The history of many civilizations is the history of war. This doubtlessly serves as a comfort to many; as they expire
in painful fashions at the hands/tentacles/projectiles/explosives/flatulence of the enemy, they can take comfort in
the knowledge they took part in a Historical Event. On This Planet, recorded history began with the First Bardic
War, a war as justified and noble as the conflict of Jenkin's Ear. Within the primordial phlegm of the Forum, life
was sparked when the bard, Glidward, was disparaged as utterly useless. Consent on this issue was nearly uniform
save for one dissenter, Daryl, Demi-Goddess of Bard-Dom, who recounted the numerous (four) tales of heroic
bards. Liquid-X disagreed. This was the spark caused by the steel-heeled boot against the cement floor in the
methane refinery: the firestorm commenced
[Ed: for no fathomable reason, an Excal from a parallel universe (labeled [alternate]) jumped into this dimension at
this time. Excal [alternate] had completed his Canuck Knight training and was able to fight in this war; Excal
[normal] was still deep in his apprenticeship and was not.]
In its early moments several important concepts and figures made their first appearances. Daryl's shouta complex
(a form of benign pedophilia) was discovered when she hugged the adolescent heroes she summoned to her side.
Liquid-X demonstrated that, while a mortal, he commanded formidable powers. Significant was Daryl's
introduction of a new weapon, one this author contends should be part of the next START treaty: the Bardic
Dating Role-Playing Game (BDRPG). A ghastly amalgam of every dating simulation ever created, and set to a
Bardic theme, many a soul would crumble before its pummeling cuteness. Both Daryl and Liquid-X received
assistance from third parties, most of it unwanted. SRGPI, Tallpanzer, Excal [alternate], and Section Yea Eighth
all assisted Liquid-X in some form or another. Eternity, Krono the Time Mage, and Reako the Summoner
originally ran in to help either contender, but fought each other instead. Epsilon X gave both combatants a nickel;
the effect of this is unclear. Ultros the Two-Bit Villain tried to kill both Liquid-X and Daryl, and was eaten.
The actual conflict was quite simple. The two powerful entities unleashed lawyers and karaoke and Mentos and
Ocarinas and blatant copywrite infringement and, obviously, an unhealthy amount of bards, on each other, most of
which boomeranged and smacked them upside their heads. Late in the war, Daryl used her formidable BDRPG on
Liquid-X and entombed him in digital space. Ace, an innocent bystander, made a chance comment about the
device, and was made its next victim, totally and utterly Bardified. Daryl, possibly blind with pride over the newest
addition to the Bardic Hive, made a significant strategic error: she brought Ace to the secret Bardic Hall. The
cunning Liquid-X (doubtlessly scarred from the BDRPG) leapt from the shadows and immediately challenged her
to resume the fight. Section Yea Eighth leapt to his side and pledged his support, only to be beaten to death by
bards. Tensions were high. Was this the final showdown, the last, great, climactic and calamitous clash where the
powers of these awesome beings would lay waste to This Planet in their thirst for one another's blood? Nope; they
were bored and broke it off.
More significant from a historical point of view were the proxy wars that developed from this battle. Tallpanzer,
Excal [alternate], and Epsilon X confronted one another, the result being the Nickle War (see section 2). When, on
the subject of useless characters, the topic of moogles came up, the Moogle War began around Leo-X and Epsilon
X (see section 3).
After these proxy wars, a Mysterious Force threw Epsilon X backwards in time to the year 10 BC (see Eidolon
Saga, section 3c).
1b. The First Bardic War (Alternate Timeline)
In an alternate timeline, Epsilon X did not fight in the Bardic Wars; Eidolon did. Eidolon fought on Daryl's side,
but fought for materialistic, not altruistic, reasons, and utilized unscrupulous tactics. After the war, a Mysterious
Force shot him to the year 98 AC. He discovered Daryl had been missing since the war's end, and the past
version of him had set up some horrible worldwide dictatorship. Eidolon was disgusted, and attempted to return to
year 0 and knock some sense into his former self. A Mysterious Force blasted him back to 1000 BC. For more
details, see the Eidolon Saga (section 3).