//OOC: Nimrod, welcome! And wow, what an intro! It's really exciting to have a brand new character enter our story. I hope you will fine the experience of writing in this thread as pleasant and satisfying as we do. A friendly tip, however: make sure, if you haven't already, to read through the entire thread. I realize that this read can be extremely daunting by now, but personally, when I entered this thread more than 50 pages ago, I had quite a few debates over the lore points with the 'veterans' of the thread, which could easily be avoided if I knew the main points of the storyline. Here's hoping that, maybe, Xavier will come back from the oblivion that he has dissipated into recently and provide one of his trademark satiric summaries. //End of OOC\\

It took only a few hours for the Embershard and the airships to reach Arteum, and soon enough Nexhawk, the other Ashborn, and Alixenus with the Engineer were greeted by the splendor and opulence of the Capital of the Sands. They had no time to gawk, however, and the three leaders hurriedly rushed to the massive structure in the middle of the city that seemed to resemble a huge palace. Upon ascending the stairs in front of the palace's entrance, the trio was stopped by the two guards that inquired, "Who are you, and what is your business here?"

Nexhawk waved the questions off and bluntly stated, "Tell Sandromin the leaders of Ardorium, Venezzia, and the Collective need to see him. Immediately."

//OOC: Meanwhile, at our travelers' mobistat... //End of OOC\\

Nexhawk nodded at SandrominGÇÖs proposal. GÇ£I have already mentioned this legend of a god named ZakGÇÖResh that ruled over death until he was struck down by the other gods. Even though details elude me now, I shall try to search for them in my memory.GÇ¥

Fallen godGǪ fallen godGǪ no, wait, fallenGǪtitan. Wait, thatGÇÖs it! GÇ£ItGÇÖs coming back now!GÇ¥ he exclaimed after a minute of pondering and immediately began his tale.

GÇ£This legend, this myth describes the events that transpired a very long time ago on Praecantaria. I assume that youGÇÖve heard of the Firstborn Mir, the founders of the four nations of that continent and the ones who spread their magic among all inhabitants of their countries. So, ZakGÇÖResh was the last living Firstborn, the Titan of Thunder, the founder of Aethereum, the WindweaversGÇÖ domain. Although all other Firstborn had already died of their ancient age, this primeval being somehow kept on roaming the continent, seemingly unaging. Everyone wondered why he survived for so long, and no one knew his secret - ZakGÇÖResh had discovered the Spring of Youth, a source of waters that gave everlasting life to their imbiber. Using his powerful magic, he had created an immensely powerful link with the Spring so that it would always let him thrive in his journeys across the continent. At first the Titan used this immortality simply to live longer and observe all the events that occurred on Praecantaria throughout many ages.GÇ¥

GÇ£However, where life flows, death follows closely behind. And the waters of the Spring, along with granting immortal life, concealed a dark secret within themselves - the power to tame death itself. The legend doesnGÇÖt say how exactly this had happened, but somehow ZakGÇÖResh discovered that secret. ThatGÇÖs when his benevolence got all twisted. Power corrupts, as you undoubtedly know, and the Titan of Thunder chose to utilize his new powers to rain devastation, desolation, and dread upon Praecantaria. In essence, he was the first Deathlord, except no one really knew of him.GÇ¥

GÇ£You see, ZakGÇÖResh promptly fled from the continent upon the discovery of these powers. For what reason, it is unknown, but it appears that he wanted to raise an army of the dead and unleash it upon Praecantaria, controlling it from a faraway land, so that no one would suspect anything about the source of this chaos. But the gods are all-seeing, and ZakGÇÖReshGÇÖs plan did not escape their observing minds. They descended upon this land he hid himself in and attempted to stop him, but their own creation, the Spring of Youth, fuelled his life force so greatly that he simply could not be defeated. The link between the Titan and the Spring was also virtually indestructible, and so the gods had no other choice but to destroy the source of immortality itself. And so the Spring of Youth was destroyed before any mortal inhabitant of Praecantaria discovered it, which is why this is simply a myth that may or may not be true.GÇ¥

GÇ£Anyways, the Titan of Thunder, now void of his everlasting life, became imprisoned in the land he fled to and most likely died of old age, for there was nothing left to sustain him now. And this is the entire legend,GÇ¥ Nexhawk concluded. GÇ£Note that it may not have any connection whatsoever to the dark and dreadful being whom we may face soon enough. But if it doesGǪGÇ¥ Nexhawk gazed in the air within the mobistat, not looking at anyone in particular, GÇ£then maybe ZakGÇÖResh is not dead, and maybe he has found another way to bring his horrifying plot to fruition. At any rate, this still remains to be seen.GÇ¥ With that, the Fiery Lord fell silent.

//OOC: Nimrod, I will leave this entirely up to you: do you want this legend to somehow connect to Nashir-Ur, or is it simply a petty rambling of an old man? The choice is yours. //End of OOC\\