I’ve never been one to… think, much. Actions make waves, actions have meaning, actions give life meaning, but actions can also cause crazy things to happen. I don’t really care for fear or things like that. What do I have to be scared of? I’m a good one, I’ve always been good. It’s why I remain so deep in the undertow current, around those who understand me so well. I’m not violent and I’m not stupid. They just don’t get it.


I can speak freely with them as if they are my own kin. Lord Squiggles and Sir Wiggly are the only ones that tell me I’m not dumb. They say that, although I’m weird, that my mind is right. They say I’m smart. They say that my desire for more combat is warranted; my desire to be in the water perfect. That’s why I chose to stay down there with them. Or at least, until I found myself in this situation.


Why I agreed? I don’t really know. A part of me wanted to stay with all of my friends under the water. Those that are most like me, who live for the sake of living. Yet, a part of me desperately wanted to be free, to explore, to venture out to something or somewhere that was unknown. When I told my friends they told me that I was being odd, that I should just stay with them and protect the water’s of our home. Yet then they told me that it was in my nature to seek adventure. That my desire to explore was as much a part of me as the sea itself. I didn’t really get it, but I also made a choice on that day. A choice to see this through, and to do what I can for the others.
“Wake up.” The voice attempted to wake her from the slumber she enjoyed.


“Wake up.” The voice bit at her eardrums again, yet she did not want to wake.


Everything felt so odd, as if the very air around herself were attempting to lull them into a deep slumber. Her ears twitched, hands clasping over them as of to protect them from something, but the force at which she had done so only managed to cause more harm than good. Perhaps it was due to her overexposure to time under the water, but it seemed that some actions required far less force than others. It was due to this too late realization that she had managed to slap herself on both sides of the face at once.


She rolled about on the ground, whining in a manner which sounded like a melody one might hear from a dolphin mimicking a whale, but only stopped once the ringing had done the same. It was during this time she might come to realize a key details regarding the surroundings which accompanied her… that being she didn’t know any of it at all. She attempted to rise to her feet, only to have her head collide with something above her and fall flat on her face when taking into consideration that her form was both large and lacking legs. It was easy enough to float about in a bubble, but since when had her defenses been disengaged? The air felt dry, warmth beaming down on her, she found herself with only a single option.


Aberrant, glowing eyes gazing down at her body as it surged and swirled. Like a whirlpool at her center absorbing her very being as it shrunk down steadily until what was once present was no more. Water seemingly drawn into that which now stood in its place. She couldn’t recall how long it had been since she looked like this, incapable of comprehending the thought of spending extended periods of time away from the water she called her home, but that came with its own series of problems. She was not weak nor small, thin yet with enough meat to pass as healthy. Skin as pale as sand resting at the sea’s edge, hair as white as the horizon clouds which touched the ocean, eyes as green as the algae resting at the deepest depths. Clothes… who needs them?


She attempted to stand to her feet, wobbling about as of that alone were a strenuous task, but standing tall once it had been accomplished. Then, with a single step forward, she found herself flat on the ground again with her face in the grass. Another whine, this time audible in a manner that was not made to sound like a distraught creature of the sea. She attempted to push herself back up to her feet, yet gave up halfway through, choosing to crawl across the ground instead. It was a slow process, each movement seemingly requiring more focus than the last, then the pushed herself up and once again took hold of her balance. Each step like a careful game of “not too fast and not too slow” as she walked in the most diabolically nonsensical of ways. It wasn’t until she had found herself at least moving forward, albeit slowly, that she felt confident enough to begin focusing on other things…


It was at that moment she had made the initial move to fall on all fours and sniff the ground. The smell certainly reminded her of Florita, but as her instincts cried out for her to act she did the first thing that came to mind and opened her maw. Razor sharp rows of teeth, much like that of which you would find in a shark’s maw, bit down onto the earth and filled her mouth with a fresh clump of grass. She only chewed it for several seconds before opening her mouth and allowing the now green paste to slide off of her tongue as her body lurched in protest. She knew there was water in it at the very least, she just didn’t expect it to taste so bad. However, her body still acting as it always had, she next crawled over to the nearest tree and repeated the process. Teeth sinking into the bark as if it were the softest of materials before munching on the material for several seconds. While it did not please her anymore than the grass had, she certainly did not dislike it more as it took nearly double the time for her to let the splinters of now moist paste fall from her mouth to the ground.


She eyed her surroundings as if preparing to search for the next attempt at a meal, but that was when she had finally spotted their companion who had already been awake.


How long have they been there? They must be a master of sneaks to sneak up on me like this! But I know them, they smell… familiar. Wait!


She steadily made her way over on wobbly legs before choosing to instead stick to all fours, stopping short of them before sniffing the air. If that weren’t weird enough, she next sniffed at their feet, then their legs, then as much of them as they possibly could before the most uncertain of smiles formed on her face. It wasn’t that she did not trust her companion, rather it was a smile that could not be trusted as far as you could throw it. The type of smile that told you outright that they had no plan, no idea what they were doing, and if you were so bold could go as far as to say that it was a smile that demanded you understand the lack of thought behind their very existence.


“Heh hahah, hi.” A proper start to any conversation, one could say. The type of thing that could only leave the mouth of someone oblivious to almost everything around them. “What are we doing?”


Of course she had made the decision to come here, it was imperative that she know it was her decision to come here, but she’d be damned if she knew exactly what they should be doing now that they actually had done whatever they were now doing. She remembered being present for the gatherings, slithering away when they were almost caught, the planning and planning… she could barely remember any of it… or none of it. All she knew is that she was there now and someone it looked as if she could trust was right there. A perfect coincidence as all things should be, the ramifications for if anyone else were nearby other than them being a means to her roaming off with a group of random individuals. Even so, it was clear that she would not be doing too much in such a strange place on her own.


“Do you have snacks? I’m hungry,” she spoke as her smile persisted.


It wasn’t that she was just purely oblivious or acting by haphazard nature alone. No, she knew that this person could be trusted. Relying on her instincts was solely dependent on the absolutely broken nature of her luck. It was less that she knew these others currently around her, but rather more that she trusted them before she knew why. The answer yet remained simple. Such is the unpredictably absurd nature of War, and a nature which will never change.

Every legend comes with a story, every story begins as a simple tale. This is that.

What is what was what will be.
What can, what can't. 
Space for all, space for none. 
A fragile balance of power.
For what was alone, shall never be again. 
What was once whole, no longer one. 


Hallowed ground, infinite possibilities.
No clear path through this maze.
We begin. 


Origin of all. 
Origin of none. 
Hope swallowed.
Creation provided, holy yet blind. 


-Entry in unnamed tome, anonymous- 


Tracing the spines of many volumes, each with a title as unclear as the last in a script long forgotten, I examine my finger, the dust is as new as it is old. These halls have not had visitors for some time, as though haunted by invisible souls, haunted and destroyed in their search for knowledge. Knowledge, oh what a cursed thing, to have it, yet to never be satisfied. Perhaps one could argue that it is a punishment for striving to be who and what you cannot. No such thing as pure knowledge, everything has at some point been tainted by the opposing, be it a valid argument or a sickly thought inside a lunatic's head. 


It is in the utmost authority that I write to you, I cannot say if this place I find myself within is a prison or paradise, I can only ask that you spread the word for nothing is quite as simple as they make it out to be, I cannot name them for to do that is to make them aware of this very letter, this very transgression and betrayal of the highest order. I have found what it is you are seeking, this rumour that a place untouched by them – does indeed exist, there is no name yet, the creatures there are unlike any we know of and it is all contained within veiled walls that not even they know the construction of. 


I may not be able to reach out to you again, I write this in haste. It is only a matter of time before they discover what we now know. So go, find this place and hope upon hope that they shall not find you. This place, they have hidden from us, could be all that we ever need. Tensions between houses can be lost here, we can be free of the rules and ranks, the expectations and unfair destinies placed upon heavy shoulders. We can make our own laws here. 


Go now, do not worry for me. It is likely I shall be brutally erased, but even then this note still exists and therefore I have succeeded in my mission to provide a place and home for the rest of us, where we may hope one day to be friends. All of us, cursed as we are to never die unless duty calls for it. These powers we have, though seemingly natural are to one day be the curse that ruins us. 




"This is all we need!" 


The first individual attempts to keep their voice low, but the words filter through the unlit corridor as the gathering nods and considers what this letter now means; it was difficult finding a place that was concealed just enough from the likes of individual ancients like Xaina who would have if she knew this was taking place, have raised the war banners and called for the execution of each and every individual present within the unlit corridor. It's only pure luck that they've found this hidden place amongst the many streets that line the tented twisted carnival tragedy that is the vortex; there were suggestions they could hide within the void, but then that would be like a moth who is engulfed in the flames of it's salvation. 


"But there is no door. All of us crossed forbidden bridges to get here." 


"It must be the gate." 


"Not all of us can go then, we will be left here." 


"We must try, if we are to die. It will be a good cause." 


Each voice gets louder until they must remember to shut and seal their mouths, they pass the parchment between each other. All of these individuals who wear veils and hide themselves and their true names from each other know that they all be submitted to the same fate as their informant. 


"Shall we make preparations then?" 


"We must do this individually. For if we attempt to do it together, we will raise suspicion." 


"Perhaps they will not even attempt to stop us. Perhaps this is what they wanted for us to do originally." 


"None of them would allow us this chance, all of us dictated and told what we must do like bees to a flower or like a bird to the sky." 


"Who amongst us is the bravest?" 


No one raises their hands, it feels as though the situation is lost and that in the end despite all of the searching and planning; none of them actually wants to risk their life. Who would? Travelling out of their predetermined home realms was already enough of a risk, now to ask to venture into a place that not even their own ancients had ever ventured to? As the group whispered and gestured to each other some of them lifted their heads as they listened to the maddening words of the vortex howl. They have been noticed, they must disperse. A flick of a wrist, letter reduced to ashes and blown into the wind as their limbs scream at them to run, run they do. 


A group of claimants is suspect enough, a group that composes of different claimants is even more alarming; it's no surprise that many of the slower and far too cautious ones are brought before the headman's axe and erased. Despite the cries for mercy and forgiveness, these individuals who had so much potential; lost to the waves of power and control that keep the others in the flock, afraid to make the same mistake as these so called radicals. 


However, like all leaks that have been covered, it's not always possible to stop the pending downpour. Even In full view and full knowledge, even knowing that to do something so... wild is likely to backfire, they did so anyway. It was a risk that they were willing to take, even if the resulting damage would forever break the bridges and the doors down and turn what was so comfortably sorted into a wild chaotic damnation; they did not care. How could they? They knew not what death was, not really... not as they would soon. 


"How could you allow this?"


"I did not allow anything." 


"Surely the gate knew that they were not passing or dead." 


"Even still! They are now where we cannot see, they have gone to a place we have tried to keep hidden." 


"Then we must retrieve them." 


"Leave the rest to ponder our disappearance? Never." 


"Perhaps this will be good." 


"Good? We all promised to remain out." 


"Matters not, we must send our own to return them." 
They arrived, in a place they had not at all anticipated. Four of them in a place that felt like a natural paradise, a field that was untouched, but there was still noise to be had and a feeling of life and vibrancy... of purity that had yet to be touched. First to rise, sore and in some shock that it had worked; found themselves wanting, wanting to their reflection; but there was no object here that would reveal their new state. They waited for the others to rise, but when none of them seemed to wake; they decided it would be best to walk around; to seek out any and all dangers in case they had found themselves in a place so hostile they might as well end their own lives.

A grand distance passed before they saw what was not mountains but forms that... looked to be natural and yet not at all, they also saw others that looked like them but did not smell of them and for a moment they wondered if they were still clothed, they hadn't bothered to look down at themselves - used to just being able to conjure up their reflection and adjust their appearance as necessary. Their presence was not left unnoticed for some of the moving forms halted what they were doing and pointed at them – it was then they realised, they were as tall and as large as these strange exhibits, solid in foundation - buildings. They had to become smaller, but how? Rummaging in their mind, using their hands they tried to mould themselves into a state that would seem more natural to these living beings.

They could only think of their brothers, they turned on their heel and ran as fast as they could away from this place, this space with strange things that they had never seen before and with things that did not act as they did. They found their brothers asleep, once more in the same place they had awoken. They hadn't yet attempted to speak as they laid back down on the soft blades of what could only be something that Florita had made, thinking of the ancient gave them a headache and with a terrible sensation and realisation - they were cut off from their ancient, severed and left alone... this was not good. Not good at all. 

"Wake up." Their voice croaked, waiting for their companions to give any sign of life. 

"Wake up." They said louder.

No response, they had to get help... they had to find a way home, but where was home now? They had passed through the gate and now, they were no where. No place that any of them knew. They would learn soon enough, these four children of varied houses... they would be given names, words by the new creatures they would soon meet properly. For this first child who had woken from their slumber in this new realm, was of course Conquest themselves.