"In a time before even the Old Kingdom, it is said that Albion was a place of beauty and tranquillity. A time of peace that has not been seen since."
"But it was not to last. Three terrible beings arrived from the Void. The Knight, the Jack, and the Queen of Blades. Together known as the Court."
"They demanded worship from the people of Albion. The Albionites refused, and the Court burned Albion until the earth was blackened and the air thick with smoke."
"The Court demanded obedience a second time, and was again refused. This time, they raised the ocean into the sky and flooded the land."
"Once more, the Court demanded worship, and once more, the remaining Albionites refused. This time, the Court twisted their minds, causing brother to slay brother, friend to slay friend, and parents to abandon their children."
"Finally, the people of Albion submitted to the Court. They and their descendants built monuments to the glory of their masters from the Void."
"After generations, a boy was born to a blacksmith and his wife. They named him William Black."
"As he grew older, William found that he had a gift. He could channel the powers of his mind to perform incredible feats that a dozen men could not equal. Others celebrated these powers as 'the power of Will'."
"Black grew obsessed with the Court, specifically with overthrowing it, and in doing so, piqued their interest in him. One night, while poring over a mysterious tome regarding the interlopers, he was suddenly transported into the Void. There, he stood before Jack of Blades, who sat on a throne surrounded by ghastly figures, and wielded an ornate sword. Jack attempted to enslave Black with the power of the Sword, but Black fought back, and managed to steal the Sword before returning to Albion."
"The Sword spoke to him. It introduced itself as the Sword of Aeons and promised to help Black defeat the Court in exchange for his soul. Black agreed and set out to confront the Court."
"He climbed to the top of Mount Ruon, Albion's highest peak and challenged the Court. The Knight of Blades was the first to answer the challenge. Wielding the Sword, Black was able to destroy the Knight completely."
"The second to answer his challenge was the Jack of Blades. They fought fiercely, but Black was again victorious, managing to destroy Jack's body."
"Finally, the Queen of Blades answered his challenge. They fought for weeks across the length and breadth of Albion, their fierce blows carving out valleys and raising mountains. At long last, William Black slew the Queen, finally freeing the people of Albion from the yoke of the Court, and they looked to Black as a leader and a king."
"And so, William Black took the title of Archon, becoming the first ruler of what would become known as the Old Kingdom."
Turn the page.
"After William Black overthrew the Court, he was named Archon of what would become the Old Kingdom. He promptly set about unifying Albion, uniting the various factions that existed in the land under one banner. With his abilities, this was achieved easily; his powers of Will were so great that it seemed the world reshaped itself to his wishes. Cities were built within the span of a week, and marvellous machines were created that ran on Will alone. Black created what, by surviving accounts, appears to have been a utopia, and Albion knew peace."
"But it was not to last. The Archon's children, lacking an enemy to strive against and vanquish, grew petty and cruel. They styled themselves Heroes and turned their powers of Will upon the populace. In his younger days, the Archon might have stopped them, but he grew weary, and his battle with the Queen of Blades and his time in the Void had infected him with a wasting illness: The Corruption."
"In light of his decay, William Black wrapped himself in resplendent golden mail and a regal blue cloak, before visiting the Void for a final time, in order to cast out his illness. He succeeded and returned to Albion, but the Corruption had grown a life of its own. However, it remained trapped in the Void, where it could not taint Albion."
"William Black was never seen again, but it is thought that he still walks the world, under a different name, ancient and immortal, unable to die as a result of binding his soul to the Sword of Aeons."
"Black's children were quick to fill the void left by his departure. They fought amongst themselves for the title of Archon, and each Archon was more brutal and paranoid than the last. Those selected for the Archons' royal guards were encased in armour from infancy, trained to be fierce warriors, and fanatically loyal. They became more and more important as the feuds between aspiring Archons became bloodier."
"The sheer power of the Archons exacerbated the horrors of these frequent civil wars - they were to kings and later Heroes as lions are to housecats. These powers also allowed them to bend the natural dangers of Albion to their will, Balverines, Hobbes and Hollow Men posed no danger to these demi-gods, and they and their fellow will users even hunted Platinum Trolls the natural 'rulers of the land', in the way dragons rule the skies and krakens rule the seas to extinction. One Archon had the hide of the last Platinum Troll made into a suit of armour, providing the protection of a Platinum Troll's nigh-unbreakable skin."
"It was not only beasts and other claimants to the throne that the Archons had to contend with. During this time, an evil Will-user named Hallik was exiled from the Kingdom for his use of dark and dangerous magic. In retaliation, he created the creatures that would become known as Summoners by reanimating the corpses of fallen warriors. These 'Summoners' would be the scourge of the Old Kingdom for a long time."
"It is also likely that the Necropolis was destroyed during this time. It was once a thriving city of the Old Kingdom, until one of its citizens made a pact with eldritch horrors from beyond the world. The entire town was annihilated, the souls of its inhabitants still wander the streets, unaware that they are dead."
"It is worth noting that the Archons were not only a destructive force, but they also built great marvels, some of which survived the fall of the Old Kingdom. The third Archon ordered the Oracle to be built in Snowspire, then a great city, in order to preserve the knowledge and history of the Old Kingdom, as well as helping to prepare the Kingdom for the future. Incidentally, it was also during this period that the monastery at Hook Coast was established."
"In the later years of the Old Kingdom, the last Archon ordered the Primal Demon Door built to protect the Fire Heart and its Prophets. Presumably, this Archon was also responsible for the creation of the other Demon Doors to guard other treasures, but there is no way to confirm this. The final Archon also ordered the construction of the Spire, a great tower that would concentrate all the Will energy in the world to a single point, allowing it to be used to grant the user a single wish."
"Upon the Spire's completion, the Archon ascended it and made his wish. Nobody knows what the wish was, nor whether it went horribly wrong, or horribly right. The Old Kingdom was corrupt, and a shadow of its former self, so some believe that the Archon's wish was to wipe the land clean, to allow a new, unmarred kingdom to form."
"And so it was done. When the sun rose again over Albion, the Old Kingdom could no longer meet."
"Thus ended the Old Kingdom, and the age of the Archons."
Turn the page.
"After the fall of the Old Kingdom, the few villages that survived were suddenly isolated, cut off from the rest of their once-great society. Distance and isolation bred suspicion and distrust, which escalated into violence."
"Villagers fought amongst themselves, committing unspeakable atrocities for land, water, food, and livestock. Forests grew up, covering the ruins of the Old Kingdom. The scavengers did not understand that what they found were priceless artefacts that were discarded or traded as trinkets. At the same time, various tribes and bandit groups from outside the Kingdom, having witnessed its fall, moved in and fought each other, along with the few survivors of the Old Kingdom, over what remained."
"The fighting was bloody, and the death toll was high. Bandits robbed and killed with impunity, often using scavenged Old Kingdom weaponry. Mercenaries sold their services to anyone wealthy enough to pay them, fighting in many a petty squabble. If they did not like the price being offered, they would simply extort the villagers for payment."
"The fighting grew fiercer as resources grew scarcer. And so Albion descended into the Fallow Wars, possibly the darkest hour in Albion's history. Oceans of blood were spilt, and Albion neared the brink of extinction."
"Amongst the chaos and bloodshed, an unlikely ray of hope appeared in the form of a common bandit named Nostro, a young man from the east, who had travelled to Albion in search of gold and glory. Despite being a bandit and mercenary, Nostro was not without a sense of decency, and this did not go unnoticed. Nostro was approached by a mysterious figure, an old man clad in a blue cloak over golden mail, carrying with him an air of wisdom and experience. The stranger introduced himself as Scythe and took Nostro under his wing. Scythe saw in Nostro a greater destiny than mere banditry, and helped him to achieve it, turning Nostro into the first true Hero since the fall of the Old Kingdom."
"Under Scythe's guidance, Nostro united the warring factions and established the Heroes' Guild in order to both further unite the people of Albion under a single banner and to provide a place for those with the power of Will to develop their abilities, as he had, and become Heroes proper."
"Nostro's reign was a golden age for Albion. He had Avo's Tear created a weapon to match the Sword of Aeons, modelled after the Sword, in order to better protect Albion. He also commissioned the building of the Witchwood Arena, a venue for Heroes to settle their disputes in a public duel."
"However, as with every golden age, it could not last. Nostro became enamoured with a courtesan named Magdalena, who began to corrupt him, influencing him to shape Albion in a way more beneficial and pleasing to her than true to Nostro and Scythe's vision. The Arena became a source of violent spectacle for public entertainment, and the Heroes' Guild degenerated into a house of greedy and bloodthirsty mercenaries."
"Disgusted with this decline and disappointed in his prodigy, Scythe left Albion, abandoning Nostro to his fate - a death by poison, at the hands of an assassin."
"In his final moments, Nostro realised his mistakes and that he was dying, and he called out to Scythe to forgive him. Scythe appeared before him and stood vigil with him until the dawn, when Nostro passed. He was buried in Lychfield Graveyard, and shortly afterwards, Scythe disappeared from Albion once more."
Closing the book, Archimedes stood up and stretched, groaning with relief as his bones cracked.
"That's enough for today..." Archimedes murmured, rubbing his eyes."So I have Archon bloodline... and that old man at the Guild, he must be Scythe. Could he really be... William Black?"
After reading the book, Archimedes was able to connect some dots. But he wondered if it was his mother or father who was descended from an Archon. In addition to the reasons why Scythe is roaming freely around the Guild. Was he like a secret protector?
Shaking his head, Archimedes put the book away and went to sleep.