This is the second half of the Alesian creation story, and picks up right where the last post left off. Again, the language and violence is minimal, but it is long.
---- Grenadias was greatly surprised to see how his daughter Arkala had changed while he was gone, for Serathe had grown but little in that time, and was still a child. Althiugh he was much amazed at the way Arkala had grown more beautiful, he nonetheless felt foreboding, though he knew not why. She was beautiful, certainly, but in a way different from any of her kin. There was something about the way she carried herself that he did not like, but he could not recognize that his sweet daughter was growing into the Queen of Whores. But these thoughts were soon forgotten in his joy at being reunited with his family, and he joined in the divine revelry with the rest of the Celestial Court. And when at last the celebration came to an end, all the gods retired to their separate dwellings to rest except for Orglok. He only made a pretense of doing so, and instead secretly crept into his father's throne room while the others slept. There, he dared to sit upon his father's throne and gaze upon the whole world. His desire for power grew, and he resolved that he must some day unseat his father and claim all for himself. Arkala came to him and he seated her upon his lap, whispering his dark designs into her ear. He promised that he would make her his Empress, and all the other gods would bow before her and acknowledge her unmatched beauty. And though Orglok had treason in his heart, he still dissembled and played the part of the loyal son. Vashra was no longer able to keep silent about her misgivings and went quietly to her father to warn him. Jornos reassured her, saying, "Worry not, beloved daughter. For though he thinks he deceives me, I see to the depths of my firstborn's heart. I know the treachery he hides behind his smile, and the hatred behind his sweet words. Nevertheless he is the first among my children, and there is yet time for him to repent of his evil. The day will come when he will taste either my mercy or my wrath, and until then, say nothing to anyone of this." Set at ease by these words, Vashra departed from her father's presence. Reassured though she was, she still kept watch on Orglok and his secret lover nonetheless. That very day, Jornos summoned the whole Celestial Court before him, and bid them to look out over the world. For lo, Jornos himself had brought forth a new creation upon the earth, the race of men. Jornos address his Court saying, "Behold, all you gods, the culmination of all that you have labored to create. Behold mankind; they shall fan out over the earth like a spreading flame and master it. I have granted them the light of Reason, and made them masters of their own destiny. Each holds the secret of what he will become, and yea, even divinity is not beyond their grasp." And all the gods marveled at the race of men as they awoke and took their first tentative steps, save Orglok, who esteemed them but little. Seeing this, Jornos said to him, "Do not be so rash to judge them, my firstborn, for while they are little now, what they will become in time is great indeed. And you yourself will have a great part to play, for you will teach them strength and courage." Turning to Llarm he said, "But they will not remain upon the earth forever, but will pass from the world and be brought to these very halls. As my steward, you are to find a place for them within the household according to their hearts and their deeds. I give you leave to reward or punish them as you see fit, for you possess wisdom little less than mine." Orglok indeed taught mankind strength, bravery, and skill at arms, but he also sowed mistrust, division, and savagery. Men were thus divided into rival kingdoms and made war on one another because of the false whispers that Orglok planted among them. He recruited spies and servants to further spread discord among men, promising them great power in return. Arkala caused no less mischief herself, for she could see a man's deepest desires, and delighted especially in those men try hardest to hide away from others. She inflamed the hearts of men with lust and greed, and whispered perverse ideas into their ears as they slept. All of humanity was in strife, but Orglok still thought little of them. He was ever contemptuous of their prowess as warriors, even as they slaughtered each other without quarter. Orglok desired to create his own race of warriors, and correct the "mistakes" his father had made. Spying two boars fighting as he walked through the forest one day, he hit upon his idea. Snatching them up, he took them to a deserted place and created the race of orcs to be his perfect warriors. He gave them great strength and hearts that knew neither fear nor compassion. He gave them the power to see at night, when men were hampered without the light of Jornos' torch. He made them breed prolifically so that their numbers would ever increase, and he filled them with a savage spirit. He raised his warrior race in secret (or so he thought), and taught them much dark knowledge. They learned their lessons only imperfectly, though, since their hearts turned ever towards bloodshed. Orglok devoted much of his power to keeping his creations concealed until they were ready, though Jornos knew the evil his son intended. Arkala, meanwhile, was ever-busy multiplying strife, seeding corruption and enmity everywhere. Those days were dark indeed, lawless times when men were given to every sort of depravity. She turned mankind away from the gods, raising up false prophets of strange religions to lead men further astray. Yilvor often visited warnings from Jornos upon mankind in those days, and Azaera's spears would rain down from the sky for the impiety of men. However, even as the servants of the gods delivered their warnings and called for repentence, Arkala's minions contradicted them and all of mankind was in great confusion. Until this time, Jornos had permitted his son's defiance to test the mettle of his creations. But the creation of the race of orcs without his permission had greatly angered the Birther of the World, and he summoned his firstborn before him. When he received the summons, Orglok was troubled for his preparations to overthrow his father were incomplete. He knew that as strong as he was, he could not defeat Jornos by force, and had spent many years devising stratagems to unseat his father by cunning. Still, his carefully crafted plans were not in readiness, and he realized that he must make his attempt before he received his father's punishment or he would forever lose his opportunity. Therefore, he and Arkala desperately sought a plan. Arkala reflected on the ease with which she had been able to corrupt the minds of men, and wondered if she could not be able to do the same with her father's plants. They arranged for Orglok to dine with his father, and Arkala would taint his food and thereby lay him low so Orglok could dispatch him. Jornos was accustomed to drink the nectar of the fruits of the Celestial Garden from a golden cup with his meals, and Arkala used all of her foul arts to create the first poison, using much of her strength to give it a potency to harm the Starfire himself. Though she thought that the deed was accomplished in secret, Vashra was aware of what she had done, and awaited her chance to deal with Arkala. When Jornos heard that Orglok wished to dine with him and explain his actions, he knew that his son had some treachery in mind. Nevertheless, he consented to the idea, and awaited the arrival of his firstborn. Orglok once again played the part of the repentant son and explained away his disobedience with many artful lies, and Jornos seemed to believe him. Taking up his bejeweled cup filled with poison, he offered it to Orglok saying, "It gladdens my heart that my wayward son has returned and regrets the harm he has caused. Share this cup with me, and be reconciled." Orglok refused to drink from it, and would not even extend his hand to touch it, saying, "I have overstepped myself many times already. I would not dare to presume to drink from my father's cup." "Take it, my son." Jornos insisted, offering it again. "Why do you refuse what I freely offer when you did not hesitate to sneak like a thief into my hall and sit upon my throne? You wish to take my place, and yet you are afraid to take my cup." Realizing that he had been discovered, Orglok was seized by panic. He again pleaded his innocence and refused to take the cup. Jornos upended the cup and spilled its contents onto the table, where it hissed and bubbled like boiling water. Filled with fear, he fled from his father's presence, and Jornos followed not far behind. Orglok hastened to his father's throne room and went to the resting place of the sun, intending to use its power against the Starfire. Since he had been granted dominion over fire, he assumed that he could control it, not realizing that the its flames came from the power of Jornos himself. Orglok snatched up the sun from the sconce where it rested at night, and was at once horribly burned by his father's light. Ever after, he was never able to take on a fair appearance again, but remained forever sinister and frightening to look upon. With a tortured scream, Orglok dropped the sun, and it was extinguished as it hit the floor. Orglok fled headlong from his father's presence, maddened by the excruciating pain of his burns. Hearing the commotion, Llarm took up his great shining sword and came running, and was astonished by what he saw. Filled with anger by his brother's treason, he chased Orglok to the very gates of the Celestial Palace. He would have pursued his brother further and struck him down, but Jornos appeared before him and prevented him, saying, "Put away your sword and go no further, O Judge of Souls. For it is not your place to mete out punishment upon your siblings without my word. He has been chastised, and it pleases me to allow him to live in exile and brood upon his failure. Let him glory in his empty victories for now, but all his places will ever come to nothing. Let him skulk in the darkness like a scolded dog for now, and in the fullness of time, not even a memory of him or his followers will remain." Lifting his hand, he deflected Llarm's sword, and the mighty weapon was shattered into thousands of glittering shards that were scattered across the sky. Llarm was stayed by his father's words, but called after Orglok into the darkness, "I may be prevented from dealing with you as you deserve, dear brother, but your followers cannot evade me. I will do unto them as I would to you, and I will take great pleasure in making them suffer for giving allegiance to you." Orglok paused in his flight for a moment, calling back to Llarm, "Brave words for one who knows not whether to sit or stand without our father's permission. Devise whatever torments you please, but you will never get hold of my servants." Then Orglok fled to the depths of the earth, taking refuge within the hidden fires of the deep. He devised the art of Necromancy to spite the Greeter, and spread this odious knowledge among his adherents. From that time on, all manner of undead abominations were found upon the earth, blaspheming Llarm with their twisted mockery of life. While Orglok fled, Arkala hid herself, for she still had not recovered her full strength from creating her poison. She feared that she would not be so lucky as Orglok, and would not be allowed to escape. But Vashra discovered her hiding place and descended upon her like an eagle upon a rabbit. Seizing her by the hair, Vashra dragged Arkala through the halls of the Celestial Palace, all the way to the highest parapet of the shining halls. Arkala cowered before the Mistress of Magic and pleaded for forgiveness, but Vashra's heart was hardened. "You would have shared in the traitor's victory," she replied, "and so you must share in his defeat, wench. Begone, and consider yourself fortunate that I do not do worse to you." With these words, she seized Arkala by the throat and cast her down into the darkness, and watched the daughter of Delanis fall. Jornos returned to his throne room and picked up the sun's torch from where Orglok had dropped it, setting it back in its sconce. Upon feeling its true master's touch the extinguished torch reignited, and the sun's light was restored. Jornos once again took his seat upon his golden throne, and looked out over the whole of the world. Llarm addressed Jornos, saying, "We may have nothing to fear from those two any more, father, but what of your race of men? Surely those two will continue to afflict mankind as they have before, and multiply the miseries they have already caused. Should we allow them to continue to do so with impunity?" "I made men to be masters of their own destiny, and I will not stand over them like a nursemaid over an infant. But neither is it fitting for us to stand idly by and allow those two traitors to do as they will. Therefore, I grant to you and your siblings leave to guide men back toward the true path just as those two have led them astray. The choice of their path must always remain their own, however, and any of you who would interfere directly in the affairs of mankind must himself become a mortal man. This is my will." Orglok and Arkala were indeed not idle in their exile, but worked ceaselessly to cause woe to mankind and show spite to the gods faithful to Jornos. Orglok would capture beasts and warp them into fearsome monsters with a taste for human flesh, and Arkala made poisonous plants from those that had formerly been wholesome. Arkala began to bear children to Orglok, but they were not as the children of Jornos. While they inherited some of their parents' formidable powers, they were not of divine blood, for they had been born in exile from the Celestial Palace. Thus were the race of demons created, and they accomplished much evil for their parents. Arkala continued her efforts to turn the hearts of men to evil, for Orglok could no longer assume a pleasing form and struck terror into all who saw him. But Arkala found her work more difficult than before, since Vashra's servants confounded her mischief at every turn. In her anger, Arkala unleashed her greatest evil and brought forth disease upon the earth, striking down men and beasts alike with terrible plagues. But even her greatest triumph was diminished, for her mother Delanis taught the healing arts to mankind, and many lives were spared. Grenadias was greatly grieved by the corruption of his daughter, and ceased to tend to earth for a time after her expulsion from the Celestial Palace. A great cold fell over the world from his mourning, and snow and ice fell from the skies instead of rain. There was a great hunger throughout the world for the crops would not grow, and men had never needed to store up their food before. But Grenadias was roused from his melancholy for the sake of his other daughter Serathe, for she loved the wild beasts and the flowers of the field dearly. The snow melted and the greenery returned, but the Tiller never fully recovered from his heartbreak. ---- "Where have you ever seen or heard that a knight-errant was brought before a judge, no matter how many homicides he may have committed?" -- Don Quixote (Pt. 1, Ch. X) -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives & Other DMI Lists: http://www.dragonmyst.f2s.com/lists.php3
