Within the Consul, extending for miles above and reaching into the vast void of a ceiling above, the bookcases stood. The ceiling stood so grand that the darkness consumed all the light as if it were a slowly encroaching the floor, only the light desperately fighting it back. These towering pillars of knowledge stretched onwards until the opposing wall was but a pin within your vision. Thousands of years of knowledge were contained here, facts and studies which would be impossible to read within a single lifetime. The Consul of Organisms, stood on the outskirts of the Archives within Achillerant and It was a new addition to the vast culmination of scholarly accomplishments, only being around one hundred years old. It was built to consolidate the knowledge of all the organisms within the continent of Ten.

An assortment of texts, biological studies, and tests, were arrayed along the towers and beneath each grouping of texts lay an associated glass cage, containing the subjects pertaining to them. The cages varied in size depending on the subject within them, some were hundreds of steps long containing monstrous beasts which would devour entire herds of cattle given the chance. Others contained the tiniest of creatures, some being smaller than the eye of a needle.

Two lines of grates on the floor ran parallel to both bookcases. Inside were faint fires which glistened, illuminating many ghastly beasts within the glass cages. They peered from within lifelessly like death itself had only caressed their souls for but a second.

At the end of the pathway leading through the walls of books and cages was an imposing grand double doorway. It was notched with fine metals and a number of intricate patterns run throughout each door. A faint murmur could be heard coming from outside. A singular voice with a manner of urgency subtly drawn throughout.

Eventually the door opened, and a group of men and women strode through, they all wore long robes which enveloped their bodies up to their ankles. The robes drew down across their torsos with two thick strands of material falling from their shoulders. Underneath the robes were latticed suits and decorative emblems, which stuck out from the rest of their dress, showing their rank and superiority among the other Pundits of The Archives. At the helm of the group was a young boy, he wore a robe unsimilar from the others and wore a meek submissive look whenever he glanced behind him at the rest of the crowd. His robe fell from his shoulders only to the middle of his torso, revealing the tightly wrapped and clean suit he was wearing. Furthermore, unlike the other scholars he wore no such emblem.

Behind them all, entering through the door, was Keeper – a beastly man with a great oppressive aura, and wildly intelligent, cunning, eyes. Keeper was unlike any of the other scholars, he stood feet taller than them and wore no robes or emblems, he wore just a plain shirt and regular fitted trousers. Keeper's snout like face looked upon the rest of the Pundits ahead of him with indifference and instead his slit monolid eyes settled upon the apprentice ahead of him. He rubbed his unsettled beard and moved his focus elsewhere along the walls of knowledge.

Keeper was known as the Grand Pundit within the empire. It was the highest scholarly role anyone could achieve within the empire, and he had held it since it was founded almost five thousand years ago now. Him along with his brothers had established their empire on the continent of Ten and has preserved and protected like caged dogs for thousands of years. Keeper had kept himself imprisoned within research for the entirety of this time, devoting himself to the acquisition of immortal knowledge for their immortal empire.

When the young boy came to a stop around two hundred meters down the hallway, the rest of the small crowd came to a stop and gathered around a wide and intricate wooden table settled in the middle of the vast corridor like hall. Every couple meters these tables were situated for the purpose of study and research of different subjects. Once Keeper had made his way next to the table, they all looked upon the boy. The Grand Pundit saw him jitter nervously, playing with his hands and nails in an effort to calm himself down.

'Bring out your findings, child.' Keeper stated. His raspy gravelly voice made all around him jolt, even though they were all waiting for him to speak. He saw them all avoid his gaze as he surveyed them. The boy then bowed. He strode carefully to the bottom of one of the walls where a mirror, inlaid into a crevice, stood. One of these mirrors, much like the tables were placed intermittently at the bottom of both bookshelves every few meters.

The apprentice, once in front of the mirror, reached into it. His hand passed through the glass with a ripple and the reflection changed to an image of the bookcases above him, a small figure was situated at the bottom of the image – himself. Above him a ghastly hand emerged from the opposite bookcase, its fingers blue and veiny with its ethereal presence turning the air cold. Inside the ghostly hand a blizzard of power barraged within it, a slow compulsion edged the power within it forward. It reached up into the permeated void of the ceiling, lighting what could not be seen before. Its fingertips reached for a small glass case, which was unseen before, and the one book which was associated with it. The glass was coated with a thick layer of frost as the spiritual limb brought it down towards the table.

Once brought down near to the table, the wooden table warped itself to fit the dimensions of the glass cage. It then settled perfectly, and the book was placed on a small space next to the cage. Inside the cage was a greenish sludgy mucus which enveloped the entire space. Floating within fluid was a small rodent with blackish-rusty fur and small pockmarks coalescing all over its body. Its snout was long and protruding, with a large maw and razor like teeth displayed at the end. Its eyes were a frenzied green, they looked as though they had seen the immense depths of what life had to offer, the good, the bad and all the ugly. A great muscular tail swung lifelessly within the mucus; it was so disproportionate when compared to the rest of the rodent's small body. The pockmarks could be seen emerging from between the fur, some large enough to seem as though they were throbbing, about to burst.

Some of the pundits grimaced at the gruesome sight. They watched with gazing studious eyes, looking towards the boy and the vermin he put in front of them. Some towards the back of the group brought out small notepads and started to take notes on the grotesque pest in front of them. Some drew together and started to murmur among each other. Others, two, a man and a woman stood at the forefront of the group, starting intently at both the boy and his creature. The man, Porose Ghealach, a proud and greying man who was one the ruling family within the city and a senior Pundit directly under Keeper, stood forward and bowed at Keeper, looking for his acknowledgement. With a stunted grunt from Keeper, he stepped forward and spoke in an uninteresting monotone rumble. 'Erlest...' he paused briefly, attracting attention to him, 'what have you brought before us today?'

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Erlest squirmed in nervousness under Keeper's intent gaze, he subtly scampered toward the book on the table, he picked it up and held it open in his hands. 'The specimen at present' he tensely recited 'is a new type of rodent found on the continent. Reports of such an animal have only started to appear within the last few years. The reports have in majority come only from the L'marr lands in the east currently, however, there have been similar reports gradually coming further west. This subject was found in Karl'mor. By the report given from my hired team of poachers, this one was easily secured since it had wandered extremely far away from its kin. It was tranquilised, secured, contained, and promptly brought back to Achillerant at the soonest possible time for study.'

He folded the book down and continued lecturing with an increasing amount of confidence. 'There are many concerns with this pest. Currently, there are no links between any existing and studied creatures that have a close ancestry to it. There is no direct evolutionary tract within the empire, that we know of, which could lead to such a creature. Furthermore, the strange plague ravaging its body seems to have reached an equilibrium of death and rebirth within the rodent. This plague seems to not be contagious to humanoids, but it needs to be further studied to understand the true danger of its existence. Their population is small at the moment, but it is estimated to be rapidly increasing. Without immediate control this small population could explode into a nationwide insurgence.

'As a preliminary name, we have documented this species as the "Plague Rat," due to its unique diseased constitution. These reports can give more detail on their species and constitution, along with our initial speculatory theories on where they came from and why such limited contact has been made until now' Keeper eyed him as he reached into a small rune hanging from a belt buckle at his side. Erlest's hand then pierced an invisible glowing veil covering the rune and his hand disappeared into the air. A small subtle shifting of particles around the rune as Erlest's hand seemed to be rustling within it. He pulled out a simple stack of papers and dispersed them among the crowd, a steadily increasing murmur of scholars discussing could be as he continued his rounds. After handing a copy directly to Keeper and bowing, he settled back and awaited further questions.

Keeper's vision settled on the on the report in front of him, taking a pair of golden ornate reading glasses from within his unbuckled shirt and placing them on the bridge of his snout-like nose, he brushed his drooping hair away from his eyes, allowing his pronounced cheekbones and unsettled beard to be accentuated among his features. He held a disturbed look on his face, looking increasingly disconnected, his eyes focused intently on the paper in front of him. The now loud conversation of the scholars around him did not exist within this moment, for he was engrossed in the grizzly imaginary situations these rodents seemed to coalesce within his mind. The alarming nature of these creatures became even more apparent as he continued to read on. These things would not stop until they became dominant, he was sure of it. It was within their nature to pursue their dominance until they either perished in the chase, destroyed all there was to claim dominion over or waged a war where neither side could come out unscathed. In the face of such a tide of nature, anxiety could only brew. Mans fate rests with the indiscriminate and indifferent forces which assail it constantly, and each time the certainty of mans survival comes into question again. Keeper's heart shuddered in worry, he placed his bulky hands over his eyes and vigorously ripped the tiredness from them.

To the left of keeper, who was now crouched down reading the report, the woman who stood next to Porose, Eliana Ghealach, spoke up 'Erlest, we want you to continue to investigate the evolution of this creature, find any links to other creatures no matter how small.'

'Of course, ma'am. At once.' He swifty replied.

'Also try to expand more on your theories of underground populations and glacial melting. There must be more active investigation into this. A detailed autopsy of the creature would be good too. What do you think Poro?'

He was staring blankly, deep in thought, so was caught off guard by the sudden mention of his name. 'Oh... yes. A more detailed autopsy on the biology of the creature would be helpful. It would assist us in... understanding the threat that they pose. Try to experiment on its resilience in different environments... to see, let us say, whether it could survive in the wastes.' Once he finished speaking, Erlest appeared more relaxed and nodded affirmingly. They all then looked to Keeper for some final suggestions.

Due to his tired and casual demeanour, the other scholars had increased their shrill incessant yapping and had started to seriously debate the topics at hand. Some had quietened down to hear Keeper speak, but many were too consumed with their pre-occupations to give Keeper any notice. Such was the way of these Pundits, they had no inherent respect for anything other than their research, anyone who would help them and themselves. Even with Keepers tremendous power, they were still likely to disregard him like they had the right. While he was used to their fraudulent indifference, he remined himself of the need to affirm his presence. 'Silence.' He stated in a quiet tired hum.

The shrill voices towards the back of the small crowed halted, hearing the imperative power within the silent howl. 'Child – Young Erlest, continue your developments on this matter. Take upon your fellow's suggestions. And bring a few specimens to my chamber at your earliest convenience.' He paused to rise from his squat. He ended up towering above those around him, allowing them to see his now stern expression. 'The importance of this matter cannot be understated, so you shall have to try your hardest to keep your findings yours. I only hope your name can be written.'

With that he exited the chamber. All that was left for the other scholars within the hall to witness was his enormous, burdened back and the praise he left in his wake.

-- Author's Note--

Hi. This is a first draft of some of my prologue.

I would love some feedback, I'm a relatively new writer after all.

This is still technically a draft, but i wanted to share it somewhere to get figure out stuff and get some new ideas.

I have a general overarching plot, but its still in development, and so there may be inconsistencies with stuff later on.

I might delete or change stuff later as I'm only using this for feedback. It's likely that this wont stay up forever.