Neneria; Death. Irinika; Darkness. Olephia; Chaos. And in this fashion, one should make it clear, Chaos not as the modern aberration that is Anarchy but Chaos in the traditional sense: Uncreation. What do these three ancients have in common? What do they have in common with Nature in Iniri? With Pride in Arascus? They are all pre-Worldbreaking breed. Most of them go back to pre-Concordat times. Some call these ‘original breed’ Divines but I find the term redundant. Sheer novelty does not make a Divine powerful. Of Windows is no one magnificent. Of Wires is a joke. Even the modern major Divines, Of Civilization and Of Industry, simply do not compare in sheer power, scale, ability or strength even though they have plenty of novelty. I will even say that they do not even compare in strength of character, but less strength physically.

Let us take Arascus; Pride. The man does not even compete for no one dares challenge his power. Then we have Fer; Beasthood, Maisara; Order and Fortia; Peace as Divines. They are the sheer pinnacle of physical Divine strength we see in combat. Here, I am not talking of magical ability or blessing or anything like that. I am talking of strength in the most base and banal form imaginable, the simple ability to lift and carry a heavy object. Then, they can be compared to Theosius; Forging, and Kassandora; War, who came later. Kavaa; Health serves as the next example, as she incarnated during the ultimate moments of Worldbreaking. And then the modern major deities, Halkus; Industry and Ciria; Civilization.

The pattern is undeniable to any who see it. The Divines are getting weaker. The first four I mentioned exist in their own leagues. They do not even need to possess a weapon and they will still be able to tear other Gods and Goddesses apart. Kassandora is marvellously strong. She will effortlessly tear through minor deities that represent cities and fortresses. And yet even we view her as fairly weak and useful for her intelligence and power rather than her fighting ability. Kavaa? Kavaa’s fighting ability is one in a million and Kavaa is considered weak in the Pantheon. And what of Halkus and Ciria? They are jokes. They are not worth even discussing in this text.

The pattern is simple and undeniable. Anyone who talks of cosmic law as some grandiose thing is wrong, ignorant or stupid. Cosmic law is as shallow as a whoremonger, those who disagree with this analysis and treat cosmic law as anything but the most fickle mistress in existence should look at the fact that cosmic law points out how strong we will be through height.

– Excerpt from “Perpetual Decline Theory”, written by Goddess Elassa, of Magic.

Elassa watched her men scurry like tiny little ants along the landmass she had torn out of the Rancais soil. Kassandora had told her the range that had been confirmed Anarchia could leech energy and magic at, and then she had thrown the number out the window. The question was not how much distance could Elassa put between herself and Anarchia. The question became how high could Elassa possibly go? “We have the oxygen shield ready.” One of her mages said, a man in a thick coat, a scarf, goggles and tremendous boots. Aeromancers had compressed a hard bubble of oxygen, and then they had brought plenty of tanks and rebreathers just in case the air they had brought up with them happened to run out.

“Hold the structure together.” Elassa said. She clicked her earpiece, all the rings connected by chains, the fat gemstone on her necklace, the set of crystals on her tiara, the stones embedded into her battledress itself started to glow even brighter. “Kassandora, are you there?”

Kassandora responded immediately. It always annoyed Elassa that the woman had a slightly deeper and stronger voice than she did. Such a minor thing, and yet so annoying. “I’m here.”

“Are we go?”

Kassandora very obviously popped open a cork through the speaker. “Elassa.” The Goddess of War said triumphantly. “Green light on bombardment.”

Some Divines can be analysed infinitely. Allasaria, Kassandora, Fer even. The deeper they dig into their personality, the more is revealed. They are great lakes of endless depth. So beautiful and tranquil, they call one in. Yet beneath the surface, each one is teeming with old dangers and older bones.

Maisara put more distance between herself and Anarchia as a small chunk… Or small only relative to the mountain in the sky, in reality it was as large as a car, was pulled torn off by Elassa and then thrown downwards. For a few moments, Anarchia lifted up her finger and aimed it at the rocks. Panic flashed like a strike of lightning across Maisara’s mind, and then she Anarchia herself scowled at the stone.

There was no weighing of decisions or strategic thinking. Maisara saw the chance and Maisara took the chance. It would end now, once and for all. She launched forwards, the ground exploding into a cloud of dust and grass and mud around her and she swung her axe at Anarchia. The lunge took less than two heartbeats, half-way through, Maisara realised she had made a mistake. Anarchia turned away from the rock, her open palm came in a downwards swing. Anarchia spun on the ground, grabbed the shaft of Maisara’s axe and swung it around. A wave of sorcery hit the Goddess of Order from behind and slammed her into the ground.

Maisara punched the ground in rage as she stared at the woman’s boots and immediately caught her. The panic died before the cool feeling hit. That fury at Anarchia and at herself and that disbelief that the woman had actually reacted was dispersed with a single calming breath. Maisara once dulled her feelings as she allowed herself to return to her cold, neutral state. Those thoughts of passion were easy to disperse. The disappointment though… That stayed.

Maisara though is not of this precious club. There was a time when Maisara knew she would become bitter. It is myself and Fortia that led humanity’s first uprising against Divine tyranny. It is Maisara who came in to try and stop them. After she failed, something in the woman changed. She knew she was growing bitter. She came to me. I served as witness for her bindings.

Elassa smiled smugly as Kassandora’s plan came together. She had not expected the Goddess of War to be wrong of course. Was there anyone who did? Especially in a situation such as now? But nevertheless, when she had heard that Anarchia’s powers were theorised to not even need to touch the person but the magic itself, she had thought it impossible to fight her.

And now? Elassa took a deep breath as mages scurried around her. She was high enough that the lightness of the sky was starting to fade and from straight overhead, the stars were starting to shine. The trees and dirt and grass Maisara had pulled up along with this piece of ground had long since wilted or been blown away by the terrible wind this high in the air.

The Goddess of Magic looked down and saw Anarchia below herself. The woman had just used sorcery to smash apart the first of Elassa’s boulders. Well, one was not hard to stop, was it? Even a child should be able to stop a slow moving boulder like that.

There was something satisfying in countering a power so brutally that no hope could ever remain of fighting back. Elassa waved her hands. The multitudes on gemstones in her rings, on her chains or stitched directly into her blue dress flashed with light. A chunk of rock was ripped from the huge landmass she had dragged into the sky. Elassa waved her hands again, aimed the rock, sent it hurtling downwards and released her magic.

There would be nothing to leech off if all Elassa was doing was just dropping rocks after all.

Vows were made: As long as I live, I will safeguard Arda. As long as I love, I will further understanding of Divinity. As long as I live, I will stand up for the good of all mankind, all its beasts and all its creations.

Maisara rolled over onto the side as a blast of sorcery slammed into her position. Rocks and pebbles fell from above. Maisara rolled onto her back and caught the view in the sky for a brief moment. Great chunks of ground were coming down upon them, not shot but rather thrown. Anarchia was whipping the massive boulders into the terrain around them as if she was swatting flies. It may as well have been Anassa stood there with the way that Anarchia was using sorcery. Her eyes were entirely concentrated on Maisara down at the ground.

The Goddess of Order rolled over again and realised there was absolutely no chance to escape when she was at this distance. If she wanted to get away and put space between herself and Anarchia, she would have to buy time. To buy time… Maisara summoned her axe and swung it from the ground directly at Anarchia’s head as she stood up. She tried to run. She saw Anarchia holding her axe by the blade her. She had caught the weapon in her flat palm. All the damage Maisara had managed to do amounted to a cut on the palm and a thin stream of blood running the blade. Maisara felt it again.

Disappointment.

Moments later, she felt the ice wash over her. Anarchia pre-emptively clutched her stomach but she didn’t suffer any recoil this time. The two Goddesses stared at each other for a moment as the world stopped mattering around them. Anarchia pointed her finger forwards towards Maisara. The Goddess of Order felt that ice travel into her.

And Anarchia broke the silence between the two Goddesses. “I’ve got you.”

Each year that passes is another brick in the wall. Maybe there was a time when Maisara could have gone back on her vows. Maybe that was why she chose me. She knew I wouldn’t scold her or threaten her to hold them. She knew the only thing I would give her was disappointment.

Elassa tore the rest of her floating landmass into pieces. Her mages jumped off, they opened the oxygen tanks and they made barriers of hardened air to stand upon. The Goddess of Magic spread her arms out, the ground below her copied her movements. But where she had bone that rotates and moved in sockets, and where she had muscle that turned and twisted, the ground had brittle rock that snapped immediately when under such pressure and great balls of dirt that ripped themselves apart.

Elassa held the hundreds of individual boulders like that in the air. She flicked a finger. One was launched straight at the Goddess of Anarchy. She flicked another. And another boulder followed. Five more followed that one. Then ten. Then another. And so they came, a torrential shower of earth and stone from the skies themselves.

Kassandora’s reply came a moment later. “Send it.”

Even now, as we wage war against each other. She still holds to her vows. Most Divines are seemingly bottomless wells of emotion. Maisara is not. She has let the disappointment of thousands of years ago consume her. Now, her entire existence is spent running from facing a disappointment only she will hold herself to.

– Excerpt from God Arascus’, Of Pride’s, private writings. Written during the Great War.

Maisara tried to take a step back, the woman holding onto her weapon simply would not let go. “No Love! No Hope! No Hate! No Passion!” Anarchia screamed out. “And here I thought you were deeper!” Anarchia licked her lips, one hand pointed up sprouted forth a roof that protected both herself and Maisara from the orbital bombardment of stone. Another gripped Maisara’s axe. “Nothing in you Maisara!” Anarchia taunted again. Her hand was bleeding from where Maisara’s blade had cut it, but the Goddess of Anarchy did not seem to even feel it.

Anarchia said the word. “You’re a damn disappointment!”

And just like that, Maisara knew she had been found out. It wasn’t a case of the woman’s judgements or her opinion. Whether Anarchia even believed that Maisara was correct or not was irrelevant. What was relevant was that the woman was right. It was akin to a child one fat, the intent was not to harm, it was simple factual appraisal. And Anarchia was correct. Maisara was a damn disappointment. She couldn’t even defeat this solitary Goddess before her. The chilling wave that over her this time was not cold whatsoever, but she felt it sap through the pores in her skin throughout her entire body until her very bones rattled with that terrible feeling. “I knew you had humanity in you.” Anarchia taunted.

Maisara realised that whereas before, she was at eye-level with the woman, now she had to tilt her head back to meet her gaze.

She was shrinking.

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