*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Come in.”

Roam looked up from his journal as Myra poked her head around the door.

“Ahh, Myra come in.”

Roam motioned to the chair opposite his at the table.

“Please sit down. Would you like anything to drink? Some water or tea perhaps?”

Myra took her seat, trying not to stare at the room around her.

“Umm, some tea would be nice I guess?”

Roam smiled kindly before walking to the door and peering around the corner.

“Ms. Mola would you be so kind as to make tea for two?”

Myra heard a creaky old voice coming from the next room.

“Of course, your…err Mr. Roam. I’ll bring it out to you momentarily.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Roam returned to his seat and took a moment to appraise Myra.

“I’m glad that you decided to come today, Myra. I hope that the stories I can tell you today help you understand a little more about our world and your own place within it. However, before we begin, I’m afraid that I have one condition to impose on you.”

Myra gave him a quizzical look but didn’t say anything.

“As I told you before, I’m bending the rules a bit to tell you these stories now instead of when you’re older. Therefore, my one condition for telling you these stories is that you promise not to tell your friends or peers what you hear today. They will all hear these stories in their own time, and it would not do to have them spoiled beforehand. Do you agree to that?”

She nodded slowly.

“Okay. I understand.”

“Good! Then we can get started,” Roam responded. “Now, where to begin? I’m sure you still have many questions since our last meeting. Is there anything in particular that you would like to focus on?”

Myra shifted nervously in her chair.

Just like that?

I just tell him what I want to know, and he’ll tell me?

She cleared her throat.

“I want to hear about the gods and why I can’t talk to them.”

Roam nodded as she said this.

“Yes, I thought you would.”

He took a breath and considered how best to proceed.

“Well Myra, I do have an answer for you. One that is usually kept until the last round of stories that children hear. However, you might not find it entirely satisfactory.”

“In a way, it relates to one of the other questions that I believe you asked me yesterday. About where the gods are now and why they don’t seem to interact with us as directly as they used to. There is a story that explains this, and, if you’ll allow me, I’d like to tell you it.”

Myra appeared skeptical.

“And this story is related to why the gods won’t talk to me specifically?”

Roam nodded but didn’t say anything as Mola swept into the room bearing a tray of tea. When she had set the tray before them and departed again, he responded.

“Yes. Probably. Possibly. If you allow me to tell the story, I’ll be able to better explain, and you might gain a better understanding.”

Myra considered this for a moment. While she would prefer a straightforward and quick answer to her question, she had time and was certainly not in any rush to get home.

“Okay then. Let’s hear it.”

Roam clapped his hands together in satisfaction,

“Very well! Let us begin. It’s time to tell you a story, child. A story of War and Consequences.

___

You remember our last story from yesterday, yes? We ended with Nuwa’s flood, the near destruction of humanity, and the mastering of Fire. Well, as I said at the end of that story, those humans who remained after the Great Flood were those smart enough to fashion vessels to carry them to safety or those lucky enough to find themselves close to such a vessel. The Ancient King himself built one of the greatest vessels that sheltered many hundreds during the flood. But that is a story for another day. In any case, those humans who survived the floods were generally the most intelligent, and so the generations following the flood saw a rapid rise in the overall intelligence of our species. We quickly invented and mastered new technologies and skills. Irrigation, domestication, the wheel, etc. For a time, the Earth was prosperous and peaceful. However, we humans eventually began to congregate around the areas of the world where food was easiest to produce. This led first to villages, then towns, then cities, and eventually entire nations. It was inevitable that, as these nations grew and spread, they would eventually butt up against one another, and arguments and disputes would begin to occur. Naturally, you know what follows next.

War.

This was the very first war, child. And it was terrible. Far worse than the wars we know of today. Humans did indeed fight and kill each other, as is the custom of war in present times. But, in this instance, there was another key factor. The gods.

When humans went to war, the gods began to take sides. Whether it was due to the region they had settled, some affinity for a specific individual, or some grudge against another god, they each chose nations to back and went to war against each other.

This was devastating.

When humans go to war, lives are lost, and a nation may fall.

When gods go to war, the losses are incalculable and entire continents can be shattered.

Indeed, some were.

Eventually, one human nation won over the other, and peace was established once again. But the gods did not notice. Their perception of time is so different from our own that a twenty-year war to us might seem no more than a couple of days to them.

So, the gods continued to fight, their battles wreaking havoc on our planet. So great were the forces unleashed by the battling gods, that the crust of the Earth itself was split and fractured into plates. These plates drifted apart and together again to form the continents that we know today.

But while drifting might sound like a pleasant enough motion, the effects they caused were far from gentle. Great earthquakes rocked the land and triggered a slew of nearly apocalyptic events. Volcanoes erupted and tidal waves formed, once again threatening life on this planet.

Thankfully, mankind, as a whole, put out a great call to the gods, begging them to cease their conflict before all was destroyed.

This, child, was the first prayer.

A collective one so powerful that it immediately caught the attention of all the gods. They paused and, for the first time, noticed the devastation that their war was causing upon the Earth. Horrified, they ceased their conflict and again began to work to restore the planet.

But, from this experience, the gods came to a new conclusion. They realized that their direct interactions with humanity had caused as much bad as good. Perhaps more. This was twice now that their direct contact had almost eliminated humanity. And so, a consensus was reached. The gods agreed that mankind would be better off left, for the most part, to our own devices. They realized that instead of acting directly on the world we humans now inhabited, they would instead be better off merely trying to direct our actions when asked. They resolved to use the newfound medium of prayer to provide advice and guidance to humans who requested it, but they forbade themselves to take direct action. However, even with the best intentions, the gods knew that they would be tempted to provide assistance if they were nearby. So, they gathered together, forming groups, and pooling their powers to create their own realms. Inside each god was a tiny fragment of Chaos, and, together they used these fragments to create small realities of their own, just a tiny step out of sync with the rest of our Universe. Invisible, intangible, but still there. It is from within these realms that the gods observe us and listen for our prayers.