You've heard the tales. The legends. The stories of the great Wolf of Harmony and the merciless Wolf of Chaos and how their differentiating views on the world led to a great battle for the fate of the future. You've heard of how their battle ended, after days of constant fighting, and how despite everything that they had done to try and get the upper hand, they were at a standstill. And thus, they finally realized that the world was meant to have both Harmony and Chaos, and thus creating Balance. You've heard of how they departed from the world, leaving their legacy behind to pass on the responsibility of maintaining this Balance to generation after generation of future Wolves of Harmony and Chaos.

The legend ends on a hopeful note, supposedly telling of how future generations will always keep Balance in the world.

The legend is wrong.

Everything you know about the first Wolf of Harmony and the first Wolf of Chaos is wrong.

Allow me to explain, o' dear reader. The legend always spoke of just two powerful, godlike wolves. Kimlasca, the Wolf of Harmony, and Mystearica, the Wolf of Chaos. The legend never indicates nor even hints any possibility for there to have been a third wolf. So allow me to tell you the entirety of the legend, and allow me to tell you the story of how the legend truly ended.

When Kimlasca and Mystearica departed from the world, a third wolf arrived. This wolf was sealed away within a veil of green light, crashing into the world and sending a shockwave across the land. The wolf had landed in the center of the battlefield where the Wolf of Harmony and the Wolf of Chaos had fought. Emerging from this mystic green light was a wolf with pure gray fur.

His name was Ozma. He was the first Wolf of Balance.

Ozma looked at the ravaged battlefield in horror. The land had been torn apart, destroyed, and ruptured. No creature could possibly survive here, and yet both the Wolf of Harmony and the Wolf of Chaos left this land in a state of turmoil, as if they cared not for the wellbeing and protection of even a small landscape like the battlefield they had ravaged.

And for the next several days, Ozma worked tirelessly to fix the land that they had destroyed. Once more, the land was habitable and the destruction had been cleared. Once more, life could flourish here, and death could naturally linger. This land, the once lifeless battlefield of two godlike wolves, was now the a place that showed the first demonstration of the power of the Wolf of Balance.

As creatures flocked to this land once more, they thanked the Wolf of Balance and asked for his name. Most of the time, he would not reply, as he did not do such things to gain fame or recognition, but rather he did such things because it was the right thing to do. Time and time again, Ozma would explore the world to ensure that things were indeed in Balance.

He had taken the responsibility to do what neither Kimlasca nor Mystearica wanted to do. He stuck up for the world, helped keep it in check, and never gave up on it. Ozma centered his life and his legacy around doing the right thing, and ensuring that the life of every creature could be as fair as possible. No creature would be able to live in pure peace, pure Harmony, and never know what death was, but at the same time no creature would be able to live their lives slaying others and remaining immortal. Every creature had the chance to live life, and every creature had the chance to pass away. Life and death, light and dark, night and day... they were all necessary to help keep the world and its inhabitants in Balance.

And yet, the Wolf of Harmony and the Wolf of Chaos thought that their future generations would be able to restrain themselves and their beliefs enough to be able to keep the world in constant Balance? Neither Kimlasca nor Mystearica could restrain themselves, and yet they never strived to solve those problems. As much as the legend says otherwise, to them, the world was still a battle for territory... only they had passed that burden on to future generations.

It was never about Balance to them. It was about finding a way to tip the scales, hiding their ambitions and goals behind the mask of Balance, just so they could manipulate the future generations to carry out their orders.

To the godlike wolves, they see their descendants as a means to an end. As much as they might imply otherwise, everything they did was to sway their descendants to carry out their orders.

But what ever happened to Ozma, the Wolf of Balance? And why did the legend never speak of him? Why were there never future generations of Wolves of Balance?

As Ozma continued to bring Balance to the world, eventually Kimlasca and Mystearica took notice of his actions, and for the first time they agreed on one thing and one thing only:

Ozma was standing in their way.

The two wolves purposely destroyed the top of a mountain, causing such an uproar that Ozma rushed as fast as he could to make his way across the land to fix this mysterious tragedy.

And when he arrived at the base of the mountain, the two wolves left their mystical realms to return to the world once more. A beam of golden light and a veil of purple light crashed into the land at the base of the mountain, close to Ozma's position. When the light faded, Kimlasca and Mystearica stood side by side, standing before Ozma.

They ordered Ozma to stop what he was doing. They explained that the world did not need Ozma nor the power of Balance, because the two wolves already had stability under control. Ozma saw right through their facade, and stood his ground, standing up for the world and standing up for Balance.

None of the wolves stood down. Kimlasca and Mystearica were left with no choice, and they attacked Ozma.

Another fateful battle began. Hours upon hours went by, and the wolves fought with all their might. Unfortunately, Ozma was overpowered, and in the end he lay defeated. He tried his hardest to stand, but the two wolves refused to even let him back up. Killing Ozma would lead to insurmountable consequences in the universe, and there would certainly be no way to cover up his death to the world.

But why kill Ozma when instead they could act as if he never even existed?

With the power of Harmony and Chaos, Kimlasca and Mystearica ripped Ozma's soul from his body, siphoning the power of Balance and infusing it into his soul. His body vanished, and he was at the mercy of the two wolves. They used the mountain that they had destroyed, and sent his soul hurling into the heart of the mountain, sealing the mountaintop back up and ensuring that his soul would remain trapped within the heart of that very mountain forever.

In the end, Kimlasca and Mystearica were victorious. Any trace of Ozma was nonexistent, and so his story was forever lost to time... or so, that was how things went for thousands of generations.

But the story doesn't end there. As the centuries went by, generation after generation of Wolves of Harmony and Chaos inhabited the land, and eventually passed away at the end of their respective generation. Their souls would then transcend into a new realm: the Realm of Harmony, or the Realm of Chaos. These two realms were where Kimlasca and Mystearica resided. The realms were close to one another, separated by a vast void that was unable to be crossed. Unlike on earth, this was their own realm, and while they were immortal, they were not invincible. If they were to die at the hands of their opposing side, their realm would collapse and their legacy would end. If Kimlasca died, the Realm of Harmony would collapse, and all traces of Harmony would be eradicated. The world would fall into eternal Chaos, and the opposite would happen if Mystearica died.

But because of the vast void that separated their realms, they could never face one another and have one final standoff. But as time passed, a discovery was made. Harmony could not reach Chaos, but if there was Balance in their realms, perhaps a bridge would form between these two realms, so they could cross the bridge and face off one final time.

Indeed, that was just what would happen. If Ozma were to reawaken, the Bridge of Balance between these two realms would slowly manifest itself, and the two godlike wolves could finish what they started long ago. They could finally destroy one another, and one could finally defeat the other and shape the world to their liking.

But they do not know of the unfathomable consequences that would befall the world if they were to face off against one another in their own realms. But o' dear reader, those consequences are a revelation you shall come to learn in due time.

For generations, Kimlasca and Mystearica worked to cause Ozma's awakening. They could not wake him on their own, but with the help of their descendants... such a thing would be possible.

Kimlasca would give signs and cause mystic, Harmonious events at the mountain where Ozma's soul was trapped in, to lead several wolves to the base of the mountain. Eventually, a pack of peace called the mountain their home, a pack coincidentally named "The Kimlascan Pack".

It took hundreds of years of planning, but at the start of the newest generation, two wolves were born. Fate and destiny chose them to be the next Wolf of Harmony and the next Wolf of Chaos.

The two wolves were Cayde, Wolf of Harmony, and Uldrich, Wolf of Chaos.

Kimlasca guided Cayde on a quest of his own, leading him to the Shrine of Kimlasca. Mystearica worked behind the scenes to surprise both Cayde and Kimlasca by corrupting the Master Alpha of the Kimlascan Pack. When Cayde defeated the Master Alpha and freed him from the corruption, the spirit of Kimlasca led Cayde to sacrifice himself for the greater good.

Such a thing caused a chain reaction and set the great plan in action. With Cayde's sacrifice, Mystearica led Uldrich into believing that he was special, and had the power to throw the world into Chaos by infiltrating and destroying the most "Harmonious stronghold", the Kimlascan Pack. With Cayde inevitably returning his soul to his own body and returning to the Kimlascan Pack, his triumph was short lived.

Uldrich and his army of mindless shadows attacked the Kimlascan Pack, destroying their home and scattering the pack. Uldrich managed to kill the Master Alpha, and even caused Cayde to flee as well. Uldrich was convinced that he had finally been able to throw the world into Chaos through his actions, but he too was being led on.

When Cayde and the Kimlascan Pack fought to take back their home, it culminated in a standoff at the base of the very mountain that Ozma resided in. The two wolves were so convinced that they were the "chosen one" in a great legend that they fought valiantly to prove that they were right, but they unknowingly were nothing more than a small piece in a grand plan that was finally coming to fruition. Their powers were enough to allow both Kimlasca and Mystearica to channel as much energy as they could into one of the many reflections of their spirits, and fight alongside Cayde and Uldrich.

In the end, their plan worked. The combined force of Cayde, Uldrich, Kimlasca, and Mystearica, was enough to cause the mountaintop to explode once more. Mystearica acted shocked, as did Kimlasca.

Mystearica, who was not nearly as compassionate nor empathetic, took Uldrich and sent him far away from the mountain, because Uldrich had worn out his usefulness in Mystearica's eyes. Kimlasca was far more empathetic, and led Cayde on to believe that he was the "chosen one" that the legend spoke so highly of, when in reality such a thing was not real. Cayde was not the chosen one, he was nothing more than a pawn in a plan that had finally unfolded. There is no chosen one.

Kimlasca and Mystearica left. Cayde and the Kimlascan Pack celebrated their supposed victory, and Uldrich wallowed in sorrow and anger, alone, as his ambitions and goals had fallen apart in mere moments.

In their respective realms, Kimlasca and Mystearica now await the Bridge of Balance to manifest itself and be completely built so they could finally fight one last time, once and for all. Mystearica ceased his communication with Uldrich, thus leaving the Wolf of Chaos completely isolated to suffer his defeat alone. Kimlasca continued to guide Cayde as best as he could, although Kimlasca knew that Cayde had just been led on to think that he was something bigger than he truly was, even if he would never tell Cayde such a thing.

It is clear that Mystearica is a villainous, heartless figure, merely using the current Wolf of Chaos to carry out his plans, then cast them aside. He is indeed the true manifestation of Chaos.

O' dear reader, does this make Kimlasca a villain? No. It is clear that Kimlasca cares deeply for the world and for each generation of new Wolves of Harmony, but he cares more about his ideology and his plans... and as a result, he would destroy, or mislead anyone and anything just to carry out his plans.

He misled the Kimlascan Pack.
He misled Cayde.
And he destroyed me.

Yes, o' dear reader, I am Ozma. It was me who spoke of this legend to you, all the way from the beginning. In my slumber, I was once able to commune with you to tell you the tale of Kimlasca and Mystearica, but you were not ready to learn of the entire legend. When I first communed with you, Cayde, the Wolf of Harmony, hadn't even embarked on his own journey yet. The time was not right for me to tell you the entire legend, and I did not know how Cayde's legacy and journey, nor Uldrich's, would go.

I communed with you a second time, shortly after Cayde had sacrificed himself, to tell you more about the Wolf of Harmony and the Wolf of Chaos.

With my awakening comes the voice of truth, and for the third and final time, I have communed with you, o' dear reader. Now you know the truth, and now you know the legend in all its entirety.

With the truth unveiled, it is time to watch the story of Cayde unfold once more. With Kimlasca and Mystearica now awaiting the Bridge of Balance to manifest itself, the clock is ticking, and the future is uncertain.

The story of Cayde, Wolf of Harmony, continues one last time.

There is Harmony.

A side should always be taken, o' dear reader.

There is Chaos.

But the line between Harmony and Chaos is far thinner than most care to admit...

There is Balance.

...so let us cross that line together.

This is A Tale of Balance.