In the twilight of a time

There emerges a need for man to comprehend his own bitter fate

Finally resigned to the inevitable beyond, he searches the ages, desperate for stories of assurance, redemption and hope

Such tales fill page upon page with enough ink to flood a thousand valleys, and drown the tallest tree

But there is one tale that has as yet been told

The story of... The Outsider

Desolate and barren, humanity's at a crossroads

The people have retreated, shuttering their once carefree lives from unseen enemies which seem to plague not only the physical form, but the innermost thought

Driven by panic, compelled by dread, the masses begin to devolve

Once dear neighbours turn wary foes

Brother against brother, sister against sister

Achievement and ambition are dismissed as heretical, or worse, treasonous

Even nature itself is scorned

Choked with suspicion and fear, voices do not dare to sing, nor fingers to play

Imminent defeat is all but assured

But in the darkest hour

Whispers begin to tell of a figure emerging from the darkness

A being without a name, faceless and obscure

Part presence, part idea they say, as if the very force they describe has existed for eons, a dormant seed awaiting nourishment

Word of radical acts, disobedience, non-compliance spread among the people, at first fearful, then defiant, as the legend grows

Whispers turned to cries and the cries into screams

Content to cower no more, the fury of the people is terrible to behold as they exact revenge on their captors, sparing neither the repentant nor the bold

Now the fire is lit, smouldering in the belly of humanity

It cannot be extinguished, for the stories of The Outsider endure even as evidence of its presence is debated with the passing years

Messages, dictations, warnings...

Stories, such as these