Their children had come so far. So very far indeed. Some had watched, smiling, as they took their first faltering steps. Others had watched in smugness, pleased their puppets were learning, while others looked on with a deep sorrow. It was time to leave, time to let their children free. Many rebelled at the thought, not wishing to relinquish the sway they held over them. But they all knew, be it now, or years from now, they'd have to leave their children; let them wander the bright world, and the dark places beneath.
Yes, they had come so far. But they'd forgotten about those who had brought them into this world. They had forgotten the old tales, passing them off as myth and legend. Even those who still practiced the old ways did so only out of habit, for they knew no other way. As far as they had come, they were still fearful of changing, of growing. Growing brought pain, at first, and they shunned it, seeking ways of relieving the pain.
They sprawled across the globe now, massive cities covering what once had been plainsland, or even forest. The barbarian hordes had been subdued. Either wiped out, or assimilated into their own society, their own culture. They traveled the lands and seas so much quicker now, machinery aiding them in ways their ancestors would have called magic. journies that once took months could now be done in days.
Their progresss took its toll on the land and waters. So many things had died, or were near dying. Progress, they called it, but was it really? For centuries they had been content to take only what they needed from the land, leaving enough for future generations, letting the land heal in time. But now, their farmers, their loggers, and even their miners took faster than the land could recover.
They watched on, each one sensing the time was come to go, yet reluctant to leave. Their children still had so much to learn!, so much to experience! Finally, they turned from the world they had long vied for, each one fading as they left the circles of the world. It was time to move on, to another world. To start anew. Toril was no longer theirs, it belonged now to their children.
Far below, a boy looked up into the night sky, calling to his parents and pointing. "Mumma, papa! look!" They turned, following the boys sight, and watched as, one by the one, the stars above them winked out.
The decline
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