Olimpia

Memory Crystal of The Last and First Elder—

Like most of our castings, The Pact had its powers rooted in our perception. What passages were ironclad and which could be bent depended on the consensus of the current age.

That has always been a strength and weakness of our powers.

No one can say if the world is trying to change itself to our desires or if our desires are changing how the energies of the universe act.

Regardless of the reason, the results were the same. The more time that passes, the stronger our castings become.

Looking back, the shift to The Pact was subtle and in line with the convoluted machinations of the Mental Path. It was something that, in a limited scope, was even a good thing.

One of the first clauses of The Pact was, "No permanent harm shall be knowingly inflicted upon another of The Pact outside of ritual combat, sparring, or sanctioned war."

When punishments were handed out by The Pact, the intent of the involved individuals was taken into account.

If you ask any child when you deny them a treat, they will see it as one of the worst punishments that could ever be handed out in the history of forever. All the way up until they forget about it five minutes later.

Ask any elder, and they will say that the young frequently do not know what is good for them. They will take the easy route when the only times you ever get something good is through hard work and struggle.

Parents, if they are to be good parents and instill in their offspring the skills and mentality to live a productive life, must inflict minor harm upon their children so they do not experience what the true depths of despair really are.

They might be breaking the wording of The Pact, but they are keeping in line with its spirit. It is a distinction that the living document takes into account, depending on the perception of the majority of those attached to the document.

Those of the Mind Path played into this loophole. Starting off in small areas, they begin to play on the egos of those on the Body Path. They twisted their thoughts so that it wasn't enough to just beat those of the Mind Path physically.

After all, how was that a real accomplishment?

When one walks down the Path of the Body, it is a lifelong journey. Martial combat and exceeding the limitations of the elven body went hand in hand. Beating someone of the Mind Path, who spent all their time in contemplation, was only to be expected.

To lose such a match in that light was a blow against one's sect and Path as a whole. If they really wanted to prove their dominance, the Body Path would have to beat them physically as well as mentally.

No one saw a problem with this. For at first, it was games of memory and strategy that were the focus. Though it soon shifted to those on the Path of the Body trying to compete mentally with those of the Mind.

There were always stories about how a master of the body path bested one of the minds. That she withstood wave after wave of mental attacks until the mind caster wore themselves out, and she lashed out with a blow of her own, knocking the mind caster out.

Few, if any, could ever say who these people were, and if one ever tried to track down the rumors, all they would typically find was air, but the stories continued to circulate. And the impressional youths continued in the shows of dominance.

At this same time, though no one knew it at the time, the Mind Path was laying out another path to their victory. It was simple. They started to reproduce. Hundreds then thousands of miles of tunnels were hollowed out under the world.

They bread animals and plants to grow incredibly well under the earth in preparation. And when they were finally ready, they took a portion of their population and started producing half-elves. It was a minor miracle they found a race compatible with elves, and they decided to abuse their shorter lifespans.

It was only a small section of their population, those with the weakest mental powers. While the result of the breeding generally resulted in those with weak mental abilities, there was the occasional offspring that was strong.

But more than anything else, the resulting children were capable of a much greater reproduction rate than pure elves. Though they gave up some of their longevity, the leaders of the Mind Path didn't care.

Because with the mental powers, there came a connection to The Pact.

Thus began the twisting of their own society and The Pact. The leaders made the development of casters on the Mind Path the sole goal of their society. From the age a child could barely talk and walk, they were subjected to harsh training.

Training, which, as it progressed in its complexity and normality over the decades and centuries, became all the more brutal. To the point that of any ten children born on the same day, three would die before the age of seven. Three more of the seven would become so mentally damaged they could not function as a normal adult by their teens. And three more of the four would be handicapped by their late teens, severely limiting their mental abilities.

All of this, of course, was for the children's own good.

Gradually, but steadily, it became acceptable to mentally harm someone if it was for their own benefit. Rather than having teachers cursed by The Pact instruct the children, any parent could do the same at home, making those who survived even stronger.

Those on the Body Path accepted this with open arms. They could strain and improve every aspect of their body. But honing the mind, no other group could do that as well as those on the Mind Path.

All of a sudden, many of those on the Body path were being crippled as their minds were broken. Not to the point that they became an invalid, but it wasn't that far off either.

Then they made their move.

As no one wanted to see their friends and family become unable to care for themselves, those of the Mind Path proposed another option.

Have The Pact decide.

While not inflicting harm upon another in the middle of a struggle for dominance was not within the capabilities of a mortal, The Pact was more than capable of such a feat. Of course, there still had to be repercussions for those who failed so miserably that The Pact had to step in on their behalf.

A sentiment that was accepted immediately by those of the Body path. Failure was a part of life and the best teacher for those who wanted to better themselves. What better way to contemplate a failure than to suffer through penance.

It was decided that a term of service for those who lost would be the consequence of losing. The length would depend on the damage prevented, the severity of the situation in which the challenge was proposed, along with other factors.

As soon as the change was made, the full ramifications of my ancestor's error became apparent.

The Mind Path goaded those of the Body Path into a challenge and took control over some of their strongest practitioners. More and more challenges were made and lost in small areas, resulting in those of the Mind Path practically having complete control over them.

Then they would challenge for leadership in those areas. The elders of the Sects and clans had three choices, either accept the loss and be ruled over by those in the Mind Path, flee the area, thereby forfeiting all rights to the land, or fight in the challenge.

A challenge where they would have to kill their own grandchildren. And if they win, they would only be met with another challenge and have to kill another one of their offspring. Or an offspring of one of the other elders.

Even if they fought to the end, killing all those who challenged them, they would not have enough numbers to hold the area they were assigned. And the sect of the Mind Path making the play would issue a complaint to the High Lords that the sect no longer had the numbers to perform the job of protecting the land properly, so they should be removed from power.

Truly, though it was not fully understood at the time, the Mind Path had created a situation where they would come out on top no matter what happened.

Even though the sects that the Mind Path took over were small, word quickly began to spread.

They thought it was because they were weak. Or that the Mind Path had created an elite that could suppress all others.

If anything, the reaction within those of the Body Path was overwhelmingly a sense of excitement and challenge. All the surrounding areas flocked to take up that challenge, lest they be left behind by their neighbors and rivals.

It was not long before more sects and clans fell under the Mind Path's control.

By this point, word of what was really happening was getting out, but it was already far too late to stop it.

Those of the mind path stopped all pretenses and started flooding out of their caves. One after another, the fertile lands that those of the Body Path controlled were lost to them. It resulted in entire worlds being lost to all but the Mind Path.

After being used to destroy their homes, kill their friends and family, and have years of being treated worse than animals during their service, those of the Body Path were freed. They were released and filled with the fire of revenge.

Though they took over the land, many of the strongest fighters were now gathering together, forming their own plans against the Mind Path.

As a response to the growing hostility, the Mind Path began helping those within their grasp. Training them like their own children to become the best possible mind casters.

The result was that most of those undergoing the training had their minds broken. Those who lived were only filled with fury and would forever seek out revenge. With them being strengthened by their ordeals, they were all the more prepared.

But the majority, those who had their minds broken, were nothing but shells. Puppets that those of the Mind Path can control at will.

Like the tide, the Mind Path rose, pushing back those of the Body Path into their mountain fortresses. Isolated training ground that held the strongest of their Path.

Those of the Nature Path finally took notice of the Mind Path's abuse of the Pack and tried to force them to stop, to place limitations on them, but all it did was draw those of the Mind Path's ire.

After all, the Nature Path was the one who originally placed the shackles onto the Mind Path millennia ago.

And with them controlling the majority of those who made up the Body path, they were able to declare the first and last war of the Golden Empire.