Nathaniel Chronicles: The Harsh Reality Of Evergrand
Nov 25, 2014 15:57:02 GMT -5
The Katarite likes this
Post by reireithepandanater on Nov 25, 2014 15:57:02 GMT -5
|| This is the second part to Nathaniel's story. I had neglected to mention this in my last post. If you wish to have a character of yours involved with Nathaniel's story, then feel more than free to PM me and we'll see if we can work something out. You know, just to give this story a bit more of an interesting edge. ||
I don't understand why I'm sitting here again, writing so soon after I had written a decent amount as it is...but I simply can't get things out of my mind. I guess I wasn't all that specific about all that I had gone through within my childhood, but I've never really been able to figure out how I do this writing thing either. So, from time to time, I might end up leaving out some pretty important information. It happens from time to time, so I guess I'll add in a bit more information that I might've forgotten.
Lately, I haven't been able to stop thinking about my school life. All the faces I had seen, all those who had disappeared, and those who even bothered to stay in order to help us learn. Even to this day, I can't even begin to fathom as to why they never left our sad little village. The only thing I can come up with...is that they never wanted outsiders to suffer from the clutches of the Evergrand Curse. I could understand why, but...if that's the truth as to why they stayed, then the ones who had disappeared were truly foolish.
Then again, I could be the fool for even calling them fools. I really don't understand how it works, but I've never really been able to understand other people's feelings. If they stayed in order to keep others from finding about the existence of our village, then I guess others would consider it noble to a certain degree. To others, they just may seem selfish. If there were outsiders, then maybe outside thoughts and ideas might have been able to save the lives of many others.
No one will truly ever know, except for those who decided to stay. If you think about it, if they did indeed stay to keep others from finding Evergrand, then there's also another part to that which makes sense. Maybe they didn't want Evergrand to be found, just in case the wrong kind of person ends up finding our little community. It would only make the people more ridden with despair if they had to worry about more than just surviving winter.
How we've had it lucky for so long...but that luck just might end up running out sometime soon. Enough of that, it's no longer any of my concern. I need to focus on surviving in the world outside of Evergrand. Nothing more, nothing less. Anyways, moving back on to what I was talking about before. I started to remember all of the faces that I had seen in my time at that school. I can't say that I really remember their names, but I can definitely remember their faces.
God...there was so many that had disappeared. I don't know where to begin now. I don't know if I should start with the ones that disappeared or the ones that were still around. Ugh...it's such a hard decision. Then again, I've always been a bit indecisive. I think I'll start with the ones who were still around. They're the ones who I remember the most about. But, I can't really give much information about them.
I've never really took the time to get to know them. Friends or companions weren't part of my life since I knew eventually they would probably disappear as well. It's the exact reason as to why I kept my distance from them. I figured that if they were going to drown just like all the others, why waste my time to know them? It really wouldn't have been worth it in the end, would it? Oh well...I guess it's something that I'll learn on my own at a later date. More than likely on my death bed.
There are few I remember the names of, but the ones I do all drowned. What a pain. While I don't know his name, there was always one boy who did seem a bit different to me. He was rather average in height I guess. He had rather decent blond hair and his emerald green eyes seemed somewhat decent, but...he seemed a bit sadder than the rest of us. It was clear that he never slept much. He was always spacing out or taking naps in some classes, but the way you could tell was because of the bags that formed under his eyes.
They were always there. No one knew as to why he got such little amounts of sleep, not even the teachers. At this point, all I could possibly guess was one of a couple of things. Nightmares, insomnia, or parents who were really vocal during love-making sessions. Considering my last idea, I'd rather not find out as to why I even thought that or as to why he was kept up late. Well, it could be from his Father. His Father came from a rather long ling of Samurai, but wasn't a fanatic about it.
His Father was a sword-smith and a very good one at that. I don't know much about the family or its history, but apparently the man had learned swordsmithing skills from his Father. He ended up taking over the job of the local sword-smith, but he mainly makes swords for those outside of Evergrand. He mails them out. Really, Evergrand only had a small handful of people who were mailmen. I guess through the mailmen, there are some people outside of Evergrand who are aware of the village's existence.
Considering the fact that it's rare for Evergrand to get visitors, it only shows that stories of the despair that has a strong-armed grasp on this community have been circulating outside of its boundaries. That in itself tells people that it's wise to stay away from Evergrand, unless they wish to gamble their lives. "Oh don't worry, I'm a good swimmer!" That phrase is probably tossed around by those who hear of us as a joke to shake off the malice hidden within the stories of our home.
They probably say this, but yet they don't seem to understand. It isn't the fact that there's water, it's what the water does and what it has done. You see, from the sheer amounts of water that we have circulating within our community, it makes it near impossible to walk off streets. In order to contradict the flow of water from flooding the entire community, trenches have been dug along the sides of the roads. What people these days refer to as "ditches" alongside roads, we have very deep trenches.
If you think about it, our whole community is on unstable land. With the amount of water we get each year, water erosion is only one of our many problems. The main problem is the sheer amount of water. Because of it, trenches have been dug, grates have been put it place, culverts are a neccesity, and extreme caution must be used. This isn't the kind of community in which people can hop fences and hope to be in the clear of whatever they were running from. Evergrand is a cage. It is a cage and the ones trapped inside are controlled by fear.
Each and every one of us trapped animals are controlled by the fear in which we don't follow the customs that have been built, we'll end up like many others of us. I know I'm straying away from the main topic again, but...this is something that everyone needs to know of Evergrand. It's only more of the reason as to why no one must ever go to Evergrand. Those who live or have lived in Evergrand are honestly the lucky ones. The trenches in which were created to help save the community from flooding have claimed more lives than an average serial killer has.
The trenches themselves are at least thirty-feet in depth and about equal in length. The bottom and sides of the trenches are covered in four foot thick walls. The walls are there in order to prevent the trenches from growing deeper and wider. As to how some would even ask as to how that was possible, the only answer is water erosion. For those who aren't aware, water erosion is when large quantities of moving water eventually begin to wear away at the minerals.
Because of the flow of fast moving water and the volume of it, it can force the minerals to deteriorate. Even if its done in small amounts after long periods of time, it can leave rather big differences and even change the geographical status of an environment. Which brings us to the second problem of the water. Because of how much water that Evergrand gets and for how long it stays around for, it can even cause problems for the stability of the land around homes. Because the rain stays for half the year, people can become unaware of the problems that occur within that six months.
For how long the cement has been there, not everyone's piece of land can always be checked up on. Sometimes, cracks will form within the cement surrounding the base of someone's property. A single crack can spell utter catastrophe for whoever owns that land. The crack will eventually turn into more than just a crack. The property's only protection will eventually disappear, leaving the base of the property vulnerable to the fierce onslaught of torrential force. After time, the entire base of the structure will come crumbling down.
It's like an earthquake or a forest fire. No one knows when it's going to strike, but when it does, the results are more than likely to be catastrophic. When the base of the structure crumbles, the entire piece of land disappears. Back when Evergrand was first created, it was once a thriving city. Yes, the rain was a problem back then as well, but they weren't aware of the effects that the rain would really have on them. Within a hundred years, the great city of Evergrand was reduced to nothing more than a town. As time carried on, all that is left of the ruins of Evergrand is the small village we called home.
As for where the water goes,we circulate it through the trenches we've created. The trenches later interconnect a few miles away from the village and form a river. This river then leads off into a canyon which eventually connects to a lake. Then, it takes its own course from there on. If people were to see the rivers, the canyon, the trenches, and even the lake, the water ways would be ridden with fragments of our past and our present. Most of the remnants of the buildings that have fallen victim to the cruel tides of Evergand have mostly been cleaned up.
While large quantities of the remnants have been gathered, if someone were to walk near the bank of the river, they'd be able to still see some objects in which people once proudly used. Clothing, portraits, and numerous other things. All things that fall into the trenches eventually end up following the tides and ends up being pushed along the current. There are rather heavily enforced grates that are set up all over the trenches in order to keep people from sinking to the bottom, but those grates usually are no match for a vehicle or a house that has crumbled away.
Most of the time when a person drowns in the trenches their bodies aren't even discovered until winter is over. That in itself is more depressing than the fact that they drowned. Yes, they were gone from the community and their time was up, but the fact that their death can't even be confirmed until winter is over is the saddest part. In the time period between winter and fall, it's as if they're being sucked into a void. Pulled away from everyone by the faint whispers of death, then completely sucked into a void as if they stopped existing entirely or that their presence was gone.
But that's only for the ones that aren't found. The ones who are found have their existence brought back to reality. It's nothing but a rumor spread around by a large number of the kids in the community, but they say that the spirits of those who were not found haunt the lands. The kids say that they're the reason as to why the town is full of such misery, and that they have to suffer from such weather. I honestly wouldn't know if its true, but I highly doubt it. The one thing that I'll never be able to get over...is the fact that we don't even bury our dead.
All those who die in Evergrand are cremated. Again, it's because of the weather. Because of how much rain we have, the coffins will end up eventually resurfacing no matter how deep we dig the grave. For the bodies that are found, they are cremated and given to the remaining family members cherish the memories of the lost ones. Evergrand has a fate that it simply can't escape. Even though it was created in these lands, the very land will be the one thing that brings about its destruction.
It's rather depressing when you think about it, but in reality, Evergrand will eventually disappear and be nothing more than a memory for those who have survived. Oh dear, I've really got off topic, but I guess I did end up getting wrapped up in this topic once more. It's hard to believe. I spent a good amount of my life in Evergrand, and when I'm finally away, all I can really do is spend my time writing about the damn place instead of what I intended to talk about. It's really such a bother.
As much as I would love to write more about what I intended to write about, I think I'm going to take another break from it. I'll come back to write some more eventually. We'll see as to when that will be though. Probably not for a while, but I won't be able to stop thinking about Evergrand. Who knows, maybe next time around, I might focus on what I'm trying to write about and even remember the names of the people I can remember. We'll see if it happens next time. This time, I don't think I'll end it with a quote or anything. Maybe next time I will.
I don't understand why I'm sitting here again, writing so soon after I had written a decent amount as it is...but I simply can't get things out of my mind. I guess I wasn't all that specific about all that I had gone through within my childhood, but I've never really been able to figure out how I do this writing thing either. So, from time to time, I might end up leaving out some pretty important information. It happens from time to time, so I guess I'll add in a bit more information that I might've forgotten.
Lately, I haven't been able to stop thinking about my school life. All the faces I had seen, all those who had disappeared, and those who even bothered to stay in order to help us learn. Even to this day, I can't even begin to fathom as to why they never left our sad little village. The only thing I can come up with...is that they never wanted outsiders to suffer from the clutches of the Evergrand Curse. I could understand why, but...if that's the truth as to why they stayed, then the ones who had disappeared were truly foolish.
Then again, I could be the fool for even calling them fools. I really don't understand how it works, but I've never really been able to understand other people's feelings. If they stayed in order to keep others from finding about the existence of our village, then I guess others would consider it noble to a certain degree. To others, they just may seem selfish. If there were outsiders, then maybe outside thoughts and ideas might have been able to save the lives of many others.
No one will truly ever know, except for those who decided to stay. If you think about it, if they did indeed stay to keep others from finding Evergrand, then there's also another part to that which makes sense. Maybe they didn't want Evergrand to be found, just in case the wrong kind of person ends up finding our little community. It would only make the people more ridden with despair if they had to worry about more than just surviving winter.
How we've had it lucky for so long...but that luck just might end up running out sometime soon. Enough of that, it's no longer any of my concern. I need to focus on surviving in the world outside of Evergrand. Nothing more, nothing less. Anyways, moving back on to what I was talking about before. I started to remember all of the faces that I had seen in my time at that school. I can't say that I really remember their names, but I can definitely remember their faces.
God...there was so many that had disappeared. I don't know where to begin now. I don't know if I should start with the ones that disappeared or the ones that were still around. Ugh...it's such a hard decision. Then again, I've always been a bit indecisive. I think I'll start with the ones who were still around. They're the ones who I remember the most about. But, I can't really give much information about them.
I've never really took the time to get to know them. Friends or companions weren't part of my life since I knew eventually they would probably disappear as well. It's the exact reason as to why I kept my distance from them. I figured that if they were going to drown just like all the others, why waste my time to know them? It really wouldn't have been worth it in the end, would it? Oh well...I guess it's something that I'll learn on my own at a later date. More than likely on my death bed.
There are few I remember the names of, but the ones I do all drowned. What a pain. While I don't know his name, there was always one boy who did seem a bit different to me. He was rather average in height I guess. He had rather decent blond hair and his emerald green eyes seemed somewhat decent, but...he seemed a bit sadder than the rest of us. It was clear that he never slept much. He was always spacing out or taking naps in some classes, but the way you could tell was because of the bags that formed under his eyes.
They were always there. No one knew as to why he got such little amounts of sleep, not even the teachers. At this point, all I could possibly guess was one of a couple of things. Nightmares, insomnia, or parents who were really vocal during love-making sessions. Considering my last idea, I'd rather not find out as to why I even thought that or as to why he was kept up late. Well, it could be from his Father. His Father came from a rather long ling of Samurai, but wasn't a fanatic about it.
His Father was a sword-smith and a very good one at that. I don't know much about the family or its history, but apparently the man had learned swordsmithing skills from his Father. He ended up taking over the job of the local sword-smith, but he mainly makes swords for those outside of Evergrand. He mails them out. Really, Evergrand only had a small handful of people who were mailmen. I guess through the mailmen, there are some people outside of Evergrand who are aware of the village's existence.
Considering the fact that it's rare for Evergrand to get visitors, it only shows that stories of the despair that has a strong-armed grasp on this community have been circulating outside of its boundaries. That in itself tells people that it's wise to stay away from Evergrand, unless they wish to gamble their lives. "Oh don't worry, I'm a good swimmer!" That phrase is probably tossed around by those who hear of us as a joke to shake off the malice hidden within the stories of our home.
They probably say this, but yet they don't seem to understand. It isn't the fact that there's water, it's what the water does and what it has done. You see, from the sheer amounts of water that we have circulating within our community, it makes it near impossible to walk off streets. In order to contradict the flow of water from flooding the entire community, trenches have been dug along the sides of the roads. What people these days refer to as "ditches" alongside roads, we have very deep trenches.
If you think about it, our whole community is on unstable land. With the amount of water we get each year, water erosion is only one of our many problems. The main problem is the sheer amount of water. Because of it, trenches have been dug, grates have been put it place, culverts are a neccesity, and extreme caution must be used. This isn't the kind of community in which people can hop fences and hope to be in the clear of whatever they were running from. Evergrand is a cage. It is a cage and the ones trapped inside are controlled by fear.
Each and every one of us trapped animals are controlled by the fear in which we don't follow the customs that have been built, we'll end up like many others of us. I know I'm straying away from the main topic again, but...this is something that everyone needs to know of Evergrand. It's only more of the reason as to why no one must ever go to Evergrand. Those who live or have lived in Evergrand are honestly the lucky ones. The trenches in which were created to help save the community from flooding have claimed more lives than an average serial killer has.
The trenches themselves are at least thirty-feet in depth and about equal in length. The bottom and sides of the trenches are covered in four foot thick walls. The walls are there in order to prevent the trenches from growing deeper and wider. As to how some would even ask as to how that was possible, the only answer is water erosion. For those who aren't aware, water erosion is when large quantities of moving water eventually begin to wear away at the minerals.
Because of the flow of fast moving water and the volume of it, it can force the minerals to deteriorate. Even if its done in small amounts after long periods of time, it can leave rather big differences and even change the geographical status of an environment. Which brings us to the second problem of the water. Because of how much water that Evergrand gets and for how long it stays around for, it can even cause problems for the stability of the land around homes. Because the rain stays for half the year, people can become unaware of the problems that occur within that six months.
For how long the cement has been there, not everyone's piece of land can always be checked up on. Sometimes, cracks will form within the cement surrounding the base of someone's property. A single crack can spell utter catastrophe for whoever owns that land. The crack will eventually turn into more than just a crack. The property's only protection will eventually disappear, leaving the base of the property vulnerable to the fierce onslaught of torrential force. After time, the entire base of the structure will come crumbling down.
It's like an earthquake or a forest fire. No one knows when it's going to strike, but when it does, the results are more than likely to be catastrophic. When the base of the structure crumbles, the entire piece of land disappears. Back when Evergrand was first created, it was once a thriving city. Yes, the rain was a problem back then as well, but they weren't aware of the effects that the rain would really have on them. Within a hundred years, the great city of Evergrand was reduced to nothing more than a town. As time carried on, all that is left of the ruins of Evergrand is the small village we called home.
As for where the water goes,we circulate it through the trenches we've created. The trenches later interconnect a few miles away from the village and form a river. This river then leads off into a canyon which eventually connects to a lake. Then, it takes its own course from there on. If people were to see the rivers, the canyon, the trenches, and even the lake, the water ways would be ridden with fragments of our past and our present. Most of the remnants of the buildings that have fallen victim to the cruel tides of Evergand have mostly been cleaned up.
While large quantities of the remnants have been gathered, if someone were to walk near the bank of the river, they'd be able to still see some objects in which people once proudly used. Clothing, portraits, and numerous other things. All things that fall into the trenches eventually end up following the tides and ends up being pushed along the current. There are rather heavily enforced grates that are set up all over the trenches in order to keep people from sinking to the bottom, but those grates usually are no match for a vehicle or a house that has crumbled away.
Most of the time when a person drowns in the trenches their bodies aren't even discovered until winter is over. That in itself is more depressing than the fact that they drowned. Yes, they were gone from the community and their time was up, but the fact that their death can't even be confirmed until winter is over is the saddest part. In the time period between winter and fall, it's as if they're being sucked into a void. Pulled away from everyone by the faint whispers of death, then completely sucked into a void as if they stopped existing entirely or that their presence was gone.
But that's only for the ones that aren't found. The ones who are found have their existence brought back to reality. It's nothing but a rumor spread around by a large number of the kids in the community, but they say that the spirits of those who were not found haunt the lands. The kids say that they're the reason as to why the town is full of such misery, and that they have to suffer from such weather. I honestly wouldn't know if its true, but I highly doubt it. The one thing that I'll never be able to get over...is the fact that we don't even bury our dead.
All those who die in Evergrand are cremated. Again, it's because of the weather. Because of how much rain we have, the coffins will end up eventually resurfacing no matter how deep we dig the grave. For the bodies that are found, they are cremated and given to the remaining family members cherish the memories of the lost ones. Evergrand has a fate that it simply can't escape. Even though it was created in these lands, the very land will be the one thing that brings about its destruction.
It's rather depressing when you think about it, but in reality, Evergrand will eventually disappear and be nothing more than a memory for those who have survived. Oh dear, I've really got off topic, but I guess I did end up getting wrapped up in this topic once more. It's hard to believe. I spent a good amount of my life in Evergrand, and when I'm finally away, all I can really do is spend my time writing about the damn place instead of what I intended to talk about. It's really such a bother.
As much as I would love to write more about what I intended to write about, I think I'm going to take another break from it. I'll come back to write some more eventually. We'll see as to when that will be though. Probably not for a while, but I won't be able to stop thinking about Evergrand. Who knows, maybe next time around, I might focus on what I'm trying to write about and even remember the names of the people I can remember. We'll see if it happens next time. This time, I don't think I'll end it with a quote or anything. Maybe next time I will.