|S\leeping\\|G\ods\\|L\ie:\\\\\
|Brought to you through the endeavours of EMPIRE.$

|Welcome. Prepare to journey through the Lands of Tessera.\\
|Many will be the challenges you must face, but persevere - for if
you can traverse all eight Kingdoms and wake the Sleeping God,
your name will live forever in the annals of the Empire.$

|Programming and original game conception by\Steven W. Green.\\\
|Tessera and her Gods devised and created by Elv.\\\
|Amiga conversion implemented by Champie._JJ$

|Original Graphics by Kate.\\\\\
|Further Graphics from Luzita.\\\\
|Additional Graphics from Kevin.\\\_DN$

|There came into the hands of the Empire a book, containing sundry
items concerning the lands of Tessera, their history and their
people. Much of this information has been withheld, but a sampling
of the less radical items is reproduced herein._EN$

|To close this book and continue with the game, you may press ESC;
and the reading process may be speeded by pressing another key. This
should only be attempted AFTER the page has been properly examined,
or there may be a short delay. Now read on..._KG$

|CLOCK AND CALENDAR\\
|The Old Gods having (in some ways) tidy minds, time in Tessera is a
regular thing. Every day is the same length, with night lasting a
third of the duration of daylight._CM$

|The standard calendar was supposedly described to the very first Emperor
in a divine vision, but sceptical historians claim to have found
records using the same system dating some 200 years earlier. Certainly
the Emperor did introduce the system for numbering years from his accession.
_OP$

|THE MONTHS.\\\
|The Tesseran year is divided into 17 months of 17 days each, making 289 days
total. Each of the months is named after one of the Old Gods, which means
that there is great dispute among the various religions as to the exact
naming.$
|It is a curious fact that there are no surviving religions
disputing the number of Old Gods, and this cannot be attributed entirely
to the vicious suppression of such religions under previous rulers.\
|The version reproduced below is the 'official' calendar approved by
the Priests of Pha._IH$
|Al'Charazon:\the Great Potential.\
|Dacree:\the Source of Light.\
|Filiasi:\the Innocent Seeker.\
|Panthagh:\the Maker of Worlds.\
|Tuneron:\the Moulder of Vegetation.\
|Quellethi:\the Moulder of Flesh._AN$
|Swaranh:\the Heart of Evil.\
|Darc:\the Hand of Blood.\
|Lashu:\the Bringer of Experience.\
|Hellin:\the Small One.\\
|Miruar:\the Saviour of Humanity.\
|Gresht:\the Home of Insects.$
|Amalion:\the Singer of Racial Conflict.\
|Shathogh:\the Bringer of Forgetfulness.\
|Drusiloph:\the Lord of Four.\\
|Watki:\the Lady of Circularity.\
|Cerumon:\the Sayer of Farewells._GE$
|The day is divided into twelve hours, starting at dawn. Thus, there are
nine hours of day and three of night.\
Some of the Empire have wondered about the arrangement, but this is
folly; for how else could the world really be arranged?_ED$
|A NOTE ON TESSERAN GEOGRAPHY.\\
Kobbolds have told us that the whole of Tessera is
interconnected in some very clever way, involving some sort of
right angled turn; but no human has ever found a physical link
between the Kingdoms, and so we must resort to magic._AG$
|The Kingdoms themselves are, of course, cuboid; though since
the passing of the Dawntime there has been a strange effect
which means that one cannot simply walk around the Kingdom.
Some believe this curious edge-effect is mental, with human
minds blurring knowledge of the passage.$
|Chronology\\\
(dates are either AI - AnteImperium, or PI - PostImperium)\\
4200 AI: Creation of the World.\
The Dawntime.\
2200 AI: The Old Gods Leave.\
First Golden Age.\
1500 AI: Decline of first Civilisation.\
500 AI:  Dark Age. All the kingdoms are separate states.$
0. Foundation of the Empire. Imperator Toran I.\
Second Golden Age.\
84 PI: Death of Toran. Imperatrix Argond.\
127 PI: Disputed succession; Janin and Goldin.\
171 PI: Toran II.\
Silver Age.
225 PI: Toran III, last of the great Montani Emperors.\
A number of unsuccessful monarchs followed.$
410 PI: Fall of the House of Montani. Former Military Chief
Barboz Alrune becomes Imperator Barboz.\
576 PI: The short-lived House of Alrune is replaced by the
Thousand-Year Dominium of Clavius I.\
592 PI: Jaison I assassinates and replaces his father.$
1122 PI: Clavius III, the great reformer, comes to the throne.\
1734 PI: End of the first Empire; the Republic.\
1821 PI: Second Empire. Garkin Agthor seizes power.\
1863 PI: Clavius VI tries to re-introduce some of the reforms of
his namesake, and nearly falls to another revolt.$
2145 PI: Gregor Ruthark takes the throne from the
ill-prepared Johan IV.\
2926 PI: Our beloved emperor Sartor II ascends to the throne.
Long may he reign!\
2963 PI: Today.$
|Though the book knows the Future, it does not think it advisable
to impart this knowledge at present.$
