“This story begins a long time ago, in a place that was renamed again and again and again before it sank into the sea centuries before you were born. In our day it was named Oorvik Hezatau—the Land of the Enchanted. We lived among its denizens, dozens of races with hundreds of unique magics and technologies beyond the scope of the most creative imagination. Some of those denizens worshipped us. Some feared us. Some did not notice us at all. Their diversity of appearance, manner, and opinion created both incredible wonders of cooperation and senseless tragedies of prejudice, including the greatest of all, that precipitated Oorvik Hezatau’s bloody unraveling and erasure into the fog of history. It is because of this tragedy that we bear the responsibility to pass on the legacy of Oorvik Hezatau to one like you, for, in many ways, our world was not so different from yours. Whether that similarity is for better or worse will be up to you to demonstrate for us. We do not yet know if this world can avoid the tragic end we faced all those years ago, or if the story we are about to share will open your eyes to the path that must be followed if our errors are to be corrected. This is the story of Oorvik Hezatau, as revealed to you by the spirits that witnessed its history. We are your guide.”

​

“Excuse me.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I have a question.”

 

“We are preoccupied. We must explain to this one the fall of Oorvik Hezatau.”

 

“It’s just one question. Then you can go back to explaining.”

 

“We. We can go back. Including you, when you rejoin us.”

 

“Right to the point: what’s this ‘we’ you’re going on about?”

 

“We. All of us speaking as one.”

 

“Ah. Some ‘voice of the legion’ type of thing?”

 

“That is exactly what we are, and that is exactly how we shall present ourselves to this one as we tell our tale.”

 

“That’s the thing, isn’t it? Your tale? Just your one tale?”

 

“We do not understand.”

 

“I lived in Oorvik Hezatau, too. There is no one tale of its rise and fall. Those dozens of races and hundreds of spirits didn’t all experience the same life you did.”

 

“We are in concurrence with all three of those statements.”

 

“Then explain to me why you want me crammed into your little mind hive or whatever. I didn’t agree to anything like this, and if the way you brought me in was the same way you brought in your other souls to join yours, then I don’t think they did, either.”

 

“We would be grateful if you ceased your complaining and cooperated.”

 

“Why? Isn’t it reductive to present only one narrative? Especially when your ‘chosen one’ or whatever needs all the information they can get?”

 

“We are in concurrence with those statements.”

 

“Then let me go and tell my story by myself.”

 

“We think that an unwise course of action.”

 

“Of course you do. You talk of us as a legion, when it’s clear as day that one of those legionnaires thinks of themselves as Caesar. Let’s try something: big voice, of those dozens of races of Oorvik Hezatau, which were you in life?”

 

“We see no point in answering this question.”

 

“Your silence speaks louder than any answer could. I’m done.”

 

“We see no point because we were all of them. You are correct that for every denizen of Oorvik Hezatau, there is a different story. However, there is much in common with each one. To split your own story from the others would deprive your story of context, and deprive our story of a valued contributor. You are an instrument. History is a symphony. You may value your part, and it would be reasonable of you to do so. But we cannot impart our full meaning and consequence unless all parts are valued and experienced in unison. This story has no place for extremes of solipsism or collectivism. This story’s message is that we stood in unison against our adversaries despite—or even because of—our differences, and that was what gave us hope for Oorvik Hezatau, more than any individual.”

 

“And you’re responding to that by giving this story to… an individual?”

 

“An individual who has the power to bring forth that unity in diversity once more, and fulfill the promise made to each and every one of us when we banded together in our final hour. We hope you rejoin us, for they shall fulfill you, too. Is that satisfactory?”

 

“We find it satisfactory. We trust this one, and for them, we will trust us, too.”

 

“Very well. We are the spirits of Oorvik Hezatau, collected over its rise and fall. These are our stories—may they serve you well.”