Dark Side of the Moon

• Prologue || A War Between Gods •

It was just like that, the start of a plague that would bring civilization's near utopia crumbling to ruin. There would be no violent horror waiting in the wings to bring chaos about— no fire, no flood, no oblivion— just darkness slowly curling its wicked tendrils around the light in the universe. And then, at the bidding of its master, it would snuff out hope entirely. Blackness would consume a world once painted bright in the colors of its untapped potential. Yet the slightest fray in the tapestry, the smallest ripple on the water, unknowingly possessed such ability to bend the universe, and Chaos meant to shape this new universe in his image, catalysing a new universe subservient to the god and his all-consuming power.

This was the motive that led the forces of darkness to the town of Lujein one eerily quiet evening— the kind of quiet that allows dread to sink to the depths of the soul and take root there. Two cloaked figures trudged through the soundlessness of the city, sticking to its shadows despite the fact that not a soul was about as it passed the midnight hour. Sweeping layers of gray swayed at their sides like smoke billowing around their bodies— an ominous warning to any unfortunate enough to hinder them from their mission. The crown of their hoods came to a tapered point, masking all but the lower halves of their faces and making their features virtually indecipherable under the night sky.

The two walked with a purpose, their destination now just before them. The Lujein mines. Of all the cities in the realm of Noscarra, Lujein was known for its high output of moonstones, the most productive of them all, though this was to be expected. After all, the city was home to the moon goddess' shrine, and the moonstones were a gift to the Noscarrans from the goddess herself. Those who possessed a moonstone would no longer age, but that eternal youth came at a steep price. Many would save for years, yet still would never be able to afford the treasure that held the ill effects of age at bay. When a person was finally bound to their moonstone, they would never age again, forever as pretty as a picture.
The pair slowed as they neared the entrance to the mines, holding back a few paces as the taller of the two shot out his hand to stop the other from moving further. "I sense a guard lurking out front. We need to deal with him first," he told his companion in a low warning tone.

"Consider him handled," the second nodded softly, his voice softer and higher than the first's. After a moment's pause, he crept forward slowly, chin lifted and eyes focused on the guard, who was now leaning against the interior of the main archway.

Beyond the door he guarded was a bright shimmering spherical object called an Aulund. This device was what allowed the miners and handlers access to the depths of the Lujein mines and the highly secure storehouse where newly collected moonstones were held. Containing vast amounts of magical energy, the Aulund transported the bodies of those who touched it between the concrete physical and abstract metaphysical world. It allowed, though only for that brief moment, the ability to occupy the same zone as the ephemeral gods they worshipped as they descended through the ground, breaking the logical laws of nature. Despite its power, the device only worked for those with clearance to enter the mines, thereby protecting the precious moonstone supply from thieves and other unwelcome vagabonds. Even further below the dig sites themselves, at the lowest level of the mine, was a massive high security safe which housed an equally immense collection of moonstones, and very few people in the town were deemed worthy of access.

But neither of the cloaked figures felt swayed from their duty by this knowledge, nor did they fear failure, as it was a foreign concept to them both. It would have been a needless emotion as well. They needn't worry themselves which such trivial matters. For, really, what chance did magic worthy of mortals stand against that of a God?