Acropolis II - Origination
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:24 pm
Everything that ever was existed in the Beginning. The Supreme Forces That Were One Mind realized this would not do, for no thing could tell itself apart from another. No thing could move. No thing could grow. No thing could learn or love or feel satisfaction.
And so the Supreme Forces That Were One Mind gave a portion of their authority to The Autarch. "Autarch," They told him, "To you We give the Power of Approval. To you we give the authority to say what will be, to divide the universe" And the Autarch saw that this was needful.
Seeing that everything did not need to be all at once, the Autarch allowed Time. And when he allowed Time, he saw that he allowed Death to creep in as well. The Autarch vowed he would be more careful.
Seeing that everything did not need to be in the same place, the Autarch allowed Space. With Space, first came Individuality, but so came Loneliness, Misfortune, War, and a whole host of lesser undesirables. And the Autarch wondered how he could have been so careless. At this point, he would have started over, but the Supreme Forces That Were One were content and did not give him this authority.
So from out of all Time and Space, the Autarch carved out a World. So that he could see it, he allowed Sun. And seeing the world, he felt it was flat and hard and lifeless. He allowed the Tree, that stretched forth from the Ground toward Sun. And its stretching brought forth the three planes -- the bough, the trunk, and the roots.
Seeing the World and Tree would make a great home to many things, the Autarch allowed the many things - birds, beasts, insects, flowers, and many others. And as these things spread out from the Tree, the Autarch saw a need to allow mountains and valleys, deserts and oceans. He allowed weather to sustain these things.
The Autarch might have been content to stop there, but he realized that none of the great but intangible things had came to be. Where was Love, where was Wonder, where was Peacefulness? And so the Autarch saw a need for beings to hold these things within themselves. He allowed Mortals, living beings like those that had found their home in the World but that could also appreciate it.
That is when the Autarch truly found Despair. With mortals came a slew of other things -- Greed, Anger, Pettiness, Melancholy... more evils than any man could count. And unlike Wisdom or Humor, the evils were not content to stay within Mortals. First, they invaded the insects, infecting many with insatiable hunger. Then they invaded the worms and leeches. Next they took some of the smaller birds and mammals and even some very few of the larger ones. But when they attempted to take the Tree, the Autarch had had enough.
The spirits of Mortals had proven to be frail, permeable things. The Autarch needed something stronger. And so he allowed Gods, spirits that would inhabit all the natural things he had created on the World and forbid any further purchase of the evils. Every living creature that had not been touched by evil, as well as every creature that was, he gave a chosen protector, so too did he allow one for every natural feature of the World.
And though the Autarch could not undo the evils that had found their way into what had been allowed, he found that he could limit it. The evils were drawn into the depths of the earth among the Roots, though some were crafty or powerful enough to find themselves sanctuaries in the realm of the Trunk.
And so it came to be that these Gods found themselves the center of the Mortals' attention, though Mortals lacked any means to sense them directly. Some very few wise ones were able to intuit the history of the Gods and pass it along to the other mortals, but some very many foolish ones took it upon themselves to worship these Gods. In a way the Autarch had not anticipated, the fortunes of many Gods appeared to rise and fall according to the whims of these mortals and the vagaries of Fate that attended them.
This is a story of these Gods.
And so the Supreme Forces That Were One Mind gave a portion of their authority to The Autarch. "Autarch," They told him, "To you We give the Power of Approval. To you we give the authority to say what will be, to divide the universe" And the Autarch saw that this was needful.
Seeing that everything did not need to be all at once, the Autarch allowed Time. And when he allowed Time, he saw that he allowed Death to creep in as well. The Autarch vowed he would be more careful.
Seeing that everything did not need to be in the same place, the Autarch allowed Space. With Space, first came Individuality, but so came Loneliness, Misfortune, War, and a whole host of lesser undesirables. And the Autarch wondered how he could have been so careless. At this point, he would have started over, but the Supreme Forces That Were One were content and did not give him this authority.
So from out of all Time and Space, the Autarch carved out a World. So that he could see it, he allowed Sun. And seeing the world, he felt it was flat and hard and lifeless. He allowed the Tree, that stretched forth from the Ground toward Sun. And its stretching brought forth the three planes -- the bough, the trunk, and the roots.
Seeing the World and Tree would make a great home to many things, the Autarch allowed the many things - birds, beasts, insects, flowers, and many others. And as these things spread out from the Tree, the Autarch saw a need to allow mountains and valleys, deserts and oceans. He allowed weather to sustain these things.
The Autarch might have been content to stop there, but he realized that none of the great but intangible things had came to be. Where was Love, where was Wonder, where was Peacefulness? And so the Autarch saw a need for beings to hold these things within themselves. He allowed Mortals, living beings like those that had found their home in the World but that could also appreciate it.
That is when the Autarch truly found Despair. With mortals came a slew of other things -- Greed, Anger, Pettiness, Melancholy... more evils than any man could count. And unlike Wisdom or Humor, the evils were not content to stay within Mortals. First, they invaded the insects, infecting many with insatiable hunger. Then they invaded the worms and leeches. Next they took some of the smaller birds and mammals and even some very few of the larger ones. But when they attempted to take the Tree, the Autarch had had enough.
The spirits of Mortals had proven to be frail, permeable things. The Autarch needed something stronger. And so he allowed Gods, spirits that would inhabit all the natural things he had created on the World and forbid any further purchase of the evils. Every living creature that had not been touched by evil, as well as every creature that was, he gave a chosen protector, so too did he allow one for every natural feature of the World.
And though the Autarch could not undo the evils that had found their way into what had been allowed, he found that he could limit it. The evils were drawn into the depths of the earth among the Roots, though some were crafty or powerful enough to find themselves sanctuaries in the realm of the Trunk.
And so it came to be that these Gods found themselves the center of the Mortals' attention, though Mortals lacked any means to sense them directly. Some very few wise ones were able to intuit the history of the Gods and pass it along to the other mortals, but some very many foolish ones took it upon themselves to worship these Gods. In a way the Autarch had not anticipated, the fortunes of many Gods appeared to rise and fall according to the whims of these mortals and the vagaries of Fate that attended them.
This is a story of these Gods.