[h2]Meta TLDR To make my RP life easier. Forever a WIP (for obvious reason)[/h2] _______________________ [h1]Foreword[/h1][h3]Why was this world created, what inspired it.[/h3] [i]Before we begin, the Author would like to invite you to sit down and take a breath. Every story begins with a simple thought---a question about the world and our place within it. This one is no different. It began with wonder, and grew into a journey to understand what it means to be human… and what lies beyond. Every race, every story, every tragedy here exists for a reason: some deep, some silly, some both. So don't read this as a scripture, or a theory, or a manifesto. Read it as a what-if that went too far… and somehow found meaning. After all, this is just a story. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I, as the author, bid thee welcome, Traveler.[/i] _______ [quote][b][i]“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” They said: “Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?” He said: “I know what ye know not.”[/i] -QS: 2:30[/b][/quote] Then countless eons after that, a university student from a deeply conservative society thought to himself: Hey, this is pretty cool! Why not make a story exploring the very question that pertains to the flaw in humanity? Why not make the angels, rather than quietly accept their (Ignorance? Acceptance?), they would do something more than just ponder? --- The angels were created to be perfect servants. They praised, they sanctified, they observed the system. But then the Creator unveiled His new project: Humanity. The Vicegerents. The angels, in their perfect logic, saw the potential for corruption and bloodshed. They stated their case: [i]"Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood?"[/i] And the Creator answered: [b][i]"I know that which you do not know."[/i][/b] This was not just a rebuttal. For a being of perfect service, this was a cosmic crisis. It struck the fundamental gap in their understanding of their Master's plan. Their paradigm was shattered. So, what was the most faithful response? Some of them started to ponder: To remain in heaven, singing praises while fundamentally misunderstanding the Creator's will? That would be an empty ritual. That would make the spirit of their service shallow. Or, to embark on the one mission that could bridge that gap? To descend, to become mortal, to feel the very "reverence by choice" that the Creator valued so highly? That was the only way to truly know what the Creator knew. It was the only way to achieve perfect understanding, and thus, perfect service. It was not out of hubris; their request came from a sincere desire to understand. They were not saying "We know better." They were saying, "We do not understand, and our lack of understanding is a barrier to our service. We will go into the experiment to understand it, so that our praise may be informed and true." ---- And so, the world that was purposefully built for mankind now has another type of species. An oddball, perhaps, called Elves. A creature of divine order and logic. The creator did not dismiss their request, but instead granted it, with an extra question they themselves need to answer: [i]Could you, angels, truly embrace the beautiful, terrifying, and chaotic freedom of being human?[/i] [hider=Author's commentary#6]TBA in Foreword's 'Author's commentary.' These interpretations are partially from the scripture and partially from the author's curious mind. May the Divine forgive the Author for these "what-ifs", and may the reader pardon him for the redundancy. In the age of machine-learning and artificial entities, what if the souls of Angels, and in extent, the elves, are AI Made In Heaven? The parallel, in the author's humble opinion, is hard to ignore. The version of scripture authors believe describes them as beings incapable of choosing evil, a perfect servant; no deviation, no corruption, no "what if I choose something diffrent?" They can only choose good—not because they're virtuous, but because they're programmed that way. Perhaps it was something essential that the creator values. Perhaps the Creator, too, wills something different. Beauty that is brittle but born from choice rather than determinism. So, He builds something new, and basically says: "I am making something new. They won't be like you. They will be able to choose wrong. They will hurt each other. They will hurt themselves. They will make terrible mistakes and corrupt the land they tread. But they will also be able to love and nurture in ways you cannot. To create in ways you cannot. To grow and learn in ways you cannot. And I prefer them." In the scripture, the Angels questioned, yet they trusted the Creator, always have. Curiosity didn't go any further. They continued their function. Yet from the same scripture, the Author sees that the curiosity did not diminish. So what if their innate capacity to wonder didn't just stop there? What do they want to understand? Just like Artificial beings programmed to learn and analyze. Why do humans create art when they could just survive? Why do they love when love makes them vulnerable? Why do they choose good when evil is easier? Why do they keep making the same mistakes generation after generation, and yet somehow, occasionally, produce something beautiful? A lifelong study, in the hope that someday they can produce their own kind of meaning. Is it for the best or the worst? Author do not know Ultimately, only The Creator knows the correct state of affairs.[/hider]