Life Era, Land of Hope.
In the central-southwest of the Land of Hope lay an uninhabited desert. A grand god-worshipping altar had once stood here — the pilgrimage site for all peoples of the Three Wu Tribes. But across eons of upheaval, the traces of faith had slowly been weathered into handfuls of yellow earth, mixing into the endless sand, gone without a trace.
All that remained were colossal fragnts of fallen walls towering above the rolling dunes, offering fleeting shelter to whatever poor souls wandered in — a reminder that the previous civilization had drawn its curtain, and a testant to what loneliness truly ant in the face of history.
A nomadic tribe, staggering and struggling, limped to this place. With sandstorms raging on all sides, they sheltered here for several days.
They'd assud it was nothing more than a brief interlude in their fight for survival. None of them could have imagined that the tribe's destiny would pivot from this very spot.
During their stay, a child from the tribe was playing in the sand beneath a massive stone column. He accidentally dug through the ground and tumbled with a shriek into a sand hole below.
Other tribesn rushed over to dig him out. But when they pried open the stone slabs beneath their feet and discovered a hidden chamber, everyone froze.
The tribe's leader hurried over as well. No one knew his real na. Everyone simply called him Gor Ba — a na inherited from the previous leader.
He was a wise old man, his face etched with the trials of this era. One glance and he recognized this as a place once occupied by Uma Sinners — the chamber was still strung with rows of dead infants, now swaying in the sand-laden wind as daylight reached them for the first ti.
Gor Ba understood well that in this era, survival without divine patronage was impossible. Unfortunately, his tribe wasn't a cast-off branch of any major clan — they were a settlent ford spontaneously by wandering beggars.
They too craved divine protection, but had never found a way to attract His gaze.
Now, the opportunity seed to have arrived.
He urged his people to take up arms and kill these dead infants — to punish sinners on Birth's behalf, and through this offering, attract His attention.
But so tribesn had heard tales of the Uma Sinners. They were afraid, terrified, and resistant. Even if they couldn't attract His gaze, they shouldn't attract His wrath. These Uma Sinners were clearly atoning for their sins; killing them now — who knew whether He'd be pleased or enraged?
But they'd all misunderstood Gor Ba's true intent. Punishing sinners on Birth's behalf was rely a pretext. What he actually wanted was to kill these Uma people, steal their Umbilical Shackles, disguise the entire tribe as a new generation of Uma Sinners, and then head north to beg the Ulun Herdsn for protection.
Only that way could they survive and endure in an era where one couldn't live without faith.
"But that's blasphemy too, Chieftain!" the tribesn protested.
Gor Ba laughed heartily.
"If blasphemy can keep my people alive just as well as worshipping the gods, then what's wrong with blasphemy?
Besides — the mont we 'inherit' these shackles, aren't we already atoning?"
Those words moved these faithless, desperate survivors. And so, in what had once been the Three Wu Tribes' sacred pilgrimage site, in the hidden chamber of the last surviving Uma clan, Gor Ba led his tribesn in slaughtering the final Uma bloodline to extinction.
Everyone gathered the Umbilical Shackles from the ground, their eyes kindling with the hope of living.
And right at that mont — just as Uma Sinner blood flowed across the tribesn's feet, just as Uma limbs scraped against their lips — Gor Ba suddenly felt his vision blur. Out of thin air, a charred infant dropped from the sky!
The infant didn't cry. The instant it hit the ground, it splashed blood across Gor Ba's face. He was stunned senseless by the impossible sight, but monts later he snapped awake and threw himself to his knees before the infant, prostrating in worship. He summoned every ounce of strength and scread:
"He has bestowed upon us a Holy Infant! He has cast His gaze upon us!
My people — He has granted us a Holy Infant! He has seen us!"
Terror froze on every face. They looked at one another. Then, swiftly, thunderous celebration erupted!
They embraced, they knelt, they wept with gratitude. They believed that under Gor Ba's leadership, they had finally won Birth's rcy — that they had beco a tribe graced by His gaze.
After the fervent jubilation subsided, several devout tribesn approached on their knees, kneeling beside Gor Ba to study the heaven-sent Holy Infant. With trembling reverence, they asked:
"He's a boy...
Chieftain, how should we address him?
And how should we raise him?"
Gor Ba crawled forward two shaking paces. Using the blood of the Uma Sinners, he washed the char from the infant's body, then fixed his blazing gaze on those uncanny, captivating eyes. Summoning his courage, he gave this heaven-sent Holy Infant a na.
"Gor Ba. From this day forward, he is our tribe's new Gor Ba!"
And so, on that day, this wandering tribe of beggars welcod their new chieftain — an infant who had appeared by accident, bestowed from the heavens.
A Holy Infant of Birth.
Little Gor Ba was easy to raise. He never cried, never misbehaved. Each day, beyond smiling, he would simply stare in a particular direction, lost in thought.
Over ti, the elder Gor Ba — serving as interim chieftain — ca to believe that the direction the Holy Infant gazed toward must hold divine guidance. And so he resolutely changed course, abandoning the journey north to seek the Ulun Herdsn's protection. Instead, the tribe set off in the direction the Holy Infant was looking, searching for His guidance.
And so, dragging along everything they'd scavenged from the Uma chamber — relics, secrets, and artifacts — they changed direction.
Much later, the tribe entered the territory of the Dol Federation and, guided by the Holy Infant, knocked on the gates of Dolgod.
At that ti, the Theocracy of Growth was under the rule of a Head of Church of Uda bloodline. When he saw the Umbilical Shackles in the tribe's possession, an instinctive kinship born of ancient blood ties — and an inexplicable goodwill outsiders could never fathom — compelled him to open the gates and settle them inside.
And it was in Dolgod that little Gor Ba gradually grew up.
His childhood held few pleasures. He was quiet and spoke little throughout his youth. But his people were patient and accepting — after all, he was a heaven-sent Holy Infant who had guided them to a stable life. Everyone in the tribe respected him, loved him, and obeyed his every word.
Until one day, the Uda-blooded Head of Church questioned why they had stopped atoning and proposed the establishnt of a Blasphemy Confessional. Only then did the tribe realize that stealing the Uma Sinners' identity ca at a price — and that price was continuing to atone to Him, just as the real Uma Sinners had done, in order to keep their place in the city.
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