The Dawn

The races of Narr share a tendency for stirring up trouble for themselves. They destroy what should be treasured and find themselves constantly on the verge of obliteration. Then they cry out for salvation; beg the gods to save them and promise to do better, be better. Once, the trinity of the gods listened. They gave the five races the keystone for the realisation of their great desire. The perfect gift to usher in the new era of harmony and mark the triumph of light over darkness. They gave mortals **the Dawn**.

The Dawn is a complex physical representation of the supernatural, comprising many pieces of various materials, that collectively harmonise the world. The purest essence of the divine remained within its depths and for the brief span of a millennium, peace and harmony reigned. The mortals got to enjoy a world where all resources were enough for everyone and reasons for dissatisfaction did not exist. The races grew wealthy and advanced at the same pace. But there was a catch. To preserve the divine gift and maintain eternal harmony, mortals had the responsibility of periodically opening the Dawn to the stars, in order for the elements within it to synchronise with the celestial bodies. They were warned that failure to to perform this task, would cause the harmonising effect to weaken over time.

For a long time the mortals kept up with the tradition of maintaining the Dawn. They built a lavish temple where elaborate ceremonies were held at specific intervals to realign the Dawn. All the races displayed gratitude for the divine generosity and harmony that enriched the world. But, after centuries of balance and wealth, the state of harmony was taken for granted. The horrors of war and helpless desperation of the past did not resonate with the new generation. The significance of the Dawn waned and the enthusiastic ceremonies in celebration of harmony, became tedious rituals of the ancients. Eventually the mortals became so preoccupied with worldly affairs, that they slacked off their chore and soon stopped completely and the power of the Dawn was subverted. Strange monsters began to appear, like Bezharal the fire golem and Elkorg the flying monster whose population began to grow in prevision of corpses that would feed it.

Bickering among races began and intensified. The priests and leaders of the schools of magic held onto vague memories about the significance of Dawn in the history of Narr. Each was too preoccupied with being right to notice that they were in dispute over the source of harmony. The Dwarves boasted in their chronicles that they, the creators of Twegg must be credited for the invention of the Dawn. The Danians were quick to point out their superior magic and historical ties with the universe and demand the Dawn be returned to them on the grounds that it held the secret of their lost heritage. Of course, the Humans and Elves were not outdone. Each came up with reasons why they should have ownership rights and exclusive credit for the existence of Dawn. Quarrels became so widespread about every known issue, that the Dawn faded from their minds.

Powerful conspirators found the incessant conflicts beneficial. Their people became very easy to manipulate as mistrust of others intensified. Never before had they possessed such power and influence and they jumped at the chance to enforce a new social order that would make their status permanent. Those among them who were versed in old scripts, understood that if someone would find the forgotten knowledge of the Dawn, the divine machine could be realigned and their ambitions would never be realised in a state of harmony. They combined forces that attempted to destroy all the old scriptures and failed. So they fabricated and circulated false ones, to fool prospective seekers. Then they conjured up dark magic that would destroy the Dawn itself, but it was indestructible. However, they succeeded in shattering it into countless pieces which they flung all over the world, hoping that the Dawn would never be put together again.

The power such fragments contain is minimal and cannot affect the destiny of the world that now lay in the hands of a few. Strife and violence, greed and selfishness became the norm. Soon, battle lines were drawn and each race took turns in slaughtering the other, while the tales of the harmonising effect of the dawn became whispered myths from the dusty past, that morphed with the passage of time into the Legends of Dawn. At different moments in time, a member of each race happens upon a fragment of the Dawn in the form of gemstones with a strange fire within it, hard amorphous materials that give off heat, gelatinous materials that seem to be alive and various other elements that baffles the mind. They find that when the pieces are gathered, some parts naturally attract and cohere, and the power within is increased. The relative position of each new piece seemed to change the effect and property of the artefact, an unusual property for every known magical substance. That knowledge is kept secret, for the Dawn is but a legend and all the various peoples claim to be the creators of the fragment they possess. They die and kill to protect it, unaware of the insanity of their actions.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the power of the fragmented Dawn is amplified by the hand that holds it. It shows its goodness in the hand of the just, and amplifies vileness in the hand of the wicked. The same fragment also changes its physical form depending on the heart of the holder, but as it gets more completed by its own elements, it begins to function less like an amplifier and exhibits more of its own properties. The world of Narr awaits heroes, special mortals of pure spirit, that would seek out the fragments and reassemble the Dawn. Balance and harmony must be restored to the world, for that is the only way to save it from total destruction. Time will tell if there is someone born of a woman who has the determination, courage and inner balance, for such a mighty task. Only such person is capable of recognising that an ixodid on the scrotum cannot be whacked with a mallet.