Nature is Cruel
Belcum and her Thorn Hounds
Long ago, when Ova was guiding the new world's men and women, allowing them to create what they wanted from the barren earth, Kirim was doing the same, creating many animals to forge niches for themselves.
However, that story is merely the prologue to this. This is the story of Belcum and Celbum.
Kirim wandered Bennick, unhappy with how hollow it felt. Unsatisfied with the two repeating colors, brown and blue, she took a scoop of dirt in both hands, and breathed life into the soil itself, covering the hole again.
A day later, two small saplings sprouted up from that soil. Both had long, beautiful leaves, amassed atop the thin, immature branches. With the help of her sister, Ova, Kirim brought these new children to life as two beautiful girls, the only difference being that one had long, chestnut hair, the other auburn.
Kirim named her new twins, the chestnut haired Celbum and the auburn haired Belcum, hoping they would take more after her than the rest of Ova's children. In fact, they did, but not quite how Kirim expected they would.
While Kirim could pull forth creatures from soil, air, and water alike, neither of her daughters had the same knack for creation, in fact, neither of them could relate to any animals at all. Not the soaring eagles, nor the powerful bears. The quick salmon or the slow turtle. Not even the faithful hound or the mysterious cat.
Her daughters could not communicate with nor create animals from anything, not the seafoam that washed among rocks in the ocean, not the sky and clouds that hung above, nor from the soil that they tread upon.
Forlorn, she cast her gaze over the soil itself, instead of the creatures she had already brought into existence, and told them to start there attempting to craft more daughters from the dirt that was there. Lo and behold, they could bless the world with life, just in a different way than their mother intended.
The twin sisters would frolic together through the blank canvas of a planet they lived on, linking arms and laughing. Small blades of grass would dance to life underneath their feet, growing from what Kirim viewed as nothingness before. The goddess was in awe at her daughters' abilities, and wanted to explore them further.
Celbum excelled at raising a new type of life, beautiful and majestic and useen to all until now. Tall trees and flowers burst from around her with ease, and she would dance through her new forests and jungles. Kirim would populate her daughter's creations with animals alike, carving them from the bark of trees, and from outcroppings of blossoming perennials or leaves that had scattered among the ground.
However, Beclum struggled to create anything beautiful. When she did conjure up a plant of her own, it was a small sort of weed. It would choke out her sister's creations in her envy when she wasn't watching, and the blights spread like wildfire. Kirim attempted to carve creatures from these plants, to ease her daughters heartache. But only managed the smallest insects, locusts and crickets alike. She created imps and other such devils from these creations, and had to banish the creatures.
Kirim continued to celebrate and reward Celbum's creations, but would only gaze upon Belcum's with both distaste and slight shame. Belcum began to hate herself. She envied her sister, she envied her success in their mother's eyes, she envied the control over such beauty. This hatred and envy forced Belcum's plants to become even uglier, more ragged, more gnarled and aggressive. They grew beyond simple weeds. they were something more. Celbum would pay for stealing their mother's love. She would pay for being so perfect.
After a long while of waiting, Belcum approached her sister, confronting her in the center of a newly risen meadow of marigolds and clover. She shouted and ranted, and Celbum was merely shocked at her sister's sudden anger. Even in terror she was perfect to the mistress of weeds and ivies, Belcum hated it. She went into a rage! She caused massive, hideous roots; gigantic thorns; huge strands of poisonous, prickling ivy burst and darted from the earth, in the hopes of at least making her sister look less perfect.
Celbum wasn't going to go down without a fight, however. She caused even more massive plants to erupt from the soil, in hopes of at least defending herself, and soon retaliating against her now vicious sister's attack. The two battled for ten days; plants would crush weeds; weeds would devour plants, it was a hopeless battle for both sides.
Kirim finally decided that her daughters were no longer simply trying to grow their abilities and stepped in between their combat, diminishing her ivy-daughter's powers with a mere snap of her fingers. She loomed over Belcum and glowered with distaste for attacking her sister. All Belcum could do was flee, to somewhere, anywhere. But the aftermath of the battle left the Elder-Glen in its wake, the respected birthplace of plants everywhere.
But Belcum bides her time, crafting new poisons, ivies, and the like, to one day overthrow her sister and earn her mother's love.
However, that story is merely the prologue to this. This is the story of Belcum and Celbum.
Kirim wandered Bennick, unhappy with how hollow it felt. Unsatisfied with the two repeating colors, brown and blue, she took a scoop of dirt in both hands, and breathed life into the soil itself, covering the hole again.
A day later, two small saplings sprouted up from that soil. Both had long, beautiful leaves, amassed atop the thin, immature branches. With the help of her sister, Ova, Kirim brought these new children to life as two beautiful girls, the only difference being that one had long, chestnut hair, the other auburn.
Kirim named her new twins, the chestnut haired Celbum and the auburn haired Belcum, hoping they would take more after her than the rest of Ova's children. In fact, they did, but not quite how Kirim expected they would.
While Kirim could pull forth creatures from soil, air, and water alike, neither of her daughters had the same knack for creation, in fact, neither of them could relate to any animals at all. Not the soaring eagles, nor the powerful bears. The quick salmon or the slow turtle. Not even the faithful hound or the mysterious cat.
Her daughters could not communicate with nor create animals from anything, not the seafoam that washed among rocks in the ocean, not the sky and clouds that hung above, nor from the soil that they tread upon.
Forlorn, she cast her gaze over the soil itself, instead of the creatures she had already brought into existence, and told them to start there attempting to craft more daughters from the dirt that was there. Lo and behold, they could bless the world with life, just in a different way than their mother intended.
The twin sisters would frolic together through the blank canvas of a planet they lived on, linking arms and laughing. Small blades of grass would dance to life underneath their feet, growing from what Kirim viewed as nothingness before. The goddess was in awe at her daughters' abilities, and wanted to explore them further.
Celbum excelled at raising a new type of life, beautiful and majestic and useen to all until now. Tall trees and flowers burst from around her with ease, and she would dance through her new forests and jungles. Kirim would populate her daughter's creations with animals alike, carving them from the bark of trees, and from outcroppings of blossoming perennials or leaves that had scattered among the ground.
However, Beclum struggled to create anything beautiful. When she did conjure up a plant of her own, it was a small sort of weed. It would choke out her sister's creations in her envy when she wasn't watching, and the blights spread like wildfire. Kirim attempted to carve creatures from these plants, to ease her daughters heartache. But only managed the smallest insects, locusts and crickets alike. She created imps and other such devils from these creations, and had to banish the creatures.
Kirim continued to celebrate and reward Celbum's creations, but would only gaze upon Belcum's with both distaste and slight shame. Belcum began to hate herself. She envied her sister, she envied her success in their mother's eyes, she envied the control over such beauty. This hatred and envy forced Belcum's plants to become even uglier, more ragged, more gnarled and aggressive. They grew beyond simple weeds. they were something more. Celbum would pay for stealing their mother's love. She would pay for being so perfect.
After a long while of waiting, Belcum approached her sister, confronting her in the center of a newly risen meadow of marigolds and clover. She shouted and ranted, and Celbum was merely shocked at her sister's sudden anger. Even in terror she was perfect to the mistress of weeds and ivies, Belcum hated it. She went into a rage! She caused massive, hideous roots; gigantic thorns; huge strands of poisonous, prickling ivy burst and darted from the earth, in the hopes of at least making her sister look less perfect.
Celbum wasn't going to go down without a fight, however. She caused even more massive plants to erupt from the soil, in hopes of at least defending herself, and soon retaliating against her now vicious sister's attack. The two battled for ten days; plants would crush weeds; weeds would devour plants, it was a hopeless battle for both sides.
Kirim finally decided that her daughters were no longer simply trying to grow their abilities and stepped in between their combat, diminishing her ivy-daughter's powers with a mere snap of her fingers. She loomed over Belcum and glowered with distaste for attacking her sister. All Belcum could do was flee, to somewhere, anywhere. But the aftermath of the battle left the Elder-Glen in its wake, the respected birthplace of plants everywhere.
But Belcum bides her time, crafting new poisons, ivies, and the like, to one day overthrow her sister and earn her mother's love.
Everything but You is a Girl's Best Friend
The one and only Queen of Greed, Avarice.
The year was young, as was Under. He had met a beautiful ignian, and deceived her into thinking he was a rich king from Ellesma. She quickly fell in love with both his fake wealth and manufactured personality, but as soon as she was carrying the god's child, he vanished, to spread his trickery across the rest of Bennick.
She cursed the day she met the changeling liar, but couldn't just abandon her soon-to-be child. After long enough, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, with a small curl of golden hair, and beautiful golden eyes. She couldn't find the love in her heart to name the child.
The woman gave this child to an orphanage before the year was up, she couldn't bear the burden of knowing she was deceived her entire life. The orphanage decided to name the girl Ava, and little Ava grew up like the rest of the children in the orphanage, playing games and going through basic schooling. She blossomed into adulthood like an expert; with beautiful golden hair, stunning golden eyes, and a body that even a god would envy, the orphanage was very proud of the young woman they were sending into the world.
Yet, even though she would have been the perfect wife, she declined every suitor that came her way, but kept their gifts of flowers, candies and gold. Eventually, after some few dozen men and a handful of women had their hearts crushed by the girl, she decided on a suitor.
He was a rich noble from a few towns over, who heard about the gorgeous orphan girl, he felt it was his duty to swoop in and rescue her. Of course she was delighted. Someone of such high standing chose her.
Within a week, they were engaged to be married, and Ava moved into his manor with him. Not even a day after the wedding, he was found dead, stabbed in the heart by her knife. Of course, no one knew of the knife's owner asides from her, but she would never tell. She claimed someone assassinated him after she didn't let him drink the wine she somehow "knew" was poisoned, even though the wine was nowhere to be found.
Her beauty and supposed innocence quickly lent their hands to help her escape from the inevitable trouble, and she made away without a scratch.
Ava claimed all of his belongings, quickly ousting any family members or friends from his will with a delicate hand to forge his writing. She lived lavishly, and would frequently torment mortal men and women, claiming that only the "strongest" could have her hand. She delighted in watching her suitors give their gifts, as well as go off to battle for her hand. She knew that there would always be another to fight, so she never had to worry about marrying again now that she had so many pining for her attention.
Eventually, Under heard of this rich, single, and beautiful ignian woman, and he decided to go have a try at winning over her heart. She knew exactly who he was from the start, but played it off as if he really was a rich and noble king from Ellesma. She taunted and teased his affections, demanding larger and larger gifts, until she sat on a throne of gold and diamond, her bed was crafted from silk and platinum, and even her manor was adorned with precious metals and gems.
Ava still wasn't satisfied. Before long, the entire town was hers, she wore furs and linens from the rarest of creatures and plants, and she even strolled about with small fairies lighting her path.
Under began to grow furious at how long his seduction was taking, and asked who the woman's mother was, so he could learn what she loved the most directly from the source. She immediately told him that she was an orphan, and that her mother was once a beautiful Ignian. That was all that Under needed to know.
He took one of her hairs, and went to The Fountain of Ylph, dipping the hair in. He quickly learned that this was his very own daughter birthed by one of his many lovers. Not that Under didn't revel in the idea, but if she found out his true identity, she would never let him anywhere near her bed nor her riches.
Before long, many other men and women were trying to seduce Ava again, and as before, she merely took their gifts and sent them away. The people of her town quickly took to calling her Avarice, the Queen of Greed, and that she is. She's been greedy for hundreds of years, and even has several groups worshiping her. She is officially the Queen of Greed, and Under still tries to seduce his daughter to this day, leading the front of the suitors with magnificent gifts, poems, and courting attempts.
She cursed the day she met the changeling liar, but couldn't just abandon her soon-to-be child. After long enough, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, with a small curl of golden hair, and beautiful golden eyes. She couldn't find the love in her heart to name the child.
The woman gave this child to an orphanage before the year was up, she couldn't bear the burden of knowing she was deceived her entire life. The orphanage decided to name the girl Ava, and little Ava grew up like the rest of the children in the orphanage, playing games and going through basic schooling. She blossomed into adulthood like an expert; with beautiful golden hair, stunning golden eyes, and a body that even a god would envy, the orphanage was very proud of the young woman they were sending into the world.
Yet, even though she would have been the perfect wife, she declined every suitor that came her way, but kept their gifts of flowers, candies and gold. Eventually, after some few dozen men and a handful of women had their hearts crushed by the girl, she decided on a suitor.
He was a rich noble from a few towns over, who heard about the gorgeous orphan girl, he felt it was his duty to swoop in and rescue her. Of course she was delighted. Someone of such high standing chose her.
Within a week, they were engaged to be married, and Ava moved into his manor with him. Not even a day after the wedding, he was found dead, stabbed in the heart by her knife. Of course, no one knew of the knife's owner asides from her, but she would never tell. She claimed someone assassinated him after she didn't let him drink the wine she somehow "knew" was poisoned, even though the wine was nowhere to be found.
Her beauty and supposed innocence quickly lent their hands to help her escape from the inevitable trouble, and she made away without a scratch.
Ava claimed all of his belongings, quickly ousting any family members or friends from his will with a delicate hand to forge his writing. She lived lavishly, and would frequently torment mortal men and women, claiming that only the "strongest" could have her hand. She delighted in watching her suitors give their gifts, as well as go off to battle for her hand. She knew that there would always be another to fight, so she never had to worry about marrying again now that she had so many pining for her attention.
Eventually, Under heard of this rich, single, and beautiful ignian woman, and he decided to go have a try at winning over her heart. She knew exactly who he was from the start, but played it off as if he really was a rich and noble king from Ellesma. She taunted and teased his affections, demanding larger and larger gifts, until she sat on a throne of gold and diamond, her bed was crafted from silk and platinum, and even her manor was adorned with precious metals and gems.
Ava still wasn't satisfied. Before long, the entire town was hers, she wore furs and linens from the rarest of creatures and plants, and she even strolled about with small fairies lighting her path.
Under began to grow furious at how long his seduction was taking, and asked who the woman's mother was, so he could learn what she loved the most directly from the source. She immediately told him that she was an orphan, and that her mother was once a beautiful Ignian. That was all that Under needed to know.
He took one of her hairs, and went to The Fountain of Ylph, dipping the hair in. He quickly learned that this was his very own daughter birthed by one of his many lovers. Not that Under didn't revel in the idea, but if she found out his true identity, she would never let him anywhere near her bed nor her riches.
Before long, many other men and women were trying to seduce Ava again, and as before, she merely took their gifts and sent them away. The people of her town quickly took to calling her Avarice, the Queen of Greed, and that she is. She's been greedy for hundreds of years, and even has several groups worshiping her. She is officially the Queen of Greed, and Under still tries to seduce his daughter to this day, leading the front of the suitors with magnificent gifts, poems, and courting attempts.
Playing with Spirits
Even as he got closer to his doom, the Prince wore his mother's armor.
This story will come, it will just take some time.
The Purest of Envies
True jealousy lies in all of us.
This story will come, it will just take some time.