Chapter 1: Prologue: The Roll of Ages

The ages roll on endlessly,

Whether we move ourselves or not.

We must move,

Or be rolled over and forgotten.

—Serista, Seer of the Noran t’Kalima

The world of Avern has changed. Nearly a thousand years ago, the world as we knew it came crashing down upon us, changing forever. The Divine left us alone, and the Old Ages all ended. There weren’t any reasons we mortals could understand. There were no explanations offered; they were simply gone.

But how could we know such a thing, we’ve been asked? Perhaps they were still there, and we didn’t realize it. Perhaps they had just withheld their powers. They might have gone quiet. This was possible in the beginning. The effects on priests were the first signs. At first, the people thought surely some evil had come to the world, and the healing powers of the holy priests had been staunched. But then the emissaries of the other side came forth angered that we had somehow interfered with their unholy abilities to channel their deity’s’ influence. After several skirmishes between the two sides, it was revealed neither had the power of the gods on their side. The effect was immediate. Houses of healing were no longer healing the minor maladies of their local populations. What had been easy to remove, small things such as pox or poison, remained. The Houses of Healing changed within a few short years; instead of magical healing, they sought herbs and nature’s own remedies to the things they once removed with a wave of the hand.

Some would continue to argue that it was impossible that the gods were gone. Even with the irrefutable evidence of the priests’ powers leaving them, they said we were not faithful enough, so they had gone quiet. Then more were left without power. Those who said the gods were withholding their favor rethought things when they heard of the complete disappearance of the Keeper of Stars’ chosen children, the Oracles.

In our world, magic was once very simple. Wizards used the three spheres of magic, the darkness, or psychic magic, the light, or spirit magic, and the elemental, or nature magic. Only a few could practice two of these spheres. Elemental and darkness could be combined to use time magic. Elemental and light could be combined to use spatial magic. Finally, and by far the most common of the secondary magic was the combination of light and darkness, yielding the ability to practice cycle magic.

Long ago, there was rumored those who could practice all three spheres which yielded a tertiary magic, but in the last thousand years, these mysterious Oracles have not been seen.

There were many which had no training in magic, sometimes called sorcerers, sometimes called demons and devils. Springing from the psychic abilities of darkness, those with natural abilities arise now and then, which are called prophets. Those who hold in them the innate ability of the Spirit magic of light were called the Seers. Finally, those who naturally held the power of nature were named the druids. These are now gathered and taken to the Forge of Magic as soon as they are born, and a mark is seen on the child.

Prophets are marked with vivid purple eyes. Seers are marked with pale eyes which turn white when their powers are used, and the Druids are marked with hair tinged green in color. Once they are found, they are sent to be trained at the Forge. Strangely, they are never seen from again.

None, however, have been born with the Mark of the Oracle. In fact, it has been lost to time what the Mark of the Oracle was.

The power of the wizards was rising, however. Their abilities were not as great as it once had been, but they still had more magic than the average person. All wizards were to be trained at the Forge, and under direct control of the leaders there. Any misuse or unauthorized use of magic was punishable by magical tortures and death. The people began to fear magic, and with that fear, the governments began to assert their control. None were permitted to use magic without official papers for it. Those who dared to do so could be sent to prison, or worse.

So, why did the Keeper of Magic, Kalimourne, choose to Abandon us? It was obvious she had indeed left now that the chosen Oracles were no more, and magic had diminished. Perhaps the Mother of Elves is the one which pains me the most to think of leaving us alone. She was so gentle and caring for all, not just her children. What would she say today if she knew her children killed any not of their kind on sight without question? The other Keepers, of Life, Nature, and Death, were also gone. But without them, the world moved onward without many problems, at least that we could see. The loss of the Keeper of Magic, or the Keeper of Stars, as she was also known, was keen.

Nay, no more Oracles rose to power. Instead, wizards learned of the Spheres of Magic. Many held the hope they may have had the powers granted by the Path of Stars, or perhaps the sorcerous talents, but they never did. Wizards who were found to have the Talent were trained in their chosen Sphere, and no matter what, their choice could not be altered, and they could not learn more than one. They were found to have the ability of psychic magic, spirit magic, or elemental magic alone. Wizards came to the forefront of the battle for the truth, but their magic could not find it. Seers and Prophets could only see a veil before their vision. For some reason, it was as though a dark thing had descended to block what they normally would see. It seemed the gods wished to be left alone after all. So, the mortals were left to debate without magical aid.

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For years, the debate raged. Did the Divine simply leave us because we were unfit? Did they leave because they were bored with us? Why? There were many sides, and the debates turned to fighting, and the fighting to wars.

The Elves said nothing; they simply closed their borders and made it near impossible for travel near their homelands. Long winding roads had to be built to pass them by as the power over time and space had been lost, and portals were no longer possible. The Dwarves retreated to their underground citadels and were rarely seen, and always surly when encountered. The Orcs waged wars across the wildlands with the shifters. The Beast Lords rose to power and combated the Orc forces which threatened to raze entire provinces. The gnomes of the Seran Jungle stayed out of things, remaining insulated in their own small world. Places that had been bastions of hope and commerce became desolate and worthless.

It did not matter. There were no gods left to ask, so the truth would remain untold. Until the dawning of the Ages of Destruction, the arguments continued. For many hundreds of years, the very lands rose against the people, and great destruction followed. Homes were ruined, and the very landscape was altered. But eventually, nearly two hundred years ago, the Ages of Destruction ended.

The Age which followed was something that not many could understand as the same as the previous Age. It brought no destruction, or at least, not the destruction they had seen in the previous Ages. Instead, the Age of Law had come. Lands began to organize and form nations. Rulers came to the forefront of every land. No one was left to their own devices, instead all had someone to answer to. Roads were built, and people trained in many ways. Perhaps, though, we forgot too much. We forgot that Law can be as deadly as any other power. During this Age of Law came the time of the Regulators.

The various kingdoms came together in the great Council of Magic, a place of learning and research, and decided because magic was precious, it should be controlled. It was decided a representative from each kingdom would be a part of the creation of a force of skilled individuals they dubbed the Regulators. Their job was to discover those with the Talent, those born with the Marks, and bring them to the Citadel of Magic in the mountains north of the great kingdom of Lineria. The Citadel was not in the governance of any one kingdom, but instead governed by all kingdoms. At the beginning, it was a place of learning and solace for those born with magic still in their veins.

Thus, the Regulations were created. Their most powerful wizards began to cast webs throughout the kingdoms, enabling them to detect unauthorized magic use. And eventually, anyone who was not registered within the kingdoms was apprehended and taken to the Forge. No one was allowed in or out of the Forge save those who ran the building. Those taken there by force were never seen again. Nestled as it was in the mountains north of Lineria, there was no way in save magic, and the only ones who knew how to get in were the High Wizards.

As the Wizards have come to power, so have governments using fear and oppression come to power alongside them. Alliances between powerful countries keeps the people in check. The non-humans hide from the humans out of fear and hatred.

Now is the Age of Chaos, when the world is changing rapidly

The Veil stands before us like a black curtain which shrouds the end of times. Prophets have always seen the future, and now they cannot. The answer is quite simple; the shroud is the herald of the End Times. The End Times herald the end of the world. Avern as it is now will be no more. The prophecies are clear about only one thing. When the End Times come, the Eternal One will be reborn for a third time on Avern. The first time brought life. The second brought death. We know not what the third time will bring. And the world will forever be changed, and most likely destroyed. The prophecies simply stop at the End Times. The only other possible explanation is perhaps the End Times is still an area where events are yet to be determined. I would like to believe it.

For the last thousand years, and for five thousand years before, Prophets of Avern have agreed on one thing. There has always been a point in the distant future which they cannot see past. There is a point when everything is simply black. Prophecy upon prophecy has been written, but they simply stop now. For the first time in our long history, events are being written without foreknowledge. How things will happen, none know. Perhaps it will simply be all the magics pass from this world. Perhaps the world will end after all. No matter.

The End Times have come.

I’m the last of my kind, faithful to my last days to the Truth Speaker, though her gentle touch I’ve never felt, and will never know. I find no one to take my place, no one who wishes to work in the name of those who Abandoned us. That is sad, but perhaps one day the Divine will return. Perhaps we shall know one day. I am in my seventy-fifth year, however, and it is unlikely I will witness any changes. I would love to chronicle such changes, though, in the name of my goddess.

By the Truth Speaker’s pen, I swear to the truth of this book’s words.

—Excerpt from the Book of Lost Ages, penned by Vranimina Vertrica, Last Truth Warder, in the Year 4999 of the New Age

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