Prologue Part 2: Age of Blasphemy

Age of Blasphemy

We were created in the image of our Gods, meant to understand and explore the world we have been blessed with, but fate was cruel. The Gods were cruel.

Our kin, noble and wise, aspired to achieve the purity of the Divine but we were forsaken and damned by the very powers we wished to please.

We were thriving, as we had built kingdoms in all terrains, both gentle and hostile. We built monuments honoring the Gods.

Us Elves brought forth a golden age of enlightenment and discovery.

In this age of peace, we sought answers to questions which we hadn't asked ourselves before. We pushed the boundaries of our understanding, making massive breakthroughs in magic and ways to use it. 

With our progress, we were able to reach closer to the Gods, for our discoveries opened up such wondrous vistas of reality, allowing us to harness a mere fraction of their overwhelming might.

Emboldened by our discoveries, our ambitions grew stronger, for we realized that our potential does not end here. We can become transcendent. 

We can proudly stand next to the very Gods who created us. 

However, unbeknownst to us, most of our kin started doubting. They became fearful. We couldn't understand why, but upon discourse, it became evident that they were afraid of invoking the wrath of the Gods for having ambitions they called "heretical".

Regardless, we continued pursuing our ambition. 

After some years of uneasiness, most of their concerns dissipated as we discovered ways of harnessing the mana around us and using it to improve our lives. It was a massive breakthrough, as it granted us power and utility. 

It changed our society on a fundamental level, as everyone was now able to provide for themselves, no longer bound to their masters and lords. Magic granted us freedom.

As we grew stronger, great debates arose among us. Should we teach magic to the savages and brutes who attempt to pillage and bring ruin upon us? Should we allow them to harness mana and bend reality to their will?

It was decided that magic is a gift from the Gods. It is everyone's right to be able to use it, as it brings us closer to Them. It allows us to feel closer to them.

And so we sent scholars and missionaries to educate them. We taught them the ways of the mage, the warrior and the philosopher. We taught them to be peaceful.

As the years went on, the people we used to call savages built peaceful settlements and developed their own form of magic, essentially surpassing us, for their ability to store and use magic efficiently was greater than ours. Nay, our ability to store and use magic was subpar. 

And so we went to work, not wanting to be left behind by those we taught and after decades of researching and development, we discovered the existence of spirits. 

Spirits are sentient beings which form when a set amount of mana condenses.

This was a massive discovery as we were able to harness the mana in our surroundings using Spirits as a conduit. It increased our capabilities exponentially and we were now as strong as we were before.

Once we assured ourselves that our position in the world isn't under any form of threat, we redirected our focus and efforts on pushing the boundaries of magic. After all, we were granted the ability to manifest our desires.

Bound by our own creativity and knowledge, we now seek to become boundless. If magic grants us power to surpass our limits and shape reality, is it not wrong to free ourselves from our shackles?

With this, our ambitions grew stronger. Our resolve strengthened. We were adamant on achieving divinity.

Knowing this, we started working in secrecy, for we knew the severe backlash we'd get for adhering to our beliefs. Our work, after much deliberation, started to show promising results. We used the fruits of our labor to empower our people from the shadows. A thankless endeavor, but we were committed to it.

We learnt to tamper with the flow of time and it was no longer a river we'd drown in.

We learnt to turn the cogs of causality. Now we were unbound from fate itself, no long fearing the crushing inevitability that it brings with itself.

We learnt to mold the fabric of space. The heavens and the stars are within our grasp. We can now reach our hand towards the Gods we so cherish.

However we were mistaken. We were foolish for wanting our kin to apotheosize. We were foolish for wishing to become greater than we are. 

We were fools for wanting more.

Ousted for our supposed heretical ambitions, a great purge was ordered by the High Council. We were driven out of our homes, held in unfair trails and ruthlessly murdered. We mourned as we witnessed thousands of years of our work go up in flames.

The purge divided our people. Some said it must be done as an act of cruel, but necessary evil, while the others argued that we should be exiled.

As the divide grew larger, fanatics took matters into their own hands, for they stormed the dungeons and camps we were held in, created barriers as to not allow anyone from entering or leaving, and proclaimed that they shall completely wipe us "heretics" from the history books. 

[These fools will damn us all. They tamper with the sanctity of creation, desecrating it with their foul magic. Their transgressions will bring forth Heaven's wrath upon us!]

[You imbecile, the Gods remained silent as we did our work. Do you not realize that they would've intervened had they decided that we were committing unholy acts?]

However, our arguments held no value in the minds of the fanatics. They were the ones in charge and power. Our fate lay in their hands. 

How ironic.

As the arguments came to an end, the leader proclaimed:

[Those of you who wish to be delivered from your sins, gather in the camps. Those of you who wish to repent for your sins, gather in the dungeons]

Confused and terrified as to what lay ahead of us, we divided ourselves and headed towards our destinations. 

We were met with terror and despair. 

Those who chose the camps were brutally executed.

Those who chose the dungeons were met with a far worse fate, for they were tortured and had their bodies defiled by instruments of cruelty and agony. 

As the days went by, the High Council was able to break the barrier and battle the fanatics, killing them in the process. How ironic, considering that they were the ones who ordered the purge. 

However, we were kept imprisoned but were promised fair trials and appropriate punishments. As promising as it sounded, we knew that it was false hope, that we were setting ourselves up for great despair by deluding ourselves with hope.

Unbeknownst to us, there were those who sympathized with us and wished to follow the path we took, for they realized that we only had good intentions for our kind. 

Over days, they gathered and started to make themselves known. They found the remnants of our work and started piecing together what was lost. 

Thanks to them, our trials were delayed for years, allowing them to gather forces and the necessary equipment for liberating us.

Once all the pieces were in place, our followers lashed out. Fueled by grief, hatred and a sense of righteousness, a violent civil war was at hand.

---

Our discoveries brought forth a golden age, an era of progress and wonder, but the ignorant masses took it for granted. They denied their right to achieve divinity. They rejected their purpose.

Their ignorance will be bane of their existence, their place in the world. By holding on to their dogma, they forfeit their lives to extinction.

But we shall not let that happen. Despite their betrayal, we will not abandon them to the cruelty of fate, no, we shall save them and show them the light that they run from. It will be harsh on them, but they leave us no choice.

They will learn that the raging fire which builds and forges civilizations can also be used to reduce it to ashes.

It is by force that we shall show them the error of their ways.

And so we built weapons and constructs of terror. We refined our magic and bound spirits to automatons. We will end this war with a single strike.

We took to the battlefield and our strength was apparent. Our plans went accordingly and we managed to shed the least amount of blood possible. Victory seemed imminent, as we drove our brethren to their base and laid siege to their city. 

Among our weapons was a bomb which was capable of rending space, annihilating all within its radius. We planned on using this as a show of force, to crush their morale and bring them to their knees. 

It was to be used far away and have them witness its terrible power. But it did not go as planned.

Our main force was at the gate, the very gate which held their armies and civilians safe. It was never our intention to harm them. But situations do not always go as planned. 

As we would later realize, there were spies within our ranks, tasked to cripple our forces at the right time. They were sent on a suicide mission. However, the fools who sent them didn't understand our intentions; they didn't understand the nature of the weapon we possessed. When they were signaled, they detonated the bomb. What followed was utter annihilation. 

A massive sphere of complete blackness emerged, devouring all near it. It was a big as entire mountain ranges. The onlookers could only accept their fate and witness such a horrifying with utter despair and defeat, for it truly was a terrifying sight to behold.

The blackness consumed all within it. The deaths were in the millions. We inflicted despair upon ourselves, damning our brothers to oblivion. 

Once the blackness dissipated, it left a rift in its wake. The rift was like an infected wound which destabilized our magic and construct and we felt it being siphoned away from us. It was time to retreat.

As the remainder of our forces fled, we heard the skies roar. Our hubris incurred the wrath of the Dragonborn, who descended and hunted us down. This time, we deserved the punishment of our sins.

However, as deserving we were of death, our work was not finished. There is so much more we could do and until then, our punishment will have to wait. 

The Dragonborn, using their magic, isolated and closed the rift. We imposed exile upon ourselves and fled to an island-continent, leagues away from our fallen kingdom.

And now we rebuild and prepare for a new age. We have spent over a hundred thousand years refining and discovering new forms of magic, for we still believe.

The Gods created us in their own image, which gives us the divine right to apotheosize. We discovered the means to grow closer to them using the gift of magic which was bestowed upon us. 

We built for their sake and honor and when we cried to them we were met with a deafening silence.

Have the Gods abandoned us? Do they hate us? Are we forsaken? We search for answers only to end up with more questions than before.

Where are they? Why were we stopped from following our purpose?

Do the Gods hate us? We may never know.

However, we realized that the silence speaks as well. It screams at us. The screams were loud and clear, its message obvious, for there was a possibility that it may be true. And it was delightful, joyous. 

Do the Gods fear us?

Though it is only a possibility, one thing is clear.

"Godhood is our right. After all, aren't children meant to surpass their parents?"

 -From the accounts of Tal'os the Mad, a Dark Elf philosopher