Excerpt A: The Apes of Brool
The jungles north of the last outpost of Sparn are known generally as The Jungles of Brool. Not commonly known, however, is the origin of this name. There are several tribes of white apes that habitate within this area. These creatures are uncommonly cunning, and at least some of their number are capable of speech. All of these tribes refer to themselves as "The Apes of Brool," which may, on first blush, seem a simple reference to the name of the jungle in which they dwell. The apes, however, maintain an oral tradition that offers another explanation. Brool, they claim, was their greatest king, ruler of a vast ape empire which existed sometime in the distant past-- perhaps five or six æons ago, perhaps more. According to the white apes, this empire spanned the entire length and breadth of what we now know as The Jungles of Brool. The truth of this account remains uncertain. However, there are reports of ruins and crumbling stones within the jungle which bear carvings of apes and monkeys preparing for war, practicing agriculture, and populating temples and fortresses.
Excerpt B: The Elves of Planet Eris
The elves are known as the people of the four stars, for it is said they hail from the stars of Failias, Goirias, Murias, and Findias. On planet Eris, these stars are visible in the northern sky. The elves are a divine race, knowing no death due to length of years or passing of the æons. They came unto Eris twice. The first invasion, in the 11th Æon of this world was repelled by the demons of the icy wastes on the plain of the southern tower. When they returned in the 31st Æon, they drove the fomorians to the far reaches of the north, and the elves finally established their dominion over all of Eris. But their supremacy was short-lived. The divine race was vanquished in the 33rd Æon, when earthmen first appeared on Eris. It is believed that the “pure remnant” of these conquered immortals retreated beneath the land and sea to a parallel inner world. Certain of their progeny, however, persist on the surface world as half-elves (the product of a visitation of a divine elf upon a human female), or, as changelings (full-blood elves that are swapped at birth with human children). While commonly shunned when their faerie natures are first discovered, the most gifted of these half-elves and changelings come oft into the service of human princes and emperors as expert hirelings, sages, and advisors. The balance of their kind, however, must make their way in the world of men by cunning and wit. And it is from this pool that the typical elven adventurer is generally drawn.
