Life was a strange beast here, for it ebbed and flowed with the tides of the moon. In the morning, all creatures would die, and in the afternoon, find themselves revived as they once were. Even those that had been consumed as prey woke up once more in their homes.<\/p>\n
\tThe moon was a cruel mistress, for it did not remove the memories of their deaths. Every day, another death would be added to a long litany of memory, and so creatures became warped and twisted things, their memories consumed by pain. Some sought suicide as a way out, thinking that if they killed themselves, they would be well and truly dead. Alas, that was not to be, and so they grew despondent, dying but never dead.<\/p>\n
\tEvolution was a slow and stunted thing on a world where every creature died at six hour intervals, but progress was made, and eventually the creatures decided that they must crack the moon, must sweep their cruel mistress from the sky. Many years passed in frustration and failure, as despair overwhelmed the creatures and anguish caused them to destroy their own experiments. But all things come with the passing of time, and a weapon was created that could crack the great devil in the sky.<\/p>\n
\tIt was used, and low and behold the demon of the skies split apart in a great explosion. The moon swept across her children one last time, and cursed them with ash and fire and destruction that lasted for many aeons, and when it was done, the creatures rejoiced and danced and sung. A great celebration was held, and all manner of joyous speeches were proclaimed.<\/p>\n
\tThat evening, as the sun swept out of the sky, all creatures died, to wake with the rising of the fiery globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Life was a strange beast here, for it ebbed and flowed with the tides of the moon. In the morning, all creatures would die, and in the afternoon, find themselves revived as they once were. Even those that had been consumed as prey woke up once more in their homes. The moon was a cruel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[36,4],"tags":[21,22],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-4b","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":99,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=99","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":0},"title":"Standing Alone","date":"April 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's another flash fiction piece, 445 words in length. I appear to be getting a little shorter the more of these I write. I hope you read, enjoy, and comment. I stood alone against the ravening hordes. My companions had fled, and I faced down the screaming, slavering numbers on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flash Fiction"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":701,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=701","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":1},"title":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #8","date":"April 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It was now midnight in the courtyard of the old palace at Cynlyaa, and all was still, silent, and, mostly, dark. Torches lay scattered here and there along the battlements, and occasionally one would rain down before the gate, illuminating the ruined roadway there, but otherwise little in the way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":485,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=485","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":2},"title":"Creating a Fantasy Race, Part 1","date":"May 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 Races form the background to a fantasy setting, giving it a depth and a texture that would otherwise be missing. 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Bow and arrow met flintlock, and fire from the mages was countered by the roar of cannons. Elves there were, and trolls too, and for once they fought on the same side of battle, the sylvan creatures using\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flash Fiction"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":723,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=723","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":5},"title":"The Journey North – Part 3","date":"June 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The next morning hardly felt like he\u2019d had any sleep at all, though, and the exhaustion stayed with Yaden all through that day, as they ascended the last of the green saddles. 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