He reminds himself that he'll kiss her after storytime and controls his immediate urge. "That is a sentiment I can agree with.

"So, Abaddon was trapped in the Realm of Torment, but the Warmarshal of the Elonian country of Kourna, Varesh Ossa, was his follower, corrupted by his influence. She started a plan to bring about Nightfall—the return of Abaddon and eternal night. "

"Sounds like a charmer. ... Did the gods intervene then, return from their realms in the Mists and swat him, or...?"

"No, they did not. They did, however, grant a gift to the Istani Spearmarshal, Kormir. The other Elonian countries waged war against Kourna and the Warmarshal, and that same Ascalonian from before joined Kormir and the Sunspears—an elite group of fighters from Istan—against her. She fled north through the Desolation—a part of the Crystal Desert that was turned caustic and lethal by the gods' war on Abaddon when they imprisoned him—and they couldn't go through. So they freed the undead lord Palawa Joko so that he'd help them cross."

"Uh—uh, I know about him, I have read history books, that is an alarming sentence, James, did they later put him back?"

"They, ah, did not. In fact the trade was that they'd give him access to his old Awakened army and he'd teach them to cross the Desolation in return."

Her hand tightens in his and she stares. "They did what. But. He. But. No! No why would you—I suppose the world was ending a little but they—but he—Orr was very fucking lucky he went south instead of north! He killed many people! Trapped! Many people! As his undead servants! Souls! In their corpses! Is he still running loose did they stop him?"

"They did not," he sighs. "They stopped Abaddon—killed him, Kormir took his power and became goddess of knowledge—and the Sunspears fought Palawa Joko tooth and nail after he restored his army, but he conquered all of Elona, eventually, and unified them under his rule and—he is still king, there."

She opens her mouth to reply, and all that comes out is a hoarse whimper. She closes it, then her eyes, takes a deep breath, and opens both to try again.

"Let me. Let me get this straight. A mortal ascended to godhood by helping to kill a rogue god. Which they got to. By releasing the most terrifying and amoral undead necromancer king that history's ever seen, who was only barely defeated, and could not be killed. And she did not use her new divinity to put him back. Or kill him! Or tell mortals how to kill him, since she's the goddess of fucking knowledge."

"That would be the long and the short of it, yes."

She stares at him some more.

"Please tell me there are not shrines to this woman. Please tell me people do not worship the mortal that abandoned the rest of us to the fate she helped inflict on us."

"There are shrines to her, yes. They built her one in the Temple of the Ages before Zhaitan's awakening sunk it."

"Definitely an atheist. Definitely a fucking atheist, unless Grenth shows up and says that he thinks the rest of the gods are nuts, but he's been taking fucking care of us after we die, and he's very sorry he can't do resurrections anymore because he needed their help for it and they fucked off! That's it! Everybody else gets no excuse at all, especially the new one that was once a mortal and casually fucked a quarter of the continent over! Especially when that quarter of a continent might at some point come north through the desert for the rest of the continent with his unstoppable undead army of tortured and enslaved souls!"

She's maybe shrieking a little. That should maybe stop.

He hugs her, very tight. "We will deal with him. He is also on the list. ...somewhat lower than the world-ending beasts, but on the list."

She scrunches into him and attempts to resemble calm again. "Right, I understand, I'm not mad at you," she murmurs into his shoulder. "World-ending beasts first, yes, very sensible priorities, I am so with you there. I'm sorry, I don't mean to shriek at you, none of this is your fault, you're helping the world, I just." She stops, and she grasps at words. "When I lived in Orr, the world was fine. I am very upset that it stopped being fine in my absence."

James nods and pets her very carefully. "Should I continue?"

She considers this, then hums an affirmative.

"I'm continuing from here, though," she says, muffled by his chest. "Not letting go and you can't make me."

"Sounds good to me.

"A few years later, there were tremours all over Tyria, and a subterranean race called the asura emerged, driven away by fire creatures called Destroyers. Turns out they had been living underground all along. A group of asura, as well as norn—a species that used to live in the far north—and charr fought them alongside the dwarves. Oh, and about the charr—it turns out they were being led by a faction called the Flame Legion whose magic and power came from the Titans. The other Legions were not the happiest about this, and when the Titans were killed some time later they united and banished the Flame Legion."

"Good for the charr, then. Uh, are the destroyers still a problem?"

"Yes and no. The dwarves had a legend about the Great Destroyer, who was the antithesis of their god, the Great Dwarf. So, according to a prophecy, they performed a ritual to become creatures made of stone and live forever in the underground fighting the Destroyers. And they have been doing that ever since."

"That's... very extreme, but I have to admire their dedication? And I'm very impressed with their sacrifice, um. Go dwarves."

"I have only ever met one, a dwarf named Ogden Stonehealer. He is aboveground, member of the Durmand Priory—but I should explain dragons.

"It was discovered that Tyria has six Elder Dragons—Primordus, Jormag, Zhaitan, Mordremoth, Kralkatorrik, and... I have no idea what the deep sea dragon is called. They wake in cycles, consume all the magic in the world, then go into hibernation and leak magic back into the world. During that time, civilisation exists. We were in such a time until about two hundred years ago."

"... Right around the time when the gods left," she says, blinking.

"Yes. The dragons wake in order; the first one is Primordus, the fire dragon. His main lieutenant is the Great Destroyer, and his minions are the Destroyers. So for as long as he's alive, Destroyers will exist."

"Okay," she agrees, nestling closer.

"Next is Jormag, ice dragon; it was hibernating in the far north, and it forced the norn farther south than they'd ever lived. Then Zhaitan rose, and lifted Orr when he did, flooding the old Lion's Arch and much of the coastal areas around. After Zhaitan came Kralkatorrik, the crystal dragon. Whenever he flies, the area under him becomes crystal, and living beings in his path are converted into his minions. I can take you to Ascalon sometime to see the brand. It's gorgeous, if you forget what caused it, and terrifying, if you don't."