#gea

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Hymn to Lord Zane of the stars, Lady Nana of the rising sun, King Gene of the Underworld, and Queen Kea of the Dual Planes.

Many long years ago, long before any living mortal could remember, there once was a foolish king who ruled over a desolate kingdom. Arrogant, prideful, and selfish, this king ruled over his kingdom with an iron fist and an empty mind. His people suffered under the tremendous taxes put upon them. Their land was sick and what little food there was the greedy king swallowed up to feast on in his palace with his equally greedy friends. And any good thing within the kingdom was taken to be given to the king far away in his splendorous palace.

But despite the terribleness of King Damien, he was not ignorant - in fact he was quite the opposite. Although he was quick to anger and often rash in his decisions as monarch, he was not unobservant to the other royals around him. For it seemed to King Damian that every king in the land had wed himself to a maiden more fair than the last. Envy filled the foolish king's heart with each passing wedding for Damian had no queen to confide with. And when he tried to turn to the women of his kingdom, he saw none for whom he could take for a wife. For King Damian did not want a queen marked by her intelligence or her wit. No, King Damian wanted to have only the most beautiful queen. In fact he wanted to have the most beautiful queen in all the realms mortal and immortal. He would not settle for less. And he was not interested in waiting for long for such a woman to appear.

After many weeks of stewing in his own bitterness and envy, one of King Damian's many servants approached the angered king. But this was no ordinary servant - this was Michi, the Mistress of Discord - who had been lured to king's envy and so disguised herself to trick King Damian. With a cunning plan and coy grin, she approached the king upon his throne.

"My benevolent king," the disguised Michi began, bowing so low to the floor her forehead touched the marble floor, "I see you are troubled, but I may have a remedy for your troubles! I have heard of a meadow not far from here where a woman bathed in the splendor of the dawn roams each and every morning. My sister, who has visited this meadow many times has seen her for herself! Perhaps it is this woman who may be beautiful enough to be your queen!"

Hearing this, the king became elated at this news. So, King Damian took his finest horse, his enchanted golden lasso - which he'd stolen from Laurance of the Winds - and set off towards the meadow which the servant spoke of. It was a moonless night shrouded with a dark canopy of clouds. Not a single star peaked through the dark cover. Although this made it difficult to see, the desperate king pressed on.

Finally, he came across the meadow the servant had spoken of. And while waiting in the tall grasses, he spotted the woman he'd been told of. Surrounded by her golden butterflies, the goddess radiated the beauty of the dawn itself. Bathed in pinks, blues, and oranges, the meif'wa peacefully walked through the meadow towards her friend - another meif'wa and another goddess - who shone with the freshness of blooming flowers. And for a moment in time, King Damian was frozen in awe of the goddesses' beauty. For they both were indeed the most beautiful women he'd ever laid eyes on! Mounting his horse, King Damian rushed forward, and captured the goddesses in his golden lasso. The butterflies which had surrounded the first goddess scattered as they had been startled by the attack. Tying the lasso tight, Nana and Kea were unable to escape and a tie around their mouths gagged them into silence. The nymphs and mortals of the field could not hear their cries for help. Atop King Damian's horse, the goddesses were stolen away to the king's palace.

Nana's butterflies remained in the meadow, unsure where the king had taken their goddess.

As it just so happened, Travis god of festivals and winter came through this meadow, accompanied by his followers. And as he passed through, the horned god noticed the golden butterflies in the meadow. And when he did not see the goddess they belonged to, he began to worry. Momentarily halting the festivities, Travis asked his followers to search the meadow and the forest around it for the missing goddess. And when they could not find her, Travis began to worry. Leaving his followers in the care of some nearby water nymphs, he set off to see if anyone knew of the goddess's whereabouts. And when no god above or below could answer where Nana had gone, the other gods also began to worry.

Without the dawn goddess, the sun could not rise, and without Kea, the greenery of the earth could not begin anew - so the world was plunged into an eternal night and an eternal winter. When Zane - the god of the stars and prophecy - heard his wife had vanished without a trace, he fell into a deep sadness. And his work was left unattended which threw the mortal realm into further chaos. No one aged, no one was born, no one died. The mortals began to panic, fearful they'd angered the gods.

Every creature which tread the earth, swam in the sea, and flew over the sky was commanded to find the missing goddess.

When Lady Aphmau, the eldest and Queen of the gods, saw that her beloved humans had fallen into despair, she paid a visit to the god of prophecy.

"Zane!" the creation goddess exclaimed with great worry when she found the weary god in his palace, "Why have you done this? You have burdened my humans with no fates and no destinies! They cannot continue their lives without your work! Why have you stopped tending to your loom?"

The god of ravens sat on the floor, cradling his beloved wife's obi. "Leave me," he croaked out solemnly. To no one in particular, he wept, "Why must I be a god with the heart of a mortal man? What have I done to deserve this torment?"

Seeing her friend's grief, Aphmau invited him to come with her. Travis had announced he would host a small feast to help cheer up the worried and mournful gods while they searched for their missing friend. Zane agreed and went along with Aphmau to this festival. On their way to the party, the pair happened across King Gene, who had fallen into an equally deep grief for the loss of his beloved wife and queen. Aphmau too invited the saddened king to the celebrations and he agreed to come. As the three gods journeyed to the small festival, they happened across a small pond where they found Michi who had corralled some water nymphs into hearing her brag about herself.

"I must be the greatest goddess of them all!" Michi proclaimed pridefully to the party of miserable nymphs, "For I was able to trick a mortal man into stealing a goddess for his wife! And not just one goddess, but two! What a fool he is and how clever am I! This must make me the most clever goddess in all the realms!"

Hearing this, Zane made himself known and appeared behind the prideful goddess.

"Who was the mortal man who has stolen the goddess of the dawn and the goddess off the spring?" Zane asked Michi, his inky black wings spread out wide on either side of him. His piercing eyes - like a pair of stars amongst the night sky - bore into the goddesses' terrified face.

"Oh lord Zane Keeper of Stars!" Michi cried, feigning shame as she fell to her knees. Although the terror she felt at the god's sudden appearance was very real. "For it was King Damian who has taken her! What a terrible fate it is that has befallen the goddess of love!" Michi wept her crocodile tears into the wilted grass beneath her to seek pity from the god of fate. But Zane was not so gullible or quick to forgive.

In his fury, the lord of prophecy roared, "You have tricked a foolish king into stealing my wife as his bride! You are the reason the mortals suffer through a harsh winter without the sun, and why I toil without the presence of my wife! As penance for your actions, you are to be banished to the mortal plane for one hundred years! Your power shall be stripped of you, and you shall toil upon the earth as a mortal being!"

In great terror, Michi fled from the god, but her fate was inevitable. As she ran, she grew tired and lethargic. Each step melted away her immortality and so she became mortal. As the god of stars had commanded, it was only after one hundred years was she allowed to have her powers restored and she could leave the mortal plane.

But the Keeper of Stars was not yet done. On swift wings he flew to the palace of King Damien while Aphmau went to tell the other gods of what she'd learned. Taking on a mortal disguise, Zane and Gene entered the king's home. There they found their wives: Nana and Kea. They sat beside Damien on his throne, still tied down by the golden lasso. King Damien was growing impatient because the wedding festivities had not ceased.

"I'm afraid we cannot go to your chambers just yet," Nana explained with a feigning smile, "For as you know, a new day has yet to start! And by mortal law a wedding's festivities must last until the sun rises. Only then will we consummate the marriage."

Bound to the law, Damien grumbled and sulked miserably on his throne.

Upon hearing Nana's clever trick, Zane and Gene entered the palace disguised in dark cloaks. The other guests grew perturbed by his presence, not aware that before them was the Keeper of Stars. Upon seeing the haggard stranger amongst his wedding party, King Damien angrily stood from his throne and demanded that the stranger reveal himself.

"Who are you who has entered my palace without my permission? Reveal yourself to me peasant strangers!"

The gods feigned innocence. Zane explained, "Oh but you are mistaken, your majesty. For we are no stranger. I have come from very far away to bring you a gift greater than anything you have received before to congratulate you on your marriage!"

The king was confused. For he was certain he had not miscounted any of his wedding guests. But too intrigued by the mysterious gift, Damian smiled. "Then tell me oh strangers from a far land," Damien said, "What is this gift that is greater than any I have received before?"

In that moment, the disguised gods revealed themselves for all to see. A vicious darkness consumed the wedding hall, and blew out all of the torches in the castle. The light of the full moon crowned the god of stars in a white glowing halo as he approached the throne angrily.

"An eternal punishment in the deepest pits of the underworld," Zane explained with an unnaturally calm fury. Using both of his powers, the god of stars cursed the mortal king to the Underworld and stripped him of his life where he stood. In that instant, the floor ripped open and Damien's soul fell down into the Underworld. He was eternally cursed to an afterlife of perpetual darkness. For all eternity, Damian was forced to chase images of a golden butterfly and glowing pink flower which he always swore he saw out of the corner of his eye. Beneath his feet, sharp rocks ripped into his bare feet with each desperate chase he gave after the two lights.