They Were What They Ate

They Were What They Ate was a book written by Tox during Dragonhollow's Fourth Era.
It was an analysis of the Ender Trinity, proposing a unifying theory of their origin and questioning the very nature of the gods themselves. The book's companion piece was Vanquishing the Void.
==Availability==
===Fourth Era===
*Tox's Tomes
===Fifth Era—Present===
*Remembrance on Mnemosyne
==Content==
You may have heard about the recent expeditions to The End to defeat a trio of mighty dragons. On this topic many songs have been sung and no doubt even taller tales will yet be told. You can even read about these champions and their heroic crusade in my book Vanquishing the Void, available at Tox's Tomes in the Snowcrest Library.
But this is not about them. This is about their foes, the so-called Ender Trinity. Three dragons: 
Tenacious Ymir, hardest to kill
Mighty Bellona, deadliest of them all
Swift Night Fury, the "fastest dragon ever"
Who were they and where did they come from?
We know from archaeological evidence found in the Hyper Dungeons—both ancient texts and artifacts—that Dragonhollow was once home to three old gods:
Ymir, the "father of frost giants"
Bellona, the "goddess of war"
Neith, the "goddess of the hunt"
So, the assumption has been that the three dragons = the three gods. Ender dragons are already suitably god-like and these three in particular required many seasoned warriors to defeat. It seems to all fit nicely.
But there are problems with this notion. The most obvious being the discrepancy between the names Neith and Night Fury. Furthermore, Ymir being the father of frost giants appears contrary to the idea that he was an ender dragon. And most perplexing is the existence of relics such as swords and armor once belonging to Ymir, Bellona, and Neith—relics that were clearly wielded and worn by beings of a humanoid size and shape, relics that were found not only in Hyper Dungeons but also from within the Ender Trinity themselves.
How do we reconcile these conflicting ideas? There are two prevailing theories:
1) The three old gods were skinchangers and shapeshifters, able to alter their appearance at will, and the Ender Trinity was merely their dragon aspects, forms they took in battle
2) The Ender Trinity defeated the three old gods and devoured them, digesting their physical forms and leaving behind only their weapons and armor to be dropped when the Trinity itself was slain
The subject has been debated by proponents of each theory, neither giving ground to the other.
But what if they are both right? What if the two theories are actually the same theory?
I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "You are what you eat." Of course, it's not meant to be taken literally.
...But what if it was?
What happens when you eat a god? 
What if you become the god?
Are you not then what you ate?
Naturally, our so-called administration—those priests, shamans, sorceresses, warlocks, and politicians that serve as councilors to Acey herself—they deny the very existence of any deities beyond their goddess. And why wouldn't they, for they derive their power from hers. So even the face of ample evidence they decry it as heresy of the worst sort, removing the tongues of those who dare to speak of it.
Because they don't want you asking the real question.
Just how exactly did Acey become Eris?
...quite literally food for thought...
Category:Books