PAGE FIVE (3 panels)
Panel 1 (large). A mid-air battle over Elyptra: Armored ragon-riders from both worlds battle in mid-air, jousting with great lances and smiting each other with long-handled axes and heavy swords. This panel should be full of bloody battle--foreground, middle ground, and background. We even see a riderless Olfari battling a riderless Malfari--like two killer lizards wound about each other in mid-air.
CAP: “THUS BEGAN THE WAR BETWEEN ANDRONUS AND ANDRYLLA. OUR PEOPLE WERE FOREVER DIVIDED BY THIS RIFT, FIGHTING FOR POSSESSION OF ELYPTRA AND ITS PRECIOUS NYZIUM MINES.”
Panel 2 (large). Another scene of battle, this time on the surface of Elyptra: Two knights in bloodstained techno-armor battle each other with axe and sword. Behind them other knights slay one another in the perpetual battle for control of Nyzium. Overhead, the sky is full of mounted Olfari and Malfari, likewise engaging in battle.
CAP: “SO IT HAS BEEN FOR FIVE CENTURIES. THE BLOOD OF BOTH TRIBES STAINS THE STONES OF THE MIDDLE REALM FROM GREY TO RED. ELYPTRA REMAINS BOTH THE SOURCE OF OUR GREATEST RESOURCE AND THE BATTLEGROUND WHERE HEROES ARE BORN AND DIE.”
Panel 3 (small). Now we see the face of the person who has been telling this story: Shael Nevermorn. He is a 16-year-old Sage-in-training, and he has been giving an oral history report. In this panel, we see his face close-up, lit by a row of ornate candles that line the podium behind which he is standing to give his presentation. He wears the simple robes of a Novice Sage. Shael is a bright lad, tall for his age if a bit skinny, who dreams of a more exciting life than that of a Sage, and soon will make a huge mistake in the attempt to experience that excitement.
SHAEL: THUS ENDS MY REPORT. BLESSINGS OF KALYPTIS BE ON YOU ALL.