The Gilded One’s Dream

The human that surpassed his own humanity

I found you in the middle of the lost city’s plaza, surrounded by woods so dense that even I wondered if I’d turned myself around. The outside world completely hidden from view, you tinkered away on some unsuspecting soul in the middle of your moonlit grove, shifting and changing its form and mind until it was a reflection of its malevolent new master.

In some realms, you would be a simple druid. A connection to nature, reinforcing the idea that all creatures share the same world. Perhaps in another life, you would have been a wise sage, passing on your knowledge to the next generation, showing communities how to live in harmony.

But your world was not so fortunate.

In discarding your own humanity, you discarded all other humans as well. And now, they do well to fear you. 

There is delicious cruelty in your dreams. Your mind conjures the sweetest revenge on those that wronged you even in passing. And your delusion allows you to believe you are creating a peaceful world by taking that revenge. 

Deep down, you know that the warped results of your experiments are crimes against the living. To turn the mortal into the monstrous, to blur the line between them…these are not philosophical exercises to tease the mind into enlightenment. They are punishments to those you have deemed unworthy.

Perhaps we are more alike than I’d care to admit. 

Behind your gilded mask, I sense the fear of all living things. That fear in your soul, what little remains, still moves you to act. You know what humanity is capable of when it unites with itself, especially to turn its gaze away from its own wrongdoings. You stand as an example of its mistakes, and while you take your revenge on the entire species, you know that with enough coordination or sheer ignorance, humanity would be your end. A new definition of “natural,” that leaves you behind, discarded like so many others. 

But I would be remiss not to admit the moments when your cruelty finds one who deserves it. The covetous, the hateful, the violent, and the treacherous. I have seen the dreams of those who cross your path, and there are plenty that I would condemn. If I had the power, I would send only those individuals across your path.

It is simply not your place to make such a judgement, mortal as you are. You do not have the necessary perspective. You perceive the entire world from behind the dense foliage of your philosophy and your reclusivity. Hidden from the light of the world, such shade blocks your view – and the truth of those you would judge.

If my Creator turned his attention toward you and demanded a judgement…I would seek only condemnation for you, Dourar, the Gilded One.

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