This chapter has been translated by Earth Scorpion.

Chapter Seven

The Gauntlet is raised as punishment for the Rat's death. The Great Animals offer gifts to God as penance, but both Men and Wolves commit grievous sins and incur God's wrath.

1 Now it was that the World, that Garden that God Almighty had granted to His chosen Animal, was lost and despoiled, destroyed by the Hubris of the Rat and of the Spider, and by the Sloth of the other Animals who turned a blind eye to the Sins of the Wolf and Spider.

2 And so it was that God Almighty raised a great Wall between the Land of Flesh and the Land of Spirit, so that the Animals who had Sinned could no more walk in both worlds.

3 And the maddened offspring of the Wolf cried out, for they could no longer hunt in both Lands, to feast off the succulent flesh of.

4 For the offspring of the Wolf cried out, for they believed that their Sin had given them the Garden.

5 And the maddened daughters of the Spider were gluttonous, content to wait in their webs, and if they could no longer wait, they would starve.

6 And the children of the Locust, of the Crow, of the Serpent, and of all the other Animals protested unto the Lord, for they claimed that they had played no part in the Sin of the Murder of the Rat.

7 For they had been slothful, but as Sloth is a Sin of inaction and the Sins of the Wolf and of the Spider had been ones of action, they said unto the Lord that such a punishment was out of proportion to their Sin.

8 But the Children of the Rat did not protest, for although they had been deprived of their father, Chosen of the Lord, they were His humble servants, and knew that it was not right to impose on the Creator of this bountiful Word.

9 And the Lord was displeased with the children of the other Animals, for in their foolishness they had questioned His wisdom, and the Lord is a wrathful God.

10 But the Lord was not displeased with the children of the Rat, for they had fulfilled the tasks he had set of them, as was right for His Chosen People.

11 And so the Lord descended from Heaven.

12 All the Animals and their Children were summoned by his presence, to hear his words of judgment.

13 But the Children of the Rat would not be judged, for they had not sinned but instead been sinned against, and were instead permitted to swarm around His paws, where no other creature was allowed lest they die from the glory of His presence.

14 And the Humans did not hear the summons, for they had always been deaf and nothing more than prey for the other animals.

15 But five foolish men, and five foolish women, followed the Animals, for they were greedy and wished to rise above their status.

16 So it came that the Animals were assembled, followed by five foolish men and five foolish women, hiding with what stealth their stinking bodies could manage.

17 But the Children of the Rat were distracted by their supplications to the Lord, and could not smell the humans, so blessed were they by the odor of the Lord.

18 And none of the other Animals nor their children could smell as well as the Children of the Rat, and so the five foolish men and five foolish women went undiscovered.

19 The Lord spoke unto the masses of the Animals and their Children, saying, I have built a Wall as punishment for your sins.

20 And the Wall is Five Hundred and Fifty Five Lengths, from Nose to Tail, Wide.

21 And the Wall is Five Hundred and Fifty Five Lengths, from Nose to Tail, High.

22 And the Wall shall exist forever, as a Gauntlet to the Sin of the Murder of the Rat.

23 For when you sinned, whether by Action or Inaction, in permitting the Murder of the Rat, you permitted Five Hundred and Fifty Five drops of his blood to Fall on My Earth, and so your Sin has polluted the World, this Garden I made for you.

24 But the Sinful Animals rose up, saying But, Lord, we have brought gifts unto you, as a sign of our repentance.

25 And these gifts number Five Hundred and Fifty Five, one for each drop that we sinned in spilling.

26 And, too, we shall give Five Hundred and Fifty Five of our number in sacrifice to you, and permit the Children of the Rat to feast upon their corpses as payment for our sin.

27 And the Lord was pleased, for it showed their humility and would ensure that the Children of the Rat were fed.

28 And food is a Sacrament to the Lord.

29 So the Lord spoke, Bring these gifts unto me, so that I may judge them.

30 And the gifts were brought to the Lord.

31 But only Five Hundred and Forty Five were found.

32 For while the Animals and their Children had been listening to the Words of the Lord, the foolish Humans had sneaked into the meeting.

33 And they had made off with ten of the gifts.

34 And the Lord was Wrathful at this affront to Him.

35 And the Animals chased after the Humans, but they used their stolen gifts to escape.

36 But it was that the five Men were captured, through the keen senses and great numbers of the Rat.

37 But none of the gifts were recovered, for the Men had given their gifts to the Women.

38 And so it was that the Women had escaped with Ten of the Gifts of God.

39 For the First among their Number had stolen the secret of Creation, and her mate, who now had been captured by the Faithful, had stolen the secret of Fire.

40 And the Second among their Number had stolen the knowledge of death, and her mate, who now had been captured by the Faithful, had stolen the knowledge of changing the Land of Flesh.

41 And the Third among their Number had stolen the understanding of thought, and her mate, who now had been captured by the Faithful, had stolen the understanding of distances.

42 And the Fourth among their Number had stolen the tools for what must be, and her mate, who now had been captured by the Faithful, had stolen the tools for what shall be.

43 And the Fifth among their Number had stolen the wisdoms of the Land of Spirit, and her mate, who now had been captured by the Faithful, had stolen the wisdoms of the Flesh.

44 So the Lord drew a great tree from the ground, the tallest that has ever been, and he smote the First Man around the head, but would not permit him to die, for that would be a release from his pain.

45 And the Lord spoke to the First Man, saying, You would try to steal the secret of Fire, but for your sins you shall always burn from the slightest touch.

46 And so the Lord sent the First Man into the Wilderness, to prey on the Humans until His gifts were returned to Him.

47 And the Lord smote the Second Man, saying, You would try to learn the knowledge for changing the Land of Flesh, but for your sins you shall only know fear and hatred for the rest of your life.

48 And so the Lord sent the Second Man into the Wilderness, to prey on the Humans until His gifts were returned to him.

49 And the Lord smote the Third Man, saying, You would seek to understand distance and why I have separated what must be, but for your sins your mind will shatter like a weak claw.

50 And so the Lord sent the Third Man into the Wilderness, to prey on the Humans until His gifts were returned to him.

51 And the Lord smote the Fourth Man, saying, You would seek to take my tools, for what must be, but for your sins you shall always be a slave to your desires.

52 And so the Lord sent the Fourth Man into the Wilderness, to prey on the Humans until His gifts were returned to him.

53 And the Lord smote the Fifth Man, saying, You would seek to control life itself, in the greatest sin of your kin, and so you shall always be a beast, like the Sinful Children of the Wolf.

54 And so the Lord sent the Fifth Man into the Wilderness, to prey on the Humans until His gifts were returned to him.

55 And His word was final.

56 With that done, the Lord turned to the Animals, and spoke, You have failed to provide me with the Five Hundred and Fifty Five gifts that you have promised me.

57 But I am a benevolent God.

58 And so I will instead take not Five Hundred and Fifty Five of your number for the Children of the Rat.

59 Whose Father you so crudely, whether through Action or Inaction, slew.

60 But instead I shall take Five times Five times Five Hundred and Fifty Five.

61 For through your negligence you permitted the Humans to steal my gifts, five and five again.

62 And there was much anger in the crowds of Animals and of their Children.

63 But they were to accede, for most of them had only sinned through Inaction, not Action.

64 But the Sinful Children of the Wolf stood up, saying, We shall not do that.

65 For we killed the Rat through our own power, they said.

66 Even then they denied the role that the Spider played.

67 And though you may claim that the Children of the Rat and their dead Father were your Chosen People, we still killed them.

68 And so, as a consequences, we are mightier than you, for you desired him to live, and we desired for him to die.

69 And the Rat is now dead.

70 With that said, the Nine Children of the Wolf demanded that the other animals bow towards them, rather than God.

71 And the Wrath of God grew ten-fold, and then ten-fold again, for the Children of the Wolf were more than Sinners.

72 But instead had become Traitors to the Realm of God, and He would not permit the Nine Children of the Wolf to be that.