Little Choice

"Konja, you're unreasonable! To discard years of tradition and experience for your little whims is madness! The mortals mean nothing! Even your father, the object of their worship, disdains them now! Too long have we watched them war and bicker! They have been weak and cruel for Millenia, and so they will remain for Millenia to come! Wake up from this mad mission of yours!"

Konja was having the same argument with his brother yet again.

"Of course they will. Unless we intervene, how can we expect them to change? We are the power in this world! It is with strength that I will reforge them! I'm tired of this rhetoric, Kalza! I shall prove my ideas with action, not words!"

Konja muscled his way past his brother as he left the ancestral home. His plan was to descend from the heavens and begin reforming civilization to his vision. He would create something magnificent and awe-inspiring, no matter the price...

Suddenly a lightning bolt shot into the sky! Konja turned to shoot a dirty look at Kalza, but he had turned away, ignoring these accusations whilst his fingertips still crackled with power. Konja stopped, since he knew what was coming, and it was inescapable.

Konja's father had come. Along with many other members of the pantheon. That part was unexpected, and a sense of dread grew within him. A deep voice boomed out over the heavenly sky.

"Konja. Stop. Your disobedience will not be tolerated. Your actions reflect poorly on the dignity of the Gods. I will indulge this rebellion no longer."

A white pillar of light encased Konja, holding him in place. Within this light, he couldn't move or summon any of his divine power!

"Wait while we decide your fate." And with that, the Pantheon left.

Days passed, though that meant little to the immortal life of a god. Only that it was taking so long for them to make a decision was agonizing. Konja still fumed at his brother, and was unrepentant in the slightest. If only they gave him a chance to prove his worth!

Finally, the skies darkened and the Pantheon returned. Though no one appeared in front of him, their divine presence was clearly felt.

"Konja, we have decided your fate. It is too much to strike down a divine life, but to imprison you in the heavens for eternity is little better. So we have decided to send you down to the world of immortals, to let you slowly come to understand the gravitas of your ideas.

The new generation of Gods have always needed time to become wise, so we will give you that opportunity. We have decided to curse you and force you to take the form of a tree. There you shall watch a mortal civilization for a century. Then we'll return to see what you've learned, and if it is insufficient, we will leave you for another 100 years. So on and so forth, until our trust in you has been restored. When you are prepared to live and let live, you will return to us."

Konja was abruptly bathed in a bright light until he couldn't see. He could tell that he was already being teleported to the mortal plane. He wasn't surprised though, since gods were commonly abrupt in all their actions. Overwhelming power often made thoughtful consideration or hesitation unnecessary.

And then he was a tree. He felt new appendages he never had before, he felt a stiffness that surpassed being restrained in the pillar of light. Really, the only thing he could do was exist, and sense what happened around him.

"I'm sorry things had to turn out this way." His father's divine presence had appeared. However, since his father wasn't physically there, Konja remained silent and sulky.

"Son, peace between the gods isn't easy. Even though we mock the mortals, we have our own difficulties. And there are so many different ideas about the mortals we watch over. Whether they're amazing or insignificant. Whether they are savage or graceful. Whether we want their worship, though it does nothing for us.

The only thing we can agree on is that they should be left alone. We've meddled in their world long enough, and we've learned some lessons. I hope you understand the necessity of what we did to you. If we allowed the rules we made to be ignored by you, then every God would ignore them."

Konja remained silent. Though his own divine presence allowed him to communicate on the divine plane of existence in this mortal world, he said nothing. His reticence spoke volumes about his feelings in this matter.

His father sighed. "Fine, you'll learn one way or another." His divine presence withdrew, and now Konja was truly alone.

The sun rose on Konja the tree, morning dew collecting on the grass at his roots. Although he still felt his own divine power, and knew he was still a God, he had been cursed to live in the mortal world and experience mortal things. So for the first time in his life, he had slept. And for the first time in his life, he had woken up. It was strange to not simply have a continuous consciousness at all times. He wondered what weakness they had instilled into him, and felt anger and shame at the same time.

He cast out his senses. Though he was a tree, the purpose given to him in the mortal world was to watch and learn. Thus his senses were restricted, but still extravagant by mortal standards. Sensing around him, he realized he was a tree on a hilltop several kilometres between two human forts. From the sounds of the differing languages they spoke, he suspected they were warring countries, and his initial impression was that he had been given a prime spot to watch the bloodshed. After a moment, directly to the north, he spied upon a vast plain that had been churned up by war. Aged metal skeletons of war machines and carts lay strewn everywhere, dotting the landscape. Rock piles and trenches were common to the eye, though the grasses and some sparse tree growth seemed to be returning to the plain.

There weren't any recent signs of any armies from the forts east-northeast and west-northwest of his position, so there was possibly a truce going on. Perhaps even a lasting peace had been established between these two groups. Konja wouldn't have expected the Pantheon to be meticulous enough to actually find out. Even then, where in the mortal world could you find an everlasting peace? Eventually war would happen at his doorstep. He wondered if they would move him later if war in this area was had and finished...

Konja sensed some movement to his south that brought him out of his musings. To the south, southwest and southeast, there was a vast forest filled with various magic creatures and a small goblin settlement. He was sure the human nations wouldn't dare venture into that territory for years. There were definitely magical beings that should not be disturbed by mortal humans. Interestingly, that magic forest stopped at the bottom of the hill he was on. He was the only tree at all on this hill in fact. There was a distinct lack of magical aura on this hill, which is likely why the forest stopped where it did. However, now that Konja was here, he himself would begin to emit an aura that repaired this broken area. He was a tall oak tree, with no leaves currently. It was still the end of winter, so the air was still crisp and brisk. But spring would come, inevitably change would come as well.

Internally he sighed as he thought of the eventual encroachment. Having all sorts of critters and vegetation grow on him would be a constant insult to his godhood. Even now, in the distance, he could see a flock of birds and small squirrels eyeing him from the edge of the forest. The only barrier protecting him was the vast expanse of grassland between him and them. Of course, that wouldn't matter to a predator or creature confident in its strength.

Luckily, with his divine sense, he could tell the nearest sentient was far from the edge of the forest. Expanding his awareness again, he saw a mulch golem and an elven village further in the forest, somewhere to his south-southeast.

A large black bird with a blue stripe on its head came flying down to land on Konja's bare branches. As it landed on him, it puffed out small clouds of condensed vapour. Its loud cawing destroyed the serene atmosphere of the morning sunrise. Konja was disgusted, but couldn't shoo away the bird.

*Plop*

A white substance dripped down his bark, as the bird happily cawed to claim the tree as his territory.

"Did you just...? ... Bird creature. You have made a grave error. I promise now that I'll have my revenge. I don't know how. I don't know when. But my revenge will be had. I SWEAR IT!"