The Gift and the Defiance
O gods, behold the world that bears your name,Its prayers grown faint, its towers crowned with flame.
When Oranth shaped the earth, humankind wokeTo lands unknown, beneath an unfamiliar sky.Before the storm they bent. Beneath the plagueThey fell, with neither strength nor spell to answer.
And Serya, Goddess of Life, beheld their grief.She could not turn her face from mortal sorrow.The secrets of all magic she laid bare:The script of gods, the ancient tongue of dragons,Each sign a key, each word a door unsealed.They named her then the generous Giver of Fire.
With magic, mortals stood against the wild.With power, pride took root within their hearts.The hymns grew faint. Their own names filled the silence.The gift endured. The giver was forgotten.
They raised their towers to contend with mountains,Their spires a challenge to the homes of gods.Great ships, borne aloft by arcane power,Sailed over sacred roofs and sovereign peaks.No reverence checked their course. Across the heavensTheir passing cast the shadow of a claim.
Then Veyric, the great warlord, raised his challenge:No mortal throne could sate his hunger now.He turned his armies toward the heights of heaven.He meant to bring the gods beneath his heel.
Above him rose the mountains, vast and silent.Below them gathered all the pride of humankind.
Would mortal banners crown the deathless summits?Would heaven bow beneath a conqueror’s tread?Or had the hands that learned to wield the fireForgotten what it meant to fear the flame?
Creation, the gift of fire and mortal defiance
奥兰瑟创世之后,初生的人类对这个世界一无所知,他们蒙昧而不开化,无力与自然抗衡,面对疾病与天灾,只能逆来顺受。
生命女神瑟莉娅目睹凡人疾苦,于心不忍。于是毫无保留地向人类揭示了魔法的秘密。为了让人类更快地掌握那些晦涩的魔法咒文,女神甚至将神的文字和龙的语言一并传授给了人类,她因此一度被凡人称为“慷慨的授火者”。
魔法令人类拥有了对抗残酷自然的资本,但也使得人类越发狂妄自大。他们不再敬畏神明,而是陶醉于自我的力量中。他们用魔法创造了高耸入云的奇观建筑,与众神居住的群山一较高低,向众神宣示着主权;他们驱策以魔能为动力的空天楼舰翱翔于天际,肆无忌惮地从群山之巅的众神宫殿上飞过,仿佛在向众神耀武扬威。
甚至一些人类妄图征服众神,大军阀维里克向众神发出了挑战,打算将他的铁蹄踏向众神所在的群山之巅。
Creative cultural adaptation · Narrative craft