The Crusade of The Valley of Death, a 30 year long crusade that aimed to conquer a place outside the known areas of humanity, an un-mapped area between a long stretch of sand and many many dangerous extinction labeled monsters. The Valley of Death was a place that halted the further mapping of earth, for almost 3 generations it halted all those that want to discover more, by the 5th expedition group going missing all progress was stopped and mapping the unknown territory with it and even though later some fools tried even knowing the risks they too did not return, and discovery from the time of Horia and Reia Kusha, it took 4 Years after their close calls with the Calamitas in the 113th Ecosystem before they began going through the depths of the valley, they touched ground and encountered a seemingly never ending long stretch of dessert with no trees or sources of water to be found, they ventured just a bit before the first quarter of the first area of the dessert and found a calamity that had wings Horia wanted to fight it but even with just looking at the direction of which the creature of unknown origins was located there was a lingering feeling of fear and imminent death if they were even to grab its attention or even fight it, it was a humanoid monster that had the power of flight and control over the winds, it used the never ending source of sand in the nearby surrounding areas and used it as a way to destroy and overwhelm its opponents, after some time gathering information and almost reaching the end of the first quarter of the valley a battle was fought and the Winged Humanoid Monster was alive but wounded, the Kusha sisters also didn't leave unscathed Reia broke her left arm and the monster had poisoned it thus it was needing to be amputated ways of medicine at the time was very basic and the thought of cutting a part of the body to save oneself was a concept not even dabbled upon by any of the ancestors, the common people also was not fond of hurting them selves just to save their lives but Jackson Valentine found a way to use magic to heal wounds and use it in a way where its possible to use it not just outside the body but inside too, this was the start of Magic Integrated Medicine, Reia's entire left hand was gone but Valentine created a way to reuse the cut nerves and with the help of Dolte they were able to create the first mechanical body part replacement mechanism, it functioned like a normal hand but it was something close to being an artifact, improvable and has physical capabilities beyond the normal strength what a human have, Horia left with being half blind her eyes were hit by winds combined with its speed and the nature of small sand grains hitting a soft part of the eyes it shattered the right side of her skull through the eyes taking away eyesight and a never ending pain that feels like her eyes are there but it isn't there anymore, a replacement mechanism was not viable and is unable to be used to restore her sight cause of the severity of the damage, her brain was almost removed from her head from the inside out if it wasn't for her quick reaction to the threat that was facing her, she was the first person in the history of humanity to use Specific Defensive Magic Area Allocation which needs absolute focus and usually happens to magic users when they're in a situation where imminent death was happening or a massive spike in heart rate and a high level of fear was happening in one instance but not everyone can do it because it needs mastery that is beyond comprehension which is a mastery of speed casting that needs to be as fast as the moment the hit heart rate fear panic and emotional stress of the incoming imminent death happens.
Catergory|Elemental Spirit, Danger Level:Not Known,Primary Classification:Divine Creation, Existence: 1 of 56, Book Number 322, Chapter 22 of Divine Spirits, Page 91, Territorial Divine Elemental Spirit:Nasus.
The map divides each section of the known and discovered world by its time zone, an invisible border is drawn between areas to tell which zone is which, there are a total of 20 Zones 18 of which are discovered 1 of which is the Valley of Death and another is a truly unknown area filled with who knows what, at this point in human history the world was almost mapped comepletely at the 2nd 500 Year cycle of humanity long after the travels of the ancestors and the information they concluded to, there was only one difficult to answer mystery. "What Was Truly Inside The Valley of Death?"
Rimuna Serpha Trifpheld accompanied by his most closest and trusted allies Un'Duk the brave and yet so carefree guy that became infatuated with reasoning and is somewhat dumb when given moments that need such kind of thinking, Theo Y'niea Arcea a genius prodigy capable of commanding 4 magical types in one instance he is a studious yet kind individual that stands for what is right and denounces evil, Franzé Cinue Recillia an unknown man with unknown origins the commanders and his own commanding style does not fail every step of the way some of his commanded troops are a part of a Troupe that became mercenaries for money, still even with this past he was still accepted by the nobility that lead this crusade. accompanied and commanding each five-thousand soldiers Rimuna having fifteen-thousand soldiers set off towards the Valley with a plan and goal in mind, to survive and hold out for as long as possible cross the valley kill the strong monsters within the valley record and map out the valley and pass the valley and live.
Those were what truly drove Rimuna and the true reason why he was living towards a goal, it took them a year and five months to make an army, it was a truly dedicated expedition squad fully armed with divine magic enhanced weapons, armor made from dragon kin, food to last for multiple months and a communication team from within the settlement to record each and every step they make within the valley, but still with an army it took another year to prepare the necessary rations and created the weapon even find the required materials and turn them into useful objects for war to arm the members of the thirty-thousand men that will join an uncertain crusade. To the people witnessing the crusade happen it was a mere waiting game an information that comes to them in their daily lives criticizing the stupidity of choices and reveling in its glory without even being a part of it, but for the armies that marched towards the unknown it was death awaiting them, sitting in the corner looking them straight through their skulls with a stare that makes them welcome death, not knowing when their days last some revel in hopes of glory and riches while some cower in them selves slowly destroying their sanity and planting paranoia within their minds, for some they didn't have families to return to or were mercenaries and just hoped to work for money, some were poor and wanted to return with glory and food they were the lower class that was intrigued by the promises on the papers, some wanted to die honorably and some wished to see the truth they were the scholars that come from either noble families or illegitimate heir's that wanted to prove their worth to their families and warriors that lost their path and wanting to fight something stronger than what the known world offers, It truly was a sizable army but weak within it's mentality strong soldiers and prowess beyond just an army of vagabonds they were strong to the core but still human at best, they had their limits and for sure it will be tested.
Five years since the preparation was fully complete, the events of the crusade within each day found many many battles between them and the dangers offered by the valley, they fought with knowledge and retaliated with strength, five years of progress and they have only reached halfway through the beginning quarter of the valley, they set up signal type crystals for which the command center can have control over to track their progress and creating settlements was possible to the use of spacial magic to transport extra materials towards the armies but spacial magic at the time was not capable of human travel with tests that showed decapitation for living beings including animals but it showed no problems for carcasses and dead things or inanimate objects, it was going through five years and it was five years with no absolute danger the only notable risks were the occasional dessert storms, sink holes, tremors, monsters or stampedes that are lead by a calamity that most of the time would flee after the monsters it controlled would be defeated in battle and the heat from the scorching sun, the company as powerful as they had no problems most of the time with fighting such monsters and traversing such horrible terrain and natural calamities in fact most of the time through the use of traversal type magic they just go through even with the natural earth trying to kill them with ease and safety, most days almost no deaths were recorded but their numbers still dwindled and most days progress was made but was slow and riddled with very dangerous, occasionally settlements are imbued within the valley in a way that it felt like the soldiers were living within a fully fortified castle fortress they would stay within these settlements for weeks and rest fully even though they were inside such a dangerous place. Due to this in a span of 5 years their guard's began to let up, Little did the crusaders know they were about to find where the darkness sits in place the true danger of the valley and the one reason why no one has made it out alive before, many adventuring and expedition parties even well equipped that them in faster traveling and mechanisms that made them traverse the land much faster went and disappeared along with what they brought within the lands, a record of 420 expedition attempts were made within the valley and they didn't return, The Penumbra of Darkness it is such an object of power and evil that exists within the valley, no one knows how it ended up there but one thing is for sure it exists and out of those 420 expeditions an information crystal was retrieved from a shadow that was killed by patrolling soldiers at the border where the valley starts and the settlements end it also marked the first time that humanity had contact with shadows from the penumbra and killed it, In its death it left supposed clothes from one of the expedition members and an information crystal about a dark place within the valley that supposedly consumed the 5 hovering mechanisms they used and took all the members down with it.
In the 1000th year of the Ancestral Calendar not even the ancestors or even Barbatos himself know such object or creature existed, only those that witnessed it know of it's existence, the Penumbra was now slumbering beneath the crusaders feet creating shadows from the decaying hope of humanity, each atrocity committed anywhere in existence exhibited essences that the darkness would use as nourishment, the darkness breeds and the darkness grows as each single second of time pass, while the people of the crusade know nothing it repeats itself to them it's true nature, they raveled in it they were traversing in it and they were afraid by it even not knowing what it was or its existence they feared it, the Penumbra exudes darkness and fear to those near enough to feel it and they were near enough to feel it making them succumb to the darkness.
A moment within the crusade was a blurry memory, soldiers remember seeing that some of them went insane in the moment there and some even went as far as to kill them selves using magic to explode their brains and killing those around them but in every member of the crusade all of them only thought of it as a dream, some of them were paranoid after the events and worried for they lives but with a speech from their commanders they held on just a little longer but not enough, the crusade has just stepped on a land mine, 30,000 troops, 3,628 Dead, 26,372 left, Half way through the Valley of Death and resources to last them multiple months gone in an instant to a horde of monsters, though it was only a blur that nobody paid mind to and this marked the 16th year of the crusade a year that started breaking them slowly.
In the map from the recorded crystal was a place marked on the map, it was the supposed heart of the valley where this darkness from the information crystal was supposed to be in, In simple words where the Penumbra resides and where the point of everything was starting to change, time passing slowly of this seemingly never ending walk the crusaders finally made it, multiple days went by and progress within the central area of the valley was slowly happening, a settlement was created in the form of fortress the crusaders called The Fortress of Hogan named after the leading architect that was luckily with them, the preciously made settlements were only small settlements with close to no barriers and was relying on an alert system waking people if danger ever comes but this Fortress was made between 14 Months and became such a strong standing place that walls were made with the height of 32 Meters and the thickness of 6 Meters it made them feel safe, walking away from the settlement to find nothing the dangers of the unknown combined with the feeling of being a seemingly safe open field grows the doubtful minds of the crusaders and overshadowed the dangerous nature of the valley, it makes them want to let their guards down only to strike when their guard is lowered and squash them like ants, a blur of now the 22nd year into the crusade slowly but surely the darkness is letting lose.
Who knows how many time has passed, fortress like settlements were set up and it took or it felt like slower and slower they go the more they want to stay, at this point into the crusade slowly but surely they want to stop and rest, the work for a dream so far away no longer was wanted by the crusaders and slowly each of the commanders, no danger to be had and no finish line to be crossed, fortified settlements set up a safe place within the valley, it seemed like this was the supposed end to the crusade a merely unfinished dream set by a man of the Trifpheld Family, they wanted the armies to stop marching forward and they did, it was decided by the commanders and requested for an expedition team to bring them more supplies to extend their stay and prepare for fortification within the valley cause the deeper they go a weird magic blocking waves were located and gates cannot be used and they have gone multiple months withing the blocked areas with which Fortress hogan was Located within the place, at this point of the crusade they were 3 months into venturing through the blocked area, after this contact with the central command months already passed what was 30,000 now became 23,000 death occurred daily with weakening bodies falling and failing to walk another step forward in small little expeditions from the fortress and of course it all wasn't just the traveling that killed them but the slowly growing strength of the monsters around the fortress, a scholar of the crusade theorized that the monsters of the sandy ecosystem deemed the fortress as an abnormality and thought of it as an enemy and this resulted into a killing spree from the monsters that came to attack the fortress that resulted in many standoff's and deaths, it was a point to stop this never ending suffering and to stop trying to venture deeper into the valley.
2 Years after the creation of Fortress Hogan the settlements territory was expanded by 4 walls adjacent of each of the four cardinal directions, it also marked multiple deaths and the growth of the settlements the people, they adjusted to the lifestyle within the valley and started to discover that there are some monsters that are consumable along with meat they also found spices herbs vegetables and medicinal plants, some of which are delicacies that are just very delicious to consume with liquor. At the 26th year of the Crusade 2 years after the adjustment to the lifestyle of the soldiers that took part within the crusade a trade route was established became a channel of money and the trade of valuable resources, using a settlement that was as secure as Hogan they set up a gate to trade with those outside the valley and it takes 3 days non-stop or 5 days with safe stopping points to go through the blocked areas but death would be inevitable because of the paths to the defended areas to be filled with lurking and inhabiting monsters, though dangerous and mortality was high the crusaders made life within the valley. But going into 26 Years of Living within the valley became a moment in times that after all this "Should the crusade continue what it was sought out for?" Rimuna dumbfound that he could say these words after all this time and by this question he asked himself How?, he thought about it for weeks and he came to the conclusion that he will do what he sought out to do, "I Will Finish What I Had Started." and so began a point where Rimuna was set out and decided to finish everything, it was about time after all these recent years filled with enjoyment danger trials tribulations rest and brotherhood he was ready, he wanted to see the end of the valley and finally finish mapping out the entire map of the valley and finally go home and claim his glory. Armies divided Commanders each sided with what they wanted.
Rimuna Serpha Trifpheld wanted to continue forward giving each of the commanders and the soldiers of the crusade a choice, to stay to leave to finish what they had begun and to finally be free of the fear that haunted them these last 26 years, Un'Duk decided that to stay was his choice and if the commander so wished to leave then he will be the one to guard Hogan until the end of his days, Theo Y'niea Arcea Decided to Live with the burden and pains of the crusade, at this point he has already lost his hands in their encounter with a dragon kin within the valley and wanted to spend the rest of his days resting on his territory that was waiting for him back home. Franzé Cinue Recillia chose the latter, he came to the conclusion that he wants to go on an adventure after all this lavish life was not of his tastes he always was living within the grasps of death and within a war ridden land, but as selfless and selfish as he can be he treats his troupe as the only family he will ever love and respect, he gave the order to the Troupe that they have the will of free choice and let them make their own decision and thus ended with 107 troupe members wanting to return to the battlefield and leave this boring and carefree life, most of the troupe either left found a life within the fortress or wanted to continue fighting but fighting without being a member of the mercenary troupe. A Months Preparation was set and they went off outside the fortress in almost half a decade with the hopes to come back glorious, They were exited and set off with the cheers and wishes of those that were their brothers, and so begun the return of the crusade.
7 Months into the rebirth of the crusade and they traveled across the valley in a fast pace, a quarter of the secondary part of the valley was already mapped and recorded, caves, dunes, holes, and resting grounds of monsters, it was all recorded and even though many suffered it was evident that the crusade was becoming more and more of a death march but with a reward, The progress they were so desperately wanting since the beginning of the 22nd year of the crusade and when they started to slow down the progress of the crusade, they decided to go forward just one more time further and at this point it was the 12th month after the rebirth of the crusade they went deeper into the secondary part of the valley, there it stood a worm like creature of gigantic proportions, it was an unknown creature that lives beneath the sandy surface of the valley, the soldiers moved towards the monster with a plan, 5 soldier groups towards the front side with the most soldier count to buy time for the other four and two for the left and right side of the monster, the plan was to capture the monster in a position where it will take the bait from the middle army to later on be surrounded and captured due to being overwhelmed by multiple knights militia men and mages. many soldiers seemingly died the battle was thought to be long hard fought and difficult but the armies captured the beast almost as if it was making them to even capturing it almost dead and still alive breathing, they mark this point as the first captured alive monster in the crusade of Rimuna.
2,600 Soldiers 52 dead 2,548 left and marching, After this monster's capture the crusade began halting into the settlements they made within caves that didn't have a habitat of some kind, this became a way of stopping the continuation of the crusade even after learning their lesson that stopping and taking shelter would slow the progress of the crusade they continue on with their plans of stopping and what was left of the 2,600 soldiers was finally revolting against their choice of slowing down and continued but with the choice of resting in a settlement if need be, another 2 months pass during the 28th year of the crusade, but nobody notices nothing, it seems that there really nothing and even though time seems to pass another and another and nothing, no monsters to be seen, no danger to be seen, the valley was drowning in silence, what was know as the valley of death became the valley of nothingness, the sun shines on their head and nobody notices anything, the sight from outside of the small cave settlement was met with silence and the light from the stars up above, what meets the eyes was true silence and quiet.
Even after all this time the valley seems to have no end, no end in sight and no end to be seen, hopeless became the last continuing members and personally Rimuna Himself accompanied by Franzé thought to them selves "What if the valley expands more from where the last expedition teams that set foot within the central point reached?", with these thoughts of a longer stretch of dessert and sand they felt like fate wanted them to fail and they even after almost 3 decades couldn't taste victory, they miss the taste of victory, it was a hell they wanted to bathe in, they wanted glory, they wanted battle, they wanted, Death. "Death? But why would they want Death?" The Commander questions himself and what he seems around him, with a shocked mind Rimura Serpha Trifpheld slowly realizes that it was all a lie, as he looked beyond the lies of reality this truthful looking reality given to them by the darkness, they never moved an inch since they entered the second quarter of the valley, no one got out of the valley even in his dreams, those months after leaving the fortress within the valley was a lie, it was all a hallucination caused by the Penumbra, "This place, it was the valley of death indeed." The Commander breathes for one last and final time, "It was just a dream after all...I wished for an unattainable thing, I am sorry everyone forgive my stupidity of even trying such an arduous task, This is all I could do, I will meet those that died under my command in the afterlife." He looks over the dead soldiers kneeling in the ground after breaking the influence of the darkness he saw that his friend was dying and lying on the ground unconscious he says, "I will see you there my friend, until we meet again."
At that point on time it was 30 years since the beginning of the crusades, the beginning since thirty thousand soldiers were sent to their almost but unsure demise, 30 years of trials, adventure, tribulations, hope, culmination of knowledge, and brotherhood this was the beginnings of the true control and growth of the influence of darkness within humanity, The Moment it came contact with Vessels made by a Divine being marked an evolution of Darkness.
Rimuna Serpha Trifpheld accompanied by his most closest and trusted allies Un'Duk The Brave, Theo Y'niea Arcea A Prodigy, and Franzé Cinue Recillia A Mercenary. This was what humanity had in the beginning on its encounters with the darkness and its kind.
The Death of Rimuna Serpha Trifpheld and Franzé Cinue Recillia Marked the End of the 30 Year Long Crusade.