24.3 The Founding of the Three Cities.

In the beginning, Genesis and the three Omnipotents drew in council over the future of the Land and the shape it would take. During those sluggish moments when the great clock lurched into action, they four came into accord. Galvanized by the all-powerful will of Genesis, the Three Cities to rule the Land were reborn.

To the West, Thakria, the City of Miracles, was reborn out of the crucible of Death and Fate. Her citizens, bent to the greatest of ambitions, were to never cease their imperialist expansion. They were newly imbued with the desire to dominate both the minds and lives of the realm, to find pleasure and honour in the death and humiliation of their foes, to hold fast against the pacifist and the peaceful. In moments of weakness, they would come out of the Greenwood like tigers. In moments of strength, they would conquer. In those times betwixt, they would spread the belief of their pre-eminence. So from the hands of Osiris and Orthwein came the dark City anew.

To the South, Mercinae, the City of Justice, was reforged by Time. For only the passage of time could see to the venerable yet resplendent towers, clean and winding streets, the beauty of heritage and hard-won truth. In her citizens was also the mark of Osiris, who moulded them with eternal mistrust of Thakria. The justice of the realm was to be upheld and thus in darkness they were to find their greatest contender. However, with the inspiration of the stars, these eloquent few were to succeed beyond mere combat. In statesmanship and craft they were to achieve excellence, bringing forth wisdom, gentility and refinement. These are things which are timeless.

Parrius, Jewel of the East, and her docks were refashioned by the Stars and Fate. Because their demeanor was both wild and calculating, the ports and sails of many adventurers were at home here. Wanderers, brigands and great warriors, craftsman of the radical kind and shrewd tempters of fate, were all converged at this point. Neither Mercinae nor Thakria were to be enemy or friend. Parrius had her own agenda. It was to be a refuge for the rebel and the greatest bastion of freedoms. Ever-youthful and passionate, they were born to strive.

It was thus that the first Deities ensured an unpredictable future for all of mortalkind.