GM Downtime - Book Excerpt 2

"Not all portions of the myth of the Artificers' War are present in every retelling of the story, and indeed, some of the most cryptic portions of the story are present only in singular versions. For example, the following passage is known to only be present in the version local to parts of Terna entitled 'The Brothers' Spat,' here transcribed by Agrin Formos of Wayburn."

"'Then, not in flight but with a great and singular purpose, the Golden Brother (this is commonly believed to be Merath) ventured northward from the great battlefield until he arrived at the place of the Green Guardians, and living among the Guardians he built a place of seeing, the highest of high hills, wherefrom he could see for countless miles in all the directions it is possible to see.'"

"While the fullest meaning of this passage is lost on most, we can attempt to draw some conclusions. There is evidence in other pieces of local folklore that suggests that the Green Guardians were an order of ancient druids and naturists, or perhaps the ancestors of the modern race of elves. Unfortunately, this most likely means that all traces of such a group are gone; both druids and the ancient elves built in wood and cloth, and very little of their works or structures survive. The nature of Merath's 'high hill' is still something of a mystery. Explorers have searched most of the highest vantage points in Terna and found no sign of any ancient structures. This might lead one to believe that the hill is metaphorical; perhaps the place was a center for information-gathering, a nest of spies where Merath coordinated his surveillance efforts. Perhaps it was a place where divinations were used to see out into the world. Then again, it is equally possible that the structure simply has not survived, or is deep in the mountains of the Worldspine where no explorer has managed to find it. It is even possible, and indeed somewhat probable given that most tellings of the Artificers' War make no mention of it, that such a place simply does not exist except in the mind of an overly excited storyteller."

From Chapter 3 of "A Study of the Possible Validity of the Tale of the Artificers' War" by Sheridan Mott, Professor, Thaumheim Mages' Academy, City of Thaumheim, Terrandin