Looking back on it now, back before Escuro had taken over rule, events like the following one had occurred and had really been the catalyst of change….
Luar Vale was an old kingdom. It had been around for more years than anyone here really knew, and in all of that time, the cats had ruled the lands. They ruled fairly and were respected by all the creatures of the valley.
Things were good there. The villages thrived on growing food, making tools and weapons to sell to neighboring lands, and of course there was the coal that this particular valley had in abundance in the grounds. That alone fetched high prices on the market, as other lands required it for heating and for their own industry.
Life was good and for the most of it, peaceful in the Moonlit Valley.
Hyenas, by nature, are lazy creatures and scavengers. They would rather laze about doing as little as possible whilst letting others do the hard work. They schemed on how to get the most for themselves with the least amount of work. Due to this lazy nature, they had little industry of their own. These days they found it easier to do things such as break into stores, steal tools and weapons, selling them on the black market to other kingdoms.
No time or effort was required to toil away making their own living when they could simply steal and spend the rest of their time lazing around in the warm sun.
Other creatures grew tired of the hyena and their lazy ways, and even though it was a well-known subject, no hyena had, so far, been caught stealing. While they may be lazy, they were also fairly cunning creatures.
Slowly over time, the hyena had started to be shunned by others in the valley. Others creatures were growing tired of the thefts, dishonesty and lies from the hyena’s, and so, slowly, they were pushed out of the villages and into the forests.
In these times it was not uncommon for scuffles to break out between the other villagers and the hyenas, for the more desperate they became, the more thefts occurred. Violence had not really been known in this particular valley, as life here had been very good for many a year, but there were now incidents happening more and more frequently.
An old tool maker from Sol Preenchido, the biggest village and home to nearly all the cats of this valley, had been working away late in his shop one night when a group of hyena broke in. Not knowing he was still in his store, they started to take tools and weapons from the back room and load them into sacks.
Artesão was a true craftsman; he had made tools and weapons to sell from his store for many a year. Now, in his very twilight years, he was soon to retire from the day-to-day life of manufacturing and repairing tools and the like.
It was time to sell his store to another and spend the rest of his time relaxing in the sun, for he was now an elderly cat and resting was what his body needed.
All there was left do was put in a couple of late nights counting stock and tidy up for the change over to the new owner. “Two more nights of this and then it is long days of sleeping in the sun for me,” he said to himself, counting a row of pry bars that were used to dig coal from the ground.
Quietly sitting there on his old wooden stool, Artesão was not aware of the hyena that had come in through the back door of his store to plunder more of his goods and, in turn, the hyena were not aware of the old cat still in his store counting stock.
They quietly snuck through the back room and into the storefront, rounding the end of a display rack they came face to face with the elderly craftsman. Taken aback by their presence, Artesão got to his feet as quick as his old bones would allow. “Get out of my store!” he demanded, picking up a pry bar from the rack next to him. “You will NOT steal any more from me!” he shouted to the hyena. “Leave before you experience the sharp end of this pry bar.”
The hyenas had been caught face to face for the first time; this would surely mean punishment for them. Without hesitation, one of the hyenas jumped forward at the old cat, baring his teeth and lashing out with the claws of his right hand. The claws tore across the chest of Artesão, instantly spilling blood to the shop floor. The other hyenas recoiled back, not from fear of the old cat, but from fear of the punishment they would face as a result of this attack.
Artesão fell against the rack of tools, knocking pry bars, harrows and such to the floor. Blood flowed from the wound on his chest. He was old and frail, and this attack could easily end him. He gasped in agony, the panicked hyena stood over him, blood still dripping from his claws.
Artesão’s eyes slowly closed as he slumped down in pain.
The hyena had attacked an innocent old cat; they would suffer a terrible punishment for this cowardly act!
Artesão, although terribly wounded, still gripped the pry bar in his hand as he fell against the wooden shelving.
The hyena that had attacked him turned momentarily back towards the others in his gang, looking to them for reassurance. At this time, Artesão, fueled by a last burst of adrenaline, raised the pry bar high in the air and brought it down quickly, stabbing its sharp end deep into the flank of the hyena. It howled in pain and instinctively lashed back at the old cat, catching him across the face and chest several times. Blood streamed from Artesão’s body as he slumped down upon the wooden floor. This time there would be no getting back up, this would be his last day in his store and, indeed, his last in this world.
The hyena panicked. With no time to clean up, they left the body of Artesão where it lay and scrambled for the back door, leaving the sacks of tools and weapons that had been readied to steal. This event would be the one that triggered a major change of life in the Moonlit Valley.
Eight am the following morning, cats from the village were milling around the front of Artesão’s store. He was late to open today and that in itself was unusual. By eight thirty, one of the villagers who desperately needed repairs done to some tools walked around to the rear of the store to see if Artesão had arrived. He saw the rear door slightly ajar. Oh good, he thought to himself, at least he is here! He walked up the old wooden steps that led to the rear door and pushed it further open, calling out to Artesão. “Good morning, Artesão,” he called. “Can I get you to tend to some repairs, most urgently, for me?”
There was no answer so the cat took a few steps further into the back room of the store, calling out to Artesão as he went. He didn’t want to startle the old cat. A fright at his age could be the death of him! he thought to himself.
He continued through the store calling out to Artesão, and as he rounded the corner of the first display rack, he came across the bloodied body of the old cat slumped on the floor. Dried blood had hardened around deep wounds to his face and chest and pooled on the ground around him. A loud yell for help alerted the cats milling around at the front of the shop. Some dashed to the rear of the building and ran inside to be greeted by the same awful sight that the first of them had discovered only moments before.
Poor old Artesão, he certainly was not deserving of this!
This was truly a tragedy for the village. This was a place of peaceful existence, not one of violence. The cats of Sol Preenchido knew that from this point on there would be changes to the lives of those who lived in Luar Vale - and not just for the cats, but also for all creatures.
It was obvious from the wounds on the old cat that these were inflicted by a hyena. They had become more removed from society of late and their laziness, petty theft and attitude meant that they had been now all but banished from the villages of the valley. They had taken up in ramshackle residences in the forests, spending their time stealing and selling on the black-market.
Artesão’s death was hard on the village. No one had been murdered in Luar vale for as long as anyone could remember, and it made the already growing rift between the cats and the hyena greater than ever.
After a grieving period, Artesão was buried and the shop was to go to the new owner. She was a cat young in years but old in skills and had been trained by Artesão for quite some time, only no one seemed to know where she was.
Ela had been missing since the murder, and for a couple of weeks now no one had heard from her, she had taken the death badly and even before this event had a dislike for the hyena but this had been the final straw. Ela had taken off from Sol Preenchido and was laying low in a cabin on the opposite edge of the forest, spending her days using the catnip to dull the pain and help the time pass. She hated the fact that she was using it again, as it changed her completely; causing her minimal magical powers to become erratic and unpredictable.
Pequeno certainly would not be impressed! He hated it when she used catnip, and as it had no effect on him, he couldn’t understand the grip that it had on her or why she couldn’t just stop.
Things were changing in Luar Vale. This death of one of the cats inside of his own store, in his own village, signaled a significant shift in thinking for many of the creatures of the valley.
The hyena responsible for the death of Artesão had been caught and imprisoned, and land and homes they still owned were confiscated by the kingdom as punishment for the unprovoked murder. Up until this point, this had been the normal form of punishment for this type of crime.
However these types of events were becoming more frequent between the hyena and other creatures, and as a result, they were forced further and further into the forests to live. They did nothing to help themselves as they had always been, and always would be, a lazy race. And nothing ever came of those who were inherently lazy.
In turn, the hyena began to resent the cats greatly for their rules and, what they considered, unfair treatment of their kind.
This was about the time that Escuro had come fourth and put into place his plan to rule this valley.
Hyena would be the new rulers of Luar Vale. The two moons of The Moonlit Valley would shine over the hyena kingdom in the near future!
Sabedoria, the queen of Luar Vale, had ruled now for many a decade, a direct descendant of the royal family that had ruled over Luar Vale for hundreds of years. She, herself, was now in her twilight years, but was still sharp as a tack and greatly respected throughout the lands, for like her predecessor she ruled fair and had created a great existence for all those that lived here.
Life was generally very good under her rule. The creatures indeed loved their queen, for she was wise from both age and experience. She had used these qualities to transform the valley into the good life that they now all enjoyed.
Sabedoria and her council resided in the royal castle, located in the most northern part of the Luar Vale and looked down across the valley and over the vast lake. This lake was, in turn, flanked by forests to the east and west. The dark forest was in the far south, and this was now the home to the hyena. They spent their time committing crimes, mainly petty theft, and always plotting to rid the valley of the queen, therefore forcing their rule on these lands.
Sabedoria was not just a clever cat by nature, she, like a very select few in these lands, could do a small amount of magic. There were only a handful of cats throughout the valley that could do magic, and there seemed to be no pattern to who could do magic and indeed what magic they could perform.
The few that could, normally had only the one ability, and no one knew for sure just what the magical ability of Sabedoria was.
Luar Vale was an old kingdom. It had been around for more years than anyone here really knew, and in all of that time, the cats had ruled the lands. They ruled fairly and were respected by all the creatures of the valley.
Things were good there. The villages thrived on growing food, making tools and weapons to sell to neighboring lands, and of course there was the coal that this particular valley had in abundance in the grounds. That alone fetched high prices on the market, as other lands required it for heating and for their own industry.
Life was good and for the most of it, peaceful in the Moonlit Valley.
Hyenas, by nature, are lazy creatures and scavengers. They would rather laze about doing as little as possible whilst letting others do the hard work. They schemed on how to get the most for themselves with the least amount of work. Due to this lazy nature, they had little industry of their own. These days they found it easier to do things such as break into stores, steal tools and weapons, selling them on the black market to other kingdoms.
No time or effort was required to toil away making their own living when they could simply steal and spend the rest of their time lazing around in the warm sun.
Other creatures grew tired of the hyena and their lazy ways, and even though it was a well-known subject, no hyena had, so far, been caught stealing. While they may be lazy, they were also fairly cunning creatures.
Slowly over time, the hyena had started to be shunned by others in the valley. Others creatures were growing tired of the thefts, dishonesty and lies from the hyena’s, and so, slowly, they were pushed out of the villages and into the forests.
In these times it was not uncommon for scuffles to break out between the other villagers and the hyenas, for the more desperate they became, the more thefts occurred. Violence had not really been known in this particular valley, as life here had been very good for many a year, but there were now incidents happening more and more frequently.
An old tool maker from Sol Preenchido, the biggest village and home to nearly all the cats of this valley, had been working away late in his shop one night when a group of hyena broke in. Not knowing he was still in his store, they started to take tools and weapons from the back room and load them into sacks.
Artesão was a true craftsman; he had made tools and weapons to sell from his store for many a year. Now, in his very twilight years, he was soon to retire from the day-to-day life of manufacturing and repairing tools and the like.
It was time to sell his store to another and spend the rest of his time relaxing in the sun, for he was now an elderly cat and resting was what his body needed.
All there was left do was put in a couple of late nights counting stock and tidy up for the change over to the new owner. “Two more nights of this and then it is long days of sleeping in the sun for me,” he said to himself, counting a row of pry bars that were used to dig coal from the ground.
Quietly sitting there on his old wooden stool, Artesão was not aware of the hyena that had come in through the back door of his store to plunder more of his goods and, in turn, the hyena were not aware of the old cat still in his store counting stock.
They quietly snuck through the back room and into the storefront, rounding the end of a display rack they came face to face with the elderly craftsman. Taken aback by their presence, Artesão got to his feet as quick as his old bones would allow. “Get out of my store!” he demanded, picking up a pry bar from the rack next to him. “You will NOT steal any more from me!” he shouted to the hyena. “Leave before you experience the sharp end of this pry bar.”
The hyenas had been caught face to face for the first time; this would surely mean punishment for them. Without hesitation, one of the hyenas jumped forward at the old cat, baring his teeth and lashing out with the claws of his right hand. The claws tore across the chest of Artesão, instantly spilling blood to the shop floor. The other hyenas recoiled back, not from fear of the old cat, but from fear of the punishment they would face as a result of this attack.
Artesão fell against the rack of tools, knocking pry bars, harrows and such to the floor. Blood flowed from the wound on his chest. He was old and frail, and this attack could easily end him. He gasped in agony, the panicked hyena stood over him, blood still dripping from his claws.
Artesão’s eyes slowly closed as he slumped down in pain.
The hyena had attacked an innocent old cat; they would suffer a terrible punishment for this cowardly act!
Artesão, although terribly wounded, still gripped the pry bar in his hand as he fell against the wooden shelving.
The hyena that had attacked him turned momentarily back towards the others in his gang, looking to them for reassurance. At this time, Artesão, fueled by a last burst of adrenaline, raised the pry bar high in the air and brought it down quickly, stabbing its sharp end deep into the flank of the hyena. It howled in pain and instinctively lashed back at the old cat, catching him across the face and chest several times. Blood streamed from Artesão’s body as he slumped down upon the wooden floor. This time there would be no getting back up, this would be his last day in his store and, indeed, his last in this world.
The hyena panicked. With no time to clean up, they left the body of Artesão where it lay and scrambled for the back door, leaving the sacks of tools and weapons that had been readied to steal. This event would be the one that triggered a major change of life in the Moonlit Valley.
Eight am the following morning, cats from the village were milling around the front of Artesão’s store. He was late to open today and that in itself was unusual. By eight thirty, one of the villagers who desperately needed repairs done to some tools walked around to the rear of the store to see if Artesão had arrived. He saw the rear door slightly ajar. Oh good, he thought to himself, at least he is here! He walked up the old wooden steps that led to the rear door and pushed it further open, calling out to Artesão. “Good morning, Artesão,” he called. “Can I get you to tend to some repairs, most urgently, for me?”
There was no answer so the cat took a few steps further into the back room of the store, calling out to Artesão as he went. He didn’t want to startle the old cat. A fright at his age could be the death of him! he thought to himself.
He continued through the store calling out to Artesão, and as he rounded the corner of the first display rack, he came across the bloodied body of the old cat slumped on the floor. Dried blood had hardened around deep wounds to his face and chest and pooled on the ground around him. A loud yell for help alerted the cats milling around at the front of the shop. Some dashed to the rear of the building and ran inside to be greeted by the same awful sight that the first of them had discovered only moments before.
Poor old Artesão, he certainly was not deserving of this!
This was truly a tragedy for the village. This was a place of peaceful existence, not one of violence. The cats of Sol Preenchido knew that from this point on there would be changes to the lives of those who lived in Luar Vale - and not just for the cats, but also for all creatures.
It was obvious from the wounds on the old cat that these were inflicted by a hyena. They had become more removed from society of late and their laziness, petty theft and attitude meant that they had been now all but banished from the villages of the valley. They had taken up in ramshackle residences in the forests, spending their time stealing and selling on the black-market.
Artesão’s death was hard on the village. No one had been murdered in Luar vale for as long as anyone could remember, and it made the already growing rift between the cats and the hyena greater than ever.
After a grieving period, Artesão was buried and the shop was to go to the new owner. She was a cat young in years but old in skills and had been trained by Artesão for quite some time, only no one seemed to know where she was.
Ela had been missing since the murder, and for a couple of weeks now no one had heard from her, she had taken the death badly and even before this event had a dislike for the hyena but this had been the final straw. Ela had taken off from Sol Preenchido and was laying low in a cabin on the opposite edge of the forest, spending her days using the catnip to dull the pain and help the time pass. She hated the fact that she was using it again, as it changed her completely; causing her minimal magical powers to become erratic and unpredictable.
Pequeno certainly would not be impressed! He hated it when she used catnip, and as it had no effect on him, he couldn’t understand the grip that it had on her or why she couldn’t just stop.
Things were changing in Luar Vale. This death of one of the cats inside of his own store, in his own village, signaled a significant shift in thinking for many of the creatures of the valley.
The hyena responsible for the death of Artesão had been caught and imprisoned, and land and homes they still owned were confiscated by the kingdom as punishment for the unprovoked murder. Up until this point, this had been the normal form of punishment for this type of crime.
However these types of events were becoming more frequent between the hyena and other creatures, and as a result, they were forced further and further into the forests to live. They did nothing to help themselves as they had always been, and always would be, a lazy race. And nothing ever came of those who were inherently lazy.
In turn, the hyena began to resent the cats greatly for their rules and, what they considered, unfair treatment of their kind.
This was about the time that Escuro had come fourth and put into place his plan to rule this valley.
Hyena would be the new rulers of Luar Vale. The two moons of The Moonlit Valley would shine over the hyena kingdom in the near future!
Sabedoria, the queen of Luar Vale, had ruled now for many a decade, a direct descendant of the royal family that had ruled over Luar Vale for hundreds of years. She, herself, was now in her twilight years, but was still sharp as a tack and greatly respected throughout the lands, for like her predecessor she ruled fair and had created a great existence for all those that lived here.
Life was generally very good under her rule. The creatures indeed loved their queen, for she was wise from both age and experience. She had used these qualities to transform the valley into the good life that they now all enjoyed.
Sabedoria and her council resided in the royal castle, located in the most northern part of the Luar Vale and looked down across the valley and over the vast lake. This lake was, in turn, flanked by forests to the east and west. The dark forest was in the far south, and this was now the home to the hyena. They spent their time committing crimes, mainly petty theft, and always plotting to rid the valley of the queen, therefore forcing their rule on these lands.
Sabedoria was not just a clever cat by nature, she, like a very select few in these lands, could do a small amount of magic. There were only a handful of cats throughout the valley that could do magic, and there seemed to be no pattern to who could do magic and indeed what magic they could perform.
The few that could, normally had only the one ability, and no one knew for sure just what the magical ability of Sabedoria was.