Heavens Domain Act I: Equilibrium

## Act I: Equilibrium Synopsis

There is always a food chain in place in the ecosystem. Animals, plants, algae, and bacteria all must consume to survive. Humans were always somewhere in the food chain. Highest in the food chain to some, somewhere in the middle for others, nobody could fully agree except perhaps in close knit circles. But humans at the time did not know they would eventually be prey themselves. During the era of equilibrium, they would become the prey of demons: Darkness dwelling, sometimes mythological creatures that came into existence. Humans however would fall prey to the lesser creatures known as the Shadow. They were formless, helpless dark silhouettes trying to maintain the form of an animal. A demon could never survive in a body of a primitive creature as they were always prone to death. So weak, not enough versatility, always the prey but never the predator. When humans had finally established civilizations, shadows had become highly aware of their existence. Many took much interest, stalking humanity, hoping to eventually seize their opportunities to possess one for the poor soul to become their vessel. For as strong humans were, they were still fairly frail creatures. They had no ability to protect themselves from the shadows. neither a punch or a slash of the sword would do a thing to protect them. One day eventually happened in one town on a particularly cloudy day as a European man went into his garden to inspect his crops and take a sight at the skies. A shadow in the form of a snake was the first to make its move.

Taking possession of the man named Richard Collins, the demon would go on his own journey, or rather lack of one, aimlessly traveling, eventually rendezvous with five other shadows that managed to obtain a vessel of their own. The demons became the best of friends, intrigued by human potential. Then it dawned on them. With a demon in possession of a human vessel, it allowed a mere shadow to unlock the potential of humans a mortal would never know existed in themselves. Magic, spirit energy, it was beyond human comprehension to know those things. In spite of their ignorance, they asked “what if humanity were the key to reaching the level of a God? No, what if humanity have the potential to surpass the Gods?” These demons were piqued by the idea. To the Gods it was only human nature corrupting the psyche of the demons, making these demons adopt human ignorance, but the concept was too surreal for anyone to devise a real answer for their philosophy. The group went about, proclaiming themselves as eventual Gods that will make their world their own, rejected by their own kind, humanity, and nature itself, becoming mere jokes, albeit threatening, but hard to respect nonetheless. In their attempt to reach Godhood, they slaughtered the spiritual Avatars, taking their hearts that acted like cores of various spiritual energies, empowering themselves for their quest to conquer the land while many were still ignorant to the issue at hand. A village was hardly in communication with each other nor did nature combat the False Gods. No being knew exactly how to act as they never dealt with this situation before, with many acting alone only to be defeated instead of forming alliances and taking them out in groups. A chunk of Agraria was simply the False God’s playground.

In a village not too far from the destruction, but still ignorant of the situation, was where a young boy who would become the hero lived. Fairly privy is swordsmanship but mostly spent his time in time in labor, he would spent his days in the village  nearly the same every day, not having much substance for one to entertain themselves as all they could do was journey through the woods, perhaps playing games with friends or interacting with the wildlife. The young boy, named Xander would do just that. Traveling farther into the woods than usual, he got a sense of danger but couldn’t pinpoint anything. Traveling more, the feeling of danger became more intense. He could see the birds flying South and a silence ensue. Scoping around more and more as his curiosity got the better of him, he found himself falling into a sloped pit. Sliding down the pit, the boy was now somewhere else in the forest of much lower elevation. As Xander travels forward from his new destination, he is met by nature spirits, being small, adorable little things that gather in large number to observe him, and eventually lead him to a cavern where he would eventually come across a sword. A spirit appeared, warning Xander of the its prediction for the distant future, informing Xander of the False Gods, simply referred to as the forces of evil that plague nature and humanity. The spirit promised Xander the mystical sword and great power in exchange of helping stop this force of evil. Xander, in his ignorance of having no knowledge of spirits and what would be in store, accepts the quest the spirit had promised, but it came with consequences. Xander gained the ability to communication by spirits and become empowered by them. While he would become stronger, if he did not have complete control at all times, there was the potential that the culmination of spirits could either destroy his body or make him a vessel for the spirits that would fuse, forming a False God entity to take over his body. There was much risk in this. Not known to him until the pact was already agreed on, he did not moan or groan, nor regret his decisions. He simply went about the path he set for himself and moved on, collecting spirits that desired to aid him in his journey to secure the future.

Traveling throughout Northern and North Eastern Agrarian villages, Xander, would find each of the False Gods, defeating them in combat, stopping them in their tracks. The vessel that was Richard Collins would be released from his role. He was a foe that was capable of rescued as he could be subdued much more easily as opposed to the others which ended up being more of a life or death situation. Richard Collins, who was a bloody mess requested to see the Lake Goddess, also known as the initial Goddess of Water, who had the potential to heal his wounds. Collins survived to make it and had himself healed. Xander, with priorities on his mission, left Collins to his own accord. Thus continued Xander’s battles with the rest, eliminating them one by one, with some refusing to allowing their vessels to go free, simply killing themselves out of sheer robustious pride. One knew what was occuring, knowing of Collin’s existence and the Lake Goddess’s abilities, the final False God did not hesitate to kill her, but it did not go as he had exactly planned. The Goddess, who kept the waters clear, turned into a dark lake, and she would simply resurrect a vengeful Lake Goddess, alive by the fact that he didn’t completely destroy her spirit but instead . Acceptable enough, he simply left her be as her healing properties disappeared. The final False God would set the stage for his inevitable battle against Xander. Xander at this point was at his limits. He was full of power but his consciousness was leaving him, occasionally coughing up blood as the spirits were doing a number on his body. He could only go on for much longer, but he gave it his all for the final confrontation. The final False God suffers defeat but acts prideful, boasting of the future to occur. The pendulum was in motion, there was no stopping it. The chaos would continue now that humanity knew more extensively of the dangers that reside in the world. Soon humans will come to reach Godhood themselves out of thirst for knowledge, knowing the nature of humans after inhabiting one. In an attempt take Xander down with him, the False God destroys everything around him, setting the place on fire in the hopes that both with little to no energy left would burn to the ground together. He could not go one however, passing out and eventually dying. Even after setting the area on fire upon his death, Xander still manages to escape. Eventually finding himself tired in a grassy plain area. His journey has officially ended. A bittersweet end but great nonetheless. He was a hero. That’s all he ever wanted to be and he got to fulfill that dream. But that’s where it ends for him. His body could not handle the souls within him anymore. His conscious was on the verge of being robbed. Even if had his mind taken over it wouldn’t have mattered at this point. In spite of all of this, he stayed at piece. Soon he fell asleep and stayed asleep.

Full of knowledge and wisdom that was inserted into his mind after being corrupted by the shadow, Collins had much tell humanity. Going back into his village, he spent a year and a few months compiling all of knowledge he had gathered on demons, magic, spirits, and various aspects of nature itself. He would eventually title the book “Revelations.” The book would spread throughout the region, reshaping cultures and society completely as Collin’s “Revelations” no longer left humanity in ignorance. His life however could not be sustained any longer, with his death occurring months later, never able to see the results for himself. During this time, demons would begin to show themselves in large numbers, especially as the era of occult was entering the times as magic started to get popularized. Other writers and magic users would continue to develop more theories on magic their various types, continuing to publish books and showcase their magical prowess. While humans improved in their, the demon infestation only grew worse for civilization as time went on, unsure of what the cause would be. With demons being labelled the villains it kickstarted a perpetual war as humanity fought back against demons. This time, unlike the shadows, they were faced with far worse, highly developed creatures that finally decided to unveil themselves.