Magician's Gambit

PROLOGUE
    Being an Account of how Gorim sought a God for his People and of how he found UL upon the sacred Mountain of Prolgu .
    -based upon The Book of Ulgo and other fragments

    AT THE BEGINNING Of Days, the world was spun out of darkness by the seven Gods, and they also created beasts and fowls, serpents and fishes, and lastly Man.
    Now there dwelt in the heavens a spirit known as UL who did not join in this creation. And because he withheld his power and wisdom, much that was made was marred and imperfect. Many creatures were unseemly and strange. These the younger Gods sought to unmake, so that all upon the world might be fair.
    But UL stretched forth his hand and prevented them, saying: "What you have wrought you may not unmake. You have torn asunder the fabric and peace of the heavens to bring forth this world as a plaything and an entertainment. Know, however, that whatsoever you make, be it ever so monstrous, shall abide as a rebuke for your folly. In the day that one thing which you have made is unmade, all shall be unmade."
    The younger Gods were angered. To each monstrous or unseemly thing they had made they said: "Go thou unto UL and let him be thy God." Then from the races of men, each God chose that people which pleased him. And when there were yet peoples who had no God, the younger Gods drove them forth and said: "Go unto UL, and he shall be your God." And UL did not speak.
    For long and bitter generations, the Godless Ones wandered and cried out unheard in the wastelands and wilderness of the West.
    Then there appeared among their numbers a just and righteous man named Gorim. He gathered the multitudes before him and spoke to them: "We wither and fall as the leaves from the rigors of our wanderings. Our children and our old men die. Better it is that only one shall die. Therefore, stay here and rest upon this plain. I will search for the God named UL so that we may worship him and have a place in this world."
    For twenty years, Gorim sought UL, but in vain. Yet the years passed, his hair turned gray, and he wearied of his search. In despair, he went up onto a high mountain and cried in a great voice to the sky: "No more! I will search no longer. The Gods are a mockery and deception, and the world is a barren void. There is no UL, and I am sick of the curse and afliiction of my life."
    The Spirit of UL heard and replied: "Why art thou wroth with me, Gorim? Thy making and thy casting out were none of my doing."
    Gorim was afraid and fell upon his face. And UL spoke again, saying:
    "Rise, Gorim, for I am not thy God."
    Gorim did not rise. "O my God," he cried, "hide not thy face from thy people who are sorely afflicted because they are outcast and have no God to protect them."
    "Rise, Gorim," UL repeated, "and quit this place. Cease thy complaining. Seek thou a God elsewhere and leave me in peace."
    Still Gorim did not rise. "O my God," he said, "I will still abide. Thy people hunger and thirst. They seek thy blessing and a place where they may dwell."
    "Thy speech wearies me," UL said and he departed.
    Gorim remained on the mountain, and the beasts of the field and fowls of the air brought him sustenance. For more than a year he remained. Then the monstrous and unseemly things which the Gods had made came and sat at his feet, watching him.
    The Spirit of UL was troubled. At last he appeared to Gorim. "Abidest thou still?"
    Gorim fell on his face and said: "O my God, thy people cry unto thee in their affliction."
    The Spirit of UL fled. But Gorim abode there for another year. Dragons brought him meat, and unicorns gave him water. And again UL came to him, asking: "Abidest thou still?"
    Gorim fell on his face. "O my God," he cried, "thy people perish in the absence of thy care." And UL fled from the righteous man. Another year passed while nameless, unseen things brought him food and drink. And the Spirit of UL came to the high mountain and ordered: "Rise, Gorim."
    From his prostrate position, Gorim pleaded: "O my God, have mercy."
    "Rise, Gorim," UL replied. He reached down and lifted Gorim up with his hands. "I am UL - thy God. I command thee to rise and stand before me."
    "Then wilt thou be my God?" Gorim asked. "And God unto my people?"
    "I am thy God and the God of thy people also," UL said.
    Gorim looked down from his high place and beheld the unseemly creatures which had cared for him in his travail. "What of these, O my God? Wilt thou be God unto the basilisk and the minotaur, the Dragon and the