Chapter Text
'There are many myths and legends surrounding the origins of the Endermen. Some say they are shadows stretched by the sun and brought to life by the evil thoughts of children. Others said they were beings from a far off land in the sky, beyond the reaches of anyone alive today.
The same can be said for the artefacts they created. I once heard of a dagger that once grasped, infuses the holder with the unearthly desire to kill all those near to them, and it would never be satisfied until you killed the one closest to you. Only then, would it let you go, and grant you immortality, so you could spend the rest of your life alone living with what you have done.'
'Holy shit...'
'I know. My culture is cruel at the best of times, and almost monstrous at the worst. But one thing I am certain of, despite all the stories I have listened to, is this simple fact. Endermen were once human.'
'Get outta town. Prove it buster.'
'Very well. The first endermen were humans who wanted to be more. This was a time when magic was taboo and unheard of, much like today, but more so.'
'How so?'
'Practising magic was punishable by death, if you were lucky.'
'Oh.'
'Yes. Needless to say, many magic users suffered indescribable pain and torture simply for existing. This went on for generations, as none of those afflicted with magic knew how to hide it. And running off into the wild when discovered was suicide, due to the large numbers of undead and hostile creatures.'
'Just like nowadays. Not much has changed, has it?'
'Exactly. This all ended when a saviour came forth and led them away from suffering and into the wilds. This saviour was named Syren, and she was the most powerful mage ever to have lived.'
'How the fuck do you know the name?'
'Because I was there.'
'...What the fuck?'
'Let me finish Sips, we don't have time for all your interruptions.'
'Okay, fine. Geez.'
'Syren had survived out in the wilderness for years by herself. She was self-taught in multiple forms of magic. To us, she was a god. It was unheard of to survive in the wilds for less than a day, let alone teach ones' self magic. We followed her without question. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but I remember it so clearly, as if it were happening right in front of me.
We followed her for 3 days, right into the depths of the forest. She led us to a clearing, where many other people from all over the world were waiting. I had never seen so many people. She floated above us all, and spoke to us of greater things. She said we had a higher calling than the pitiful humans that hurt us. She said we were stronger, mightier and worthier than the human parasites that crawled the earth. We believed her. Our minds were warped by the hatred of our captors, we wanted them to burn for what they did to us. I wanted them to feel the pain they caused me.
I wanted them to hide their faces too.'
'Jesus Christ...'
'I was a monster, Sips. We all were. Which is why we deserved what we got. Emotions are a very powerful element in magic, and if you do not keep it under control, bad things can happen. And what we were feeling that night was nothing compared to what Syren felt. Her hatred and anger with humanity was so powerful, and emphasised so heavily by all the people around her, it broke her control, and the magic consumed her.
We had no idea what to do, and we reached out to help her as the blackness took her body. It took us too. She raged high above us trying to fight back, while we were obliterated below. Our bodies were stretched and mutilated as we tried to reach our goddess, but she was out of reach. Our skin turned black with the hatred in our souls. Our eyes reflected the magic that cursed us. We had searched for the end of our pain, and found it.'
'…'
'Syren was the biggest monster of us all, hence she became the dragon. And just as she promised, she led us to the end of our pain. We couldn't feel. Anything. We stole blocks from this world and created our own, named The End. A world with nothing in it but soulless monsters. It was peaceful, but empty. Just like us. We were destined to live out the rest of our days in the pain we sought to escape.'
'How are you here then?'
'I was banished. I wandered far across the world as an enderman, and I met a mage interested in my magic. We bonded and I helped him with his research. It made me feel... human. I eventually helped him procure a dragon scale, and I became 'impure' in her eyes, when she discovered my activities. She stripped me of my form and imprisoned me in this world, as a human again. My friend helped me get on my feet, and taught me all he had found out. Turned out he was also an enderman before, and he had used the dragon scale to make a band. The band now in Sjin's possession.
He was intending to use it to challenge Syren and release the people she had cursed. But the element of surprise was lost, so he hid it from her. He never told me where. And now you have it, and the only way to reverse the magic is to defeat the enderdragon. There, history lesson over.'
'Woah, woah, woah, buster. How the hell are we gonna take down a fucking enderdragon?'
'I guess we'll have to wing it. Heh heh.'
'Fuck you.'