Alexander opened his eyes and looked around to see where he was. It seemed to be some kind of a desert with lots of ruins of various buildings. There was sand all around with little to no vegetation.
"Damn, I guess people here did some voodoo stuff." Alexander wondered while looking around at a circular pattern on a wall. It looked beautiful but meaningful too.
He quickly took out his mobile phone and instantly memory started flowing in. It was like a monologue with some pictures.
"A long time ago, this too was like earth. But, thirst for immortality brought doom to this city and created something that wasn't supposed to exist, something that changed humans by introducing the forbidden knowledge.
"As a True God, you reign supreme, but will you still be bound by the laws of equivalent exchange? Things may not always be as simple as they seem to be.
"Many plots happen under the shade of ignorance. You are an employee of Amestris's Army. You work in the archaeological department and are responsible for securing relics. You came to the lost city of Xerxes for research. But there is a surprise here, waiting for you.
World Purity - 50%"
Alexander was a bit shocked seeing the world's purity. "Ah, this world is full of sinners, Dobby."
Dobby had arrived outside and he looked around. "Hmm, it does seem to be full of sin. Well, I also feel the presence of Dark Magic here for some reason."
As an elf, Dobby had a higher sensitivity when it came to reading the air around them.
"Oh, wait. Let me check my clothes. I don't remember putting them on." Alexander said. He was wearing simple grey pants and a white shirt with grey robes over it. He had a bag tied to his back.
He searched it and found his identification card. "Hah, I look handsome in this. Let's see. Amestris Army, Major General, Head of Archaeological department. Well, it seems I am kind of a successful person. From my memories, I at least know that the level of technology in this world is that of the early 90s from the real world.
"But I was never interested in Archaeology. Why am I head of this department?"
"Maybe because in this department you will have the freedom to travel wherever you want," Dobby suggested.
"Hmm, a good possibility. But let's not fret about it and let's explore." Alexander cheered and flew up in the air to look around.
He started looking around at the area and the ruins. It seemed like Persian architecture. "Hmm, whatever happened here must have been sudden."
"Oh, what do we have here? Is this some kind of a canal?" Alexander wondered when he came to the perfectly dugout canal-like area. For some reason, the sand inside it was hard, as if it was burned.
"Hmm, let's get a bit higher to have a better look," Dobby suggested.
They flew higher and saw the whole structure. "Dobby, I am having a bad feeling about this. This does not look like a canal. This looks like the same voodoo pattern we saw in the ruins. Except, here, it was dug to surround the city."
"Were they trying to protect themselves with some magic?" Dobby wondered.
"Well, we will find out soon. That's how things go on. All I know is that this place must be important if we want to solve all the mysteries in this world." Alexander commented.
"Boss, look, there are some tents." Dobby pointed to smaller ruins.
They both flew to it and found people there. All of them had white hair and red-eye. They all looked pale and weak.
"This looks like some kind of a refugee camp," Alexander said and went closer.
"WAIT! What are they doing?"
...
The people were all Ishvalan refugees. Since the time of civil war, they had found refuge in the ruins.
Ishvalans were indigenous people of the nation called Ishval, which would come to be a region in the southeastern area of greater Amestris. The Ishvalans were an ethno-religious group identified by their ethnicity but unified by common religious beliefs.
The culture of the Ishvalan people was steeped heavily in their religious ideology, which marks the earth god Ishvala as the sole true god and lord of all creation. They were called to pray fervently to Ishvala and live lives of simplicity and righteousness as part of his creed.
It was likely that Ishvalans' strict code of religious conduct was borne from the severity of the land they lived on, which was not largely farmable and contained very few natural resources, if any.
Ishvalans considered their names sacred, as gifts from God, and usually wore sashes striped with burgundy and gold, presumably as a sign of their faith.
However, the most contentious point of the Ishvalan religion was its rejection of the craft of alchemy, considering it a practice based in hubris, perverting the natural creations of Ishvala into unnatural forms and thereby suggesting that human hands are more capable. Alchemy was so hated by the Ishvalan people that those found practicing it were exiled from the community and branded with a mark of shame that prohibits faithful Ishvalans from interacting with them.
After the annexation of Ishval by Amesris, Ishvalans became normalized Amestrian citizens by law. But their radical cultural differences, particularly their aversion to alchemy, put them at odds with the rest of the Amestrian population until tensions on both sides culminated in the Ishval Civil War in 1901. Then it all led to a full-scale eradication of their ethnic group.
Those that remained were still hated and hunted in Amestris, so they found refuge wherever possible.
When the people living in the camp in the ruins saw Alexander, they thought that he was a wicked alchemist. But, as Alexadner came closer, they saw his features. Tall, white hair and golden eyes.
Now, none of them knew what their god looked like. But for some reason when they saw Alexander, they felt that God must look like this.
So, while Alexander hovered over their heads, they all kneeled to the ground and started chanting their god's name.
"ISHVALA... ISHVALA... ISHVALA"
...
Alexander didn't know if he should be happy or sad. He always tries to not act like a god but just after looking at him, he was branded a god again.
"Boss, I think they see you as their god or something," Dobby pointed out.
"I know, Dobby. I know."
*Sigh*
He landed in the middle of an empty area. The people quickly came to him running and kneeled.
"Please help us, god Ishvala."
"My son is sick, god. Please save him."
"Please enlighten us, Great Ishvala."
Alexander looked at their ragtag clothes and shrunken bodies. It was clear as day that they had not eaten anything in a long time. But Alexander didn't know anything about their culture.
So, he looked at the memory of the oldest one of them and saw the world history through his eyes. Quickly, he found out everything. About them, the civil war, their extermination, and the main bad element in all this was called Amestris, for whose army he seemed to work.
~Well, I guess I'll be a secret god now.~
"SILENCE!"
"I know you're in great pain, that is why I will build your homes here. I will build wells for you and make some land fertile. I can only show you the way, you will have to help yourself after that. That is the right way." Alexander told them.
All of them cheered and started chanting something that made Alexander chuckle internally.
"THIS IS THE WAY!"
"THIS IS THE WAY!"
Alexander just shook his head and got to work. ~Did I make Mandalorians here?~
[You can see Ruins and Ishvalans on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif*
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