Page numbers/Context markers: 71 | W | 22 THE WORLD

# CHAPTER 9: DEICIDE

It might seem strange to so directly discuss the subject of killing a god, since Fabula Ultima draws its inspiration from a long video game tradition where the final antagonist is often a god-like entity with almost unlimited divine powers. However, in the natural fantasy genre, this dynamic is often turned upside down: the destruction of a god isn’t a rightful act of rebellion against a destiny that someone else already wrote, but rather a violent, ignorant and selfish act, showing a lack of empathy toward the spiritual world and driven by fear or greed.

Example: After ransacking the villages of the Great Taiga, the Shōgun didn’t find the fabled iron mines he was looking for. However, his agents sighted a creature known as Ōtetsuguma: a massive bear with metallic fur, who defeated scores of soldiers and mercenaries sent to capture her. Bent on defeating this threat and bringing a new trophy to his master, the Shōgun ignores the fact that the protector god of the region lives inside the bear: if she is killed before finding a successor, she won’t be able to awaken the spirits of flora and fauna in spring, condemning the Great Taiga to a never-ending winter.

## FEAR OF DEATH

One of the finest examples of the desire to control magic and nature is, without any shadow of a doubt, the quest for immortality, which often drives the actions of the main antagonist or is the foundation of one or more mysteries or threats. This endeavor is as futile as it is reckless: denying the reality of death or attempting to trick it and push it away, pollutes the cycle of life, causing spiritual stagnation and unleashing upon the world a calamity that will snuff out future generations.

Example: Ten thousand years ago, humanity fell victim to a fearsome epidemic. Fearing extinction, scientists dismembered the ancient Kalpavriksha tree and developed a synthetic forest to separate bodies and souls: instead of returning to the spiritual stream of the planet, these souls were put in stasis inside the network, waiting for it to birth a generation of clones, completely immune to the disease, to host them. However, the research team grossly underestimated humanity’s knack for survival: now, their descendants live in harmony with generations of clones discarded by the system, who developed individual souls in the meantime. Trapped in their stasis, the original souls became corrupted, making the resynchronization erratic and turning them into malevolent shape-shifting spirits.

> “He looked for immortality and it was granted to him.
> He broke the peace and peace was forever taken from him.”