#mycoolstory

[processedinparallel]

Prologue - The Flesh Demands Its Own Truths

this is the working prologue to my story. i really appreciate stories that have some sort of commentary on the human experience, and so i decided to try my hand at something like it. any feedback is appreciated! i will be posting this story on royalroad.com

Ohhh, yes, yes, you wish to learn about humans, do you? Why, you've just inquired about my favorite tragedy! Sit, sit, let me tell you about humanity's adversities.

A tragedy, yes… They're twice cursed, you see? Born with the capacity to love, and born with the capacity to hate. And therein lies their misfortune, for humanity loves to hate! Humans love… conflict. They crave it. And without fail, generation upon generation, they manage to find it.

Come! Look deep into the heart of the Tritor Forest, and there you will find Elurius. Carved out of the ancient trees surrounding it, the first people to settle there fought old horrors and fended off the closest Dungeons out of sheer stubbornness. They could've retreated to the coast and lived off the sea, but no! The founders of the town tore up the twisted roots of the forest and used them for the first walls. Spears were thrown and spells were cast in defense of the land they claimed as their home. They wanted to fight for a place to live! Their pride demanded it! And proud does the town still stand, built upon the bodies of thousands. Oh, how they weep for their fallen, as if they themselves did not send their men to die!

Look north to the lush plains that stretch from horizon to horizon. See how the soil is stained crimson from the blood of countless battles. See how it's dyed a richer hue as you edge closer to Gelya, a place trespassing monsters have learned to fear. The gentle rolling hills surrounding the town are filled with traps and tripwires! Flowers, birds, and bees watch every move! Men armed with magic and bows line the tall walls of the town, bastions against anything that dares approach. See, humans fought for their place here as well, and here they remain firmly entrenched. They will not be routed out.

Most of all, look to the realm as a whole!

A plethora of creatures lie deformed and corrupted beyond their nature. Swathes of land have been turned barren and others grow without bound. Countless kingdoms razed to mere ruins, their histories long forgotten.

The whole continent has mutated beyond recognition! Broken by spellcasters with too much magic at their disposal, remade by nature's insistence on enduring everything thrown at it. At the expense of the land itself, ancient Archmages and Archwizards fought until nothing was left but the echoes of their self-importance.

Once a thriving home to tens of millions of people, our continent of Aqeron now has less than a hundred thousand human souls.

And it's all due to some petty squabbles, human avarice, and the untimely intercession of the Divine.

Ah, but it's no matter!

Their desire for conflict, it seems, is inexplicably linked to their essence. To fight is to be human. They will pick a struggle against a rock if it means they get their fix! Even in the moments of peace, even during the peak of a kingdom's prosperity, humans will stoop so low as to bicker over things like who gets more bread. And even those who refuse to fight, those who refuse to do violence, fail miserably, for they crusade against their very nature. They lack the means to be rid of their curses.

Now you see their paradoxical nature laid before you. What pushes humanity forward if not competition? What tears down the tallest castles if not the unrest of the masses? They will love someone to the point of hating others. They will hate so much that love becomes but a memory for them. But in equal parts?

In the soul of a human who possesses strong feelings of both "love" and "hate" lies a chaos. A "conflict", some might say! Even if their tumultuous soul manages to die down, they get no rest, as the chaos takes root in their bones instead. Born from the conflict between the "love" and "hate" of a human soul arises the need for conflict in the body. A tragedy indeed! Humanity shall simply never escape their curses, even in death!

Gaze upon the damned! Behold their eternal struggle! Can't you grasp their agony?!

Even if the soul is satisfied, their flesh demands its own truths!

[vicariousvandal-blog]

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