Category:Liberators

From the chronicles of Bidas Torstal, Chronicler of the Willful Flame, 870-877...

For ages uncounted has the Holy Flame burned bright in the heart of men--but there was a time in the Age of Eternity, a time when the Gods waged war against each other, that this was not so. Indeed, the battle of Gods raged in our world as Maugrim brought forth his armies and sought to control the fate of all the world and its souls according to his own designs, to take away the freedom of man--and ever did his consort spin her webs, snaring and trapping mortals in decisions that were no decisions at all. His brother Daeus and the armies of Light opposed him, and the battle looked to age eons, with a great toll upon the earth.

It was then that Elhim, angered by the war and by the depredations of Maugrim and Taara sought to remind his wayward children of the rule of mortal free will in this world. It was then that he cast upon the land a Great and Holy Flame that would forever shelter mortals from the design of the Gods. So long as the Flame burned, so too would a God like Maugrim be unable to force a mortal to obey.

Maugrim, furious with this, sought to destroy the Flame, but his rage was cooled by Taara, who had her own plans. She sought out Rada, Lord of the Seas, and under her council, he came to see the Flame not as a reminder of the will of Elhim, but as an affront to the seas. Taara suggested that he first drown the lands, so that the flame might be extinguished. The great seas bent to the commands of their Lord and rose and pounded the lands upon which the flame was set. Sure that his work was completed, and his anger spent, Rada returned to the depths of the ocean

And yet, when the waters receded, the Holy Flame still burned in the heart of the land, devastated as it was. No force can undo what the Source has done.

Further incensed by this intrusion, the Tyrant God then sought out Gunakhar, and together, they raised a great storm of earth and sand, seeking to bury the flame and forever extinguish it. Again, the land was ravaged by the fury of not one God, but two. And when the storm ended, again, the flame still burned, for not even the Tyrant, in all his might, can undo what the Source has done--but the great desert of our world was born with the Flame at its center, burning brightly as a testament to the enduring vitality of its mortal races and of the rights of all men to be free. In time, the peoples of the world would come to the Flame, and many would forget its purpose, but to those that understand its significant, ever will it burn the brightest in their hearts.

*scribbled on the margins in a different, angry hand*

"This is ridiculous. First of all, while this so called 'Keeper' (who appointed this incompetent anyways? It wasn't any of us), can claim all the divine inspiration he wants, none of us were there! This is just one story of many, and others bear repeating more. For example, several of us believe that Tarien is responsible for the flame, that he tricked all the other Gods into investing some of their power into a torch, and then he set it upon the world to remind the Gods that even they are not above manipulations of others! Thus, whenever they look upon the world, they see the flame and are reminded that mortals must be given choice, or else soon even they will have none! And we already have a very large, very angry population of Veyshanites that blame the Flame for the desert itself. And you want to go and make them RIGHT? Gods, man. Divine inspiration. Please. It's more li-," the pen trails off here and there appears to be a small, dried blood stain at the bottom of the page.