He takes his seat again and the creatures watch as he unfurls each of the scrolls. Both are thick, containing many pages, and a strange glow emanates from them. A small scrap of paper falls out of the roll the snow-white owl had held. The creatures move towards the man to read the paper, as he picks it up off the floor. This piece of paper is not glowing. The writing on it is elegant, joined script, curling and slanting like perfect calligraphy.
I though you might need this “ these papers contain pure memory. This is the most accurate account you can have of what has happened. Do not lose them. Keep them secret at all costs. Everything could depend on them later.
- S
The dark-haired young man turns back to the glowing booklets. One has the same elegant writing on it that is on the note. The other is covered by small, smooth, neat writing, curved and loopy, but not slanted and also not as elegant or graceful as the writing on the other pack of parchment.
The creatures lean forward, slowly but eagerly, and watch as the young man flips through the pages, his blue-gray eyes wide. He only skims through the vividly-told story the packages hold but skimming is enough “ these papers are obviously extremely important. He gently sets them down next to his own stack of papers. Together his story, along with the two sent to him, will give him everything he needs “ or may need in the near future…
“The Longest Prophecy”
A prophecy must be made to Man, for the gods have known from the beginning that there approaches an end to their rule…
Thirteen major signs will precede the advent of the final battle of Ragnarok, whence all that is shall cease to be.
The first shall be the most important, and it is a sign for all men who do not believe, for the Gods know and accept all that is in their futures, and men shy away. The first sign of the end is the gathering of the Greatest Warriors, the leaders of the fabled Einherjar. Thirteen they shall be, from all worlds and of all ages and they shall form the head of the one Army of the Dead, which shall march on the day of destruction and chaos.
The Thirteen will be drawn against tests like no other, and before the end, be faced with a pair of decisions, between right and wrong and between good and easy, and what is decided when the Thirteen are faced with this, shall have a hand in their fate, the fate of the people they represent and the fate of the final existing world.
A man, a beast, shall be born and grow with a black heart and he will have nothing more on his mind than the destruction of good and the prevalence of evil. A horrific monster is he, one who shall be loved by all who set eyes on him, for his beauty shall be unearthly, and his charm unmatchable. The true of heart shall see in him pure evil and yet they too shall have to defy temptation to keep from going astray. Behind the Monster shall be great power. He shall cure lepers and infertility without lifting a finger. He will have the power to bring the dead back to life, to give old age youth, to give the poor, riches, to make the miserable joyful again. His power shall be such that men of strong hearts and souls will tie up their mothers and daughters and sisters to posts in their homes for fear of losing them to the Monster, for his power shall be greatest over the female kind and his beauty shall appeal most to them. And yet no man will have the power to destroy him.
A world shall be corrupted, its leaders shall lose sight of their beliefs and will give in to despair and tread down the path of eternal destruction,
They shall enlist the aid of a magic like no other, one that shall destroy by the millions and bring heartache to the world of man. And yet, when the time shall come to destroy their new magic, they shall not. And this is the fifth sign of Ragnarok.
And the sixth sign of Ragnarok is most grievous and most painful. It involves a betrayal of immense magnitude. The Betrayal of Four will be the pivotal point in the advent of Ragnarok. Then, things shall lie in a balance, ready to tip to the side with greater power, and either Ragnarok’s approach shall be sealed, or the people of the world shall live on forever under oppression.
Dependant on the Balance, the Betrayal shall be followed by the merging of two worlds, pushing all living beings to the brink of a war and though no war shall have been declared, still fighting shall ensue. The world shall be drowned in an abyss of darkness and despair and it will take extraordinary power, goodness and hope to retrieve the living from the battlefield that they have created for themselves.
And yet, this fighting shall only be a skirmish, this darkness only a sample, for dawn shall still exist.
The eighth sign of Ragnarok shall be the final dawn,
And following the final dawn, Fimbulvetr shall come, the winter of winters. Three such winters shall follow each other with no summers in between, and no light. Conflicts and feuds shall break out, even between families. Brother shall fight against brother, sister against sister, father against son. And all morality and goodness will disappear. This is the beginning of the end.
Tyranny shall rise and an age-old prejudice shall finally reign and the fighting shall not all be on battlefield, but in hearts and souls and homes as well and magical knowledge shall spread to the ignorant third world and because they shall be unable to understand it, they shall fear it like nothing else.
And when all suddenly seems lost, when the One Power has taken throne and leads over the people with cruelty and triumph, two more powers shall be revealed. They shall, together, be the Three Vying Powers and their coming and fueding shall beckon to the beginning of Ragnarok, inviting it forward.
And even as this dawnless age unfolds, hope shall spring in the hearts of some, for a lost hero shall return and take on the mantle that is his due. His return shall be the twelfth sign of Ragnarok.
And the thirteenth shall be, The Great Call. A day shall come on which the sun shall be eaten and the moon scoffed. Three cocks shall crow and Heimdall shall blow his mighty horn and its call shall bring all the Gods to the final battle. Fenrir, Jormungand and Loki shall be released and they shall cause devastation like no other.
And thus, Ragnarok, the Doom of the Gods, and of Men, the end of all that is, shall begin.
But take heed and remember, all actions and decisions are important, each person has a hand in their own fate. A Prophecy can be changed…