“Many, many years ago, farther back than anyone today remembers, humans had perfected practically everything of which you could think. No woman died giving birth, no child was deformed, no parent had to bury their child. If a person got sick, the doctors would give them medicine, and they would get better. They had all the food they could need, and they had amazing machines that were metal and looked like carriages, but they did not need horses to pull them, and many of them could fly in the sky like birds. They had clothing finer than anything you’ve seen, better than-“
“Better than mommy’s Church dress?”
“Yes, better than mommy’s Church dress. They could grow plants ready to harvest in minutes, and no one went hungry, no matter if they were noble, or important, or even if they were beggars on the streets. No one ever wanted for anything, for they had everything anyone could want. And yet, they fought. They were greedy, and they wanted to be better than everyone else, to have more than them, to be seen as elite.
“They were not united like we are, they were constantly changing alliances, there were countless countries, and provinces, and there were more than two continents, like we have here. And yet, even divided as they were, they still somehow managed to work together. And divided they were, by anything you could imagine. Why, even their skin divided them, for they did not all have white skin, like us. They had caramel skin and brown skin and yellow skin and skin that has no real way of being described. But they did not care about that. At least, most of them did not.
“One day, a scientist-“
“What’s a scientist?”
“A scientist is a person who tries to figure out why things happen the way they do. It’s kind of like the sorcerers of Athelvar, who try to find new spells and potions and ways to help people. Which reminds me; the people then had no magic. They-“
“No magic? How did they do anything?”
“Well, they did it with their machines, like the grain mill we have out near the barn. Yes, you might make the same flour a dozen times quicker with magic, but it does not taste the same, or feel the same. Magic-cast food has a strange taste, and I prefer our own. But I thought you wanted me to tell you of Earth that was, or do you want me to stop?”
“No, Grandfather.”
“Well then, stop interrupting and let me tell the story.
“Now, where was I? Oh yes, the scientist.
“One day, a scientist discovered what hundreds of others had been looking for. He found the secret to eternal life.
“For many, many years, men had been searching for it. They had spent thousands of gold coins worth of their money searching for a cure to the ultimate problem. Death. That scientist, he lived in a place called the American States United, or some such, I can’t remember exactly what it was called, it was so many years ago my father told it to me. Well, that land, it was greedier than any other. The people their had once prided themselves on being one of the most powerful places in the world, but over the years, the people grew gluttonous, and they lost their consciences, or so my father told me. Why, when the scientist discovered the cure to death, it was not that far after a time when they had been murdering their own children with not a hint of remorse.”
“Why would they do that? Why would they kill their own children? Why, they should have been killed themselves!”
“Well, they were. After the scientist found what he did, he brought it to their leader, who at that time was called a President, or some such silly name, who acted as a king with no real power for four years, then was unable to rule again unless the people voted for him again.
