As of 3/20/98
Translated to the King's Tongue by Dr. Robert P. Barrett
Long ago, before the Humans came to the land of Western Glashia, the other peoples lived
in peace. This peace was so complete, it surpassed the tolerance found in the land of
Torresan today. All over Western Glashia, Dervatear and Mnoethen, Fpathen and Tsuthen,
Havanathe and Tassarak lived as neighbors without quarrel.
But the Humans came from other lands, the Alasion from the East, the Keranni from the
South, and the Torreans from the North. They were too many in their homelands, and they
crossed the oceans to fill up new lands. They came in wondrous ships, that sailed
against the wind by the power of fire, and they came riding on giant birds they made
with their hands, which flew faster than any wind.
The Humans of those days were haughty, and did not use magic. They rode upon carts and
ships and birds to go everywhere, and almost forgot how to walk. The things they built
with their hands could do anything they wished, and they disdained magic. They ravaged
the earth and fouled the waters, and made powerful weapons to slay people with. They
trusted in their numbers, and in the works of their hands, and gave no regard to the
gods nor to their neighbors.
In their arrogance, the Humans were not content to be the masters of the world. They
wanted to sail upon the sky as they sailed upon the sea. They built tall towers of iron
to reach toward heaven, so that they could climb up to the moons where the gods dwell,
and seize them also. The gods watched as they built, higher and higher, and the gods
were not pleased.
At the order of the gods, the Mnoethen gathered all their Mages together, and with their
magic they toppled all but two of the towers. The last two were strong, and the Humans
defended them well. At the order of the gods, the Fpathen and the Tsuthen and the
Pseithen added all the power of their magic to that of the Mnoethen, but the weapons of
the Humans kept them at a distance, and their magic could not harm the towers. At the
order of the gods, all the other races made war against the Humans. The Dervatear, the
Tassarak, the Orcs, the Goblins, the Giants, and even the gentle Havanathe all took up
weapons and marched against the Humans.
All the rivers filled with blood, and they fought on. Flies multiplied on the dead
until the air was black, and they fought on. Frogs multiplied upon the flies until the
ground quivered, and they fought on. Cattle sickened because they ate the frogs with
the grass, and they fought on. Pestilence spread until the fighters could not stand,
but they crawled into battle and fought on.
After 40 terrible days and nights, the Humans fled before the slaughter and deserted the
two towers. For the next ten days and nights, all the Mages together used their magic
to destroy the towers. They were so wide that they could not be toppled, so the Mages
caused them to turn to dust and blow away with the wind. The cloud of dust blotted out
the sun, and from it fell hail and rain the color of rust. Lightning flashed from the
towers to beyond the horizon, but never struck the ground. When the towers were gone,
the foundations were made to sink into the ground, so that they would be erased from
Human memory. One basin became Lake Gideon, and the other became the Sea of Sorrow.
The surviving Humans were weak and scattered after the war, and the world was peaceful
once again. Some of the Humans, the Alasion, learned the ways of magic and dreamed no
more of sailing upon the sky. The Keranni ceased to build towns, and lived as wanderers
upon the land. But the others kept their ways of making things with their hands, and
nursed vengeance in their hearts. With time the Torreans grew strong again, and such
was their arrogance that they began to build a new tower in the heart of Torresan. The
Mnoethen acted quickly to sink the tower beneath the Crystal Lake, and this time there
was no slaughter. They placed the Fpathen as overlords to the Torreans, to teach them
the ways of magic and peace. Though few of the Torreans ever showed any skill at magic,
they have lived in harmony with the forest and their neighbors from that time until now.
Return to Bob Barrett's TORRESAN.
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