Damactos' Descension
Summary
In a time long before the dawn of man, there was a race of godlike beings known as Architects. These powerful beings shaped the planet with sheer power of will, carving it to their liking. Damactos was one such being. Not a particularly powerful specimen, he (or she. Or neither. Gender was arbitrarily ascribed to the Architects by lorekeepers much later in time, so no one really knows) kept to himself in his own little patch of earth and sea on what would later become the west coast of The Free West. Over the course of a few millennia, the Architects had grown greedy and began to move into each other's territory. Damactos was content to keep to himself, but others were not, and they slowly began to overtake his territory piece by piece until he was left with little more than a strip of land at the seaside. Another Architect, known as Jamil, owner of the majority of the west coast, was intent on taking Damactos's last piece of land for herself. Damactos, finally fed up with all this, burrowed deep into the ground and did something few Architects had done before: he merged with the land itself, effectively and permanently keeping the land from being used by any other Architects. Damactos could still affect his little patch of land, so he brought it crashing into the ocean and stayed down there for a few millennia more, in what would later be known as the Davidson Seamount. Then, after The Apocalypse jolted Damactos into wakefulness, he arose from the depths and became a large seaside volcano. It was here that the Vinestan people eventually settled and began their worship of Damactos.
Historical Basis
Architects themselves may or may not have actually existed, but the geographic turmoil of the passage of time lines up with the alleged events of the tale.
Spread
There are pockets of people here and there all across the globe who worship the Architects, but the myth of Damactos himself seems to be exclusively tied to the city of Vinesta.
Variations & Mutation
One of the major alternative tales of Damactos paints him as a violent war-hungry Architect who conquered many lands before being trapped in his current location as a prison rather than by choice. Vinestans, a hardy people that are prone to violence and feats of strength, are slowly turning to this version of the history, despite the "original" tale that has been passed down over the centuries.
In Literature
While there are many books of Architect worship, there is only one book that contains the myth of Damactos, and the original copy resides in the archives of Vinesta. This scarcity of print leads many other Architect worshipers to doubt the validity of the tale.
In Art
Vinestans are a simplistic folk, rarely engaging in artistic endeavors. However, there is a single statue, made of pure Vinestan metal, in the center of the volcano that depicts a muscular man awkwardly folded into a conical shape. It... isn't good. Like I said: the Vinestans are not very artistic.
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