Altaaf

Archivist’s Note: I found this statement while searching through the archives for information regarding the supposed plague of plants. Initially I thought it a misplaced artifact, as the statement itself was carved directly into a stone tablet. The language and writing is archaic, but not so old that it is indecipherable to me, despite the fact that I have never studied the language. However, the tablet has sustained damage, and some of the glyphs are missing. I am transcribing it on paper for ease of accessibility.

[Engraved is an illustration of what appears to be an imperial]

Stateme —- H—- Kind, regarding an a—— —— ——- Empor—

——- Begins

What are you doing? How are you making me —-
I suppose I have no choice in the matter. Very well. I was a healer once, in my clan. In those days the Lightweaver’s children still lived together, we did not know the —- in our flesh. But it did not take long for us to learn. Dragonkind was still new to the world, and the land was fraught with danger. The elemental energy we were —-ed with was powerful, but we did not know how to wield it. Even now our understanding is limited, and ——
I was the first ———- to turn my power towards the body, not to harm, but to heal. We may easily —— our power in great bursts of energy, but we can fine tune that energy, use it to supplement our ability to heal. We can achieve a many great things with fine control of how —— flows through us.
I learned to mend the flesh. I learned to give bodies the energy to heal faster, to regrow, to scar. And I found that it was possible not only hasten the natural progress of healing, but ——do more. Dragonkind was sculpted by the gods —— - elements, but we have that power to wield them in creation as well. We can regrow our limbs, yes, but we can do so much more. We can change ourselves — ——- — studied the body, the shape of the leg, and with enough pow— — —shape a new pair. But such studies take time, and the sick took precedent.
I healed m— But there was always death. And while fortunately our practice was to burn the dead, without knowing we did not take steps to prevent —— - together. We learned soon, just as the gods did.
You know of the Emperors, of course. Everyone does now. Dragons are energy, and that energy does not fade upon death. It seeks to live again, to serve its purpose. A perversion of healing, but healing nonetheless, the flesh’s desire to become whole. Energy coalesces, becomes form. Perhaps even —- origin —- - god- —-. And if the gods do not take those energies back into themselves, it will take its own shape, if it is strong enough.
The Emperors you hear of are the Emperors who were powerful enough to rain destruction upon the land. But there were those formed of less, barely strong enough to even rise from the earth. Tattered parts from —- -, incomplete, trying desperately to be whole. Missing limbs, organs, still desperately trying to —— impossible without more power. And that is why an Emperor hunts. Their forms ache to grow, to heal, to become more. To accrue as much energy as possible—- an appetite never satisfied. An appetite shared even by —- —ds.
But the energy of the land is not enough to sustain an Emporer’s rotting form. They seek power in its purest form, and that form is us, shaped by —- —- to fulfill their bidding.
So we kill them, to defend ourselves. Because we must.
But th— —— hardly could be called by such as name as Emperor. They are pitiful, more than anything. Hardly able to move, groaning ——- - — - Even the L —- - dare not face them, even to put them from their misery. She has failed, and now she abandons ——- - —- — — children. I hear rumors that sh —- - —- arted anew, rather than repair the old. But I was a healer, and I could not bear to see my fallen s—- - -suffer.
Perhaps, I thought, if they were made whole again. If the hunger within them could be sated. An Emperor is a body inefficient, broken, so that the energy is —— -. Slow the metabolism, stabilize th —- — - -eory is simple. I —- - s ———- -
— —-— could not even stand. It was hardly a dragon, let alone a —- —- — — writhed pitifully on the ground, a sound almost a sob emanating from what was left of one head. I lay my paws upon its flank, and —- —- -

Archivist’s Note: The next section is almost completely destroyed. Unsurprising, but given the contents of this statement, I have to wonder if the damage may be intentional. But if so, who was responsible? And what were they trying to hide?

— - rebounded. - — - —- —— - I —- — a breaking -. — —- - — - . —— h —- - e. — —- — — - ——— - body. The creature gave a final gasp, and fell still. ——— -the cost of my failure until - —- - ——— — —.
I noticed first the strength. As I said, the world was dangerous, and we all had to — —- - —- - ————- — — - — —ut I tore through h— flank w—- ease. Once I h— —- rushed to my —- aid, in the hopes of mending — —- —. It should have been simple, but when I tried to fill the flesh with energy I found the — —- -myself. The flow of power within me had been irreparably changed, warped in a way I had only seen on—- before. Inefficient, but terrible strong. My heart filled with dread as he died beneath my paws, still bleeding from wounds that should have easily closed. And beneath the heaviness in my chest I recognized another weight, deep within me. A yawning emptiness that - ——— —
I took his body away to be burned. Unlike —- —— - — - ——- I face my mistakes. He was larger than me, but I carried him with ease. All the while the pit in my stomach grew ever larger, and I knew I had a choice to make. I —- -

Statement Ends

Supplementary: Naturally, it is impossible to verify anything about this statement. However, one of my assistants claims to recognize the script in which it was written, a script which would place the date of this statement within the first century of our current age. While the contents of the statement seem to support such a claim, the idea is ultimately laughable. I am no scholar of ancient scripts, and should this tablet be as old as she claimed, there is no way that I would be able to understand it.