Redux on Chapter 1

The first European settlement in the Colmaya Valley was the town of Everton. The colonizing population would sustain itself through the trade of furs and game meat. The people of Everton would mingle with the barbarous tribes of the valley and both cultures would eventually meld into one group. Everton would rise as an example of how two disparate cultures could meld together.

In the 1870s, the mortal Gods of industry united to destroy the sprawling, luscious, green valley and its budding city. Everton’s population was straining the city’s infrastructure. New accommodations and amenities would have to be built. Railways were laid to ease transportation going in and out of the city. Sewers were built. Roads were paved throughout the many streets in the city. Lighting would be needed to keep the city burning bright throughout the day. A source of power would have to be developed. A powerful volcanic presence was discovered along the Eastern mountain ridge of the Colmaya Valley. Pacticioners of the old spirituality believed the area was where Colmaya’s heart lay. Investigations into the mountain revealed a long simmering cauldron of magma, ready to erupt at any notice. If the power of the volcano could be harnessed, it could provide enough energy to sustain Everton and cities hundreds of miles away for decades.

Construction of the great geothermic power dome began. Powerful mages were summoned to forcefully activate volcanic activity within the structure. Everton, and many other cities, could channel the rage of the natural furnace to power any sort of the new and fantastical contraptions being constructed every day. This act was known as ate sundering, the time where the people of the valley forsook their original faith for that of the Industrial magnates. Everton became Sunderville.

Yet, with such advances came the inevitable backlash of using such methods to tame the wilds. The lights of the city’s streets gave off a peculiar residue that wafted into the air, causing even the brightest of days to resemble a hazy twilight. The power of the magic underground turned the land around Sunderville into a charred, blackened thing. Water pumped into the city had the taste of ash. The forest retreated and gave the city a wide berth, allowing for the expansion of numerous new districts into the valley below.