A sleeping god is torn between creating and destroying, causing upheavals throughout the land.
Hathor sleeps, but her dreams shape her world and reflect her ambivalence -- sometimes, soaring arches of stone crest through the air, mountains erupt from the firmament and forests spring into being. Other times, lakes drain away, sinkholes collapse and take swaths of land with them and deserts sweep across once-verdant wilderness.
The people of this world -- some human, others twisted and deformed monstrosities, the results of Hathor's troubled dreams -- know that they are to blame. Long ago, young Hathor created a paradise. She molded her world without forethought or design, using only her benevolence and generosity to guide her. For a time, her people lived happily alongside their divine mother, inhabiting a peaceful and beautiful world.
However, the such bliss did not last. Humanity proved to be untamable, even for a god; their free will meant that many would err and displease even the most lenient of masters. Hathor was horrified at the act of hunting; she had intended for all creatures to live in harmony. When the humans bickered and tried to order their societies, she was shocked; she had meant for all living things to share a sense of equality and brotherhood. When mankind fell, as it will inevitably do, to war, she was forced into reverie. Dazed, angered and crushed, she retreated from her creation, wondering if she could destroy it all -- becoming like her wayward children -- or if she could discover a new way to redeem humanity. With a heavy heart, she took to rest, a rest she has yet to awaken from.
In her dreams, Hathor debates creation and destruction. However, even a sleeping god is powerful. Her thoughts and desires manifest; when she is considering life, and disposed toward saving what she has made, the landscape beautifies. Awe-inspiring structures of rock and plant form overnight; the soil becomes rich and easily yields to cultivation. However, when she broods and thinks that creation is beyond redemption, lands disintegrate and plants wither. Women birth goblins and ordinary creatures turn into beasts.
It is in this chaos that mankind struggles to survive and do what good it can. Most are convinced that they can affect the goddess by trying to make the world a better place, earning their continued existence. However, simply surviving can sometimes preclude such nobility. Between the shifting landscape, the tribes of goblins and the roaming monsters, simply continuing to exist now often outweighs securing a long-term future.
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