Before the shifting sands claimed it, Jazerant was the jewel of the Sapphire Sea. Aethelgard, the city’s name, resonated with a power born of the coral reefs and the deep-sea currents. It was a place where the boundaries between reality and dream blurred, a nexus for the ‘Echoes’ – sentient fragments of memories and emotions left behind by those who had perished within the city’s walls. The Aethelgardians, masters of ‘Resonance Crafting,’ could manipulate these Echoes, weaving them into tools, defenses, and even art. Their greatest achievement was the ‘Chronarium,’ a device designed to capture and replay the memories of the deceased, offering a final, poignant farewell.
But the city’s hubris was its undoing. Driven by an insatiable desire to understand the origins of the Echoes, the Chronarium’s architects attempted to amplify the Resonance, drawing upon a power they couldn’t comprehend. The result was a catastrophic ‘Fracture,’ a ripple of temporal distortion that destabilized the city's foundations. The sea itself seemed to recoil, and the Echoes, once controlled, turned against the Aethelgardians, consuming them in a whirlwind of lost moments.
Now, Jazerant exists as a phantom, a collection of submerged towers and crumbling plazas swallowed by the ever-shifting dunes of the Obsidian Desert. The sands themselves are imbued with the city’s residual energy, creating localized temporal anomalies. Travelers who linger too long within the city’s ruins may find themselves reliving moments from the past, trapped in an endless loop of despair and regret. The ‘Sand Whisperers,’ a nomadic tribe descended from the last surviving Aethelgardians, possess a fragmented understanding of the city’s secrets and a terrifying ability to navigate the temporal currents.
Legend speaks of ‘Resonance Wells’ – pockets of intense concentration where the Echoes are particularly potent. These wells can grant temporary glimpses into the past, but also pose a grave danger. Without proper preparation and the guidance of a skilled Sand Whisperer, one could be lost forever, consumed by the city’s tragic history.
The Echoes of Jazerant don't simply fade away. They persist, weaving themselves into the fabric of the desert, influencing the minds of those who venture too close. Some believe that the city’s downfall was not merely an accident, but a deliberate act of the Echoes themselves, seeking to prevent their power from falling into the wrong hands. The Sand Whisperers believe that Jazerant is a ‘Sleeping Giant,’ waiting for a catalyst – a soul attuned to Resonance – to awaken it once more.
Rumours persist of a ‘Perfect Resonance’ – a state of harmony between the mortal and the Echoic realms. Achieving this state would, according to the Sand Whisperers, allow one to not only access the full potential of Jazerant’s technology but also to heal the temporal fractures and potentially restore the city to its former glory. However, the path to this ‘Perfect Resonance’ is fraught with peril, guarded by the tormented spirits of Aethelgard and the relentless, shifting sands.