Before a bonfire in the wilderness, a father with his family prepares the annual camping story time. Just like his father and his grandfather before him, he shows through the fire what was. With a wave of his hand the fire dimmed and his voiced, contorted through magic started a tale. "Under the ridges of the highest mountains, there was a race known for its ingenuity with the handling of fire... " the bonfire erupted with energy and went high " metal, magic and science!" the fire changed it's shape into a burly man. "They were the first to challenge the status quo, the challenge what everyone believed to be gods work." The flames moved, changed and showed different scenes, of similar bulky men crouching, running, watching the different aspects of the world. "Their belief was that the gods didn't create the world but were created with the world." Once again the flames changed, now they showed a planet surrounded by six orbs, representing the world they lived in and the primal aspects of force.

"Their inquisitiveness allowed them to prosper over the years after the founding of their nation, Even though most of the others envied their knowledge and branded them heretics against their gods, some few were intrigued and fascinated by them." Now the flames showed two different figures, a slender and high creature with sharp contours and a, compared to the others, plain looking figure. "Known to the others, and our ancestors, as the elves and the humans. With the triad of this races working together as one, the kingdom that resulted out of this unity brought the whole world into a golden age. With prosperity and progress for everyone, even those that called them heretics." The scene changed to a man with all the features of the three races combined. Upon a throne inlaid with many priceless gems he sat with a crown. His crown built around the biggest black soul gem found. Yet on his face was a scowl and in his eyes boundless greed. "Yet nothing could stay eternal and because of the golden age, the motion of greed was born in the mind of the aristocracy. A false sense of superiority and purity went like a wildfire through the governing caste and atop of it all stood the king. His fevor, his desire to dominate consumed this once peaceful kingdom." With a dark glint the bonfire became a scene of Soldiers executing farmers, traders of different races and even their own that went against them. "No single nation could stop the march of the armies. No single being could weather the beginning of the dark ages. But not all hope was lost. Dissidents with the help of all the others, united under one banner to stand against the darkness."

Centaurs, fairies, nagas and many more supported by the last precursors, the Humans, Dwarfs and Elves, and few of the still sane ascended were shown standing in formations. "With the combined might of all, they managed to fight back and even free the lands from occupation. Though the Mad King was not done. As his last try to return to power, he took two thousand of his best warriors and casted their souls into Automatons." The images changed again to show massive mechanical beings "Made by the finest smiths and Engineers, enchanted by the mightiest of their mages and warlocks with the sacrifices of untold amount of innocent. Two souls per body, invincible and sentient they moved under the control of a scepter..." now the flames showed a beautifully ornate scepter in the hand of the mad king while his immortal Warriors went out to fight his enemies and conquer all. "That was made out of fear that his warriors would rebel against him. Everything looked bleak for once more the king was in a favorable position."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Two fronts were show, on one side the remains of a once mighty union of all and on the other side the 1000 warriors controlled by the mad king. "The last battle was prepared, the extinction imminent. Yet the warriors never moved for their king had died. No one truly knows why, but the final day of the mad King was a silent one." Rows upon rows of warriors deep in a cave were shown. "One after another, the immortal Warriors were brought down a cave and hidden from all. Their story remembered and retold to learn. As a last act to keep the world from reliving the same fate, the last of the powers from the Union decided to seal the majority of the magic. They cut the world apart and one place was chosen as the sanctuary of the magic beings while the other part chosen as a place of redemption. The Ascended, the Dwarfs and Humans chose to stay at the site of redemption to rebuild what was destroyed, while the Elves chose to become the keepers of the bridge that connected Redemption with the sanctuary. Over time, most of the populace in redemption decided to forget the other side and the travelers between the two planes became less and less. While the sanctuary still remembers that Redemption exist, most of redemption has forgotten about sanctuary."

The flames built a bridge between two massive arcs. "Even though the bridge exists, few know how to get there and even fewer know how to cross it." After the flames fully died a clear voice spoke through the darkness "We are the few that still remember and keep account on our past." Applause went through the audience for a short while. A young voice spoke up "What happened to the warriors after Santuary and Redemption split up?" The teller looked at his niece with a smile, how the inquisitive nature of children never cased to fill him with hope "They were used twice since the Faithfull day. One time someone managed to find the Scepter and accidently woke them up and the second time was when a librarian decided to change their hiding place to somewhere that could be watched over easier and where they could be used for the good of our plane." After a small pause he continued "Some of them have lost their soul over time, so from the original thousand Warriors few truly remain intact." "Will redemption be ever unsealed?" Another young voice quipped up. "One day maybe, once nature had the time to truly return to what it once was and all those living in Redemption learned to control their vices." "Will this ever happen?" Asked the voice again. With a sigh he had to answer truthfully "I don't know, all I know is that we may once again come into contact with Sanctuary and people will travel between the planes once more, but for redemption to be fully unsealed? This is quite unlikely." Maybe they will manage it, but just as my grandfather said before he died, hope is a good that should be treasured.