An Excerpt from the Scrolls of Ezra
n the time before, in a land cloaked in Mists, there was a woman, and She was Ezra. zra E
was a healer of the sick and protector of the weak. Such was Her lot in life. Such was Her role in the grand scheme. Ezra took pride in the role Fate had given Her. Her duty was Her joy. or F or
many years, Ezra healed the lame and watched over Her people. Yet as time went on, Ezra began to see the Hollow. From the Mists of Death came horrors of the night. They were the drinker of blood and the stealer of breath and the beast that rends. Many were their legions. Many were the roles played by darkness in the Grand Scheme. S cheme. zra E
knew that Death would come for Her, as it comes to all in time. When Ezra entered the Gray Land, there would be no guardian to fill Her role. There would be no one to stand between Her people and the Legions of the Night. zra E
set forth on a quest to find a guardian for Her people. She sought the One Pure Heart who would assume Her role. Ezra sought for the One Pure Heart in many lands, but ever did She seek in vain. I n
time, Her quest brought Ezra to the end of all things. Behind Ezra stretched all the lands of the world. Before Ezra rose only the Mists of Death.
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spoke to the Mists. Asked She, “The world is yours. You set its shape. Why do you allow its people to wander, lost and afraid?” But the Mists did not answer.
A gain
Ezra spoke. “Why have you filled your world with the Legions of the Night?” Yet the Mists would not answer.
third time did Ezra speak. “All things have their role in the Grand Scheme. The Legions of the Night have their place, but Guardians and Guides have their roles in turn.” Still the Mists offered no reply. A
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spoke once more. “I have searched all the vastness of your lands, but I have found no Guardians for My people. I have found no Guides for the lost.” Again the Mists were silent. F or
the last time did Ezra speak. “You have failed the Grand Scheme. You have created a Hollow that must be filled. If you will not watch over your people, then that task falls to me.” Upon the fifth entreaty did the Mists of Death reply. F rom
the Mists came a Voice, and the Voice spoke, saying, “Turn back, Mortal. You know nothing of the Grand Scheme. You know nothing of the Mists. You have reached the end of Your world. Continue and You shall find only Your destruction, nothing more.” Y et
Ezra held fast against the Mists, saying, “You cann ot bid Me enter, yet I cannot turn away. I offer Myself to you so that you may know the suffering of My People. If I must be destroyed for them, then that is what must be.” The Mists of Death fell silent. T hen
the Voice spoke once more. “Enter the Mists if You must, Mortal, but n ot as You are. Your kind has no place here. To enter the Mists, You must become as one with the Mists. Never again shall You leave them. Will You forever sacrifice Yourself to watch over these few mortals?” poke S
Ezra, “Such is My role in the Grand Scheme. So must it be.” And with these words did Ezra become Our Guardian in the Mists.
zra’s quest to find the guardian for her people, the One Pure Heart, will be fulfilled by the daughter of a drunkard, a humble friar. So speaks the true Book of Ezra. T he
fight against the horrors of the night will fall upon this woman, and she will die for her people. But Death cannot have her. She will rise again and march upon the gates of evil itself. The One Pure Heart will face a dark champion and emerge victorious. And
at what cost? Those who join her in finishing Ezra’s work will also perish.
But
Death cannot have her. The One Pure Heart will join her lady in the Mists. So speaks the true Book of Ezra. I uz,
god of evil, oppresion, pain and wickedness, seeks to gain more power. With the two tablets he seeks to rise above the other gods and extinguish all light. He defeated Death once, and in doing so, lives beyond mortal years, an undead husk of his former self. T hese
two tablets require a sacrifice, one that Iuz will be willing to make. And in the end, they will be his undoing. The words are a trick, written long ago by the Lord of Whispers, the Maimed One, and he will have the last laugh. So speaks the true Book of Ezra. H ow All
much suffering will the One Pure Heart endu re!
will become clear by the end, and in that moment of clarity, the forces of light will be victorious.
