Prologue

Tomakin was dreaming, wandering through worlds more wondrous and strange than any mortal realm. Here and there order and chaos struggled against each other, but neither side would triumph over the other for long. Like fragile bubbles, worlds forced together by the agents of chaos collided and broke apart, but the remnants were quickly swept up by the upholders of order and repurposed into brand new worlds full of light and hope.

With an experienced hand, Tomakin began to intervene where the need was great, guiding individuals and entities on either side onto the paths that would suit them best. He spent several moments tending to a particularly troublesome hero before settling back to check the rest for any anomalies. Satisfied with the fact that there was nothing highly unusual, Tomakin began to ponder his role.

Undoubtedly the gods of justice and chaos were unaware of it but their long-lived war was... too much like a child's tantrum. A dimension-wide tantrum, yes, but it was the presence of this war that gave him some semblance of a purpose, keeping both sides from tearing the dimension apart and ensuring that neither side gained a significant advantage over the other.

As he started to drift leisurely between worlds, he brushed against a tiny little speck of a world, and as he did so there was a wail as thousands of voices melded together to form a mindless cacophony of emotions and messages. This was to be expected but there was something odd about the song, there was one voice that overwhelmed the others, a cry for help from all that were powerful, a voice willing to give all for the sake of the many. Intrigued, Tomakin peered closer at this little world, but when he looked closer so did others.

Discovering who was calling was quite simple. A (female?) mortal dressed in crimson robes lined with thousands of golden runs stood tall amidst thousands of glowing crystals whilst chanting the call, the crystals' glow waxing and waning as her voice rose and fell. As the ritual continued, the large cave she stood in shook and streams of dust flowed from the ceiling.

She was drawing in and releasing the energy of the crystals as if she were at the epicenter of an earthquake, using the resulting energy to project her voice out beyond her world. Perhaps she was not aware of it but she was alerting both eldritch and divine powers to the vulnerable state of her world. They stirred in their sleep, blindly reaching out for this delectable morsel that made itself known. It was much akin to a lamb bleating in the depths of a cave, surrounded by blind predators. Time to put an end to this.

Before any of the other powers watching could act, Tomakin opened a small portal to the world and hopped through, landing silently beside the chanting mortal. Upon further inspection, she was rather tall and lean for a woman, but it was her flaming red hair and blue eyes that would have drawn the most attention. She didn't open her eyes upon his arrival but it was possible that she was unfinished with the ritual and would not stop until it was completed. That was probably how this mortal's ritual worked. Probably.

But when it didn't stop after an hour or two and eldritch beasts drew too close, Tomakin tugged on the mortal's elbow. As if she'd been electrocuted, the mortal screamed and leapt away from him before crashing into one of the crystals. She quickly stumbled back while spouting nonsense such as "A p-p-priest?! Please don't drag me into the depths of your church and force feed me holy water again!"

Tomakin attempted to interject "I'm not a prie-"

but she continued babbling, "Then you're an I-Inquisitor here to kill me?! I'm sorry for the basilisk incident but no one died so its fine right?"

At this point, Tomakin had had enough of this mortal's blubbering and lightly smacked her across the face. Thankfully that seemed put an end to her endless whining. Although she was now rubbing her cheek while staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and growing anger. She said, "What the hell was that for?! What kind of skull-wearing weirdo are you?" Tomakin watched her rage for a little while longer before smacking her again across the other cheek.

Now that he though about it, his appearance would seem strange to most mortals of this realm. The body he took on now was that of a slender boy on the cusp of manhood, and his black hair, pale skin and green eyes were certainly rare. His white robes did appear to resemble a priest's with its golden borders, but the horned dragon skull he wore should have broken that impression. It covered the upper half of his face, and veins of gold crept up and down the lengths of the horns. An atypical appearance to be sure.

Sensing another tirade, he cut her off and said, "Peace, tiny thing. Your cry has been answered. However your methods were dangerous for both you and your realm, as any manner of demon and god could have answered. If I had not stepped in when I had,

your call would have destroyed this world. While I am not a god of destruction, neither am I one to mindlessly coddle, but even I could destroy this world with my inaction. Now tell me, why did you use such dangerous actions? "

Tomakin stared as the mortal's face cycled through a number of emotions: joy, realization, fear, and disbelief. She said in a small voice, "Your humble servant is called Aella Fiore Belle. I was attempting to enlist the help of one of the mighty gods of the great beyond. I desired this since none of the gods of this world have attempted to save it from our impending destruction."

Tomakin stared up at her whilst pondering her words. It was true that this world had a severe imbalance of energy and that would cause all manner of unnatural anomalies but it didn't make sense that the gods assigned to this world would be unable to correct the imbalance by siphoning off the excess energy. Even when he searched for their presence in the world, their minds seemed strangely muted as if they were hiding from him.

He did have some spare time to properly investigate but he had originally intended to spend time with his twin. But it wasn't his duty to intercede on the behalf of such a small, insignificant world . The mortal suddenly sat up from the subservient position she'd been in and said, "What if I were to offer a deal, your Greatness?" Now this was interesting. What could she possibly offer to spark his interest? He was not interested in souls nor did he think she was that attractive (but he didn't mention this as past experiences had taught him that no woman ever appreciates being told this. Even if it was true)

He motioned for her to continue. She looked him straight in the eye, or at least where they would be, and said, "If I can show you that this little world of mine is worthy of your attention, then will you save it?" Tomakin considered this. He said, "How could you possibly do so? Even from the depths of your miserable little abode, I can divine every single corner of your world in an instant."

She faltered then said, "But you don't know what is the best of everything! A man can peer down upon a city with a telescope but he will never appreciate it like someone who lives there, someone who knows all the sites to see and things to do!" Tomakin looked at her and said, "So you would offer to show me this world as a personal tour guide?"

She said, "Yes, Your Greatness" He smirked, "It seems that I have forgotten my manners. My true name is not one to be bandied about but you may call me Tomakin or Wayfinder, Keeper of the Sacred balance. I look forward to the tour. Please take care of me."