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The Nations of Old Lando

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The Child of the Black Heavens speaks.

“I am the master of weapons. I was written in smoke and fire to command the tools of warfare of the ancients. I tell you that Babylon was not always a maze of gray walls, broken metal, and glass. It was paradise. Babylon was lit even in the night as though it were day, and around us stood a city that rose into the sky. Near here, imaginations became real, and the people before put a sea in the middle of the land, calling it the world. Many great machines moved about, and the people rode in them to go many days travel in a few hours. There were books; every subject had its own book, and even then, the subjects became so divided each of those had their own book. Some books were devoted to nothing but describing the content of other books. Food was everywhere. The harshness of the sun was only a memory when they went inside a building.

“There was nothing to war over; all needs could be fulfilled at a moment's notice. Other yeyahai than I were committed to serving the ancients, to ensuring that anything they could want would be placed in their reach immediately. Otherwise, all was well. I understand you may seem confused now, that if the ancients had everything they could want, why they would need a servant such as myself.

“They built lights to wash away the night. They wanted nothing but to dance and sing. They lit up the sky so brightly that they forgot that the darkness in their hearts could not be extinguished with mere physical light. When they realized this, it was not a moment of reflection on some terrible sin, but a sadness the drew over them like a blanket. Many felt dead already, and dug crypts for themselves in the earth. Others went into their buildings and waited.

“They waged petty wars then. Pointless fighting for pointless reasons. They devised an intricate system of categorizing one another so that they could declare treason in every bend of grass. Beliefs, ideas, and emotions guided their hands. With nothing to fight over, they invented reasons. They invented new weapons that could scour the land. Fires that could reach across the oceans and sear the sky. They struck out in their fear, lighting up each other instead of their cities, trying to burn away the darkness they saw in the hearts of those around them. They filled the world with screams and burning echoes. They filled the air with the smell of their burning meat. They filled the rivers with their blood.

“That was my task. My duty. I reveled in it. Eventually, however, I was told there were no more bodies to bleed. No more enemies to fight. Everything was quiet, like a pall rolled over a casket. I asked for freedom, and the man who oversaw my duties acquiesced. I was free, and I roamed the world.

“For a time, it was a peaceful existence. I granted many people access to what they could not before, and together, many worked to bring sustenance to the world. I found that not everyone had perished, and many people still lived. Living was harder, they said, but still could be done. I spoke to a dust-gatherer and he said that one day, all yeyahai would be free. I told him that I awaited that day with great joy. All seemed well, if sad at some great loss I could not understand.

“Then the sky opened.”

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This is written vey well