Thoughts on the Great Literary Purge

By: Virgil Shelton

A Broken History

I, like so many before me, have found myself at a great loss when combing through libraries looking for records of past events. Our peoples have inhabited this land for many thousands of years; archeology has proven this beyond any doubt. Yet not a single document can be found on any part of the continent written more than {761} years ago. Scholars and historians have long agreed that our race's collective recorded knowledge began on that date. The oldest reliably dated manuscript was dated exactly {761} years ago. Unfortunately, the contents of the manuscript details an interesting combination of herbs for creating some delightful culinary concoctions. While many chefs have been able to use this literary work to hone their craft, it offers no insight into what transpired in those times resulting in the lack of reliable historical records today.

Some time before that culinary masterpiece was written, the sentient people of this land suffered a great loss of knowledge and literature, that much is certain. What is not certain is what could have transpired that could have brought the collective recorded knowledge of all the sentient races to zero.

This intellectual drain is apparent all across the continent. We have great cities that boast vast populations, but many countries are faced with a crumbling infrastructure. Only in recent times have congruence users advanced in their skills far enough to repair many of the broken down systems that plague the major cities. Even still, some countries are so prideful they’ll not even admit that there is a problem. I believe Curath's capital still doesn’t have a working sewer system, yet their emperor is often heard boasting that they are the most advanced nation by far. I fear that Curath’s military might will not protect them forever.

There is a general sense in the literary community that we should be far more advanced than we are. We’ve made great progress, to be sure. But when one looks at some of the ancient ruins throughout the continent it is clear that they possessed knowledge and skills that we know nothing of.

Fabrications and Agendas

There have been many articles and essays that various scholars (unfortunately at the behest of various politicians and religious zealots) have put forward, claiming that they are genuine records of the times before {761} years ago. All of them have been found to be fraudulent in one way or another. Some were blatantly written by contemporary “historians”, and doctored to appear to be great archeological finds. Others were clearly nothing more than a collection of myths, works of fancy written long after any of the actual events took place.

Some have attempted to forward what they claim is knowledge of what transpired to push their own warped agenda. The priests of Rowlem have a document that they claim tells the tale of their Divinity sweeping the lands, stripping the nations of knowledge as punishment for co-mingling with so-called lesser species. The document has been thoroughly debunked and proven to be a fabrication (it appeared that they dabbed the parchment with tea to give it a more weathered appearance), yet they cling to these perverse notions with a fervor only a true zealot could muster.

Plausible Suspicions

There have been some archeological finds of note that may shed some light on events before the 761 year mark. However, these often tell conflicting stories. Due to the clearly unstable political scene of that time period, it is very difficult to differentiate between accurate accounts and propaganda forwarded by one faction or another. Also, the abundance of local myths and legends surrounding events from that time period adds infinite layers of wrinkles to our conundrum.

In my perusing of the historical records in the library of Greenhome, I came across a rather interesting essay on the subject. It was an article written by an anthropologist, dated {714} years ago, that details an interview he had with an elderly farmer and the tale he told of a grand army that came to Greenhome when he was a young man. According to the story the army was made up of a race entirely unknown to the farmer. They appeared human but were much taller in stature, some 3 and a half meters in height. The soldiers carried weapons he could not recognize, but he claimed that they could turn a fully armored Caliharahian knight into a mist in an instant flash of light. The creature's armor and standards carried symbols the farmer did not recognize and they spoke a language that he had never heard. The army of Caliharah, seeing they were facing hopeless odds, quickly surrendered. This grand army swept through the city. Oddly, they seemed to have no interest in looting or destruction and only harmed the inhabitants of the city if they tried to interfere with their goal, which apparently was to seize and destroy every written work they could get their hands on. This army moved from building to building until they had searched through the entire city. They collected every record, every book, every scrap of writing, piled them outside of the city and burned the lot of it. This army left as quickly as it had come, heading in the direction of Curath.

The anthropologist at the time had logged the story as a local legend and nothing more was ever done on the subject. It would have been easy for me to likewise dismiss the essay, but I recalled speaking with an archeologist who had unearthed a suit of armor in the Thundering Sands Sands that was made for a human-shaped soldier approximately 3 and a half meters tall. The armor had been covered in unknown symbols that did not correspond to any known nation or religion, past or present.

A Larger Puzzle

Thinking on this further, I recalled that there have been several similar archeological discoveries across the continent. A piece of equipment or a weapon of unknown purpose and construction adorned with mysterious symbols had been found in many dig sites. I’d offhandedly heard of at least a half dozen of such finds and there possibly could be more. Each find had been cataloged and then dismissed as inconclusive, but is it possible that they are all connected somehow? Is it possible that all of these anomalous findings originated from this army of the farmer’s story? If so, where did this army come from? Who were these unknown creatures? Why were they intent on destroying every written work they could get their hands on? And where on earth did they all disappear to?

I now find myself with more questions than answers. Indeed, it is possible that they have no connection at all and my imagination is simply getting the best of me. Still, this begs further study. I have copied the essay of the farmer’s story and will carry it with me on my journey. I will have to track down and compare each of these anomalous discoveries, while at the same time continuing my original mission.

My theory will take a great deal of time to come to any sort of reliable conclusion, but if it turns out to be correct, then we will have finally made the first step of unlocking a great mystery of our past, and in doing so unlock our future as well.

Map of known anomalous archeological finds: