Of the Goddess' commandments, the first is of the highest import. It is known as the prime commandment, and must be heeded above all others.

The Goddess' word is law, and her law is carried on the wings of the Angels.

From the sky do they fly, on wings of golden silk. The Angels carry dominion over we Humans, and the Goddess over her Angels. The Angels are our protectors, and we their wards. To argue an Angel's word is to argue the word of the Goddess herself. To refuse an Angel is to refuse the Goddess. To denounce an Angel is to revoke one's humanity. Should the first commandment be broken, the soul would wander purgatory for all of eternity. Thus is the word of the Angels, and thus is the word of the Goddess. Humanity has dominion over nothing, for we are Her creation. What need would a Human have for dominion over another of the Goddess' creations?

By the word of the Great Angel Seraph Artimelius, we devout followers of the Goddess are to hereby live by these following lesser commandments. To break a commandment is to sin, and to sin is to be judged. When a Human's life comes to an end, its sin is observed, and a fitting sentence of time in purgatory is given to the soul. Those of exceptional sin will, as if they had broken the prime commandment, spend an eternity in purgatory. Thus is the decree of the Great Angel Seraph Artimelius, and thus the decree of the Goddess.

Harm not the neighbor, stranger, or outsider. Treat all Humans their due respect, if respect is their due.

If a Human brings harm unto another, they are a sinner. Sinners are not to be respected, for they have forsaken the Goddess. To forsake the Goddess is to forsake your self. Wars need not be fought under the Goddess' watchful eye, nor should squabbles evolve into anything more. Humanity has no need for dominion over the Goddess' creations, and thus Humanity need not fight itself.

Give aid unto those less fortunate, unless they have sinned.

If a Human comes across a poor man, that Human should offer the man all that he is able in order to ensure the man's comfort. The Goddess decrees that all men are equal, and thus none should be worse than another, unless they have committed sin.

Relate not with darkness, for darkness gives birth to sin.

Creatures of the dark, no matter how convincing, are born of the dark. The dark is sinful, and distrustful. Light must be cast upon it, in order to drive it away, to prevent it from taking Humans into sin. Those suspected of treating with the dark are to be executed publicly, and sent on their way to judgment for their sins.

Tarnish not the ground with refuse.

To dirty the forests and plains is to dirty the Goddess' image. If a mess is created and left, it will attract the darkness, and so it must be cleaned. If one comes upon a mess another created, they are to clean it in their stead, for they have already sinned by leaving it for others to find, and so will be judged for their actions upon their death.

The rest of the book is rather worn. Many pages are missing, although the ones that can be made out clearly are filled with various heroics performed by humans against the "agents of darkness", as they were named.

"So, that's the earliest version of the Goddess' book. Eventually they changed it a bit to reflect us existing, but we didn't when this one was written."

"When was that?"

"About... thirteen-thousand-ish years ago? Maybe closer to fifteen, actually. There was a really wide berth where humanity was too afraid to do anything that the Angels didn't agree with, so it was pretty stagnant. Then the Angels stopped coming around as often when they were sure humanity would stay as it was. As soon as they stopped, people started 'sinning'. Then, our Queen emerged, and birthed demi-humans. Not literally, mind you. She was just what set the whole thing off."

"I see. Thanks for letting me read it, miss Temnenogray. This is gonna make a great book report."

"Of course, of course. Just omit that bit about birthing, because it might come off a little weird."

(This is actually part of a setting I've been building for a while. Seems a little stock angels-and-god at first, probably, but I'm okay with that. Writing this out was a good exercise. Also, I've never read a religious text before. How'd I do?)