The world is divided into three major continents. The central one is the largest, comprising of diverse landscapes of mountains, deserts, forests, plains, valleys, and lakes. This vast expanse houses many nations and developed regions, making it the heart of civilization. To the east lies a lesser-explored continent that recently gave rise to a new Empire known as Baani Invictia. Dominated by imposing mountains and nestled within a crescent of peaks, this land is home to the Empire''s Capital City, Arcandia. The eastern continent''s size may be small, but the Empire it houses has stretched across the thousands of islands scattered between it and the central landmass, forming a vital trade network that includes the Kingdom of Partisita.


    The northern continent, on the other hand, is often called the forbidden domain, and not much is known about it.


    Within the central continent''s eastern coast, bustling human settlements thrive, collectively known as the merchant federation. While not officially federated, they contribute significantly to trade and commerce. Moving inward, the landscape is dominated by five major powers. Three human Kingdoms occupy the central belt, encompassing lush lands teeming with water, agriculture, and industry. Along the north and east frontier, Indivna stands as the world''s largest country, known to be ruled by the gods themselves. Although geographically close to the forbidden domain, a vast ocean separates the two realms. South of Indivna lies the smallest nation in the world, the castled realm of the Dwarves, known as Collasta.


    Sierra was born and raised in one of the villages belonging to the merchant federation. Her childhood, like that of any other child, revolved around learning, playing, and the simple joys of life. When she turned twelve, she was brought by her father to the local temple for her oracular record to be divined.


    “Ratho son of Tharum – what have you come for today?”, said the hunchbacked old priest, who despite his advanced age, still jumped to the podium before speaking. His face looked deceptively young. The only sign of his age was the lump in his back.


    “Father, I have come today to have my daughter’s oracle drawn. By the grace of the gods, she has turned twelve this year. I have given my offerings and I beg of you to pray for happy tidings!”, Sierra’s father Ratho – a giant and rugged man, spoke nonetheless like a noble would. He was an educated man, known for his business sense. In his line of work, he met a lot of nobles and people of high status, so knowing how to talk was probably a prerequisite.


    In this world, for commoners who didn’t have last names, it was normal for the first child to add the last syllable of one of their parents to their name. Girls usually had names ending in ‘aa’ and ‘ii’ sounds and boys usually had ‘o’ and ‘nn’ sounds at the end. Sierra''s name too ended with ''ra'' from her father''s name, as was customary for the first?born girls in this world.


    The priest looked at the usher, who nodded to the priest, showing the silver he had collected.


    “Very well! Let us adjourn to God’s sanctum”


    The three of them moved to an adjoined room. Calling it a room might be wrong though, it was a circular structure, with walls enclosing it. It was about 20 ft in height, but the most obvious omission was that it didn’t have a roof. There were no windows and only one door that led back to the church. In the center was a small pond. There was no obvious source of water, but it is said that it never emptied or got dirty.


    “Sierra my child, this is the holy atrium which we call the God''s sanctum. Use this water to cleanse your body. Haari, help her”, the priest turned to a plain-looking nun standing at the door, “Ratho, let us give Sierra some privacy.”


    The priest turned back after giving such advice to Sierra, bringing Ratho with him. They exited the atrium, and then the church. The church was a beautiful old building built on a small hill overlooking the village. From the courtyard, you can observe all of the landscape up to the ocean in the distance.


    “Father,” Ratho looked uneasy, “Why do we pray to Gods? Is it just because of the oracle?”


    “What are you saying Ratho? Of course, it’s because the Gods keep the demons at bay. If it weren’t for them, those beings would have long invaded these lands from the north. It is Indivna – the holy lands of God that are the barrier between us and demons.”, replied the priest looking out towards the ocean.


    “But why pray? Are Gods so powerless that they can’t destroy a few demons without our help?”


    “I am going to stop you right there Ratho! Somethings you don’t say. The Gods don’t need us, we need them, and you would do well to remember that!”Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    “But father – did you not hear about Baani Invictia? I have heard about it from the merchants. If the Gods protect us at central, who protects them? Why are they allowed to break all the taboos? They mingle with the beasts and even the undead, freely calling it an alliance, yet have no protection from the divine! Why don’t demons attack them?”


    “And who says they wouldn’t?”


    “But father-“


    “That’s enough Ratho. It is not our place to speculate. Let us pray before you leave and ask for forgiveness.”


    Ratho still looked uneasy but kept quiet. After a few minutes, Haari the nun walked out of the church, “everything is prepared, father”


    “Then let us begin. Haari, join us, we will need your support, Ratho, you should stay outside --“, the priest thought for a second, “rather, I would suggest you take this time to pray and repent at the altar. Speak from the heart, your sorrow will definitely reach the divine.”


    “Yes, father,”, Ratho said, lowering his head.


    Ratho, moved to the altar as he was told while the priest and Haari moved to the atrium at the back to receive the oracle. He knelt in front of the sacred orb, which lay at the center of the church. Benches were placed all around it in a circular fashion. The orb was as tall as a small child and floated on top of the altar. It was grayish brown but almost seemed like a living thing – its sides were adorned with pictures of epic battles between the gods and the demons. The pictures were stacked in layers from the top to the bottom, and rotated slowly, as did the orb but in the opposite direction. The pictures kept changing over time and no one had ever seen the same picture twice. This spoke volumes on the scale of the battle between the gods and demons.


    Even this majestic sight wasn’t enough to melt Ratho’s heart though, which had been fed the seed of doubt by anarchist merchants telling tales of Baani Invictia. He dreamt of going there and seeing its magnificence by his own eyes.


    But right now, he tried to put those thoughts to the side, looked sincerely at the orb and said, “Gods! What are we to do? Do you intend to let us pray forever? I am grateful for your beneficence, but I can’t imagine what you want by enforcing these taboos. Why is Baani Invictia more prosperous than our lands despite their blasphemy and disobedience? Why God- “


    “It is because the Gods forgive of course.” Ratho looked behind and saw a Cardinal.


    Every couple of years, a person is born among the humans, and humans alone, who can talk to the gods directly. These individuals are invited to live in Indivna by the gods and are allowed to settle in the holy land.


    “A Cardinal?” Ratho hurriedly turned towards him and bowed deeply, “What brings an agent of God to our lowly village, my lord?”


    The Cardinal smiled, “We are all agents of Gods of course!”, he walked slowly towards Ratho. “We were divined by the Gods and have come because something interesting might happen of course. Do you intend to see the magnificence of the Gods? Perhaps you should settle with us and watch? You would say yes, of course?”


    “Cardinal Jova! Why invite this ruffian?”, a handmaiden of the Cardinal who stood with her eyes downcast and her hands neatly perched in her front said so arrogantly.


    “Ruffian, you say? Perhaps you should take that poker and burn our eyes!” Cardinal Jova pointed towards the fireplace at the corner. “You don’t trust our merit, of course?” he sneered at the handmaiden in an intimidating tone.


    He was a young man with blond hair, and a beautiful, albeit a feminine face. At 5 feet 9 inches he was relatively tall for his age. His pure white robes were decorated with red colored patterns along the front.


    “No, no, I merely thought the Cardinal shouldn’t waste his time, but I would never dream of objecting to your revelations!”, the handmaiden cried


    “But of course!”, he turned back to Ratho, “You would join us, would you not?”


    “Yes, of course”, Ratho couldn’t help but repeat Cardinal Jova’s catchphrase, but he was careful not to imitate his tone, lest his anger gets directed at him.


    Together both of them took a bench in front of the altar, the handmaiden stood by the side, seeming annoyed at Ratho who so casually sat next to the Cardinal.


    At the very next moment, the nun Haari raced into the church from the atrium.


    “Ratho! Please, your child!”


    “Is everything alright!?” Ratho yelled, running across the room as he said so.


    “She is alright! The Oracle has come, the priest is writing as we speak, but- “


    “Then we shall join too! There is no problem of course?”, the Cardinal spoke with joy


    “A ca-cardinal? Here!? No, it makes sense. We will be honored my lord! But please we must hurry!” She turned towards Ratho, but he had already entered the Atrium.


    As Ratho crossed the door, he saw Sierra innocently sitting at the edge of the pool, her feet submerged in the water. She was playfully paddling the pool, seemingly entranced by the motion of the waves. On the other hand, the priest was standing behind her, his face contorted in a mix of pain and joy, his hands which were holding a small black crystal, frozen on top of the paper. Blood was dripping from his hand that was gripping the crystal tightly, but he couldn’t even register what was happening. His eyes were affixed towards the sky.


    On the paper was just one word written over and over. “Oracle”


    “What is happening here father! Explain!”


    “We apologize, but we don’t believe he can explain. Or maybe you would like to break his trance? You are not that silly, of course not!” Cardinal Jova interjected.


    “Trance? Is he speaking to the Gods? I don’t remember this happening when I got my oracular record, please Cardinal, explain clearly!”


    “You dare- “ Cardinal Jova stopped the angry handmaiden with a wave of his hand.


    “We will of course. Your daughter, is she?” Cardinal Jova looked at Sierra.


    Ratho nodded.


    “She is invited by the Gods of course! We will take her with us.” He turned towards the handmaiden, “Praise be to the Gods! It’s the birth of a new oracle of course!”


    With those words the handmaiden and the nun Haari both dropped to their knees, bowing in front of Sierra.