Quest, Post #1

Prologue
-excerpt from The History of Gemiza


In the ancient times of our land, all was ruled by the Dark Ones. People and animals alike were slaves to their harsh brutality and cruel punishments. There were never many rebels in those dark times, and any of those who did have a good chance of rallying were quickly and quietly silenced. The only free people were the fairies (see index), who, at that time, lived in caves that are still beneath their city today. In one myth it is said that they lived with beings of the land, which they called "elementals" or "sprites". In that same myth, the "sprites" had in their possession a stone which could vanquish the Dark Ones should someone with enough skill wield it. So it came to pass that a fairy by the name of Dorsan studied the stone for many years until he figured out a way to harness its power.

When he grew confident enough, he led an army of fairies and "sprites" out to face the creatures that had enslaved all else. The battle raged for quite some time as they were seriously outnumbered and the only thing that kept them alive was this supposed stone. There is only one story of the actual battle, but even that is very unbelievable:

And Dorsan lifted the stone above his head and called out in a ringing voice above the din:

"Eb enog snomed fo eht krad! Bora kcab ot ruoy seloh dna reven elbuort sieriaf dna nam niaga!"

And the stone blazed a fierce white, brighter than the sun, and he cast it down to the ground and it broke into seven pieces, one of Ruby, one of Citrine, one of Topaz, one of Emerald, one of Sapphire, one of Amethyst and one of Diamond, all more pure than any others in the land. And as they fell, the Dark Ones fled. And he had the pieces placed in altars where they would stay until the next wielder came.

That is an excerpt from the apparent account of Triasin, a man in the army who, today, is reputed to have been a madman who saw illusions and made fake prophecies for the gullible. There is a myth, most often used as a children’s story, which supports this account, though. In this myth, Dorsan apparently told the king of the Fairies that the spell he put on the Dark Ones would not last forever and they would gain power as time went by. He also said that when the Dark Ones break through the enchantment he was to later place around the city, three people must be sent out to retrieve the stones. That, of course, is not the exact version that is now told, but historians have learned that much from other sources and their own guesses.