Chapter 81: Late Night Drive
“The oldest known written text that exists to date is a little over 12,000 years old, the Gahr Hielm. A stone tablet found within ruins located outside the Obsidian Towers within Gix. The aether dating within the material of the tablet suggests it was created in 8971 BAE. This is the year many historians declare when writing begins for humans.
“However, I disagree with this assumption.
“There are a variety of artifacts and structures that predate the Gahr Hielm by an overwhelming amount. And, these objects possess a degree of sophistication to a level that we can not replicate today. Objects enchanted with ancient magic, such as the Eye of Argon, are prime examples. This ancient magic defies Aether theory, which is one of the core bases of our understanding of existence.
“As such. I believe that these ancient people, who were capable of creating something so complex, must have been intelligent enough to develop a writing system. And yet, we can not find any writing from these civilizations.
“I have a theory that during the Mythic Era, there was a cataclysmic event that occurred and led to the writings of the inhabitants of that time to be lost. The exact details of this event are hard to pinpoint. However, given the absurd nature of ancient magic that we have encountered, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that it could be reality warping in terms of the extent of the disaster. As such, our ancestors may have purposely destroyed all written records and knowledge of that era to prevent repeating whatever catastrophe happened.
“The notion that our ancestors deliberately destroyed all of their written records is also backed up by the mysterious words of giant sages that lived during this time who said, ‘Man has destroyed his past, with purpose.’
“And, while I will recognize that my speculation is quite grand in claim. I will point out to my critics that advanced civilizations really did exist during the Mythic Era, and that is not disputed. For civilizations as advanced as the ones during the Mythic Era to suddenly disappear and not leave anything written behind is beyond strange.
“Regardless of my theory, I believe it is presumptuous for other historians to declare 8971 BAE the year humans first began writing. Especially since there has not been a proper compassion with historical records from the eastern continent.”
—“Ancient Times Forgotten” By disgraced Archmage Alexandria Scarlett