Some known passages from the work are included here:
"Of the Race that constructed the structures around Ben Doa, almost nothing is known. Because of limited examples of statues and relief carvings, we know that the artists were depicting humanoid beings, but they were NOT Humans. Nor were they depicting other rational Races of beings that are commonly known today. In particular, the great Pedestal at Ben Doa still has the feet and lower limbs of an image carved in rose granite that seems to have once stood more than 185' high. The feet are of significance because (aside from the amazing amount of weight they would have supported, when the statue was whole) they are of a bipedal-being with cloven hooves and retrograde joints.
We do not know exactly what this statue represented. Were the architects and engineers that erected the massive walls around Ben Doa gigantic hoofed beings? Was the statue an object of worship? Was it a warning or a ward of protection? Alas, we may never know.
We can make some educated assumptions, however. There are numerous (hundreds, in fact) examples of doorways that can be confidently dated to the time of the construction of these structures: at least 5,875 years before today. These doorways are typically at least 3' wide, with a few examples of some grander entrances spanning as much as 8'. This is not noticeably wider than what we could expect to see in any of our extant design and constructions. Where the doorways vary the most is in their height. The average intact doorway is at least 8' high, with many opening higher than 12'. There have not been any physical doors ever found, so we do not know what sort of design went into the construction of any particular doorway, but evidence of hinge-like apparatus is visible on many of the door posts and jams, as well as thresholds across entrances. From this evidence, we can assume that the designers would allow for a standard width of person using the doorway, and thus, these beings couldn't have been much wider than modern Humans, Elves or Dwarves. Beings as large as Orcs and even some Trolls could probably use the doorways comfortably, but nothing bigger than that." Chapter titled: "On the Sort of Beings They Were," page 17, para. 2
"A charcoal rubbing was made by an ancestor of mine, one Albertus Calgacus, roughly 170 years ago. This rubbing was of a relief carved into a tomb wall that Albertus was investigating with a party of adventurers in the forested hills south of the Caldar River in what is known as the realm of Lothia. The circumstances of the finding of the relief are not entirely clear, and it is known that Albertus died during the same exploration trip with his equipment and belongings (including the rubbings, writings, notes and drawings) all returned to his family after his death.
Of all the notes and writings Albertus made on this exploration event, it is the rubbing that has caused the most interest and generated the most questions. The rubbing is made on a leaf of a paper notebook. Because of the crisp edges and clear lines, it can be assumed that the carvings were of exceptional clarity with no visible weathering or chipping. With the level of detail gained, much can be learned from the impressions on the paper.
The paper is 10" by 8", and the charcoal was probably Albertus' pencil. The image is impressed along the long edge of the paper, and can be described as follows: a double row of frames, each row consisting of five frames. In the top row, reading left to right, the images seem to tell a story in pictures. The first is of a horse and a Human male being brought before a large, open eye. There are glyphs and symbols surrounding the frame, with two specifically indicated as associated with the horse and the man. The next frame shows the same large eye radiating light or energy, with the images of the horse and man obscured by the rays, but the associated glyphs now larger and more prominent in the frame. The next frame shows a very clear and crisp image of a centaur, and the glyphs that had been associated with the horse and man now merged into a new glyph, presumably representing the centaur. The next frame has the centaur armed and armored, leading other centaurs similarly kitted out. The last frame on the top row shows all the centaurs bowing before the large eye, which is again radiating light or energy.
The second row of frames begins with an image of a lion and a giant eagle brought before the same large eye symbol. Many of the same glyphs and symbols surround the frame, with two specifically indicated as associated with the lion and the eagle. The second frame repeats the radiant eye obscuring the lion and eagle, and with their associated glyphs larger than the rest. The third frame shows a classic image of a griffon (head, breast, wings and forelegs of an eagle, body, hind legs and tail of a lion) with the previous glyphs merged into a new glyph. The fourth frame is of the griffon at the head of a host of griffons. The last frame shows the all the griffons genuflecting before the radiating eye.
Clearly, the most fascinating possible explanation of the meaning behind these images is that the society that created the wonderous structures we still see today so many thousands of years ago, or certain members of that society, also created such creatures as centaurs and griffons through means we can no longer imagine. Albertus only managed to create the one rubbing, but he makes notes of several others from the same series of reliefs that showed manticores, owl bears, gnolls, kobolds, harpies and a sphynx. I have spent a lifetime searching for references or images of each of these species prior to the dates we think these images were made, but have found nothing. There are no indications that any of these species of creatures ever existed prior to roughly 6,000 years ago." Chapter titled "On the Evidence Collected by Albertus," page 34, para. 1
