The priests of Utunos came forth boasting of their lord’s strength, saying: "Who among the new faith can rival the Smiling God, who bears the whole sun upon his back? Who can match his chain, whose clink is the dawn and whose strain is the dusk? The world itself rests upon his shoulders, and toil is holy by his endurance. Surely this Forgotten God cannot endure such a burden."
Then Gamasiel answered: "Your god is mighty indeed, but strength is no proof of truth. Let us set before the people a contest, that all may see which god sustains the world."
So the priests of Utunos brought forth chains of bronze, each link thick as a man’s arm. They yoked these to a massive block of stone quarried from the temple’s foundation. The priests called upon Utunos, and the sun blazed with midday fire. The strongest of their order, towers of men and of Northrun blood, seized the chain, but though they strained and sweated, the stone barely shifted. They declared: "See, even with a fraction of his strength, Utunos grants us endurance!"
Then Gamasiel took the chain. He called upon his Forgotten God not with a cry of labor, but in silence, bowing his head. And the stone moved as if it were light as air, sliding across the temple floor without a sound.
The crowd gasped, for there was no sweat upon Gamasiel, no straining of his arms.
He spoke: "Utunos is mighty, but his chain is not eternal. He drags because he is bound. My God is unbound, and He bears all things not with strain, but with will. To Him, the weight of sun and stars is as nothing."
At that hour, the sun dimmed, though it was not yet evening. A hush fell across the land, as if even Utunos himself had faltered in his stride. The people saw the sign, and many of Utunos’ priests cast down their chains and joined Gamasiel.
Thus the Forgotten God won the first of the Ten Contests, not by might of Gamasiel, but by his own might.
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