Hello everyone! This first chapter is only the prologue, and contains background information only, so if you would rather not read it, skip it. This story takes place in the world of one of my other stories, The Lady in Black, so if you would like to read more about the world, please read the prologue of that story. Thank you very much and I hope y'all will review.

The Story of Pandora’s Box

At the dawning of time, when the only intelligent beings were the massive gods, there were only animals and the other creatures of the Earth. The high god Zeus commanded two gods, brothers, to gift the creatures of the Earth with various skills and instincts, such as agility or speed, and to create a being superior to those creatures that would rule over them. The two brothers, Epimetheus and Prometheus, split the job, Prometheus seeing to the creatures while Epimetheus created man from the grains of the Earth.

But when the time came to give man a gift, Prometheus found that he had used them all with the creatures of the Earth and he long pondered what gift he would give the primitive men of the Earth. He decided upon the gift of fire, a magic sacred to the gods and punishable with death. Nevertheless he climbed to the top of Mt. Olympus in the dead of night, aided by Aphrodite and at dawn lit a torch with the flames of the sun’s chariot. Then he descended to the world of men and bestowed on them this gift.

But Zeus discovered the theft and was justly offended and so hanged Prometheus, who was immortal and was destined to remain there until Hercules would rescue him thousands of years later. Still aggrieved, Zeus had Hephaestus, the smith god, create the first woman, who received gifts from the god Hermes, and from the goddesses Athena and Aphrodite. When he prepared to give away the woman, whom he named Pandora, he presented her with an intricately carved box and told her that she must never open the box.

Pandora was then presented to Epimetheus, who accepted her for a wife, and they lived for a time in harmony and contentment, Pandora giving him many sons and daughters. But in time, her mortal curiosity caused her to open the box given to her by Zeus. And then all the evils of the world were unleashed before her eyes and she slammed the box shut once more, trapping the remaining evil inside, which was hopelessness.

The ancient records of what happened after the opening of the box were not recovered until after the Great War. They say:

The evil was spread throughout the land, wreaking havoc upon the utopian world of man, bringing about a new world full of darkness as well as the light. In his rage at his wife, Epimetheus slew her and used his magic to place a curse upon the box. The curse was to avenge his brother and destroy the human world, which Zeus had now begun to favor. The curse placed was: Whoever opens the box of Pandora would unleash not only the remaining evil, but also a rain of fire upon the land. Epimetheus’s curse was kept secret, and the box was given to his descendants.

The children of Pandora lived upon an island in the middle of a great sea, and created a civilization far more advanced than any other in the history of the world. It was called Atlantis. The descendants were told the story of the box, but in time it was forgotten and the curiosity of the rulers begged them to open it, and the curse was unleashed upon them.

The people of Atlantis discovered that the curse planted by their ancestor had mutated during the long years in the box, and had combined with the magic of Zeus, who had created it. The curse brought about many horrible things to happen to the city, including the foretold rain of fire.

The hierarchy of the gods had shifted and was now ruled by Hades, god of the Underworld. He was informed of the terrible destruction being wreaked in the city of Atlantis and he sent his daughter, Silena, goddess of earthly magic, to retrieve the box before the city fell. She returned to Alintra, the new capital of the gods, with the box of Pandora and news that the city had crumbled into the ocean.

Unlike Zeus, Hades did not bring retribution upon Epimetheus, for he had fled in fear of retaliation. Instead, he gave the box to Silena with orders to hide it within the caverns of the unknown world and lock it away forever. His daughter knew that the curse would never be successfully contained, but obeyed her father and hid it within the caverns of the Americas, where she sealed it until the day it would be retrieved by mortal hands. And there the box remains, waiting to be opened once more.

The Beginning of Lithan Nocksil

When the world fell into the second Dark Age, the people of America were uncertain of how they would proceed. Those near the cities and towns were well off and made good lives and rarely ventured into the wilder and far off lands. These people were abandoned in the dark hour, and in turn became people of the wild, living primitively without many of the luxuries that the others still enjoyed.

One particular group, located deep in what would soon become the country of El Dorado, grew into a large people, and their small village sought out a place to build a grand city. By this time, magic had returned once again to the world, and the people embraced it, using it to delve into the hills and begin construction.

The city was designed by the first true ruler of the people, who never developed a name for themselves, John Nikal, whose ancestors had once been architects before the Dark Age. His plans were large and elaborate, and he took great pains in the layout of his city, which would also be large and quite elaborate.

John Nikal designed the city with eight levels that spiraled downwards, creating a square. Each level was said to have had a grand feature, each created and designed by Nikal himself. The features are:

Level One: The Grand Entrance

Level Two: The Stables of Kenal

Level Three: The Temple of Selise

Level Four: The Market of Marble

Level Five: The Jeweled Garden

Level Six: The Healing Lake

Level Seven: The Palace of Kings

Level Eight: The Ancient Temples

Each level was unique and made to fit in with the buildings created around it. Only seven of the levels were resided in, for it was considered a sacrilege to spend even a night among the ancient temples. The level which one dwelled in marked their status in society. The further underground one lived, the more power and status one held. Those living in the first level were the poorest, normally farmers who worked above the city or worked with the animals. Those residing on the seventh level, however, were the highest nobles, priests and the royal family.

The first level was the only one that was ruled by natural light, and the light was filtered in through the grand entrance, whose doors remained open from sunrise to sunset. The other levels were lit by a source of magic that Nikal kept hidden from all, sealing it away to prevent it was being unlit.

Over time the city, known as Lithan Nocksil, became well known among the other towns as a center of trade and religion. The first several levels of the city were always very crowded and the economy thrived, rarely faltering, even in times of drought or misfortune. They were a peaceful city who rarely warred, and no civilization dared to attack what they considered sacred land.

The people of Lithan Nocksil believed in many gods. They followed the hierarchy of the gods, which had been recorded by sorceresses since the dawn of time. This hierarchy showed the beginning of the world with the first gods and showed the progress through time. They lived their lives by this hierarchy and the priests and priestesses were highly respected and revered members of society.

The highest god in the hierarchy at that time was the goddess Silena, the goddess of earthly magic, followed by the gods of Death, Life and Art. Beneath them are the gods of Prophecy, Royalty, Trade, Beneath, Sorrow and Laughter. At the bottom of the hierarchy are the lesser gods of War, Beauty, Peace, Food & Drink, Water, Gems, Animals, The Sea and Above. Each of the gods held a temple somewhere in the city, but only the first ten held temples on the eight level, for they were considered the high gods, and of much more importance.

The city progressed into the most powerful of any of the people who were never claimed by the five legends which evolved from America. The people never encountered anyone from those five countries, and they have never, to this day, laid eyes on the great city of Lithan Nocksil.

-BlueEmerald4