Valgius shook his head. "Calm down." he said. He then shook his head. "While I was traveling with Angoreor, he told me of the past of Hetra." Valgius sat back. "It's a long tale." he warned her.
"The race of Man, over the course of thousands of years, had advanced to the point that there was no disease, no terminal illness. Lifespans had been increased to hundreds of years old. The only deaths were those that had died of natural causes or wars. Man, if given another few hundred years, might have even been able to conquer Death itself. Yet... Man had a fascination with Death. War factories churned out nuclear weapons of such power, it was unfathomable. Not even the makers of the weapons knew the damage that would be caused. Yet, Fate had a terrible twist for Man. A storm struck one of the labs, and a bolt of lightning caused a power surge, which launched every weapon in the facility. World leaders panicked, and ordered a counterfire. Soon, practically every weapon that had been built was in the air. Another bolt of lightning struck one of the last few weapons in the air. Those that didn't detonate in midair wiped out 60% of the population. The rest kindled a nuclear-powered storm of such ferocity and magnitude that lightning strikes split entire landmasses. When it was all said and done, every city, town, and village had been completely destroyed. Roughly 5% of humanity survived intact. Man was reduced to living like animals, barely more intelligent than their prey. However, not everyone survived intact... the nuclear energy spread by both the weapons and the storms had caused rapid mutations in many of the animals living on the planet... including people. Some people had adapted to different situations. Soon after, Man began to form colonies. When they encountered the mutated humans, they gave them different names based on mythologies of old, though the words were meaningless to them: Dwarves, Trolls, Gnomes, Goblins. There was also a sixth race: Elves. They had been around forever, but their tale is one I was not told. At any rate, the communities of the six races soon began having petty land disputes. However, a Human by the name of Borgaleus formed a coalition from the various races. This was the First Council of the Druids, whose goal was to try and comprehend what few books of knowledge remained. However, things went awry, at the Fifth Council of the Druids. A Man named Barracador grew tired of the old texts revealing little of their secrets. Yes, life had improved for all the races. Communities had become countries. However, technology was nowhere close to what the Men of old had. So, Barracador sought another way to unlock knowledge. While on his travels, he managed to find and unlock a mysterious power called "Focus". When he showed Focus to the Druids, they were livid, and ordered Barracador to cease his studies. However, the rogue Druid refused. He seized control of the simple-minded Trolls, and began to wage war on the other races. However, an army led by the Druid Bontrestor, a direct descendant of Borgaleus, managed to halt Barracador's invasion. Bontrestor and Barracador are said to have fought in that battle, though no mortal eye could see their struggle. Many thought Barracador to have been defeated by an amazing blade crafted by the Elves and Bontrestor's own Focus abilities, though the existence of such a sword had never been proven." Valgius told her. "However, Barracador was alive, and made another bid for world domination. I found out I was the only one that could stop him. So, I set out on a journey. After learning how to control the Six Elements of Focus, I was locked in stasis for ten years. When I awakened, everything had been ruined. Barracador had taken over. I then set out, liberating cities and finally defeated Barracador with the help of the Eagle Blade." Valgius sighed. "There... that's my full tale."
"The race of Man, over the course of thousands of years, had advanced to the point that there was no disease, no terminal illness. Lifespans had been increased to hundreds of years old. The only deaths were those that had died of natural causes or wars. Man, if given another few hundred years, might have even been able to conquer Death itself. Yet... Man had a fascination with Death. War factories churned out nuclear weapons of such power, it was unfathomable. Not even the makers of the weapons knew the damage that would be caused. Yet, Fate had a terrible twist for Man. A storm struck one of the labs, and a bolt of lightning caused a power surge, which launched every weapon in the facility. World leaders panicked, and ordered a counterfire. Soon, practically every weapon that had been built was in the air. Another bolt of lightning struck one of the last few weapons in the air. Those that didn't detonate in midair wiped out 60% of the population. The rest kindled a nuclear-powered storm of such ferocity and magnitude that lightning strikes split entire landmasses. When it was all said and done, every city, town, and village had been completely destroyed. Roughly 5% of humanity survived intact. Man was reduced to living like animals, barely more intelligent than their prey. However, not everyone survived intact... the nuclear energy spread by both the weapons and the storms had caused rapid mutations in many of the animals living on the planet... including people. Some people had adapted to different situations. Soon after, Man began to form colonies. When they encountered the mutated humans, they gave them different names based on mythologies of old, though the words were meaningless to them: Dwarves, Trolls, Gnomes, Goblins. There was also a sixth race: Elves. They had been around forever, but their tale is one I was not told. At any rate, the communities of the six races soon began having petty land disputes. However, a Human by the name of Borgaleus formed a coalition from the various races. This was the First Council of the Druids, whose goal was to try and comprehend what few books of knowledge remained. However, things went awry, at the Fifth Council of the Druids. A Man named Barracador grew tired of the old texts revealing little of their secrets. Yes, life had improved for all the races. Communities had become countries. However, technology was nowhere close to what the Men of old had. So, Barracador sought another way to unlock knowledge. While on his travels, he managed to find and unlock a mysterious power called "Focus". When he showed Focus to the Druids, they were livid, and ordered Barracador to cease his studies. However, the rogue Druid refused. He seized control of the simple-minded Trolls, and began to wage war on the other races. However, an army led by the Druid Bontrestor, a direct descendant of Borgaleus, managed to halt Barracador's invasion. Bontrestor and Barracador are said to have fought in that battle, though no mortal eye could see their struggle. Many thought Barracador to have been defeated by an amazing blade crafted by the Elves and Bontrestor's own Focus abilities, though the existence of such a sword had never been proven." Valgius told her. "However, Barracador was alive, and made another bid for world domination. I found out I was the only one that could stop him. So, I set out on a journey. After learning how to control the Six Elements of Focus, I was locked in stasis for ten years. When I awakened, everything had been ruined. Barracador had taken over. I then set out, liberating cities and finally defeated Barracador with the help of the Eagle Blade." Valgius sighed. "There... that's my full tale."