Long before the Deserts of Duat'tera & Vashara had become desolate and arid sands and ergs, one of the earliest Mystrasi had foretold of a controversial prophecy that many have spun into different interpretations over the last few thousand years since the Calamity. It foretold that the continent of Aetha'Shar would be covered in a Great Flood, darkness shall swallow the Sun whole & many shall die in the ensuing period, but afterwards, it shall unite the peoples of Aetha'Shar into a stronger people & the Deserts will become green once again, their hardships shall be over. However, it was foretold that the 12 Sphinxes shall finally tell their ancient secrets, the great Mystrasi, the guide of the people of Ankh'hera shall be the first to die after telling their final prophecy before guiding the Ankh'heran people to the promised sanctuary and face the darkest and hardest times since the Calamity.
GREAT FLOOD
Many scholars and superstitious soothsayers have taken this interpretation to mean that the Great Rivers of Ississa shall burst its banks and the city of Ankh'hera will be swallowed by the rejuvenating waters, forcing the people to migrate away to their last sanctuary within the Androgyze Mountains. Other interpretations have been made that it spells of an even greater disaster, for before a flood can arrive, there must be a storm - some say that this means that the Storm Sultan of the East will finally invade with her draconic brethren and take over Ankh'hera, bringing disaster and the upheaval of the great magocratic city once more. They say that the sea will swallow the lands of Aetha'Shar and reclaim them for the oceans after a great Tsunami will finally break through the Great Barrier Teeth Archipelago, the natural barriers of the stormy Ventura Sea. Other more radical interpretations have been made that the 'Great Flood' is not in a literal or common sense, as many prophecies of the Mystrasi are incoherent and suggestive in the past. Rather, the Flood refers more so to a great migration of people and other races coming to reside within Ankh'hera, and it would spell a civil war that will drive out the Prides of the Tabaxi - some already assume this after the union with the Hyanan Gnolls of the Savashan Reignarate; whilst others believe that the Flood entails a period of enlightenment of lost literature and knowledge unforeseen since the Arcane Era, which will advance them beyond any other kingdom of the world and thus separate them beyond the other peoples of the world. One version, though not as popular, indicates that the City of Ankh'hera will be 'flooded with gold and riches', as they have finally discovered the last of the unfounded treasures of the ancient Mekrozadh civilisation that disappeared in its entirety during the mythic ages of Aetheus.
Whichever the case, the prophecy has led to a number of precipitating factors of the Flood - but following this is the last untold vision of the current Mystrasi, and the beginning of the Dark Period occurs after they receive a vision from the gods of the means in which the Ankh'herans can survive the Great Flood and receive sanctuary. After the last word has been spoken, they are fated to die, and the rest of Ankh'hera are left to survive the darkness that follows.
THE DEATH OF THE MYSTRASI
Some believe that the death of the Mystrasi is the darkness that will swallow the sun - for their great sight and divination has guided and protected them for generations. Though they do not hold ultimate omniscience, nor total control of the power of foretelling the future or seeing into the past - whichever their knowledge passes through towards, they have acted as independent aides and leaders of the Tabaxi. All know that should one ever ask the Mystrasi what their visions had foreseen, even the Mystasi have limited understanding of the visions they hold - but a powerful tool nonetheless. Should they die, they lose the enlightened power the gods have bestowed upon them - and the power in which the Ankh'herans have relied upon to guide them for the last few generations will lead to a complete uncertainty of the events that will occur in the world. Every Mystrasi upon receiving their power knows when they will die through their visions - the only time they do not know when, is if it is by the hand of a Fate-Touched soul. The Fate-Touched are those without free will, whose lives are predetermined and follow a path devised by the gods, and not by the whims of free will, in which the Mystrasi can foretell. Most believe that it is by the hands of a Fate-Touched soul that the Mystrasi shall die, and precipitate the time of darkness. Those who have become vilified and noteworthy as the 'Fate-Touched' are the desert nomadic descendants of Mekrozadh, and the heretical followers of the Dark Gods and their children - for whom have been cast in chains and slavery for committing the Great Sin of allowing the Dark Gods to return to the world. This belief in the prophecy has led to the subjugation of those believed to be Fate-Touched in order to preserve the balance, and to prevent the rise of the Dark Gods... but some scholars have debated this practice, believing it would eventually lead to the prophecy coming true.
THE SUN-SWALLOWING DARKNESS
The message in the prophecy which details that the 'darkness swallows the sun' has caused the greatest concerns for those who remain faithful to the Mystrasi's visions and concerned the entirety of the Ankh'heran kingdom - all have come to realise that in one form or another, it means that the Ankh'heran society they know and cherish shall never be the same again, and is an apocalyptic message that spells the people's Doom. Some have taken to mean that only the city itself shall be devastated in this period, and others may potentially arise in its stead. Whatever the case, the people will enter a period that will result in the death of many, by war, famine, the cold desert night, disease and plague, or worse yet the return of the Demon Lord Graz'zt, the Dark Prince - a name left unuttered but forever scarred upon their lands and people, one of the first demons to plague the world and lead to the cause of the Calamity. Some dark-cults and greater evils who worship the Diabolical Ones have taken this prophecy as a foretelling of their rise once again and that they will become the new 'strong people' of Ankh'hera, regaining their foothold in the world as it was in the ancient days. It is not certain for how long this darkness will last, as many hope that it will be one single night, and not a perpetual period of darkness that will last generations.
Through these dark days, the people of Ankh'hera and Aetha'Shar are said to be made stronger and unify once more - whether or not this means the 'true people' of Ankh'hera, such as the Tabaxi or the Gnolls of Hyana, or even the nomadic descendants of Mekrozadh, or their demonic descendants from the time of Lamias. Many choose to ignore the Goblin city states of the west in the Bronzimm Concord and the Storm Dragons of the East, believing them to be interlopers and not having been truly born upon the lands of Aetha'Shar, only having conquered and claimed portions of its land.
THE SECRETS OF THE SPHINXES
Out of the entirety of the prophecy, these hold the greatest concern of both the people and scholars alike. The once-great Sphinxes of ancient Ankh'hera were the messengers and guardians of the Divinities, the first great sages of Ankh'hera, the guides who bestowed the power of divination to each of the Mystrasi, sharing their great knowledge and power with the Tabaxi during the ancient period thousands upon thousands of years ago - they were tasked with the divine duty of upholding their 'Divine Plan'. However, what led to the disappearance of the Sphinxes in the first place was the disagreement and debate on the Divine Plan - particularly of the concept of fate. If the Gods had created a grand plan for the universe, did that mean the creator races had any free will? If all had been pre-determined, does that mean that choice is an illusion? Though many believed that they were indeed 'free', the Sphinxes were true 'Fate-Touched', and their lives pre-determined. The controversial schism occurred when those granted with the knowledge of the Divine Plan, the fallen Sphinxes that were swayed to darkness by the Dark Prince and convinced to abandon their stations to pursue a life of hedonistic pleasure and fulfilment of their own selfish desires beyond their duties as their god's paragons and chosen - rose the Lamias, and thus had twisted Fate, inviting the chaos of the Abyss and leading to the beginning of the Divine War & Cataclysm. Many indeed became 'Fate-Touched', and have become shrouded from whatever paths that were chosen for them by the Divine Plan - no divination, not even from the Mystrasi's sight, could determine their paths... and remain The remaining Sphinxes, believed to be 12 in number, the guardians of the secrets of the Gods themselves, had isolated themselves in secret sanctuaries that would remain hidden until the time comes when they are needed once again to help guide those worthy of the Gods. They are said to have held upon great secrets and knowledge that must be preserved to ensure the prosperity and safety of the mortal races, and to protect the world from the incursion of the Dark Gods should they ever return to the world once again. The Mystrasi, a Fate-Touched power of the Sphinxes, will bestow upon the people their last message, and the secrets of the Sphinxes shall be revealed to those who are deemed worthy - the secrets, yet unknown, are the keys to the survival of the Ankh'heran people and what will unite them in the end and restore life to the arid deserts.
THE OPTIMISTIC END
After the darkness has managed to ruin and kill hundreds of thousands - it is believed that the Ankh'herans will rise again into greater and more unified society. The ensuing storm will clear, and the lands will fill with a bountiful rain that will spell the end of the dark age and the thwarting of the dark powers once again. However, it is also seen as a bittersweet end - many lives will have died, and some say that the Sphinxes and the Mystrasi will not return after this time, in the founding of a new era of the world. If the claims are true, some speculate that with the disappearance of the Sphinxes, that the Gods would no longer present themselves in the world and their messages will no longer be heard.
