The Aether: Chapter 0

[ProjectKMR]

The story is quite simple, really. At least it started that way, it wouldn't last too damned long however thanks to the meddling of the Shadowman and his pals manipulating you feeble minded humans throughout the billions of years this world of mine has been around. But to bring it to a beginning, and believe me there WAS a beginning, it'd be what I'm about to tell you. When your comprehension of time began, you didn't even exist yet! Let me just say this right off the bat, time is an illusion and doesn't truly exist, you people simply created it on a whim! Honestly gave me hope for you lot when you started out, but soon I'd bite my tongue. Regardless, in the beginning there was nothing. And then poof, something came along. The Keepers and Apothicons can and will both agree that The First One popped into existence seemingly out of nowhere! Along with The First One came a fated book that would go by many names in history. Whether it be Al-Azif, The Necronomicon, or just known as the Knowledge Bearer, the real name is "Kronorium" however. Many theorize the book itself is omnipresent and alive itself and continues to write itself with an endless number of pages only manifesting what the reader can bear to imagine. That won't come into the equation until later, so allow me to continue on with the story of The First One if you please. The First One created life itself, created the Keepers which bear an uncanny resemblance to what can only be assumed looks like The First One. Thing is, none of you will ever know what a Keeper truly looks like! Your feeble little minds wouldn't be able to comprehend their true forms, it would tear your bloody heads apart! I digress, among these Keepers were myself and someone you know as the Shadowman. He wasn't always called "The Shadowman." I once called him friend... With the creation of the Keepers came the Aether. The very essence of existence floating between the known and unknown sides of the universe, keeping all things interwoven together so life could flourish! The First One needed a way to manipulate the Aether to its bidding, so it created The Summoning Key to do just that, the most powerful artifact in any universe to exist. Just as the old saying goes however, if one is to have good, there will always be evil. Unbeknownst to The First One, when The Aether was created, some of it was consumed with malice and was laid to waste deep below Creation where it would twist and churn into something far worse than anyone could ever conceive. Some Keepers journeyed into areas of Aether manipulation nobody ever dared to go and unleashed the darkness upon their very souls. Among those who experimented, was my good friend... I warned him not to do it, but alas he gave into temptation and I suppose fate willed it to be done. The First One was utterly dismayed by its creations trying to take hold of the mantle of responsibility within the multi-verse. That's exactly what the fallen Keepers tried to do, you know. Wipe the Keepers dedicated to The First One out as to forever stand as the superiors of the multi-verse. The Great Aether War began soon after. I was hand-picked by The First One itself to lead the Keepers into an all-out bloody war against my fallen brethren, now calling themselves Apothicons. Bloody bastards stole our language, our weaponry, everything you could imagine. Even after the millennia that has passed since we claimed victory over them, it hurts me to this very day. The war lasted for many, many centuries as you humans would calculate it. Truly there has never been a worse time for me, and I have to relive it over and over again keep in mind! When victory finally came, The First One banished the Apothicons below creation where this Dark Aether was held. I really wish it didn't, because the friend I once knew was banished right along with the others and would become such a great beastly figure I dare not mention it. The Keepers weren't exactly perfect either, I did my own fiddling with the Dark Aether in an attempt to bring my dearest friend back from the point of no return. His will, was not as strong as mine unfortunately. The First One banished me to be the overseer of a new creation that it declared as "Mankind." So that's my story, why I'm stuck here as a bumbling old-Englishman bearing my burden like a champion so my kind can continue to rule from afar. It's not all sunshine and fucking rainbows for dear old Monty, let me tell you that much! After my banishment, The First One simply vanished. Nobody has heard the voice of it since the war came to an end, many theorize that it simply willed itself out of existence out of disappointment leaving the Keepers as the sole guardians of the universe, but I'm not too sure. All I know for a certain is that the Apothicons claim that The First One is on their side, bunch of horse-shit that is! I'm done with this sch-peel, I'll leave you on this note Richtofen. I trust that with the Kronorium now in your possession you will do the right thing for us all.   

[RadZakpak]

I hope you plan to do more of these, I really do.