The Ghosts of Defiance

Gawain knew that The End of All Things must have the shadow of the Defiants behind it, because the "Great Evolution" they carried out was clearly an extension of the Defiance Plan from back then.

But he had never expected that those "shadows" would be two elves.

He had thought the Defiance Plan's members were all human.

"They were elven scholars employed by the Gondor Empire, and had been since a thousand years ago. At the same time, they were also members of the Holy Spirit Druid Sect... at least publicly," Beltira continued. "When the impact at Ancestor's Peak occurred, they vanished from the other sect members' sight for a time. I even thought they had rushed into the Gondor Wasteland along with the other crazed believers. But many years later, they suddenly reappeared and revealed their true identities.

"At the same time, they brought the Defiance Plan with them."

Gawain looked at Beltira. "Without question, given your circumstances at the time and your state of mind after suffering the 'divine impact,' the Defiance Plan must have deeply affected you."

"Deeply affected us? That hardly begins to describe it..." Beltira slowly shook her head. "We were inspired by that plan, so great it was almost tragic. We were awed by the wisdom and courage of those who came before us. We were pitiful wretches crushed by the malice of the gods, yet in the depths of our most hopeless despair, we suddenly saw a flicker of light kindled by other rebels. We simply could not refuse the techniques and ideas they brought us."

"...The Defiance Plan truly was humanity's greatest act of self-preservation in all of history. But mortals always make mistakes. As you just said, the passage of time and obsession caused everything to stray from its course," Gawain