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==The Rise of Rahn== | |||
In the past, across the Sapphire Sea, a hero arose. By his determination | |||
and spirit, the hero chose to perfect himself in body, mind, and spirit. | |||
He strove to cleanse the blemishes of his existence that mortal life | |||
forced upon him. Well respected by his peers, the hero extolled his path | |||
in life to those around him, beseeching them to forego the banalities of | |||
mortality, and seek the path to perfection. | |||
His life was well known even to the Gods who saw him as a shining | |||
example of the heights a mortal could achieve. One God in particular, a | |||
dark God, took great interest in the hero, watching him very closely and | |||
studying the effects of his self-purifications on his soul. The | |||
machinations that ran through the God's mind are unfathomable to | |||
mortals, and ultimately He chose to travel to the hero and test his | |||
resolve. Dressed as a simple travelling philosopher and academic, He met | |||
the hero on the road between two cities. | |||
"I say, good sir, to where do you travel on this humid day?" stammered | |||
the academic to the hero. | |||
"Rest is for the weak, learned sir, as you must well know. Was it not | |||
persistence and will that gave you the insight into the world that you | |||
possess today? I travel to ensure my spirit does not grow dull, and that | |||
my body does not grow weak." | |||
"Ah, I see. You choose to model yourself after that hero, the | |||
self-righteous one," spat the academic. "Are you certain you have his | |||
will to maintain his stifling philosophy?" | |||
"I am quite certain, knowledgable master, as it is I who stand before | |||
you!" The voice of the hero was unstrained, neither with pride nor | |||
disdain with the line of questioning. In his travels he was quite | |||
accustomed to those who did not believe in his ways. | |||
"Ah, I had no clue I was in the presence of such greatness. My humble | |||
apologies, your excellence. If it does not bother you so, and if you | |||
would have the moment of time to spare, would you care to sit beneath | |||
this shady tree and speak to me of your travels and tribulations. I know | |||
little of what drives you to perfection, and I wish to know more." | |||
And so the hero agreed and they sat for a few hours discussing at great | |||
length the path to perfection. The academic would attempt to pry a hole | |||
into the hero's logic, and the hero would, every time, brilliantly | |||
defeat the attack. As the sun drew further down in the sky, the academic | |||
posited one final question. | |||
"Why do you not seek the path of ascension, to become a truly perfect | |||
immortal?" The sweat on the academic's brow dripped onto the ground in | |||
the afternoon heat. | |||
The hero paused for a moment, unsure of the intent of the question. "It | |||
is the path to perfection that is beauty to my eyes, not the state of | |||
perfection. To always improve oneself, against constant odds, that is | |||
victory and achievement." | |||
"It is your mortality that is the blemish on your soul which seperates | |||
you from perfection! Do you not see that?" The academic stared deeply | |||
into the eyes of the hero, testing his resolve. | |||
"I will not be swayed, kind scholar. I do this only for the purification | |||
of my own soul, and ask nothing in return. If my path is difficult, I | |||
shall walk it proudly. I do not ask the same of any person who does not | |||
wish the sacrifice." The hero, his spirit intact, sat firm and his eyes | |||
did not budge from the face of the academic. | |||
"Then it will be your folly. Your soul will never be pure, and I will | |||
show you the corruption in its depths." Revealing His true form to the | |||
hero, the dark God towered over the hero. "I will show your pitiful soul | |||
the perfection best suited for it." Pulling the mortal hero's frame with | |||
Him, the dark God travelled across continents and oceans and once | |||
finding the ideal location, cast the hero into the mouth of a steaming | |||
volcano. | |||
The hero's body weak from the damage caused in the fall, he could only | |||
lay there looking back up at the skies above him. During the flight | |||
across the oceans, he had seen much he had not imagined about the world. | |||
It was much larger and much more rich than he had imagined, and from the | |||
heights he soared, he knew he was nowhere near his home. | |||
The inside of the volcano was steamy and hot, and he laid on a small | |||
slab of rock jutting from a pool of lava. The walls reflected the dull | |||
glow of the lava and he could hear in the distant the hiss of water | |||
hitting the liquid fire. The heat from the lava below singed his back, | |||
and as he struggled to rise, he saw before him the dark frame of this | |||
unknown Immortal. "You want your soul perfected so badly? Then I shall | |||
hammer the kinks of out of it." Raising a glimmering ethereal hammer, | |||
the God struck down on the weakened form the hero, striking not his | |||
physical shell, but his very soul and existence with the blow. | |||
The blow tore through the hero's stability. He struggled to maintain | |||
composure and sanity as his soul was bruised from the strike. Lifting | |||
his head from the rock he could see the God standing above him. "Here I | |||
shall forge your spirit into My form of perfection!", boomed His voice | |||
as He chained the helpless hero onto the rock. Once again, the dark God | |||
raised the hammer, and struck down on His prisoner. The anguished scream | |||
of the hero rang out amongst the Putoran hills, echoing as far south as | |||
the village of Jaru. | |||
The pain was horrible, but the hero suffered from then on in near | |||
silence. Daily the torment was struck down on him, and nightly the lava | |||
pool would rise to heat his stone slab to boiling temperatures. But the | |||
hero would not relent his spirit, nor would he perish from the agony and | |||
torment. | |||
For many years this went on, until one day the punishments ceased and | |||
the anonymous Immortal did not reappear. The hero waited, chained to his | |||
prison, and as the time passed he began to meditate to perfect his mind | |||
and to try to discover the falseness of pain and anguish. During these | |||
meditations, he began to hear a faint rhythm in the distant recesses of | |||
his mind. Strong and powerful, the rhythm throbbed in his ears and in | |||
his head as it invigorated his spirit. As his meditations continued, the | |||
rhythm grew louder, and through the strength of his own will and his | |||
focus upon the rhythm, he perceived neither the searing heat of the lava | |||
nor the pain of his burnt flesh. | |||
The beat consumed his soul, and soon it matched the very beat of his | |||
heart. Once the hero had made the realization that the two sounds | |||
coincided, he looked about himself and noticed his mortal form had | |||
expired. He had transcended mortality through determination and the act | |||
of purification and he now stood the perfect example of existence, an | |||
Immortal. | |||
Grabbing the hammer of His torture, the Immortal strode with a fury of | |||
fire from his prison, erupting the volcano to seek his torturer and to | |||
take his place in the Garden of the Gods as Rahn, God of Fire. | |||
==The Last Testament of Rahn== | |||
(from HELP RAHN) | |||
In the year 160 of the Midnight Age, the Essence of Rahn was torn from Him | In the year 160 of the Midnight Age, the Essence of Rahn was torn from Him | ||
and His influence on the world collapsed. Like the Lord of Truth, His order | and His influence on the world collapsed. Like the Lord of Truth, His order | ||