The Harbingers of Desolation
The Harbingers of Desolation have always been bearers of great power... and heralds of great danger. Their appearance always coincides with a rising tide of evil, whether it be the 'inversion of the heavens' or the corruption of the Ending. Whether it is the Great Wolves themselves who elect these mortals, no one can say, but the Harbingers have desires rivalling those of the strongest mages, and often a unique capacity for magic which allows them to stand against the darkness they warn of. But is their appearance Wyral's reaction to cataclysmic threats - or a cause of them?"The first Harbingers descended, and the stars fell from their places. The second generation arose, and the earth was blighted. You claim to be the third... so what great disaster does your arrival herald?"- The Alme Elesbaan of Axu
Heavensent Heralds
Those who would one day become Harbingers of a new order - their origins are shrouded in mystery. The first Harbingers are especially guilty of this; the ruin that followed their rise and the inexorable march of time have wiped away all but their names and whispered legends. It is said that their battle against those horrors of the Dark caused bedrock to flow like water, the seas to boil, and the sky to be set aflame. Many of these tales may seem exaggerated, but we know that they at least created today's Archipelago - and that the Wolves themselves had to take up arms in those terrible times..."What do we march towards - the dawnlit horizon, or the final dusk? The answer cannot be seen by those still on the road. Yet we march."- Rhun Dawnwatcher, first Harbinger of Sol
The second generation of Harbingers are still fresh in the minds of many, but whatever made them worthy of their power is also unclear. During the Endwar, the scattered peoples of the world gathered together under the Harbingers, to resist the ever-encroaching contamination of the Endsworn. These seven were aided not by the Wolves, but by sapient wyrfauna - a dragon, a wyvern, a sunbird and more - with power beyond their species' abilities. They led an assault on the Endsworn's dark city, and perished in its fall."Can the earth ever be cleansed of this corruption? We have not the strength to do it. All we can do is carry on, until we have at least cleansed our people."- Onha Steelweaver, second Harbinger of Lapis
It has been centuries since that last 'great calamity', and there have been many times when people cried out for the Harbingers to descend once more. Nations have risen and fallen, tears have descended like rain, and wars have ravaged the land. If a new generation were to arrive in this world, what kind of catastrophe would they rise against - and who would aid them? The Wolves are sleeping, the dragons extinct, the mortal races estranged. In this age, perhaps any new Harbingers must carry their own aid within themselves..."The 'cyclic dream' of this world is returning to its beginning. Prosperity must follow calamity, and ruin must herald rising. This is the nature of all things."- the Curator of the Verdigris Tower
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