FMH: Everything ~ Prologue

As the first hints of daylight began to transform the false dawn into a beautiful morning, Zed the Bard admired the sky as it was painted by the forces of creation.

“What a beautiful day to achieve everything I have always wished for.” His murmured musings were short-lived, abruptly interrupted by the commander of the forces of the Hollow Kingdom opening the door. “Bartholomew! My dear Commander of the Inquisition, I'm shocked and surprised… that you took my request seriously. Are you here to stay a while and listen?”

“You told me what I needed to do in order to learn of the fate of the Queen.” The Commander spoke heavily, drawn expression on his face hinting that there was more at play than he wished to divulge.

Zed eyed the man up and down, studying every detail of the opponent that had chased him across territories, kingdoms; abyss, the entire continent… for years. “You look tired. I must ask, did you bring the gold?”

“The… gold?” The Commander seemed nearly afraid to ask the question. To voice confusion in the presence of the Mindbender was tantamount to opening himself willingly to coercion or trickery, no matter how well he had trained to resist.

“Why, yes, of course! Surely you didn't forget that I had named only two requirements for you today?” Zed may have been gently teasing the man, but he was firm on his stipulations. “I told you that, if you wanted to come and listen, you needed to simply walk through the door… then pay the tab for the entire room!”

A cheer burst from the assembled townsfolk, who seemed far too relaxed for Bartholomew's tastes. To him, it merely signified that the Mindbender had them completely enthralled. Every last one would need to be eliminated before they could become problems upon leaving the building. He closed his eyes, overcome for a moment by the fact that this exact scenario had played out dozens, if not hundreds of times while he was hunting this monster of an Ascender. Something about the presence of the Bard forced his inner monologue to surface, and he whispered, “So many dead at your hand…”

“Very few at my hand, in fact.” At this provocation, Zed’s calmly serene expression shifted to a stony glare. “Is it so wrong for me to walk from town to town and tell them the truth? Is there a moment that you can identify in which what I have said has been false? If knowing the truth is a crime worthy of death, then… hmm. I suppose we have proof that you believe it is. In that case, there is no further reason for us to throw insults at each other. I know the truth, you know the truth, and soon, the entire world will as well.”

“What have you done, Mindbender?” Bartholomew's eyes went wide as Zed held up a hand, cocking his head to the side and listening.

A wide smile, one completely devoid of mirth, spread across the face of the Ascended Bard. “Sneaky, sneaky. A moment, if you'll indulge me. How interesting that you would go this far… using yourself as a sacrificial pawn in an effort to bring my guard down? Adorable! If only I hadn't already known that you would do something like this, perhaps I would have been caught by the trap. Alas, it's been a while since I’ve had to use this, but I suppose it is fitting, both for my narrative today and as perfect punctuation for the tale I have promised you all.”

He snapped his fingers for dramatic effect, allowing a burst of mana to spread from his hands, from his lungs, and out of his mouth as he spoke the words, “Echoes of Reality: Peace Lily.”

The mana coalesced into a shimmering image that hovered above the crowd of people packed into the building shoulder-to-shoulder. As it came together, it formed a beautiful plant with the most intricate array of leaves that Bartholomew had ever had the misfortune to lay his eyes upon. He immediately knew what it was. What he didn't know was how a Bard could use Druidic Abilities. “No… no!”

“Surely you must feel some relief?” the Bard chided the opposing Ascender. “Are you truly so ready to throw your life away for a cause you know is wrong?”

Before either of them could say another word, a high-pitched ringing momentarily filled the air as an artillery spell impacted the side of the structure with enough force and compressed power to reduce the people, the tavern, and a dozen paces of ground in a twenty-foot diameter into motes of dust. Bartholomew stamped his foot, hard enough to hurt himself, yet somehow he didn't. “You did it…? You actually replicated the powers of the Archdruid! I thought it was hearsay, but you truly have found a way around the restrictions… this is heresy.”

“Ah, finally! Not only do I get to claim sedition, treason, and abuse of power; finally, I get to add heresy to the list of random crimes of which I'm accused.” Zed shook his head then watched placidly out the window as the crackling orb of power rolled along the ground outside, completely unable to damage anything. At some point, he knew that it would move beyond the edges of his ability to keep it contained, and it would detonate as originally intended. “With that well out of the way, I guess we can move on with our story.”

Turning to the crowd—which had remained in rapt attention ever since the troops of the Hollow Kingdom had begun to arrive—Zed lifted his hands and cheerfully called out, “I know that we have usually started in the evening, but today, my tale nears its end. My power will allow us to remain here all day, then all night, coming to a dramatic conclusion at the break of dawn upon the morrow! This last installment of my tale is significantly longer than my previous ramblings, and I hope you'll forgive an old man for starting a little early today.”

He glanced up fondly at the Peace Lily, knowing that it would ensure that not one of his listeners would become hungry, tired, or thirsty. “Let us discuss what happened after the establishment of the Scarrocco Nature Preserve. Reclaiming the land that had been lost to the desert, combined with rescuing and enhancing the Ley Line, allowed the Hollow Kingdom to blossom even beyond its former glory. The Nature Preserve turned the kingdom into a potential superpower, and as we all know… a threat to the major powers surrounding our once-weak kingdom.”

Zed took a deep breath, calming and centering himself before continuing. “This story is tough for me to relive… but I will do all I can to be honest. When the Dynasty of Dogs provoked the Hollow Kingdom, The Four were forced from their seclusion. No matter what the propaganda tells you, the end results of the war were not the fault of The Four. What we are living through today, as the baseline human grows in power—and as the Ascenders begin to weaken—was the direct result of King Vir coming to power, and then breaking the trust of the people sworn to the crown.”

Inquisition Commander Bartholomew winced at the bold declaration, glad that he had waited until that moment to activate the communication stone that would relay the words spoken here to the Inquisition, and from there, to the armies of the kingdom. By the order of the king, everyone was to observe what happened to those who committed treason.

“As I'm sure you can all remember, just shy of five years after the establishment of the Nature Preserve, an abrupt death occurred in the Royal family, and a drastic shift took place in the direction of the leadership.”

The Bard waved his hands once more, and reality faded away, replaced with his memories. “When it all began, The Four were only just beginning to recognize the limits imposed on them…”