Tales of the Gods

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The following stories are set in Azaron's past during a time when the gods walked the earth alongside mortals.

The Crafty Rogue:

A long time ago a city of great wealth existed in a secluded corner of our land. The city contained every treasure imaginable; gold, silver, jewls, and artifacts of great magical power.

One night, when the moon did not light the sky, a crafty gnomeish rouge decided he wanted to take some of the cities treasure for himself. As he approached the gates, however, he was noticed by the guards. The rouge put up a fair fight, but the two human guards easily overpowered the small gnome and left him mortaly wounded on the side of the road.

As the rouge lay, waiting for Nekrous to find him, an idea entered his crafty mind.

"Diallus" he cried "You are the ruler of the road and master of the journey. I have traveled to this city, and was cut down before I could reach my destination. Grant me aid before I bleed out!"

Diallus heard the gnomes call, and set off. As the master of time, he had no trouble beating Nekrous to the fallen gnome. With the utmost care the Walking Old Man wrapped the wounds of the theif and removed his pain. The gnome entered the city to help himself to the riches.

As Nekrous arrived at the gates he saw the uninjured rouge enter the city.

"What have you done Diallus!" The waiting lord shrieked "It is my job to provide comfort to those on the brink of death, and escort them to the afterlife"

Diallus smirked, unphased by Nekrous' anger. "The gnome is a travler, that makes him my responsibility."

The two gods bickered for hours, unable to decide who's job it was to attend to dying travlers. As dawn broke, the arguing came to blows.

Diallus shook the foundation of time itself as he launched spell upon spell at his adversary. But Nekrous remained calm and called upon the power of the underworld to strike his foe.

The might of death was too much for Diallus to overcome, so Nekrous destroyed his body and banished him from Azaron.

From that day on, no other god dared to interfere with the affairs of the dying. Nekrous however was shaken by Diallus' power and feared retribution, so from that day fourth he became invisible so no god or mortal could trace his travels.

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Tag'luk's Rampage

Long ago, when Azaron was young, Orc's and Goblins ruled the land. They had the biggest cities, the best weapons, the strongest warriors, and the wisest sorcerers. This of course made Tag'luk, the Orcish god, proud.

"My races are the strongest" He mused "So why should the others exist?" With that, he gathered an army of Orcs, Goblins, Ogres, Minotaurs, and Drakes and set out to exterminate the humans, gnomes, elves, and dwarfs.

The other gods took notice and resolved to stop him.

Pyras attempted to stop the army. He caused streams of lava to burst forth from the peaks of the Redrock Mountains. But Tag'luk's army was fast, and they outran the liquid fire.

Larkelle attempted to stop the army. She raised the sea, flooding the land and seperating the Deadfall mountains from the rest of Azaron. But Tag'luk's army was strong, and they swam to shore.

Despite the fact that Tag'luk was a brother in evil, Arkeloi and Dhorus relised that many of their followers were also it risk, so they joined forces to stop the army. With their combined powers of deception and imprisionment they created a Labyrinth amoung the Blue Mist Moutains, in attempt to forever trap Tag'luk's army. But the Minotaur's that Tag'luk had hired were masters of navigating mazes and were able to lead the rest of the army to saftey.

Rashard and Illehu also worked together in attempt to stop the army. Together they dropped massive mounds of earth from the heavens. But Tag'luk's army was skilled in the ways of magic, so they deflected the massive projectiles away to form the Skyfell mountains.

Mhyr was furious. Inocents were being slaughtered and the earth was being ravaged by the gods attempt to stop it all. He decided to stop the Orcish army personally. Appearing before the army, he beat Tag'lik into submission in a fit of righteous anger. With their leader defeated the army disbanded and the great society of Orcs and Goblins eventually fell apart.

From that day forward all but the most vile of the gods looked to Mhyr as a friend and leader.

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The King and The Brothers Bard:

Before the humans, dwarfs, and gnomes arrived Mallaston belonged to the elves. After many long years in power their greatest king became paranoid and turned to the ways of Dhorus, imprisoning and torturing all whom he saw as a threat to his rule.

Varna, who happened to dwell in Mallaston at the time, grew displeased with the king, and took it upon herself to remove him from power.

Once night she entered the kings dungeon and found three imprisoned elves.

"Who are you? And what have you done to deserve imprisonment?"

"We are the brothers Bard" replied the tallest of the three. "The king thinks us treasonous, and we are to die by the axe."

"Do not despair." The Lady of Art said with a mournful smile "I will give you each a gift so you will not die in vain."

The next morning the king decided the first of the brothers was to die. He called the city's population to the street in front of the castle, and laid the victim out on the table of execution. The axeman asked the brother if he had any final words. The brother smiled and began to jest at the kings expense, making fun of everything from the monarch's voice, to the size of various parts of his body. Varna had granted him the gift of humor. The annoyed king ordered the axe swung, and resolved to kill another brother the following morning.

For the duration of the day and into the night the people of Mallaston could talk of nothing but the jokes of the executed brother.

The next morning the king selected his victim, and once again called the city's population to the street in front of the castle. The axeman asked the second brother if he had any final words. The condemned elf nodded and began to sing of all the kings follies and misdeeds, with a voice as slow and sweet as dripping honey. Varna had granted him the gift of song. The angry king ordered the axe swung, and resolved to kill the final brother the following morning.

For the duration of the day and into the night the people of Mallaston could talk of nothing but the song of the executed brother.

The next morning the king once again called the city's population to the street in front of the caste to wittness the execution of the final brother. The axeman once again asked the elf if he had any final words. The condemned elf nodded and launched into a rant, blasting the kings paranoia and all the harsh injustices it had brought about. The brother was clearly calling for rebellion. Varna had granted him the gift of a quick and confident tounge. The enraged king ordered the axe swung and resolved to tighten his grip on the reigns of power.

For the duration of the day all the people of Mallaston could talk of nothing but the speech of the executed brother. That night they stormed the castle and killed the king.

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The End of Forgiveness:

As the human population swelled, they banished from Azaron all gods who stood in their way. The Dark times caused a sense of brotherhood to prevail over the differences among the few divine beings that remained.

Rookin and Tag'luk sat together in a small village tavern, mourning the recent banishment of Larkelle at the hands of the human inquisition.

"Tis a sad thing Orc. Those humans breed like tunnel rats. I fear our time on this plain is growing short."

Tag'luk took a swig of his drink and snorted. "Humans slow and weak. Orc is stronger than human. Goblin is quicker than human. Tag'luk is not scared."

Rookin shook his head. "We should have seen this coming. Your right. Your races could have massacred them years ago, but now they outnumber goblin and orc combined."

The Orcish god grunted. "Your race teach humans to make metal weapons. All Orc can fight with is wood and bone. Your technology outmatch Orcish soldier."

Rookin turned red. "Are you accusing me of causing the humans to rise? I cannot control the action of every single living dwarf!"

"Then you be weak. Tag'luk can make all who serve me bend to my will."

"Weak?" Rookin was now twitching in anger "How's THIS for weak."

With one swift motion the short god drew his axe and swung, demolishing the tavern and killing all the mortals inside.

Tag'luk jumped to his feet and delivered an explosive barrage of punches, each one finding its mark.

The two gods continued to fight for months, neither able to beat his counterpart. The battle ravaged the landscape, tearing a massive crater in the middle of the Blue Mist Mountains.

Eventually Helena heard of the battle and traveled to the crater to talk some sense into the waring gods. But neither Rookin nor Tag'luk were willing to listen to the goddesses soothing logic, so in fusteration they turned on her, banishing her from Azaron.

The battle continued for another week before both gods collapsed. They were too tired to continue fighting. Seeing an opportunity a nearby human knight banished both deities with a spear through the heart, he then severed their heads and returned home with them to reclaim glory.

Spring came, and runoff from the Blue Mist filled the crater creating a huge lake to conceal the earthly bodies of three gods...