Doom of the Bokreni
The following is an excerpt from Murag Yonathu's Doom of the Bokreni, a compilation and analysis of stories and legends from the downfall of the Bokreni Empire (c. 300 PB - Year 0).
Many scholars criticized the conclusions reached in the book as "peddling conspiracies and misleading narratives". Through his work on the book, Murag had concluded that the fate of the Bokreni Empire was inevitable, a claim that many scholars have repeatedly downplayed and argued against.
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The deaths of his last great rivals within his own Counsel granted Overlord Kjag his greatest opportunity: a world devoid of challenge, devoid of contest. Yet, despite this moment of triumph, it would take nearly seventy years for him to act. His ultimate goal was finally within his grasp, but he seemed almost disinterested in claiming it.
It was not the ritual that held up the process. Mages had, to the best of their knowledge, perfected the spell years prior. It was clear from his own writings that Kjag was hesitant to move against his Counsel until such time that he could be certain of his plan's success, which in turn necessitated the ritual's completion.
It was not the state of the world he was waiting on. The Bokreni Empire had stretched across the known world. Only a handful of enclaves existed beyond their reach, and most were beyond the Prime, on planes that soon would be of little consequence. Kjag was soon to be a God, a master of two whole worlds while others squabbled over tracts of land on one.
It was not the state of reality that was impeding his progress. The flow of arcana was regular, consistent. Fluctuations in the arcane tides were measurable and in rigid five-year cycles. Year 0, the year Kjag had chosen to enact his plan, was during a dip in the cycle, same as it had been in 5 PB, 10 PB, and every five years prior. The discovery of the cycles was not new, and in fact had been common knowledge amongst majes since the times before Kjag's birth.
If not for any logic, why delay? Why not seize a moment of triumph that had been well within reach for the better part of a century?
By the accounts of his own underlings, Kjag was obsessed with fate. He had tried upon several occasions to challenge the notions of fate, to defy the writings of his own oracles. The oracles of old had foretold of the wars in the heavens, of the fall of dragonkind, of death and destruction and chaos for generations to come. Would it not then make sense that, in the brief time before Kjag had executed the last of his own oracles, that they foretold of a prophecy? One that heralded the downfall of the Bokreni, a downfall that would tear the very fabric of reality asunder?