The story was always the same.
Some details varied slightly, depending on who dictated the tale, but the basic beats were all consistent.
So, to pass the time until my stomach forces me to feast again, here is the history…

of Vulture.

Thousands of years ago, the giant island of Vulture was created. However islands are birthed, I guess... that's how it happened. Whether it was an asteroid that came crashing to the sea and floated in the water long enough to give up its fight and become a land mass, or a colossus-sized dead creature that decayed and rose to the surface and petrified over time, it doesn't really matter. What matters is, an island was born, and soon inhabited.

And shortly after…destroyed.
By the vultures.

Legend has it that the vultures can sense devastation. Like they can smell agony and despair. And though they seem to be relatively harmless by themselves, or in small packs, when they get a whiff of depression or snort a line of invisible death, they arrive in hordes.

I am living (barely alive…) in the 5th generation of Vulture.
History has gone like this:
Island born, civilization rises. Civil war ensues. Vultures arrive and feast. On EVERYTHING. The island is a wasteland for years.
Civilization arises again. A depression hits, civil war ensues, a quake hits, whatever. The vultures show up in droves. And once again…feast.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Every generation is vastly different. More evolved, both socially and physically. But no matter how prepared, and how organized they are, every generation falls when the vultures show up for dinner.

There are thousands of arguments about the vultures' involvement in the destruction of civilization on the island. Some say the vultures influence the dissipation of the island from afar, and then come to devour the spoils of their hard work. Proponents point out, however, that the vultures only arrive when the island's society has failed. That the vultures are, in a way, the island's "correctors". They say the vultures clear the island's slate and allow the island to start over, with new inhabitants, and hopefully new direction. Some proponents even disregard the tag "vulture" altogether, and instead label these creatures "the erasers".

Either way…the vultures still arrive, and we are still destroyed.
Our buildings, our creations, our dreams. Almost every morsel of each generation is devoured by the vultures, so not much is known about the specifics of the attacks. But some evidence HAS survived. In fact, these few articles of evidence are the only reason we even KNOW about the purpose of these creatures. A large group of 5th generation scientists have managed to uncover and translate various artifacts, writings, etc, which detail specific events that were attempted to be recorded both before and during the vulture attacks throughout time. That's how we know the attacks are very quick. Almost all of the evidence is cut short, but every piece of recorded accounts of the vulture attacks, no matter the generation, describe one event, which they have all called…
"The Vultures' Smile"

…