Chapter 282 - 282 Origins (Part 2)
Floral remembered the tales her human parents had shared with her about the Forest Elves and Camilla’s origin.
“They used this newfound power to establish their own kingdom in this fertile land. But their plans were cut short by a disaster that wiped out their entire civilization.”
“What kind of disaster?” William couldn’t help but ask.
He had never heard of humans living in Ravenwood from all the documents he had read.
“The arrival of the Ava State elven colonists.”
“Do you mean that the ancestors of the Forest Elves killed all the humans in Ravenwood?” William asked hesitantly.
It made sense, considering the Ava State’s elven civilization during the Bronze Age had already developed a classical magic system. Most humans on the Vic Continent were only at the level of a tribal society and relied heavily on a few Authority holders for their strength.
When colonists with advanced weapons and organizational skills arrived on a new continent, it was inevitable that they would use their power to show their superiority against the barbarians in the most barbaric way possible.
William shook his head and said, “No, there’s no mention of this in history. Not only is there no record in Forest Elf history, but there’s no mention of it in surrounding human kingdoms either. The original Ravenwood Forest was a land contaminated by the undead. It wasn’t until the Forest Elf ancestors arrived and purified the land that it became a thriving forest.”
“Yes, and according to the Blackwater Kingdom’s records from the same era, the west of Nakuland was a desolate land of death. The Second Phoenix Dynasty’s Fate Tablet mentions a foul and rotten swamp south of the Withering Desert. Even the Ava State’s archives mention the first elven colonists being attacked by the undead in Ravenwood Forest,” Floral admitted with a nod.
“Doesn’t that prove to show…”
William, Floral, Nizemar, and Elise stepped out of the reception room and hit the trail leading to the World Tree. Floral was determined to convince them all that the Lady of Starvation had been born in Ravenwood and that there was a way to stop her without destroying the entire forest.
The journey to the White Bone Castle was long, but Floral made the most of it by filling William and the rest in on Ravenwood’s history.
According to her, this was the result of decades of research done by her adoptive parents in the Platinum Ring of the Emerald Province and their findings were rock solid.
She hadn’t said much before William found many inconsistencies with her story.
The official lore, developer interviews, and world breakdowns he had come across all painted a different picture of Ravenwood’s origins. They claimed that Ravenwood used to be a dark and desolate place, overrun by the undead. The land was uninhabitable before the elves of Ava State arrived and made it their own.
There was even a widely circulated saying—the spells of the undead that later dominated the Blackwater Swamp had their roots in Ravenwood.
“The truth becomes a fact only when it’s spread far and wide. Do you think our ancestors would have wanted the truth about their slaughter of humans to be passed down as historical fact?”
Floral asked with a straight face.
William retorted, “The Forest Elves may be capable of rewriting their history books, but what about the historical records of the neighboring human kingdoms? They all describe Ravenwood as a land of death.”
The Forest Elves could at most whitewash their records. It was impossible for them to whitewash the historical records of the surrounding human kingdoms.
According to Floral, Ravenwood was once a paradise before the elven colonists arrived and committed genocide against the humans and claimed the land for themselves.
But William had always understood that Ravenwood was plagued by the undead since the first recorded history of the different civilizations. He believed the elven colonists used their power to purify Ravenwood before settling down.
The two tales were conflicting, and one had to be true and the other false.
“There’s no need to explain. Both facts are true,” Floral replied.
“Ravenwood is both a contaminated land filled with the undead and a thriving forest. The Forest Elves’ ancestors murdered the human natives and purified the undead contamination. Both truths exist at the same time, but only one became the accepted fact in history.”
“That’s impossible.” Nizemar, who had been listening in silence, finally spoke up.
“Why not? Haven’t you seen it for yourself?”
Floral’s gaze shifted to Elise, who looked drowsy. Nizemar led her along as Floral spoke.
“When Camilla became the Lady of Starvation, Her power shattered time and the World Shell. Ravenwood was split into two separate origins. One was filled with endless undead pollution, a land of death that no living being could survive. The other was a vibrant forest teeming with life.”
“You’re saying that Ravenwood was split into two different versions because of Her?” Nizemar asked in confusion.
She was no stranger to the inner workings of the Dawn Fortress, the headquarters of the all-powerful Presiding Judge of Judgment. In the aftermath of the Moon Realm’s fusion with Currere, the world was divided into numerous levels. And as soon as she heard the details, she was transported back in time to the moment when Currere and Black Crow Gaze became one within the walls of the Dawn Fortress.
“No,” William suddenly said.
“What she’s trying to say is that Ravenwood had two distinct existences in the past. However, these possibilities eventually converged into the reality that exists now. It’s like, you know…”
William trailed off, leaving the comparison hanging in the air.
It’s like choosing the starting point of a game…
A character’s race and class determined their birthplace and initial quest. But no matter what starting point they chose, they were ultimately limited until they stumbled upon the Twilight Fortress and found themselves leading the Doomsday Watchers.