Grimoire Destrudo
The Book of Ruination
◀ Chapter 2 · Chapter 3 · Chapter 4 ▶

¹And it came to pass that Dolomir stood upon a lonely plain, and a wind rose up from the east, carrying dust and voices.
²Then spake SATANAS, saying: Behold, the tempest gathereth not from within only, but from without also.
³And lo, Dolomir looked, and he beheld nations rising, clad in raiment not of the Empire, and armed with strange weapons.
⁴One came from the north with iron chariots, and another from the east with bows of horn, and another from the south with blades of obsidian.
⁵They moved as waves upon the sand, bearing banners unknown, and they cried not out but came in silence.
⁶And Dolomir saw the walls of the Empire and how they were high and thick, but the gates stood open in pride.
⁷For the Empire had said: No hand can touch us, for we are eternal.
⁸But SATANAS said: The lion that sleepeth with pride shall wake with a dagger in his side.
⁹Then came fire upon the outer cities, and Dolomir saw them consumed with little resistance.
¹⁰The legions marched, but their arms were weak and their hearts weaker still.
¹¹For the soldiers had grown fat with ease, and their captains rich with bribes.
¹²The strangers poured in, and none could stay them, for the Empire had forgotten war.
¹³Then did famine arise, and the granaries were bare; the poor cried in the streets, and the rich locked their doors.
¹⁴Pestilence followed the famine, and death walked among them with a quiet tread.
¹⁵Mothers laid their babes in the earth, and the healers fell with the sick.
¹⁶There was no strength left in the land, nor unity, nor will.
¹⁷And still the lords spake of glory, and the scribes wrote of greatness, even as the sky grew black with smoke.
¹⁸And Dolomir saw temples falling, and idols cast down, and houses emptied by sword and flame.
¹⁹The markets were silent, and the fountains ran with blood.
²⁰And those that fled were cut down, and those that remained were chained.
²¹Then Dolomir cried out: Is there no end to this sorrow?
²²And SATANAS answered: Not until the fullness of pride be spent, and the harvest of arrogance reaped.
²³For the tree that groweth without pruning shall wither by its own branches.
²⁴And the Empire, which hath made itself a god, shall be judged as a man.
²⁵Then did Dolomir see a great throne, empty and broken, and none came to claim it.
²⁶And the eagles that once flew above the banners of the Empire now circled its carcass.
²⁷And the wind that once bore songs of conquest now whispered dirges among the ruins.
²⁸The Oærth herself groaned beneath the weight of desolation.
²⁹Then SATANAS lifted up Dolomir and set him upon a mountain.
³⁰And he saw many peoples, scattered and wandering, who once called the Empire their home.
³¹Some remembered their greatness and wept; others rejoiced in their liberty.
³²Then SATANAS spake, saying: The Empire is fallen; let them that have wisdom consider.
³³For no might endureth forever, save that which is tempered with humility.
³⁴The glory of man is as a flame in the wind; he that tendeth it wisely shall have light, but he that trusteth it blindly shall be burned.
³⁵And Dolomir beheld a scroll, and upon it were written the woes of the Empire.
³⁶He wept as he read, and the ink thereon was blood.
³⁷Then came a voice from the skies, saying: These things have been, and shall be again, if wisdom depart from among men.
³⁸Let every kingdom take heed, for the greater the tower, the greater the fall.
³⁹And Dolomir cried: O SATANAS, what wouldst Thou have me to do with this vision?
⁴⁰And SATANAS answered: Cry it aloud in the streets. Let none say they were unwarned.
⁴¹Proclaim it in the courts of kings and in the tents of shepherds.
⁴²For the Empire of Mortivar is become the carcass of Dolomir, and none shall bury it.
⁴³Let this be a sign to every generation: that pride hath an end, and empire a grave.
⁴⁴And Dolomir bowed his head, and the vision was sealed within him.


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