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The Treasure Of The Ageless PART I: The Four Kings At the dawn of civilization, when the World Of The Wurm was still young, in an ancient era long before humans arrived in the lands now known as the Freedom Isles, four mighty kings gathered in the grand hall of the Library of Sorrow. They were the true rulers of the four kingdoms of the Ageless, enthroned in the ancient time by the Four Gods themselves. Although the kings were immune to the passing of time, they felt that the era of the Ageless was coming to an end. In response to their prayers the Four Gods had revealed the future to every one of them, and it was clear that all complaints and appeals to Fo, Magranon, Vynora and Libila would be in vain. "This world of ours will soon belong to a new race", they said. "Even the Keepers of the Truth, our mighty army, will not impede the inevitable, as the gods foresee it." And they sat together for a long time, bemoaning their fate, their spirit changing from angry to sad and helpless. Finally, one of them rose and spoke: "So, the Golden Valley will soon see many new creatures, and the World Of The Wurm will finally belong to the Humans. If this is the will of the Four Gods, so be it! But, before we have to vanish, let us each create something very special, a unique item as a gift to the new race of Humans, to help them in their effort to become the owners of our beautiful world!" And so they agreed to create four powerful and unique tools, made from the purest of silver. They returned to their kingdoms and summoned the most skillful of their blacksmiths to forge the best tools they could make from the best silver they could find. One year later the four kings gathered again in the Library of Sorrow and they presented what had been created in their kingdoms. "The Silver Sickle will help them to plant and cultivate vast forests, so they will always have wood to make fire and build sheds", the first king said. "The Silver Knife will be priceless as a tool to produce meat, furs, hides and material, so they will never be hungry or cold", the second king continued. The third king produced a Silver Hammer and said: "The hammer will be their tool to build houses and make their own tools from iron", and the fourth king continued: "This is the Silver Trowel used for erecting the great human temples and palaces." So they laid down the four unique tools of pure silver before them and were satisfied with what they had created. Suddenly a strong gust of wind arose and with a mighty roaring sound Libila herself appeared amongst them, filling the air with the strong odor of the Dark Realms. "So you decided to give your help to the feeble humans?", she rumbled in her mighty voice of thunder. "A sickle, a knife, a hammer and a trowel to settle and live in a peaceful world of rocks, trees and flowers? Heh! You fools!" Her laughter filled the grand hall and reverberated from the walls of the Library, making the kings tremble with fear. "How long do you believe those humans would survive in a world swarming with hostile creatures without a true weapon?", the Goddess asked. "Do you see them killing a lava fiend with a sickle? Would they attack a troll with their silver knife? What good would a hammer and a trowel do against a hell scorpious?" With these words the dark goddess disappeared. The four ageless kings looked at each other and realized that in their grief and sorrow they had forgotten to create the most important of all tools: a powerful weapon! Embarrassed they knelt down at the altars and prayed to the Four, asking for a unique and divine weapon to give as a present to the human race. And then, finally, the most noble and powerful sword appeared in front of the altars: a large two handed sword made of pure hardened silver! There they lay: the Silver Sickle, the Silver Knife, the Silver Hammer, the Silver Trowel and, as a gift of the gods themselves, the Silver Sword! The four kings agreed to hide this treasure of invaluable unique items in a secure place, to make sure that only the boldest and worthiest of the human race would be able to retrieve them. So they sent out seven of their winged Scouts of Truth to explore the seven continents that were to become the home of the human race. The Seven searched for a long time, until one of them finally found a forgotten cave built by the extinct race of the Gnomes deep below a high, almost inaccessible mountain in a remote spot at the edge of one of the seven islands. So the Treasure of the Ageless was hidden in the underground halls of the ancient Gnome people, sealed from the light of Sol by rock and soil, guarded by fierce creatures that roamed the tunnels leading to the treasure chamber. And the millennia passed...