The Young Robert

The Young Robert is a biography of Robert the Strong written by Walthius Musbat sometime during the Fourth Age. It can be read in Robert's library during One of a Kind by searching the bookcases in the east, though it cannot be obtained. The book describes Robert's early life and how he arrived to Gielinor.

Transcript
Chapter 1

He was born to a family of librarians, those whose purpose in life is to collect, safeguard and archive the history and knowledge of his world. A world that Robert refers to as Teragard.

Robert is not a native of Gielinor by birth, though he considers our world to be more his home than the place he was born. Teragard, the original world of humans.

Teragard; a cold place, both in temperature and temperament. Despite humans being widespread across the planes, the natives consider themselves to be superior to all the others as they reside in the birthplace of humankind. It is from Teragard that the first human colonists originated, having been sent to other worlds by Saradomin himself, and that - the Teragardians believe - makes them special.

Robert does not share this conceit, as he holds the people of Gielinor in high regard. Teragard is ruled over by the seven Magisters, the heads of the seven ruling families of Teragard. The Magisters are responsible for officiating over law, tradition and even religion. They dictate the rules that everyone on Teragard must follow. But most importantly they are the people who control and protect the Schism.

Robert describes the Schism as the heart of Teragard. It is the source of the energy that the Teragardians use to power their devices and it is the linchpin of the Magisters' power.

On Teragard there are no runes, no magical essence and therefore no magic. Everything is run by energy siphoned off from the Schism, which is used to power the arcane technologies of Teragard.

Robert was fascinated by the Schism. He was convinced it was more than just a power source.

He uncovered documents that seemed doctored and each of them related to the Schism in some way.

Anyone else would have overlooked it, but Robert, even then, hungered for knowledge and stories and the Schism itself seemed to be the most mysterious.

One night, he could bear it no longer and crept into the Cathedral, where the Schism was housed like a religious artefact. He was discovered, naturally - Robert is an abnormally tall man not suited to sneaking through the shadows - but was able to dispatch the guards with - as he describes it - a ‘swift right hook’. Before long, he found himself in the inner sanctum where the Schism was held.

He describes the Schism as a great black hole surrounded by a corona of red crackling lightning, that arched to nearby obelisks that stored the energy. He says he felt that it called to him, whispering promises of other places and other stories. Before he even knew what he was doing he had stepped into the blackness and found himself in another world.