The War of the Shadows
“One’s demise is always one's own making.”
Actions have consequences, small, meaningless, great or small. One day, an answer will be given.
The Conflict
Prelude
That day. On Umbra Prime, when we saw the first victims of this plague, there was recognition in her eyes. She had seen this before, the descriptions weren’t enough for her to understand, but seeing the Children in the flesh. She turned away before the others saw what I saw. “Dear Sister, what have you seen?” I asked her, grabbing her shoulder, turning her back toward me only to be met with an abject fear. “What is it?” “Not here. I fear my mistakes have finally come back to haunt me…” She answered as both Syn and Kyln perked their ears to listen. When we were away from the Children, she told us of her crime. She told us of that Shadow she ripped apart, how she put down one of her own children for this same soul corrupting disease. We didn’t yet know, we thought we had one foe… We were wrong. Very very wrong. We watched as attempt after attempt to cure the afflicted failed, many only furthering the corruption. Increasing the deformities, the aggression, the wyld magic that had no control. It was with heavy hearts that we realised that Vilorlith was correct, there was no cure to what this Shadow had done. All afflicted, all of them, men, women, children, would need to be put down to stop the spread of this curse. For every one of the Children that tried to help them in the beginning, were lost to that same sickness that they tried to cure. We didn’t know it then, but we were facing our deaths. And we would fight it to the bitter end.-Alnya recounting the first days of the initial outbreaks of Miasma. This story begins far from the fighting, from before the world had truly formed. From before the worlds knew how to breath, from before the light of distant stars reached the edges of the creations, a mistake. Made in anger, fear, frustration. For to our song was an underlying bass note, one too quiet for even us to hear. One that we needed, one that our song relied on. Yet, when the musician appeared on our stage, unrecognizable to us. A discordant note to our symphony. A fifth brother, the dark horse, the black sheep, the note held dear. The Original Shadow, all it, he, had wanted was to join our song. But to play with forces beyond comprehension, he knew naught. Our dearest brother had only wished to change, improve, build upon as was his nature. Entropy incarnate, as we were also forces of this realm, his was alien to us. Toyed with the soul of a Child, one of hers... Vilorlith angry, demanded that he undo what he had done, but he could not. It was not his ability to unchange, but to further the forces before him. Vilorlith in her rage tried to cure the Child herself, but could not. Her in all her power, all her glory, all her good intentions, could not undo change. In her wrath, a feeling she did not know she was capable of, tore a god apart. Eight pieces of darkness to be thrown further than our creation had yet expanded. Yet, like us, to kill a god is not something so easily done. Not quiet theoretical, not quite reality, not quite metaphysical, not quite spiritual, not quite possible. In the wake of this, Vilorlith strengthen her bond to her Children, must to our complaints on the matter. Over time, they too became close to becoming the gods we wished them to be. She wished them never to be so defenseless again in the darkness. Granted an Edin to our children the likes of which we saw in our minds, made manifest a reality to them. Vilorlith had not known, for it took time for our creations to expand, before this brother would again be a part of the song. Only now, this brother, broken, had become eight. Eight Shadows of his former self. These creatures all shared a memory, one single moment in time as their consciousness formed under their own wills, was that of a demon with eyes that burned with the light of the cosmos killing them over and over and over... As the sphere of our creation encapsulated these pieces once more, they began to grow. Slowly, taking Eons to regenerate to the degree they had, allowing our own Children more time to become closer to what we wished of them. As their civilization grew, we guided them, aided their growth in every possible way. When at the height of their might and legacy, the sins of the past re-emerged... An Edin denied. It was on Umbra Prime, a home-world for the Brownies that the disease first appeared. Quickly followed by seven other worlds; Syn’s Warmth, Izilyth, Yonder, Kyln’s Respite, Tartot, The Fae Homeworld, The Cradle. All of them major hubs for the Namixian peoples to congregate, trade, worship, engage in politics, enjoy their lives in the arts and culinary wonders. The strategic value of these planets were not lost on us, though it was not noticed by our Children with the same swiftness. Well placed first shots at us. The disease was mutagenic, corrupting mind, body and soul, much the same as it was for Vilorlith when she first saw what that Shadow had done. It warped their bodies, flesh fell from bone, turned their flesh into weapons more capable of spreading the disease though physical contact. Their breathing creating new vectors of transmission, making it airborn before we could do anything about it. Their minds chained to voices we did not know, giving them commands we did not give, unable to disobey them. Spiritually they were lost to us, as their souls warped and forsook the Divine Spark we granted them all at birth. For all intents and purposes, those Children were lost, they were no longer our own, despite the familiar faces, familiar voices. In the end, without a cure. We aided our Children in every attempt to cure them, for we had given them the sight to grow, to learn, to adapt and overcome. Vaccines were ineffective, long term exposure to the medicine only caused the mutagen to grow out of control. Gene sequencing was used to try and command some semblance of herd immunity, with only led to those already infected to become more aggressive. Omnipotent wards of purification and protection, failed. The shame in Vilorlith's eyes spoke more than the sound of her voice as she recommended to the councils of each the worlds. "There are fates worse than death, perhaps we should give them the chance to sleep. For in death sickness does not spread." Vilorlith had known from the beginning that this was going to be our only option, as it had been hers. She had simply hoped that they Children would succeed where she failed. With that, the orders were signed. The Legion of Syn would be given the orders to exterminate any and all infected Children, incinerate the cities and bodies to stop the spread of the infections across each of the worlds. The Legion would also allow any Child to enlist, and thus began what we thought would be a dark stain on our history. A plague that had unknown sources, turned the people against each other as it showed exactly our weaknesses. Powerful first shots indeed.
"I only wished that she would have told us, if she had not hidden that act from us, we would not have been so caught off guard. Maybe even been able to prepare, mount a full counter offensive, won. But, that didn't happen, ashamed she was at what she had done. I understand her actions, but I am sorrowful that she didn't trust us to be that vulnerable. But, then again, I don't think I would have done anything different. Young gods we were then."-Syn on a mission report to her son Anlyth as the Ashbringers rained an orbital bombardment on a known Shadow's Nest. Helios Penumbra's atmosphere was ignited to stop the spread of infection and the Shadow calling itself Koroth was "dismantled" in the bombardment when it had nowhere to hide.
When the Children realized there was an actual enemy, not just containment for the pogroms against the infected. They called our actions into question, we could not blame them, we owed them answers for the great many things that were happening. Several Dyson spheres were attacked by unknown entities. Creatures that we hadn't made, that we had no knowledge of. Thesilese fell, Valley fell, Wyric fell, and Nax fell to these entities.
It was here that the Shadows had made themselves known. The masterminds behind this mysterious sickness, the ones behind shutting down major hubs in the Galactic networks. Now, they had attacked the major power stations fueling the rest of those sectors. Gaining an edge is what would become an all out war against them, it was here that the children learned what we were trying to prepare for. The unholy howl of these... things, unnerved even our strongest.
Outcome
With the fall of the gods, Vilorlith, Kyln, Syn dead at the hands of the Shadows, there was not much holding together the creation they had made. Alnya knew that death was certain if she didn't do something they weren't expecting. In Syn's dying breath she had commanded Alyna to "Shatter it. Take what she could, and Shatter it." In an event that would shape all histories following this moment, Alnya did just that.
She grabbed as many of the uninfected Children as she could, (~4.5 million) as well as much material to create a few planets, she Shattered Namix. The Universe the Quartet had spent Eons crafting, that the Quartet had poured so much love and power into, the home to trillions of their children and their children's children... and destroyed it. She did this to escape the Shadows, casting the shards of the world behind her as she ran with only what she could carry. She left their former world to the Shadows and damned them to never find her again as she tore a hole through reality creating The Elsewhere.
The Shadows had won, they got what they wanted. The death of the one who had caused them so much pain, as well as the very world they held so dear. But, victory is short lived when the full weight of responsibility weighs on the shoulders of the victorious. They worked quickly to stabilize the world they just "inherited". Though, they lacked many things to function it nearly to the same the Quartet had been able to do. They simply couldn't function without their power, or at least a Spark of it...
Aftermath
There are four Major things that came about the war. Things that would have an immense effect, potency and repercussions as time trekked along.
- The First: The Creation of The Great Tree, the world's biggest misconception. Little is known about the nature of the Tree or what it's purpose is. The truth of the matter is this; The Great Tree is what remains of Namix. Every last thing that exists on the branches of the Tree are Shadow Touched. The gods of this world are a lie, they are the Shadows that conquered it. Not true gods, powerful yes. But, gods? I suppose that is a matter of debate. The term "The Great Tree" just happens to be an apt description of the shape the shattered pieces of Namix took after the Shadows had done their best to put the world back together and as they hunted after where Alnya and the surviving Children disappeared to. A broken world, held together mostly out of fear by the Shadows themselves. To let this shape fall back apart would mean the universe they fought so hard to be a part of, would simply disappear. Presumably, with them.
- The Second: The Creation of the Elsewhere by the Queen of the Fae, Alnya. While this is a far cry from the mighty civilization they once commanded, no-where near the same strength they once held, dependent on the continuous love of the sole surviving goddess. It has given them time, quite a lot of time. Time to grow in strength, time to watch and learn what the Shadows had made of their former world. Time to plan, time to reforge their place in the world. Time to try and figure out how to help their fallen gods, for "there is no way to truly kill a god..."
- The Third: The Shadows had long concluded that they did not have the ability to create in the same way that the Quartet was able to. However, they had plenty of their children at their disposal. Children that all held a Divine Spark that was truly and unequivocally divine in the same way that the Quartet was. Races that were born out the Shattering while the Shadows forced an evolution for quite a few different things just to survive, were all allowed to keep that Spark. Goblins of the Skullbrood Clan, Neckbreakers, The Tribe of Hate, Mistwalkers, Humans, Dwarves, and Gnomes, all have a Divine Spark that connects them back to ancient roots to their Quartet origins.
- The Fourth: Arguably the most significant of them all. The watchful eyes of parties undaunted. One cannot truly kill a god, so what of the three that fell? A Wayfaring Guild watching from the distance with God's Eye's. With the Shadows too busy trying to keep the world stable by siphoning away much of the power from the Divine Sparks of their changeling victims, has left the Shadows in a very vulnerable position. They cannot take their attention away from the keeping the world whole for long, but they also have left enough pieces of the old world around to be an issue later on. What they failed to realize, is that the Quartet is just is patient as the Shadows were... Ancient things stir from places forgotten, old memories and abilities begin to rekindle themselves. Hidden in plain sight, allies to turn enemies. Azu: The Raven and her prize are not so loyal as they think. The Great Mother is not as dead as Bhal would like. And Xelex, dear dear scheming Xelex is far more subversive than even the Shadows seem to think.
Historical Significance
On The Defensive
After the attacks on the Dyson Spheres as well as the loss of Eight planets to the Plague, a summit was held to address the next actions to make. The Quartet were questioned by their Children as to what exactly they were fighting, and why no medical or genealogic attempt made any difference to this disease. Several things were made known in the wake of these first few strikes, things that shook the Namixian Civilization to their cores. The entire meeting was broadcast across the many thousands of galaxies the Children resided, MC'ed by the Fledgling gods.
- First: as if it wasn't made abundantly obvious to the Children at this point, they were in fact, not immortal as they had thought. The Quartet explained that they are incredibly long lived as to be immortal, but they are truly not. They had simply never wished to disturb the peace they had worked so long to build for them. It wasn't a purposeful malice, they had truly thought they had given them a kindness by not giving them this information. In an ever expanding universe with limitless resources provided to them through various forms, a perfect Edin built just for them. To despoil that vision was not, in the best interest of the Children, until now.
- Second: They were told that these entities, which had named themselves, were called The Shadows, and that there were only Eight of them. The problem being was that they clearly were nearly or comparably as powerful as the Quartet themselves. The Children were not told where they came from, nor the truth about what created them. It was said that during this aspect of the questioning, Vilorlith was forced to stay by her own Child, Rythia. As she attempted to fade into the background of the song that made up creation. (Though behind closed doors, the Quartet had decided after learning about what Vilorlith had done, was that she should stay out of active combat with the Shadows. Best to not anger a sleeping dragon.)This has been hotly debated, as the footage for this broadcast has been lost to time.
- Third: the Children demanded to know if these Shadows were gods themselves, and if so why were they never told about them. This statement given by Vilorlith, like a church bell, got the Children's attention. "They are all the same god, a god of change. A note we did not comprehend, a bassline to our song. Entropy. Evolution, Metamorphosis.". They were told that the force they were up against was not something that could technically be destroyed, in the same way that the Quartet were. Though, this statement left a strange taste in the mouths of the masses, the insinuation that the Quartet could, theoretically be felled, did not sit well.
- Fourth: The summit concluded that for the first time in history, their species were at risk. That a full on assault against these infected was going to need to take place, at this point they were dubbed Shadow Touched Children, Vestiges of their former selves. A War was alien to them, mortality was unfamiliar to them though they grew quickly to understand it. Plans were made, designs for warships brought up, military strategy discussed, short term and long term outcomes spoken of. The realistic outcome of this all, which was left open-ended.
- Fifth: As Vilorlith had done, the other three gods of the Quartet had strengthened their bonds and retethered themselves to the entire races they had made. They would need every advantage possible given to them, a universe filled with powerful entities would be more difficult to deal with than races that were still growing. The Children, while grateful at higher chances of survival, did point out a flaw in the gods logic. If their power was expended to strengthen them, then the gods themselves would be at risk as well.
To which, they responded with this information: the gods were immune to the sickness, and they could not truly be killed. Weakened well past the point of nonexistent, but one cannot truly kill a god. The irony of that statement was not lost on them as they faced down the Shadows. On the other side of that same coin, they did not realize the folly they had made with this action. In the end, the stronger they made their children, the stronger the enemy would become.
- Sixth: they did not know when the Shadows would return, where they would strike, or what. But, the immediate issue was that the Miasma as they had taken to calling this sickness, was spreading across planet after planet and still being transmitted. Even without vectors through the vacuum of space, as all travel and aid had been frozen to infected planets. Those surviving on those worlds were given ample support through indirect means as they fought to try and contain the infections. But, the damage done to them by these first few strikes would certainly buy them time to prepare and arm their Civilization. Buy them time to grant their Divine Spark an untold amount of power and energy.
With this summit, the Children had switched all industry into arming themselves any way possible. The Children were guided through the growing pains their new-found near-godhood that the Brownies had enjoyed for Eons. Granted a unilateral understanding of magic and the divine potency of the mechanics of the Song's Afterglow. As all attempts to cure the disease proved fruitless, Rebreathers were developed by the Children of Alnya Led by Taneth The Navigator. These suits would prove their usefulness time and time again, as it rendered them immune to the airborne effects of the Miasma as well as muting the Voices of the Shadows that drove the aggression of the First Wave.
The Legion of Syn also advanced their military technology to a level that has never been reached again. Railguns, Pulsar Weapons, energy weapons that drained entire stars in seconds, armoring and metals that refused to obey the laws set by the Quartet. Damage resistant, corrosion immune, dense material as durable as Neutron Star Matter, thin sheets of it more than capable of dealing with artillery fire from orbital cruisers. But, their crowning achievements was the Creation of the Ash Bringers. Colossal behemoths purpose built for subduing planets in one fell stroke of holy light.
Total War
"They our shepherds, our faithful protectors. Bid us lay in pastures of green, as they, our dearest Mothers and Father lay with us. I fear no darkness with you by my side, I fear no challenge with you by my side, I fear nothing while I protect you from the darkness."
In the wake of the summit, The Quartet began crafting stronger and stronger tethers to their children, expending a great sum of strength to do so. Over the coming months the Children awakened their racial abilities similar to the gods that created them. The Children of Syn became true beings of fire, The Children of Kyln became the fluid shields of the world, The Children of Alnya unlocked secrets of the universe to serve the greater whole, and the Children of Vilorlith became the orchestra to her Great Song.
Each planet, each moon and satellite, every system and galactic cluster lent themselves entirely to the effort of fortifying their defenses. Total movements toward outfitting all living beings with the armor and weapons needed to defend themselves against the darkness. Built-in was the ability to adapt to the changing situations, as the Shadows were revealed to be Gods of Change and Entropy, a single form of defense wasn't good enough. Pioneering developments in the realms of warding magics, protective enchantments, viscerally fast developments in the realms of medicines and biotechnical advancements. The likes of which not even the gods had imagined, yet, their children, their dear children had.
Every planet had built a Citadel as their last line of defense. Built with the forethought of the divine, with the strength of fate itself, built to withstand the death of the planets they were built on. Should a Citadel fall, only then would the Planet be forsaken. You see, the Quartet were not foolish enough to think that just because the Shadows had not appeared directly again since the First Wave, did not mean they knew full well that they were watching. Learning, interpreting, strategizing.
Vilorlith and Syn during their battle with them on the Dyson Spheres had noticed a few things about the strength of the Shadows. They seemed half formed at the moment, as if they were probing the defenses of their targets. As if they weren't even really there at all. They seemed too simple to be the ones able to pick prime targets for a pandemic to spread across their universe. Able to pick off targets that disrupted power and distribution to large swathes of several Galactic regions. The creatures they fought were mostly the mutated and deformed hyper aggressive changelings of their own children. The actual Shadows they had fought with were amorphous, vaguely seeming to mimic both Syn and Vilorlith in form. Beyond being able to speak a broken version of their language, able to deliver their names and laugh, they didn't seem too intelligent.
But, the targets they chose, spoke far more to a consciousness more than capable of planning, targeting, reasoning and understanding than what was presented to them. Leading the Quartet to assume that just because they chose to try and let their enemy underestimate them, they would treat them as the threat they were. This Shadow touch sickness was all that they needed to know as more and more planets became infected. Vast intelligence arrays were set up on a constant watch looking for the metaphysical signatures of those first few Shadows.
Battle of the Attatac
When progress to protect their children had nearly been completed, the alert was given that one of the Shadows was spotted on an abandoned mining project in the outer arm of the galaxy. Syn led her Legion to the planet to face this Shadow themselves. To either kill it, or to wring as much information and data out of it as possible. Several Ashbringers jumped out of hyperspace to encircle the minor planet. Holding in an orbital pattern that trained their main guns down on the single target they had seen.
The Shadow had stopped to watch the interaction, a strange creature that neither of them had seen before. A light devouring being, shrouded in a misting darkness. Every inch of it covered in eyes as a halo of inky blackness encircled the not-quite-right form of a Fae. Comms relays recorded a conversation. "What are you?" Syn spoke cautiously.
It was silent at first, orbital data indicated that it was expanding its body, but wouldn't come within a certain radius of the two. It finally spoke, a broken form of Elder Fae, like the sound of violin string breaking. "Xelex. My name, Xel...ex"
"She didn't ask you name, speak of what you are. What do you want?" Anlyth retorted already soaking in the sunlight through is wings and arming a Pulsar rifle. Syn hushed him, told him that anger is only met with anger.
"You... Your speech. Easier now, I can hear. I want, demon. The one... that killed me. Voice of goddess." It spoke as the sky darkened around the creature, the thick Miasma forming clouds in the air.
Syn laughed as the sunlight punched through its darkness. "Demon. So you think she's a demon..." She was cut short as the Shadow was suddenly in front of her, nearly touching her face.
"You know her? You know where she is? Tell me?!" It roared in an unearth howl. A beam of light barely missed as Anlyth shot a fully charge ray of radioactive light right near where its head been. Only to be met with a slash across his footing that sent him flying. It attacked again, rushing Syn.
It had opened a gash in the planet's plates, filling the region with a violent upwelling of magma and pyroclastic fury. "Poor choice of attack. This is my creation." In an instant, the magma subsided as she forced it back into the cracked earth, commanding the ash back to its home. When the arrays could see her again, she was holding a condensed star in her palm and the Shadow gripped between her fingers. A blinding flash like a supernova as radiation alerts and damage alerts popped up on the screens of the bridge decks of the Ashbringers, and the Shadow was gone.
"Teleport my Son back abord the ship. Something isn't right" Just as Anlyth was beamed back aboard the vessel, a multitude of hands sprouted from the poisoned earth to grab her. The hands of the dead, brought there from planets already infected, Attatac had been abandoned for centuries as the vast metal deposits were mined up, leaving only a solid core of hot slag and rock. Thousands of them rose from the sands, rotten, flesh fell from their bones as they swarmed the goddess.
Xelex had appeared again, gripping her throat with a dark web of power connecting every one of the dead to himself. "Easy to trap, Sunlight."
"Trap? I'm more sickened than worried. What have you done to our children?" The fury in her voice melted the earth below her. Wings like that of a the rising sun crested as the ashes of the dead fell away from her. The Shadow screamed as it was bathed in the light of a thousand blazing stars, her wings irradiating every inch of the side of the planet she was on. The atmosphere around her beginning to ignite. "So, Xelex. Can you die?"
The Ashbringers opened fire down on their position. They knew Syn would be unscathed by her own power, but they needed to eradicate anything else buried in sands of Attatac. Enough orbital bombarding to split the surface of the planet causing an upwelling of flood basalts to cover the surface of the world. Their bombing causing earthquakes large enough they could watch the seismic waves ripple through the crust of the world. Innumerable volcanos and mountains springing into life on the other side of the planet.
After several minutes of bombardment, Syn appeared back on board. Xelex wasn't finished, as he vanished he pulled two of the Ashbringers down to the planet, causing an immense amount of damage to them, hundreds of casualties came from the two wrecks as they crashed into the surface of the volcanic holocaust. The lesson that the Quartet learned from this was that the dead needed to be accounted for. Any missing persons or bodies were to be treated the with highest suspicion, they might just turn back up again with the grisly consequence.
A Season Unending
A war of give an take, ground taken, ground lost. The lessons written in the blood of the fallen, the tests given before the lessons. For every one of them they took, they only grew stronger. Sector after Sector lost. Planet after planet lost. Soul after soul taken. We slowly, but sure, were losing our war with them. Adaptable beyond comprehension, every new tactic countered so quickly, every new weapon turned against us... Every lesson paid in blood...
After the lessons learned at Attatac, The Quartet were forced back from their fronts by the Shadows and the legions. The changelings, now the dead. The Quartet and the Legion of Syn quickly put together plans to never leave the dead unnoticed, if they could rise again to become an issue later on, every one of the fallen would be cremated upon discovery. A task they wouldn't relish, detested with nearly every fiber of their being.
Make no mistake, we were not proud of our actions. Changed, feral, lethal and infectious, they still wore the old faces. The ones we recognized. Triggers pulled a fraction of a second too late as they hesitated seeing the faces they knew. But, there was no cure, there was only peace in death, until there wasn't. Clever monsters the Shadows were, couldn't even let the dead rest after a time.
It was at this point were Syn and Alnya decided that something purpose built for offense would be needed if they were to fight divine power. Fire for fire, as they put it. Entire Superclusters were evacuated before they created their weapons, though there were still risks in doing so. Concentrating their populations would only give the Miasma an edge in infection rates, though the power needed outweighed the extra risk. The Blade of Syn and the Scales of Alnya were created, and used to devastating effect.
It was also this point were Syn also changed her nature, forsaking her former duties as the goddess of light, heat, gravity, and became a god of war. Her Son Anlyth was more than happy to take up the mantle in her name, as well as several other of the more powerful Faeries. She launched an unprompted assault alone on one of the Shadow's strongholds, on a wintery world named Byrnolt. Byrnolt had once been a place for quiet meditation to the Children, now the only thing that left the planet was the sickening poison that corrupted all it touched.
The battle, was as one sided as it had ever been. But, it had proved something great and terrible to the Quartet. The Shadows could be killed, but only for a time. It was enough though, it bought time. Syn had started her assault by igniting the atmosphere, killing off the swarms of Shadow touched children. Not giving the two Shadows a chance to react she opened the planet from the inside out.
Spilling its molten cobalt core onto the surface, hoping to have incinerated anything that had died. She would have hoped to give any of the Children left on the planet a quick death, by all accounts she succeeded. Though this immense show of force was met with an equally aggressive series of attacks from the Shadows on the planet, Wrath and Balance were to be her opponents on this stage. Much of this fight is left to speculation, as the Children were forbidden from entering an area were the Quartet fought. Full force of divine energy was not something trifled with, reality breaking, planet destroying fury.
A wave of retaken planets followed, planet after planet, sector after sector taken back for the glory of the gods. The sickness beaten back from cities, the war seeming to turn in the favor of the Quartet. With Syn spearheading many of the assaults on infected worlds, they typically won far more than they lost. With two less shadows in the world, the rates of Miasma had diminished, the number of reports on new infected worlds had fell. But, victory would not last long...
From the Dark
Things had been going so well, until Xelex had returned. A fleet of Warships and Ashbringers was sent to Axuilia a desert planet that had been transmitting numerous requests for aid for the last few days from its Citadel. But, the entire planet had been long dead since before the transmissions were being sent. Xelex himself had been the one sending them, the entire plan was to trap and destroy a large portion of the Quartet's opposition. He had been only partially successful. Destroying the first wave of the those who came to aid the Citadel's call.
Bhal had recently been spotted combing through one of the legions of Shadow touched on a planet name Izlith. Proving that the Shadows could only be killed for a time, their opponent had, it would seem, been far more resilient than first thought of. The loss of the Fleet over Axuilia had also pointed to a new tactic being used by the Shadows. Though, the point of this was known nearly immediately by the Quartet themselves.
The Shadows had been preferentially attacking Brownie home worlds, the near god like beings were perfect vessels for the sickness. They could use that terrible strength against them, point the gun back on itself so to speak. Though, this was not lost on the gods, they knew full well this was a taunt by the Shadows to try and get Vilorlith to the frontlines far more often. She was, after all, the point of their fury. However, this reasoning was not known to the general populace beyond the highest ranking commanders in the Legion. All the Children knew at the time was that the Brownies tended to make some of the most terrifying, powerful victims.
An order was given that no Brownie was to be unattended at any time. A simple one paragraph order, simultaneously given to every last Children that walked the realms of the gods. Paraphrasing, it effectively told them that all Brownies given their unique risk after turning, would be given a coterie of guards and advanced containment in the event that they had been in contact with any of the infected.
This would prove to have mixed reactions from the masses... Though, with this order, and the news that the Shadows that Syn had put down had, in fact, returned, along with one of them taking down an entire fleet of Warships, morale was at an all time low...
The Fall of the Mighty
Losing control of the situation, the Quartet had become far more aggressive with the Shadows. Appearing to engage them on their own in more and more battlefronts, though Vilorlith was never allowed fight alone. Each time she appeared on the frontline to defend her children, the Shadows would instantly target her and the Brownies with extreme prejudice. About this time in the war, the Brownies were faced with the very real possibility of extinction, though there had been heavy losses in every race the Quartet had made, Vilorlith's children suffered the most during this war.
Now, the fact that anything having to do with the Great Mother was attacked with increased frequency, as well as ferocity was not lost to anyone. The Brownies themselves when turned became terrifying creatures, psionic, reality breaking things that tended to grab at the attention and force wills to their own. If even a single Brownie was in opposition against one of the legions, fatalities and casualties typically were much higher. The Shadows had effectively taken the gift Vilorlith had given them so long ago, and turned it against them.
The hatred the Shadows felt toward the Great Mother never dwindled, no matter how many times they fell to the Quartet's forces. No matter how much bargaining, no matter how much attempted diplomacy, no matter how many times they were crushed under the heel Syn, Alnya, and Kyln. The Quartet had wisely chosen to not allow Vilorlith to kill any of them, fearing that it would only make the situation worse. In a way they were correct, in a way they should have allowed her the ability to take vengeance for her fallen children.
Still, a series of set backs had began cornering many of the Quartet's forces to strongholds long ago built to retreat to should the need arise. Syn had her blade stolen by Azu, Anlyth had Ascended to true godhood during his attempt to resecure her blade from her. He had become a god of death, not a concept that her was born knowing, but grew to understand to an unfathomable degree.
"I lift my heart as spring lifts up, a yellow daisy to the rain, My heart will be a lovely cup, although it holds but pain. For I alone shall learn from flower and leaf, that color every drop they hold, to change the lifeless wine of grief, to living gold."
Taneth and Y'vitol had soon Ascended after this incident. Taneth becoming a god of Ingenuity and Necessity, for he had been able to construct a new form of runic script that the Shadows were unable to read. To which they used with deadly proficiency on the Citadels. Y'vitol had become a god of Conviction, an immovable wall as he himself slew a swarm of the Shadow Touched creatures. Taking down the Shadow Koroth in the process as well.
Though, the Quartet was able to see their Champions become what they had always planned their Children to become, it was bittersweet. Proud to see that they could do so, but horrified in the scenarios in which they did so. Even so, when the Quartet had gained three new powerful deities, it was oh so short lived. Vilorlith had had enough.
The aftermath of this War begins the start of the Story Line: The Great Mother's Call
The Quartet was no longer able to hold the Great Mother back, having witnessed the deaths of so many of her children, of all the children. Having watched as world after world fell, that guilt eating away at her for so long. Her rage had flooded over once more, an eerie echo of what she had been become when she tore the The Original Shadow apart the first time. Throughout Namix a screech had been heard. Like a bowstring pulled across an unholy violin, like the silence just before a storm. The moment of surreal calm just after a disaster before one hears the alarms, smells the smoke, hears the screams.
Vilorlith appeared before each of the eight Shadows simultaneously, and managed to slay all but the three most powerful of them. Not just eradicating the planets they were one, she destroyed them with such a thoroughness that she wiped those worlds from the records of the universe itself. As if they never existed. Bhal, Xelex, and Azu fled from the Demon as they had called her so long ago. The angry song of her voice permeated every corner, every vessel, every ear that heard it paled in fear.
For what could match the voice that had created it all? The remaining Shadows had suddenly felt the sting of the ant. They formed a plan to lure her to a more advantageous battlefield, unknowingly this would be the final battle of Namix. With the Song of the Damned escaping the lips of the All-creator, there was no where they could hide. Every attempt made by the surviving three Shadows she was there like a specter in the night.
As each of the fallen Shadows regenerated she slew them over and over again. Syn, Kyln and Alnya had not known Vilorlith was capable of such violence, they as well as the rest of the Children bore witness to the fury unquenched since the beginning. Felt the waves of grief as she relived that moment from so long ago, endlessly. Fleets were ordered to retreat from all sectors she had appeared, retreat toward a set of planets that had first been infected.
As Vilorlith unmade everything around the Shadows to hunt them down, she had killed all of them numerous times. Bhal, Xelex and Azu regenerating only under the protection of the other Shadows as they fought the Great Mother off long enough to allow it to happen, though always falling to her fury. When Bhal had lured her to her original homeworld, The Cradle, the Shadows sprung their trap.
Bhal had instructed the other five Shadows to remain hidden in the crust of the earth, to revive him each time he fell. He knew he was going to fall between her claws many times while the other aspects of the plan were to work. He was meant to be a distraction, enrage her even more without having her void the planet. They were banking on the fact that because the Cradle was the first world the Brownies had ever called home, her sentimentality would outweigh her sense. They would be proven correct in the end.
As the battle commenced, Bhal fell almost immediately as she glassed half the planet in a single strike, only to watch as he rose once more as she repaired the damage she had done. Welkford and Azu successfully caught Kyln and Syn respectively in their traps, they had anticipated the others would come to Vilorlith's aid. That hide nothing from the forces of the gods, making it known that all eight Shadows were engaging the Great Mother here.
Alnya was suddenly given a command by Syn with her dying breaths. Then dear sister, shatter it. Run. Take them and leave. I'll burn away the rest, but you must run." In this final command, Syn expended the last of her power and burned away every last habitable planet left in Namix, burned away every last Child that wasn't on the Cradle, burned away every last trace of infection in the world and created The Burned. A choice she never wanted to make, a heavy handed approach. A choice that left no other options. It denied the Shadows any ability to enjoy their victory.
Kyln without his voice to keep his song alive, forced Alnya to sing it for him while she hesitated. Vilorlith's song silenced, forced Alnya to sing it while she hesitated. Now, Syn without her voice to keep her song aloft, forced her to sing it while she hesitated. But time would not allow her to mourn, not yet. Xelex had rushed her, hoping to once and for all end this war.
She had hoped shattering the world would through the Shadows off her scent for good. As they pieced the universe back together hunting for her. Each end of each branch of the Great Tree nothing more than a dead end in their hunt for her. As the Shadows emerged in "victory", the gods fallen, they were forced to repair a world they had no ability to repair to any real degree.
In wake of their war, a few things happened. Bhal had chained all Vilorlith's remaining children to himself, changing them into the Goblins of the Skullbrood Clan. Xelex had reforged Alnya's children, turning them from Fae into Humanity, and subsequently forming the Dwarven and Gnomish races. Azu had taken the Faeries and changed them into the Mistwalkers. While the other Shadows staked numerous claims to the Giants, changing them into The Tribe of Hate, the Trolls. As such they spread the legend of the Dawn of Truths, to hide their actions as well remove any memory of the Quartet from the world.
The Fall of Syn:
Syn was caught on the moon of the Cradle, and was crushed beneath the corpse of the satellite as Azu pushed it into the Cradle. Azu in an act that caused the universe itself to recoil in disgust, consumed Syn.
As Syn fell, Vilorlith was struck with a lethal blow from Bhal. Her throat slit, spilled her divine blood to the sacred earth. Blood in which Namix has never built to interact with, blood in which burned the Shadows to their core, would eventually cool and solidify into the Archon Stones.
Kyln fell at the hands of the other Shadows, overwhelmed and surrounded. His body used a puppet by Welkfold.
The Fall of Kyln: Chapter 9, Dreams Unending in The Great Tree: Soft and Subtle Wind
The "Fall" of Alnya:
However, fate has a strange way manifesting even for the gods. As Xelex touched her, he stole her siblings songs. A fundamental understanding dawned in his eyes, a precious fraction of a second for Alnya to grab as many of the uninfected Children as she could, as well as much material she could hold and vanished. Her last act in Namix was to shatter the universe she and the others of the Quartet had built from nothing. To forsake the home they had built for their children. In this moment, Alnya created The Elsewhere with the assistance of the fledgling gods: Y'vitol, Taneth, and Anlyth.
Reap What You Sow
No amount of self-sought fury will bring back the glory of innocence
Conflict Type
War
Conflict Result
The Quartet had fallen along with the Namixian Civilization, The Shadows inherited a Broken World they had no ability to repair.
You really knocked it out of the park with this one your artwork is always so haunting and subtly detailed and I love how you wove in the lore snippets and dialogue. I can tell you poured alot into this one. I've been racking my brain on what to do with some of the Silver entries but been too busy to write lately. Hoping Gold will be more inspiring.