Phocionus stood upon a precipice, gazing upon the World below in the utmost serenity, feeling the breeze upon himself, his entire body enjoying the rare concomitant coolness.
Earlier in the day, he had been occupied with his work; he was a scribe in Tol Jarghein, capital city in the Deserts of Time whose task essentially that of diplomatics: the study of the provenance of old documents and dating them. Recently, he had found a certain scroll written in a beautiful ancient language almost uncomprehendable by most of the inhabitants of the Middle Plane, but which he could still barely read. With permission from the Keeper of the Eternal Library of Tol Jarghein, for he had a reputation of trustworthiness, he had taken the scroll with him to relax in the mountains.
He began to concentrate on the contents of the document, and discovered that as long as he proceeded very slowly and methodically, he could obtain a grasp on the meaning of the written words.
In the second-to-last year of the Last Golden Age, the Demons of Hell, seizing an opportunity to subjugate Middle Plane inhabitants now that Heaven no longer protected it, attacked in full force. The Desert of Time was one of the targets of the hellish inhabitants, and they would have rampaged through the land unchecked, were it not for one heroic figure. In the last year of the Golden Age, the Archangel of Love, Eldarael, despite having been warned by all of Heaven to withdraw, refused to abandon his outpost, the last line of defence between the approaching hordes of invaders and the Holy City of Tol Jarghein. And so it was that he died.
Phocionus' tears began to wet the papyrus, now having recalled a dear friend whom he knew personally. He no longer felt the desire to continue reading.
He was shaken out of his reverie by what appeared to be two figures approaching the Mountains; it was difficult to tell from this distance as to whom exactly they were, but always of a trusting nature, he waited until they were near, and said, "Greetings, strangers, and well met, I hope. It is not often that one one wanders as such around these Mountains, but whatever your purpose be upon your journey, let me know if I may be of assistance."
