Part One:
His Dream

In the beginning, before even time itself, there was Darkness. And in this darkness, a single presence: Nyx, the goddess of the night and all things found within, Mother of the Sky and the Earth; without her there would be nothing. Our mere existence is owed to the Night itself.Without Her dark embrace, how could one ever hope to see the stars?Her most loyal followers believe in Her all encompassing majesty, including one young astronomer, whose true name has been lost to time immemorial.This young man, whose love of the night has led him to the tallest peaks under the star studded skies. So obsessed was he with the domain of his goddess that he had but one wish in his mortal life: to climb to the peak of Mount Olympus, where only the immortal gods reside, where his luck may be fruitful enough to allow him to touch the stars themselves.For his service and devotion to Her, Lady Nyx allowed him a single request, ignorant to the foolish longing within his young and innocent heart. He asked for Her assistance in this journey, to cloak his ascent in Her impenetrable darkness, so even the gods would not see him.His journey was long and treacherous, for Olympus was not meant to be accessible to mere mortals such as him. In this, his Lady could not help him. He climbed and climbed, his ascent lasting weeks. Eventually, he found himself at the peak of Mount Olympus, within the garden of the Olympian gods itself. Even surrounded by fountains of flowing nectar, trees of golden glowing apples, and flora and fauna never before seen by mortal eyes, this young Astronomer had only one view in mind.Glittering stars, spinning planets visible to the naked eye, so much knowledge previously unknown to the mortal world all lying at his fingertips. How tragic, that he would never be allowed to share it.
Unbeknownst to him, word of his exploits had reached the King of Olympus. As he reached desperately for the stars over his head, fingers about to brush the tip of the Great Bear, the ground beneath his feet began to shake. The air around him vibrating. The branches rattling and the fountains spilling over.A booming voice shook the very breath from his lungs. Zeus himself stood before the Astronomer, a great bolt of light poised in his hand ready to strike, his radiance barely contained; even for the Astronomer, the sight of a god in their full glory was too much for mortal eyes to bear.As the King brought down the bolt upon the fragile mortal form cowering below him, the Astronomer heard one thing before his vision faded from his awareness:“Let this conniving fool wander for the rest of eternity, and let all who regard him know him for the traitorous rodent that he is. Only as a favor for Lady Nyx has your pathetic life been spared.”