Plot/History Summary

[Captain Flighty]

The History of RLTW
V1-V5
2005-2014

Long ago, mankind ruled with endless destruction. Nature's flesh was torn and abused, ravaged by war. There was no compassion within the heart of men, and no peace among them. Nature saw them for the monsters they were, and that they were not meant for her world. In a moment of fury, she retook all that was hers; wiping mankind from all horizons. A new era began, and a different creature rose to power. They were beautiful, gentle, but also powerful. Peace seemed inevitable with the equine ruling the world, and for a time, it was. But all things must pass.

In the beginning, Run Like the Wind was a valley of relative peace. Nomads passed through frequently, and small bands settled here and there. As the equine grew in power, that power corrupted them. Ruling over the world began to darken them as it had darkened the humans before them. A vicious equine gathered a herd of like-minded souls and proclaimed himself Dark King. Deadly Revenge was a cruel beast, and he set out to conquer the entire valley. There were still gentle souls among the equine, though, and they rose up against him, calling themselves Lights, sworn to oppose him.

For generations to come, the kingdoms of Light and Dark vied for supremacy. In the midst of the struggle, a new alliance called Neutrals began to grow, and took their own portion of RLTW. Over time, and through the reigns of many Kings and Queens, the Darks grew more blood-thirsty and violent, and their numbers grew faster and faster. The Lights struggled to keep the valley from bleeding itself dry, and they began to grow too gentle and too few for their own good. The Neutrals stayed clear of the skirmishes for the most part, as was their nature.

Soon, a new breed of Darks was born, more violent and depraved than any other. They came to be called the Rejects, an alliance all their own. Meanwhile, the Neutrals began to change, siding more often with the Light Kingdom than the Dark. A fifth alliance was born then: the Unaligned. They were true rogues and kept no Kingdom: a mixture of all alliances and of none of them.

Chaos was rampant in RLTW, and Nature grew tired of watching the equines destroy themselves, sending forth a violent storm that raged for weeks. As it faded, the ring of mountains around the valley erupted into molten fury. As they spewed magma out into the world, earthquakes began, and as they faded, hurricanes and more freak storms began to pound the valley in a second wave. Long-buried poisons were released from the days of mankind into the atmosphere, and the storms spilled down acid rain. Every water source was tainted. This time is known as the Great Disaster.

The storms ended and the skies cleared, but the Great Disaster's effects last to this day. The first foals born in the wake of the Disaster were marked by the poisons. Some were born with scales, or fins; sometimes with no eyes, or with extra limbs. The extent of these Deformities was endless, and they've only grown more prevalent over the years since the Disaster. Nature changed the equines of RLTW, but did not yet destroy them.

The battle between Dark and Light resurfaced, and legendary Royals on all sides rose and fell from power, leaving their mark upon the lands forever. Darks grew more powerful, more bold, enough so that they reclaimed the Rejects as their own. Neutrals began to defect to the Light Kingdom, and so an Unaligned approached the Neutral Queen and proposed a joining of their alliances. The remaining Neutral Kingdom became the Unaligned and once more grew in strength, but only for a time.

Finally, a Dark Queen, Nirvana, rose in power and gathered an army, leading it into the Light Kingdom, determined to wipe the now dwindling group from the lands completely. She defeated the Light Queen in battle while her militia defeated and captured most of the Lights. They were imprisoned within Dark lands, and their kingdom was forcibly dissolved.

A new chapter begins now for the lands of Run Like The Wind. The Unaligned have come under new Royals, a family known as The Harbingers. In this new age, the Unaligned have become Altus, a group void of Darkness, Lightness, or anything inbetween. The Dark have become Imperium, clinging to their dominating, controlling ways, and the two Kingdoms exist in peace, for now. Meanwhile, RLTW is graced with the presence of small bands once more, scattering over the last of the valley's unexplored landscapes, bringing them to life.

Which side will you choose? Where does your heart lie? Will you leave your legacy behind like the Royals of old?

Welcome to Run Like The Wind.