355
Year 335
Library of Eras - Erasian Core World
The Library of Eras was filled with dwarves. Thousands, millions, billions. Behind the void bubble, here, they made things. Jorkun described the Library of Eras as a world dedicated to magical research, and here, there was plenty of magical research.
There still was magical research.
Not ruins. Not destruction.
"Something is strange." Edna said, as she took the appearance of a female dwarven knight. The effects of her illusion artifact made all three of them resemble dwarves. "What's going on?"
It was a functional world. People laughed. People lived. The dwarves drank wine and beer, and they did magical research.
We observed the dwarves around us. We knew that the dwarves here were real, and the things that they did were real. It did not take much for us to realize that there were many real and genuinely interesting magical research and records here.
At the heart of the Library of Eras, Jorkun described, stood a massive Library. The Great Library. Records of all things. All information was public, or so they said. Stella, Edna, and Lumoof, three disguised dwarves, ventured and walked around the great dwarven cities. The cities only covered half of its surface. The rest were farmland and mines.
It stood there, intact. Or at least, the structure was intact.
But it did not take long to uncover the strangeness of it all.
There was an enchantment, a magic of some sort woven into the entire world, because once night fell, a strange pulse of energy radiated from the heart of the world.
[ Domain blocked attempted interference ]
[ Domain blocked attempted interference ]
[ Domain blocked attempted interference ]
It hammered us repeatedly, every day. We could triangulate the source of that interference and noticed it had a few sources spread throughout the entire world.
Stella, as a mage, tried to capture this interference and noticed it had some similarities to Patreeck's mind abilities, so we spent a few more days observing this interference and soon noticed it was a mind-alteration ability.
We turned our attention to the people, the native Erasian dwarves, and wondered what in the world happened.
***
"Praise be to the Reviver! Praise be to Eras!" The dwarven man praised and prayed before he started work for the day. These dwarves all had a statue, a twinned statue of a dwarven man carving a monstrous looking creature out of stone.
The locals were incredibly happy to explain it.
"This is the statue of the Reviver's return to the world! Every day, Eras chips a bit of the Reviver's restraints! One day, the Reviver will return to us, and we will experience wonder and evolution!"
The dwarves were thoroughly dwarves. Not a single shred of them contained any bit of demonic flesh. But they were under the influence of these daily mental suggestions that warped their minds.
"What is the Reviver?"
"Have you missed your classes, boy?" The dwarf looked upset when Lumoof asked.
Lumoof feigned ignorance. "I hit my head."
"But a refresher is always fine. The Reviver is the god of life, the god of creation! His form is imperfect and everchanging, and even now, his followers across the world wage war on the foul foreign heathens! The heretics!"
"He means us, right?" Stella listened and spoke telepathically.
"Eras, the god of us dwarves, is working painstakingly every day to free the Reviver from the foul effects of the ancient divine curse! Every day, Eras gives a bit of his divinity to the Reviver, and every day, the Reviver grows a little bit stronger! We pray and we worship them every day, so that both the Reviver and Eras regenerates from their long struggle!"
"You think that's propaganda, or is Eras really working for the demons?"
"More importantly, who is the Reviver?" Stella responded.
There was, to our surprise, surprisingly large amounts of literature on the Reviver recorded in the Library of Eras.
They described the Reviver as the Beast of Life, the one who brought creation and sentience to the world. The myriad worlds were starved of life at the beginning of all time, they were dry, empty.
It was the Reviver and the predecessor beast gods that brought life to the world.
Stella was quick to point out the contradiction with the story we heard from Neira. "Before the War of the Gods, was the war between the beasts and the Old Demons."
The entire setup and what we had seen so far strongly implied that the Reviver was likely Wadra, or possibly, given the nature of how the Reviver's description sounded oddly similar to the Ravenous, a descendant of the Ravenous.
The implications were obvious.
"So we are dealing with a large cult sustaining Eras, in order to 'steal' Eras's divinity. Stealing that divinity and this constant worship of the Reviver seems to point towards producing a new god."
Then the masses of the demons so far? The powerful near-domain demons were not actually meant to ascend to their own domains>
What was the purpose of these thousands if not millions of powerful true demons? Why were they breeding them at such a scale?
Were they an army for a future war, waiting for when their god finally awakens?
Or are we really dealing with a mad Eras, who was using their own power willingly to break out and revive an ancient demon god?
***
Jorkun found that idea absurd.
"No. That was not how the Library of Eras was. I know every single treatise, article, scripture, and book on history written about Eras, in the Library of Eras, and those books are fake! Creations! Fraudulent, forged writings!"
But what proof did we have?
"My creator and his assistants worshipped Eras, and not a single one of them worshiped this Reviver! This Usurper has corrupted my creator's men!"
Hoyia faced the golem, raging but still incredibly restrained. She didn't fear the golem, even if the golem could give her a decent exercise. She had seen Jorkun fight, she brought him to Lavaworld and witnessed his fury.
The Erasian golem was a war machine, and a damned good one at that.
However, Jorkun refused to entertain Alka or any of the dwarven requests to examine him mechanically. Jorkun claimed that the proper way to learn crafting was to learn it from the master, not through inferior methods from observing creations.
Despite this, Jorkun pointed us somewhere. "Find the ancient golems. Not all of us were sent to the battlefield, some of us ancient Sentinels play other roles on the Core Worlds. Surely there must be some still hidden within the Library of Eras with their ancient programming intact! I do not believe these Usurpers are so thorough that they could remove our true past!"
Usurpers.
That was quite a term.
I remember when I once faced a demonic parasite that described the war between the demons and the gods as a war between the Slavers and the Puppeteers. The Gods used heroes as their puppets, while the demons enslaved worlds to produce demon kings and fight for them.
Was this another form of slavery?
A harvesting of faith?
Or was it a myth made real?
If gods were created from the collective faith of their people, a change in their collective myths, did that also change how the gods behave?
Were the gods vulnerable to the shifting opinions of their followers?
If that was true, if enough of Eras's believers believed that Eras supported and helped this Reviver, would Eras fold?
What if, just like the [System] was vulnerable to change if a majority voted for specific changes to the [System], the World Faith System also had a similar underlying mechanic.
For powerful gods with many worlds, there was no coherence amongst the worlds beyond certain common abilities and principles. But here, the demons were specifically and deliberately altering the beliefs of their followers.
This was astroturfing to shape opinion, and since opinion affected gods, they transformed the god and corrupted it.
***
It was a conundrum that I had no answer to, and so Hoyia traveled to meet Hawa and Aiva. When Hoyia posed the probability of the followers influencing a god, if somehow a third party gained control over a majority of their followers and could reshape their thoughts, she was greeted with a long, long silence.
It was uncomfortable, when a god manifested themselves but was clearly in thought.
Thankfully, Hoyia had plenty of experience as my matriarch. She was long used to my fits of silence.
"I believe there is a possibility." Aiva answered. "It is not explicitly stated within the World Faith System, but I am not surprised if such a mechanic was inherited."
Hawa seemed so disturbed by the idea that he merely said. "Leave. You've left me with a thought I must now examine in thorough detail."
Hawa's worlds were relatively more consistent, at least when compared with the rest of the four gods. Could it be that he had changed over the years without his own realization?
***
Once more, I cursed the gods. I cursed how stupid they were.
"I don't blame them. I wouldn't have thought that there is a possibility that the relationship would be reversed. It is usually the gods that influenced the followers." Lumoof said while in the form of an aged dwarf.
My three domain holders ventured throughout the Library of Eras and examined the books that claimed to be the origin stories of Eras and the Reviver.
There was not a single mention of how the Reviver is a lie.
Until, that is, when we ventured close to the government institutions that governed a world like the Library of Eras.
There were these twisted Wadrans that carried a strong, demonic taint. They didn't look any bit dwarven, and yet the dwarves treated them as if they were royalty.
They all radiated a tremendous and powerful presence. Each of them was at least level 100, and here, at the heart of the Library of Eras's Governing Oracle Chambers, we could feel the pulse of a few [domains].
Someone in there was Level 200, and a few others at least Level 150. At least. Whatever it was, it was still comforting that it still felt weaker than me.
Their domain radiated outwards, and we knew that we sensed each other's presence.
We were still close enough that we could make out the conversations.
"How goes the hunt for the heretics? The Great Voice of the Reviver grows irritated with how we fail to do such simple things." One of these Twisted Wadrans spoke as he walked along the streets outside the Governing Oracle Chambers, and into the main streets. They had strangely demonic features, and they would have looked like jet black versions of the demon knights, if not for the long, flowing white robes that they all wore. They spoke in regular tongues, even if it sounded discordant.
A group of dwarven attendants answered. "Commander Shai sends his best men to hunt them down, Lord Wa-Nira."
"That is what they've said before. We must purge the heretics. Those who sully the name of the Reviver and Eras should be punished for believing in such foolish things. If they are not killed, I will have your head as well."
The dwarven attendants paled, but they quickly assured them of their competence.
My three domain holders picked up on this and concluded that if we wanted to know the truth, we too, had to find the heretics of Eras.
***
"Alright." Thankfully, no one sought us out. Though our domains touched with the domain within the Governing Oracle, there didn't seem to be an outsized response from the local security force. "What should we do, actually? We have a few things we can work on. One, we can look for the Ancient Golems, like Jorkun suggested. There must be some ancient golems left unactivated across the entirety of the Five Core Worlds."
The dwarven dwellings on the Library of Eras were incredibly well made and thoroughly luxurious. Still we swept them for magical observation tools, just in case.
"But are we assuming all the five core worlds are the same?" Edna said. "We've only seen one."
"I have a feeling it is." Stella countered.
"Let's visit the other four core worlds. I have a feeling that we are only at the tip of what we've seen so far."
"What of these heretics? Surely there is more to what we've seen so far." Stella said. "If there are heretics, then they must be hidden. Their opponent is someone in the level 200s. That is not someone any rebel or heretic can easily defeat."
"Should we even bother?" Lumoof countered, though I knew Lumoof actually wanted to. But he still wanted to play the devil's advocate, and consider other options.
Edna, however, strongly believed in helping. "If we know these Revivers are not truly the real gods, what is happening here can be nothing more than an elaborate lie. That makes these heretics the people we should help. Think about it. The demons and whatever is behind this gains something by crafting this elaborate plot. By messing with it, we weaken the faith in this Reviver. I believe that is good."
"Then let's split up." Lumoof nodded. "Myself and Stella will explore the four other core worlds, while you try to beat these guys to the heretics. You will rescue the heretics and figure out what they are."
"If they are worth rescuing." Edna said.
***
Forge of Eras
Stella and Lumoof's next goal was to visit the other Erasian Core Worlds, just to check whether they still survived.
We arrived on the Forge of Eras just to find it also vibrant and thoroughly alive, and unfortunately, under the very same societal brainwashing and historical erasure as the Library of Eras.
Every day we heard them speak of the Reviver.
The Forge of Eras was a world with holes. Large, gigantic pits where weapons were tested. Large underground chambers where massive projects were built.
The two domainholders didn't have to look far, because we found more of the enemy.
There were at least three domainholders here, and their appearance was quite like that of the Wadrans, but twisted into demonic forms. Unlike the Library of Eras, we were not so lucky to stumble upon any of the heretics or talks about them.
Maybe they were just exceptionally well hidden.
Jorkun described the Forge of Eras as a massive forge-world, where Eras made most of his great works.
Here though, we noticed that there were massive war machines clearly equipped with divine weapons.
Weapons made of a strange mix of Erasian and demonic energies.
Here, the craftsmen of Eras worked with the demonic energies, and referred to them as the "Reviver's Spirit." They were supervised by the domain holders, as even from a massive distance, we could spot a twisted, half-dwarven, half demonic creature that was likely in the Level 200s.
The locals referred to him as "Divine Lord Ghul-Dah."
The half-demon seemed to even notice us, as he kept looking in our distant location, as our domains seemed to brush each other repeatedly. We did not plan for an engagement just yet, so we quickly retreated and explored more workshops where there were no enemy domainholders.
We visited workshops of the dwarves led by lower ranked dwarves, and we noticed that they were constructing Rift Gates. The demonic rift gates that we'd seen so often in so many worlds were made here!
Their construction required a massive divine structure that carved their operational qualities into the steel.
Here, void crystals were aplenty. The air and space itself was so thick with void crystals that any regular empty crystal would quickly accumulate void energy.
"We're dealing with multiple Level 200 plus domain holders. But what do you think they are for?" Stella said. "But don't answer. You know what worries me? They might have a pantheon. Just like us. If they are Level 200 plus there must be one."
Lumoof frowned. "I was expecting to see demons somewhere, and yet all we've seen are these hybrids. They clearly didn't ship the true demons here. Where do you think they sent them?"
"I don't know, but let's go find it."
***
Crucible of Eras
The Crucible was brainwashed just the same. Crucible was the largest, most heavily populated of all the dwarven worlds, and there were rift gates that linked all the core worlds together, except for the Store of Eras.
Billions lived here, and on the Crucible, there were also large temples and structures dedicated to the worship of the Reviver.
Eras was pretty much relegated to a supporting character with the Reviver's role turned central.
"Ridiculous!" Jorkun screamed when Hoyia shared the image back to the golem. "These people commit blasphemy against their true god!"
Jorkun claimed that the Crucible was the greatest home of Eras. There, the worshippers, humans, dwarves, and all other craftsmen dedicated their blood and flesh to the pursuit of greater knowledge.
What we found was a sacrificial altar where volunteer dwarves and humans regularly offered their young to the Reviver in some kind of divinely-ordained blood ceremony. The locals claimed this would speed up the Reviver's return.
It was also on the Crucible that we learned that the strange Wadran-Demonic Hybrids were referred to as the Reviver's Descendants. The Descendants were royalty in both name and power. The religion placed the Descendants as the ones closest to the Reviver, and so the Erasian believers must do their best to aid the Descendants in their quest to restore the Reviver.
A statement Jorkun found absurd.
But Jorkun also did not recognize these hybrids. They were not there when Jorkun was made. In his memories, he only remembered the Wadrans, and these hybrids only retained a semblance of the Wadrans, but none of their disposition.
Alka, naturally reviewing the findings from the comforts of Darkgard, proposed outright annihilation of the five core worlds. In his words, "It's a shame, but whatever they are attempting to do will only bring forth a God that is outright hostile to the rest of us."
It was swiftly rejected.
These were real, living dwarves. Misguided and misled for centuries if not millennia, we didn't want to be slaughterers of living beings if we could help it.
Our enemies were simply these Descendants of the Revivers.