"Know ye, oh strange being, that once upon a time,
we who bear the blessings of the Kyuu walked unfettered without fear or misery!
That there was a time before the curse of PeeCee was yet uttered.
Strong and wild, were we!"
The Num nodded in appreciation.
Strength was what divided the weak and the strong.
It was the barrier between that which is meat and that which eats well!
"Num."
"Strong and wild, were we,"
The king uttered sadly in memory of what was,
'ere that dreadful crone Time had struck him low.
"Rough were our ways,
'ere the raising of the walls and floors of Hyuu.
Many were the enemies we made by our rude blades,
and felled as we hewed back and forth,
o'er this land with blades most brutal and unthinking.
Sharp were our tongues and wits as we proclaimed ourselves lords of all,
Equal to all in the heavens and earth."
"Ah, but our pride.
Tis was our pride that made us proclaim that,
for you see,
the beauteous Auu had came into our possession.
Beyond comparison, she was."
"Num?"
The Num could only murmur in confusion.
What was this thing called beauty?
Was not strength that came of loneliness and rage enough?
"We had liberated 'er from oppression,
A maiden held in bondage,
Made to suffer for the pleasure of others.
Brought low those who tormented her.
And taken her from them,
O'er hills, across dales, and be'neath lakes of stilled light."
"Made of 'er the pride and joy of Hyuu,
For a maiden as wondrous as she?
Was of the divine,
And from her lips fell words most holy."
The Num nodded slowly.
It knew not of such things.
And yet, there was a compelling thing in those words spoken,
spoken by the king of Hyuu.
A glittering truth.
Unseen and unsought, as a star at dawn,
when the sun goddess ascended in victory,
and the moon goddess descended in defeat.
"Aye, of 'er words, we kenned and penned,
inscribing them that they be made eternal.
Immortality given to the.
She spoke of a time when Hyuu would lose 'er,
to our dismay and detriment."
"She sang of your coming,
Oh, strange being that is not a beast, man, nor woman.
And of her rescue from her fetters."
"Then the KonKon came,
Countless beyond perception,
Upon peerless chariots of seamless metal,
pulled by the unspeakable BeeSess.
Crimson ran from their blades,
to form many rivers that fed an endless ruby ocean."
"Num..."
Here, the Num nodded in appreciation.
Such a foe sounded worthy to face!
No disappointment would be gained in such a battle.
"Alas, to our dismay,
We found that the curse of PeeCee,
uttered by the Kyuuti,
Held unthinkable might."
"Our arms restrained,
We could only watch,
Watch as they laughed,
And made sport of us.
And stole from us our pride,
The heart and soul of Hyuu."
The white maned king,
upon whom a troubled brow didst rest a ruby crown,
and who sat upon an ebony throne,
wept.
Tears of a proud one
Whose pride had been sundered,
who had been laid low by curse vile,
and the Crone Time, enemy of all.
"I, nay, all of Hyuu,
Begs of you,
Oh wondrous being descended not of beast, nor man, nor woman,
Go forth."
"Across the sea of singing stars,
Astride the fields of unrepentant day,
Beneath the gaze of the Silver Goddess,
Beneath the aegis of the Golden Queen."
"Save the pride of Hyuu.
Rescue our beauteous Auu,
from the perverse and degenerate bondage of the KonKon,
Before it is too late."
"Num!"
And thus, did the Num nod.
It stood tall,
Back unbowed by Time,
for no enemy such as a crone would bring it low.
Garbed in the hide and fur of the Nyarr,
And armed with its claws,
didst the Num stride forth from the city of Hyuu.
Ah, the city of Hyuu... much has been said of it in antiquity,
of the fell warlocks that once ruled it with magics most dark and perilous,
of the dire knights that freed it with sharp swords and glimmering steel,
and of the terrible ruin that befell it.
North by South did it wander,
Guided by instincts cunning.
An adventure with a goal was the Num upon,
Given by Not-Nums that had once been like it,
but not.
For in the end, there were none like the Num.