Page 1/3 The Secret Story of Talus Wizardologist Endora Linden The Raging Wilds was once a bountiful forest, lush and dense and full of fruit trees. It was the orcs who first invaded the peaceful home of the elves and mitrans. With their thirst for conquest, backed by powerful warriors, they took over much of the forest. The elves ultimately allied themselves with the humans and fought back. After several years of fierce warfare, the alliance succeeded in driving the orcs from the forest. But the humans, who had learned elven magic during the war, also learned the taboo art of dark magic and used it to annihilate their allies. The humans took over the forest, cut down many of the trees, and plundered the mitrans, leaving the once-rich forest increasingly desolate. Eventually, the mitrans, pushed to the brink, decided to wage war against the humans to protect their forest. Page 2/3 The mitrans fought fiercely for their survival. Despite the assumed advantages of the humans, the Human-Mitran war defied odds and did not end easily. This was largely due to the human's inexperience with forested warfare. Having lost many troops in the forest, the human forces turned to the brilliant wizard Talus for help. Talus, realizing that many people were being sacrificed in the forest, accepted the request. He began to build a golem to defend against the giant mitrans. Talus's goal was to end the war with minimal human or mitran casualties. He planned to use his golems to tire out the mitrans with more defense than offense. Once they were neutralized, he would negotiate to end the war. Exhausted by the long war, the representatives of the humans readily accepted Talus's plan for ending the war in, essentially, a draw. As Talus planned, the mitrans grew weary of the long battle with the golems. Their leader, the Grand Aelon, agreed to negotiate with the humans. On the appointed date and time, the giant Grand Aelon and dozens of mitran elders appeared at the meeting point on the edge of the forest, where the human representatives waited nervously for them to arrive. Page 3/3 "Fire!" ordered the human commander. Dozens of archers came out of hiding and rained down flaming arrows. The mages followed suit, slinging their magical fire towards the forest. Talus realized that he had been deceived, but his power was not enough to stop the human army. All he could do was watch in horror as the mitrans perished screaming in the flames. A few days later, everything was left in ashen ruin, and the war ended in complete human victory. Talus, disgusted by the humans' cruelty and selfishness, returned to his tower where he had piloted his golems. He modified the magical schematics of his namesake creation, the giant golem Talus, to attack humans on sight and then disappeared. That giant golem still reappears whenever the tower's light shines on the magic circle, killing all humans it can find to follow its master's command.
