"David Eddings - The Dreamers 01 - The Elder gods" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eddings David)

The Land of Dhrall, if we are to believe the sometimes fanciful legends
of the region, has existed in its present location since the beginning of
time. Father Earth is unstable, and other continents move hither and yon
across the face of Mother Sea, wandering, ever wandering, in search of
new places in which to abide. But the Land of Dhrall, we are told, was
firmly anchored to its present location by the will of the gods of Dhrall,
and it shall remain ever so until the end of the world.
Now, from whence this world came - and why - is far beyond human
comprehension. But the legends of Dhrall maintain that it is the work of
ancient gods, and the making of it was a task so enormous that the gods,
immortal and omnipotent though they be, oft-times wearied of their labor.
Now there were younger gods abroad in the land at this time, and great
was their pity for their exhausted elders, and they urged their kin to rest
while they themselves took up the burden of creation. And grateful
beyond measure were the old ones, for they had labored well-nigh unto
death. And so they slept while creation continued uninterrupted in the
hands of the younger gods.


Excerpted from ‘The Land of Dhrall,’ a study by the Comparative Theology Department
of the University of Kaldacin.



So it was that the elder gods slept for twenty-five eons and then they awoke, refreshed and ready to
resume their eternal task; and when they awoke, their younger counterparts were well ready to relinquish the
task and go to their rest.

And mountains rose up from out of the earth and were worn down by weather and time. And Mother Sea
brought forth life in many forms, and some of the creatures of Mother Sea came up upon the dry face of
Father Earth in search of a dwelling place. And time and place altered them there upon the face of Father
Earth, and many were those alterations. Forms not seen before emerged, and older forms died out as the
creatures blindly groped for fulfillment.

Now the gods of the Land of Dhrall chose not to interfere in the growth and development of the creatures
of their Domains, for they wisely concluded that the creatures should follow their own course in response to
the world around them. For truly, the world is in a constant state of flux, and a creature suitable for one era
may well not survive in another, and the gods had come to realize that change must be a response to the
world rather than some divine preconception.
And constant time continued her stately march toward an end that none could know, and the cycles of
labor and rest among the gods continued even as Mother Sea and Father Earth watched, but said nothing.



Now the gods of the land of Dhrall have divided the land, and each, younger or elder, holds dominion
over a certain portion of the land. There remains, however, a vast Wasteland in the center that is not part of
any of the four Domains, be they East or West, North or South, for the Wasteland of Dhrall is barren and
without beauty. There is life there, however, but the life-forms of the Wasteland are unlike those of the rest