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Aldion had journeyed far, capturing the souls of any sinners unfortunate enough to cross his path. An entire cloak of the things swirled about him, pleading for release, but he simply tuned them out. He had been scouting for an ideal location.

And he had found one.

Situated in the west was a rather large island, with a large bay, and within that bay was a smaller island. This, Aldion decided, would be a good location. Plenty of land to work with. Separate from the rest of the continent, but not so far as to be completely inaccessible.

Now, he could get to work.

In the tiny central island, he raised a mighty citadel, with layers upon layers of red stone walls with black spikes upon the ramparts, diving the citadel into districts. Some districts looked as though they might actually be livable, while others were narrow corridors of tricks and traps. Seemingly at random, the walls would shift and reshape themselves from time to time, or the districts would rotate, creating what was effectively a labyrinth.

In the centre of the maze of was a massive tower made out of bronze, stretching high into the sky and visible for miles.

With a satisfied smirk, Aldion flew to the top of the tower. Then, he began to concentrate. Recalling what he could of his past, he summoned forth all his rage and hatred, and suddenly the roof of the tower burst into what looked like fire. Except… it wasn’t. It was a myriad of colours - orange, yes, but also black, and white, and green, and purple. And it gave off no heat. It could burn, yes, if that was something a creature or soul felt particularly fearful or sensitive to, but it could just as easily inflict a different sensation that was tailor-made to each individual victim in order to inflict as much agony as possible.

As soon as the fire was created, it began to pull souls in. The souls of the damned. Those who had in some way violated hell’s principles, whether knowingly or not. They would be drawn here, willingly or not. To the Hellforge.

Aldion unbound the souls he had cloaked himself in, and they were immediately sucked into the fire. They shrieked in agony as they felt the worst pains imaginable, while at the same time they were forced to relive their worst memories and nightmares while they were slowly and excruciatingly converted into power. Zylana was the last to go, and for a moment Aldion felt tempted to reach out his hand and pull her back. However much she deserved her fate, she had been the first mortal he had encountered, and he felt something almost like sentiment. But he shook the foolish notion away. Her soul screamed with the rest of them.

For a long while he watched the souls swirl burn, transfixed by their suffering. The world was young, and although these souls had done enough to damn themselves, most had only committed one or two grievous crimes. It was a matter of weeks before most of them had burned out. Eventually, only Zylana remained. She was stronger than he had given her credit for.

He studied her curiously. Then, on a sudden whim, he snatched her from the forge as she passed by. Her soul was a frayed, mangled thing, still shrieking in pain and trauma. ”I can free you from your current fate,” he offered. “Everything that you were, are, and ever will be will belong to me. But you will be given new life. New purpose. More powerful than you ever were before. Your pain will end.”

The soul let out a consenting shriek.

”Very well,” Aldion nodded curtly, before flinging her back into the forge.

She screamed again, louder than ever before, while Aldion conjured forth a blade and cut his wrist, spilling black blood into the Forge. He focused his might. Suddenly, the soul within the Forge became quiet and deathly still. Aldion’s blood as well as the essence of the other burned souls began to coalesce around it, taking the shape of a figure.

Zylana was born anew.

She sauntered out of the Forge, the fires no longer hurting her. She was shaped much like she been as an elf, but with too many differences for someone to even think she was the same species. Her skin was red, like Aldion’s. A pair of horns protruded from her forehead. Her eyes glowed yellow. A pair of leathery wings extended from her back. She held out her hand, and claws sprouted from her fingers. A vicious grin appeared on her face.

Then, she knelt before Aldion, and swore her undying fealty. Aldion studied her closely. There were no thoughts of betrayal in her mind. She did not begrudge what had been done to her, partly because the pact made such treasonous thoughts impossible, and partly because all she could think about was this new rush of power, combined with the understanding of where such power came from.

Aldion also realized she still carried no remorse for her past actions. The murder. She didn’t even remember her victim’s name. In fact, it actually seemed as if she was now looking forward to more victims. To kill, to maim, to torture. She had developed quite a cruel and inventive mind, he realized.

He considered the implications of this. No matter, he ultimately decided. She had received her punishment, and now that she was within her power she could commit no further crimes, sins, or betrayals.

Besides, there would be plenty of ways for her to get her claws bloody while serving his will.

”Rise, my servant,” he commanded. And she did.













A fiery black entity hurled toward Galbar.

This entity was intelligent. Or it had been, once. But its mind was fragmented. Only powerful-yet-vague emotions remained. Now, however, as it entered into this new world, driven by sheer instinct toward the mysterious voice, it - no, his thoughts began to reform, and with them came memories. Memories of the emotional pain of betrayal. Of the physical pain of a mortal blow. Death had not stopped the pain, however, for his betrayers had then went on to target his very soul. Then, once they were done with him, they had cast him out into the void between realms. Or had he fled? He was unsure. It was all so blurry. There was much he did not know.

How long had his spirit been adrift?

He had fallen through the cosmos like a shrieking black comet, howling for justice, then for vengeance, then simply for someone to know of his plight, until his mind had fractured to such an extent that all he had left was incohorent rage and occasional bouts of intense sorrow and loneliness. Then at some point he had stopped moving, and his burning hot rage slowly transitioned into a cold fury. He had forgotten why he was angry, but he knew whatever he was angry at, he was justified, and became all the angrier for not remembering.

Then he had heard the voice, and had felt a pull toward it, which he had decided to follow.

And now he was falling once again.

He slammed into the ground, shaking the earth and leaving a vast crater where he had fallen. He felt no pain from the impact. The black energy swirling about his soul then slowly began to coalesce into a form.




He lay there in the crater for days, trying to make sense of his newly-repaired and yet still so heavily-damaged mind. The sunlight shone on his red skin, and he rose to his feet. The memories came clearer now. Still fractured, still unclear, still in bits and pieces, but better than before. A word sprung to his mind. Aldion. What did that mean? Then it came to him. A name. That was his name. He was Aldion. He had been powerful once. Then he had been betrayed. By those he had expected to be loyal.

He flexed his muscles and felt divine might course through his veins. He still was powerful. Then, he began to laugh. His struggle was over. He was alive. His memories may be fractured and clouded, but his mind was lucid once more. He would not be fooled again. And vengeance could be his. "The traitors will pay," he declared quietly to nobody but himself, before it occurred to him that he had no idea who those traitors were or how to get back to them.

Vengeance would have to wait, he grudgingly conceded.

And then he climed out of the crater.




No sooner had he crawled out of the crater did he see a figure approaching him. A bipedal creature, perhaps six feet tall, with disheveled golden hair and pointed ears. He noticed her hands were stained with red. Despite her unkempt appearance, there was something graceful about her. As soon as he set eyes upon her, she stopped, and suddenly dropped to her knees, as if compelled to by some unknown force.

"And who would you be?" Aldion asked, curiously, before furrowing his brow. He could sense something in her. Something dark, and treacherous.

"Z-Zylana," she answered, nervously.

"Zylana," Aldion repeated, as if testing the name. "You are covered in some sort of life essence. Blood, I think. Is it yours?" He began to approach her.

"I..." she stuttered. "I killed, and ate an animal. I was hungry."

"An animal, you say?" He looked about the desolate landscape. "Where did you kill it? Describe it. I am most curious to know what sort of life can be found here."

She did not answer. Her gaze dropped to the ground. Tears began to flow down her cheeks. Her expression was obviously full of remorse and guilt.

"Well?" Aldion prompted.

Still no answer.

"I can sense the stain of betrayal in your soul," Aldion continued, his voice quiet and gentle. "A grevious crime, one that there can be no attonement for if you hide it."

"I..." she was beginning to sob. "I didn't... we thought..." She took several long moments to collect herself. "We were created in a shining city," she said. "And... well, we left. Falyn and I. Not too long after we were created. The city was beautiful but... it just felt too closed. Too constricting. I wasn't the only one who felt that way. There was another. Falyn. He and I, we left. We wanted to see if there was anything out there in the fields. If we kept at it in a straight direction, it wouldn't be hard to find our way back..." the tears seemed to redouble, and she once again paused to compose herself.

"We got lost," she admitted. "I don't know how. But we did. We were hungry, and thirsty. We thought we were going to die. He blamed me, and I blamed him. I..."

"You killed him," Aldion concluded.

Zylana nodded, letting out a choked sob. Aldion reached down and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Stand," he ordered. She did not move. "Stand," he insisted again, this time more firmly.

Slowly, Zylana rose to her feet. "What are you going-"

Aldion seized her by the throat, and lifted her into the air. Flames of black, green, blue, and orange raced across her body. She became to scream. It lasted only for a few moments. Within seconds, her flesh melted away and her bones were reduced to ashes.

"Betrayer," he hissed with contempt.

Then, something rose from the pile. It was shining, although Aldion could see a black darkness within. He looked at it, intrigued, and then realized that was what he had sensed. It attempted to move away from him, but then he reached out toward it, and suddenly it flew into his palm. He held it out before him, and peered into it, studying it. He saw images of her brief, short life - of the city of which she had spoken, and of her companion. He saw their treck through the wastes, their desperation. Their shared realization that it had been foolish to so brazenly leave the city without first talking to their goddess. Their decision to blame one another rather than work together. Their fight. The murder. And in addition to seeing what she saw, he felt everything she felt.

"You enjoyed killing him," Aldion realized. speaking directly to the soul. "You enjoyed it." He continued watching, until he saw her fateful encounter with himself, and this time witnessed her true feelings. "Your tears were a deception, to gain my sympathy. But I have no sympathy - it was burned from me long ago." He ruminated for a moment. "I will give you some credit - you put on a good act, and it was a deception based on truth. You did feel sorrow. But it was a selfish sort of sorrow. You were sad because you knew your life was at an end. Some part of you knew I would see through you. And even if I couldn't, you knew you would die out here. And even if you did find your way back, you knew your kin would suspect what you had done."

"And I can see things in your soul that not even you knew," Aldion whispered coldly. "You were carrying his offspring." The soul began thrashing in his grip, as if in agony. As if it could hear him.

He did not let it go. Instead, he offered a cruel smirk. "You are mine now, little soul. I shall think of a suitable punishment for you in time. But for now, I can use some company. Although I must admit, I have little desire in seeking out this city or goddess of yours if you are the sort of creature they produced. No doubt there are more like you, and they must be punished too. In time."









Interested. Probably going to be a death god.
Might make a Fire God.
Zelios




With the Zephyrites created, Zelios now fell into the role of teacher. Already, they had begun to form their own tribes which were scattered throughout Shadulun. He traveled amongst them, bringing them new knowledge or helping to expand on practices they had already begin to discover for themselves. Some of these he had seen during his travels to other lands, while others he had come up with himself using his divine intellect.

He taught them how to make fire, for although both he and they disdained the light, the heat was needed to cook food. He taught them to dig and extract metal and stone from the earth, for use in building. He taught them how to build with both stone and wood. He did not teach all of these things to every single tribe he had encountered, but he had no doubt the knowledge would spread on its own if given enough time. He also advised them on how to clear open spaces from which they could grow their own food, instead of having to forage or hunt out into the wilderness every time they hungered. He taught them how to build round discs - wheels - which they could use in transportation.

There was no need to teach them how to make tools; they were already perfectly capable of doing so from their own shadows.

However, there was one lesson he considered to be more important than any other. The lesson of freedom. Of individuality. Some of the tribes who had banded together already had leadership figures. Some had been elected, while others had seized the position through force. Zelios soon made it clear that the latter method of succession was unacceptable. A leader should have the love and respect of their people; not just the fear. The appointment should be something that the majority should agree on, and the minority should be free to leave if they are so strongly opposed. This tied into what Zelios saw as his new philosophy, and one that he instilled into every single tribe he came across:

"Do as you please, so long as you would not prevent any other Zephyrites from doing the same."

A disproportionately large portion of the tribes had formed around one of the rivers in the southern portion of Shadulun. Which was sensible - it was an easy source of fresh water and some of the tribes had already begun forging spears of shadow to catch the local fish. He considered what he would call this river, for every single tribe had given it a different name. The Sable River, he decided. It was simple, and the Zephyrites he encountered all immediately stopped using their preferred name for the river once they heard Zelios speak his own. So it had to be a good name, right?

He followed this river until he reached the sea. Then, he had a realization. How would his people contact him if they needed him? How would they know where to find him? He could not be everywhere at once, and they had no way of finding him. That needed to be amended.

What he needed was a permanent residence he could spend most of his time in. Something that could be seen from far away. Something so eye-catching, most would feel compelled to visit it. Something that was so impressive, word of it would inevitably spread.

Like a tower.

And so, on a hill overlooking the sea, the White Tower of Zelios rose from the earth. Built from marble inlaid with Obsidian, it was truly vast, with a size that could rival mountains.

And just like that, the God of Darkness had a home.





Zelios




What to name it, what to name it...

This was a thought that had occupied his mind for far too long.

Then, it came to him.

"Shadulun," the God of Darkness proclaimed quietly to himself.



Despite the new - and what Zelios believed to be unique - aesthetic, the newly-named land of Shadulun seemed rather lacking. There was life, certainly, but it lacked... intelligence. He had nobody to talk to.

Such intelligent life existed to the west, but they were not his creations, and the few he encountered were rather rude toward him. It seemed they resented the fact that the land they voluntarily chose to live on was covered by perpetual night, despite Zelios being quite certain the Ringed Curtain was created long before they settled there, and also despite the fact that they could have chosen to live literally anywhere else.

There was also the species of rat-people he had created with Aethel. But he had done that on a whim, and it had been in an area he had found to be quite unpleasant. He was not eager to return there, even if he probably would at some point.

So he would need to populate this land with a new race. One that was distinctly and entirely his idea.

And so, he began to think.

He decided they would not be too different from some of the intelligent lifeforms which already existed. They would two arms and two legs, and were of similar size. However, Zelios felt compelled to give them certain liberties. Being confined solely to the ground seemed so restricting, so he would give them wings. Feathered wings, as they seemed to be more graceful and aesthetically pleasing.

He then paused and considered the idea further - if he put the wings on the back, they would not be able to fly properly. If he put the wings on the arms, then they might become an obstacle for other tasks. That was an obstacle... so he decided to simply ignore said obstacle. The wings would be placed on the back, but empowered with his own dark energy - they would grant the power to float and fly even when it shouldn't be physically possible. There was a downside to this, however - the power of the wings would be diminished in sunlight. That mattered little, as the sun did not fully shine in this land.

The bodies themselves would possess a natural grace and beauty. If he was to make a race of people, it seemed pointless to design them to be ugly.

He then decided he would instill a number of other darkness-related abilities for good measure. The ability to see in the dark, of course. The ability to turn themselves into incorporeal shadows, though light would become exceedingly harmful to them while doing this. And lastly, the ability to convert shadow into physical tools, weapons, and objects.

Yes, that would do.

The God of Darkness closed his eyes, and touched a hand to the ground. All throughout Shadulun, bits of dirt, stone, sand, clay, and gravel rose from the ground and began to take the shape of the species he envisioned.

Then, suddenly, he leapt to his feet and raised a hand skyward.

Several beams of black energy shot down from the curtain and into his hand, as he drew energy directly from the Ringed Curtain. Then, his hand crackling with power, Zelios punched the earth. A massive shockwave of pure shadow rippled outward, latching onto the artificial constructs he had made and enveloping them. Dirt, sand, and clay became flesh, while wings sprouted from backs and hair sprouted from heads.

All throughout Shadulun, the Zephyrites opened their eyes for the first time, and drew breath.





Zelios




The God of Darkness had returned to the shadow of The Ring. The creation of the Rattus had given him much to think about. Was it right to leave them behind like that? There was surely merit in leaving things to their own devices and giving them a chance to grow, but it didn't sit right with him. It had been clear that neither he nor Aethel fully understood the species which the Rattus had been based on, which was just asking for unexpected complications. He couldn't help but feel as if he had made a mistake.

He would need to return, at some point. See what became of them. Perhaps lend a hand, or steer them back on course, if their situation had deteriorated.

In the meantime, however, there was work to be done.

He flew through the dark sky on his customary black wings. Although his attire often changed, the wings usually remained. He hovered in the air above a peninsula of grassland and forest, which had already been seeded with plantlife. It was so green. But then a thought occurred to him: why green? So much of this world was green. Could it not use a bit more colour?

He looked at himself, and chuckled. He didn't exactly wear a wide range of colours himself, but at least he wore more than one. Black, grey, purple. Okay... that was only three. Perhaps he should work on that. He didn't particularly like bright and gaudy colours, but there were surely darker shades of green, blue, and red he could consider incorporating into his outfit. Then he snorted. Now here he was contemplating fashion! Fashion was important of course, but had he not just decided to finally do some work?

So, work he did.

Closing his eyes, he shifted into his true form - a mass of shadowy arms and legs - and allowed himself to fall to the ground. He plunged black fist into the dirt, and the earth shook slightly as a shockwave boomed across the land. The grass upon which he had landed turned purple, and the colour began to spread across the land. When it reached the forests, the green leaves became a dark blue, while the bark turned to white, or dark grey.

Then, the shadowy mass rolled across the land, studying all the creatures he could find, and altering them to be more suitable for the night. Pretty much all had migrated here from other regions, and although they had already begun adapting to the dark environment, it not all were perfectly-suited just yet. For example, creatures who had been coloured green for camouflage purposes now needed to be made purple or blue, to reflect their new environment.

He also created new species: in the forests, he made apelike creatures who had no eyes, but a strong sense of hearing as well as batlike echo-location and a sense of smell that could rival a rat. In the plains and grasslands, he made four-legged creatures striped black and white which could run at great speeds, and possessed perfect night vision. Other more common creatures were added as well: panthers, wolves, bison, deer, and sheep, just to name a few. The winged creatures were mostly bats, owls, and parrots. These were far from the only creatures in the land.

He took care not to venture beyond the land that was not already covered by the ring, and instead focused on moving west. As he did so, the forests began to grow rarer and thinner, and he began to encounter intelligent lifeforms who were, somewhat understandably, terrified by his presence. Especially when he turned the very ground they were standing on purple. He would have to learn more about this creatures, especially since a fair few of them seemed to be heading further east. He continued on, until the forests almost vanished entirely while intelligent mortals became even more common, and then he proceeded no further.

He was not looking to turn the entire world purple. That would defeat the purpose.





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