Heavy is the Head that Wears the Solemn Crown

Prologue - Death and Her Angel

Genesis and terminus. Life and death. Success and failure. Peace and war. Rise and fall. The gods and the mortals who worship them. The world is built upon the law of cycles, that every action will have an equal and opposite reaction. The idea that nothing can be created or destroyed, merely transformed or passed on. Knowledge is gathered and shared. Bravery inspires courage. Art is taught and shown. Blood is shed. One soul passes into what comes next as another soul enters the world as a crying babe. Concepts are crystalized in deities that govern them. Mortals strive to make something that will last an eternity, unwilling to face the truth that they will never reach something like that. Not even the gods can last forever, their power tied to the belief of those who are in awe of them. The world is made of coexisting opposites. One force cannot remain unless it's antithesis remains with it. There is no better example of this than the three children of prophecy.

       

Death is feared across the land. There are few who willingly seek her out, and there has never been one to return from such an encounter. Even the other gods are wary of her, acknowledging that she is far more powerful than they are without staying too long in her presence. Even her devotees and angels know not to interact with Death, lest they find themselves in a horrid existence. Whether it be bravery or foolishness, there had been one angel who came into her presence with the intent of admiring her beauty with his own eyes. It is unclear what about this ordinary angel had impressed the goddess, but she did not destroy him outright. Instead she allowed him a special place by her side that way he may relish in her grace like he so boldly claimed to want. There has been speculation by many bards, but no one could fully understand what caused the passionate love between Death and her angel. How could a goddess feared by all, even other gods, and an angel that is barely more powerful than a human mage end up together in a devotion that even the love god had to admire? It was a question without a clear answer. The one thing that could be sure is that Death and her angel were wed as equals, and they gave birth to three children.

       

It should have been simple. Three new gods would have been created in any other circumstance. But the god of order and goddess of chaos were both plagued by parts of a prophecy that came together to give a message to the newlyweds. Their children would not be born fully divine. They would be gods trapped in mortal bodies, doomed to follow a relentless cycle of death and rebirth without knowledge of their previous lives. The boys would be brothers in soul, but it was not a guarantee that their mortal selves would even know each other. The reason this curse fell upon their children is as unknown as how the parents fell in love. Most gods were convinced it was the universe's way of protecting itself. Maybe the children of death would be powerful enough to destroy the cosmos should they be allowed their full divinity. The parents could care less what the reason was. They cursed the world for preventing the true birth of their children. A plague was spread across the mortal realm, strong enough that almost all of humanity was destroyed. With no offerings or enough belief to sustain themselves, most deities fell into the clutches of oblivion. Feeling pain for seeing her brethren taken away, the goddess of chaos convinced the god of order to create a way to appease Death and her chosen one. Together, the two divine spirits were able to find a new prophecy. In one of their children's reincarnations, a great war would befall the world. At the end of this strife, the children will be released from the mortal chains and will be allowed to ascend. Certain conditions would need to be met, however... Death and her angel would need to be mortal for that war. When the time came, they would need to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Most gods would never give up their power, even for a few years, to experience the pains of mortality, but Death and her angel have proved time and time again that they are not like most gods.

       

They would save their children if it was the last thing they ever did.