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The Birth of Zeeks
- This is an excerpt from Jorluhn the Seer's World Myth. I, Nuldain, monk devoted to Solspere have made this translation to be closer to the modern tongue. It takes place shortly after the gods have met and affirmed their control of various domains*
And so the gods went each to their own homes and used their now fully secured powers to further their goals. Solspere carried the sun into the sky where Talyra protected it and Cao gave it's strength to his chosen barbarians, Okeah commanded the frightening powers of the sea and storms to bring chaos and destruction back into the world and still others used their control over plants, animals and the earth to provide their chosen with food.
Izobranet saw this and knew she had miscalculated. While many of the other gods chose dominion over the physical realms Izobranet chose the raw power of Strength and the emotions of hate, malice, greed, envy and others that we mortals commonly refer to as Evil. However, in the early days after Creation none of these were as respected and feared by mortals as the life giving sun, the rich land or the control of the afterlife that other gods ruled.
Izobranet became furious when she saw how other gods would command entire countries and races of fearful or appreciative followers and started to visit her destruction upon the world. Rather than embrace her out of fear, though, the mortals called upon the other gods for protection and Izobranet knew she had to find a way to gain the power to create creatures of her own.
Retreating from the world to her Citadel cloaked in darkness, Izobranet pondered her problem and quickly came to a decision. If she could not undo her choices in domain from the time of Creation, then she would create one who could. The goddess of evil decided to birth a child who could create the creatures that she could not and set out to find a father among the gods. Mighty Cao, who had control of the life-giving sun of the plains and the animals, could give her the powers she needed.
Izobranet knew that the Beastlord yearned for the shy Mistress of the Woods and she decided to use this weakness against him. Cloaking herself in the visage of Elayrhen and using her powers to radiate sensuality, Izobranet approached Cao who was entranced by her. Questioning not why the beautiful goddess, who had previously rebuffed him, would now freely offer herself to him, Cao followed the silent Elayrhen and lay with her gifting her with child.
Izobranet sequestered herself after her liason with Cao and shortly thereafter gave birth to the first god formed after the Creation of the world. The creature that Izobranet gave birth to was covered in green scales and was so ugly that the beautiful goddess was appalled by the mere sight of him. Disgusted by her child, Izobranet cast him into a hole in the ground. Each day she would come to the hole and whisper words of hate and deceit to her infant son about his father and the other gods, twisting the godling to her goals and ambitions. Zeeks grew up quickly, though he was always small in stature and full of self-loathing, and joined his mother in her fight against the other gods.
Zeeks proved to be a most able ally of Izobranet. He had gained his father's dominion over wild beasts and commanded an army of twisted animals against those mortals who worshipped his father and the other enemies of his mother. He also had power over death and disease using his dominions to cause torture and pain. However, where Izobranet had hoped Zeeks would gain Cao's influence over the sun, Zeeks only gained control over elemental fire, a failure for which she never forgave him as Cao, angered by Izobranet's betrayal of his love, strengthened the sun and used it as a bastion against Izobranet and her minions. Zeeks' creations, though, resisted the fierce new Sun and continued the godly struggle through the days. Terrible were these wars, as the the mother and son raged against the other gods for dominion and terrible was the pain of Cao when he learned that Izobranet's new ally was his own son.
In the end after much devastation Izobranet was cast down and Zeeks fled to the hidden reaches of the world. For her treachery, Izobranet was banished from the world by the other gods and thrown into the Void and was to remain there for all eternity. Without Izobranet's aid, Zeeks could not face the might of the other gods and he remained in hiding; teaching his followers the ways of ambush and betrayal, trickery and deceit. Thus, while the greater war was over, there was no lasting peace and the father and son continue to strive against each other to this very day.