Difference between revisions of "Haku/Dust History"

Revision as of 09:50, 30 June 2005

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
~ T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) - The Waste Land (1922)

Words etched into sand

In any event this is the history of Creation as taught by the Realm and in just about all of the civilized nations. And yes, the Sun is female.

The Celestial Incarna are as follows;
Gaia, the Maiden of Plenty
Luna, the Silver Lord
The Five Maidens of the Star (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter. Saturn) - titles and attributes stay the same
The Five Immaculate Elemental Dragons (Daana'd, Hesiesh, Sextes Jylis, Mela, Pasiap) - titles and attributes stay the same as per core book
Sol, the Maiden of Light - No, she's not known as the Unconquered Sun, at least by the common people.

I should repeat again that the information found here is commonly held to be true by the ordinary people in the Realm and certain parts of Creation, nothing more.

The Realm Historian Speaks

In the beginning, the Maiden of Plenty didst dallied with the Silver Lord. The fruits of this conjugal act resulted in the birth of Creation. As all Creation flowed from the loins of Gaia, the Immaculate Elemental Dragons rose from its five poles.

The Silver Lord and Gaia looked upon the world where it laid shrouded in darkness that neither he nor the Five Maidens of the Stars could drive away completely with the light they wielded. And so, they held counsel with Gaia, for it did not seem fit that the beauty of Gaia's creation be covered in eternal shadow.

The Maiden of Plenty smiled and didst lie with the Silver Lord once more. From this second union came a golden maiden, whose radiance drove away the darkness covering all of Creation, and its beauty could be appreciated by the Celestial Incarna.

For a time, all of Creation was in perfect harmony, where the sun rose to cover the world with her golden joyful light, and set so that her elders and parents could be properly worshipped by those who lived in Creation.

This perfection and harmony was not to last. From the Darkness outside of Creation, came those envious of the Celestial Incarna's creation. These uninvited interlopers came with their foul demonic spawn and set about enthralling those who dwelled in Creation.

The five Elemental Dragons and their sister, Sol, found this to be offensive to their eyes and so sought consel with their parents. The Five Maidens of the Stars too found these loathsome beings to be unbearable in their eyes and so joined this counsel.

From this counsel, a decision was made... the Celestial Incarna would empower those that these Yozi were enthralling, giving them the power and strength to throw back their enemies.

And so, the Celestial Incarna and the Great Elemental Dragons went amongst humanity, seeking out great heroes and mighty warriors, to gift onto them the potent powers of Exaltation.

The Silver Lord gifted his Childe with the ever-mutable power of the silvery moon and the ferocity of the beasts that roamed the forests of night. Because such potent power was to be found in the moon, the Chosen of the Moon's power lay hidden in the descendents of those mighty heroes, exalting but once in many centuries, for few mortals could safely channel the fury of the beast and remain unscathed.

The Five Maidens of the Stars sought out wise savants, for they knew that war could not be won with but mere physical strength, but must be fought with intelligence and wisdom. And to these savants and wisemen, they planted the heart of a star in their souls. The Five-score fellowship were holymen and are of such wisdom and enlightened that, when they died, their souls would transmigrate with the star's heart to a new worthy mortal gifting them with their wisdom and power

Gaia stood apart, for her gifts would not make for potent warriors. Instead, she lend her power and fecundity to her six children.

The Five Immaculate Dragons breathed upon their Chosen, gifting them with potent elemental powers. And because of the gift from the Great Dragons' mother, the dragonblooded power was to be found in their blood and children, forming the core of a mighty host.

Sol, the golden maiden was not as mighty as her elder siblings, but still she desired to aid in the war against the enemies of Creation. And thus she didst dally with the mighty heroes of humanity and with those already Chosen, giving birth to the Solar Exalted. Her children were not as potent as the Dragonblooded, but they bred true, for Gaia's touch was upon her when she didst lie with the young race of humanity. Because they were not as mighty as the other Exalted, but more numerous, they formed the footsoldiers of this mighty host.

With the power of the Celestial Incarna, the exalted met the the fell servants of the Yozi in battle. One by one, the behemoths fell as did the demonic children of the interlopers. With their servants and children destroyed, the Yozi Princes faced the fury that was the exalted. One by one, they too gave way to the exalted's power, and all of Creation was made safe for the formation of the Old Realm.

With the banishment of the demons, the exalted could look forward to nurturing the nausent human civilization. The lunar exalted walked amongst their comrades for a whilest before seeking the borders of Creation to guard it against the return of the Yozi and prevent the Fae from entering. The wise Chosen of the stars looked at the heavens and departed hence, to be with their Mistresses.

The Dragonblooded established a mighty society, one where they and the lesser Solar exalted would protect the common man and foster the better nature of mankind. Farmers could grow their crops in peace with the wild beasts driven from their fields, merchants could thrive with the Solar exalted soldiers commanded by the Dragonblooded guarding their trade routes from monsters and bandits. Under the Dragonblooded aegis, civilization rejoiced and spread to cover all of Creation.

Sadly, the Solar exalted were not as perfect and righteous as their Dragonblooded superiors were, and a certain number of them didst listen to the brandishment of Creation's ancient enemies. Accepting power from the Yozi, these Solar exalted became Solar Anathema, gifted with enough unspeakable power to lay waste to entire armies of their former comrades and their commanders. These Anathema were slain, one by one, often at great cost.

The Dragonblooded host approached their ancestors for aid; the Immaculate Dragons. The five Great Dragons came amongst their children in their time of need.

Hesiesh incinerated the corpses of the slain Anathema, for the tainted flesh could not be burned with mortal or magical fires.

Daana'd brought the Jade cage of the bound Anathema spirits to the bottom of the ocean so that none may free the fallen ones.

Sextes Jylis walked the lands and set them right once more, righting trees and rebuilting fallen mountains and regrowing the destroyed fields of Creation.

Pasiap, taught humanity, ways of building things better so that they might be not toppled and destroyed so easily.

Mela, taught the Dragonblooded ways of fighting so that should more Anathema be tempted, the exalted would not be helpless against their power. To the Solar exalted, she gifted them with the lesser martial arts so that they may better seek enlightenment and discipline and not fall so easily to the brandishment of the Yozi Princes.

Sol, the joyful maiden, for once was not so joyful and was in fact much angered by the acts of her renegade children. And so, she turned her face away from them. No more, would she dally amongst humanity, no more would there be new Solar exalted who could claim that they were born of her loins.

Sadly, the Shogunate, the predessor to the current day Realm, was not aggressive enough in its pursuit of the Anathema, for there were those who fled rather then face the righteous fury of their former companions. These Anathema fled to the Wyld, beyond the protective net of the Lunar exalted who knew not of their treachery.

Enscounced in fortress towers outside of the great walls of Reality, these foul Anathema harried the distant colonies of the Shogunate with dark sorcerous destruction and guerrilla tactics. Their attacks, in the end, brought no great result; for what they destroyed, the Dragonblooded and the Solars rebuilt, for those nobles slain, their families survived and grew out of their tragic loss.

However, the Dynasty was yet young and knew not of the wrath of the Celestial Incarna had of the tainted corrupt amongst the exalted, of their worship of dark princes and malvolent powers. And so, the Shogunate was held accountable for its inability to eliminate the Anathema heresy. Thus was the Great Contagion poured upon all of Creation.

Nearly all of humanity died from that plague. Entire cities and regions were wiped out to the last man. Not even the exalted were safe from the divine punishment. The surviving Lunar exalted fell back from their duties of guarding the walls of Creation, for not even they were safe from the plague, as it affected all life, not just humanity.

Once the sentance against all of Creation was served, with the deaths of all who were supposed to die, Creation breathed a sigh of relief and pledged never to forsake their duties to Heaven. But peace was still not to be found for those survived the plague. Sensing weakness, the Fae hordes amassed outside of the gates to Creation and were let in by the surviving Anathema. This alliance swept into Creation, slaying all in its path; destroying many of the small surviving settlements of humanity.

Great cities of old were destroyed, lost to the Fae's wyld magics and to the potent sorcereries of the Anathema. The surviving armies of the Dragonblooded and Solar exalted stood firm in the face of this invasion force, and were pushed back for they had been weakened by the Contagion and the Fae were strong with the souls they had consumed on their rampage in Creation. If a lone officer, who would become the Scarlet Empress, had not defied her superiors' order and seeked out the Imperial Manse, all of Creation would have been lost to the enemies of Reality and Creation would have washed away like sand castles by the tides of the Wyld.

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Yes, it's still currently incomplete. I'll finish this up eventually.
~ Haku

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