What Came Before

Generations had passed since the Earth Masters left the isolated valley at the foot of Erlenstar Mountain for the richer--and more interesting--lands in the south. During those generations, their skills and talents had only grown. In their magnificent cities, surrounded by towers of stone and glass, they learned ever more about themselves and the world around them. During these years, their human servants and retainers thrived as well...living a life of prosperity and peace, trading amongst themselves, and exploring the lands and the seas. Through deep contemplation, the Earth Masters grew to understand the structures and complicated interrelationships of all things. Gradually, they discovered that this understanding could lead further--to the ability to shape themselves into the semblance of the world around them. Delving into this world, they learned the long, slow lives of trees...

...the joyous immersion in the moment known by the beasts...

...and at last, the forbidden and complicated thrill of shaping another person.

But power has a lure which can be irresistable, and not everyone has good intentions. As the years passed, some amongst them reached ever farther, hungering for more and more power at any cost. Wars came upon them, bloody and divisive, and at the end of one such, some of their own were driven away--driven even from the land itself, into the sea.

For long years, it seemed that at last peace could blossom in their kingdom. Alas, those they had defeated were only hidden--not vanquished. And, one dreadful day, the seas themselves rose against the Earth Masters. The waves took their ships; the earth convulsed under their glorious cities. Even their dearest friends and family could suddenly be revealed as imposters, as the shape-changers from the sea came forth onto the land to do battle at last.

In the desperate struggle against these heartless and powerful enemies--who felt passion, but never compassion--it seemed at first that no weapon could be ignored. The Earth Masters drew power from the lands around them, then from the creatures inhabiting those lands--and even from the humans who worked their lands, their cities, farms, and ships. At length, they took power even from their own children, who, deprived of the ability to master the earth in their turn, withered and died prematurely.

Prince Tirunedeth, whose youth had been spent in joyous appreciation of his own power and reveling in the love of his beautiful young Princess, was the first to see that the outcome of this battle could only mean complete destruction for the Earth Masters.

Giving up his dancing and enjoyment, he and Princess Alicia faced the stark truth.

To save Erlenstar, they must rescue the tiny remnant of the children who remained, and somehow send them to a safe refuge, hoping against hope that they would survive the coming war.

They recruited the elderly Baron Awn, who reluctantly agreed to escort the group of surviving children, along with a small core of loyal retainers, farmers, and merchants, back to the safety of the isolated valley at the foot of Erlenstar Mountain. If they survived to reach this haven, perhaps the children could rediscover the ability to shape their worlds, and reclaim the power which had been stolen from them. Left behind, their parents would make the last hopeless stand, buying the childrens' safety with their own lives.

With bitter tears, knowing that they would never see their tiny son again, they entrusted him to the Baron and watched the little caravan set off into the foothills. As they returned to their hopeless battle, they hoped only that their son, as well as the few other surviving Earth Master children, would somehow survive and someday return.

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