Andia: The Revolution

[Eltee]

"I'll be careful." Aarys replied, taking a slightly longer draught of the beer. "How do they make this stuff?" She pondered aloud.

[King Acunasti]

"That remains a mystery to me." Valentin replied. He grinned. "Try slowin' down. Don't drink it so fast. For someone that's never had beer before, drinking that quickly could get you a little loopy."

[Eltee]

"Okay. Whatever you say." Aarys said, her eyes flashing between the beer and Valentin.

[King Acunasti]

Valentin swallowed a large sum of beer, nearly emptying half the bottle. He took Aarys' hand and gazed into the flames in front of him.

[Eltee]

Spoiler:

Sum? Are we doing f***ing arithmetic?

"As freezing nights in the wilderness go, this is a pretty one." Aarys murmured, gazing up into the sky, where some flakes of snow still floated down.

[King Acunasti]

Spoiler:

Bah, leave me alone! I'm tired!

Valentin placed the beer beside him and laid down on his back, looking into the sky with Aarys. "Imagine what this world was like back in the day." he said. "When there was still a king, and a proper government. Where Empire City wasn't the only metropolis on the planet. Hell with the Three landing on Andia! And hell with the Gloom! God, I hardly even know what the Gloom is!"

[Eltee]

"Me either." Aarys mumbled. "Really, I barely know what the Three are... another generation or so, and no-one will even remember the old ways."

[King Acunasti]

"The way I see it, the old ways are already gone. I just don't get the Three. I don't get what they want. I don't get why they came here. I don't get their goals. What the hell are they achieving by killing every mortal in existance?"

[Duh]

"You wish to know what the Three are?" siad the voice of the One. The old man suddenly appeared behind Valentin, Aarys, and Hremai near the fire. "You wish to know what the Old God is?"

[Eltee]

Aarys jumped at the sound of the man's voice. "I... Yes. I would." She replied, her voice reverent and respectful.

[Duh]

The One slowly sat down in a meditative position. "How much do you know?" he asked.

[Eltee]

"I... I know that they are demons. I know they came from the gloom, and I know their names and a little about each of them. And everyone knows what the ICA has done. Beyond that, almost nothing."

[King Acunasti]

"I know even less than that." Valentin stated.

[Duh]

"The Three are not demons." the One corrected. "At least...they were not supposed to be. Did you know that Scelestus was once the Old God's favorite and most trusted creation?"

[Eltee]

Aarys raised her eyebrows. "Wait... The three were actually servants of the Old God? That would mean that the Gloom is..." She shook her head unbelievingly.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

Spoiler:

Could you bring me to the camp?

[Duh]

Spoiler:

No.

"You were in the snow." the Admiral said to Ashriel with a cocked eyebrow. "You were speaking to someone."

__________

"The Gloom is Scelestus's punishment." the One said. "A reminder. I will start off with the beginning. Many ages ago, during the dawn of time itself, there was nothing. Nothing but a manifestation of energy. And this manifestation evolved into the world’s first form of life. And this form of life soon created a body for itself. It is unknown whether this body was that of a male or a female. But it was a body, nonetheless. A true body. A physical form. This mysterious, outstandingly powerful being was lonely - too lonely. In a series of fifteen days, this entity created a vast sky filled with stars. It created the sun, the moon, and seventeen planets. The creator took a specific liking to the planet of which was the smallest. He called it 'Andia'. And it became his primal goal to advance this planet into a civilized world filled with small, intelligent beings known as ‘mortals’. After filling Andia’s forests, jungles, deserts, tundra landscapes, icecaps, and waters with exotic creatures of every kind, the creator formed the first mortal. It was a man. This man's name…was Scelestus."

[Arch-Mage Matt]

Spoiler:

"No." Ashriel said quickly, too quickly. "I was joking. Remember? I said I was joking. Because I was joking."

[Eltee]

Aarys rocked back, shaking her head. "So... Scelestus was the first inhabitant of Andia?"

[Duh]

The Admiral reared his horse. "You will tell the truth!" he ordered. Woodland Elf men were known for their short temper...and fearful tone of voice.

- - -

"Not only the very first inhabitant," the One added. "But the very first mortal."

[Arch-Mage Matt]

"I told you the truth!" Ashriel repeated, trying to match the admiral's tone as best as he could.

[Eltee]

"Then, what... How did he achieve immortality?"

[Leyyuce]

Peter had, of course, taken to keeping an eye on the One whenever possible; he felt duty-bound to do so, as the eight collectively owed their lives to the knowledgeable man. Regardless of his reasoning, Peter had been unaware as to the One's whereabouts for several hours- his intention was not to invade the elder's privacy, but only to offer whatever sort of ultimately insignificant protection that he could. Upon hearing his thin voice drifting from beside the nearby fire, Peter raised himself from his stationary position at the edge of the camp and maneuvered progressively closer, until he stood adjacent to his equally-captivated comrades.

[Duh]

"I'll get to that in a moment." said the One. "Now, Scelestus was given every one of the creator's gifts. He was made in the Old God's image. He was tall, muscular, and strikingly handsome. He was an Elf. The first mortal beings in Andia were Elves. Humans were not created until...Scelestus betrayed the Old God."

The One sighed. "Scelestus looked towards his creator and asked, 'Who are you? And who am I?'. The creator simply replied, 'I am God. And you are Scelestus.'. Sceletus responded with, 'Are you the creator of this place? The creator of my physical and spiritual body?'. The Old God replied with 'Yes. And you are my favored child. But I shall form more. You will recieve a wife with whom you shall produce a child. You shall recieve other neighbors of which you will live amongst. But you shall be the strongest. You shall be the wisest. You shall be blessed with reason, my child.' And so, the Old God carried out his plan. He created millions of different individual men and women of which spread across his world. But Scelestus remained the wisest. He remained the only mortal being to be blessed with true reason."

- - -

Kanden frowned. "You will not recieve aid, then." he barked as he continued through the forest. "Stupid boy. You are a horrid liar."

"We are nearing the camp!" said one of the rebel soldiers.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

Ashriel smirked at the Admiral. "You've already given me aid. I require nothing else from you. "