Insidious Whispers - A Wizard Wars Saga

Chapter Two

Time Before Now

Lady Grinnell

Senior Delphyte

Princess Stipinia is stubborn. That is the nature of the humanoid, especially the Caligans. They always defiantly strive to be different from another person. Each one looks toward some destiny. I feel the resistance in her spirit as I try to help her understand that birth is a burden. Some people are born with a very little weight to carry - a rich man's son. Poverty places its own weight on the dreams and visions of the poor. They struggle not to be crushed by the threats to their survival. Royals have an even heavier load. They must carry the burdens of all of those whom they serve.

I share my words with Stipinia, yet I fear they only penetrate her ears. We need this knowledge to enter her mind and turn her heart.

"The orators of our small planet Palandara say as long as anyone can remember, the sea, air and land beings of our world lived in harmony in a culture dominated by the power of magic. This was long before the Delphytes passed into the Material World. We knew of you Caligans and others, yet you had no sense of our realm, The Whole.

Stronger or weaker, all of the thirteen tribes held onto the Forces of Light. Magic was used only to enhance the goodness in life. Those powers fashioned Palandara into a paradise of balance and peace with a powerful respect for difference. That is how most people tell the tale, even today, yet few recall the time before time.

In the far ancient days before Palandara's story was writ down, the world was rampant with riots, theft, plunder, wars, and killings. Most peoples were hostile. Skirmishes, battles and wars for land, food and water broke out as often as the morning dew appears on Dramarian leaves. The Ancient Ones were certain that an evil, though unseen, had been running rampant throughout the world. People whispered that the power behind the destruction was a hunger for control, a disease that infected some creatures' spirits.

Most closely associated were The Viragos, an elite coven among the Witches tribe. They thirsted for power like a naked traveler exposed to the mid-day desert sun craves water and shade.

The knowledge of those days and their ways is tightly guarded, lest the evil that once ravaged our beloved world be again unleashed. Humanoids are such slaves to their desires. The only way to tamp them is to spread ignorance.

The seeds of the evil, the Viragos' legacy, has been wiped from the world many times, yet the virus persists. It is covertly spread through the ages by the insidious, infectious whispers of those who chafe in their limitations and long for total control of the magic in the Material World of Palandara. They chase the Dark Magic.

In the time before time, the trouble was clear. Trillients, Witches, Avians, Dwarfs, human-like Caligans, Elves, Sprites, and dog-like Charloks roamed the Material World in isolation in those far ancient times. Each of the creatures looked upon the others as prey. Nearly every village, town and city, except those in the far reaches of the sea, was pillaged for food, slaves and territory.

The fear and frenzy born of this manner of existence passed from one generation to another like a high grade fever. Fear spread between the tribes. Greed and violence became the key to survival - fight or die. That is why everyone, except the Wizards, bonded into tribes.

A few tribes tried to join together, but alliances were weak at best. Desperate circumstances prodded most attempts at cooperation. Joint efforts were fleeting. Whenever two or three tribes would come together to annihilate an aggressor, an unsteady peace ensued. Allies feuded. In nearly every case one of the leaders would gaze at the former allies and plot to gain their land and food.