History

Dark Sky has transformed several times, each major change constitutes an era in our history. To view the banner used in each era, if availible, click on the link in the period's name.

Dark Sky: From Birth to the first Death
In November of 2005, administrator Jaynr founded Dark Sky as a home for a rather short-lived story by the same name. The story featured a winged lion as its central character, and a plot Jaynr herself admits was never fully developed. "It was fun to write, I even had a cover page. But I guess I knew from the start the story wouldn't last too long." Says Jaynr. According to the Admin, she was inspired to create a forum-based web site by "Small World", another Invisionfree site founded by friend's of her older brother. Small World also exposed Jaynr for the first time to Role Play.
Dark Sky during this era, was a jumbled and confusing heap of codes. The banner was a .bmp file of a Russian Blue cat from Petz4. The skin was the default, and the forum followed no specific order. It is no surprise that Jaynr abandoned the site for quite some time.

This short era saw the beginning of the return of Dark Sky. Jaynr had recently gotten involved with several Role Play sites, including Ulaya, a Lion King forum that recently relocated to a new home. During this time, Jaynr had remembered Dark Sky and began to bring her back to life. The skin and logo remained as they had been, as little construction occurred.

On April 15, 2007, Dark Sky was officially reborn as a Lion King Role Play site. In fact, the exact text of the message is as follows:

Needless to say, this uninspired message heralded many changes in the board. The trademark Blue Skin that became an important part of Dark Sky's world, as well as the first official banner entered the scene during this period. During this time, the forums and categories became more ordered and Dark Sky began to draw in a few members. Plots and characters began to take shape as well.

Several weeks after her rebirth, Dark Sky welcomed a new section, a Role Play category for the classic Zelda series. This innovation was sparked by Chione, known to many around the site as Sofa. Early in the process of rebuilding Dark Sky, Jaynr mentioned the site to Sofa, a friend from school. Sofa agreed to take a look, although The Lion King was not her usual field. Jaynr was eager to make her site something that her friends would enjoy, so she began to work on a Zelda section, knowing that both she and Sofa adored the series. This era marked the beginning of an important change for the site, including a slightly different banner which included Zelda characters.

For some time, things remained as they were before, with the addition of a new section. However, as time passed, Jaynr found that the Zelda section was not only more active, but also the aspect of the site that pulled the most members. She doesn't remember exactly when it happened, but one evening, "Jaynr's Pride" disappeared from the site's name. A new banner was made that emphasized the Zelda section of the site, and the number of forums dedicated to that area doubled. This was the second longest period of Dark Sky. During this era, many of Dark Sky's best known members joined the site, including several of Jaynr's other friends.

Ablaze was the first time the site had an official plot. The story focused on a battle between the current king and a band of rebels who sought to overthrow the oppressive rulers. This was also the first time that Dark Sky's skin changed from the well known blue. The new skin fit with the site's new moniker, a fiery crimson hue, along with a new banner. The image featured a crimson hylian shield with crossing blades, and two skeleton creatures on either side. Not surprisingly, the board-wide role play plot did not meet with success. Dark Sky: Ablaze was a fairly short era.

This period asserts that the rebels were successful in overthrowing the king, but at great losses to all. The land is charred and battle scarred, and many of its inbatitants perished on both sides. The banner had not changed, and the skin is only slightly different.

The second most recent era of Dark Sky, Before the Dawn was meant as a transition between The Blaze arc and the next arc, which was still undecided. Before the Dawn was one of the most turbulent times for the site, housing many internal fights between members. The ultimate passing of the "Drama Llama Hunting Season Law" and suspension of several members brought a temporary calm. The skin was a monochrome black, and the banner featured the Sheikah symbol and Majora's mask.