The Reclaimation Wars

Population Migration / Travel

To save the family, abandon a man; to save the village, abandon a family; to save the country, abandon a village; to save a soul, abandon the earth.   — Vidura quoting Kavya, The Mahābhārata

---

Until now, all contact between heaven and earth had been severed by the Cataract, but the groping of Loke's divine body by evil hands awoke Her from Her slumber. Finally, the Ishvara took notice of their motherland once more. Loke pulled at the sky, and Naru stretched in-kind. Though the fabric slowly twists and churns, The Six Polestars (Sarrāq, Uttu, Híté, Mashk, Šala, and Ulzs)—each a soul of Naru—held the lynchpins in place that let the lights of heaven shine into this world to this day.   The gods ascended to meet with their supreme progenitors who found their souls damaged and changed. Syol was not necessarily inferior to Tehyiah, but resurrection is not the same process as reincarnation. And it was clear that a re-enactment of The Heavenspear's War would likely destroy the universe—and each Ishvara was now devoted to maintaining their own Bulwark against the Storm—so resources were spreading thin.   Loke looked upon herself. The gods told Her of the powers of man; their ability to think and learn, to perform rituals, and know the importance of sacrifice. They wanted to punish man for their betrayal, but Loke stayed their smiting hands. She saw how the Iaghana's possessive curses had somehow given man dominion over the holy force of Atma, and it gave her an idea: She saw that the men were the tools of demons—thrown about like unwieldy hammers—what if She could re-forge them into surgical knives?   And so the Nagas came to know all the species of man. Each had a speciality. A niche to fulfil. And within a century an army had been bred from the remnants of all remaining sapient stocks. They are the Scions. And though these lowly soldiers stood on perhaps the lowest rung of the dragon's hierarchy, Loke's blessing was quantity and fertility: Her blood ran hot in their veins, so that replenishing Her stock would be swift and cost-effective in the crusades to come.   Seeing this initial success, the gods were persuaded to share more of their powers with the mortals too. But it was quickly found that very few of their 'divine children' could transfer their powers in the same way as Loke: They were mules compared to stallions. Instead, to create a so-called Partial Incarnation that could survive transference through the cycle of reincarnation, each god had to invent a new method:  

  Other gods found their own methods to produce unique Incarnates too; though many are often forgotten or mistaken for another kind.   With their armies amassed, leaders and cohorts trained, and everyone properly equipped with powerful new technologies and magic's never before seen on earth; the reclamations began. The Ishvara had two main objectives in this war: Destroy the cancerous souls of the Iaghana, and liberate the ghosts of the Cataract.   But the wars were slow, and difficult, and lasted several millennia. They started in the Necrohols, but man quickly stood in unfamiliar territory. The Veins of the Earth make for terrible battlefields, and The Underworld father below is a labyrinthine place of impossible geometry. The demons could be slain, yes, but they always refused true death; and they would return, re-summoned by their masters, ever twisting and deformed, within a few years.   Many souls were liberated, and the total population on the surface began to finally rise again; but the loss of life in the pits was still immense. The Naga's rule became tyrannical. The need for war pushed the limits of what was technologically possible. The operations became exhaustive. This was an age of myths and legends and heroes; interspersed with miniature golden eras that came and passed in a few generations while man was given a chance to re-stock. It was an age of chaos and conflict, but also one of mighty empires, trade, and of acts of heroism that would ring through the centuries to come. It was in this time perhaps that humanity rose to its greatest heights, mastering the secrets of aeronautical flight and devising magics whose power may never be equalled again.   Meanwhile, intrigue brewed in The Bulwarks. Some Ishvara took the opportunity of the distractions of the war against hell to profit, to bolster their own forces, to invade one another, and continue their age-old feuds. The populations on earth had recovered. And even support from heaven was slowly recessing. Loke saw that one final effort was needed. She decided that if the demons couldn't be destroyed, they might at least be further imprisoned. This time they would be captured instead of slain, and with great mantras they were bound up in so-called Jars: pocket dimensions unto-themselves. And where each was judged and convicted, a magical dead-zone is still found to this day.   It was a pyrrhic victory, but life had won against death. Man had learned much in this short time, and though their bodies were ever-changing, their knowledge aggregated just like that of an Ishvara's. Loke was impressed by their collective effort to protect Her, despite the cost, and so she contented to pass the right of rulership—the mandate of heaven—over Her lands onto these loyal Incarnates. She bade the Nagas to take up new duties as constables and auditors in heaven instead.   Thus did man inherit the world.