I, Firebane, servant and priest of the One True God and scribe to the Queen of Silverwood hereby write unto leaders of the five realms the events that led up to the reign of the queen, so that you will know that the prophecies written by Krythurian have come to pass and that the One True God has established peace in the realms through His servant the Queen of the Silverwood.
In all of Teradandra, the realms have long struggled against the dark forces. To the realm of Nightfall, you who have spawned the darkness and have forsaken the One True God. Your minions have squashed and flooded the realm with despair and grief. Though the forces of light contain you, your devotion to the gods of darkness and of this world keep you from seeing true peace. You have been cursed from the beginning because it was in your gardens and in your streams where darkness was first revealed to Teradandra. The Orcs, Goblins, Emilatoss, Talicrons, Gravekites and others thirst for destruction. You who dwell in Nightfall long for the blessings of day, but you surround yourselves with only darkness. The throne of Silverwood will ever stand against you and cause you to fall. Your paths will only lead to an end full of misery and woe.
Now, come to the light declares the One True God. Not to destroy it, but to embrace it. For the One True God has love for all created things and to all the lands of Teradandra does He extend His arms. His compassion is never ending, but He must be approached with humility and a willingness to change. Though it may seem like you have not the strength to change, He will give you strength. He will make you like the beautiful flowers of the south.
To the creatures of the realm of Mountain Forge. Your love for the One True God has been resilient through the dark days. But, you grow weak and tired in your own strength. Find rest in the One True God. Let Him be your strength as you withstand the attacks from both without and within. The Wolves, Hawk Lords and Centaurs have allowed your clans to fall into disobedience. You’ve rested in your successes across the years and your children and their children have since forgotten who the One True God is. A friend yet remains in the clan
Thunderpack. You have dared take a stand when the name of the One True God was reviled by your enemies. You alone have taken on the shame of His calling. Hear now, that you will be remembered in the days when you feel weakest. On that day, when none but one in the clans stands for Him, then you shall send your prayer to me. When you do, that prayer will echo and sound forth through the land like never before. The sound of that prayer will awaken the dead hearts of many who have forgotten. I will relight the fire that was gone, and they will remember, says the One True God.
To the peoples of the realm of Dayspring. You have outwardly displayed the garments of purity, but in your hearts you have betrayed Him. Humans and dwarves, you have built towers and fortresses in the One True God’s name, but inside you have ignored His ways. Even the Guardians of Fairhaven whose very pledge is to uphold His name, have spoken oaths and pledges with empty words. Your eyes are the eyes of one that is dead. You strive for peace on every side, but your friends betray you. Your once faithful allies ignore your cries for help but still you fight on. You turn in every direction for help, but you do not turn to Me. You will be called to account on the day of judgment. When your deeds are reviewed, what shall be presented in your favor? The gold you have, is fool’s gold. The gems in your purse are fractured and scared. Your crops are wilted and lacking. Look in your heart, men of Fairhaven. Look deep in your soul, dwarves of Hilltop. Find the spark that once roared as a flame and protect it, nurture it, and feed it. Build it up again such that the flame radiates from your eyes so that all will see that the One True God is faithful and provides peace.
To those in the Outerlands, I send my pity. You have searched for me, and have not found me. You have called out for one to extol the virtues of the One True God, but none have stepped forward to share the message. The barbarians, giants and dragons of the land have all crawled around like little infants searching for that lost hope, but have not seen me. You search not with a heart of peace and humility but with defiance and pride. You, the mightiest in Teradandra, have thought no need of these, but meekness is what you truly lack. It is the absence of this that keeps you from being the greatest in all the lands. Seek then to become servants instead of masters, and I will spare you. Consider your failings to the glory of the One True God and tremble. Then will I send hope. Then I will bring to you a child, for whose heart you will imitate. Once your hearts have softened and become as the child’s, then you will have peace and blessings like none seen in Teradandra in twenty three ages.
To the children of the One True God in the Silverwood. He has set you on a course that will impact all of Teradandra. He will use you to spread the fame of the One True God to every land and all peoples. Through you, peace will once again spread throughout and honor and praise will be lifted to Him. The road will be long, so you must remain faithful. Your king will be taken from you and Spire Tree will fall ending the twenty third age, but the hope that is within shall not be diminished. For I have preserved my testimony in you. A new age will dawn as a woman gives birth to a child. The pain will be great, and the labor long, but the reward will be long lasting. At the sign of the child, Spire Tree will fall and rise again, but you will not find the throne until the final days. On the day that all the darkness of Teredandra comes at you, the spark that I have preserved will ignite into a roaring flame and totally destroy the darkness. On that day, the new Spire Tree will appear in an instant. By this will you know, that I have blessed Silverwood and kept watch over her.
These were the prophecies as spoken by the priest during the reign of Brontofor in the twenty-third age of Spire Tree. It is often forgotten, that Spire Tree as well as the elves are not eternal things. While it has been a considerable time since the birth of a new Spire Tree, and thus the belief that elves are immortal; eventually all things must pass from the temporal state of this world to the eternal state of the world that is to come. As elvish kings and queens eventually die whether it be from age or by sword, so too will Spire Tree fall again. Having witnessed the re-birth of the Silverwood through our Queen, her throne in Spire Tree where she dwells has also been made new.
But enough talk about what is, let us reflect on the state of things that lead up to the brief slumber and awakening of the Silverwood. At the death of Brontofor, during the last great war with the minions of Nightfall, his son, Emmanil Krestichan, assumed the throne of Silverwood. For two centuries, Krestichan established a peace with the realms of Dayspring and Mountain Forge, but Nightfall and Outerlands refused. As prosperity flowed through the three realms, Nightfall continued to seethe in its hatred and greed, but the Outerlands began to long for the blessings that had covered its sisters. And so, hostilities ceased between the kingdoms and partnerships and alliances were formed with Silverwood. But this angered some in Mountain Forge and Dayspring.
A plot was hatched with the help of Nightfall to stop the spread of goodwill between Silverwood and its newfound friend. Through treachery, a series of assassinations occurred, killing the three lords that ruled the tribes of the Outerlands – Malcoth, lord of the barbarians; Nevtarren, lord of the Giants; and Vash, lord of the dragons. The assassinations were made to look as though the house of Spire Tree herself had constructed them and this triggered the hundred years war. Dayspring and Mountain Forge were reluctant to side with the presumed guilty king of the Silverwood, and remained neutral for most of the great battle. But as the war continued, the battles that were once Silverwood’s problem alone, spread to include Dayspring and Mountain Forge.
With newly discovered proof that the assassinations that had kindled the current torment was actually started by a few enemies of Silverwood within Dayspring, Mountain Forge and Nightfall, the lords choose to remember their commitment to Spire Tree and take up arms against the Outerlands. With the combined strength of the elves, humans, Battle Wolves and Hawk Lords; the war quickly came to a close and the Outerlands were broken and devastated. Bitterness in Silverwood, Dayspring and Mountain Forge kept the realms from rebuilding the Outerlands until Krestichan again sought to restore the peace.
The descendants of the families that had subtly began the prior conflict, plotted again to end Krestichan’s plans once and for all. For several years, they coordinated and embedded the seeds of destruction in Spire Tree, until that one fateful night when the Talicrons stormed Spire Tree in a surprise attack and ended Krestichan’s life, reign and seemingly his heritage forever.
But Lord Krestichan knew that the traitors of Silverwood still existed and thus planned for it by keeping secret, even from his most loyal servants, the existence of his daughter. Regrettably, Lady Rayadorn had died at the birth of the princess. So, on the night of the fall of Silverwood, Krestichan in his dying moments yielded up the greatest secret in all of Teradandra, the existence and location of his heir, to a man of Dayspring. This man whom he had come to know only months before was a paladin, a Guardian of Fairhaven. He had shown exceptional strength and skill during the time of his training, but more importantly, he demonstrated a faith in the One True God that Krestichan had not seen in the human realm in more than one hundred years. This not only made the man powerful, but also the logical choice to preserve and raise his daughter.
And so, Guntharr, Guardian of Fairhaven, took as his ward Taya, heir to the Silverwood. So began his quest to preserve and raise up a queen for the Silverwood that would honor the name of the One True God and to restore peace to Teradandra.