Lore's Drop : The Children of Madness

Origins:

The first documented cases of Children of Madness date back to the Fracture Era, a period of deep conflict between the peoples of Terrybiel, marked by fear and instability. Their arrival was by no means a coincidence; it followed in the wake of the wars, famines, and abuses that characterized that era. Some consider them a punishment, while others view them as an inevitable consequence of the chaos that engulfed the continent. Some see them as punishment, others as an inevitable consequence of the chaos that once reigned on the continent.

Nature and manifestations:

The Children of Madness aren't born from a specific race or lineage. They arise in places where magic and suffering are too entwined. They're born when a Heart and Soul meant to be together can't find each other. This break in the cycle causes a profound dissonance: the resulting being exists, but remains incomplete, its magic unstable, its being fragmented. Unlike the Tears, who embody the balance between heart and soul, the Children of Madness are fractured beings, unable to find lasting harmony. A disturbing aura accompanies their presence: some describe a heavy silence, others incoherent whispers, a feeling of being watched by a multitude of invisible eyes, or even a putrid smell accompanied by a sense of death and imminent danger.

First appearances:

The first reliable accounts of these beings' appearances mention both isolated villages and large cities in the territories of the four peoples struck without warning by the appearance of children of madness. Most of these young children were distinguished by unstable behavior, oscillating between mutism and violent outbursts. Their words seemed to have no meaning or coherence, as if a foreign voice were speaking through them. Even more disturbing, some manifested magic they did not understand: a burning breath bursting forth from a simple cry or hand gesture, a wave of collective fear spread by a panic attack, or flashes of light powerful enough to split stone.

Rarer, and even more terrifying, are the cases where the bond is reversed. Here, it is no longer the child, but the familiar who survives the split. Although their bodies remain intact, the absence of a human soul to anchor them plunges them into irreversible madness. Deprived of reason, they become specter-beasts, half-shadows, half-creatures, wandering like voracious monsters. Irresistibly drawn to death, suffering, desolation, and fear, their madness inspires a terror even more visceral than that of the children of madness themselves. Their first appearance is noted on the battlefields.

Consequences and perception:

Feared and hated alike, the Children of Madness, both human and animal, were very early on associated with ominous omens. (As soon as people understood what they were) Their mere appearance was considered a sign of misfortune for a community, as the presence of one attracted others. They amplified tensions or caused the corruption of the surrounding flora and fauna. Some scholars claim that their very existence reinforces the barrier separating Heart and Soul, condemning other beings to the same fate.

Initially perceived as isolated aberrations, their numbers grew throughout the wars, as if hatred, massacres, and bloodshed were the catalysts for their birth. Their presence was so terrible that it eventually surpassed the dwindling numbers of survivors from the four peoples: neither the elves, nor the humans, nor the dwarves, nor even the Orcs could face them alone.

Thus, paradoxically, it was thanks to them that the First Great War came to an end. The peoples, cornered by the proliferation of Madness and Specters, were forced to forget their quarrels in order to survive. The alliance born of this shared terror marked the beginnings of the current union, and it is in this sense that it is sometimes said, with bitterness, that the Children of Madness were the unwitting architects of peace.

Appellation :

If Atramens was the name chosen for them in the common language. Each of the four peoples has its own name for these beings, and thus they are called.

Among the Dwarves, they are called: The Kholras.

Among the Orcs, they are called: The Olphracs.

Among the Elfs, they are called: Liryanel Thiradan.

Finally, among the Men, they are called: The Unsung.