I.
In the formation of the Earth, there was void. The void was replaced with a maelstrom of fire and rock that churned and boiled. There are those that believe that this void was caused by the fall of the Angels from Heaven, which predated the creation of man, but was after the initial creation of the Earth and the heavens. During the creation, a spirit bound itself to a spot in the newly formed crust where the crust was thinner than most other spots.
In the times to come, different creatures would come and go on the face of the young Earth. Eventually, one creature emerged that surpassed all that came before it. This new creature could think and reason, unlike any creature that had come before. It took time to develop, but develop it did, as it was the reason for the creation. The Father adored this creature, unlike any other. Because it was the Father’s most prized creation, the spirit and his brethren despised it, knowing of it before the Father had even made it. They loathed its very existence.
In spite of its loathing for them, these humans, as they became known, were a curious creature to the spirit. They were always exploring and going places, trying to understand everything. The spirit, disgusted with them from their creation and hating them for their spot in the Father’s favor, decided to separate from his brethren even further, although he continued to watch the humans and learn about them. Even though he was jealous of them and hated them for their favor in the Father’s eyes, they were a curiosity to him, they were fascinating.
Occasionally, humans would intrude into his domain. Early on, he would simply kill them, but that became tedious, and annoying. He had better pursuits to occupy his time, and enjoyed his seclusion. To further ensure that seclusion, and not need to deal with the humans, he brought up toxins from the deepest bowels of the Earth. These toxins polluted the waters on the outer fringes of his home.
The spirit thought that without clean water, the humans would not be able to drink and would avoid his home. These poisons also twisted and poisoned the plants, thus the plants would provide nothing that they could eat, or other animals. He then put fear into all the wild creatures of the forest, further ensuring they wouldn’t come into his home. He further reasoned that without animals, the humans would not hunt there. Without food and water, they would not come. He was wrong.
With all of the challenges he had placed within his home, humans still dad to venture in. Maybe it was out of a desire to prove their worth, or bravery, or some other silly human desire. It could have been many things, but the demon did not know, nor care. All that mattered to him was that he did not want any human in his home.
He brought up more poisons from the Earth that were even worse, for those that ventured in too far. These formed an inner ring around his sanctuary. They left a stain in the person, an imbalance as the local people said. For any that ventured that deep, their children would be born with growths and deformities, as a result of the added poisons. If they were close to these poisons for too long, they would affect them directly, even killing them in a slow and agonizing torment.
Still, there was the occasional human that would still venture even deeper, somehow finding a safe path through. For those brave and lucky humans, the spirit would make a hole in the Earth for that human to find, usually containing exposed boiling rock or boiling water. That unfortunate human would never be seen or heard from again, and the spirit was pleased with this.
The three outer rings of his realm were progressively twisted and poisoned, but he kept the heart of the bowl clean, healthy and beautiful. He loved the beauty of the world the Father had created, even if he did not like the humans. For that reason, he wanted his sanctuary to retain that element of the innocence and magnificence of its creation.
That was one reason why his brothers hated him. He did not twist the Father’s creations, just for the sake of doing it. He acknowledged that the Father had created many beautiful and wondrous things. He marvelled over many of them and wanted them near him, unspoiled.
Being so different from his brethren, he did not often interact with them. They roamed freely over the earth, regularly affecting human lives. They did things for the sheer spite of it. On the few times he ventured out of his realm, they were waiting and would usually attack.
Over time, legends arose among the humans of the area about the Demon of the Bowl. They told stories of how the land was cursed, the creature caused imbalance in them if they strayed too close, and would sometimes kill them. The demon, as he had become called, did not like visitors, so he was pleased with this arrangement.
