Start of something big

 fic.

Nobody had made it beyond the large river. Many had tried over the centuries, the smart ones, the brave ones, the foolish ones, the overconfident ones, and the suicidal ones. They had all failed, save perhaps the final group. The river was just too powerful, full of strange creatures with abilities nobody could comprehend. Boats would be swept away, regardless of how stable they were designed to be. Large schools of revenous fish circled any attempt to complete the crossing, for they knew easy dinner was on the way. The inhabitants of the seven villages were trapped forever in their island.

They knew of course that there were lands beyond, from the stories of the past, and from the tall watch towers on the highest of mountains. They could see the houses, with smokes coming out of the hearths in the evening, people walking by, working in the fields, mobs in the town squares. The lands were not completely alien either, every so often a package or a shipwreck would make it to the shores, the writings would be legible, the logic behind the journey completely comprehensible. On certain days, when the watchers were particularly lucky, they could see watchers from other villages watching them from high towers. The watchers would wave, acknowldege the communication, and so would the other parties. Unfortunately, neither group seemed to be interested enough in continuing the communication.

That was until it came to be known to the citizens of the lost lands, as they were known to the outside world, that there was a large cache of expensive mineral underneath them, and there was considerable interest among the outsiders in trading with them.