In elder days nightmare creatures roamed the land;
And often attacked even a well armed band.
Men were far from masters of all they surveyed;
And the laws of mankind were seldom obeyed.
Magic permeated the very essence of life;
With hideous monsters the land was rife.
Dragon, chimera, and basilisk did spread,
Staining the earth a crimson red.
Yet one monstrosity wrought horror in man,
For it was brought into being by his own hand.
Thinking such monsters too powerful to battle,
Some men vowed to be more than mere cattle.
With twisted magic tbey bred with lion and wyvern,
In rites so depraved as to make your stomach turn.
The resulting offspring were powerful, no doubt;
And these twisted mortals raised a victory shout!
At last they could fight monsters on even ground;
No more to play fox to the monstrosities hound!
Ah, but what they failed to realize that day;
They themselves were no longer of mortal clay!
Leonine of body, merged with dragon wing,
Retaining human fearures while gaining scorpion sting;
Becoming themselves what they sought to destroy;
The slaughter of humans they came to enjoy.
So men learned even magic has a price to pay;
As the manticore they created continued to slay.
It was an age of heroes and deeds of renown;
Whispered at night or sung in towns.
