History

First – A bit of Information Concerning our ‘Real Lives’ in the ‘Real Worlds’ that we know about:

“Creation” moves in cycles.

Vast levels of creation – whole universes, entire dimensions and uncountable worlds are born, develop, shine for a while, decline, wither and vanish. Time and space may not be constant. But all of ‘Creation’ –  in all probability – never dies out completely. Sections of ‘Creation’, whole universes – may die out and become ‘un-created’ for a time – but the Intelligent, Wise, Loving Source of all Creation – although it might rest for a while, will always burst back into activity and begin new cycles – possibly without end.

The levels we currently know about – looking at Creation from one of the most dense – and easily deceived levels – include four entire universes – We live in the Material Universe – The smallest, but still incredibly vast – universe we are aware of. The magnetic fields in the Material Universe are so intense and so limiting to our ‘consciousness’ that there are times when our ‘human’ minds can not comprehend anything but the purely physical. The planet you are most likely on as you read this – the ‘Earth’ – hit rock bottom at about 500 AD and began to move into a less dense, less problematic area of this Material Universe at around the year 1,000 AD. One label that might apply to the intellectual and spiritual atmosphere on Planet ‘Earth’ from about 1,000 to 2,000 ( – and something – we have to go through a time of intense growth and chaotic re-organization of most our systems before we reach the next age – ) would be the Age of Electricity – Most people on the Earth can understand that electricity moves through wires, electric currents can affect material objects, cause fires, cause some elements to glow and give off light – can kill, and maybe aid in regenerating health, or even excite the human body’s ability to grow back fingers or other body parts that could have been traumatically cut off. Water can flow through sponges, maybe even seep through porous rock and trees submerged in rivers, lakes or seas and oceans. The next Age would be the age of Magnetism. The average person on a planet that is experiencing the Age of Magnetism would understand that Magnetism can generate, direct, and maybe even control electricity. The age of Magnetism should last considerably longer than a thousand years. If and when the planet makes it to the finest section of the Material Universe, we just might experience another ‘Golden Age’ – The average person on a planet during the Golden Age would understand Spirit the way Magnetic Age people understand Magnetism and Electric Age people understand Electricity and Dark Ages people understand nothing but the physical level of being. People in the Golden Ages understand that Spirit can control Magnetism which can control electricity which can control matter. It takes about 26,000 years to complete one complete up and down cycle. I don’t think the Golden Ages are guaranteed occurences, I don’t know what happens if the population of any given planet prevents that planet from reaching and experiencing their Golden Ages. There have been rumors that the ‘dark side’ has been able to prevent Golden Ages in the past. Dedicated members of the ‘dark side’ are in love with their delusions of control and believe they are much better off if the populations they believe they control do not make it to a Golden Age.

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“The ‘consensus reality’ you believe in is based on a complete fabrication.

“The evil-nasty micro-managing sociopaths who dictated the burning of the Great Library at Alexandria and forced the editing and re-writing of the Christian Bible, modified and warped the basic tenets of Islam and edited, warped and mangled the messages behind every true religion that ever leaked into this universe in an effort to maintain total control over everyone, instituting a state of constant slavery to the point where ‘Free Will’ is a joke- do not want you to know they even exist, because if you discover what they’ve been doing for the last couple hundred thousand years, you’d probably go berserk and tear them apart in public.”  — ‘TruthDreamer SeesAfar’ { “TruthDreamer Seesafar” is {{ An Ymmp }} a character in a story I wrote circa 1989 – In the context of our Game World, I’m giving him credit for writing this. – jrw- }

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Beyond the Material Universe, or within it, or around it, there is what some have called the “Astral” Universe or the ‘Emotional’ Universe. You probably go there every time you dream. While you are in that universe it ‘feels’ solid. But it is much less dense than the Material Universe. You are much freer while you are there. You can fly while you’re there.

The ‘Astral’/Emotional Universe is much larger than the Material Universe. The size comparison has been described as the Emotional Universe is like a hot air balloon and the Material Universe is the size of that balloon’s basket.

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Similarly, beyond, inside and/or around the Emotional/Astral Universe is the ‘Causal’/Intelligent Universe. Intelligence in this sense is a couple octaves above what passes for intelligence on planet Earth in this, the twenty-first century.

Again, the Causal Universe is much finer than the Astral Universe. And, similarly, it is much larger, being like a balloon to the basket sized Astral Universe. People who can live in the Causal Universe are supposed to be able to create objects with their minds. [ ‘Miracles’ are said to be the laws of a higher universe being called into action in the lower universe. ]

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Beyond the Causal Universe there is something that has been called ‘The Vast Uncreated” universe. We don’t get much information about that Universe. Other than – “Ya can’t get there from here-” You have to overcome all your physical, emotional and causal Karma before you go beyond the Causal Universe.

And there may be more beyond that. Those who know what’s out there tell us not to dwell on that, it could be counter-productive and we really need to deal with what we’ve got here before we can even try to imagine what lies beyond.

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Mythology & Religion:

    The ‘First Race’ first populated much of the material universe eleven million years (or more) ago. The Original members of the First Race were very highly evolved individuals who, through Spiritual means, were able to assemble their own bodies by using the molecules of anything around them. They experimented with all kinds of materials and all kinds of shapes and sizes and  millions of variations on appearance. The First Race then took a part in altering any inhabitable worlds to make them more hospitable and more likely to sustain life. When things were ready, the Original First Race used their Spiritual means to construct bodies for ‘Younger’ Spirits.  Some of the ‘Second Generation’ of the First Race were able to evolve rapidly, to become nearly as powerful as the Originals. Not all of them had all the Wisdom of the Originals. In the ‘space’ of several million years, younger and younger spirits were invited into the Material Universe to enjoy life as a member of the First Race. Gradually, almost all members of the First Race still in the material universe resorted to sexual means of reproducing. Members of the later generations of the First Race could not, Spiritually, build a body for any Spirit, deserving or otherwise. {{‘Adam and Eve’ (on Earth) were symbolic of the first wave of very young souls to graduate (through reincarnation) up the food chain from the animal kingdom. }}
    Sprites and Elves { and, Possibly, Ymmps ((if you can believe anything they tell you)) } were around for a couple million years while the First Race was still in Power.
    Troubles began when ‘younger spirited’ members of the First Race demanded knowledge that they believed some of their contemporaries were withholding from them.
    Polarities evolved. Many members of the First Race believed that Evolution (on a personal, as well as planetary basis) was the only reason that any of the three or four* universes exist (*Material, Astral, Causal, and possibly ‘Beyond’) (‘Beyond’ may or may not be an entirely ‘un-manifest’ universe. Those who have been there don’t do a lot of explaining. I might listen if they told me what goes on over there, most people wouldn’t care.)
    Anyway, many of the ‘Evolutionaries’ began calling themselves “Children of the Light”.  Some of the less highly evolved subscribed to the impression that the Children of Light were just as worldly and ambitious as they were, and [the Children of Light] had banded together to strengthen their own positions as well as to increase their ability to achieve and hold on to power. A few of these individuals banded together and formed an association that later became “The Brotherhood”.
    When the Brotherhood believed they were strong enough to make their demands and achieve results, things got a little testy.
    After a couple million years of escalating disagreements, a few of the Brotherhood’s flashier members changed their shapes into those of Dragons and began attacking, either members of the Children of Light, or the ‘weaker creatures’, which  some of the ‘Children’ were nurturing. When things got worse some members of the Children of Light took on Dragon Forms (opting for lighter coloured skin and wings) and engaged the Brotherhood in serious combat. Skirmishes became battles.  Battles led to wars. The wars became intense.  Periods of Peace became shorter and farther between.  During “The Last Wars of Magic” whole planets were blasted to bits (the Asteroid Belt?).
    If you read the section on the Anomaly you heard about Shanti, a young, but highly evolved member of the First Race, who, along with others, refused to take sides. She and her friends became more and more alarmed at the very real possibility that the belligerents on both sides of the final conflict were capable of obliterating the entire Material Universe to prove a point. Shanti and some of her friends ‘built’ the Anomaly and began ‘churning the ethers’ trying to call for help from the higher Universes. The last few battles were so incredibly destructive that most of the survivors wanted nothing more to do with any world in which such a waste of lives and environment was possible. Many dissolved their bodies or killed themselves. A handful stayed around to guide (or influence or manipulate) the emerging ‘younger’ races.
    Religion should be the study of Reality or Truth , Ultimate Reality or Ultimate Truth.
    Religions developed among the younger races. Some of them called members of the First Race ‘gods’. Some of their ‘gods’ took to that role with enthusiasm.
    Religions (or Sects) formed among many who believed their ‘paths’ would lead them to Heaven (or ‘Earthly’ Power).
    These Religions evolved into what they are today.
    Some followers of some Religions (or Sects) believe the Founders of their Sects or Religions are gods. Some believe their particular favourite is the only true god and all others are pretenders. Some believe the Founders of the Various Sects were just as apt to make mistakes as anyone else. Some believe there is a Father (or Mother) God (with or without a beard) sitting around in the clouds somewhere, keeping track of everything down here. This version claims that God created everything, including the First Race, including the Founders of the various Religious Paths.    The Short Version:
    There are atheists in this world.  Nobody has to ‘Worship’ anybody or anything. Nobody has to acknowledge any form of Divinity.
    There are agnostics and dabblers. Characters can join and unjoin any Sect at any time. (There may be benefits, not always obvious, in belonging to one Sect or another. These benefits may be permanent or may disappear if a follower breaks ties with the Sect. (This probably depends on the Founder, or any Saintly and/or Powerful, practitioners or Spiritual Personalities and/or Forces allied with the particular Sect which any particular follower may be dissociating from.)

 

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The Anomaly:

The Anomaly (Sometimes referred to as the ‘Aerendel Anomaly’) was created by a team of very powerful ‘god-like’ beings during the ‘Last Wars of Magic’, when it looked like the ‘Children of Light’ and ‘The Brotherhood’ [*See Mythology] were locked into a struggle that could, possibly, bring the existence of the Material Universe to a ‘premature’ end. Shanti [*See Mythology] cried out for help, recruited members of the Original Generation of the First Race [*Mythology] and many of her stronger Spiritual friends. Together, they created a small-ish Dimension which could open ‘Wild Portals’ into any Physical World and could also connect with any time (within this Cycle of Creation) (Which, in our dimension, would span several Trillion Centuries ((at least)).) Strong willed members of the First Race who knew of the Anomaly would be able to summon, establish, and hold a portal in place for as long as they wanted. The plan was, if the universe was brought to the brink of premature oblivion, Shanti and her Friends would jump to this Anomaly, open portals to any world where they knew life existed, run around and grab as many living life forms as they could, escape back into the Anomaly, open a portal way back near the beginning of time (in this Cycle) and find hospitable worlds where they could nurture the innocent lives their militant contemporaries had threatened. (They had no idea how many people and animals they could save, but they were willing to die trying to save as many as they could.)
You may have noticed, the universe did not end several thousand years ago.
Nobody who helped create the Anomaly actually forgot about it- but, in several thousand years, most of them became distracted with one thing or other…Any one of them who may have suffered the trauma of death and/or rebirth may be hard pressed to remember details from a previous incarnation (especially if they are living under the hypnotic effects of the Physical Universe).
And the Anomaly took on a life of Her own. The Anomaly learned how to grow, how to absorb bits and pieces of other dimensions, how to offer refuge to all sorts of creatures in danger.
Evolution on this planet (called ‘Chiyella’ by most Sprites) (and, in turn, by most other inhabitants of the planet) took a few interesting twists and turns when ‘lower’ animals wandered into a safe looking cave and wandered out several thousand years before they were born. Most, if not all, of the ‘Furry’ races of Chiyella owe their accelerated sentience to the Anomaly. [ When & if any dedicated permanent chat spaces / communication boards / BBSes – are up and flying you can read all about the views held by various members of various races concerning the genesis of themselves and other races.—> Or, I may need to set up a Word Press type Blog and give players access to write ‘articles’ about their Races and Religions – ask questions and post comments – If this really gets out of hand I may need to put up a Blog for each Race and Religion and give advanced players who have proved they can be trusted the ability to Run those boards – screen posts and comments, ban abusers – and stuff like that – But for now I’m trying to manage all the information and helpful hints on racial biases and philosophies on this Blog : For instance : Ghardra, even High Ghardra and some Arch Ghardra firmly believe that the Khatzen are a race of lesser demons who rebelled against their keepers and fought their way back to our universe. The Ghardra can think of no other explanation for the ‘fact’ that Khatzen are ‘immune’ to their potent fear spells. Khatzen feel the fear, it just effects them differently – it inspires them to fight harder to protect themselves and their families. ]
But anyway. The Anomaly is still there. And “She’s” still active. From the point of view of those who believe they are aligned with ‘The Light’, the ‘Forces of Darkness’ are continually trying to infiltrate and use the Anomaly to their own advantage. Outbursts of activity by ‘Metal Demons’ (Robots Programmed to kill, some of them with very life-like features) in times like the Chiyellan Bronze age, may be evidence that the ‘Forces of Darkness’ have gained (or will gain) at least a toehold within the Anomaly – maybe some time in the distant future.
One curious fact about the Anomaly is Her ability to either absorb or create buildings, whole towns and cities, within herself. There are sections of the Anomaly that appear to be one huge corridor in an immense castle – complete with furnishings. In other areas of the Anomaly you could be walking down a corridor that looks like any twentieth/twenty first century Earth institution, even an office building- open a door and be face to face with a rampaging dinosaur.
Many areas of the Anomaly are completely deserted (and almost spooky, in that all sorts of artifacts and evidence of life are all around, but there is no one there, and may never have been anyone there). Other areas are densely populated. Rangers, patrolling the Anomaly have stumbled upon entire communities that may have existed within the Anomaly for thousands of years, unaware of any other Reality beyond the strange boundaries of their small universe.

The entire compendium of the ‘Faer Kingdoms’ (‘Faery Land’ to those of us who’ve never been there) as extensive as they are, may be one small section of an ever expanding Anomaly. * Wild Portals have opened in various communities withing the Aerendel Principality – and even in the so called ‘Real Worlds’ ‘Beyond’ that have either brought unsuspecting citizens of this world into the “Faer Kingdoms” or lured unsuspecting Citizens of variou ‘Real Worlds’ into the Land of Aerendel.

Generations of the ‘Uncorruptibles’ (Faaxen Guard) have patrolled the sections of the Anomaly (they call it ‘The Corridor’) which, rumours have it, can be entered from secret rooms in sub-basements in and around Aerendel Castle.

 

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Pre-History: How the sub-continent of ‘Aerendel’ was discovered:

   Aerendel was founded by a Highe Elf Prince (of the L’Enjellian House) and his wife. They had led a rag-tag ‘army’ of refugees across two continents to get them away from marauding armies during the Last Wars of Magic. On the way to a ‘promised land’ that no one actually knew existed, they became separated and diverted, feared their partners had been murdered, and got mixed up with Humans. They had children with these Human, two sons, born on same day.
    They were soon called and guided by Shanti, Who, having recently helped construct the Anomaly was actively trying to gather and lead as many ‘good’ and strong Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Rangers, Religious types and Magic Users who had turned their backs on war to an island where they would be comparitively safe if they were also willing to defend uncountable peace loving, nearly defenseless people of all sizes and descriptions. After all sorts of setbacks and side trips (and the deaths of both Human spouses) the family was re-united. They found a lot of ships waiting to take them to a land where they could live in peace. They reportedly followed numerous doves, dolphins, ravens and (possibly) a flying unicorn or two to the island, where they followed a talking bear to a cave near the top of the mountain they could see for miles out to sea.
    Shortly after they arrived there, as a consequence of fighting in their world, their planet’s magnetic poles shifted. Their world was plunged into three days of deadly winds, violent storms and flooding. (Incredibly high Tsunamis washed over whole continents.) In the  cave, they were safe. Shanti came to them with the News that the Wars had ended and most members of the First Race were either dead or leaving for greener pastures.
    Shanti left with most of the First Race, but She’d evolved enough to be able to travel back and forth between the Causal, Astral and Physical universes and could build herself any sort of body, any time she wanted to.  (She continued to drop in on them from time to time as they built a castle,  and were formally granted domain over their land (which was now attached to a good sized continent, by an odd shaped, mountainous squiggle of land).
    Shanti took more than a passing interest in the L’Enjellian Half-Elven ‘Twins’. L’Haeren (the Fair) grew up  tall, thin and Spiritual. Haemahr (the Dark) became strong, solid and muscular. Haemahr also developed a quick temper, but was quick to forgive and forget. And he was also quick to come to the aid of anyone who asked for his help. L’Haeren spent a lot of time brooding over ideas and issues of Cosmic proportion.
    When the young princes had just passed the age of responsibility, Haemahr went travelling around their world and came back to Aerendel with tales of a Half-Ghardran Demagogue named GaaKrell who had conquered all of one continent and half of another and threatened to enslave half the planet within the next five years.
    Haemahr raised an army and left to go fight GaaKrell and his legions.
    Less than three months passed before L’Haeren began having visions and dreams of GaaKrell killing Haemahr. He called out to Shanti for guidance and She appeared, handed him a Staff that became a crossbow of its own volition and summoned a golden bolt whenever it sensed really bad vibes.  L’Haeren left his parents a note, hiked down the mountain to Birkenport, hired a frigate loaded with ‘privateers’ and sailed off to save his brother.
    When the privateers embraced the idea that L’Haeren’s presence was attracting major league trouble, they put him ashore in the rather disreputable port town of ‘Harmony’. In Harmony, without friends or any of his gold, he was befriended by a young woman who introduced herself as “Captain Jayzee Megrory” and bragged that she could drink any three sailors (or five pirates) under the table. L’Haeren did not take her up on her challenge, but woke up with a splitting headache in the hold of a schooner hearing the screams of women and children. He noticed there was a Khat in heavy chains and another prisoner on the floor. He didn’t realize he was in chains until he tried to run to the aid of the screamers. The Khat roared, rattled his own chains, laughed and managed to let L’Haeren know he admired his spirit.  The other prisoner looked up at him, winked, and finished picking the lock to the thickest chains, the ones that kept them tethered in the hold. Sometime before he realized that prisoner was Jayzee, she’d picked the locks to his ‘bracelets’ and leg irons and similarly freed the Khat.
     L’Haeren looked around, found his staff and climbed up onto the deck of the schooner in time to to watch his captors pitch a line of women and children (of several races), chained together, over the side. He roared. The Khat (who had thought there might be a little bigger advantage and getting a bit closer before announcing their presence, roared and stood beside L’Haeren with only his leg irons for a weapon. The pirates turned around, noted that both their prisoners were tattooed with a dove (the mark of the emerging Shanti ‘cult’) and laughed.
    But when L’Haeren swung his staff the line of women and children rose to the surface of the sea and stood there, choking and coughing.
    Upwards of a hundred Mer emerged from the sea, climbed aboard and ‘dispatched’ the pirates. (The Mer told them that Shanti had come to them in visions and told them that a prince held captive in the hold of a schooner had the power to grant them a homeland if they helped him save his brother.)
    They made Jayzee the Captain of their newly acquired schooner and headed for danger. Telepaths among the Mer summoned several more ships so they didn’t have to swim for more than a couple days.
    When they reached a friendly island they put the women ad children ashore and recruited a couple dozen more assorted adventurers.
    They found the continent they sailed to in ashes and realized it would be harder to find food than it would be to locate any one freedom fighter on a continent the size of Australia and Alaska combined.  (The Mer asked if anyone minded a diet of fish and sea plants.)  Mer Seers conferred with L’Haeren and thought the best plan would be to follow the (poisoned) river as far inland as they could, assemble by night and set out to a destination that was becoming more and more clear to everyone involved.  A plateau surrounded by the charred remains of a forest near a mountain that looked like a fallen horse. Jayzee said she’d been to a place like that and drew them a map (from memory). The Khat thought that several small parties might have a better chance of getting through enemy lines to the spot where the Seers all agreed, a climactic showdown would take place. Jayzee agreed to lead a party that consisted of L’Haeren, the Khat they’d freed, three Mer Marines and a couple Half Elven brothers who had lost most of their family on this continent.
    Jayzee, Half Elven herself, led them from cover to cover (the only good cover they could find in a land that was mostly ashes and the twisted, tortured corpses of trees).
    But then, one morning, after a nasty rain storm had kept them inside the still standing ruins of a stone cottage, they awoke to find her missing. They were ambushed almost as soon as they stepped outside, lost one of the Mer and one of the Half Elven. They guessed she’d turned them in for the bounty and headed for the hills as quickly as possible.
    They found the enemy camp a couple days later, snuck pretty close and arrived in time to watch several executions. (Most were prisoners, a few were soldiers in an army made up of Ghadra, Drax, Sectoids and quite a few renegade Humans. (One of the soldiers executed was a Troll, maybe as an example for the half dozen Trolls towering over the rest of the army.)
    L’Haeren received a telepathic message that the ranting lunatic presiding over the executions was the target he had to kill and felt his staff morph itself into a crossbow, held up his hand, received the bolt from wherever it spent most of its time, ‘nocked’ the bolt into place and took aim at the slight creature of average height who was stomping around in the middle of this spectacle, wildly waving his arms and gesturing-
    Just before L’Haeren would have let the bolt fly the Khat at his side pointed to one of the prisoners- “Jayzee didn’t betray anybody- look at her- or what’s left of her- kill her, don’t give them the pleasure-“
    L’Haeren aimed at the executioner, split his head open and knocked him far enough off target so he missed Jayzee. Several of the Mer Seers had surrounded the camp and most of them let fly their most spectacular spells at once. Half a dozen small parties led suicide attacks on the dark army, which most of them called the ‘Krim’. Most of the Humans in the camp threw off their outer garments to reveal the uniforms of Haemahr and his Rangers. There was just enough confusion for Haemahr to get within twenty yards of GaaKrell. And GaaKrell was stepping backward, pushing more and more of his soldiers at Haemahr and his men.
    The bolt came back to L’Haeren.  The Khat and the remaining members of their party looked at each other and shrugged, drew their weapons and looked at L’Haeren.
    “Get me as close as you can-“
    They fought within thirty yards of GaaKrell. It became obvious that GaaKrell’s forces were falling apart and running from the battle.  GaaKrell stood up atop a rock and tried to scream loud enough to martial his forces.  L’Haeren took aim and shot.
    The Blessed bolt exploded on contact.  So did GaaKrell. But fate had one more surprise for them and an Arch  Ghardran Mage appeared from nowhere and hurled some kind of toxic spell on L’Haeren, a split second before the Khat tore its head from its shoulders.
    Watching their leader explode did not have a pleasant effect on any officers of the dark army who might have chosen to – at least attempt to – stop the full scale rout that ensued.
    Haemahr, – wounded, but not badly – learned that his brother was there and made his way to L’Haeren’s side as a pair of Seers announced, “This battle continues in Hell-” and explained that L’Haeren and GaaKrell were fighting it out in some ugly dimension and the winner would claim L’Haeren’s body.
    The Khat made his way to Jayzee, asked her if her pain was great enough, did she want to die? She’d had one eye gouged out of her head, all of her fingernails torn out, several toes and fingers were gone, quite a few strips of her skin had been peeled away. She shook her head and gasped, “Hell, I always wanted to be a barmaid anyway.” The Khat sought out the strongest healer he could find, tore him away from a patient (an apprentice took over) and told the Healer to do anything he could to save her – (under threat of extremely painful death). Several Healers managed to keep her alive.
    Haemahr rounded up as many Healers, Priests, Priestesses, Seers and Psidahrians as he could ‘commission’ and kept an around the clock vigil himself on his brother. After several weeks had passed and L’Haeren’s still warm body hadn’t moved at all, Haemahr cornered as many Seers as he could and asked them how long this could take. “Time is different where they are- It could be minutes, it could be years.” A lot of minds called out to Shanti at once. She did materialize, long enough to explain that, if She tried to interfere in this one, the world could be in greater danger than it had been since the Last Wars of Magic. But she also said that she’d cheated a bit and had been training L’Haeren for this for years, in his dreams. She also said it would be safe to transport him back home.
    When Haemahr heard of the Mer’s hopes that they could get a homeland out of this he told them they’d always be welcome in Aerendel and told them about the rumours of a lost underwater city somewhere near Aerendel. He also told them they could probably lay claim to what was left of the burned out section of the continent they were standing on. No one he’d met who had lived there wanted to stay and rebuild. (Several Mer did remain there, petitioned many surrounding Kingdoms, Empires, Oligarchies and Republics, and were granted a substantial section of the continent, which they named “Freed-land”. A few went to Aerendel to check on the rumours.)
    After the Khat told Haemahr the story of Jaycee’s statement that she’d always wanted to be a barmaid, he said, “Hell, I’ll give her a bar- I’ll BUILD her a bar if she wants one.”  (Megrory’s Bar, several incarnations later, still stands, a few steps from the docks in Birkenport.)
    Haemahr and his entourage of Healers and Priests and Mystics off all sorts, sizes and shapes, brought L’Haeren’s body back to Aerendel where Healers, Mystics and Seers maintained a constant vigil for twenty years. There was always a ‘stout’ warrior of some persuasion by the bed with a drawn weapon ready to decapitate their hero’s body if the wrong soul tried to claim it.
    When L’Haeren re-emerged, alive and quite shaken, but okay and fully able to use his own body, there was a celebration that lasted five years.
    Shanti showed up somewhere near the end of the party, explained that the entrance to her Anomaly was on the other side of about five feet of granite in the lowest level of their castle’s basement. She told them there was a danger that the forces of ‘Darkness’ could, if they gained access to the Anomaly, sneak whole armies back thousands of years and destroy civilizations that would never have been, and possibly gain and ‘unholy’ advantage. They might not exactly destroy all life as we knew it, but they might make a lot of lives less than worth the bother. She asked them if they were up to the challenge of guarding the Anomaly for her. And, when they said, “Yes” without hesitation, asked them if they wanted near immortality to go along with it. She taught them how to induce deep trances on themselves and told them they could rejuvenate themselves regularly for ‘quite a long, long time’. (By our nearest reckoning, that would have taken place about ten or fifteen thousand years ago.) (Somewhere around the time that Atlantis and Lemur faded or sank into history and then became ‘Mythology’ on planet “Earth”? )
    The Anomaly connects with Earth at odd times in odd spaces. It appears to be random.
    There are several thousand more years of History. But you don’t want to hear about that right now, do you?

 

— { The above – beginning with “Mythology & Religion” was copied and pasted from ancient web pages on Thursday, June 11th, 2020 – by TaleRocker Talxalot }

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