The World of Medallia

In the ancient past, the world was created by the Gods. They bestowed into creation ten Divine Artifacts. Each artifact contained powerful energy and energy from these artifacts spread into and guided all things.

These ten Divine Artifacts were:

• The Artifact of Life
• The Artifact of Power
• The Artifact of Energy
• The Artifact of Wisdom
• The Artifact of Knowledge
• The Artifact of Creativity
• The Artifact of Nature
• The Artifact of Spirit
• The Artifact of Time
• The Artifact of Death

The Gods, then, with many affairs and interests, left the world for some time, busy with many other matters.

Gradually, the world blossomed. Nature, life, and many things emerged, and in time, the race of man also emerged.

This new form of life was very enterprising and hungry for knowledge and power. However, they were also humble and wise, living in peace with the natural order of things, encouraged by the hidden balance maintained by all of the Divine Artifacts.

However, in time, and through ever increasing enterprise and ingenuity, men created many devices and tools and began to shape the world more to their own ambitions. At length, they even discovered one of the artifacts... The Artifact of Nature.

This artifact was discovered by a prudent and thoughtful individual, Mendle, who proved to be a worthy owner. Possession of the Artifact of Nature bestowed upon Mendle a profound understanding of the natural world. Rain, weather, and the will of wild animals all became revealed to him.

This led to great prosperity, as Mendle soon understood the nature of all growing things and then taught to his people the art of growing plants and wild things, which led to a great abundance of food and security for many years. Mendle became the first great king of this land, and was given the name King Mendalus.

For many generations, the people lived in peace and prosperity. Arts and trade flourished. Man, ever contriving, developed more and more devices of industry and craft. In time, yet another artifact was discovered, the Artifact of Wisdom. This object, clearly supernatural in nature, was presented to King Mendalus who immediately recognized it.

Until this time, he had kept the Artifact of Nature hidden, known only to him. Now, it was clear to him that there may be many such objects in the world, all divine in nature. He revealed his hidden artifact, and built a shrine to these sacred tools of power and fortune.

He created the Mendalian Council to guard, protect and study these artifacts, and still being a wise man he was thoughtful and wise in his deliberations. Soon, the council organized great missions searching for more of these strange and powerful devices.

In due time, many of the ancient artifacts were discovered and the Kingdom of Medallia grew in renown and glory. These were splendid days, full of peace, trade and commerce across all lands.

Arts and contests flourished and many grew jealous of renown and achievement, even wealth. The missions to discover what few artifacts remained drew many, eager to make a name for themselves and perhaps gain admission to the great Mendalian Council themselves.

One such mission, led into the mountains of the far east, was captained by Kyron, a young and bold individual, eager for recognition. Deeper and deeper into the mountains he led his men until finally he found it... in a grim and foreboding cavern, the Artifact of Power.

Rapidly, Kyron felt his own power enhanced by this new tool, and soon his will and ambition grew. Just as Mendle was a worthy owner of the Artifact of Nature, Kyron's nature was well suited to the Artifact of Power.

Before long, and while still in the far eastern mountains, Kyron's ambition changed. No longer was he interested in joining the Council. Instead, he saw himself as new king, a king who would become far greater than Mendalus. He used the artifact's power and commanded his men to follow him. At first, there was doubt. Kyron had not yet mastered how to bend the energy in the artifact to his own will.

But he learned quickly, and in the turmoil that followed, in anger, he commanded the mountain according to his own desires and huge boulders and stones came crashing down, crushing those with him who were hesitant to turn against Mendalus. The rest, then, obeyed, and their hearts became equally corrupted by the desire for power.

At length, Kyron returned to Medallia, but kept his artifact hidden. In the east, meanwhile, he began building a great fortress. A fortress that would be the seat of his power in the future.

Many more generations passed. By now, all ten artifacts had been discovered and Medallia was at the height of its power. Kyron had managed to acquire three, the artifacts of Power, Time and Death, and his fortress in the east was now a dark and impregnable battlement. He used his artifacts to turn that land into a ruined wasteland, scattered with danger and death, to deter any from traveling that way and discovering his great fortress before he was ready to reveal himself.

Medallia, however, was flourishing and at the height of its glory as a civilization. At its heart now stood a great city, surrounding an extravagant castle and at its center a shrine, holding all seven of the artifacts known to King Mendalus and the Council. Within this shrine, were great tablets recording all of the knowledge, wisdom, language and history of the civilization. These were the most cherished and worshipped objects in all the lands.

Finally, Kyron's day arrived. Pressured on by lust for power and domination, he could wait no longer. By now he was a well respected captain within Medallia, still leading quests for new artifacts, and his power and secret followers were always increasing in number.

He revealed himself, and the three artifacts in his possession, and challenged the king directly, attempting to claim the throne for himself, in exchange for the three artifacts in his possession. But the king, still wise, saw through Kyron's deceit and refused.

War ensued.

War such that the realm of Medallia had never known before. By this time, Kyron's fortress was formidable and his followers many. A great conflict followed, and Mendalus had no choice but to employ all of the artifacts for the purposes of defense and warfare, which heretofore had been forbidden. The two powers clashed and there was great violence and destruction.

Then, in the depths of battle, the Gods returned to their world, and upon seeing man embroiled in great conflict, and, having discovered their artifacts, abusing their power, the Gods were filled with anger and frustration. Seeing the heart of man, now ever intent on power, they wondered at their own creation.

Reluctant to meddle in the affairs of man, the Gods finally passed their judgment. They observed the men, still deep in conflict, carelessly laying waste to their world, and then they rained down their judgment and smote the civilization to ruin, crushing the great shrine and destroying the tablets of knowledge, and wresting the artifacts from the hands of man and once more scattering them far and wide across the land.

The artifacts dispersed and the tablets of knowledge destroyed, the power of the two armies waned, and furthermore all men were stripped of their knowledge of operating all of their war machines, and Kyron, stripped of power himself, no longer held command of his men.

The war ended in chaos, as both sides lost all will to continue fighting, and the entire land fell into a dark age as knowledge, wisdom and power were banished from men... And everywhere, far and wide, the broken fragments of the tablets of knowledge were scattered...

But the Gods, before leaving, spoke this prophecy to the world:

You were stewards of our great powers and learned great wisdom

But now, you have led yourself to ruin, becoming heedless and power hungry

We thus now smote you to ruin, and strip from your possession all such divine powers as you have mastered

In time, men will again be born, one strong in heart, and one hungry for power, for these are the nature of men, and once more will you face this great test...

For power and wisdom are in the nature of things, and cannot be removed

As is in your nature, both wisdom and greed...

For such is the nature of things

And with that, the Gods departed from the world, and Medallia fell into darkness, and Kyron's great fortress into ruin, and all was lost from memory and knowledge... and across all of the world, rained down the fragments of the tablets of knowledge, but none could read them as all language and wisdom was lost.