The Exodus
As told by Myron the Sage,
Listen closely children and you will see how the Lord delivered us from an eternity of Diabolic servitude to the new lands of the Covenant. For of all those who live now, only a few of us remain who remember our lost home across the sea and of those, I am now the eldest.
I was very young but I recall the armies of the Baatezu Nobles were slowly enslaving all the Kingdoms of Eyre. While they had started their conquest from the Far East, only a few kingdoms were left in the West and the situation was grim as we were severely outnumbered. While the King was suing for terms of peace, the Canon decided to take the most faithful of all his people and move them to the small city of Hampton. After a month of prayer, he decided to make a direct appeal to the Lord to save us from the horrible fate that would await his faithful at the hands of the Diabolic horde. We all entered the temple and begin to pray for deliverance. After seven days and nights of prayer, a miracle happened. The Empnezi appeared in the center of the Town Square and came to the temple with instructions for us. We were to all board ships and sail to the west under his direction. He warned us the journey would be hard and arduous, but that we would be delivered to new lands for the Lord had not broken his covenant with his most faithful.
It took but weeks to build the fleet with the aid of the Clerics and the Empnezi and we quickly sailed away across the seas. Almost immediately, we sailed into a dense fog bank. We could not tell day from night in the timeless fog. Many reported seeing strange creatures in the fog and people fell into madness as we drifted through the timeless fog. As our supplies began to run out we beseeched the Canon and his priests to save us from starvation. The Canon and his priests began to call upon the Lord to provide us food and water to sustain us. This went on for years as I grew into manhood, took my wife Anna and my sons Connor and William were born. Whenever the people began to despair that the journey would never end, the Canon would call the ships together and remind them of all the horrors from which the Lord had already delivered them. In addition, the impact of the Empnezi’s presence served as a constant reminder of the immediacy of his love.
Then disaster struck us. Without warning, horrible Fiends descended upon us and struck viciously within our ranks. Over half the fleet was lost in that battle and to our despair the Canon and most of the Revered fell in a horrible battle. The people were devastated, but after mourning those lost, the Empnezi reminded us that we still had to complete our journey. Even the assuring words of the Empnezi seemed lost on the people until Roland stepped forward and made an impassioned speech to remind us that those who had sacrificed their lives to save us would not be honored unless their sacrifice led to something greater.
“For their blood shall be a sign of our Covenant with the Lord, and we shall not forget their sacrifice.”
It was soon after that Roland began to call upon the Lord for food and aid and we did not perish. It was then that we named Roland the new Canon and he began to leads us in fervent prayer for our safe arrival in the Land of the Covenant. Things moved along for a few more years, and then the Empnezi vanished. Many despaired that the Lord had abandoned us, but Roland pressed us to continue our journey.
Unfortunately, we began to quarrel and argue about directions and purpose. Eventually, a faction arose among us led by Nathan, who advocated a new course and began a bitter internal struggle with Roland. The people split into two factions and it eventually became clear that the differences were irreconcilable. Nathan and his followers sailed off into the mists and were never seen again.
It was not long after that the fog lifted and we could see the stars again. But the night sky was unfamiliar and we were shocked to find ourselves sailing into the Dawn and not the Sunset. We stopped for a time and after consultation with the Lord, Roland decided to press on to the east. After a moon’s passing, we spotted land and sailed into the bay on the day of the Winter Solstice. We made camp there and on the second morning a small child approached from the east. The Canon went forward to speak with him and found him to be of good cheer and to our surprise, full-grown. He called himself a hobbit and promised us assistance. To our relief, we were warmly greeted by the little people we now call Halflings and they welcomed us with food and drink.