The Lys

The Creature

The Lys is, in a sense, the opposite of the Tal. It is said to make Decheerans leave their groves, often causing as much suffering as possible in the process, to pull them towards the dark side of Atria, where their bodies and their sanity will wither under the perpetual darkness.

The Tale

Most Decheerans know of the Tal, the force that allows them to bond and form groves. However, just like any other force in the universe has an equal counterpart, the opposite force of the Tal is the Lys, a force that breaks down groves and social structures by subtly altering the mind of an affected Decheeran, causing them to sow strife wherever they go, first subtly, then more and more pronounced, until they eventually leave society and move towards the dark side of Atria, where they will feel inexorably drawn towards. While brief excursions into the perpetual darkness cause a Decheeran to feel something between light discomfort and elevated levels of distress, those getting lost there will eventually wither in both body and mind. Should they not have severed their connection to their grove, the extremely unpleasant sensation of withering will be inflicted upon their grove mates, either driving them into madness or forcing them to sever their connection, eventually breaking up the grove. According to some mostly forgotten tales, the naxel are either the descendants of Decheerans lost on the dark side of Atria, or in some versions even the very same.

Much like the Decheerans chose to revere the idea of the Tal, they chose to collectively avoid exposure to the idea of the Lys, both physically by staying away from the dark side of Atria, and mentally by refusing to discuss it until it mostly faded from knowledge, for the ancients feared that merely knowing of the Lys could expose one to it's detrimental effects. While the ancient Decheerans were apparently successful back in the day, it remains to be seen if truly every item depicting or discussing the Lys was destroyed, or if some unlucky excavation team might find what was intentionally lost for ages, and irrevocably upload their find to the commsphere...