I've been mostly doing character pictures in Painter, but I've finally gotten around to writing some of it. This is a history intro to the world it's set in, just to give folks an idea of the background. And those pictures I did- I couldn't mention them and not show them off, right?
So, have a story about god-horses, people, and a world that exists only in my head- now that's a scary thought! Enjoy!
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At the beginning of all things the Higher Power called Artoes into being, having grown bored with the universe that was. He grew the mountains and the forests, then placed the animals and people on it, to do what they willed. He was happy with what he had made, until he looked closer and saw the people all milling around in confusion, not knowing how to care for themselves or the world they were given. The Higher Power was at a loss, so at last he turned to his brothers and sisters- the Lesser Powers, strong and wise, lesser in name only.
He put his request to them, and after conferring among themselves for a bit they accepted. The Higher Power sent them to Artoes, then gave them a choice of shape to take. After further debate, they chose the shapes of great horses, and after receiving their mortal forms, they went among the people to teach them how to live. The people accepted them happily and learned all they had to teach, and for centuries there was peace and prosperity.
Amadar
But not everything went according to the Higher Power's plan. From someplace outside the world, a Darkness came- one that had never been seen by the Powers Higher or Lesser. It came to live among the people, feeding off them and subverting them to its own twisted ends. The Lesser Powers in their horse-shapes gathered themselves and the people into a great army, and after a battle that lasted for years, they managed to drive the Darkness away. It was not destroyed- they didn't know how they might do that- but it would be a long, long time before it would be able to return, if at all.
But the Darkness left something of itself behind, in the hearts and minds of the surviving people. They remembered and feared the Darkness, and they remembered that it was the Horses that brought them together to fight it. After several generations- for human lives were short- the people's stories got mixed together so much, they began to believe that the Horses had brought the Darkness on them. And so they began to hate and fear the Horses as well.
The Horses, for all their wisdom, didn't see what was happening until it was too late. The people they had nurtured and taught began to drive them away, and it wasn't long before the first Horse was killed. Now, the Powers were immortal and couldn't be destroyed, but their mortal bodies could, and it took time to prepare a new body to replace each one that was killed. And so the Horses found their numbers dwindling alarmingly, and finally decided they had to do something about it.
On a cold spring morning they gathered together, discussing what they might do. The talks lasted all through the day and into the night. Finally, after much debate, they made their decision to withdraw from the humans' world.
Rhisovan
The very next night a mist came up from the ground. It seemed like an ordinary mist, except that it covered every inch of ground over the whole of Artoes. It grew thicker and colder, driving the people into their homes, where they huddled by fires and muttered among themselves of witchcraft and Darkness returning. When morning's light finally broke over the world, the mist- and every trace of the Horses- was gone.
But not completely. In the northeastern region, the mist had condensed itself, shutting off an area encompassing several hundred square miles. Those that discovered the mist refused to enter it, saying that unearthly voices echoed in the mist, and it swirled and roiled in a most unnatural, unfriendly way. The nearest people packed up and moved their villages to a more comfortable distance, and their lives resumed as normal.
Vardigen
But the mist had done more than remove the Horses. It also removed all memory of the Horses' previous history with the humans, so that all they remembered was the fear and hatred. And so the Horses stayed in the sanctuary they had created for themselves and watched the humans from afar, and the humans went about their lives unhindered. All in all, it was not a bad arrangement, although many of the Horses missed the close companionship they had once had.
Things stayed that way for two thousand years. Then a whisper came to the Horses in their secluded home; a whisper of returning evil, of Darkness. Fearing the return of Darkness more than anything the people might bring, the Horses began sending out probes to the villages and towns, searching for humans that might take up their cause, and return things to the balance that had been. It was slow, careful work, but they were rewarded by the discovery of humans that would accept them, work with them, and live among them as before. These people were few in number at first, but they increased steadily. And they all had one thing in common- something that their fellow humans called "Magegift."
The Horses trained these budding Mages, then sent them back into the world to watch over the people, to teach them of the Darkness of old and try to warn of its return. And they continued to search for more humans that would accept the old ways, for among them would be one that could be the key to success, to survival, and- perhaps- the way to destroy the Darkness for good.
Vardigen and Karee
____________________I made this a bit... "formal-sounding" I guess? on purpose (I was actually thinking of how older Bible versions were written. >.>). The rest of the story won't be written like this, I promise.
I do plan on posting more of this once it's written, though probably not the whole thing, since I may be trying to make it into an actual book. Stay tuned in for more!
