Hello, reader of this story. If you are reading this, whoever you are - Jammer or Phantom, or perhaps some new kind of creature that has come into this world - then you will learn of a history that may have been forgotten by the time these papers have been found. It is simply too soon for us (the co-writers of this story) to share these books with the world. No, we have cast them away, buried them deep underground where someone may come and find them, in a better time.
We can only dream about what the future - your present - looks like. Have the Jammers and Phantoms come together, or have they gone to war for a third time? Has your history been forgotten to the point that you no longer know what Jamaa was?
In case you have forgotten your roots, let us explain what we knew at the time this story began. It might not be what you think you know now, but it is what we learned at the time. We were taught that at the dawn of this world, we were led by the guardian spirits Zios and Mira. Then the Phantoms came, and there was a terrible war, known as the First Phantom War. The Jammer forces were depleted beyond recovery, so Mira went beyond Jamaa to find a group of powerful animals we now know as Alphas. During this time Zios disappeared, and it was assumed that he died. Enraged, Mira and the first set of Alphas tried to defeat the Phantoms, but they were forced to retreat. Spurning the failed Alphas that became the minor Alphas of our time, Mira found another set and finally defeated the Phantoms, but at a terrible price. Mira was killed in battle. The Alphas who helped her win took control of Jamaa, and for a while, there was peace. This is where we will leave off.
Our story, the discovery of the Code and the lie we were living in, is pulled from the memories of all four of us: Snowbelle Senkira of the seals, Ophelia Harkins of the penguins, Mark Fallow of the wolves, and Smoke of the Phantoms. We took turns writing segments of our story. You will know who wrote each chapter by the name in parenthesis by it. For a few of their first chapters, Mark and Smoke wrote their parts together. Though Smoke has gone far in learning the Jammer language, he still needed corrections with his spelling and grammar and could only write a few pages at a time. Eventually, he got into his stride, but if you see a chapter marked Mark and Smoke, know that when you see a horizontal line like this,
The chapter will change authors from Mark to Smoke.
Finally, we would like to warn you, the reader, that this is not the most accurate story in the world, for we tried to write it like it was happening as we wrote. It has been a long, long time since the events of this story, and our old brains might have forgotten a few things. Luckily, we had the help of several friends who were also there. They corrected us when we were wrong (most of the time). We are not sure that they were right about everything, and sometimes we were so stubborn we got into little squabbles. But mostly, writing these papers was a good experience. It could not have been this good without the help of all of our friends, former enemies, and other witnesses of this tumultuous period in history.
Thank you, Skipper, for your gentle, almost hesitant objections that quickly turn into loud arguments. Thank you, Illune, for your accurate descriptions of Jamaa's old jail. Thank you, Amy and Caleb, for your encouragement throughout the entire writing. Thank you, Raya, for your reluctant assistance and somewhat annoying fashion critiques. We still aren't sure how Mark wearing "totally lame" striped socks has anything to do with writing, but thank you anyway. We could never have done this without the support of you all.
And now, reader, it is time for you to read on.
Hopefully,
Snowbelle Senkira, Ophelia Harkins, Mark Fallow, and Smoke