Siral
Legacy Name: Siral

the world was different from what it is today. As if born from an innocent dream, it was a place entirely pleasant and peaceful. Though there was a variety of people back then none of their languages contained a word for what we call “war”. All disputes that flared up were of a temporary nature and only between individuals. There were few people who had to suffer from hunger or disease, with natural catastrophes occurring hardly ever.

While this may sound like a story taken from a children's book, what you are about to hear is by no means a fairytale. For the mindset of people at those times was the same it is now, and in their hearts there was greed, jealousy and rage as it is today. The reason they weren't devoured by those emotions is that they were protected by ancient creatures of incomprehensible origin and might. Those beings were called Angels. No one knows how many of them existed, and most of their names are lost, yet there are some tales to be told.

This is the story of Siral, first among the Angels and doom to the world. He was a powerful entity, the protector and advisor to many peoples. He resided in an ample sanctuary, situated at the summit of the highest mountain, where he could be visited and his advice and blessings could be sought. He was wise, patient, and generous. Every man who made his way up to this mountain and expressed an honest request could gain the support of the Angel and prosperity for his kind. On Siral's forehead there was a jewel which granted him control over the wind and the sea, which he used to ensure a rich harvest for his protégés. He always knew what occurred beneath his lonesome residence because the crows were his eyes, and the wind sang to him the tales of the lands below. His wish could heal deadly wounds, his breath could soothe boiling emotion. Within his mind lay the answer to every question a human could think of. He and his kind were the greatest gift that mankind ever received. Until the fall from grace.

While the humans may have been protected from the darkness that lingers inside of every heart, it wasn't within even the Angel's powers to cleanse it. Greed and malice have always been strong forces to drive men. Overcome by such emotions a group of several hunters and merchants made their way to the Angel's sanctuary. Siral welcomed them, expecting the usual pleas, and the leader stepped forward. Yet when the Angel asked what he desired he didn't answer but drew his sword and with a violent strike he tried to cut the jewel from Siral's front.

The Angel had been entirely unprepared. Though no human sword can ever inflict wounds deep enough to kill an Angel, it cut his skin at a vulnerable place. The painful cry of the injured Angel echoed from the mountains and deep down into the valleys below. Siral's scales slowly stained scarlet as his blood trickled from the wound and dripped to the floor. And at the sight of his own blood the Angel went mad.
After this day not a single living being was ever again seen at the temple. The blood of all humans present on that fateful day was slowly washed away by the rain. What remained were the ghost-like crows, that had always accompanied the Angel, and the mighty building, that now had been left to decay. Siral never was seen there again but his vengeance had not found an end by killing those men.

Siral's madness had been of temporary nature, and very soon it faded away, but the taint of having experienced hurt and killing could not be erased. The comportment of the Angel had changed forever. In the moments after seeing his own blood on the stones, he had learned to feel pleasure in someone else's pain. He had learned cruelty, ire and malice. And for the first time Siral had comprehended his own might, he decided to use it to alter the shape of the world forever.
He sent floods and storms. Mountains crumbled to the sea at his will, disease raged and plagued the people, the peace broken once and for all. He gave birth to beings made of fear and terror, in shape of the darkest dreams we have, to haunt us. He called back the deceased from their graves, and created those who do not need to fear death.
Dark ages had begun, every time it seemed mankind had emerged from the depths of despair, Siral would find the right man to give a certain idea, that would, at some point, start the cycle over again. A voiceless whisper, a false friend, a dubious adviser - he always was present when calamity could be sown.

With the fall of the first among the Angels one by one the others became tainted, too.

Wisdom turned into Deception.
Courage turned into Apathy.
As if Pandora’s Box had been opened, the world drowned in a wave of the dark emotions that linger in the heart. The crows, which were rarely seen at the days of the Angels' protection, scattered around the world, always to be watchful. When a good man doesn‘t succumb to his weakness, it is certain that he will have to pay a price for it.

This is how the world came to be in the state it currently is in and will be, until one brave being finds a way to either cleanse or slay the Angel, and free us from our self-evoked fate.

Credits
Background-image from "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"
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