The itching was back. It was worse now, like something was writhing beneath his skin, trying to claw its way out. Vestec knew was only one way to ease that pain and that was to grow in power. As he did so the writhing subsided and the God of Chaos relaxed, floating above Galbar, watching the events of the world with a patient interest. He watched as Arguis scurried too and fro, talking first to one god then going to visit the next and Vowzra and Escre combined their powers to create the first sentient life in the world. Vestec's changing colors slowed, until he was a solid black. "My my. Aren't we just busy little Gods? Stealing eggs, talking to Gods...careful, you might just bring on more ire than you can handle. And creating sentient life? You shouldn't have. It makes my job so much easier. Now...lets use this new found power we have." Vestec's normally personality reestablished itself, changing colors randomly once again, and he giggled before going over to where the humans were.

He gathered a small section of them, spiriting them away. There were things to be done, chaos to create, and it had to be started here.

Some adjustments had to be made, of course. Otherwise he'd simply have corrupted some humans, and that was for later. Bit by bit, detail by detail, the God of Chaos changed and adjusted his captured humans until he was satisfied with what they had become. Vestec placed his new race, the Dyun. He filled his race with an irrational hatred of their distant cousins, the humans. Vestec taught the Dyun how to kill, how to hit and run. Their role in life was that of the raider.

As they spread out over Arguis' land, Vestec could hear one word being repeated their strange language(a series of clicks and clacks). "Wow." Vestec giggled again, and watched as they inevitably started fighting amongst themselves. After some intense moments of combat, one arose victorious over the rest, howling his victory to the sky. Vestec gave the 'Sword of Chaos' one final touch, giving the wielder the ability send a bolt of pure chaos energy towards their enemies. Then he gave it to their leader. Not in person, of course. That would drive the poor creatures insane. But his voice echoed above them. "I am Vestec, your God and master. Take this sword, and wield it against the architects of your fate, the humans. Make them suffer, as you have suffered."

She floated above her plane. Watching it intently. She had spent quite a while in it already, but it still seemed lacking. She had taken example from Vowzra and Escre, dotting the landscape with sparse trees where there were plains and with a dense forest on the plains' edge. Life was lacking, though.

Astarte groaned. "How do I even create life like they did?" She asked herself, but she had no answer. So instead of bothering herself further, she landed next to the pond and sat down cross legged, outstretching her hand towards the wet dirt. She collected a small amount of dirt in a mound and when the dirt was packed well enough, she clapped her hands. In a small flash of light, a green, tiny form sprung forth. It was a frog. The frog landed on Astarte's head and settled down amidst the sea that was her head of lavender hair. Astarte smiled, grabbed the frog with both hands and looked it in the eye. "Ew. You're slippery," She said, "but also cute. I'll call you Lilly." With that, Astarte chuckled and attempted to touch noses with Lilly, but the frog squirmed out of her grasp and into the water.

"Oh come on, Lilly!" Astarte moaned in disappointment. For a moment, she contemplated just levitating her out, but that would not have been entertaining, so instead she decided she'd play it smart. She raised one of her eyebrows and willed forth a bunch of green pad-like leaves on the pond. Hopefully they'd resist Lilly's weight. And that they did. A minute after, Lilly came out of the water and jumped onto one of the pads. At first it threatened to sink, but in the end it held.

At that moment, Astarte realized Lilly had nothing to eat, so she created a few dozen tiny black insects, flies, to fly around the pond for Lilly to eat. Then, she realized the flies would need something to eat too. And so she went on and on, creating or stealing different kinds of species from Galbar. Eventually, she had brought so much life into her personal plane, that it had become crowded and unlivable. Some of the animals began eating each other, others began killing for space, while others simply died of stress. So she thought, How do i fix this? And the answer was clear, 'I'll make them smaller!'

So she did, and with a clasp of her fingers, every organism in her plane had shrunk down to a tenth of their size. Now the place was livable once more, and food would be plentiful.

Astarte was happy and content. Every time she touched down from her flying and floating, she'd grin and play with the animals in excitement. That, though, lasted until the animals became predictable and the same things kept happening over and over again. She grew bored of them, and decided to bring in more animals. But how? She couldn't reduce the animals' size any more, or it'd become a hassle to play with them. So there was only one thing to try. She'd have to increase the size of her plane.

She rose up above her plane's clouds and focused. It took her a long while. Everything was silent, and then there was a rumble in the skies. As she outstretched her arms, lightning came out of each palm, going so far into the horizon the eye could no longer see, so far that they left the bounds of the plane.

And she checked to see if the plane had grown in size. It hadn't. Instead, she felt more powerful and capable.

Arguis began swimming in the turquoise ocean. Floating in the void free of gravity. The ocean was something he loved he realized, that which was not referring to the god, something his respected. He understood its beauty and its dangers. He found true fascination by the way the waves softly crashed against the rocky beach, their curling fingers brushing each stone with a gentle caress as the wind ushered them gently towards the shore. The way the sun shone off the rippling water, its golden light warped in the twisted, glass waves. No description can truly capture its mysterious majesty, yet only a few words can express its beauty and it evil. "The sea is bipolar." Arguis said suddenly "One minute tired and depressed, the next, anxious and angry." Arguis mumbled to himself as he teleported out of the depths of the ocean and into the oxygen rich air above.

Arguis had been planning to do something with that Dragon Eggs he had borrowed, something that would involve the services of Ferghus, unfortunately, he was distracted by an immense power being released. Arguis then understood, the first sentient beings were being created at that moment. Only minutes after Arguis left the Astral Home, Vowzra appeared there. Vowzra and Escre were now working together to create Humans. Arguis teleported to Arguilla, the place were they apparently choose to throw down their project. Arguis did not have a problem with it, in fact, it would be entertaining to see his race fight against the 2 species of human that they had created.

It did not take long for Vowzra and Escre to finish their creation and have them set of into the new world. Arguilla would be the first continent, and the first to every house sentient beings. Unfortunately, some gods were getting a bit friendly with his land, Vestec had created beasts, the Dyun, apparently cousins of the humans so to speak. Arguis sighed, it seemed that he would have to have his race dominate his own land.

Arguis brought his hand up infornt of him, and focuses his godly power into a ball. The ball, which was gold in color, began to grow, it's light shining brighter and brighter as if it was to become a star. The ball of bright, golden light grew to the size of a full grown lion. Within the golden orb were hundred of microscopic organisms, squirming around inside. Without a second thought Arguis threw it down the the surface. The ball smashed into the continent of Arguilla, into the dense jungles that had grown. Surprisingly, the impact did not create a crater, instead, half of the ball had implanted itself into the group, many, hundreds of them had. As it hurtled to the ground, it multiplied, each of the organisms gaining it own ball of golden light. Within a few seconds the the spheres grew, but the sudden collapsed in ward, conforming to the unusual shape of Arguis's creation before dispersing into there bodies, absorbing the magic that was used to create them.

Out of the ball that Arguis created came forth the Voidborn, The Cimex. They were extremely intelligent beings, capable of utilizing the human language, when humans got to that point. Some gathered together, simply staring at one another, they had been born with the ability to communicate telepathicly, but when the did make sounds, they would make blood curling cried, or speak. Many of them had bodily abnormalities that made them unique. Some were blind, but their sense of smell and hearing was impeccable. The Cimex were created to hunt, some were born with no hands, but just a 1 and a half foot long claw sticking out at a right angle from their wrist. Not only had Arguis given them all this, he had given them Reactive Evolution, they could reactively enhance their bodies in multiple ways, or reactively alter or shift their bodies in order to survive in their surroundings, all within a few days or hours depending on the change.

The Cimex could not see Arguis, for he had made himself invisible to them, but they knew of him, they knew their creator. Although they did not understand, they both feared and respected the god of Knowledge. In a way, that was not enough for Arguis, he wanted absolutely loyalty. But if he wanted that, he should have made then unintelligent, but he created them self aware. He could not worry about that now, he now was interested in the fights that would begin between the Human, Cimex, and the Dyun, all on Arguillia.

Ferghus spent some time merely watching his forge, but then he focused his attention to more important matters. Right now, that was creating his own symbol of power. In this case, that meant a hammer.

With the power within him, and with the help of his forge, he crafted the materials needed to create his hammer. After it was created, he received a telepathic message from Arguis inviting him over to discuss something. Well, whatever it was, Ferghus chose to ignore it for now. After all, he had more important matters to attend to. Now that his hammer was complete, he used another small portion to grant it the ability to change form. However, it could only take the form of hammers, and hammers only. Ferghus continued on with the task, granting it the ability to cause fiery explosions on impact when the user willed it to, and the ability to engulf itself in flames when the user willed it to. Of course, it couldn't all be about destruction. Ferghus continued to use his power to grant his hammer the ability to repair weapons, tools, armor, walls, furniture, anything that could be repaired, and doing so with a single swing of his hammer.

Finally, it was time for a name. There were some names that came to mind, but none really seemed to click. There was Mjolnir, Istalri, and a variety of other names, but they were all rejected. Then, a light bulb shined above his head, figuratively of course. A name had come up, and it was perfect. He chose to call his newly created hammer "Pyrkagia."

With his task complete, he decided to go respond to the invitation Arguis had sent him. Leaving his forge, he immediately noticed the changes that had been made in his absence. The large ocean captured his immediate attention. That large body of water displeased him, but he supposed it was necessary to create life, so he let it be. Speaking of life, it seemed the others had been busy, as there were new life forms on the continent of... Arguilla, if memory served correctly. Well, they would be dealt with at another time. For now, he teleported to Arguis' location, where the god had finished creating his own form of life on the continent. "Alright, I'm here," Ferghus said. "What could be so important that it requires a face-to-face meeting?"

Sauranath

Sauranath would return to slumber, but not yet. . . On awakening, he dreamed instead how his children would wander to and fro the stars, the Void, and the World down below. As he dreamed, he breathed out a powerful blast of life that caused the eggs to crack open. Some of them hatched. . . The first generation of dragons. These dragons, hatchlings they were, were the first dragons. These dragons were born directly from the stars, however, so their adulthood began directly from the time of birth. Sauranath took another deep gasp of air, from the airless Void, he still breathed in air, effortless, from where he received the air was mysterious. He was a being who simply was. Then he released his breath, beginning a deep slumber, breathing in and out, watching from his dream, a great star high in the Void, as the first generation had finally begun.

A few thousand of the dragons were born, now wandering the world down below.

Once on the surface of Galbar, Escre began to look about. It took its time, poring over each new creature that came its way. In order to not disturb any humans it came across, it crafted a new, human disguise, long-haired and of grim countenance, though for now dressed as sparingly as the other new beings. As Escre sauntered across Arguilla in this borrowed form, it beheld a great variety of life. Along with the animals brought into being by its join endeavor with Vowzra, there walked, hopped, and crawled certain other beasts. Among them were large, scaly creatures, fanged and winged and bearing a certain majesty that marked them as the progeny of the reptile god. “Sauranath's dragons,” the Great Spirit murmured in contemplation as it watched one devour its prey, “The first generation has incubated quickly. If Arguis is to be believed, these creatures may pose the order of Galbar a threat. I must find a way to monitor them.”

So saying, Escre attempted to find the nearest concentration of humans. With the frequency of their spirits, tracing them over hilly, wooded terrain was not a problem. Wherever possible, the warden shifted out of its guise and into its typical form to cover more ground speedily. As it turned out, however, the group of humans that it happened upon were under attack by a band of Cimex. It initially surprised Escre to find another group of humanoid beings on Galbar, particularly one not sanctioned by it or the god of time. As Escre drew into proximity of the Cimex, the shape of their spirits made their origin clear. “So the god of knowledge plays at creation. He could never make something new. These insects must have been generated from humans, and yet they attempt to kill them. At the very least, they must learn to respect life.” While in death the spirits of the slain humans would be rerouted to the Astral Home and be later reincarnated, Escre knew that to do what it wanted it needed these humans alive.

From above the cluster of Cimex, a dark cloud descended. In the haze of confusion and fear, a single light blazed pure as a newborn star, and each Cimex found itself unbearably drawn toward it, so like moths to a fire. As they approached it, so much like moths to a fire, their spirits began to fluctuate. One by one the insects' spirits left them, emerging as yellow sparks and flying straight for the light, leaving their mortal coils behind to slump down on the earth. The bodies, while still very much alive, lacked any will to move without their spirits; within Escre's lantern, the sparklike spirits were held. Their intelligence, and therefore inherent fascination with the new and beautiful, had been their downfall.

Following that, Escre moved on. It didn't approach the frightened humans, who'd only beheld a dark cloud descend upon their assailants and leave them fallen when it faded. Instead, it headed to the outskirts of where the humans resided, and among the shadows there found an outsider. Of course, the outsider had seen Escre approach from far away, able to pierce with ease that dark cloud with its blazing orange gaze. Escre plucked a Mana Worm from the ground and held it in its armored claws, flooding it with its own power until the worm's tentacles were pure. This purified worm Escre gave to the outsider, who devoured it greedily. Its eye began to turn from orange to a brilliant cyan blue. “By the providence of the Great Spirit, you are made a hero. You are the Liaison, my eye among the creatures of the planet. Watch, as your kind always has, but afterward, report to me. Watch over the humans; fight with your new arts in the vaguest of shadows to keep them safe, when you can, but keep your actions, above all else, a secret.”

Then, Escre was gone, the first of many ephemeral meetings with the Liaison complete.

Might - 0 – 1 spent to create a hero
Free – 0 – 1 used to create a convincing human disguise
No power remains

The Woman of the Waters was just above the ocean floor. The sea shifted casually through her fingers and her hair while she speed along, searching for the point where the floor of her underwater kingdom began to shift upwards for the land. She was heading for Arguilla, the lone spot of brown and green in Undasis' world of blue. She didn't know what, but she knew something huge was happening there- something massive. She could feel it's spiritual waves vibrating through the air and sea. She could feel the essence of the world bending as two beings shaped life like clay, as two much greater beings had shaped her.

As she sped her way through the waters, she began to since the presence of another in her domain. It was one of mental preeminence...mystery...knowledge...Arguis was in the ocean. Undasis used the water as a catalyst to spread their own consciousness and knowledge to the area Arguis was inhabiting, and found that he was doing nothing more than wading peacefully. He seemed to be enjoying the beautiful sensation of the sun's rays spreading across the ocean.

For now he is peaceful, but we should send him a message that this is our territory. He is not welcome here.

The Woman considered Kraken's words for a moment, but she didn't agree. Arguis had done nothing to harm the sea, and he seemed to simply be enjoying Undasis' creation in the same manner Kraken and herself so often did. Besides, The Woman was dominate over the Sea God's body now, she didn't have to obey Kraken. Instead, she sent the Knowledge God a somewhat different message.

"Enjoying our sea, Arguis? It's beautiful this time of day, but I suppose you already knew that?" She obviously couldn't wink at him, since she wasn't there in person, but along with her message she sent the emotional equivalent of a quick "one-eye blink".

But there was no more time for playful messages, she was approaching the place of spiritual vibrations. Furthermore, the vibrations seemed to be growing stronger, she could feel her soul practically shaking under the stress. Her liquid but feminine form shot out of the sea and onto the land, and she began to glide like wind towards the perceived source.

That's when she saw it. Vowzra and Escre hanging there like Invictus and Fate had stood before the start of the world. Vowzra reached his hand forward, and an Orb like the one that birthed the universe begin to weave itself into being. The Orb started spinning, and it grew as bright and glorious as the rising sun. No words could express the wonder both sides of Undasis felt at that moment. No, not even the Astartian "wow" could express this amazement. Nothing could express this amazement. Undasis felt their own spirit seem to grow as it spun.

The Orb speed up and up, faster and faster until her eyes begin to ache from gazing into it. Just before the spinning became too fast for even a god to understand, the Orb split into two, then into four, then into eight. The rocky pieces shot into the sky like fireworks, and spread in all directions to Galbar- the destined planet.

One piece began to head for the ocean, and seeing that caused Undasis to launch themselves off of the ground to follow it. Neither Kraken nor Woman could tell whether they had done so by choice or by need, but it was much too late to change their mind now; they had already followed it through the air and now into the sea.

It hit the water without any splash, the ocean just accepted the Orb as if it were meant to be there. Undasis reached out to touch it...

Then it burst. It exploded into life of all sorts, transforming itself into a myriad of creations perfectly suited for the environment they were being born into. Fish, eels, squids, turtles, and octopuses (Kraken's immediate favorite) all casually swam away from their place of origin as if this were the most completely natural thing in the world. Simply seeing the Orb left Undasis speechless, but this left them shocked, this left them stunned.

Woman of the Waters began to shed water from her eyes- she was crying at the miraculous of it all. Kraken, on the other hand, was for once not radiating anger and malace- he was only observing in silence. They stood there for an incalculable amount of time, just enjoying the sensation of diverse life spreading through the world.



Eventually Undasis rose from stasis, and this time Kraken forced his way to the top. There was work to be done, and the Woman would not do it. While the various life released from the Orb had been both diverse and well balanced, something seemed to be missing: namely, there were not enough monsters. What cause did the disgusting land dwelling creatures have to fear the ocean without a few eldritch terrors?

Kraken reached his a few of his many tentacles into the waters around him, and managed to capture a fish, a squid, a shark, a whale, and a sea-snake. This was going to be very, very fun.

Kraken's massive, hulking appendages ripped the flesh of the fish, squid, and shark in two. Immediately after they were torn apart, Woman stepped in and healed both halves into two separate creatures, meaning they now had two of everything but the snake and the whale. Kraken left them all in mid-water suspension, with the exception of one fish.

He transformed it. He waved his arm over the fish, first it's body changed. The sea-creature became massive in it's proportions. It's bare gums grew fangs as sharp as swords and it's scales became harder than steel. Then he waved his other arm over his pet, and it's mind changed. The eyes became glazed over with hatred, and it developed anger towards any poor fool who entered the home it would make about halfway down Kraken's Crater. Undasis named it the Devourer Fish. It was impregnated and released, so that it may swim directly for the Crater to hatch it's spawn and become a terrifying species.

He brought the snake near him, and Kraken stretched it's body out to massive proportions. He pulled sharp fins from it's sides that would serve as both deadly weapons and locomotion. He imbued it with magic to make it near-impossible to kill by any normal means and granted it powers to stir up whirlpools. It, too, was impregnated and released. But this one would not go for the Crater. Instead, it would haunt the seas and destroy life and ships alike during storms. He named it the StormHunter. It was multiplied and made a species.

Then there was the Squid. That one he wanted to truly strike fear into the hearts of sailors and those who he knew would come into seas in the near future. How did he know land-dwellers would come into the sea? Well, because he would invite them to do it, of course! He needed them to sail into the ocean so he could put the fear it into them. Like with the others, Kraken forced the frightened squid to absurd proportions and allowed it to develop humongous teeth and a hatred for life- especially land life and humans, in this case. It would be able to identify humans and the like by their scent, which it would find irresistible. He named it Terrorfish, and released it to hunt for the shores and those who enter them. Like the others, it was both multiplied and impregnated.

Now for the shark. Sharks are already predators, the Woman of the Waters said to Kraken, you won't have to do much to them. Kraken laughed. Was this the holier-than-thou Woman giving him monster making advice? How entertaining. Nonetheless, she was correct. There is not much that can be said about his mutation of the shark- Kraken simply made it gigantic. It was named the Mighty Shark, and set free to do as it will- after it gave birth, of course.

Kraken was pleased; he had created enough monsters to plague mankind without rest for centuries. There is, however, still one matter that had to be done: he would create all a final group of demonic creatures to do his personal bidding. He brought the remaining animals (a shark, fish, squid, and whale) to him all at once, as they would be undergoing almost identical transformation.

He imbued the remaining four with a bit of his own divine power, and caused them to become so intact with spirit that they were hardly physical beings anymore- more like spirits taking a physical form. They were not heroes, but if they were to all work together they could come as close as simple animals can possibly be. They would serve as his personal minions, to attack whoever displeased him and guard his holiest places. He named them the Four Krakenian Demons.

Animals were boring. Or so Astarte thought, as she twirled a lock of her hair with her index finger. She sat against a tree trunk, one knee up where she rested her chin, the other leg relaxed and stretched.

"You know what?" Astarte asked, looking at Lilly the frog, who was on a lilly pad on the pond. "I think I'll go see what Vestec is doing. You guys simply do nothing but live, and that's boring." She huffed and stood up, and as she did so, she snapped her fingers and Lilly fell off the lilly pad.

Vestec, I'm bored, where are you? I'm thinking we could mess with one of those humans.

Vestec was distracted from watching the Dyun torture and kill their first humans when he felt the touch of Astarte's delightfully random mind. [i]Already have. Though my version is a bit...violent. Hold on though, I think I can grab a few more before Vowzra and Escre get notably upset.[i] He giggled again, zooming down to Galbar to grab a half dozen more humans. Carefully, they were shielded from his, and other God's, true essence. After all, insane creatures weren't fun to mess with.

In a moment he was somewhere in the ocean, far away from Arguillia and the other Gods. With a gesture, a small island(about the size of Hawaii's biggest island) was brought into existence. The humans were dropped on the island, gently, and he contacted Astarte again. There. We have enough humans for some entertainment, and the other Gods won't bother to look over here to stop us.

Astarte walked out from behind a palm tree, "Why would they try to stop us, anyway?" She asked, "We're just having fun with them." she threw a look over at one of the humans. A male, somewhat young but not a child. She walked over to him and lifted his chin with her hand. She looked the human's face over and turned to Vestec. "This is bizarre, they look like me."

Vestec shrugged. "Our definition of fun is apparently wrong to them. And people get so touchy about their creations. " He watched as the Goddess of the Ranges examined the human, idly keeping the others nearby with the occasional tug back in this direction. "They look like all of us. Well, not me, obviously as they're one color, but for the most part yes. I think Vowzra made them, with the help of Escre, in his image. And it just happened to be what we all look like. Anything particular you want to do to them, or shall we just see what we can do?"

"Vowzra seems so self-centered," she half-whispered, turning back to the human, who was by now quivering in fear, his whole body shaking so much that she could feel it through his chin, "why are you scared, human?" She asked, a quizzical look on her face.

"Brr... Uuh." The human answered.

"Figures, the other Gods care more about themselves than teaching these thing proper speech." Astarte sighed, "these humans are sentient, right? As in, they can think like us?" she asked Vestec.

"Yep. The ones I turned into the Dyun were able to pick up what little I was able to teach them very quickly. I think it's safe to assume that you'll be able to teach them how to speak like us in a short amount of time." Vestec paused, considering something as he drew another human back before it could wander off on the island. "Why did you approach me? You could have easily done all this yourself. And I don't recall leaving on the best of notes. Not that I'm complaining." He added hastily, before anything could happen. "I was just curious."

He placed his hand on one of the humans, a male, his hand glowing purple. "Don't resist. Give in to your natural chaos." Within moments, Vestec had corrupted the man. He was ready to be put back into the human population. Ready to serve.

Astarte shrugged and flicked the human on the nose as he started looking around. "Don't worry about where you are. Just worry about yourself for now." That said, Astarte placed her palm on the human's forehead. It emitted a soft glow for a moment, and then the human perked up and pulled away.

He blinked and looked at his own hands, then touched his own body in an exploratory manner. "W-What's going on?" He asked in a quivering voice, "What am I doing with my mouth? These sounds?"

Vestec giggled as she made sure the human was paying attention to her, and then tilting his head in curiosity as she put her hand on the head of the mortal. Soon enough he was speaking, questioning. "Words. Sound. Language, whichever you prefer." Vestec responded idly, turning back to his recently corrupted servant. "Go back to your people. Wait for my instruction. Learn. Watch." With that, the man was gone.

Vestec turned back to the Goddess. "So, now you've given speech to the speechless. You have at least one follower, potentially four more," He gestured to the other four humans, who were also exploring their new ability to speak and make words.

"What do you plan to do with it?"

"Followers? I'm not interested in followers," Astarte chuckled and looked at the human, "are you interested in following plain old Astarte, Goddess of the Summons and the Ranges? I don't think so." She grinned, then walked over to Vestec. She looked him over and then watched his changing colors for a moment.

"Why have you not killed anything yet? You're acting different from last time, Vestec. "

Vestec giggled at the worshipping expression on the human's face, as Astarte walked away from him. "That answers that question. " He spoke aloud, before his colors stalling and turning a solid pink as she questioned him. Vestec shrugged, glancing around anywhere but at Astarte. His hands were clasped behind his back and he shifted his weight gently from foot to foot. After a few moments he finally he gave a response.

"No real purpose in killing these humans is there? Chaos is not always caused by immediate death and destruction. Besides, they're the ones you wanted to see right? What good would be done from destroying them?" Vestec shrugged again, looking around.

Astarte watched him a while longer, then grinned and laughed, "You're softer that I thought you were! And not as dumb and self centered, too." She looked at the group of humans, who were now chatting away. At least they weren't trying to get away, so Astarte relaxed and looked back at Vestec, who was still pink-colored.

"Vestec the Chaos God isn't a madman inclined to murder everything--I actually like that idea." She put her hands on Vestec's shoulder and hoisted herself up, ignoring gravity. She did a handstand on his shoulders, letting her hair cover his head completely.

Vestec laughed with her, though it was notably different from his usual mad giggles. Less insane, a bit more relaxed. "It's always nice to know I'm not considered a self centered idiot to at least one other peson." He commented, glancing at the humans again to make sure they weren't running off. There was still every chance they might be experimented on. He eyed her curiously as she looked back at him, chuckling as he replied. "Don't tell everyone. It'll ruin my image." He went very still as she placed her hands on his shoulders, doing a quick handstand with her hair cascading over his head and incasing his world in lavender hair.

His solid pink coloring began pulsing rapidly, undermining Vestec's relatively calm tone as he tilted his head to look up at her. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Why shouldn't I be? I enjoy a lot of things, experimenting is one of them." She pushed herself up and off Vestec, doing a few spins mid air until she floated down to eye-level with Vestec, belly facing up toward the sky and head upside down. "So yes, I'm enjoying myself--Besides, it's amusing seeing you so pink!" She giggled and briefly put her hand on his featureless face.

Vestec's pink color only pulsed faster as she put a hand on his face, damnably ruining what little chance he had at appearing calm. "Well..." He managed to get out after a moment. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Perhaps I should go from the god of Chaos to the God of jokes and joy, seeing as we've apparently discovered a hidden talent of mine."

"God of Jokes?" Astarte raised an eyebrow and shook her head, "I've never heard you tell a joke, Vestec. Now, God of Change..." She entertained the thought for a moment, putting a finger up to her lips, before shrugging.

Vestec shook his head, his pink coloring growing dimmer and pulsing less as the conversation moved on to something safer. "To be a God of change you have to hae some redeeming, peaceable, characteristics. I clearly have none, being the violent God of Chaos that I am. Chaos is inherently violent, and considered by some evil." He shrugged. "I am what I am, and changing that is unlikely to happen."

"Oh, well," She grabbed a lock of her hair and bit on it lightly, keeping it locked in place with her lips. She lowered herself to the ground and flicked Vestec on the forehead, "then what are you waiting for? Can you not change other Gods with your domain over chaos?"

If Vestec eyes, he would have blinked in surprise. As it was, he simply stared at Astarte, before answering slowly. "If they somehow got my essence inside of them, then yes. The God in question would be changed by the Chaos. What are you suggesting?" He knew very well what she was suggesting, but simply needed confirmation.

"Uh, I don't know. How do you even get your essence inside another God?" She scrunched up her nose in repulsion and perked up in interest.

Vestec paused for a moment, thinking. "I have an idea." His mask shifted into a human face, except his eyes were a solid, pulsing, pink color. Before Astarte could say anything he leaned over and gave her a kiss, a bit of his essence traveling between them. After a few moments he broke away and he was back to his normal look, mask pulsing rapidly in a pink color. "Now we wait."

Astarte froze, the sudden movement a shock. It didn't feel bad, but she was too afraid to really savor the moment. "W-... What was that? What did you do?" She asked, eyes darting all over herself and feeling up her face and mouth with her hand, looking for any change or wound. She found none.

She looked at the humans gathered nearby, who were now staring right at them both. Astarte shrinked for a moment under the unwelcome attention and turned towards Vestec. Her face steadily erupted into a furious anger. "HOW DAR-" She interrupted herself, "Huh..?" She muttered, frowning as she once more massaged her lips.

"They tickle..."

Vestec chuckled gently. "I gave you a bit of my Chaos Essence. There shouldn't be any physical changes, but you should be changed in your essence." He ignored the staring of the humans, watching Astarte. She appeared to dislike the sudden attention, and rounded on him, anger clear in every movement she made. As she started screaming, Vestec waited patiently. She interrupted herself, muttering as she massaged her mouth.

Vestec was watching her essence, and noticed a change. It wasn't major. There was more of a...experimental inclination in her essence. A creativity. "Tickling isn't necessarily a bad thing is it? And it worked. You're more, hmm, experimentally inclined. You seem to have taken the best of the essence and cast aside the rest of it."

"Oh, interesting," She said and looked at her hands, then back up at Vestec, "I don't feel any different, but uh..."

"Is there any way to do that thing you did without exchanging essence?"

Vestec's pulsing color sped up again. "Yes. The essence exchange was something I added."

"Hmm," Astarte went up to Vestec's side, pressing her side against his as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I'll keep that in mind." She pulled away and clapped her hands, sending the humans back to their lands.

"That was very fun." She smiled and tucked a stray bang of her hair behind her ear.

Vestec's pulsing slowed down in disappointment, but he couldn't help a chuckle as she pulled away and sent the humans back to where he had gathered them. As she smiled, his pink color grew a bit brighter in response, and he bowed. "It was. Anytime you need me again, it would be my pleasure."

"Sure, I'll remember to call the God of Change if I need anything." She giggled and playfully punched his shoulder. "Bye!" She left with a small whirlwind of sand and dirt.

Still hanging in the same place, the Timeless One watched as his siblings pounced upon the new life, already moulding and changing it as they saw fit. He did not blame them, he would have done just as they now did if he saw as they saw. But Vowzra saw with an eye, he had been waiting, and none were more patient than Vowzra. His was a patience sure and certain in every second that passed, confident that whatever happened would not lessen or increase of his actions once he stepped forth. He did not look down upon his siblings for their impatience, it was as it was meant to be. If they were not so hasty then everything would fall apart. It was their Fate to act quickly, just as it was his to wait.

His children were alone at first, they and their Outsider brethren. They wandered around aimlessly, eating berries, climbing trees and chasing the strange and wonderful animals all around. They were intelligent, they understood the danger which the lion, the tiger, the wolf, the bear posed, and they stayed well away. It did not mean that there were not those - foolish or brave - who chose to approach those creatures. Some died and some survived, and those who survived were looked upon with awe by all others. They had emotions, sure enough, but they were far from understanding what their throbbing desire for the Celestial Above meant, why they walked with their eyes in the skies and their chests heavy with loss. As it were, they lived simple lives, and they died simple deaths and were mourned much by those who came after them, though those did not yet understand the sadness they felt at the Eternal Sleep which took members of their race.

They multiplied and spread until there was no place on Arguilla but had felt the human presence. Where in the beginning there were a few thousand of them, now they were many thousands. Though they had no understanding of society, they found themselves inclined towards staying in groups. Where a human was found, it was not unusual to find another fifteen or twenty living around each other, both male and female, and where they went, their envious, but ever loyal and dutiful, Outsider brethren were to be found, and all was well for Vowzra's children.

But this simple state of affairs, as any reasonable god would have known from the moment Vowzra had created these sentient beings, was not Fated to last. From among them, Vestec created the Dyun. Though they were a base and hate filled creation, ugly and unfathomably angry, they were still Vowzra's own. Corrupted they may have been, but their was no denying that beneath that all, they thought and felt and did as humans do. What followed was a massacre.

Spurred by their hatred, and aided by the strength and speed and knowledge Vestec had given them, they drove into their brethren. Without knowledge of war or death, all the humans could do was run or cower in fear - an emotion they did not understand, but would forever link to the Dyun. They knew not from where the Dyun had come. They did not even realise they were of each other. The green grass, the great trees and the plants and the flowers, and the fertile Arguillian soil, were watered with the rich, ruby blood of mankind. But human misery would not end with the Dyun. Unlikely as it had seemed to Vowzra, his surprise was not as great as it could have been when Arguis, of all the gods, became the fount of humanity's second source of misery and grief.

The Cimex, when compared with the Dyun, were not so terrible for humanity as one would have thought. They had no particular hatred for mankind and did not go out of their way to cause them as much misery as they could. They were, however, extremely territorial, and that meant that Vowzra's children were cut down without pity or remorse by the giant bugs. Survival alone was to be a challenge for mankind. However, the fact that the warlike Dyun and the territorial Cimex existed gave humans some respite. Rather than target the rather inconspicuous and unassuming humans, the two busied each other and became embroiled in constant skirmishes and conflicts which saw neither gain ground. Mankind went one living, though their lives were difficult and dangerous and death waited behind every tree and over every hill.

It was with awe and terror that humanity beheld the first of the great flying reptiles as they descended from the heavens. They came in all shapes and sizes and were of various dispositions, and humans soon learned to avoid them all, from the fire-breathing ones to the long, snake like ones who seemed to go about their business without bringing about wanton death and destruction. The Cimex and the Dyun were not so awed or terrified by the great reptiles however. The Dyun found them to be another thing to hate, though they were not so foolish as to attack them directly. It was not uncommon, however, for swathes of Dyun to ambush a dragon which had descended to land. Their luck against the mighty beings was nonexistent. The Cimex, being the territorial creatures they were, did not take kindly to dragons in their skies and in their forests, and they attacked the great reptiles wherever they fount them. Their luck was just as terrible as that of the Dyun's. With their ability to evolve, however, who knew how long it would be before they overcame both the Dyun and their first dragon.

At long last, what Vowzra had been waiting upon came to be. Astarte took notice and acted. Vowzra watched the change that came over his children. Those eating berries raised their heads slowly, eyes wide. Those sleeping woke up with a start. Those sitting down stood up and those running stopped. They could suddenly understand the emotions running through them. They could feel. Not just emotions, but they could feel themselves. They existed, they were individuals. They were unique.

Without a word, they all stopped what they were doing and began walking. All humans, numbering almost five thousand after their numbers were decimated by their foes, began walking. When they finally stopped, they were all gathered together. They could see each other now, they felt a sense of belonging, and they could speak to each other, and some among them felt a rush of emotion and saw their potential - and they dreamt a dream.

Now, with far greater understanding, the humans began anew, and Vowzra sent upon them a new knowledge, and it was the concept of 'Home', of living in one place, all of them together. They built huts and many villages arose. The largest villages had up to two hundred individuals, and some had a chief while others were ruled by councils of elders, and still others were led by those who claimed a connection to the Celestial Above. Vowzra taught them, too the concept of 'Friendliness', a pro-social set of behaviors causing humans to lean towards being pleasant, agreeable, interested in others, genial, empathetic, considerate, and helpful. Along with that, he built upon Astarte's concept of society and taught them the 'Common Good & Civic Virtue'. They now understood that what was beneficial for all members of the community was good, the good and welfare of society was far above welfare of the individual.

While this was useful knowledge, humans would remain humans. Their emotions sometimes got the better of them and ambition over-rode the common good when the mind whispered that what was good for 'me' must be good for everybody else too. So it was that humans grasped the concept of 'Choice and Free Will'. It mattered not the pressures of society, all people were individuals and could do as they wished. They all had a choice between doing what they wished and doing what was best for society, or doing something else entirely. They were free. With this also came the concept of 'Common Sense', and it was not uncommon to find a group of young humans, for instance, sitting and laughing by the pond at a foolish friend who had climbed the tree and broken a branch, thus falling into the pond.
'Anyone could see that branch was far too weak to hold your weight Sulsuli,' they would laugh, 'where's your common sense?'

As villages grew and mankind began to think and contemplate more, there grew a deeper and more thoughtful approach to the world. They began to actively learn things, harvest knowledge, and they would come back and argue with each other over thoughts and ideas, or things they had discovered.
'No chief! You see, if we peeled the orange before eating it, we wo-'
'Peel the orange?! What idiocy is this?'
'Next you'll be telling us to peel the banana too!'
'Well actually, a banana should be peeled, I would have you kn-'
'This is ridiculous. I have something far more interesting to talk about. You see the skin on the animals we hunt...'
And so humanity grew, their thirst for 'Learning, Knowledge, Debate and Discourse' guiding their path. With these, over time, developed a certain list of characteristics which the ideal human should possess, a list of twenty four virtues known simply as The Way.

The ideal human, it was said, should be attentive, being observant and not letting anything pass him by, even if it appeared unimportant. They should also be benevolent, meaning kind and having good intentions. When it came to debate and ideas, this meant that one should seek to understand the ideas of another genuinely and with a desire to be persuaded before directing any criticisms towards the idea. One should also be coachable, meaning they were willing and eager to learn, and thus learned quickly. Further, one should have circumspection and prudence, they should not take wanton and foolish risks, rather, they should be wary and exercise sound judgement. One should be conscientious, having a desire to do tasks well. Thoroughness, care and vigilance in all things one does and all aspects of their life. One should have creativity, imaginativeness and curiosity, unafraid to be inventive and explore the unknown. One must have the ability to judge well - discernment, the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offence or revealing private information - discretion, and the ability to predict the consequences of an action with a sound and reasoned mind - foresight.
One must display honesty and truthfulness in all things and humility too. One must be sensitive and understanding, being able to appreciate the feelings of others and tactfully respond to them. Further, one must be as objective as they can possibly be, not allowing feelings to influence their actions overmuch. It is also seen as good to be parsimonious, only spending one's resources on truly necessary things or to benefit and advance the interests of the wider community. One must be perceptive, meaning one is good at understanding things and solving apparently difficult issues. One must have moral understanding, a knowledge of what is morally right and is not. One must be studious and tenacious when it comes to standing up for what is right, or arguing in favour of what one honestly believes to be correct. Lastly, one must have a rationale for all they do and say, and be in all things wise.

Parallel with this code, there developed 'Morals and Conscience', a normative understanding by each community of what is right and what is wrong, and the accompanying feeling of happiness at doing what one believes is right and guilt or shame at doing what is wrong. Vowzra watched with care as his children made use of what he planted in their minds, and they grew ever more whole. They were complete beings.

Soon, he began to notice that a few rare humans would sometimes seek solitude from the others. They would go to the hills or the forests and there would sit and think and contemplate. At times, Vowzra thought he felt their essence leave their body ever so slightly, and reach out to him. This was meditation, and they were attempting to become one with the Celestial Above, one with him, if not physically, then at the very least in spirit. Vowzra responded, giving the spirits of those who reached to him some of what they desired. They would awaken wide-eyed and shocked, sudden wisdom and knowledge rushing to them. They had reached the first of many enlightenments. They returned to their respective villages and tribes, telling them of the 'Meditation, Spirituality and Enlightenment' they had been taught.

And so humanity developed a culture most strange, disciplined and heavily spiritual, yet one which glorified the pursuit of knowledge and The Way. This spirituality helped them delve into the world of magic which had, so far, lain dormant within their bodies and souls.
It was with shock that the first human reacted to finding a rock levitating before her as she sat meditating by a tree not far from the village. Her focus broken, the rock fall back to the ground, the energy that had lifted it dissipating.

Recovering her composure, the woman, perhaps ninety years of age, allowed her curiousity to lead her. When she returned to her village, she was met with shock and fear, but her age and the clearly high status she had among the people, as well as their own curiousity soon broke away the fear and doubt. With that, Vowzra taught them the last thing they would require. He gave them knowledge of the 'Spiritual Energy Nodes', points unique to the human body helped one channel and use the magic Astarte had gifted humanity with.

They approached this new discovery as they did all other areas of life. Mankind studied magic - or Wi as they called it - with the same dedication and studiousness they did all things. They developed it and refined it most adroitly. The world of Wi was vast and the possibilities were endless, but it was telekinesis that man grew to be truly skilled at; the movement of objects, living or dead from a distance. Children would, from a young age, begin learning, and it was not unusual to find that children as young as ten or eleven could uproot medium sized trees with their Wi. Older and more powerful Wi users could do significantly more.

Throughout all this, and despite the fact that the Dyun and Cimex were far too busy with each other and the dragons to pay too much heed to the puny humans, mankind continued to suffer. Only in the most remote areas, far from Dyun and Cimex territory, did human villages grow in relative peace. However, as time passed, attacks against mankind rose once more. For whatever reason, the Cimex had decided that the humans were now on territory rightfully theirs, while the Dyuns were only too happy to leave the Cimex be and let their hatred for humanity lead them to their victims.

Once again, humanity found itself the victim of savage slaughter. The Dyun attacked them with a passion, glad to use their refined knowledge of war and death against creatures so helpless and vulnerable as humans. The Cimex, having evolved in reaction to the Dyun and the dragons were a truly terrific foe, and village after village was wiped from the face of Galbar, and spirit after spirit found itself returned to Escre. What the Outsiders were doing during all this, no one could know - perhaps they were one of the reasons behind the stunning growth of humanity, but one could only guess.
As it were, a chief among the chiefs, Gragarus, who had watched his village as it was over-run by the Cimux, came to the conclusion that this could not continue. Alone, with each village fending for itself, humanity would surely be driven to extinction. It was with unity that they would have to repel their oppressors. Being the intelligent creatures they were, and with a generally welcoming and positive attitude to their own, Gragarus did not find much opposition to his proposal as he went from village to village, gathering up support for some kind of united realm of man. A brief struggle for power occurred and it was decided that wit and Wi would decide who led the makeshift human confederation - giving the Cimex and Dyun time to destroy more human life at their leisure. Jorfil, an ancient and powerful Wi user, respected in the human hinterland, away from the raging front lines with the Cimex and the Dyun, as a sage and blessed of the Celestial Above.

It was no difficult task to organise the race of disciplined and moralistic people humans had become. Using their one clear advantage - Wi - mankind advanced against their greatest foes since immemorial time.

This would be a battle for the ages.

Negotiations were non-existent. Dragons soared from the Void, some through forests and a few were fallen stars that either had no wings or would have to mature to an older age, even as adults, before getting wings. Since the dragons were hunted for a long time now. The dragon's enemies began to forget, or so it seemed, that dragons grew more powerful as they got older. The Crystal dragons were growing the most powerful, but many different broods were growing all over the world, very close, almost totally equally to the Crystal dragons in power. A few actually were as powerful, but had a lesser organizational structure. Nearly all Dragon Broods only had tribes, and by now, almost all dragons had the power to transform into Humanoid form.

Finally, the dragons began to realize that perhaps these mortals were smarter than they first thought. They should try to prevent themselves from eating the mortals in the world down below. However, the third oldest Dragon Stellerex, a Primal Dragon, although he had a code of honor, was furious. His grand children, first grand child race of dragonkind, and his children were targeted by the people who now are known as Cymex and Dyun. The Primal dragon race were the most aggressive. Even their encounters were uncommon with the other races, however, but since they targeted settlements and towns the most, they were the unfortunate targets of terrified mortals.

Stellerex was organizing a small coalition of old dragons, who in turn had younger vassals, and blood brothers with other old dragons, who worked alone before joining. Stellerex took the largest portion of Sauranath's power. . . as he descended upon the mortal forces of Dyun and Cymex, Stellerex spoke in his primordial power with the True Words. . . the Dragon's way of speech. "Stellerex commands your executions!" Despite not knowing the language of dragons, the mortals heard them speak in their language. . . the voice began to vaporize those closest to it.

The heavens hissed and parted, their carefully placed atoms, the tidy matter which made them up, melting before and fleeing the essence of the being that passed through them. It was a being of terrible power, its might dwarfed the very universe it had pierced. None had noticed it, concealed as it was. None would know of its presence except those whom it willed. It was a being most terrible indeed. Having entered this newborn universe, piercing whatever barrier there had been in its way, it allowed itself to see and feel all there was, its sight led it. It came to a rather small planet, set upon by babes who thought themselves gods. The being watched as they created and crafting. They had such purpose! Perhaps, it thought to itself, it should add something. A being of its own.

It did not wish to create anything too spectacular, there was no need to attract the ire of whatever gods sat as guardians over this world. Something small would do. With that, it sent its will upon the planet. It flew and crawled, slithered and dug into the ground. It prowled the earth with hungry eyes, did the Will of the mighty being. Finally, it came upon them. A small community of creatures, two-legged and with strange black markings, living in a cave. The Will of the being watched the creatures and prowled the woods as they went about their simple lives. One, a young female by her looks, caugh the attention of the Will. It stalked her as she followed the forest path. Soon enough, the strange little creature sat down to rest. It closed its eyes and fell asleep.

The Will approached her, like a mighty wolf, or a bear. Inspecting her, it knew with a certainty that this was what it was seeking. Without further thought, the Will entered her and placed within her a part of itself, and when it departed, some of that great being's Will remained within the sleeping creature. So it was and so would it be.



There was a sharp crack as a twig snapped underfoot. No, not beneath a foot...beneath whatever foul appendages the Dyun were born with. Ialu halted in his tracks, sharply turning his head to examine where the sound had come from.

All was still, silent, and tranquil, for a good few moments. Then, without hesitation, Ialu obeyed a sudden urging in his mind and hurled his spear into a nearby bush. Howling as the weapon flew true, one of the monstrous Dyun charged out. Its foe used a swift blow with a club to knock it to the ground, and just like that, Ialu had slain yet another monster.

It was a strange existance for any sort of 'man': skulking in the woods looking for prey that stood on two legs, as if some sort of predator akin to the very thing that he hunted. But Ialu did not question his purpose. Indeed, he didn't question much of anything. He lived a slave to the strange and overwhelming urges that periodically consumed him and blinded him.

This was how it had been for his entire life, a mere week or so by now. As an infant his only urging had been to grow, and so grow he did. Within three days he had become an adult human, and then left the cave to wander the wilds. He was different from the others in that cave. Whereas they simply existed and did as they pleased (which was usually not much more than eat and sleep) Ialu always had a goal, always had a purpose. He did not decide what his objective was. It was a lonely existence, without a doubt.

Right now the mysterious urging only goaded him to walk, and so he aimlessly milled about wandering through the wooded hills of Arguilla. It was not long before he was assailed once more, this time by a different breed of monster: Cimex. The territorial insectoids jumped from hidden perches in the trees and landed in a circle around the intruder on their land. Without warning, they surged forward as one to attack.

The things had never experienced weapons before. Indeed, at this point in time Ialu seemed to be the only human on Galbar that had ever thought to craft a spear or utilize a club to defeat foes stronger than himself.

In any case, having never so much as seen a spear before, Ialu only had to level his weapon towards one of the charging Cimex and allow the thing to impale itself upon it. He then quickly bashed a second one of the Cimex in the head with his club, in much the same way as he had finished off the Dyun from earlier that day. His strength far greater than his rugged and humanoid appearance might suggest, the wooden club crushed the Cimex's head like a juicy fruit beneath one's foot.

By now the other Cimex were upon him, two in total. They slashed, clawed, bit, and tore, but all to no avail. Ialu seemed nearly impervious, ignoring the massive insectoids as if they were mere flies. The fight devolved into a wrestling match, and needless to say the strange human known as Ialu came out as the victor and lone survivor of that encounter. He wandered through the woods for the rest of that day, eating fruit as he found it and effortlessly felling any monsters that dared assail him.

When night came, bringing with it stars and a bleak moon to loom over the petty life beneath the sky, Ialu only stared into the heavens. Transfixed, he had the strange notion that he belonged there. At last, well past dusk, he collapsed into a heap and fell asleep beneath an ancient (by the young planet's standards, at least) oak tree.



That night Ialu had his first dream, and it was a strange experience. He found himself exhausted and alone, a dull and boring grey that existed in a world that consisted only of utter black and pristine white. Dominating this entire dream world was one great mountain of jagged rock, and Ialu stood at the very bottom. Feeling that urging even in his dreams, he set about climbing the mountain. But the rough stones cut his hands, and the blood made the bleak stone face of the mountain even more treacherous... Utterly exhausted and struggling to find purchase after only ascending a meager ten feet up the mountain, Ialu dejectedly looked back down. To his distraught, there was no longer anything below him: all the rest of the land had vanished!

There was only him and the mountain, in this strange world. He had nowhere to go but up; no purpose in his entire existence but to climb. Suddenly, the mountain began to crumble though...color returned to the black and white world, and he found himself in the real world, awake once more.

He rose from his troubled slumber to find that another Cimex was attacking him, and this time the dumb beast was chewing on his foot! Ialu killed it with his club.



The Will watched in silence as the manifestation of the mighty being's Will destroyed yet another of those bugs. It had a purpose, though it did not yet understand. It will one day know, the mighty being was certain, that these urges it had were due to its naturally higher purpose. It was the Will of a divine being after all, it could not settle for the simple lives of mortals. The Will returned to its progenitor and with that, it withdrew from this young, new world.

It would watch over this one.

The beast's appendage cut through the air in the same manner as an animals teeth might tear through beat: frenzied and brutally. The powerful limb was already bloodied, and not from any injuries of its own. Flying through the towards Ialu as it attempted to eviscerate yet another victim, the Cimex's limb was stopped by the haft of the Wanderer's spear. Having had that first attack successfully blocked, the insectoid moved to try its luck once again. Too slow, it would seem, as the hero exploited an opening and drove the point of his spear through the thing's chitinous chest. The body of the last attacker have gone limp and slumped to the ground, Ialu now turned to the humans.

Bewilderment and panic was just as evident on their faces now as it had been when he first arrived on the scene. Their screams had alerted Ialu as he wandered through the forest, and though he had rushed to the scene, he was too late to save four of the helpless humans. Still, more than a dozen had survived the ordeal thanks to him alone. The group of survivors stared directly at Ialu now with the same terrified look that they had gazed at the Cimex with.

The hero turned around, expecting to see that there was another beast creeping up behind him, but to his confusion there wasn't. So what was it that the people were looking at that inspired such horror? After a moment, Ialu realized that they were afraid of him. He rarely felt any emotions save loneliness of the thrill of a fight, but now he felt dejected. That feeling was both disturbing and confusing; it was undoubtedly awful, but at the same time it was something curiously strange and new, and beyond his understanding. He had never before experienced anything like it, after all.

Eventually the situation was defused once the group realized that Ialu was not going to attack them; their angst made way to calm, and then gratitude. Perhaps in time, the men of Galbar would become the masters of other beings, whether through dominating other races or simply becoming the masters of mere livestock. But for now, they existed only to be lorded over; they were sheep, willing to follow anything that they associated with safety or happiness. And Ialu was the sheeps' shepherd, their only hope at survival when the monsters of the wood came to attack. After that chanced encounter on that fateful day, that group followed Ialu everywhere that he went.



For many weeks now, Ialu had known peace and tranquility in his slumber, having had no more dreams since that first and only one. However, tonight it would seem that he was to be plagued once more. To his dismay he found himself once again in that land of black and white, clutching onto the rocky face of a mountain for all his life. Now, however, he did not feel quite so exhausted as he had by the end of his last dream. He scaled the cliff face some ways higher, and with a mighty heave, pulled himself up onto a small ledge. Here he could have respite, without fear of losing his strength and plummeting down into the nothingness below. After a few moments of rest, he turned his gaze upwards to see what might await him at the top of this mountain. Once again, he felt it, that same feeling of dejection from when the humans had peered at him with terror: utter dejection, for when he had looked up he saw nothing but clouds. Clouds, and of course that bleak stone face that he was destined to climb.

It was funny how from his new perspective the mountain somehow seemed even taller than it had from the bottom. Of course, even from the base of the mountain its summit had seemed impossibly high. A new emotion crept into Ialu's mind. The emotion was terror, and his visage bore the same awful look that had been plastered upon the fearful faces of the humans earlier that day. Ialu was afraid that he would be climbing for ages, or more likely, that his strength would fail him and he plummet to the bottom like a mere pebble rolling off the mighty mountain...

As a remarkable change permeated making, the unceasing vigil of the outsiders beheld it all, and none more so than the Liaison. When Society formed, the outsiders could wheedle their way in, disguising their midnight-black chitin with cloth and walking among mankind, closer than ever to feeling that which they might never attain. By degrees the outsiders could emulate the humans in their quest to resemble them, but just when the outsiders felt that they could finally become comfortable among their mundane cousins, a new dramatic shift took place. Friendliness aided the outsiders' attempts at integrating themselves with mankind, but Curiosity and Discretion made the secret all the more difficult to protect.

Ever mindful of the humans' perilous status among the bloodthirsty Dyun and the merciless Cimex, the Liaison kept close watch, striding through the night around the settlement that it had grown to call home. When the hatred-fueled subhumans came called for death and destruction, the Liaison resolutely met them outside the walls, hindering and skewering them with a magic never before seen on Galbar: ice, given to it by Escre in memory of the god of seasons whose wintery chill awakened the Great Spirit from its comatose slumber. As the months dragged on, however, the Liaison grew more and more aware that its was a task impossible for a single individual. So many were the wailing legions of Vestec, god of chaos, so profuse were the throngs of Arguis's chirping chosen, and so vicious were the star-born dragons that now prowled the planet and mindlessly obliterating all in their path, that the Liaison decided that to keep humanity from the brink of destruction, it needed more protectors.

One evening, when the moon of Undaisis floated serenely overhead, the Liaison, dressed in immaculate garb, knelt before a bubbling, silvery spring nestled between the roots of a deep, shadowy copse. Into its depths the unblinking cyan eye stared, past the liquid and through to the planet's very core. Escre had not been negligent in the time that Man and been taught the Way, but its withdrawal from the surface world meant it less than attentive to the mortals' plight. Eyeless watcher, toothless biter, voiceless whisperer, breathless howler, the humans are greatly put upon. Mankind recedes into small pockets, surrounded on all sides. The balance is threatened by the Cimex of Arguis, the Dyun of Vestec, and the dragons of Sauranath. Even the rolling waves hold no mercy, for the Kraken has created abyssal terrors to ensure that no desperate seeker shall ever traverse his domain and survive. You are doubtlessly aware that if the humans vanish, my kind will crumble too. Please, Great Spirit...save us.

The fire already rises, the pool burbled in reply. Astarte, the Primal Magic, has gifted mankind with sorcery. I see within humanity's spirit-song a new octave that grants them the ghost of a chance. Already, however, the spawn of Arguis, the Cosmic Lore, begin to adapt to nullify the advantage. You must go inside the human's city and found the Cold Monastery, where through worship and ministration of my lifeblood, humans may learn.”

Though not fully understanding, the Liaison set its hand against the spring's surface, and beneath its touch the liquid turned to opaque white ice. The Liaison heaved the huge chunk of ice out of the ground and painstakingly carried it over a span of hours back toward the settlement. When the humans beheld a struggling figure bent beneath the weight of the huge, icy crag, some surged forward to help lighten the stranger's load. Bearing the weight now with a dozen men, the Liaison ferried the special ice to the highest point in the village, and set it on top of a cluster of rocks. “Thank you,” the Liaison hummed to the humans. “I found this in the wild. I am going to build a temple around it while it begins to melt, and when I am done, I will partake of its pure tears. Any who assist me will be allowed to partake also. Those who do will find a power to contest the ravaging hordes...a power like this.”

The Liaison raised its arms to the sky, and a clear mist whirled around its fingers. On top of the awed humans' heads a thin coating of snow fell. “This is a power of Wi, different and new. I will not let humanity fall.”

Within the coming weeks, the Cold Monastery was built, brick by brick, and adorned with marble and onyx. No structure quite like it had been made before. True to its word, the Liaison allowed humans to imbibe the liquid running from the face of the ice, and their spirits now sang with the hymn of winter. So too were they bonded with Escre's planetary system. The liquid life essence itself also healed their wounds, and after battling the Cimex and Dyun in the field, the men could return to the temple and drink deep to banish their pain. Though the Liaison ever wore an expressionless white mask in the presence of his brothers and sisters, he grew in respect and renown among them, and soon all of the monks wore masks just as he. The Pallid Communion had begun.

Sveiand had been lost in the geometric enchantment of the Shattered Sea, and endless maze of sheets and flows that groaned with restrained power at every tide. He had been pondering how to further his dominance over his powers to secure his personification of winter amongst any future civilisations that may arise. And over time had become one with the dark frozen landscape. He knew how the ice froze in fractals, sheets and feathers. He felt the dense brine descended into the depths that only the ocean God knew as his ice expelled the impure salt from its crystalized form. He flew in the powerful gales that blew over the ice shaping fantastical forms as the cool air descended at the polar cord. As his knowledge of his polar realm expanded his mind wandered back to the image of Undasis' waters flowing from the crater and the ice groaned in agony once more. He longed to release his ice from its thin ocean based form but his idea would require land. He shimmered into a cloud of frozen mist and reappeared high above Galbar's only landmass, now abuzz with life and basking in the warmth of its Southern Hemisphere position.

He was agog to view the myriad of animal life and now sentient beings. He nodded in admiration for Vowzra and Escre at the creative abundance of wildlife that colonised the massive continent. Yet the God of Winter shied away at the wanton destruction that was befalling the benevolent humans that had now started to form settlements. He watched through the years as the humans evolved their societies and populations ebbed and flowed with his harsh winters and conflict. He observed how the plants bloomed and fruited at different times of the year and hoped soon to master such natural marvels himself.

It was with the discovery of the Cold Monastery that Svieand first observed the outsiders using the powers that he held so dear. Mists. Snow. All said in his name without one mention of his actual existence. A hymn of winter! Jealousy and selfishness burst forth from within his thoughts and his heart chilled. How dare Escre embue the affinity of ice into his own creations?! He pulled energy from the void as before and exploded in a shower of his raw power over the continent.

The weather in Arguilla turned within days. Svieand’s affront at Escre, the one who he had once revered with such admiration, granting his domain to mere mortals. Within weeks the previously benevolently mild winter was the worst in the continent’s short history fuelled by the winter god’s rage. Yet as the blizzards scoured the continent the frosts claimed more and more innocent lies and Svieand started to thaw. The humans did not deserve the punishment he had inflicted and soon the Cimex would start to adapt to the frigid conditions, further worsening humanities unprepared situation.

Svieand let the storms rage and transported to the northern hemisphere where he summoned a far smaller continent formed from an archipelago of large islands from Undasis’ depths. Imbued with his power the land flourished with vegetation that reflected his person, and Sviebard became the third set of land to be created. The trees were tall and sharp with spinal leaves that it jealousy held all year. The vegetation was course and woody, adapted to the freezing conditions. The animals he brought were thick coated and paler than their southern cousins. Great white bears stalked out onto the Shattered Sea in chase of dogs that withdrew their legs in favour of an aquatic life. Great white owls soared silently across endless taiga forest in search of hidden rodents. Great white wolves stalked the herds of innumerable reindeer that thundered endlessly across the great expanses of the islands northern edges. With a flick of his wrist Svieand transported all those humans who can communed with the Liaison to their new island homes. He gave a wry smile as he chose numerous humans as his chosen ‘Spirit Walkers. Their hair bleached white and eyes sparkled blue as Svieand transferred his mastery over the harshest season amongst them. Their eyes went completely white as their consciousness past into a colourless plane with no sense of dimension only a bitter cold. Before them stood the figure of Svieand from which a warmth seemed to emanate as he spoke directly into their minds.

"You are chosen by me, Svieand, God of Winter, and Keeper of Cycles. Unlike those in the now endless white, I will show you the true path of winter and ice enabling you to live in harmony in these lands. You will learn to master the elements but must respect both the land and the sea, otherwise both are unforgiving. You shall respect all living beings from the hulking musk ox to the burrowing vole, the tallest redwood to the lowly sage, the smallest babe to the withered elder. In return I grant you the powers to commune with those whom you share this land, so you can learn from and empathise with those creatures and plants that have mastered the ability to thrive in this realm. I will also grant you knowledge not yet learnt to bless your re-birth that you must endeavour to spread throughout your people. Before I entrust my creations to your care I must beseech you to also show tribute to the Woman of the Water, for she may grant you good fishing and safe passage if you follow her bidding also. Fair well my children, may you never feel the cold."

Svieand watched as the humans gathered around his chosen figures, each one different from the next, both genders and from all ages. Each now having the magic of Svie’s winter essence and also, once mastered, the ability to spiritually transfer one’s consciousness into that of another being. He smiled as they started to transfer their knowledge, some stronger males walking to the shore to explain the concepts of sailing whilst other gathered around older figures to discuss the emerging stars. Others followed younger Spirit Walkers as they ventured into the forest to explore the bounty that awaited them.

Svie glanced once more at those near the ocean and stared into the foreboding depths. He knew he must secure the safety of his new peoples and that would require a deal with the god of the oceans. Soaring through the upper atmosphere he scowled once more at the bitter winter that afflicted the bountiful first land of Aguilla. The Cimex would adapt and the Dyun would have to turn to more slaughter to survive. Let’s see how the Liaison fair in the hands of the people when they cannot stop this snow. He would await an apology and show them just how unforgiving winter can be. With a growl of rage and upset he flung himself into Galbar’s Scar in search of a meeting with the Undasis…

Turn 4 Might:

Vowzra - Level 4 - 7 Might - 0 Might 0 Free Point Carried from Previous Turn - 1 Free Point

Arguis - Level 4 - 7 Might - 0 Might 0 Free Points Carried from Previous Turn - 1 Free Point

Vestec - Level 4 - 7 Might - 0 Might 0 Free Points Carried from Previous Turn - 1 Free Point

Evelynn - Level 2 - 15 Might - 10 Might 2 Free Points Carried from Previous Turn - 3 Free Points

Astarte - Level 3 - 8 Might - 2 Might 0 Free Points Carried from Previous Turn - 1 Free Point

Sveiand - Level 3 - 6 Might - 0 Might 0 Free Points Carried from Previous Turn - 1 Free Point

Undasis - Level 3 - 8 Might - 1 Might 1 Free Point Carried from Previous Turn - 2 Free Points

Ferghus - Level 3 - 11 Might - 5 Might 1 Free Point Carried from Previous Turn - 2 Free Points

Sauranath - Level 4 - 7 Might - 0 Might 0 Free Points Carried from Previous Turn - 1 Free Point

Escre - Level 3 - 6 Might - 0 Might 0 Free Points Carried from Previous Turn - 1 Free Point

Around the same time Humans learned Wi

Arguis watching in awe and fascination as the many people's that lived on Arguilla grew. The humans, a race that was written off by others, grew. Despite the threat of the Dyun, Cimex, and the Dragons, the Humans stubbornness gave them a fighting chance. With the help of Astarte and the blessings that Vowzra provided for the Humans, they become cultured, and with the help of Wi, they could fight their predators.

Unfortunately, everything could be adapted to. Arguis compared the Cimex to the Humans, the Cimex were unorganized, despite their intelligence. Arguis watched as one Cimex stood out among them all, one who seemed to be much smarter than the rest of them. After a fight, he was able to capture a human Wi User, he was able to convince his brethren to abstain swim eating the human, but forcing him to fight them. Before they knew it, the were able to adapt to some of the effects of Wi, such as fire or mental Manipulation. This one fascinated Arguis, he was one who utilized knowledge to get on top, should the Cimex unite and grow like the humans, they could become a menace to them, rivals.

Arguis imbued this Cimex with knowledge beyond that of his fellow Cimex. With this new found knowledge of the world, he wasted no time readying his Cimexian brethren. In reality, Arguis was utilizing the Cimex to fulfill his own will. Similar to what Vowzra did to the humans, like a sage, the Cimex that he utilized that Cimex to teach the rest. This time was call the Great Singularity, a time in which they all saw the world in a different light. He thought them, Home, Friendliness, Singularity, Common Sense, Learning, Knowledge, Debate, Morals and Conscience, Civic Virtue, Enlightenment, and Marxism. The Cimex had changed, like the humans they began to grow, they had a culture. They created Hives, a large structure that stood up above the Sherima Trees. They were usually made up of dirt and rock, but held together by a abundant sticky substance on Arguilla.

The hero that he had created all those years ago had become a king of sorts. He had united all Cimex under his rule, his called himself, Zek'Ri. In the center of the Sherima Jungle was a hive larger than all the hundreds of others. As a final gift, Arguis gave them a magic, one that would cater to their name, the Voidborn. Arguis recreated an organ in the body of the Cimex that was useless, it now created Void Energy. Void Energy is a magic that allowed them to empower themselves. They could create shock waves of energy that could cut through iron. They could run at speeds the trumped the speed of the Dyun. This needed Void Energy to use, once utilized, they could not replenish it for a long period of time. Lastly, before Arguis slept, Arguis utilized the Dragon Essence and fire to create pure and tangible solar energy, he came down to Galbar and planted it in the ground, within days the humans would find large green pulsing bubbles the size of a human adult. They could not be destroyed, it confused the humans, on the inside was a figure that they had never seen before. Under ground, roots grew from all of them, like nerves, they covered all over Galbar, gathering information. The Uri were coming.

For the first time in a while, the Liaison was approaching a semblance of the thing called joy. Though he leaned on contentment's precipice, unable to take that leap, he was not unsatisfied. In a seemingly short time, a remarkable edifice of stone had come to stand tall over the huts of thatch and wood, and seeing the miracles of ice and restorative nectar, many had joined his Pallid Communion. Against the marauding Dyun and Cimex the monks performed well, using their powers as sparingly as they could to avoid triggering too early the bug-race's natural adaptability. In the hilltop temple, it was said, a man could become a servant of a greater purpose.

Today, however, things looked rather grim. A snowstorm howled around the temple's walls like a pack of wolves desperate to invade and devour the Liaison's flock. The entirety of the Pallid Communion had assembled today, to see if their powers combined couldn't force the inclement weather into submission. At the Liaison's suggestion, thirty pairs of hands rose skyward, and pale mists swirled around their fingertips. As one, they threw their hands forward, casting their magic into the cruel storm, and then...

Nothing.

Not a soul remained. The Liaison staggered to see himself suddenly and inexplicably alone. Beneath his robes, he opened with his cyan eye, and screamed in hatred to see an enormous hand of snow and ice, ephemeral as a flurry and as unstoppable as the cold season's advance. So distraught was he that he hadn't even the chance to register that he'd just experienced an emotion altogether human. Though he could see the hand of Svieand stealing away all of his comrades in one fell swoop, and could dimly witness its godly outline as it deposited them thousands of miles away, the Liaison was powerless to contradict a god's will. Worse still than the disappearance of the monks, however, was that a crowd of mundane village-people had been watching.

Confused for a short time, they began to round on the Liaison, imagining that he was responsible. The outsider attempted to reason with them, but the men who had vanished had been fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands, and there was no assuaging the villagers' panic. Realizing that he was finished, the Liaison attempted to flee. Though he leaped easily over the heads of the crowd around him, he stopped short to find the temple's one entrance blocked by angry humans. The Liaison raised a hand, one that brimmed with ice crystals just waiting to freeze and pierce, but he hesitated. He couldn't harm a single one of them; to deprive even a single life of its wondrous gifts, of intellect and feeling and family, would be a sin beyond compare.

During that momentary hesitation, a fist connected with his face. The white mask flew off to clatter along the floor, and the humans saw with horror that the Pallid Minister had no face. Together they attacked him, pulling and striking, ripping off his robes to expose the pitch-black chitin beneath. Revulsion coursed through them as they beheld the Liaison's huge, cyan eye, whose terrified and frenetic motions aroused no sympathy. The Liaison continued to plead his innocence and beg for the humans' trust until a spearpoint meted out his fate.



A disturbance, like a prod in the back, caused Escre to awaken from its dreamless slumber. Though aware that some time had passed since last wakeful, it felt oddly concerned about the strange pain that afflicted it, particularly since the Great Spirit lacked a body. Sympathetic magic, perhaps, but then...?

With a sweeping gaze Escre looked around the Astral Home. Spirits, tiny pinpoints of light of various colors and energies, seeped from the runes in the walls to unite with the Astral Home. In turn, the spirits already within the huge, iridescent orb flared and vanished, reincarnated anew on the planet's surface. Escre reached out its armored claws and lightly brushed a passing spirit, letting it resonate its swan song to him. This particular spirit had belonged to a Spongeback, and been liberated by a famished Devourer Fish. The life warden felt no upset at the demise of one of his creations. Among lesser creatures, eat or be eaten was the way of things.

Another spirit, this one a familiar and soothing black rippling with white, caught Escre's attention. This one...unique, and larger than the others, though nowhere near the size of a typical god's. Such a spirit could belong only to one chosen by a god and endowed with a greater purpose, and according to the Liaison's latest report, only one other individual on Galbar -a human- had been made into a hero. It did not take Escre long to figure it out.

Escre snatched the spirit with its claws, preventing it from melting into the Astral Home. ”My Liaison...the watchful guardian of mankind... slain by humans. The Pallid Communion...gone. No trace remains. The balance shifts against humanity once again. Tell me, unfortunate soul...give me one final report...”

“Who was it who smote you?”



Using the Astral Home as a medium, Escre telepathically contacted the god of the waters, and noted its fortune when Undasis responded. With a softspoken humility it requested permission to enter her domain, and after receiving her consent, entered one of the Astral Home's nerves. Through the crust the Great Spirit traveled, winding among rocks igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, until it emerged in an underwater Fountain of Life in the Kraken's Crater—a sea vent. It wasted no time in gliding to Undasis's side.

”Greetings, Undasis, the Seas Incarnate, and thank you for granting me leave to enter your domain. Greetings, Kraken, the Seas' Wrath...I am honored to meet you at last. I am afraid I come bearing ill tidings, ones that perhaps have not yet permeated your depths. From the oceans wide, the very domain that you and your fearsome anathema, the Kraken, claim as your own, there has risen another land. Without even the common courtesy to let you know, let alone asking your leave as I have, this temperamental god of seasons has diminished your turf. Not only that, but he seeks to impart to his people knowledge of how the seas may be tamed. Navigation, sailing, fishing...arts that could rob the seas of their mystique. Doubtless the might of the Kraken could send these marauders to the lonely seafloor, but even now the god of winter storms unbidden to this very spot, seeking to bargain with you to let his creations alone. He wishes to trick you, so that you will spare his marauders, and ignore his encroachments, and not retaliate as your domain shrinks ever smaller.”

Escre bowed its head. ”Of course, you may be wondering why I am telling you this. As a god of Life and the Great Spirit, I am rested firmly on the side of order, and any practitioner of order learns to have a respect for proprieties. It is why I requested your audience rather than barging in. Svieand has disrespected you most callously, boldly taking territory and then beginning an endeavor that would mean the conquest of the seas. All I ask for this knowledge is that you treat him, and his creations, in kind. No god would think ill of you to deny Svieand's insidious request; I would stand by the Kraken's right to sink the new land, should he deem it fitting retribution. It is not godly to allow another to take what is yours by fate. Karma is the ultimate law in this world, one willed by the gods of gods.” The resonance of certain spirit reached Escre through the depths, and it bowed once again. ”Fare well, Deep Ones. Should you desire it for something spectacular, I shall gladly render you my talent for creating Life.”

Escre's insubstantial body melted away into ink, which in a world of water, was rapidly nothing at all.