The end of an era is always a time of great importance. Sweeping change. Advancing into a new
age. These are surely things worthy of a place in the memory of a people. Too often, though, it is a
single event that brings about the most direct change that receives the attention. The blow that ends the
battle, the last brick to fall. In our worship of these moments, these endings, we neglect the journeys,
the trials, the hardships, and the battles endured to make them possible.
Whosoever is fortunate enough to find this book shall finally hear the greatest of these tales. I have
spent much of my life piecing together the words that follow. Most of what you shall read comes from
the mouths of the people who lived it. It is my hope, in recording the path taken by these heroes, that
those in the years to come will not be blind to the dangers that threatened this world once before. If the
unthinkable is once again allowed to come to pass, perhaps the knowledge and the deeds of the heroes
of old will stir others to their greatness.
The tale you shall read is of the Perpetual War. If you live in a time or a place that has allowed you
to forget this dark era, consider yourself fortunate. To be ignorant of these events is a blessing.
However, knowledge of the evils of old is the only protection against their return.
The Perpetual War, at the start of our tale, had been plaguing the world for one and a half
centuries. It was a conflict that divided our people. The large farming kingdom, Tressor, formed half of
the conflict. It was a land of fertile fields, a land of plenty, that covered most of the southern part of the
continent and was home to more than half of the people of the world. They opposed a union of the three
remaining kingdoms--Kenvard, Ulvard, and Vulcrest--that had come to be known to its people as the
Northern Alliance, and by its enemies as the Nameless Empire. This was a land of snowy fields, dense
forests, and icy mountains. Despite a vast disadvantage in strength and size, this Alliance had managed
to withstand decade after decade of battle. This conflict was a constant part of the lives of all, and is
the reason that what follows must be told.
My place in this tale is small. There are others better suited to put to words what came to pass, but
most have taken their final steps down their own paths. Thus it falls to me, lest the tale go untold. I
shall endeavor to recount the events in as straightforward and impersonal a manner as possible. Do
not imagine this as a tale told by a man. It is merely a record. Words on a page. Words that tell of the
most unlikely of events, beginning in the most unlikely of places . . .