[Avidya]

In Samsara's myriad of myths, there is a story about the mausoleum of an emperor in the middle of a vast deserted land called Avidya. From afar, the dark structure rises up from the earth's surface and stands silent among endless thin layers of fog like a cruel mountain, reminding onlookers of the past.

The emperor himself is said to be a tyrant: merciless and ruled the empire with an iron fist, he took away Avidya's tranquility during his reign - and eventually its prosperity with him to the grave. 

The mausoleum was commissioned by the emperor while he was still in power. Only him, the architect and all who built the structure knew what it looks like inside - and only them knew what kind of danger the emperor had set up for unwanted intruders. For this reason all builders were later sacrificed inside the mausoleum, while the architect took the oath to stay silent about the building until he follows the emperor in his death.

However the emperor's only son knew about his father's plan and he was not at all secretive about it. When the former emperor passed away and new emperor came into power, the empire started to dwindle as the new emperor did not care about managing the system his father left behind. Under his rule, aristocrats turned and devour each other for power control like hungry dogs while civil insurrections were everywhere within the empire. Invaders took this chance to wage numerous wars, which prevailed and eventually defeated the empire's army. 

The young emperor was captured not long after the invaders made their way into the capital. Hoping to save his life, he used the story about his father's treasure buried inside the mausoleum, trying to draw their attention away from the execution of himself. His plan worked as he won over the invaders' greed for a while, but after several unfruitful attempts, his captors forced him to assist their men finding his promised treasure as he was the only person at the time who seemed to know best about the late emperor's plan. The young emperor, along with the invader's men, did not come back from the prospection trip.

While the contemporary government was established in the empire of Avidya and they were all busy finding hidden treasure, the rest of its inhabitants were in madness. Remnants of Avidya's former regime did not easily let go of their power and as their process of reclamation faced the retaliation of the defenders, what was left of an empire was being ravaged, pieces by pieces. Buildings were burned to the ground, thousands of lives were taken, dead bodies became more of a common sight out on the open than the living. One of the survivors said at some point it felt like humanity was destroyed in the war. Murder, robbery and rape were rampant. Anything had been used to be considered immoral and illegal could be freely done now as Avidya was in a state of lawlessness. At the climax of chaos, they could only smell the foul stench of blood and rotting dead bodies from both human and animals coming from the street - those were persistent, even during sleep in their own home. No matter how far they went, as long as they stay inside Avidya, the smell and the dead bodies would not disappear from their senses. The stench was so haunting that years after fleeing from Avidya they could no longer smell anything else.

At the end of it, demise came for all who was not willing to abandon Avidya, both former civilians of the fallen empire and its conquerors. Soil was so barren that no plant could grow, the water gradually turned blood-red years after the war, forcing people either to leave or being starved to death. Those who did not heed the warning signs slowly lost their mind. A lot became paranoid, claiming they saw demons chasing them in their sleep along with ghosts of people who died. The spirits were furious, threatened to take their soul in revenge and torture them for eternity. All who destroyed the empire of Avidya, including the new kings and their family members, slowly spiraled into madness and died either by suicide, being killed in peculiar accidents or running into the late emperor's mausoleum, never to be seen again.

Since then Avidya was told to be a cursed land. The empire along with its people and enemies were entirely gone. 

Centuries after the downfall, none with a sound mind would ever venture pass its border, as they were told the air of the cursed land will bring misfortune back to their home.