Low light flickers on a dark substance an elder faerie digs their purple hand into; as he speaks in a Vuul dialect.

Feel the elements. Their great respect for life.

-They chose to give us shape.
-Yes, but you do not have to be of this place to breathe with it.

What if we fail?

Sshh!

Don't give up.

A pair of glowing eyes shine out of darkness from a mask atop a pole, which bounces backwards over rocking wooden flames. On the third bounce the mask doubles behind a smoke cloud becoming a swaying grandmother sun and grandfather moon. A flying scroll of cloth unfurls itself, caught by an outstreched arm from each side of the stage.

Long smoking sticks set the cloth alight burning out faerie characters saying "Lor'Avvu" and the moment freezes in a magical vignette. Glimmers hint at mystical patterns while a triple yin-yang radiates from the center. We zoom into the center hole of the cloth, which reveals a vast ocean over whose surface splashes small delicate waves. Underwater, a spinning wooden tablet over a dais of coral fades into view. We are looking through the telescope of a God whose face is but a golden crowned goose mask. From His invisible neck hangs a pink and white cape. He turns from the blue seas of future possibility to the red skies of the past, great wings of white feathers flapping once. Through his eye into the telescope - a kaleidoscopic transformation reveals a rapidly phasing moon overhead a darkened forest.

Heavily armored creatures march. A tank with a sewing contraption stitches into bleeding ground. As the army marches off screen, the ground becomes the mouth of a child, whose face has been stitched closed. They weep under a sinister spell of webbing but small glowing lights swirl and raise them out of captivity. This is Rastora, the child form of the female-lale God. Their sister Luchope's third eye opens from the sky itself and she absorbs her devastated sister-leefer into her third eye, as she rises vengefully out of thick fog.

The powerful Goddess casts a great storm, raising her hand made of ocean on top of the cowering army, which is wiped out. Faeries emerging from a hill look upon the ruination sinking into the sea. This has been in the lens of the bird God who lowers his telescope in sadness.

An arm of sea water gently rises out of the ocean, its cupped hand pouring a rainbow portal right off Her fingers. The Goddess' arm bends down to place its hand into the hand of the God. She gently lets go of him as He moves forward to enter the portal.

From behind his mask we see him go into a bright yellow realm. He enfolds the ocean world in his cape, closing the portal behind him and joining a ring of eleven other All-Gods facing out from a vortex at the center of a great yellow council room of subservient Gods.

The Council of Had is in the middle of a great debate.

“What can we do? All of us have now put energy into this world.”
“And the friendliest beings of light”
“And every ally to the elemental spirits”
“But still the people do not love one another as they should.”
“They are destroying their home”
“With no care for their own children”
“Even though they abuse nature’s way because their progenitors did the same.”
“How can such a reckless cycle continue so soon after a mass extinction?”

Spirit Of Grandma's Grace and Spirit of Grandpa's Experience, wearing masks that look like those of grandma and grandpa, now add:

“We have been consulting on this matter long ago, and we still consult on this matter. All the discussions end without resolution."

“Some have observed that the hallowed gods before us do not have the power to rectify the situation. We posit that it is time is to recognize the potential for aid from outside our system.”

As the grandfather spirit tries to present a balanced solar system from glowing chakras, the grandka mocks him.

“Here is a most amusing duo creating a harmony of stubbornness. The council has always served the interests of Kaian. And never before has it been challenged. If the Jeenare do not respect our positive and loving influence on their fate, let us leave their race be. The wild wild is good enough for Kaian and they may kill one another until they are all dead and leave the planet for more peaceful entities to inherit.”

“What powerful Gods have been there to supposedly fix matters, and have only made things worse! Perhaps it is not enough to let them passively take life down with them.”

“The Divider has ruled for a long time there,” says a hilarious god of love and laughter, “and he doesn’t look like he wants to come back any time soon.”

“What’s more, need we remind ourselves that some lowly Jeenare are now acting a bit too inspired by the Gods?”

“Why shadow the truth? Speak plainly. They are impudent and trying to overcome the Thirteenth Great Tuning.”

The Spirit of Maturity tries to voice the problem now murmuring across the council.

“That’s right! Not only does their path of self-destruction disturb the balance of life, they plan to usurp the Great Tuning and replace the cosmos’ natural birth of a Thirteenth All-God with their own artificial God from the ashes of their own civilization.”

-“An artificial God?!”
-“It cannot be possible.”

-“It won’t be possible.”
- “Arrogance.”

“But the universe has been preparing this moment for over a billion years!”
“They mock universal law with contempt!”
“The Jeenare are hopeless!”

“There are rumors that Trickster is afoot.”

Grandka's balls zer fist at a fairy

“Perhaps it’s time we considered that the Jeenare should not be left to their cruel devices and conspiracies. The Gods have the power to --”

”Wait!”
“Wait, please! word has just come -- a volunteer! A volunteer!”

[COUNCIL]: (hubub)

“A volunteer - from afar - another system - they have heard your message.”

- “Message?"
- “What message?"
- “Sent from this council?"

“They - they are offering to come here and manifest to the Jeenare. to do whatever they find possible to do.”

“Who sent this message?"
“Who responded to it?"
“Who will this champion of love and peace be?”

“They - have provided no name or ... anything. Merely a return address.”

“I see. And have you all forgotten providence’s requirement of volunteers to suffer in the physical world? You want to offer that experience to our guest?”

A small council member sneaks behind the masks of other members but Grandma and Grandpa notice this and quickly intervene.

“We sent the message for help, and we expected no reply. But since we agreed to face the consequences of our plea, now it is our prerogative”
“And our responsibility”
“... Our responsibility to welcome this volunteer as their guardians. As Jeenare on Kaian.”
“If we can just find a third spirit to ensure everything goes smoothly ... and so this child has the full three parents that would assure its stable upbringing.’

A few hesitantly raise their hands.

“All so noble. Go ahead and bring them -- see what it will do. If you are born as life on Kaian in the form of a single Jeenare, you are guaranteed to birth suffering -- and that is if you’re lucky and you don’t lose all your good karma completely, but to claim that three more Jeenare, should change the nature of the species’ fate in a positive way -- this raises serious questions about your place in this council.”

“We agree, and wish to see more peace in the long run. This plan should be aborted, the offer politely refused. We would be insane to risk a political catastrophe with another system.”

“The situation is really beyond the universe’s power. Let it be. We are seeing a time in which the Jeenare’s continual existence ... is a question rather than a simple statement.”

“What is insane is that you won’t even try. What can be lost?” “Won’t you even send this volunteer correspondence before rejecting them completely?”

“Let the Twelve answer. they are the ones with the greatest role in the tuning.”

“Gods of Kaian, How does this situation fit in with the coming of a Thirteenth to your number?”

The twelve AllGods descend as a great fluctuation in the vortex moves from roots to fruits. As we spin around them, the AllGods open their capes and reveal celestial wings that point to those five in the main argument. Then, they point to the messenger sending geometric symbols to her swirling energy message.

“Yes, I shall send this response.”

The God we followed into the council room rises up, their cape having transformed into a glowing portal in the central vortex.

“All of us?”
“We’re all crazy?"

“You are ... all requested to manifest as Jeenare to welcome this ... volunteer entity, to Kaian.”

“I see. Well, with council’s permission and the Gods’ blessing, I am sure we will right any imbalances arising out of this Kaian problem”

“We thank you.”
“We thank you."

The five float up to the portal and then down the vortex towards a rippling ocean wall of the planet Kaian. They pop up through the top branches of the council tree into a great black void. Stars fill every bit of space. Here, the council appears to glow like a sun, and the path from it trails off to into the great cosmos towards planet Kaian.

As Spirit Of Grandma approaches the stream, she dips her hand into it. Images of life on the planet rapidly flash into her vision until she removes her hand with a gasp and the visions subside.

“These Jeenare ... ”
“Their emotions .... will bring us into the world, as we will bring the traveler to it when they arrive.”
“This planet is so generous.”
“Only to please the Gods. And don’t forget.”

The Conspector of the All-Gods enters the cosmic space, flanked by Grandka's allies.

“Who do you think they will be?”

“I suppose the Gods chose them to be my paranymphs in case your alien hero is not who you expected them to be.”

“I can just hope they are all exactly who none of us expects them to be.”

Spirit of Grandma and Grandpa hand their face masks to the Conspector, leaving just their glowing spirit bodies. Grandka hands zer mask over as well.

“Divine gambles are out of our hands.”

One by one, Grandka, Grandma and Grandpa step into the cosmic space and begin flowing, running, sliding and hopping on energy streams toward the planet Kaian.

Behind them the council shrinks until it looks like a glowing sun in space. A shooting star flies down to the council portal. But the three of them are now far ahead of those yet to come.

The planet rushes toward the trio at a terrific pace and they now take running leaps off of their energy beams to meet it, becoming shooting light bodies. Their bodies weave into helix patterns as they swirl around one another heading to Kaian.

Planet Kaian vibrates and shifts ahead, revealing titles in the rocky texture, alit by glowing faerie lights.

"Act One"

"Chapter One: Strange Companions"

A beam of energy crashes down Bang! Green opens space for reprosensical slang

Another one now - here it comes - crash! Blue flowers unfold from the jogdoren flash

And it won't be long now - grandka pink en't far behind - here ze comes - pow!
They're about to blow your mind. Listen.

Up, I got a story to xplain to those that can see it
We're still talking bout that planet
it's just a special edit

Faeries were flying round pollens and leaves
Peace was their harbor, no faith among thieves

Listen up now

Light moving easily in and out
Of ways of being. They found

Delighting in how

Play in the elements
would lead up to these events

The story gets complex
Hard to lay blame for pain
Or credit the wrong gain
Or the right hex

... Picture the fair fae. who
picked the wrong day
to pick up a scent
so innocent
and it sent
her away
to a dream about sex

Strange manipulation
twixe the trio
mixe the heat cold
Then who was the same?
Who made differenpresentation?

Then what did she see?
Walkers young crawlers
attendance with nectar
was it this that wrecked her?
but what diet?
Why try it?

She tries grasping the sector

This funky fae flier
Now a pollenator rider
What spoke to motivation?
To mod the Faerie nation?

It's been known to happen
A tiger becomes a rabbit
a fish, a horse, try to grab it
you can't even have it

Running through her dreams
These beings it seems
Hint that it's time to awaken
But the ethereal has taken

A toll, now her wings
Not in sight, she weeps
in the night
in the cold, giving way to her fright
And an unbelievable insult of nature
has made her
look at herself as a critter
a creature
a lecherous leecher without a teacher
And this is where the rhyme gets adult

She accesses directory principles from the occult
source she knows
Inflamatory principles of magnetism in the lowest lows
This is the place we go when we need respite from reality
One shuns our connections in spite of causality

Pushes out those beings that wronged us unfathomably
Mayn't be to blame but ousts the scale, feather, hair and tree
The Shuvar and Mermaid and all other mystics flee
Tulrats in your caves! Long legs climb higher than we can see!
Others have joined her in this dark jubilee

Waves of transformation resort the sacred
Turning curve into block and what's alive they can make dead
Fell forest, build stone and shield body from home
Hop hop hop
Chop chop chop

Thinnek the clearing
The mountains are nearing
We've made them in piles now
instead of endearing
and learning from hearing
Harvest up miles. How
the cloud builder builds and rebuilts in addled head space
for beauty of the beholder add ing in salt to bled face
of the Kaian
not enough things filling deeps
go to ocean
ships are stuffing their keeps

Colonize all you can
Sacrifice for the plan
Every land we find
Redefined in our mind

Though we ride her hair to get there
The seas are just a means
Pluck pick, plant and plot
Strip her land of all ze's got

Pull until it's sick and dying and we are too
Elevated principles will carry us all through
Crack the seeds, that must be life
And we will reverse engineer all strife

Peel the faerie into meat, son,
It's our flaw that must give reason
Enter innards like a rapist
Now you don't dare call us escapist

Piece together soul and spirit
No I don't want to hear it
Symptoms are solutions
revolution! revolutions!

See ... how ... that ... fix
Gives ... us ... tricks
Inside ....
Sight

A bird is dissected and we can take its heart and wings and whatever

Let's see how many a bear can feed when we just count its useful bits

The fish doesn't need to be thanked for, we are far too clever, far too clever

Oh the flesh of honey inspires, all it takes for all of it is some sharpening kits

Was there a human hand to this?

Get the cages ready

Tear apart their bodies, hunt them down and build the stomach

We need fuel for fuel for fuel for fuel for fuel for fuel for fuel

Scramble out and see what's left
Who's that riding o'er the crest
Their flag is changing, something is wrong
Let's reconvene and see who's best

In a fortress of the East, a fist pumps celebrating darts
In the face of the West, the woman is to arm the lore
Man like him shall think

Meanwhile across the waters, they'll come to rely on smarts
All creative enterprise will produce the forge's store
A new weapon is the link

Nature ponders war

Enemy leaders are the skull's cross-eyed spies
All for secrets from blood spilled
Woman of the East unfulfilled
Her partner love killed
With the designs of both sides

Woman awakens

As men's dream
of death machine

Increasingly forsakens

Espifaction team snucking into the nightmare
Prototype glance -- blink -- then it's not there
Made it to the pyre, regather by the fire
belonging had been born, but now tears mourn
for the splinter troupe out to escape the snare

The fleeing band signals the flag of the foe
Intelligence indicates they're untrustworthy though
So
Off they go, arrows and spikes on their tails
Island appearing by prow's weary sails
And into a forest to regroup for sister
For healing wings kissed her
Arrival at hands flapping forthwith into enemy's nation
Now word on the wind from an unlikely station

Where they'll feed you
with spear and hammer
Hungry hands clutch a bowl though
State coveting zer soul! No!
ze refuses
yitagga down streets
villainy trail neat
with abuses
What're the uses
Of this medicine bowl
Why'd they covet your soul?
Warns protector:
"They gonna get ya"
lest you head onward
like the all-bird
trumble down touble stairs if you must
You may bust
But you cannot give up
No you cannot give up
No they didn't give up on you

Quick through here
Resist troops of fear
Look in my eyes, you'll see a mirror
And a portal, like the sun
We become one
And as mortal
Sand advances
The relics of trauma
carry themselves
bury themselves
sinking the drama
deep into Kaian
the bowl dances
It's flyin'
down
down down down
down DOWN down down DOWN
so deep
so deep
So deep that
the Divider whip licks her twin tongues like a creep; at
the notion that the mystery will thicken
and time quicken
to three entry-births of the Jeenare
with spirits traveled so far
to eggs that won't sink in
but rise above
on waves of love
and that is how we see
the left, the center and the right three
about to be

This concludes Lor’Avvu Prelude. Thank you to Jon Terry for reprising his role as the Elder Faerie. The song at the end is called “Strain of the Jeenare”. It features Gerald Prokop on Production, Electric Guitar, Percussion, Drums, Keys and Recording; Simon Shack on African Drums, Production and Recording; and Maxeem Konrardy on Production, Bass Keys, Toy Drum and lyrical accompaniment.

The additional faerie voices, the voices of the council of Had and the background music were performed by Yelena Oosting, Daniel Pietorovic, Rachel Westhoff, Benjamin Thunderbolt, Xiaolu Wang, Julia Winkels, Megan “Nutmeg” McCrumb, Adam ten Bensel, Zach Tauer, ShaVunda Horsley, Jamie Couper, Chiji Ochiagha, Nels Shafer, Jilla Nadimi, Trisha Sue, Kay Krystal, Anna Glusker, Nicholas P. Moen, Charles Clement Lehnen, Donn Ha, Brandon Newberg and anonymous helpers.

For everyone’s full credits, please visit: http://loravvu.com/?comic=loravvu-prelude