A Story of Ice and Earth (closed to Rehtul)

[Philomel]

This was the ultimate horror.

A world of water, of storms and violence. One entirely destroyed by the sentient races who had risen to a technological utopia, but in doing so disregarded any respect for the natural beauty around them. Ancient forests had been felled. Winding rivers that had carved the deepest valleys diverted. Large paradises of savannahs that had changed with each season flattened entirely and replaced with fields of concrete. Metal and stone had replaced the foliage, glass and wire and computer and artificial chemicals. It had meant to be a revolution, a beautiful new home, but instead the only thing it had brought about was a terrible destructive anarchy.

The druidess sat upon her throne, gazing out with a tear-streaked sorrow at the ash and dust. It was all dead, or dying, at least as far as her judgemental eyes could perceive. Perhaps somewhere, out there, a small portion of humanity still remained, but woe betide them if this empress of fury found them.

For they had destroyed her beautiful world. And in doing they had begun to destroy themselves. Once the pure waters were so darkly poisoned that not even a mighty unicorn's blessing could heal it, the druidess had emerged. Striding from the deep forest, each step of her goat legs easily capable of fulfilling many metres so fast and fluid was her movement, she had come in a swirl of dangerous beauty. Hair piled up high and struck with a crown of branches and ivy Philomel Van Der Aart had pronounced judgement on them all.

"You have caused the waters to be toxic, you have burned the forests and you have led many species to extinction. Now, your time has come - I come bringing death and terror. For it is all you deserve."

And they fled before her. As her pointed finger caused strangling vines to burst out from the ground and swallow whole villages. As her stomping hoof caused earthquakes that opened up rifts to hell. As her scream summoned thousands of woodland creatures who swarmed those who had once hunted them, then ate their flesh and drank their blood. It was cruel, but to her it was all justified. They had turned nature back upon herself, upset the balance of all that was by their engineering and manufacturing. Broken shards of what had been the greatest of skyscrapers, teleportation towers and devices designed to puncture holes in space and time lay scattered like discarded playing pieces. But they behaved like children, thinking to play god.

So a god had come. Despised their efforts to change the laws of physics, come as a self-appointed cure to the madness. No sooner had they begun to kill themselves and torn holes in reality than she had come - to right their wrongs.

She called down judgement and then took her throne, waiting for her Eden to return. For life to come back. For the flowers to once more bloom.