The Legend of Destiny's End - ROLEPLAY

The Legend of Destiny’s End

During the times of the New Beginning, after the 1st Great Swarming, when homins began once more to settle the lands and build their history. . .there lived a young girl named Destiny, who grew up in the forest land of Nexus. Her father was a member of the nature-protecting Kami tribe of the Company of the Eternal Tree; young Destiny grew up to share his love for nature and was soon esteemed for her mystical understanding of and connection with the roots, forest, and creatures of Atys. Nexus always remained her favored haunt and many a youthful herd of bolobis and armas grew under her care, as she guided their migration patterns, observing the ever-present cycle of life, and the seasons pass in harmony. Despite being raised by a devout Kami, as Destiny approached adulthood, she chose for herself a neutral religious path. Long did sages and worshippers of Ma-duk try to persuade her to join their ranks, to become a Ma-duk devotee, to share her intimate knowledge of the land with them for the furthering of the Kamis. But Destiny declined to join them year after year, choosing instead to pick no sides but to keep the peace among homins. She had heard many stories of the animosity and long history between Kami and Karavan followers and wanted nothing to do with their foolish wars. She would reply laughingly that “Mother Atys" was the only goddess she bowed to, and that her life was devoted to simply caring for the flora and fauna of Atys.

One day as Destiny was caring for the cratcha flowers and young birch trees, she suddenly heard the loud sounds of quarreling! She peered around a tree trunk to see two homins shouting threats in the name of Jena and Ma-Duk as they wielded huge axes at each other. Her heart beating frantically, Destiny ran back to the camp, where she found her father mending the fences. "Father, father ", she panted, "there is a Karavan worshipper fighting a Kami disciple! Here, in our forest!" Her father slowly stood up and gazed into the direction of her pointing finger. Finally, he turned a sorrowful gaze to her. "My daughter, your whole life this place has been one of peace and safety. However, as you know, the followers of Ma-duk are not without enemies. I knew that sooner or later the battling would come into our land . . ..there is nothing that can be done about it, I am afraid. As long as there are two different religions, there will always be fights - such is the nature of homins ". With a sinking heart, Destiny returned to her tasks, hoping they would not return. But over the next few months the fighting increased - more and more homins came to use Nexus as their war-grounds and Destiny’s beloved nexus became a place of division and unrest. It seemed not to matter what they fought about - whether it was an insult to their god, or over dappers, or because of a bet on their strength. Not only did the constant fighting pain peaceful Destiny’s heart - but also disturbed the natural wildlife, who fled in terror from the loud noises of war. The bolobis left their peaceful feeding grounds in the Concha to huddle among the central hills, and the torbaks and cutters seemed to sense the tension in the air and attacked the herbivores more viciously than ever. Destiny often could barely sleep at night, huddled by her father's fire, covering her ears to block out the angry yells and thud of weapons against armor. It was not that she was afraid of battle - nay, she was a mighty huntress herself, able to handle any cutter or torbak attack should they turn against her. But rather, it was the idea that homins would fight to the death over differences in belief, in opinion, in what they wanted or thought they deserved, or even to prove that they were superior to another. Her father watched her grow thinner and more silent each day; she roamed Nexus less and less, her heart so saddened by the continual evidences of anger, greed, division and strife. Instead, she took refuge in the mountain in the heart of Nexus, which had been her place of peace and safety since girlhood, when her father had placed a circle of Kami rune stones around the base of the mountain to protect her from all harm. Day after day, season after season, she sat and mused, keeping watch over the creatures of Nexus, yet forced to witness homins endless struggle for power in the names of Jena and Ma-Duk.

One quiet evening, in the light of the pale moon, Destiny’s soul went to rest among the roots of Atys, and for her devotion, a lone tree grew over her remains. And there it stands even today, in Destiny's End, tucked into the mountainside overlooking the lands of Nexus - ever watchful over her shallow grave. Since then, Destiny’s End is not only the grave of a neutral, nature-protecting homine, but also a symbol of the destiny of Nexus and of all hominkind. Will peace ever fill this lovely world of Atys? or will strife continue forever…