The End of Chaos

One day a disease caused by Chaos will emerge. When this happens, four people will finally destroy the Harbinger. We will be released from the grip of this pretend god.

-one of many copies of the End of Chaos

A prophecy attributed to the present day. It claims four people will take the imprisoned Harbinger of Chaos to the East and unmake them once and for all, saving the world from a chaotic disease believed to herald Harbinger's escape.

Summary

Though Chaos' reign has ended, their presence remains in Geville. They will be trapped by generations, but the most powerful of us cannot contain their influence. The day the disease spreads from west to east, the Harbinger of Chaos will free themselves of our chains and take their revenge - destroying our institutions, our laws, anything with a semblance of Order.
Yet hope remains. Four strangers will bind the Harbinger, taking them east and away from the spread of their illness. As they remain out of that reach, silent of their mission, they will reach the Nine of Eight. Only there can the Harbinger be removed from their mortal body and only there can they be destroyed, their true name torn asunder.
These four will be made up of the oldest and the youngest, the fastest and the slowest. True to their goal and single-minded in their defence of our world. They will not travel on foot, but by a ship created to traverse long distances over sands at speeds unknown, the Ship of Death.

-the first three paragraphs from a copy of the prophecy, dated Eighty (Five) A(fter)C(haos)

While the prophecy goes on like this, the original has long since disappeared, leaving leagues of different renditions by those copying the prophecy after the fact. Therefore all further details about the trip, the people involved, and anything about the disease are unknown.

Historical Basis

The belief in this prophecy is nurtured by two facts. First is the location Nine of Eight, which is a group of mountains close to the Frozen Sands of Time. Several swatches of that area are not claimed by any of the surrounding countries because of the danger there. While not the same sort of magic as found in the Frozen Sands of Time, it is known that inside the mountains also has a power which might grow strong enough to break a Name (given the Name is weakened and a Namer there is powerful enough). It is unknown which of the nine mountains is meant to be the Nine of the Eight, as countries and legends all label a different peak as the ninth.
The other evidence is the existence of the Harbinger, who is currently held in Bagolsausen by a powerful Namer family. As time goes on, many have accepted how benign the Harbinger of Chaos is currently as held by their true Name, but the possibility they might grow strong enough to break free from the Namers is always possible.

Spread

In the times right after the end of Chaos' reign, this prophecy spread all over Geville. As the time draws nearer to the appointed time and people who take place in this prophecy, less people know or have heard of the prophecy. Many might believe the Harbinger is real and exists, but do not think they are capable of anything like they were in the past (and never will again). That this adventure is about to begin is therefore unknown to the majority of Geville, with only a few aware of any version of the prophecy.

Cultural Reception

As the Harbinger is safely contained, most people don't spend much time thinking about this prophecy at all. Yet with the very idea the Harbinger might escape their current confinement, all of any species who are in the know are quite happy to accept there is a moment when they can kill off the Harbinger and live their lives as they have been. Needless to say, no one has asked the Harbinger their opinion on it all.
Why not have four people take the Harbinger east before the illness begins? Many people ask that question to a lot of guesswork in response. Most people believe the Harbinger will only be weak enough to have their true Name torn apart at this point. People accept this as a likely scenario.
Why not have the Harbinger in the east instead of on the other end of the continent? There are less good reasons for this, according to those who know, and arguments have been had in the past with the Namer family who has held the Harbinger. The public response as of year Nine Hundred and Fifty (Four) was to protect the prophecy. If it is said the Harbinger must be taken from west to the east, it is best done with the group given all the help they can receive on the start of their journey. Instead of some people who want to stir up chaos kidnapping the Harbinger and protecting them. A small but growing group of crostruses have begun to preach that the "disease" in question is not literal, but is a change in governmental system to one much more open and, therefore, much more suited to the crostruses preferred way of life.

Date of First Recording

End of Chaos' Reign

Date of Setting

Present Time