Foreword by the Author of The Fall of Alterra, Brother Hoyt of the Temple of the East Winds
Not the Beginning.
Every story has a beginning; where else would a historian start? The problem with beginnings is that they aren?t always clear cut; sometimes the beginning doesn?t appear in neon letters with an arrow pointing to it. Other historians will no doubt write other versions of this world, these events and they will, I have no doubt, state that the ?Event? was the beginning.
I would, will, beg to differ. Without going back before the Event it has no meaning, no depth of the true horror of what was done there on the world called Hera so far from Mother Earth that it may seem unimportant. It is important to understand that no matter how far we cast ourselves in the stars that at the core it is always our humanity that eventually catches us up and guides our actions; whether they be good or the proverbial evil is a matter of perspective and debate.
There are some that will question why I have decided to write about this particular history. They will debate if my time spent on that planet has affected my objectivity, and I tell you now that it has, of course, affected my objectivity. I would challenge any historian, or perhaps I am just a scribe in this case, to live with people; to eat, sleep, work, play with people and have such things not affect how you write of them.
Some of these stories are taken from vids provided by the government. For those unfamiliar with the planet Alterra there is a system of surveillance in place that was instituted during the reign of the last King, King Desmond ?ur Tate.
Through the use of technology and magic, an art named technomancy; devices were distributed throughout the populated areas. So pervasive were these devices that it was impossible to find them all and so it is that a few were found and what was recorded there will be written here as testimonies to how these people lived their daily lives before everything they knew was destroyed.
I have endeavored to piece together a wealth of knowledge for others to examine at leisure. Many of the vids were retrieved along with excerpts from the local papers, commentary by historians and the general populace.
It should be noted that Alterra still has a core population on the main continents but they have returned to an isolationist culture. This document is not meant as anything beyond a source of information on an alien culture, there will be no conclusions drawn for the reader, that will be upon you.
Not the Beginning.
Every story has a beginning; where else would a historian start? The problem with beginnings is that they aren?t always clear cut; sometimes the beginning doesn?t appear in neon letters with an arrow pointing to it. Other historians will no doubt write other versions of this world, these events and they will, I have no doubt, state that the ?Event? was the beginning.
I would, will, beg to differ. Without going back before the Event it has no meaning, no depth of the true horror of what was done there on the world called Hera so far from Mother Earth that it may seem unimportant. It is important to understand that no matter how far we cast ourselves in the stars that at the core it is always our humanity that eventually catches us up and guides our actions; whether they be good or the proverbial evil is a matter of perspective and debate.
There are some that will question why I have decided to write about this particular history. They will debate if my time spent on that planet has affected my objectivity, and I tell you now that it has, of course, affected my objectivity. I would challenge any historian, or perhaps I am just a scribe in this case, to live with people; to eat, sleep, work, play with people and have such things not affect how you write of them.
Some of these stories are taken from vids provided by the government. For those unfamiliar with the planet Alterra there is a system of surveillance in place that was instituted during the reign of the last King, King Desmond ?ur Tate.
Through the use of technology and magic, an art named technomancy; devices were distributed throughout the populated areas. So pervasive were these devices that it was impossible to find them all and so it is that a few were found and what was recorded there will be written here as testimonies to how these people lived their daily lives before everything they knew was destroyed.
I have endeavored to piece together a wealth of knowledge for others to examine at leisure. Many of the vids were retrieved along with excerpts from the local papers, commentary by historians and the general populace.
It should be noted that Alterra still has a core population on the main continents but they have returned to an isolationist culture. This document is not meant as anything beyond a source of information on an alien culture, there will be no conclusions drawn for the reader, that will be upon you.