The Splices and a brief history of Tranquility

[prophet]

In the beginning, few humans existed. They were used for slavery and novelty by the gods while they arrogantly fought and quarreled in ancient Tranquility. The god Prophet was the worst of them, being of death and destruction. Prophet slayed his brothers and sisters without mercy before he was eventually stopped. Ghost, god of time and space, sealed Prophet away under contract for thousands of years in a pocket dimension which was used to subdue even the most powerful entities. In Prophet's absence, the rest of the gods vanished mysteriously - this was somehow associated with The Oracle.

Prophet broke free from the dimension and returned to Tranquility with a vengeance, but something was different. Humanity, once before a play toy and few in numbers, had inhabited the world. Prophet searched for his fellow gods but could find none, and realized that he was the single most powerful entity in all of Tranquility. He utilized his newly found stature and began to torment humanity, becoming evil - tainting reality in vice.

Prophet typically manifested himself into a mortal form to influence the events of the old world. He discovered and created the vice of lust, and in doing so, he forced himself upon a woman and she was forced to bare his child. The name of this child was Alkatir Ibn'Rashid - the Alpha Splice. This new race that Prophet had created was cursed with control over a natural element, or in Alkatir's case, all of them. Alkatir was confused, and his mother never told him who his father was. Alkatir began to play with the elements in secret at the age of eight, and when his mother caught him, she told him to never use them again. Whenever he used these powers, he felt so strong - an ecstasy came over him, an adrenaline. Voices spoke in his head, telling him wonderful things. He ignored his mother's cautions and continued to use them, and then one day, she caught him once more - he grew extremely angry and accidentally killed her by burning her to death. Alkatir realized that these powers were malicious, and swore to never use them again in respect of his mother's wishes.

Alkatir lived his life as a Hashashin, using his enhanced physical prowess to serve good and eliminate those who threatened his people's way of life. He became smitten with a girl of unknown origin, and in child birth, she was killed. Alkatir raised his son and retired from his career so that he could spend time with his offspring. Alkatir watched him closely as he grew, praying that he would not receive the same powers that Alkatir had. Alkatir's old enemies hunted him down and killed him when his child was at the age of eighteen. His child lived a relatively normal life, void of any supernatural prowess. When he had a child, he knew nothing of splicehood. The child received supernatural abilities and was not as mentally strong as Alkatir was. The boy slew his parents at a young age and began a life of vice and destruction under Prophet's will.

The blood line continued through the ages, each splice filled with evil. They lived their lives doing horrid deeds - being mentored by their nefarious parents to control the element they received to slaughter and torment. Eventually, a splice couple broke the chain and sent their child to adoption, before killing themselves. The name of this child was Albereich.

-- To be continued. --

[Drago]

(sent shivers down my spine.)