Introduction

Long ago in the world called Terros the people in the north suffered a horrible disaster in the sky. There were great sparks of color all over that covered the night and made it become day. This continued for many weeks until finally the sky exploded in many bright lights that reached all the way down to the earth. It harmed the village crops more than it did the people.

But one day they all began to feel funny and in days they discovered they had great powers of many kinds. Though some they did not quite understand they still thanked the gods and worshiped them even more. 

These powers were passed from generation to generation and eventually there were people with powers all over. 

Though they seemed to stay hidden in some countries out of fear. In one particular country named Cosilla they especially hid, for their territory was three-fourths of the known world. They held a lot of power and could easily dispose of anyone if they wished. 

Often were the people with abilities discriminated against by Cosillants with no sense. There were also certain rules that restricted them from working and going places in the country. 

However in reality the Cosillant government feared these gifted people. They feared an uprising of them and an overthrow of their government therefore the restrictions were placed.

The gifted people were always kind no matter how badly they were beaten. They figured it more beneficial for each side if they started their own country with their people. However to do this they had to get approval from the government.

Each time they went and requested it the Cosillant courts would deny and send them back to their towns. But they were always hopeful and kept asking for they knew that the Cosilla court would find some solution. 

The solution was not one they expected though. 

Late in the night after the last trial Cosilla soldiers picked up every person with abilities, now called Virtues, and put them in large carriers. There in the carriers it was dark, crowded, and very uncomfortable for them. They did not know where they were going and were quite scared. 

The next day villagers found empty houses with no traces of people ever being there at all. They wandered around towns looking for old friends and enemies but found nothing. Everyone was confused as to what happened and frankly it was like they were just dreaming.

That night the Cosilla soldiers went around to each town and announced that the reason Virtues were gone was because they finally granted them the request to have their own territory for a country. They said that the government found it safer for those dangerous people to be left alone. Some people agreed and others did not but that’s not important in at least this part of the story.

When the carriers finally stopped the Virtues found out that they were being put to work in factories and farms. It wasn’t that bad to be honest since they were allowed to use their powers. They were fed well and never mistreated.... but it wasn’t the life most of them imagined.

The great Cosillant country began growing with more people and too few deaths. The Virtues were pushed to work harder and faster but it just wasn’t possible next to the immense growing population. It began to be too much work to feed the thousands of Virtues when Cosilla could give the rest of their country food. Conditions of course became worse for the once grateful Virtues. Finally they couldn’t stand it anymore.

Inside their small cabins it became either to join the cause to rebel or be starved with nothing but the dark. Most chose to rise up together and before soon they all broke out of the factories and farms. 

There was no structure to their army except to travel in groups with a main leader. They spread out all over the country and across the seas to more land. They did not attack villages because they felt as if it was the government’s fault for all this. Cosilla had tricked and betrayed them so now they would do the same.

Virtues went for the government bases and often succeeded. They had the upper hand in each battle with their powers and easily won. 

The government had told a lie to their people and said that it was an unknown rebel force from another country that was constantly attacking them. However it all piled up very high each time they lost. It seemed as if they could no longer deny what was really going on.

Until it had been reported that Cosilla had been victorious in one battle. In the coming months all over the country battles were being won for strange reasons. The government became suspicious and found out that they had some people of their own with powers inside the army. They became more confident in each move that was made but the Virtues had many powers of their own. 

There were some that could read minds and walk through walls. Others could predict the future if they tried hard enough. In the army though there were Virtues, now called Gifted, that had other powers that could cancel some out. 

The war had in years not made any progress for either side. There were many wrong decisions made but none was more fatal than the one the government made against Virtues that sparked the turn of everything. 

Cosilla’s scouts had found the hidden campsite where Virtue women and children stayed. Most women didn’t fight and stayed to look after the kids and take care of the men whenever they returned for breaks. 

The attack on these Virtues was done on whim and short timing. Scouts had reported that many groups were coming back for a few days rest. They figured that instead of taking the groups out they would warn them to back off by destroying just the campsite.

The soldiers disobeyed though. Instead of destroying the camp they destroyed the people. Not many women and children were left afterwards to tell about what had happened but the group leaders needed no explanation. They knew what had happened just by looking at the bloodied scene. 

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All of the Virtues walked with different emotions: sadness, anger, vengeance. It all coursed through their veins as they went to the Last Battle.

Every group leader had quickly gotten together after finding the horrid scene. However they needed to discuss little about what they had to do next. 

Though the forty-two leaders stood tall most of the Virtues were scared. If they died and the battle was won it was for a good cause. If it was lost then everything was in vain.

Dwelling on the future was not apart of the plan or on any thinking mind as they approached the Head Quarters of the Cosilla government. 

Of an army of twenty-thousand Virtues few were memorable. There were some Virtue Leaders like Chabelli Brigit who had survived until the very end and finally gave out. Or the Reeves: Sonya and Grigori who had many victorious wins because of their powers for absorption and negation but met their match in the Last Battle. Some Leaders were more mysterious like “The Glorious” Ezekiel. He strangely disappeared when everything was over. If he was dead then his body obviously wasn’t found.

The Virtues were not out numbered at all. Their opponents were just more mastered in their powers. Some fell victim to their own family members though that were with the government. Lucian Aurore was killed by his own wife who was a Gifted leader for the government. Yet she was only one of three leaders for them.

When all the Virtues saw their enemies they wondered, what could an army of only six-thousand men left with three leaders possibly do? Their thoughts were answered as they all passed on after four hours of vain fighting. 

Everything they fought for was for nothing. They had lost. That was it. 

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Author guidance for This exercise

Terms for knowledge:

Cosilla (cos. la): the powerful country in the west that owns 3/4 of the world

Cosillants (cos. lents): the citizens of Cosilla

Virtues: people with powers not with the government, they mostly roam on their own

Gifted: people with powers that work for the government to hunt down Virtues

This is a CLOSED collaboration.

Characters:

elf
Name: Kathrin Taylor
Age: 26
Appearance: Kathrin is quite tall. Light skin with a nice body shape. Her eyes vary. If she is using water they are sea blue (more turquoise) If she is using air they are sky blue. Using earth they are brown. And using fire they are a faint yellowy green. Her hair is always tied up in a bun. It is a silky golden blonde.
Ability/Power: her first and strongest power is to control the four elements. With this power though, each element has it's own personality inside her. But she has a second power which is to control other animals (human included) she can only control one at a time though as it tends to weaken her to much. If she holds control for over 5 minutes, she faints and awakens with a searing headache.
Allegiance (at the beginning): Gifted

Cat_Monty
Character Name: Francis Myre
Age: 23
Appearance: 6'0". Well-built with short black hair and hazel eyes. Has a burn scar on his wrist and others on his back.
Personality: Francis (or Fran as he can be nicknamed - though he dislikes this) is judgemental and at times harsh. He doesn't hold back from speaking his opinion. It's easy to assume he is emotionless but he just holds it in and deals with it by himself.
Ability/Power: He is a very stealthy person naturally, on top of this he has the ability to "fade" into any shadow - this is harder during the day. This enables him to better sneak upon people or to turn invisible if its required.
Allegiance (at the beginning): Gifted

Lilley
Name: Darkstar
Age: 29
Appearance: 6'3". Tall, broad in chest and shoulder with rough masculine face with a long scar stretching above his right eye and down to his collar bone. Purple eyes.
Ability/Power: Ability to extract and delete information or images from a persons mind, also able to project images into their minds for a short period of time.
Allegiance (throughout): Virtue

rhetoric
Name: Atherin Gallows
Age: 24
Appearance: Roughly 5'8". Glossy white-blue eyes and extremely long, curly black hair. Her features are sharp but delicate, very mysterious and dark. She has the body type of a ballerina.
Ability/Power: Atherin is able to manipulate the weather. Atherin also has the (rare?) ability to create and perform charms, curses, hexes, and small nature-oriented spells.
Allegiance (at the beginning): Gifted

llmay
Name: Mariette (Marie) Sommer
Age: 31
Appearance: 5'11". No sign of aging what-so-ever. Lean with thin but strong muscles. Black hair just above shoulders and crystal blue (almost white) eyes. Very striking on a whole.
Ability/Power: Psychokinesis (Telekinesis). Time manipulation, though she hasn't used it often it hasn't brought harm to her.... yet.
Allegiance (at the beginning): Gifted

WithClawsToWrite
Name: Damian (or Ian for short) Rade
Age: 26
Appearance: Chocolate brown eyes, dark brown shaggy hair with silver tips. 5'11" in height and his body type is slim and lanky, with a slightly unshaven chin.
Ability/Power: Arms can transform into large battle axes for a set amount of time. When any straight eye contact is made, Ian can see deepest fear or weakness of the person.
Allegiance (throughout): Virtue

updated Oct 17 '11 by llmay