Scriptures of the Paladins, chapter 6

# **The Sixth Scripture**

*1- I reveal to you the origins of the Paladins, as Avzaya said to me: “We rewarded those who left the garden in order to help us with a magic unlike any before: the magic of Anum, which is magic I have created myself. It is the most powerful astral magic. I descended to earth, and I gathered your ancestors around me, and I said to them: “Oh you who have sacrificed your freedoms in order to aid goodness, I have come to you with a reward not seen before. I shall bestow upon you the art of the magic of Anum, thou shall be able to bend light and control the element in many ways. All forms of the magic of Anum shall be given to you, it is a most befitting gift for people the like of you. You shall be my Paladins, spreading my laws on this land and fighting our sworn enemy; the forces of evil and deception.”*

*2- Then when I had finished they all lowered their heads in respect and replied: “Oh you who had given us the means to achieve peace, this is but a wonderful gift, undeserving of it we are for it was our duty to aid goodness whether or not we were to be rewarded. We shall be your Paladins, spreading goodness on the land and destroying the forces of evil. We will sacrifice our lives just like our friends and companions did in order to fight evilness. None of us shall draw his last breath before striking a blow to his enemy, whether with words, or with swords.”*

*3- And so I showed them a part of my tablet which contained this magic, and they read it and were enlightened. I touched the tip of their tongues and light enveloped it and traveled to their heads, after which they did not utter any form of falseness. They were purified people, my Paladins on earth.” Then Avzaya pointed towards a rock which looked like a boulder with smooth edges and said: “That is the shard that broke from my tablet when I hit Roh, and that is the part of the tablet which the first Paladins read. It is the part that contains the lost magic of Anum, for the last Paladins who held this magic have passed away whilst fighting the forces of evil. Fulfilling their duties as Paladins of Avzaya”.*

*4- Then I asked Avzaya what happened to those humans who had not left the garden and stayed. He said: “Truly only seven hundred humans had left the garden to aid us, whilst thousands others stayed. They knew that if they left the garden they wouldn’t be able to find it again, just like the giants did and those with the other eye colors. The garden had been their home for hundreds of years, and they were attached to it. It was the birthplace of earth, and the birthplace of their forefathers. The first place humanity set foot on, and the place I came to them to teach them the laws of peace. They knew that no evil force could find them, and so they chose to stay in the garden, urging the others not to leave, but my Paladins ignored their cries and left their properties behind. Knowing that they would never be able to see it again.*

*5- Then when I had rewarded them I showed them the way back to the garden just like I did to you, oh Zaryarez. Then they entered it and the people who stayed were overwhelmed with joy and happiness. But I told them that their time in the garden was over, it was time for humans to inhabit the land of Daera, and to settle where the paladins settled, for they must aid the forces of goodness in their journeys to fight evilness. Thus every human left the garden, and bade farewell to their homes. They took with them purple and golden flowers and many grapes for it was their favourite fruit. The last message the Paladins gave to the empty garden was: “Oh mother of the earth, we have lived on your plains for years and years, and now it is time for us to depart. May the righteous set foot on you one day, and may the honest ones eat of your fruit, and the good ones take shade under your trees.” And so they left the garden, never to return again.”*

*6- I asked Avzaya about the resolve of the ancestors of Daera, and he said: “Indeed when all had left the garden they followed the paladins and settled around the Avestan. Then on a night among the nights Azraban, a leader among the paladins, led a group of thirty paladins on a journey to wander around Daera. And he rested on the banks of the Avestan just like you are, and I came to him in a dream and pointed him towards the star of Anum. When we woke up he followed the path of the river until he reached an illuminated place right under the star of Anum, and he said to the paladins: “Let us establish the enlightened settlement”. And so they built Asyhan, and a golden age started.”*

*7- Thus Avzaya told me the tales of the ancestors, and I listened to his words whilst we ate the fruits in the garden, then I asked him about the Shahs of Daera, and he said that they were many. Each one ruling his own settlement, whilst the paladins moved through the lands and fought any evil doer they saw. They destroyed any trace of black magic they could find. Their capital was Asyhan, and every Daeran with a good heart flocked to trade in it, and build its settlements for the inhabitants, and many settled there. Then came Shakhtan who united the Azarian tribes and established the kingdom of Daera. He was the first one to call us Daerans.*

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