GRIFIX LORE UPDATE #27 - Post-cataclysm Crystal Empire, The Red Claws Ring, The Circus Maximus, etc.
Posted 1 week ago :: Last edited 1 week ago by MysteriousShineHere I am again, less sleepy this time...
I'll start with this quite big amount of lore added to the Crystal Empire:
The status of the Crystal Empire following the Great Cataclysm
Following the Great Cataclysm, Twilight, Luna and Celestia disappeared. Cadence turned the Crystal Empire into a running democracy in order to ensure its safety before she and Flurry Heart left to seek the other allicorns, never to be seen again.
Ever since she left, the Crystal Empire has been run by a council similar to Ancient Greek democracy, which over time has descended into corruption.
Nowadays, the head of the Crystal Council is probably the most well connected person in the post-cataclysmic world. He is one of the few that knows of the Frozen Empire and the Knowledge Treaty. He actually met the one who is at the top of the Frozen Empire's council, the one that no grifix knows who it is. He also prides himself with having Sunburst, one of the Crystal Empire Protectors as his ancestor.
The greed of the council is probably the reason why the Crystal Empire has not joined the Knowledge Treaty. They refuse to surrender their knowledge and will often use artifacts and manuscripts as leverage to obtain certain things from factions involved in the Knowledge Treaty.
The fueling of the Crystal Heart in Post-Cataclysmic Crystal Empire
Over the 2000 years the Empire's council members became corrupt, and the spirits of the crystal ponies started to die out. The Crystal Heart started to lose its power, until the council came out with a symbolic “princess” in order to lift the population’s spirits.
She is nothing but a puppet in the hooves of the council but she is like an idol to the people. She is the “Crystal Princess”, the same title that Cadance and Amore wore. And the council claims that she is, in fact, their direct descendant, as absurd as that is now, 2000 years after they left. She is disguised as an allicorn with magic, but she is a mere unicorn, without any more power than others.
She is used by the council to influence the crystal ponies, lift their spirits and manipulate public opinion. Their love for her and joy keeps the Crystal Heart beating and alive.
There have been many Crystal Princesses over time, for they are not immortal. The old ones warn the new of how they will be used and manipulated… yet none of them seem to be strong enough to change everything. After all… changing might mean losing the protection of the Crystal Heart. And nobody would want that…
That's how they blackmail her into doing anything the council wants, by telling her that if she doesn't they'll tell the crystal ponies, which will make them hate her for lying, crush their spirits, and the Empire will fall.
The Church of Time in Post-Cataclysmic Crystal Empire
The Church of Time as an institution has been completely wiped out in the events surrounding the capture of their god, Akasha, and the birth of the Two Alicorn Sisters (Celestia and Luna). It only existed in story and sporadic worshippers for as long as the alicorns reigned over Equestria. For the ponies of Equestria, it became an ancient religion, no longer practiced.
Following the fall of Equestria caused by the Great Cataclysm, the Church of Time has been brought back as a rather exclusive cult that slowly started to fill in the gap left by the alicorns. They're not a public church but they secretly influence most of everything that's happening in the remaining pony settlements in Equestria, especially in the North, they fail to have much influence in the remote settlements of the Wild South. They do, however, have strong connections everywhere.
A great number of the Crystal Council members are part of the Time Cult, and the head of the Crystal Council is actually the great priest for the Cult of Time.
Up next there's two new Entertainment Houses! Finally clearing one that's been in works for so long it already has characters, gear, and managed to split into two before it even became a thing:
The Red Claws Ring
The Red Claws Ring is an underground fighting ring in the Entertainment District. It operates in the underground of a broken down building that used to be an Entertainment House. Although there are a few resident fighters, most of the house members take care of organizing the place, gathering bet money and such, without actually getting involved in the tournaments.
The fights take place in an underground room, in a fighting arena surrounded by bars, mainly meant to separate the spectators from the fighters and prevent outside interference. The fighters are mostly outsiders and residents of the Empire Underground going in to make a quick buck. Anybody can join in the fight.
That was short... Well the next one isn't.
The Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus is technically a separate house from the House of Olympus, yet it exists right besides it and they are strongly connected.
You can enter the Circus Maximus through a passage that leads underground. Inside you will find ruins from previous structures of the inhabitants of the early Empire, which have been built upon and convergent into the shape of an amphitheatre. Inside the amphitheatre are held fights and other shows which can be observed from the sides. You must pay for a ticket but you can also bet… so bring plenty!
Profits from the fights usually go to the mother of House of Olympus.
Once a year the house is engulfed by magic, the old ruins taking a pearly white shine and the members of the House of Olympus attend a tournament that decides the headmaster of the Circus Maximus and representant of Ares. Ever since the Founder died in the finale of this tournament, the current Headmaster has never been defeated.
After the death of the Founder, the new headmaster introduced rules surrounding the fights, including forbidding killing. Sometimes however, fights may still be taken too far and entertainers pass away after much too intense matches.
Story:
The story behind the Circus Maximus speaks of two soldiers that grew up fighting and training side by side. When the Frozen Empire was attacked by hostile creatures, the two soldiers bravely led the others into battle, yet at the end of the fight they were found at each other’s throats.
“In the front of the enemy, all personal grudges must be set aside. What you have done gravely endangered the Empire, and for that I can no longer proudly call you my soldiers.” The Headmaster of the Soldiers Guild spoke.
With the anger still lingering between them, the two walked away, guildless. Together they wandered the streets for days, until one day they saw a grifix emerging from the sewers, dressed in a coat that was obviously hiding something dangerous underneath. They decided to follow, and coon, as they approached the Entertainment Guild they started seeing more such grifix emerging. They followed them to the broken down entrance of an abandoned Entertainment House, and inside they went. Stairs took them deep underground, where in a much too crowded room they found themselves in front of an arena, iron bars surrounding it up to the ceiling. Before they were able to figure out what was happening, some grifix’s voice announced the beginning of the tournament, and two grifix started fighting in the arena. Blood was spattered and one of them lay on the ground. The other was pronounced the winner, and so the next two grifix entered.
By the end of the tournament, the two former soldiers knew that they would be back. And on the other side of the bars next time…
When the spectators saw the first one in the arena, wearing the armor of the Soldier’s Guild, whispers arose… What was a soldier doing here? Did they finally come to shut down the whole thing?
But when he started fighting it became clear there was no such thing, and they started cheating on. And so, in their applause, he rose all the way to the finale, and so did the other. And now the two were facing each other once again.
They fought and they fought but they were even. And soon, the spectators grew bored. Yawns filled the room.
One of the fighters felt himself growing tired, and he knew he would not hold for much longer. So against his better judgement he pulled a hidden dagger out and stabbed the other, emerging as the winner.
Barely holding on to life, the other was taken to a medic on the side of the room. They injected him with numbing drugs and under his own eyes they stitched and cleaned the wounds.
“Your friend fits well in here” the medic spoke. “He has no honor. But you fought lawfully, like a soldier, this is no place for you.”
“But where else should I go?”
The medic gave him a flier, with an address on it, and so he left.
He found himself in front of the Mother of the House of Olympus, and so he spoke of his vision…
A grand underground fighting amphitheatre, greater than anything any grifix has seen before, the one and only, Circus Maximus!!!
This house is moderated by CrystalIzzy77
We once again reach the end of the Lore Update... See you soon everyone! We got more to come!
