The Blessing of the Strong Gods, as recorded in The Book of Khi…

  1:1 In days of old, vast cities of ghostlight shone in the sky, but none had yet been built upon the Earth. The Earth was wild and untamed, and the peoples were scattered across it.

  1:2 And it came to pass that the Bsphemous One chose a out of all the scattered peoples to worship him. Iurn for the fealty of the , the Bsphemous One promised their patriarch that his wife would give birth to a son whose offspring would tame the wild nds and fill the Earth.

  1:3 But the patriarch’s wife was barren. From her youth to her old age, she had produo children, until it seemed that her heart had died for want of a child. So wheriarch spoke of the promise to his wife, she was filled with doubt, and said, The god who swore this does not know that I am barren and long past childbearing years besides. e, take my maidservant, and she will give birth to an heir for us.

  1:4 And a son was born to the patriarch by his wife’s maidservant, and they called him Khi, for he was to be the leader of the d bring his father glory and riches. The boy was so fair of skin that the sun hurt him, but he was strong and exceedingly fast. He hunted by night, and the sun could not touch him.

  1:5 And the patriarch said, This is certainly the one who will quer the wild nds and fill them with offspring.

  1:6 And the year, the patriarch’s wife’s womb ened, and she gave birth to a son. The patriard his wife rejoiced, for the boy was dark ahy, and they called him Het, for he was beloved by his father and a to him in his old age. A loved the sunlight and the nd, and he hunted by day, for the sun could not burn his dark skin, and everything in the o his will.

  1:7 And the patriarch said, Surely this is the true heir whom the god promised us. He will quer the wild nds and fill them with offspring.

  1:8 And the two boys grew in renown until all the peoples of the Earth hailed them as heroes. But Khi a were enemies like the night and the day, and their mothers could not stand in one another’s presehout anger.

  1:9 So the patriarch’s wife said, You were a maidservant. Your son is no heir. I am the matriarch of this , and my so is the true heir.

  1:10 And the maidservant was wroth, and she said, My son Khi is the firstborn, and the birthright is his.

  1:11 Their enmity divided the to the point of war between those who supported Khi and those who supported Het. And the patriarch feared that his sons would take up spears against one another.

  1:12 So the patriarch cried out to the Bsphemous One, Did you not promise that my son would quer the wild nds and fill the Earth with offspring? Why did you give me tw children? If they murder one another, will you give me yet another son to fulfill your promise?

  1:13 And the Bsphemous One heard this and was displeased. With the voice of thunder he said, I told you that I would give your wife a son. You did not believe me and took her maidservant to produce a child outside my will.

  1:14 And the patriarch tore his clothes, for he loved both his children, and cried to the heavens once more, Am I to lose both my sons to war, the promised and the unpromised? What shall I do?

  1:15 And the Bsphemous one said, The elder’s hand will be always against the younger, but they will not destroy one another. Send away the child of the maidservant so that both may live.

  1:16 But the maidservant heard the Bsphemous One’s will and struck the patriarch’s wife in her old age. The patriarch’s wife stumbled and fell, her head breaking upon a stone, and she died. So the maidservant paid the justice of the nd with her life, aher son heard his mother’s voice again.

  1:17 And Khihe elder, was cast out by his father a into the wilderness alone, while Het, the younger, was given the birthright and forted by his .

  1:18 Khi wandered by night, m the loss of his mother, and because of his great sorrow, he was careless. One night, as he was hunting upon a high pce beh a ghost city in the sky, wild beasts fell upon him and tore him until his blood watered the ground. Though the m light approached, he could not crawl to the prote of a rock or tree.

  1:19 So it was that, alone and dying, Khi cried out to the night which had alrotected him from the burning sun.

  1:20 And the strong gods who dwell in the ghost cities heard Khi and came down to Earth and had pity on him. And each gave Khiheir blessing, to him and to his offspring forever iurn for his worship.

  1:21 From the goddess Eketra, powerful ing to surpass all men.

  1:22 From the god Josean, warrior strength unending.

  1:23 From the god-goddess Teikru, desirability that could never be spurned.

  1:24 And they said, We will give you victory over your brother Het and over the Bsphemous One.

  1:25 So Khi gdly swore fealty to the strong gods, and they gave him drink of their divine blood, which healed Khi’s wounds and strengthened him. And he called the high pce where he drank Siu Rial, the City of Blood, and he built ahly city upon it from which to worship, and from that earthly city he built his empire, the Kingdom of Night.

  1:26 And it was blessed by the strong gods.