The Chronicle of the Coronions

The initial reports arrived not as accounts of monstrous transformation, but of unsettling dreams. Fishermen along the Silken Coast spoke of visions – not of wolves or bears, but of men draped in shimmering, iridescent scales. These ‘Coronions,’ as they were cautiously named, were said to possess an unnerving grace, moving with a fluidity that bordered on unsettling. The dreams were invariably accompanied by a profound sense of loss, a memory of something irrevocably broken. It was theorized that the dreams were psychic bleed-through from a reality adjacent to our own, a place where the echoes of shattered souls manifested as these strange, beautiful predators. Early attempts to track them relied on patterns of shimmering heat signatures and a haunting, melancholic song – a chorus of what sounded like weeping metal. No physical wounds were recorded, only a lingering sense of despair in those who had witnessed the visions.

The discovery of the Obsidian Pact marked a turning point. Following a series of disappearances – primarily artisans and scholars – investigators unearthed a ritual chamber beneath the ruins of Old Valoria. Within, they found evidence of a complex ceremony involving polished obsidian, rare moonstone, and a specific sequence of mournful chants. It became clear the Coronions weren’t merely manifesting; they were being summoned. The pact, etched onto obsidian shards, detailed a symbiotic relationship – the Coronions provided protection from psychic disturbances, while the summoners offered them a conduit to relive and manipulate their lost memories. The process of transformation was now understood: prolonged exposure to the ritual, combined with intense emotional distress, induced a gradual integration of scales and a heightened sensitivity to psychic resonance. The scales themselves weren’t simply armor; they were a living record of the individual’s fractured psyche. Notable among the summoners were the Order of the Silent Loom, a secretive group dedicated to preserving forgotten histories and confronting the lingering effects of trauma.

The ‘Shattering’ was a period of unprecedented instability. The rituals, once carefully controlled, began to unravel. The Coronions, no longer bound by the pact, became increasingly volatile, their transformations erratic and unpredictable. Some shifted into grotesque parodies of their former selves, while others retained a semblance of human form, their eyes perpetually filled with an ancient sorrow. The cause was theorized to be a surge of raw, unacknowledged grief emanating from the continent – a collective psychic wound festering beneath the surface. During this time, a faction of Coronions, known as the ‘Echo-Kin,’ emerged, actively seeking out individuals consumed by profound regret and attempting to amplify their suffering, believing that this intensified anguish was the key to unlocking a ‘perfect’ transformation – a merging with the very fabric of sorrow itself. Military campaigns against the Coronions became increasingly desperate, utilizing sonic weaponry designed to disrupt their ‘resonant’ forms. However, the effectiveness of these weapons was limited; the Coronions seemed to anticipate and adapt to their attacks, often disappearing into areas of intense psychic disturbance. The legend of ‘Silas Blackwood,’ a former cartographer who willingly transformed into a Coronion to map the shifting landscapes of the mind, gained prominence during this period.

Following the chaos of the 19th century, a strange phenomenon emerged: the ‘Silent Bloom.’ Instead of violent transformations, Coronions began to simply… appear, often in areas of intense artistic creation – particularly amongst sculptors and composers. These Coronions were described as possessing an almost ethereal beauty, their scales shimmering with an internal light. They seemed less interested in predation and more focused on absorbing and amplifying emotional energy. Some scholars posited that the Silent Bloom represented a shift in the Coronions’ purpose – a transition from destructive predators to living conduits for creative expression. The Order of the Silent Loom, now a dwindling organization, established ‘Resonance Sanctuaries’ – carefully constructed spaces designed to foster creativity and mitigate the potential for psychic disturbance. However, the nature of the Silent Bloom remains a mystery, and the Coronions themselves have become increasingly elusive, preferring to operate on the periphery of human consciousness, leaving behind only fragments of shimmering scales and haunting melodies. Recent reports suggest that the Coronions are beginning to exhibit a strange fascination with advanced technology, particularly devices capable of manipulating sound and light.