Pallium

Humans are funny little creatures.

For as long as they’ve existed, they’ve sought power through wealth. They dream of ridiculous potential that’s well beyond their grasp, such as immortality. They wish to rule the world forevermore and never face judgement for the life they’ve lived.

But no one’s ever truly immortal. Not even Gods.

The sad reality, however, is that even those same Gods themselves had once acted human. It all happened one millennium ago.

Somehow, the Gods lost.

There had been a time when Gods and Goddesses ruled the lands and seas. People with extraordinary gifts that achieved more than any mortal man could ever dream of. They claimed ownership of this world and sought to shape it in their own image. They wanted what so many humans had also searched for.

They wanted to be worshipped to sustain their purpose. They looked for recognition and wanted to ensure that after a thousand years had passed them by, they would not only still be here to rule over the humans, but they would be acknowledged for all that they had done. It became a new religion, one that was spread by force throughout the mainland.

But what the Gods themselves failed to recognize was that humans didn’t understand the concept of loyalty.

It all started when the Goddess of Wisdom became pregnant. She fell ill, and she died during childbirth. Her daughter then took the mantle. Afterwards, the Goddess of Nature went into hiding when she accidentally wounded herself and bled in front of an audience. Or perhaps it all started when the God of War knew not the potential of his own abilities and unintentionally demolished a tower that crushed several children and led to his exile.

There were only ever six deities. The Goddess of Life was the central one. She was the mother to all the Gods. Her husband, the God of Death, chose a more isolated path and was left forgotten. As for the children, they grew and went their separate ways.

But when the humans learned that their Gods could bleed and die naturally, it changed their beliefs. The mortals felt betrayed and soon developed a sense of superiority above their deities.

They were no longer considered Gods, but rather frauds. They were sorcerers with unnatural abilities that sought the very power humans yearned for all along.

You’d think the Gods would win. They could move mountains, summon anything out of thin air, breathe underwater and manipulate reality. But humans, as pathetic as they may be, could never be underestimated. Especially when millions unite to form one common enemy.

The second Goddess of Wisdom was beheaded. The Goddess of Nature was found and burnt to death. The God of War was brought back from his exile to be executed. The God of Death was shot in the head with an arrow, only for the rest of his body to disintegrate into ash.

There was, however, the Goddess of the Sea, also known as the untouchable siren. Despite humanity’s best efforts to defeat her, she survived every encounter. But upon witnessing the death of all her siblings and father, she fled deep into the ocean, never to return again.

The only deity left was the Goddess of Life, the mother of all divines. She ironically took her own life by jumping from the top window of her castle and had her death witnessed by millions.

While some feared the Goddess of the Sea was still alive somewhere or if the God of Death had faked his demise, it didn’t matter. So much time passed by and without any Gods emerging, it became clear that humanity had won. A new era finally began, the age of man with no religion to bind them.

Most surprisingly, they thrived. They lived beyond all doubts and rebuilt a world without the help of the divines. Their world, Midgate, as they called it, had reached its peak in history.

Midgate was named to represent the realm in between the gates of the afterlife. They believed in heaven and hell, but the question came to beckon; if the Gods were dead, who would deliver judgement to the rest of humanity? If possible, who would decide the fate of the very deities they had killed? Was there a higher divine being ruling over both Gods and men, or was it all meaningless?

The humans reminded themselves that the Gods were pretenders, and they would be judged by a real God if one existed.

Eventually, mankind prevailed. Throughout the next thousand years, they lived and rebuilt the world they resided in. Wars were still fought over kingdoms and territories, however. But it was in their nature; it could never be defied. In a world that’s ruled by the common man, futures remained uncertain.

That was all in the ancient past. Today, a new opportunity arises.

From the southern deserts of Midgate, a brazen eagle soars in the sky. It glides above the sand and narrowly avoids a sudden skeletal hand that jolts upwards from the dunes. It continues its voyage above a fortified community that centers around a perfectly circular lake.

The brave eagle continues its flight north as sand turns into towering mountains of jagged dark stones. It views an old fort fitted in between the rocky landscapes. Using its sharp vision, it also spots a royal elderly man stare directly back at it. There’s something sinister about this place, causing the eagle to fly past rather than investigate further.

Flying onward, the scenery once again changes as the mountains descend into smooth fields of grass and nature. Endless regions of green hills and valleys range for as far as the eye can see. Small villages lay nearby, offering some of the greatest views in the entire realm.

But the eagle decides to veer right, gliding along the coastline as it carefully watches the ocean to its side.

Two boys relax in a small rowboat floating atop the open water, less than a mile away from the shore. One of them throws a net into the water. It’s an innocent display of young fishermen enjoying their lives and living the moment.

However, in this world without rule, nothing is ever certain. A colossal silhouette appears underwater, right below their boat. Worried expressions overtake the boys. What swims underneath them? No one knows.

One second, they remain still. The next, they disappear without a trace as the massive underwater figure sinks deeper into the ocean.

The eagle hurries along, approaching vast open fields of forests. Just in the distance, two young men ride their horses towards a large city that rests in the center of a river. One of them wears a flashy cloak with a bright red color that certainly stands out from the rest. But the eagle has more important matters to attend to, such as returning home. It flaps its wings to cover countless miles until it eventually reaches the central kingdom of Midgate.

This is Greenside. The very center of the world.

An expansive city that spreads for dozens of miles in every direction, this is where the main population resides. This city is surrounded by a massive round river that stretches in all four directions as the corners are covered by the greenest fields the Goddess of Nature had to offer since her death. The river, nicknamed the Astral Compass, reminds humanity that this is the true kingdom of Midgate.

It’s certainly far more peaceful than the North. If icicles the size of castles and a vast ocean of pure ice that leads to an undiscovered void is something you enjoy; the North is where you belong. That’s if you’re lucky enough to survive.

The eagle circles the central kingdom of Greenside for a minute. Anyone watching it will be inspired by its presence. They will remember where they live and be thankful for the life they currently have.

In this case however, the eagle decides to take a dive. Folding its wings, it descends rapidly at unimaginable speed, steadily approaching the ground below.

Castle walls surround this prodigious, enormous round city, monumental enough to house over a million inhabitants. As the eagle maintains its posture, it spots a colosseum that displays nothing but violence. There is one peculiar bald man double the size standing his ground inside the arena, surviving the fight with a bloody axe.

Instead of colliding on solid pavement or flying away, the eagle slows its approach and softly lands on my arm. I caress my rightful eagle and stand tall in my white robes while my hair flows, sharing the color of the most delicate sunflower.

I watch my city from the elegant, elevated platform connected to my virtuous castle. I can see everything from here. After gently kissing my bird’s forehead, I release him into the air. He travels straight up into the sky and punctures the clouds towards heaven itself.

My name is Samantha Colassard, and I am Queen of the world. I will lead my people to greatness in a world devoid of Gods.

Most importantly, I will restore what was intended for us.

‡━━━━━━━━━†━━━━━━━━━‡