✨SHIMMER CITY AFTER DARK✨-Offical Lore

Few things in Khymeria are as unsettling as Shimmer City after dark.

The night is blackest just before the dawn, when the massive crystal lamps lining the avenue are losing their charge from the previous day. Few Khymians would admit it, but I know that these fair and fragile creatures are afraid of the dark. Otherwise, lamp-lighters would work night shifts. Instead, here I walk, surrounded by shadow, cutlass at the ready.

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I am a Peacebringer. For the last decade I have fought the power of the Silver Shield. I have been an author of pamphlets and a saboteur of conquest; the Order is the mortal enemy of our community. The power they desire can only be attained through tyrannical rule, and the Order of the Bleeding Shield must not be given this power.

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The lamps in the shop windows have flickered to rest for the night, leaving me in a labyrinth of shadow. These few hours are the time for criminals and Knifemen to do their dirty work, and I do not relish in sharing their shrouded company. With great illumination comes great shadow, and few are aware of the nightly fiends that haunt this shadow.

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I realize that the hand holding my cutlass has gone numb from the tightness of my grip. Cursing the fear through which I now must navigate, I quickly and quietly recite the Angel’s Prayer Against Fear.

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“Send your light to burn my fear,
To make me strong and brave.
Let me know you’re always near,
Deliver, bless and save.”

Before the familiar words have finished leaving my lips, I feel the guidance and protection of the Angel of Light. Her calm embrace helps my fear melt away as my grip on the weapon loosens, but she is also bringing a warning of dire urgency. Suddenly I feel it in my heart that my operation has been discovered. My presence in Shimmer City has not gone unnoticed, and the Order has dispatched a gang of Knifemen to hunt me like a dog in the street.

My only hope: To escape the City before dawn. Once the morning floods Shimmer City with exposing light, Knights and Paladins of the Order will be making rounds, scouring the streets for the fugitive Peacebringer. If I am captured, the interrogators of the Silver Shield will not rest until they have broken me and learned all the secrets of my people.

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Suddenly I hear rustles in the darkness behind me. I’m being followed. My hope of leaving Shimmer City without a fight is waning, for Khymian Knifemen are known for their quickness and keen sight in the dark. Crouching low, I make my way for the outskirts of the city. The crucial intel that I have collected must make it back to the Peacebringer’s Camp.

The Angel of Light whispers in my ear, and suddenly I am aware of the assassin’s dagger hurtling toward my back. In a move so quick that sparks fly, I spin, slashing at the air with my cutlass. The clink is deafening in the dead of night, and the Knifeman’s dagger falls powerless to the cobblestone.

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The scuffle of feet at my rear reveals the locations of my attackers. They may have the ability to see in the dark, but the Angel of Light will not allow me to fail. A new confidence fills my body as I feel the Angel’s love. Again She whispers in my ear. I reach out blindly, catching the next dagger by the hilt merely inches from my face. Instinctively I fling the dagger back in the direction from whence it came, listening as it hits its mark. A Knifeman falls, and I run.

I zig zag through the alleys and between the buildings, hearing the knives and feeling their air as they fly past my head. I am filled with a peculiar glee, knowing that the Angel of Light cradles me in her protection. If I can only make it to the Crystal Forest, the wild beasts will make quick work of the Knifemen. They are city people, unwilling to learn the ways of forest survival, and feeding hours for the Cats have just begun.

Send your Light to burn my Fear…

Resistance is life. I run for the Angel. I run for all the life that fills the living, and I run for the children of Khymeria, who must be free from futures of conquest and tyranny. I know that my mission is Peace and Truth, and the Truth shall set me free from this city after dark.

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Artwork by @candycal.
Original map hand-drawn by @chrisroberts. (Digitized map in the works)
Edited and formatted by @carrieallen.

Lore written by @chrisroberts. He and his wife @carrieallen are currently finishing up the backstories and lore for all the Splinterlands. He will be offering sneak peeks, accompanied by brand-new artwork created by the Steem Monsters Team. Both Carrie and Chris prefer you refer to them as The Masters of Lore.😎

The Team is currently building up to launch a Kickstarter for the 150+ page campaign guidebook. Keep on the lookout for announcements and more inside scoops about the Splinterlands.

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