Gaea
The Old World.
That's not its true name, but it will have to do.
Young and old alike remember it as a place of untamed beauty, with many a story being written about its magnificent archtrees, great crags and fathomless oceans. In many of these tales, there is written the history of both great men and women, as well as the magnificent beasts that roam over these lands. In few you will find those that depict the rise of a great empire, and its inevitable fall to ruin.
Ah~ but the story I wish to share has its roots etched into the origin of the world itself.
It is the Tale of the Five; the oldest of fables etched across the memories of the world itself. One may have forgotten, but without this story, none would come to follow it.
Now relax, close your eyes, open your ears. Grow lost in this moment as you hear the story etched across both the world and your own sleeping memories.
Once there was a world without time. A world with nothing but white light, inhabited by both the People and the Five Dragons.
In this world without time, there was only eternity, and a sun that burned without beginning or end.
And because there was only timeless eternity, nothing was ever lost...yet nothing was ever gained.
One day, the People began to wonder why their world had no beginning or end, so they asked the dragons.
The dragons opened their mouths as if to answer, but from their mouths poured water instead of words. It rushed out in streams to create the sky and the oceans, and the dragons swam away.
Swimming to the center of the Ocean, the Dragons began to transform into an island.
One dragon sank into the sea and became the land.
One dragon lifted its gaze to the sky and became the mountains.
One dragon stooped low and became the lakes, and scattered its scales to create the rain.
One dragon fell into a deep slumber and became the forests.
And the last dragon climbed far into the sky to become a star of sapphire blue, shining brightly above the island.
The People could not understand this, could not understand why the dragons left or why they transformed.
One day, a lone youth decided to go to the island to seek answers from the Dragons themselves. Donning a simple cloak, he climbed into a simple boat, and cast off into the murky seas.
He drifted many days and many nights, until at last, guided by the sapphire star, he reached the Island of the Five.
Time passed before the youth returned, and on his arrival the People asked;
"Did you speak with the dragons?"
"Yes, I spoke with them," he replied.
"Then tell us, why did they create the island?"
But the youth did not answer. Instead, he reached into his cloak and pulled out five dragon scales, which he gave to the People.
And then, before anyone realized, the youth disappeared.
The People left their white world and sailed across the ocean.
Using the five scales, they created their own lands, their own mountains, their own lakes, and their own forests.
Last of all they created a bright moon, so that the sapphire star, which guided the youth during his voyage to seek the dragons, would no longer shine alone in the sky.
The land grew large enough to obscure the sun, and day and night were born.
The mountains, lakes, and forests breathed together, and the seasons were born.
The moon cast its light on the ocean, and waves were born.
And thus time was also born.
Swept up in the almighty current of time, the People came to know death. But the people also came to know life.
Countless days and countless nights have passed since the People first came to live on the lands they had created.
And as time passed, they lost their memory of the Five Dragons, and even the memory of how time itself had been born.
But deep inside their hearts there dwelt a quiet knowledge of the Island of the five, the most sacred place in the world, which to this day sleeps in the middle of the ocean, uninhabited by people, and unchanged even by the relentless flow of time…
The stories that follow converge into the Tale of the Ancient Civilization. Their rise, their transgressions and their inevitable fall. That story though, that is for yet another time, but that too will be a story you will need to hear, as it too has a place in your sleeping memories. When you engrave not just the story, but the lesson it carries into your heart as well.
For now? Rest, you'll need your strength for tomorrow, as your story shall soon begin.