Aurosian exclusion zone

## History

Aurosia was a thriving nation found in the northern parts of *Campestria*. However at 10:32 AM on June 5th, A.A. 128, a strange light came streaking from the sky over Sarmalionis, going straight for the lake. It was unlike any they had ever seen, for instead of being a simple meteor, with the usual fiery shine one would expect, it was as if the streak was more of a fabriclike wave rippling through the air, absorbing light and morphing colors from amethyst to ultramarine. When it slammed into the lake proper, no wave was formed, but instead it phased through the water itself, leaving a dull glow deep within. Multiple observers from the bordering nations noted that this wasn’t something that could originate from the stellar system *Jennia* was in. All the bordering nations immediately set to work to try and uncover the unknown object, with each vying for control.

#### **The Tibrus incident**

* **Initial discovery of the Aurosian destruction**

Fleets were sent from each of the 'lake nations' and the “*Tibrus Incident*”, as it came to be known, started to attract the attention of many of the neighboring nations as well. *Kaigani* was especially interested, as its proxy war with Belusia gave it impetus to think of new strategies to undermine their northern neighbors. Knowing that *Aurosia* was one of the few nations bordering the lake that had been relatively mute about the incident, they planned their next move. *Kaigani* agents were sent to *Aurosia* to try and ascertain exactly what was happening, but they never expected to find sheer devastation. What had used to be a country was now a silent husk of sprawling cities. They were devoid of people, with every door and window open and clattering against walls in the wind. The closer to the lake the agents got, the more the soil exhibited signs of burning, with small translucent pebbles dotting the landscape. As they finally arrived at the lake, they found monolithic crystalline structures on its beaches bordering *Tibrus*. The twisted, serpentine shapes seemed to be reaching for the sky. Some seemed to look in anguish, with mouths gaping, and others were curled up near the shore. It was almost a glacier of crystal leading into the lake, frozen in time.

The *Kaigani* agents quickly reported back that while *Aurosia* would be ripe for the taking, it was probably a suicidal idea. Whatever had erased the population, it could still be there. When they stayed overnight, large shadows of fauna would slowly move across the empty buildings, with shadows of men following them closely. *Aurosia* was considered a cursed place from then onward. While the other three nations were busy fighting over the excavation of the unknown object, the news started to filter out from *Aurosia*.

* **The Jennia Peace Council - *JOIRIP***

Once *Kaigani* had alerted the *Jennia Peace Council*, alarm was sounded worldwide. With one incident from the sky, the Great Peace was now being put to the test; all nations were now scrambling to begin research on what had happened there, with the three remaining lake nations vying for control of the lake itself.

The *Jennia Peace Council* organized a new task force, known as *JOIRIP*, or the *Jennian Organization for Interception and Research of Interstellar Phenomena*. This group would contain all of the major nations pledged towards finding, studying, and mitigating the threat that came from beyond *Jennia*. A secretive organization, with portions owned by the major powers and yet not completely owned by any one of them, it came to be distrusted by most in hushed tones. Its organizational structure would allow for it to be relatively autonomous, while able to handle affairs without alarming the public.

## Aftermath

* Survivors

While some border villages near the border of the Destrikan Federation were spared of what had happened, the few *Aurosian* citizens that survived the incident knew little more than what observers had noted abroad. However as the townsfolk saw the destruction in their country and heard stories of the cursed shadows of fauna and men at night, they soon fled to the border in the hope that the foreign armies guarding the border would protect them from these 'shadow demons'.

* Expats

Meanwhile a large number of *Aurosian* expats suddenly found themselves without a homeland or even income, as in the case of government international relations workers. With the the validity of their visas running out quickly they were facing serious problems. While some nations allowed *Aurosian* expats to settle in their country of residence permanently, others were not so forthcoming. Most of these left their respective countries and settled in the country of Sarmalionis and Paltinau who both allowed *Aurosians* settle in their nations if they could prove their *Aurosian* nationality. Many inside *Paltinau* moved to the island of *Fjoldarst* which later became the Kingdom of Fjållslønd.

* Material

While the population of the country had virtually vanished without a trace, most buildings distancing the lake only suffered superficial damage. The most widespread damage were shattered windows, while soft materials had molten to various things like green glowing goos or brown puddles, depending on the material involved.

The last noteworthy event was registered in A.A.132 at the *East central air base*, the main military base near the former capital of *Aurosia*, *Vanishtan*. A *Destrikan* clean up crew responsible for the base had opened an armored hangar bunker, finding a relatively untouched fighter jet inside. As they contacted their superiors abroad, plans were made to bring the aircraft to headquarters in the next few days. However, by the next day headquarters was unable to contact the cleanup crew, which was not an odd occurance in those cursed lands. A second crew was sent to check up on the crew and the aircraft they had found.

Upon arriving the crew found that the base (which had been left pretty unscathed up to that point) had been completely flattened, exhibiting signs just like near the epicenter of the *Tibrus Incident* years before. The soil exhibited the same signs of burning with a handful of translucent pebbles remaining. A massive crystalline structure reached up into the sky roughly where the supposed jet had been found. The site has since been closed off for several miles and is still closed off for access to this day.

* Clean up crews

As of A.A. 131, *JOIRIP* started sending in clean up crews in *Aurosia*. As time went on most were forced to go. The total number of people who were send into the exclusion zone is still classified, but the number is believed to be somewhere are 65.000.

Many of the returning crews were plagued by nightmares and psychological traumas, while some never returned at all. Some began self-harming, while other times entire crews would simply vanish during the night. Diaries and many personal items were strictly prohibited. However, In A.A. 163 a series of drawings were discovered in *Fjållslønd*. These had been drawn up by a person called *Frolan Driistan*, who had been deployed to the zone from A.A.132 untill late A.A.133. There is some speculation on whether he had drawn the illustrations, as some seemed to contain Aurosian wording. However, most crews deployed to the zone, including all those of Driistan's crew, did not speak nor write the language.

One of his old crew members, *Drigan Forson*, later recounted during an interview "Once I woke up to *Driistan* drawing as if he were possessed. Given how on edge we all were all the time, It freaked me out and I went over to him. As I touched him on the shoulder and asked him if he was alright, his body shaked and his head turned to me in an instant, looking at me with wide open eyes, then falling over into his bed. I started shaking him because I feared the worst and as he opened his eyes, he asked me why I woke him. However moments later thanked me for it because he was having a terrible nightmare, not remembering to be drawing." and "Those nights over there were the worst. We kept seeing ghosts by day and hearing ghostly noises outside by night. But were not allowed to leave our windowless rooms, as crews kept disappearing during the night. I keep thinking about all those people and how they all vanished. I was scared, we all were, fuck, we still are. I honestly can't watch these drawings, it still haunts me. Sometimes I still wake up in the night screaming."