Prologue to the Holy Records:
Do not trouble yourselves with where to put the blame. What Indenuel did was evil, and what I and my other High Elders did was evil too. I have it on good authority that each and every one of them were dragged to hell the night they died, and I have no doubt that will be my fate as well, once I pass on.
I have dedicated my life to this new project. Not to right my sins, because what I did can never be reversed. Through my actions, or, rather inactions, a good man felt compelled to sell his soul to the devil. No good act I do will ever make it right, nor will it overturn the guilt I feel. But I can do this.
In this book is everything I remember from the High Elder’s library which burned down the night of Indenuel’s fall. Everything is here, no matter how contradictory. There will be errors, as I am human, however I pray you use it well. It is no longer my role to tell you how to interpret it. Study it and conclude what you will. It is all here, like the speculations of the cause of the Great Flood and the multiple sources of the state of the Gods’ existence. I have even given the information of the demonic for you to read. Do everything in your power to protect yourself from the devil, which means understanding how he works and how to guard yourselves from him. If my son knew this information, he would have succeeded against Indenuel that night, and the outcome of the final battle would have been different. Understand how the devil works so you can protect yourself from him. May the fall of Santollia be enough of a warning to us all how powerful the devil truly is.
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I have included everything I remember about the Divine Ages as well. It isn’t much, and it’s almost better I don’t remember the details of Jaakob’s devil tainted prophecies. After my own experience with the first prophecy, I didn’t want to put them in there at all, but just like the demonic, you must be prepared.
I must beg you to use this Holy Record wisely as I give my final warning. Do not interfere in the Divine Ages. Let them play out how they will. Do not try to take the place of the dead Gods.
-Martin
23 years After Indenuel’s Fall
***
The trees were restless and terrified. They didn’t know what happened, but they knew their will was broken. It was a kind of evil they never expected to come across. The humans who inhabited the earth always took care of them. The trees waited, collectively, for one of the humans to help them know what to do.
Some of the humans tried to ease the corruption, but it made it more chaotic. There was simply too much. Too much hate, too much hurt, too much pain had been poured into them, and their will broke. The trees tried to give the corruption back, but they couldn’t take it all.
Corruption slipped in through the roots. The first tree withered and gave into it, the branches reflecting its broken and unnatural state. The trees shuddered before corruption took over and began to spread.
The End