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.
Together we must raise armies and unite the Kohan, and then we
will teach the Ceyah what it is like to be hunted.