A Brief History of The City and Sacred Text

By DBW

During the age in which Theo the Armless lived, his world was known only as “The World,” because it was believed to be the only world ever to exist. Most people believed The World had been created by a single, all-powerful God and that this god created each person by hand. Also at that time The World had only one true city among many small villages, so it too was only known as “The City,“ although much later in history it was given other names, such as “The Old City of Roughland.” For many years, it was the most advanced and the most populated place in The World. Its civilization lasted for almost 200 years, which is an extremely long time from its citizens’ perspective, whose average lifespan was less than 4 years.

The City was at the height of its prosperity at the time of Theo’s visit. The priests claimed that The City was The World’s first and oldest nation; but, in fact, the earliest known societies existed hundreds of years before The City was founded. Some of these earlier towns had even achieved prosperity equal with that of The City, before they were all destroyed by various catastrophes. Some of the survivors went on to build the small village that would eventually become The City. Much of The City’s success was due to the fact that there were no large civilizations left to compete with during its developing years.

Many generations after The City was founded, the priesthood was established as the main source of religious and social guidance for its citizens. Over the years, the priests gained more power and became the ruling class of The City. With the authority given to them by The Creator, they established and enforced the laws of their society.

With luck and hard work, The City grew to become the greatest civilization in the known World. Their prosperity and system of government set them apart from the surrounding towns, which were usually lead by a few elders or respected tribesmen. Only during the latter part of The City’s history did other cities begin to rise up and establish powerful rulers of their own.

Years after the priests had come to power, they began collecting many of their culture’s mythologies, that had been orally passed down through the centuries, and put them down in writing; these documents became The Sacred Text. Literacy in that time period was a rarity, found only in the priests and the highly educated. For awhile, most of the common people in the City continued the oral tradition, but the priests were regarded as the highest authority on The Sacred Text, and the only ones qualified to teach the beliefs correctly. Soon, the majority of the population learned the sacred stories through the priests, who recited from the Sacred Text. By the time of Theo, it was generally believed that the Sacred Text had been written directly by God, and given to The City, as they were his favorite nation.

Over the course of many decades, the priests had to retranslate The Sacred Text as the language of The City changed. This lead to both accidental and deliberate alterations within the Text. Gradually, The Sacred Text and the persisting oral traditions in the City developed significant differences. Throughout the rest of The City’s history, especially in the later years, the priests fought against the divergent beliefs that popped up among the citizens. Most of the them were quickly stamped out by the priests before they could spread, or the new cults left The City to live and teach in other lands. But eventually rival beliefs and new ideas did persuaded larger portions of the population, and The City became divided. Some tried to seize power from the priesthood. This, along with conflicts with other rising nations, ultimately lead to The City’s collapse.

A few copies of The Sacred Text had made their way to surrounding nations and continued to be circulated, occasionally altered, and incorporated into other cultures. Some earlier versions were preserved in ancient tombs, but it is difficult to know exactly what the earliest Sacred Text was like. What we do know about The Sacred Text is still very informative of the culture in which it originated.

Time Scale

0 years - Destruction of the earliest known cities

2 years (after destruction) - The City begins as a small village of survivors

20 years - Priesthood is founded

40 years - Sacred Text first written

70 Years - The City becomes the largest civilization

90 years - Theo lives

130 years - Other cities have become equally powerful

140 - 145 years - Several wars with rival nations

160 years - The City becomes divided by competing religious beliefs

165 years - Civil war breaks out

170 - 180 Years - Fall of the City

These dates were estimated from documents made hundreds of years after the final fall of The City and from archeological finds. The older societies did not keep very good records of actual historical events. So, while this time scale is our best estimate, it is probably not completely accurate.

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