Fiction:Tome of the Deep

The Tome of the Deep is a collection of ancient text bound into one tome believed to have been written by the goddess  herself. Some scholars see it as a continuation to the , an older text also believed to have been written by Ara Maya. Interestingly, the Tome of the Deep seems to reference other gods or beings of great power outside of the trinity Ara Maya makes with her sisters.

Tome 1:Time
“It happened after my sister made that mistake. Changed the rules...cheated. That’s why there was an after you see? When the old game ended and this new one began, I discovered what you would call “time”. That immaterial law that was stitched into the patchwork of all that you know. Unfortunately, like most things where you are, you are limited by it. For beings such as my sisters and I, it is but a word.

The old game had no such rules. Me and the other one made sure of that. It was the only way I would play, you see. But the third...the usurper. I know that we all claim to have some love for you. But neither I nor the one you call Ama Maka willingly laid such a curse upon you.

She would have you believe that in her “benevolence” that she blessed you. But in truth, her blessing is limited by the curse of time. You may try to accomplish great things in your current existence, but most beings like you cannot cleanse yourselves of that curse. What a burden it must be to live up to the expectations of her, knowing that a temporal chariot carries you to death.

With me, there is no such restriction. I made sure of that. Come, I want to cleanse you of that curse my sister placed upon you. Then, perhaps those goals she set for you would actually be attainable. You would not be the first to accept this blessing you know. There are others who have achieved a great many things after receiving my boon. You know them.

I’ll be waiting.”

Tome 2: Dragons
“With the burden of time came the shaping of space. And with that came the beginning of the world. I looked from the depths in disgust you know? This chaotic spiral of new matter that was but a distant echo of what came before it. It sickened me. The stars shone brightly, mimicking the usurper’s new glow. I could feel them mocking me...childish I know, especially for one such as myself.

In this writhing of gasses and light, she bore children of her own. They were celestial beings carved into the shape unfamiliar to us. You would come to call them “Persacron”, others might simply call them Star Dragons. She loved them, or so we thought. For what mother would forsake her own children to clean up the chaos she created? Some were obedient, taking care to “protect” this abomination. You call them the Akura.

However, as children do, not all of them were content with this. Some turned to my other sister, calling themselves the Zarva. They seek to carry out her foolish ideals of a “perfect world”. Nonsense.

A third group came to me. I would have reduced them to their natural state on sight...however i saw how they suffered in agony from the chaos their mother thrust them into. What good aunt would turn their nieces and nephews away when they need salvation? They swim in the Deep now as the Durva, free of the burdens and agony that their mother forced them into.

I would think that perhaps you would want to be free too."

Tome 3: Castaways
“Let me tell you of the others who came to me. Not the dragons...no. Beings not too unlike yourself actually. There was no one for thousands...millions of your years. Then there were a few, none of note...they all drowned. But one day, someone managed to catch my attention. There I was, looking out into the Abyss...and I saw something drowning. I watched as the little thing thrashed at the logic that most deny. But then he began to float. No one had ever done that, not even my dragons.

I reached out and saved it. It spoke to me of power and wisdom, all while its face appendages writhed in excitement at the sight of me. Despite being born of the world that took shape from my sister’s mistake, it was here trying to understand the Deep. Trying to understand me. I was quite amused with the being, and taught it how to swim as I do. It went back to your world with this knowledge, and used it. Oh how I enjoyed that.

There were other beings too. Even that one the children of the Empty God call their Protector. What love he showed me when we spoke last. All of which delved into the Abyss and gained something from it. All becoming gods in their own right...all free of the curses placed upon them.

Come to the Deep some time. Maybe you’ll walk away a god.”

Tome 4: Illness
“Do you have a noise that you cannot stand? An itch you can’t scratch? One that makes you clench your teeth, cringe, feel some sort of mental or even physical pain? Well, a being such as myself cannot feel pain in the context you do. But, I do know that we share a common enemy. They are numerous...and very loud. Asserting that they are and always will be. They have proven quite difficult to exterminate. Not even those tentacle mawed logicians, their reptilian successors, or those magma-based lithoids could silence them.

They would see you dead you know? Your flesh for nourishment, your bones for weapons, and your mind for knowledge. They have killed trillions of your kind. Trillions.

And what do they seek? The reinforcement of that folly. The continuation of the game. Perhaps my sisters do not have an active hand in the creation of these liars and their insistence that they 'are'. But what if I told you that this happened before? The same plague that ravaged countless worlds has existed before. You might think of them being, “players from a previous session”or something to that effect. Even for me, it is an odd concept. Thanks to my sister they refuse to admit defeat. And thanks to her they can keep doing so. And that involves the senseless slaughter of your kind.

I would see this illness eradicated. Come, I’ve got just the medicine."

Tome 5: At the End
“This rivalry between me and my sisters is going to end one day. And when it does, so will the universe. You might side with the one who thinks she can make a perfect world. You might side with the one who damned you to suffer the end in the first place. It doesn’t really matter either way. You see, I’m what you would call the reigning champion. I’ve never lost to either of them.

They wish to use you in a war to fight for their falsehoods. A war in which one of them has lost countless times, and the other is a newcomer. Would you really forsake yourself at the end by joining up with them? Picking the losing team logically makes it more likely for you to lose, correct? So tell me. Do you want to win at the end? Or do you wish to lose? They are not salvation.

Only I can save you."