[The Watcher, World tree’s empire]

In a faraway land, an absolutely massive tree towers over nearby mountains, its mile-high canopy casting a perpetual shade across an entire kingdom. Despite this, it is a being of worship, not scorn from the masses. Tens of thousands of people pray to the tree each and every day, bathing in the aura of life it gives off, which rejuvenates and energizes them far more effectively than food of any sort, so they have cast most of it away in favor of essence from the being they revere.

Those closer to the trunk have been visibly changed, with light-green skin reminiscent of Dryads. They serve as an equivalent to the clergy, carrying out their lord’s will. Any issues that arise are swiftly taken care of, due to the massive perception network shared with them. Despite often acting with zealotry, the masses have no concern, likely caused by mass indoctrination. After all, most don’t see anything wrong with what they are taught to be “normal.” Those few who see through the ruse are kept quiet by apprehensiveness and misinformation.

The closer you get, the more bleak things look. Near the core, everyone has complete reverence for their deity, and will do anything asked of them without question, being completely under its thrall. Many innocent women are used as factories for creating spawn to further this twisted empire, and they are made to enjoy it; all the while slowly being transformed into mindless creatures designed purely to birth the creatures as efficiently and as quickly as possible. The men, meanwhile, are turned into hulking beasts designed for both manual labor and warfare, with incredible defensive and regenerative capabilities allowing them to survive nearly anything thrown at them.

Few outside her inner circle have met the world tree’s avatar, a being known as Rheolydd. Her ten-foot tall, yet impeccably beautiful form hides enough strength to effortlessly bend steel beams, enough durability to remain unscathed from direct strikes from cannons, and enough agility to approach the sound barrier. She doesn’t even need to get close to you to cause your demise, as Rheolydd can invade flora with her mana in order to take full control of them so long as she is nearby.

Even should you avoid all of Rheolydd’s forces, the moment you enter her domain you will be skewered by her roots, and every part of your body will be used to fuel her unending growth. Many kingdoms have already surrendered, hoping to be spared, seeing futility in opposing such overwhelming power. The citizens are then slowly taken over by parasitic flowers, another of Rheolydd’s many powers. Once thoroughly under her control, they set out for her empire, leaving entire cities empty as those once living within leave to serve their new overlord.

The gods have taken notice of her actions, but find themselves unable to act. After all, the lesser god of volcanic might, Llosgfynydd, was defeated and captured by her. Even now, he still lives, trapped within Rheolydd’s trunk, slowly wasting away as she usurps his power over fire, rendering her greatest weakness null and void. Many of the gods still foolishly believe that Rheolydd will stop growing in power despite the fact they’ve been told repeatedly of her potential to destroy the world, and to survive in the void between worlds after doing so. Regardless, it will soon come to the point that she will start attacking even the gods, slowly assimilating their power in her unending quest to grow. At least, that would have happened, were it not for the arrival of an outside source, one who shares Rheolydd’s lust for infinite power.

A sudden, massive increase in the number of monsters roaming the land, and a gift to all lifeforms assisting them in getting stronger. Rheolydd is so busy dealing with the unforeseen invasion that she fails to notice her remaining foes amassing their own power until it is too late. She is too used to being an overpowering force to have learned conventional tactics, so now that she has lost that advantage, is slowly pushed back despite her efforts to the contrary. After a years-long war, only what was once her heartlands remain under her control. However, her power has become too great for even the gods to be able to truly strike her down, and so, along with the races’ greatest mages, a seal is placed, one that will lock Rheolydd away, hopefully forever.

With Rheolydd sealed away, anyone not transformed by her breaks free of their hypnosis, but many of her once citizens still revere her due to years of conditioning, with the difference of them now doing so in private. A subset of her remaining believers even form a cult dedicated to her resurrection, which they believe will bring prosperity rather than destruction. For the masses, at least, a massive threat has been dealt with, and a celebration is in order.

Their victory is short lived, however, when news of a new, unknown force arrives, one with no interest in anything but the total annihilation of them all. Soldier after soldier is killed by their advanced weaponry, and their full-body yet somehow lightweight armor means that the defenders’ victories are few and far between. One by one, countries fall against the unrelenting horde, the lands they once fought to protect being decimated by war. It is clear to all that, unless something drastic is done, the end of all is nigh. And so, a desperate plan is made.

Survivors from all around are called to what was once Rheolydd’s land, and a great barrier is erected. The remaining gods then cause disasters across the world with all their might, summoning earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, anything that can be done to stop the enemy’s advance. The peoples’ hope lie in the fact that Rheolydd’s life energy still seeps through the area, and the possibility that its concentration will be enough to keep them alive through what is about to happen.

Meanwhile, Rheolydd, who can still see the outside world despite being unable to interact with it, can’t help but see the irony in all this, that those who were able to defeat her completely ended up making the same mistake she did, with similar results. She is unsure as to what she wants to happen as a result of the cataclysm, only that she has no doubt it will be interesting. Her last thoughts before it happens are that, if given a second chance, perhaps I should help others more. I was so lonely that I forced people to like me, to spend time with me. Perhaps, had I been a better person, none of this would have happened.

And so, an era comes to a close. What an interesting case, no? The possibilities brought about by the multiverse never cease to amaze me, perhaps in part because I cannot interfere. For you mortals, it is akin to watching “reality” television, or whatever is popular these days. The big difference between the two is scale, with me watching entire worlds across eons, not to mention the fact that none of it is staged, at least not in the same manner, and that the same show is never shown twice. I would share with you my name would your feeble souls not collapse upon hearing, so you may call me

The Watcher