The Rockaverse

The old man glared at Argent, hatred and prejudice deep in his blood. "Whose askin', shitto?" He huffed, looking the man up and down. The man was at least one hundred years old. "You one of them... city boys... comin' out east lookin' for... gold, fortune?" The frail, elderly man grinned. "I could BREAK you like a TWIG."

The children began to laugh at Argent.

***

Syra was awoken by an arrow nailing into the wood of the boat beside her thick skull, catching her hairs in it's stone head. Suddenly from the dunes surround river a party rose, equalling the number of cultists who had accompanied them down river. They were all equipped with rifles or bows, aimed squarely at the boats. They had dark, tanned skin and wore leather armours of hide- clearly Sudeans from the Kajo Narrows. "Group of destruction! Return to your shit-hull! We have no want of your gods here!" A sudean man called. "Emissary of Ravi! Go back!"

Qunith frowned, glaring at Caressa. "Friends of yours?" They inquired.

Argent looked down at the children, scooting closer to a little girl before placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Well now, young one," he said with a grin. "You hear the rather ludicrous things coming out of this man's mouth? Children, I dare say this story teller of ya'lls ain't worth his ant milk."

Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as a hungry look came into his eyes. He eyes the old man who was ridiculing him in front of the youth as his body tensed like a spring ready to burst.

"The name's Argent, old man and I dare say you don't want to know much more beyond that."

~*~

Caressa guffawed at the sight.

"wELL NOW," she exclaimed loudly despite being within earshot of everyone. "It's those damn people from yonder sands, y'know, the Kujo Narrows and shite. We definitely ain't friends, I can bet you on that."

At first, there were no suns, no stars to light the skies. Then all at once in the darkness, rays of light began to spring forth from the pitch-black nether night. The skies were alight with stars. One shone bright, high above the rest. The people who lived in this era called it the 'First Star'.

They were not like us.

Eventually, the First Star fell, giving rise to the second. And with it falling, so too did its people. Thye lived long cautious lives. The first to use the guiding light of the stars to their advantage. The Second Star's people were all the wiser, learning from the first mistakes. Unfortunately, greed took over and conflict erupted in the twilight hour of the Second Star. One day, with that star, its people fell too.

Similarities aside, they too were not like us.

Twelve Stars had passed and with them twelve eras. Each bearing their own differences and similarities. Things we could relate to, but they were still not like us. In a myriad of ways. Ultimately, it would be folly to realize that there weren't many things in common with us, but they were different all the same.

Time ever, cyclical gave rise to a new cycle, starting with First Moon. Like the Stars, there were Twelve, and like each of the Stars, they gave way to their own era. These eras were not like the eras under the Stars. These eras knew the night. They hid from creeping things in the dark. It gave rise to wonderful and terrible things. All dangerous to behold. The era of the Ninth Moon was said to have no people. It remained this way until the Twelth.

Following the Twelve Moons, came the first of the Suns and now it is time for a revelation. Throughout each of these eras was a constant. And that constant was nature. Nature persisted time and time again, unstoppable, undeterred, untested. Majestic, fearsome, and otherworldly, it held power. But all things must rest and by the First Sun, nature rested evermore. Its vast reach declined, giving rise to the Sun's children. Willpower and a drive to live greater than all who came before. They took their era for their own and attempted to rule, nurturing nature if it was their wont instead of the opposite.

Many drew power from nature still, furthering its slumber. The Sun's eras were the longest in any of the cycles and were as dangerous as it was prosperous. For the Sun's children were dangerous and stubborn people, prone to infighting and self-destruction which belied a spark of perseverance. A drive to survive, above all else.

Each era ended with a cataclysm. Great Empires fell as they planted the seeds for new ones. Only the children of the Sun managed to take a firm grasp of life and desperately cling from one era to the next. But would they continue to stubbornly cling once their cycle was ended? The answer seemed obvious.

The Sun's Children had their great cataclysm and still, they clung on. They sought to rebuild as the Twelfth Sun had its final sunset. Such a thing was unprecedented and what followed too was the birth of extraordinary circumstances. For the world already chose its masters.

- Tale from the Nomadic Clans, passed down through oral tradition.

***

The Castle Gates creaked open and before the moonlit desert blew a cold bitter wind, sweeping aside grain after grain of sand. Before the travelers was a great hall. More pristine a palace could never be found on the Rock. It lie empty. But they still heard sounds of merriment, of feasting.

"This...this is remarkable!" Elysa couldn't help but exclaim. "I haven't seen anything like....everyone. Take notes! Take pictures! We can't let this go undocumented!" She turned to look at M'Kama. "Do you know of this? Have you seen anything like this before?"

"I don't hail from this part of The Rock, doctor," M'Kama reminded her. "But in the texts I've poured through, searching to the last page for some sort of scrap or morsel as to this planet's past, I've never heard tell of anything like this. My best guess is it's from a pre-Skylander civilization. How long, I cannot say. This place is old. It precedes even the pyramids...." his hand idly neared his sword and his grip tightened. "This place begets an ill wind. We should not stay long...but perhaps this is where you'll find your daughter."

***

"We've said our warnings, and you have yet to heed them," a Sudean shouted, snapping his fingers. "Capture them alive! Bind hand and mouth. I don't want them screaming while we're in Cruise's territory. He has scouts everywhere..." As he spoke, more Sudeans shot forth behind him, diving into the stream and swimming towards the boats. Clasps and chains in one hand and sabers in the other. The sheer number of them was greater than the Lords of Rock foresaw, they were well hidden. Others rose up behind several rocks, arrows, and guns both trained on the travelers/

"Well, well, looks like this is the end of the road, fellas." Seru said with a smirk, dropping her weapons and holding up her hands in surrender. It was uncharacteristic for the cowboy to give up a fight so easily. With one glance to the others she gestured them to do the same. It seemed like Seru had another wild plan.

"What the hell you doing up the river anyhow?" one of the more well-dressed Sudeans spat. "Trying to start trade with Cruise behind our backs?" The Sudean sneered. "Well, good luck with that. Last few batches was inferior stuff, real shit taste, ya know?"

"What a crock of elbow deep mole shit," Caressa spat at the Sudean as she puffed her chest out, not heeding Seru's lead. "Ravi ain't ever gonna trade with that prickle prick. Not since he started that whole deal that led us to where we are."

Horik raised an eyebrow at this as she raised her hands, hearing the low rumble of the worm that had emerged from the water. It stayed low however as it seemed to sense the danger the group was in. Noticing how close it was to their boats, she scooted back an inch at a time until she was near the edge, the worm within reach.

"PSST," Horik said, trying to get Caressa's attention but the woman was focused on the Sudeans. Focused on their insults but not on the sheer number of them.

"We just lookin' for a way on yonder through," Caressa did grumble however as she heard the clink of approaching metal. She was sulking. "We ain't even got weapons out this time!"

"You don't need weapons to trespass, Skylanders!" The Sudean shouted back, beginning to clasp irons around the wrists of all traveling across the river. "Have an armed guard question the holy ones," He nodded to the two Sudeans with the trespassers, already chained. "Detain them fast," he told a contingent of his troops. "And question them thoroughly."

"Yeah, yeah, thoroughly," one of the dirtiest Sudeans, in both body and mind, chuckled, his hands making weird wriggling motions in the air.