Within the Country of Harmony, nestled on the far side of the Arcane Kingdom, there lay a peaceful farm where a young boy named Kemen Holden resided with his Uncle Cedric. As the night draped the land with its comforting embrace, Kemen, eager for adventure, implored his uncle to regale him with the epic tale of the Old Gods from Harmony and how everything came to be.

"I want action and adventure. I want my socks knocked off, man!" exclaimed young Kemen, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Chuckling softly, Uncle Cedric stooped to eye level with his nephew, his weathered face softened by the warmth of the hearth. "Alright, me boi," he conceded. "I’ll tell you the tale of the great beginning and the gods. But no shortcuts, mind you. You asked for the whole story."

With a solemn nod, Kemen eagerly awaited his uncle's storytelling prowess, his imagination already soaring beyond the boundaries of their humble abode.

"Long before the creation of everything, there was nothing but darkness," began Uncle Cedric, his voice weaving a tapestry of ancient lore. "Nothing until the supreme goddess of creation arrived, whose name was so difficult for mortals to comprehend it was shortened to HEH."

As his little eyes widened in wonder, Kemen leaned in closer, hanging onto every word of his uncle's story.

"Heh began creating the things we mortals take for granted. From the moon and the sun, to the very air we breathe," Uncle Cedric continued, his voice carrying the weight ofcenturies-old wisdom.

"But why did she create the stars? Is it because they’re shiny?" interrupted Kemen, his youthful curiosity unabated. Chuckling at his nephew's innocence, Uncle Cedric explained, "The stars were created so that even when you’re fighting monsters in the dark, you can see where you gut them at."

"Ew! That’s gross, uncle!" Kemen recoiled, his imagination vividly conjuring grotesque images. Laughing heartily, Uncle Cedric ruffled Kemen's hair affectionately. "You better believe it's nasty, especially when their entrails fall over like a trail of rotten spaghetti spewing out all over the place."

“I’m gonna hurl all over the place. You’re getting distracted uncle!” Kemen jested. Uncle Cedric chuckles. “Well I would be finished if someone didn't ask so many questions.”Grimacing, Kemen clasps his hand over his mouth, determined not to disrupt the tale any further.

"Now where was I? Ah, yes," Uncle Cedric resumed, the flickering flames casting dancing shadows across the room. "Heh was so powerful that she created the four energies that all living things are composed of: Spirit, Doom, Elemental, and Soul. From these four energies emerged as living beings. Beings not only like what we know as The gods of Old but also everyday beings like you and me." A young Kemen’s eyes lit up as he imagined the birth of all races.

“But something happened as Heh created mortal beings, she began to see families form. Culture being woven into creation without her doing. And she saw family. And it was from this she decided to create a family of her own.”

As Uncle Cedric continued his storytelling, Kemen imagined the gods coming into creation. “The first born was Lavia, or the Divine Energy who represented all the light in the universe and came from spirit energy,” Uncle Cedric narrated, his voice tinged with reverence. In Kemen's mind's eye, he witnessed the emergence of Lavia, a radiant figure bathed in celestial light, standing tall under the benevolent gaze of the goddess Heh.

"The second born was Abaddon, or who we call the Lich! He represented all the bad things that Lavia wasn’t. All that was evil came from him," Uncle Cedric continued, his voice taking on a darker hue.Shadows coalesced around the figure of Abaddon, a sinister presence lurking in the periphery of Lavia's brilliance.

"Wanting more ways to embrace a family of her own, the goddess Heh decided to create more children," Uncle Cedric explained, his words painting a vivid tableau of divine creation.And as Uncle Cedric spoke, the room seemed to fade away, replaced by a realm where gods and mortals danced amidst the ebb and flow of cosmic forces.

Kemen excitedly put his hand up in the air. “OOH I KNOW THIS PART! CAN I SAY THIS PART?!” As he waves his arm frantically,his uncle stares at him nodding his bald head. “There came Alek, the god of power, he’s considered to be the strongest of all the siblings! Esadowa, the god of animals, he’s like the biggest animal fan ever! Zhang Li, the goddess of compassion, I guess she’s like the nice child or something, and the twins Mallory and Chryseis who are chaos and order,” Kemen eagerly interjected, his enthusiasm bubbling over.

With a twinkle in his eye, Uncle Cedric nodded in approval, allowing his nephew to partake in the storytelling. And as the tale unfolded, Kemen's imagination soared but he began to tense up. “You tell this part uncle, this part is kind of scary.”

Cedric looked upon his nephew and laughed slightly. “Oh you’re scared now, are ya? Well don’t cha worry boy, your uncles got ya.” Tussling his nephew’s hair, young Kemen grabs a hold of his blanket as his uncle continues the tale.  “But one day, as his darkness had been glooming for centuries, Abaddon had betrayed his family as he attempted to kill his mother and steal his power for his own!” Cedric continued.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“But his efforts were futile as the other gods led by the most powerful of all gods, Alek, fought him and forcing that evil bastard into submission. The gods decided his evil was too great to let roam free, so they imprisoned him within a cave, never to be disturbed again.” Cedric wrapped up his tale to look upon his nephew’s face. He had fallen asleep sitting up.

As he begins to tuck his nephew in, a question lingered in the boy's mind, one that begged to be answered. “Uncle?” He asks with innocent pause. “Yes son?” With his back to the bed, Cedric turns his head. “Do you think my parents are ever coming back? You’ve never told me what happened to them," Kemen pressed, lying down. For a fleeting moment, Uncle Cedric's expression betrayed a hint of reluctance, a shadow passing over his weathered features.

"No my boy. I’m sorry boy, I do not think you are ready to hear that story," Uncle Cedric replied, his voice tinged with slight sorrow.

“Oh come on, uncle! I am not a child anymore! I can handle it!” Kemen exclaimed as he balled his tiny hands into little fists. As he ignores his nephew’s words, Cedric grabs his nephew’s head and gives him a small kiss. “That is enough storytelling for tonight. I want you to get some rest. “Cedric expresses as he begins to walk towards his nephew’s bedroom door. Before his uncle can close the door, Kemen, this young boy, stares at his uncle with an intense misunderstanding of his uncle’s intentions. He works up the courage to ask his question. “Why will you not tell me?” he says. With a deep regret within his heart, Cedric turns his head and looks back unto his nephew. "Perhaps, I will tell you one day. One day when you are older."

And with those words hanging heavy in the air, the chapter of the Old Gods concluded, leaving Kemen to ponder the mysteries that lay beyond the boundaries of his uncle's tales as he falls asleep.

On the far reaches of Harmony, beyond the serene vistas of the countryside, lay the foreboding domain of the Soul Kingdom. Here, amidst the solemn lawns, stood Osirio, the Skeleton King, a grim figure presiding over a haunting tableau of death and despair. A thousand fallen soldiers lay silent at his feet, their spirits departed to realms beyond.

Among the wreckage of battle stood Aneurin, a powerful mage leader, Ikabod the king of the wasteland, and Rafferty, the brute Viking Warrior King with white flowing hair. Here they stood, their forms battered and bloodied, yet their resolve unyielding in the face of darkness. Lying on the ground, completely devoid of color, with an arrow in her heart, lies the queen and wife of Osirio, dead.

"Osirio, stop this! She can still be saved!" pleaded Rafferty, his voice echoing across the desolate landscape.

But Osirio, consumed by grief and rage, turned a deaf ear to his former ally's entreaties. “I WILL NOT LISTEN TO YOUR LIES!” With a chilling resolve, he lunged at Rafferty, shattering his shield with a single blow.

"My wife is dead! My entire world is gone!" Osirio's voice reverberated with anguish as he unleashed his fury upon those who dared oppose him.Osorio slices his boney white blood filled claws towards Rafferty. Without hesitation,Aneurin uses a whip made entirely of light to pull the viking king away from the sudden death blow. ANEURIN uses a hand gesture to conjure up knives of golden light, and sends them towards OSIRIO.

"We grieve with you! Please, this is not the way!" Aneurin's voice rang out with a plea for reason amidst the cacophony of battle. Not to the blood consumed enemy facing him, but to the friend he had once known.

 Yet, Osirio remained unmoved, his resolve unyielding. His grief, unrelenting. As he clashed with his former comrades.He screams “ I BEG TO DIFFER!” echoing the pain that his wife’s unjust murder had brought.  Ikabod, driven by strength and power, rushed forward with his ax held high, only to be met with the searing flames of Osirio's wrath. Without hesitation, the skeleton king grabs Ikabod by his neck and proceeds to burn the inside of Ikabod’s left eye from his skull. Ikabod screams in pain and is thrown to the ground, as if completely weightless

. As the flames of discord and despair engulfed the battlefield, tearing asunder the bonds that once united them. Osirio begins to walk towards his wife’s lifeless corpse. Bending down to see what was once the very light of his life, lying without movement, and dying for no cause, the Skeleton King burns the very last bit of flesh he has and embraces his new darkness.

"Leave this place. And never return," Osirio commanded, his voice carrying the weight of finality as he turned his back on the fields of death and destruction.With heavy hearts, Aneurin, Rafferty, and the remaining soldiers gathered their wounded and departed the Soul Kingdom, their footsteps heavy with the burden of loss.But within the shadowed halls of his castle, Osirio's anguish knew no bounds. As he beheld the bloodied figure of Nahash, his trusted royal advisor and friend,  lying on the ground, his heart sank with a dread foreboding. Osirio looks around for his son and finds nothing.

In his weak state  Nahash begins to try and pull himself to tell his king of the truth. A truth that could shatter his very being. “I’m sorry my liege. They rushed me before I even noticed they were here.” Osirio rushes over to his friends side and grabs him by his shoulders.

“Where have they taken him?! Where is my son?" Osirio's voice thundered with rage and despair, the echoes of his anguish reverberating through the empty halls. Yet, Nahash could offer no solace, his weakened form a testament to the futility of their struggle.

"He’s gone, my friend. He’s gone," Nahash's words were but a whisper, lost amidst the storm of Osirio's grief. With a cry of anguish that pierced the heavens, Osirio unleashed a torrent of ethereal flame, forever shrouding the kingdom of souls in clouds of darkness. And amidst the shadows of despair, a father's heart was consumed by sorrow, his kingdom crumbling beneath the weight of his grief.