Pillars of Age

A Friendly Warning from Distant Descendants

RIVAR

The crowd of mortal beings had filled the town square, some like Rivar having waited since the night the iron ship arrived. Others had gathered in response to urgent announcements from the town guards, spreading throughout Parsha.

Captain Jac stood on a wooden platform, a peculiar device resembling a cone mounted on a staff before his face. Below him, a line of Parsha town guards stood alongside a contingent of Navy soldiers from the Parsha Republic Ship.

Yunnas, several high council members, and Captain Enzo stood a few steps behind Captain Jac, their expressions solemn.

"Good afternoon, people of Parsha," Captain Jac began, his voice amplified to an unnatural volume by the device. "I am Captain Jac, commander of the Pact Navy Ship, Parsha Republic. The iron ship anchored in Parsha Bay."

The rough yet clear voice startled the crowd. Whispers spread, some suspecting the sound emanated not from Jac's mouth but from the strange device before him.

Jac pointed toward his ship, allowing the crowd's eyes to follow before continuing. "There is no easy way to say this, so I will be blunt. My crew, my ship, and the government of the Pact Republics come from the world beyond the Light in the Ocean."

The crowd stirred, the murmur of disbelief growing. Including those who had witnessed the arrival of the Noble Elves.

"I understand from Lord Yunnas that Parsha has encountered beings from across the light, who arrived via the Nehir Ocean to our west. They call themselves the Noble Elves and made Parsha their first port."

"We too journeyed from beyond the Light in the Ocean, but from the eastern shores of ValMyra. Our world is your future, a thousand years ahead in the year of Mortal 1709."

Gasps and murmurs of astonishment rippled through the assembly. Jac waited patiently for the noise to subside.

"We became suspicious when our Patrol Ship discovered ruins and crew from Laguna Yunnas the Fifth ship in the Nehir Ocean of our world, mirroring the ocean seen from Parsha. Rescuing the crew and retrieving the wreckage, we were shocked to find they hailed from Parsha a millennium ago."

The crowd, now silent, was too overwhelmed to react.

"Our government dispatched an expedition to investigate and, if possible, return the surviving crew. Fortunately, we succeeded in both."

Captain Enzo stepped forward, a living testament to Jac's words.

"Now, I must deliver grave news. I ask the people of Parsha to remain calm until I have finished."

The crowd bristled with anxiety but silenced, eager to hear more.

"The first and most challenging concept to grasp is what our theorists call 'Unrelated Fates of Different Eras'. It means the fate of beings or objects in this time does not affect their counterparts a thousand years in the future."

Confusion spread through the crowd, but Jac pressed on.

"Allow me to illustrate."

A crew member approached with an ancient wooden head statue, while a Parsha resident brought a newer, similar statue. Both were placed before the crowd.

"This statue is an ancient artifact in our Parsha, over a thousand years old. The newer statue is identical but only decades old. They are the same statue from different eras."

Jac asked for the resident's permission, receiving a nod. The newer statue was handed to a navy soldier, who shattered it with a metal pipe. Jac held the older statue aloft.