She was the First
30 days of Fantasy Prompt 10, Thalenra Historical Document. A fragment from 'The Sundering Cycle'
Written for Prompt 10 of the 30 Days of Fantasy challenge, hosted by Luna Asli Kolcu. Come through the door.
Sundering Cycle Record: Text Fragment IX - The First Unspoken Source Classification: Pre-Council History; restricted access Date of Initial Recording: 50 TCE (Thaymian Common Era) Curated Entry Date: 1123 TCE Authenticity Status: Disputed Origin; Confirmed Cultural Persistence Recovered as part of the oral mnemonic transcriptions during the early Founding Era. compiled by Archivium Archivists. Caution suggested when research undertaken. Order influence suspected behind requests for re-translation.
She was the first of the ones we do not speak of. The first to take the pure order of the Thaum and warp its strands, twisting the spiritual lifeforce of our world to her bidding. She found the ways of weaving and made them her own.
She was the first to call herself empress, to turn her weaving on her people. She asked them for their loyalty to be freely given, and when they refused, She took it. Thaumcraft was no longer their own, all was woven in her name.
She was the first to call for their memories to be given, for her to choose who they would be. She weaved a tapestry of thought and belief, told them that was the truth of their lives. And they followed her. It was the only choice they had.
She was the first to say how our world would be, to bend the threads of Thalenra to unnatural paths, to refuse the natural rules that all people's follow, to turn us away from the people of the spirit, and those born from them.
She was the first of the ones we do not speak of. But not the first to fall from her throne, when the Seven came to bring order, to the chaos she had wrought.
Curators Commentary
This fragment marks the turning point in the cycle, set prior to the introduction passages of the Seven, still lost at this time. The ‘She’ it speaks of is recorded in the annals as the worst of the so-called ‘Great Mentalists’, and considered to be the leading cause of the Sundering Reaches Conflict. The Empress referenced is believed to be personally responsible for taking thousands of lives, not including the minds she warped to take more in her name.
Mention of an ‘Empress’ or ‘the first’ are common indicators in submitted work that the researcher in question has Order sympathies. Caution is advised when using this text.Thanks for reading! Short one for this prompt. I like my ancient texts to be mysterious and incomplete.