Old Ethos Lore

The Chronicles of Ethos (Collected by Rostam)

THE RISE

In their settlement far, far to the north of the rest of civilization, the citizens of Ethos struggled to build their new home. Surrounded by nothing but a barren and inhospitable snowscape and many wild animals crazed with hunger the Republic of Ethos began to thrive.

After many longs days and nights out in the cold, the people of Ethos finally errected their Bastion. This Bastion would become a beacon of hope for the many people that would cme to live here.

Once the Bastion was built the citizens of Ethos met there to discuss the most important thing to them. Their Senate.

After many, many days, arguements and discussions they managed to hammer out how the senate would work….AND SO THE ELECTIONS BEGAN!!

Many people tried to become candidates for the senatorial race but in the end there were only 7 front runners, their names will all live for forever in the History of Ethos:

Hefeisten
Ninja
Valuria
Mykael
Tiras
Thornwall
Caper

These seven people were by far the most popular and also they all seemed intelligent. When these seven candidates were selected the voting began.

For three days the elections ran, with the candidates giving fiery and passionate speeches, some favors being suspected, and many a drunken brawl starting over a disagreement in which five candidates were the most suitable to be senators.

As the dawn erupted from the tides of the ocean to the east on the morning of the fourth day it had all been decided.

The candidates that had been elected to power were:

Valuria – heroic diplomat of the Dark Kingdom Confrontation
Ninja – a respected fellow with a cowboy hat
Tiras – a strumpet
Thornwall – a steadfast and solid yet prickly fellow
Caper – well known and liked, our provider of urns

and so began th process of establishing the laws by which the Republic would run… but in the eyes of some the senate was there to be used for their own enrichment…..

THE TYRANT

For awhile the senate moved along peacefully and no ill intentions could be seen in any of the senators, bringing everyone to believe that the decision to elect them was the correct one.

However, there were a few malcontents, as there are everywhere. One of the most vocal was Hefeisten. He preached to all that would listen about the corruptness in Senator Tiras and how she had used her feminine wiles to convince many voter. Sadly, since Hefeisten was one of the overlooked candidates, he was mainly ignored.

However as time passed and Senator Tiras’s proposals and demands became ever more personal, what had been obvious to Hefesten from the beginning was soon becoming obvious to all those around him.

Finally, one day Senator Tiras lashed out at the othe Senators, demanding that they center their debates around when an were she could talk and what she wanted to talk about.

As all the Senators told Tiras she was out of line she brought out her final threat. Tiras had a bastion squirrelled away, and her soldiers were presently occupying the Republic. Under the threat that this new bastion and the occupying placed upon Ethos, the senate obeyed her demands.

But, just as the Republic seemed it would topple permantently into destruction a group of heroes emerged…

These people were well known, one having nearly sent their people into a war before, another having been a spiritual guide, one a soldier of heaven and the fourth a goat herdsman.

As the heroes strode forth into the midst of Tyrant Tiras’s forces they were seen to leave all the fighting to the Soldier of Heaven and the Goat Herdsman, the two who were most obviously fighters of great reknown.

As the quartet broke into the senate building, the two fighters remained behind to guard their companions backs as they travelld into the Tyrants lair.

The failed diplomat acted only as a guide for his once spiritual leader, as he was quite familiar with the layout of the building.

Upon reaching the Tyrant, and seeing how far she had fallen,the companions simply looked on in silence.

“So…I see not all the poeple of Ethos are without the ability to defend themselves” the Tyrant spat out.

“We are of the people” the once prophet replied” and be represent their collective will to be free of you, and so you are banished”

and then a strange thing happened, for though the once prophet had been forsaken by his godess, she must have seen the Tyrant as a true abomination, for Aizra answered the once prophets call for the last time.

As a wind screeched and howled and theshadows darkened in the room a shriek pierced the air, and when all was calm, the Tyrant had vanished.

Upon walking out into the street, the diplomat and the prophet saw thir friends covered in gore and blood, but none of it was theirs, which was obvious once you took in the dozens of slain foes around them.

Though all was right again in the republic there was a void that could not be filled in the senate and until that happened none of the friends could rest in peace…..

However, from across the street in an alley a figure emerged, tall and brawny, with many gleeming tools about him.

“I have come for my rightful place, that which was denied me by the trickery of the Tyrant” spoke the figure.

“and so you shall have your place Hefeisten, smith of all Ethos” the diplomat declared, having for once used the right choice in words…

The Slumber

After the Tyrant was cast down the Republic returned to its peaceful state of being. The damage to the Senate building was repaired, the building made even more beautiful because of the peoples new appreciation for the Senate. Also anew hall was built on the mountains above the senate. The Hall of Paragons. The Paragons were the new Panthenon emerging in Ethos, a Panthenon not of Gods but of Citizens worth emulating.

After the new constructs were built and roads connected them to everywhere else, the people returned to their normal lives.

A few weeks later, with the bakers baking, the smiths smithing and the farmers farming as they usually did, people began to fall over suddenly. When people went over to investigate they found that they had fallen asleep and could not wake up.

After a few hours the people that had gone near the Sleepers, began to succumb to an overwhelming urge to slumber.

By the end of the week panic had set in. Where was everyone? Why were the poeple that could be found impossible to wake up? and why did people that tried to help fall asleep too? it made the good natured people (aka all of Ethos) very suceptible to this affliction.

As the Diplomat looked around himself, all he could see were slumbering citizens. He walked through the town, not immune to the disease just cold hearted enough to be able to avoid trying to help the others, but not cold hearted enough to avoid the misery he felt at being alone.

As he wandered, the Diplomat met others that had not succumb to sleep. The Goatherder was one of these people, since he was isolated on his most of the time with his herd. They spent their time mourning their lost friends and hoping for them to get better.

After a few more weeks the Diplomat met someone else. The Diplomat had never seen him before, though this was not unexpected as Ethos was well popluated.

“Who are you, who can help the Slumbering without falling ill yourself?” the Diplomat demanded, as the person was indeed halong those who slept.

“I am Yith” replied the stranger.

“Well Yith, i am grateful to you, for helping those who i could not” the Diplomat said, being noticbly more diplomatic than he ever had been before.

“Well we should get around to rebuilding this place” Yith suggests as he gestures to the capitol of Ethos.

As Yith led the Diplomat and many others through the slumber, they ammassed huge amounts of resources, enough to remake the entire capitol into a new and beatiful vision of greatness…

As the citizens of Ethos found more people that had not fallen victim to The Slumber they began to congregate on the shore south of where their last town had been located. During The Slumber they had had ranged far and wide trying to find others that had been passed over during the madness and chaos, and though their numbers were nowhere near as large as they had been they were enough.

And so, with the last citizens of Ethos all gathered together, the people of Ethos did what they knew how to to the best, build a civilization from nothing.

With the idea and hope of a New Capitol for Ethos the citizens set themselves to the idea of working for days, weeks and months to achieve their goal. And work they did, toiling in the forests to cut down lumber, dodging wild animals in the mountains so they could quary stone and sitting for hour at a time to try and turn the useless raw materials into something that a dream could be built with.

As the months went by something resembling a town began to emerge. On the mountain face, the most westerly edge of the settlement, there rose a mighty keep, which would defend the inhabitants of Ethos for decades to come. Along the shoreline in the east houses sprung up to accomodate the citizens that remained. And to the south west, almost along the mountains but not quite, stood the ware house and the well, the beginnings of what would become a majestic town center.

And so, from ashes and dust the people of Ethos once again emerged and stood fast….

• This reply was modified 132 days ago by  Divayith.

Ragonark’s Arrival (Written by Ragonark)

Chapter One

Part One

There was a bitter and cold wind which swept the Northern land. It was that wind which broke most of our spirits all of those long, grueling days on board the ships heading northward. Of course back in south Vynn there had always been rumors of the chill. Rumors of people freezing solid while running across the barren tundras. Rumors of boats freezing instantly once one of the many blizzards struck. But that’s all we thought they were, rumors. Certainly there was no one who came back and told the stories themselves; at least nobody with any credibility. It would have been a suicide mission trying to venture there alone and now we know why.

“Take down the sail! Quick!” Screamed Lakota, attempting to yell over the crashing of waves and the constant hiss of the wind.

The Dhow slammed back and forth with each new swell, forcing the boat to nearly topple over as it crested the rolling walls of water. The sail, now partially tattered, barely clung on to the small wooden mast and flapped in the wind. Some of the others on the deck hurriedly ran around and lowered the sail, securing it from the fierce, frozen breeze.

“The sail is secure!” Valuria yelled back as the three men cut the last few strings from the mast. “We need to turn in! we can’t do anything else anymore!”

The other men around Valuria, barely understanding Val’s voice above the storm’s clamor, nodded in approval and they all hesitatingly headed back towards the door in the floor of the deck. They quickly threw themselves inside, locking the door and falling back against the wall behind them as they tried to catch their breaths. Their soaked clothes and hair were of no bother to them anymore; all were simply happy to be back inside. Inside the cabin the rain and wind may have stopped, but the pounding waves and sickening rocking of the boat did not.

No one spoke as the men entered the cabin. It was a quiet and uncomfortable atmosphere in the sleeping quarters of the ship that night. Everyone seemed on edge; seemed unsure about the voyage ahead. It was obvious that they were heading somewhere strange, somewhere different and everyone aboard the ship that frightful night knew there were even more perils to come…

Part Two

Ragonark slowly awoke, squinting and coughing as he sat up from the bottom of the boat cabin. The room was surprisingly quiet and dark; there were no cries of young children or any voices of people trying to pass the time by speaking with one another. The only sound in the cabin was that of small, rolling waves falling onto a shoreline somewhere outside and the chatter of seagulls flying above. Thankfully, the storm had passed and evidence of a warm sun in the sky outside appeared everywhere. Beams of sunlight pierced through cracks and holes in the wall of the cabin, decorating the room with strands of bright light.

“Hello?” He asked the room, hoping a voice would answer him from somewhere beyond the shadows. “Is anyone there? Hello!” He pushed himself up from the wet floor, fighting the pain from the bumps and bruises he somehow acquired during the storm. Looking around the room, he quickly realized how bad of shape the room was in; broken bunk beds, large pools of water everywhere and small items strewn all about the room. He quickly noticed a large hole in the hull of the boat along the wall on the far side of the room. What the hell happened? He thought, trying to remember anything that happened after entering the cabin during the storm that night. Ragonark went over to the wooden chest, pulled out a linen robe and headed up the ladder to the deck.

The sun was shining brightly as Ragonark exited the bowels of the boat. As he reached the top of the ladder and sat on the deck next to the doorway, he held his head in his hands and slowly adjusted his eyes to the bright sunlight. It was a good two weeks since Ragonark or any of his friends had seen any sunlight and it just seemed strangely overwhelming. He never remembered the sun being that bright before setting sail.

http://www.republicofethos.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=18

^^ is our complete lore section, probably just could of posted this link first but had to hook some readers with some examples :P

Ethos site went down so link doesnt work anymore, can’t edit it so i apologize :D