Baal 2

Millenia has passed since we were brought to this world. The region I took over is full of large plains in the center, a great lake to the west and jagged red mountains in all other borders.

From the care us gods took of the land, plants and fungi naturally came into being. The plants started as almost gelatinous clumps in the sea and later simple bumps in the land. As millions of years passed they grew and changed shape, becoming as varied as the landscape itself. The fungi looked like little dots at first but with time changed and expanded to such sizes that some became continent-spanding underground networks of thin root like beings. In order to maintain life I bring powerful storms that spread nutrients and water. Also, these remove the weak and dead, ensuring only the worthy are left. Testing their resilience is very important, only those who will fight to live deserve to do so. 

One day, as I walked through my domain watching life develop, I realized I was starting to feel boredom. There was nothing nor no-one to challenge me. From time to time I would find a weak minor god of gemstones, clouds or such minor aspects. Although divine, they are weak of mind, magic and body. Thus, fighting one such as them who lacks even the initiative for a friendly brawl, would only leave me with a sour taste in my mouth.  Through the millennia I had polished my contours over storms and my body to near perfection while working the land. Now I desired an opponent, someone whose will would defy me. What a curse, to have all the power in the world but with no meaningful way to use it. 

Beside the plants and fungi, the only other living beings were the spiders. Those little critters of white bodies and many creepy red eyes can be found anywhere. My guess is that they are creations of the god kings to prototype the next kind of life, but that much is beyond me. Sometimes I wish they could communicate more with us. I haven't heard from them in the millions of years since we left their palace. I really wish I could contact them, the extreme boredom is turning into anxiety and doubt. With each year that passes without fulfillment my motivation for the grand plan grows weaker. At this point just the idea of feeling again the pressure of the immense aura of the Sea and Earth gods fills me with excitement. 

After a few more millennia, the god kings called upon us to their palace in the sky. They were to introduce the next step in the grand plan to us, that is the beings known as the kin and the monsters. These were new creations based on the structure of life already on the planet. The kin are weak and of different degrees of intelligence. Some are based on the plants and fungi that already populated the world, just that they were able to move and actively interact with the world. Others were new creatures, different from everything else,  like the spiders before them. Despite their weaknesses, their will to survive and strive for a new day proved moderately interesting to me. 

The monsters are like the kin but generally bigger, stronger and able to use magic. I like how the monsters look at the sky with a challenging look whenever I send a storm to the land. Plants ability to adapt was commendable and the kins’ more active lives were entertaining, but the monsters's desire to struggle head on no matter the challenge is how I expected my vassals to behave. Finally, a challenger was before me, someone who would help me kill the boredom eating at my soul. 

For millennia after, I raise the creatures in my land to be the hardest possible. From time to time one of the monsters would find me and challenge me directly. They never won, but that was unimportant, as for me that’s the most I could ask for. From time to time, the survivors of the duels asked to be turned into my sworn servants, something that would be known as Divine Monsters. I have no use for something like that, I’m more than capable of taking care of my tasks in this world and dealing with troublemakers and challengers is the only source of entertainment I have. 

As the kin and monsters filled the land and shaped it to their need larger groups started to appear, usually dominated by one particularly strong monster. Eventually some particularly aggressive monsters would start fights with other groups and individuals. These are the troublemakers and for the most part dealing with them is just as fun as the 1 on 1 duels. They only become an issue when two large groups face each other as that indicates the presence of Anath. For the longest time I hadn’t seen her, I assume because plants don’t engage in much of what we would call warfare. Anyways, initially I was happy to see her again, that means that she was assigned to the same territory as me, and for the most part I’m still glad to see her, it's just that her wars are far too destructive… All the work I had made creating a strong ecosystem has been very close to being thrown away due to the level of destruction the conflicts overseen by her create.

The first time we met in the mortal world I ran to her trying to call her attention and shouting “ANATH! Hey, it's me Baal!”. Saying those words made me realize how lonely I have been, as just talking felt a bit unnatural. She turned towards me and smiled… just not out of happiness but with a fiendish excitement. Immediately I noticed that expression and managed to cover my face as a millisecond later she had jumped in front of me and kicked me with all her strength. Initially I was pissed-off, then I realized just how weird it was for ME to be angry at her. She had greeted me in the same way as we did the first time we met, I was the odd one, rushing at her like one of the weakling gods, desperate to sit down and chat. I’m happy to have someone like her in my existence, someone who is so much like me that can bring me back to my senses no matter how far I’m gone.

Things stayed like this for millions of years, Kin changing as they adapted to the environment, the environment adapting in response  to the kin. Monsters continued leading kin and trying to shape the world. And of course, the occasional brawl with Annath due to her “wars”. Then one day the God Kings came down to the world, something I had never seen them do before. Once in their presence, the God Kings waved their hands letting golden seeds fall in front of them and from those seeds grew in an instant several tall gold and silver trees. Almost as quickly, from those trees grew fruit that looked like the clay containers from where we came from, just smaller and oval shaped. Then the Earth Goddess grabbed a few of them with surprising care and placed them on the ground. All 3 God Kings said something in a language I had never heard before and the egg shaped recipients broke, from them came what the God Kings called the peoples of the world. Just like the kin, these were active beings all with different physical details, but differently to them these peoples were intelligent and able to use magic. They were to actively worship the King Gods just as us but also they were allowed to worship us.

Beside introducing to us the peoples of the world, the God Kings also told us something unexpected while holding an expression I couldn’t interpret but as one of annoyance “ There is one more announcement! Our dear vassals, harken to me and prepare your souls as the gods of the people will come to this world. Each will arrive on their own time and at their own pace, these gods will challenge your reign. You are free to interact with them as you wish but be prepared as if you fail to become a ruler, you’ll just turn into food and nought more”. My face, still looking down as part of the bow of respect, can barely contain the smile of excitement this news brings to my heart. Finally my curse will be lifted, all the power in the world and now with a worthy outlet to funnel it into.