To Suffer and Succor

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The gift of Thana'Tomos was considered by the children of the gods as a blessing. Those made of the Material and the Astral could now find rest after years of dedication to the expanse of Lumis and to the gods. However, not all was considered to be joyous by the children. The gift of Death made them fear for their short times upon the Material. Soon they found themselves at the mercy of the elements, of the Land and Sea. They found themselves being slaughtered by the great beasts of Cor'Neas, or swallowed by the violent waves of Meridi'Ana. The children would pray to the gods, to guide them and protect them, but with the gift of Thana'Tomos, and their promise to the dead god, they found that they could do very little. 

"Our children plea for us to aid in their suffering, but we can do little," spoke Stell'Arya, the shinning goddess of the Stars. "Watch them now, as their numbers grow, they collect into groups that segregate from their own brothers and sisters. They collect themselves and cast large divisions amongst themselves like the very stars I anchor and move across the night sky. What drives them to do so, they do not realize they are all stars themselves."

The wild god, Cor'Neas, spoke up to this, and shared his cruel thoughts with his mother. "These "children" have found themselves at arms against each other. They have taken the gifts we have given to them and corrupted them. See as they take the blades made from the Fires of Osto'Ronius and cut down their own kin. See as they take and take from the Land and Sea, and still, it is not enough, they ransack the wild places and pollute the waters that they so desperately need. The crop is no longer enough for them. They have turned the bounty of the Material and perverted them to create dangerous things with which they twist their minds and bodies. They have taken the gift of Wine, that my lover, Calust'Rea, made and turned it into a curse on their numbers. Look at them, they all, pray for us to turn on the those they do not like, they lack empathy and have falling into a twisted darkness...They are turning to Sin."

The gods argued back and forth on this matter most dire. They no longer had the guidance of their lord Thana'Tomos, and they shared in their collected sorrow of watching their children turn to violence, war and other sorrows. It was Stell'Arya that spoke first amongst them amidst the silence of their worries, and said,

"We who have watched over the Children find ourselves powerless now to aid them in their time of need. When first, the children called for mercy and we watched our father give his life so that they may know death with him, we thought their troubles quelled. We have brought unto them more sorrow, however, by allowing them to use our gifts with little guidance."

It was Osto'Ronius, God of the forges, that answered,

"You wound our pride, Aunt, mistress of the stars, we do our best to guide the children. But we cannot directly intervene as was the decree of our lord Thana'Tomos. What would you have us Divinities do if we cannot guide the Children?"

To this question, it was the mother of magic, Aes'Thera, that spoke up and said,

"Then we know what we must do as the Divinity that care so deeply for the Children, we must allow them to take matters into their hands and guide them to seek amongst themselves a sense of direction, moral, justice, honor. Our children are many and they have all but outgrown us whom may only interact with them through the Veil we call the Heavens that separate us from the Material. But, if we were to teach our children to harness within themselves the sense of guidance, they need in other to return to the grace they have within them as both mortal and divine, then we may save them yet."

Eris'Neas, wise god of the fields, responded to the lady of magic,

"You would allow the Children to manifest amongst them the ideology of guidance and justice, of honor and civility. I would be honored in guiding their hands, I have helped them in their fields and in their farms, they know how to make community through me."

Meridi'Ana also spoke up, and said,

"I also wish to guide the children in this vision, for to navigate my great Waters, they must learn to depend on each other, they learn to value the lives of all on board of their boats and what is life if not a ship to sail through treacherous waters with others."

One by one, the gods decided that they would all aid in this most important matter. Even Cor'Neas, the bitter god of the Wild, admitted that in guiding the children towards a more graceful way of living, would allow them to be wiser about how they manage the land they live in. 

It was Calust'Rea, the beautiful goddess of mysteries, that raised a fear, and said,

"We cannot wipe the darkness that has for so long now plagued our children. We do not bind them to any sacred oath of fate as we bonded to ours. We made them to be free and live as free beings and so with their freedom comes their boons and sorrows. We cannot make them like us, we cannot make them inconsequential when they are so powerful. We must remember this, that we may guide the children and the children may guide themselves...but they will always know an intimate relationship with sin, and other horrors born of their great minds, ambitions and gifted abilities."

The gods fell silent once more at this thought, and finally, Aes'Thera spoke once more, and said,

"We shall bring onto to the children hope and succor, and the means by which they may learn to manifest their guidance, so be it." 

The gods were then in agreement, and Stell'Arya marked this day in the movement of the stars. 

Stell'Arya, goddess of the stars, along with her sister, Nissa'Lune, goddess of the night, plotted to give the children a dream. Stell'Arya spoke first, and said,

"Dreams are the work of our father, long may he rest, but we have of him within us, and we shall bring forth his essence to manifest into the dreams of the children, and we shall share with them an idea. This idea will manifest amongst them all, the idea of unity and leadership. The idea of coming together and building something greater than the sum of their parts, so that they may see fit to grow strong and stand together in the light of us, their gods."

Nissa'Lune responded and said, 

"Sister, you get ahead of yourself, this plan is only a means to guide the children but understand that they sooner find reasons to stand apart, rather than together. We can only hope that they know unity and willingly choose it. They are not bound to any fate. as we ourselves have decreed, so we may only give them dreams and hope the children come to bear upon themselves the desire to be united."

The sister goddesses began their great work. This great work spread across the Material, and all of Lumis fell under a gentle blanket of night. This was a sight to see for all, no matter where they stood upon the surface of the Great Shape, they see the starry night fold over the Land and the Sea, and they all feel the gentle call to their beds. So did all the children of the gods enter a slumber so peaceful, it was said to be the most peaceful time they would ever get to know. In that slumbering peace, they dreamt, and in those dreams, the gods spoke to them. 

From the collected unconscious of the children, in their conversations with the gods, a great will manifested. This came as a surprise to the gods, who witnessed upon the Heavens a new form begins to take shape of pure divinity. From the manifestation of the dreams of humans. Born from those who were both mortal and divine, a new divinity rose amongst the numbers of the Gods, and they watch with curiosity, to see what this being would be. The will manifested in its full form, and an honorable voice rang out, and said,

"I shall take upon myself the voices, hopes and dreams of the children, of humanity. I shall take their voices and their numbers, and I shall guide them in the ways of the gods. I shall teach them to use the fire of the gods to build great monuments, I shall teach to use the water of the gods and make themselves wise once more. I shall harness the gifts of the gods and teach them how to refine them and use them to build something greater than the sum of them. I shall make all of this and more my Domain, and I shall call it Order. I will take the name, Ab'Dathar, in honor of the children that called out for me."

The gods all cheered as a Divinity was born, one born of the miracle that was the children, who manifested their wills together for a single magnificent moment. From that magnificent moment, did arise Ab'Dathar, who went down to the Material and ushered in the new day with the help of Solis'Rei, God of the sun. The children, from all over the expanse of Lumis, all awoke with renewed faith in the gods and themselves, and in those groups that decided to band together and help their fellow kin, Ab'Dathar did manifest. He taught them all the things he promised, and they collected together in great clans and sprawls that developed. They took care to treat the land with due honor and respect, to appease the Wild God, Cor'Neas, and Ab'Dathar called their new homes, the Polis. The children expanded their knowledge, those that lived in great polies. They would make small dwellings, and called them Towns, they would make larger centers and call them Cities. The children learned to hold good ties with other neighboring polies.

The children all gathered together and demanded that Ab'Dathar, their god, would lead them as their ruler. But the god could not do so, for he had already spent too much time on the Material. So, he came up with a plan for the children. He took from each of them a lock of their hair and said that he would weave from it a bond that will manifest itself on the Material. From this woven knot will they find their leaders and rulers, as it placed upon the heads of those fit to be followed. He did this, and watched as the knot began to weave into itself over and over again, and it began to manifest a will. The gods, once more fascinated, watched as the new will came to take shape and a ruling voice rose above the material. 

"I have heard the voices of the children and of the gods and I shall be their steadfast warden, guardian and messenger. I shall take the desires of the children and the will of the gods, and I shall marry the two into the manifestation of those who are destined to lead and lead with honor, justice and righteousness. I shall do all this and make this my Domain, and I shall call it Dominion. I shall be the presence of the woven knot that sits upon the brow of those honorable to rule. I shall be the light that casts upon the thrones of those who seek to lead others. I shall be the watchful blade that will strike down those unfit to rule. I shall take the name, Io'Media, in honor of the gods and the children, through me is the will of the gods manifested upon those who shall lead the children."

Io'Media presented herself before the other gods and each of them gave their blessings, as the youngest amongst them, yet the one tasked with the greatest of duties. She would be the one to stand before her father, Ab'Dathar, and by her will shall the woven knot be placed on the brows of the worthy. 

The ages to come often lose themselves in time, as the pantheon of the gods was complete, and their great work was set to a turning wheel that would never stop moving forward. As the children developed, they would have great kingdoms and nations, guided by the hands of the gods. Those that failed to do so, would see themselves fall and fade into the annuls of history. The gods watched as their children grew, and made great things beyond the sum of themselves. But, the gods also knew that they had free will and they watched as their children also committed cruel acts upon themselves and others. In time, even the gods themselves began to take new forms, new identities, as their domains grew and were influenced by the deeds and prayers of their beloved children. Even so, the gods stayed true to the anchor they forged for themselves to be the shepherds of the children and the guardians of this great expanse called Lumis. Through all this, and much more, Stell'Arya marked the days with the movements of the stars.

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