“Up until this point, the gods’ influence on the world had been minimal. They dealt less in miracles, and more in small influences. Igenous might shift a hammer of a few millimeters during a swing to ensure a blacksmith did not bend a horseshoe. Themius might guide an urban planner so city traffic moved just that little much smoother. Tiny pushes here and there to help move progress further.
“Worship and devotion never played into how the gods chose to intervene. Few mortals were actually even aware of the gods, and often create their own smaller, local gods through belief and ritual. It was not until Fineous listened to one specific mortal that the balance shifted.
“It has been far too long to know exactly what this mortal prayed for, or what spurred his prayers. They may have been a spurned lover seeking revenge, a madman who desired only bloodshed, or a grieving family member watching a loved one suffer wishing and wishing they could be put at peace. Whatever the prayer was for, it intrigued Fineous. The concept of worship and devotion brought to his mind armies and cultists spreading across the land snuffing out lives, before finally taking their own. Combined with direct intervention, Fineous could empower certain mortals so that naught but armies could stand against them.
“Another age passed before the other gods truly noticed a difference, conflict and death in this large world a standard part of the normal life cycle. It was only when they begin to notice swathes of the world dying, never to return with new life, that they grew concerned. It never crossed their mind that one of their numbers might be in disharmony with the others, as any disagreements up until this point had always seemed small and frivolous.”
Colton continued to find this narration surprisingly engaging. Normally he would skip over cutscenes, usually more interested in gameplay than whatever story the developers had written. Maybe it was the narrator’s voice that kept him engaged. Colton did not know if there were awards for video game narration, but if there were, whoever this voice actor was should be a shoe-in. Only the utter absurdity kept him from believing that he was not listening to a real individual that had lived and suffered in this fantasy world and was depicting a real history that had occurred. Combined with the utter whiteness around him, every word was predominantly etched into his mind as worth listening to.
The mystery voice continued: “One would assume the first battle of the gods that ensued would be short and one-sided, but this was not the case. While they faced Fineous 7-to-1, the very concept of godhood meant that whatever advantage the 7 had, it was utterly meaningless as, ironically, they were incapable of ending Fineous once and for all.
“How long they fought is unknown, as time is not a concept gods are particularly great about acknowledging, and the only records we have of these times and this conflict are the eventual priests and priestesses of the gods that eventually relayed the story. What is known is that as they reached a stalemate, a decision was made. While they could not end the conflict, they could banish Fineous from the heavens, limiting his power and influence. Gathering together the strength, the other gods chained Fineous to a physical form, and threw him from the heavens to the earth below.
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“Fineous crashed to the ground in one of the dead corners of the world his followers had made. While his influence was greatly weakened, being restricted to the purely physical, his followers sensed his divinity and gathered to him.
“Perhaps foolishly, the other gods assumed that the story of Fineous was complete. After all, what could a single chained god do against he will of 7 unchained? The answer was far more than they realized. While their ethereal nature meant it was difficult for the other gods to regularly notice or even care about routine, worldly matters, ever moment of Fineous’ life was focused on the death of the world. He could empower his armies with a twisted mockery of death, turning them into shallow husks capable of walking through a hail of arrows to spread their pestilence. Living champions that travelled across the deadlands to devote themselves to the god of death were either killed outright and added to his legions, or empowered so that few, if any, would be capable of standing against them. None knew the criteria Fineous chose to choose between death or empowerment, and many assume it was nothing more than pure whim deciding the fate of those that made the journey.
“For a millennium the armies of Fineous slowly spread through the world like cancer, infecting and turning acre upon acre of land into more deadlands. Mortal armies began to stand up to the encroaching tide of death, but could only manage to stall the spread, never stop it completely.
“It was during this time that the priests and priestesses of each god began to formalize their religions, and also when the first prophies were recorded. Because Fineous was of the original 8 gods who were created in balance, nothing within that balance would ever overcome his influence. Further prophecies spoke of a hero who would be summoned from another world, wielding strange powers against the forces of death, and using them would find a way to end Fineous influence once and for all.
It was hard not to appreciate the world building had set up. Was it loaded with cliches? Without a doubt. Did it give a decent reason why the player would inhabit a “hero” who was uniquely suited to solve the problems of this fantasy world? Indeed.
“This is why you have been summoned; Hero named Winston. The other gods could not act and empower their worshippers until Fineous pushed the world enough out of balance that their powers would allow them to push back against that imbalance. Over centuries, as the tide of death slowly crept across the land, thousands of worshippers regularly gathered in prayer to push through the divide between worlds and summon the singular hero with the set of skills. Skills that would allow them to wield the blessings of the 7 gods in a way no other individual could.
Definitely leaning hard into the “chosen one” trope, Colton thought to himself. Still, not entirely uninspiring.
“As we looked through the divide through your world, we suspect we influenced as well. For this reason, while our world is definitely different than your own, you maybe see a great deal that is surprisingly familiar. Creatures that exist only in your world as fantasy roam our world as real as any dog or cat in your own world. While your world may only have a single species of human, our world has a diverse array of races, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, allies, grudges, and histories. Finally, while yours is a world of technology and science, magic permeates our world so deeply that on a daily basis you should expect to see things in this world that our impossible on your own.
“Sadly, because you have been pulled from your world, with its different rules and lack of magic, only your soul could be carried across the divide. The first of the gods’ blessings will be that of Phaneous. With her gift of life, she will craft for you a new body that you can walk throughout our world. It shall be up to you how you choose to craft your new vessel.”