Generations (The Nimbus Collection Book 3)

by Clemens, D. C.

  Generations

  By D.C. Clemens

  Contents

  The Silent Age

  Alethean Era (A.E.)

  The Sacred Script

  Sacred Era (S.E.)

  Delayed Progress

  2552 S.E.

  Warden

  2578 S.E.

  Silent’s End

  The Nimbus Age

  Testing

  3085 S.E.

  The Pursuit

  Twice Upon a Time

  Jane

  Vincent

  Eamon

  The Silent Age

  Before the Alethean Era (B.A.E.)

  4.6-4.5 billion years ago – Origin of Earth.

  3.8-3.5 billion years ago – Earliest known life appears on Earth.

  200 million years ago – The last supercontinent, Pangaea, begins to separate into separate landmasses.

  4.4-2.8 million years ago – Human ancestors evolve in east Africa and spread throughout the continent.

  70,000-60,000 – Early modern humans leave Africa for the first time.

  55,000-50,000 – Early modern humans reach Australia.

  35,000 – Early modern humans enter Europe.

  25,000 – The Bering Strait is crossed.

  10,000-7,000 – Numerous human cultures transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one based on agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution.

  4,500 – The earliest Mesopotamia societies emerge.

  2,500 – The wheel is invented.

  2,400 – The beginning of writing in Mesopotamia.

  2,100 – Egypt’s first dynasty.

  1,540 – The Great Pyramid of Giza is finished.

  100 – Collapse of Mycenaean culture in Greece.

  20 – Alethea is born.

  7-3 – In a small farming village near Athens, Greece, a young Alethea is periodically contacted by the Sacred via dreams, enlightening her of her dormant gift to manipulate the aspects of nature, body, and mind. To transform into the prophetess she is told she will become, she begins training when she is able. Once she is successful in unlocking her vida at seventeen, becoming the first known human arcanist, she is instructed to complete her development in the wilderness.

  Alethean Era (A.E.)

  1 A.E. – A twenty year old Alethea reappears in her village, promptly recruiting much of her family and several close friends as her first acolytes. Surrounding villages and those in Athens soon hear of a young woman with the ability to control the elements and flock to her settlement. Alethea begins actively preaching the message of the Sacred Seven, explaining that these gods have taught her how to unlock the warping ability latent in all living things. It is here she starts to choose from the masses those she deems worthy to join her inner circle, which grows to retroactively become The Hundred Acolytes, despite the exact number fluctuating between the high eighties and low hundreds. The earliest of these followers primarily consist of scribes, who proceed in teaching the prophetess how to read and write, and who first begin transcribing the Sacred Script.

  2-4 – In order to acquire more supporters and to spread her message to those unable to travel, Alethea starts to journey across the Balkan Peninsula. She meets with local leaders and preaches to growing crowds, easily converting the vast majority. Much of the region is visited and evangelized by the end of the second year. Most find the conversion simple, as the message declares most religious customs as applicable so long as they are done in the name of the Sacred Seven. With her word rapidly spreading, hundreds of pilgrims from nearby regions begin visiting Athens, the city she elects to settle in and make her capital.

  5-9 – Some of the Hundred begin exhibiting signs of warping, becoming arcanists. The influx of pilgrims—many of which are Phoenician who decide to stay—jumpstarts trade in the area, quickly making Athens a prominent destination for the affluent. Now armed with the same belief, Athens forms alliances with the rest of the peninsula’s city states, instantly creating one of the most formidable nations in the world, the Balkan Kingdom. The Kingdom officially proclaims the Sacred Faith as their own and, with the assistance of Alethea, a committee of local leaders selects their first king, an experienced, charismatic aristocrat named Horace. Horace soon marries Dinah, a young commoner whom Horace claims was chosen by the Sacred via a dream.

  10 – Alethea marries one of her followers, Lycus, and is elected head of what comes to be officially recognized as the Inner Circle, becoming the First Exalted. Her acolytes fill the other seats of the Inner Circle, who are charged with electing priests and priestesses to head individual parishes, implement their expanding talents in preaching expeditions, and give advice to the Exalted.

  11 – Twin girls are born to Alethea; Athene and Melody.

  14-15 – One of the Inner Circle members is mortally wounded in a mission to northern Europe. Eager to test its burgeoning military, the Kingdom sends an army to conquer the northern territories.

  16-19 – Alethea, not believing in spreading the message by violent means, denounces the war. Demonstrating this conviction, she begins a personal expedition to other European lands, converting peoples and peacefully forming alliances on behalf of the Kingdom. She gives birth to Theodore midway into the mission, but loses Athene to disease only three months later.

  20-31 – Alethea completes most of her planned tour of Western Europe and returns to Athens, where the Inner Circle is slow to cement official edicts. It is in these years that the basic foundation of future tradition is solidified, such as the custom of the Exalted submitting proposed candidates for the position in event of death or debilitating illness, and where the tiers of priests and their responsibilities were made clearer. The Sacred College is planned, but the physical institution, which later doubles as the chief center of worship in Athens, is still more than two decades out. Meanwhile, a temporary Sacred College—setup in a repurposed temple—teaches priests, military leaders, and some nobility about how to awaken vida. With few arcanists existing during the Alethean Era and early Sacred Era, much of the citizenry do not have access to direct instruction in vida training. It isn’t until the complete Sacred Script becomes more widely available to guide the literate populace are people able to self-train in unlocking their vida. As literacy is only taught to the educated elite, most commoners are excluded from learning any vida abilities, a system that remains virtually unchanged for centuries, along with Sacred rectors holding more influence than local leaders.

  32 – Pockets of persecution and resistance to the holy message arise in western Asia. With rumblings of all-out war by those desperate to hold on to power and by those unconvinced of her holy nature, Alethea decides upon another excursion to the east, despite protests from the Inner Circle.

  33-61 – In a journey that ends up taking the rest of her life, Alethea travels from northeastern Europe to central Asia, spreading the Sacred Faith with her daughter and husband, a handful of members from the Inner Circle, and a small army. This journey becomes known as the Second Divine March. She is joined by her son a few years later. They all return to Athens in 39 A.E. to bury Alethea’s husband, but Alethea herself resumes the expedition soon after the burial. As commander of the Balkan Army, Theodore officially formulates the Sentinels, a small force of elite arcanists dedicated to protecting the Inner Circle members and, later, the royal family. Alethea is able to see her children one last time when they are able to reach their ailing mother in time, but she dies before reaching Athens. Her body is encased in a warped stone coffin and buried in a crypt bellow the recently completed Sacred College, which will be used to inter all future Exalted. Melody is unanimously elected the Second Exalted and it is she who approves
final edits to the final version of the Scared Script, sending copies to established parishes.

  The Sacred Script

  Transcribed by our Hallowed Lady, the Prophetess Alethea

  (Abridged version)

  Book One: The First’s Event

  The First was everything before the beginning. When the First recognized its power could be sacrificed to fill the vacant space, it became everything. In the First’s Event, a miracle unknown by time, the First’s consecrated body reformed into the universe of star and stone, its mind shattered to create the Sacred Seven and the indefinite Depraved gods, and its hallowed spirit morphed into the Ether. It is in the Ether where all the gods persist. The realm itself is composed of vida, the agent and sustainer of all souls. After seeing the Depraved selfishly absorb and corrupt all the pure vida they could, the Sacred warred with the Depraved. When their laborious victory was complete, the Sacred created a bottomless prison for the debauched gods within the Ether, calling it the Void. Then, enabled by the Sacred, some of the Ether seeped some of its vida into our realm and life sprouted in its wake. At present, the enduring power of the First forever keeps the balance between the physical and the ethereal.

  Book Two: The Aspect of Flame

  The dominion of flame belongs to the dauntless Ettos. God of sunlight, rebirth, and warrior king of the Sacred Seven, his anger turns all to ash. Misuse of his aspect leads to wanton destruction and scorches its user. Ruminate with the fearlessness of a lion and you will be able to walk through any flame. Only when the aspect of the mind is steady and the aspect of wind is channeled fairly will Ettos give your flame its brightest glow.

  Book Three: The Aspect of Wind

  The dominion of wind is caressed by the nomadic Utia. Goddess of eternal change, she is saddened by stagnation and works to thwart the state. She fortifies Ettos when an adversary necessities the added heat and she calms him when his anger is misplaced. Her misuse hurries into an untamed tempest, obliterating all in its path. The focused will of a soaring eagle powers her push.

  Book Four: The Aspect of Water

  The dominion of water is drenched by the fluid Faldiri. God most intimate with vida, thus bestows and restores life where it is found. Though ordinarily takes the path of least resistance, his abuse and ire becomes a mindless flood when allowed to pool. When one truly feels that life surrounds you, then you will be as matchless as the leviathans of the deep. A strong push from Utia transforms him into slothful ice and a blistering flame from Ettos converts him to a boiling mist.

  Book Five: The Aspect of Stone

  The dominion of stone is built by the impregnable Jubuden. God which lays the foundation for all other Gods to flourish and is least influenced by his more energetic kin. Think as the heedful ibex does and even the tallest of mountains will be as molehills. Unwavering and slow to anger, his abrupt wrath shatters worlds. Those mastering his aspect do not bend.

  Book Six: The Aspect of the Mind

  The dominion of the mind is meditated over by the inquisitive Omris. Goddess of knowledge and wisdom, she is thus the gatekeeper to all other aspects. When unsought she becomes erratic ignorance and when misused can lead many astray. Be as a mother guiding her child and you will make truth and righteousness your eternal companion. Vida remains unreachable without a serene Omris by one’s side.

  Book Seven: The Aspect of the Body

  The dominion of the body is moved by the restless Talios. God of vessels, Talios carries all the aspects within its divine form, permitting them to flow freely into one another. Only by working harmoniously with Omris and carefully draining all corporeal energy can one commence to tap into the ethereal energy endlessly provided by the living spirit. Then, once vida is awakened from its stubborn sleep can one ensue to feed it into their fleshly form at will. As the hunter tirelessly chases his prey, so to must you carry the conviction to release the spirit within.

  Book Eight: The Goddess of Oracles

  The dominion of oracles is prophesized by the all-seeing Ysana. Goddess of mortal souls and mediator between the Gods’ Realm and the mortal plane, a part of her spirit enters the corporeal universe to guide the vida from lost souls back into the Ether. Ysana is said to wander the mortal plane in disguise, forever seeking those worthy of her sanctified words and coming to these pure souls in dreams and visions. It was her words Alethea heard and which compelled the prophetess to guide the world and all its people under the light of the Sacred Seven.

  Book Nine: The Depraved

  Remnants of the First’s most callous thoughts, the Depraved’s sole purpose is to seek and corrupt any and all things pure. Though they are confined within the unfathomable depths of the Void, some of their potent influence still bleeds into our realm. These gods are irresistibly drawn to those who desire to see chaos spread, but without continuously strengthening one’s faith in the Sacred Seven, even the most unblemished of minds can be slowly swayed by the Depraved’s shrewd power. As with all mad, covetous beings, the Depraved are fickle deities who loathe languidness, particularly in themselves. Even their identities are in a constant state of flux and only those mortals who closely commune with them dare speak their true names. No matter how many they spoil around you, know that true faith in the Sacred’s light will prevent any darkness from upsetting your soul.

  Sacred Era (S.E.)

  3 S.E. – The shifting of power in western and central Asia leads to war in much of the region.

  10 – Sacred emissaries reach China.

  35-43 – Egypt hires arcanists to help build last great pyramid in honor of Alethea, which stands at 565 feet and stretches for 850 feet at its base, making it the largest man-made structure until the Grand Temple is constructed in Istanbul more than eight hundred years later.

  44-48 – Several powers in western Asia rise in aftermath of the war, with most keeping the priesthood in power, but giving substantial authority to a handful of nobles. Upset for the support it showed to its enemy, one of these new nations attempts to invade Egypt, who asks the Balkan Kingdom for aid. The Kingdom intervenes, ultimately routing the invaders. Egypt essentially becomes satellite power for the Empire.

  100 – A copper spire, which lines the pyramid’s corners from the ground to the top, is added to the Arcanist Pyramid soon after arcanists learn how to properly warp metals, making it an even six hundred feet tall. The lightening rod is accidently invented when a storm appears several months later.

  206 – China begins a chaotic period of rising and falling powers, few lasting more than a generation.

  311-400 – The Balkan Kingdom stretches to the rest of Europe through alliances and a few military campaigns in the northeast, renaming itself the Alethean Empire. The Sacred College in Athens teaches the majority of foreign arcanists, helping the Empire keep close ties to other nations. Warping allows for better constructed ships and permits sailing vessels holding arcanists to travel against the wind, greatly promoting trade in coastal cities.

  433-459 – With a portion of the central Asian priesthood claiming evidence of an earlier Sacred prophet, Nadim El-Amin, the region fractures into two distinct countries after a long civil war. The western most country stays Alethean, ultimately naming itself the Arab Union when Egypt is incorporated. The Arab Union extends from Egypt to the land south of the Caspian Sea. The still disordered eastern portion is disavowed by the Empire, pressuring other nations to cut trade to the heathen territories, which encompass the land east of the Caspian Sea to the borders of south Asian societies.

  461-484 – Suffering from a severe collapse of its economy after the civil war, some of the heathen tribes periodically invade south Asia, but are wholly repelled by 484.

  500-1000 –The Golden Phase sees the Alethean Empire physically expand to the British Isles and farther into northern Asia, greatly benefitting from a massive flow of wealth brought in by trade and mines.

  650 – Most of China is unified and forms a more balanced dynasty between nobility and the priesthood.


  713 – With the Alethean Empire pushing nomadic peoples out of northern Asia and closer to China, the Chinese begin construction of what will eventually become the Great Wall. The extent of it is completed by 1300 and is updated regularly for the next thousand years.

  800-900 – With increasingly fewer places to go, the nomads of northern Asia enter the weak heathen nation in droves, prompting near-constant war between the peoples. Nobility in the Alethean Empire begin to use their wealth to expand the slave trade.

  1090-1149 – Fractures in the Empire occur when some disillusioned nobility—using the excuse of culling barbarians in the region—begin building up their own personal armies in Western Europe, to the disapproval of the priesthood.

  1150 – Wanting to secede and create their own system of rule, a minor uprising is attempted by the aristocracy in the westernmost regions of the Alethean Empire. The insurrection is quickly quelled, but leaves the priesthood and nobility in increasing opposition.

  1151-1300 – Using a different mode of attack, some nobles start accusing the Alethean priesthood of keeping the warping ability restricted to themselves and their sympathizers, criticizing them for not teaching it more actively to the public. Public support begins leaning toward the nobility.

  1334-1365 – Fighting in the heathen territories wanes to reveal the nomadic tribes coming out victorious, but they absorb the belief of the earlier prophet. To better compete and defend against their more powerful neighbors, many clans are eventually unified to create the Concord.

  1401-1412 – The Concord launches numerous military campaigns to retake their northern homeland from the Empire. Taking advantage of the war, Alethean nobles to the west revive the uprising. The rebellion takes a stronger foothold in rural regions with the added support from the general public, however, the Empire is still strong enough to quench both the invasion and rebellion, but at great cost financially and to its prestige.