And They Were Become As Dolls

"What if the apocalypse already happened--just not to us?"
"Not yet."

- An rare exchange between a scholar of dimensional science and a scholar of ancient folklore

The Vault dimension's appearance threw established scientific knowledge out the window. Physicists suddenly had to contend with Dimensional Overlap and astronomers wondered if they'd been looking for other worlds in all the wrong places. In short, they were desperate. Desperate enough to partner with humanities scholars.
For archaeologists, anthropologists, and folklorists, the Vaults were a massive boon: a whole new culture to research. Many scholars engaged Vault Hunters to take them through portals so they could take photographs of buildings, etchings of reliefs, and straight-up steal any books or other written documents that might be hidden away. The more they found and the more they verified with scientists that the Vault reality followed many of the same physical laws as their own, the more a horrifying picture began to emerge.

Summary

In plain terms, the prophecy of "And They Were Become As Dolls" warns that if people stop sacrificing to the Playful Pantheon or deviate too far from the deities' different prescribed methods of living, the deities will take their freedom away. The people will become mindless, some even mutating into monsters, to act as enemies for some other reality's version of the Vault Hunters.
The Chief Hierophant of Huri records it in ever so slightly more poetic terms:

"These are the words of Them who hold the fire in their left hands and juggle worlds with their right:
I know your faith, your devotion to the Paths and your perseverance. I know that you do not tolerate the faithless, the idolators with rot in their hearts and mud on their tongues. You have persevered and endured hardship and persecution in Our Names and have not grown heavy in your hearts.
Yet We hold this against you: You have forsaken the joy and love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first with all lightness in your hearts. If you do not repent, We will come to you, and We will judge you and make you become as dolls in the hands of the faithful."

Historical Basis

From what scholars can determine, the Vault dimension was once very like their own, a civilization with thinking, living, loving inhabitants. It's presumed that they worshipped the Playful Pantheon, as shrines and temples with the deities' symbols have been found.
But at some unknown point, all of this changed. The only inhabitants of the Vault dimension now are brutal monsters who attack visitors--and sometimes each other--on sight. Stealthy Vault Hunters who managed to observe the creatures while hidden report that they spend most of their time shuffling around aimlessly or sometimes vanishing into strange magical devices, from which they are re-summoned in a rage if the hunter enters the area.

Spread

The Playful Orders seized on the emerging scholarship. They claimed it as proof of what several Hierophants allegedly heard while in communion with the deities--whispers and warnings that if the populace stopped providing sacrifices or strayed too far from the deities' paths, dire retribution would follow. Specifically, the Chief Hierophant of Huri stated that she heard the phrase "you will become as dolls," which has become popular shorthand for the prophecy.
Nowadays, anyone who attends Playful Orders services will have heard of the prophecy. Hierophants reference it regularly--perhaps embellishing ever so slightly on what is truly known--as encouragement for the people to follow the teachings of the Playful Pantheon and not, for instance, that of The Father.

"O Sinner! Before you cry that the sacrifice is 'too much,' consider: Your very existence is a GIFT of Ilinx, Who created you more surely than any womb, who rules you more completely than any prince. You dangle from strings in his hands above utter oblivion, and all he asks of you is to dance! AND YET you whine and complain and seek out any chance to sit out, to stand down, to laze in debased luxury While you SQUANDER his gift. Look out that one day, one day, one day you will no longer even be able to rue your utter, sinful foolishness Because you will have become as A DOLL in the hands of an angry child. And another will stand in your place."

- a Hierophant of Ilinx who had perhaps too much coffee that morning

Cultural Reception

One might have expected the Priesthood of the Father to denounce this prophecy, based as it is in the words of other deities while they preach that there is but one true God. Instead, they have seized on it as proof the the Playful Pantheon are, in fact, Evil and that worshipping them will lead, eventually, to the end of the world. They more cynical might think they took this approach because of the undeniable existence of the Vault dimension and numerous Vault Hunters' testimonies of the aid (or hindrance) they received from beings claiming to be Alea, Agon, Meisou, and so on.

In Art

The prophecy is credited with inspiring a recent turn towards the chaotic and horrible in painting and sculpture, currently simply dubbed "Modern." Leading artists associated with the movement say their work explores free will and consciousness. Critics says it indulges the worst impulses of those without proper artistic skills. The Hierophants implore both sides to abandon their quarrel and dedicate their art to the different paths of life endorsed by the five Playful deities, lest the prophecy come true.

Related Ethnicities

• Playful Pantheon

Related Species

• Humans

Related Locations

• Vault

Related Organizations

• Playful Orders