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stefan de
velociraptor
sunstone theory part 2
Thu Feb 20 05:56:51 2003
The age of emperors- the pre-Dinotopia era
As the separate tribes emerged from the world beneath under an·
impromptu treaty, each group set out in a different direction. The firsts set
out eastwards, founding their first camp on the hills that were later to become
the city of Baz, the Pothenians founded the city of Pothedos on the Northern
shores of the island. The Kintorams eventually founded Chandara about three
kilometers inland on a wide river delta.
Though there was often peace·
between the three empires, it never lasted for long and war was a daily part of
early Dinotopian life. Of the three the Pothenians were the most aggressive of
the empires, constantly pushing to extend its territories which extended in a
crescent shape from Windy Point to Warmwater Bay
As the empires warred,·
while Chandara focused on its buildings and Baz on it’s art, the Empire of the
Pothenians extended its knowledge of the sciences and technology at an
astounding rate. Though they invented firearms at around 7000 BC these weapons
were never used by the saurians, due to the ethical codes and the fact that
shooting people from a distance was regarded as the ultimate cowardice among all
carnivores and many herbivores. 2000 years before the birth of Christ, the
Pothedians launched their most ambitious project yet, one that would go down in
outsider mythology forever. A floating vessel made entirely of brass and copper
was constructed and launched from the shores of Pothedos. It floated thousands
of miles up into the Atlantic where by an amazing stroke of luck a weary band of
sailors were picked up by the city of brass their captain was the Greek
legendary hero Odysseus. He mistook them for the legend of Aeolia but was amazed
by their stories and legends as well as by the small amount of saurians he saw.
When he left the city of brass the commander of the vessel gave him a small bag,
waterproof and padded. This was the fabled bag of winds, though inside it was
something that we today would find more amazing than the winds. A small round
object it was, the first living dinosaur egg to ever touch the hands of a non
Dinotopian man.
The city of brass soon returned to Pothedos, which soon after was renamed
Poseidos in honor of the miraculous voyage of discovery made by the vessel.
Chandara and Baz had not been idle however. While Poseidos had no·
written language, Chandara devised a written alphabet based on Egyptian
hieroglyphs that was later to become the official language of the island-
saurian. Baz collected knowledge and stockpiled wisdom, much of which can still
be found in the great library today. Poseidos by this time had reached what
would be our 22nd century technologically and an unparalleled historical event
took place. The humans of Poseidos and much of its territory overthrew and
killed almost all the saurians of the empire. Another expedition of the city of
brass was planned but first the Poseidites planned dominion over the entirety of
Dinotopia. This was put to an end by the hero Gideon Altair (see First Flight).
Before Poseidos could re-launch the remade city of brass, tragedy struck. Though
the engineers of Poseidos knew it was located above a fault line they never
realized the gravity of this fact until too late. on the same night when a
morning star guided shepherds, kings and angels to Bethlehem a massive
earthquake ripped through the fault line. The entire city of Poseidos, along
with much of Chandara sunk below the waves of the inrushing sea. The spires of
the great lighthouse of Chandara can still be seen poking out from the waves a
hundred meters off the coast.
Chandara and Baz saw the error of their ways·
and much was done to prevent human or saurian greed ever being able to cause
such horror again. Seeing the full powers of the sunstones frightened all of the
inhabitants and measure were taken. The tyrannosaurs and other carnosaurs that
had fought and killed so wantonly in the wars agreed to take up a tremendous
task. Every sunstone that could be found was replaced in the world beneath,
before the gates that had been open were closed forever. A family of
Gigantosaurs agreed to live the life of their ancestors and guard the foolish
riches of civilization and so almost all of the gold and jewels, weapons and
surviving Poseidite technology was placed in a huge hoard and sealed, along with
its guards for eternity. The capitals, Baz and Chandara were disbanded, and a
single new capital for the whole island was constructed. Sauropolis came into
being in the year 12AD. This ended the greatest period of Dinotopian history,
and it was to become legend and myth for the modern Dinotopia
As a final·
note, the city of Baz was destroyed by an internal fire 28 years after
Sauropolis was founded which is ironical due to the amount of anti fire
precautions they took.
In the preDinotopian era, as you can see, the emphasis of sunstones was placed
war and weaponry. As opposed to the outside world, which relied first on steam
then on fossil fuels to create machinery, Poseidos used the abundant sunstones
to create its mechanical apparatus. The fact that these rocks, with the right
precautions, could be mounted outside so as to be constantly recharging and that
they gave off no harmful emissions or radiation meant that combat, transport and
research could be conducted entirely cleanly was a godsend to the citizens of
Dinotopia. However, as the ambitions of the Poseidite empire grew, thousands of
machines of war were create, each more deadly than the last. If these had been
used then the destruction of Dinotopia would have been sealed. However the great
earthquake of 0BC prevented such a disaster. The remaining sunstones plus the
last machines, named stutters, were sealed in the world beneath. The carnivores,
knowing the destructive potential of the stones took upon it to guard the stones
with their life. It is only when the carnivores feel that the safety of the
island is threatened by unknown creatures straying upon their guarded territory
that they will attack without giving their prey full warning of their actions.
Several people have died at the hands of the theropods of the basin by willingly
or unknowingly violating the boundaries of the sealed entrance sites. There are
four known entrances the diamond cave, a temple near Waterfall City, a temple in
the rainy basin and a cave in the forbidden mountains. There is also rumored to
be an entrance deep under the hills around Baz.
‘And as I stand upon the stone and watch the sun eaten by the earth, I make my
vow to protect this place from hatred and war. It shall be my duty to ensure
that such a time as we have lived shall never come again. May the light that
destroyed remake, the light that led us wrong once more guide us to the path of
truth, the light that blinded us to our own hatred illuminate us all in wisdom’
the Vow of the Guardian, from the Histories of Dinotopia