Stanza I: The Song of Asar
“The Song of Asar”
From the Gathered Writings of the First Eladyan Conclave – No Assertion of Authorship
Written 4,249 standard cycles before the Crescendo
Forever past and for all time will stand the elements
Eternal, immutable, and absolute
The flawless units that make up our universe
Formed by Nazua
Mother of reality
Daughter of illusion
In their infancy, the elements were a tempest
They clashed and quarreled without direction
And so, Nazua pointed to a spot where the elements should gather
They raced there and collided
This was how the first star was born
In this way, Nazua created the heavens
The constellations provided a map for the elements
Who followed the tides and rivers of gravity until they came to rest
Where Nazua had intended
The map of reality grew, and Nazua soon grew tired of traveling its expanding edges
She gave each star a new command, one that each one would attempt
But few would accomplish
Each star should hold the elements against their warmth
Not too closely, not too distant
A balance that, if achieved, would cause the elements to vibrate
With the same harmony as Nazua’s
In this way, the elements became us
The children of Asar, raised by our loving star
To the melody of our distant mother
Our ancestors could hear the melody of Nazua with perfect clarity
A melody that now, we can only hear in distant echoes
With this song, they followed her eternal will
And coaxed the elements into harmony
And Nazua’s plan was set forth, building to a distant crescendo
That would not arrive for thousands of generations
But there was one among them who was not content with following the melody
He was Ankari, and he dreamed of creating his own melody
One separate from the mothersong
For he had grown impatient that he would not hear the mothersong’s end
Could never experience its culmination
So created his own,
A melody whose culmination he could live to hear in his waning days
A song of Asar, to serve its children for all time
He began a new melody, willing the elements to serve his people
Half of our ancestors joined Ankari
The other half stayed faithful to the melody of Nazua
Believing in something greater than any mortal could ever dream to design alone
Ankari and his clan were banished, left to wander the unmade lands
There, they learned how to conduct the elements for their own purpose
With this newfound power, they called very waters to flow
From distant springs to the parched heart of the basin
And so, the clan of Ankari built a glorious city in the Redstone basin
The city of Eladya.
They raised shimmering towers from the dust,
And carved great halls within the mountains
While they were blessed with abundance,
They had lost their eternal purpose
Alone and out of harmony with Nazua’s symphony
Left to endlessly repeat the cycle of birth and rebirth
Prisoners to their flesh
Subject to the very elements they had claimed to rule in life
That would be the curse of the children of Asar
The melody they crafted was and still is, a wonder of Asar
But never greater
For while Nazua’s symphony continues to swell in every corner of her creation
A song of Asar, can only ever serve Asar.