Listen, children!
Long ago in the Days of Glory and Magic, the fires of mankind's knowledge burned brighter than the sun. Wizard spoke with mage, sharing wisdom in the halls of sorcery. From their smithies arose marvels, beasts and birds of metal in service to mankind. From their towers, word and song flew from mountain peak to mountain peak. They could cast their all-seeing glance to the far heavens, or peer into the heart of a flea.
Then arose the Eighty, wisest of the wise. They spun such spells as the world has never seen, not before, and not since. They cast their net of knowledge so wide as to wrap all things, and drew the wisdom of the ages into their grasp, weaving it tight and tighter and tighter still until it dwelled in a talisman no larger than the palm of the hand.
Not one amulet alone did they craft, but many. One for each of the Eighty.
Listen, children!
For then the common folk clamored, "Give us wisdom also!"
"Our purpose is to serve," proclaimed the Eighty, and so by virtue of their mighty powers did they bring forth talisman after talisman to grant to the common folk.
Ah, the days of glory when even idiots and imbeciles could summon forth wisdom from an Amulet of the Hand! Ere long, the halls of sorcery fell silent, for knowledge passed instead from talisman to talisman. No longer must mages nor their apprentices study and ponder and fill their heads with what few strands of wisdom one person alone could hold.
Listen, children!
For then arose the Necromancer, that foul master of darkness and envy. It galled his sour soul that others should prosper, and not he alone. He blasted the heavens with a sorcery that rained down over all lands, a spell of rampant destruction.
Every talisman fell dark and silent. Nor would the metal beasts run. Nor would the metal birds fly. Nor would the towers call from mountain to mountain, for they each held an amulet at the heart.
In a world where once even fools wielded the wisdom of the ages, now even mages babbled in panic and helplessness. And so the world fell, and glory ended.
Speak, children! What do we learn?
Hold wisdom in our heads, not our hands.
Commentary and Analysis
For many years people assumed the "Eighty" referred to a date, possibly the year 2080 as time was then reckoned. However, extensive analysis of documents unearthed during the last decade show no written use of any date later than the early 2020's.
A few post-catastrophe documents show a variant spelling, "eye-tee," which leads to speculation that "Eighty" does not refer to a number at all. The earliest of those manuscripts also has cryptic notations in the margins reading "I.T." Dr. Blootung's essay, published in the last issue of "Arcs of Archeology," argues that "I.T." most likely stands for "idiot's talisman," thus returning to the moral of the fable.
YOU ARE READING
Hatchlings: fantasy and sci fi tales
FantasyA menagerie of flash fiction, hatched from ideas of many colors from here, there, and elsewhere: mostly fantasy but a sprinkling of sci-fi and contemporary.
