The water helps his voice, though he is still quite weak and remains seated. He is able to speak for awhile without interruption from hacking and wheezing. "Much has changed over the last few generations, but believe it or not this land used to be rich in vegetation, the air pure, and the water clean. And the best land was found around the Life Tree, because of the blessings of the spirit known as Gaia.
Though the gods created the five tribes of humans in their own image. Gaia created others such as the Flind, the Wolfwere, the Yuan-Ti, and the Myconids. The great spirit also made us agree not to fight over our resources, and instead we held the annual games where we would battle one another. Though some died in the contests, the numbers were much less than if we had entered into war. In the end, the land would be divided up for the year according to performance. Those that disobeyed Gaia in this would find that the land would not give food nor water. In this way, Gaia created tribal cultures developed around the ideas of valor and obedience. In this way, she prepared us for war.
A battle was being fought at the top of the Life Tree, in the tunnels and halls of Valhalla. The best of our warriors were plucked from the annual games and sent to fight besides the gods. Only some would return, grievously injured but sharing tales of wielding great magic, speaking to the spirit of Gaia, breaking bread with gods, and desperate fighting against worthy opponents. But the fighting continued for generations and it seemed as if our gods were being pushed slowly back by the Enemy.
Then one day Gaia stopped speaking to us. No annual game was held and no warriors sent into her trunk in order to climb up and do battle. And something went wrong with the land. It was the Myconids who suffered first and quickest. The land simply stopped providing for them and they shriveled and spoke less and slower, until the last of them spoke its last frightened thought, fell still, and eventually rotted away. We began to suffer, too. Our children matured quicker and their minds developed less. They lacked patience for our teachings and over time became cannibalistic. They would eventually be called gnolls.
Giant insects began to crawl down the Life Tree, coating it with a strange substance and turning the great tree into a hive. We began to fight with them, not knowing what their appearance meant but fearing the worst. The old gods then appeared to us and announced that Gaia had been captured and that they had been betrayed into losing Valhalla. The fight would continue, but on this very land itself.
The new gods appeared next, looking snake-like in a manner of the Yuan-Ti. The two found each other's appearance pleasing to the other, and the Yuan-Ti began to call the Enemy the new gods. The Enemy had a singular gift of controlling the weak-minded. The gnolls easily fell into their sway. The wolfwere were split, their constant rage helping and hindering their assimilation. The Yuan-Ti were more intelligent, but their affinity for the Enemy makes it hard to determine if they aided them out of control or out of desire. Even humans were sometimes enslaved, though the old gods tried to share their magic and knowledge in our defense. I am proud to say the Flind stayed loyal to the gods.
Over the years we were pushed back as the nutrients of the land were sucked away to the Life Tree. It is there that the Yuan-Ti make their home in a jungle oasis; while the rest falls into wasteland. Their ziggurat is a fortress and town center, protecting the Life Tree from our attacks. It is watched over by Andvari the Betrayer, the golden-haired god who turned against the pantheon. He is the messenger of the Enemy, speaking the common tongue since the new gods have no use for the language. He flies on a magical chariot, also made from gold, and rains death from above.
Magic is forbidden to the few survivors of this land by order of Andvari. Its use is punishable by death, but since Andvari and the new gods freely use magic it gives them an advantage. I only know of one cache of magic still hidden near the Wailing Caves. If you reach the Wailing Caves, you will find the cache in a tunnel hidden by a quartz boulder. It was supposed to be used by our army on our way to assault the Life Tree and free Gaia, but we were never strong enough to push the Enemy back. If what you say is true, enough of their forces may have been destroyed in the fighting to avoid the patrols and reach the caves. It is in the direction opposite of whence you came.
I am excited by your story of the cave. We were told to protect the cave to the last, as what was inside was important for the war effort. You see, the greatest of the gods died early in the fighting. Although led by the scant remainder, we were being pushed back to the poisoned sea. But Woden promised us that gods could not truly die, and that in the caves rested the returned bodies of the greatest that had fallen. If we could hold against the enemy long enough, then they would awaken and join the battle. With their strength and magic we would push back the Enemy, pass through the Wailing Caves, enter the Yuan-Ti jungle, pass the ziggurat, fight our way up the Life Tree, liberate Gaia, and save our land! Don't you see? You are the gods reincarnated!"
