Editing Cain's Ouroboros (section)

==The Ancient History of the World==
A long time ago, on the then-verdant world of Mars, there evolved an illustrious race of Serpent-people, who developed the first technological civilization in the Sol System, under the watchful eye of the World-Spirit of Mars. But Gaia, the younger world-spirit of neighboring Terra, grew envious of this, and slowly but surely drew her plans against Mars. The Martians had their flaws, to be sure, but it was not their flaws that lead to their end. They solved their disputes through contest and conflict as often as not, but none could have expected what was to come. Still, the serpent folk developed great sciences, and, indeed, weapons and wonders in equal measure. Everyday, they believed, one should strive to be better than they had been the day before. And all the while, Gaia worked in silence. Then came the day of Gaia's Trickery; Gaia deceived the world-spirit of the Sun, claiming that Mars was building an army to usurp the Sun's role as ruler of the Sol System, so the Sun sent down powerful archons to scorch the world of Mars.

But Phaeton, Mars's other neighbor, intervened at the last minute, revealing Gaia's wiles, to which the Sun cursed Gaia. Gaia, of course, was immensely displeased. Suffice to say, Phaeton is now known as the asteroid belt. Gaia was not always the cruel being she is today but when Luna separated from her she took with her all of Gaia's capacity for good. Making Luna the most powerful of all the moons but leaving Gaia how she is to this day. With their sibling world dead, Mars redoubled its efforts to ready its children. They crafted wonders, monuments in the memory of dead Phaeton.. But Gaia grew clever. If not the Sun to slay Mars....then hers would be a slow poison. One to fuse the plates. Gaia worked its ways, and laid upon Mars a curse. Its magnetic field died, its plates fused. Mars's children now had only so long to live as the world slowly died under them. Anarchy broke loose among the great empires of Mars, with the few bastions of the serpent people's civilization being scattered city states connected by slowly desiccating canals. A few serpents looked to the stars, fleeing in ramshackle spacecraft, while others gave in to techno-barbarism. It was a dark age for Mars. Meanwhile, Gaia wasn't satisfied, but she smirked with malicious and petty glee as her schemes unfolded. Meanwhile, life began to take shape on Terra. Primitive life, sure, but Gaia preferred it that way. Primitives are easy to control and smother. As Mars slowly died, these small creatures began to evolve. Surpassing their ape-thing brethren, becoming something more. They *copied* and *learned*. From the other beasts, they took. And Gaia began to show a certain...distaste. An idle disaster, disease and foulness, to test them. They survived. Only a few thousand, but they survived. Gaia's wrath was soothed. With so shallow a genepool, they were more easily controlled... And yet...others realized they survived. The spirit of a dying world.

Ouroboros rose its head, and saw the struggling ones...fighting so fiercely for live. Ouroboros saw Man, and had a decision to make, with his last vestiges of strength in a dying world. One of the cleverest of these proto-Humans will eventually be known as Cain. Cain had a brother named Abel, who was seduced by Gaia's wiles. One day Cain, after a long day of gathering nuts and berries, found Abel consuming the flesh of their father and chieftain, Adam. And Cain heard two voices in his head, one saying that Abel was evil and needed to die for great justice, and one which urged Cain to join his brother in wickedness and evil. Cain chose. He moved and confronted his brother, who had become a foul thing in spirit. The battle was long and arduous. The danger unreal as Cain fought for every breath and moment. But Cain was clever and strong, for his time in the wilds made him strong and quick of wit. And by the end Abel lay dead. The first voice congratulated him, weary and old, reminding him of his grandfather who had died in the plagues, who had taught him to hunt and to forage, to scale mountains and fell trees. And while the other voice cursed and faded, screeching her rage, Ouroboros, Old Father Serpent, the Garden Snake, spoke to Cain of the days to come.

SETTING LORE A WORK IN PROGRESS