"I used to roll the dice.
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes.
Listen as the crowd would sing:
'Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!'
One minute I held the key,
Next the walls were closed on me.
And I discovered that my castles stand,
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand.
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing,
Roman cavalry choirs are singing.
Be my mirror my sword and shield,
My missionaries in a foreign field.
For some reason I can't explain,
Once you go there was never, never an honest word.
That was when I ruled the world."
- Viva la Vida; Coldplay.
It was so long ago when he was forgotten. All the glory went to Amaterasu. She grew plants out of his earth. Gave rise to mankind on his stone. It was she who was praised, while the god of the earth was slowly and surely swept from the minds of the people. The heavenly gods where what the people adored. Things they could look upon in awe and wonder. But the soil and stone beneath their feet was taken for granted, though it provided sustenance for their crops, and metals for their weapons. Though they were quick to curse him when a volcano's fury destroyed homes and fields.
He watched for thousands of years as man grew, grew pleased when they lost true contact with the goddess that so unknowingly mocked him. But small groups retained the power afforded them by the goddess. The connection to the beasts, the magical abilities that made them feared by the other mortals. Many years passed, leaving him alone in his large domain on the Terra Basin. The caves were empty, lonely. He desired companionship. But he could not create life, he could only shape the inorganic.
So, in desperation, he went to the Oina, many, many years before the Ark would fall. He spoke to them in great length, of his status and his plight. Most turned away from his words, favoring the warm embrace of the sun goddess. But a small few decided to follow him, to his own plane, to the Terra Basin. He altered them to better suit their new home, giving them powers that built off the base magic the Oina held, and embedding in each a small part of himself. A stone, holding all that he gave them. But try as he might, his power over the living was limited, and despite transporting their souls and power into the stone, he could only manage to extend their livespan to a thousand years. Much shorter then the ageless rock. So as he cultivated them, watching the population grow, he grew content, but at the same time, humbled, knowing that they would not live long enough for him to grow truly close to any.
He taught these new beings, dubbed the Chalcedoni, all that he knew. He named them each, oversaw each birth, impressed upon them the importance of the earth and the power that it holds. And also how he felt about Amaterasu. In great detail. And they learned hatred from him.
And slowly, the god began to plan. He would move to the top soon enough.