Lore
"What does this mean? Where are we going?" Tam asked his mentor.
"I think our visitor here might have a better answer than I. I simply know what is left to be studied in long-worn pages."
Simban looked up from the fire, his brow was furrowed as he peered at Tam. "Hm yes. Well." He paused for a moment as he turned back to the flames. "Sit well, boy. You are about to hear the first and last story of our age."
Tam cocked his eyebrow with mild incredulity.
Simban shifted on his weight and began to speak, "The world is a very quiet place. At least it has been for a very long time. But once, so long ago, things were not so quiet. Our world teemed with the primordial energies of the stars. The powers of creation and chaos played their eternal game, and everything was subject to the whims of such awesome power. Men learned to harness this power, to some extent, tapping into the deepest powers of existence. At first they sought such power to protect themselves against the raging tempests all around them. There wasn't much to people back then, outside of simply surviving in the midst of such storms.
As time passed they became more and more adept at channeling and controlling these powers. But with such power they soon had forsaken their original mission, to protect and survive. Soon the avarice and foibles of powerful men added to the fury, and what was once a promise became a curse.
Split by factions and hounded by the furies of nature, a small group of practitioners banded together to put an end to mankind's suffering. But not only that. They had long labored to control the stars, not for power, but to banish such energies from the world forever. They saw no hope for man in such a world, only to be crushed under the uncaring powers that ravaged the world. They offered another promise. A promise not only of unity and security, but of a world free from the suffering inflicted upon it by the stars.
But not everyone agreed with these, and they soon became another faction set against others, as it had been for far too long. As they worked toward their goal, the fruits of their labors spilled out from their schools, feeding the cycle of frenzied violence which washed over the world. Great and wonderful things were done by people of good hearts, and terrible, evil things were done by people of not so good hearts. The spiral continued for an age as terrifying new powers were unleashed by men, and equally wondrous powers of healing, creation and peace were fashioned by those who fought against them.
But they made progress, ever so slowly, in the night and shadows, under the moon and in secret. They had learned so much that they had gained attention. The attention of the furies that stalked this world was not a good thing to have, since survival was hard enough in the wake of their heedless prerogatives, but to withstand their full attention? It could not be done. They had run out of time.
One last desperate measure was called for. An imperfect solution perhaps, but a solution that would do well enough for the time they had. Harnessing all their power and knowledge gained through the ages, the Cabal fractured the world, splitting our plane in two. And into this crack they forced all the powers and furies of the world, funneling all such demonry and magicks into the void, to be locked away from our world. But for how long?
No one knew. Trifling with the fabric of existence is a science of mysteries. What they had for intentions, they lacked in expertise, and all manner of life was swept away into the abyss. Trapped for an indefinite age with all the might and fury of the legions. Split from this world they have been twisted and tortured over countless years. Banished and exiled, made to live an unholy and abominable existence.
The fissure was sealed and peace, such deafening peace swept over the world. Those who were left rejoiced at this new dawn. They had been freed from such capricious fates. But for how long? Long enough for people to forget, at least. So long, at least, that none of this will make sense to you. Not in the telling. What I have merely hinted at does no justice to the reality of such horrors and wonders which roamed here upon this very ground. No, you could not possibly imagine.
Tam spoke up from behind the flames, "Where are they now? Those who were banished?"
Simban shrugged, "Who knows? Perhaps they are gone forever. Perhaps they are still there, twisted beyond all imagination."
"What do they want?"
Simban laughed. Everyone jumped at the harshness of his laugh in the quiet night. "What do they want? You tell me, boy. How would you feel to be locked in a hellish prison for an eternity? You would want one thing, I'll tell you. Revenge. But they don't see it as revenge dear boy. No, they are fueled by the most righteous cause of all. Justice."
Tam's heart sank, "No. No that isn't right."
"Oh it is boy. It is. Do you think they are just evil? Do you think evil just exists in its own right? No, no my boy, evil is simply all the sins and follies of man collected over an eternity. It exists for a reason. What we are looking for is mercy, not victory. What we are asking for, pleading for, is a judgment that spares us all from the fates which have been locked up behind a veil for an age. Building and growing, twisted and more vile as their tortured existence mounts with every passing moment."
"What... what is our hope?"
"Our hope is as it has always been. To survive."