live in the shadowlands without ever returning to Asshai or Stygai. While the Rhoynar and Immune Guardians called themselves Children of Asshai. They came to call Asshai their home and styled themselves Asshai'i. It was only a year later that both the shadowmen and the Asshai'i realized that animals brought from outside Asshai, as well as children, were still dying. Everyone was terrified thinking the plague had returned. But then they discovered that the remnants of the Shadow Plague only affected children and animals.
The Asshai'i's solution was to move to islands around Asshai to have their children and raise animals, and would only return to Asshai when the children were adults. The Priests of the temples created a sacred place where pregnant women and children could stay until they were adults, while they were trained and indoctrinated to serve the temples and spread the name of their Gods to the world.
The shadowmen were the worst off, without the magic of the gods or the ships of the Rhoynar they began to go deeper and deeper into the caves where they hid from the shadow beasts, until after two years they found a set of caves that were so deep that the disease no longer affected fetuses and children. Not only that, but the soil of the depths was not affected by the effect of the ghost grass and specific animals and plants could live here. They named those caves sanctuary and that place became their new home.
The Asshai'i, who now believed themselves to be the chosen ones, after surviving the two calamities, decided to once again continue exploring the dungeons of the two cities without fearing these dangers. Alongside the priests and priests of the temples, they returned to explore, but it was not long before something terrible happened again. After the "Calamity of the Demons", the "Calamity of the Shadow Plague", the third Calamity was named "Iahssa the Devourer of Souls".
A terrible and gigantic dragon made of shadows and bones. When it first appeared, Iahssa devastated both cities in a short span of just 3 days. It came and went quickly. The reason it appeared and left so quickly was because it was satisfied after devouring the souls of 1/4 of the people of Asshai and 1/5 of the people of Stigay. Its greatest attack and also the reason for its name: The powerful "Reverse Dragon Breath" was capable of taking the souls from the bodies of all people within its breath range. It was also immortal, an unstoppable calamity. After feeding, it would fly and hide at the top of the Mountains of Shadows and return again and again every 100 years to devour more souls.
At first, the people tried to leave or hide in the depths of the towers, but the creature would not leave until it was satisfied, and they feared that it would go towards the islands in the surroundings where the children and women were. The Asshai'i and the temples made a deal, the elders offered themselves as sacrifices so that the younger ones would survive, something considered cruel by many, but for the Asshai'i it was just the natural cycle. This cruel method of sacrifice was used until the emergence of the first Shadowmancers, who finally began to fight against the terrible dragon.
This fight continues to this day and they expel Iahssa every 100 years. After Iahssa the Devourer of Souls, the people of Asshai and Stygai got together and decided to move all the inhabitants of Stygai to Asshai, and to change the focus of the expeditions to the Dungeons of Stygai. That way, the people would have a better chance of preparing themselves in case something bad happened.
Much time passed, the expeditions to the Dungeons in Stygai continued, and despite some problems from time to time, the Asshai'i people always managed to survive, some Rhoynar merchants returned, making trade in the cities flourish. Almost making everyone forget about the 3 great calamities.
During this period of peace, the people of Asshai recognized a certain man as their leader and their King, being a descendant of the Rhoynar and Guardian lineage, he also led the vanguard of knowledge about the magic of the Shadowmancers and was also the most powerful in this profession, even the temples supported and respected his figure. Seeking more knowledge, as well as glory for his people, he personally led his men to the central tower that stood out most in the city of Stygai.
Fearless, courageous and honorable, the King led his men to conquer what would be called the most difficult dungeon in the entire city. But after entering it, he and his men were never seen again. Not only them, but all the other explorers and adventurers who were in Stygai disappeared as well. Merchants and other people who were in the city were also never seen again. The sun that had previously illuminated the city with a little light during the day stopped reaching the black towers and energizing the city. Making everything even darker. The sudden silence of Stygai and the frightening news of the disappearance of all the inhabitants frightened all the Asshai'i.
Everyone who went to the city looking for the missing began to disappear as well, never leaving the city again. As a result, observers and explorers of Dungeons soon discovered that it was a new Calamity and in this new Calamity the only time where a little light reached the city's skies was from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. During this short interval, a group of warriors, aspiring mages and Shadowmancers went to the place and tried to discover clues about the new calamity that covered the entire city. There were only three survivors who left the city before the 1-hour time limit ended. Each of them wrote a different sentence in the report:
"A terrible cold covered our bodies, as if something was slowly sucking our heat and our life, I began to tire quickly and could barely breathe, as if I had been training with the sword for several hours."
"Creatures covered in shadows chased us, they jumped between the rooftops like agile cats, their claws cut a man in half and our weapons could not hurt them."
"One of the dark creatures injured my friend, my magic could barely distract them for a few seconds, I put him on my back and ran. When I noticed a spirit that looked like my injured friend started following me, he had the strength of a poltergeist that we saw in other dungeons. He, he... He had just died on my back, how did he become such a powerful spirit in such a short time? When I got scared, his body that I was still carrying started moving again and his corpse had turned into an undead that tried to bite me, I threw him to the ground and ran. I was chased by my friend's corpse and his soul, that was the most terrible thing that had ever happened to me."
After that, Stygai was completely abandoned and marked as the Corpse City, its calamity was called the Calamity of Souls, and no one ever went there again. With most of the Asshai Dungeons explored, everyone thought that the Calamities were over. When it had been 200 years since the beginning of the Calamity of Souls, the King who everyone thought was dead returned from Stygai. He told everyone that he only survived because his body was special and he had obtained great power in the Dungeon.
People began to call him the Eternal King, he shared parts of his knowledge obtained in the Dungeon with the people of Asshai and this was the birth of the first Necromancers. These men used their newly acquired knowledge and began to study their new magic in their towers, while the most powerful began to go to Stygai again.
At the same time, the first Shadow Masters emerged, bringing even more mysticism to the Shadowlands, and accompanied by many Blood Mages, many more began to come to Asshai and call it home. The caravans of the descendants of the Shadow Men who fled through the mountains at the end of the Second Calamity returned, bringing with them oriental men who were excellent swordsmen and were called natives of Yi Ti.
Trading ships arriving from the sea, coming from various regions, also filled the ports of Asshai once again. At this time, all the new inhabitants of the city witnessed the attack of the Soul Eater again. The Necromancers, Shadow Mages, and Blood Mages of the city joined forces to try to put an end to the dragon once and for all, only to fail. This caused the death of a famous Shadow Mancer and one of the disciples of the Eternal King who was already a powerful Necromancer.
Having confirmed their deaths, a group of adventurers decided to plunder their towers, since all their riches were now without owners. It was then that the Fifth and final Calamity was unleashed upon Asshai. From the tower of the necromancer, a disciple of the Eternal King, a seemingly endless army emerged, and the group of adventurers who entered it were never seen again.
Undead of all kinds marched through Asshai, and the entire city fought to exterminate the dead for almost a month of fighting. Among them, the death knights, dullahans, skeleton mages, and liches were the worst. But the Necromancers, Priests, Blood Mages, and Shadowmancers took care of the more troublesome dead, and Yi Ti's swordsmen, along with many adventurers, easily eliminated the common dead. This was the Calamity with the fewest victims, but its aftermath remains to this day.
Every year, it was necessary to send a huge group of apprentices to exterminate the dead that kept appearing inside the Necromancer's Tower. Due to the strength of the army, which if left alone could start another calamity at any moment, its former owner was called the King of the Dead, and his Calamity is known to this day as the Calamity of the Dead. Serving as proof to everyone that even a destroyed Dungeon could become an active Dungeon again in the hands of a Master of the 3 professions and his terrible experiments...
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