Far above the heavens in a realm where only the divine are allowed to reside, a heavy sight punctuates a long and somber conversation. Emerald eyes, filled with weariness look among his siblings, settling on the God of Time who sits with wisdom he is just now realizing. The feathered god loved the peoples of Helovia, but the demands and folly he receives daily are too much, and his brothers and sister feel similarly. A hall, filled with the light of the Sun God and shadowed by the Moon holds the four rather young deities as they converse.

"I have said this before at the inception of this world you created that the desire of the mortals cannot be sated," the Time God said, his voice clear and firm. Though perhaps more of a trickster and harsh to the mortals, he holds wisdom born of traveling history. "They aspire to become us, and they have not the lifespan to understand the power they crave will corrupt. All you are doing by coming at their beck and call is encouraging this corruption."

The God of the Spark stood entirely still, eyeing each of his siblings with his sharp, blue eyes. "You make excuses that they are earning their gifts with quests and tasks, but to what end? Few have truly earned and understood the powers you are granting, and ultimately, we will find ourselves once more in the midst of a war." He snorted sharply and stomped a solid hoof, the sound echoing through the chamber. "Also, do not let yourself be fooled into thinking you have hidden your half-mortal spawn from me. You, I even, are getting too close. Already you, brother Sun, have banished a young mare from your presence and have given personal advice to another. Do you truly believe you are impartial with that evidence at your hooves? And you, my dear sister... you played two herds to your advantage. Finally, brother Earth, you have such difficulty refusing to meet the mortals, and I can see in your essence that you are drained."

The God of the Sun gave forth a guilty look before sullenly agreeing, and the God of the Earth grimaced. But the Goddess of the moon, as much as she was in concurrence, lifted her head in defiance. "I regret nothing, brother." she started in a huff before being soothed by her earthen brother's calm gaze. "But I will admit the mortals have grown greedy. They've grown more insufferable than amusing." The God of the Earth nodded in solemn and reluctant agreement. Finally, his chocolate lips parted to speak, beard swaying in the light of the day. "We cannot deny the facts you put before us," his thunderous voice boomed. He sighed heavily. "Before this corruption and war begins, we must act and act swiftly. The Veins must be destroyed, though enough should remain for them to relive their history. No more can we come at their calling, though my heart grieves at the loss of their company."

The God of Time grunted harshly and narrowed his eyes. "What company? You mean their demands of you? I do not give a damn if you want to converse with the mortals, but what has transpired is not conversing. We are being used."

The God of the Earth sighed and nodded. "Also true, but we cannot abandon them completely. Pure hearts still remain among the mortal kind. We need to be able to visit them, to offer them powers when they are in need."

The Spark God shrugged his shoulders and looked between his other siblings. "Abandoning a people we invited seems foolish," he agreed. No more was getting done standing where the mortals were not allowed. The God of the Spark closed his eyes and in a blink, transported them to a more apt location. The four appeared before their shrines at the Veins, and the God of the Spark looked out upon the fields of churning, blue lava. He approached his shrine, and with a bolt of lightning, shattered the stone in half. The rock groaned as it fell backward, one half falling and crashing into the waves below.

The God of the Earth followed suit. He closed his eyes and summoned the creation of a new plant. Black, thorny vines wove around his shrine which thrived on the heat of the lava, and small, blue blooms appeared to offer a small comfort. The God of the Moon shoved her shrine with a gust of wind and blocked out any symbols with shadow, marking it with death. The God of the Sun summoned fire to the stone that signified his shrine. Flames licked around the stone structure until the rocks were black with ash and charcoal.

The God of the Earth lamented. "The Veins are no more."

Together, the four deities stood, taking in the depth of their actions and watching with a sense of sorrow as the bright sun fell beneath the horizon. The blue flowers on the Earth God's shrine began to glow softly. Perhaps they were a promise of better things to come, a symbol that the mortals would not be forgotten.

---

The method in which characters gain magic and companions is changing as many on the survey had complaints about magic. Most people were concerned that it was getting to much, that magic and companions were no longer special and the quests were often difficult, time consuming and the waiting time was too much.

More drops will be created for magic in the form of a "quest" drop where the gods still interact with the characters in order to gain magic. However, this will still be a competition or random dice roll situation as per the usual form of drops. We have some great ideas for these though, and we think they will be really fun!

Since the gods will not be available to quest for any type of quest, the crafters for each herd will be given the abilities to create magical items! The crafters from each herd will have control over the respective elements of the patron god, and they will be able to enchant items with abilities as long as they are passed by the admin team first. Currently this depends on systems that are in the process of being written and reviewed, so please be patient with us as we work on installing as fast as we can.


Characters are still encouraged to come to the veins (which will be a normal roleplay board) to pray and seek council from the gods. Though quests will not be given, a god may occasionally answer a prayer.

All current quests will be completed in the usual fashion.

We encourage you to give this system a chance for a little while, and if we encounter problems or issues along the way, we can always adjust as needed.