End of Days

Through time itself, It Scours

From within us, It Empowers

Fear not, brother, the final Hours

From beneath us, It Devours

-Unnamed chant, by those Devoured and adherents of the Cult of the Devourer

The great Time God spoke to me as a child, and told me I was destined for greatness never seen before among our people. Adventure and magics would be my fellows as I traveled. And not once was he wrong. I've seen wonders and miracles you couldn't imagine without questioning your own eyes. I even performed a few myself. 

If he'd told me the cost of this path, I'd have taken my own life on that day.

-Excerpt from the memoirs of Histix Lightspring entitled The Last Gnome

As I write, something the Great Betrayer once said comes to mind. 'Worlds start and end. In every second of every day. Yours is no different, and the End will come for this place.' I wish I'd realized sooner how right he was and taken the offer freely given. Alas, I remain here on this dying world with the hope that someone, somewhere, sometime will read this, my last will and testament. Hope that they will read and understand our mistake, so it will be repeated never again.

-Foreword from the will of Ser Olse Znak, Elven Arch-Mage

There was never time to prepare. The Prophecies of Detruo told us every plan of attack they had... but would you have heeded the words of a mage, dead for eons, known more for whoremongering and wanton genocide? I certainly did not, nor did any in control of their faculties. Wish I had. Maybe we could have fought, or maybe we could have done more to help those people fight for us. Damnedable fools shouted the End months before we had a clue. They fought for us before we knew their names. Shit, they fought for us while fighting us. And we let them get devoured whole by this fiasco. Maybe they were the last bastion of sanity amongst the Noble races. 

Whatever comes now, we will face head on. Our world will not be destroyed without a gods-damned good fight. Stand at arms, all who can. At dawn, we ride to glory! By dusk, we shall all be dragonslayers. And tomorrow, we face the Gods and tell them WE ARE NOT YOUR PUPPETS! 

-Excerpt from final speech given by Queen Ilyssa of Dioj, Wife of Tohil In Hiding, Slayer of Tannin prior to the Protectorates final loss at the hands of the Betrayer

We 'ad a chance, I says. Jes the one, though. Dem idjits was always yammerin' on 'bout the Blood er somfin. I 'eard it were the blood o' the Gods 'emselfs. Fools let it spill t' da ground, they did. Don't much matter now.

-Unknown

On this day, Time no longer exists. Nor does magic, nor hope. None will ever read these words, but I will not flee my royal duties. The magic enchanting my quill and ink may fade, but there is enough blood to wet my point and continuing unfailing my Lord's desire. 

The archers have loosed their arrows, but the Devourer does not faulter. Barely does it notice us in our insignificance. It

*random scrawlings make the rest of the page illegible*

Oh Ellegua, please! If you cannot hear my cries, then I beg of you to read my words! Open the door once more! Do not abandon those of us infirm! Please great Traveler! PLEASE

*long dried blood stains paint this page. The last piece written in this author's hand was done in an unknown gold-brown ink, hastily scrawled on the backside*

THROUGH TIME ITSELF, IT SCOURED

-Unnamed scribe, from an unknown battle

I remember our first meeting. Wide eyed, desiring nothing more than to see the world. It was a sight to behold, honestly. It tugged at my heart to know there were still such people left here.

*He bellows out in haunting laughter for quite some time before falling to silence*

I remember our first meeting. They were idiots. Fucking tools. MY tools to destroy this shithole little world that kept me locked away. They'd wake the Invaders, they'd bring the Devourer to me, and they would see me in their last moment. All I had to do is point them in the right direction, and laugh while I waited.

-Zurvan the Betrayer, speaking at the last stand of the Protectorates