AN: Okay, so chapter no. 3! Stuff is happening! Sadly, no Alanna in this
one. I'm not quite sure when she's coming back, cos my OC Mira is really
the central character now, but it might change later in the story. When
she's done her task. What task you ask? You must read to find out!
IMPORTANT NOTE!!! This is now 300 years after the books, so Bazhir girls are allowed to be Shamans and they marry about 18, not 13. Other than that though, their lifestyle has changed very little.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mira was watching clouds float over the small oasis when it happened. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Why would it? As far as she knew, she was normal and average in every way. She had medium dark skin - not as dark as some, but darker than many. Her eyes were brown too, and her hair was black. She looked every bit the regular, 15-year-old Bazhir maiden.
She didn't know why she had been chosen. Even the one who chose her was acting on little more than an instinct. But it happened.
From her position lying on her back in the sand, Mira could see little, but hear everything. Even so, a small rustle of cloth was all that was heard of the woman approaching her.
She was very easily the most beautiful woman ever, inhumanly beautiful. She had an ivory complexion accented by a full red mouth and piercing green eyes. Her jet-black hair hung unbound down to her slim waist. Mira knew her on sight, from the statue in the small shrine visited by all women as their monthly bleeding began. She was Kanajrana, Goddess of Fertility.
Mira sprang to her feet and bowed in the fashion favoured by High God Roger when he visited the tribe. This was rare - it had only happened once in living memory - but all the children were taught from birth respect for High God Roger, for he was quick to anger, and punished mortals and Lesser Gods often.
"Rise, my child," the goddess said quietly. "You and I must talk."
"Talk, my Lady?" asked Mira, using the correct term for a Lesser goddess, "What about?"
"About the past, the future, and the current state of things." As she said this, Kanajrana sat gracefully on the sand, looking out at the trees that surrounded them.
"Couldn't you just pull a chair out of the sand or something?" asked Mira, not unreasonably she felt. Lesser gods could not inflict punishment as High God Roger could, and it was common knowledge that the Fertility Goddess was scorned by him. "I always though gods could do that sort of thing."
"I cannot let High God Roger Know I am here. It has taken many years of planning, but I am now reasonably certain you and I can talk in private."
"What about?" Mira repeated.
"It will take some time," the goddess replied, staring into the distance. And with that she began.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About 300 years ago, things were different. Roger was not High God, but Roger of Conte, the king's nephew. The King war Roald of Conte, the Queen Lianne of Naxen, and the Prince, Jonathon of Conte. Past Prince Jonathon, Roger was the only heir to the throne.
The Gods were who you now know as Lesser Gods. The most powerful of the gods were Mithros, god of law, now messenger god, and The Great Mother Goddess, god of women. These beings ruled over Tortall and the surrounding lands with fairness and decency. All of us are the children of Mother Flame and Father Darkness.
Roger of Conte was unhappy with his position as Duke and Sorcerer. He wanted to become King of Tortall, and realized the simplest and most direct way would be to kill his Uncle, Aunt and Cousin. He devised ways of killing that made him seem guilt free, for he wanted no enemies. He told only a select few of his plans.
And he would have succeeded, but for one young woman. Her name was Alanna of Trebond. You won't find her name in a book. Roger has made sure of that. She wanted to become a knight. Her father would not allow it, so she traded places with her twin brother. She one of the Chosen of the Great Mother Goddess.
Only she saw through Roger. She saved the life of her friend the Prince on more than one occasion, and tried to convince him of Roger's treachery. However, Roger had placed a spell on him, and try as she might, Alanna could not warn him.
Events reached a climax soon after Alanna passed her Ordeal of Knighthood. She found solid evidence of Rogers treachery and brought it before the King. Roger, infuriated, demanded Trial by Combat. Alanna killed him, and the spell evaporated. Everyone realized Roger's plan.
Alanna's brother, Thom, became at eighteen the youngest Master ever, and the most powerful. One of Roger's supporters, Delia of Eldorne, realized how she might be able to use this to her advantage. She played off the pride of the young Master, saying if he were truly powerful, he would be able to raise the dead. So he did, and bought Roger back to life.
Why he chose Roger is still unknown. Perhaps he thought a strong Gift would aid his own, or perhaps the influence of Roger was on him still. Whatever the reason, Roger came back, and this time he had bigger plans.
The Queen soon died of illness, and the King killed himself out of grief. And on the day of the Coronation of King Jonathon the Fourth, Roger struck.
He created earthquakes to destroy the palace, and a modified Gate of Iddramm to drain the Gift of all who touched it. He drained Thom of Trebond, Si-Cham the Old, Jonathon of Conte, and more. With so many Gifts under his belt, he was crushed to death with his chosen Queen, Alanna of Trebond, whom he loved and hated with all his mind. As they died, he cast a spell, to take them, not to the realm of the dead, but to the Divine Realm. He challenged Mithros and the other gods, using a cage spell he had devised while between living and dead. He encased us in pure magic. We would have broken out in time, were it not for the second Gate that drained us.
He took complete control over the Mortal realm, from Yaman to Emelan, Sarain to Feldrook. He took control of the Divine, Chaos and Dead realms. Further than anyone else has dared to claim dominion.
After a time, he realized he had no interest in some aspects of life, such as child birthing, coal mining, farming. So he gave a few of the previous gods the title of Lesser God, and put them in the places he found boring.
Since then, he has ruled cruelly, with little care for his subjects wellbeing, and concern only for his own power. He is a madman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mira sat in silence for a moment as it all sunk in. It was hard to believe that people had ever not lived in fear on their gods, or that more than one god had major powers.
"Which god were you?" asked Mira, to break the silence. "Before High God Roger came to power?"
Kanajrana smiled slightly. "The Great Mother Goddess."
Mira gasped inwardly, now aware that she addressed the previous equivalent to High God Roger. She swallowed, and asked, "Why tell me any of this? What do I have to do with it?"
"There is one person who could restore peace to the world. One who could put things back to the way they should be." The goddesses voice was grim. "But she is trapped. You have seen her, in statues and paintings. She is the Silent One, the Queen of all Life.
"To restore this world, you must free Alanna of Trebond."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: I know there are wrong details in her story, but this is what she remembers from 300 years ago. I meant it to be like that.
There's one bit I'm not happy with in this chapter, and that's how Mira immediately accepted the GMG's story and that she was a good goddess. She needs to so it keeps running smoothly, but I'm not sure I like it. What do you think?
Thanx to:
Socal-Schitzophrenic: Of corse it has a plot! Randomness? Does that sound like me? Okay, maybe that was the wrong question, but yes, this one does have a very interesting (I think) plot.
Okay everyone, you what to do to make me happy! Press the little button down there and REVIEW!!!
IMPORTANT NOTE!!! This is now 300 years after the books, so Bazhir girls are allowed to be Shamans and they marry about 18, not 13. Other than that though, their lifestyle has changed very little.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mira was watching clouds float over the small oasis when it happened. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Why would it? As far as she knew, she was normal and average in every way. She had medium dark skin - not as dark as some, but darker than many. Her eyes were brown too, and her hair was black. She looked every bit the regular, 15-year-old Bazhir maiden.
She didn't know why she had been chosen. Even the one who chose her was acting on little more than an instinct. But it happened.
From her position lying on her back in the sand, Mira could see little, but hear everything. Even so, a small rustle of cloth was all that was heard of the woman approaching her.
She was very easily the most beautiful woman ever, inhumanly beautiful. She had an ivory complexion accented by a full red mouth and piercing green eyes. Her jet-black hair hung unbound down to her slim waist. Mira knew her on sight, from the statue in the small shrine visited by all women as their monthly bleeding began. She was Kanajrana, Goddess of Fertility.
Mira sprang to her feet and bowed in the fashion favoured by High God Roger when he visited the tribe. This was rare - it had only happened once in living memory - but all the children were taught from birth respect for High God Roger, for he was quick to anger, and punished mortals and Lesser Gods often.
"Rise, my child," the goddess said quietly. "You and I must talk."
"Talk, my Lady?" asked Mira, using the correct term for a Lesser goddess, "What about?"
"About the past, the future, and the current state of things." As she said this, Kanajrana sat gracefully on the sand, looking out at the trees that surrounded them.
"Couldn't you just pull a chair out of the sand or something?" asked Mira, not unreasonably she felt. Lesser gods could not inflict punishment as High God Roger could, and it was common knowledge that the Fertility Goddess was scorned by him. "I always though gods could do that sort of thing."
"I cannot let High God Roger Know I am here. It has taken many years of planning, but I am now reasonably certain you and I can talk in private."
"What about?" Mira repeated.
"It will take some time," the goddess replied, staring into the distance. And with that she began.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About 300 years ago, things were different. Roger was not High God, but Roger of Conte, the king's nephew. The King war Roald of Conte, the Queen Lianne of Naxen, and the Prince, Jonathon of Conte. Past Prince Jonathon, Roger was the only heir to the throne.
The Gods were who you now know as Lesser Gods. The most powerful of the gods were Mithros, god of law, now messenger god, and The Great Mother Goddess, god of women. These beings ruled over Tortall and the surrounding lands with fairness and decency. All of us are the children of Mother Flame and Father Darkness.
Roger of Conte was unhappy with his position as Duke and Sorcerer. He wanted to become King of Tortall, and realized the simplest and most direct way would be to kill his Uncle, Aunt and Cousin. He devised ways of killing that made him seem guilt free, for he wanted no enemies. He told only a select few of his plans.
And he would have succeeded, but for one young woman. Her name was Alanna of Trebond. You won't find her name in a book. Roger has made sure of that. She wanted to become a knight. Her father would not allow it, so she traded places with her twin brother. She one of the Chosen of the Great Mother Goddess.
Only she saw through Roger. She saved the life of her friend the Prince on more than one occasion, and tried to convince him of Roger's treachery. However, Roger had placed a spell on him, and try as she might, Alanna could not warn him.
Events reached a climax soon after Alanna passed her Ordeal of Knighthood. She found solid evidence of Rogers treachery and brought it before the King. Roger, infuriated, demanded Trial by Combat. Alanna killed him, and the spell evaporated. Everyone realized Roger's plan.
Alanna's brother, Thom, became at eighteen the youngest Master ever, and the most powerful. One of Roger's supporters, Delia of Eldorne, realized how she might be able to use this to her advantage. She played off the pride of the young Master, saying if he were truly powerful, he would be able to raise the dead. So he did, and bought Roger back to life.
Why he chose Roger is still unknown. Perhaps he thought a strong Gift would aid his own, or perhaps the influence of Roger was on him still. Whatever the reason, Roger came back, and this time he had bigger plans.
The Queen soon died of illness, and the King killed himself out of grief. And on the day of the Coronation of King Jonathon the Fourth, Roger struck.
He created earthquakes to destroy the palace, and a modified Gate of Iddramm to drain the Gift of all who touched it. He drained Thom of Trebond, Si-Cham the Old, Jonathon of Conte, and more. With so many Gifts under his belt, he was crushed to death with his chosen Queen, Alanna of Trebond, whom he loved and hated with all his mind. As they died, he cast a spell, to take them, not to the realm of the dead, but to the Divine Realm. He challenged Mithros and the other gods, using a cage spell he had devised while between living and dead. He encased us in pure magic. We would have broken out in time, were it not for the second Gate that drained us.
He took complete control over the Mortal realm, from Yaman to Emelan, Sarain to Feldrook. He took control of the Divine, Chaos and Dead realms. Further than anyone else has dared to claim dominion.
After a time, he realized he had no interest in some aspects of life, such as child birthing, coal mining, farming. So he gave a few of the previous gods the title of Lesser God, and put them in the places he found boring.
Since then, he has ruled cruelly, with little care for his subjects wellbeing, and concern only for his own power. He is a madman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mira sat in silence for a moment as it all sunk in. It was hard to believe that people had ever not lived in fear on their gods, or that more than one god had major powers.
"Which god were you?" asked Mira, to break the silence. "Before High God Roger came to power?"
Kanajrana smiled slightly. "The Great Mother Goddess."
Mira gasped inwardly, now aware that she addressed the previous equivalent to High God Roger. She swallowed, and asked, "Why tell me any of this? What do I have to do with it?"
"There is one person who could restore peace to the world. One who could put things back to the way they should be." The goddesses voice was grim. "But she is trapped. You have seen her, in statues and paintings. She is the Silent One, the Queen of all Life.
"To restore this world, you must free Alanna of Trebond."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: I know there are wrong details in her story, but this is what she remembers from 300 years ago. I meant it to be like that.
There's one bit I'm not happy with in this chapter, and that's how Mira immediately accepted the GMG's story and that she was a good goddess. She needs to so it keeps running smoothly, but I'm not sure I like it. What do you think?
Thanx to:
Socal-Schitzophrenic: Of corse it has a plot! Randomness? Does that sound like me? Okay, maybe that was the wrong question, but yes, this one does have a very interesting (I think) plot.
Okay everyone, you what to do to make me happy! Press the little button down there and REVIEW!!!