Ercreia's History

General

Ercreia is a quiet village located deep in the middle of a large forest
clearing somewhere in western United States, & its existence is
scarcely known by most of society.
But the villagers get by nicely with their plentiful, good crops and calm business.

But this relaxed town isn't what it seems to be...

Behind it's seemingly placid & composed surface, is a dark secret lurking beneath the surface of Ercreia...
In
the Undergrounds, which is a set of various tunnels, supposed to be
used as passageways for safe traveling, is now inhabited by trapped
spirits
& hungry creatures...

Ercreia was built in the
early 1600s & was once a joyful & beautiful village filled with
many generally happy, residents ....
until the Underground Tragedy .

Though
the villagers lived in a wonderful hometown, the massive forest that
surrounds their village holds wolves & bears, dangerous slopes,
& travelers often got lost.

So, in the early 1800s, an
underground tunnel project was made to ensure safe travels for anyone
who wanted to get out of or in the village without having to go through
the forest.

The tunnels were to extend to different parts of the land near Ercreia, some tunnels led to roads, towns, different villages...

But the project was never complete.

The Underground Tragedy of the 1800s

During
the process of digging, a laborer found something in the ground of the
tunnels. He alerted a few workers & they began clearing the object
of dirt, until it was visible.

It was a large, ancient door with undecipherable symbols carved in it.
And in the middle of the door was a large blood-stained key fitted into a keyhole of the door.

Curious, the workers turned the stubborn key, & they opened the door.
And to their surprise, it was no ordinary door....

Their
unknowing mistake leaked out hellish creatures who slaughtered many
workers in the Undergrounds, while making their way to the surface to
create havoc.

Villagers tried to run through the forest or hide
in their basements, but some of the demons broke into their houses &
caught up with the escapees.

It was a disaster, a tragedy, a massacre....

But, from the darkness, not only rose the horrible monsters, but a hero as well.

Joleus.
A
quiet & secretive old man, who strongly disapproved the Underground
tunnel project from the very start, usually didn't interact much with
his villagers, & locked himself up in his house.
People often
talked & wondered much about him, they thought he was a crazy old
man, but some more sympathetic, believed he had gone through some tough
time.

That day, instead of running away like most of Ercreia's villagers, Joleus did the unexpected.

Villagers
have said that he had run out of his house with a strange bloodied
blade in his right hand & a fresh cut on his left hand. He knelled
on the ground, crossed his chest, placed his cut hand on the ground
& chanted a short chant before immediately killing himself with the
blade.

After that, the monsters that had ran amok through the Ercreia, suddenly "died," disappeared.
They were all...gone.

Those who saw Joleus's strange actions, quickly hurried to his body.
They found an unknown knife through his heart & a note in his free hand, a little bloody, but still readable;

"Upon
seeing what hellish demons were unleashed upon us this day, I took the
opportunity and performed a ritual, using my blood, to trap the demons
underground & to create an invisible perimeter disallowing
those....heathens from traveling a certain distance underground.
I
am sorry that it was the best that I could do, and could do no further.
But it will ensure at least some safety, and for knowing that, I can
depart this world with some gladness.

I have lived my life, too full of regrets, pain, and secrecy. I have done things
that I am not proud of and I have sinned a great deal...
I reach out to you through
this note hoping for forgiveness, but for being a damned coward, I know what I really deserve.

I already had my ticket to hell, long, long ago.
So, I thought, why not be today to be the best day to go?

God Bless.
- Joleus -"

Joleus had saved many people that day.

The
remaining villagers performed funerals for the 26 dead, including
Joleus, & they promised not to tell the world of what had happened
the night of the Tragedy.

Later, the exits & entrances of the Undergrounds were blocked & barred to prevent entry.

The people lost most of their happiness & life, as well did their land.
The
once rich soil has now become poor, & there are dead patches of
Earth in random spots all over Ercreia that cannot bear life (nature).
All this happened after the demons invaded.
They left their taint on the surface.

Some people who could afford to move, quickly left Ercreia, but those who didn't, stayed.

But,
all who witnessed the terror from the Undergrounds are forever haunted
by it, even if they denied it & locked away. There is a piece that
still remains in their minds that will haunt them forever till death.

Demon Hunt Origins

Those
who have left Ercreia & never came back, kept the disastrous
tragedy to themselves, trying to lock away & forget that memory in a
deep, dark place in their minds.

Those who have stayed tried to make their living, ignoring what lurked beneath them, to get by.

But
their dark secret has been leaked to their own new generations &
the stories scared the new people, but after a few years, some
disbelieving people were curious & foolish.
They decided to sneak in the Undergrounds to see what lied in there.

At
the dead of night, 6 people, led by Kelsin the Blacksmith, went into
the Undergrounds with weapons & armor, to be safe just in case.

3 came back, all injured.
1 died the next day.
They
were all scared out of their minds, except for Kelsin, who seemed,
strangely, stubbornly determined to go back in the Undergrounds to
fight.

He found 2 volunteers to journey with him down into the Undergrounds, with better weapons & armor.
They all came back alive, 1 badly injured though.
Kelsin
later explained that he had lost a sentimental item given to him by his
dead wife, & that was why he wanted to go back.

But soon, Kelsin began to found the killing of the demons thrilling....
He began to try to find more people to help him kill the monsters below. Many were reluctant & found him crazy.
But
then he sold most of his possessions & ask people to hunt monsters
for his coins (money). He was desperate to go in the Undergrounds again
to hunt, but didn't want to go without another person.

Only the very poor agreed to go with Kelsin.
Again
& again, he led different groups of poor people into the
Undergrounds to hunt. He began to write reports on the monsters he
encountered & mapped out the tunnel.
Until finally he could not give out rewards & he had completely lost his mind.
A
few weeks after his insanity, an honest boy snuck into Kelsin's house
on dare, & found that Kelsin had been keeping rare pink diamonds in
his closet!
The next morning, Kelsin's house was completely emptied!
Villagers claimed they saw him snuck out early morning with only the clothes on his body, a large bag, & a wide grin.

Kelsin had played everybody! A villager had said.
The
item he claimed to had lost in the tunnel, was not an item from his
beloved wife, but a pink diamond! He had repeatedly risked his life to
get those pink diamonds in the Undergrounds, keeping them to himself.
And he played "crazy" so people will leave him be an not suspect
anything of hiding pink diamonds!
Once he had enough, he left town to sell them off for fortune.

But during his greedy thoughts of fortune, he had forgotten his detailed book of the Undergrounds home.

The Demon Hunts


A
few months after Kelsin's departure, the village leader died, & the
rich Ulray was elected the village leader. He seemed to know what was
best for the villager, but soon he showed his twisted self...

He
hosted a contest every month to let groups of people face their fears in
the Underground, to kill monsters for money, sport, but mostly for pink
diamonds...
Whoever had the most monster heads or faces or pink diamonds, if they found any, won coins or year's supplies of food.

Ulray kept any pink diamonds the contestants found to himself, though the villagers only found, at most, 2.

He
never said it, but it was obvious that Kelsin had inspired Ulray, these
"Demon Hunts." Ulray even kept the book, "Ercreia's Demons", with him,
which was written by Kelsin before his departure.

Ulray found the hunts a good way for the poor to earn money or food &, hopefully, reduce the monsters in the Undergrounds.
There were also useful & special minerals, herbs, & items in the Undergrounds that were not found on the surface.
But what Ulray really wanted were the pink diamonds.

He
keep hope in mind of villagers, Ulray called the hunts "...a battle not
only to get our land, our home, back. But also our souls, hearts, &
minds..."

Ulray died before even getting at least 5 pink diamonds...

Pink Diamonds

A kinder, more thoughtful leader took place of Ulray after his death. His name was Ramus.
Though
he continued the Demon Hunts, he gave any pink diamonds found in the
hunts to his loving son, Tyran, who traveled far to sell them for coins.
He
bought back the money & Ramus gave everyone equal amounts of money!
Tyran even used some of the money to buy better supplies, such as
weapons and equipments, for the contestants of the demon hunts.

Unfortunately, Ramus died from sickness at the age of 63.
Tyran, who was equally kind, took his father's role after his death, for 48 years, till 2002.
He had helped "upgraded" the lives of the villagers, allowing them technology & appliances.

Our leader is now currently Deroph (2002+)