Come, come, child—sit. I was going to begin with a nice warm cup of tea… but no, I can tell by your eyes that’s not the beginning you're here for, and we both know it. So be it.

In the before time. Even before our letters learned to behave, the Veyl'thari tended this world rather than taking it. For near two hundred thousand years they kept the lattice quiet and the aegis in place while our kind grew; cities placed far apart where stone ran with the right metals and the ground hummed true. You should know by now the Aegis was never a switch to flip but a trust to pass on.

After aeons, they were finally ready to hand the Aegis field to a...mostly human custodian: the Sael’taen Varu’kesh, Commander of the Harmonics. And that, little one, was the most delicate phase of the entire project; veilturns of work and careful planning were coming to a harmonious fruition until a simple kindness — a father trying to ease a child’s grief over a beloved pet — drew the long hunger’s eye.

Gather 'round then, if you want it. This, is the story of what woke, what crossed, and those who still choose to stand between.