I am a Troubadour, and the tales which I see I tell. A story and a song
can live longer than a man, and I bid you open your ears to the words
I give you, that my sight may outlast my eyes. That which I tell you
of I have seen in my dreams, as vivid as life itself, and the worlds
were strange and the people stranger. May the song please you and the
stories entertain you, and may the words be passed on to the future.

The Dream I had was a dream of pieces, and glimpses of elsewhere. Four
worlds there were, all unalike: a world of life, a world of secrets,
a world of machines, and a world of magic. In each there were people,
as you and I; and yet their eyes saw things we can scarcely imagine.
There were Horrors and Gods, heros and thieves, and this is the tale
I tell.

The world of life stretched among the stars, bridging Twenty Worlds in
one great civilization. Magic there was, but limited, and only one of
the twenty great lands knew the secrets of its use. Of namegivers,
only humans lived there, but some were changed beyond recognition, for
these people manipulated life itself for their use. They traveled
between worlds in living ships, and created new beings for their
companions. A race there was of creatures once human, now thousands of
beings united in one mind and one soul. Weapons were plagues, killers
of planets, created by malice and fear and greed. All life was the
plaything of man, and the netherworlds but roads between
civilizations. The people there worshipped beings they called Saints,
creatures from beyond their knowing who had won a great war between
Gods. Horror and deity intermingled, and the people knew not which
they followed.

The world of secrets held but one planet, yet saw the worlds beyond.
There were nations of men, densely populated and yet knowing little
of their neighbors, and great conspiracies playing as children with
dolls. A Company there was, defending their worldview, proclaiming
itself protector of humankind from all beyond understanding. Magic
in many forms, creatures neither namegiver nor beast, and spirits out
of their own legends were all its enemies, and eradication its only
solution. The humans who lived there knew nothing of magic, and the
Adepts of the age grew powerful in hiding. From beyond the world,
grey-faced creatures came with goals unknown, sowing mystery along
their path. Gods there were, and wars between them, and men who
sought to take the future for themselves. Many died to protect
the secrets of all.

The world of machines was a dark one, full of metal and man made
one. Magic there was, but primitive, only newly returned to a world
that had forgotten. Technology was king, based on metallurgy and
devices past the comprehension of most men. Society was fractured, a
man-made mountain with those above smothering those beneath until
noxious things grew in the darkness. Namegivers there were, trolls and
orks and dwarves and elves, but all descended from men, and none knew
T'skrang or Windling outside of tales. Great creations filled the
world, built through cleverness out of lightning and steel, taken
for granted and traded for money or lives. To live in that world
was a constant balance between honor and expediency, and mute obedience
was the price of safety.

The world of magic was a world like our own, a world of magic and
communities in the face of danger. Discord echoed between the races,
and yet all worked together in the face of the Scourge. All the namegivers
were there, in caers like this one, and the world outside was strange
and dangerous. The truest danger in that world, however, was from those
who saw a situation they could control and gain power from in the caer,
and cared nothing for those who suffered or never understood true freedom. 

These are the tales of those worlds, and the people within them, told
as if by the ones who lived there.

[The Tale of the World of Life]

[The Tale of the World of Secrets, Part One]

[The Tale of the World of Secrets, Part Two]

[The Tale of the World of Machines, Part One]

[The Tale of the World of Machines, Part Two]

[The Tale of the World of Magic]