Encyclopaedia Elysia | Places / Sercena

Sercena is a once-bustling town built into a natural crevice of the Apolli Mountains. It was formed around 600 years ago by a family of Skotadi, and ever since, every member of the town has been a member of the Skotadi faction. Consequently, any villagers which choose to be part of the Apali faction were treated as 'black sheep'. Many visitors to the village have often referred to the villagers as almost being 'occult', due to their obsession with ensuring all villagers are Skotadi. In some cases, Apali who refused to leave have perished under mysterious circumstances.

Once, the village houses were neat little wooden houses with foundations firmly drilled into the mountain soil and rock. The houses neatly fit together in a uniform pattern, like those of army barracks, with little streets cutting horizontally through the village and one vertical street through the centre. Now, the houses are weather-worn due to lack of care for the buildings. The streets are unmarked by footprints, except those of wandering creatures. Often, griffins and other mountain creatures have made their homes here.

The village is in a very strategic location. Just south, running alongside the mountain, is a freshwater stream of mountain water. A mile or so to the east of the town, sits a small wood brimming full of creatures and fruits. Other than that, the village is generally segregated, and seems more like a stronghold than a village due to its position in a naturally-occuring concave crevice in the mountain side, which has been flattened and worked to make the village fit.

Around fifty years ago, a group of 40–50 Anyeli — both Skotadi and Apali — fighting for civil peace attacked the village. Sercena, despite its deceivingly pleasant name, had a reputation for being ominous and strange. Travellers reported the villagers as being completely uniform: their behaviour, clothing, housing, and in particular their faction. These Anyeli, having no official name nor reputation, infiltrated the town to stop what they believed to be madness and injustice. They slaughtered the villagers with intentions of 'sending out a message', though perhaps this was the wrong way to go about it. After slaughtering the adults, the group rounded up all children and sold them off on the slave trade.

The event was considered a tragedy. Though the village had been almost a cult, they had never explicitly done anything wrong. As a result, the group of Anyeli who slaughtered the population quickly slipped into hiding, disappearing without a trace. Ever since, any survivors of the slaughtering have quickly moved away, forgetting their old lives and beginning anew. Not many people know about Sercena and its black secrets, as it was hushed up by the Archon.