Once, there was a man of the Tokzoku who went upon many journeys. He travelled as far as any lizard had ever travelled, and met many people, and acquired much wealth.
Upon returning home, he was given the name Royoko, in honour of his journeys.
Royoko- or, as he swiftly became- Chief Royoko- was a good man. His skill and knowledge of trade brought wealth to the clan. He was charitable, sharing his wealth freely. He organised the yearly festivals with unmatched fervour. He was an excellent musician, and knew many dances.
One day, Royoko was hunting wild horses, when he spotted a golden-skinned lizard bathing on a rock. Now, Royoko was not an exceptionally pious man. But he knew the stories- he knew that Tokchoko was said to take the guise of a golden skinned lizard. He nodded respectfully to the lizard. It stared disdainfully at him.
Not to dishonour his god, Royoko took out his flute, and played a quick song.
By a happy coincidence, Tokchoko was passing by at the time. He heard the song- music which rivalled even his own. He sat down behind the windrider to listen. When he finished, Tokchoko clapped his hands together. Royoko spun around.
"You startled me", spoke Royoko, "I did not think to meet anyone on these dusty tracks"
"If you don't wish to meet people, you shouldn't play such enchanting music, mortal"
"Ah, you flatter me, stranger. Wait, did you say mortal?"
"Did I? Oh, yes. I did. For you see, Royoko. I am thy lord thy god. Look upon my light and know my glory."
And Royoko looked upon him; and saw his shimmering robes, his golden fur, the torch of gold in his hand which burnt with a fire as bright as the sun itself, and knew that he spoke the truth. He grovelled before him, as was proper.
"Stand up, man. If I meant for you to bend down I would have placed [corrolium] on the ground."
"Yes, my lord"
"No, no. None of that 'my lord' business either. My name is Tokchoko. And you are Royoko, and you make beautiful music."
"Thank you, T-Tokchoko."
"You are also a kind and wise leader to your people. And you know, a man who plays music like that, he deserves more than just a few miles of steppes and river."
"What- what do you mean?"
"Come with me. I will show you."
Tokchoko took the windrider by the arm, and swept into the air. Higher and higher they rose, until the clouds passed under them and they could see not only the entirity of the eastern steppe, but also across the mountains to the west, and the forests beyond them. Royoko stared in wonder. He had visited many of the places he could see now- but many more he had not.
With his free arm, Tokchoko gestured.
"See the eastern steppes? I grant you these. See the eastern shores? I grant you these. See the eastern mountains? I grant you these. All these lands, and the people therein, I grant you. They shall be your servants as the heavens are mine, and you shall guide them and keep them as I do the heavenly bodies."
"But my l- But Tokchoko, I am not worthy!"
"Oh. Well, never mind then."
And Tokchoko dropped Royoko.
As the windrider fell screaming through the atmosphere, desperately trying to catch a gust of wind and stablize his flight, Tokchoko glided serenly after him.
"You know, I have met many people in my travels, as have you. And I rather think that not one of them is more worthy of this than you. Don't you agree?"
The windrider mouthed wordlessly as fell.
"What? You'll have to speak up, I can't hear you. You've forgotten how to fly? Yes, that happens."
Royoko vaguely tried flapping his arms, to no avail.
"My word, the ground is getting awfully close again. I'd say if you don't either figure out how wings work or grab my hand in the next, oh, fifteen seconds, you are going to be nothing but a stain on the landscape."
Royoko flailed uselessly. Finally, with the ground mere meters away, he grasped Tokchoko's hand.
They did not stop falling.
Instead, they fell right through the earth. In complete darkness, they continued to fall.
Tokchoko laughed. He rolled around in mid air, gasping for breath.
"The- the look on your face, priceless, priceless. Ahahaha. Royoko, we never flew at all. Do you have any idea how cold it is up there? You would die from exposure long before you died from falling. This is all a mere trick of the light."
Tokchoko snapped his fingers. They stood once more upon solid ground, with an impassive lizard still watching them.
"Joking aside. Royoko, you are worthy to rule these lands. I decree it. I can make the sun rise or set with a word, do not tell me I cannot decree a man [king]. Now, I have some conditions. Firstly, only those of your bloodline may be king of these lands. So take unto yourself nine wives from different tribes, and lie with each. Secondly, these lands shall be prosperous. Make no war upon yourselves unless you have no choice in the matter, and send your merchants to all lands, to trade with all people. Thirdly, you are under my protection, so whilst these lands are yours, they are also mine. So speak my name throughout the land, for if I am forgotten, I will forget the land, and it shall be bathed in darkness."
Royoko returned to his tribe. His friends recognised that he had experienced something out in the steppe; when he spoke to them of Tokchoko's words, they knew he spoke true.
But at the yearly festival, the people were sceptical. Royoko told his story many times, but each time there were those who merely laughed. He had no proof.
Tired of the derision, he walked out into the steppes. The sun was beginning to set. He sat upon a rock, dejected, and took out his flute. He played a mournfull tune upon it.
Then he heard someone singing along to the tune. They sang of a sun setting and never rising in the morning, of a world in perpetual darkness. When the song ended, he turned around to see who had sung it, but saw no one. But there, in the dust, lay a curious object. He grabbed it, and held it up to the dying rays of the setting sun.
When the rays touched the circlet, it exploded into light. It shone as if it lay beneath the midday sun, rather than held up to the sunset. The gold dazzled Royoko, and he dropped it- whereupon it promptly stopped shining.
Nervously, he picked it up again. As soon as his skin brushed the cold metal, it shone once more. And Royoko cried. Because he was going to put this circlet on his head. And he was going to return to the festival. And the people were going to bow down before him, and believe his every word. And then he would have to rule the steppes, and the shores, and the mountains. He would have to visit the unconvinced and convince them, by word or by force. He would have to manage the trade routes of hundreds- no, thousands- of merchants. And his children would share his curse. No stranger could pick up this crown. Well, they could pick it up, but it would do them no good. No; only his children would wield it. He imagined a future where his children thought themselves better than others for being the wielders of this crown, and he wept. He wept for a long time, the circlet still in his hands, still shining.
Eventually, his friends found him, still weeping. They saw the crown in his hands. They made him wear it. They led him back.
And the rest... is history.
Tokchoko creates the Shining Crown; a circlet of beaten gold which shines as if in the midday sun so long as it is wielded by a member of the Royoko bloodline. It's splendour is so great that all who gaze upon it know that the head upon which it sits is the rightful ruler of all it lays claim to. (It grants an aura of authority, a capacity to rule, that sort of thing. The crown makes the king.)
He gives this crown to Royoko the first, and grants him dominion of the eastern shores, the eastern steppes, and the eastern mountains (the north/south mountain range)
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Topic: Godhood V: Legacy of the Titans [RP] (Read 10753 times)