I will tell you a story. A story told to me by the oldest among us, who heard it when they were the youngest. A story that has been passed from father to son, from mother to daughter to assure that we would remember. That we would remember the first of us.
Before the time of countries and empires, before the time when men drew lines and divided themselves based power and greed, there was just the sand and those who roamed it. Our kind were merely wanderers on the expanse of the unknown, at the mercies of the essence of the universe. It is said, in those days, the old gods wandered the world as well, entertaining themselves at our expense. For they held wisdom far beyond our own and viewed our kind as no more than ignorant beasts that roamed about the land aimlessly. No purpose, no destination. We plodded toward nothing under the burning sun and the hot sand.
As the story goes, there was one who had but a wick of cleverness inside of him. A mere twinkle in his mind that was barely there. However, this was enough to set him apart from the rest of those who understood nothing. To make him a favorite for the old gods to tease and torment. Because unlike the rest, this one was able to comprehend that he had been fooled. And the old gods loved nothing more than to see him stomp around in anger upon realization that he had been tricked by them, yet again.
On a certain day, Ageon, the Trickster, and Taul, the Snake, decided that they would play the most elaborate of tricks upon their favored victim. They would invite this one to the Oasis and fool him into thinking he too could become one of them. An old god, never to be seen as just a beast again. All he had to do was perform a few simple tasks. Once he too was a god, they would never tease him again. They came to the one and with a silvered tongue and a few swaying words, The Trickster and The Snake easily convinced the one that he could become an old god.
For days, these two ordered him around, treating him like he was nothing more than their personal slave. They made him fetch their clothes, their food, bring them water, do their tasks, and whatever else they could think of for him to do. Both chuckled as they saw how happily the one did these things, thinking he was going to attain a status same as theirs. They made him entertain them with song and dance. And even made him recite stories for the other old gods, so they could see just how well the ruse was going.
After many days of performing these tasks, the one asked just how much longer it would take before he became like the rest of them.
"You foolish being," The Trickster replied, "Have you not realized by now that this is all a joke? You could never become one of us. You have fallen for another one of our tricks yet again."
The old gods waited to see how the one would react. Surprisingly, he did not fume, he did not stomp around as he normally did. He did not jump up and down, scream, shout and yell. He left with not a single word. The old gods were disappointed. All this work into this elaborate hoax and nothing to show for it. Perhaps this was a prank that he did not understand. Next time they would have to try something more watered down.
As before, the old gods searched for the one who had the small bit of understanding inside of him, but he could not be found. For many months, he did not appear, as if the sands had swallowed him in the middle of the night. Rumors said that he had walked to his death at the place where the sun met the sand. The Snake and The Trickster set out to find him, expecting that they had shattered a fragile mind and were eager to view the aftermath. Days they walked under blistering sun and glistening moon. Finally the came across an oasis, in the place where the sun met the sand. The mouths fell open in response to what they saw.
It was styled much like their own, except populated by the ignorant beasts they had looked down upon. Top to bottom, left to right, it was replica of the home of the old gods. The people no longer milled about idly. Instead each had a flicker of purpose to their being. They worked toward an end. There was productivity to their actions. And in the midst of them was he whom they had tricked.
"What is this that you have done?" they asked, shocked by what they were seeing.
"You said if I did everything you asked, I would become a god like you," he replied, "When I could not become one of yours, I decided I would take what I learned and become theirs."
And so was the beginning of us, the flourishing of our people and the slow fade of the old gods from this place.
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