** A R C O S C E P H A L E **
N E W G E N E S I S
In the vicinity of Mount Cephalos, lived a race of human, proud and free, who named themselves after their splendid city, Arcoscephale. A few remembered the old city as it was in the reign of Pantokrator, known not to them by their rightful experience, for none remains in the city belonging to the ancient days, instead their tradition and history passed generation to generation, by the wise and elderly to the young and strong. They were a people of remarkable strength and tenacity, having achieved great knowledge, in both ways of life, for there were two known to the Arcoscephalian, the knowledge of mind and matter, and that of magic. Their craftsmen boasted the best of work, engineers marveled at their own creations, the magi walked firmly on the path to power, and with their soldiers, men of immense courage and talent, they united their known world under their banner.
The belief of the Old Pantokrator had been long gone, and people deified other people, men and women were worshipped as gods and demigods, temples and monuments were raised to honor them, festivals celebrated and sacrifices made. Their land was nothing short of
utopia, a word they themselves invented. They enjoyed supernatural fertility, the wonders of their land awed even the most skeptical and worldly of their kind, crystal blue rivers, plains of infinity, mighty forests, fountains of honey, mounds of fruits, sustained by an almost divine force, for which they praised their mother nature, another creation of their own. Arcane energy was potent, the air sizzled with power, and the magically talented perfected their art. Their mother nature, already blessing them with her gifts, the people of Arcoscephale preferred to enjoy their freedom rather then working themselves to the death, often resting on the tree shades, or wandering aimlessly through the grass, tall as a soldier. They knew without toil the magnificence were not to be achieved though, so taking advantage of their fruitful minds, they invented machines and automatons to share their burden. Mills harnessed the power of winds and water, engineered automatons, empowered with magic filled the role of servants, for freedom of being was sacred in Arcoscephale, thus slavery was abhorred. They indeed entertained a central authority, lacking the power of deities, but for the better of nation, constituting laws carefully thought. The authority consisted of not a singular man, but a formed circle of elders instead, and as an unheard practition in the rest of the world(which they longed to discover), chosen by and from the people themselves. The city laws were flexible, almost to the point of lax, every Arcoscephalian citizen instead relied on conscience and honor to avoid falling into disarray and destructive chaos. Conscience and honor are never enough for the society though, and the lives of people were far from clockwork, unexpected occurences often intervened and changed their lives, however, owing to their endurance and optimism, they more often benefited from those surprises, (which often they brought upon themselves, for stagnation and dormancy were not to the taste of an Arcoscephalian) than to be ruined from them.
The thirst for knowledge and the lure of unknown were deep in the hearts of the people of Arcoscephale, and they were already leaving their cradle, expanding both their realm and their culture outward, it was a wonder why they seldom sought to uncover the secrets of Mount Cephalos, a mountain both sacred and forbidden, not by laws but by tradition(which the city folk revered more). As this expansion started to commence, a hero, strongest of the strong, bravest of the brave, conquering the barriers of his mind, and falling victim to his curiosity, and thirst of knowledge, dared to uncover the secrets of the mountain. after ninety nine days, he returned, changed, not in appearance, but in state of mind, he claimed himself prophet. He was to be laughed at first, until miracles began to happen, scores of winged horses, graceful and white as marble, began flying over the city, and none dared to harm them. Next appeared a divine being, a woman to the eye, a goddess to the heart, to the side of prophet, of blinding beauty so dazzling that people shielded their eyes with their hands, lest their eyes and minds be overwhelmed. She performed miracles(for a land of magic, miracles appeared as magic unseen and unheard of before) and prophet spoke, possessed by some unknown power, of realms beyond, of glory, of passion, of dangers, of wonders, of victory, of cataclysm, and the hearts of the people were captured. The power loved the people of Arcoscephale, not as subjects but as countless children, revealed them secrets, empowering their already mighty knowledge, and they in return, put the power even above the gods of their own creation, for gods were numerous and this being was singular and immensely more powerful and most of all, cared for them and loved them. Mountain spirits, manifesting themselves as women of blinding beauty, taught in the Mountain, willing virgins of the city the ways of forests, nature and herbs, of the animals, of healing, and those learned the ways of nature were established within the realm as priestesses, preaching the word of the mysterious power, tending to the sick and wounded, taming wild animals and blessing the worthy.
Arcoscephale, renewed in their existence, beauty and vigor, were ready to enlighten the darkest corners of the world and battle whom will stand in their way, for it was revealed to them, of other powers, some akin to theirs, some malicious, some dealt in death, others, (to their disgust and horror) in blood. The pegasi were tamed as mounts, the order of mystics began researching new spells and creations, philosophers, thinkers of great renown forced their minds to their extent, the
strategos adopted new sophisticated battle tactics meanwhile the prophet revealed that in nine hundred ninety nine setting and passing of sun, the power would reveal itself, springing out from the roots of ground, and the old city, now considered itself ready, to show its shining might to the rest of the world...