Author's Notes

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This is intended as a companion piece to the main series of Trials of Incomplete Heroes.  I recommend reading the first 3 books of the series before this. There are a number of historical (in universe historical not real life historical) events that are foundational to the series.  Stories such as this may provide a context for the happenings of the novels.

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Foreword

 

The following is a translation of the “Manuscript of the Lost Lands” as discovered by Wilbur P. Hogenson and Bertram Havard in 1899. Translation is provided by Doctor Herbert Dixon of the League of Great Explorers and Historians or L.G.E.H.

 

Manuscript of the Lost Lands

 

Woe be to the world as its crown lies shattered in ruins in the depths. I was driven from my home, the Great City, and its surrounding lands. It once stood, a proud city rising out of the Seas of Knowledge. I watched in despair from my raft as our mighty tower crumbled into the raging sea. The cries of my countrymen echoed around me as many gave their last breath to the waters while I sat adrift at the mercy of the waves, powerless to give aid. I could only hope to reach the mainland before I met my own fate.

 

I am haunted by what happened even unto this day. The specters of my friends and family visit my every dream. I find it difficult to sleep as the sun goes down, knowing what has been unleashed upon the world. I saw many dark things flee the broken lands. Every shadow has become a terror in my mind.

 

Once a prosperous merchant in my homeland, I am now but a humble farmer tending my fields in my new home, far from my origin. I wandered for years, seeking a place as far from my homeland as possible. There was a time I even began to forget the horrors that had happened.

 

I was out in my fields when a troop of men approached me. They claimed they were chasing a great beast. I tried to feign ignorance as they described it. As they moved on with their hunt, I rushed back to my home and cowered in a corner.

 

My homeland had been a great and proud society. Our leaders had been granted power beyond that of mortal men. Many came from all corners of the world to serve them. All knowledge and languages were stored in our tower. There was nothing beyond our ability to build or make. In our arrogance, we thought ourselves invincible. We forgot that our knowledge and our power were merely borrowed from those greater than ourselves.

 

In those days, we prospered greatly. Our accomplishments were unrivaled by any. None dared to oppose us.

 

We should have heeded the warnings of our priestly order. They had warned that the outstretched hand of our lord, the one who granted our leaders their power, would be retracted. What he had given us would need to be repaid or his curse would be upon us. Our people had grown content and complacent. As we had forsaken our lord's ways, we too would be abandoned. Our only hope was to return to our lord's ways. We scoffed at our priests and sent them back to their hidden caverns.

 

That very night, everything began to change. I heard the sound of an exhaling breath as a cold wind blew through our city. All lights were extinguished and an unnatural chill hung in the air.

 

Frost crept over the window as I peered outside. Through the frosted panes, I beheld white flakes descending from the sky. We had heard tales of snow from those further north, but never before had anyone seen it in our lands.

 

I rushed outside to see the phenomenon firsthand. It was there I learned the flakes were not as I had believed them to be. Frozen ash was falling from the sky. It was then that I heard a dreadful cracking noise emanating from the tower. I retreated back into the safety of my home, fearing some invading force.

 

The next morning, we learned what had made the terrible sound. Within the tower, where the leaders sat in council, stood a statue of black stone. The statue was of our lord, his hand outstretched. The arm of the statue now lay shattered upon the floor.

 

None could determine the cause of such destruction. Few had the strength to break the stone from which it was hewn. Most of our tools could not even put a mark upon its surface, let alone shatter it.

 

Shortly after this, a faction of our countrymen, filled with greed and jealousy, schemed to overthrow our leaders. The shattering of the statue in their very council chamber proved to them that or leaders were weak. And so, these fools tried to take the power for themselves. In their arrogance, they were cursed and became as terrible beasts. These beasts waged war against us.

 

Our leaders were greater than the beasts, yet perhaps more foolish and arrogant. They appointed a champion to fight against the beasts. Victory was won and the beasts were imprisoned in our deepest and most secure dungeons. In their pride, our leaders declared themselves and our city invincible.

 

For a time, we thought the war was over. We were fools. Our champion, the one we called upon to save us, was tempted by the tales of power the beasts told him. And so, when we thought we were the safest, when we thought we were the most powerful, he betrayed us.

 

Our champion, and those he led, secretly followed the path of Erebos, our high priest, to where the order worshiped in secret. Shortly after this, another cold exhale blew through our city. A flash of a deep purple lightning filled the sky for a moment, followed by the sound of a resonant dark growling.

 

As the growl subsided, the world grew eerily quiet. Neither the champion, his followers, nor our priestly order returned or were ever seen again. For three months, dark clouds blanketed the sky. During these months of misery, our leaders appeared to grow older and more feeble. Their confidence had drained and our city fell into disrepair.

 

At the end of our eerie three months, hell was unleashed upon us. Many beasts and dark things beset us, pouring in from the mountains and forested lands. All who stood before them were slain. No armed defender, guard, or soldier, could face the onslaught. We begged our leaders for deliverance, but none came. The beasts we had locked away in the depths were unchained and joined their brethren in the slaughter.

 

The monsters then swarmed the great tower, where are leaders had retreated to their council chamber. We heard their death screams and knew all was lost. It was then that the true terror came. Until that time, only those who took up arms against the beasts had been slain.

 

Stone splintered as the top of the tower shattered outwards before our eyes. Two beasts, greater than the rest, emerged from the ruins atop the spire and began slaughtering man and beast alike. Never had I seen such horror incarnate. I watched as the great ones devoured the other beasts whole.

 

All fled in terror before the two great beasts. Beasts, dark things, and countrymen alike abandoned the lands. The two great beasts, one in the skies above, and one on the earth below, smote the lands asunder. Our lands, broken beyond repair, then sank and were lost to the Seas of Knowledge. Those few of us who survived know never to return.

 

In the time since, many ill-fated sailors have been lost at sea in that region. Rumors tell of the two beasts guarding the remnants of our lost lands. One beast comes as a sudden storm above while the other comes from the deep dark depths below. Few who search for our lands return.

 

In my traveling years, I met many people who told me tales of monsters. I feigned ignorance and moved on to the next town. I know what these monsters truly are. The world is not prepared to know what I know. I fear for our generations to come.

 

Every night I hope and pray for salvation, but our lords have abandoned us. The one who gave our leaders their power has been forgotten. None now know his name. These beasts are his curse, his rage against our arrogance.

 

We toyed with what we did not understand. We took what was not ours. We forsook the one who granted us everything. The time has come for us to pay. All that is his must now be returned or we shall ever be cursed.