The Book of Chaldea
Much of the early history of Agon has been lost. The last of the early civilizations were eradicated in a conflict so brutal that life itself nearly vanished from the world. Whatever the first cultures wrote down or built, no structures or primary sources remain.
What little we know has been passed down by the Chaldeans, a civilization which dominated Agon for centuries, before themselves falling to stagnation and outside aggression. While at their cultural peak, the Chaldeans used a combination of archaeology and magic to compile a history of the world. The resulting book was called The Ashur Agade by the Chaldeans, but it is known today as The Book of Chaldea.
Unfortunately, a complete copy of this book has yet to be found. Only small fragments survive, leaving large gaps in the material available to modern historians.
Recently, however, hitherto unseen fragments have begun appearing in Chaldean tombs and dungeons. The powers of Agon desperately seek these scrolls, which in addition to ancient lore and knowledge, contain clues to the whereabouts of long-lost divine artifacts.
1st fragment
The world was a cold marble, hurtling through black vastnesses.
The goddess came to the world, alighting on the ice-sheets that covered it from pole to pole. She saw the empty wastes around her, and pitied the snow-bound and lifeless rock.
The goddess spoke:
"With fire I awake you"
Dormant fires awoke within the earth. Molten rock was thrown onto frozen plains, while smoke and ashes hid the sun and the stars. Slowly the ice melted: oceans drew breath, and light fell on dry fields for the first time.
Again the goddess spoke:
"With children I bless you"
Life first grew within the oceans, and then it burst onto surface lands. Life took wild and wonderful forms, all of which were pleasant to the goddess. For a long time she gazed upon the ever-changing patterns, but in the end she felt alone among voiceless creatures.
A third time the goddess spoke:
"With the spark I ennoble you"
And from the multitudes arose humans, mirdain, alfar, dwarves, mahirim and orks. They offered prayers to the goddess, and she shone her love and wisdom upon them.
2nd fragment
The goddess watched her children explore the secrets of language and art. They created great works in her name, and she was pleased. They offered up prayers to her, and she listened.
But like the spark of life, the spark of intelligence was wild and unpredictable.
As it moved through the ages, it grew sharp and hateful in some people, dull and selfish in others.
The goddess watched her children build kingdoms and empires, and then slay each other in wars for supremacy. She wept as many turned away from her light, consumed by hatred for each other.
But still she loved them all, and would not turn away from them. Eons passed, and the people of Agon lived in the embrace of the goddess.
3rd fragment
We have cleansed all memory of their names, but their deeds must not be forgotten.
Remember first that they were man, mirdain, alfar, mahirim, ork and dwarf. All races share the taint of their evil, and are the inheritors of their stolen empires.
Then remember that they quested for word-stones that had lain scattered since the age of creation. They gathered them and extracted power and secrets from them. They gained great power over mortals, as well as over Agon itself. But still they craved more.
Bearing the word-stones, they ascended to the Halls of the Goddess. They turned the power of creation against her, and threw her down into nothingness.
As the goddess fell, so the world fell into darkness.
4th fragment
The usurpers sought the power of the goddess for themselves, and more. They divided the lands of Agon between them, and raised new thrones in the heavens, from which to rule their empires as god-kings.
But the boundless ambition of the usurper gods consumed their alliance. They fell to bickering among themselves, and soon both Agon and the heavens were embroiled in a war more terrible than any before it.
The usurper gods themselves walked Agon, wielding divine magic and weapons of power. Many of their number, and countless mortals with them, were slain in wars that spanned centuries
5th fragment
The world was torn apart by spell and sword until the usurper gods ruled over little more than rubble-strewn wastelands. They realized that they had to make a truce or lose everything, but in some ways it was already too late.
Some of the usurper gods had fallen in the wars, and the word-stones they wielded had been lost. The gods who remained lacked the strength to hinder the ascent of new deities, and no divine group was powerful enough to control or inhabit the Halls of the Goddess.
In the millennia that have passed since, countless gods and half-gods have staked their claim on Agon. Some have failed utterly; others succeeded for a time but were later replaced; yet others have conquered thrones for themselves, and are worshipped by groups of people or entire nations.
6th fragment
It has been said that Agon will never know peace while gods still struggle for power. It has also been said that the struggle only ends when mortals assemble enough word-stones to control the Halls of the Goddess.
Following the Usurper Wars, however, the word-stones lie scattered throughout Agon. The Chaldean priesthood has long quested for them, seeking to perpetuate the Chaldean Peace by elevating our beloved Eanna to the Halls.
However, as our meticulous search finally neared completion, Melek the God-King launched an assault upon Chaldea . Emerging from Nagast, his alfar hordes swept across the surface plains, crushing our admittedly frail defenses. As these words are written, Melek's armies approach the gates of Ashur, and all appears to be lost.
Our final act will be to scatter the pages of this book, and with them the knowledge we have gathered about the word-stones. When the time is right, the fragments will begin to reappear, and mortals will once again quest for the word-stones.
