“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”

― William Shakespeare, The Tempest

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The Soothsayer's Bone is said to be the femur of a prophet and psychic so ancient, their name has been forgotten to the mists of time. The bone has been passed down through a long chain of people in positions of great power around the world. It is said to possess great fortune telling powers, granting whomever holds it the ability to use it as a sort of diving rod to merge normally disconnected timelines and open a window through the astral veil - through which the future can be seen. The outcomes appear as implanted “memories” in the mind of the user, who can then “see” the future outcome of a chain of causal events as though they are recalling something they had already experienced.

The relic has a history of being passed down through a long chain of tyrannical rulers who have used the powers of the bone to forecast the outcome of military battles and political upheavals. It was especially useful in the hands of despots and oppressors who used it only for personal gain and securing their continuing authoritarian power.

While the bone could potentially be used to advance humanity and create a more just and peaceful world, instead it has passed the eons in the hands of simple minded evildoers who use it instead for personal gain and power over others. Some legends say that it was always meant to serve only the needs of its most selfish and hateful masters, but that one day it will fall into the possession of someone who will make great peace with it and vanquish evil from the Earth.

Nazilic scholars say that the relic has existed through multiple iterations of the great cycle, and is fiercely guarded by those in power who hold it, preventing it from landing in the hands of the one who will use it for the goodly benefit of all humankind. Many of these despotic leaders have insisted they be buried with the artifact, being unwilling to part with it even in death, but it has been dug up and robbed from their graves each and every time.

Nazilic monks believe it is their destiny to finally possess the bone, and that it will play a role in the final dissolution of the shining one by falling into the hands of one who shall rise from amongst their own ranks. So far, however, they have not been successful in obtaining it through several iterations of the great cycle.

LYRICS:

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They plough their fields

They sow their rows

They weave their blankets for the nights when the cold wind blows

They swing their scythe

They reap their stow

And they grind their crusty bread with the soothsayer’s bone

They light their fires

Burn their effigies

All dancing deep in madness, rapt in ecstacy

They wave their flags

They wail and moan

And they beat the war drums with the soothsayer’s bone

They’re the prowlers on the prairie

They’re the keepers of the key

They’re the shadow steppers stepping, stepping over you and me

They’re the dreamers of the desert

And they’re never at home

And they stir their bubbling stew with the soothsayer’s bone

They pour their wine

They fill their grail

Collect the seeping gore in gilded golden pails

They nod and chant

Ascend the throne

And they pierce the astral veil with the soothsayer’s bone

They pick their battles

They win their fights

Adore their kings and revere their shining knights

They sacrifice the innocent

For sins they must atone

And they pick their rotten teeth with the soothsayer’s bone

They’re the prowlers on the prairie

They’re the keepers of the key

They’re the shadow steppers stepping, stepping over you and me

They’re the dreamers of the desert

And they’re never at home

And they stir their bubbling stew with the soothsayer’s bone