Prologue: Part 1

 

Of the Beginning:

Beyond a fleeting life, and beyond the thought of death, there exist the ancients. No names define the walls of their history and no physical form binds them—yet, the mortals of Camilla, the great mother-rock, call them Majestae, and their home is the Cosmos.

      The Majestae longed for such a physical reality. A place to call their own. A home vacant of worship or immortality. They wished to experience the great gift of emotion. Life, love, sorrow, friendship, pleasure, hunger, pain, and beyond all else, freedom.

      Many Majestae would inhabit Camilla, but there were four, originally, chosen to forge the great rock and all that exists around her. One would call these four brothers, alas, their bonds transcended such humble explanations. The mortals—some unknowingly born of Majestae and destined to live their free lives before returning to the Cosmos once more—would eventually come to label what they could not understand. They worshiped the Majestae of the Cosmos, who were forever bemused.

Tyrin-Ghali, The Creator—considered most powerful of all the Majestae—had no physical touch. No embrace. He—believed to be masculine by the early Camillan nomads—could only forge and hold vigil over the mother-rock. He was absent of destruction beyond the realm of the Cosmos. In a final move, before placing the seal to keep the High Majestae from passing freely in and out of Camilla, he created the guardian Woodling high above the Eternal Waters to act as his eye on the world. Once the endless wars began, Tyrin-Ghali wept in agony and belittled himself in sorrow. By his power he became known as The One. The Life Giver. The Creator.

Sephrum—one of the greatest warriors of the Majestae—was chosen to stay and guard Camilla within his own physical dominion. This mystical place on the southern tip of Amilius—the eastern continent—was known, rightfully, as the Sephrum Forest, yet, some also called it the Pagoda Forest. Sephrum, with his ability to manifest a physical form, was given the task of constructing Camilla, and was furthermore given to him by Tyrin-Ghali, the gift of fellow. Sephrum chose three siblings to aid him in building the mother-rock, named after a mistress of Tyrin-Ghali. Two of Sephrum's fellows were named after two of the founders of the Cosmos—they were Arbolest and Zaraq-uinil. Sephrum's final fellow was of a motherly virtue, named Faeria. Together, Sephrum and his kin—the Godkin—used their power to forge the elements, the lands, the oceans, tree's, and breath of Camilla. Sephrum came to be known as The Protector by the early mortals.

Ventrill was one of many names held by The Gatekeeper. Others knew him as Rigour Mortiz, the god of physical death—the voice in the shadows. He was chosen to be the guardian of the Place of Knowledge—what some would now call the underworld or the world beneath our breath. The Place of Knowledge was a gift given to the Majestae who had finished their time on Camilla. It was an existence of learning and rehabilitation, and its purpose was to be a sanctuary, a resting place where the Majestae would linger beyond death until they could return to the Cosmos.

Evme, the final of the four commissioned to create all that governs Camilla, was one of the eldest and wisest of the Majestae—master of all types of incantations and spells. One of his gifts to the mortals was the Ixiold, given as protection during the Ethereal Strife. In the Ixiold was discovered the ability to conjure and manipulate the elements—the heartbeat of Camilla rested in the mortal’s will. Evme was accountable for the forming of the ancient languages which eventually led to the early nomad splintering. Evme was the other, besides Sephrum, who's name was still widely spoken of until the dawn of the dying days, and in some texts his name was written as Eveme, while it is still enunciated in the same manner as the original. Evme was also referred to as The Guardian.