Major A Link Between Worlds spoilers are in this story!
1
History of a Fallen Kingdom
Before the beginning of time, the universe had descended into chaos. The Silver Goddesses looked upon it and decided together to stop the madness and give the world a purpose. Din, goddess of determination, created the land with her willpower. Nayru, goddess of wit, gave this world order by bestowing knowledge of its importance upon the land. Farore, goddess of loyalty, created life and the means to sustain it, granting that life loyalty to the goddesses and to each other.
The three deities left the world to return to their own plane of existence, leaving behind the gift of the Triforce to protect the land they had created. The Triforce could grant the one most heartfelt wish of the person who touched it. It was left in the hands of a fourth goddess, Her Grace Lolia. Eventually, Lolia gave up her immortal form in order to create the bloodline of the chosen hero of the future. She entrusted the Triforce to the monarchs of the land, King Othen and Queen Tara. In her honor, they named the land Lorule.
The Royal Family did its best to protect the Triforce and keep it out of evil's hands, but it was not long until Lorule was torn apart through civil war. Constant strife went on for years with many fruitless attempts by the Royal Family to break up the fighting and resolve the issue peacefully. There was nothing they could do as they watched brothers renounce brothers and hate run through the veins of their country, slowly destroying it from the inside out.
One day, King Othen called on the Seven Sages, the chosen protectors of the Triforce by Her Grace Lolia herself and advisors to the Royal Family. He requested they destroy the Triforce to stop the war. The king was convinced that this was the only way to bring his people together. The Sages held a council and determined that it was the best thing to do for their land. They thought not of the consequences that came with its destruction. They could not allow this war to go on any longer. The Triforce was supposed to protect Lorule, not tear it apart.
The Seven Sages met that evening and used their power to destroy this gift from the goddesses. They stood by each other and kept channeling power from the vast accumulation of magical energy in the Sacred Realm. Spell after spell was cast upon the target until finally, the Triforce slowly cracked and shattered, dust falling on the ground to be swept away by a sudden wind. The full effect of what they had done became known over time.
Just a few years later, Lorule was in a much worse state than war had ever brought it to. Chasms had formed across the land, getting wider by the day. The people of Lorule were isolated from each other as the earth cracked and separated. The sun was constantly hidden by dark storm clouds and much of the Lorulean vegetation had long since shriveled and died. Vicious, bloodthirsty monsters came in hoards and before long the whole country was completely overrun. They preyed upon the last of the wildlife and then turned their beady eyes to Lolians.
The people of Lorule, starving and terrified of monsters, blamed the Royal Family for their state due to destroying the Triforce. No one trusted the government nor did they trust each other. The main trading village of the country, Okirakak Village, became a crumbling and dilapidated town filled with thieves of every sort. The people there took to simply calling it "Thieves' Town" once trade collapsed and criminals flooded the streets. Prices everywhere were very high with no money to go around. Food and clean water were dangerously scarce. Other countries severed trade connections with Lorule, no merchant willing to go near the decaying kingdom.
A group of people became convinced that the key to salvation was to work with the monsters rather than against them. This group founded a cult in which the members wore masks of various beasts they had seen and chanted all day, believing this to call to the monsters for aid finding necessities. The cult was willing to do anything to appease the monsters, making them a major threat to anyone they came in contact with. This made the people even more wary of their own homes, and those who were not too afraid to so much as set foot outside attempted to leave Lorule. Most attempts proved fatal for one reason or another.
No one trusted the Royal Family anymore. King Othen accepted his grievous mistake and did his best to give hope to his people. He did everything he could to try to mitigate the damage done to his kingdom, but to no avail. He and Queen Tara knew that they would not be able to repair their land. They knew they would be made examples of by their own subjects. They knew they would go down in history as the ones who sentenced Lorule to misery. They could only hope that eventually one of their heirs would be able to bring the country out of its horrendous state.
So began the legacy of monarchs doomed from the start who could do nothing but watch their kingdom fall even deeper into despair. Centuries passed. The Royal Family grew more desperate and the people rougher. The once beautiful, prosperous Lorule had become a land devoid of kindness, hope, and trust. Life had been twisted into a sick game of survival, one the citizens of the fallen kingdom were determined to win.
I'm really trying to push for the highest quality story I can produce. I'm trying to focus on detail and I hope that I've painted a fairly accurate picture for you. This is really more of a prologue than anything, so normal chapters will be longer. I'll do my best to update regularly, but I won't post a schedule because I'll probably break it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds nor do I own the characters from the game.
The absolutely beautiful cover art is by pekobukis on DeviantArt. I will put a link in my profile!