Once in a time far distant,
before the sea of Io had stopped churning,
before there were Oracles to be wise,
before 'soon' had no meaning,
there lived upon this island a tribe of jungle cats,
so selfless and pure
that their very presence imparted magic in the air.

They lived in peace within the jungle,
in harmony with air and sea and all life,
giving of themselves so all could live in peace.

Over time, they developed:

Some became Wise and wore robes
and recorded the history of their people,
handing down powers of magic
and creation from one generation to the next.

Some became Builders and made stone effigies
to leave a permanent mark
and reminder of their existence upon the island
to last for ages to come.

And some remained Unchanged,
determined to keep the way of
their people alive for all time.

But there was One who was none of these things.

This One used fear and power and greed
as his magic,
slowly and carefully
destroying all that had been created
over the ages.

This One used lies and deceipt
to lure others to follow his ways.
Promises were made that could not be kept.

Slowly, over time, he forced the Wise and the Builders and the
Unchanged to retreat into a very small area within the Jungle
which allowed him his will over the World.

Over the ages, only a handful of the
Wise and the Unchanged remained
and this was the beginning of
the Age of the Oracles.

Time passed and people came to this World
and embraced the ways of the One.
Greed and Lies and Promises
were rampant and the One was happy.
But slowly, subtle changes began to appear within the World:

Greed became collecting
and Lies became role-play and
Promises became a way to invoke debate on community.

The One noticed these changes and it made him angry,
for he could see his World changing
and knew if it was allowed
to continue, he would lose it.

So he began recruiting minions
to carry on his ways and infiltrate the minds
of those who lived here.

Greed is good! Things are more important than people!
Promises made for personal gain do not matter,
as long as they support your views.
And lies are the way to get what you want.

His minions began to multiply.

But the Wise and the Unchanged
noticed this, and realized that without intervention,
the World they loved would be lost forever,
so they decided the time was now
to make their presence known.

They knew that if the *avatars* were allowed,
the choices they would make would be for the best
of the World, for their changes had already been felt in subtle ways.
What was needed though, was for them to realize the power they
held and to guide them to use that power for the benefit of all.

And so it happened, that first the Unchanged, in the form of a lost
jungle tribe, with its strange language and customs,
and then the Wise, in the form of Mages,
made themselves known
to gather the attention of those willing to listen,
and they began to tell us their stories.

~*~
It is now up to us to listen,
for only by doing so will we know
which choices to make.
The Age of Avatars has begun
and the World is ours
to make of it what we wish.