Star of Vanya
by Bruce HeardEnd of the universe in a couple
of centuries...it'll make Wrath look like a picnic :)
Umm... yes.
Now, don't jump to conclusions here. First off, not all Old Ones
necessarily agree with "Plan A". Perhaps they have a "Plan B", or
at least, some may give a little secret help to whom may deserve it
to make sure our favourite setting doesn't go kablooey altogether!
:)
I'm picturing this as essentially background stuff for the clerics
who discover/get involved with this plotline. It's something to
keep in mind and scare those in the know.
I'm not sure I explained this very clearly in my updated
description -- what is the final purpose of the Old Ones in all
this? Here are my thoughts. The Old Ones want to teach the
Immortals something about humility and especially,
*self-sacrifice*. In so doing, some of those who deliberately
sacrifice themselves to the cause of the Immortals may learn a few
valuable things about the Old Ones as a result -- which is fine by
the Old Ones, by all means.
For the mortals, Old Ones just want to teach them a lesson of
Wisdom. The Old Ones want to get the point across that mortals
should recognise when to walk away from temporal power in order not
to forsake their true destiny -- becoming Immortals, or in the eyes
of the Old Ones, reaching beyond their normal selves rather than
simply taking what is too easily given (the artifact's many
powers). The Old Ones want the mortals to acquire the kind of
spiritual discernment that makes them perceive what is true and
what is not.
The Old Ones certainly don't want to wipe out the Mystaran
universe, but they will if BOTH the Immortals and the mortals fail
to learn their lessons. The least of the failures is that of the
Immortals, because as long as there are mortals, there can be new
Immortals, eventually. It's just a question of time, which Old Ones
have plenty of. Actually, a premature success on the part of the
Immortals remains highly undesirable from the point of view of the
Old Ones, because it would not allow enough time for mortals to get
the point addressed to them.
Total failure of the mortals is more of a problem, especially if
they need to be wiped out in the end. A few surviving Immortals
could conceivably create new races to replace the previous ones,
but it would not be enough to make up for the overall failure of
the Old Ones experiment, and they may ultimately just come over and
personally finish off the last Immortals before giving the Mystaran
universe a new purpose.