Crystal City [ Exploring Roskana, Part 1.]
Oct 9, 2022 6:11:30 GMT -5
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Post by VoxApocrypha on Oct 9, 2022 6:11:30 GMT -5
The whistling wind carried with it specs of dust, riding the frigid autumn air. It signalled to another long winter on its way. But that was Roskana. That was life.
Chase stood in the remains of what had once been a home, though it was really more so just rubble now. Most of this city was rubble now. He was really standing in the middle of history, and illegally at that.
Crystal City.
Once a beautiful place. A paragon of classical architecture, intellectual pursuits, and even reconciliation.. burned in the Midnight War in 1904.
It had many names once, but it's official name was Crystal City. Named for the massive gemstone that once stood in its deep center, surrounded on all sides by marble pillars and railings, trees and artisan designed vine-booms that let natural wooden sprouts branch off of trees into a interconnected network of fruits. It had even at one point hosted the largest living organism in the world, at least by undestood standards, the City-spanning Ranama Tree.. the spirit tree of a community of Kithium, Grinvelians, Auranites and Festria that had prospered together in a cultural melting pot famous the world over.
Even in the overthrow its beauty remained.
But where as one saw beauty, Grinvel had seen a target.
And within the first hours of their assault against the city at midnight they had struck the gemstone with artillery - and set the tree that interwove through the city's structure ablaze. Now only a few remnant trees still live, but most of it is a dead husk, much of it a carbonized remain.
Chase had been here a few times.
Every time he did he was breaking the law but there was rarely anyone actively around to enforce it - the only places in Crystal City with any living people were the ones of whom were operating the small port and the railway within it, and they rarely ventured outside. The city was a hazard, largely abandoned, most of the houses, the big structures and its monuments all decrypt and empty. Most people who were in the city at the start of the Midnight War were simply dead. Killed by Grinvelian shelling, chemical weapons, falling debris.. or slaughtered during the ensuing house to house slaughter that unfolded not long after.
That was another slew of reasons the city was effectively a no-go zone.
Graves. Unexploded Ordinance. Random, practically ancient weapons and ammunition exposed to the elements for almost twenty seven years.
Taking steps down from the top of a marble staircase, Chase made his way along a wide path leading down into a circular depression, of which at its bottom was a ring platform that hung suspended by steel cables and beneath that, supported by small marble pillars, over a still flowing river of water. pieces of the shattered gem still littered the ground, and its broken and ruined base lay within the space that'd once held it, partially submerged now in the water. This area would always glistene in the sunlight during summer, but today it was cloudy, grey. Little showers of rain had again and again showered the area and he was wary of taking quick steps.
But that mostly paranoia.
At least he felt it was anyway, not that he really knew at that point.
It was another one of those things. Too cautious, but not cautious enough. Thinking faster in some ways and lagging behind in others.
He took another step, coming up to the railing that separated him, and the massive gem, or its remains rather.
He stared at it, and looked down at its remnants. He'd taken small chips from it, pieces that had not been blown off but had separated when it exploded.
No one was going to miss it, he figured. At least, no one of whom he figured was around to object. And so once more with a padded glove he took another couple of crystals, to bring back home with him.
This had been a ritual for years. At least every year or two he'd come back to his birthplace, to watch it decay.
Part of him felt that he ought to stay.
But he knew that his old home was still buried under a mountain of rubble. His cat, was gone. His mom, dad, brothers, gone.
Staying any longer in the Crystal City than he had too simply drudged up the trauma of the past for far too long than he could bare, and in the end this was no one's home anymore anyway.
Placing the shards into his satchel, he'd dust his gloves off and then take a few seconds to stare at the remains of the gem.
It had been so beautiful once. Maybe one day the elements would erode it, wear it down again into more crystals and someone else would come along and make it the center of their city. And hopefully it wouldn't be destroyed by another army of genocidal mass murderers. Without another moment's glance he turned his head and began to ascend the stairs again, back into the city proper, so that he could start the long walk back to where he had hidden his car. It'd probably need to be nightfall before he tried to move again but he imagined he probably hadn't been spotted coming into the city anyway.
If he had he'd probably be in cuffs right now.
Stepping back out from under a marble ring held by more columns he was greeted by the smell of rain, closing his eyes as he felt soft droplets fall on his skin. His brown hair and red tinted beard once more being drizzled in more of the liquid. He pulled his winter coat tighter to himself and pulled on the belt that kept it all closed, as well tightening a few smaller straps to make sure his clothing made minimal noise as he walked.
Still he'd be able to hear his own footsteps, the echo reverberating off of the faces of what buildings still stood along the sides of the road. Everything was made of a mixture of marble, stone, and wood, which was why so much of it burnt so well. What structures had been made with steel held up better but they had largely been the few five story buildings the city had had before it was blown apart, and they were centered back around the center. The sound was carried by buildings, letting each footstep echo back to him and further down the street as he went, walking along that paved stone road towards the intersection that'd let him return to his car.
He was on a road that had been mostly residential. Some buildings had shops on their first floor and their second was apartments or houses. But many were simply just rubble. Shelled to hell, like the road, the high rises, the city itself. Most of it, it was almost impossible to tell what had once been sold there, the elements and the Grinvelian assault having destroyed so much. Crystal City was used as a propaganda point a lot, and not without reason. It had also hightened already deepset paranoia within the military, the government, and further abroad to a point among the normal people.
Visages of this once great city were on plenty of posters in recruitment offices.
He'd even seen images of a home his family had once lived in put up on walls, the marble columns in its front crushed, roof and top floor caved in, with its balcony having collapsed to cover the front door and porch, stone and charred obscuring the house's front. He'd spent his teenage years there. He passed it sometimes too, thought about going into it one more time.. but always decided against it. Buildings were collapsing out here all the time, and in the distance like god had chosen to remind him of that, he watched as a house slowly tilted to the side, creaking loudly as wooden supports gave, and one finally snapped in half - dropping half of the building into a crater left by artillery, still full of a puddle of water.
He sped his way along to get past the dust cloud sooner rather than later when it'd waft over him to make him inhale the marble dust and airborne particulate.
Once clear of it he slowed down, following the road further until it would finally reach the outskirts, leaving behind the decaying remains of an old-world city and marvel, and his old home once more. Maybe not for the last time.
But he wasn't sure. There wasn't much that he wanted there. Ultimately he was only back again for money.. but subconsciously too, he knew that he simply wanted to be home again.
Someday, perhaps someone would return, with ambitions to rebuild his home. Maybe he could. But that was unlikely.
He kept walking, until he reached the treeline and disappeared past it, following a dirt path through this patch of woodland until he found the clearing he had left his car in, and would try to get home from there. It'd be a long drive. But he had brought extra fuel at least. That, he had learned the hardway to NOT forget..
Chase stood in the remains of what had once been a home, though it was really more so just rubble now. Most of this city was rubble now. He was really standing in the middle of history, and illegally at that.
Crystal City.
Once a beautiful place. A paragon of classical architecture, intellectual pursuits, and even reconciliation.. burned in the Midnight War in 1904.
It had many names once, but it's official name was Crystal City. Named for the massive gemstone that once stood in its deep center, surrounded on all sides by marble pillars and railings, trees and artisan designed vine-booms that let natural wooden sprouts branch off of trees into a interconnected network of fruits. It had even at one point hosted the largest living organism in the world, at least by undestood standards, the City-spanning Ranama Tree.. the spirit tree of a community of Kithium, Grinvelians, Auranites and Festria that had prospered together in a cultural melting pot famous the world over.
Even in the overthrow its beauty remained.
But where as one saw beauty, Grinvel had seen a target.
And within the first hours of their assault against the city at midnight they had struck the gemstone with artillery - and set the tree that interwove through the city's structure ablaze. Now only a few remnant trees still live, but most of it is a dead husk, much of it a carbonized remain.
Chase had been here a few times.
Every time he did he was breaking the law but there was rarely anyone actively around to enforce it - the only places in Crystal City with any living people were the ones of whom were operating the small port and the railway within it, and they rarely ventured outside. The city was a hazard, largely abandoned, most of the houses, the big structures and its monuments all decrypt and empty. Most people who were in the city at the start of the Midnight War were simply dead. Killed by Grinvelian shelling, chemical weapons, falling debris.. or slaughtered during the ensuing house to house slaughter that unfolded not long after.
That was another slew of reasons the city was effectively a no-go zone.
Graves. Unexploded Ordinance. Random, practically ancient weapons and ammunition exposed to the elements for almost twenty seven years.
Taking steps down from the top of a marble staircase, Chase made his way along a wide path leading down into a circular depression, of which at its bottom was a ring platform that hung suspended by steel cables and beneath that, supported by small marble pillars, over a still flowing river of water. pieces of the shattered gem still littered the ground, and its broken and ruined base lay within the space that'd once held it, partially submerged now in the water. This area would always glistene in the sunlight during summer, but today it was cloudy, grey. Little showers of rain had again and again showered the area and he was wary of taking quick steps.
But that mostly paranoia.
At least he felt it was anyway, not that he really knew at that point.
It was another one of those things. Too cautious, but not cautious enough. Thinking faster in some ways and lagging behind in others.
He took another step, coming up to the railing that separated him, and the massive gem, or its remains rather.
He stared at it, and looked down at its remnants. He'd taken small chips from it, pieces that had not been blown off but had separated when it exploded.
No one was going to miss it, he figured. At least, no one of whom he figured was around to object. And so once more with a padded glove he took another couple of crystals, to bring back home with him.
This had been a ritual for years. At least every year or two he'd come back to his birthplace, to watch it decay.
Part of him felt that he ought to stay.
But he knew that his old home was still buried under a mountain of rubble. His cat, was gone. His mom, dad, brothers, gone.
Staying any longer in the Crystal City than he had too simply drudged up the trauma of the past for far too long than he could bare, and in the end this was no one's home anymore anyway.
Placing the shards into his satchel, he'd dust his gloves off and then take a few seconds to stare at the remains of the gem.
It had been so beautiful once. Maybe one day the elements would erode it, wear it down again into more crystals and someone else would come along and make it the center of their city. And hopefully it wouldn't be destroyed by another army of genocidal mass murderers. Without another moment's glance he turned his head and began to ascend the stairs again, back into the city proper, so that he could start the long walk back to where he had hidden his car. It'd probably need to be nightfall before he tried to move again but he imagined he probably hadn't been spotted coming into the city anyway.
If he had he'd probably be in cuffs right now.
Stepping back out from under a marble ring held by more columns he was greeted by the smell of rain, closing his eyes as he felt soft droplets fall on his skin. His brown hair and red tinted beard once more being drizzled in more of the liquid. He pulled his winter coat tighter to himself and pulled on the belt that kept it all closed, as well tightening a few smaller straps to make sure his clothing made minimal noise as he walked.
Still he'd be able to hear his own footsteps, the echo reverberating off of the faces of what buildings still stood along the sides of the road. Everything was made of a mixture of marble, stone, and wood, which was why so much of it burnt so well. What structures had been made with steel held up better but they had largely been the few five story buildings the city had had before it was blown apart, and they were centered back around the center. The sound was carried by buildings, letting each footstep echo back to him and further down the street as he went, walking along that paved stone road towards the intersection that'd let him return to his car.
He was on a road that had been mostly residential. Some buildings had shops on their first floor and their second was apartments or houses. But many were simply just rubble. Shelled to hell, like the road, the high rises, the city itself. Most of it, it was almost impossible to tell what had once been sold there, the elements and the Grinvelian assault having destroyed so much. Crystal City was used as a propaganda point a lot, and not without reason. It had also hightened already deepset paranoia within the military, the government, and further abroad to a point among the normal people.
Visages of this once great city were on plenty of posters in recruitment offices.
He'd even seen images of a home his family had once lived in put up on walls, the marble columns in its front crushed, roof and top floor caved in, with its balcony having collapsed to cover the front door and porch, stone and charred obscuring the house's front. He'd spent his teenage years there. He passed it sometimes too, thought about going into it one more time.. but always decided against it. Buildings were collapsing out here all the time, and in the distance like god had chosen to remind him of that, he watched as a house slowly tilted to the side, creaking loudly as wooden supports gave, and one finally snapped in half - dropping half of the building into a crater left by artillery, still full of a puddle of water.
He sped his way along to get past the dust cloud sooner rather than later when it'd waft over him to make him inhale the marble dust and airborne particulate.
Once clear of it he slowed down, following the road further until it would finally reach the outskirts, leaving behind the decaying remains of an old-world city and marvel, and his old home once more. Maybe not for the last time.
But he wasn't sure. There wasn't much that he wanted there. Ultimately he was only back again for money.. but subconsciously too, he knew that he simply wanted to be home again.
Someday, perhaps someone would return, with ambitions to rebuild his home. Maybe he could. But that was unlikely.
He kept walking, until he reached the treeline and disappeared past it, following a dirt path through this patch of woodland until he found the clearing he had left his car in, and would try to get home from there. It'd be a long drive. But he had brought extra fuel at least. That, he had learned the hardway to NOT forget..