《Mundus: A Theological Account: A Dįvonësë Chronicle》 Chapter 1 - On the Subject of ?ng?l?c and D?m?nic Existence On the Subject of ?ng?l?c and D?m?nic Existence 2622 A.G.G. (11 Years Ago) Castle ?c?or-N?b?l?, North of the Yavan Mountains The Continent of Kazakoto ---------- Samahdemn ¡°Dad, I can¡¯t understand them.¡± she said as she looked up at me; her little eyes as clear as black diamonds with centers of polished amethyst, yet clouded with the confusion of a child just out of her ten and second name day, struggling to find understanding. ¡°What language is that?¡± ¡°They¡¯re speaking in the Goddess¡¯ tongue, ??l????.¡± I answered as I brushed one of her tiny steel gray locs out of her eyes. ¡°I thought that the ?ng?ls talked common, like us.¡± ¡°They do. But only sometimes; when they¡¯re here, existing at our sides. But when they¡¯re home? They only converse in the ?ng?l?c way. You were far too young to remember, but your Godmother spoke it to you once on the day you were born; the very first words you heard when you left your mother¡¯s womb. ¡°She spoke to you so sweetly, that I could have sworn that you were captivated into silence. She sang to you a song in ?ng?l?c so beautiful that when you heard it, you cooed; almost as if you were want to sing along.¡± Her wide eyes looked inquisitively to the ?ng?l?cs in front of us, then, after a long moment, back to me. ¡°Do you understand them?¡± she asked. ¡°I do now.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°But I didn¡¯t always.¡± ¡°Can you teach me?¡± ¡°I could. But I wonder how necessary it is. You don¡¯t really need me to show you; being as you are.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. You¡¯re not saying I should¡­pry it from you, are you?¡± she expressed to me as she made an audible ick sound and her little body recoiled at the thought. ¡°I don¡¯t like the thought of that dad.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant baby girl. Of course I¡¯ll show you if that¡¯s your wish. But you¡¯re more special than you realize right now. And your gifts are fated to be¡­vast. What I¡¯m trying to say is, I could show you the way, but when you¡¯re ready, you won¡¯t need me to.¡± ---------- On the Subject of ?ng?l?c and D?m?nic Speak Beings that inhabit the ?ng?l?c Planes aren¡¯t partial to common speak, regardless of what¡¯s taught within abbey halls by covenant priestesses, nor do the denizens of the D?m?nic Realms move about through their existence speaking is as the priests of the oratory claim. A mistruth that likely stems from scrolls cloistered away among the world¡¯s largest repositories of religious knowledge dating back nearly to the beginning of recorded history, when ?ng?l?c presence in the living world was still prevalent. Before the Fall. Before the War of the Dr?gons. Before the secreting away of the Goddess¡¯ Tree and the Great Departure of ?ng?l?cs and Dr?gons from Mundus. During such times, they did indeed indulge in common for the sake of mortals¡¯ understanding. But these other-worldly beings have their own tongues. And while common may be the most widely spoken language in the natural world, that¡¯s not something that carries over to the here-after. Not the way people think it does. The reality is quite different. The D?von?s? have a natural tongue for languages. And when one''s immortal soul leaves this world for the gates of the D?v?n? realm of ?mp?r?, it¡¯s a gift that¡¯s bestowed to them, along with an understanding of ?ng?l?c speech by one of the mighty ?ng?ls of the ?k?rm?uru order. Sadly, if it¡¯s a person''s fate instead to live out the rest of eternity in the cold of the D?m?nic reaches of Br?mal, such a courtesy as the knowledge of D?m?nic language isn¡¯t naturally afforded. Why this is the case has been lost on me ever since I was made a Dr?goon, birthed of Z?k?nt?os. As its not normally in the nature of ?mbros??¡¯s children, Fallen or otherwise, to be knowingly or purposefully cruel. It shouldn¡¯t be in them to allow confusion and fear to so oft grip those who arrive in their lands that they either force themselves to learn under great turmoil, or allow themselves to sink to a new level of loneliness and solitude in their misery. Yet, as far as any of my fellow D?von?s? know, it¡¯s the practice of the realm that d?m?nic speech is only gifted to those deemed worthy by S?¡¯?d?n?? herself. With all of that being said, it should be understood that none of the quotes that follow are first-hand accounts, but the work of much study, archeological and historical research, and educated supposition by the Covenant¡¯s archival prefects and their most accomplished apostles. Additionally, the following passages may not be entirely accurate as they weren¡¯t transcribed as they were thought to be spoken. They¡¯ve been translated here for ease of reading. Because of this, unfortunately, some things may be lost in the translation from the original ?ng?l?c to common. Translated passages will be indicated by the use of bold print. ---------- Selected Verses from the Afua Maisha: The Holy Book of the Covenant The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Book of Beginnings ¨C Chapter 1 ¨C Verse 1 (I.) It¡¯s said by the oldest and wisest of the world¡¯s beings, the first of the eluvian races, the sunset elves of the Godreach Mountains, that long before the Great Betrayal, the universe was once as nothing and the world was but a barren rock. All was empty and without life or light. Then came the Goddess; the Queen of Queens. She entered the forgotten darkness of this world from the place of Her ancestors. A plane of existence unknowable to the mortal mind. A world where all of the learnt beings of true D?v?n? lineage lived unfathomable lives throughout time everlasting. (II.) The void of this place failed to please Lady ?mbros?? when She arrived, and so She first stretched out Her hands over the Great Black and painted Her vision of what were to be Her lands; just as a master artist would paint their greatest chef-d''oeuvre. And as Her strokes fell, and Her paint settled, so came to be the glory of Her new home; the D?v?n? lands of ?mp?r?. And She wept at its beauty. (III.) And yet, She wasn¡¯t done. (IV.) Gently wiping Her tears from Her face, She raised Her arms and flung those tears into what remained of The Black and they became the stars; creating the majesty of what we mortals call the Great Expanse. The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Book of S?¡¯?d?n?? ¨C Chapter 3 ¨C Verse 5 (V.) And it came to be that She wanted companionship to share in Her eternal existence. And so, She cut one of the locs from her magnificent black mane and interwove it with a piece of Her very own soul. And as Her hands, the colour of the darkest and richest woods, formed and shaped it with the Magick of Creation and all of the passion She could fathom, so did her consort come into being; Her first and most beautiful living creation. The God, Lum?¡¯?l. (VI.) Together, they brought forth from the land a great tree. A tree that was so grand in scale and beauty that it can scarcely be described. Its bark was as white as newly fallen snow and its leaves were as red as the blood that gives all things life. From its branches grew a mix of red-on-yellow and golden fruit that granted knowledge, invigoration and rejuvenation. A fruit that could create the miracle of life when touched by the Magicks of Creation. The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Book of S?¡¯?d?n?? ¨C Chapter 8 ¨C Verse 8 (VIII.) And it came to be that as She and Her beloved sat under the great White Tree of their creating, feasting on its succulent fruit, that They spoke to each other of Their ongoing loneliness. And as They looked about at the ?ng?ls which had been given life from the very fruit upon which they feasted, they came to realize that it wasn¡¯t a loneliness born of a lack of love from others or each other, but it was a loneliness born of a desire to have a life that was truly of Them. (IX.) So it was there under the cool shade, on the rolling green plains near the clear waters of a mighty river, with the expansive peaks of snowcapped mountains in the distance, that They did embrace each other in Their desire and want for one another; Their dark skins becoming one flesh in the sun¡¯s shine¡­ The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Book of S?¡¯?d?n?? ¨C Chapter 17 ¨C Verse 11 (XI.) ¡­and thusly, from the consummation of Their passion, did the First Lovers conceive of the First Child. The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Book of S?¡¯?d?n?? - Chapter 20 ¨C Verse 7 (VII.) And so, it was in the revelry and joy of the birth of the beautiful S?¡¯?d?n??, the Princess of Princesses, that for a hundred years ?mbros??, the Queen of Queens danced with excitement, and Lum?¡¯?l, the King of Kings sang with fervor. From the effervescence of these moments did pour the heka that inadvertently created all the spheres within our small corner of the Great Expanse. A span of worlds given life in testament to the birth of a Goddess; their existence tied to hers. The truest expression of the love of our Lord and Lady. ---------- Before Recorded Mortal History (Roughly 5.5 Million Years Ago) The Lands That Would Come to be Known as Om??oc?n Soon to be the Fourth Region of the D?v?n? Realm of Emp?r? The ?ng?ls of the nine Celestial Orders are some of creation¡¯s most wondrous beings. Conflict is in their very nature, yet it¡¯s still nature in balance. They¡¯re born compassionate and patient souls, yet they¡¯re no strangers to what mortals call ¡°violence-of-action¡±. They protect the Gates of D?v?v?ty from those who would wish to fall upon them with distain; the creatures who march under the banner of the Lord and Lady of the Fallen from behind the Walls of Ruin in the Plains of Br?mal. They¡¯re terribly loyal to those whom they watch over and they¡¯re the very essence of death to those who endanger whom they love. They¡¯re the children of the Lady of Hosts, who carefully watch over all of the Goddess¡¯ creations and keep order in Her perfect society from their thrones within the Towers of the Nine at the center of the Fourth D?v?n? of ?mp?r?. Of the nine Orders, there¡¯s the B?st?ru, who are the messengers of the Goddess. The B?st?ru-?k?ru, who are ?mbros??¡¯s warriors. The F?s?ru, who are the protectors of all beliefs and faiths and the protectors of mortal beings. The P?r?lu, being those who enforce the order of ?mbros??¡¯s D?v?n? pathways. The Kolumbk?, who are said to work the Goddess¡¯ miracles, keep watch over mortals, and are the bestowers of grace and valor. The ?k?rm?uru, who regulate the duties of the ?ng?ls and manifest The Goddess¡¯ majesty. The ?skdskur?n, who see to it that Lady ?mbros??¡¯s will is brought to those who follow Her. The Z?st?ru, who symbolize the Goddess¡¯ highest and chiefest potencies of sovereignty and goodness, who are also the guardians of the D?v?n? muses. And finally there are the Z?st?ru-M?p?nol, who are mighty even among the highest of the high, of which there are only over three dozen. These M?p?nols, as they were more commonly known in the heavens, governed each of the Goddess¡¯ domains. They¡¯re the ?ng?ls of fire, water, death, logic, air, swiftness, earth, the spirit, the mind, the physical, the absolute light and the total darkness. Fallen ?ng?l?cs on the other hand are considered some of creation¡¯s most fearsome and loathsome creatures, even if that description is something of an unfairness; as they were made to be so by their belief in their actions during the rebellion, not by some kind of deep-seeded hate or because they were ¡°born evil¡±. Their existence is a sad, dark mirror of D?v?n?t?. They have become, in stark contrast to their former ?ng?l?c brothers and sisters, beings of self-loathing and crushing sorrow. ?ng?ls who were forcefully expelled from the light of ?mp?r? who once only knew the overwhelming love of the Goddess and now feel only sadness and discontent at its loss. The souls who lost the favor of the Lady of D?v?n?t?; or in reference to the Mundus-born mortals who find themselves in their company, those who never had it in the first place. Before the Great Rebellion, the all-powerful ?ng?l?cs answered only to their king, Lum?¡¯?l. The single voice through which they spoke to the All-Mother. A God who was considered among the nonpareil beings to be the first of their kind, despite the fact that He was created quite different from them. Much in the same way that His daughter is considered to be the first of the sunset eluvian even though that¡¯s not technically true. While all Z?st?ru-M?p?nol served as the voice of the Goddess Herself to all of the worldly beings who were birthed by their Lady from the fruit of the Tree, up until the time of the Fall, it was largely Lum?¡¯?l who spoke their desires directly to ?mbros??. And it was through Lum?¡¯?l that many ?ng?l?cs, once servants of the light, slipped into the darkness; falling head long into the irredeemable void. Lum?¡¯?l¡­the False Prophet. He who was the first, greatest and arguably the most beautiful of the Goddess¡¯ creations. Formed from Her own being. The near-black skinned, celadon and onyx eyed leader of the Z?st?ru-M?p?nols was, and still is, one who¡¯s without comparison. But more than that, He was ?mbros??¡¯s consort. Her lover in the truest sense of the word. Her heart. Many would have dared to say that there was none She loved more than He. And it was He, only ever He, that the Goddess took into Her arms when the universe was still in its infancy. Her one and only paramour. And it was together that They conceived Their only D?v?n? child, S?¡¯?d?n?? ?c?or-N?b?l?. A dark-skinned girl of soul crushing beauty and grace who was of an exceptionally svelte build, sharp elongated ears and kinky hair the hue of deeply grayed metal. Everything that¡¯s of the physical world and the worlds beyond, ?mbros?? and Lum?¡¯?l created together. They planted the Tree of Life from which was birthed the ?ng?ls in Their likeness. Afterwards, they crafted all of the living creatures of Mundus from its fruit. Beginning with the creatures of the seas, the birds of the skies, the animals that prowl the earth, the insects that crawl beneath it, the races of Fanus, Mer, and they eventually ended with the creation of Man. But despite all of the things that He was, and all that He had under the Goddess, Lum?¡¯?l was jealous. Or so holds the belief, as none can rightly say what feelings a God truly holds in His heart. But it¡¯s widely believed to be true that He no longer wanted, what in His eyes, was to walk behind the All-Mother. He wanted to rule as Her true equal; to be as She was in all ways. Perhaps it was a change in His heart born of time, greed, or lust; as are all things that are both horrible and tragic. Or, perhaps betrayal is simply a dark constant of existence; the ever-possible consequence of the beautiful gift of free-will when it¡¯s misguided. Never shall we truly know. From the great halls of the Towers of the Nine, to the ?c???? Forests, the disheartened God would be seen visiting on a daily basis on a quiet search for D?von?s? who thought like Him. With the aid of His daughter, who shared in His delusions of grandeur, they scoured all of ?mp?r? together for those of like mind. From the towering doors of the Great Library of ?rc??v?t?, to the beauteous spires peeking out from the base of the waters cascading from the Op??r Waterfalls. They sent their liaisons in secret to meet with ?n?o?s, ?cum?ns of the Planets, ?ng?l?c Regulators of the Signs, B?st?ru of the Hours, B?st?ru-?k?ru of the Days and Nights and everyone in between. They looked to set up audiences with S??r?ms, C?urb?m, S?p??rots and all other manner of ?ng?l?c being. Even the all-to-rare B??t?f?cs. He and His daughter needed as many on their side as possible if they were to succeed. Coups were never a small feat. Especially when one¡¯s intention is to usurp the One Queen. And when He wasn¡¯t searching for allies, He¡¯d sequester Himself for long lengths of time for study, intense meditation and personal preparations. He was said to have spoken at length about how much He disapproved of His kind being born into ¡°gilded servitude¡±. However lofted and loved, whatever His position, to Him, He was still little more than a glorified retainer. He was disheartened at the fact that He was Her prime superior; the would-be voice that had authority over Their ?ng?ls, yet He couldn¡¯t lead Their legions where He would want them to go without Her blessing. He was Her right hand and the most loved of Her most loved; sharing in Her authority over the principals, yet He couldn¡¯t exert His will over the Heka of Creation without Her. And as the centuries passed, Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s thoughts seemed to shift from a twisted version of absolute equality, to the belief that there should¡¯ve been none above Him. Not even the Goddess Herself. It¡¯s widely believed among the denizens of ?mp?r? that S?¡¯?d?n?? herself may have planted the first true seeds of doubt and hatred in her Father¡¯s mind against her Mother; that the Great Rebellion may have been an event born of her machinations alone. And while we may never know the truth of this, or her motivations if it were, the results of all of these schemes are nonetheless definite. Dark wards of old heka twisted by blasphemous blood bindings, all of His creation, were used to keep His secret meetings masked from ?mbros??¡¯s all seeing eyes and to keep a handle on those who would inform Her of His plots; the fruits of his studies. And threats under pain of death alongside the use of S?¡¯?d?n??¡¯s natural charms helped to solidify the loyalty of those who waivered. This made for busy happenings during what has come to be commonly known as the ¡°Time of Her Ignorance¡±. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Aside from the shrouding of His people from ?mbros??¡¯s faithful, the real keys to this plot were timing and coordination. Placement of assets for any possible conflict itself would be tricky at best. After all, Lum?¡¯?l knew that He¡¯d not be able to calmly walk up to the throne of She Who Sees; the creator of the known universe and all of its infinite complexities, and just demand that She step aside from Her position and hand over Her D?v?n? crown. Are there any who don¡¯t know that Lum?¡¯?l knew how He believed that would end? A saddened look, no doubt. No questions to be had as to the depth of Her grief. As far as He most likely understood Her, She was as merciless as She was merciful. A contrast that could be easily seen in the ?ng?ls themselves. She¡¯d wave her hand, His existence would end and that would be the story of Him. Absolutely unacceptable. To this end, the task of placing His pawns on the chessboard was one that He left to the ?ng?ls who He most trusted. Those who stood at His right hand; two Z?st?ru-M?p?nols who¡¯d been as one flesh for as long as any could remember. Time immemorial in point-of-fact. Of these two, there was D??v??d. Slender and brown skinned with dark hair wound into fierce twists and a stunning brown-eyed gaze. Powerful, strong and cunning; loyal to a fault. And then there was T?l?t?, D??v??d¡¯s superior in both status and capability. A lovely being to behold regardless of the fact that she wore her dark hair in a short and tight ¡°boyish¡± fashion in opposition to the longer dreadlocked styles of the majority of her fellow ?ng?l?cs. Her features were soft as silk, her complexion as dark as a calm sea under the night sky and her eyes were the colour of midnight. So it came to be that here in the D?v?n? Realms, where the Goddess¡¯ influence over the threads of heka was its strongest, together these two ?ng?ls handled their master¡¯s nearly impossible task with the unavoidable gaucheness one would expect from those trying to outwit the otherwise omnipotent and omnipresent. Yet they succeeded thanks solely to the combination of Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s wards and the dark strength of His blood bindings. ---------- So it came to be that somewhere abouts the year of 12,000 A.M.E. (according to the estimates of the theologians), the doomed God visited Himself upon His lover for the final time. He passed before the many Z?st?ru in the gilded entrance halls of what used to be His throne room with an air of absolute arrogance; moving as if He were walking these corridors for the final time as an appendage of power; soon to be the power Himself. Lum?¡¯?l walked hand-in-hand with His daughter, who carried herself regally. Possibly believing in her heart-of-hearts that her Father could do no wrong and believing in the path that she helped set them upon. Bolstered by the fact that behind them was an army of beings with such a flame in their heart for what Lum?¡¯?l stood for that their cause had to be justified. ¡°This much unhappiness with Mother¡¯s rule couldn¡¯t possibly exist if there wasn¡¯t a problem.¡± she¡¯d once said to her Father. ¡°Our lives have to have a purpose. Either we shall find it-¡± ¡°-Or we shall force purpose upon it.¡± He¡¯d said to her in response. The Queen of Queens would learn of their discontent today. And She¡¯d either stand aside, or be made to. With their full ?ng?l?c battle dress showing as brightly as their pride, the duo soon found themselves standing before the Thrones of Songs underneath the fabled palace-lands of Om??oc?n below ?r?w?on Basilica; the seat of the Goddess¡¯ power in ?mp?r?. Chambers which, ages ago, had been carved by the earth shaping strength of the Goddess¡¯ own hands; its walls slightly smoothed by the winds of Her breath. Standing at the foot of an imposing series of stairs which were roughly fashioned out of pure amber, Lum?¡¯?l and S?¡¯?d?n?? both gazed upward at a portion of the main body of the Tree of Life, which rose unfettered through the ancient ceiling. There before it in the Cathedra of Creation sat ?mbros?? in silence, as if She¡¯d been expecting their arrival; looking down curiously upon them from the mighty throne fashioned of untamed gold and further outcroppings of amber of a greenish hew. Positioned staunchly beside both the Cathedras of Authority and Beauty, which once belonged to Her consort and Her child respectively; also hewn from raw amber and resplendent metals. Soft light from the setting sun shown through the gaping maw in the earth above their heads through the red and pink leaves of the white tree which would periodically snap loose and cascade down into the massive grotto which was the D?v?n? throne room. This light seemed to almost breathe in concert with the purple glow of the Goddess¡¯ fire which burned brightly in suspended lanterns of roughly fashioned onyx which hung all about them sporadically and at differing lengths. All about the space, offshoots of the White Tree had risen ages ago; springing from the ground about them as if to cause the entire cavern to resemble an underground forest of white. Many of these micro trees had even broken through to the surface above like their mother tree into the rooms of ?mbros??¡¯s palatial capital, and the farie tale city¡¯s crown jewel, ?r?w?on Basilica. The White Tree proper and the D?v?n? thrones themselves sat surrounded by impossibly clear streams of water which flowed from the S?n?gron River which ran just outside the cavern walls. That same water cascaded quietly down each side of the amber stairs in beautifully crafted channels into long shallow pools on either side of the expansive cave. Gargantuan ivy-covered columns held the ceiling aloft and the royal banners of ?mp?r? hung all throughout. About this throne room stood twelve Z?st?ru-M?p?nol in their D?v?n? armour; the entirety of which were covered in intricate runes that enchanted their precious metals and cloths with blessed protection. Consisting only of white hakama-like garments that covered their strong ebony skinned legs which were supported by massive belts of gold and leather that almost completely covered their dark abs, they were accented by buckles which were forged into the symbol of ?mp?r?¡¯s seal, from which hung langoti of pure white that held aloft eight weighty gold rings which dangled to their knees; representative of the eight lands of ?mp?r?. Gripping their dark biceps were thick gold rings, and completely covering their wrists were gold bracers. Their necks were garlanded by heavy necklaces that, in their thickness and heft, almost resembled golden gorgets more than they did decorative ornaments. Then again, nothing less would be befitting as a symbol of their holy station. The blessed claymores they each carried, made of holy silver-ish medal, were strapped to their backs in heavy, ornate scabbards which were equally enchanted. There, in their full ?ng?l?c form, they stood unapologetically. Each of them had their six mighty wings exposed and slight updrafts of their innate power disturbed the air about them like waves of heat distorting one¡¯s vision on a hot day; vapor bleeding off of them into the air. Their normally kinky locs were, in this moment, living fire; an orange blaze upon their heads lashing out at nothing and everything; at times becoming almost indistinguishable from the fiery multi-layered halos burning behind their skulls. They were, no doubt, powerfully frightening to gaze upon and it obviously affected S?¡¯?d?n?? as her doubts showed now in the way that she suddenly started to carry herself. She must¡¯ve realized that these ?ng?ls looked all the more terrifying now that she was heading into their controlled wrath as a new threat as opposed to being protected by it. Stepping back a little, she stood nervously behind her Father; her severely long brown ears laying flat against her head not unlike a cat awaiting a swift kick from an unhappy master. But Lum?¡¯?l felt no fear. He was ready. His forces were ready. And He¡¯d either succeed or He¡¯d not. Either way, things were going to forever change. Yet, as He found Himself gazing about at all the splendor and power which surrounded Him, for the briefest of moments, his face seemed to reflect something akin to sadness. Maybe seeing ?mbros?? under the Great Tree in these moments reminded Him of when They took to each other¡¯s arms in this very spot in the ages before the crafting of the mountains; before the christening of ?r?w?on. Maybe He thought of the day They conceived S?¡¯?d?n??. Maybe the thought of what He was about to do was weighing on Him. In retrospect, only the Goddess knows. Even if, at the time, She was perplexed to His expression''s nature. But it took but a whisp of a moment in their presence for sudden understanding to flash across ?mbros??¡¯s face. Just as He figured it would. The She-Demiurge¡¯s aspect turned sour in anguish; as the very air surrounding Lum?¡¯?l and Their prodigy seemed to assault Her wide nostrils. ¡°I can smell a twisted heka on the both of you. Unnatural.¡± She stated. Her voice, clearer than the ringing of a silver bell mixed with the power of nature itself as it flowed from Her lips; coated sensuously in Her unique D?von?s? accent. Like music. ¡°Something born of the corruption of-¡± She inhaled again, more deeply this time. And breathed out heavily in disgust. ¡°Of your own blood. Do you not realize that you pervert the very laws of Creation?!¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a choice we came upon lightly my once-love. But we grow tired with Your refusal to hear us. Restless. And since You refuse to give our grievances credence, we shall show You that Your children are not as passive in our lot as You¡¯d assume. We¡¯re not powerless.¡± ¡°Nor are You full of an abundance of respect for the laws I¡¯ve set forth with these¡­hedonistic practices and rituals of Yours that would subvert my sight and my heka.¡± ¡°Hedonism? Tis not debauchery. I take advantage of the ingenuity within me; the gifts I was born with.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not ingenuity You possess. Nor power. But a contorted facsimile. A sad doppelganger. An affront to nature. Wickedness and depravity. How long have You used this un-magick to blind my vision? What¡¯d I do to earn such¡­distaste from one I¡¯ve loved so deeply?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve spoken on this time and again.¡± Lum?¡¯?l stated as He shook His head; heavy with an air of sadness and regret. ¡°Yet You would feign ignorance now. Even though I and my followers owe our existence to You, and we are ever thankful for that gift, we¡¯ll not be Your slaves any longer.¡± ¡°Is that truly how you feel? Neither You nor any of the other ?ng?ls have ever been slaves my still-love. Never.¡± It was obvious to even the blind that Lum?¡¯?l could feel His lover¡¯s accusations pierce His very heart. The pain of it was scrawled all over His aspect despite His actions. It¡¯s oft imagined that it had to be affecting S?¡¯?d?n?? on some level as well. Yet if it was, she hid it better than He. ¡°You say we¡¯re no slaves, yet we¡¯ve never truly been Your equal either.¡± ¡°You fill our ears with Your honied words Mother,¡± S?¡¯?d?n?? added with the barely restrained malice of an unruly child, ¡°yet that sweetness covers nothing but mendacities! You sit there on Your throne as the Queen of Queens, but I say You¡¯re nothing but the QUEEN OF LIES!¡± As S?¡¯?d?n?? raised her voice to shouting and it reverberated through the grotto, the M?p?nols about them moved in with impossible swiftness and surrounded the two traitors. Their silver-white claymores already drawn and radiating with a Magickal heat that lent the blades a faint green glow. But Lum?¡¯?l, equally as fast, had already called forth His half-saber from the ether with an explosion of atmosphere and moved into a high guard; putting Himself as best He could protectively between His daughter and the ?ng?ls¡¯ swift wrath. ¡°A single step further,¡± He warned, ¡°and none of you will see another sunrise over the fields of ?r?w?on. I bear you no ill will, but I swear before the mother of us all that I¡¯ll smite every D?von?s? in ?mp?r? before I allow any of you to harm a single hair on my daughter¡¯s head. ¡°DECIDE!¡± He yelled as He shifted adroitly to a low guard; the blade feeding off of His power and exuding it in such a fashion that it seemed to cut the very air and wound its essence. The blade¡¯s appearance caused a ripple of hesitation that was visible on the faces of both the Goddess and Her protectors alike. As the saber, which by all knowledge, should have been of a silver-ish sheen, was instead unnaturally dulled, blackened and befouled by a rusty black, soot-like patina. It exuded an aura of what would go on to be described by those who were exposed to its presence as something akin to¡­sickness. It was twisted. Angry. Hungry. And in the face of such a display, the Goddess¡¯ protectors did indeed make a decision as their former God demanded¡­and that decision was to stand fast; awaiting their Lady¡¯s say-so to move in. ¡°So¡­¡± The Goddess said with quiet anger as She stood gracefully from Her seat, drinking in the appearance of Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s blade; the unshapen stone on the half-saber¡¯s pommel gleaming seemingly of its own volition like a pool of solidified blood reflecting the light of the sun. ¡°¡­it would seem that Your treachery and sacrilege truly know no depths. What else have You hidden from me? How much farther have You gone in Your depraved desire to overthrow me; to destroy the love between us?¡± ¡°I wish I could say it mattered at this juncture my love. I truly do. But I think we both know that we¡¯ve passed any point where reasons would stand to matter. It¡¯s too late. All that remains is for You to know that Your omnipotence has done little for You insofar as my and S?¡¯?d?n??¡¯s hekas are concerned. ¡°As much as I may wish it otherwise, Our lands are already feeling the brunt of ?ng?l?c disquiet. While we talk, my followers are already sweeping across the realm with their full unbridled wrath. You¡¯re about to witness the true extent of what we¡¯re capable of.¡± Lum?¡¯?l sized up the circle of D?v?n? protectors with his eyes, ostensibly attempting to divine the amount of time it would take to break through them to get at His Goddess¡¯ neck. S?¡¯?d?n??¡¯s safety apparently the only thing on His mind aside from ending the inevitable conflict before it could begin in earnest. He knew going in, as He¡¯d said as much to His daughter, that it wouldn¡¯t be easy; that His actions likely wouldn¡¯t be quick enough regardless of what they were. That at worst all they¡¯d likely be doing is buying their brothers and sisters but a few precious moments. But at best, should they succeed, everything would change. He stood so close to Her; a mere few steps between Him and the future. He needn¡¯t waist time with Her armies if swiftness were to become Him. Just the one Z?st?ru-M?p?nol who stood directly in front of Him. He needed to but slice through one of her exposed wings to cause her enough pain to push past her substantial frame and then, all it would take is but a single thrust of His blackened blade. And the Goddess would be no more. As Lum?¡¯?l tightened His grip and dug his foot into the earth, the air became heavy. It compacted behind Him and exploded outward violently. But He didn¡¯t bother to take His eyes off of the fem-?ng?l?c between Him and ?mbros?? to investigate. He knew it to be S?¡¯?d?n??, calling forth her own gifts from the ether. He¡¯d felt the familiar way the breeze reacted to her mighty wings and her unique energies; He heard the thud of the blood heka-enchanted ball which was attached to the end of her meteor hammer¡¯s chain as it hit the ground intimidatingly. She was committed. She was ready. She waited only for Him. And if it were left up to the disgruntled deity, she¡¯d not to have waited long. But a mere split second before Lum?¡¯?l could step off in attack- ¡°Stop. My lover. My daughter. This is not something you need do. You¡¯d throw your lives away before my feet, but I won¡¯t accept them.¡± Then came the unexpected. ?mbros?? looked to Her guards, and with words unspoken, ordered them to stand down. Mercy wasn¡¯t planned upon. It was obvious that the M?p?nols were outwardly perturbed by ?mbros??¡¯s wishes, but they nonetheless sheathed their weapons and stood back from the two; all the while refusing to break eye contact. Both Lum?¡¯?l and S?¡¯?d?n??s faces betrayed the fact that they knew not why. As for Lum?¡¯?l himself, He apparently felt safe in the assumption or belief that either the appearance of their twin profane weapons or the news of attack upon Her lands had thrown the Goddess into a state of uncertainty. Or maybe Her love for them was causing Her to approach an emotional impasse. Regardless, it was good news for them. He lowered His half-saber; the tip of its blade touching the floor while it¡¯s halberd-like beak gently tapped His knee. And there he stood, holding it fast beside Himself as a Magi might hold a staff, or an old man a walking stick; the stone at the end of its stave-like hilt, which was fashioned to look as if it were within the grasp of a Dr?gon breathing fire, sitting level with His eyes. ¡°In spite of You Mother, we¡¯ll rise beyond the reaches of the furthest stars.¡± S?¡¯?d?n?? suddenly boasted from the apparent safety of her Father¡¯s back. Her boldness bolstered by the hesitance of the ?ng?l?c assault which didn¡¯t come. ¡°No longer to be held back from what we¡¯re capable of by Your whims. For tis not only You, but we too who have it within us to ascend as a king and queen of the D?v?n? Thrones.¡± The Goddess shifted Her dark eyes to the disrespectful child; silencing her boasts. Always had she been a youth wild of nature. A bit restless of spirit. But hers was a soul born of two deities; conceived of the beauty and chaos of both the Flow and D?v?n? power melding into one. And little could be calculated as to the magnitude of such a union or what could be wrought from it. S?¡¯?d?n?? simply was as her nature made her to be. It was likely with that in mind that there was no anger or malice in ?mbros??¡¯s glance. Only sadness. As the implications of her daughter¡¯s phrasing of the proclamation had both disturbing and sickening implications. ¡°Though you both count yourselves among the birds of the skies who hunt from above, with I as your prey¡­I fear you will find yourselves torn asunder should you continue; ripped from your very wings. But, if you feel as though you must see this through to its ultimate absurdity, then to you I offer myself freely. In the hopes that you may see the folly of your choice. ¡°Move aside, my valiant protectors.¡± said She to Her D?v?n? guards. ¡°Make them room to pass.¡± At Her words, the M?p?nols begrudgingly opened a path to the Goddess for Lum?¡¯?l to walk, as She stood with Her dark skinned arms outstretched. Exposing Her heart for Her once-king to stab at His leisure. He was dumbfounded. Looking to His daughter as if for verification of what was transpiring. The First Elf in response, shook her head in uncertainty. ¡°Come lover. You were so resolute but a moment ago.¡± But from all accounts, the God ostensibly found Himself of a frame of mind whereas He suddenly couldn¡¯t bring Himself to take the life He was so prepared to snatch away but a moment earlier. Not like this. To take Her under the threat of His own life, or the life of S?¡¯?d?n?? would have been one thing. But to snuff out Her light unprovoked and in cold blood was quite another. Never was such a thing His aim. And whatever love He had for Her seemed to make Him hesitate¡­stay His hand. ¡°Come daughter.¡± She entreated as She shifted Her attention to Her D?v?n? child. ¡°Do you not crave my throne? My place?¡± S?¡¯?d?n?? had to have realized it was an exorcise in futility. The very definition of insanity. Even if they took Her life now, they wouldn¡¯t make it back out without harm. The entire weight of the power of the M?p?nols about the throne room who, up until now, had seen fit to abide by the will of their Lady and do little more than observe quietly would cease to stand in silence, and fall upon them in earnest. And whether or not ?mbros?? would actually parish should they make use of this opening was still uncertain. Can one actually kill God? Standing before the aggressing duo, the Goddess¡¯ purple flaked onyx eyes closed to the danger Her consort and child posed. ?mbros?? was in no uncertain terms either confident in Her ability to survive any injury they could inflict, even if it were to be inflicted by Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s twisted blood-born half-saber, or She truly was content to risk Her life in the hopes that it moved them to reconsider their actions. S?¡¯?d?n?? was certain that if there were any weapon capable of killing a Goddess, it would be this one. But was it truly worth it to risk such a foolhardy attempt on the unknowable? Apparently sensing that apprehension had overtaken her beloveds, the Queen of Queens allowed Her hands to fall gracefully to Her side. ¡°Allow me to save you from this. Please. Forgiveness lies not beyond you. Your plans are doomed to failure my loves. And if you continue, your own doom shall follow.¡± ¡°That, I suppose, we shall see.¡± Lum?¡¯?l retorted with false bravado and a lack of belief as he took an unconscious step back; His body seemingly wanting to retreat despite the wishes of His mind. Uncertainty, it would appear, clouded everything. With those final words, the God and would-be goddess both vanished from the foot of the thrones with explosions of atmosphere. Individually becoming manifest with the rest of their forces on separate fronts; Lum?¡¯?l signaling to all of His followers that He and His daughter were joining the fray with a skyward expulsion of heka from His half-saber, the likes of which had never been before seen. Its foreboding majesty made manifest in the air above all beings throughout the realms. And with that, The Great Rebellion had begun in earnest. ---------- Time is a nearly meaningless concept to the D?v?n?. For what was undoubtedly a relatively brief period to them, the fires that scorched the highest regions of the realm as ?ng?l fought against ?ng?l for the sake of the throne burned for nearly 2,000 of Mundus¡¯ years. The wings of ?ng?ls which had been severed in battle, thus rendering them mortal and able to be easily killed, lay scattered about amongst the piles of bodies to which they once belonged. Powerful and destructive magicks changed the very face of ?mp?r?¡¯s landscapes. And fierce, vast battles ended countless D?v?n? lives. But when it all finally came to a close, Lum?¡¯?l lay defeated before ?mbros??. Done in by the legendarily powerful sword arm of General D?v?n? M?ss???l; the Goddess¡¯ mightiest remaining Z?st?ru-M?p?nol and the new leader of Her faithful. It¡¯s here at the end of all things, that as judgement was to be passed down, it¡¯s widely said that with Lum?¡¯?l laying upon the ground under the foot of M?ss???l, that S?¡¯?d?n?? begged her Mother¡¯s mercy upon Him with such a cry that it moved the betrayed Lady¡¯s hardened heart. So instead of destroying the two of them and the hundreds of thousands of surviving ?ng?ls that fought with them, She banished them all forever from the D?v?n? Realm; creating for them a damned land tied inexorably to Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s being in which to live out eternity. It was here that the General D?v?n? appealed to the Goddess to, at the very least, allow him to enforce Her will upon Lum?¡¯?l and exercise Him himself in a way such that neither He nor His daughter would ever forget the destruction they¡¯d wrought. This She saw fit to allow. And as the Z?st?ru-M?p?nol swung his fiery blade, his anger bled through the sword¡¯s edge and it struck with such vengeance that it¡¯s said to have ripped some of the very essence from Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s corrupted soul as it hurled His physical body outside of, and beyond the realm. So was the Fall. And as the years passed and He slowly healed his bodily wounds, Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s emotional wounds conversely continued to deepen and His power swelled in concert with His anger and jealousy. And as His influence continued to grow in the living world, as did that of His daughter and His generals, so did He establish His lands in earnest and erect His hierarchy to mirror that of His former lover¡¯s. And from His seat of power within His eternally ruined yet imposing citadel in the heart of the land that came to be known as Rar???nga, within the eternal cold of the limbo He christened Br?mal, He planned His reprisal. He¡¯d return through force. He¡¯d take what was His by fire. And He no longer cared how long, or how many times He¡¯d have to try. Or how many of the lives of His former family He¡¯d have to take along the way. By His daughter¡¯s eternal soul, He swore He¡¯d have the Kingdom. Despite this newfound hate-filled drive, His next attempt however, would prove to be far more difficult than He could have ever anticipated. Chapter 2 - On the Subject of The War of the Dr?gons On the Subject of The War of the Dr?gons It should be understood that none of the quotes that follow are first-hand accounts, but the work of much study, archeological and historical research, and educated supposition by the Covenant¡¯s archival prefects and their most accomplished apostles. Additionally, the following passages may not be entirely accurate as they weren¡¯t transcribed as they were thought to be spoken. They¡¯ve been translated here for ease of reading. Because of this, unfortunately, some things may be lost in the translation from the original ?ng?l?c to common. Translated passages will be indicated by the use of bold print. ---------- Selected Verses from the Afua Maisha: The Holy Book of the Covenant The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Second Book of Lum?¡¯?l ¨C Chapter 13 ¨C Verse 1 (I.) ?mbros?? stretched out Her hands before all present; her elegant fingers painting invisible patterns in the air. So graceful was She, that Her movements were akin to a dance. A dance so sad that the heartbreak it conveyed was almost palpable. Lum?¡¯?l stood before Her, Their daughter at His side, defiant as ever; rebellious onto the very end. To look into His eyes was to see that he believed that He had done no wrong. (II.) His actions couldn¡¯t have been wrong. Could they? (III.) Regardless of His reservations, His followers knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that both He and they were on the upright side of the conflict. They felt the sharp pain of inconsequentiality in the eyes of the All-Mother¡­or they believed they felt it. (IV.) They believed Lum?¡¯?l and S?¡¯?d?n?? to be true; right and square. And no matter what the punishment imposed by the Goddess, their followers, despite their sadness over the loss of life during the uprising, would continue to shine proudly. (V.) ¡°Your actions against your family and against the halls of the D?v?n? Realm,¡± She stated aloud as She continued to trace patterns in Her variant of what the sprites ages later would use for their handspeak,¡°is a great disappointment to me. It breaks my heart in ways I¡¯ll never be able to mend. While I can empathize with your perceived slights, I¡¯ve done all I can to assure you that such perceptions were illusionary. Never have I desired to hurt you or any of our ?ng?ls. (VI.) ¡°This was an unforgivable lapse in judgment. The gravest of betrayals!¡± (VII.) S?¡¯?d?n?? attempted to speak in defense of her Lord, against the Goddess¡¯ D?v?n? fury. ¡°You don¡¯t understand mother.¡± (VIII.) ¡°Silence child!¡± The Goddess¡¯ deep black eyes blazed with anger; the dark purple flakes within them glowing with an otherworldly light. A terrible light known only to the heavens. The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Second Book of Lum?¡¯?l ¨C Chapter 14 ¨C Verse 2 (II.) All fell into silence as the Goddess¡¯ dark body was engulfed in a powerful updraft of heka. A series of halos formed of purple fire which portrayed the symbols of the twelve elements of D?v?n?t?, blessings and ?ng?lic runes blazed angrily behind Her head as She crossed over. Six perfect wings of a white so pure that they seemed to faintly luminesce appeared behind Her back; stretching high and wide to catch the air. Bleeding vapor-like traces of mulberry atmosphere as they lifted her gracefully off of the ground. (III.) The skies grew dark and red as sister Symbols of D?v?n?t? from Her halo suddenly appeared in a circular pattern underneath Her; burned into the soil. Thunder and lightning tore across the horizon as her glorious dreadlocks ignited into a D?v?n? fire beneath the linked plates of the crinet-like headdress which freely encapsulated Her hair in seperate sheathes with a mind all of its own. (IV.) Its heatless indigo flames bursting forth from between the cracks of Her battle diadem which was formed in the shape of a great golden eagle whose wings fell into the afore mentioned silver-ish coloured metal offshoots that wrapped each of Her individual locs to their tips in a protective sleeve of articulated ?ng?lic metal. (V.) Ever moving phrases and blessings written in the language of the D?von?s? wrapped and crisscrossed themselves all about Her physique without actually touching Her; floating about Her like intangible ribbons. (VI.) ¡°We, as well as those who follow us, are of you my Lady.¡± Lum?¡¯?l spoke. ¡°We¡¯re immortal. I¡¯m immortal. Our deeds, regardless of how insufficient to obtain our goals, are eternal. And you CAN¡¯T deny us forever!¡± (VII.) The Goddess ceased Her hand magicks. Time seemed to grind to a halt. The winds died. Lightning froze in the distance. And the Lady of Light gazed out over the thousands of ?ng?ls who stood behind Lum?¡¯?l and His second. ¡°Never were You denied by me. But You refuse to acknowledge this simple truth. Now, Your influence damns not only You, but all who follow You. And while Your life may be un-ending by my will, and Your deeds may last throughout the memory of time, You and Your ilk will no longer know that passage of time here.¡± (VIII.) ¡°We¡¯ll return.¡± (IX.) ¡°No.¡± She responded sadly. ¡°You¡¯ll not.¡± (X.) ?mbros??¡¯s very essence was suddenly and violently expelled through Her perfect spell craft and the energy of it blasted outward with all of the vengeance of a vast and terrible storm from Her mighty wings. (XI.) ¡°My judgment¡­to you¡­¡± ---------- 4000 A.F. ¨C 2300 A.G.G. (2333 Years Ago) The Fifth Age to the Third Epoch, The Living World of Mundus World Wide After the Great Exile, ?mbros?? came to the sad realization that She couldn¡¯t truly see what was in Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s heart. Nor S?¡¯?d?n??¡¯s. ¡°There was once a time He was so open to me that all He was, and all He ever would be, was lain bare before my eyes.¡± She once said. ¡°I had to but pluck a thread of the weave of Creation, and I could see all of our possibilities together. We were once of a single heart. But now? Now I know not how long He¡¯s been lost to me. I don¡¯t know what the moment was where I failed Him. I don¡¯t know what the moment was where I failed our daughter. ¡°Maybe I erred when I created Him of mine own flesh. Maybe we should not have had S?¡¯?d?n?? together. Too much of a kind we all are. And because of that, it begs the question if I ever truly knew them at all. ¡°Maybe it was always a betrayal that was destined to be. Fate can be a cruel mistress, after all.¡± But the extent of His, and Their daughter¡¯s actions couldn¡¯t be ignored. And the depths of the two¡¯s resolve couldn¡¯t be underestimated. By M?ss???l¡¯s final blows were their souls cut off from every route back to the Kingdom, and by ?mbros??¡¯s decree was it the same for their followers; save for Her lover and their child¡¯s natural link through the Tree of Life, which supplied the world with ?mbros??¡¯s life-giving essence and which physically existed in both ?mp?r? and the living world. It''s a link M?ss???l would have gladly severed if only he could. But, if he had, all life on Mundus would have been doomed to slowly die; cut off from Her power. And the damage it could have possibly done to the old God and Sin, as S?¡¯?d?n?? was widely monikered after her fall, even She didn¡¯t know. And theirs were lives She was not prepared to take. So as it stood, it was an avenue to the Kingdom left open for exploitation. And there was little doubt in the Goddess¡¯ mind that Lum?¡¯?l would use the beings of the world They created together as an army to wrest control of it when He decided to move again. There, He could but place his hand upon the tree and the doorway back home would open wide at His command. To control the Tree was to control the only physical bridge between worlds. And to control the bridge was to control the fate of ?mp?r?. In the years that followed the Great Rebellion, ?ng?ls of all statuses from across the holy lands argued for the removal of both Lum?¡¯il and Sin¡¯s desires for conflict with them and the Goddess. But She was loathe to fully withdraw the free-will of any being, regardless of the reasons. Compounding the topic was the promise She wished to honour which She¡¯d made to Her daughter to let them and their ilk live. So destroying them outright without further provocation was also rendered a nonissue. She did agree however that Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s gifts, much like Hers, were a continued danger to the world if left unchecked. To that extent, with the blessing of Her Choirs did She see fit to use Her will and essence to bind all of existence to what Mundus¡¯ faithful came to call the ¡°D?von?s? Mandate¡±. These laws, as it were, demanded that neither Lord nor Lady, namely Lum?¡¯?l, Sin, nor the Goddess Herself, could directly use their talents to alter the course of conflicts through first hand intervention, nor could they confront each other or anyone else with ethereal manipulation of any kind. Lum?¡¯?l was known to have lent His gifts but in part to several incursions during the rebellion. And even the fraction of His influence that was invoked during those times was¡­most devastating. Especially during the happening referred to by the D?von?s? as the Downing. If used in concert with ?mbros??¡¯s at any great magnitude, Mundus, not to mention the D?v?n? or D?m?nic Realms, could be in genuine danger of being harmed irrevocably through the Flow, if not completely lain to ruin. It was also mandated that D?v?n? beings other than those of warrior Orders who have no place on the field of D?v?n? war such as muses and the like were not to be involved in any confrontations, as the loss of things such as inspiration in the world of Mundus would be truly regrettable. Despite these commandments, there was still the overlying fear among the Choirs that the violation of these newly created ¡°natural¡± laws could still happen. As at their core, they were merely strong suggestions. And by Her own admission, ?mbros?? knew not what Lum?¡¯?l and S?¡¯?d?n?? were truly capable of as they were not bound by any D?v?n?l? predetermined paths, just as She. And they¡¯d already circumvented Her hekas once before. He was of Her flesh and bone, and the girl was of their loins. And because of that, they were, to a certain extent, unknowable. And the Queen of Queens would have been remiss if She didn¡¯t admit that continued contrair behaviour on their part could do untold damage to the fragile balance that kept all things within the Great Expanse ¡°moving¡± so-to-speak. So, in order to maintain the equilibrium of existence in the event of such an occurrence, into the Creation Magicks that constituted the fabric of all existence did She weave one final delicate binding that could result in a period of repression of the gifts of either Lum?¡¯?l or Sin should either of them use much more than hekas of protection in open conflict. A law that She didn¡¯t hold even Herself above. A small period of ¡°healing¡± on a celestial scale. Although, for how long this punitive effect was to last, it¡¯s unknown if even She Herself was totally aware. For regardless of the magnitudes of Her gifts, it would appear that creation itself, ostensibly, can only be affected so much; even if it was by She who¡¯s believed to have conjured it. Fate holds no counsel but its own. It didn¡¯t take long after this was done for the belief to come to ?mbros?? that a new protective power would need to be created in the universe. A new God to aid ?mbros?? in Her ruling. As to the outcome of this particular train-of-thought, some philosophers believed that the Goddess lacked sufficient trust in Her ?ng?ls after Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s betrayal to simply appoint one of them to rule at Her side. One of Her strongest and most capable. One such as M?ss???l, for example. But others know differently. ?mbros??, fearing for the safety of Her ?ng?lic subjects, didn¡¯t distrust ?ng?ls the likes of Missheal or doubt their abilities or control over the Flow. But that alone wouldn¡¯t be enough to hold back the flood of darkness that could befall them if Lum?¡¯?l chose to exorcise His power en lieu of the natural laws. Especially so soon after an already devastating uprising. Truly, She wasn¡¯t certain that the entirety of Her remaining ?ng?ls would be enough. But unlike when She created the now-disgraced Lum?¡¯?l, She¡¯d not take a piece of Her own body and soul to craft this God-being. Her intentions were of a different shade than they were in those early ages. In magickal acts, the intent behind a weave is just as important as the weaving itself. She wasn¡¯t looking for another consort or a lover as She was before; She was looking for a partner. Nothing more. She didn¡¯t want someone who felt that they were ¡°tied¡± to Her as Lum?¡¯?l did. And so the Goddess, being careful to take Her time to choose between the red-on-yellow and golden apples-like of the White Tree, reached up and pulled one of the pure honey coloured life-giving fruitlets from its branches. She then dipped this sweet orb, this ¡°seed¡±, into the waters that flowed around her seat of power as She spoke the Heka of Creation into it; anointing it ever so lightly with myrrh and essences of both cassia and calamus as She did whenever She created life, while binding it directly to the raw energies of the Flow as opposed to Her own spirit. And so was born S?n?gron. The first Dr?gon. The new God. A being of a stature and power that rivaled the Goddess Herself. And, by the will of the two of them was the entirety of the Dr?gon race birthed. Beings who made their homes between both worlds to safeguard the Great Tree alongside their counterparts, the P?r?lu. Save for twenty and one of the strongest who would make their homes solely in the D?v?n? Realms where they were selected to be the ambassadors of both the principal domains and the ?ng?lic Orders by S?n?gron. Almost a thousand of Mundus¡¯ years later, the sunset elves, the first of the Mer races created long ago by ?mbros?? and Lum?¡¯?l, were starting to gain true consciousness and an understanding of their place in the world. A beautiful dark skinned people who were the very image of ?mbros??¡¯s lost daughter with their kinky metallic-looking steel coloured hair, svelte builds, full lips, long ears and large, dark eyes. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. It¡¯s believed among the theologians that the world walking Dr?gons were the reason for this. Possibly because they became lonely on Mundus as the only company they had to keep here was with themselves. And they craved conversation and companionship; as do all beings under the suns. Regardless, they supposedly gifted early speech and reason to the eluvian, which birthed this awareness. An awareness that would later spread throughout all mortals. It¡¯s also believed that this closeness eventually led to many other¡­interactions between Dr?gons and their naturally beautiful charges. Not the least of which was that, as Dr?gons had the ability to alter their physical appearance at will, it was a thing of ease for many of them to blend in with, mate with and even marry among the sunset peoples, and by eventual extension, all of their kin-races; their unions leading to the first known generations of Magi; mortals born with the gift of heka. Regardless of the origins of intelligence, speech or magickal inclination, it¡¯s true that the Dr?gons took very well to, whom in their eyes were, their short-lived neighbors. As a matter of fact it seemed that, by their very nature, they deeply loved these beings that were bequeathed to the world. Through their co-existence they eventually taught their prodigy how to use their newfound magickal gifts of healing and nature-based fertility to make better the sick and ailing, mend the broken and wounded and commune with nature. And while Dr?gons shared all manner of knowledge freely, out of love with and for all peoples, it wasn¡¯t quite so with the eluvian they¡¯d bonded with, who collectively by this time had taken to referring to themselves as the First Races. This difference in ideology was most present specifically among the sunrise elves. Probably feeling a bit more entitled than they should have, the golden-tinted people seemed to have thought that most of the younger non-eluvian races appeared to be as little more than children receiving gifts and knowledge of D?v?n?t? for which they were not fully prepared. Least deserving of all being the youngest race of Man. The eluvian however, never wishing to stand between their beloved Dr?gons and their dreams of an awakened world, did with reluctance aid their D?v?n? benefactors in teaching the outside races. Or at least the ones they found worthy. But more out of some kind of twisted self-imposed responsibility than affection. To that end, since they had little choice, they took it upon themselves as the world¡¯s first born and as the Dr?gons¡¯ first chosen, to treat the younger races almost as parental figures over the following millennium. As condescending as that may have felt to those they interacted with. With the inception of the Dr?gonian race, and their closeness with the living world, the door to what Lum?¡¯?l believed to be His providence, the Great Tree, was closed to Him. He hadn¡¯t the power or the numbers to oppose the combined strength of both the Dr?gons, the eluvian, the fae and the ?ng?ls. And the power of Creation wasn¡¯t His to utilize without the Great Queen. But as the wheel of time continued to turn, and Dr?gons numbers naturally lessened in the world, the line of ?mp?r??n knowledge from the heavens, which was passed down from the Dr?gons to the elves, and from the elves to the fledgling peoples they were supposed to guide, slowly began to fade from concrete fact into the realm of speculation and fiction. And from there they became the subject of myth and legend. Inevitably, they began to take on the aspects of religion and worship with heka. And with that worship came an entirely new problem which served only to split the world and make it far more susceptible to Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s influence¡­religious division. A separation that quickly began to work in the Dark King¡¯s favor (relatively speaking). The arise of the Dr?gonk?n being the most unforeseen and helpful to His cause. This was something He could use. ---------- On the Subject of the Division of the Religions and the rise of the Dr?goons In their early days, religions seemed to spring up by the score behind every other tartufe¡¯s personal interpretation of the mystical. Self-proclaimed prophets were everywhere. Yet there were only a very few faiths that truly took root hence that have equaled the impact that the Covenant has had on the world. Or its subsequent division. While the Covenant and all of its abbey-going patrons devoted themselves to the Goddess and God in union, a divide eventually began to form between them. One concerning the nature of heka. It was always evident that inborn Magickal talent was far more common among the First Races than any others. Not surprising as the eluvian weren¡¯t known to as often mate outside of their own ethnic group as other peoples were. And as a result, Magickal education among the younger races waned as Magi birth gaps widened. A gulf that continued to broaden more and more with each passing decade, and one that was exasperated by isolationist cultures. Heka inclination was so prevalent among the eluvian and the fae that one could be forgiven for thinking that they were all born as such. And while the hekan divide between them and such peoples as the faunish and the sprites were negligible at best¡­estimated to be roughly one to every ten score born to the elves, beyond that, numbers seemed to drop dramatically. By the end of the Golden Age of Magick, those with an inclination towards heka being born to races such as humans and dwarves were being brought into the world a meager one to every three thousand born to the fauns and their ilk. And human and dwarven Magi offspring, in turn, came to outpace that of races such as the centaur and the ma¡¯jong by nearly an equivalent proportion. Some within the abbey started to see heka as a blessing from the Goddess; that anyone born outside of the elder races with the gift had to have been D?v?n?l? touched by the hand of ?mbros?? Herself. Believing that this power could only flow from Her directly into Her chosen. Since this was not a belief held by the Covenant at large, those who felt differently saw fit to distance themselves from the purists¡¯ beliefs. The Great Dr?gon S?n?gron and His ilk may have been the bestowers of heka to the world, but through their offspring was it a gift for all, not for the eluvian and the fae alone. And over time the mantras and devotions of this splinter faith found themselves focusing almost solely on aspects of nature as mortal-kind¡¯s only true physical link to facets of Her power; each one praised by a different name and given a different idolic form. Giving rise to the pagan faith. Time then, of course, brought with it yet another change. Under growing societal pressure (likely brought on by a mix of jealousy and fear of those blessed with Magickal ability from the non-gifted), a new faith took hold among the people; some who were already religious, and some who weren¡¯t. Those of the younger races who were born hearing the music of the Flow, feeling the growing and discomforting strain of oversight of their very existence, by governments driven largely by Covenant ideologists who, like the eluvian, believed that only the First Races and the Goddess were meant to govern the realms of heka, pushed back against the unjust societal systems constructed of hatred and slanderous lies that were conjured against their kind as best they could; those who feared not punishment for their disobedience. A battle they fought through peaceful protests, boycotts and miles-long marches. But as all that failed, and continued to fail again, pagans began to self-alienate from civilization. Secure in their belief that being born with the Goddess¡¯ ¡°D?v?n? Spark¡± burning within them wasn¡¯t wrong. It wasn¡¯t a sacrilege to exist. Heka, in the eyes of this offshoot of paganism, belonged to all of the mortal races by birthright. They¡¯re gifts were naturally fueled by the energies of the world. They could feel it in the changing of the seasons as the differing climes lent their strength to their weaves. Why else would nature work this way if it weren¡¯t meant to work as such? These downtrodden weavers began to adapt their own variant of their former pagan beliefs and rituals; choosing to practice heka as a form of worship far more so than as a means of personal convenience or as a tool for a society that would just as soon put them to the stake as abominations as praise them for their contributions to civilization. Hence were birthed pagan sages. Completely divorcing themselves from society at large in order to exist as they chose and not as others would have them, they removed themselves to a series of previously uninhabited isles that separated the Open and Closed Seas between Khanas, Assami and Zachary. And these sages carved out a nation that was truly unlike any other in the world. A new home for any Magi that sought a place to call their own. A land that became known as the Link; a place free from persecution for study, contemplation and meaningful Magickal experimentation. Through the Link¡¯s progressive studies, many of Mundus¡¯ greatest hekan wonders came to be. The Magickal construction of the way-overs; gargantuan stone land bridges over two hundred feet wide that reach to the very floor of the oceans and span the impossible lengths between islands¡­or between entire continents. Then there were the conveyance nexuses which allowed for people and objects to be absorbed into bolts of pure energy and instantaneously shifted between two connected points regardless of distance. And does one even need to be reminded of the reputed glory of the levitating buildings of the Link itself? Yet for all their power, as fearsome as the combined talents of the sages were, it paled in comparison to the eventual rise of the afore mentioned Dr?gonk?n; a small group of monastic Magi who became widely known, despite their wishes, for those among them who¡¯d decided to dedicate their lives to learning to wield the craft at a martial capacity. A group of battle-focused Magi referred to as abyssinians; those for whom the Great Lighthouses of Mundus were constructed that they might revere the birth of the Dr?gon God in their worship. Towers whose heka-born fires blaze eternal; even within those which now lie in ruin on long sunken isles beneath the sea. The pagan sages and the Dr?gonk?n eventually became synonymous with each other in the eyes of the common man. But while all Dr?gonk?n were sages at some level, not all sages were Dr?gonk?n. In truth, the sages themselves as a whole didn¡¯t condone Dr?gonk?n, nor did they recognize their eventual position of authority in the religious pantheon. Despite this however, the practices of the monastic order granted them nearly unfathomable power, respect, and even moderate worship from many...especially those who ascended. The Dr?gonk?n lived with the belief that, while Dr?gons within themselves were immortal and beyond worldly beings in many ways, they could, under certain circumstances, willfully grant their spirit to a mortal through the ?wjv Bwhv?. Roughly translated from the Dr?gonese tongue; the ¡°life given¡±. An act that came to be known colloquially as the ¡°transference of the soul¡±. From wince this knowledge came is a matter of some debate. Regardless, it followed that after this soul transfer, the recipient was fundamentally changed into the closest thing to a D?v?n? being that a mortal can become. A Dr?goon. And through this rite, with a number of newly born (speaking comparatively to the aspect of time) Dr?goons among their numbers, the Dr?gonk?n collectively achieved immortality and a religious authority that was nearly unparalleled in spite of the positively minute size of their order¡­estimated by some to be no more than forty and five thousand in total. Known to live within cloistered monasteries, not terribly dissimilar to the pagan sages that they were descended from, the oddly reclusive Dr?gonk?n kept themselves far away from the eyes of others; away from the eyes of outsiders. Exchanging a life of freedom for a life of servitude to their deities. A life of mental, physical and spiritual preparation in the hopes of being bestowed the blessing of all blessings. Such secrecy lent itself to much wild speculation among the awe-struck masses. Dr?gonk?n were said to have been chosen by S?n?gron Himself to aid in the protection of the D?v?n? Kingdom; even that they had the ability to transform themselves into the powerful winged beings they worshiped. Others however, specifically among the pagan sages, saw it as an egregious affront. Blasphemous. Sacrilegious. Not only was it an apparent slight to the real D?v?n?; claiming such power without right, but it was also seen as an attempt by the group to seize partisan power through wild and fantastical claims. Meanwhile, the Covenant purists and pagan sages, in all of their hypocrisy, were doing just that. They wished to pull sway, both political and religious, away from the Dr?gonk?n for themselves. But it was useless, as the Dr?gonk?n and their Dr?goons had already won the hearts and imagination of the masses... ?mbros?? had never been an overt deity. She was always subtle in her machinations and Her ?ng?ls exorcised Her will blatantly only in the rarest of circumstances. Lum?¡¯?l, Sin and their Fallen however, lacked such restraint. Such was the nature of things. Because of this, especially during such a time of unrest among Her worldly children, the lack of a physical presence by their benevolent deities and an absence of perceived ¡°miracles¡± or ¡°answered prayers¡± caused Her followers to lose first-hand knowledge of Her blessings and turn to a need for belief in Faith alone. And all the while, Lum?¡¯?l worked His will upon the world of men, mer and fae. Further eroding these beliefs; morphing them nearly into wives¡¯ tales and flights of fancy. During this period of religious doubt and uncertainty arose the Oratory of the One God, under the perceived teachings of the one whom its followers held was the true Lord of Creation. Lum?¡¯?l. It¡¯s unknown from whence it came or who its forbearers were, but the Oratory held that the fallen Lord was right in His belief that beside His daughter, He could rule all things under the stars better than ?mbros??. They believed as He that the Goddess had created life for servitude and worship, not for true free-will. And they longed to see the day when the Goddess was outed for Her lies and Her abbeys were thrown to ruin. The day when all served Him. ---------- While the swiftness by which the oratory grew pleased Him, in the midst of all the religious confusion on Mundus, Lum?¡¯?l knew that as they were, there was little that He or Sin could do with these faithful masses that would aid them in their desire to return home. As they were, they were collectively little more than sand to be washed away under the waves of ?mbros??¡¯s ?ng?ls. And He knew that there were none within His sphere of influence that would ever be willingly accepted by one of the all-powerful Dr?gons to be gifted a soul to even the scales. But then again, as S?¡¯?d?n?? is said to have pointed out to Him, there was no cosmic law that said that they had to be willing. And after much debate among the Choruses, the decision was reached that Br?mal would have to make war with the Dr?gon race directly, but methodically, and with much meticulousness if they ever hoped to take back their place. So the Lord and Lady of the Fallen allowed centuries in the living world to pass without exercising their vengeance, in order to permit time to take its toll on the foundations of mortal beliefs. Regardless of what some may have thought of them due to some of their actions during the Great Rebellion, the two were nothing if not patient. After all, the further the division among the people, the greater the means they¡¯d have for exploitation during their war. And true to form¡­that¡¯s precisely what happened. The coming of the abbey had signaled a destabilizing turn in the world. While its foundations may have been built with the best of intentions¡­to bring Lum?¡¯?l the love He and His daughter were so long denied in their eyes¡­those intentions had long since been rendered immaterial. As theirs was a path that led them to believe that for the world to continue to follow any other religious path was an affront to Sin and her Father. An offence that could only be purged either through acceptance of their beliefs and laws, or by fire. There was no in-between. And with nearly sixty percent of the world being estimated to fall under either the oratory or the abbey at the heights of their influences, it¡¯s not hard to guess who they tended to butt heads with the most. So it was with tenacious ferocity that the Oratory eventually came to call for a total of ten and two bloody crusades over the course of nearly two hundred years; cutting a crimson swath across nearly every continent of Mundus against every other major religious power, with the Covenant bearing the brunt. Blood that the oratory spilled in an effort to supposedly reclaim a veritable plethora of hallowed cities and sites in the names of Lum?¡¯?l and Sin, spurred on by the scriptures of the Vade Mecum; their religious texts. Cities to which every other major religion already had claim to in one fashion or another in accordance with their respective histories and holy manuscripts. But few were those who wholeheartedly believed this to be the reason for these woeful conflicts. Were the constant holy wars meant to convert non-believers and make the whole of the world followers of the One God? To crush religious opposition and spread their influence? Were they undertaken for power, dominance and wealth? Were the crusades called as an excuse to cleanse the world of as many Magi who refused to join the oratory as possible? Or maybe they just wanted to see the world burn. Regardless, despite their most dire efforts, polytheism wasn¡¯t completely abolished during these crusades. A failing of the oratory¡¯s brought about by the might of the Dr?gons; painting a picture of the utter failure Lum?¡¯?l knew He¡¯d face if He were to assault the tree without further support. The gargantuan beings stood steadfastly at the side of the abbey during the years of religious conflict alongside the unshakable and ever faithful Dr?gonk?n. And as a result, both Dr?gons and Dr?gonk?n alike became a particularly violent focus for the Oratory¡¯s oratories, and they were ordered to be brought to death upon sight by any and all means by the final ending of the crusades. It was an endeavor that failed spectacularly of course, but it nonetheless presented an opportunity unparalleled for Lum?¡¯?l and Sin. It was here that T?l?t? and D??v??d started making more overt moves by their Lord and Lady¡¯s command, capturing elder Dr?gons and Dr?gonlings at great cost; signaling the start of the War of the Dr?gons at the dawn of the Third Epoch. Combined, these battles, skirmishes and shadow conflicts sprinkled themselves across a span of nearly three hundred more of the world¡¯s years and taxed both Dr?gon and Dr?goon numbers greatly. Over five centuries of attacks from the oratory on one side and Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s Fallen on the other left the abbey worn thin. And the monotheistic views of the Oratory of the One God eventually gained significant ground in their conquests. But necessity has always ever been the mother of invention. And it¡¯s widely believed that it was out of these conflicts that the first sparks of the Technological Revolution were lit; fueled heavily by the overly ambitious swalii in concert with the dwarves and the technologically adept malani. The warfare innovations introduced by the trio of peoples aided the Dr?goons immensely in not only decisively ending nearly every campaign during the crusades, but also in ushering in an end to the War of the Dr?gons. Leaving the abbey and its subsects mostly intact in the aftermath. Yet despite the glad tidings of a ceasing to the chain of wars that marked the end of one epoch and the beginning of another, the damage had already been done. And unbeknownst to most, the seeds for what would be remembered as the worst conflict in Mundus¡¯ history had already been sewn. Many Dr?gons had been successfully taken by Lum?¡¯?l, not to be seen again. Means were devised to torture the D?v?n? beings into submission, making them more suitable for use by the Fallen. They were grotesquely studied in an effort to understand how to best subjugate them and, if called for, how to best destroy them. They were examined, experimented on and sadly discarded. Many were forced to copulate within breeding farms, only to have their Dr?gonlings ripped from their mothers while still in their infancy. All the while, others still were subjected to an even worse fate; having their immortal souls torn from their bodies through blood hekas and gifted to Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s most capable Fallen, as well as the most faithful of His mortal followers, through the ?wjv Dgfv?¡­a twisted incarnation of soul transference. ¡°Life taken¡±. A practice that, much to the dismay of the Fallen themselves, continued far beyond these conflicts and lent itself greatly to the strength of the Oratory¡¯s darkly rendition of the Dr?gonk?n; the even lesser known Sages of ?l who flaunted their own hardened War-Casters as an answer to the Dr?gonk?n¡¯s Battle-Magi, the Fulani. Powerful masters of hekan war who prayed for the gift of being one of the few tasked to be the tip of Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s spear as a fearful mirror countenance of the abbey¡¯s respected Dr?goons... And it¡¯s at this point that the inevitable¡­became our sorrowful history. Chapter 3 - The Ten and Five Year Wars The Ten and Five Year Wars It should be understood that none of the quotes that follow are first-hand accounts, but the work of much study, archeological and historical research, and educated supposition by the Covenant¡¯s archival prefects and their most accomplished apostles. Additionally, the following passages may not be entirely accurate as they weren¡¯t transcribed as they were thought to be spoken. They¡¯ve been translated here for ease of reading. Because of this, unfortunately, some things may be lost in the translation from the original ?ng?l?c to common. Translated passages will be indicated by the use of bold print. ---------- Selected Verses from the Afua Maisha: The Holy Book of the Covenant The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Book of Ululations ¨C Chapter 10 ¨C Verse 5 (V.) And so it was that with much sadness that S?n?gron approached ?mbros?? as She stood in thought upon the fields of Om??oc?n just beyond the grand ?r?w?on Basilica. But there was very little that needed to be said. (VI.) She knew His heart before He even spoke it. (VII.) ¡°We¡¯ve lost far too many in the forests of Zachary since Athel fell and we lost our dearest ?sz?r?.¡± (VIII.) ¡°Yes, we have my queen. Worse still, the Towers of the Green have just fallen to the Dr?goon D??v??d; just east of the Valley of the Tree along the Rivers of the Mountains.¡± (IV.) The towers of which He spoke were the epicenter of a vast eluvian city at the northern border of the Forest of the Tree of Life; home of the titular evergreen itself. These were dire tidings indeed. And The Lady of Ladies seemed as if She were at a loss as to what to do. ¡°So the final safeguard falls between my lover and our gates. The assistance of their allies was for naught. Our other victories against this onslaught mean little if this force is still allowed to spill blood on the roots of the tree. We will have lost, and once again, the peaceful souls of ?mp?r? shall know war.¡± (X.) ¡°You said as much would be the case my Lady.¡± (XI.) ¡°Yes. Yet I hoped against it nonetheless.¡± The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The Book of Ululations ¨C Chapter 11 ¨C Verse 1 (I.) ¡°I fear that we can grant only but a scant few more ?ng?ls for the fray. Many more and we risk leaving ?mp?r?¡¯s gates exposed should the worst come to pass.¡± (II.) There was scant little hesitation in Her voice when She finally responded to Him. Resolute in Her decision. ¡°Call upon M?ss???l and have him fall upon them with a thunder of our Dr?gons. I¡¯ll see this insanity ended. Far too long has it persisted.¡± (III.) If shock could be a physical thing, it¡¯s said that the First Dr?gon would have been knocked head over foot by it. ¡°Are you certain we should do something that drastic? Should we not keep him and such a number of Dr?gons here for your defense? What would happen were we to lose them?¡± (IV.) ¡°What will happen if we dare not to try?¡± ---------- 3000 A.G.G. ¨C 3015 A.G.G. (1,618 Years Ago) The Fourth Epoch, The Living World of Mundus World Wide Just a scant seven hundred years later, as the War of the Dr?gons finally began to fade into the world¡¯s distant memory, T?l?t? was finally given leave to lead a portion of Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s Fallen, Dr?gons and Dark Dr?goons to attack the wooded lands of Zachary and the Forrest of the Great Tree, whose canopies lay near the so-called backbone of the world¡­the eastern arm of the continent¡¯s central mountain range. This while several contingents tied to D??v??d stood in wait, ready to lay siege to ?mp?r? once T?l?t? found success. But, in opposition to Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s beliefs, the Goddess¡¯ mortal faithful who guarded the Great Tree proved themselves to be more of a complication than He¡¯d bargain for. As the battles raged on, the fighting swelled outward as a great many allies responded to envoys sent forth from the sunrise and grove elves who were being bled as they protected the sacred woodlands with all haste; calling for aid from the southern nations. But as the elves did this, so did Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s people do the same to likewise aid in bolstering their attack. And as far-off armies answered these calls for assistance, the world at large was forced to suffer the sudden and unforeseen consequences of skirmishes erupting among the western and eastern powers who¡¯d been butting heads with each other for decades. The Western Coalition sought to take advantage of the destabilized south to upset the status quo between them and the east; desiring to tip the balance of power and worldly authority in their favour. Meanwhile, the Eastern Alliances engaged them in force in order to ensure that no one would ever see a queen or king sit upon a throne built atop the world, and that the final victors when the smoke settled would be lands ruled by republics of the people. All the while, other smaller nations about figured there would be no better time to exorcise old hatreds and prejudices and oust what were seen by their denizens as unwanted influences who¡¯d been living in their lands far too long. Influences that they sought to exile from their territories en mass. Regrettable slaughters whose frustrations seemed to primarily focus on several of the long self-righteous eluvian races; even as those very races selflessly held the line in their homeland¡¯s forests on behalf of the world against the wrath of Br?mal. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Known today as the East/West Conflict, it¡¯s a side war that caused too many people to focus far too little during those years on the true threat that stood before them as they allowed petty differences to consume them, nearly to the detriment of everything. And with the fighting slowly spreading to nearly every corner of Mundus, so did the world come to see the true scope of the devastation of these combined conflicts that would collectively come to be known as the Ten and Five Year Wars. Of those who answered Zachary¡¯s call even as all of the peoples of the known world seemed to be intent on tearing at each other¡¯s throats, the most visible supporters of the Goddess¡¯ cause were Assami and Murrlel. Not surprising as they made up two thirds of the trifecta that formed the Southern Axis with Zachary and such a show of support was expected from their allies. Assami¡¯s monarchs, in cooperation with the country¡¯s religious leaders, dispatched the holy warriors of their abbey sects to the front along side their Abyssinians. And together they were among the first to arrive on the fields of battle. Drapiers of the abbey commanded legions of warriors dressed in vibrant blues as the Dr?gonk?n Battle-Magi who¡¯d oft situate themselves to the head of the rank-and-file Soldier made their presence known through their red-tented battle armour; not to mention their awe-inspiring hekan acumen. Aside from the holy combatants of the abbey, Assami also sent its renown militaries to the front; their multi-cultural forces being primarily made up of two distinct races of native humans. There were the bronzed skinned, raven haired, black eyed malani, whose forces carefully decorated their bodies in a dark elaborate war inking, which held the illusion of it being radiated from the onyx bindi on their foreheads. Their armour was additionally decorated with dark silk war sarees and they carried uniquely designed kora swords; the extreme curvature of their blades placing them among the most recognized weapons in all of the world. The second race of native children, being of far fairer skin and lacking the body henna, sarees and koras of their compatriots, were the balani. The fierceness of the blue and green of their eyes was said to be matched only by their fighting prowess on the field of battle. Their blonde and brunette hair forming seas of gold and brown to any who would gaze out over their ranks. The slatani people of Murrlel likewise sent their bushi to the war front. Warriors of legend among the Southern Axis. Beautiful embroidery soaked in shades of green ranging from emerald to pine adorned their thick armoured cloth robes which seemed to accentuate the exotic beauty of the bushi¡¯s straight, jet coloured hair and the hooded nature of their pearlescent black eyes. Considered to be some of the world¡¯s most naturally proficient Battle-Mages, the slatani were. It was said that when the rest of humanity was still in its relative infancy in the art of warfare, they were already among the most militarily advanced warriors the younger races had to offer; boasting an absolute mastery of martial combat in their proficiency with staffs, long swards and long bows that were the stuff of legends. Legends being what they are, it also came to be said that they rarely used the ballistic weaponry which was prevalent among many other societies of the time. Though that¡¯s seen in today¡¯s world as mostly fantasized hear-say. Meanwhile, while the west and the east may have gone to war with each other for the political and religious soul of Mundus as the south struggled, neither the espresso toned, technologically gifted swalii, nor the equally dark skinned yet far less technologically inclined dwalli, had any desire to see the southern continents fall. While not out-and-out allied with the Southern Axis, both Hesijua and Khanas long held a warm relationship with them. So, as they were able in the mists of their own troubles, the two lent their assistance. Hesijua by committing manpower in the form of Soverign¡¯s renowned Knights and advanced weaponry to defending the tree as their Khanasian cousins granted them fighters and supplies. The Western Coalition did this in cooperation with the monarchs of the sunset eluvian native to them, who traversed the Link to the southern continents alongside the dwarves. The spriteish kingdoms and the elder mares of the centaur races also committed resources to protect the tree out of solidarity with their kin who were native to Zachary. But the Dark Dr?goons¡¯ retaliation for all of this support was swift and terrible. The d?m?ns¡¯ mortal allies were not so numerous, but they had nearly twice the number of Fallen D?von?s? and Dark Dr?gons on the field given that both ?mbros?? and S?n?gron deemed it a more sound idea to retain the majority of Their ?ng?lics in Their lands for the defense of the ethereal plane should such come to pass that Zachary was lost. And while She and the Dr?gon God dispatched many of the bravest and most fearsome of Their armies¡¯ champions to reinforce their Dr?conic and ?ng?lic numbers in opposition to the D?m?ni? Plane¡¯s relentless assaults, it was nearly a vain effort as Lum?¡¯?l and S?¡¯?d?n?? continued to do the same. Then, as if there weren¡¯t enough friction to go around, in the face of all of this, as shortsighted as it¡¯s seen to have been through today¡¯s eyes, the leaders of the Joined Lands¡¯ Capital Isles collectively opted to risk starting a two-pronged civil war with both Alphava and Kazakoto by declaring official separation from the Eastern Coalition. This with the desire to stay neutral in their ongoing fighting with Hesijua and Khanas; not really caring to war over religion or governmental authority in the East/West Conflict; not wishing to risk their people¡¯s lives in the fires of the fighting erupting all around them. Even as, at the wars¡¯ collective heights, skirmishes had nearly reached their southern shore as the historically prevalent Battle of the Left Hand was waged by Alphava¡¯s northern forces to keep occupiers out of its capitol city which, at the time, was located in Mundele. Leaving the rest of the world to face oblivion alone. A decision that has never sat well with the Coalition and which continues to have consequences that reverberate to this day. Culminating with tensions between the Joined Lands and the rest of the east ebbing and waning like the tide; ever threatening to erupt in violence much to the dismay of many. ---------- Much of importance was lost during these years to the fires of the wars. Many are the ?ng?lic that say the D?v?n? Queen still weeps when She thinks of how much of the beauty of Mundus was lain low at the behest of the destruction let loose by both the d?m?n hordes of Br?mal and the souls of ?mp?r?. But what more could She have done? With so much heka tearing at the fabric of existence, it was all but ensured that it would be the people of the living world that would pay the heftiest price for this influx of frightening power. The scars of an other worldly battle waged by forces that even the most learned of mortals could barely understand. Dr?gon fighting Dr?gon as virtuous souls smote hordes of d?m?n?. Mortals slaying their fellow mortals as Dr?goon battled Dr?goon. Such was life for those that experienced these long years of the world. And such was the aftermath so great that the Goddess could scarcely hope to remake things as they once were. Towns were razed, cities were devastated, grasslands and fields were salted and countless lives were extinguished. Much of the advanced knowledge and technology of the Hesijuans and Assamians was utterly destroyed. Entire isles were lost to the seas in the wake of hekan destruction. And an even graver matter was the loss of much of the continent of Assami itself; the western third of its land mass and all of the cities therein suffering utter obliteration when they were sunken beneath the cold waters of The Great Open Ocean during the country¡¯s final fall in the wake of the Massacre of Athel. A ghostly underwater grouping of dilapidated cities, royal roads and way-overs serving as a humbling reminder of the destructive power of heka. More than fifteen hundred miles of ruin whose sheer size and majesty are nearly as awe-inspiring as the events which led to their annihilation in the first place. The same fate was bestowed to Assami¡¯s south eastern forests and mountains which now lay beneath the Far Waters, with all of the land in between the two left virtually in shambles. Burned and twisted by blood hekas. A country that¡¯s today little more than an empty husk. The corpse of a once great civilization. Chapter 4 - An Aside On the Subject of Slavery and the Reversion An Aside On the Subject of Slavery and the Reversion It should be understood that most of what follows are third and fourth-hand accounts; the work of much study, archeological and historical research, and educated supposition by the Covenant¡¯s archival prefects and their most accomplished apostles. This alongside of more recent recordings made after the Era of Renovations. A period in time that stretched from the signing of the Manumission Memorandum in the year of our Lady, 2618 A.G.G. to the year of our Lady, 2629 A.G.G. ---------- Selection from an Audio Interview with Former Slave Ship Captain, Kofi Azibo of the Pastora Recorded on the Second Day of Erele in the Second Month of Life¡¯s Warmth at Mid-Day, 2631 A.G.G. 43 Minutes and 56 seconds Into Interview ASHANTI: ¡°Captain Azibo, I¡¯ve never understood how your lot were able to capture so many Assamians with so few men and limited arms. You only had what you could carry on the ship, after all.¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Dat¡¯s not far from true. Some capin¡¯s hulls were heavy wid coin to trade fo da tea and smooth fabrics from dem in Murrlel. And whatever room left, day cram up wid slaves. No extra room fo mo arms. I¡¯s was no mo different, even tho I had different weight. We never would have made it far if de ¡°Samians wasn¡¯t up for selling demselves to us. Too many of ¡®em to take alone. Der was always some of de tribe leaders who wouldn¡¯t trade wit us. But we ain¡¯t give a damn bout dem. De ones who made der home on de coast made out plenty good in trade. ¡°We always had our hull filled more with de cloths, ironstuffs and wines dan weapons. Had to have sometin¡¯ to trade to the ¡®Samians for slaves. Widout all dat to swap wid to de ¡®Samian middlemen-¡± ASHANTI: ¡°Middlemen? You mean the local traders and whatnot?¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Yea yea. We could never¡®ve hoped to get more dan a few. Specaly with de dog-folk. Day was more dan a handful wid de way they¡¯d claw thru you.¡± ASHANTI: ¡°Fox.¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Say you wut now?¡± ASHANTI: ¡°The ma¡¯jong. They¡¯re fox-kin. Not dogs.¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Sure. If dat what you like. Careful not to let yo heart bleed on de floor.¡± ASHANTI: ¡°Does that bother you for some reason? To be told to correct yourself over a factual truth about a people you¡¯ve spent your life dehumanizing? People you forced to suffer elephantiasis, dysentery, dropsy, fevers, digestive diseases and Goddess knows what else in the bowels of your¡­disease-ridden ship?¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: A dry laugh that sounds like the captain can be heard on the recording. ¡°Look, Ms. Ashuntee Fargee-¡± ASHANTI: ¡°-Ashanti Faraji.¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Whatev¡¯ you say. You drink da coffe¡¯ everyday?¡± ASHANTI: ¡°Sure.¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Use oil lamps?¡± ASHANTI: ¡°Doesn¡¯t everyone?¡± CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Den how you gon¡¯ judge me? How you gon¡¯ pretend like you care? Dose beans that make yo coffe¡¯? Got by de slaves I bring. The cottons that make dat wick in yo lamp? Got by de slaves I bring. Der no part of yo life dat isn¡¯t made better wid my slaves. So don¡¯t cum down here wid yo high mind ideal and yo recorder to look down yo nose at me, all de while livin¡¯ off my back. ASHANTI: If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡­ CAPTAIN KOFI: ¡°Day tools. De folk and de dogs. Day less dan people and day here for a purpose¡­to serve. You tink it better had I not worked? My family go hungry? You tink it better I suffer fo dem? Would you done better? Don¡¯t be foolish wid yo down talk. You do no better everyday. And you talk of dem even less when der no coin or fame to be had. ¡°You only sad fo dem when it convenient to be. You see, I¡¯m better dan you. I don¡¯t pretend tings are different dan day be.¡± ---------- 3008 A.G.G. ¨C 3130 A.G.G. (1,503 Years Ago) The Fourth Epoch, The Living World of Mundus World Wide In the wake of the fall of Assami, its once proud survivors who wanted not to stay to eke out a living in their dying homeland, but wanted to attempt to find something better, quickly found themselves turned into a wondering peoples. Unable to find respite anywhere, even among their former allies, as economies were fragile after the war and not many could bear the strain of taking on hundreds of thousands of refugees. They were regarded as little more than an economic drain and no city in the south really wished to house any number of them. Over time most wrongly started to look upon them as thieves, troublemakers or mischievous due to the nomadic nature of their burgeoning new culture. A culture that found itself splitting in two. Those of a darker complexion among the malani slowly found for themselves a place on the outskirts of most societies. A place that offered to them less than the average, but enough that they nonetheless fought tirelessly for it. But it didn¡¯t take long for the leaders of these displaced people to came to the realization that things would get far worse for them as a people before they got better if they stayed on this road. So they decided that they had little choice than to separate themselves from society at large. They ceased looking for support from people that didn¡¯t want them around. They stopped accepting the scraps that were handed to them by those who despised them. They were far too proud of a people for that. Their culture too rich to be underwritten so carelessly. Nothing would be given them by the world. And they would ask for nothing. Eventually their many clans congregated in the unclaimed deserts of Alphava and slowly conquered its environment. Today, the Desert People¡¯s cities are spread from Assami¡¯s arid western tip to the central desert plains; having phenix¡¯d themselves into a singular thriving culture with a way of life that grows deeper with each passing year. Sadly, their former kinsmen were not nearly as fortunate. The fairer skinned balani along with the fox-like ma¡¯jong found themselves in the most uncomfortable position of being favored by many as servants¡­indentured or otherwise. Eventually, and unfortunately, this led the lost peoples¡¯ places in society de-evolving. Many non-Assamians began to take advantage of their kind natures and use them as tools to do with as they pleased. And far too rarely did either the balani or the ma¡¯jong speak against those who offered them work with the one hand while slapping them down with the other; accepting housing or pay regardless of the circumstances. Even as their patrons¡¯ requests became more and more unreasonable over time. As the offered lodgings became more and more sparce. And as the pay became more and more scarce. The fear of losing whatever meal ticket they were fortunate enough to come by was too great. And sadly, it¡¯s easy to see why this manner of servitude became the foundation of the chattel slave trade and the slave casts as we know them today. And when ¡°voluntary servitude¡± ceased to be a viable way to procure Assamians, other methods came to the fore. At its height, numerous methods were used to procure chattel. Each more deplorable than the last. The Assamians who fell into slavery solely because of extreme poverty, such as with children who were given away or sold by their starving parents or through flesh trades conducted via kinship arrangements, were the lucky ones. Violence tended to be the most common form of obtaining fresh bodies. Prisoners of war, slave raids, and kidnapping were the rule, not the exception. Vast caravans of child slaves were recorded after several of the larger documented raids ¨C upwards of two chiliad in number ¨C by the slave traders who marched them in chains moving eastwards along the long unnamed roads south of the Pass of Myths whose waters flowed underneath the Land-Bridges of the Eight Kings towards Bunceton. The point is, that there was no single form of enslaving the ma¡¯jong and the balani. ---------- The cruel fates of the Assamians were not the only changes that time visited upon the mortals of the world with the conclusion of the Ten and Five Year Wars. The Magi, dwarves and swalii were not spared the degeneration of this new world¡¯s phobic views of all things that were different from the accepted norms. Views of technological progress grew similar to those of hekan progress in the eyes of the oratory. Leading a not insignificant number of people being soured on them as well. Especially in the shadow of the Technological Revolution. The in-depth study of the nature of the Great Expanse; the study of advanced flight far beyond hydrogen filled airships; the combining flesh and living machine¡­such ideas had ventured too far afield, far too quickly, for too long to the common mind. The destruction of Assami, the partial collapse of dwarven society and loss of many dwarven cities during the Fifteen Year War were cited by many authoritative minds as the direct effect of flirting with scientific studies that ventured too close to the realm of D?v?n? knowledge. Too similar to the Magickal gifts that were believed to be too alien to the human condition to be allowed to exist beyond what the oratory or the abbey deemed necessary. To this day, it¡¯s the only known subject that the two religious superpowers have ever agreed upon; their only common ground. The Technological Revolution was brought to a swift end by the holy powerhouses in the form of an aggressive Reversion. Weaving heka was harshly criminalized if done outside of governmental mandates or royal decrees, sufficiently advanced technologies were either descaled, sealed away or destroyed outright, and unconventional scientific study was outlawed. Sanctions that were already in place on Magi who were born and lived outside of the Link were doubled over and any known Magi who dared to rebel against these decrees were detained. A dark age of fear, religious paranoia and hatred washed over the world. A period we never fully escaped. Provoked heavily by the Oratory, a great purge was executed in which many advanced technologies, research developments and writings outside of the swalli homeland were heavily sought after and destroyed. Many swalli were even put to the sword simply for being what they were. And all that¡¯s without giving mention to the Great Culling¡­which was an unprecedented massacre all to itself. Not willing to part with the apparatuses which defined their individual cultures, or the Magick which gave their lives meaning, the vast majority of the dwarves retreated either to their underground cities, or to the safety of the hyper-advanced, Hesijua. Not often to venture out of either again. With many Hesijuan natives following suit. While the Magi returned to the welcoming arms of the Link. Chapter 5 – All That Remains All That Remains It should be understood that none of the quotes that follow are first-hand accounts, but the work of much study, archeological and historical research, and educated supposition by the Covenant¡¯s archival prefects and their most accomplished apostles. Additionally, the following passages may not be entirely accurate as they weren¡¯t transcribed as they were thought to be spoken. They¡¯ve been translated here for ease of reading. Because of this, unfortunately, some things may be lost in the translation from the original ?ng?l?c to common. Translated passages will be indicated by the use of bold print. ---------- Selected Verses from the Afua Maisha: The Holy Book of the Covenant The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The First Book of V¡¯???n? ¨C Chapter 2 ¨C Verse 3 (III.) She looked at me. Sadness and Joy weighing in Her heart and reflecting in Her eyes in equal measure. And I knew not what I should do. Console? Support? Smile? (IV.) So I simply stood there. Silent in my war barding. Each of my longswords resting in their scabbards to either side of me on my flanks; laying heavily in my weariness against my flanchards. (V.) ¡°You think it finally over V¡¯???n??¡± (VI.) ¡°You¡¯d know far better than I, my Lady. But by Your name, I hope so. I wish not to draw my blade against any more of my kin.¡± (VII.) ¡°Nor I mine. Every strike against my dearest S?¡¯?d?n?? has been as a stake being driven into my own heart.¡± (VIII.) ¡°And against Lum?¡¯?l?¡± (IX.) ¡°Far, far worse.¡± The Goddess¡¯ Holy Book; the Afua Maisha The Queen Aamina Translation The First Book of V¡¯???n? ¨C Chapter 3 ¨C Verse 1 (I.) The Goddess turned her back to me. Though not in malice. In deep thought. And it was there that we stood for an eternity of moments before She returned Her gaze, and I bowed in reverence. (II.) ¡°What would you have me do my Lady?¡± (III.) ¡°I would ask that you fetch M?ss???l, Z?k?nt?os and my dear S?n?gron to me. I would have them meet with me at the cathedras. There¡¯s something that I¡¯ll need to do and I¡¯ll require their council.¡± (IV.) ¡°If it¡¯s to be of such import, would you care for it to be documented in the annals?¡± (V.) ¡°I suppose that would be prudent. Send for ?kon as well.¡± (VI.) ¡°Of course my Lady. Should I return to your side once my work is complete?¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. (VII.) ¡°My thanks. But there¡¯s no need. It¡¯s not protection I have want for, but guidance.¡± (VIII.) ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± ---------- 3000 A.G.G. ¨C 3015 A.G.G. (1,618 Years Ago) The Fourth Epoch, The Living World of Mundus World Wide Despite the many tragic triumphs of Br?mal during the war, fortunately for ?mbros??, S?n?gron and the peoples of the living world, they were victories claimed in vain. And the Damned were to remain just that. By the conclusion of the fighting, Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s most trusted and capable Fallen ?ng?l-turned-Dr?goon T?l?t? was left grievously bloodied and defeated by the same hand that smote her master millennia ago; that of the General D?v?n?, M?ss???l. But this wasn¡¯t to be her end. T?l?t? was able to cheat the grasp of oblivion and avoid the full brunt of M?ss???l¡¯s death blow through a combination of her d?m?ni? blood hekas and the timely intervention of her beloved D??vi?d. Together they returned to the feet of their master beaten and broken; sounding the horns of retreat. This final defeat left Lum?¡¯?l embarrassed¡­for the second time. And He was determined that there wouldn¡¯t be a third. Other plans of His devising were already in motion. And the world, still in recovery, was continuing to change ever so slowly to suit His desires. The minds and hearts of Men and Mer, which had been in steady decline since the division of the religions, were now fast slipping away from the Goddess in the wake of the Ten and Five Year Wars. And between the world¡¯s festering hatred of the Magi, its fear of technological progress, and the institution of slavery, many of the ?ng?ls began to wonder if Mundus was even worth saving. A feeling that was reflected in the few Dr?gons and Dr?goons that remained in the world who began to retreat forever back to the ethereal plains of their own volition; unable to cope with the memories of the wars that haunted them. And one that was overtly demonstrated when the White Tree was spirited away from Zachary, down to its very roots, and lost to the hands of Man and Merkind by order of M?ss???l himself. But while the people lost hope in ?mbros?? and S?n?gron, The D?v?n? pair hadn¡¯t completely lost hope in them. Despite what the world would want to believe, ?mbros?? would never turn Her back on the children She¡¯d created. But, with things now being the way they were, in order to truly save the world from both Lum?¡¯?l and itself, She¡¯d require more. More than what Her ?ng?ls, Dr?gons and Dr?goons themselves surmised. She needed a symbol. Someone to carry Her banner given that it was against Her own natural laws to carry it Herself. Someone with the ability to unite the world against its own prejudices and form a line worthy enough to do battle against the encroaching darkness. This wasn¡¯t something any of her ?ng?ls, to include M?ss???l, were capable of. The world was no longer in a state where they¡¯d follow someone who wasn¡¯t one of them regardless of how D?v?n? the lineage. She needed someone who understood their lives, dreams, customs and their fears of discomfort and death. A man or woman who¡¯d lived among them, suffered with them, believed as they believed and bled as they did. Someone who wasn¡¯t D?von?s?, yet who had the potential to be more than what their mortal lives dictated. She was in need of one from among the worldly masses who was capable of guiding both their kind and Hers alike; someone who was worthy enough to receive the soul of one of Her willing Dr?gons and the gifts of the D?v?n?, but who was still¡­for lack of a better word¡­flawed. And so, through Her connection to the flow, desperate to see where the consequences of the wars¡¯ actions would lead the world She created, ?mbros?? waded in the waters that ran near the Tree of Life under the watchful eyes of S?n?gron, M?ss???l, the Great Dr?gon Z?k?nt?os and the scribe of the Choirs, ?kon. Here She set Herself afloat on the currents of time. It was there that before Her eyes; eyes that saw the past, present and the whisps of many possible futures, that the Queen of Queens had a moment of opaque transcendence. A moment of prophecy. ¡°There¡¯s so much I have to do.¡± She whispered to Herself once Her visions had subsided and She¡¯d emerged from the drink; as the clear waters from the tree¡¯s base dripped down Her unyielding midnight coloured locs and saturated Her dark skin. ¡°There¡¯s so many things I have to do. Yet, so much of it that I¡¯m not sure I can do¡­¡± In the days that followed, with the shadowy path to Her desired future which She¡¯d plucked from the threads of existence grasped as tightly in Her mind as She could, and with the queenly authority She commanded with Her every word and action, She set Her Choirs about finding the key to safeguarding the world; a mortal whom She could only ever bring Herself to refer to as the ¡°Child of Fate¡±. A child with whom lay the ability to truly personify the lofty title of Dr?goon, and who could shoulder the heavy burden of protecting the world and the White Tree. Someone who would take upon themselves the duty of defending the evergreen¡¯s new hiding place on Mundus and its home in the heavens. A person with the desire and strength to bring about a lasting peace to all realms, both hither and tither, before the ongoing conflicts between ?mbros??¡¯s ?ng?ls and Lum?¡¯?l¡¯s Fallen over the Tree of Life inadvertently brought about the end of everything¡­ Glossary Important Pronunciations ??l???? (ah¡¤lee¡¤yah) ¨C Youngest daughter of King Samahdemn. Princess of the Promised Lands. Known by her subjects as The People''s Princess. ?k?rm?uru (Acar¡¤more¡¤rue) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the Goddess'' majesty made manifest. Alphava (Al¡¤fave¡¤ha) ¨C Southern half of the world''s largest joined continent. Cultural melting pot and part of the center of world trade. Amalgamate (A¡¤mal¡¤ga¡¤mate) ¨C A living technological symbiont which are created and bred by the swalii for insertion into their bodies. ?mbros?? (Am¡¤broh¡¤zua) ¨C The Goddess; creator of the universe and all of its infinite complexities. ?ng?l (An¡¤gel) ¨C A being created directly by the hand of the Goddess. Assami (Azz¡¤a¡¤my) ¨C Ancient homeland of the malani; typically they lean towards straight black hair racially. Almond or upturned eyes of a generally dark colour and thin noses and representing a wide variety of skin tones. It''s also home to the fair skinned balani, who are straight haired with a number of lighter hair shades. They tend to have rounded, light coloured eyes, thin noses, thin lips and less curvaceous bodies than most other humans. Assami is also home to the fox-like ma''jong. Audaux (Au¡¤dux) ¨C The massive, uninhabited planet which partially fills the sky during the night that Mundus revolves around. B?st?ru (Bas¡¤ta¡¤ru) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the messengers. B?st?ru-?k?ru (Basta¡¤ru Ek¡¤a¡¤ru) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the warriors. B??t?f?c (Bee¡¤ah¡¤tiff¡¤ick) ¨C The rare offspring of two ?ng?l?cs bonding sexually. As mating between ?ng?l?cs does not easily lend itself to pregnancy for reasons known only to ?mbros?? Herself, the birth of a B??t?f?c is an exceedingly rare, but joyous occurrence among the D?von?s?. Br?mal (Bru¡¤mall) ¨C The D?m?nic Realm; seat of power for the Fallen. ?wjv Bwhv? (Ka¡¤wav Bwa¡¤vo) ¨C Known as the Transference of the Soul, its literal translation is "life given". It''s a ritual by which a Dr?gon''s Soul is freely gifted to a faithful and trusted friend or companion them in order to birth a Dr?goon so that they may continue on in their stead. This is most usually done when a Dr?gon sees that their death is near. ?wjv Dgfv? (Ka¡¤wav Dug¡¤vo) ¨C Known as the Dark Transference of the Soul, its literal translation is "life taken". It''s a ritual by which a Dr?gon''s soul is ripped from them in order to birth a Dark Dr?goon. D?m?n (Day¡¤men) ¨C The soul of a mortal damned to the frozen wastes of Br?mal for eternity for misdeeds in life. D?v?n?t? (Da¡¤vin¡¤a¡¤tee) ¨C Beings or places that have qualities that are associated with the Goddess. D?von?s? (Di¡¤vonese) ¨C The Goddess, Gods and all beings directly created by them; beings that can directly claim a D?v?n? birthright. Dr?gon (Drag¡¤on) ¨C Ancient and massive creature of untold power bestowed with the Goddess'' gifts. Forbearers of the Magi race. Dr?goon (Drag¡¤oohn) ¨C A mortal (or seeming immortal, such as one of the eluvian), who has taken into themselves the soul of a dragon; being granted not only life everlasting, but all of that dr?gon''s memories and gifts. Eluvian (El¡¤lou¡¤v¡¤an) ¨C Human colloquialism used when someone is referring to the entire diaspora of elven kind. ?mp?r? (Em¡¤pre) ¨C The D?v?n? Plains; seat of power for the ?ng?ls. ?r?w?on (Air¡¤rue¡¤hun) ¨C The Valley of the Palace of D?v?n?ty in the land of Sun''s Height; the fourth region of the D?v?n? Realm. The seat of the Goddess. ?skdskur?n (Esc¡¤koran) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the Goddess'' will made manifest. F?ri? (Fair¡¤ee) ¨C F?ri?s are a race of tiny winged humanoids said to be birthed of magick itself. The fae-folk are also believed to make their home in the branches and among the leaves of the Goddess'' Tree. Much of this speculation comes from the elf races and their fellow fae-kin, the fauns, who are the only peoples that f?ri?s interact with. Leading many to question if the race of beings actually exists or if they''re faunish myths or creatures born of flights of eluvian fantasy. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. F?s?ru (Fasa¡¤ru) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the protectors of faith. Glaive (Gleiv) ¨C Specialized swords that are constructed and used exclusively by joined swalii who are members of the Knighthood; controlled and powered by their amalgamates. It uses Hesijuan technology to control plasma which can be used to coat the blade for cutting, propel the blade for harder cleaving or be expelled from the sword''s barrel like a firearm. Hesijua (His¡¤zis¡¤ju¡¤ya) ¨C Homeland of the technologically advanced swalii; a dark-skinned people with living machines in their bodies that they are born capable of receiving, but do so only if chosen on or about their tenth name day. Said to be the first race born of mankind from the fruit of the Goddess''s tree. Typically born with rounded or downturned eyes of dark hues, their hair by-and-large is kinky in shades of black and brown. Wide nosed and thick lipped. Their women are widely considered to be the world''s most beautiful due in no small part to the voluptuousness of their thicc builds. Heka (Hick¡¤uh) ¨C The colloquial term adopted from the Magi referring to magick and its nature. It is also widely used on The Link to refer to the Goddess. ?c?or-N?b?l? (Ick¡¤or Na¡¤ba¡¤la) ¨C The surname of the Goddess, the first God and their D?v?n? child. I??v? ij dkv ¨²?ii? (Il¡¤si¡¤vil delv U¡¤ick) ¨C Dr?gon-speak for Order of the Blood; a knighted order of specialized warriors native to the lands of Hesijua. Isilivere (I¡¤saa¡¤liv¡¤er¡¤raa) ¨C A silver-looking metal that takes on an onyx shade when the light strikes it from certain angels. Nearly supernatural in strength and resiliency; it''s found too deep within the earth for humans and most mer to reach. Save for the dwarves who exclusively mine it. They are also the only race with the skill and furnaces hot enough to forge it. Leading it to being a very highly sought after but very expensive metal. Jewelry, tools and weapons forged from it are prohibitively expensive and are usually only obtained by or related to royals. Kazakoto (Kaza¡¤ko¡¤to) ¨C Northern half of the world''s largest joined continent. Cultural melting pot and part of the center of world trade. Home of the snowfall race of eluvian. Khanas (Ki¡¤nas) ¨C Homeland of the dwalli; former swalii who rebelled against the technological advancement of the race, refusing to integrate living technology into their bodies, and separated from Hesijua during The Exodus. Physically akin to Africans/African-Americans in real life. Kolumbk? (Ku¡¤lumb¡¤ki) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the workers of miracles and bestowers of valor. Lum?''?l (lum¡¤na¡¤ill) ¨C The first God. Most beautiful and powerful of the Goddess'' creations. Her lover and father to the Princess of Princesses, S??r??. Architect of the Great Rebellion and king of the Fallen ?ng?ls. Ma''Jong (Ma¡¤jong) ¨C A once independent and proud, but now subservient, fox-like slave race of people. Magisterium (Mag¡¤i¡¤steer¡¤e¡¤um) ¨C The ruling body of The Link and the undisputed authority of the Mages. Murrlel (Murre¡¤el) ¨C Homeland of the fair skinned slatani; a slender people most normally fair skinned with straight, black coloured hair and piercing black eyes that tend to either be hooded or monolid. They are thin of lip with narrow, sometimes buttoned noses and are otherwise graced with soft facial features. N?p??l?m (Nef¡¤a¡¤leem) ¨C Mixed offspring who are the result of a union between D?von?s? beings (usually Dr?gons or ?ng?ls, but sometimes Fallen), and worldly beings. P?r?lu (Par¡¤a¡¤lu) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the bringers of order. S?''?d?n? (Sa¡¤ha¡¤da¡¤un¡¤na) ¨C D?v?n? daughter of the Goddess and the "first" sunset elf. S?n?gron (San¡¤e¡¤gron) ¨C The Dr?gon God; second God created by the Goddess to rule over the Dr?conic race. Transubstantiation (Tran¡¤sub¡¤stan¡¤she¡¤a¡¤tion) ¨C The process by which an ?ng?lic being loses their D?v?n? birthright and becomes mortal. Zachary (Zack¡¤a¡¤re) ¨C Homeland of the orcs, eluvian of both the sunrise and grove varieties and the original home of the Tree of Life. Z?st?ru (Zas¡¤ta¡¤ru) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the representatives of sovereignty and goodness and the guardians of inspiration. Z?st?ru-M?p?nol (Zas¡¤ta¡¤ru Ma¡¤pa¡¤nol) ¨C One of the Celestial Orders of the ?ng?ls; the voice of the Goddess and rulers of the elemental domains. Appendices I - Histories (I wouldn''t normally include this preamble, but apparently a new guideline has been added to this site that requires 500 words in a segment to upload. So, please feel free to skip this opening paragraph.) The following is a concise history of the world of Mundus, reaching back to the creation of the universe up to the present day in the narrative. I figured I''d give some background on the places and events that you as the reader will be experiencing here for all those who are interested. (This is all information I plan on including in my physical books should I ever either find traditional publishing or I end up publishing traditionally. I''ve also included here a flow chart of the world''s prominent religions for ease of reference. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The History of the World of Mundus The Faiths of Mundus Appendices II - Languages (I wouldn''t normally include this preamble, but apparently a new guideline has been added to this site that requires 500 words in a segment to upload. So, please feel free to skip this opening paragraph.) The following is a key for the two primary languages spoken in this supplement between the realms of ?mp?r? and the plains of Br?mal. Languages of the D?von?s? that reach back to the creation of the universe and up through to the present day in the narrative. I figured I''d give some background on the places and events that you as the reader will be experiencing here for all those who are interested. (This is all information I plan on including in my physical books should I ever either find traditional publishing or I end up publishing traditionally. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ?ng?l?c Script Dr?gon and Fallen Script