Eternal Beasts

History Lesson

According to the history contained in the book, Ethaeron was once much like Earth, thousands of years ago. Many diverse peoples and species, attempting to find their place in the universe. Many beliefs, creeds and philosophies appeared in those early years, giving birth to myriad cultures and societies. But none of those early philosophies were more powerful than the thoughts brought to the peoples and species of Ethaeron by the Prophets of Light and the Harbringers of Darkness. Diametrically opposed, the Prophets believed in life and creation under the light, the Harbringers the cool chaos and destruction in the darkness.

Jared nodded to himself as he thoughtfully considered that. It made sense; similar lines of thought existed on Earth, good versus evil central to most of them. So powerful were these philosophies, they eventually polarized all the people of Ethaeron. Seeing an opportunity to bring all the peoples and species of Ethaeron under their banner, the Harbringers gathered an army and struck at the Prophets in an attempt to overwhelm them by surprise. The Prophets, however, were far from weak and, unknown to the Harbringers, had prepared for the eventuality of a strike against them. Wielding powerful magic, they fought back. The result was a holy war, the first War of Balance. Fought with both magic and belief, it ravaged Ethaeron, wiping out whole species and laying waste to entire continents.

Again the lanky young man from Earth found himself nodding in understanding. The history of Earth was rife with holy war, started by belief and carried onto the battlefield by fervor and conviction. The Crusades, the wars between Catholics and Protestants in medieval Europe, and the various jihads launched by muslim nations in present day as examples, holy war was something humans of Earth knew very well indeed. The true irony, of course, was there was no holiness in war, only death, destruction and suffering. Mentally mulling that, he finished his review, the book outlining how the polarization had continued through time, dividing Ethaeron into two armed camps. Several Wars of Balance have been fought, with neither side gaining great advantage over the other, until recently.

The last War of Balance, fought nearly two thousand years ago, saw the forces of the Light severely battered, according to the history. While stronger than the Light, the forces of the Dark were too weakened themselves to complete the conquest and no clear victor emerged. In the time following, however, the forces of the Dark had grown strong, the strongest they've ever been, while the forces of the Light had only dwindled.

Jared slowly closed the book and leaned back against the battlement. 'Sensing another opportunity too great to give up, the Dark now gathers to launch a final strike against what is left of the Lightlings,' he grimly thought. With the lightlings in disarray, there would be nothing to stop them. If another War of Balance began, the Harbringers would completely destroy what was left of the Prophets' Alliance of Light and reign supreme over a battered and subdued world. His jaw tightened. 'All that pain and suffering, for nothing.'

All for nothing, unless he discovered his place in the midst of it. Unfortunately all he had to go on was his dream and the brief encounter with the Cholim assassins back on Earth. 'What did that one call me?' he silently wondered, struggling to make sense of the jumbled mess his memory outside of the book had become with the multiple resurrections by the necromancer. 'Lord of Griffins?'

From what he could tell, griffins were mentioned in the book, several times in fact, great creatures of power, magic and light that sided with the Prophets in the Wars of Balance. 'And in my first full insertion into my dream, where I actually met the Watcher, there was a griffin there too.' Eyes still closed, Jared frowned as he remembered the section from the last War of Balance, fought thousands of years ago. 'But in that war, griffins were wiped out and now no longer exist on the fact of Ethaeron. So how am I, born on Earth but fated to join the Prophets here, on Ethaeron, supposed to become involved in some fashion with griffins, if they're all dead?'