Daughter to Darkness

[Andreah]

Timeline of Dimension Pi-34-Epsilon-K

 

ca. 70,000 Years Before Present Era. Humanity emerges as a distinct modern species, spreads across the Eastern world.

 

ca. 19,000 Years Before. Glaciers in retreat; Humanity spreading widely, technological advancement. Stone tools give way to multi-piece tools; widespread command of fire, wood hardening, shaping. Application of the lever, wedge, inclined plane in daily life. Fiber collection, gathering, weaving. Sea-worthy boats.

 

Ca. 17,000 Y.B. Western continent settled.

 

ca. 15,000 Y.B. The Old Gods take notice of Humanity, elevate disciples who proselytize, and strengthen from widespread mass worship.

 

ca. 14,000 Y.B. The rise of the great civilizations of Mu and Atlantis between the West and East.

 

ca. 14,000 to 12,000 Y.B. Technological peak of human advancement. Wheels, screws, pulleys. Mass megalithic construction, slavery, centralized despotic government, mass pantheonic religions, command of magical synthesis, kinetism, elementalism, materialism, mysticism. Physical technologies and techniques stagnate, physical tools cannot compete with command of magical forces.

 

ca. 12,000 Y.B. The Great Cold occurs, parallel to Younger-Dryas event in Dimension Prime. Ice sheets re-advance. Slave-agriculture cannot feed mass populations. Wars breaks out between Atlantis and Mu. Atlantis sunk beneath the waves. Rocky islands of Mu off the Western continent scoured clean by incredible surges of waves. 

 

ca. 12,000 to 6,000 Y.B. Civilization absent from most of world. Refugees from both Mu and Atlantis settle in the Middle Lands of the Western Continent, enslave native populations, and slowly advance back to an empire, Mulantis, over the native populations based on magical power.

 

Third Day of the Eleventh Moon, Four Hundred Eighth Year of The Ascent, equiv. to September 1, 3952 B.C. (Prime calendar). The Red Moonrise. Mass slave uprising throughout the Empire coordinated in secrecy. Mass slayings of Mulantian elites, followed by mass ritual sacrifices of their remaining populace over the next year. All descendants of Mu and Atlantis dead. Native peoples put forth their own pantheons in the places of high honor, fuel their own Gods' power with blood magic to cast down the Gods of Mu.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Andreah

[Andreah]

3959 B.C. to 1500 A.D. (Prime calendar). The Middle Empire conquers both northern and southern halves of the western continent. 

 

1500. A.D. Ability to sail oceans in large boats re-developed. Physical technology slowly reaching heights of the old empire. Magical power still advancing. 

 

1490 A.D. Eastern continents rediscovered. 

 

1500 to 1800 A.D. Mass movement of excess imperial population begins. Indigenous eastern continental peoples have more advanced physical technologies; wheels, archery, bronze working; but little magic, and are easily overwhelmed and enslaved by Imperial forces led by Warrior Heroes. Forced labor builds Pyramids and temples throughout Prime Europe, Africa, and Asia; sacrificial fires are lit, burn for years, the sweet scent of the smoke being pleasing to the Gods.

 

1750 A.D. Rise of the House of Xtchtl. Warrior-Hero Xtchtltkhantoth returns from conquests in central Asia with great wealth and power to the ancestral estates in Yucatan; marries, fathers eleven children, and forges a clan dedicated to the worship of the Jaguar God of the Night, Tezcatlipoca.

 

1827 A.D. Xtchtlythrqrlii born into Clan Xtchtl, dedicated to the Lunar Aspect of the Night Sky.

 

1850 to 1862. A.D. Xtchtl-Hueomor Feud. Rival clans Xtchtl and Hueomor contest over commercial rights to slave-sacrifice  imports from India. At first secretly, and eventually openly.

 

1852 A.D. Xtchtlythrqrlii Ordained into the Sept of the Gleaming Moon as a priestess of the second rank, to wield the dagger, to raise the heart, to burn the flesh, to send the smoke.

 

1860 to 1862. Clan war goes badly for Xtchtl; Hueomor worships Huitzilopochtli, and as the conflict comes into the open sun, the War God aspect empowers their magic. 

 

August to September, 1862. Clan Xtchtl suffers catastrophic defeats, surviving septs disperse, members desperately attempt to escape. Xtchtl prisoners are sacrificed in the Hueomor temples at high noon every day.

 

September 13, 1862; Battle of Antietam, the deadliest single day in the U.S. Civil War. In the midnight aftermath of the bloody day, a portal opens, and releases a slim youthful figure of a woman, coal black skin, grey hair, entirely naked except for a bloody obsidian knife. The last surviving member of Clan Xtchtl finds true and final escape.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Andreah

[Andreah]

Midnight, September 13, 1862. 

 

In this new world, she instantly felt her connection to Tezcatlipoca fall to near nothing. So far, so very far away. His presence here was almost imperceptible. Her magic evaporated, the power of the dark leaving her, abandoning her. The touch of the Dark Plane of Shadows leaves her, and for the first time in years, her appearance is fully human again, dark brown skin, black hair, rounded ears, brown eyes. Naked, alone, nothing in hand but the obsidian knife she had held to cut her way into this world.

 

A battlefield, how appropriate. The scent of blood still in the air, the suffering of the wounded still whispered on the wind. A waning half-Moon gave some small light; her own vision ruined by the lack of true sight. The scents of other things, fire, smoke; and odd things she did not recognize. Acrid, stinging. No matter. She could seize on this place, find fire and sacrifices, and through her own faith, rebuild the dark embrace of her Lord.

 

The man was still alive, barely. His left leg had been mutilated beyond recognition. Something large had torn through the knee, and left a bloody stump. It would be a mercy to release him from this slow agony. His clothing was hard to undo, the fabric tight and fastened through slits with odd hard stones that glinted in the moonlight. Gold perhaps? She could not tell. But in time, she bared his chest, and the Moon still shone. His suffering amplified for a short time, perhaps he would count it a mercy from the afterlife. But he would not see it. His soul would burn with his heart.

 

A connection. The Dark Lord lived here, or something enough like Him. She felt the hint of power, and found new resolve. She knew where she could hide, and find more sacrifices. South, towards more suffering, where in the chaos the smoke could rise, unhindered.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Andreah

[Andreah]

December, 1864. Jerimiah Murcheson, his family, including son Charles, and their slave/servant Maryanne, escape Savannah ahead of General Sherman's infamous march. 

 

Why he had brought the slave, he had no idea. It seemed automatic, at the time. He'd had to pay a great sum for each of their places on the ship, and in retrospect it was a folly to pay such for a slave. Why had he done it? He couldn't put his finger on it. But the girl had uses, and Charles had an eye for her. What a waste, there. The boy wouldn't amount to anything unless he found a proper girl. 

 

They had money, and the port at Etoile was nothing but a poor way-station across the Atlantic; had been ever since the eruption back in '33. But it was out of reach of the Yankees, and none here asked questions if one had gold.

 

April, 1876. Murcheson Fire. The Murcheson family, all except for young Charles Murcheson and his body servant, Maryanne, die when their home catches fire during the night. Despite the full moon's light to aid the fire brigade, the fire rages unstoppable until the structure is exhausted. 

 

July 10, 1877. Charles and Maryanne Murcheson announce their marriage. Locals scandalized by the scion of the once wealthy family marrying across race to the dark-skinned former slave, but this was the Etoiles, and it was far from unheard of here. At least he was smitten with the girl, quite the beauty, and rumor had it she knew her nightwork well.

 

October 15, 1879. Constables were called to a disturbance at the Murcheson home in Port Etoile. They find young Maryanne Murcheson bruised and suffering cuts to her arms, and her husband Charles dead on the floor, bled out. Maryanne was held overnight for questioning, but released after it became clear Charles had attempted and failed to kill her in her sleep. Mrs. Murcheson attested they had argued earlier in the day over her having not conceived since marriage.

 

1879-1919. Mrs. Maryanne Murcheson lives as a widow in Port Etoile. What remains of the Murcheson estate is carefully nurtured into a small fortune. Mrs. Murcheson becomes something of a socialite, but never into the higher tiers of polite society. Behind her back, there are whispers about her slave origins.

 

December 22, 1919. Mrs. Maryanne Murcheson of Port Etoile, recorded dead from complications from Spanish Flu. Final disposition of the estate went to an Italian Flu Relief charity; but one suspected of being under the control of one of the so-called Families.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Andreah

[Andreah]

January 20, 1920. Naples, Italy. Carmenza Melaku, an immigrant from Italian East Africa, takes over sole directorship of the Etoile-Naples Plague Relief Fund, having proven to the trustees that she met all the arbitrary and somewhat odd requirements that had been stipulated in the will of Maryanne Murcheson. A woman, aged 21-25, from a mixed European and African background, with education in the Classics, speaking English, French, Italian; possessing a certificate in accounting and finance, and oddly, who could name the phase of the Moon on the day interviewed- "Why, the Moon is just one quarter past full, tonight. Why do you ask?"

 

August 3, 1921. Carmenza Melaku informally marries Matteo Covelli a minor boss in the Covelli crime family in Naples, and associate in the NFP, from which he is immediately ejected for his relations with an African woman.

 

1921-1934. The Covelli family cements social bonds with many of the Italian and Sicilian crime families. Carmenza notes with some distress the rising difficulty of 'business as usual' while the NFP's control on the nation solidifies, and then turns its ideology more and more into alignment with kindred parties in Germany.

 

May 11, 1934. In a conflict with the NFP, Matteo Covelli is murdered, apparently by a dedicated NFP member who objected to his impure relationship with Carmenza. 

 

May-July, 1934. A wave of never to be solved murders occurs throughout the major cities. Macabre deaths with hearts cut from the chests of minor NFP members and allied crime family bosses. 

 

1935-1940. The Covelli crime operation slowly liquidates into legitimate overseas trade groups, primarily partnered with U.S. firms.

 

October 11, 1938. Carmenza Covelli applies for, and is granted refugee status to the United States. Given immigration laws at the time, strings must have been pulled.

 

1938-1947. The Covelli Cargo Concern, operating out of New York and Independence Port, provides logistical and transshipment services for war goods and industrial materials. Covelli Holdings diversifies financially into medicine, agriculture, insurance, and transportation. 

 

July 18, 1947. Carmenza Covelli passes away in her sleep. Control of her financial empire passes via her will to her most trusted aid -- Mr. Johnathan Merrick. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Andreah

[Andreah]

1947-1955. Mr. Merrick operates Covelli Industries and Investments, CI&I., and further diversifies across a wider base of businesses, and also focuses a small portion on his true passion -- marine salvage and treasure hunting.

 

October 14, 1955. Mr. Merrick cohabitates with Hazel Johnson, a young mixed race woman from Virginia. They hold a private ceremony to family and friends alone to declare themselves married.

 

1955-2011. Johnathan and his common-law wife, Hazel, spend the years together running his companies, travelling the world, experiencing local cultures incognito, and pursuing his passion of treasure hunting and hers of collecting Mesoamerican artifacts.

 

April 5, 1971. Johnathan and Hazel Merrick legally marry in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, during a month-long stay on a road trip to see the best local food establishments in the Midwest. A bunch of college kids left behind from spring break are rounded up to be the audience for their ceremony and two-day reception bender.

 

January, 1991. The couple move their world-wide headquarters to St Martial, The Etoiles, to take advantage of tax laws. A short-term setback in valuation occurs due to the reputation of the Rogue Isles, but they quickly overcome this by maintaining what appears to be one of the better run and less corrupt, mid-sized business in the Isles.

 

February 11, 2011. Mr. Merrick passes away peacefully at the age of 89. He leaves the complete portfolio of their business empire to his widow, Hazel Merrick, who founds a charity in his remembrance.
 

[Andreah]

December 1, 2012. Hazel Merrick goes public as a meta-human dimensional refugee, dropping her prior, mature, human appearance for her shadow-touched true self, and registered in both the Rogue Islands and Paragon City given her long-established dual-citizenship. She never publicly explains her origins. Complaints are filed with the U.S. State Department by business rivals that her original immigration status was sure to be fraudulent, but these cases are never taken up by authorities. One such rival disappears in the Isles afterwards.

In the present day, Ms. Merrick is well known in the Isles for her work on the boards of the companies she and her late husband had run or formed; such as CI&I, Murcheson Transshipments, Matteo Toys and Entertainment, Mercy Marine Salvage, Manpower, Inc., Mondarian Medical Media (in association with Crey Enterprises), and Cage Support and Services, now a partly owned subsidiary of Cage Consortium. She's also active in the charity and relief scene of the Isles through Gutter Relief Services, Daughters of the Seven Years' War, Société pour l'honneur du Père Henri, and the Johnathan Merrick Memorial Scholarship Fund. Her current net worth is estimated by Forbes at $650 Million. Ms. Merrick maintains a modest townhome in St Martial, where she collects Mesoamerican artifacts, classical Greek sculpture, Italian paintings, Victorian tea sets in gold and silver, and her own knitting work.

 

Hazel Merrick, a.k.a., Xtchtlythrqrlii 

 

Hazel Merrick on January 2013 Forbes

Edited April 23 by Andreah

[rookery.]

Always love a good timeline fiction!

 

Thank you!