The Old Gods I

Not many remember the Old Gods, those strange beings which governed our society, who punished and rewarded us. I have made it my single goal to find as much information of their existence and put it out there for you all to read. I will tell you how the Old Gods came to be.

First, it is hard to find solid evidence saying the Old Gods existed since the beginning. I went to the Great City, that now industrial complex with suffering citizens, and visited the library. There I met many historians like myself as well as visited the Ancient Artifacts section. Much was written on plaques referring to the Old Gods, but the relics themselves were what kept my interest.

The oldest relic was a stone carving, chipped from a temple wall in the Southern runes. The carving showed the old tribe praising the first Old God who sat atop one of their temples. A jaguar like figure, but in reality, the Old God was much larger than any animal. It was Uhtyan, the God of Might.

Uhtyan was one of the Gods that treated his people benevolently and in return they praised and pampered him. The carving showed him adorned with many jewels and surrounded by luxuries such as the finest cloth pillows and the best food. The Old God was pleased in the carving, for a time, providing the people with the gift of the great waterfall and the everlasting fields which were used for the bulk of their farming.

The followers of Uhtyan prospered until they grew resentful of the Old God. Some say it came down to poor teaching, but the descendants of the original followers weren’t as fanatical about Uhtyan. These people grew resentful of the praise that Uhtyan was receiving and decided to kill the Old God.

While he slept atop his tower, the young men and woman climbed the temple carefully and thrust daggers into the heart and many eyes of Uhtyan. The Old God would not die, but it was blinded and made cold by the attack and with that his benevolence turned tyrannical, bringing an end to the kingdom in a single generation.

First, the Old God killed everyone who struck at him, horribly. Next, he destroyed the waterfall and the crops began to fester. The remaining people and the elders tried to bring peace, but Uhtyan was not forgiving and as every society learn, no Old God was forgiving.

That was of course only a few thousand years ago, but it is still largely believed that the Old Gods had existed since the beginning. It was the underlying feeling that all gods were here since the beginning and the creators of everything. In truth, there is no scientific backing to say that is true, because there is no scientific backing as to how the Old Gods worked.

Now is the age of discovery, of development as people, as a society, but still some of us are fixated that the Old Gods will return. Legends and stories are spread of the many Old Gods and their hellish desires upon the earth, but nobody has seen an Old God for three generations. To be remembered as legends and stories simply doesn’t do them justice, otherwise they would soon be forgotten.

My next step in unravelling the history of the Old Gods was to find one, one who I could speak with about their kind. Perhaps I would die, as so many who have warned me would happen, however, to meet one and converse with one is far greater honour than the people give credit.

Of course, there was only the matter of finding an Old God. Their disappearance was sudden. Uhtyan had being missing for a lot longer, but Grutya, Lierot and many others supposedly ruled the world not so long ago. To have so many powerful figures just disappear at the same time without reason was not to be allowed. There had to be purpose in their disappearance and I needed to find out how.

For me, I had a lead on something. Supposedly an Old God still exists, claimed to have been sighted by rural townsfolk in the Southern lands, in the deepest jungles. It is there that I will make my first expedition. To find out if there is any merit and if there is an Old God, find out as much about it as I can.

Funding for this project was easy to come by. Several travellers like myself have a keen interest in leaving their mark on this world and seeing as the Old Gods are still living through memory, by learning and writing about them there is a chance of fame and for them to go down throughout history.

My expedition would lead me across the ocean and past several islands before I even reached the edge of the jungle. Still, that was plenty of time to document the journey and develop a list of questions to ask if there turned out to be an Old God.

I would like to say this journey began smoothly, but on the night of the departure I had a premonition. At first, I thought it to be a nightmare, but later in my journey I found it all too real.

I was ascending a temple, one ancient and covered in foliage as the jungle slowly consumed it. Once at the top I descended down a long set of stairs which spiralled deeper into darkness. My footsteps began to echo and my heart’s pounding became so loud it felt like there were drums in my ears.

I walked down a tunnel, a tunnel covered in web, dust and vine, but soon I reached an unnatural darkness. A darkness that would not shy away from the fire I had created. I stared into that darkness and felt it, the presence of an Old God.

There was no mercy in the God’s intentions, but I felt it calling me deeper still. Despite better judgement, I entered the darkness to meet my fate only to wake up in a cold sweat.