THE TALE OF ATLANTIS

First, he made the Upper Gods, called the Qordaath, and he said unto them "I wish to make a Universe, and you will be it's Lords answering to none but myself."

And Iaoue said, "I will make worlds for you to rule in my name." And in a grand explosion, it was done. And the stars and the planets, the Earth and Moon, came together, and Iaoue smiled upon his creations.

And the Upper Gods were thankful, and then unto them Iaoue created the Lower Gods, the Shab-Qordaath.

"Each will be given one world to rule" Iaoue said to the Shab-Qordaath. And each cast their eyes upon the skies...

But one world shone like none other. A world rich with the manna of the gods...covered with blue and with white clouds...a world that would be called The Earth.

And the Shab-Qordath grew covetous of it. Grand beasts that made the ground shake like thunder walked it, beasts that would serve any god proud as a soldier...and the Shab fought a great war of the gods for it, destroying the great beasts in the process.

One of the mightiest of the Lower Gods was he knows as Volguus the Traveler, also named Zildrohar the Destructor. On his hand was the slaughter of many of the Great Beasts he sought to control, as he orchestrated the fall of a comet to smite one of his enemies. And also named in that war was the Fiery One, he known as Hob Annigarrik. And Driano Nojeam, the One who Can Never Die. And many others, names lost to history...

This War and the slaughter of so many of his innocent creatures drew the attention of none other than distant Iaoue the One himself, and he said unto to them "Enough!!! Thou will fight over this small world no more, so say I...go from this place, and trouble it no more!!!"

And the angry Shab did as commanded...but for his crime Volguus was shorn by Iaoue of his very form. "You will learn humility, my Child...for now you can only wear the forms chosen for you by the creatures you sought to subjugate and destroy." And Volguus Zildrohar became named by the Gods as "Gozer"...the One Without Form...

It is said that after the War of the Gods, the Qordath called Xodiac, Keeper of the Twelve Keys, rent himself into nothingness, spreading his divine essence through the Universe, and in his passing the gift of soul was given to the mortal creatures that walked the worlds. And it was in the image of Iaoue and Xodiac that True Men came to be on the Earth.

The people of Atlantis worshiped Iaoue and Zodiac, and created the Codex of Qizzon, the secrets of the qizzonu, the Twelve Principles as kept by Xodiac. And thus in the image of the Qizzon the twelve houses were made, and the House of Tesmihirus, who's sigil was the goat, ruled them all.

But then the golden age came to an end. The patriarch of House Rylohr began to covet the power of the Kings of Atlantis, and he began to research the dark magics. And he was the one to discover the tales of Volguus Zildrohar , the Shapeless Destructor.

Volguus was one of the Lower Gods, and had coveted the jewel of the Earth ages before, and had personally been responsible for the destruction of the Great Beasts. He had been sealed away by Iaoue as punishment, but heard the call of Rylohr and his followers. He bade his new servants to build a great tower in his image, and to call his name at the top of it, so that he might open the doorway and walk the Earth once more.

But another of the Shab Qordaath walked the world, he known as the First God, Hob Annigarrik; he did not regard well the intervention of the enemy he'd clashed with in the War of the Gods. And the Hob knew anger, recognizing the impending return of his ancient foe. So he sent his minions to Atlantis to attack...but the Heirs of Ancal knew not why, as the Hob would not deign to explain himself to mere mortal creatures.

And the leaders of Atlantis knew fear...and then Lord Rylohr called to his estranged peers, "My Brothers, I know of one who can save us...he is mighty, and will smite the Lord of Fire's warriors. give me aid, that we might call on the power of Gozer the Shapeless Destructor, and be freed form the First God's wrath!!!"

And they set out to aid the Rylohr, save one...Delphia, daughter of House Tesmihirus, who did not trust the Rylohr. Delphia was found by the Forever Swimmer, a Seer from the Dark Continent, and told "The First God and the Shapeless Destructor serve no interests but their own, Daughter of Ancal. It will be to you that the legacy of Atlantis will rest." And the strange woman left, leaving Dephia to plan the defense of the Realm.

She called upon her cousins Lueg and Mhar...and upon Lady Llyra, Lueg's betrothed, upon Tarvis the Fierce and upon the scholars Jocanda and Cicerris. To them she entrusted the power of the Crest Beasts, cast in the images of the Great Lizards exterminated by Volguus ages ago.

And the battles grew fierce, as the monsters of the Hob clashed with the Knights of the Crests, and even in victory more and more of Atlantis was destroyed. Delphia despaired that Atlantis would ever be at peace again.

But among the mortals who lived under the dominion of the First God, there were many who hated him, and they grew hopeful when learning of the Warriors of the Crests who fought the servants of Hob Annigarrik. And two mages, husband and wife, fled from the North and came to Atlantis, and they said unto them "We hate the First God and his fire of wrath. We know a way he can be bound, but we have not the power--come with us back to our homeland, and together we can end this war."

Lord Rylohr grew fearful, that the men dominated by Hob and the Atlanteans would grow wise, and not call upon the power of Volguus...and he consulted the Queen of Atlantis "Nay! Listen not to these barbarians! This is a trick of the First Demon!!!"

But the Queen trusted her son Lueg, Knight of the Lizard King, who welcomed the alliance. "Would it not be better, Beloved Mother, if the people of Atlantis and Inuit brought this war to heel by our own power? What has depending on the might of the Lower Gods brought the World of Men other than death and blood?

She assented. And Lueg and his Knights traveled with the People of the North back to their home. And a great battle rose up, and the Knights fought valiantly. But all seemed lost until the great spell was cast, and the First God Hob Annigarrik was bound in a slumber, his heat extinguished by his tomb of black ice.

They returned to Atlantis, together with the two who had bound Hob, to share the news of their victory with the Queen, but while they were gone Rylohr had murdered the Queen, declaring that he'd learned the Knights had died in battle with the First God. after being betrayed by the two that had taken them to the North...and that the Knights that stood before them now were shape changing monsters sent by Hob to destroy them all.

"Gozer the Destructor, Gozer the Traveler, Volguus Zildrohar, we call upon you to smite these Betrayers and Pretenders!!!" Rylohr cried, and Atlantis itself shook.

A great hole opened in the skies, and darkness began to spill forth. "Choose and Perish..." it called...

"I hath chosen for you, the form of the great King of Lizards, My Lord!!!" And it was done, and the Shapeless Destructor appeared in the form of the King of Lizards.

Delphia cried out to the Knights: "The Evil One has not completed drawing out his power!! If we can disrupt it, he will be taken back to his Evil Place!!! But to do that, you must go there..."

The Knights and the two Mages nodded as one, and went into the gate. And the Knights of the Crests found themselves in the Accursed Realm, the dark land of Sebouillia; the minions of the Traveler rose to smite them, but the Knights battled them all, coming to the great ziggurat crafted by the Destructor. But the minions of Gozer drove all but Lueg, and the Mages of the North back...

It is said that Lueg and the Mages stood at the summit. "There is only one way..." the husband mage said. "We must link our powers, and invert the flow of magic through the gate."

"But Husband..." the wife mage replied. "It will surely destroy us."

"Probable. But there is a slim chance we shall survive."

Lueg smiled, and hoisted his sword. "Then shall we all meet again on the other side..."

And they did as they must.

There was a grand explosion, and the other five Knights of the Crests found themselves hurled back to Atlantis. Llyra felt it in her heart--her lord had given his life to save all of the world of Men.

Vulguus Zildrohar roared in anger, and the form of the Lizard King exploded, coating the ruined capitol of Atlantis in it's foul remains. But even then, the land shook, and Delphia's magics told her the horror:

"The battle has wounded Atlantis itself!!! It is sinking!!!"

And it is said that Lord Rylohr laughed as the waters took him, shouting "Gozer is avenged, puny ones!!!"