All Hail CEC

The day the Idol appeared, the rats gathered round it, struck dumb by its majesty. They stared into the face of their god who, with eyes closed, sees all; with ear lost in the Great Battle with the Mouse Army when he established the eternal dominance of Rat over Mouse, he still hears the cries of his children; with fur that neither grows nor harbors pests, he keeps them all warm. He needs not, neither eating nor drinking. His bones are of adamantium, impervious to the elements. Generations passed and the Idol never changed, never grew old, never fell ill, never suffered; simply existed magnificently eternal.

One day, many lives after its arrival—the story of its origin swept away, hidden, and lost to the inexorable pull and fog of Time—a Human blasphemed the Idol, creating small mimicries of the Great Visage, and mocking its grandeur! The rats were incensed. This could not, would not stand! After bearing the denigration of Humans, forced to subsist off the cast-offs and garbage from their plates. After being subjected to the humiliation of living in the filth and muck of their excrement for millennia, this must be their stand. There must be no more subjugation. There must be retribution, the Humans would live to respect the god, CEC, and would cower at the might wielded by his hand. The Rat must take its proper place atop the hierarchy of the planet.

They enlisted the aid of their closest allies, the Squirrels. Treated as fuzzy-tailed brethren, the Squirrels too had grown weary of the Human plots to stand between them and ambrosial birdseed. Did not the Humans profess Squirrels to be 'adorable' and 'clever'? Do not Humans dismiss the unintelligent among them as 'birdbrain'? How then could they wonder that this brazen hypocrisy of actively courting the Avian while exasperating the Squirrel would evoke uprising? It is a transparent declaration that Humans who elevated Squirrels to the level of Canine with their words, with their actions rather regarded Squirrels with the same contempt as their unfortunately tailed cousins.

Together, the armies marched and spread across a vast expanse the Humans called Teck Says. A bitter cold was sent to them by CEC. It was a sign of his approval of this alliance and their campaign. When the armies were in place, the divine storm ravaged a population unaccustomed and ill-equipped and at that moment, the armies struck. They struck at the magics Humans channeled for all manner of contempt for the forces of Earth. The protective sheaths around the conduits of this magic were rent asunder exposing and leaving them vulnerable. Others intentionally sacrificed themselves by forcing the magic to flow through their corporal vessel, thus purifying the evil from the magic and forcing it back upon itself. Many of the army were lost, but they will live on in the Halls of Plenty where those who sacrifice all are granted eternal existence free from predation, in rooms of ever replenished cheese and bread. The walls of burrows everywhere will shake with the resounding chorus of songs sung of their glory and sacrifice.

Within minutes of the initial attack, there were signs of its great success; wondrous darkness enveloped the land as it had not in more than a hundred lifetimes. The Human magic was no longer capable of shielding them from the fury of Nature. Unable to repel the onslaught, Human leadership fled or pointed fingers in a world whose control had been wrested from their grip without warning or ceremony. Humans were thrown into disarray, their great society ground to a halt.

The victory was swift and complete. All hail, CEC: the Eternal!