Rat 12, Year 0 of the Grand Wulin Era, Aeric The Fateweaver, God Of Karma

I was falling through layers of reality, my body and soul slowly fragmenting. I hurt almost beyond my capacity to comprehend, to the extent that I couldn`t find the words necessary to properly describe the pain. It felt like my flesh, my muscles, even my bones, were freezing and cracking apart, and yet molten iron was running through my veins. Sharp, painful energy rampaged through my body, slicing me apart as I barely managed to stay intact.

It was as if I was being crushed by an entire mountain, yet I also as if my body was on the verge of exploding into a cloud of bloody mist. Pain of this order should've near-instantly killed me, let alone the injuries that had caused it. I knew I had little chance to live, but I should be able to stave off my death long enough to resolve some matters and ensure my legacy was passed on, and if I was lucky,I might just survive.

I extended my Divine Sense out across the endless planes and worlds of the Myriad Heavens Cosmos, seeing that my friends, allies, and even enemies were making their own preparations. I saw the God Of Thunder fall, his body splitting up into arcs of the crackling purple energy that was his domain. I saw the Goddess of Life shed her divinity and even most of her strength, turning back into the simple sapient rosebush she'd once been. I knew that by this point, the tragedy that had happened to us all was over, but we were doomed. After this, who would guide the myriad planes and ensure the Dao did not go astray? I did not know, but it was certain that there would be those who would rise to fill the gap. I, and those like me, must ensure that as many of those who rose as possible would be those fit to do so, beings who would carry on our dreams into the boundless future. After all, what my enemies wanted was something that should not be allowed to come to pass.

I located a suitable planet somewhere on a plane of reality in one of the Mortal Realms, and created a spatial tunnel to reach it, collapsing the tunnel as I left it. Arriving in a somewhat remote area mostly controlled by some (in my eyes) small and insignificant clans,I dusted off what was left of my hands, and set to work.Starting off, I paused time in the entire plane, so that my work could not be interfered with. Power surged through the entire realm in rippling waves, shocking it to its core and transforming it at high speed. An ingenious self-replenishing network of energy-rich plants, ores, liquids, and other materials was set up, drastically improving the quality and increasing the energy of this mortal realm.

"This will have to do.", I thought, waving my hands as various materials flew through the air, turning into shrines made of different materials, each connecting to empty or abandoned sub-planes of this plane I proceeded to remodel. I set up trials within them, with different techniques, materials, and a variety of other rewards. This would give the people and beasts of the world the ability keep up with the transformation I had made, and reward the lucky and the worthy.

Extending my senses, I could feel the same happening across other lower planes, and even elsewhere in this plane. Through the haze of pain and degredation, I ensured my legacy included those of my two closest friends. Quetzacoatl, Khepri... please hold on. I think we can survive this.

I could feel my consciousness, my very being, fading. Souls are unable to be completely destroyed,though most do not know this, but they can lose their power, memory, identity, and change into new ones. My soul’s memory and identity were not lost, but its power and divinity were fading, reducing me to naught but a mortal soul. My body had stopped dying, and had slowly returned to that of a mortal.

It felt quite strange, to lose my power, my divine nature. My senses, my strength, even the nature of my existence diminished. It felt like suddenly going blind or deaf, or losing a limb permanently, or experiencing paralysis. Something was missing, and I was aware of it and what it was- I had the memory of it and the knowledge of how to use it and how it worked, but it was no longer within my reach when it had formerly been as natural and automatic as breathing.

I would have to go to sleep for a while, and my friends would sleep beside me. After the trials were set, and the required defenses and other neccesary amenities set up, I established a simple temple for myself and two friends , and I lay us down in stone bed-coffins with transparent crystal lids. All else was left to the hands of fate, and those hands were no longer mine. We would rise when adequate inheritors were found, to teach them the truth and to guide them to take the places we'd once held.