"Then I will try to tell you, master knight, as well as I can! But where to begin..."

The old man is silent for a few moments more, before producing a fistful of leaves from a pouch under his poncho. He throws the leaves at the fire, which instantly starts to burn with increased ferocity. Shapes, like shadowy silhouettes of people, starts taking form in the raging flames. 

'A very long time ago I was part of a great order of magi. At the time we were the most learned on the subject of the ancients and their ways in the world. One of my peers in the order, a woman of the Iwi people, was more learned than even most of the rest of us combined. She discovered something. A great power. It seemed that the ancients had found out the greatest of mysteries, or at least part of it. They had somehow learned to cheat death.'

The shadows in the fire have taken on the shape of a circle of people, moving in circles. In their midst stands a taller one in the shape of a woman. Suddenly, a few of them breaks apart and forms a circle of their own.

'The secret was not that of prolonged life, but a way to stop time. Or, at least to make it move in a controlled and never ending loop. With this power the ancients could have ruled the world indefinetly. Such power does not come without a cost, however. A great source of mana had to be found, and from what we learned the ancients did find it... But failed to control it. It heralded their doom. 

The Iwi woman was certain she could succeed where the ancients had failed, given time. Others in the order, myself included, thought otherwise. These are powers not even the ancients understood fully. To tamper with them without a complete understanding could lead to disaster. We set ourselves against her, but she had already found allies of her own. They were more numerous, and she was stronger. The order succumbed to infighting and my friends and I became hunted prey.'

The circle with the tall woman in their midst starts to spin faster and faster, until it becomes a frenzied wheel. It then moves outwards and crashes into the second circle, swallowing or scattering its figures.

'I have fled and fought ever since, to thwart and stall the Iwi woman and her agents wherever I can. As far as I know, I am the last one alive. And tonight they come to claim me. I can run no more. They come tonight not because they need to destroy me, but to capture me. I have found something, you see, in my travels. I have found the last living one of the ancients. And he holds all the answers they seek.'

The mad wheel now spins around a shape in its midst, a shape looking eerily like a small camp on top of a hill. It begins to shrink in towards it.

'So you see, friends, that I can go no further. But you might. I can tell you where to find this last survivor of the ancients. Then you can, you must, continue the struggle and prevent the Iwi woman and her followers from reaching their goal. If you do not, I fear for the world and for the people in it.'

He suddenly snaps upright and stares off into the night. You can hear voices on the wind.

'They will soon be here. Do not raise arms against them, it will do you no good. Do nothing, for now, and all will be well.'