Chrysalis

'The Civilised Races' is a term often bandied about casually in scholarship, yet many people remain ignorant of it's true meaning and origins. The lines that become drawn between the races are often no so clear cut as 'these races are civilised, therefore safe, and these are not'. The so called 'Civilised' are just as prone to greed, violence and short sighted action as the creatures of the Dungeon at times, as history as proven many times.

Others simply don't understand the lines drawn between those races who existed before the Descent of the System (often referred to as 'The First Born') and those who came after (somewhat derogatorily referred to as 'The New Blood').

Before the Time of Rending, mana began to infuse the surface, giving rise to magic and many other wonders. At the same time that mana concentrated in certain places and within some things, a process that only accelerated as the Dungeon opened and the surface became flooded with mana at levels that have never been seen again.

This mana injection changed the surface of Pangera forever, not only due to the monsters that devastated its surface but also by giving rise to new races, such as the Bruanchii, a race of sentient tree like creatures that appeared from a single tree in the southern wilds. Or the Brathian, the aquatic creatures who developed from Lake Bratha after it become flooded with mana during the Rending when a Dungeon opening connected to the Lake.

The Elder races have not always welcomed these newcomers peacefully and when the Dungeon monsters receded, a new wave of conflict began when Old Blood began to mix with New. Eventually peace was established and cooperation began. After all, the System does not recognise the 'Civilised Races' as monsters, therefore it would be unnatural to fight against each other, at least that is what the Church of the Path has always preached. Others, such as the Sophos, were not so lucky. Branded as monsters by the system they were first excluded and then hunted, causing them to conceal their underground settlements and withdraw from contact with those they had fought beside during the Rending.

Excerpt from 'Ruminating on the Races' by scholar Fuandri'll of the Kaarmodo.

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Myrrin was exhausted. Her body ached from top to toe and she had a sneaking suspicion one of those toes was broken. The mental fatigue may have been the worst of it. She hadn't slept in what felt like three days. Why the hell did she let herself get talked into this rubbish?

"Donnelan, remind me why I let you talk me into this rubbish?" she asked irritably.

animated fellow legionary turned back to her and she swore she could see the light of

I am going to eat and drink until I'm sick,

some appeal. The things she'd seen, done and been made to

underdeveloped and

training. The commander himself tirelessly drilled them. Two days of practice in the living rock suits known as Abyssal armour and they had been thrown into live combat patrols. Three days after that and they'd been broken up and sent to various forts that formed part of the 'Bulwark', the network of defences that locked

find out the sort of the thing the Legion really does down here" the commander had informed them gruffly, and find out they had. He'd taken the group on an extended tour of the Bulwark, inspecting the forts and dropping the

Legionaries she had met at her fort were so damn tough she felt they didn't need Abyssal Armour at all, the monsters would snap in half when they tried to bite

named Tannar, and been shocked at the man's age. If he was a day under sixty she'd have been shocked. Thin and wiry, the tendons in his neck plain to see, Tannar had very quickly eliminated any concerns about age

angry bear and sounded like one too. His Legionaries hung of every word that came of out his mouth and Mirryn learned

Too good.

strata it was worse. Each fort was tasked with locking down one tunnel, preventing monsters from coming up and going down. Shorthanded and undersupplied, the Legionaries fought for hours on end, every day. When they couldn't stand up anymore they were rotated off to rest until they could, then it was back out in the thick of

suit the entire time

the Legion had been forced to in order to hold the

She grimaced.

have any irregulars at your

a moment as he pushed through the crowd,

there, come on" he muttered grimly,

curtain that hung across the front of the establishment, like most buildings in Railleh it was shaped out of the stone, creating a dark and