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The Ascendancy of Life
Before the beginning of Time, when the Void was all and life and light were merely dreams in the minds of Those Who Watch, a spirit dwelt alone in the depths of the Void. Born of a purpose unknown to himself or to anyone that would follow him, he had no knowledge of his past, only of his future, and to himself he whispered the one truth that he knew. Yahweh. I am.
Then prompted by inner urgings, arising from an unknown source deep inside him, Yahweh began to pursue the many threads of the future, watching and waiting and marveling at the infinite possibilities that could occur. He saw futures of light, of darkness, futures where creatures spread across the entire macrocosm of their existence, and others where only twinkling pointing lights gave evidence that something was there.
After uncounted ages, Yahweh made up his mind to put these marvels into action, to mold the fabric of the Void to allow any of these magnificent futures to come into being. And so he sent forth the strength of his mind and his spirit, and cried aloud, "Let These Things Be!"
And they were.
In an instant the gray nothing of the Void was shattered by an immense explosion, as masses of energy poured from a point deep within it's heart. Coalescing, dancing, moving ever away from their source they collided with one another, exploding further into magnificence until at last they were stabilized, attracted to one another but still moving fast, faster than even the eyes of Yahweh could see, streaking their paths outwards into the Void.
At length Yahweh chose one of these pretty sparkles and descended from Outside this burgeoning universe, becoming one with it's fabric and passing through Space unto the point which he had chosen. Then once again he exerted the strength of his will, and created what men would later call Gaea, the Mother Earth.
Upon her awakening Gaea saw the face of Yahweh looking down upon her and called him Uranus, the One from Above. They were wed and Gaea bore Uranus six children, Kronos, Prometheus, Oceanus, Odin, Metelna and Haras. But they were forbidden to come into their heritage, for Uranus, mindful of the destruction he saw in the myriad futures, withheld from them the knowledge of Magick which was their birthright.
But Gaea grew wrathful at this restriction, and secretly instructed her children in the arts which she and Uranus had bequeathed to them. And by virtue of their inherent powers, the Titans spread over the face of the Earth, becoming numerous and ever more powerful.
Uranus, looking from afar perceived the growing strength of the Titans and knew in his soul that Gaea had betrayed him. Peering once more into the future, all he could see were death and destruction, nothing more. Wrathful he arose once more in splendor and sent his vast will towards the Earth, with the intent of destroying the children of his body who threatened the entirety of creation.
Thousands of Titans died in that War, before the powers of Kronos and his brother Prometheus were able to be joined into one with that of their mother, Gaea, and resisted the force of Uranus' mind. Using the combined power of their wills, and that of their heritage, they sealed their planet away from Uranus, preventing his power from touching the Earth at any point. And then they began to rebuild their shattered world, once again rising to splendor and dominance before Uranus at last found the borders of their might, and sent his own power down upon them, no longer in the form of an attack, but insidiously, slowly, until he was once again fully meshed in their world.
For Uranus foresaw the death of his creation unless a check was created upon the rampaging strength of Kronos and Prometheus, sole survivors of the Titan race. He stretched forth his will once again, creating from clay and dust the beings known as man. For in the many futures, the only salvation he could see would come from these weak, short lived beings, who when the secrets of magick were revealed to them, would finally be able to break the Earth free of the domination of Kronos, and ascend from their planets, outwards into the mass of stars that shone eternally above, in the skies which were Uranus' domain.
Uranus promised these early men that one day a savior would come, armed with the body of a man but the power and wisdom of Yahweh in his breast. This one man would overthrown the powers that threatened to overcome his people and would sow the seed for the reclamation of the world from the Titans, and would lead to the ultimate ascension of life itself.
The people bowed before Uranus' wishes and began excited preparations for the coming of the Chosen One, the one who would set them free from the evil powers and dominance of their oppressors.
And they named him the Messiah...........
Ε 2001-2002 Moonlit Studios. All rights reserved.
(This message has been edited by Andiyar & Celchu (edited 03-11-2002).)
This is a post. It was posted on Celchu's urging and has no substance whatsoever. Please ignore it.
------------------ The only sovereign we can allow to rule us is reason Β Wizard's Sixth Rule, Faith of the Fallen.
Andiyar: I'm taking this to Gluey.
And you think I'm the only one who 'abuses' his powers? All in good fun. -Andiyar
(This message has been edited by TarnΔlion Andiyarus (edited 05-05-2002).)
Quote
Originally posted by Cafall: **This is a post. It was posted on Celchu's urging and has no substance whatsoever. Please ignore it.
**
Well that didn't work.
------------------ "... For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause..." - Willaim Shakespeare, Hamlet
Originally posted by Celchu: **Well that didn't work.
You really should reread his post.....
-Andiyar
------------------ "Any good that I may do here, let me do now, for I may not pass this way again"
Originally posted by TarnΔlion Andiyarus: **You really should reread his post.....;)
Let me be the first to say this : MOD ABUSE!
But seriously, folks, we need comments. Please?
And for Cafall's true comments on this story, I present our IRC log.
10:36 PM Celchu: BTW, I think Andiyar phrased your words better than you. 10:36 PM Cafall: ? 10:37 PM Celchu: Reread your post on the Chronicles Board. 10:37 PM Cafall: . 10:37 PM Cafall: ... 10:37 PM Celchu: You'll be suprised. 10:39 PM Celchu: Suprised, yet? 10:40 PM Celchu sez : MOD ABUSE! 10:40 PM Celchu: 10:41 PM Cafall emails Gluey 10:41 PM Celchu: Offended yet? 10:41 PM Celchu: Calm down, this is the same reaction Chamrin had. 10:41 PM Cafall: heh 10:41 PM Cafall puts in a smiley 10:42 PM Celchu: Just edit your post to something useful, and it'll all blow over. 10:42 PM Cafall: heh 10:42 PM Cafall: I don't have any comments. 10:43 PM Celchu: Well, surely you must think of something, or else let Andiyar's words stand. 10:43 PM Celchu: So, you had absolutely NO thoughts while reading it? 10:44 PM Cafall: No. 10:44 PM Celchu: Pitiful. 10:44 PM Celchu: No feelings? 10:44 PM Cafall: Except for "this is weird", but that's my reaction to ANY creation myth. 10:44 PM Celchu: No questions? 10:45 PM Celchu: Then post that! 10:45 PM Cafall: No questions? 10:45 PM Celchu: I would've continued, but for your admission of a weird feeling. 10:45 PM Celchu: No. 10:45 PM Celchu: Except for spl_cadet, but what doesn't offend him? 10:45 PM Celchu: 10:46 PM Cafall: heh 10:46 PM Celchu: Our game isn't made for fundementalists who can't think outside the box. 10:46 PM Cafall: heh, no kidding. 10:47 PM Celchu: It's made for people who want to think, to explore, to doubt, to realize, but most importantly, to have fun. 10:48 PM Celchu: Hey, post this log if nothing better comes to mind. 10:48 PM Cafall: hehe 10:48 PM Celchu is serious! 10:49 PM Celchu checks fro spl's rebuttal, if any. 10:50 PM Cafall: hehe 10:50 PM Cafall: Post it on the Just Chat forum. 10:52 PM Celchu: Post what? 10:53 PM Cafall: The story. 10:53 PM Cafall: spl will respond. 10:53 PM Celchu: Oh. Maybe I will. 10:53 PM Cafall: hehe 10:57 PM Celchu: I'll post it as "The Metaphor of Creation." 10:58 PM Celchu: Though not today. Maybe on a sunday, that would be ironic.
------------------ "... For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause..." - Willaim Shakespeare, Hamlet (edited : too many smilies!)
(This message has been edited by Celchu (edited 05-05-2002).)
Originally posted by Celchu: **Let me be the first to say this : MOD ABUSE!:p
Abuse? Bah. Abuse would be me docking his karma for not saying nice things. Besides, I think it was rather funny, actually, and I wasn't going to leave it permanently, just until he saw it.
As to him emailing Gluey..... :shrugs: He can feel free. For anyone who's interested, do a search for chill's last post....... Gluey added just that special touch. And of course, if anyone saw the last part of my Fall of the Nervii in the half hour after Glue released it..... the ending was rather.... interesting.
And yes... comments are good. Comments are nice. Please? I really don't want to critique my own work here. Strikes a wrong chord.
Sorry, I was gone on a trip for 3 days.
Ok, the story looks really great. Awsome flowing writing, just great style overall. The plot is quite mythical and powerful. Good stuff. Some complaints: WAY TOO SHORT!! POST AT LEAST 30402354908 more pages Maybe describe more. I find that almost all creation stories are like that: there was a great war in which thousands of titans died, but eventually Uranus was sealed form the world. End of war. So I thought, you being the holy Andyiar and Celchu and all, that you could flesh it out a bit.
Right, that's all for now.
------------------ The answer to life, the universe, and everything is...42.
Originally posted by llegolas: **snip **
"Holy." That's the first time I've heard that. "Awesome," yes; "Amazing," yes; "Almost perfect," yes; but "holy" is new. As for the fleshing out, this was written purely as a creation myth, not a novel. While maybe one will go back to it later, it's not on our plans right now. For now, we're designing the game. I'm thinking of sweet features, and I don't know what Andiyar is doing. Thanks for the compliments, it's nice to hear from you!
Irate ramblings from Andiyar
I saw the touched up version of chills, but not the original. And not Gluey's rendition of your conclusion, either. Any leads on the last? Please?
Also, Andiyar, you know this is the first post from this account neither of us has completely screwed up?
Edit : /me just realized < snip > without spaces yields a blank space in HTML.
Originally posted by llegolas: **Maybe describe more. I find that almost all creation stories are like that: there was a great war in which thousands of titans died, but eventually Uranus was sealed form the world. End of war. So I thought, you being the holy Andyiar and Celchu and all, that you could flesh it out a bit.
That's very true. I actually modelled this one quite consciously on the traditional style creation mythos.....I suppose I could extend it a bit more, but 'End of War' isn't really accurate.... this story is more of a summary/prelude reallly. The rest of the story (about 50 typed pages, at my last count) continues the tale, up to the point where the player enters the game. And it's not finished by a long shot, merely a skeletal collection of material that hangs together.
By the Celchster As for the fleshing out, this was written purely as a creation myth, not a novel. While maybe one will go back to it later, it's not on our plans right now. For now, we're designing the game. I'm thinking of sweet features, and I don't know what Andiyar is doing. Thanks for the compliments, it's nice to hear from you!
I actually thought we could write a very nice series of novels in our world, Robert, but this was a random 2am-can't-sleep musing. I have thought about it since, but as you said, game first, fifteen book novel series second. As for what I'm doing..... check your email.
**I saw the touched up version of chills, but not the original. And not Gluey's rendition of your conclusion, either. Any leads on the last? Please?
Also, Andiyar, you know this is the first post from this account neither of us has completely screwed up? **
If you reread the bit about where Caesar stares north towards Brittania and makes threats, Gluey then added a paragraph about how Rothlin used his ph33rsome, but hitherto unknown powers as a war wizard to send magic fireballs to destroy the entire Roman army. I didn't really think it belonged, so....
And if you think I didn't screw it up..... I had to format it three times after I submitted it before it looked right. 'nuff said.
(This message has been edited by TarnΔlion Andiyarus (edited 05-06-2002).)
Originally posted by TarnΔlion Andiyarus: **snip! **
For the novels, yes, I do think we could make a good series. I was thinking the battle of FrankΓ‘l (alluded to in the next chronicle) would make for an exciting stand-alone novel, along with others that I could mention. But since that's neither here nor now, I'll stop.
Gluey's telling does seem to add a happier ending, granted, but I'm glad artistic integrity won out.
And at least this series of messups was fixable, unlike our other two failures.
I liked it.
I, too, noticed the shortness and the fact that the war was rather summerized, but I count that among the good points. It made me think of Tolkien's creation myth from The Silmarillion. Similar kind of feel. That's a compliment. And I kinda liked the fact that Yaweh was also Uranus. A lot of people complain about characters haveing 2 million names (especially in The Silmarillion), and I've been known to complain about a character with more than, say, 4 names... But two isn't cumbersome and it adds a kind of mistique.
This story made me post. I never post.
->Day<-
------------------
Well, you both clearly have a knack for writing. Not sure which one of you is responsible for the bulk of this epic but I guess it doesn't matter.
I hate to be a naysayer, but if you're going to write a creation myth why rehash all of these old characters? Why not create your own universe? I find that retelling established myths just muddies the story. Sure, I understand the concept of YHWH=Uranus=Shiva=Odin=whatever... nothing new there. But keep in mind that all of these names, ancient as they are, carry a lot of meaning with them in the minds of your players.
A bunch of questions: YHWH foresaw all possible futures before Time began, then caused them all to be, and then couldn't just as simply undo what he had done when there was a threat (which s/he somehow couldn't forsee)? Just how could a bunch of Titans threaten their creator, especially if even just one man with just the power and wisdom of YHWH beating in his breast can somehow stop them? If YHWH foresaw all futures and caused them all to be, certainly there must be myriad futures in which there is no threat at all. Why should YHWH even concern him/herself with this "threat" at all? Why not just vacation in some other reality?
Any sufficiently complex system is either consistent or complete, but never both. I think that in your quest for a "complete" universe that comprises all faiths/gods the integrity of the story suffers.
This, of course, is just one lungfish's opinion. Keep writing -- you're both clearly talented.
Originally posted by Lungfish: **Well, you both clearly have a knack for writing. Not sure which one of you is responsible for the bulk of this epic but I guess it doesn't matter.
This, of course, is just one lungfish's opinion. Keep writing -- you're both clearly talented. **
One of the things we counted on in creating this universe was the associations with which players will view our characters/gods//mytholoy etc. As you have mentioned, people have preconceived notions of what these characters and myths will entail, and that allows us to play upon thse notions, and increase new elements in a context which is not entirely unfamiliar.
As to your questions about YHWH...... well, yes, he could have. But why would he of? Yes, I suppose tat Yahweh Ouranos is what we would call the ultimate God, the Creator, but if you're curious, he is actually an exiled and banished member of a species that will not play a part in the game. He stems originally from another story I've been on again-off again writing for a very long time now. Anyway, the point is that Yahweh is not completely omnipotent.omniscient etc. Yes, he could have foreseen all of the possible futures that could occur, and could technically have prevented the War for Gaea and the destruction of the majority of the Titans...... but he didn't. If he's our God in this, he doesn't have to be consistent. That's religion, that is.
And last but not least, thanks for the comments. Your feedback here is much appreciated, and I'm going to rego over this stor,y I think, maybe some touchups/edits are required. Anyway, this post probably doesn't make much sense, but it's getting late over here. Bed time for me!