Despite the obvious absurdity of explaining the nature of the world as if to one who has not experienced it, it does provide an interesting philosophical exercise. Thus, I will try my best not to leave out any detail we might otherwise consider obvious, and describe our world as if to a stranger.

The first difficulty arrives in where to start: as a monk I am inclined to begin with the religious creation story, though as a scholar I feel the need to present other facts first. Describing an accurate geography would be futile, as the Constructs are constantly in the process of shifting and changing Ethus as we know it. Not but a few decades ago was this monastery neighbor to a bustling city until the Constructs moved everyone out and let it fall. It is perhaps vain to think they intend for our home to become a permanent fixture, given the knowledge we have stored here. It would explain why the monastery stayed while the city was destroyed.

But I’ve gotten ahead of myself and must now explain the existence of the Constructs. I know I said I wouldn’t start with religion, but even the most irreligious fool accepts the existence of Those Who Dwell Above- it is only their nature they dispute. To men such as myself they are gods, though not all agree. They are universally credited with the creation of the Constructs. Like Those Above, the nature of the Constructs is subject to debate- some believe they are creatures of magic, advanced golems crafted by a power that surpasses the capabilities of men. Others claim they are robots; mechanical servants made from materials Those Above have never gifted us with. What we do know is that they are bipedal but not entirely humanoid in appearance, made of a hard, glossy black substance that is similar to volcanic glass or some sort of black metal. They do not chip, wear, or tire. They are impossible to damage or destroy. They cannot speak, but those in their presence have described a sudden understanding of their intent when attempting to communicate with them. They enact the will of Those Above, shaping the world to their whims. They are adept workers, building cities, fording rivers, or producing technologies with flawless precision.

They not only build, but destroy as well. For reasons only Those Who Dwell Above may know, the gifts they give are just as likely to be taken away. When the city nearby fell they confiscated all the technology that came with it.

I do so miss coffee. And computers. At least they left the electric lighting.

The cities they don’t destroy on their own. Their purpose, it seems, is only to herd humans and plant the first seeds- literally. There are mosses and vines that grow with startling rapidity when a city is chosen for destruction. It is believed they weaken and feed off the materials used for building, be it wood or concrete, leaving only rubble in the first decade and dust within half a century. Then come the City-Eaters. To be fair, nearly every creature involved, including the plant life, gets referred to as ‘City-Eaters’ by the common populace, but in scholarly circles it refers to the large creatures that hatch from fleshy sacks the Constructors leave behind once a city has become overgrown. The first of these creatures, though they take many shapes, are herbivores which eat the plants. They are typically large and rather dangerous, with thick hide and features such as spikes or horns, which they need to survive the onslaught of carnivores, which hatch next. They are typically very large and very dangerous, perhaps serving partially as a guard to keep off scavenging humans as well as serving their role in the ecosystem of a dying city.

Eventually the plant life has reduced the city to ashes and dust, the herbivores devour the last of the plants, the carnivores hunt the herbivores to extinction and promptly starve to death, though they sometimes last a little longer by turning to cannibalism. The entire process takes roughly three-fourths of a century.

 [Written in a smaller, neater handwriting:] Brother Michandre deserves credit for the description of the Constructs as well as the falling of cities though there were a great number of other points he missed otherwise, such as discussion of the people who live in the world or a description of the moons. I’d have thought the recent theory of Those Above living on either Olus or Ibaea would be of interest to him.