Post by Nona Constantine on May 21, 2011 18:33:12 GMT
Mankind has always hated things it cannot understand.
They have been called many things over the many years of their existence: devils, witches, demons, mutants. And over the many years that they’ve walked the earth, the Tainted have endured countless ridiculing and injustices as a result of their gifts.
Some time several hundred years ago a few of the teenagers of a village in the south of France were hanged. Their crime? Witchcraft. Or so the misguided and ignorant people of the village just outside of Marseille assumed. In reality, these victims were guilty of nothing more than being themselves, of having powers or abilities that whether passed down genetically, through a curse, were the result of evolution, or simply because of their ‘evil’ nature, were far more extraordinary than most of the people of the world could comprehend.
The hangings were the first recorded evidence of the Tainted. The village – eventually called Sanglignée as a nod towards the dark history of the place – endured many such bloodshed over the years as Tainted and Untainted clashed. Eventually, the warring ceased, and for the past hundred or so years the villagers have existed, Tainted and Untainted alike, in relative peace, albeit an unstable one. Some of the Untainted are compassionate and understanding whereas their peers are fearful and aggressive, doing their best to make it all fit in the community in a way that few in the world would attempt. Some of the Tainted welcome this gesture, even as others in their group continue to seek revenge for the injustices their kind has endured for centuries. There’s a tenuous balance between them... one that could just as easily fall back into the history of blood and chaos as it could progress to a future of peace and tranquillity.
In recent years, others have joined the quaint village of Sanglignée (whose name, roughly translated, means “Blood Line”; attributed to the early founders of the village who were said to be cursed with bad blood that ran from generation to generation). Some Untainted, who simply admired the pretty countryside and enjoyed the village itself, and other Tainted came out for a sense of community, wanting to find others like themselves living together in a way that they’ve never known. Or they simply wanted a safe haven from the cruelties of the world outside that doesn’t understand.
The abilities of the Tainted don’t begin to show until late childhood... most only discovering their powers between the ages of 16 and 19. As a result, Tainted and Untainted can, and do, live side by side completely unaware of one another for the early parts of their lives. But once their powers begin to show, the Tainted have choices to make. Do they do as they please, not caring an ounce for the thoughts and ignorance of others? Or do they try and fit in, continuing in the blissful peace that utter ignorance always brings?
The balance of the community is rocked with every decision made, each person having an impact on the whole.
So how did it happen? How did these ‘Tainted’ come to be? Logic says something went wrong in their genomes a long time ago, so they have been in existence for countless years. Some of the untainted people that know of them see it as evil, penance for the evil ways of one generation, passed down to the next. Others take the witchcraft stories to heart. Sometimes families have their own stories and tales to believe in, and parents pass those stories to their children, forming whatever beliefs they can for their offspring.
Some of the ‘Tainted’ have grown up shunned, ostracized and ashamed, whether by their own doing or by those who do not understand. Some of them are out for revenge, thinking that what they have is a gift and these people, these peons, deserve to be punished for what they did to them. Others see it as a responsibility, still a gift, but something they feel like they need to use to contribute to the greater good. Others want to fit in, either with their own kind or with the other.
No one knows how or why they are "tainted" for sure, so no one can prove how it all happened or how long ago. No one has proof.
The bottom line? Everyone has a choice of what to believe, what to do. And it’s those choices that form the next chapter of this story.
They have been called many things over the many years of their existence: devils, witches, demons, mutants. And over the many years that they’ve walked the earth, the Tainted have endured countless ridiculing and injustices as a result of their gifts.
Some time several hundred years ago a few of the teenagers of a village in the south of France were hanged. Their crime? Witchcraft. Or so the misguided and ignorant people of the village just outside of Marseille assumed. In reality, these victims were guilty of nothing more than being themselves, of having powers or abilities that whether passed down genetically, through a curse, were the result of evolution, or simply because of their ‘evil’ nature, were far more extraordinary than most of the people of the world could comprehend.
The hangings were the first recorded evidence of the Tainted. The village – eventually called Sanglignée as a nod towards the dark history of the place – endured many such bloodshed over the years as Tainted and Untainted clashed. Eventually, the warring ceased, and for the past hundred or so years the villagers have existed, Tainted and Untainted alike, in relative peace, albeit an unstable one. Some of the Untainted are compassionate and understanding whereas their peers are fearful and aggressive, doing their best to make it all fit in the community in a way that few in the world would attempt. Some of the Tainted welcome this gesture, even as others in their group continue to seek revenge for the injustices their kind has endured for centuries. There’s a tenuous balance between them... one that could just as easily fall back into the history of blood and chaos as it could progress to a future of peace and tranquillity.
In recent years, others have joined the quaint village of Sanglignée (whose name, roughly translated, means “Blood Line”; attributed to the early founders of the village who were said to be cursed with bad blood that ran from generation to generation). Some Untainted, who simply admired the pretty countryside and enjoyed the village itself, and other Tainted came out for a sense of community, wanting to find others like themselves living together in a way that they’ve never known. Or they simply wanted a safe haven from the cruelties of the world outside that doesn’t understand.
The abilities of the Tainted don’t begin to show until late childhood... most only discovering their powers between the ages of 16 and 19. As a result, Tainted and Untainted can, and do, live side by side completely unaware of one another for the early parts of their lives. But once their powers begin to show, the Tainted have choices to make. Do they do as they please, not caring an ounce for the thoughts and ignorance of others? Or do they try and fit in, continuing in the blissful peace that utter ignorance always brings?
The balance of the community is rocked with every decision made, each person having an impact on the whole.
So how did it happen? How did these ‘Tainted’ come to be? Logic says something went wrong in their genomes a long time ago, so they have been in existence for countless years. Some of the untainted people that know of them see it as evil, penance for the evil ways of one generation, passed down to the next. Others take the witchcraft stories to heart. Sometimes families have their own stories and tales to believe in, and parents pass those stories to their children, forming whatever beliefs they can for their offspring.
Some of the ‘Tainted’ have grown up shunned, ostracized and ashamed, whether by their own doing or by those who do not understand. Some of them are out for revenge, thinking that what they have is a gift and these people, these peons, deserve to be punished for what they did to them. Others see it as a responsibility, still a gift, but something they feel like they need to use to contribute to the greater good. Others want to fit in, either with their own kind or with the other.
No one knows how or why they are "tainted" for sure, so no one can prove how it all happened or how long ago. No one has proof.
The bottom line? Everyone has a choice of what to believe, what to do. And it’s those choices that form the next chapter of this story.
