Legend and Lore: The races of Aion

[Baralai]

[align=center][b][size=3]Book of the Asmodians[/size][/b][/align]


[quote]Chapter 4: Cowardice

I progressed further through the ranks. My skills as a sorcerer were superior to many of the other Daevas and within the year I was granted control of a full legion. The fighting was fierce, and while we were often placed in danger before the Balaur, our Empyrean Lords were always careful to protect us. Our skills and tactics improved, and eventually we were able to start killing their younger, more foolish dragons, where before we would be forced to retreat behind our Aetheric shield. These were small steps, but as every parent knows, a child must learn to walk before they can run.

Then came the day that sent us all staggering.

Lord Israphel, one of the two Guardians of the Tower of Eternity - Lord Israphel, who despised the Dragon Lords like no other - declared that we should make peace with them. The purpose of the war, he reasoned, was not to annihilate the Balaur. It was to protect Aion.

I was astonished; astonished that one of our saviours had lost his resolve so easily, astonished that his courage and fierce determination had slipped so... so suddenly. There was consternation among the Empyrean Lords at first. At that time, even the prospect of making peace was unthinkable... a travesty. It seemed we were all of one mind. Israphel's proposal was absurd.

And yet, it was not long before the weaker Lords showed they had never truly had the stomach for the fight, and longed for the burden of honor to be lifted from them. Lady Ariel was the first to capitulate, and with honeyed words she spoke of Israphel's wisdom, his seniority, his bravery - bravery! - in daring to propose peace. She had the audacity to tell us how we, as Daevas, should think and act.

How quickly she and her camp followers forgot the sacrifices of a thousand years. What petty value they placed upon the shed blood of so many of our kin.

But others of the Lords still had true steel in their spirits. As a Daeva I had grown to know some of our Lords, and the one with whom I worked best was a great and dignified Lord named Asphel. His resolve was always strong, and it was on his missions that we always had the most success. His manner and his ability were an inspiration to many of us; and so when Ariel's insipid pleading began to sway some, and I saw the grimace on Asphel's face, I knew where my own allegiance lay. He stood to speak, and we stood with him. He berated Ariel for her disdain for the honored dead, and blasted the peace initiative as a naive and misguided waste of time.

The hall erupted with fury. It still rings in my ears... the roaring, the confusion, the words of accusation and hate, as each side railed against the other. Beyond, I saw Israphel speaking impassioned words to Siel, who listened gravely. Israphel insisted that we could defend Aion by working towards peace, rather than through constant warfare. To my horror, Siel was nodding.

To preserve some fragment of concord, all of us agreed to depart the grand hall and leave the Twelve Empyrean Lords to their discussion. I went with comrades-in-arms who knew Lord Asphel's side to be the only just one; but others went slinking off into the night, in the company of their fellow cowards, in groups of their own. Already we were forming into separate camps, according to whether we sided with the worthy or the weak.

We waited patiently for the outcome that night. I remember it well; I recall looking across our world, seeing plumes of fire burning in the distance, and knowing there was no way that peace would ever exist between the Balaur and us. I thought back and remembered the decades of perpetual fighting, remembered those dark soulless eyes, unblinking and unrelenting as they massacred my friends and my family, for no better reason than a simple, bestial desire for domination.

I knew Siel would reject Israphel's proposal. I knew that Asphel would argue his case, our case, and that the others, even Lady Ariel herself, would see sense and agree. I knew this; and yet when the Empyrean Lords eventually emerged, the decision that was made shook my nerves, and left me and my legion reeling. Lady Siel had succumbed. For all our protests, she and Israphel, as Guardians of the Tower, held final authority over the Twelve. The decision was final. We were to treat with the Balaur. Already I heard Ariel's voice raised in jubilant triumph, and the sound of her four cohorts singing some inane chant of peace.

Asphel came forth, his face pure fury. As he left, I took flight after him, a significant number of my fellow Daevas in tow.[/quote]


[align=center][b][size=3]Book of the Elyos[/size][/b][/align]


[quote]Chapter 4: Hope

Of all the Empyrean Lords, the one who spoke most to us, the people, was a beautiful figure named Ariel. On one of her first evenings on Atreia, Ariel came down from the tower of Aion and spoke with us around our campfire. By all accounts, she was patient and caring, and told us everything that we needed to hear. The Balaur, mighty and terrifying as they were, would not dare cross the boundaries of the Aetheric shield. For the first time in many, many years, we were actually safe. We still have the stone carving depicting that evening, showing this great female figure, with open arms, watching us weep tears of joy and relief, as we celebrated for the first time in many, many years.

I tell you of Ariel now, because it was she who first recognized the wisdom in Lord Israphel's unexpected proposal and saw that peace was the only option. It was she who had the foresight to know that victory, if possible at all, would almost certainly cripple us; and it was she who was brave enough to confront her fellow Empyrean Lords, and condemn their thirst for endless battle as the vainglory it truly was.

She echoed Israphel's view that if we were still trapped in this same war after one thousand years, then what guarantee would we have that this war wouldn't still be raging after two, three, or ten thousand years? Ariel saw, as Israphel had seen, that by continuing this exhausting war, we risked losing more than mere numbers. We would lose the one thing that elevated us above the Balaur, and the other ferocious beasts within our world: our humanity. It was well known that Israphel detested the Balaur more than any other. If he, even he, could overcome his loathing in the name of peace, then everyone could - indeed, should - follow his example.

While we have no records of what exactly was said between the Empyrean Lords in the wake of Israphel's announcement, we know there was something of a dispute between Ariel and some of the more warlike Lords. It was clear the decision to seek peace would not go unopposed, and for the first time, rifts appeared in our united front.

But even the warmongers and glory-hounds, rant and froth as they might, could not deny the authority of Israphel and Siel acting in concert as Guardians of the Tower. Lady Ariel and the four blessed Lords who took her side argued for many long hours, but it was only Lady Siel's agreement that sealed the issue once and for all. The Guardians had spoken: there would be peace.

Our forefathers rejoiced. How could they not? The bombastic wrath of Lord Asphel and his underlings was just so much sound and fury, the petulance of children denied. As they winged their way into the cold night, none doubted that they would be back eventually, once tempers had had a chance to cool. The path was clearly laid before us now, and none would dare to rebel.

Ariel led her faithful in a song of praise and thanks to Aion, and for the first time in many, many centuries, we dared to hope.[/quote]

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~Jamo