‘And the Elflords fought the power of Dréagg for many moons and the stories of their struggle have passed into legend for great was the bravery of the Elves and mighty were their Heroes. But greater still was the power of Dréagg and Magic alone was not enough to combat his dread evil so that his influence waxed strong and the Earth was rendered hideous by the horrors that abounded.
‘And the Elflords beseeched the Mighty Ashgaroth to render them aid in their time of need. And so it was that he bestowed upon the Elves, the second of the Duâin Elrondin (or the powers of life) which is Logic, and of the two, which are Magic and Logic, this second is the most dangerous. But there was great fear in the heart of Ashgaroth at the bestowal of this gift and he warned them of its danger and that it was to be used most sparingly for if it were allowed to gain ascendance, then it would destroy the Earth.
‘So that none of the Elves should be able to use the power without the others, Ashgaroth divided the power into three, which are the Three Seeds of Logic, and each seed he placed in a casket wrought from burnished copper from the deepest Mines of Mixon; and each casket he gave into the possession of one of the three Elflords. Thus it was that the power of Logic could not be used unless the Three Seeds were brought together and released as one and once they had been released they could be used no more.
‘And it has been seen that there were three Lords over all the Earth; but of these the greatest was Ammdar, Lord of the Forests whose power was such that the grass turned to silver where he walked and the leaves changed to gold when he wished it. And he walked the forests, his domain, and all bowed down and marvelled at his might and he fought Dréagg and many times he won.
‘And Dréagg watched the powers of Ammdar and saw in their very greatness the chance for which he had been waiting. And in the darkest nights, when the Earth slept, he whispered to Ammdar from afar so that he might not know that the words were the words of Dréagg. And as time passed so did Ammdar, the Silver Warrior, become vain and proud and conscious of his strength; and so also did he grow greedy and Dréagg nurtured this greed and fed it until it grew so that Ammdar rejected his Lord Ashgaroth.
‘And finally, when Dréagg sensed the time was right, did he make himself known and plant his scheme in the mind of Ammdar. “With the seeds of logic in your possession,” he said, “then would you indeed be supreme over all the Earth. And I will help you in this task if you will accept me as your Lord so that together we may conquer Ashgaroth.”
‘And the lust for power, which had been gnawing away at the soul of Ammdar like a disease, was such that he welcomed Dréagg willingly as his Lord.
‘And so began a saga of deceit and treachery in which Dréagg assisted Ammdar to find Elflings of his own and of the two other Great Lords who would help him in his quest for the seeds. And he promised them power if they would reject Ashgaroth and their own Lords in favour of the Ruler of Evil. And many who were approached refused Ammdar and were destroyed most horribly but some there were who accepted him and these are called Goblins for they are Fallen Elves.
The Goblins were granted the powers of evil by Dréagg and became reviled and feared, and mighty was their cunning so that they wormed their way into positions of trust with Malcoff and Saurelon and the Keepers of the Seeds.
‘And so finally it came about that Ammdar Lord of the Forest had at one time in his possession the Three Seeds of Logic. The power could not be granted to the Goblins for they were of Magic and Magic and Logic would not lie together. Thus he conceived of the idea that if the gift of Logic were to be given to the animals in return for their acceptance of him and the Rule of Evil then would he truly be supreme over the Earth and the overthrow of Malcoff and Saurélon would be complete.
‘So on a night when the moon did not shine and the air was still he did summon the Leaders of the Animals to his lair in the deepest forests of Spath and there he offered them this mighty gift if they would pledge themselves to him alone.
‘But the powers of Ashgaroth were strong in the animals and they rejected the offer of Ammdar so that they might remain in the light of Ashgaroth.
‘And a great fury came over the Lord of the Forest at his rejection so that his wrath was terrible to see and the animals fled in fear and the trees shook till they were rended from the earth and the mighty boughs tore and broke like blades of grass.
‘And Dréagg watched the ravings of Ammdar with much satisfaction for the Lord of the Forests was now as clay in his hands to be used as he would.
‘ “Let us take revenge for your rejection,” he whispered in the mind of Ammdar, “on these creatures which scorn your might.”
‘And it was thus that Ammdar and the Ruler of Evil, the mighty Dréagg, created a race of beings which they called Man; which we call, in the language of the Old Ones, Urkku which means “The Great Enemy”.
‘And in them was all the wrath of Ammdar against the animals so that they had no regard for them and Dréagg planted the root of cruelty deep within the Urkku so that they were cruel in their ways towards them for Man had been made as an instrument of revenge.
‘And Man was created with the power of the Three Seeds so that he was of pure Logic; and Magic, the gift of the Mighty Ashgaroth to the Elves, was denied to him. Clever was the work of Dréagg for even as Ashgaroth had bestowed upon the Elves fragments of himself so did Dréagg give to Man, alongside the root of cruelty, the evil nature of arrogance so that he believed himself to be supreme over all the Earth and over all the Creatures of the Earth. And in his logic, this justified his treatment of the animals.
‘So Man began his reign over the Earth and Dréagg was well pleased for the jewel of Ashgaroth was torn asunder and the colours faded and the green growing things withered and died and it became as a barren waste. And only what was necessary for the support or pleasure of the Urkku was allowed to survive.
‘And the creatures of Ashgaroth, the Elves, whose powers were of Magic, were driven out by Man and began to dwell in the secret hidden places deep in the fortress of the Earth; known only to the animals.
‘And Ammdar also was well pleased as he watched for truly a terrible revenge was exacted on the animals and great was their suffering.
‘And the Tale of their Persecution and Abuse is as known to you as is the air you breathe.
‘But some there were among the Urkku who cast out the influence of Dréagg and in whom the root of cruelty and the nature of arrogance failed to grow. And they turned towards Ashgaroth and he opened their eyes so that they had glimpses of the Earth even as the Elves and the animals do and they saw the magic in the mountains and the trees and the sea and they were as one with the animals so that they are called Eldron or The Friends.
‘And throughout the reign of Man have been the Eldron but in numbers they are few. And for their ways have they been laughed at, scorned and ridiculed, and a great anger is in them as they see the suffering and horror inflicted by their fellow race on the animals whose pain they feel as they would feel pain inflicted on their fellows for with them is all cruelty vile.
‘For Ammdar, Lord of the Forests, the taste of power was to be bittersweet and brief, for Dréagg had no more use for him and in him Dréagg sensed appetites to rival even his gargantuan tastes. So did the Ruler of Evil sow the seeds of discontent among Ammdar’s lair in the Forests of Spath, and a Goblin, Degg by name, was given the power to destroy Ammdar, which is to say that the sword of Degg was woven with the spell of time; for in his fall from Ashgaroth Ammdar had lost the immortality of the Elves, and Dréagg now could destroy the Goblins as he wished by halting the flow of time within them.