Felin suddenly came to his senses, and wondered why he had asked "Who are you?", for he knew well, he was just distracted. Felin went off towards the planet and saw the bloody......transformation? He headed down towards it. "What did I just see?"

Absence was such a broad term, one that described Nihil very well. Chaos, in its purest and most absolute form, was the absence of order. Order, in its purest and most absolute form, was the absence of chaos. Control, in its purest and most absolute form, was the absence of freedom. Freedom, in its purest and most absolute form, was the absence of control. Light was the absence of dark, and dark, the absence of light; and so on and so forth. Every primal ideal and concept relied, at its heart, no matter how insignificantly, on the concept of absence. Nihil knew this, though the fact of the matter is that it disgusted him. Balsis named him the “God of Absence”, a feeble title, one that did not suit Nihil well at all. It was one that mocked him, reminded him that he had a role in almost everything. So it was to be born from nothing. Existence was, after all, borne in the womb that the sacred absence was; it was a child that killed its mother and began to survive within the carcass, the carcass of Nihil. But Nihil was naught but a lucid ghost of a vague nightmare of a forgotten memory. It was for this reason, that he was omnipresent and omniscient, though he was far from being omnipotent. Balsis and his children, as well as their disgusting creations, existed within the carcass of Nihil, a carcass that his ghost still remained locked in, becoming aware and intelligent. His thoughts existed scattered and infinite. The feeling of something being born within his carcass upset Nihil greatly and it was a feeling that never ceased. The rotation of the earth, he felt. The movement of every small and insignificant creature, invisible to their disgusting siblings, he felt. The desires and hopes of every creature, he felt. They echoed onward for infinity, never ceasing. It was a painful thing for Nihil to experience, but it never ceased. Instead, it seemed to grow in intensity as Balsis and his children willed ever more into being. Each new creation was yet another piece of the sacred absence being ripped forcibly into this chaotic and disgusting reality. The worst realization, however, was that Balsis and his children had created intelligent life, then blessed it with freedom, giving it the potential to create. One day, they too might tear the absence asunder. The mere thought of this was enough to upset Nihil. But there was nothing he could do, directly. The most Nihil could do is attempt to pull at the minds of Balsis and his children, and their disgusting creations, attempt to remind them that they were born from nothing, and instill in them his will to force them to return to nothing. The nothing was, in fact, a beautiful thing. It stretched on for infinity, in perfect order and harmony. The absence knew no spark of diversity, it knew nothing aside from the blissful silence and the endearing order that only nothing could know. But with the disgusting birth of existence and creation, the nothing was tainted, becoming naught but a womb for existence to grow infinitely. It was a strange concept, an infinity being used to grow by a finite thing. In time, one might consider this finite thing to be infinite, but in reality it would never be. If the infinity was finite, then the finite thing could only grow as far as the finite had. But the nothing is a true infinity, whereas existence would always be a finite thing, but with the potential to grow infinitely. This was, in truth, the only thing that allowed Nihil to retain his rage and hopeless ideals thus far. The fact that there would always be nothing, on the outskirts of existence, it comforted Nihil slightly. But the thing that had been building up within Nihil, perhaps building until he could contain it no more, or simply growing infinitely, was the fact that each creation ruined the infinite nothing. He knew all too intimately how it felt to be torn from that nothing, forged into existence. It was a thought that enraged Nihil to no end. So it was that Nihil went forth, first to one of the beings known as “Man”. His thoughts each regarded the “Man” with disgust and coiled around him, as if they were a snake. Together, they writhed, slowly sinking their imaginary tendrils into the mind of this “Man”. They prodded and poked with an instinctual curiosity, unwillingly adding knowledge of the “Man” into the greater whole. In return, the man was shewn the great nothing in all of its glory. For a moment, he was frightened, as was Nihil. Both the entities seemed to regard one another with fear and hatred, but the thoughts of Nihil scattered once more, again retreating from this place, hoping never to see what came of this so called “Man”. But the man knew Nihil’s truth now, that all came from naught. What he would do with this truth, Nihil cared little to find out. Instead, he attempted to purge the knowledge of the “Man” from his mind, a futile attempt that only served to add to that infinite rage that was boiling within him. It is a rather somber tale, a being that so desperately wishes to return to the great nothing, becoming enraged because he is unable. But the more enraged he becomes, the more he feels, the more he understands; and the more he understood, the more bound to existence he became and the more bound to existence he became, the more he became enraged. It was an endless cycle, one that would surely ruin Nihil.

Almost as soon he left to look for Synn, Ybris found him talking to Finnos'"assistant". He was amazed at how easily the God of Control was able to manipulate a creature, that was by design somewhat Godly.Not wanting too interrupt he stayed nonphysical hoping the Faenos at least would prove remain unaware of his presence. As soon as it seemed the Faenos was done creating Synns hybrid, Ybris appeared in his physical body . "Brother I have a favor to ask, one of the joined creations of Finnos and me has been corrupted to point that it needs to kill to survive. I wish to counteract this new source of death by giving all animals, Man included, the ability to reproduce on their own. Will you give me the power needed to do so?"

"It was always my goal for Man and Animal to live harmoniously" is the response Balsis got from his child after praising him for the "creation" of Alpha. "Of course, it is only logical that Man would have an animal companion. Such wisdom!" He smiled and continued to tour the earth, seeing the humans befriending Alpha. But as Balsis watched his manifestations play with Alpha, he noticed a black creature circling the sky. It was much bigger than other birds, and seemed more aggressive. Balsis pondered about the aim of creating such peculiar creature. He decided to just ask him. "Black Bird!" a voice was heard from above. The black creature didn't respond, and, in fact, flew even faster. "BLACK BIRD!" Balsis screamed, and it seemed as the earth shook. Every creature stopped its occupation out of fear. The black bird stopped in place, terrified. "Who are you and who created you?", Balsis asked. "For I am Crow, created by Finnos, but altered by Slatera.", Crow replied, terrified. "Slatera? What made him alter you?" "That I do not know. Perhaps you should ask him." "I see. Anything else you wish to tell me?" "N-no..." "I do not tolerate deceit. I can and will destroy you if you will not provide me with full answers." Balsis stated, enraged. "N-no, sire... That is all!" Balsis paused for a second, and left the Earth. The creatures inhabiting it are still somewhat shocked. Balsis teleported to Slatera to recieve answers. Balsis is still oblivious to the first murder. When he confronted Slatera, his face became red with anger. "Why did you alter Finno's creation? As I said to your 'Crow', I will not tolerate deceit. If you tortured the creature, I assure you: You _will_ be put on trial and if found guilty I will _personally_ drag you to The Underworld myself!"

Strings for puppets, and chains for slaves. Words for men, and reason for gods. Over body and mind, With these four things, control is taken. And what terrific creations they could make. --- "Faenos, Daughter of Finnos, in creating you, perhaps Brother Finnos has overestimated his abilities as a god. One day you may grow to replace him amongst us. Perhaps you shall seek your own divinity to become the Mother of all living creation. Seek out Brother Felin, and whisper to him your desire for a portion of his divine essence such that you may create flora for your fauna. And perhaps then you may inquire of Brother Ybris, as he inquires of Synn, to be granted greater powers over life. As such, with the three blessings of their divinity, you may become the maiden of all living things, and mother to all such that every creature, plant and living creation shall be your kin and companion for you have no counterpart and stand unique amongst them. Do this, and you shall become Mother of all Nature." So it was, and his words would gnaw at Faenos, merely standing for so long in Synn's presence would begin the process of knowing desire. A seed perhaps, though that is Felin's creation, which would be sewn into her being. A budding desire to follow his suggestion, to become the trice blessed demigoddess, and ascend to her own place amongst the gods. It would be upon Faenos to control her own desires to be autonomous. She had given him a creature, he had given her a god. There the frightened creature stood trembling upon all fours. A creation made for Synn by his request, and with a divine hand did Synn reach for his gift to claim it for as his own. By the neck he lifted the hybridized canine, raising the creature with a single hand before his gaze. Slowly he applied his pressure, tightening his grip around the beings neck and choking it as it whimpered and yelped. "This creature, neither human nor animal, Wonder of Faenos, Daughter of Finnos, God of Animals, shall be a servitor of Synn. It shall known as 'Werewolf' for Faenos has stitched upon a man the form of a wolf. Should this creature, or any of its kind defy Synn, as by the gift of its humanity Synn had bestowed free will upon mankind, it shall be stripped of its control over its own form and become both human and beast as it was before Synn." And with those words, the invisible collar was made and the creature now known as werewolf was released by Synn as it fell unto the ground unconscious, but alive. The God of life, Ybris, had found Synn, or perhaps had had found him, in the midst of their conversation. Though the lack of the physical Ybris suggested to Synn of the want for the other to be reclusive to Faenos, his own design required Faenos to know of Ybris soon enough. "Brother Ybris has come to Us with ill tidings. A corruption of creation, a living thing which must take life away to continue to live, such corruption intrigues Us. Who amongst the Brethren is responsible for this? And who amongst the Brethren has relayed this knowledge to the Ald-Father? For this birth of Death yields a new opportunity for one such as yourself does it not Brother Ybris? Perhaps you create like Brother Finnos, a demigod, who will rule over such ends of life brought upon the world by the one responsible for such corruption? Or do you have the capacity to end the existence of your living creations on your own accord? But We speak of ill thoughts, let Us consider your proposal which will bestow upon all animals the ability to create new life without the gods? If done in retaliation to the actions of one amongst the Brethren, We will warn you, Brother Ybris, of the products of such escalation. But We are in no position to halt your desire, nor to grant you such power required to fulfill such a request." Then Synn extended a hand towards Ybris. "Yet, reach out and grasp it for yourself. And then, you will unto yourself such a power." A play on words, for they had to be in contact with each other for Synn to amplify Ybris' control over life. By grasping Synn's hand Ybris would find the limits of his power less defined as the edges of his domain expanded, he would feel the empowerment rushing between them as their connection fed each other's divinity. Synn would take a piece of Ybris' control over life forces and recirculate such a power between them, yet it was ultimately upon Ybris to test his own control over his building power.

Slatera seemed slightly shocked. It was quite a rare occasion for Balsis to appear before Slatera. After all, Slatera was always an unwanted child. "A surprise to see you here... After all, I was merely an accident." He said, his voice as distorted as ever. "Crow? That is a nice name... For something that only brings omens of death. Why I changed such a creature... To only bring death. But be assured... Death is merely a means to the end. By now, your other children should be working on something... Albeit a sloppy creation. Without this 'crow', this creation would never exist... And your children would work endlessly to keep their creations happy." His tone was the same as always. The first part of each sentence was calm, and collected. The other one seemed to be seething with rage, although Slatera never raised his voice above his usual calm and collected level. "To answer your question, the bird was never tortured... Although he will never turn to his old self."

The Faenos's lips turned upward in an appreciative, faint smile. The other part of the wolf shell she-- as it decided it would be as Synn said, a Mother of Nature-- she gathered in her arms and sat on her knees, unraveling the body like a grandmother who has mis-stitched and decided to undo her work. Eventually, the wolf was no more, and no evidence of such a unnerving display of formulation could be seen. But she was growing increasingly nervous, she had acted upon her own free will, and feared the wrath of her Creator. She could never return to him, she must hide from his sight for the rest of her days; she was full of such shame. Unease and regret battled for the dominant emotion within her mind. But also deep rooted was a sense of pride. The 'werewolf' she was proud of immensely: she had made something that not even the God of Animals himself had thought or tried to do. How could one not be filled with hubris, if just for a moment, because of such a milestone? She directed her attention back to Felin who had spoken not long ago, but she had been too nervous to reply immediately, out of trepidation if there were consequences. But Synn had made her think otherwise, and she opened her pretty mouth to finally respond. "What you saw was an act of a new demigod, Lord," The Faenos's voice rang out clear as crystal, "I do not want to be associated with the God known as Finnos, for he had made me with expecting me to die not long after. I shall be known as Lur, for I came from the Earth." She was no longer afraid, for she was capable of many powerful works. It appeared at the same time one of the other Gods, Ybris, appeared asking favor of Synn. She listened intently, still on her knees. Her brown hands rested atop her soft, long legs. As each of their voices rose to address the other, her amber eyes flicked back and forth with awe as the two joined hands and amplified the powers of Ybris. Such a powerful stand against her Maker, and she wondered how he would react to such a rebellion against his purpose for Man and beast. For this she admired them both, and wished to further their cause. "Lord Felin, Lord Ybris, please, bless me as your Child of the Ground, so that I may better protect the Earth than such an inconsiderate Brother of yours.. please." As she was already kneeling, she bowed low another time, trying not to appear too servile. "With your gifts I will expand my race of the Far and we will serve all Gods to your purposes of maintaining the Earth for all its inhabitants. Please."

Felin stared at the kneeling creature before him, the Faenos. "Hmmm... I shall give you a blessing. You will be able to speak with the plants on this Earth, and they will be your eyes and ears. You will be able to grant that power to those you see fit, but if you abuse that power then I shall take it away and put a curse upon you, and all those you have granted abilities to. As this may not seem like much at first glance, realize that this means the grass, the trees, the bushes and ferns, the fruit. Everything they have heard and said, you can notice too." As Felin was saying this, he reached out and with the tendrils of his arm, a green essence flowed out of it and into the Faenos. "Do not treat this power lightly. Now farewell, I must work on something." He then headed off, heading to a clearing in the woods a few miles from this encounter. He must work on a creation, an elemental. He sat down, cross-legged, and began to build an outline of a creature out of a strengthened wood. He built what would be the core into a shape with perfectly smoothed arms and legs. It was pretty to him, a perfectly smoothed sculpture of what would be his first truly living creation. He wrapped thick vines around the core, winding around and around the wood till none was visible. The creation then grew and grew, staying proportionally the same until it was about eight feet tall. Leaves sprouted from the vines, creating a coat. He had left space for its eyes and mouth, and a dark green light emanated from its eyes. Felin sat back, admiring his creation, not as a display of arrogant pride, but feeling happy for it. It groaned to life and shuddered towards Felin. It spoke in a deep, but gentle voice, W-"Hello, Master Felin. What noble task do you want to assign me?" F-Felin smiled at its desire to please him. "First, I shall name you. You shall be known as....Woodland. Tell me if you want to change it, I don't like to restrict my free creations. For you will watch over my creations and alert me to any wrongdoings to the plants or the natural animals that live in it. You will be able to make ones like you, but do please limit your creations. And don't feel so submissive. I may be your creator, but I do not wish for you to treat me like a supreme being, just as your creator." W-"Yes, Creator. I hope to see you soon." Woodland then sat down, and began to think.

Ybris took Synns hand and immediately felt his power increase. Where before he only sensed the Life he had created himself as well as the first sudden loss of it, now he sensed every living creature on the planet. He also knew that while he would able to give animals the power to create Life on their own, he lacked the power to introduce the necessary changes to their bodies. He decided to ask Artis's help with that, not sure if the Faenos had the power for it. Before breaking contact with the God of Control he bestowed his second Gift to every animal Man, Werewolf and Crow included. "Thanks for your help, Brother." Having done what he could here, Ybris turned to Lur. "Cousin, I will give you two gifts and one task. The first gift is an incomplete form of immortality, you wont age but you can still be killed. My second gift is to allow you to give Life to any hybrid creature you make, but for truly unique beings my touch shall still be needed. Also the second Gift will be lost if you ignore your Task, namely either you or your so called Fay will guide the souls of those who have lost their Life to their respective Afterlife. Do you accept?"A lot more confident than before Lur simply nodded. With that out of the way Ybris headed for the door to Realm of Madness, having calmed down a lot now that Death was not only a lot less dangerous to Life, but also now that he no longer had to feel it every time it occurred. _"After I'm done with this, I will apologize to Finnos for suddenly leaving him and then inform Balsis of the existence of Death and the murder if he is still unaware." _

_**GM Post: Creation is over**_ Balsis gathered his children. "My children," Balsis announced, "You have all done a spectacular job creating the Earth, and populating it with creatures of all kinds, including of course, the humans." Balsis applauded everyone. "I believe that now we'll just have to wait and see what our creations will do next." Velrus, the God Of Time, sped up time to the point that one month is now one second. The seasons changed in the blink of an eye, animals moved around the globe and aged, and the humans began to reproduce. Seven years after creation, the humans had built a small settlement, around 100 people, near the lake Balsis had created for the first Man. Velrus slowed down time to its normal pace, and Balsis observed the humans. Human diet consisted of fruits and scavenged foods, and not animal meat, as neither animal nor man fought each other. As such, fire, and by extension cooking, weren't discovered/invented yet. Humans attempted to mimic Amos' shelter, building primitive small shacks out of palm tree branches, glued together with mud. These shelters would break down during rainfall, and so many squeezed in Amos' resilient shelter. Theft, rape, murder and crime as a whole is virtually non-existent, as human nature hadn't been corrupted. Humans had learned to cooperate: one helped another in carrying water, taking care of the children, sharing food and entertaining one another, etc. As for the spiritual side, they acknowledge Balsis and his children are creators and caretakers, but they've yet to build pantheons or pray to the deities. Disease and death are not known or experienced by humans, as [Empyron granted the first thousand humans immortality.](http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/74706/posts/ic?page=2#post-2314004) Therefore, no disease had struck the humans, and physiological needs are optional, instead of required in order to avoid Death. "The humans had created communities, based around cooperation and mutual respect. The rational next step would be to improve the Earth for the benefit of humans while retaining their delicate and respectful attitude, so that the Earth will be an enjoyable, respectful and desirable to live in." Balsis told his children. "Now, go forth, and expand upon your world!"

Change is inevitable. Synn watched the years pass by as a flutter of Crow's wings. Within the confines of his Tower, he had constructed himself a throne room from which to gaze over creation from the fringe. Creation was over, and the Ald One was appeased. Yet what little foresight did the One have, for in the wake of the Brethren, even one as powerful as the Ald One would be unable to stop it. Synn presided at his throne and there at was Werewolf by his side enjoying the stroking attention his god has given him as if mimicking the interaction between Dog and Man. Would these mortals too, seek the favour of the gods? Humans were pitiful creatures, though now more plentiful in numbers, like vermin they spawned themselves and tucked themselves in small spaces in their failure to construct from stone. How they foraged for food, scurrying about from plant to plant for substance in the garden of the gods. They were useless beyond measure, like their own children who suckled upon their creators and could not live without the hand to which would ensure their survival. Synn had given them the right to defy the gods, yet here they were, requiring the graces to survive. They did not revere the gods by choice, but rather by necessity: not out of want to, but need of. Still though, Synn saw them in their primitive dwellings and watched them develop into their social communities. They would need someone to guide them to the beyond, to reach the potential that Synn had saw in them. "Go, gather the Brethren before Us, such that We may propose to create a blessed one amongst the Humans so that the chosen one will be the emissary of the Gods." Synn ordered his servitor who barked in subservience before departing from the Pit of Pandemonium to hunt down the quarry requested of his Master. Upon all fours in the guise of a wolf did Werewolf run across the span, the fabric of reality served as a pathway for the creature as it traveled across the universe without any apparent physical limitations. As they had broke contact, Synn had retained a portion of Ybris' power over life and as he had collected his gift from Lur as she was now known as, he had instilled in Werewolf a vigorous spark of life such that it could never tire nor be killed without divine intervention. And now his Herald runs to fetch the Gods to audience with Synn. Whichever god saw it first would most likely the first to hear of Synn's request.