He looked at the expectant faces of the three friends as he said, “You might wonder why I am doing what I am doing, so, let me tell you the reason.” He smiled at them. “My name is Annias, and I am a follower of the order of the Diamond Sun.”
He looked to see their reaction, and when he found none, he continued, “Our order was created to ensure the fulfillment of the prophecy to the favorable outcome.”
He smiled again at their puzzled faces. “We are a secret order, of course, and almost nobody knows of our existence. Now, let me tell you of the second thing I want you to know.”
Annias rummaged a bit in his satchel and brought out a small sphere. “This is an Arcanos, one of many created with different uses, this one helps people to retrieve lost memories. People usually use it as a reminder of the important things they need to do.”
He touched it to his closed eye for a moment. “You just touch it to your eye, and you will instantly see what you forgot.
Annias placed the object back in his satchel. “By the end of the golden age, the magic was ebbing in the world above as below.” He pulled on his short beard as he talked.
“But something strange happened.” He looked at the fire and waved his hand over it, and shadows could be seen in it. These shadows took the forms of people and objects. “People who affected the world during the golden age, left behind them personal artifacts, for them, they were everyday objects, but for some reason that we don’t really know, these objects inherited magical characters which were related to the people who possessed them.”
“During the silver age, some people sought to collect them and catalog them.” He produced a card from his satchel. “This is a tarot card, and each one represents one of those influential characters to our history, and also each one represents one of the major Arcanos found and cataloged.
“Seventy-eight cards, and seventy-eight Arcanos.” He smiled as he pocketed the card. “Some people have a keen ability to recognize Arcanos without even the possession of magical abilities, those are the Sniffers.
“Others could replicate an Arcanos, the Replicators, although those are all thought to have died out in the silver age, or at least most of them did.”
He produced a small object that looked like a belt buckle. “This is a replica of an Arcanos, it gives speed and endurance to its wearer, during the silver age, thousands of those were made for soldiers, farmers and news runners.
“Others can wield the Arcanos to their full potential, as not everybody can get the full power of an Arcanos.” He sighed. “Those are the Utilizers, and usually, there is one of those people in each of the armies of the remaining nations of Agartha. I will give you some of the Arcanos that I managed to collect over the years.” He smiled. “Although I sense that you already have some.”
Characters from Agartha