Excerpt from the opening passages of The Story of Eleuia: as recorded by her devoted disciple Nin-Papan
For generations, we were held under the sway of Elooria. For generations, their cruel masters inflicted untold atrocities upon us.
We now take upon ourselves the name Ninifin, as revealed to us by Ninussa through Her prophet Eleuia. But until now, we had no name for ourselves, for we had abandoned what we were before the coming of Elooria. The Gods had abandoned us, so we abandoned them. But we were a people nonetheless, united by location, mindset, and turmoil.
While the kings of Elooria could be terrible, the worst was King Everet—not because he was more evil or sadistic than those that came before him, but because he was passive, passive enough to do nothing on his own and to let the true evil in the land rise up and control. The Dragon he was called by ally and enemy alike, the man whose true name I do not dare even to write down now, lest it tie to his wicked magicks and somehow return him from the grave. The man who could raze entire cities to the ground with but a single gesture or single word, so great were the powers he controlled. Beside him, the abomination, the Isyar some say was the Spawn of Nyx and others say was Nyx Herself taken mortal flesh. Either way, it made little difference. Together, she and the Dragon terrorized all of Elooria and beyond.
There were always some who rebelled. All throughout the history of Elooria, there had been rebellions. During the time of Everet, the Dragon, and the Isyar filth, rebellions were put down with brutal efficiency. The Dragon burned villages that dared to hide anyone of rebellious intent, even those only accused of it by jealous neighbours.
It was into this terrible world that Eleuia was born. Believe not the stories that her birth was heralded by heavenly fires in the sky or that the home into which she was born glowed brightly for several weeks after her birth. I knew her, spoke to her often, and called her friend. She told me the truth. Indeed, it was at her bidding that I took it upon myself to record her actions, record her victories and defeats, record the miracles that she performed in the name of freedom, and yes, record even her death at the hands of the Dragon himself.
Eleuia was born to a simple farming family in southern Elooria, lands that had never been traditional parts of Elooria but that had been taken by force by the armies of Elooria. Her parents were normal people and there were no signs to herald her birth. Why should there be? Why would the Gods advertise to our enemies that our saviour had come? She came into the world unremarked as any child, a joy for her parents and near relations, but unknown to anyone else.
She herself did not know her true purpose. Her childhood was like that of any of our people in Elooria. She began in the fields when she was six and watched throughout her whole childhood as the forces of Elooria took most of the crops for themselves, leaving only the barest pittance on which Eleuia’s family could feed.
Eleuia spoke few specifics about her family. She had siblings, but what became of them, I cannot say. In her wisdom, she chose to mask their identities to keep them safe from the Dragon. Yet it was witnessing the terrible lives she, her family, and surrounding families were forced to endure that made her determined to see them free. She knew that the Eloorin had to go.
Even before the Gods first revealed Themselves to her, Eleuia was already beginning to ponder how she could help free her people from the yoke of their oppressors. She never saw herself as a leader, simply someone willing to pursue the greater good.
Rumours began to circulate in the southern lands that the Folith people of the far north had dared to challenge the might of Elooria. The Foliths were a free people, not ruled by Elooria, but the Foliths too were conquerors and they knew that if they did not come for Elooria, Elooria would one day come for them.
Eleuia knew that the Foliths would be little better than the Eloorin, that a change in masters would not remove the slave status of the southern people. However, the Folith aggressions meant that Elooria was at last distracted. Its attention turned away from the south and to the north. Now was the time to act.
She spoke to the people, implored them to listen to her. Most turned away, thinking it folly, afraid that the Dragon or his abominable lover would come for them and burn their fields and savage their families. But a few listened. And Eleuia knew that only a few were needed at first. Others would turn away initially, but if those first few saw success, then others would turn back to them and join the cause.
Eleuia and her small group decided that their first target would be a storage silo, where the grains that comprised the “taxes” to Elooria were held, awaiting transit north. The guards there were few, too many forces having been called north. Eleuia’s band struck swiftly in the night, immobilizing the guards and opening access to the silo’s holdings. For the rest of the night, they worked efficiently, removing all the grain before the first light of dawn appeared in the sky and the relief guards arrived for the morning shift. By the time the Eloorin forces realized anything had happened, Eleuia’s band were long gone.
Over the next few days, Eleuia and her associates distributed the grain evenly amongst the locals, and soon, the locals were hailing her name. They spoke it only in whispers to hide her identity from the oppressors, but speak it they did, and a few more people joined her cause.
It was at this time that the Gods first spoke to Eleuia.
She had gone to the banks of the Jaguar to wash and gather water. While she filled her party’s skins, she heard the voice of a woman she did not recognize call out to her. Leaping to her feet, Eleuia scanned her surroundings but could see no one but her own people back on the road, a distance too far away for any of them to have been the speaker.
“Do not be afraid, daughter,” the voice said, “for I bring you glad tidings.”
But Eleuia was afraid, for this voice continued to have no source. She was afraid that the Dragon’s wizardry was about to cut her down.
“The Dragon is not here, daughter,” the voice said. (It actually used the Dragon’s name, but I will not write it here. That name shall be cursed from here on, and should never be muttered or written down by mortals. But the voice belonged to no mortal.) “The Dragon remains far to the north, fighting his war against Martan, the one they call Conqueror. Neither he nor his allies can harm you at this moment.”
“Who are you?” Eleuia asked.
And the voice answered that She was Ninussa. May all who hear, say, and write that name praise Her for all eternity, for Ninussa delivered us from oppression. Praise be to Ninussa!
But Eleuia did not recognize the name, for that name had been long forgotten by humanity, replaced by generic titles like All-Father or Cosmos. People had forgotten the true God behind those names, the God that had first breathed life into the world and formed the first woman. So Ninussa told Eleuia the truth of these things and Eleuia rejoiced. And She told Eleuia that from henceforth, She would guide Eleuia on the path to freedom for her people, the people of Ninussa. But She warned Eleuia, too, that the price would be high, and that Eleuia must not waver from the path. To this, Eleuia agreed, for she knew she had heard the voice of a true God.
When Eleuia returned to her followers and told them what she had heard, they responded with scepticism. Some even threatened to abandon her cause for they thought her mad. But Eleuia knew the path ahead would be hard, as Ninussa had warned her. She knew she must stay the course no matter how people responded. One day, the people would be free from the yoke of Elooria.
Over the next days and weeks, Ninussa spoke often to Eleuia. She told her of Sestin and Frana, the Gods the Eloorin had renamed Power and Nature. And She told her of Nyx, called Night by the Eloorin, the God of darkness, evil, and despair.
And Eleuia trembled to learn of Nyx, for Ninussa revealed that worship of Nyx was the guiding force behind the Dragon. It was through Nyx that the abhorred Isyar came to be, and it was through Nyx that the Isyar seduced and turned the Dragon to the ways of true evil.
The Eloorin speak of Volganths, the creatures of Night who warred against humanity millennia ago, but Ninussa revealed the truth to Her prophet, Eleuia. The Volganths were a carefully constructed lie of the Isyar, planted so that Humanity would forget that the terrible war was against Isyar, planted so that the Isyar could seduce the Dragon and still be viewed an angel!
Eleuia was troubled by these revelations and they dwelt long in her thoughts. For so long had the lies of the Isyar been propagated as truth that few would easily accept the reality if told it. She was not sure how to reveal these truths to the people.
But Ninussa, wise in all ways—praise her name!—counselled Eleuia that the truth would be known in time. For now, Eleuia should focus on freeing her people from the tyrant Dragon.
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