My name is Jonathon Javidan, and I remember. I remember a time before the Ceyah, hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago. I remember my wife, Rachel, and how we would walk the beach during that time of peace; with nothing but the sounds of the ocean for miles. We were carefree, confident that our world was perfect.

            I remember when Kohan were cast from our ranks, their dreams and ambitions for power burning too brightly for our Council. I remember thinking that we may have made a mistake with a few of them. The men who took masks, and gave themselves the names Melchior and Sijansur, were on the fringe edge of our rejects; though not reedy or particularly ambitious, Melchior was very independent and we took the opportunity to clear him out and lump him in with the others. At this outrage, his brother Sijansur went with him out of loyalty, and disgust with our actions.

            I remember when I heard that the outcasts had named themselves Ceyah, and had begun worshipping Ahriman and the Shadow. I heard that they had raised armies to punish us for casting them out. We of the Council raised a vast army, the Sepah Javidan, to confront them, and defend what was ours. We placed my cousin, Darius Javidan, in command of the army sure that he would bring us victory. We burned with righteous fire, each and every one of us, appalled that these “Ceyah” would threaten our people.

            I remember how we failed. During a night that began like any other, my cousin was murdered by his wife Roxanna, who took the name Vashti and fled to the Ceyah. That very night, what became known as the Cataclysm struck. Flaming rocks, ranging in size from small stones to large boulders, rained from the sky, destroying buildings, people. Great chasms in the earth opened up, swallowing portions of our army, only to close moments later with no evidence of them. All that night and the next day this went on, until it finally stopped just before nightfall. Many of our greatest cities lay in ruin. Roughly half of the Sepah Javidan had been crushed by the boulders or swallowed by the earth; much of the rest had run off and scattered, unwilling to attempt to fight the supernatural.

            With Darius dead and his amulet missing, we named Ghalen Mordecei as the new head of the Sepah Javidan, and I was named second-in-command. I held out little hope, however. Though Ghalen was a superior warrior, he did not have the patience required for either strategy or tactics. My cousin Jamsheed would have been a much better choice, but he had been missing when the issue had been decided.

            I remember looking upon the hordes that the Ceyah had assembled. Rank after rank of undead abominations stood to oppose us, with renegade men that the Ceyah had convinced to fight at their side. I knew then that we had not fully acquitted our duties, just from the fact that men were taken in by the Ceyah. Even the renegade men outnumbered what we had left. A few companies of grenadiers here, a legion of swordsmen there, all of our forces were now battered and wounded; even the dragoons were reduced to fighting on foot due to the lack of mounts.

            I remember the last of our heroes walking among the men that were left. Naava Daishan healing, Garudan Payne inspiring, all were called to the front. I remember my own company of swordsmen, dedicated men I had trained since birth, who had somehow all managed to survive the cataclysm. I spoke with them all, referring to each by name, telling them of the glorious deeds we would perform that day, and of the lifetime of peace we would have when we won. I remember the smiles on their faces, and their looks of confidence. I do not know how I managed to inspire them thus; I did not believe the words myself. I knew we would not win, that our men would die; our Kohan would be sent to the Great Dream only to be brought back later when things were even direr.

            Though that is all I can remember now, I know that there is more. I feel as if there is so much of my life missing, and I am sure that one day I will remember the rest. For now, I know my duty, and that is enough. I must travel to the far corner of the Javidan Plains, into the Wastes. I know that somewhere there I will find my cousin Darius’ amulet.