From Balthazar’s Illuminated Manuscript:
When Mons was a young king, the land was fertile, and all lived in abundance. And he sent his children out into the world so that his Kingdom would know more of the world, and so that they could find exotic things to make his realm ever greater. And they brought many things from the world, and found knowledge, and created relics of great power. And each of his children offered him a gift as a symbol of their devotion, and of their commitment to the realm. They gave him the Scepter of Stone, the Crown of Water, the Cloak of Wind, and the Sword of Darkness Edged in Light. And he saw that these symbols of power increased the glory of his kingdom, and that they were forged from the world. And he asked: “but where is Osgog?” who was his youngest son. And his other children said that they did not know, and he sent them once more out into the world to find their brother.
It was Bremphyr who found him, deep in the bowels of the earth, creating a monster - a monster possessed by the God of Death. Bremphyr fled to his father for aide, but Osgog released the creature before Mons could intervene.
And so, one morning the people of the City woke to find all the land covered in black butterflies with purple eyes on their wings. The sky stayed dusky, and when they looked to the mountains they saw a huge Beast. It was shaped like a man, but with ram’s horns, and as black as charcoal. He stood on a chariot pulled by demons of shadow, and as they watched he cried out to the sky, and thundered down the side of the mountain.
Mons strode out of his palace, holding aloft his sword and scepter, clad in his crown and cloak, and he battled the God of Death. His children surrounded the battle field trying to contain the destruction wreaked on the kingdom as the two fought, but such was the fury of Mons, and the power of the God of Death that much was laid waste in the battle.
The two fought on for a year and a day while the people watched, and the crops failed, and the Children of Mons strove to save what they could. And on that day, just as dusk fell Mons and the God of Death found themselves in the center of the City in a great area laid waste by their combat, and the God of Death swung his great axe made of glittering stone, and struck Mons with a killing blow. And he laughed a terrible laugh, and all thought that hope was lost. But even as he lay dieing, Mons took up his sword, and stabbed the monster through the heart, if heart there was. And the monster cried out, and fell. And Mons said “Here, I have slain Death, and so my people will be deathless. And yet I myself am mortally wounded.”
And his children gathered around him - all except Osgog who could not face his father after what he had unleashed upon the world - and they said “father, what shall we do?” And he said unto them: “I am deeply hurt, and yet I do not die, for Death is vanquished from this realm. And so, you will place me on a boat in the river which flows to the sea, and I will lie in the boat through Aeons, until it is time for the whole world to come under my deathless dominion.”
And his Children said “and how will we know when that time is come?”
And he said “build you also a great temple to me in the City’s Center, even here where I lie. And you will place atop it a great stone, balanced, and it is your task to keep it balanced as long as you can. But eventually you will fail, and the stone will fall, and the earth will shake, and my time will have come.”
And so they did as he asked, and he departed on the small boat on a cot of simple wood, and in simple clothing for his children feared if their symbols of power would leave the realm what would happen to it. And they built the tower, and placed the Scepter and Sword, Crown and Cloak at the four corners of the realm so that nothing - not even Death - could enter into it once Mons their protector had left.
And so we the people have searched for the City and the Hidden Realm ever since, but have never found it, because the Children of Mons were cunning, and hid it well. And we, the priests of Mons search ever for our departed King, knowing that when we find him, he will turn all the world to deathless bliss, and we who find him, will live forever.