Out-of-Placers

3

Binny, a male ivenmoth born to one of Viracroix’ breeder moths, enjoyed a leisurely life of eating expensive flower petals in the Ivenmoth arboretum.

However, if Binny were born female, she would have developed a slightly different dietary preference, and occasionally ingest the petals of a lightly psychoactive flower. While Viracroix was entertaining a high-ranking guest in hopes of establishing a new trade route, the guest’s eye would have been caught by the ivenmoth flying in a delightful loopy pattern, and began petting it.

Upon returning to his quarters, the guest would have begun reading a book, and licked the tips of his fingers before turning the page, ingesting a mote of Binny’s now-psychoactive moth dust, and experienced an evening of wonder and paranoia; deciding that he was receiving a divine message about the dangers of dealing with Viracroix, he immediately ordered his retinue to launch an assault on Ivenmoth Central. This occurred during a sensitive time in Val Salia, in which the other tradehouses were agreeing upon which services House Ivenmoth would take over to ensure the city’s well-being. Two major tradehouses used the confusion to launch their own attacks in hopes of quashing a rival house, and before long, all of the local powers had roused their armed forces to attack whichever other powers they believed were the aggressors.

The following morning, the few bleeding, haggard survivors of the overnight civil war gathered their belongings along with whatever they could loot, and marched north, leaving the once-great trade hub abandoned, save for its massive population of corpses.

Corpses, and ivenmoths. Centuries later, travellers would avoid the ruins of Val Salia, the city that was murdered in a single night, leaving it forever without a human population. The ivenmoths, however, never left.

The butterfly effect is a powerful thing, even when it’s a moth.