Rejection Of The Gods
The gods were already bickering upon Zeus’ return to Olympus, a special appearance by Hades warranted by thousands of souls suddenly appearing at the gates to his realm. Zeus watched his wife, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews argue and bicker over what Heracles he had done on the planet below. Ares congratulated the demigod for his destruction of the many lowly beasts below. Dionysus, always smiling and befuddled, mirrored the God of War’s actions. Hera sat in her throne, a long look of disappointment spanned her fair face. Zeus entered the dining hall and called all the gods to take their seats, confirming the situation was in dire need of supernatural intervention.
Zeus started the meeting of the gods. “As you all know, my son took it upon himself to aid the humans below. In doing so, he has created a rift between the gods and our creations. A rift which violates the trust that exists between ourselves and our people. We must decide how are to handle this situation and prevent such an issue from arising in the future!”
Ares was the first to protest the God of Thunder’s declaration. The God of War made a case in which the humans always need to know the power of the gods and should remain subordinate. Athena quickly shot down the God of War’s argument, asking how well such a method worked out on earth when the god inspired wars ravished the lands. The meeting went on for over a week, the gods arguing all points of Heracles’ assistance to the humans and the subsequent destruction of their homelands. When the gods were ready to make a decision in the matter, Clade of Harlow’s Lake requested an audience with the great Zeus to discuss the ramifications for Heracles’ actions.
Zeus stood before his loyal follower slightly humbled, understanding the difficulty the human must be facing in standing before the father of the greatest disaster to hit the continent of Mirater.
Clade spoke first, “Mighty Zeus, your son’s actions have reminded us of your power. We fear angering your kind now with such a reminder fresh in our hearts. We would like to discuss the event of Harlow’s Lake and how we can prevent such a calamity from occurring again on our world.” The human stood taller than one would expect in the presence of a god, showing to Zeus the man was in fear but confident in the relationship he held with the God of Thunder.
“Go ahead Clade, state your desired terms.” Zeus stated flatly, his tone even as the scales of the justice were balanced.
“We do not believe we should request the gods of Maserun to undo that which was done. We understand it was our request for assistance that lead to the disaster.” Zeus’ eyes widened in surprise. His gray and thick eyebrows raised, expressing the shocking news to his human follower. “Don’t be so surprised, God of Thunder, you did make us humans intelligent after all,” Clade stated in response to the god’s look. Zeus smiled wide as he discovered a newfound pride in his human race. “But,” Clade continued, “we cannot afford such a situation to occur again in the future. We cannot afford to fear our creators. We must have assurances our creators cannot manipulate our own creations. But we do not want to lose our access to your great knowledge and wisdom if we were to ask for your removal from the planet.”
Zeus raised his hand to the human, reiterating the request to make sure he understood. “So the humans of Harlow’s Lake would like to request the gods not be permitted on the land which we created, but would like to maintain contact with us through other means?” Clade nodded at the statement, confirming understanding of the request. “I will take this request to the rest of the gods and we will talk to the other kingdoms of the land. If all are in agreement, we will create a barrier to prevent our physical presence upon the land of Maserun. I will return with our decision within the next week.” Zeus turned to leave.
“Oh, Zeus, tell your son we will be calling his creation Harlow’s Hovel.” Clade stated as the God of Thunder readied himself to depart.
Zeus smiled wide, returning a comment of his own, “Surely my son will enjoy hearing you’re naming your town after him. The name truly represents the mess he created! The name will surely remind us of the reasons for your request.” Zeus departed quickly to Olympus to inform the gods of the human’s request.
For five days, the gods met with all the various humans, elves, and dwarves of the land. They introduced the request from Harlow’s Hovel. The gods explained the disaster of Harlow’s Hovel, with most responses being of surprise that such a simple mistake could cause such a disaster. Every ruler they met with agreed that removing of the gods presence from the land would be best for their own security. They further agreed they did not want to lose their direct communication with their creators. When all the discussions were completed, the gods met once again to carry out the request of their intelligent creations.
Zeus returned to Maserun to take his final steps on the soil of what was referred to as their great canvas. Clade stood before the great deity, awaiting the response of the gods. Zeus informed the human the request would be granted. A great barrier would be created which would prevent the gods from ever setting foot on their planet again.