Prologue: Gods and Heroes, Part I



A half-age before the Exodus, twelve companions set forth on an expedition that would give rise to our world at the cost of their own. A detailed accounting of their journey was discovered in Gods and Heroes, a book attributed to Lucius Quinto, the expedition’s ill-fated bard.

12th Day; 7th Moon
What if the legend was true?

It was an uncommon question, one quickly banned from the courts and cathedrals of Delphinad. In the mead halls, it was ignored in favor of cheap ballads, stories of lust and coin that filled the cups of the hungry and hopeless.

But for us, twelve friends with twelve reasons to find the birthplace of the world, it became an obsession. It was only a matter of time before our feet began to follow our hearts: North, toward the Hiram Mountains.

Mountains that will be the death of us all.

Three peaks into our crossing, we are tired, cold, and ugly. Teeth of frost hang from our hair and our noses, covering skin pulled taught over sunken cheeks. There are no pleasures of bed or table. Just snow, ice, and endless rock.

What if the legend was true?

Is it foolish to hold out hope? What if we found the source of all magic – how many would be left to harvest its power?

I see different questions in my companions’ eyes. Hungry questions. They wonder what sweet succor you’d find in Firran meat, what morsels could be torn from our Astra’s ribs.

One in particular sets my teeth to chatter: Orchidna, a curious spirit hiding in the flesh of a child. If only she possessed a child’s ways, a child’s enthusiasm or brightness ….

But no. She’s the same creature who was shunned in Delphinad, hiking as numbly through the grandest adventure of her life as down the city streets she would wander for days on end.

Orchidna is an ever-present reminder: What if the legend is true? And what if it’s like nothing we ever expected?

> Prologue: Gods and Heroes, Part II
Source: http://www.archeagegame.com/en/news/2013/12/prologue-gods-and-heroes/