From the Lunar Archive of Sancta Gloria, Book III — The Timeless. Compiled by Archivist Ophira Reyne, 7th Cycle.
Preface
"When the world forgets its shape, they remember it for us."—Carving beneath the Celestial Gate, Abyss Skadi Ruins
The Elders stand outside lineage. They were not born, nor evolved, nor built; they are the personifications of Flux itself, the planetary resonance that sustains every cycle of life.They do not age. They do not reproduce. They appear when balance falters and fade when equilibrium returns.Their forms mirror archetypes drawn from every age—creatures the mind later imitates in myth: dragon, wolf-hound, griffon, kitsune, and unicorn.
To see an Elder is to feel the planet look back.
I. The First Awakening — Voices of the Flux
When the Cambrian seas first brightened, Flux condensed into nine distinct harmonics.Each harmonic wove a body from available matter—coral, fire, cloud, bone, or dream.Thus came the Nine Custodians, later called the Elders: Cerberus, Draco, Hippogryph, Kitsune, K'uk'ulkan, Kylin, Lung, Nightzmora, Pegasus, and Unicorn.
Their earliest duty was simple: keep the planetary song in tune.They taught the newborn Aegir how to sense current rather than fight it, then withdrew beneath crust or sky.Even the Lunar Archives admit ignorance of their origin before that moment.
Fragment, Vent-Tablet 01:"The light beneath the water had eyes. It blinked once, and we learned to breathe."
II. Forms and Aspects
Though immortal, the Elders are not immutable. Each re-embodies according to need and era, adopting shapes comprehensible to mortals.
ElderAspectTypical Manifestation (7th-Cycle records)Sphere of InfluenceCerberusGuardian of ThresholdsBroad-shouldered lupine titan, three-souled eyes of emberDeath, passage, and promise-keepingDracoFlame of TransformationHorn-crested drake bearing molten scalesCataclysm, renewal, elemental fireHippogryphBridge Between AirsWinged stallion-raptor hybridTravel, messages, balance of sky currentsKitsuneWhisper of ChangeMulti-tailed vulpine spirit veiled in aurora lightTrickery, fate, sudden enlightenmentK'uk'ulkanStorm SerpentFeathered serpent of radiant voltageWeather, rhythm of the tropicsKylinHorned PeacekeeperScaled ungulate with glass maneJustice, mercy, cessation of warsLungDeep DragonSerpentine leviathan dwelling in mantle-ventsOceans, pressure, geologic memoryNightzmoraWeaver of DreamsShadowed equine crowned in starlightSleep, fear, prophecyPegasusDawn HarbingerPure white flyer trailing sonic lightHope, inspiration, first light after disasterUnicornFont of HealingPale ungulate with spiral horn of translucent Flux-crystalRestoration, purity, rebirth
(Later scholars count ten by separating Pegasus and Unicorn from one archetype; the Archive follows that later enumeration.)
III. Interventions Through the Cycles First Cycle — The Shaping
The Elders guided the Aegir and early Humans from extinction. Lung cooled vents, Unicorn purified anoxic seas, and Cerberus marked the boundary between life and the unawakened.When the Flux first surged out of rhythm, Draco burned away excess energy—creating the first extinction and ensuring the world could begin again.
Second Cycle — Fire and Ash
During the War of Vapors, K'uk'ulkan and Kitsune appeared above storm fronts, weaving opposing currents to delay global poisoning. They failed.As atmosphere thickened with toxins, Pegasus carried messages between dying cities; Cerberus closed their gates mercifully.
Inscription, Hornwork Arch Ruin:"Three wings against one sky. They held until the wind forgot them."
Third Cycle — The Scaled Age
Draco and Lung contended openly. Volcano versus tide, flame versus pressure.Their duel maintained thermal balance but shattered continents—our geologists still read the scars as tectonic fault lines.Hippogryph ferried remnant Landborn across ash seas; most perished mid-air.Nightzmora, unseen, laid sleep upon terrified creatures so they died without panic.
Fourth Cycle — Ice and Memory
Kylin emerged to halt blood feuds among the nascent mammalian clans. Where it walked, ice turned to clear glass for one night; combatants saw their reflections and stood down.Unicorn reintroduced Flux harmony to recovering biospheres, enabling new mammalian Ancients.Cerberus became legend—the "Watcher Beneath Glaciers"—whose heartbeat thawed spring.
Fifth Cycle — Age of Kingdoms
Elders moved seldom and spoke through oracles. Kitsune's shrines appeared from Nippon to the western steppe; her parables seeded the concept of mercy by mischief.K'uk'ulkan guided sailors by stormlight; Pegasus appeared above sieges only when surrender terms were spoken truthfully.Draco withdrew, fearing its fire might ignite the fragile sky.
Sixth Cycle — The Shattered Age
As humanity's engines roared and Ancients warred, the Flux screamed. The Elders fractured.
Cerberus opened the last gateways for evacuees, then vanished.
Draco tried to vent Flux through the upper atmosphere—its flare became the polar auroras.
Kitsune walked battlefields collecting unspoken regrets; folklore misnamed her "foxfire."
Kylin was killed, or dispersed, at the Siege of Seven Updrafts; only mirrored bones remained.
Pegasus and Unicorn spent their final strength healing Sankta envoys preparing launch from Earth's surface.
Nightzmora covered the dying planet in a merciful dream.
Lung sang deep tectonic lullabies that prevented total crustal collapse.
When the Reset came, only faint resonance signatures marked where they had stood.
Seventh Cycle — The Silent Custodians
The Sankta found traces—crystal vertebrae in trench cores, horn fossils emitting sub-sonic hum.Upon re-harmonizing the Flux, the Elders re-manifested as avatars of oversight rather than gods.They no longer rule; they advise through resonance detectable by calibrated instruments.
Draco's pulse registers in volcanic tremors preceding eruptions—an early warning network.
Kitsune's frequency correlates with spontaneous problem-solving surges in cooperative neural scans.
Lung's song guides planetary weather correction systems.
Unicorn signatures coincide with accelerated healing in experimental Flux therapy.
Cerberus remains silent, presumed stationed at the metaphysical threshold between Earth and the Reverse Side.
The Sankta call them the Standing Chorus—proof that the world finally hums in tune.
IV. Covenants and Prohibitions
Throughout recorded cycles the Elders enforced five laws, though never in written form:
Flux must circulate.Hoarded energy breeds collapse.
Every form must end.Immortality invites stagnation; only guardians endure.
No balance without memory.Destruction without record is waste.
Aid without ownership.They may intervene, not reign.
Silence after mercy.Having acted, an Elder withdraws until the world forgets why.
Breaking any of these laws precipitates a reset. The Seventh Cycle endures precisely because none have yet been violated.
V. Testimonies of the Seventh Cycle
Observation Log 07-Pe:"An auroral filament formed the outline of wings above the Arctic Circle. The field registered Pegasus frequency. No storm followed."
Field Note Draco-12:"Mount Erend's vent pressure fell without detonation. Local miners reported hearing a low growl 'that felt like gratitude.'"
Dream Archive Entry N-43:"Half the planetary population recorded identical dream architecture—an open gate of three lights. Likely Nightzmora's last full broadcast."
Medical Record Flux Therapy Unit 3:"Subject's wound closed within hours of exposure to Type-U waveform. No infection. Pattern identical to Unicorn harmonic."
The Custodians do not demand worship. They ask only that the song be kept true.So long as the cycles remember them, not as masters but as melody, the world will not need an Eighth Dawn.