Long ago, in times now more distant than the stars, a great sorcereress Kylar lived in a tower in the Plains of Armaak. Kylar was a student of the natural world, and desired to know everything there was to know about the mysteries and wonder of creation, and for three millennia she studied everything on the subject. Her life's work led her to write a lengthy thesis on the subject, which detailed every observation and theory her great mind could conceive. She called this thesis the Book of Life. Many sought to study, and steal, the vast knowledge that Kylar had accumulated and recorded in her thesis, for amongst its seemingly infinite pages it was rumoured that Kylar had discovered the secret of controlling life and death. Most notable among those interested in acquiring the Book of Life was her long-time rival, a sorcerer by the name of Feados, whose only interest was in acquiring power.
Fearing that her work might fall into the wrong hands, Kylar hid herself away in her tower, which she protected with a thousand and one warding spells to keep anyone or anything from entering or harming either herself, her tower, or the Book of Life. She realised that she could not simply destroy the book, for there are even the simplest of magics that could have restored it. Kylar had to do something far more permanent, and so she set to work.
Twelve decades passed before the now very elderly and very frail Kylar finally neared her work�s completion. The Book of Life, which contained unimaginable knowledge and wisdom about all things
When Feados learned of Kylar�s intentions, he was furious, and, commanding a fearsome army, he stormed Kylar�s tower, assaulting it with every possible means available to him, both magical and mundane. Kylar�s powers had been severely drained by her toil, and her warding spells soon failed. Feados entered the tower, and confronted Kylar � however, at exactly that moment, Kylar�s efforts came to fruition, and the Book of Life was transformed as she had planned, and the tome became a large, phenomenal pillar of darkness and shadow. The burst of mystical energies tore asunder the tower, and completely consumed the Kylar, Feados, the rubble of the tower, Feados� massive army, and a huge proportion of the Plains of Armaak. The sky blackened for seven days and seven nights, more darkly and more deeply than any night sky had ever been. All the while, the pillar of blackness remained ever-present, like an ominous threat. The world was shocked by what had occurred, and none dared go anywhere within view of where Kylar�s tower had once stood.
But after a week, the sky returned to normal, and the column of shadow turned in colour to a pale green, forever crackling with white lightning, stretching from the ground to the furthest reaches above the clouds. The world sighed in relief, and dared to breath � it seemed that whatever evil had occurred in the Plains of Armaak, it had now passed.
Then came the Nephilim.
When it became apparent that this new phenomenon was not going to vanish, like all things, it needed a name. The latinus scholari gave it the name Initium Occasus, which means, roughly, �beginning and destruction�. Clearly, with no idea of what it was, they just wanted to give it an ominous and interesting name. Little did they know at the time that their name was in fact very accurate.
Unbeknownst to them, the mystical energies of the Initium Occasus, fuelled by the knowledge of life and death and all the assorted knowledge, wisdom, good and evil of Kylar and Feados, and the power if the army it had consumed, was capable of creating life. Not life in any sense previously known to this world, but a strange, new form of life: the Nephilim.
The first of the Nephilim took the form of the twisted sorcerer, Feados, but claimed the name Ba�ados. His arrival caused a wave of concern and worry, and rashly the latinus scholari ordered the Seven Kings of the world to send forth their armies to destroy this lone threat. Mindlessly obedient to the latinus scholari as always, the Seven Kings obeyed, and ordered their finest warriors to seek out and kill Ba�ados. Ten thousand men and women, clad in the armour and colours of their Kings, rode out to the Plains of Armaak, and there they faced Ba�ados, the first Nephilim.
Ba�ados spoke to the Generals of the seven armies, and told them not to fear him. He spoke of the Coming of the Nephilim, explaining that he was only the first of many, many more. He told them that the Nephilim were simply a new species, and that Humanity would simply have to learn to co-exist peacefully with them. However, he also warned that one day, long from now, there would come the Last Nephilim, who would take the form of Kylar, and who would seek to destroy Humanity. This would not happen for a long time from now, however, Ba�ados assured the Generals.
Outraged at all this, the Generals ordered their troops to kill Ba�ados, the Enemy of Humanity, and so did the armies rush into battle against this sole individual, and were eventually triumphant. Ten thousand warriors entered the Plains of Armaak, but only three hundred left, with only two of the seven Generals. Still, they had Ba�ados� head on the end of a spear, and the campaign was considered a great victory.
Weeks passed, then months, then years. No more Nephilim came. It seemed that Ba�ados� warnings had been fictitious and meaningless. However, fourteen years after the armies of the Seven Kings had killed Ba�ados, the Initium Occasus, still as active and foreboding as ever, began to birth more Nephilim. Just a handful appeared at first, then more, and more, and more. Suddenly Nephilim were emerging at a rate of one a day, sometimes even more frequent than that. These Nephilim were infinitely diverse in appearance and capability, ranging from twelve-eyed giant toads able to spit lightning to ordinary Human-looking beings able to alter the flowof time itself. At first, Humanity reacted with fear, distrust and anger, and more armies were mounted, and more assaults were made. The Nephilim proved too powerful and too numerous, however, and most would only act with hostility when provoked. Soon after the Nephilim eruption, the Seven Kings decreed that Humanity and the Nephilim must learn to co-exist peacefully, as Ba�ados had once said, and for the most part this was accepted, and an accord was reached between the two races.
The Present Day
Now, 125 years after the eruption of the Initium Occasus, Nephilim and Humans exist side-by-side, sometimes amicably, but mostly with some form of distrust. Both races know that the Nephilim possess far more power and might than Humans, yet something unknown to Humanity stops the Nephilim from turning on Humans and eradicating them. The Initium Occasus continues birthing new Nephilim every day, and by order of the Seven Kings, no Human (save for outlaws and members of The Observatory) may enter the Plains of Armaak, which is now considered the �official� domain of the Nephilim, though there are now Nephilim all over the world, in the cities, towns and villages of the Humans. There is currently a debate over whether to declare the Plains of Armaak the Eighth Kingdom, ruled over by a Nephilim King, but this has been met with a great deal of resentment and uncertainty, and has yet to be decided upon.
And meanwhile, in the shadows and the background, the latinus scholari scheme to destroy the Nephilim ultimately, fearing the prophecy made by Ba�ados, of the Last Nephilim, and the annihilation of Humanity.
Are the Nephilim truly benevolent, as the majority seem to be? Or will they prove to be the downfall of the Human race? Only time will tell�
