And from the ash that was the being It, also known as Chaos, Zebus was born into this world next to many of his siblings.
Its mouth opened wide, magma dripping down and disappearing into the formless chaos below, and the God spoke, adressing the other which had formed alongside it.
I Am Agni, Flamelord. You call yourself Zebus, the Deathlord. Greetings. Why do you appear in the manner that you do? So small and flammable?
Zebus saw Agni's eyes glow a little brighter with the last word.
Zebus floats up to the top of Angi's head and with the shear heat from the other god quickly warms a cup of tea from the nether. So how do you do? And would you like a cup of tea?
What is Cold? And What is Tea? Why would I desire Tea? Is it Flammable?
And before Angi realise, Zebus splashes some of his tea on Agni's mask, watching as it instantly steams away.
That smelled... pleasant, Zebus. I declare that I enjoy this... Tea. But I remain uncertain of this Cold. You say it is not me. But you are not me. Are you cold? Do you wish to be warm?
Agni floated closer to Zebus, and sweat broke out on the other God's brow.
As part of Zebus's kimono starts to char at the closeness of Agni, Zebus moves a little bit aways.
I do not think that I need to be that warm friend. I do believe some warmth is needed all over, but not too much. I personally don't enjoy burning myself!
"Prepare yourselves!" a faint voice called up, its words traveling a hundred leagues if it traveled a foot.
A sharp point, reddish brown, as tiny as its owner, was thrust at the toes of the mighty ones. A prick, a poke, a pierce so small. But again, and again. And, from each wound, a single object grew. Green and long, by the standards of the attacker at least, sharp of edge yet flimsy of body. Against the heat of one, the green blades endured. Against the death of the other, the green blades endured.
"Haha!"
More pricks, and the two gods found themselves standing in a small patch of dense green blades.
"Yield," the tiny one cried out, "and I may tolerate your presence!"
Agni breathed on the grass, and it began to singe, but did not burst into flame. The god frowned.
Who is it who creates so many things which are not hot? Are you the Tealord?
Finally, one last foreboding crack echoed through the universe of nothingness, as a fraction of a fraction of a second later the icy shell burst open, hurling trillions of icy shards in all directions. The shards that reached Zebus and Leaf bounced off harmlessly. No shards ever reached Agni, they seemed to melt away long before touching him. As the white haze in the shell's original position began to fade away, The white-blue figure of a woman peered out from the mist. Her skin resembled that of her own cocoon: Icy and glassy. Yet it was perfect, no cracks, no rough patches, no flaws. Her hair made awkward stiff movements, trying to flow behind her but partially frozen. She appeared to be shaking violently, as her arms wrapped around herself, craddling herself. She lifted her head up slowly, her eyes pulsing a light blue as she scanned her surroundings. With a chattering of teeth, she spoke.
"W-W-Who are you?"
White haze escaped her mouth as she spoke.
"W-Who am I?"
Her voice was soft and calm, although it also sounded a little stern. After asking, she remembered. She remembered a conversation she had never witnessed, never been a part of. Her recollection of it was similar to having read a story, she never saw it, but knew it happened down to the finest detail.
She spoke again, her voice less soft but no less kind.
"Well, I s-suppose i am this c-cold you speak of. I best get used to it."
her arms dropped as she ceased from hugging herself. Upon embracing the cold, she found it no longer bothersome. It did not disappear, she was still very, very cold. But it felt natural. As natural as it was for zebus to be made of that fleshy stuff. As natural as for agni to have that red ooze flowing from his mouth. As natural as it was for leaf to be...well, a leaf.
she thought to herself a second. She remembered the other gods entered the world fully aware, yet she did not. She found this curious, and the tiniest part worrying. Was she of less importance then these other creatures. No, no, that couldn't be it. To assume her position amongst them, she needed a title.
"If you are the deathlord and the flamelord then i must be The Cold Mother...."
What was her name? The title made perfect sense, she birthed cold into the universe, but her moniker? That seemed to escape her. Using the first sound that came to mind, the word rolled off her tongue.
"...Pruinus"
Not fully understanding her own intention, she gestured by outstretching her hand with the palm facing up.
"Pleasant to meet you."
In its hands was a long object, round at its base, where the god held it, and it tappered to a cruel point, which it thrust under Angi's neck. "I said, yield!"
Though smoke rose from around the god's leaf-feet, he did not burn. Truly, he did not singe, for the smoke, as it curled up and around into the air, solidified into blades of grass.
"You will find I am a kind master," the little one continued. "To you, who spoke first, I will honor greatly. Yield, submit to your master, and I will put your symbol in all my work."
The tiny god reached out and a blade of grass uprooted itself and flew to his hands. On that, the first day, grass did not burn: why should it? There was no natural law as of yet to make it so. But in this one instance, as a promise for the future, the god placed the symbol of Angi within its being, and the blade of grass burst into flame, though was not consumed.
"Truly, I will honor you so greatly that fire will be in all my work, to be brought forth by those who know how. But only if you submit. And even after fire passes, life will grow."
The god's head turned to the other two. It seemed perfectly right that a new god would have appeared. As far as the universe knew, that was a regular occurance. Indeed, if the current trend continued, there might soon be a small horde of them. "And to each of you, also, I will honor and give a boon, if you submit and acknowledge Leaf is lord!"
"To you," he said to Pruinus, "I will give you the honor of the glory of primacy. Before you life will hold and bow, and, if you will it, stop growing. For a time, of course, for after your cold passes, new life will grow."
"And to you," he said to Zebus, "I will give you the honor of the glory of commanding life to cease. For a time, of course, for after death passes, new life will grow."
ooc
Slight edit to grammar and to making the offer to Pruinus more in line with that god.
Very Well, little Leaflord. I yield to you. What care I if Life exists after I have come and gone? But this will not do. A gust of air rippled the grass. All things must be, at some temperature, flammable.
More would have been said, but Agni then felt something strange and wrong nearby, and watched with curiousity and a small amount of fear as a new God appeared... one that was very, very different from himself.
You. I did not know what Cold was until you came. You are Cold itself, ColdMother. Stay far back from me, for I will consume you if threatened.
"Leaf, i will accept your offer but i shall add my own terms. Yourself and Zebus represent opposite extremes, as do myself and... our hotheaded friend here. Yet we entwine. Fire can nourish and sustain life, and take it away in a blaze. As can the cold challenge life and push it to death. We four are connected. I will recognize you as an equal, but a superior?....Never. For life to sustain itself, it must improve. to improve, it must be challenged. I will be that challenge. Lives may be lost, but life itself will remain strong."
Again, she held her hand towards the creature.
"Do we have a... promise?"
At around the same time she turned her head towards Agni and gave him a smile both sweet and mocking.
"Don't worry dear, I have no need to hurt you... But are we clear this works both ways? Do me no harm, unless you wish to witness hell freeze over."
Leaf closed his eyes for a moment, and then the grass burst into flame.
"But why should all things be flammable? Do you hold command over that which is not yours, to dictate how it will behave? Will you say that cold is flammable as well? Should I act likewise, and say that all things, at some temperature, must be turned into life? And not just life, but life as I will it? But you have my boon, and all life will submit to being flammable. If more than life will be flammable, that is a matter between you and those things. Though ask, and you will have my support."
Leaf hopped down from the Lord Flamberlain and landed among the still-burning plants. As a show of his good will, he let the fires creep along his own form, but this body remained green and vibrant. He swung his spear to point at Pruinus. "And you, yield as well. You say you are the challenge that will make life strong. Fine words, fine thoughts. But, if you are the challenge to be overcome, then by your own words you admit that life will conquer you! One cannot be equals to a defeated foe! But," Leaf's tone became soft, "one can be friends, and respect might be shared. Come, Pruinus. I shall give you the title of Prime Winister. A lord does not only take. You will have my boon, my protection, ask of me and it will be given. Let us work together, and let order be established. And when we part, I will call the direction you go North, and all the life of the world will be drawn to it but fear it, and will grow stronger because of it."
Agni breathed out a breath of superheated air, and Leaf felt the wave of nearly unbearable heat wash over him, but as the God looked up, Agni was smiling again.
But for now, let it be as you say, and let us bring order to this... The stone mask cracked as the God frowned ...chaos. Where is there to even go?
As for you, ColdMother. We do understand each other, and I respect your directness. Perhaps we could find some common ground. From afar, of course.
"You do not seem to understand, leaf. i present life with challenge, and some of these challenges will be defeated, others will end lives. The children of the fallen will raise up against these new challenges and be able to claim victory thanks to the effort of their ancestors. The cycle will go on and on. When all challenges are defeated, when there is no more place for improvement in all of creation, that is the day i yield to you!"
Her face seemed tense and defiant as she spoke these words. The three of them were born before her, who knows how long they existed together. She recalled her "memory" of events but did their conversations last minutes or centuries? How much had they begun to trust each other. She was born last, she needed to stand firm if she wished to be considered equal amongst them. But she also needed them to trust ther and be her friend. She softened her glance at Leaf.
"But in the meantime i look forward to be your rival, your ally and your friend."
turning her gaze to agni, pruinus smiled again, more sweetness this time but also still a hint of patronizing. "Glad we are agreed. the world is still young, and mostly empty. we can create this common ground to stand on. How far do you think we need to stand from each other?"
Agni's first interaction with her was to taunt and threaten her. Come what may, she would not forget that fact.
"You admit it is a forgone conclusion," Leaf smiled. "Good. Then arise, Lady Pruinus, Prime Winister, with my blessing. With order set, let us think no longer on this matter and be fast friends. Here, allow me to give you a token of our affection!"
Leaf bent down and plucked a flaming blade of grass. He blew on it and separated the life from fire. His hands worked quickly transforming the blade into a pointed leaf, vaguely like himself, but as harsh and sharp as a winter wind. And from its stem three bright red berries grew. From his own fibers her twined a string until a necklace was complete. He laid this at Pruinus' feet, and as he did so a layer of white-blue frost covered it. "Of all my work, those will be in particular dedicated to you."
"As for you, Flamberlain Agni, have you already secured the favor of whatever one controls promises, that you are given leave to burn them?"
What summer-softness there was in the god, however, vanished as he turned on Zebus. He grabbed his spear again and stalked like a tumbling leaf towards the god of death. "And you! Silent watcher! What say you? Will you yield, or does my spear need to find your tongue? Join your brethren, three strong already, and let the law be here lain! A boon I have offered, and now a title as well! Come, Reaping Clerk, and when we part, I will call the direction you go South, and all life will know that that is the road before them. You will find no kinder words than these."
OOC
It occurs to me that we can really mess with the Compass here... if we go in opposite directions... then East and North are opposite one another :D
"Yes, for life is the strongest of all things, life shall overcome all obstacles." Because that is my design, not because i am incapable of defeating you she added mentally.
"Cold and warmth are nought but sensations, without living things to experience them, they couldn't even exist."
Well, at least the fiery one is capable of some interesting designs, Pruinus thought as the blazing sphere traveled overhead. She felt water run down her skin as her temperature rose, she panicked for a second before realizing her body was perfectly fine. She was not melting, but instead water ran over her body as she became hot. her icy hair become more free and flowing under the hot sun. She thought that she may create a similar design to this sun, but not now. She had bigger concerns.
As Leaf had pointed out, Zebus was silent. But was he silent in curiosity, enjoyment... or rage?
She had sworn herself as an ally to Life, right in front of him. Pruinus almost felt scared, and she thought to herself she had best watch her words in front of the physical manifestation of death itself.
Zebus draws a long curved blade of shadow and death. Pointing the tip at Leaf's spear, the two spark- interchanging as the energies clash between them.
We have the fires of passion, and the chilling calm. You say life is the strongest of all things, but I believe otherwise. Death will come. It is a certainy, and when life fades I will be there. The souls of the parted will pass, and from the great beyond, they will rest before returning to life once again. I refute your claim as master.
As the weapons meet in the middle, the energies continue to clash growing larger ever so slowly
AP
4 AP Create greater plane: Zebus creates the twisting nether, also known as The Great Beyond, through the energies pouring out from him by his edict.
1AP Donate to Ascend god through conflict with Leaf (if so desired)
Non-AP: Life/Death cycle starts here! (can be changed via more fluff or use of AP)
4 AP Create greater plane: Zebus creates the twisting nether, also known as The Great Beyond, through the energies pouring out from him by his edict.
1AP Donate to Ascend god through conflict with Leaf (if so desired)
Non-AP: Life/Death cycle starts here! (can be changed via more fluff or use of AP)
This will not do, ColdMother. The Flamelord rumbled. We must separate them somehow.
Agni opened his mouth, and Magma flowed from it, coursing downwards and forming itself into a sword of molten rock, which glowed brightly against the darkness of the night.
I have no Hands. You will have to do this.
Agni willed the sword towards Pruinus, and watched as the heat of the sword cooled as it left him and approached the chill of the ColdMother. Eventually, just before it reached her hand, the sword cracked and broke to pieces, tumbling down towards the chaos below.
Agni watched the pieces fall for a moment.
Must you always be so Cold? It is inconvenient, ColdMother.
"Or yield, and have a purpose."
The god turned away from Zebus. He had no fear of the other god, for death had rejected its own claim on life. Instead he turned to Agni. "A wonderful creation. Marvelous. Does it just go the once, leading the way, or will it return? Does it go around the world, or does it go back and forth?”
AP
Non-AP: Leaf removed life’s role from the Life/Death Cycle. Or will this require the expenditure of AP?
I’d love to take you up on the ascend god AP offer, Joran, but doesn’t seem right for the story, just yet.
I’d love to take you up on the ascend god AP offer, Joran, but doesn’t seem right for the story, just yet.
It goes around this thing beneath us that lacks and form or structure. An orb of Chaos is not much to be inspired by, Master, but I have lit it and heated it just the same. If you will wait a while, it should reappear.
I take offense with your action just now, Mighty Tiny One. You have insulted your foe by turning your back on him. Apologize.
Leaf glanced over his shoulder at Zebus, but he spoke to Agni. "I would agree with you, but he is not a foe. I offered him the chance to have death be a part of life. He takes offense at my offer and wishes to fight. If he wins, then death will have no part in life. What will be left to him? What will death do, if it doesn't end life? If he wins, he ruins himself. To be a foe, he must have a chance at a desireable outcome."
The flames within flared.
Apologize, make recompense so he does not continue to strive to destroy you. I like this idea of your creations worshiping me, and would hate for anything to happen to them, flammable as they are.
Agni's gaze caught up Zebus as well.
You have had a misunderstanding, and want the same thing. Zebus, apologize for attacking, and Leaf, apologize for treating Zebus as beneath your concern.
You do not consider me a foe, yet we cross blades. You did not wish to attack me yet you drew a weapon on me first. I do not wish to destroy him Flamelord. He will prove useful in the future, but I will not acknowledge him as my master either. For now we are equal in strength. Just know that one day it may not be so.
Pulling out a cup of tea from nowhere, Zebus takes a sip while thinking.
You said you offer me purpose, yet I already have one. You claim to freely offer something, yet you cannot offer life to something not living, for that would make an unlife, an abomination. Remember, there are more than one way to win.
Then the sound faded away and her attention drew itself to the conflict arising between Leaf and Zebus. She turned herself to the fragments of the sword crumbling. With movements both akin to a bird desperately evading its predator and a dancer performing a complex routine, she flung her weight through nothingness and dived towards the crumbling fragments. As she was face-level to them, her mouth exhaled that same icy white haze amongst the pieces, creating a zigzagged bridge between the pieces, forming a unconventional sword. Cold Ice, Intense Magma and a third, more neutral substance composed the sword. Floating back upwards, she held the sword outwards threateningly not at Zebus or Leaf, but Agni.
"You said you respect my directness and you shall have it. I am unconvinced that Life and Death should be allies. What would be more benefical to life, to hate and strive against death, or accept it as a fate set in stone? I see the need for both life and death, and for myself to play my part in.both. Yet I am unconvinced the two need to accept each other as such."
She released her grasp of the sword and allowed it to float back to Agni. He played his part in its creation and despite the seriousness of the situation, she would not fight him with his own work.
---
AP - I donate the necessary AP needed to create Onus as part of my actions, sharing the effort with Agni.
1 AP Donated, 6 Remain.
OOC
Show
The beginning where Pruinus hears something is meant to be a reference to Primal Spirits awakening in the world as the last tiny remains of The First as it is a domain I wish to claim soon. However, any other suggestions of what this could mean storywise (Perhaps other gods whispering to her) are very welcome.
Angi watched as the blade came towards him, and the icy portions of it began to melt. He stopped its travel by his will, and sent it back towards Pruinus, where the magma began to harden and crack. Back and forth the sword went, but neither Agni nor Pruinus could hold it.
Agni studied the blade, and noticed for the first time the bits of stone which acted as insulators between the ice and magma, allowing both to co-exist. An idea sprang to mind.
We cannot work together, ColdMother. Your creations cannot stand my Heat. But perhaps if there was an intermediary.
Angi drew the sword to him and scavenged off the power that Pruinus had placed within the ice, adding it to the power he now drew from the magma itself, using both to crush the insulative stone together into a compact ball, filled with divine power. As if cast from a mighty hand, the stone ball was thrown upwards into the dusty heavens, and as it traveled, it grew larger and larger as the dust of Creation accumulated around it. Eventually, it reached its peak, and began to fall back towards the gathered Gods.
2 AP (1 from Pruinus) Ascend God: Onus, God of Stone!
3/4 AP remaining
OOC
all the bold talk was getting hard to read: is it okay if I just bold names?
Looks pretty dead to me. He said.
Show
I'm pretty much the same, Pen. I just do it in bold because I thought it was what we had to do. I'll probably carry on just to match the others writing styles.
OOC
Those were actually meant to be holly, and just frosted, not dead, but I love your interpretation far more, James.
Show
Why thank you pen. 
OOC
I am laughing to myself as last game, I, as god of Life, vehemently argued that Death was not the opposite of life, but that not-life (aka, inanimate matter) was. How amusing that now I am going to argue that Death IS the opposite, and is ALSO not-life :D
Leaf grabbed a piece of grass and balled it up in his hands until it was a single seed. He threw it up into the air, high, high, almost to Pruinus's knees, and there it hovered. Potential life, but not life yet. It waited for cold to complete it.
"History, dear Agni, distinguishes that rock from a thing which has died. That which has died was once alive. That rock was never alive. But let us imagine that you are right, and that that which is not alive must inherently be dead. I see no lord of the dead here. Only Zebus, the lord of death. Death is a single act, a moment of transition, the passing from being alive to being dead. Zebus's opposite is birth, then, as that is a transition from not-life to life."
Leaf took another piece of grass, this one still burning but not being consumed, and rolled it into a ball as well. He threw that as well, though the seed barely reached Agni's calves (if the god had had calves). That was a large god, no doubt there.
AP
2AP offered to Pruinus to create cold life (I was thinking ice elementals/archons).
2AP offered to Agni to create fire life (also thinking fire elementals/archons).
You'll note, of course, that generally elementals and archons are immortal.
3 AP remaining
2AP offered to Pruinus to create cold life (I was thinking ice elementals/archons).
2AP offered to Agni to create fire life (also thinking fire elementals/archons).
You'll note, of course, that generally elementals and archons are immortal.
3 AP remaining
"Strange isn't it? All this talk of life and death, like we know so much of it. Yet we four beings are all that exist, to our knowledge at least."
Pruinus choose not to mention the...other sounds she heard earlier. She could be shunned for hearing such things. Or worse, maybe the others heard them too, and her being the only one to admit to such would leave her at a tactical disadvantage in this game of life and death they were playing.
"We have yet to witness a death, and I doubt us four encompass the whole spectrum of what life is and can be. As for your offer, for now I must decline. We have but a blueprint and a theory of life before us, but barely any true experience to go by. Go, create your own life, and I shall watch over them and test them. If I am pleased with how life nourishes and raises to our challenges, then I will gladly breath life into Cold myself."
She did not know how Leaf might react to this, but she'd rather endure the wrath of a god then the guilt of creating life only to suffer.
Agni caught up the seed of Potentiality in a warm current of air and raised it to his eye.
Now, what to make from this.
You who act so high and mighty, making it a privilege for there to be dead. If things never died, then nothing would progress. There would be no need to. Everything would be stagnate. Pruinus would not need to challenge mortals, for they wouldn't attempt it. They would succeed anyways eventually, or not. There is no motivation. Agni's heat would no longer warm them, for they wouldn't need it. They just wouldn't die if it was there or not.
You wish to witness death Pruinus, then I shall show you: Zebus grabs a berry from the sprig and no sooner than he touches it, that it starts to die and wither away, to return to dust again. That is death. When life is no more, then only death remains. I don't seek to conquer life, I seek to balance it.
Zebus blows the dust from the berry over to Leaf and the berry starts to grow again in Leaf's presence.
From life to death, and from death comes new life. That is what I wish.
She wondered how her companions might react if she were to start working on the planet this instant. Or simply declare her winter now. Such thoughts amused her, but she know they were reckless. She sensed this squabble slowly coming to an end and told herself to be patient. She could manage that. At least a while longer.
The littlest god turned to Agni, craning his neck so he could look at the glowing mask of a god. "That is a seed: the smallest part has a blueprint for the whole. I had thought that perhaps it might create servants for you. Beings of fire and form. But take it, think on it, and make changes according to what pleases you."
Then Leaf looked at Zebus, and there was sorrow in his eyes. "Yes... I was a fool, to think you were ready. Zebus, lord of death... you have defied your betters. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you would keep these barren realms, much in need of a flood of life and fire and ice, in the horrors of a meaningless balance! You are unworthy of your powers, you're unworthy of your domain, you are unworthy... of the devotion of those you have rejected! I now separate you from life!"
Leaf reached out towards Zebus. The other god's sword, a long curved blade of shadow and death, flew out of its sheath and into Leaf's hand. Thorny vines spouted from his arm and twisted around the blade. Unaffected by its blade, the plants squeezed, and squeezed tighter, until an unseen part of its very essence cracked. "In the name of the ordered world and the natural law, I, Leaf, lord of creation, cast you out!"
The vines retreated from the sword and the blade it flew back at its master, and the flat of the weapon slammed into his chest, pushing the god back a few inches. But the little lord was not finished. His eyes were as hard as thorns as he reached for his lance. He threw it at the ground before Zebus' feet. Its fire-hardened tip, from when he had threatened Agni with it, sparked on the barren stone, causing a shower of embers to spread between then. Where each ember landed, lightning reached up to the sky. When the light faded, an army of beings stood between Zebus and the other gods. Leaf’s own spear had been turned to dust in the process.
Each creature shone with fierce light. They had two arms each, and a head, but no faces. Great wings spread out from their backs, and their lower halves tapered into wisps of essence. In every hand was a sword or shield. And they were all pointed at Zebus.
"These are the guardian angels. They will protect all life from your thieving touch. Go, now, and think about how meaningless one god, alone, is. "
Leaf turned to the other gods and said, "Shall we go about our work, then? There is life to create, fire to build, frozen lands to craft."
[sblock=AP]
3AP Populate Populace: Guardian Angelsare immortal servants of the gods/Leaf. They're tasked with preventing Zebus/Death from interfering with life. Even though they aren't planar beings (yet), if one of them is fatally injured, they're teleported to wherever Leaf is with 1hp, instead of dying. He heals them, gathers information, wipes the memories of their most recent life away, and sends them back out into the world to continue their work.
Non-AP: Leaf makes it so that living creatures are like extraplanar beings, too. They don't die of old age, but when they would normally die either from age or injury, they're instead teleported away with 1hp remaining. The creature is then reverted to an infant version of its species and placed back into the world elsewhere. Plants are turned into seeds, for example. Animals would be reverted to embryos or eggs or whatever. The memories and skills of the old life are there, but suppressed. I'm not spending AP on this because it's meant to be temporary, lasting just until Leaf and Zebus make up, but let me know if I should spend AP instead.
Non-AP: Leaf makes it so that life develops and adapts to its environment within a single life. Like the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics, except a single life form never dies, and it can amass these acquired characteristics to the point where evolution happens to it itself. I didn't spend AP because this, to, isn't meant to be permanent, just lasting until Leaf and Zebus make up.
2AP remaining
[sblock]
What right do you have to unilaterally decide such things, Tealord? Agni fumed, bright eyes glaring down at the tiny God before it.
I do not appreciate the notion that one day you may decide that I no longer have a place in your perfect creation, Leaf. What you do with your Life is your own business, but I am just as much a part of Creation as you are, as the ColdMother is, as the Deathlord is, even if you deny it. An army of servants does not make you more right than before.
Agni took a few 'steps' away from the others. He and Pruinus could not work together, that was clear. Leaf grew more concerning with every word that came from its mouth, and Zebus... had already made enemies. Agni hovered on the edge of flight away from the others and towards the rising Sun, waiting... for something.
"You and Pruinus have no need to fear them. If you but ask it, I will give you authority over the guardian angels and make them answerable to you."
EDIT
Leaf glanced over at Zebus, behind the line of angels. "When my anger over his offense to Pruinus fades, and he comes to his senses, perhaps then he will join us. On that day, I will replace distrust with trust, anger with love, banishment with embracement, dishonor with glory. It is my deepest wish that death and I not be estranged, but I cannot dictate his behavior."
He turned back away and saw a large, winged, stoney creature. "Look, lord Agni. That appears to be a new creature, not of any of our devising. Another god, perhaps. It is rude of us, not to go greet him."
At Leaf's comment, Agni looked upwards and saw a new God above them, made from the selfsame stuff as that which he and Pruinus had fashioned.
Hail, StoneLord. Agni shouted upwards. Come down and meet your creators.
Her she was, watching over her children squabble and bicker. Yet, in her time here in this place with them, she came to accept them as her own children, and they were family. She didn't want to see her family separated and torn apart. Life & Death may not have to get on with each other, but she feared should this conflict get any more intense she would be forced to intervene, or witness one or both of her children be slain.
And if Life & Death went to war, she would have to pick a side. She didn't think she could do this. She didn't like to contradict her earlier comments, but she had only intended for Life & Death to be rivals, not sworn enemies ready to tear each other apart.
"Leaf, calm yourself dear. Zebus meant no harm to me or our creation, he was merely demonstrating the ideals of his concept. No harm has been done."
She couldn't blame either of them for their stubborness. She herself only agreed to work with Leaf under the condition they are treated as equals.
Pruinus focused for a second and felt another sprig of Winter Berries in her palm.
"All that was lost was a fruit, so easily replaced. Had he meant us harm, he would feel my wrath also."
Pruinus also gazed up to the new creature before them.
"Yes, let us speak with our new friend. And please, try to be civil. We don't want our new friend to see us capable only of drama and conflict."
She gestured towards Zebus.
"You shall come too. Leaf does not have to approve, but I consider you my ally."
Reaching forward with the berry inbetween her fingers, Pruinus crushed it above his cup, letting the juice pour into his tea, changing the colour every so slightly, adding a dark reddish hue to it.
"Please. Taste for yourself how sweet fruit born of co-operation and respect for one another can be."
OOC
Show
I, urm, assume it is within Pruinus' capablities to create Winter Berries if she desires, or is this exclusive to Leaf?
Command Land 1AP: Create mountain ring and valley.
6AP remain
He turned his head -- though, on one so small, it was hard to tell -- towards Pruinus. "If you ask it of me, I will consent to parlay with him yet again. But before you ask of me, I would ask something of you. He rejected me once, and I would have walked away, leaving him to his own devices, if it had not been for Agni. Zebus rejected me twice and insulted you -- you say he did not offend, but the slightest insult to you wounds me to my core -- and I have cast the last trace of him out from my domain and would leave him to his own devices. If I give him a third chance, and if he again rejects me, what then? Will you then support me in my wrath?"
The mighty Onus then descended to the planet and introduced himself. Leaf, tiny, oh so tiny before this mountain, strode forward seven steps and inclined his head with the proper amount of respect. "Greetings, Onus. I am Leaf. This fiery face is Agni, the Lord Flamberlain, and this icy lady is Pruinus, the Prime Winister. We are the elder gods. He behind us, who'll perhaps yet have his worth judged, is Zebus. I do apologize that the onus was on you, oh Onus, to introduce yourself. Will you forgive and dein to join us in our work in this world?"
The race intensified as they rocketed toward their goal, and soon they began to spiral. Faster. Faster. Faster. The dust and motes of creation appeared and vanished far behind them into the darkness. But suddenly, they felt… something: A pull of terrifying strength that clashed the twins together, only for them to ricochet off the other in an attempt to escape the fell clutch. They turned towards the other in midflight and summoning their fledgling strength, sent waves of force like a wedge between them. They bounced and struggled as they flew, but the distance between them was surely thinning. Faster. Faster. Faster. They had felt joy, and now knew only horror at the inevitable.
The rocky mass loomed into sight. A speck at first, it then swiftly enveloped their vision. There was no distance between them now, and they felt the first wave of anguish as their bodies fused at the fringes of their essence. The planet drew closer and closer, grew larger and larger, and the twins felt themselves enveloped in light…and each other.
A warped scream echoed into the ether and, having no boundaries in the darkness, was lost forever.
Hours? Months? Centuries? Only Seconds?
He felt consumed with pain-a pain that was as integral to him as his deific essence. It coursed through his misshappen body at the terrible pounding of his twisted hearts, and defied his commands that it stop, or at least fade away. He also felt...
something. An innate and horrible wrongness with his whole being. He would scream, but he felt soo tired-so sick. Things moved and pulsed and convulsed within his body, gowing into boils and cysts that seemed to churn with thier own life. Then the sickness took one pair of his eyes, dragging it into the depths of film-ridden blindness. Sores grew into patches of grey and black within his mouth; the tounge of his other head shriveled and grew dry.
He scrapped his hands over his body, rending flesh from his back and tearing open scabs and growths alike to let the pus ooze freely.
He shook with agony, and with sickness, and even more from dread.
OOC
Sorry Crimson, my God is kinda a jerk, at least right now.
Leaf you made these creations. An army for them to command. And they are a faceless army. Let us give them a face shall we? And maybe a will!
Zebus turns himself into a mist and passes through the entire army, and in the blink of an eye, he reforms in front of the gods. The guardian angels once faceless, now slowly start to sport features upon their faces. Upon those faces, emotions start to run as they now have thoughts and wills of their own as the souls in their bodies start to burst forth.
Your creations, may be guardians, and I may be a god of death, but I am not thoughtless. I have only given them two things: a soul, and a face to reflect it! Maybe they can teach you all what I can not!
Now, my fellow beings, I bid you farewell for now. Onus, I wish our meeting wasn't as eventful nor as short as it may be, but maybe one day we can sit and chat, until then, farewell!
AP
2AP command: As Zebus flew threw the faceless army, he imparts a soul and a gives them faces to show it (ie: emotions)
1AP command: Free will: as Zebus continues to leave his mark upon the other god's army of angels, what he doesn't tell them is that he also gave them the ability to choose, or free will.
2AP command: As Zebus flew threw the faceless army, he imparts a soul and a gives them faces to show it (ie: emotions)
1AP command: Free will: as Zebus continues to leave his mark upon the other god's army of angels, what he doesn't tell them is that he also gave them the ability to choose, or free will.
His eyes don't move off of Leaf as the sword hurtles toward him, but at the last moment one of his wings snaps out and the sword of magma slams into it, leaving a thin rivulet of magma running down as it slides slowly off his wing and into his outstreched hand below. He stands as he looks down at the sword with seeming disintrest, the magma churning and flowing though it still held its form. The skin of his hand pulsed slightly with the power and veins of glowing red began to appear in them. Your heat quickens my pulse, FlameLord. What is this purpose you would give to me?
secret whisperings
You are not truly alone, Deathlord. Come and find me later. The Lord Leaf presumes too much.
This new creature seemed pleasant enough. He seemed honest at least, but in a less bothersome way then Leaf's mockery of leadership and Agni's threats and grumbles.
Pruinus sighed at the blade in Onu's wing.
"Truly Agni, was there any purpose in testing your theory on our new friend himself? He could have been hurt, or broken."
She looked down at the ring of mountains on the planet. She liked the shape and configuration of it very much. However, she believed she could add more flair to it.
"Onus, I presume these mountains are of the same hardiness of yourself. Let us see how they withstand the burden of cold."
Pruinus snaps her fingers once, causing mighty glaciers to burst from the earth's surface, stabbing into the mountains, their jagged edges grinding into hard stone, clouds of dust raising up into the atmosphere. As the dust cleared away, the glaciers that had torn through the mountains had appeared to have been creating with intent; the south edge of the ring had mountains and glaciers supporting each other to create a sharp tower of ice and rock, causing the ring of mountains to somewhat resemble a crown or a tiara. From such a great distance, the glaciers even resembled glistening sapphires upon this "Crown"
"Hmmm, these mountains appear to be quite stubborn. Well, now we have a glorious structure to crown our planet. It is starting to look somewhat more attractive I believe."
---
AP Command Land - 1 AP to create a ring of glaciers around and inside the mountains themselves, positioned in order to make the ring of mountains to resemble a crown.
1 AP Left. ( I seem to be spending these a little fast)
OOC
Show
It had always been my intentions to create a ring of icy mountains and glaciers atop of the planet which resemble a crown, and have this as the region which Pruinus has the most control of. @Crimson Vampire: Apologies if you do not like what I have done with your creation, and feel free to state so to Pruinus or destroy the glaciers outright if you wish.
OOC
It sounded like we could also RP non-gods, right? It looks like there wasn't a special requirement in past games, but let me know if I'm doing something wrong.
"Leaf?! Stop this at once!!
Surprise crossed Leaf's face as the angels cried out, then confusion as the angel's charged Zebus. "Stop," he shouted to them. Pruinus hadn't needed to urge him so: their unexpected behavior was itself a cause for intervention. A few paused angels paused at Leaf's command and looked back at him, their faces covered by their hands. But, then, they deliberaly turned away again and attacked the god of death, hounding him as he left. Concern replaced confusion. "Pruinus, they will not listen to me. Zebus must have broken my control over them, but you try. By order, I hope he wasn't crazy enough to break your and Agni's control as well."
The goddesses ice-spears impailed angels right and left, but as was the order of life, they vanished and appeared next to Leaf. But before he could do anything, they rushed out again to harry the god that had wronged them.
As Leaf mulled the matter over in his mind, anger replaced concern. "That fool. What did he do to them?"
However, a smile broke through his anger. "I wonder if perhaps I have taken that one too seriously. He said that maybe his changes could teach us something. If he spoke truly, then it seems that he was trying to teach us how to laugh."
However, as Onus spoke, Leaf turned his full attention to him and listened with eager... well, leaves don't really have ears, but if they did, Leaf would have listened with eager ones of those. With the rock god's fine words, Leaf nearly lept with joy. "Thank you, dear Onus. If you would join us in building up this world, then I will devote myself to your welfare. I have no glory beyond that the glory of you, Pruinus, and Agni. Your enemies will be my enemies, your friends my friends. If there is anything you wish of me, you have only to ask and it will be given with both hands."
As Zebus was chased near Agni, the Lord Flamberlain spoke to him. It was clear that Agni wished to not be overheard, and Leaf wished to respect that. He took a step away and hummed to himself loudly, so that no hidden words might make their way to his... well, again, leaves don't have ears. He trusted Agni completely.
"What am I?" He knew what he used to be; once he had been Azazel and Go'El. But they were not him.
As he spoke, a putrid liquid leaked through the holes in his lips and cheeks, spilling and then seeping into the cracked stony layers. He felt his essence deep within the rock shake and boil in parallel with his pain. All around the basin, the ground moaned, shook, and then split open. Geseyers of noxious fluids spewed forth, raining the basin with sulfur and fumes.
The sickly god felt his taint spreading, seeping further and further, farther and farther. A panic gripped him. He had no idea who he was, what he was, or what could have over-powered a god. But there were others, of that he was sure. He had heard them, thier cold words and quick footsteps. He felt a pang of hope, fighting its way through the knotted flesh of his body.
Perhaps they could answer his questions. Perhaps they would welcome him. Perhaps they could even heal him.
Or perhaps they had made him this way...
And the pang in his chest suddenly knew the company of hatred, fierce bile-tasting hatred. Either way, he would not let his corruption get out of hand, yet. He dug his hands deep into the earth and pulled at the roots of the stone, cracking and shaking the basin. Piece by piece, the stone sundered and snapped and finally tore away. The colossal earth mote floated upward, away from the rubble that fell from the sides of the pit to fill it with gravel and boulders. Azazel/Go'El poured his power into the earthmote, tying it to him, and vanished with it into the ether.
OOC
Create Plane (2 AP): The Godcrater. 5 AP remaining.
Sparing only a moment to direct a withering glare at Leaf, Agni quickly moved next to Zebus, and the smell of burning angel filled the air as the Flamelord lashed out with streams of liquid fire, burning his way through the angel masses.
STOP! he shouted at the Angels, who simply ignored him and continued trying to reach Zebus.
Still fighting as angels scrabbled over his form, trying to reach the God of Death and overwhelm him, Agni reached out to the seed of power given him by Leaf and drew it near, dancing it up and over the sea of bodies until it hovered above Agni himself.
And then Agni willed it to burn.
The seed burst into flame, and the flame spread, fueled now not by the small amount of matter in the seed itself, but by the divine power that Leaf and Agni had both imbued the seed with. It spilled past the physical boundaries of the seed, and grew in-place in the air, larger and larger until a massive bonfire blazed over the heads of the angels and Gods. The fighting slowed as the angels looked upwards, uncertain as to what to make of this new thing above them. And then the flame began to divide itself as beings of flickering fire and light dripped from the bottom of the bonfire like some strange sort of paradoxical rain. In form they were reminiscent of the Angels... no legs to speak of, just a broad base of fire that roared and crackled around a thin upper torso from which long, dextrous arms and hands flickered in and out of existence. The rain of fire continued to fall, and soon a circle of the beings surrounded Agni and Zebus and a small number of Angels. Angi spat magma and those angels died, reappearing next to Leaf along with a pile of other angels who cried out for their God to heal them so they could go and fight once more. One angel, with murderous rage in its eyes, charged towards Agni,but instead burnt up as it crossed the line of fiery beings and appeared next to Leaf once more in excruciating pain. A quiet settled over the impromptu battlefield and Agni glared at Leaf.
We will speak more later, TeaLord. I do not think you know what you have created here. Agni shouted over the flames.
Agni turned to Zebus.
GO. The God commanded, moments before pushing upwards away from the surface and speeding away towards the rising sun. As Zebus also departed, the beings who had protected them seemed to flicker and fade from sight, transforming into tiny sparks that danced away into the sky, but Agni could feel them following him.
3 (2 from Leaf) AP: Populate Agni'Vohda. Fire Elementals who are servants of Agni, but can and do serve others and do have some degree of free will. Not natural warriors, they are, instead, designed to be saboteaurs and assassins, able to vanish into a single spark of fire or transform into a roaring elemental blaze at will.
2/4 AP.
Do you see what you have done? Can you now see what you have created?
And with that the swarm overtakes Zebus. Stabbing and continueously until Zebus no longer moved, and even then some still stabbed and slashed. His essence long since left his now dead body and gone into the great beyond just like he commanded it to when he made it.
His dead form lays there shredded and torn by Leaf's merciless killers for all to see and witness.
He wanted to not waste another moment on Zebus, as every moment spent on him had been a waste, and move on with life. Perhaps a little heartless, but Leaf never claimed he had a heart. However, in memory for the honor he would have given to the fool in life, if he had been allowed, Leaf waved a hand and grey grass appeared over the body, decomposing it, turning it into dirt. Black flowers sprouted. As the angels dispursed, the breeze from their parting causes the flowers to quiver, and they looked a little like a small man in a black robe and a round hat walking through the grass. But in the breeze, they produced a horrible screach, like that of the angels Zebus had mutilated, warning mortals off.
"Now Mighty Onus," the god said, turning away from Zebus's entirely self-inflicted tragedy, "those are interesting things. May I ask what they are?"
AP
1AP Nourish - Leaf creates the twilight garden, the only place in the world where odd flowers in the shape of men grow. They are highly poisonous, and can quickly kill anyone foolish enough to pick them despite their hideous warning screams.
0AP remaining
1AP Nourish - Leaf creates the twilight garden, the only place in the world where odd flowers in the shape of men grow. They are highly poisonous, and can quickly kill anyone foolish enough to pick them despite their hideous warning screams.
0AP remaining
Azazel/Go'El stood at the base of the crater, and moved his gnarled hands through the miasmic fumes let loose by the many geysers. The thick clouds gathered together and surrounded the god.
"My siblings, where are you? Show yourselves." he whispered. The clouds rolled and stretched out before him. Wisps of smoke took the forms of mountains, and glaciers, and gods that towered over their creation. Echoes of thier words, raspy and distant, were spoken by the wisps. The smoke shifted and danced in copy of the gods' movements and motions. Suddenly a legion of wisps appeared arrayed next to the tiniest puff of smoke. Azazel/Go'El was taken aback. "How many of you are there? How could so many escape my noti..." But there was an essence within them, and it was decidedly different from a few that stood among them. They...were nearly powerless in comparison. "They-they are not gods. Weaker. Smaller. But what else could there be aside from deities? Can such frail things exist?" A multitude of thoughts swam within his mind, but for every thought there were twice as many doubts.
East he flew, towards the rising sun, which glinted off of a large expanse of shallow water, for just as there were no mountains on this world, neither were there trenches in the oceans. Eventually, the God tired and descended towards the surface of the ocean, feeling the spray against him and burst to steam. Agni decided that he did not much like the water, but that it was better than the cold, for the water could at least be hot.
Agni settled just over the spray of the water, staring down into the depths. He thought for a long time, and kept coming back to the same points. Agni felt alone. Zebus was dead, Leaf was a megalomaniac, Onus was an enigma, and Pruinus was, obviously, completely alien. Had there not been a ravenous swarm of Angels now given free will and a poor grasp of their emotions on the loose, Agni would not have cared about his state. As it was... the vision of Zebus being pulled back to earth danced in Angi's memory, looping over and over and over.
I shall create a worthy ally for myself. One who is not an intermediary, but who is my true child. He declared to no one in particular.
Angi sucked in a great breath of air, and blew downwards. The water was pushed outwards by the breath, and soon a flat plane of bedrock, something near ten feet down, was exposed, with a ring of water towering over it on all sides. Agni blew, and the air began to rotate, pushing the water back without his needing to maintain it. Agni then fashioned with magma a hand and then a hammer. Agni dropped both into the middle of the land ringed with water and spoke.
Arise, Son of Agni. You must be strong to survive, my child. You have one hour. Create yourself. If you do, I shall claim you for my own and be your Father. If you do not, I shall let the waters claim you. Your time starts Now.
Agni opened his mouth and let out a thin stream of Magma to provide the hand and hammer with raw materials to work with, and waited.
2 AP: Ascend God: Thereus, God of Magma! (Work fast.)
Caustic bile dripped menacingly from his lips.
"And they betrayed me."
He felt the hatred within him nearly swallow his hope, tearing the muscles and ligaments of his body apart. Azazel/Go'El felt a terrible itch from his sores whixh still splatered and secreted blood. His hands furiously tore his skin apart, bursting cysts like geysers. But his eyes lay fixed upon the smoke.
He continued to watch, transfixed.
The storm intensified, lightning tearing violently across the sky, flashing rapidly in all directions, doubling, forking, over and over until the sky burned and thunder rolled forth in an ominous fury. The earth cracked, tearing itself asunder, leaving loong jagged scars across the bains as the surrounding mountains threatned to crumble under the strain. And then, as abruptly as it all began, it all ceased.
The moment of stillness afterwards seemed all the worse for the cacophony of light and sound that had just abated. Below, the stone rippled like water as a single point began to rise skyward, a figure emerging from the stone until he stood in plain view of those above. He turned his gaze skyward upon the gods who remained. "I have risen, he who shall bring that which is needed. Let it begin now."
A single wave of his hand and the heavens cried and where those first blessed drops fell, grasses and shrubs filled the basin with their vibrant greenery and the mountains wept for the fallen god, filling the great gaps in the earth with water.
AP
1 AP - Command Land - New rivers rush from springs in the mountains, flowing into the cracked earth and forming a deep cold lake at it's center beneath Marcus.
1 AP - Nourish Land - Rain falls within the mountain basin and shrubs and grasses begin to grow. These plants are simply normal wildflowers, shrubs and trees.They life and die naturally as is the natural order..
1 AP - Nourish Land - Rain falls within the mountain basin and shrubs and grasses begin to grow. These plants are simply normal wildflowers, shrubs and trees.They life and die naturally as is the natural order..
But as the angels departed she saw that she could not help.
Wordlessly, she stared the gods broken and torn body for what could have been an eternity. She knew she should not feel sad for his death, yet she could not help feel anguished.
Still silent, not muttering a word to the other gods, she departed them and strode down to her crown of ice she had created. She sat atop the highest mountain for hours, contemplating what she saw.
Had he really died? COULD gods die?
She sat longer still. Finally, she picked herself up and strode down the mountain a little, until she reached a point where the glacier had stabbed through the stone. She softly pressed the plam of her hand against the glacier, and cracks appeared in the ice, forming a door 20 feet high at her command. Upon opening the grand doors, she found a large, spacious hall carved into the glacier. As she had wished, dotted around the room where pillars of ice, around five feet high.
She focused for a second, closing her eyes. Upon opening her eyes again. On each of the pillars was a perfect, flawless ice replica of the gods she considered family.
Onus, Leaf, Agni and herself were represented in these ice sculptures, each in a dramatic pose fitting their personality.
She carved each of them a epitome, pointing her finger at the pillar below as the ice screeched.
Onus
Onus sculpture depicted the god sitting down, his arms wrapped around his knees as his wings uncurled.
Agni - The Flame Lord
Choosing to show a more favourable side of Agni, he appeared to be laughing comically as lava dripped from his mouth onto the pillar surface, supporting the rest of the sculpture.
Leaf
Leaf's pose portrayed him holding his spear with two hands, brandishening it forward as his face contorted, his lips forming the word "Yield"
Pruinus - The Cold Mother
Pruinus didn't know her to portray herself without appearing too humble and meak, whilst avoiding the opposite extreme of appearing arrogant. As such, she decided on a simple pose showing her mid stride.
Amused slightly, she stood on a pillar next to the scultpure of herself and pulled the same pose. Were anyone to be watching, they would have great difficulty telling the two apart. After all, the others were sculptures of their true forms, this was basically a mirrored version of herself.
Laughing to herself slightly, she became grim and foreboding once again as she stepped to the far end of the hall, pushing open another door that she had commanded to exist. The room in the hall ahead was a lot smaller, and only contained one pillar in its centre. She hoped that is all it would ever need. Shutting her eyes again, she crafted a great sculpture of Zebus, with the epitome below:
Zebus - The Death Lord.
His sculpture showed his lighter side, hunched forward slightly sipping from his tea with a grand smile on his face.
As she solemnly left the hall containing Zebus, the doors closed behind her as if pulled by ghosts. She pointed at the doors again, as words engraved themselves on these doors.
Herein are the Lords Of Creation, although perished and defeated, their legacy remains on all things, and they live on in their creations.
Again she walked out of the main hall, the doors creaking shut behind her.
One last time, she engraved words upon the doors with the will of her mind.
The Halls Of Creation
These halls house monuments to the Lords Of Creation, the patrons of the universe and of all things.
She knew not why she had created these halls, she had no plans to tell anyone of them. Mainly, she supposed it was a way to pay her respects to Zebus, the fallen god of death. Perhaps one day someone shall discover them, and marvel at the monuments to her allies.
---
AP - 1 AP spent command land
Pruinus has created the halls of creation, a monument to all the gods of creation, dead and alive. The halls are magically protected and resistant to most damage, although this does have limits.
OOC
Show
This will probably mark a period of isolation for Pruinus, she may not be interacting with other gods for a little while.
"But Why?" he whispered. As he spoke aloud, the fumes drifted gently apart, floating into the sallow skies of the Godcrater. Rivers of toxins poured out from the bubbling, hissing pools and fountains. Sweeping dust and gravel, the wide rivers formed a lake of swirling grays and suflurous yellows. Azazel/Go'El walked down to its edge, staring at his distorted reflection.
"Power, of course, but...something else?" There was a long silence, only broken by the crashing of the rivers on the rocks. And then, he understood.
"Jealousy."
His working eyes lit up with rage. The pool in front of him boiled and frothed at its bank.
"They were jealous of my place!! Of my power!! They hated me and together sought me DEAD!!"
The Godcrater shook, and the skies darkened with the billowing fume-clouds. The hatred within him froze. An icy sensation, heavy as stone, clawed its way across his body, conquering and subduing with no resistance. The rumblings of the ground quieted, and the quakes became trembles. The pool now only bubbled.
He knew what to do. And how to do it...
And so the Hand raised the Hammer and here under the light of the lifegiving sun the Smith made himself. The hammer fell time and time again as the essence was hammered in to Substance, Substance was made it to matter and matter was made in to glorious life!
It was so that within an hour, The Smith arose from his Anvil. Shook his head and sparks flew in all directions from his long, curly hair. He had the form of a giant of a man. Skin the colour of sot, eyes burning with the very fire of his Father and a long, gray beard. He wore nothing, for there was nothing there to hide.
The Smith stood there beside his anvil and breathed. His eyes were closed..and a thin smile rested upon his lips. It was..good to be alive...and there he remained. His father could wait after all.
You have worthily created yourself, my Son. Have you a name?
" My name is, Thereus, My lord Father. I am the first Smith. Lord of Magma, future architect of hidden places...and your son as well."
He stomped on the ground and the earth broke apart as a sudden stream of magma broke through and threw the Smith up in the sky so he could meet his father's gaze.
" You...are different from me, father. Why did you make me like this? Why are you fire..and I this? "
He clenched his free hand and slammed it against his chest.
Clang.
" Why did you made me? What is my purpose? "
The Smith looked at him, puzzled, young..and clearly quite confused.
Thereus, SmithLord, I did not create you, you did. The only answer to why your form appears the way it does lies within you, for I merely told you CREATE, and you fashioned yourself like this.
As for your purpose, my son, it is twofold. The first is to Create, for that is your primary command. What you create is for you to choose, but we are to be the Lords of your creation.
The second purpose is to be my son. To by my ally and bodyguard as I am your lord and protector. We are not the only Gods, Thereus. There are others, the ColdMother who may choose to destroy us if we grow complacent against her icy self and the TeaLord, whose thirst for power knows no end, and who has already slain one of the other of our number. There is also the StoneLord, Onus, yet he is the child of the ColdMother as well, and your half-brother. I am unsure as to whether or not he can be trusted.
These are your purposes, and these are the conditions for your divinity. And so now I ask you, Thereus, Smithlord, my Son. Do you swear to uphold both of these commands of your Father?
The others had all left. Even the angels had gone their way. Leaf was alone.
He put his arms around himself. He didn't like being alone. He walked over to Zebus' burial mound and watched the deathblooms grow. Being where another god had been, even if that god was dead, made him feel a little better. Not so forsaken.
Had he done right?
He certainly hadn't wanted Zebus to die, or even for them to be at odd. He'd asked Zebus to join with him, for death to be an honored part of life. Why couldn't he have just accepted?
When Zebus refused, he'd been angry. But he had tried to remove himself. Agni had kept him there.
Agni.
Leaf turned and looked at the fading sun. He worried that Agni didn't like him. Was it just fire's way, to be uncaring? Or had he offended him? He gave him a title, he gave him a place in Life, he gave him his power, he gave him command of his angels. Did it not matter? Would fire just take everything it was given and still want more?
Alone on Zebus' grave, Leaf shivered. It wasn't because of the cold. It wasn't cold. Pruinus had left.
Pruinus. Did she understand? He didn't want to be in charge. He was just meant to be a leaf tumbling in the wind. But when he had seen the gods talking and nothing getting done... well, the world needed order. It needed to be built up. Someone has to lead.
Leaf didn't think that should be him, but no one else had stepped forward. He had even asked them all if they wanted to lead. He didn't blame them for not wanting to. It's easy being just a group of equals: you don't have to worry about the welfare of everyone else. You can be free to be selfish.
"No," Leaf said out loud. "I can't doubt myself. They can't believe that I'm capable if I don't believe it."
The god sighed. He might not be the best leader possible, but he was the best that the world had at the moment.
As he exhaled, the deathblooms moved in the breeze and let out their warning scream. Among them Leaf saw something. Zebus' sword.
"I am sorry we couldn't be friends in life," he said to the grave. "I would have made you part of life. I would honored you above everyone else. Everything I am, I'd have given to you. Why couldn't you admit that death follows life?"
Leaf picked up the fallen god's weapon. He closed his eyes and whispered to the universe. "I rescind my laws."
All life paused for the briefest of moments. "Death follows life." Leaf opened his eyes, and his original intent was put into place.
"You didn't allow me to honor you in life, brother," Leaf said, "But I will honor you in death. I will make your memory what it should have been." Something in the essence of the sword repaired itself.
Leaf drew the sword and spun in a circle. Shadows across the world moved and absorbed into the blade. Control over death.
He contemplated leaving it on Zebus's grave, but that could be dangerous. The imbalance that the end of the ancient progenitor had caused meant new gods were arising in the world. This weapon was too potent to leave unguarded.
Pruinus, perhaps. She might like that. A challenge the power to overcome life. What better way to motivate life to improve?
But she might still be mourning. This wasn't a time to disturb her. Leaf hefted the blade, dozens of times larger than himself as it was, and put it over his shoulder. He turned away for the sun and began to walk away. He'd call this direction west, he thought.
As he walked, he began to sign a tune.
"Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you."
And as he sang and walked away, the universe was stretched.
AP
Non-AP: Since Zebus isn't there to object, Leaf rescinds his laws that made death an unnatural end to life, and instead enacts what he had wanted from the start: for death to follow life and be the honored end to it. The angels retain their uniqueness, however, since AP was spent on that and I'd assume Ap would be needed to change it.
Non-AP: Unwilling to leave the death domain just free floating, Leaf puts it into Zebus's sword and carries it with him, with the intent of giving it to Pruinus when next they meet. Since Zebus is pretending to be dead, I'm assuming he doesn't prevent this from happening. Since AP isn't being spent, I'm assuming also that he can recall it whenever he wants.
Non-AP: Since Zebus isn't there to object, Leaf rescinds his laws that made death an unnatural end to life, and instead enacts what he had wanted from the start: for death to follow life and be the honored end to it. The angels retain their uniqueness, however, since AP was spent on that and I'd assume Ap would be needed to change it.
Non-AP: Unwilling to leave the death domain just free floating, Leaf puts it into Zebus's sword and carries it with him, with the intent of giving it to Pruinus when next they meet. Since Zebus is pretending to be dead, I'm assuming he doesn't prevent this from happening. Since AP isn't being spent, I'm assuming also that he can recall it whenever he wants.
These shall be Galeb Duhr... and they shall be blessed of the Stone-Steeped. The earth shall be theirs to command. And Onus smiled. Hmmm, this place has too many... Others. The Galeb Duhr must have a place of their own. Rising up to his full height, he turned around and examined the valley, noticing the changes that had occured to his landing spot. And in turn noticing the newcomer.
Welcome to you, Bringer... I am Onus. One among Many. His eyes briefly return to the spot where one of the Others had fallen before returning to the new one. I hope you find peace. Then he stepped over the mountain ring and with a mighty stomp, the earth cracked and shuddered, sending up a string of mountains that lead away from the world crown as far as could be seen.
Turning to his creations he spoke, Come, and find a home for yourselves among my footsteps. He took to the sky and with his sword of magma, he struck the mountain chain repeatedly as he flew down the line. The result was a land of high peaks and deep gorges. Rivers of lava flowed through the deepest reaches. Occasionally a volcano was found in the stretch. Upon reaching the end, Onus returned the the world crown and grasping one of the glaciers, he tore it from it perch and flew back over his new creation, crumbling the ice as he went, dusting the tall peaks with ice.
Having reached the end again, he sat and rested. He called out his blessing upon the creatures that followed after him, seeking to cross the great chasm with the stone powers he had imbued into them, just to find their maker at the end. Some may fall, but they shall remain as stone... The ones who continue shall honor the ones who came before... The ones who come after shall be blessed by their predecessors and shall be plentyful. His wings curled about his form, enfolding him and leaving his form to look much like the rest of the chain of mountains.
AP 3: Populate Populace - Galeb Duhr
AP 2: Command Land - Create a treacherous chain of mountains for the Galeb Duhr to call home
AP 1: Nourish Populace - Galeb Duhr shall become plentiful
AP remaining: 0
whispered in Leaf's ear: So you can learn!
A darkness creeped over upon the blade of the massive sword and a heavy weight was placed upon it.
It was a potent promise. But more than that, it was an invitation. As Leaf's voice faded into silence, the Deathblooms shook and quivered, then, one by one, began to burst, small, silent explosions of bleak petals and black seeds, sowing the fallow garden with the promise of life-to-be. Reaped from their flowers, the Deathbloom petals danced lazily through the air.
The invitation was a subtle one. There was no earth-shaking maelstrom, no raging impact of stone and godflesh, no glorious confirmation. One moment, the Garden of Twilight was empty, and the next, it was not. What petals remained found their tumblings suddenly altered, swept up into a lazy cyclone around the garden.
A divine wind took hold of the grasses and barren stalks, raising their many voices into a single, susurrus of a word:
Sssssssaaaaaaa...
The figure appeared on the outskirts of the angels, just within the sight but always obstructed and indistinct. The curious ones strained thier eyes. Could it be? they wondered. It was probably nothing more than a glimmer off of the glaciers or the movement of a shrub in the breeze...
...but what if it wasn't?
There were four of them, four scouts in different mountain passes. They would see the smallest sliver of a kimono and rush to the bend along the hillsides, only to find nothing. And when they were ready to turn around, the faintest whisper of a familiar voice begged them to look one last time. The farther they went, the sharper the figure appeared. But they also became more and more uncomfortable with their loneliness. Every rustle drew a double-take, every cloud of dust was suspect, and every turn along the mountain was almost there. A pair of eyes were always watching.
The angels, wracked with paranoia and an intolerance of the unknown, finally came to the summit of the mountain. One by one they encountered the others. They shared stories of the elusive figure, and in doing so became dreadfully certain of their fears. Leaf must know at once.
They were about to take off when they heard the Deathlord call out to them, "And they are a faceless army...Do you enjoy the faces that i carved into you?" Zebus stood before them, swordless and still blood-stained, but more confidant than he did before. The angels drew thier weapons and charged their quarry. A malevolent gleam flashed in the eyes of the god.
As the angels crahed into the god, he disapated into a thick, noxious haze that surrounded them. They struggled and slashed at the haze, but one by one they were restrained by a deathgrip about thier throats. A sudden wave of pain washed over them, as if some inborn link had been severed. All of them were drawn close together, close enough to see the fear in each others' eyes.
The haze condensed, then vanished. Only the cool glacial air and the scent of rugged wildflowers remained.
" You gave me tools and materials. My current form is therefore your responsibility as much as my own. Notheless I think...do have to thank you, Lord Father. To be able to form my self was a good gift. "
Thereus merely looked as his father spoke. His face merely a mask of iron showing no emotions at all as his father brought judgement upon the other Lords of Creation.
" I...swear that I am your Son. I swear that I will honour you and protect you, Lord Father. Furthermore I swear that my creations will all live and cherish the fire and the heatness that dwells beneath the ground. "
As he finished his vows, he turned his back to his father and looked out over the world. It was a fair one even though there was not much to see. There was much potential there though and he already knew where to start.
" Father, I desire to be alone for a while. I want to see this world of ours and perhaps...make a few improvements..."
An eager grin appeared on God´s face as he prepared to throw himself out in the world and break it apart!
Very well, my Son. Let us explore what there is to see of this world, and perhaps begin the tasks of Creation that we have laid out for ourselves.
And with that, the Firelord began to head south over the waters, as the place where Thereus had built himself was covered up by the returning ocean.
Azazel/Go'El looked down into the depths of the pit with his working eyes; at its base was a churning, bubbling pool. Collums of reeking steam billowed outward. The angels were limp now, exhausted. The god raised one of the angels next to his mouth and whispered to it, "Zebus gave you something else, aside from your faces. I want to see it." The angel was slammed into the ground, knocking stones loose that fell into the dark pit. The god then plunged his bloody hand into the essence of the angel. It screamed and writhed and stabbed the god's arm over and over again. The other angels quivered. Thier cries had turned to whimpers.
His hand took hold of something. A twisting essence that was akin to a god, and at the same time nothing alike. The god's eyes lit up.
"So this is what a soul is..."
He gathered the soul in his fist, and crushed it. The angel screeched with a cry that would haunt the Godcrater for decades to come. The god threw the other angels to the ground and with his fell reach, broke thier souls apart. Their horrid screams were almost musical to him. Azazel/Go'El tore open a cyst upon his hand, and let his tainted blood pour into the pool. He gathered the soul fragments and cast them also into the pitt. The pool began to seethe and crash chaoticly. The toxic waters, now a blend of flithy, sickly browns and crimson, stuck together like thick, heated tar.
The god lifted the angels into the air, and cast the husks into the vat.
There was the sound of limp bodies hitting tar, and being dragged under. There was a long pause...
The god shook his heads. The angels had been too frail; even their bodies had been consumed. They were worth nothing anymore. A waste.
Azazel/Go'El turned and began walking back towards the bubbling lake. he needed to think, and to plan. But then he heard a sound, a sound unlike anything he had heard before. A dry, belted shriek that echoed from the rim of the vat. The sound of scrapping stone and slipping tar. The god looked back.
A taloned hand, half covered in new blood and tar, reached out of the billowing steam and grabbed hold of the stony edge. Then rose a face, hidden in scarred and malformed bone. The lean creature pulled itself out of the pit. It had wings, still wet with filth. Then anouther pair of hands emerged. Azazel/Go'El nodded, "You are frail no longer."
More and more of the creatures arose from the pit, then took to the polluted, yellow skies of the Godcrater. The screams of the angels, still ringing, were meet in harmony with the warped shrieks of the twisted creations.
Azazel/Go'El walked down to the lake's edge and began construction of his fortress-palace on the toxic lake, the creatures circling overhead.
Every culture has its own account. Some say it entered that, when Death refused Life, he created discord. Others blame Fire's fickle loyalty. Still others say that evil always existed.
What do I say? I say that scholars talk too much. Evil's in the world, what difference does it make?
***
As each of the prime gods left the crown, they pulled at the universe. Does it exist, if it hasn't been experienced? As the gods went out into the world, the act of seeing expanded what was.
They pulled against the center. And, in particular, one little mote of existence, at the very center of it all. They pulled, and the atom couldn't resist. It split.
Fire and smoke and light rose high into the air above the crown. A tight funnel of heat forced the smoke upwards, where, when the air was cooler, it overflooded, giving the explosion the shape of a tree or mushroom. As far as the gods had gone, the force of the explosion went farther, and the light of the blast burned against their skin.
As the explosion cleared, everything seemed normal. The earth was unchanged, the plants unscorched. Except, just off center of the explosion, there was a figure. It was kneeling,
It stood up, and if anyone had been watching, they'd have seen perfection. However, if those watchers would have compared notes, they'd have discovered that they hadn't seen the same thing. What they had seen was absolute beauty... as they thought beauty should be.
What did the god that arose, Artun, see when he looked at himself? Since there was no mirror present, that is a tale for another time.
However, there was one other curious thing about the event. If there had been a watcher who saw this god's birth and hadn't been captivated by his beauty -- there wasn't such a being, but if there had been -- they would have seen a small whisp of shadow, as small compared to Leaf as Leaf was compared to the largest god. This wisp vanished quickly, vanishing under the mirage that was Artun.
AP
3AP: Create Exarch - Artun, god of vanity. Artun has no set physical form. He appears to each viewer as the most pleasing visage imaginable. Even if there are three people present, he will appear to each as best pleases that individual.
4AP remaining
3AP: Create Exarch - Artun, god of vanity. Artun has no set physical form. He appears to each viewer as the most pleasing visage imaginable. Even if there are three people present, he will appear to each as best pleases that individual.
4AP remaining
Sa was not sure what to make of this other being - for Sa saw itself in the formless body of Artun, and vain though Sa may have been, it was a simple thing to realize that there was only one Sa. The flower petals seemed to jitter angrily at this persistent trickery, but held their tongue.
The simplest conclusion was that this god was responsible for the garden, and so it would only be proper for the gardener to invite him in. As suddenly as they had appeared, Sa's petals blew awayfrom Artun, retreating a comfortable distance away. They gave off a strong sense of deferrence, as they waited to be called out or identified.
phew! I never thought I would ever escape that place. Its a little boring until he learns and things start dying, if it ever happens... I wonder where we are going?
The sword lightly pulses a small bit of energy. Just small enough that Leaf wouldn't notice, but large enough that an inquiring mind would. Maybe that will get things rolling?
As it writhed and struggled to free itself, he peered into it's face. "What is this? It seems almost similar to my own work, but it moves of it's own accord and seems to think it is important."
As it stopped moving, he dropped it to the ground, only to be surprised as it vanished from sight. He growled. "What trickery is this? I want that creature back. It dids not have myh permission to leave."
Spotting another angel in the distance, he willed himself across the distance in the blink of an eye, snatching it up as he had the other. Pulling it close, he glared at it. "Where did the other one go?!" Yet, again he found his efforts for naught as the power of his voice from such close range flayed the creatures flesh from its body and it vanished from his grasp. "They vanish when death comes for them. Is that how this works? This time, I shall follow them."
Marcus turned and snapped his fingers at another angel in the distance, causing it to shoot across the distance into his grasp. Squeezing it's throat, he watched intently, seeking the spark of energy created at the moment of death. As the poor angel's mind slowly clouded over, it began to vanish and he secured that moment for himself, stealing the ride and flitting through existence leaving the angelic corpse behind.
With a crack, he popped into existence and immediately went on his guard before the small god with the large sword with two near death angels at its feet. Feeling a pulse of energy, he grinned beneath his helmet. "What are you? And I think you should deliver that sword unto me. I can feel it calling, calling for others to take it from you. You do not deserve it."
------
The first true death. The corpse lie silently on the ground, unmoving and unliving. Then eyes opened once more. It was dead, yet it was not. It did not know now what it was. Climbing from the ground, it began to wander blindly, seeking things unknown even to it.
Actions
3 AP - Populate Populace - Angel of Death - From the body of the first mortal death trises the Angel of Death. These immortal servants (currently servind Marcus, Will likely be granted to Zebus later) are couriers of souls, buiding the depated into the afterlife. However, as a side effect of how they were first created, they have a distinct dislike and distaste for Guardian Angel, often seeking them out and using their unique abilities to kill them in the honor of their creator. To Angels of Death, killing a Guardian Angel is an unmatched religious experience. To make matters worse, each Guardian Angel killed has a small chance of being revived as an Angel of Death.
A brilliant flash.
A wave of hot air.
A push of force shoving him eastward.
Agni blinked as a cloud of light expanded from northwest, near where the four Gods had once met. What had Leaf done now?
Agni lowered himself to the earth and hovered over it, waiting for any other divine pyrotechnics.
Story (Thanks, Thought): Before time and thought and memory there was the ancient progenitor. In him all was balanced, and yet he was impotent, unable to act. With strange aeons, this one crumbled and died, producing the barren world and the first four gods, Zebus, Agni, Leaf, and Pruinus.
Zebus and Agni were first born, but Leaf demanded mastery over all. Agni yielded, thinking it a joke, and a misunderstanding between Leaf and Pruinus made the little god think she had as well. But Zebus refused, claiming death was equal to life. Eventually, Leaf attempted to cast him out. He created the guardian angels, to protect life from Zebus' thieving ways. Pruinus sought to turn little Leaf's anger aside, but Zebus meddled again in life, giving guardian angels faces and free will. The first expression of their new will was to execute the god for his transgressions despite the intervention of both Agni and Pruinus.
During this time a fifth god arose, Onus, master of stone, created to act as a bridge between Fire and Cold. Onus created the mountain range called the Crown, which Pruinus decked with glaciers. Unbeknownst to all, a sixth god also came into being, Azgo, whose twisted form made him angry against everything. He twisted guardian angels into foul mockeries.
The Four-Now-Three parted ways. Agni went east and raised a son to be his ally, Pruinus north where she created a hall in the memory of the gods, and Leaf remained for a moment, to create a garden to commemorate his fallen brother, vow to honor him, and to secure his sword and essence against usurpers. With those in place, Leaf headed west. Sa, lord of promises, awoke from the committment Leaf made there.
Marcus, god of order, also awoke, and resolved to order the universe.
As the prime gods left, they pulled against the universe, causing an atom at the center to split, producing TASOE in a large explosion. The Ancient Spirits of Evil quickly constructed Artun, god of vanity, to hide behind. Sa convinced Artun to turn angels into humans, and the flower god provided sustinence for them.
AP: AP resets to 4 for everyone EXCEPT: Sa, TASOE, Thereus, Marcus. You guys keep your AP till next week's reset.
A gust of petals swirled around him for a moment, then retreated. That was an odd behavior for inanimate objects, but since the swirl remained still, the god started to think that it was alive. And, if it was alive...
"Ar you alive," he asked, and then followed that up with the most pressing question on his mind, "Is that what I look like?"
"Not bad, I suppose. You could use to be a little fuller in the corolla, you know. Your sepel need a tuck, and it looks like someone went far too heavy on the bilateral symmetry, but, all in all, not a bad first form for me."
Artun whirled his petals closer to the other god. "What do you think? How do I look?"
Sa's petals fluttered, then abruptly aligned to a 45 degree angle. It was a quizzical expression. The petals hummed for a moment, thinking.
"I do not know. Perhapsssssss better to say only that I exissssssst."
The petals relaxed and resumed their placid spiraling.
"Asssssss to how you look -- monotonousssssss."
And Artun realized what Sa spoke was true - the two of them were composed of little else than Deathbloom petals: Black, odious, and oily. But then, the Garden of Twilight had not exactly lent itself to variety.
Sa's petals rustled once more, as something occurred to him.
"Did you hope to look like something elssssssse?"
The flower was old. It's end time was drawing near.
That made It sad. It had bound itsself to that flower in the early days, shortly after Zebus had vanished. It had guarded the flower ever since. Not that there was much to guard against in the world. But in the peaceful time, It had learned every petal, every leaf, every fleck of pollen, of that flower. It stood between it and gusts of wind, when such arose, to shield it. It went down to a river to fetch it water when it was thirsty. It wasn't an exciting life, but it was a fulfilling one.
That wasn't why It waited, though.
Through the grass an abomination crept. More work of Zebus, no doubt. It looks faintly like an angels, but it was wrong. As wrong as death. On that, both It and Other-It agreed.
The moments slipped by, and Other-It spoke calming words to It. They had to wait until just the right moment. Just as it was distracted by the flower...
It rose up from the underbrush like a prayer. Sword in hand, It charged. It screamed the ancient scream, the cry of agony, the cry that Zebus had taught them. It was the shout against injustice.
Other angels arose from their hidding places and descended on the corrupted one. It was over in a moment. When the odds were one on one, an angel was likely to fall. But fifteen on one? None of the angels had even been hurt.
The creature wasn't dead. That was a special punishment, one that It hoped to someday truly give to Zebus. No, it wasn't dead. It was cleansed.
A guardian angel arose from where the monster had fallen. Freed from the curse, its second soul returned to the first one, which had been left in the husk, confused, and tormented by alien powers.
From far behind a mask of leaves, weaved together, was passed forward. The restored angel gladly accepted it and put it on. Cheers rose up. A lost brother/sister had been returned to them.
It smiled, though no one else could see, hidden as it was behind his own mask. But it was short lived.
The flower had died.
Freed from his obligation in this world, It turned south. Perhaps it was time that It took up service with Agni... no, he was too hot-headed. Pruinus might be better. Yes, Pruinus.
[sblock=Ap]
1AP - Nourish Guardian Angels: Their numbers expand. Additionally, the guardian angels gain the ability to turn others back into guardian angels. The chance of this happening is relatively higher, since it's just returning something to its (more) original form. However, that is balanced by the fact that generally guardian angels don't hunt other angels, and are themselves somewhat weaker, being a race broken by Zebus. More guardian angels are likely to fall to others in the first place.
3AP remaining[sblock]
Zebus' sword was on the ground next to Leaf. The god himself was bent over a seed, fiddling with it. He almost agreed to Marcus' words, but stopped himself. He had thought that the words had come from his own self-doubt, not someone else. He could express doubts to himself and, perhaps, a close advisor, but not the common rabble. They had to see him as a leader.
"Oh!" he said, shocked at the sudden appearance of someone else. The seed was done, and he tossed it in a pile. Several piles surrounded him, and many more were scattered around the forest floor. Each had a little sign next to it, labeling what the pile contained.
"Oh?" he asked. He looked the other god up and down for a moment. The other seemed a little disheveled and, more importantly, young. He was not one of the elder gods.
"Oh," he said, turning to look at the sword itself.
"What time is it?" He waved at a tree. A section of its trunk separated itself from the rest, but the tree thumped down and healed itself. No harm done. The disk of wood flew to Leaf. He hummed as he reached for a different disk that was laying nearby. He inspected them side by side for several moments, and then pointed at a ring on the older one. "I completely lost track of time."
"I do wish I could stay and chat, but you didn't make an appointment ahead of time, and it seems I am almost running late."
Leaf hefted the sword back onto his shoulder, and as he did so, Marcus could see that a little tag was tied to it, and that on that tag was written the name of the ice goddess. "If you want to talk, then you'll have to walk."
The tiniest god headed north, stepping between piles of seeds. There must have been thousands there. He set a brisk pace.
As he walked, he assumed that the other god was following, and he began to respond to his questions. "Of course it's calling. It started shortly after I promised it that I would give it to Lady Pruinus. I do not know the extent of your education, but she is one of the elder gods. This sword is from a different elder god. Which means that, even if it wasn't already on hold for her, I couldn't give it to you. It would default to anothger elder god. There's an order to follow, you know. Can't go around doing things just because you want to."
Leaf paused for a moment, thought, and then resumed his march. They soon left the god's forest behind. "Pruinus is not as much of a stickler for rules as I am, though. She might be willing to give it to you. Might not. Can't say, but if you want it, she's the one to talk to."
As west gave way to north, Leaf asked the other god, "Do I know you... you seem familiar... Have you made any plants lately?"
OOC - Raven
Sorry, Raven: Artun isn't exactly the best conversationalist in the world. But, then, vain people seldom are... But if it's any consolation, Artun can be a punching bag, either physically or verbally, if you so desire.
Sorry, Raven: Artun isn't exactly the best conversationalist in the world. But, then, vain people seldom are... But if it's any consolation, Artun can be a punching bag, either physically or verbally, if you so desire.
Sa considered. It knew of at least two others, but it was rapidly concluding that this one did not truly care for an honest answer, so Sa felt no reason to waste time on the truth.
"There are no othersssssss. None to admire your beauteousssssss form, none to strive to reach towardsssssss your divine perfectionsssssss."
"None to live their livesssssss in despair, trapped in futile questsssssss to achieve a mere modicum of your gloriesssssss."
Sa's petals altered direction, and "leaned" in, conspiratorially.
"It seemsssssss that you should have worshippersssssss, yesssssss? Suplicantsssssss to cling to your every word and action, followersssssss dedicated to fulfilling every one of your needsssssss?"
They..and their actions made him..eager though. Eager to get started with his own plans. He needed land to start them of..and as of yet the world's surface seemed to be largely unclaimed. The problem was though that there were other God's up there. Small Gods that quarreled with each other rather than doing something useful and productive. God's he did not want to share a world with.
Therefore he decided to make a world for himself hidden away from the Others. A world hidden in the darkest dephs of the world. The Smith proceeded to dive in to the ocean, swim down to the place where he had been born and from there he began to dig himself a hole down to the world's centre. Sealing the entrance after him with magma, there in the darkness he would be able to work undisturbed..there his creations would be left alone..and there he would forge the tools necessary for a God such as he.
The swirl of petals that were his appearance paused for a moment, as if listening to something, but there was no noise that Sa could hear.
"Yes yes, don't worry about that," Artun stated inexplicably. Realizing he wasn't alone (it was hard for him to remember that other people existed when not directly interacting with him), he cleared his throat (an odd noise to come from a swirl of petals, to be sure), and looked around.
There was water and shrubs and flowers around, but no creatures. At least, not that Artun recognized at first. There were odd... things in the place. Standing fairly still, hovering, really, over random bits of plant life. Artun would have thought that these were just more, stranger, plants had not a dark creature stalked into the crown and killed one.
The god blew over toward a still standing one and saw that it had a somewhat pleasing form, but it's face was covered by a mask. He reached out, pulled it away, and recoiled in horror.
"Good me, what happened to its face? It's hideous! It's unimaginaably repulsive! It's... it's... not me!"
"Did you make this?" he asked Sa, though he hadn't bothered to find out its name, yet. It hadn't yet occured to him that other creatures might have names, and even if that had occured to him, the fact that he should care enough to learn them was as of yet still beyond him.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you should try better. But," Artun said as he leaned in closer, careful to avoid the travisty that was its face, "these creatures do have potential."
"Come," he commanded the angel. "Worship me!"
It looked over at him, shrugged, and continued its vigil. "Bah, they have no appreciation of beauty. What they need is a little longing." Artun touched his nose knowingly, although the motion was somewhat lost on a swirl of petals that had neither nose nor hands to touch it.
Artun grabbed the creature forcefully and tore it in half. The result was... messy. However, Artun raised his hands in front of him and intoned: "Come, Ancient Spirits, transform these deformed husks into worshippers worthy of me!"
Whisps of smoke stretched out from the swirl of flowers and wrapped around the messy pulp that had been the angel. The two halves were made whole, and more. Instead of beings of vapor and essence, they were given blood and bone. And legs, too. The single soul in each half reacted differently to the power that surrounded them, shifting the body to suite their preference. Bigger here, smaller there, and ... Artun was entirely lost as to what was going on over there.
The faces, too, were changed. Instead of the gross caricature of over-expressed emotion, they were given a degree of subtlety.
"There, now, worship me!"
The two humans looked at Artun and saw perfect beauty. They fell down to the ground and worshipped him... well, that one on the left sort of fell to the ground, and sort of stood up, too. Artun was entirely lost as to what was happening there.
AP
3Ap Modify Populace: Create Humans. Artun turns guardian angels into humans. Yay! The residual divine energy lets these first ones see the gods, although that will vanish as soon as it isn't convenient for the story.
1AP remaining
3Ap Modify Populace: Create Humans. Artun turns guardian angels into humans. Yay! The residual divine energy lets these first ones see the gods, although that will vanish as soon as it isn't convenient for the story.
1AP remaining
Sa retreated, then "knealt" close to the mortals. They needed help if they were to survive, these worshippers of Artun's.
A single resonant note emerged from Sa, and a shockwave of new growth expanded to fill the regions surrounding the Garden of Twilight. Thousands of flowers sprouted, grew tall, blossomed, withered, and began again, all in a matter of moments.
Eschewing words entirely, Sa pressed its conciousness into the minds of the humans.
For food -- the humans were bombarded with images of edible plants and flowers - brocolli, cauliflower, and the like
For drink -- a singular vision of the darklustre flower, which could be brewed into a potent darklustre lager
For cloth -- pictures innumerable of Flax, Cotton, and their ilk.
For worship -- one last searing image of the 'Artun', a strong, hardy flower who's petals bloomed into a mirror-like sheen, which shone with the perfect reflection of whomever held it in their hand.
As the tide of flowers shook the region (and sent a magnificent cloud of petals and seeds high above the mountains), Sa took the opportunity to shed the petals of the Deathbloom for a more varied selection.
That done, Sa reached down and plucked a pristine Artun from where it was blooming, and proferred it to its eponymous namesake.
AP
1 AP - Nourish: Dozens of species of useful flowering plants spread throughout te regions surrounding the Garden of Twilight. Nearly every one can be brewed, eaten, milled, processed (cloth / paper), or otherwise used.
1 AP - Command: Humans develop agriculture, making good use of the flowering plants, and cementing their continued survival around the garden (for now, anyway!)
5 AP remain
1 AP - Nourish: Dozens of species of useful flowering plants spread throughout te regions surrounding the Garden of Twilight. Nearly every one can be brewed, eaten, milled, processed (cloth / paper), or otherwise used.
1 AP - Command: Humans develop agriculture, making good use of the flowering plants, and cementing their continued survival around the garden (for now, anyway!)
5 AP remain
"Oh, and thank you for providing for those worshippers, I guess. It's good that they wont starve, right? Gives them longer lives to worship me."
Then, a thought occurred to Onus. If the disturbance was the moving of Stone, then perhaps his creations could assist him in finding its source. He knew where it was not coming from, but he was not of this planet. The Galeb Duhr were formed from the very land here though, and may be better suited to a task such as this.
Launching himself into the air he flew over the mountains, stopping a little less than halfway through the trip. There. There was one Galeb Duhr who was farther than the rest. Landing beside the mountain that held the little figure, his voice boomed out, You have traveled farther than any... What is the name you are given, Galeb Duhr?
The small voice replied, I am called Cumbrous, O Great Mountain. It is an honor to have you appear before me, though my journey is not complete.
Cumbrous, I decree that the direction of your journey be... changed. Somewhere out in the world... stone is being moved, on a grand scale... not by my hand. It is... curious, and I desire to know it. Gather a band of fellows... search out this disturbance, then call to me so that I may find you.
As you command, Stone-Steeped creator. I shall obey and honor your commands.
Then Onus returned to the world crown, curious to see these strange new disturbances.
AP 1: Command Populace- Seek out Therues' cavern.
AP remaining: 3
Sa noted peaks of ice intermingled with those of stone, and wondered of their purpose. But that proved the extent of Sa's curiosity - for there was truly little of interest within the crown itself, other than Artun, the Garden, and itself.
When a great stone gargoyle crossed the lip of the mountains, Sa took notice, and its petals swarmed forward to meet this new entity.
He finds it odd that petals are swirling about him and immediately turns his attention to looking for Leaf as the source of such oddities. But the only Other that he sees here is another stone figure. Large, when compared to the angels and these, softer beings that are now inhabitting the area, but still small compaired to him. He wonders at the power of only one Other to have created so much change. Standing motionless, he studies the scene before him...
The littlest god continued, unconcerned. Vines sprung from the ground and cracked the stone, splitting it so that he could pass unhindered. "But a little patience, and you will at least have your chance." Leaf knocked on the doors of Pruinus' hall, and the sound echoed throughout its deepest reaches. "We're here."
AP 1: Partially Ascend Urru. If wanted, feel free to claim both AP from Onus at least until Sa is in to back up the promise of the other AP. That way Moondoggy can go ahead and post.
Remaining AP: 2 (1 until Raven responds)
He shifted the sword on his shoulder. It dwarfed him by over ten fold, but he carried it well enough. The largeness of the weapon in comparison to himself helped block the look he gave the other god. "The difference between a vow and a promise is indeed great. That difference is a willingness to break one's word for one and not feel quite as guilty as if it had been with the other."
Leaf closed his eyes for a moment and tried to steady himself. Calmness. A leader exudes calmness. "I'm s-" He stopped himself. A leader doesn't apologize, a leader does the best he can, accepts responsibilty for his mistakes, and then does better. "I was terse," he admitted. That wasn't an apology, just a recognition of his own fault. "My promise is my vow is my law. As long as there is life in my body, I will not break a one, nor allow it to be broken."
"My promise was to my brother upon the occasion of his death. My vow was to honor his memory. This sword was his. It is my law that I will not give it to one less than he. He was one of the first four gods. He was your elder, to whom you owe respect and service. I will only give this sword to one on par with him." Leaf nodded towards the door. "Pruinus was his sister, one of the four. So I give it to her, to honor her and him. But, those she calls enemy, I will call enemy. Those she calls friend, I will call friend. Those whom she calls worthy enough to hold this blade, I will call worthy enough to hold this blade. You may be patient and ask her for this boon, or you may try to take it now. If you try to break the law and take it now, I will resist you with my every ounce. That is my duty, that is how I will honor my brother, and and I will perform it."
Scorch knew that it had gotten separated from the other Agni'Vohda. That the others had decided together that it was best to follow their master for the time being until some sort of plan could be made or home could be found. Scorch knew this. Scorch knew that they had turned south after the creation of the new God. Scorch knew that continuing to travel east was not the way others had decided to go.
But Scorch didn't really care what the others thought. A spark drifting along in the sky, barely noticeable unless you were specifically looking for it, and specifically looking at the right patch of sky, Scorch did not feel any particular danger or need to stay with the others, and as a roiling putrid lake came into view below, no particular danger pointed itself out within the fiery brain of the Agni'Vohda.
But something did appear within that brain. Curiousity. This was different than everything else, for most everything else was quite flat and, plainly put, Boring. Scorch descended and danced along the edge of the pool. Popping into full elemental form, he flitted just above the surface of the pool, and, for laughs, shouted:
"HELLLOOOO!!!!!!!"
~The Plain Somewhat SE of the Crown~
Agni regarded the Agni'Vohda. They had followed him this far, and their constant flickering presence grew tiresome. Finally, he spoke.
What is it that you want of me, Agni'Vohda? I have no need of you at the moment.
A thousand forms burst into existence, and from a thousand 'throats' came a crackling hiss that formed into a phrase:
"A Home"
Agni nodded.
Very well. Will you then wait until I have need of you?
At the popping assent of his servants, Agni descended to the ground, and plunged through it. The gathered Agni'Vohda watched silently. Minutes passed when suddenly a shudder ran through the earth and, with a heave, the stone gave way. Magma flowed upwards, pushed upwards by a God's power, and, after a few hours of accelerated growth, a tall crag of dark obsidian grew to tower over the landscape. The eruption slowed and stopped, and the Agni'Vohda stared at the black rock, wondering if it was over.
Then with a mightly blast, the top quarter of the mountain exploded, sending dark rocks high into the atmosphere and far into the distance. With the obsidian went all sorts of other pressure-created stones: things which would be called gems, and even diamonds. As the dust cleared, the Agni'Vohda could see a deep caldera of magma, which roiled and boiled, driven by a sustained eruption deep below.
And then Agni appeared, rising from the caldera as magma streamed off of his form.
Behold, Agni'Vohda. I give you the Eternal Volcano. Never shall its fires dim or fade, for it shall be your home.
The Agni'Vohda settled downwards, alighting on and in the volcano. This would be a good home, for now.
Agni, however, after only a moment of admiring his work, turned his gaze towards where he had first appeared. The flash of light needed investigation. Agni traveled, and soon arrived at the Crown, where he saw one God he knew, and others he did not.
Stonelord. Who are these others? Agni asked. Who has created more Gods in this place? Are they any better than the others? Or are they flammable as well?
1 AP: Command Land: Form the Eternal Volcano, a crag of obsidian which is the site of a continual eruption of magma. The Agni'Vohda reside here, and those wishing to call on the powers of the Agni'Vohda must travel to the caldera of the mountain and ask them there. If they are feeling generous, an Agni'Vohda will appear to barter for the services of the assassins. If they are not, then the Caldera is a nice place to swim... you're made of fire too, right? Oh.
1 AP: Nourish Land: Obsidian and Gems are sprinkled across the world, with a higher concentration in the lands nearest to the Eternal Volcano.
Whereas before, Onus' light would have contented to sit above the Crown Valley for all its days, Sa's interference gave it vim and will, such that it might decide for itself.
And so Light entered the world.
[spoiler = AP]
- 1 AP: Ascend the God of Light
[/spoiler]
Pruinus sat on the mountain top above her halls from creation for a few days maybe, contemplating.
After creating monuments to the other gods and especially Zebus, she found his passing a little easier to cope with. Many times during her discussions with her family she stated that for life to exist, so must death. Now she finally felt she knew the meaning behind these words. Perhaps her state of mind could be balanced too, by new life.
She willed her body to raise above the Ice Crown, floating high into the sky into the ring of mountains appeared before her in full view.
She thought to herself.
Hmmm. The borders are quite beautiful, but the interior is so empty, so lifeless.
Her mind raced back to when Leaf offered her the seed of life, all of the potential to create within such a small seed.
She felt many tiny, ice seeds materialize within the palm of her hand. She turned her hand counter clock-wise and allowed the tiny seeds to plummet towards the earth, diving down after them. Swimming through the air ahead of them, she hovered above the ground as they seeds crashed into the surface, Forests of huge trees rising up from the ground they entered, their branches whipping and lashing at each other as they competed to raise the highest, standing above the others. As their growth halted, they stood huge looming above the landscape. The smallest were around eighty feet in height, the tallest standing just under there hundred feet tall.
Plains of stubborn, tough grass rose in other areas of the ring, refusing to yield to the frigid temperatures of the crown.
As she ascended upwards again, she saw that around a third of the inner ring was now covered in forests of mighty trees. She waited high in the sky until the Agni's sun float above her, feeling icy cold water running along her body. She allowed the water to drip from her figure onto the mountains, the cool liquid crashing into four different areas of the crown with as it feel from each of her legs and arms. Four lakes arose within and around the crown:
The highest lay in the north-east region of mountains, surrounded by a beautiful and tranquil forest. The Lake calmly stretched into a river running down the mountain for a few miles, before forking into two separate paths, each dotted with vigorous waterfalls as the descend proved too vertical for other means of the water to move down the riverbanks. The two rivers meet again towards the centre of the region, but slightly to the east of the exact centre point, here they formed the second lake, one surrounded by grassy, yet snowy plains.
The third lake lay just outside the south-western areas of the crown, and it was less peaceful then its brethren. Jagged Glaciers cut into the water, and the waters churned violently, as if fighting back against the mountain.
The final lake was located in the west, and was nothing truly special. It resembled its sister lake in the east, surrounded by never-ending snowy plains. Perhaps what set it apart from the others was its size, three times as big as the second biggest lake which lay outside the crown. From the hue and colour it presented as Pruinus looked up from above, it was also the deepest and even Pruinus herself was unsure how deep it went.
Whilst doing this, she heard the same whispers as before, though they sounded much calmer now. Alone, Pruinus would be able to attempt to converse with them.
"Hello?"
No response. Pruinus didn't think she truly expected a response, but felt a little disappointed all the same. Diving down once again, Pruinus plunged within the deepest lake, swimming around in it peacefully. She had to make an effort to sustain her icy aura within her body, she didn't want the lake to freeze over. She noticed the way the water flows, and also thought of many other of her various creations which she created with a vague concept, yet the details appeared to fill themselves in. She wondered how this may be, and thought again to the voices she heard. Her gut told her the two were connected, and though she heard no voices, she attempted to establish contact again.
"Hello?"
Silence was her only response, the dark waters of the lake appearing almost melancholy to her now. With a sigh, she lifted herself from the lake, the temperature of the lake was most likely well into below minus one hundred degrees, yet had not frozen. She begin to sprint up the mountain towards the halls of creation again, or more specifically the spot above it. That particular area of the mountain had become a favourite of hers when she needed some time to think. She could have flown up the mountain by willing herself to do so, but on this instance she decided to take the scenic route. She rushed past her creations at a faster speed then most could comprehend, reaching the mountaintop within a few minutes. Her divine mind processed the scenery as she blazed past it, admiring every single tree, bump, hill and rock as she ran. She jumped upwards into the sky as she reached the summit, only to gently float down onto her favoured spot of the mountain.
She sat, and noticed how it snowed around the crown, yet she did not remember asking it to. The snow seemed to spiral around her, dancing in her fingertips. She wriggled her fingers and slowly lifted them up and down as the snow danced around her hands movements. Pruinus smiled, she could have spent hours doing this had not a bright light caught her attention in the sky, at the place where she and her family were born. The light flashed, and she felt a wave of force push over her, knocking her off balance and almost sending her tumbling down the mountainside, only just regaining her balance in time.
She wondered what this was and almost set off the explore, but she looked down into her hands again to see the snow was trembling in her hand, it appeared to be afraid. Snow afraid, was this possible?
She gently bowed her head, her icy lips on level with the palm of her hand as she whispered once more.
"Hello?"
"....Hello?"
The voice almost startled Pruinus. The voice spoke only slightly louder then Pruinus whisper, yet in came from no direction and every direction at once. The voice sounded as if the winds were trying to blow and whistle in a manner to form speech, and as if the snow and hail fell as if trying to form tangible words.
"Who are you?"
"We are the dust of The First, We are the natural spirits of the world, Cold Mother."
They knew who she was. Pruinus couldn't help feel a little vulnerable at this, she didn't like the fact that they had discovered her identity first.
"Are you the ones who cause my creations to act as they do? Am I using you to create, or guiding you?... or forcing you?"
"In a sense, all of those are true. Your power is different from our own, yet it mingles with ours. Tell us Cold Mother, who are you?"
So it appeared they knew her title, but not her intentions. Beside these two facts, how much knowledge they had of her was a mystery.
"I am.... A friend. The world is still young, much needs to be done. I am sure you agree, I would very much like your assistance of creating a world of life and beauty. Please, will you be my allies?"
For an eternity the spirits made no sound, were they reviewing her offer, rejecting it with silence or had they simply left her? Pruinus felt herself about to leave for the source of light again, when she felt a small tickling sensation above her shoulders. Snow seemed to fall upon her shoulders and construct itself into a set of wings that resembled those of Leaf's angels in their purest form. She took this as the Spirits answer and she was pleased. The wings granted her no boon, she could already fly and will herself where she wished, but the symbolic nature of the act was overwhelming. They were decorating her as their ally. Pruinus opened her mouth to speak.
"Tha-"
She stopped herself. To give a verbal thanks to a wordless gesture would be an insult, words didn't describe the bonding the spirits made with her, so words shouldn't describe her thanks. Her thanks must be a similar action. The source of light could wait. Using her wings, she gently floated down the mountainside to the Halls Of Creation, here she would honour the spirits in a manner fitting to the gesture.
As she floated to the main doors, she found her brothers (And at the same time, her children) Agni & Leaf outside the doors with a third, unknown god. They had found the place already? Impressive.
She floated down behind them, allowing her landing to cause enough sound to gather their attention.
---
AP
Command Land - Form landmarks within the crown. 2 AP spent.
Pruinus causes forests and grassy fields to raise within the crown, giving it more life. She also creates four great lakes along the crown, one reaching incredibly deep. The depth of this lake is meant to be vague, but could serve a plot point.
@Aldii: It is upto you to decide if the lake reaches deep enough to reach within your tunnels, possibly causing conflict with Pruinus.
Aqquire Domain - Primal Spirits. 2 AP spent.
Pruinus befriends the primal spirits of the world, the last remants of the first who had not gathered together to create a god, but rather a huge, uncountable colony of spirits who reside within nature and all creations. It is upto each god to state whether they are creating using Primal Spirit (either intentionally or unintentionally.) or with their own divine power. This has no effect on the gameplay, but can be important for fluff.
Special Domain conditions: Those who have the primal spirits domain have no true power over the spirits, but are allied with the spirits and they will allow themselves to be guided by that god to create. The primal spirits cannot be forced to do something against their will, but the player with the domain has the final say over what the spirits under his control are like anyway. Also (And I may regret this later) when The Primal Spirits domain is shared, it cannot be reclaimed back at will, as the primal spirits have their own say in whether they wish to continue assisting the god.
No AP Left.
This is what the forests in the crown look like, I'm struggle to describe what they look like in the post. Imagine the mountains in the background as a ring surrounding the forests, and there you go! wallpaper.goodfon.com/image/8752-2000x13...
OOC
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Hope its okay to bend the rules for this domain a little. It is no more powerful then any other domain, but has a bit of unique flavour rules to it.
"What is this? Ooh, what is that? Hey, it feels different. Wow! It is attached to me. I am this, and this is me! Is this me too? Maybe! It feels similar, but it is not attached. Must be something of mine that is different. It feels light. Light is me. I am Light. I am Light!"
The cloud of brilliance burst with a flash, brilliant tendrils of chromatic lightning careening freely through the rest of the luminscence hanging over the jagged peaks. In it's wake floated a small, downy creature of a bright blue-tinged white. It's eyes, orbs of solid fuchsia, seemed to glow all their own.
"Ooh, hey wow that was something! That fierce, thin light that I made! It should be called 'lightning'. That is a good name. It lightens up even brightness! Such a special light that I can make!"
The creature cocked it's head to the side, pondering something else. It ruffled it's wings and began mumbling aloud. "Name... name. I think I need one of those too. Too... tu... U! Utoo... No. Utro... Uro... Urr...u? Urru. Hmm... Urru. Yes! I like that one! Urru!"
The fledgling god flew through the air, shouting it's name at the top of it's lungs. "Urru! Urru! I am named Urru! I am Light and I am Urru!" It looked down upon all the lands and saw nothing but excitement and adventure. There were a number of strange looking things down below, things that were different from the light and different from Urru. I should go and meet what those things are, it thought. A ripple of excitement made the young god tremble, and it dived so fast from it's height that it nearly crashed into the large hot thing.
"Hello, large hot thing!" Urru exclaimed. "What kind of thing are you?"
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AP Expenditure: 1 AP - Claim Domain: Lightning
The sword rattled a little in Leaf's grip. It was eager for its new master, it seemed. Leaf patted the handle gently. Soon, he thought to it, soon. He took the fact that the handle grew cold as a sign that it wanted to be given to Pruinus. It didn't matter how unbearably cold it could grow, life would endure it. That was what death had never understood: life will out. That wasn't pride, that was truth. There was no mote of creation, no cavern too dark, no ocean too deep, no fire too hot, that life couldn't survive. At the end of the universe, after all the chairs had been put on the tables, after the lights had been turned out and the door locked. cockroaches would come out.
At last, Pruinus descended behind them. Leaf turned, smiled, and bowed. "Ah, greetings Lady Pruinus. I had not wished to disturb you so soon, but I believe Zebus would have wished for you to have his weapon. So, for his honor and yours, I have brought it to you, for you to keep and do with it as you will."
Leaf jumped (as he was too short to do anything with the sword while just standing) and plunged the sword into the ice before Pruinus. "This one," he motioned towards the other god, "wishes to claim the property of an elder god. I know nothing else of him, and can neither recommend nor warn against."
"I am sorry that I must deliver and run, but," Leaf pulled out wooden disks and pointed to the tree rings, "I am behind schedule."
With another respectful inclination of his head to Pruinus, Leaf turned to depart. However, he had barely gone seven steps before he paused. He turned around, smiles, and spoke to the other god. "I knew you seemed familiar. Lot #2839sg. You were the one who created lot #2839sg. Roughly a valley's worth of shrubs and grasses. Good vintage, medium bodies. I hope you are happy with them."
With that, Leaf departed, leaving the matter in Pruinus' capable-if-cold hands.
***
Leaf's travel took him up high, above the crown. He looked to the four directions and sighed. The work was great, and he was small, but he had claimed authority. Responsibility came with it.
First he looked south. His eyes shimmered as tears gathered. South was where Zebus should have been, in a better world. It was right that he honor the fallen first.
Leaf opened his hand: a tiny seed was in it. A thin stalk, barely a few fibers thick, but stiff and strong, was attached. At the top of that stalk was a tuft of fluff. Leaf blew on it, and the seed drifted south.
As the seed flew over the land, the flat parts of the earth cracked and rose, rumbled and roiled, creating a land of jagged stone. But Leaf's breath followed behind the seed, wearing the stone away until the rough edges were smooth and ancient.
The seed landed, and from that point small organisms spread. Microscopic at first, preparing the soil, then worms and other bugs to turn and till it, then grasses to prepare the way, shrubs to dig deeper, and then trees, as twisted as a lazy river, sprouted up occasionally, as precious gems bedecking the land. Then critters -- squirrels, lizards, and others -- emerged and began to roam about, gathering, eating, killing, fleeing, making, spreading.
The god descended into this land for a moment and released a special creature, something he had created specifically Zebus. It was small, maybe four to seven kilograms, and covered with fur that hid it well. It walked on all four, as silently as sorrow, and in each of its paws were claws sharper than knives. It hungered for flesh. Barely out of the god's hands, it was already on the hunt. As Leaf left the land, the cat turned and looked for a moment. That would be their way, a gift, to see the unseen.
Next, Leaf looked east. There were mountains and other things, but still much empty land. Leaf opened his hand again, and this time there was a tiny seed, like a grain of sand. He blew it east, and it tumbled down, barely clearing the crown before it caused cracks in the land, like it had all been turned to mud, only to then dry in the sun's head. Like before, the prerequisites of plants when first, and then grass. Shrubs followed, but these were larger things, brambly, twisted by the heat. There were a few trees, but this wasn't the place for soft things: they were hardy, deep-rooted, and life from far around flocked to them. There were other plants, succulents, more resistant to the lack of water in the region. Animals too arose. Snakes and scorpions, predators and scavengers. Here life seemed more callous, somehow.
Leaf descended here as well, and released an animal dedicated to Agni. The hyena, who laughed at those who died. The tiny god was hesitant: he had wanted them to be more resistant to heat, but these were a first effort. perhaps something better later.
Again to the air, and now to the north. Another seed, hardshelled and heavy. Leaf threw it north, and it traveled far. It landed in moist soil, thick soil, clay more than dirt. The forerunners came first, and then the grasses, but shrubs in greater number, and trees as master of those lands. Tall, thick, with hardy needles for leaves, and cold resistant sap. Then wildlife, those that slept through the cold, those that gathered, those that hunted. Wolves and wolverines, deer and doves, squirrels and serpents. Leaf landed and released his offering to Pruinus. Hunter and hunted, clever and quick. The creature darted away, heading north, shedding its red fur as it went to replace it with white. The winter fox.
Exhausted, Leaf turned west.
Barren, empty. And Leaf was too tired to make it otherwise.
It was to this place that Leaf returned, stumbling.
AP
1AP - Nourish land: Leaf creates a meadowish biome (however much 1AP produces) to the south of the Crown. The notes about the landscape were just to give it texture, not for any serious land formations. For your reference: amitkulkarni.info/pics/greenery-pictures...
There are cats there.
1AP - Nourish land: Leaf creates a dry savanna biome (however much 1AP produces) to the east of the Crown. There are hyenas there, specifically. For your reference: techhouse.brown.edu/~dmorris/africa/3207...
1AP - Nourish land: Leaf creates a wintery northern forest thingy in the north. There are foxes. For your reference: palmlix.com/images/f/204021-free-snowy-p...
0AP remaining
1AP - Nourish land: Leaf creates a meadowish biome (however much 1AP produces) to the south of the Crown. The notes about the landscape were just to give it texture, not for any serious land formations. For your reference: amitkulkarni.info/pics/greenery-pictures...
There are cats there.
1AP - Nourish land: Leaf creates a dry savanna biome (however much 1AP produces) to the east of the Crown. There are hyenas there, specifically. For your reference: techhouse.brown.edu/~dmorris/africa/3207...
1AP - Nourish land: Leaf creates a wintery northern forest thingy in the north. There are foxes. For your reference: palmlix.com/images/f/204021-free-snowy-p...
0AP remaining
I am a God. He of the Eternal Volcano, The FireLord, The Lord of the Sun who is Agni. What manner of thing are you? And why do you move so quickly?
And I am Fire, and that is Stone. Agni swiveled to indicate Onus. But I do not know these others. You claim you are Light and that you move fast. You certainly speak fast. Run to that glowing Orb which I created and back. Show me how fast you truly are.
With a flash, the little being was gone. It flew through the empty air and soon reached the roiling ball of fire in the sky. It floated silently, awed by the sight of it, and then flew right to the middle of it just to see if it could. At the very center the light was brightest and the heat was hottest! The little god could barely stand the pressure and temperature so it left quickly.
"Oh wow it was hot in there! The long-name one made that. It is amazing!"
It flew back and hovered in front of Agni. "There, I am back! You said you made that thing out there. It sure is hot and bright, especially in the center. I am impressed!"
"Curiousssssss..."
The voice seemed to come from all around him, nowhere and everywhere all it once.
"You seem lessssssss self absorbed than the one below usssssss".
There in the Underworld he made himself a home. Deep down under the southern parts of the continent the Smith formed himself a home from rock and earth which he melded, mended, formed and shaped with his mere will. Forming a workshop for himself. There the plans was made. The tools were formed in the light of the fires of the deep fires below. There hidden from all but himself he began to work on his treasures. Those that would be given to those that would come.
There in the darkness of the deep he summoned magma from the deeps parts of the world and broke the very world apart to form a massive half-circle of a mountain chain that warded of most of the south-eastern parts of the continent, the realms bordering to the great Savannahs of the east. These Nameless mountains of his spew fire and smoke but cooled down as time passed and cracked on the inside making thousands and thousands hidden caverns and tunnels. Some of them leading even to his own private parts of the underworld.
AP
Command Land 2 AP: Forming the Southern Mountains. A vast cavefilled vastness of lifeless mountains, hills and volcanic rocks.
"I like them," Artun said.
"Silence," the wisp shouted as it rouned on the god. "If I cared about your opinion, I'd have given it to you."
It turned to look at the humans again. There was a pause, then as the human breathed in, the wisp followed, entering it's body. The creature convulsed, screamed, then turned on one of its kind and began to strangle it. The other struggled, trying to put the first human off, but with each passing second its thrashing grew less, until it was still. The first human howled at the sky and, wish fever in its eyes, bent over to rip off some of the flesh of its kind. It chewed and swallowed the first bite, its face ecstatic. It went for a second bite, but it felt a rattle in its chest. It paused to cough, but the feeling grew worse. It coughed again. And again, harder. And again. Something came lose, and with another heave, the human vomited it out onto the corpse of its friend. There was blood, at first, and bile, but then a large black glob covered in mucus came out, causing the human to gag.
Freed from the control of the god, the human shrieked and rushed away. Realizing what it had done, it beat its chest and cried to the heavens.
The black substance it had vomitted up unwrapped itself, peeling itself off of itself with sound like skin being torn away from bone. It was slick, oily, and as long as a leg. A bubble formed and grew, like boiling tar, until it burst and it saids, "Perhapsss..."
More bubbles and more words followed. "...they'll have their usssses yet."
The thing sluffed off the corpse that it had been coughed up upon and it slerched towards Artun. It had no sense of beauty, so it saw the god of vanity for what it truly was. The thing slid up the god, back under the protection of its mirage, and took its place again at the back of its neck.
"Go," it said. Artun could feel the speech bubbles burst against his back. "The other one lied. I can taste it in the air. There are others. Follow it. Find them."
Reluctantly, Artun headed off after Sa.
***
Artun felt the other god approach before he saw him. A giant, a living mountain, approached. Artun flashed a perfect, marbled smile at it. "Hello, have you come to look at me? How absolutely marvelous." He turned so that the other god could see his good side.
The words were barely out of his mouth before another creature appeared, a face of fire and melted stone. The thing underneath his glamour twitched. It liked the burn of this one's jib. Artun, however, wondered what it saw when it looked at him. Perhaps another face like itself? Or perhaps a wraith of fire and ire? "And hello to you as well. Come, come, there's plenty of me for everyone to see."
Then there was light, but it was quick, quicker than quick. It was here, then it wasn't, then it was. Artun didn't like fast things. They were hard to follow and the effort made his mind feel funny.
"Hm?" Artun asked Sa, "What self-absorbed one below?" He tried to look back the way he had come, but he was still holding the reflective flower, and couldn't manage to look away long enough to see anything but himself. "Was it pretty?" he asked, absentmindedly. It was hard to think while looking at something so magnificent as himself.
What manner of trickery is this? Are you some sort of God too? The FlowerLord?
It was at that moment that Agni became aware of the heat. The wonderful heat that, even though Agni was fire itself, somehow warmed the God. It cast around for the source of heat and saw a small orb of brilliant white-hot intensity dancing before it, waves of beautiful heat pouring from it. It far outshone the pitiful thing called Urru
Ah. Now this is a God I can enjoy. Greetings, Supreme HeatLord.
The god surveyed his creations, watching them shamble and glide between the twisting fume-clouds.
They were not yet ready. Unprepared. They knew of hate, pulsing blood-bound hate that coils the innards and bursts forth from the chest as a godawful shriek. But they knew nothing of battle.
That must change.
The Fused God called out, his rasping flem-filled voice stirring the numorous miasmas into a rolling tempest that echoed the call of dying angels.
"MY CREATIONS! YOU ARE WEAK! PUNISH WEAKNESS-REND FLESH FROM FLESH! SNAP BONE AND FLAY SKIN! TEAR THE WINGS FROM THE FLYING AND THE LIMBS FROM THE CRAWLING! LET NONE BE UNTESTED!"
As his voice reverberated within their skull masks, the Craterspawn felt thier very essence tainted, called to war. They turned to one anouther. And fought.
Hundreds crashed into each other in the air, a spinning ball of claws and strips of falling flesh. Those on the ground forced each other into submission and worked thier talons deep into soft throats. Even those climbing out from the creation vats, still covered in filthy tar, carved others into footholds to escape. Thousands of hollow, belted shrieks rose together in a masterpiece of war and death.
A dozen Craterspawn, battling midair near the lake, suddenly spotted something on the shore. A small being made of flowing fire was weakening under the choking miasma.
They descended upon him.
OOC
Command Populace (1AP): Craterspawn. The Craterspawn adopt a vicious warrior culture, constantly killing the unworthy and sharpening the strong. Additional creation vats compensate for the population loss.
Remaining AP: 3
Note:The Craterspawn turn into dry, infertile ash when they die
Remaining AP: 3
Note:The Craterspawn turn into dry, infertile ash when they die
Sa retreated, though its petals still circled Agni. "Better known asssssss Saaaaaaa"
Some of Sa's petals dropped downward, and Agni's eyes were drawn down with them.
"Asssssss promisssssssed, I honor life with deathsssssss."
And Agni saw that it was so -- the humans were very much alive, though they proved equally apt at dying - plagues, starvation, infighting, and the ignorant few who dared to touch the Deathbloom.
There was an unspoken question -- was it Agni who had promised to honor his brother death?
Yes. They live, they die. Zebus would be pleased, were he still around. Why should this concern me? Zebus was a fool who died instead of escape, after I did all I could to save him. Turns out he was flammable after all.
Agni then turned to regard the returning Urru.
You are fast, but I find you inferior to the Supreme HeatLord. Perhaps you can do something more interesting?
Urru brushed up against the prism and felt nothing. "No heat here."
Agni floated backwards.
LightLord, what do you see here?
But before I tell you that story, I have to tell you another story...
The story of Mother Moon and the Sister Stars.
Once upon a time there was a beautiful woman with eyes like fire and hair bright as silver. She lived in a little hut at the end of the world. Every morning she would carry a great big silver jug to the nearest river. And every evening, she would carry the great big silver jug back, full to the brim with water, to her little hut at the end of the world.
It was a simple life, but she enjoyed it. She was never bored, or in want of toil. She never went hungry because the hut at the end of the world had a little garden when the woman grew golden berries, which she loved to eat. But the woman was not satisfied.
One day, as she watered her garden with the water she brought from the nearest river in the great big silver jug, she realized what she was missing. Eating the berries herself was all fine and nice, but she wanted more. She wanted someone who could give her more, someone who could eat the berries with her, and tell her how very sweet they were.
And so the woman plucked seven golden berries from her garden and the next day, as she carried the great big silver jug to the river, she carried the golden berries in a pouch at her waist. When she reached the river, she carefully placed the jug on the river bank. And then she carefully drew out the golden berries and dropped them, one by one into the river, where they bobbed and floated. And then she filled her jug and left.
The next morning, the woman returned to the river with her big silver jug, and was delighted to see that, where once there were seven golden berries, now there was a row of fat, pink babies, laughing and smiling in the river. The woman scooped these babies up with her great silver jug, and carried them back to her hut at the end of the world.
It time, the babies grew to beautiful young children, with eyes like fire and hair bright as gold. They loved their mother, and made her very happy. But every day they watched her march away with the great big heavy silver jug, and they were sad.
"Please mother," every morning they would say, "Let us carry that jug for you."
And every evening she would reply: "Perhaps when you are older.
But there is one thing I have forgetten to tell you. An old witch lived by the river. It was her river, you see. She had watched with hateful eyes as, every morning, the mother brought her great big silver jug to the river and, every evening, the mother brought the jug back, full to the brim with the witch's water. The mother knew about the witch, but had never seen her. The mother was careful never to drink the water directly, for she knew it to be magical. Only by giving it first to the golden berries was it safe. And this is why she was afraid to send her children to fetch the water.
But one day, the mother became very ill. The children tried to help, but there was nothing they could do. She needed rest, and more of those sweet golden berries. But the great silver jug was empty, and without the water, the berries could not grow.
"Please mother," the children said, "Let us fetch you some water."
The mother sighed. But with a heavy heart she said, "Yes my children, go, but be careful not the drink the water."
The children, amazed at their good fortune, quickly agreed and ran off, squabbling over who should carry the jug. With their quick little feet, they hurried much faster than their mother would have done. Soon, however, they tired. The long walk had made them hungry, and thirsty, and in want of rest. They had enjoyed a good life in the small hut at the end of the world, and were not accustomed to the heat of the day. Soon, they had to stop, and dropped their jug upon the grassy floor, and then dropped themselves right beside it.
As they were resting, the cruel witch watched from the shadows. She was outraged at their beauty and youth. She quickly hurried away and laid a vile spell upon the river, and hid herself beside it. And she waited. Sure enough, the children soon followed. She could see how tired and thirsty they were, and she smiled her wicked smile.
"Surely one small sip can't hurt," said the children together, "I am ever so thirsty."
And the witch watched as the children bent by the river bank and scooped the water into their greedy mouths. And then, cackling, she leapt out at them.
"Foolish children! You have sprung my trap!" she howled, "Now you shall never see your dear mother again."
And she watched in wicked amusement as the children, shocked and afraid, slowly began to transform. Rows of golden scales appeared on their skin. Fins grew upon their backs and sides and their legs fused together into tails. Gills gaped at their necks and their eyes became wide a glossy. One by one, the little golden fish tumbled into the river as the witch cackled and howled.
Three days passed and the mother, sick with worry, made the long trek to the river. When she found her children, she began to weep. But even as she wept, she scooped up the children in her great big silver jug, and carried them back to her hut. She spent the night with her children, feeding them golden berries, and talking to them. But she knew that they were fish now, and a silver jug in a little hut at the end of the world was no place for a fish. And so in the morning, she carried the children back and let them go in the river. But the love of a mother in deep and abiding and so, every night, she returned, scooped up the children, and carried them to the hut, and spent the night with them. But every morning she set them free again, so that they could dance and swim freely, and shine in the river with their golden scales.
OOC
3 PP Create Artifact - Modify the Sun. Split it into seven smaller suns. More details to follow.
4 PP Create Plane - The Moon. The home plane of Yr, its manifestation in the material world is a small silver disk in the sky.
4 PP Create Plane - The Moon. The home plane of Yr, its manifestation in the material world is a small silver disk in the sky.
Sa's petals were suddenly without direction. Several handfuls were too close to Agni, and immolated almost instantly. Another hundred dozens struck Onus' stone bulk and stuck, trapped against the god's great bulk. The remainder scattered to the winds, quickly swept up in the distance.
It was enough that the others knew of Sa. If they wished to confess promises, they would need to seek out Sa! The god retreated to the largest of the human settlements, to watch.
"Ow!" he said suddenly, though none of those looking at him could see what had caused it. He rubbed his neck, though the action didn't translate well into light or fire or flower. He stopped and looked blankly at the other gods around him. "uhhhaye mean, Oh mighty ones, I can tell you what you see: perfect beauty, for that is what I am."
He preened again, and if he had a pen, might have offered autographs as well. The act was cut short, however, by a grimace that, seemingly without purpose, crossed his face. His hand twitched towards his neck, but he kept it from reaching. "Ah, but do not let me distract you. Though I could understand spending the rest of your lives looking at me."
Artun looked in the reflective flower again, but after several moments forced himself to stop. "Mr. Rocky, you say that there is another out there, one who is, ah, moving rocks? That sounds very, ah... serious? Moving stone is bad? Let us investigate! I would volunteer for this expedition. Perhaps one other of you will accompany me?"
Artun batted his eyelashes, which didn't translate well at all into any visage.
OOC
A delve underground might be a good time to ascend the god of darkness. I'm willing to contribute an AP: anyone else willing to put up with Artun and do likewise?
A delve underground might be a good time to ascend the god of darkness. I'm willing to contribute an AP: anyone else willing to put up with Artun and do likewise?
Urru cocked it's head sideways and ruffled it's shining downy coat.
"Humm... Oh! Do you think we see different things? Maybe this thing is a thing that likes to look like different things for us to look at?"
The little god of light examined it closely then looked back to Agni. "It is nice to look at even so. If that is all this thing is it is a neat thing but not really a useful thing."
I fear there are many others, StoneLord, of whom we know only a few. We have lost control of the orderly progress of Creation.
The God grimaced his opinion of that particular development, and turned back to the two orbs of light: one blindingly hot, the other merely bright.
We see different things, then? Whatever is most beautiful to us? Then, LightLord, you have been most useful after all, and I have been mistaken on two fronts.
Agni spoke to the blinding orb.
You. The IllusionMaster, have you a name?
Thought
I'd come, but I don't know how it makes thematic sense for me to ascend Darkness...
"Agni of Flame, I think it is a good thing to have met you and I am sure I will be meeting you again before long but I want to see what the other one that flew away was about. The nice-smelling bunch of colorful things. I feel something about it. I do not know the word, but I feel the same something about the StoneLord, too. I will find you on your travel, StoneLord, once I am done with the other one."
The being of light gives a respectful litte bow to the both of them and then turns to Artun. "To you, IllusionMaster, I say that I have interest in other things that do not need to make themselves into things which they may not be. You are a tricky thing. Good-bye."
With a flicker the god sped off on the trail of the thing that called itself "Saaaaaaa".
"I must apologize my friend, but I wish to keep this blade. For now, at least. Perhaps if we came to understand each other more, then I will find a you a worthy owner. But for now, that much is uncertain. If you truly want this blade, You must prove yourself. That is fair, is it not?"
OOC
Show
Kinda lost track of the last few posts and seeing as none of the gods refer to Pruinus or even mention her presence, I'm going to assume she and Marcus are further behind with the sword.
James
That was my impression as well.
And...it made him think of the Angels and how they had flown in the distance. There had been a certain beauty to that...he had to make creatures like that. Creatures like the Angels..but yet diffrent. There was no room for flight in his realm. No room for red sunsets, blue skies or..well..wings.
The Smith left his realm to search for new life. To see what the other God's had done since he had last travelled the world.
Good riddance, he grumbled in his thoughts, as the puny light thing flew away. Agni asked him a question, but his hurt pride made it hard to focus on it. Instead, he stared off at the vile little thing for several moments, until piecing pain around his neck reminded him that he had a role to play.
Artun turned to Agni, slid forward, and said with a crackle of fire in his voice, "Master of flame, my name is Artun. But I am not a master of illusion, and my appearance is not a trick."
He drew neared the burning face. It was hot, really hot, but he was afraid of his master's displeasure more than catching fire. This was partially because he had never been set on fire before. But it made him wonder how Agni felt. It seemed the god saw him as a flaming ball of hot stuff. Could fire feel hot?
In a quiet sizzle Artun whispered, "I appear only as perfect beauty. You see me as I truly am. If the other doesn't see me the same as you, then what can I conclude but that he doesn't see beauty rightly? What would be pleasing to the eye about a prism? How is that beautiful?"
The bright burning orb of Artun withdrew far back. Did Agni now feel cold in comparison? Artun turned towards the outer world. "But if there are ill works about, we should investigate, yes? I volunteered to go investigate, but will no one accompany me?"
Artun moved back towards Agni. That one seemed most entranced by his beauty. Maybe he could leverage that. "Perhaps you?" He tried to put all the seduction he could into the request.
Thereus...enjoyed that. To teach and to see how they learnt. He left them in time though, afraid to perhaps spark the attention of their diety and returned to his own realm filled with ideas. There..was potential in those humans...perhaps it would be possible to sway over some of them to his cause? It..was tiresome to be alone after all. Depressing even.
AP: Nourish Humans 1PP: Teaches the Humans how to melt metal and make tools, weapons and other useful things of it.
4 PP left.
It had felt like an age since he had raised the fortress with his very hands. It was familiar to him: its many levels and balconies, its fountains and falls of clotted blood intermixed with acids, and its towering spires that pierced the low-hanging vapors. The craterspawn within the fortress, manned at the countless doors and hallways, cowed as he passed.
Azazel/Go'El finally arrived at the heart of his fortress. It was the only spacious room in the fortress, with a wide, vaulted ceiling. A wide twin throne rested at the top of a flight of stairs near the end. A roaring sulfurous fire cast light and long shadows across the hall. Pillars covered in runic depictions and odes to the First lined the hallway. They writing was oddly beautiful and filled with violent undertones. Only The First had valued Azgo, and he had given him the whole of the multiverse to lord over.
An esteemed purpose, grand power, and even a family of gods as his servants and advisors-
-Untill the Firstborn had stolen it from him!
The Fused God felt a concentrated wave of hatred beat from his warped hearts. His fists clentched, and blood ran freely through the spaces in his fingers. He cast the blood into the air, which evaporated into thick haze clinging in the air. "Show me the world." The haze began to move, taking on the form of mountains and swirling lakes and even wandering gods.
The time was closing. Only a few more things were needed now.
He began to watch a god moving about, instructing creatures made of flesh the ways of steel.
An idea started to form...
OOC
Azgo uses the term Firstborn to refer to his siblings. It does not mean born first, but rather, born of the First. This "title" is given to the first four.
She noticed a chain of mountains rising upside beside the crown, created by Onus most likely.
She also noticed a horrible decaying crater with a yellow sky. Most likely agni's work, only he would wish to create such a thing.
Perpaps she might pay one of them a visit...
---
Cumbrous and his companions had traveled for weeks. The journey was tiring, but as most of the land has been barren, it was not difficult. Once the mountains of the south came into view, it became obvious where they were heading, and it had given the group hope. They walked to the foot of the mountains and began a thorough examination. After another week spent in their search, they found the mountaintops to be empty and lacking any signs of a creator.
And so, with only one place left to search, they sang their songs into the stone and opened the path down into the places below. The caverns they found were astonishing, so vast and complex. As they moved about, they wondered if even they might get lost inside such a complex as this. Eventually, however, their stubbornness paid off. They watched as the metal being worked through the day and night, transfixed by the effects and beauty he was creating...
I... uh... Well, yes. Bad things should be investigated, I imagine. He managed to say.
Part of his brain registered the sudden splitting of the Sun into many smaller orbs, which, normally, he would have immediately gone to investigate. Now... that seemed less important.
Zebus speaking to the other one telepathically "If you could convince her to hand me over, I can be yours to wield. Otherwise we shall have a cup of tea another time."
Poking around telepathically, Zebus encounters Pruinus's mind and she feels a familiar presence. "Why hello there! I thought that annoying one would never leave or let me go!"
The fight continued over broken ground and between the boulder feilds. They were dogged in their pursuit of him and were swiftly gaining ground. As the monstrosities were about to overcome him, they suddenly veered upward aside from two. One craterspawn had tackled its brethren unto a geyser opening. They struggled, with one of them reaching for the elemental. Then ground rumbled and a handful of geysers burst forth with an eruption of scalding waters and a heavy haze. The craterspawn howled as its flesh was broiled and torn from its skin and the other was thrown backwards.
It was only a few seconds, but it would be enough. Or he would die, as all the unworthy did in the Godcrater...
------------------
He had been scouring the map for weeks. Over and over the wisps moved and the haze molded itself to the terrain of the world. But nothing. Nothing at all.
There was no sign of the god on the surface, and no sign of a plane or a palace. He had simply vanished.
The thoughts were begining to dominate his mind. Hundreds of places, the thousands whispers of a mysterious smith who vanished, and the occasional image of himself grabbing the little god-king in his arms and tearing him into pieces as he begged before casting his severed limbs at the feet of his dying creations. The last was particularly soothing.
What had been changing? There were new creatures, made from stone and some from flesh. They wandered and farmed and forged and sometimes warred. There were new forests and grasslands bathed in dawning light. The mountains had shifted. Gods were gathering. And there wa-
-The mountains had shifted. Azazel/Go'El smiled with blackened gums and vicious teeth.
The mountains.
They were being pushed upward, and the great stone layers of the earth were cracking and shaking. Why would someone push the mountains up unless they craved room beneath? That was where he had gone, this son of Agni: into the depths of the planet itself.
He had heard the whispers of his siblings, not all, but enough. They had mentioned him to their followers who spoke to others or to each other. Doubtlessly, they searched for him as well. Or knew where he was, perhaps? That troubled the Fused God, how distant he was and how soft the wisps spoke. He could not hide forever, and he certainly could not be witness to all of his betrayers' activities. He would have to hurry.
Azazel/Go'El stood and discorporated into an edgeless being of sulfurous vapors. The cloud, only defined by a pair of malevolent eyes, flowed out from Guvarah An and into the caverns closest to the surface. There he expanded into a rolling cloud and flowed through the stonework cracks. It would take days, but he must get there before the Firstborn did, if they were even coming.
But he was sure of that, they were always coming closer to him.
Always...
A pair of farmers were harvesting to their fields of flowers. The work was heavy and hard, and they would often stop to rest their scythes. Whenever they did, a single petal would streak down, and casually bat the scythe out of the Farmer's grip. It was clear that the two humans had no idea what was happening, for they would curse, and call out, and accuse the other of interfering with them. In fact, at the moment, both scythes lay forgotten on the ground as the two had confronted each other, quarreling in person.
If Sa was immediately aware of Urru's presence, it did not let on.
Jamespies and Joran
"I need not prove myself in this matter. Simply inquire to the powers within the blade itself, seeing as how the blade called to me. I found it born by one I do not know, who's abilities are not known to me, but the sword clearly despised his touch. I came as it requested, and find myself forced to listen to that bore, and even follow him as I would not intervene in the completion of his vow."
"I do not ask that you give the blade to me. I ask only that you allow me to carry it for a time. Should it come to pass that the blade finds me lacking, I shall return it to you."
"I do not ask that you give the blade to me. I ask only that you allow me to carry it for a time. Should it come to pass that the blade finds me lacking, I shall return it to you."
"If there are many others, maybe we should split up? Each go a direction, find what others we can, and then meet back here and inform the others? Work together by working apart."
Yes, that seemed like a good ploy. Artun turned around and pointed towards the center of the crown. "Mr. Rock Master, sir, perhaps you should look that way. There was an explosion over there not long ago."
Artun looked around, and then motioned towards the earth tremmors with a tendril of white fire. "Agni Flamesalot, perhaps you should look that way? I see that there are other gods about in that direction."
He looked upwards. Someone had to go there, and better him than no one. And by that, he meant it was better that people think he went there than for anyone to actually go there. "I will investigate the sun. Or suns. Or whatever that is."
"Saaaaaaaa. I am Urru. I am Light. I have something to ask you, if you will listen. What is this thing that I feel around you and around StoneLord? It is a different thing to feel, and I do not know a word for it. Tell me, Saaaaaaaa."
Tools to change and manipulate the world around him without having to using his divine powers. It fascinated him to the degree that one of his projects at the moment was to cut pillars out of the mountain to support planned expansion of his home, using nothing but his hands and handmade tools.
So there he was working, thinking and perhaps even humming to himself as a certain visitor searched through the mountains in search of Thereus.
"Does the blade speak to you too? This blade is the last remaining remnant of my brother and child Zebus. I shall not risk this blade being held by unworthy hands. If you are worthy of this sword, PROVE IT"
She placed a weighty emphasis on the last two words.
Scorch darted here and there, using his natural quickness (being a flame, after all) to stay just ahead of the reaching talons of the Craterspawn. It was unfortunate, he thought to himself, that he had stumbled upon such twisted beings. This was, perhaps, too exciting.
A blast of steam, a scream of pain, and Scorch used the moments of confusion to dart low over the thick waters, a small spark, hopefully unnoticed by the Craterspawn. Scorch looked backwards, keeping an eye on the remaining Craterspawn, who had lost track of him, when suddenly the lake roiled and splashed him with its toxic waters. Scorch cried out, flame sputtering, and landed on a piece of... something... floating in the water. Dazed, he willed himself to recover as quickly as possible.
~The Crown~
Agni still found it difficult to think with the closeness of the beautiful heat. His complaint that he was not a 'Flamesalot' died about a third of the way to his mouth.
South? I... I can go there. Yes. I shall. I will go explore.
Agni raced southwards towards the newly erupted mountains.
The land below sped by, but Artun pushed himself harder. Agni had a head start, and Artun wasn't sure what he would do once he regained his right mind. The back of his neck burned, as if his master could read his thoughts and wanted to say, "pray that he hasn't."
Mountains rose into view and raced towards him. This must have been what Rocksy had been talking about. The god of vanity paused for a moment. Someone had to be responsible for this. He wasn't sure he wanted to meet such a being.
Agni was nowhere to be found, however. Had he beat the other god here? Had the flamelord already returned? Artun landed.
With no one around, his master slid out from his mirage and inspected the region. "There are caves... many caves and tunnels and caverns. Full of power."
"Should we go elsewhere?" Artun asked.
"No, this will be perfect. So many caves... it will be hard for unwanted visitors to find the right one. They'll find the other, blame the other, and leave us be."
Artun's master settled on a patch of earth and it sizzled. Slowly the creature descended into the ground, eating the earth away rather than moving it. It was careful to avoid any of the other tunnels and caves. Comparitively, it was a tiny network, but it was entirely unconnected to the other caves. Only this one entrance, nestled among countless others, lead to it.
As the oil moved through the earth, it became larger. Earth wasn't hearty food, but it was food nonetheless. As it went it coated the walls of the tunnel with itself, turning the entire network into a large digestive track. But to the eye, the walls looked like rock. Dark rock, rock that oddly absorbed light and warmth, but still, natural rock.
"Bring the other to me," the cave said.
For a moment, Artun considered just leaving. Perhaps the other gods would protect him. He liked Agni, and didn't want to betray him. But... no, the other gods couldn't keep him safe. Only obedience could.
The god set out, searching for Agni.
What would he say if the other god asked him why he was here? He'd have to think of something... and thinking was not one of his strengths.
Not that they're believed, but they claim that, in the far western wastes, there is a forest. Lies, of course. Nothing lives out there. But, they say, this is an ancient, primal forest. The trees there are giants, larger than mountains, the animals bigger than men. And at the center, they say, is the strangest thing of all. A little tiny man, a leaf, sitting in the middle of countless piles of seed. On his lap is a book of endless pages and, in careful, tiny handwriting, the strange creature, man or god, writes down the laws of the universe.
The wise mock such stories. They said that those who tell them either are telling lies at worst, or recounting fevered delusions at best. There is nothing out west. Nothing in this world, at least.
And yet, if I go onwards, perhaps I will discover why all of this is happening. The God rumbled to no one in particular as he traveled.
Below, strange lithe animals skittered and fled as he traveled overhead, but Agni paid such flammable things no notice. His eyes were fixed on the highest mountain peak.
The God arrived at the mountain, and, immediately, felt an enticing warming presence.
I will not be made a fool of again! He thought viciously.
IllusionMaster! Show yourself! He cried out.
Oh, right.
He wasn't sure it would be safe to approach. But then if his master found out that the hot one had escaped because he was afraid... that wouldn't be exactly safe, either.
"Hello?" Artun responded. He looked around and didn't see Agni anywhere. His voice echoed off the mountains, confusing his sense of direction.
"As I said," echo echo echo, "it's not an illusion. I'm beauty, so you see beauty. I am what you see." He spoke too fast and his own echoes muddled his meaning.
Artun wandered around the mountains for a few more moments before tripping, falling, and sliding right past the fire god. The god of vanity righted himself, dusted himself off, and climbed back up the mountain. As he went he called out, "There was a creature at the suns. As soon as I approached, it darted south and I followed. Come, it's hiding in a cave. I can't see in there, but your glowy fireness should lighten things up."
That this God was a problem was obvious. Agni half felt like he should turn and go as far the other direction as possible. But the other half cried out Follow! and Agni did.
They soon arrived at the cave, a black mouth that gaped on the side of a mountain.
In there? Very well. Stay close to me. Not too close, mind you.
Suddenly the tunnel filled with the light of soft, glowing metals and fiery forges the size of houses. The swirling vapors drifted slowly, even lazily into the now vast hall. They rose and clinged to the dancing shadows of the ceiling, carefully moving forward. Veins of ore, colored with a dozen shades and some bearing sparkling gems, were only matched in number by the tools both mudane and exotic that were mounted on the walls. Despite himself, the Fused God was... impressed.
He drifted farther and farther until the hammerblows were met, almost in harmony, with a clear tuned humming. Then he saw the forge god striking away at a massive rocky pillar. Azazel/Go'El watched, and was soon confused. Was this god... neglecting his power? The pillar did not shape itself, nor did the pillar rise from the ground to meet the ceiling. he simply chipped away at it patiently.
What a fool, the Fused God thought. Still, he would be useful. The haze silently drifted back towards the hall entrance where it began to coalasce. Shapeshifting two deities into one form was painful, but required in this case. He would need a form the god was not familiar with, one that he could explain away the taint the god would sense in him...
The smoke gave way to substance: flowing cloth, silvered hair, and an empty sheath. The body had formed, and Azazel/Go'El examined himself. The form was abnormally small, akin to a human. He whispered to himself,
This is me? Do I need to be bigger?
He gave more flesh to the form, to match the size of the forge god. Everything seemed...adequate. The god hobbled, clutching his side, into the hall. He called out down the hall with a voice to drown out the roar of the fires.
So how do you do?
Artun took a step forward, the shattered gravel slicing at his feet. Agni descended into the cave, casting his illumination into the depths. Shadows fled to hiding places along the walls, waiting for the god to leave and for the return of their domination. The heat stirred up dustdevils on the cavern floor, animating sickly swirls of pale dirt that died as soon as they were born.
Artun hestitated, but the other god went forward more, fully into the place.
Though waves of heat cascaded off of the fire god, the air felt dank and decayed. It pooled around the cavern ceiling, condensing, and releasing stillborn droplets of exhausted water down onto the god. They hissed a sizzle as they danced upon the molten form of the god. But they did not evaporate. Wisps of haze rose from the god-pyre, but that haze hung fast to him, condensing, covering, smothering.
That god had been so nice to him...
"Agni," Artun called out, afraid to set foot inside the cave. "Look out!"
A small glob of oil fell from the ceiling and onto the god. It boiled, smoked, but would not ignite. More fell, and the sticky ooze on him began to wrap itself further, winding, constructing, binding. The very smoke that Agni produced as he burned against the oil clung about him. Deepening, suffocating, poisoning his mind and body.
The floor oozed upwards, covering him more, pulling him down. And within, as oxygen was cut off from his body, Agni felt himself grow as cold as stone.
"What can I do?" Artun shouted. "I... I'll get help." He turned to leave, but paused, and turned back. "Who can help?! Oh I'm useless, the prism was right."
Agni's flames could barely pierce the perfect darkness of the smog around him. It was as if the smoke was a thing itself, sucking the warmth and life out of him. Even as the ooze wraped around him, the sightless smoke did likewise. The unseen shadows, locked in a world of sightless darkness, sought revenge.
AP
1AP+1AP from Agni (pre -approved stealing) - Ascend Umbra, god of darkness, who happens to be in the middle of smothering Agni
0AP remaining
1AP+1AP from Agni (pre -approved stealing) - Ascend Umbra, god of darkness, who happens to be in the middle of smothering Agni
0AP remaining
The spark still flickered desperately...
"It is kinship. You and I and the stone are unlike thossssssse self-proclaimed 'lordsssssss'.
Sa's voice sharpened, and Urru sensed the god "turn" towards him.
"Why do they quarrel? Can they not see that they are not responsible for the othersssssss misfortunesssssss?"
"Find me when you know how to prove your worth."
She flew off in search of her brothers Agni and Leaf. She didn't approve of the thought that they were using the primal spirits without understanding what they are doing. She would share her knowledge. First she would find Leaf, aiding him in such a way would hopefully sweeten the pact of life and challenge they made. Afterwards, there was Agni. He was less likely to approve of Pruinus giving him advice on how he did things, but she had to make the attempt. Spotting thousands of miles of new grown forests, she decided to search these first.
She swooped down amongst the trees, her eyes scanning miles of forest in seconds as she zoomed through the foliage, the plant life's temperature plummeting in an instant as she flew past, and rising again just as fast.
Artun felt something crawling around him. In the suddenly lightless cavern, the dark was almost tangibly heavy.
"I didn't like that. It hurt my eyes and made it so I couldn't see. I'm glad its gone."
The voice came first from one place and then another. Artun could no longer tell where the walls were, or how far away anything was.
"But there is another one. It is warm, and has light within that I cannot see. It is a mystery like...nothing I have known. It is beautiful. What is it?"
Betrayal! I should have known that nothing as beautiful as you could possibly be trusted, Lord of Charlatans. If you wish to help now that it is done, go and find my son, the SmithLord and my siblings. With my last breaths, I curse you, Artun.
And with that, the darkness coated him completely and Agni collapsed to the floor, a dark rock among other dark rocks. Deep within the rock, a spark of conciousness remained, sluggishly contemplating revenge.
The son of Agni, the SmithLord? He didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like asking for a beating with a hammer. Siblings, though... maybe those fought with each other alot? Hopefully they would like Agni enough to help, but not love him enough to punish Artun.
But... which way should he go? Even if he wanted to find these beings, Agni had excluded their names and home addresses.
"Well," Artun said to himself, "I just have to think about this logically. Agni is a stony, barren sort of fellow..."
Artun looked around. There was a forest to the north of the Crown, grassy plain thingies to the east, and a meadow to the south. But west? That looked as barren as Agni. Maybe his siblings were there.
~Back at the God-Cave~
When Artun fled, the walls of the cavern vibrated and it spoke to the shadows, "Ignore him, he is worthless. But you... what are you? A thing of smoke and darkness?"
With Agni incapacitated, the cavern wrapped the god tight in layers of suffocating ooze, imprissoning it. And feeding off it. The walls had looked like a natural cave before, but the haze that covered it was becoming thick, and the entire place seemed to be covered in mucus.
"I am Umbra. I am behind the smoke and darkness, and I see all that it covers, but I myself am not of it."
The eyes behind the darkness moved across the prison, trying to find exactly what to focus on. TASOE were a bit on the intangible side themselves.
"These beings have trapped the painful one and put out his blinding light. Thankfully. But why did the beautiful one flee? Did these ones not bring him into the darkness with them?"
OOC
Don't worry, Umra won't always talk like this, he's just learning how to interact with others.
The stylus that Leaf used to write scratched across the rough, bark-like paper of the book. It was the only real noise in the forest.
there is an equal and opposite...
The light went out.
That was too sudden and abrupt for the sun to have just set. Leaf looked up, and at first thought the sun was simply gone. But no, there it was. Seven hunks of unimpressiveness floating in the sky. Dead.
That couldn't be good.
And there was another will near by, another god. The forest was fading. It had only been a wish that his latent powers had given a temporary form to. It wasn't really there, it lacked substance. With another god, another will, one that lacked the same wish, nearby, reality reasserted itself.
Leaf stood and let the book dissolve. It wasn't really a book, that was just how he imagined it. When he wrote the laws, he wrote them into the very essence of the universe. They could be read, felt, tasted by anyone who bothered to pay attention. And he could also summon the book back to help him write more.
Uncertain of what was coming, Leaf extended his hand and his spear materialized in it. A long thorn, its tip fire-hardened, but cracks running down its length. It looked as tired as the god himself.
Exhausted and not wanting to seem too aggressive, he planted the tip of the spear in the lifeless rocks at his feet and leaned on it.
That is how Pruinus found him.
" Hello there.."
He jumped down and the earth shook as his metal body slammed in to the floor with a loud crash.
" And who might you be..that arrives uninvited to my domain? Well..i shouldn't be suprised I suppose..what is there to stop you after all? Other..then well.. a mountain range..a labyrinth of tunnels and the mere fact that few of the Gods even know that I exist..."
There was literally fire burning in the eyes that observed the stranger, fire and bubbling magma.
" You know that I exist...and have probably taken considerable effort in tracking me down, might I ask for what purpose? What is there you would ask of one such as me? Oh, mighty God of those realms that prosper under the sun? "
"Greetings Leaf. How are your efforts faring?"
After exchanging a few short pleasantries, Pruinus began to explain her reason for her visit.
"I've learned recently that there are... others in this universe with us. They call themselves the primal spirits. They claim they are the last remnants of the first. They are much more numerous then the gods, and indidivually their power is little, but as a colony, their power matches.... possibly even exceeds our own. They wish to speak to you, Lord Leaf."
A voice began to echoe from the leaves on the trees, from the grass of the earth, from the petals of flowers. This time, the voice sounded as through the leaves themselves rustled in a manner to produce a voice.
"Greetings, Leaf God. We are the spirits of the world, We exist within all living things. You've been rather busy as of late haven't you? The world is much more populated today then it once was. For this, you have our thanks Leaf god."
The spirits knew Leaf had been busy writing the laws of the universe. Whether he realized it or not, he was using them to do this. As he imagined it like writing a book, if his hand was his own will and the quill his power, then they were the ink he used to scribe the laws. The parchment was the universe itself, and even the spirits themselves didn't fully understand it. Pruinus spoke softly again.
"I am an ally to the spirits, dear Leaf. And i hope you will be too. The spirits will guide you and aide you, and i hope you will do the same to them."
With a bow, Pruinus departed to find Agni, leaving Leaf alone with billions of his new allies.
---
Non-Ap
Share Primal Spirits domain with Leaf.
Leaf now has the primal spirits domain and gains all bonuses associated with it, and must follow the rules associated with it too.
I am known as Zebus. I wa... am a friend of your Father's.
He hobbled forward, then rested against a table. Wincing, he wrapped the cloth around his still bleeding side.
And you are right in saying that finding you was no easy task. I have come bearing news, and a request.
He needed to inject some urgency into the conversation. The longer he was in this form the worse his chances became. It would need to be something critical... personal...
...and ridiculous.
Your Father has been captured.
Yes. That would do. It was impossible, which is exactly why the forge god might believe it. And while he was at it, why not exploit this young god's innocence of the pantheon?
By the tyrant god Leaf no less. Leaf had once demanded his fealty like a fool, but he is not satisfied with kinsmen and servants. He did not trust your Father with his power and lured him into a trap.
The god clutched at his side, trying to control the imaginary bleeding.
I defended him as best I could but along with his angel army, I was no match at all. I was overwhelmed, nearly stabbed to death. I have come seeking your aid. He bade me search for you, that we could rescue him and overthrow Leaf from his insanity! I will show you proof on the surface, but there is no time to spare. My request is that you forge me a suit of armor fit for a god, so that when i fight beside you we can triumph.
Will you help me? Or shall i gather resistance elsewhere?
"So, have you noticed fair chilly one, that the sun has unexpectedly set? I was also so hoping to join that other odd god that you shooed off. Anyways, so what are our plans now?"
Then came another. Zebus? The name was familiar, but not quite recognizable. Leaf, however, that name he knew well. A god had captured this creature's father? And demanded fealty from him? This Father must be powerful... Powerful enough to be another god? Which would explain much of the mountains and caverns. It was as much of an answer as he was going to get, and he had been on this quest for a long time already. Cumbrous prayed.
~~~
Onus watched Agni and Artun fly off into different directions. Such odd behavior... He looked around for the source of this explosion Artun had spoken of, but his mind was more bothered by Artun's behavior. He walked aimlessly about the world crown, studying all the new life that had come to be there, and watching the other new gods from a distance... and time passed.
Then, the suns went dark. A most unusual occurrence... Had Artun done something wrong up there? Perhaps I should have followed after him. Onus took to the skies, flying up towards the dark spaces he now saw hanging in the skies, only to feel the pull of a prayer. He stopped, hovering in midair. A decision had to be made, investigate the new dilemma, or answer the call of the older one. It came from the direction Agni had gone... Agni? Onus stared into the skies, then turned and flew south with as much speed as he could muster.
Small, weak and bleeding....and yet he had time and the power to find me. He comes wih words of war between foolish Gods. He comes proclaiming the defeat of my Father and asks of me to help him. He..asks me to help him? Why?
The Smith turned his back on his guest and put a hand on the massive, but yet unfinished pillar he had been working on.
" I...have been working on this..construction for quite some time. I have..spent untold amounts of time reducing what once was moutain to something..more useful. "
He closed his eyes as his hand slowly moved over the hard, uneven rocky surface.
" It takes its..due time you see to do something proper. Especially when you are alone. I...was made to build things you see. Not to create them. Make new things out of already existing material. "
He turned yet another time, once more to face his guest.
" I will..help you in your quest, guest. In exchange though for...a service. A simple one for a creature such as you that can make things out of thin air. I want bodies. Not living creatures. Flesh. Not life. Make me a hundred bodies as those the humans wear and in exchange I will make you an armour unlike anything this world has seen. "
What had Agni done now? She had to reach him and explain how his actions were affecting the spirits.
She spoke to the blade.
"My apologies, but i was unsure if i could trust him. the next time we meet, I shall pass you over to him if you wish"
Yes, it was only fair that she aided the gods to prepare for the oncoming storm. After all... Winter Was Coming.
Pruinus shot out of the forest, Diving into the godscrater as she did. She was horrified at the corrupted angels she saw tearing each other to pieces.
No. This was not Agni's work. Even he would not create something so repulsive.
Still, he needed to sound realistic.
You would bargain now?! Your Father who claimed you as his own with pride and purpose, to whom you owe your very life, has been sealed away and you deny him aid?!
He feigned disappointment and reluctant defeat.
Regardless, your choices are your own. Here, take them. Help me...
Taking a small cup, he poured the smooth tea across the floor. The liquid bubbled and gathered together into a crowd of human husks. These husks, of many varied builds, collapsed unto the floor.
The god waited for the smith's reply.
He smiled at the husks, picked them carefully up one after one and stored them away.
" This will do more then nicely for my purposes. Now then.."
The smith raised his open hand and closed it. His hammer was there now. A huge thing that glew hotly, sparks flew from the steel and the shaft itself was blackend and cracked at places.
" Now then, let me show you what hard work can make possible. "
And so the Smith began to work. Bringing forth metal, tools and all matter of things he needed to do his work. It took days but in the end he fullfilled his promise and delivered an armour to his guest. It took the form of a full plate armour made of fine, but unadorned steel. There was power in it though. A lot of it. The Smith enjoyed his work and to make something like this..was most interesting. It was made of steel but strengthened with divine fire.
He held it in his hand. A small ring of finest steel a word was uttered and the ring shone and changed form to cover its wearer in an armour of finest steel. It was unadorned, other than a small symbol in front of the heart of the wearer. Four lines that took the shape of a mountain.
" It will bend to your will, Guest. It can be as small as a ring around your finger or as huge as this very mountain...but no matter the size or the outward appearance of ther armour it will still protect you. "
He turned his hand and the armour faded and the ring at the Guest's feet.
" Take it now, Guest and leave. I...would prefer to be left alone..there is much work to be done after all. "
Create Artifact 3 PP: Unnamed Armour for Azael who may name it if he so desires. He may also decide of the exact effects it will have other than its ability to change size and form.
OOC
Pruinus saving Scorch would also work... I was planning on creating some... terrifying beast out of the fire elemental and the toxic lake, but... that can happen slowly over time!
When the forge god had finished and held out the ring, Azazel/Go'El took it gently, admiring the gleam in the weakening firelights. The age he had waited for was coming to a close, the final parts interlocking. He felt his hatred growing gnarled within him.
Suddenly he felt a disturbance in the ether. A presence in the Godcrater.
Was it...
A god? In his domain?!
He must leave, and now. But not before one last attempt at subterfuge. He began to walk towards the hall entrance, speaking over his shoulder.
I hope that you take up arms against Leaf, young one. I found you. More will. If you do not choose war, Leaf will force it upon you, and by then, you will be alone against an army. No friends, no family, and nowhere to hide.
And your tools not useful any longer...
The god vanished into smoke, leaving the forge god to his thoughts, and his work.
"Hello?" Leaf asked. He felt a little odd, talking to the air, but the air responded.
"Hello."
"You are my brothers and sisters. If you swear to serve life, then I will dedicate all I am to your glory and honor."
There was a pause. It stretched out, and even a god's patience would be tried. Eventually, a voice returned, "We already have. As you wrote your laws, we enacted them."
Leaf hadn't realized that anyone had been watching or paying attention. It made him smile. He disliked being alone, but had been alone much as of late. It was comforting to know that these spirits were there.
"So you have, so you have. Then," the god of life willed the book of natural laws to materialize again, "I will add your names to the law. What are they?"
It felt as if the universe took a very deep breath. Perhaps this would take some time.
~Later~
Leaf's hand felt cramped from writing. There were a LOT of name to record. But, finally, the last one was entered. It was right that these spirits, who were effectively the people of the universe, consented to be governed.
The tiny god had barely put the book away when he felt another presence approaching. It was unfamiliar, but much to his surprise, he saw the goddess of the cold approaching him again.
"Hail, Lady Pruinus. What brings you back so soon?"
OOC
Thought, I assumed that Artun was looking for Leaf, so that's you.
Thought, I assumed that Artun was looking for Leaf, so that's you.
Sa outpaced its corporeal manifestation entirely, so great was the span of ground it traveled -- petals were not known for their speed, after all. The divine entity had whisked itself upwards to better inspect the seven suns: They were dim, umbral things, but there was still a dull ember at the core of each.
Sa's petals were given time to catch up as the divinity considered its course. As they rose, so too did great chunks of earth and stone, the petals and flowering plants having convinced the stone to bear them upwards. Many of these Earth Motes were quite large, and bore upon them several buildings, most still with cowering humans still inside. Rising too were fields and pastures, though the plants and animals riding thereupon were considerably less panicked.
Delicately, Sa reached out, plucking one of the suns from the sky, removing it from its orbit, guiding it down towards the waiting Earthmotes with an endless stream of blossoms.
For now, these humans would survive. They were close enough to the seventh sun that they would have light and warmth, and the lack of intervening obstacles in the sky would let the light smoulder farther than within the deep foliage of the ground.'
AP
1 AP - Command Land : Sa raises Earth Motes from the Crown Valley into the sky. They float between 200m to 425m above the highest peaks in the Crown. As Earthmotes go, these are on the small side, the largest having room for only three small buildings (or one large building).
2 AP - Create/Modify Artifact : Sa diverts one of the seven suns from its rotation to hover endlessly, centered above the Crown, known hereafter as The Beacon. This sun provides light and warmth for the surrounding Earthmotes, and (once the suns ignite again) will provide a constant guide for any terresterial races, below. As it is remains always directly above the Crown, it allows travel by night, as it's position provides a constant, fixed position, to navigate against.
1 AP - Harm Humans : The humans "saved" by Sa are not well adjusted to life on Earthmotes, and the humans still in the Crown Valley are not well adjusted to having a goodly number of their brethren suddenly spirited into the sky (not to mention the loss in resources and production).
1 AP - Command Land : Sa raises Earth Motes from the Crown Valley into the sky. They float between 200m to 425m above the highest peaks in the Crown. As Earthmotes go, these are on the small side, the largest having room for only three small buildings (or one large building).
2 AP - Create/Modify Artifact : Sa diverts one of the seven suns from its rotation to hover endlessly, centered above the Crown, known hereafter as The Beacon. This sun provides light and warmth for the surrounding Earthmotes, and (once the suns ignite again) will provide a constant guide for any terresterial races, below. As it is remains always directly above the Crown, it allows travel by night, as it's position provides a constant, fixed position, to navigate against.
1 AP - Harm Humans : The humans "saved" by Sa are not well adjusted to life on Earthmotes, and the humans still in the Crown Valley are not well adjusted to having a goodly number of their brethren suddenly spirited into the sky (not to mention the loss in resources and production).
OOC
James, at least some time passes before i appear in the Godcrater
Actions
2AP: Claim Domain - Shadow: With the darkening Zebus takes control of the latent shadows of the world under his control to work with due to current debilitations....
2AP: Create Artifact: The Reaping Sword. This is the sword Zebus currently inhabits. As it is in Pruinus's possesion, it is slowly starting to gain abilities eeked from its current owners. In its current state it (not only contains the essense of Zebus god of death) is a shadow/frost sword, with its power capable of expanding in the future.
2AP: Claim Domain - Shadow: With the darkening Zebus takes control of the latent shadows of the world under his control to work with due to current debilitations....
2AP: Create Artifact: The Reaping Sword. This is the sword Zebus currently inhabits. As it is in Pruinus's possesion, it is slowly starting to gain abilities eeked from its current owners. In its current state it (not only contains the essense of Zebus god of death) is a shadow/frost sword, with its power capable of expanding in the future.
She caused the abominations to freeze against the ground, the ones in the sky had their wings frozen shut, collapsing to the ground. They became even more enraged, trying to swarm over her, Pushing past the agony of sheer cold that surrounded her to claw, kick, bite and maim the frozen god. At her command, the primal spirits sent forward a massive gust to push them back. She ran with the creature, holding its hand despite the intense pain this caused her, The fingers melting away to cool liquid. It was certainly a creation of Agni, perhaps it knew where he was. She pushed it forward.
"Go! Fetch your master, and any other allies you can find!"
She turned to face this.... tragic figure before her.
Such a poor creature. She could not blame him for hating her. His suffering must be unbearable, to have warped his mind and soul.
"I know not who you are, but i know who is your traitor.... The Life god, Leaf, although he never intended..." She looked around.
"This. You should have died long before you became this... But death at your time of birth was not possible. I apologize, I could have intervened and prevented your fate, but I did not. "
She raised the sword of death towards this maimed god. He would resist, but this creatures death was long overdue and he deserved to be freed from his agony, Pruinus owed him that much. She spoke a single word to the primal spirits: "Winter"
She sensed the spirits begin to enact the ancient challenge and begin the first season of Winter, The harsh cold creeping slowly outward from the Godscrater to the rest of the world, and the universe. The harsh blizzards and bitter cold was her home, these corrupted angels were no match for her here. Bringing the sword of death forward, she charged towards the maimed god, hoping she could end his suffering quickly.
---
Attack Azgo: 1AP
Call Winter: No AP (I hope, I spent four AP on creating it) Slowly, the rest of the universe begins to suffer blizzards and hailstorms, and temperatures plummet. The length of days and nights remains the same, since winter in this universe is not caused or affected by the position of the sun
Irritable and cold he walked away from his location, walked away from the crown, and walked away from everything. Finally, he came to a distant shore and stopped just short of the still water, lifeless and calm.
"This place will do. I will begin my work here, and from here will my work spread."
Gathering his force of will, he leaned down and place his hand on the earth. "Rise. Awaken your ancient bones and reach forth into the sky in defiance and glory."
For a long moment, the air stood still about him, before being split by a thunderous crack and the earth and stone awoke, thundering its way skyward.
Grasping a handful of dirt, he floated skyward over the mountains away from the now lapping water and gazed down on the mountains. Nodding, he scattered the dirt into the wind, great trees growing where each particle landed.
Revealing his left arm, he reached out with his right, clawing forth a great gout of blood to rain down, bringing forth and abundance of life. Covering his arm once more, Marcus waited and rested, holding his injured arm close to his side.
Actions
2 AP - Command Land - Form a great mountain chain on the western shore
1 AP - Nourish Land - A redwood forest grows on and around the immediate vicinity of the new mountain range.
3 AP - Nourish Land - Life flourishes in the area, ranging from squirrells and small plants to wolves and even birds spread throughout the forest despite the now raging winter.
1 AP - Nourish Land - A redwood forest grows on and around the immediate vicinity of the new mountain range.
3 AP - Nourish Land - Life flourishes in the area, ranging from squirrells and small plants to wolves and even birds spread throughout the forest despite the now raging winter.
With a shove of cold air, Scorch flew forwards and out of the godcrater, one arm hanging limp and black at his side, not reigniting despite his best efforts. Cursing, he began heading back towards where he had last seen his people, hoping that they hadn't gone too far.
4 AP for everyone. Pony, you may roll over your AP to next week instead, if you prefer.
If you'd like to hear how the admins think you are doing (everyone is doing great so far) or what we think you could do to improve (at the moment, everyone just needs to keep posting
) feel free to ask any of us.Story: Thought didn't do it
Artun, newly born into the world, begins to insinuate himself within the workings of the other Gods, driven onwards by a hidden Master. He approaches several other Gods in the Crown, and each finds him beautiful. Sa suggests that Artun might desire beings to worship him utterly, and Artun, with Sa's help, creates vain humanity to do so. It is soon after that Urru is born, fast as light itself. Together, he and Agni are able to reveal the true nature of Artun: Each being that looks upon Artun sees what they themselves find most beautiful.
Elsewhere, Marcus approaches Leaf and attempts to lay claim to the Sword of Zebus. However, Leaf insists that it is Pruinus who is the rightful owner of the sword, and together, they travel to her home to meet her. Pruinus, however, is not presently there, having met remnants of the First who call themselves the Primal Spirits. After befriending them, she returns to find Leaf and Marcus waiting for her. Pruinus accepts the sword of Zebus, and refuses to give the blade to Marcus until the God proves himself worthy to carry it. As Leaf leaves, Zebus himself speaks from the blade.
Great changes then wrack the world: To the south, Thereus raises a great mountain range, riddled with caves. To the west, Marcus, stung by the rejection of Pruinus, raises up mountains and a forest. And Leaf, God of Nature, creates distinctive ecosystems along three of the four cardinal directions from the Crown: Arctic to the North, Savannah to the East and Plains to the south. Only the west remains (partially) barren. And overhead, the greatest mystery of all, as an unseen force splits the sun into seven smaller orbs.
In the Crown, the Gods are troubled. They all observe the sun being split, and Onus reports the creation of the mountain range to the south. Artun, thinking quickly, is able to divide up the Gods, sending each in different directions, and is able to isolate Agni, leading him to a cave where, unbeknownst to the fire God, the master of Artun has metamorphosed into a dark cave. Upon entering the cave, Agni is trapped.
Pruinus, taking her leave of Marcus, travels south and runs into Leaf. She decides to introduce him to the Primal Spirits as well before traveling further south and discovering the GodCrater. Azgo, the Lord of Pain, has been preparing his Craterspawn to attack and overwhelm the creations of those he considers his kin, whom he terms 'Firstborn.' He has even stumbled upon Thereus, and, after convincing him that his father is a captive of Leaf, is given a suit of armor by Thereus.
Pruinus and Azgo begin to fight, giving an opportunity for a wayward Agni'Vohda to escape and flee back in the direction of the Eternal Volcano, created by Agni as a home for the Agni'Vohda.
As Agni is trapped, a god of Darkness is born, and fire everywhere begins to dim and fade, including the Sun itself. As the World grows cold, Sa captures one of the seven smaller suns and raises a series of earthmotes from the Crown to a space near enough for the sun to provide light and heat in its weakened state. Unfortunately, the humans 'saved' in this manner are not well-suited to living that far above ground in small house-sized floating islands.
Finally, feeling remorse, Artun flees the dark cave and goes to seek out help to save Agni.
Map: Stupid program. I know there are no labels. I'll get them on for next week. Click to get it full sized.
As Pruinus raised the blade against Azgo, this is part of what Zebus has been waiting for: open combat!
Almost as if on its own, tendrils of shadow and death lashed out of the sword right at Azgo, lacerating the other gods skin. Everywhere the tendrils touched death followed and so did a touch of frost. The tendrils retreating, the sword seemed eager to clash with this other god. The energies between the three gods start to clash.
AP
1AP to finish creating the Reaping Sword: A 3AP artifact of shadows, freezing ice, and death.
1AP Attack Azgo: Lashing out through the sword, Zebus attacks Azgo making it seem Pruinus is being openly hostile to him.
1AP to finish creating the Reaping Sword: A 3AP artifact of shadows, freezing ice, and death.
1AP Attack Azgo: Lashing out through the sword, Zebus attacks Azgo making it seem Pruinus is being openly hostile to him.
The passageway he was looking through at TASOE was the shadow being cast by the god-prison. Every place that there was darkness and myatery in the world, there was a connection to the realm in which Umbra dwelled. He realized where he was. The shadow of the world. The repurcussions of existence. He had been born here without even knowing it.
AP
Create Plane (5 AP): The Shadow. This realm is literally the shadow cast by the universe. It is accessible in very dark and lonely places throughout the universe. People can enter the Shadow from any plane, and vice versa, if they know the proper rituals, if Umbra transports them, or - on occasion - completely by accident. In order to make a plane inaccessible to the Shadow, the god creating it must spend one extra AP.
Populate Beasts (2 AP): Shadows. The Shadow is inhabited by weak, nearly intangible shadow creatures. Umbra will later shape some of them into more specific and intelligent creatures.
0 AP remaining
Populate Beasts (2 AP): Shadows. The Shadow is inhabited by weak, nearly intangible shadow creatures. Umbra will later shape some of them into more specific and intelligent creatures.
0 AP remaining
There was a clash.
For the first time in creation, the wrath of the gods themselves were poured out onto each other with nothing but the intention of destruction guiding their hands. The humans had warred many times before, but they knew nothing of power laid bare, nor the delicate touch of godflesh and divine steels. They would have been awed. They would have been horified.
Pruinus hefted the Reaping Sword into the smoky air, and let her momentum bring the blade crashing down. Azazel/Go'El held his gauntleted fists in a cross and caught the force of the blade, splitting the ground beneath him. The gauntlets were scarred, but held true. Shadowy tentacles lashed out from the blade and drove themselves through the armor chinks. Patches of frostbitten and dead flesh fell out, and were followed by thick blood. The sword seemed to have a life all its own.
Under the weight of the sword, Azazel/Go'El spoke with hate-twisted conviction.
"WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?! Was it scorn? Was it greed? Jealosy?! The First gave me a place! And you would not let me have it?! You are right! You wanted me dead, but I will reclaim what is mine, Firstborn betrayer!"
Then Azazel/Go'El went on the offensive. His arms swung swiftly and with force, hoping to divert her attention to too many places at once. But freezing buffeting winds drove most of his blows off. The most he able to do was to batter her, rather than injure her.
"Do you regret, Pruinus?" he challenged with mouthfuls of blood. "Then destroy what you have made! Destroy Agni! Destoy Leaf! And then destroy yourself! Your crimes are unforgivable."
The edges of his form began to discorperate into noxious fumes that blended into the violent tempest winds. The boiling groundwater began to surge and swirl along her footsteps, slowing her down. But it was not long after each step that the water froze and she moved effortlessly through. Both sides landed a flurry of blows, and refused to give in to the other's will.
The battle continued.
"The other is of no concern. He was a distraction, nothing more. But you..."
The cocoon of ooze around Agni grew thicker, shielding his divine spark from prying gods. Yet, Umbra was close enough to detect something else. That the divine spark was being pulled from the fallen god, and absorbed into the cavern.
"There are those that would release this hateful being of fire and light. Even now I can sense that they are searching for him. Go, cover the world in darkness, cloud their vision with smoke and shadow."
AP
Non-AP: TASOE actively attempts to shield Agni's presence from others.
Non-AP: TASOE actively attempts to shield Agni's presence from others.
Laying one enormous hand on the mountain directly over Cumberous' position, he channels his divine energy and knowledge into him, enabling him to act in his stead. For your reward... you shall have me, faithful one.
Then he turns his attentions towards this other cavern that oozes and drips with darkness.
---
Cumbrous sits motionless, staring as the smith returns to his work, when a sudden rush of energy overflows him, transforming his very being. The sound of crushing stone echoes all throughout the caverns as his form adjusts to the raw power that bursts forth from him, the stone of his body begins to collapse and then wrap itself back together again. The effect is similar to a landslide, and so was the Living Avalanche born.
Cumbrous falls from his perch, landing only a few long strides away from the smith. His form now made of roiling stone, he seems somewhere between an earth elemental and an air elemental. Rising up, he stands only a little shorter than the Smith, perhaps a head shorter, but it is difficult to judge by the way the stones are constantly shifting. He stares at the smith as he adjust and learns to quiet the noise of his form. Finally he speaks, with the voice of a distant avalanche. Greetings, from the God of Stone, the Living Mountain, Onus...
AP 2: Create Exarch - Cumbrous, the Living Avalanche.
"There will be blood this day, sister." Leaf picked up his spear and called out to life. And life responded. A squirrel from his imaginary forest bounded into reality. Ants took to the trees and tore away bits of bark. Bees swarmed, putting holes in the bark, and spiders too, to bind it together with silk as strong as steel. It was an armor for the squirrel, made of the silvery skin of the birch tree. When the animal was ready, Leaf mounted. The squirrel reared up and let out a war-cry, and Leaf joined in. The farthest reaches of the world would know his wrath at this injustice.
With his spear in his hands, the little god called to his sister, "Lead the way!"
Artun vowed that some day he'd have to figure out who this Pruinus god was and thank him or her for making his task so much easier. It was so much easier when people cooperated without asking pesky questions. With the tiny god prepared and mounted, Artun nodded and headed off south. The little god followed, and they two crossed the heavens in a hurry. As they went, Artun tried to explain the situation without betraying himself too much. The fire god and he were searching for something odd in the south. Agni went into a cave, and the cave consumed him. Concerned, he (Pruinus) had gone straight to Leaf (just a little white lie) for help, knowing that the small god would never let any wrong to befall his family (as far as Artun knew, that was the truth).
When at last they arrived, Artun took some time searching through the many caves. Could this little god help Agni? He hoped so. But what if they took him as well? Should he help? Could he help? He was sure that his master would do unspeakable things to him, if he was caught.
"There," he said finally, pointing at one particularly dark cave. "That is where Agni went into. But... be careful. It is an unspeakable place."
His steed chattered nervously. Whatever was in there, it did not sit well with life. That alone was a reason to investigate. Perhaps it was Zebus, fool that he was, returned from his self-imposed death. No, that wasn't an honorable thought. He had promised that he'd honor his brother's memory.
Besides, he didn't think Zebus could overcome weak tea, let alone a god like Agni.
It was too dark inside to see. That wouldn't do. Leaf held out his left hand and whispered to the spirits. And they responded, coming together, forming what he had envisioned. A firefly to light their way. A dozen others joined in, and with the pale green glow, Leaf nudged his steed and it cautiously walked forward, tail high, twitching. He held onto its reigns tightly with one hand, and leveled his spear with the other.
The squirrel paused just for a moment at the mouth of the cave, but at its rider's insistence, it went forward. Leaf called out over his shoulder for Pruinus to follow.
Free Me. Agni roared at the thing that was keeping it prisoner. Free me now.
1 AP "given" to TASOE.
3 AP remain.
---
His name was Koga. He had been betrothed. And on the day that winter fell, and the earth had escaped into the sky, he had lost her.
It had happened so quickly - a sudden lurch, and then the ground was soaring upwards. He had been on the rising earthmote. She had not.
He made a promise, in those last few desperate seconds, arm stretched out for a lover it would never reach, grasping for a face it would never caress.
"I will find you!"
To the dim days of winter, it was an empty, futile, thing. Koga was now one of the Sora, the Skyfolk, and they scrabbled what meagre existence they could find. Rare was it that they could leave the Earthmote they had risen on. If they were one of the few whose earthmote drifted close to one another, all too often, the only way to move from one to the other was to jump, and all too often, the trip was one-way. Those who had rope, or ladders, did what they could, but even the longest ladders and strongest ropes couldn't span the dozens of meters between earth motes.
Koga was one of many who lived their days in a stupor, rarely moving, barely eating, hardly alive.
"I will find you."
He had promised her that, but what could he do, stuck up here in the sky?
Zebus quite rattled temporarily lost control of the shadow energies. Those energies, biting into anything they touched, caused burning for the frost mistress and freezing pain for the pain lord. As Zebus attempted to regain control of the shadows( and subsequently swore up and down that he was never manifesting in a sword again!), those energies, slashed against the other gods, spawning something else, more sinister, and as of yet unseen by the other two gods.....
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AP
2AP= Ascend God: As the divine energies lashed about, Zebus lost control temporarily and something else, more sinster awakens. Arise Altruis. Make your mark upon the unknowing that brought you forth!
2AP= Ascend God: As the divine energies lashed about, Zebus lost control temporarily and something else, more sinster awakens. Arise Altruis. Make your mark upon the unknowing that brought you forth!
The small god did not like the way things were turning out for the helpless beings, and it felt that the absence of such grand and life-sustaining light was unforgivable. It mustered it's power, divinely luminescent energies deep within the well of it's being and unleashed that raw energy in the form of a nova within the sun. The energy flared bright, brighter than the original sun ever did. When the dazzling display dimmed, standing in the center of the mortal's settlement was a figure beyond their wildest imaginings.
Softly glowing with a turquoise light, she stood at a height of nine feet tall. Clothed in violet silks which her skin illuminated from within and wearing a simple silver circlet, the humanoid female looked powerful yet kind. "Humans," she spoke in a soft voice that did not go unheard, "I am Pharos."
She bid the mortals to be calm, radiating an aura of easement and warmth. The humans approached her with curiosity and Pharos told them of her purpose. "I was sent by my maker, Urru the Everlight. It has taken pity on your plight and wishes you all to take heart in these dark times. I am it's herald, and it is through me that the Everlight shall provide it's strength. Those brave enough to face me step forward."
A handful of women and men alike hesitantly stepped forward, each seeming suprised at their own courage. Pharos smiled and waved her hand before them. They each were lifted into the air by her power so that she could look them eye-to-eye. With gentle care she embraced each and with her touch they were changed. A mote of power passed from her into them. When the humans alighted on the ground once more, they were more than mere mortals.
"Gifted ones, help to keep your kind safe in this darkness and whatever darknesses befall you in the future. You are the first of the Luminaries. Spread the light."
Show
4 AP: Create Avatar - Pharos
1 AP: Nourish Land - Re-ignite the minisun
1 AP: Command Populace - Make the Luminaries, the first sorcerors
1 AP: Nourish Land - Re-ignite the minisun
1 AP: Command Populace - Make the Luminaries, the first sorcerors
Leaf's little mount trembled as it set paw inside the cavern. In the feel of the floor, the scent of the room, the dripping of moisture, it could tell that it was not welcomed here. But, its rider urged it forward, and when Leaf commanded, life obeyed.
The cavern waited.
The little god looked over his shoulder again, and reluctantly Artun followed, each footstep trembling. He knew that the master would strike. It was a question of when, and if this god could fight it off.
Nothing.
The little fireflies provided just enough light to see horrible shapes by.
And as quick as thought, tendrils whipped out from the walls and bound Artun, violently pulling him to a wall and securing his hands, feet, and silencing his mouth. Within moment, the only thing exposed of the god was his eyes, and even those were forced open, so that he was forced to watch.
Psuedopods reached for Leaf as well.
As she fought and thought, the blade rattled within her hand and let out a torrent of shadowy tendrils, ripping at her "flesh" and tearing out of her grasp, dropping into the putrid yellow river beneath her.
Only once she looked down and noticed she was standing in the river did her body react, Pruinus feet suddenly screamed in pain with each step in the boiling river, Whitish hazy smoke rising rapidly from her legs with a sharp, loud whistling sound. She felt the essence of her power being ripped away as fought the creature, the only thought that prevented her from fleeing was that this creature experienced pain a thousand fold what she felt now, in every inch of its body, every second of its existance. She leapt backwards out of the river,her wings guiding her to a safe landing place. She landed in a crouched position,her hand suppoting as she landed. Her hand. She had only just noticed it had regenerated, the fingers formed perfectly in place once again.
The fiery mortal would not be so lucky, he would heal as quickly as her, if at all. But he was alive. But she couldn't concern herself with that right now, she had to retrieve the sword of Zebus, even if he hated her (Which he had every right too) She would not abandon him in this place.
But first, she spoke to the creature in kind tones. The two were locked in combat, but she felt it necessary to convey that she bore no malice towards him. Disgust, yes. Empathy, yes. But no malice, not even the slightest trace.
"Child, Allow me to ask, what is your name? Your title?"
When she had defeated him, he would be given the proper burial, and she would fashion a sculpture of him within the Halls Of Creation, and others in less remote places of the world. She would like to depict the creature in its most beautiful form, but she struggled to see any beauty. Nonetheless, All mortals would know the plight of this poor creature, and how he had suffered as consquence of the gods actions. The gods too must know how terrible the consquences of their decisions can be, and that their roles to play in the universe are not to be taken lightly.
She dived into the boiling river once again, submerged upto her shoulders in the putrid acid, gritting her teeth as the liquid ate into her and dissolved her body in a sensation that words such as "Pain" and "Agony" do not even begin to describe, but she had to do this. She had to retrieve the sword. Only, when her hand reached the spot where the sword had landed.... There was no sword within her grasp.
There was only..... Something else.
---
She felt the essence of her power being ripped away as fought the creature
Due to Pruinus being in contact with the pool and even being fully submerged within it towards the end of this post, I will hereby donate AP to Azgo to be used in the creation of even more corrupted creatures, although this time most likely with a Cold theme to them. I will donate upto half the AP required for the creation action.
@Forgotten: Please tell me if you wish to create something using this AP, so I am then clear on how much AP I possess for the rest of the week. Thanks.
There was no time to mourn for the creature. He'd give it life again, but not this day. Today... he smiled. Today wasn't a day for life, it was a day for death.
Leaf hefted his spear and threw it. By his judgment, he had brought a spear to a knife fight and it was just dead weight. His aim was true and the spear pinned the pseudopod to the wall, but the ooze slide around it, unharmed. Two blades of grass grew from Leaf's arms and he jumped at the cavern.
"Find Agni," the little god shouted to Pruinus. There was no response.
He cut himself a swatch of empty space, tendrils littered the ground around him. He glanced back, but didn't see Pruinus. Had she already been defeated? Had she fled? Or was this a trick?
More attacks. There would be time for questions later. This was death's day, after all. But though the little god was like a tornado of doom, for every ounce of ichor or ooze the cave had cut off, it fell to the ground and was reabsorbed. There was no winning here. He looked towards the exit, and saw that it was gone. The mouth of the creature had closed.
There might be no victory here, but it was an immutable law of the universe: life endures. Life finds a way.
"You have to watch what you eat. If you're not careful, you'll make yourself sick."
Further down and further in, Leaf let a trail of wounds in his wake. But there was no heart, no brain, no organs, no weaknesses. Just inch after inch of muck, and all of it struggling to capature him. Leaf threw his blades at the cavern and then willed leaves to appear around him. They wove together, layered, and formed a protective shell around him and the fireflies.
The cocoon crunched as the creature outside of it tried to crush it, but Leaf's will held it at bay, for now. He looked to the fireflies and said, "Spirits, find help."
The fireflies bobbed in acknowledgement, and Leaf took them in his hand. He burst out of the shell, sending leafy shrapnel into the cavern walls. He pointed in the direction of the creature's mouth and the fireflies flew with all their might. Leaf jumped to his spear, pulled it out of the wall, and threw. It shattered through the creatures mouth just moments before the fireflies, and the spirits were able to pass through, back into the natural world, before the thing healed itself.
Tired, Leaf generated two new blades and called out to the cave. "Come and get me."
The cave obliged.
~GodsCrater~
The natural spirits were freed of the god cavern, but they were unsure of what to do. Get help from where?
Everywhere, of course.
The spirits gathered and more fireflies formed. And more, until a path of light appeared throughout the mountains. More appeared, until there were enough to create a blinking green paths across the very world, all leading to the cavern.
A few, however, sought out Pruinus specifically. The real Pruinus. And they whispered in her ear what had happened.
AP
Non-AP: Trails of fireflies appear throughout the world, leading to the god cave and the imprissoned beings inside.
Non-AP: Trails of fireflies appear throughout the world, leading to the god cave and the imprissoned beings inside.
There was a shift in the other, though. The stone one was growing warm again. No... it wasn't growing warm, something was trying to revive him. He was being warmed.
The cavern diverted its attention to this oddity. It could sense the empty conduit that had fed the suns with the god's power. The cavern had turned off that flow. But now, someone had revived the artifacts, and power flowed back along the lines, back to this one. That was unacceptable.
Evil prepared to punish them.
~Over the Crown~
Light had been restored to the seven suns. Their radiance increased slowly at first, but soon they were back to their original brightness.
Then, they were brighter. Hotter. Tongues of flames began to lick across their surface, probing out, consuming anything unfortunate to be in their path. Still they grew brighter and hotter, until at last they ignited the air itself.
The explosion dislodged six of the suns and sent them careening through the world.
The first screamed north, where its fires were quenched and ages of ice covered it, burying its light.
The second to the southeast, and there it fell into the heart of the Eternal volcano.
The third to the southwest, where it fell among the choking vapors and slight-blinding mists of the Godcrater. It burned the chemicals there, causing great clouds of smoke to cover it, and its light was also lost to the world.
The fourth to the northwest, and it flew beneath the waves, to the very depths where miles of water hide its light.
The fifth to the south, to one of the endless caves, and there it was lost near the roots of the earth, its light forgotten.
And the sixth, the sixth, a great fireball, flew west. It landed on the barren wastes. The earth writhed in pain as the fires of the sun seared it, and eventually the very land turned, burying it. In the process, all life in the west became a lifeless, fire-cursed wasteland.
The seventh sun, the Beacon, remained where it was, but with its siblings lost, its own light was reduced to that of a star.
AP
Modify Artifact: 1AP (from Agni) TASOE shatters the suns, hiding six of them, and tying the Beacon's own illumination to the others. As they're recovered and put back in the sky, the Beacon will shine brighter. Now if only we had some mortal heroes to hunt them down...
Denourish Land: 1AP (from Leaf: I had gotten Pen's permission). The western lands are turned into a scorched wasteland. I would call it a desert, but deserts are comparatively nice places.
Non-AP: Life is temporarily decreased in the world, causing a pandemic of sickness and lethargy, which could potentially be followed by death, although I really hope the gods are saved before it comes to that.
4AP remaining.
Modify Artifact: 1AP (from Agni) TASOE shatters the suns, hiding six of them, and tying the Beacon's own illumination to the others. As they're recovered and put back in the sky, the Beacon will shine brighter. Now if only we had some mortal heroes to hunt them down...
Denourish Land: 1AP (from Leaf: I had gotten Pen's permission). The western lands are turned into a scorched wasteland. I would call it a desert, but deserts are comparatively nice places.
Non-AP: Life is temporarily decreased in the world, causing a pandemic of sickness and lethargy, which could potentially be followed by death, although I really hope the gods are saved before it comes to that.
4AP remaining.
As the sword sank in the boiling river, a pulse was felt throughout the river. Zebus still trying to cage the power he accidently let loose there was a feeling of malice growing inside the sword , a sense of madness and complete desire for chaos and pain. The tendrils of shadow began to whirl around the sword causing a typhoon in the water. Zebus then felt a strange presence growing stronger and stronger within the sword as the shadows spun around and around causing this shadow typhoon to rise. It rose till it was high in the air the boiling river water Pruinus and Azgo swept aside, gazing at this new phenomenon.
The sword rose to the center of the typhoon floating in the air, then suddenly Zebus was blasted into his original form the sword following him, the black blade implanting into the ground. The out of control shadows strangling him, then he lost sight as blackness and darkness consumed him(temporarily). The shadows swirling faster and faster then separating in the middle seeing an identical sword, however the blade was white in color instead of black. Out of the sword, a form was beginning to appear, as if it was climbing out of some deep depth. But before they could see what was coming the typhoon exploded in shadow falling over them and covering them all in darkness, trapping them temporarily in their own minds, producing their worst fears, and all around them echoing, a maniacal laughter could be heard growing louder and louder.....
As this happened an echo happened across the world of something unnatural... something evil had just been spawned....
AP
Create Artifact (2 AP): Mormhaor(Corrupted Death)
The white blade, opposite that of Zebus's Reaping Blade. Those hit by this blade not only are made to bleed but lose their sanity, leaving a mark on their soul until it eventually rips it from them, the sword absorbing it. The malice in the sword is so strong it entering a region simply causes anomaly's that mortals can't understand playing with their sanity until they too go mad. Only Altruis and the one who wields this blade(if Altruis wields it only him) are immune to its effects. Depending on the amount of souls "reaped" by this sword increases its power as well as Altruis gaining power himself empowers the sword.
Claim Domain (3 AP): Chaos
The way Altruis came into this world was born from a chaotic battle of hatred, madness, and chaos between the three gods, causing not only undeath and fear to come into being but chaos as well.
2 AP Remaining
Create Artifact (2 AP): Mormhaor(Corrupted Death)
The white blade, opposite that of Zebus's Reaping Blade. Those hit by this blade not only are made to bleed but lose their sanity, leaving a mark on their soul until it eventually rips it from them, the sword absorbing it. The malice in the sword is so strong it entering a region simply causes anomaly's that mortals can't understand playing with their sanity until they too go mad. Only Altruis and the one who wields this blade(if Altruis wields it only him) are immune to its effects. Depending on the amount of souls "reaped" by this sword increases its power as well as Altruis gaining power himself empowers the sword.
Claim Domain (3 AP): Chaos
The way Altruis came into this world was born from a chaotic battle of hatred, madness, and chaos between the three gods, causing not only undeath and fear to come into being but chaos as well.
2 AP Remaining
For a terrible age he had wondered that. He was once Azazel. He was once Go'El. They were kings, claiming their father's throne and his edict. But who was he now? He had been stunned by the question, for it was one he had never dared ask himself. He feared the answer he had always known. He was an abomination, a sickness upon creation.
Then he heard the smallest whisper whose voice was of smoke. His hate spoke to him from the twisting flesh of his agonized hearts. "Neither. You are both and yet neither. You... are..."
He leaned down and put his hand into the surging wirlpool and spoke, letting the current carry his empowered words. "I am Azgo the Blood Crowned, a fused god. I am what you have made me." He felt no doubt.
Suddenly he felt an essence in the pool, a essence unlike Pruinus or the sword. Something wholly different was emerging. The waters churned and heaved and uplifted into a massive swirling vortex that was burst apart in malignant shadow.
Everything was dark.
There was laughter. Azgo looked around him, but it seemed to come from nowhere. Whose laughter was it? It was joined in a familiar laugh, mocking, scornful and cold as the glaicer's heart. Then another, deep and filled with the rustling of ancient ash. Yet another echoed, small but infinetly proud. It was the howl of wicked wind in the tree canopy, roaring in bitter laughter. And a voice he had only heard echoes of in the depths of dreams and timidly murmered by the wisps bubbled over the others: a relaxed and carefree laugh, devoid of guilt and in its own way lifeless.
Colors of the planet danced across even his blind eyes. The Everlasting Volcanoe. The Crown. Long unbroken mountain chains. Shades of life and death and movement. The calls of worship and praise, hailing the names of the Siblings Four. All of creation spun and moved about Azgo. No single image or sound was left intact by the next. A cacophony of celebration.
He felt himself falling, falling into dust. His powers waned. His pain dulled. His sense of self only lingered by in a purposeless stagger. He was lost, and his betrayers in everlasting victory. Terror enwrapped his mind, and dragged The Blood Crowned into nothingness, promising him that there was nothing left at all. There was no hope.
Stirring. Something stirred, refusing to die. It wormed and writhed across the vast emptiness. Then it spoke, softly at first. It could barely be made out. "I... am..."
"I... am..."
It grew louder and possessed a clarity of unparalelled meaning. The laughter became unsure.
"I am..."
"I am..."
The cacophony was drowned entirely. The fading vibrant colors were plunged into blood.
"HATE"
Azgo bellowed in agony and anger, and above all else, surity.
"My HATE is stronger than my pain. It is stronger than my fear. I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!!" Azgo channeled the familiar agony of the Godcrater and like a sharpened blade, Azgo's power began to tear apart the shadows. His sickness surged forth into the darkness, corrupting shadow into fumes which were carried away into the raging tempest.
He gathered his battered power, and searched for the essence that had almost consumed him.
But wait. One was still warm. Its effects were counteracted by the one frozen in ice, so it did not mean he could escape, but it was still an active link.
Agni cast his mind through the conduit and, had he been able to, grinned.
~The Eternal Volcano~
Servants of the Eternal Flames. Your God requires your assistance. A booming voice reverberated in the minds of several Agni'Vohda who had seen a bright orb sink into the volcano not far from here and had come to investigate. The did not find the Orb, but they did find the voice of their God.
Within hours, the fire elementals had mobilized and were traveling southwest, a fiery river moving towards the Cave that Agni had imprinted on the minds of his servants.
AP to be spent on this soon
Looking down, he grunted slightly. A trail of green lights leading to the south. Curious, and suspecting they may answer some of his questions, Marcus set out on the trail, following them to their source.
The sword shifted and in the ensuing chaos of Altrius birth, it shattered. Zebus, lying on the ground the shadows covering him. Groaning, Zebus slowly picks himself up. Not how I wanted to return to this world, but it seems balance was restored and is now shifting in a bad way.
The sword disappeared, dissolving into shadows and reappearing in his hands once again. Completely ignoring Azgo, and Altrius, he walks over to where Pruinus was quickly sinking into the acid flow. Grabbing onto what was left of her, Zebus drags her out and back onto shore. Your time to die is not now. We have much to do sister.
As Pruinus slowly starts to gather herself, Zebus turns to the others. Grabbing his sword, it splits into two, one pure shadow, the other frozen death. You two have a choice, leave or I Will take you. Your time to die is yours to chose, but chose wisely.
From underneath the dome of its shell, long feelers writhed in the air. They had a grasp on the little god's prison, slithering and pulling. Dozen pearl-like eyes twitched back and forth, reflecting what little light there was left in the world and casting evil rainbows about. A giant, three-part claw, fueled by the power stolen from two gods, swung through the air and crashed into Onus, ripping him off Leaf's prison and sending him tumbling. With a slickling slurp, the mountain-god pulled Leaf back in.
In the cold air, the peak of the living mountain gathered snow and frost. The burning sword of Agni sizzled in the godflesh, but it sunk in and was spat back out. Within its body, the mountain-god pulled the two gods prisons further in, under the protection of its great shell.
The pillars of creation trembled as Evil approached Onus' prone form. Its tendrils quivered in anticipation, ooze salivating along them and dripping to the shattered earth below. Its mouth opened, revealing an endless pit of razor-rock teeth.
AP
Non-AP: Tasoe's new shape: a mountain/crab/thing. Kind of like a cross between a chasmfiend and this: www.kaijuphile.com/forums/picture.php?al...
Non-AP: Tasoe's new shape: a mountain/crab/thing. Kind of like a cross between a chasmfiend and this: www.kaijuphile.com/forums/picture.php?al...
Altruis sniffed the air and then smiled and began to laugh in that same eerie echoing voice.... then begins to talk to himself unaware of those around him.
"So much pain! So much suffering.... its delcious..." He licks his lips slightly, "but wait whats this other smell...." The snow still falling due to the primal spirits of Pruinus, he reaches out and peers into the snow then with Mormhaor jabs out and there is a loud screech, more like ice scraping across the ground breaking and a form appears. Mormhaor pulses and all around it primal spirits appear in their bodiless, soul form. Altruis then begins to suck in and all the souls go into the sword then into his body ripping them of their lifeforce and then they "die" leaving remnants all around them. The souls bind to Altruis's and they become part of him an aura of cold appears around him and then he waves his sword and corrupted dark parts of souls fly out touching the remnants of the once primal spirits of winter.
As the darkness touched them they came out from death into this morphed spirits covered in shadow who gave only a look of hunger and seemed to relish in the pain surrounding them in the Godcrater.
After, he turns to Zebus, "Father? Or should I call you brother?" He waves his identical, but opposite sword in front of Zebus. "You created me in such a... wonderful place don't you feel the torture here, the suffering?" One of the new creatures comes over and lays next to Altruis and he thrusts his sword down into its neck, it cries out in pain but doesn't die, the others relish in its pain.... "Absolutely wonderful.... don't you agree?" Altruis gives a stare at Zebus directly into his eyes and in there Zebus can see the insanity, but also intelligence....
AP
Populate (2 AP): "Soul Fiends" Beings created by corrupted elementals they have a remanance of what they once were before hand, but now only seek to gather souls to sate their own hunger and that of their god, Altruis. They can morph into shadow and disappear, be invisible, take the shape of animals as well, but still covered in blackness. These particular ones have frosted eye sockets which glow blue inside.
Remaining AP:
And to make sure everyone is on the same page, I spoke with James before doing this to the spirits and they aren't near as strong since half the AP cost.
Populate (2 AP): "Soul Fiends" Beings created by corrupted elementals they have a remanance of what they once were before hand, but now only seek to gather souls to sate their own hunger and that of their god, Altruis. They can morph into shadow and disappear, be invisible, take the shape of animals as well, but still covered in blackness. These particular ones have frosted eye sockets which glow blue inside.
Remaining AP:
And to make sure everyone is on the same page, I spoke with James before doing this to the spirits and they aren't near as strong since half the AP cost.
He was no longer the two-in-one, Azazel and Go'El. He was Azgo. And he was frail no longer.
Azgo turned his still-seeing head towards Zebus in wonder. Blood and bile flowed from the fresh holes across his face and between his blackened gums. "Brother?! You live?" He would have guessed that like earlier, some god had taken Zebus' form. But there was no indistinction, no blur. He glowed with... something that The Blood Crowned doubted any god could fake.
Could gods die?
He interrupted the other god's idle chattering. "And you defend her?" Malice bubbled up in his throat and poured into his challenge.
"She, who betrayed you?! Let you die? You are all traitors to the end, even with each other."
His head briefly turned towards this new presence, the mad one. He seemed opposed to Zebus, and while that was a start, the god would surely pay for trying to destroy him. Fumes of the Godcrater began to wreath defensively around Azgo's magled form. A surge of power swell up from within. The tempest began to swirl once more, and within its darkened clouds, thunder peeled. It was almost... a wardrum.
The craterspawn felt the call within them burn with bloodlust. They began to take to the skies. First in handfulls, then in the dozens, hundreds, thousands...
...Legions.
There was a pause.
"No, Zebus. It is you who would be wise to leave. Pruinus could not defeat me, and you cannot defeat me. The age of the Firstborn has come to an end! The skies darken, and the betrayed shall have their throne again." Azgo began to approach Zebus with a vigorous pace, and a legion to block out the sky flew overhead and out of The Godcrater.
OOC
Command Populace (2AP):Craterspawn. The craterspawn legions fly out and divide themselves into countless flocks. They attack large human cities, towns, and villages as well as gelab duhr communities.
AP Remaining: 2
AP Remaining: 2
Addressing Azgo, Altruis speaks... "Do you seek to make the world suffer as I sense you suffer?" Altruis shifts to his regular form, the shadows form into a black cloak with hood over his face.
Acting, he gathered energy together in his hands, took aim, then hurled it at this foe as a blinding white spear of burning ligh, punching through the creatures tough hide easily, pinning it's head to the ground for a few seconds, but buying time for Onus to recover.
Dropping closer, he stepped between the combatants and readied himself should the fight continue.
Melding the swords back into each other and sheathing it, Zebus turns and picks up Pruinus and places her over his shoulder.
This battle here is finished. We could be here all eternity clashing swords and words, but I have other things I must attend to.
Zebus turns to leave keeping his free hand on his sword for when one of them attacks.
That moment of hesitation gave Onus time enough to escape.
Slightly irked, the mountain turned to eye the new one. Small. Insignificant. Worthless.
The mountain crouched down and concentrated. The shell on its back cracked and spikes, each larger than the largest tree, grew out. With a contraction of its muscles, those spikes were sent high into the air, beyond sight, but within a moment they returned, and as they fell they rent the air with a scream of terror. Many landed across the world, but most were aimed at the annoying god.
On that day, destruction rained from heaven.
The words felt like anathema to his being.
"But know this: The peoples of creation will always remember the days that the suns were scattered and their gods did not protect them. They will remember blood flowing between the streets and the burning pyres of their dead. They will curse me... and they will curse you, for you did not save them."
Azgo paused on the edge of a cliff, looking over the intruders.
"You are a god, Zebus, nothing more. And you are unforgiveable, nothing less."
One day Zebus would pay dearly for his arrogance, and for his betrayal. But that day was not this day. Zebus was doubtlessly weakened from the battle, but Azgo also felt weak. He would not risk his life to fail. He let Zebus walk out of the Godcrater. His hatred has taught him patience.
Something began to agitate the sulfur pool Pruinus dived into. An essence of slick icy hide, the boiling heat of the acids, and droplets of godflesh began to coagulate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It would normally have been just before dawn in the human city of Avarom, not that there was much difference between day and night anymore. The city was founded midway across the mountain chain between its treacherous slopes and the dying grasslands that danced across the grey horizon. It was a large city, fashioned of quarried stone from under the mountains. Towering spires, temples to Artun decorated in silks and mirrors, and extensive battlements to watch for invading gelab duhr from the foothills all had a place in Avarom.
They were just stirring in their beds, caught in the pleasant aftertaste of dreams, when the outlying hunters spotted something rising above the withered grass. A dark storm cloud blocked what little light came from the Crown. The distant screeches sent chills down the hunters' spines, and they fled for the city walls. Something was gaining on them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Villages of both humans and gelab duhr across the continent were sudenly attacked by flocks of the monsterous craterspawn. The only warning were the haunting shrieks on the cold wind.
The former angels descended upon the first unlucky few and sunk their talons deep into bursting flesh. Joints and muscles were torn from pleading bodies as even more of the creatures surged passed, egged on by the screams of the running. Some huddled in houses silently only to cower as the creatures broke in through sloppily thatched roofs. The humans, both large and child-sized, squirmed under the grasp of the serrated talons as they were carried higher and higher into the air to be released. Blood began to seep into the ground.
The invasion was underway.
Compeled by the order, every last missile veared from it's natural course, raining not thier destruction upon the land and creatures in the area, but rather onto a single focal point, the god who had dared to command them. Taking the entire force of the attack, Marcus's shredded and battered body was slammed to the ground, his armor destroyed as his divine blood spilled out.
This mountain chain would need to be recharted, entirely. The battle was fierce as each of the gods threw the other into the hills. Leveling one mountain, only to cause several more to arise with the next impact. Onus leapt backwards onto a nearby mountaintop and grabbed another mountain, hefting it up from the earth. He hurled it as the Evil one charged forward, the momentum of the impact caused it to rear up and Onus dove in, driving the blade deep into the underside of the creature. However, as the Evil Ooze pushed his weight back down, Onus was forced down with it. The blade of his sword sunk up to its hilt, but the legs of the creature flailed against him, and they actually broke the god's skin with their tremendous force. Onus laid there struggling with the creature, its ooze bled from the body, dripping onto him, some of it seeping into his wounds...
Like a rising tide splashing against a wall, the elementals climbed progressively higher and higher until eventually they reached the mountainous back of the Beast. There, they found themselves confronted with pools of ooze that had filled in the places where the shell had cracked open to release the spines. Stabbing and poking at the openings, they attempted to reach through the shell, past the ooze and to the God-flesh (if it had any) beyond. They were unsuccessful. The shell was many meters deep, reaching far beyond the range of their weapons. But still they tried, casting their spears down into the ooze, which hissed as it quenched the flames. Still nothing. The Evil shook and threw off the Agni'Vohda in great numbers, and soon they began to despair, traveling further up the shell towards the great peak, trying to find a shallower pit. A group of nearly a hundred gathered around a broad crack where two spikes had emerged next to one another, very high up on the shell of the mountainous Enemy, and where one of their kind had reported that the Enemy had reacted when it had cast a spear into the depths. As one, they threw in spear after spear of fire, supplied by others behind them. Every so often, The Evil would shake harder as they threw, as if their attacks were finally connecting. The pit began to smoulder, the ooze itself heating up, until finally, the great blackness caught aflame. With a roar of fire and a belch of caustic smoke which suffocated the Agni'Vohda nearest to the pit, the entire pit caught fire, and the green flames began to spread along the cracks of the shell, moving slowly from one pit to the next to the next.
Now, the Evil-Of-No-Name reacted. Roaring in pain, it shook harder than ever, sending the Agni'Vohda flying and sending large piles of flaming goo across the landscape. The ooze rolled across the ground, coating the landscape with a thick layer of burning, smoking stuff that caused even the eyes of the Gods to sting.
The entire back of the Titanous Evil was burning now, and the heat was traveling deep within the shell to where a God waited. The Ooze heated around Agni, driving back the tentacles that held him and Leaf in place. Suddenly, the eyes of the Stone Mask ignited and magma spewed from its mouth. A sword was nearby, forming air pockets in the ooze as it hissed. Agni placed Leaf within one such pocket, and then the FlameLord willed them both upwards.
From afar, it appeared as if the Evil had become a volcano, as a gout of flame erupted from the 'peak' towards the heavens. Those with keen eyes could, had they been looking at the right time, seen a stone mask and an air-wrapped God within the fire. Burning ooze flowed over the lip of the peak and the entire mass of the Evil-Without-Name began to burn.
Agni sent Leaf floating gently to earth near Onus and then turned around to face his captor.
I Am Free. He intoned, gesturing to the Agni'Vohda. A third of their number lay dead, their sparks suffocated by the smoking ooze, but the remainder surged upwards to meet their God. Agni drooled forth Magma in massive quantities as the Agni'Vohda linked body-to-body below him. They allowed the magma to flow over their bodies, hardening around them to form a stone shell. Arms, Legs, A Torso, a Neck, and the Great Mask of Agni as the head. Soon, a titanic body, equal in size to the flaming, mountainous monster, stood in the valley.
Begone, Evil One. Trouble us No More. Agni shouted, reaching forward, grasping the burning, smoking body of theEvil-Without-Name and heaving it into the heavens. As it threw, its body cracked from the effort, stone arms shattering and legs buckling, Agni'Vohda tumbling out as Agni's form disintegrated. But the work was done.
Upwards The Mountainous Evil flew, up past the clouds and into the place beyond the atmosphere. There, it was caught by gravity and pulled into an orbit that was askew of the orbit that had once been taken by the Sun. To Mortals, the Flaming Mountain, a tail of smoke streaming behind it as it travelled, brought light back to the surface. Once more the plants could grow and eternal night was no more, and if some complained that this light was sickly green where the old light had been a golden yellow, others told them to stop complaining and be grateful that the Gods had given them a light to see by at all.
Agni settled to the earth before his surviving Agni'Vohda.
My Servants. I thank you. I now free you from your servitude, little ones. Live your lives as you would, and know that you have your God's thanks.
1 AP: Denourish Land: The Burning Lands are created, filled with burning piles of the Goo of TASOE (which Thought tells me will burn for centuries, at least). This is a hellish place, filled with caustic smoke and choking heat. Nothing much can survive here.
1 AP: Command Land: The Collapsed Mountain: The 'body' of Angi has formed a tall mountain of rubble in the middle of the Burning Lands.
1 AP remains.
~Burning Lands~
Shards of the dead god littered the gorund. Near the feet of Onus, the prison that Agni had set down opened. The ooze had lost its cohesion, and disipated into the air as a maisma that was soon gone. Little Leaf unfurled himself, stretched, and looked around. He saw Agni and his eyes lit up.
"That was... unpleasant. But, you're free! Excellent. And Pruinus? Have you seen her?"
AP
3AP-Create Exarch: Seg, god of cake-I-mean-lies. Normally appears as a homely man, somewhat short and stout. He wears simple clothes, but always has his sleeves rolled up, a well-worn work apron, and his arms and hands have the look of someone who works with their hands. He has a ready smile and a generous heart. However, currently he is taking the form of Leaf.
1AP remaining
3AP-Create Exarch: Seg, god of cake-I-mean-lies. Normally appears as a homely man, somewhat short and stout. He wears simple clothes, but always has his sleeves rolled up, a well-worn work apron, and his arms and hands have the look of someone who works with their hands. He has a ready smile and a generous heart. However, currently he is taking the form of Leaf.
1AP remaining
"The Lord Leaf is in grave danger, please come. Lead astray by the imposter Ar---"
With a ripping sound, the voice(s) screamed in agony and begged for life as they were pulled to the centre of this maelstrom, towards the shadowy new deity. Pruinus lifted herself upwards as her brother ran to her, preparing to fight this cruel, unholy deity before her.
Then everything went black. The whole world was doused in shadow and cold. She was always cold, yet right now she felt the world had joined her. After a while, a bright light formed some distance in front of her. As she felt herself walk towards the light against her will, she saw the planet that she and her allies inhabitated, she was back to the place where the four first met. She saw that the source of light was the burning mask of Agni, and he was accompanied by Leaf and Zebus. She could not hear their voices, but their faces contorted in rage and anger. Wild, exaggerated body language and gestures also indicated to a heated argument. Pruinus tried to walk forth or to shout calming words to them, but her body would not allow it.
Finally, Agni's mouth poured open as he bellowed fire onto the other two gods, their forms ablaze as they slashed at each other, opening deep wounds of boiling blood. Finally, Leaf's spear impaled Agni through the mouth and came out through the top of his skull, blood-magma pouring away into nothingness. As the three gods bodies slumped against each other, the world below begin to collapse and crumble away into dust. Pruinus fell to her knees, this was something her body would allow her to do.
She could weep, even though she knew this as an illusion, the reality of the situation was all too real. She was dragged apruptly back into the world when she felt another horrendous pain. She realized she was being carried by Zebus. Glad to see him again, she did not like being babysit, she was a god after all. She stop caring for her ego when she felt a stab of agony again, this time pinpointing the pain in her wings. Her wings... The primal spirits had gifted her with them. This realization came all too late as her wings began to crunch and twist, a series of sickening crunchs echoed throughout the Godcrater as her left wing finally jerked itself from the socket, soon followed by the right. Pruinus pain did not end until after the wings were fully devoured by Alturius. Despite her agony, she wished for nothing more then to face this god in combat, but she had been rendered too weak and all she could manage was to feebly stir in Zebus arms. She was disgusted with herself, she hadn't been able to defend the spirits. If Alturius hadn't done the deed for her, she would have ripped her wings out herself out of shame. She did not deserve them.
There is an irresistible law of the universe, however. A law that cannot be bent, cannot be broken, cannot be ignored.
Life endures.
A green glow, like sunlight filtered throw a forest canopy, grew within the ash. A single speck, a seed, was left, and it grew.
It took time, as these matters do, but before long a tiny hand grasped the edge of the pit that the lord of life was in and pulled itself out.
On the edge of death Leaf stood. Changed, certainly. His body was like that of a marionette, but he still wore his leafy armor, his eyes still had the same intensity as before. Though, as he walked away, there was perhaps a little added lightness to his step. But that is to be expected. He had his entire life ahead of him, and nothing but life.
AP
3AP: Create Avatar - Brother Branch. A tiny natural spirit, made of wood like a puppet, but dressed in leafy armor. A little taller than Leaf himself, but still very very short.
There was talk about Avatars only being 3ap now, so that's what I spent. But let me know if I need to add another one next week.
0AP left
3AP: Create Avatar - Brother Branch. A tiny natural spirit, made of wood like a puppet, but dressed in leafy armor. A little taller than Leaf himself, but still very very short.
There was talk about Avatars only being 3ap now, so that's what I spent. But let me know if I need to add another one next week.
0AP left
Was Pruinus in there with us? I fear the ColdMother may not have survived.
The God trailed off and watched the burning mountain for a few moments.
It turns out that our foe was quite... flammable.
And so Sa observed.
---
Koga had been wrong. He would not find her; she found him. Amidst the chaos of an enduring winter, an unsteady, inconsistent sun, and the slow deaths of starvation and loneliness, she had found him, amidst the hundreds of hundreds of earthmotes dotting the region above the crown.
She had found him -- and she was changed. Her skin shown with the pale light of Pharos, and her hair and been bleached white by this inner brightness, but she was still his betrothed, his beloved.
And she could fly, laughing at gravity with the aid of her, what did she call it? Sorcery?
Their reunion had been a happy one, to be sure.
For a time, they lived almost happily - her spells allowed her and her fellow luminaries to travel the immense distance between the crown valley and the earth motes, and she made good use of this power.
Food, drink, spare clothes, all of which had been denied to Koga for weeks upon end.
But though they were glad of the other's company, she saw that Koga quickly became taciturn and mournful.
He felt like a prisoner, trapped in the sky. He did not have Pharos' power, and so was tied to this island. She saw this to be truth, and asked what he would have her do, for they were truly in love, and for him to feel sadness and longing, so too, did she.
He asked her to take him with her, when she left for supplies. To craft her magicks such that the descent was safe for the both of them, rather than allow him to grow old, trapped on this island in the sky.
She obliged, gathered him close, and together they leapt off into the empty skies.
Almost immediately, Koga felt something wrong. His beloved's flesh flared bright, and became burning to the touch, the scent of seared flesh assaulting his senses.
She cried out in pain, and he in worry. He knew not what was wrong, nor knew she, and as they slowly fell, kept bouyant by her magicks, she burned brighter and fiercer, her skin splitting along a spiderweb of power.
It was the spell. Why had this gift failed, when it had worked so oft before? The spell required energy to sustain itself, and the simple fact was that slowing two humans was far more taxing than slowing one.
Koga looked into her eyes, and saw only pain of fire. There was no question, Koga let go immediately, pushing away. Better that he should die, than his beloved burn up holding them both aloft.
But alas, her spell could not be broken so easily. The casting of a spell was a contract -- a given amount of energy, 'Mana', for a given task. The harder the task, the more mana required. She could only channel a finite amount of energy at once - but the spell, the hungry, strands of magic, required more.
And so it took from her what she would not, could not provide. And so as Koga fell, he could do naught but watch as his beloved flared brighter still, as her soul burned to fuel the damning spell.
One last mournful scream of pain and sorrow, and her soul was no more - Koga was blinded as a wave of heat, light, and force erupted from his slow-falling betrothed, her mortal form unable to contain the vaster energies of her sorcerous soul.
Koga cried out in horror, a sound lost admist the screaming wind of his accelerating fall. She was gone, slain by her selfless ignorance, and her love of him.
"I will find you."
Koga closed his eyes to the ground still far below him.
"In the great dark beyond, I will find you." he promised once more.
---
Sa was troubled. Its petals swept downwards after the smaller of the two mortals - the one who had not exploded in a fountain of light. They slowed its fall, and then reversed it.
This, magic, was dangerous. It was the same power as the gods, and, it seemed, that mortals did not realize their limits.
Sa's petals gently depositing the human on the ground it had leapt from.
The human seemed stunned for a moment, uncertain as to why it was still alive, then decided it did not matter, and leapt from the earth mote again. A second time, the 10,000 petals of Sa intervened, saving the human from its self-destruction.
And still it showed no gratitude, launching itself from the earth mote a third, a fourth, a fortieth.
At last it grew still, weeping softly into the ground before its house.
Sa's petals danced, and far below, Pharos' luminaries felt... something change... as Sa staked its claim.
AP
- 3 AP Claim Domain: Magic -- Sa claims the domain of Magic, establishing the rules governing its nature. These may be added to over time.
- 3 AP Claim Domain: Magic -- Sa claims the domain of Magic, establishing the rules governing its nature. These may be added to over time.
- Every use of magic is powered by an amount of "Mana" directly proportional to the strength of the task.
- Every being with a soul has a maximum capacity of "Mana", from which they can cast spells. This replenishes rapidly over time, and most beings can regenerate the entirety of their mana within an hour. Gods are the exception, as their use of magic is capped at 4AP, and regenerates over the course of a week. ;) Other exceptions exist. Angels, with their two souls, can hold particularly large amounts of mana.
- Arcane magic, such as sorcery, must have its cost in mana 'paid' upfront. If a creature cannot generate enough Mana to fully 'fund' a cast spell, the defecit must be accounted for, a violent process that rips the caster apart at a molecular level, burning the caster's soul to provide the necessary mana. Igniting one's soul in this manner is often irreversible, leading to death and a violent explosion.
Come sister dear, it is time to wake. Strange things have been happening, and I could use your help. Your injuries will heal in short time, but I need you to help bring me up to speed.
~The Twisting Nether~
Amid the barren wastes of the great beyond, lay many trees and bushes. Souls from small creatures dot the area, and from other mortals, but upon this particular day a different kind of soul appeared. A brilliant aura brighter than any energy in this barren realm apeared. As she layed sleeping the others begin to build a shelter around her, and a shrine for none had ever seen a being quite like this.
She layed like this for quite some time, and eventually her light began to dim. As her light finally disappeared, she woke. Desperately looking around all she saw was the shrine around her. The last thing she remembered was falling with her love.
Azgo's seeing head turned over his shoulder at Altruis. Open wounds across his neck revealed straining ligaments woven haphazardly with bony fragments.
"Their world will suffer, yes. All those who follow the Firstborn and their allies will know of agony and grief. They will become familiar with the smoke of burning flesh and graves the size of children. They will learn of betrayal, a betrayal that will cost them ..."
"Everything."
His last few words were filled with sputtering bile and wrath.
"And you will suffer, as you have tried to destroy me!"
He may have been weakened, but this fledgeling god would not be allowed to remain here any longer. Azgo turned, and clenched his rigorously scarred gauntlet. Malice filled his eyes once more.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At least half of the stony city Avarom's population were in pieces and piles of limbs. The market stalls had been toppled. Every citizen who had hidden beneath his fruits and silks and spices lay deathly quiet as the screeching and footfalls of the craterspawn grew eerily louder. Even more haunting to them however, was the crying of those unfortunate enough to bleed to death.
Those few remaining were held up in the local temple of Artun. The myriad mirrors on the walls had been shattered. Thousands of glass shards littered the floor and dimly reflected the calm glow of blood and torchlight. A few craterspawn had broken through earlier and if Thereus had not instructed the townsmen in steel, there would be no ashen piles of former angel on the floor. The people there prayed to Artun desperately between sobs and terrified ramblings. And a few... prayed to anyone who whould listen.
"Many of our kind have been lost. This tragedy could not possibly have been foreseen. But please now, Cold Mother, shelter us from these devourers and allow us to aid those who also seek shelter."
Pruinus was almost confused for a second, but then she nodded. She gave five blessing to the primal spirits, Forming five bonds for the primal spirits to share with the world, to protect its inhabitants and to be protected by them. Across the world, in the ransacked villages and cities, a very small group of indidivuals suddenly felt a surge of knowledge, of inspiration... But right now what was most important of all is they felt Power...
They creep out from their hiding places, battle cries escaping their lips as they fought back against the craterspawn, fuelled by a burning hatred of all the injustice they had suffered.
Barbarians leapt into the fray with no caution or mercy, cleaving through their foes with whatever makeshift weapons they had at hand.
Druids called to the spirits, blasts of lightning ripping the craterspawn from the skies at their command, as those who sought safety on the ground who bound by roots, screaming as they were dragged into the earth.
Seekers watched battles unfold from afar, throwing a well timed knive at key foes. Upon finding their mark, these knives send swarms of primal power over their foes, whether it be a swarm of ravenous insects or wildfire.
Shamans heal and keep watch over the wounded, all the while a cluster of spirits take form to repel attackers from their masters.
Finally, Wardens stand before their allies, unflinching before their the armies of Craterspawn whose attacks rain down fruitlessly upon them, knocking them back with the power of a mountain.
With the efforts of these indidivuals combined, the Craterspawn drop like flies to the power of the primal spirits. The single sun shines brightly over the battlefields of men. The evil mountain was gone. Winter was over. Now the last task that fell to the mortals was to rid their world of these abominations, a destiny they accepted whole heartedly.
--- 1 AP - Command populace/Spirits Through bonds with mortals, Primal Magic is born into the world. Primal magic works similar to arcane magic, but the primal spirits are the mana that fuels their spells. in man-made locations there are less primal spirits around. As such, the power of the spells is much more potent in the wild areas of the world where the primal spirits roam free, and primal powers only recharge when the wielder rests in an area with sufficent amount of primal spirits. Addiontially, primal spirits cannot be devoured by soulfiends when a member of a primal class is nearby, as these people protect the primal spirits simply by being around them.
Winter is declared over.
I think they understand. It was out of your control that this happened. We need to start moving now if you are ready. I can feel the balance of the world is off some how. We need to find others. Please tell me what has been going on while we walk.
We were sent away from the caves and asked to find them once more. The Tribes scattered to the winds and in the end..only two Tribes of twelve managed to remain loyal to our mission and find the way back home. The mission was long and hard, we fared ill, Humans insulted us, Monsters hunted us and the Gods...the selfish Gods of the surface! May their names be cursed! Burned the world and killed many of our brehtren. The lost tribes either died or settled the world above, still praying to the Father but choosing the easier path. There in the darkness though the Father waited for us..and there we built our homes. There amongst the Mountaintops of the Mountains of Home. "
- Annals of Dwarven History Tome I
AP: 2 PP Creating the Dwarves. The Dwarves are divided in an tribal society. Most Dwarves live amongst the Southeastern mountains with their God. But others can be found in small villages dotting the world or as primitive nomads. Feel more then free to use these "Free" Dwarves as you see fit.
~The Burning Lands~
Agni turned from Leaf and Onus to survey the burning wasteland that had once been pristine wilderness. For several miles in every direction, Agni saw piles of burning ooze smoking and burning, turning the air dark with smoke. But in one direction... Agni began floating west... it was hotter.
Agni followed the heat, localizing it to a deep ravine, with a flickering light at the bottom. Exerting his will, Agni forced the ravine open, only to spot a spluttering, but still intensely hot and somehow beautiful ball of flames.
My Betrayer, Artun, the IllusionMaster. How pleasant to see you again. Agni growled, enjoying watching the badly wounded ball of heat below him attempt in vain to hide in the very shadows that its presence banished.
Your master proved quite... flammable... Artun. It was highly satisfying. I do enjoy seeing things burn. The God's eyes seemed to burn into the being before him.
Before I do that, however, my friend, I want to know. What do you actually look like, underneath all of that illusion?
Artun, too wounded to protest, felt searing heat coarsing along his body, probing here and there, twisting and pulling at the skiens of reality itself as Agni attempted to peel back part of the very core, essential essence that was woven into the fabric of Artun's being. Artun began to feel a pressure building.
If you will not reveal yourself, I will do it for you! Flame is the universal purifier.
And with that, Agni opened his mouth. Magma flowed out, but it was tainted black, run through with bits of smoking ooze that had lodged itself within the interior of Agni during his captivity. The Ooze and Magma hummed with power, acting nearly as if it had a will of its own, and poured out, tumbling towards Artun below. Artun expected to die, but instead, the magma and dark ooze merely intesified the scrabbling, pulling, picking apart sensation. Artun shuddered, feeling his body's hold on reality begin to waver and fail...
And then, suddenly, deep within that Ravine, he sensed he was not alone. Something... else... was pushing its way through from the other side.
With a scream of agony, Artun felt reality warp and bend around him as the newcomer arrived.
1 AP from me. 1 AP from TASOE (approved): Ascend God: Karak, God of Corruption, you are finally here!
"It is good to see you again brother, forgive me for bringing you to that place. It was unfortunate that you were re-born there. After your demise, the gods departed their separate ways, Leaf to his imaginery forests, Agni to his volcanious mountains with his servants, Onus sought to create a home for his Galab Duhr, and I withdraw to The Crown. Here, I created a special place. A monument."
She paused for a while, this was the first time she had told another soul of The Halls Of Creation.
"I call this place The Halls Of Creation. Inside are monuments to each of the gods. Your monument was contained in a separate chamber, for the fallen gods. Of Course, the halls are now out-dated, I shall be heading there to create new monuments and moving yours to share a place alongside our brothers. The Spirits you saw are the last remnants of The First, a gigantic colony of souls that inhabit and embody nature and existance itself. I believe without a guardian to protect them, or without a body to inhabit, they will remain vulnerable to the soul eater. I shall create physical forms for them to take."
Pruinus turned around to face her brother. She could no longer consider him her child also, for he was the one who had been protecting her against the shadowy figure.
"You are welcome to join me later at The Crown or halls."
And with that she departed for the Halls Of Creation, arriving there shortly. The large, frozen doors creaked open at her command as she entered. The Halls were in the exact physical state as when she last left them, yet now they felt comparatively empty. At her will, the doors to the chamber of fallen gods opened, as Zebus sculpture dragged itself across the floor, producing a loud, painful screeching sound as the icy surfaces connect, but both the floors of the halls and the sculpture of Zebus remained perfectly unscratched. The sculpture of Zebus settled itself amongst herself, Leaf, Agni and Onus. Pruinus was incredibly pleased as she looked at the sculptures from afar, how they looked in comparision to each other. Zebus Monument looked a lot better near the others, she decided.
She walked solemnly to the halls of the fallen gods, causing another circular column to rise about five feet up from the ground. Closing her eyes and opening them again, a sculpture of Azgo appearing before her. Of course, the maimed god was dead at all, yet she still created her monument to him here. This is where he belongs, the poor creature should be dead, it shouldn't have to suffer any longer. By the time this place was discovered by any other beings, she hoped that the creature would have found its death, making its place within these halls accurate.
The sculptue of Azgo was not in any way extravagent or showing an dynamic pose, it was merely the god standing upright at its full height. If she created the sculpture in an intimidating, evil looking form the god may appear as villianous to anyone who saw it. Azgo didn't deserve to be depicted in such a villianous manner, yet she also avoided creating the figure to appear to be suffering. If she had shown too much suffering its form, onlookers would pity the creature and not wish to harm it. The creature deserved pity, but so much to discourage taking arms against it, to end its miserable existance.
Outside in the main halls once again, she created another figure, this one of the challenger god Marcus. His sword was sheathed and he appeared to be in a more peaceful state of mind, looking upto the sky in a dreamy manner, as though he was contemplating something.
Lastly, Pruinus pointed towards an area of the wall in the left area of the halls, a screeching sound fulling the halls once again as another pair of doors carved themselves into the Ice, jagged lines zigzagging across the surface of the doors. These doors looked slightly intimidating, to match the sculptures of what would appear inside. On a smooth area of the door, words were engraved:
Herein lie the Lords Of Creation who have abused their power, whose existance is a plague to the universe, beings who it is every living souls duty to oppose these gods and bring about their destruction.
As the doors opened, a single sculpture already existed within the room. A sculpture of the shadowy, cloaked figure loomed over the chambers, casting a uneasy shadow over the room. Pruinus did not know his true name, so underneath the sculpture she carved him a title:
The Soul Eater.
Pruinus left these halls in disgust, hoping another creature would never have a place within these halls.
As Pruinus left the Halls Of Creation by its main entrance, all doors creaking shut behind her of their own accord, she stood at the very edge of the mountain path, A single step forward would result in her taking a vertical drop down the mountain. She looked over the inside of The Crown, seeing frozen lakes and fields of stubborn grass and forests of trees immunue to the bite of frost. There was life within The Crown, yet still she wished for more. More life, bodies for the Primal Spirits to inhabit.
A vicious storm of snow and hail engulfed The Crown, creating a white blizzarding tornado at the top of the world, snow and hail falling so fast that it would be impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face. As the snow and hail reached the surfaces of ground and water, it did so in a peculiar fashion. As it landed it began to take forms of various creatures, Great and Small, Terrestial and Aquatic. Primal Spirits flew into their bodies as they were constructed of snow, as the souls came into contact with their bodies they transformed in a manner of seconds.What were once silouettes created of snow were now living, breathing creatures with massively complex systems of working organs and bodily functions, instincts and distinctive traits. The Forests and Lakes were filled with creatures and animals that followed their own circles of life, hunting and fighting, fleeing and hiding, all with one goal on their simple minds: Survival.
She had created life once again, yet this time it was different. The life forms here now were so much more complex and wonderful then anything she had created before. Pruinus had guarded the Primal Spirits and in doing so, creating something truly wonderful.
---
1 AP - Populate Populace
Creatures of many different shapes and sizes inhabit the crown, surving in its forests, lakes, mountains, grassland and tundras. These creatures include Polar Bears, Snow Hares, Penguins, Oxens, Snow Owls, Snow Foxes, Orca Whales, Snow Wolfs, Snow Leopards, Seals, Walrus, Deer and Reindeer and Goats. I may add other creatures to this list which I did not think of at the time of writing.
"Hold a moment." Altruis holds up his hand. "Don't act in haste for you might regret the outcome. I propose we make a deal. I relish the pain of others and as you seek to cause pain to those outside of this wonderful place.." He licks is lips hungrily with a chuckle, "I'll aid you in your venture to destroy them by sending out my own pets as well. And in return you let me have their souls." Azgo sees a gleam of delight in Altruis's eyes. "What do you say?" He twirls his sword round and round, and if you listen carefully you can hear the souls of the primal spirits it has absorbed screaming in the wind.. as quiet as a whisper as he spins the blade.
"Fine. Destroy everyone who calls out to the Firstborn. But this-"
The Godcrater shook and gesyers erupted in harmony.
"-is my domain. Leave, and know that I will not forget your attack."
Suddenly there was a roar coming from one of the sulfur pools. It was not kin to the craterspawn calls, born of wrath and agony. It was one of hunger. And of bloodlust. Azgo turned towards the pool.
A large worm-like creature with myriad clawed appendages was coated in slick toxins. Underneath its cold hide was a pulsing, intense heat. It lurched at Azgo, knowing no better. The god was swallowed whole in its fanged maw. A few seconds passed.
Four hands covered in blood of equal parts god and creature burst through the throat and began tearing away at the fleshy barrier. The creature squirmed and coiled around its neck as the endless waters of the Godcrater poured into its vulnerable body. Azgo walked out of the creature's corpse, more annoyed than anything else. But at the same time, he was darkly delighted to have found a creature with such ferocity and stature. Bending down, he shredded the still-dying creature into a hundred ribbons of bitter flesh and cast them out unto the world. As they landed unto the cold ground, they continued to twist and squirt blood. They began to morph as they buried their way into ice and stone alike.
His eyes also turned to the planet-wide battles. The craterspawn had slaughtered many, focusing on dense communities and temples/wayshrines to Artun. But the war had slowed considerably, despite the craterspawn vastly outnumbering the weakling humans. A ring of communities along the south-western hinterlands seemed to have brought the craterspawn to a draw. Azgo drew breath, and exhaled a thick, heavy haze across the ocean tides and unto the towns. The humans there, and a few of the free dwarves who had chosen to live with the humans, were enveloped in filth-ridden, murky darkness as their eyes were coated in film layers and their bodies' flesh thinned. The craterspawn took advantage of the humans weaknesses, and assaulted the hinterlands in force once more.
OOC
Populate Remorhaz (2 AP, one given by Pruinus): The dreaded Remorhaz have been unleashed upon the world and are found in mountain chains and thrive in the Northern Forests and wastes. They eat flesh and stone alike, and often hunt for pleasure. They are mostly immune to cold-based damage and diseases.
Harm Populace (1 AP): The humans of the south-western coasts, later to be called the Spirit Tide Coasts for its unusualy high affinity with primal forces, become ridden with the first mass-plauge. Most are blinded and at least some fall dead.
AP Remaining: 0
Harm Populace (1 AP): The humans of the south-western coasts, later to be called the Spirit Tide Coasts for its unusualy high affinity with primal forces, become ridden with the first mass-plauge. Most are blinded and at least some fall dead.
AP Remaining: 0
Agni raced over, and saw that a God... one he had not met before... lay impaled by hundreds of spines.
TEALORD, EARTHLORD. COME. NOW. Agni bellowed to the heavens.
Altruis thinks of his birth and the beautiful pain around him as he was birthed. Then he remembered sucking in all those delicious souls and forming his beautiful pets the Soul Fiends. Recalling the pained look on that cold woman's face as he ate their souls, watching her wings break and fall. So much pain... He licks his lips.
He must meet her again, her soul... looked so delicious. He sends out his Soul Fiends and they communicate the same way they use to before being corrupted and she hears their voices deep with malice and suffering.
They say... "Hello mother..... Our father wants to meet you... he wishes to speak with the one who original created us...." Leaving even a cold chill for her down her neck.
A bit belatedly, he noticed the other god on the ground. "Oh my. How unfortunate. Do you know who this might have been?"
In front of Azgo, Zebus writes in frost before Pruinus leaves, He should not be pitied, for there lies a malignent evil underneath...
In front of the shadowy statue, he inscribes the name of his foe and other half in combined shadowfrost.
In the front again, Zebus steps out of her shadow as the statue of Marcus is raised. So this is the one that I had called out to before. Closing his eyes, he looks in. My dear, you might have to move this statue soon. One of us is about to truely leave. If you wish you may join me, but I must be there at his side quickly now.
Wrapping himself in shadow, Zebus quickly decends down the crown at lightning pace. Arriving very shortly near Agni and the fallen one, he maintains his hidden presence until the time is right. Looking around at the others, Zebus peers closer at Leaf while maintaining his watch over the fading god.
So, he decided to send them help. The Galeb Duhr mobilize to the various human settlements, fighting alongside the humans and dwarves there. In the mountains of the west, where there lies a city, virtually ruined by the time the Galeb Duhr arrive, they see only one option to protect what was left of Avarom was to seal it within the earth. The city rumbled for a long time, the humans within, squeeling in pure terror. Then the sinking feeling began, slowly the entire city was pulled beneath the mountain. One by one the windows went dark as the light of the sun was left behind.
AP:1 Nourish Galeb Duhr - Being made of stone and having control over it to use as weapons against the crater spawn, they are able to weather the worst of the attacks sustaining minimal losses.
AP:1 Command Galeb Duhr - Travel to the assistance of the human populace, providing whatever aid they can. And of course, spread the faith while they are at it!
Non AP: Sinking the city of Avarom to protect the few inhabitants that are left behind. If this will require AP on my part, I'll have to spend it against next weeks allotment.
0 AP remaining.
~~~
Hearing the impassioned cry of Agni, Onus stirs slowly from his revelry. His muscles had been pushed to their limits in battle. Weakend as he is, he cannot ignore the call and he moves to Agni's side across the field of battle. He stares at the body that lies shattered before the gathered gods, but his face is as impassive as ever. It seems my intervention was not quite as timely as I had hoped... What are we to do with this now?
Everyone gets 4 AP (Krika, you're good at 7 until you spend your AP.)
Story:
Pruinus and Azgo continue to fight, however the conflict awakens Zebus from within his sword. He lends his power to Pruinus, and for a moment, Azgo is at a distinct disadvantage until a dark counterpart to Zebus is born: Altruis, Lord of Undeath! Soon, the conflict between Azgo and Pruinus takes a backseat to the conflict between Death and Undeath. Zebus is cast from his sword and returns to the world of the living, and is eventually forced to retreat with Pruinus. Azgo and Altruis form an uneasy alliance.
Elsewhere, Gods begin to arrive at the Cave of TASOE independently of one another. Leaf and Artun are the first to arrive, and, like Agni, both are captured by the cave. High above the Crown, Urru attempts to aid the humans living within the Crown by reigniting one of the suns. This gives Agni a trickle of power, and he manages to get a signal to the Agni'Vohda regarding his location. In retaliation, TASOE strikes back, plunging all but one sun to earth, burying them:
1) in the icy north
2) in the heart of the eternal volcano
3) Inside the Godcrater
4) Deep in the ocean
5) Lost in a cave in the southern mountains
6) Igniting a firestorm in the western forests and buried beneath the earth.
Onus arrives and attempts to rescue Agni and Leaf by ripping open the earth, which only releases TASOE's new form, a massive walking behemoth the size of a mountain. It casts Onus aside, and skewers Marcus with a thousand spines thrown from its back. The battle between the gods allows the Agni'Vohda time to climb up the sides of the beast and eventually catch the ooze which serves to protect it on fire. The landscape is transformed into a nightmare of burning ooze and choking smoke, but the heat revives Agni, who escapes with Leaf and throws TASOE to the heavens as a burning mountain to replace the suns that had been thrown to earth. Agni then collects a wounded Artun, and finds Marcus near death. As the surviving Gods gather, none are aware that the Leaf which Agni saved was infact Seg, another servant of TASOE, while the real Leaf has been forced to descend to mortal form.
While the battle raged, in the Crown Sa claims magic for its own, and sets ground rules for its useage:
1) Every use of magic is powered by an amount of "Mana" directly proprotional to the strength of the task
2) Every being with a soul has a maximum amount of "Mana" from which they can cast spells. This replenishes rapidly over time, and most beings can regenerate the entirety of their mana within an hour. Angels, with two souls, can hold particularly large amounts of mana.
3) Arcane magic, such as sorcery, ust have its cost in mana 'paid' upfront. If a creature cannot generate enough mana to fully 'fund' a cast spell, the deficit must be accounted for, which usually means the destruction of the caster at a molecular level. This is often irreversable, and often leads to a violent explosion.
In response, the Primal Spirits link with humans to provide their own sort of magic, where the Spirits act as a conduit, providing the mana themselves for the humans to use.
Far to the south, Thereus creates dwarves in the southern mountains.
And as the dust settles, Azgo begins his invasion.
Map: Yellow dots are where the suns fell... for future reference in case you want one.
Click Here for Full Sized. Yes, I know there's an extra 'halls of creation.' I'll fix that for next week.
Onus arrived and spoke, and Agni looked down at the God.
Does anyone know who this is? He came to help us, Tealord, and... perhaps we can help him, somehow.
Agni reached out with his mind and, with one motion, pulled out the spines, sending them scattering across the landscape. Immediately, bright silver blood began flowing from innumerable wounds. Thinking quickly, Agni breathed out a thin stream of Magma, mixing it with the wind until it formed a stream of hot stone, which fell upon the exposed flesh of the God below, cauterizing the wounds and hiding them beneath a thin shell of stone such that it appeared that the God was lying under a blanket.
The head had survived remarkably intact, miraculously unpierced by spikes. Agni looked down at the God's face, and willed him to awaken.
With a single last sigh, the god went still, his presence absent, and his eye glazed over.
PP
4 PP - Create Exarch and Claim Domain - Somewhere hidden in the world, a new god has been born, the god of deception. He'll make his appearance when the time comes. I don't have time to write it out this evening.
Both pass through the shadows into the great beyond. The body of Marcus disappearing into nothing.
~The Twisting Nether~
The lord of this realm finally stood upon the land, next to him stood the soul of the fallen god. A brilliant beacon upon the shadowy land. As Zebus looked upon his realm, he saw much that needed to happen and much that had improved already. He knew he would be needed elsewhere very soon, but for now much work must be done quickly.
It was in this tranquility that she heard Agni's distant cry. Being born within a sun of the Firelord's creation, sometimes she felt very faint things. Things which were hard to classify, hard to even recognize as real. A pinprick, a slight shiver. This one however was unmistakeable...
~~
Within moments of the stranger's last breath Urru arrived looking winded. "Agni, I heard you but I didn't know where you were so I flew everywhere. What is happening? What was that thing that disappeared? Hello stone one of kinship."
This god was unbelievably arrogant. Fitting her title, she saw himself as a mother to the primal spirits. It took a great deal of either bravery or stupidity to take a child from its mother and to taunt her after doing so. She felt the urge to reply back, but again she found herself unable to put the gesture into words. Her actions would be the best reply, to deny him of what he so craves. Luckily, the animals she had birthed into the world were doing well and increasing in number, meaning more lifeforms for the spirits to inhabit.
But she needed something else. More aggressive, more.... Personal. She sighed, cold, hazy fog escaping her mouth as she did.
"Dear Spirits, I need your council. How can i defend you against The Soul Eater or failing that, at least help you defend yourself?"
A deep, brooding voice replied to her.
"LEAVE THAT TO ME"
Pruinus looked up to see a humanoid figure gently floating a few metres away from the mountain path. He was around seven feet tall, clad completely in armour bitten by ice and overgrown by vines. His left hand held a shield that was almost as big as him, his right hand carrying a sword equally inapprioate for his size. His helmet completely covered his face, but the antlers of a stag protrude from the top, each two and a half feet long. Pruinus felt.... Familar with this being. Before she could ask, he answered her question.
"I am merely a configuration of spirits you haven't witnessed before. The old components have made something new."
His voice boomed across the mountainscape.
"I shall act as our protector. I will report to you only when necessary, leave the safety of the spirits to me."
And with that, The Knight turned walked away from the mountain, his form slowly fading away into snowflakes as he strode. That was a start, Pruinus thought. But the Knight cared only for defending the spirits it would appear, Pruinus wanted to go on the offensive. And now she knew how. She whispered to a collection of the primal spirits, and they set the task in motion.
---
Nourish populace: 1 AP The creatures living in The Crown begin to swell in number, spreading out from the crown as they do, mostly upto the northern forests.
Raise Elder Spirit - 2 AP The Horned Knight appears before Pruinus, acting as her lieutantant in the fight against the Soul Eater. Mechanically, an elder spirit is the same as an Exarch, but also like the primal spirits, the god has no Direct control over them. When an elder spirit is "raised" it is merely the first time the spirits have chosen to take that particular form, the raising god has not actually created the elder spirit. 1 AP remaining.
The fiends, sensing her anger and fear reported back to Altruis... "Mmm, delicious fear. Her hate is nothing but a weak emotion compared to that delightful creature Azgo..." he continues to murmur to himself as he walks in the forest. Then he learns of the Knight of the primal spirits vowing to fight against me. Altruis feels many of his Fiends dying... before they can deliver the souls they had collected.
Altruis entered a rage and shouts indescribable sounds into the world the forest around him the nearby human towns looking into the sky as it rained, the power of chaos seeping into the atmosphere as the rain turned to blood the humans screamed and ran trying to get out of the terror. Then Altruis raised Mormhaor towards the sky shadows and darkness forming around him and all the souls in the vicinity human, animal, even vulnerable primal spirits rushed to the sword leaving the land desolate of life and he played and morphed with their souls until he creating an elite group of creatures, made of pure darkness in the forest. The sword floats in the air as these creatures form and he pulls his nine-tailed whip from his side and it wraps around the blade and then explodes in a circle as the forest is filled with this abominations, nine whip lashes on their back marking their creator.
"Go forth for I have created you and gather more souls for mean destroy anything in your path. Be subtle if needed, be cruel and cause suffering and pain throughout the world so I may feast upon their pain. And I will make you strong by blessing you with powers of fear and chaos to wreak havoc. Another task, gain followers of humans and other mortals, tempt them with your power and corrupt what these other god's love so dearly, and see how they feel when what they love is lost and taken from them."
This a marks the beginning of the cults for Altruis spawning across the world increasing in assassinations of target leaders of barbarians and human resistances alike, weakening their struggle against Azgo and Altruis's minions. Altruis absorbing the souls of the dead wading through battlefields absorbing them, the goal of the followers to be turned into Nightwalkers themselves for power beyond that of their own. Their crest became a symbol of nine-tailed whip, showing the influence of the Nightwalkers in their workings.
The druids magic weak against this new enemy fall back, many losing their lives.. and souls to these abominations and the Knight though he slay many is hard pressed alone to defend against the soul fiends and these new creatures.
Altruis then goes to visit his "ally" Azgo in conference of their objectives. And to show his new creatures to him. Altruis licked his lips as he enters the Godcrater, so much pain in this place, so much delightful pain. Despite how much Altruis loved this place, anger still filled his eyes. He chuckled under his breath ever so lightly at the thought of eating Pruinus's soul.
Altruis saw Azgo and headed towards him eager to speak of plans to move forward and destroy that woman and her precious primal spirits.
AP
Populate (3 AP): "Nightwalkers"
Nightwalkers are hateful beings of pure shadow that spread death and suffering...they sometimes walk the world on unhallowed nights or linger near places where great evil was done. They have 9 whip lashes on their backs marking their allegiance to Altruis They seek to destroy all that impedes their way. Are extremely strong and immune to many magic and other effects. Souls crumble before them and are absorbed into them making them even stronger. They relish in deception and surprise attacks and assassination driving fear into their victim before taking their lives. They contain magic of their own allowing them to transform their victims into more Nightwalkers leading to more growth on their own accord, but not at a quick rate, but they aren't so few that they can be wiped out. Nightwalkers have separate wills from Altruis, but the promise of increased power and loyalty to their creator and fear of his wrath, they follow his orders(mostly the promise of power & fear of him).
Picture:
AP Remaining: 1
I must be bad at saving people. He thought to himself bitterly.
Urru. I do not know who this God was. He came to rescue me, and died before I could ask his name. I do not even have a face by which to ask if anyone recognizes him.
Agni lifted the headless hollow statue (for that is what the cauterizing stone had become when Marcus had disappeared). Looking about, he saw a small cave, and entering it, placed the statue deep within, binding the stone magically to the wall.
I will return, and I will somehow repay my debt. He whispered as he left, moving back towards Leaf, Onus, Urru and the captive Artun.
Urru. What occurs in the world? I have been trapped for far too long.
0 AP: Form the Shrine of the Unknown God. (I put the statue of Marcus-without-a-head into some random cave)
"What has been going on elsewhere while I was distracted?"
As humans moved out of the crown, some went north. It was a harsh direction, a cold direction. Water was frozen, food was frozen, it was as if life itself was frozen.
It is said that the first travelers, fleeing woe, headed north with nothing but their lives and hope. The day was bitter cold, but liveable. The night, though, was so frigid that there was no difference between snow and death. The people had nothing. They huddled together for warmth. One man, on the outside of the huddle, believed that his time was nearly upon him and did not wish to bring the horror of death to those he loved. Half asleep with death, he stumbled away from the others and disappeared into the woods.
As death tried to claim him, he began to feel warm and thought he saw a light. This, he thought, wasn't such a bad way to die. He'd rather live, of course, but at least death was warm.
But the seconds lengthened into minutes, and minutes into hours, and the man found that he was not dead. The warmth was not a false phantom of Zebus, but a fire. A branch had seen his plight and taken pitty. It had torn itself off from its tree, stuck itself in the ground near the man, and summoned out the fire from with it. The warmth had kept the man alive, given him sense again. He stood up and marveled. The little branch, though it burned, didn't seem to be consumed. Even odder, it had the shape of a little man.
Seeing that the human was awake, the little branch got up and helped him collect deadwood. Together they returned to the huddle of people and built a blazing fire. Warmed and saved from deaht, the people thanked the little branch. The branch smiled, plunged its head into the snow to put out its fire, and went back into the forest.
AP
1AP: Nourish - Northerners. Peope move north of the crown and learn to live in the cold environment, with the little help of a kindly woodland spirit that they come to call Brother Branch
1AP: Nourish - Northerners. Peope move north of the crown and learn to live in the cold environment, with the little help of a kindly woodland spirit that they come to call Brother Branch
Well, I was trapped within a horrible monster, then I got out. I'm afraid I can't really tell you what has happened in the world beyond that.
I think I owe you my thanks, LightBringer. Your reactivation of the suns and the beast's response allowed me to call on my - the - Agni'Vohda to come to my rescue.
~The Eternal Volcano~
The Agni'Vohda had returned home to their Caldera to find it surrounded by strange, corrupted versions of the Angels they had fought long, long ago. The Craterspawn perched on the lip of the volcano, not daring to venture into its depths to strike at those Agni'Vohda left behind when the bulk of their peoples had gone south to save Agni.
The returning Agni'Vohda, however, did not have this protection. Then again, the Agni'Vohda were no normal foe. As the first Craterspawn swiped at an Agni'Vohda, spears of fire re-appeared within hands of flame, and battle was joined.
The Craterspawn vastly outnumbered the Agni'Vohda, but found it very, very difficult to actually kill them while the Agni'Vohda lay about themselves with their burning weapons, sending craterspawn after craterspawn spinning wildly down into the lava below. In return, the craterspawn found that swallowing the Agni'Vohda in spark form was an effective means of killing one, at the cost of the life of one of their own. They also found that by pressing an Agni'Vohda against the rocks, it was possible to force the being to convert to spark form.
The corpses continued to fall as battle raged about the Eternal Volcano.
As such, Seg knew that the being wasn't Pruinus but rather Artun. But that had been what Leaf saw, so that is what he implied he saw.
What did Seg actually see when he looked at Artun? Alas, you can't expect truth from the god of lies.
"Now now now, my dear, uh..." What did Leaf call this one? Oh yes. "Flamberlain, of course this is Pruinus. I can see that as much as anyone. You owe her much. She helped me find you, and while I might have been surprised as well, I did manage to alert the other gods to our sticky predicament and the, uh, large creature's ill a-doings."
Metaphorically speaking, when Seg looked at Artun, he saw a possible fate of himself. And while he didn't feel pity for Artun exactly, the poor fellow had gotten the short end of the stick. If he hadn't tried to help the fire god, he might well have had a place of honor in the world after the master had smashed it. The entire matter made Seg feel somewhat... ill at ease.
The other god, the one Agni tried to burn back to health, died. "Oh dear oh dear oh dear. How unfortunate. Do none of us know who this was? Well, perhaps we might, uh," What was it that Leaf always talked about? Oh yes, "honor this unknown god by taking his death as an object lesson, hmm? Fighting something so... evil, one on one, is ill-advised. Yes? Yes. It is by working together that the world is kept safe from such..."
Seg looked up at the burning mountain-god of a sun. "Such large threats."
Little lord not-Leaf turned in the fullness of time to the bright hyperactive glowy one. "And who, if I might so ask, is this? Another one of your children, Lord Flamberlain? Hmm?"
Also, we've been over this. I am not a Flamberlain. I hope I don't have to repeat myself on this point again, Leaf. I've recently discovered how very flammable things can become.
Agni looked up meaningfully at the new 'sun.'
This is Urru, TeaLord. Not one of my Children, but obviously... related. LightBringer, what is your ancestry? Do you have relations amongst the Gods?
"Oh right, yes, yes, a thousand apologies, um..." what would Leaf have agreed to call this god, then? There was one name that seemed to appear often and very strongly in Agni's memories, though Seg wasn't clear on it's use. It made sense that it was a name that he'd identify himself as, however. "Supreme Heatlord. As you might understand, being imprissoned can cause things to slip one's mind, hmm?"
However, Seg was rather sure that Leaf wouldn't let another god threaten someone he thought was Pruinus. If not just because that is who Leaf saw when he looked at the most beautiful thing he could imagine, then also because, Seg was fairly sure, he had promised to defend them.
"I believe you've also recently discovered how even your fire can be put out, hmm? Perhaps it is best not to discuss flammability when it seems you are not as authoritative on the topic as we had previously thought, wouldn't you agree, hmm?"
Was that a proper threat? Did Leaf make threats? Seg wasn't entirely sure, so he tried to hurry on. Keep up appearances, but keep moving. That's how a lie was made. Offer just enough truth that it sounds right, even if it isn't, and then hurry on before the deception can be noticed. "But you well know, dear Agni, brother, that I will not truck with anyone or thing manhandling my beloved siblings. Words have been spoken, and all that. I made the same vow to you, yes? I confronted that mountain of a monster, a monster that was able to snuff out even your flame, single-godedly, for your benefit. I fought it, and sacrified my freedom in the hopes that others might be able to assist as well. As repayment, at the very least, more discussion on this topic is obligated by you to me. Wouldn't you agree, hmm?"
Was he laying it on too thick? Would Leaf talk so much, or would he resort to violence? Or would he deny fire and walk away? Seg wasn't really sure. There was too little information to go on, so he made it up as he went. "Would you think I'd abandon our sister at mere assertions that a creature who appears to be her isn't actually her? Evidence, my good flame, where is your evidence? Prove that this one is not our sister, and I will apologize for nosing in unwanted and I will leave the matter entirely in your steamy-hands... ah... face. Verily, if you wish, I would assist you in whatever plans you might have for the thing, for good or ill, to the best of my abilities. But if you cannot, then what option is left to a god like me except to resist any who would harm her? Her welfare is as much my business as yours is."
Are you taunting me, Leaf? You would DARE to call me by that name?
Agni's eyes flared bright and a hot batch of magma began to froth at his stony lips.
This is unacceptable. Completely Unacceptable. You know that - The god paused, thinking for a moment. I suppose you do not, do you? You were not there. Do not call me that, ever. My name is Agni, and that is what you should call me, TeaLord.
Agni listened to Leaf speak, and grew more enraged as the God continued to speak.
Finally, the puny God grew quiet, and Agni responded with a long, low chuckle that reverberated off of the mountain peaks and across the flame-scarred landscape.
Look around you, Leaf. Was not our captor just as flammable as any other thing?
A rumble and the bit of stone that Leaf was standing on rocketed upwards, God-on-top, to mouth-level with the larger God.
If it was flammable, Perhaps I should experiment on some other Gods, no?
The stone fell to the ground, sending the small God sprawling.
As for your vaunted honor, TeaLord, it was in short supply when you murdered our brother Zebus. Your word that you would call me by my name meant nothing as well. What good are your vows and honor, Leaf? Why do you feel you deserve anything from me?
You wish proof this is not Pruinus? Very well. I see this being as a ball of white-hot heat. Urru, do you still see a prism? Onus, what is it that you observe?
"She apologizes for not coming to your aid earlier. She has encountered two other gods; both twisted and truly evil. We only know the names of the first: Azgo, The Blood Crowned. He endures eternal suffering. He wages war on us out of jealousy and hatred. The second we know only as The Soul Eater. He feeds on the spirits, and thus nature and life itself. Pruinus has tried combatting him herself, but his power is great. We hope that as the patron of Life, you will share our enemy in this fight."
Another colony of primal spirits approached the young heroes of nature in their slumber, leaving them messages and a purpose. When these primal warriors awoke, they began to write and document their powers, their relationships with the spirits and their stories and memories of events, to guide those who seek to join their ranks. The most sought after tomes are those that tell of how to defeat the Soulfiends and Nightwalkers. Smaller groups of primal warriors collect this information and bring it together, forming a new order: The Anima Guard. The Anima Guard soon become legends in the world, it is said a single member of the order can defeat an army of Alturius minions. This is exaggeration of course, but they are indeed powerful warriors who over time, slowly turn the tide of war against the Soul Eater.
---
Non-AP: The primal spirits ask for Leaf for help. Seeing as the gods cannot see through Seg's deception, it is fair to assume the spirits cannot either and they may accidently send the message to him in addition or instead of Leaf. It is upto Pen_Draggin and Thought to decide if the message reaches them or not. However, keep in.mind that the primal spirits communicate with each other constantly and if both Leaf's receive the message they will know and inform Pruinus.
Guide Populace - 1 AP The first primal heroes document their abilities, through extensive study and meditation a mortal with one of these books can become a primal hero. The order of the Anima Guard is also established to fight minions of Alturius. i will most likely develop this into a set of paragon paths in the future. Anima Guard often wear armour of a Black and Silver colour scheme, and can be identified as such. 0 AP Left.
"Truly? There are deities about who take on the guise of other deities? And can appear as many things at once? Fascinating. Well then, by all means, cart away to... whatever it is that you have planned."
Seg was entirely bored by that concept. He had tried to help poor Artun, but he had no desire to stick out his neck for him. Still, he tried to look to the other gods Agni had indicated with rapt interest, to see if they'd confirm the story.
It took a moment before he realized that the real Leaf would likely take umbrage at Agni's accusations. "But I, a murderer? Oh dear me, no no no no no."
"Certainly, your memory is not so..." Seg smiled as he found the right word, "flammable as to have forgotten what transpired? Mine might have been the implement that ended his life, but his was the hand that held that implement."
He looked at the cave that now held the cast of the dead god. "The same cannot be said of that poor god. I do say, was he perhaps an early experiment of yours? To see if other gods were flammable? He seems to have been gravely injured: the magma could not have helped his situation."
You created an army of angels whose purpose was to defeat him and he was defeated. I fail to see how this is not your fault.
If I were to lift a boulder above you and then drop it onto you, would you blame gravity, for that is the force that led to your injury, or would you blame me? You would be right to blame me because the purpose of that rock was to hit you and hurt you.
Agni shook his head at Leaf's next words.
TeaLord, you are a horrible little thing. I do not need to stay here listening to such spiteful words any longer. Farewell.
And with that, Agni left, Artun in tow in the magma/ooze prison, both heading south.
Considering the battle he had just been put through, he worries, If these wars continue to long, what will become of the strength of my people? Will it fade as mine has? The result could be devastating, and I cannot allow that. Onus ponders this new dilema, sitting motionless for several days before finally deciding on a course of action. Reaching out with his power, he touches every living thing, drawing some strength from each. He binds their power to himself, returning his own strength to full. Looking over the creation, he rewards those that honor him with greater than ordinary strength, and his clerics begin teaching others of the Way of Strength.
2 AP: Claim domain of Strength
Remaining AP: 2
Marcus left to find his new charges. While he was off Zebus let loose the shadows that he had been carrying with him. Empowering those willing to sacrifice for its power, he allows for those that embrace it to learn from it and make them stronger.
Zebus then altered the land around him to better fit that of the new civilization that was about to be born in the afterlife. These were his people. Those that had passed on and haven't been consumed yet. He will form a nation of souls of fallen to be reborn into the world as heros and leaders. Marcus will be their leader and his exarch. For those that haven't been reborn, they will be tasked to train and fight. When the time is right, they will go across the barrier and fight against the soul-eaters minions, sending them back to their twisted master or to where ever the souls to twisted and depraved to make it to The Great Beyond go.
As Zebus worked, it didn't take very long for Marcus to return with a small army of souls at his back. Tasking Marcus with what he needed to do, Zebus steps through the veil and back into the mortal plane. Appearing upon the crown, Zebus collapses to his knees. Being a god is exhausting work! Zebus gets up and with his black cloak whipping in the wind, he sinches his hat tighter and turns south.
Starting down the slopes, Zebus puts his hand upon the hilt of his sword. There is a deciever upon the lands. I know not whom it is yet, but something doesn't feel right. I should find one of the others to see what all I have missed...
AP
2AP Create Exarch: Zebus takes Marcus into The Great Beyond. Feeling that he could use the aid, Zebus makes Marcus the lord of the new budding society, and makes him his eyes and ears.
1AP Create Powers of the Shadow. Those willing to give in to the shadows teachings may take up the way of the shadow. Those wanting to stay hidden are usually shadow wielders and tend to give up some thing in return for this power. Follows along the same lines as magic.
0AP Marcus starts the gathering of the "shining souls" bringing them together so that they may one day create a society to oppose the evil of Altruis.
2AP Create Exarch: Zebus takes Marcus into The Great Beyond. Feeling that he could use the aid, Zebus makes Marcus the lord of the new budding society, and makes him his eyes and ears.
1AP Create Powers of the Shadow. Those willing to give in to the shadows teachings may take up the way of the shadow. Those wanting to stay hidden are usually shadow wielders and tend to give up some thing in return for this power. Follows along the same lines as magic.
0AP Marcus starts the gathering of the "shining souls" bringing them together so that they may one day create a society to oppose the evil of Altruis.
The war was coming to a critical point. All across the continent, the battles were becoming more and more pitched. Legions of angels crushed human militias and flew above the fleeing hordes carrying their new banners of broken corpses.
Gelab Duhr marched out from the jagged mountains and the caverns that twisted under the peaks like intestines. They were not invincible to the brutish strength of the Craterspawn, but neither did their flesh so softly yield.
Wild Dwarves, instructed and crafted by Thereus' hands, were easy prey in their isolated tribes. But when the clans united into armored warbands, craterspawn fell in the hundreds and rained choking ash on the battleground.
And the Agni'Vodha in the fiery fortress of The Eternal Volcano... They were withering away slowly but surely. Azgo would have called such a defense admirable had they not served-
Black blood squirted from behind his eyes and ran slowly over his face.
"Agni!" he spat. His hatred burned like a conflagration across his body, bringing with it searing pain and dark euphoria in the promise of his end.
There were too many fronts to fight. Too many variables for a swift conquest. But if the mortals wanted to draw out their drowning with futile mouthfuls of air, then they would die anyways. Still, it would only be a matter of time before the Firstborn and their slaves were rallied. He would have to act swiftly to break creation. He must weaken this informal alliance, both on the battlefield and on the homefront. Instill horror. Rouse agony. Inject sickness.
He reached out into howling fume-clouds and motioned with his frostbitten finger.
The Remorhaz roared in the depths of the frozen wastes and in the vast caverns. They had been ushered to hunt. And they took to it with savage pleasure.
The Fused God felt a presence in his ailing plane. A familiar presence. Altruis.
His eyes rolled back to watch the god step unto the rim of the basin. Perhaps he was an enemy of the Firstborn, and Azgo could ask little more than that. But he fed upon agony. No... No he didn't.
He savored it. He was a fool playing with a suffering beyond his comprehension. One day, Azgo would break this petty child. But not this day.
"Why do you return to my realm?"
OOC
Command Populace (2AP) : Remorhaz. The Remorhaz leave the unexplored wilds of winter and the isolated underground to directly attack both the Northern human tribes and the remaining gelab duhr communities in the mountains in an effort to divide the race. They also destroy key passages along the gelab duhr Journey.
AP Remaining:0
AP Remaining:0
---
It was madness.
Koga felt as he was dreaming. Every day, he would cast himself off the edge of his earthmote, close his eyes, and pray for death. And every night, he would wake, asleep on top of a bed of flowers.
It was madness.
He had ceased eating, but felt no hunger.
He had ceased drinking, but felt no thirst.
His routine became such that he even grew tired of death. Yes, he longed for the fiery passion of his beloved, but he no longer had the will to follow her quite so quickly into the Great Dark Beyond.
But he knew not what else to do.
The rest of the sky dwellers were trapped in similar straits. The Luminaries had long since stopped bringing supplies - the war in the world below was too pressing a concern. And so for the sky folk, living ceased to matter. There was nothing to farm, nothing to celebrate, and nothing to fear.
Few skymotes had more than a single human. Though they often lived within sight of one another, the sky folk had neither means nor inclination to converse.
Their days were a silence interrupted only by flower petals whistling along the islands, a sweet susurrus that teased their senses and called to them in their dreams: Sssssssaaaaaaa! Sssssssaaaaaaa!
The eyes of the skyfolk turned inwards, for there was nowhere else to go.
Koga filled his mind with thoughts of his beloved. He remembered why he had loved her -- her beauty; her kindness; her gentle nature. He remembered when he had lost her, that first panicked, sense of loss; He remembered her triumphant reappearance, wielding the power of light and magic; He remembered his broken promises -- his failures, both to find her, and to walk by her side into the Great Dark Beyond.
And he thought on her magic.
He thought on how she had steadied her breathing, centered herself, and concentrated, drawing power in before pushing it out in a cantrip or word of power. Watching her it had seemed obvious - she was the bridge, and through her, through her will alone, the Mana would flow.
Koga had no training in sorcery. He had only his will. And so he concentrated, centered himself, and filled his mind with thoughts of her. He could feel the power in his soul, and the stirring eddies of his own inner power brought comfort.
In his mind, magic had been hers and hers alone - when he reached out to his mana, he reached out to her, too.
Koga opened his eyes.
How long had he meditated? It didn't matter. Nothing had changed.
But what was this? A pale green-silver flame limned his arms. Koga extended his arm and looked, curious but not alarmed.
Was this... magic? It was certainly nothing he had seen her do. He remembered her magic - burning and bright, and he remembered the unfathomable hunger it left in its wake. Her magic had consumed mana to exist, but this?
Koga tensed his will, and the pale-green aura flared eagerly in response.
Koga pondered, intimately aware of the power now pulsing through his body.
She had been a bridge, her arcanistry a waterfall, but he!
He was a hand, and this power, this magic, a glove.
Koga stood, and his mana steadied his balance.
Koga ran, and his mana pushed his strides long and fast.
Koga jumped, and his mana stretched, catching the wind, lifting him into the air on wings of jade.
Koga laughed, and the sound of laughter echoed among the ten thousand petals.
AP
- 1 PP Command: The humans, trapped on the earthmotes above the crown bythe curious Sa, develop Psionic Magic.
Psionic Magic is different from Arcane or Primal magic in that it does not convert Mana into energy to fuel a spell. Instead, Psionicists learn to channel their reserves of Mana into a physical state, known as "Chi". Once manifested in this matter, it is a simple thing for the Psionicsist to direct it further with their will. Mana in this state is a malleable, and can be invested with nearly any property the wielder can imagine.
Simpler techniques include body augmentation - reinforcing one's existing muscles with strands of chi so the user can run faster and jump farther, or reinforcing one's armor and weapons, augmenting the physical material with a specialized layer of chi, strengthening the defense, or sharpening the cut.
This means, for instance, that psionic effects are a result of highly directed physics and natural reactions, rather than "magic". To duplicate a sorcerer's fireball, a Psionicist might create a ball of Chi, alter its density such that it can be easily thrown, hurl the sphere, then, while in midair, reduce the flash point of the substance to below the temperature of the surrounding air, triggering an explosion. Likewise, to duplicate a cone of frost, a psionicist might manifest their chi as a gas that reacts endothermically with everything nearby, in effect, drawing away all the heat in a conical region, and flash freezing it.
The strongest Psionicists can manifest Chi completely into physical matter, using it to craft buildings, structures, and tools, though these techniques are particularly taxing, and require a greater than normal time to recover the spent Mana.
- 1 PP Nourish: The skyfolk, with their use of psionic magic, are able to travel between earthmotes for the first time, using their power to leap the great distances, build permanent bridges out of chi, or fly, with the use of manifested wings and gliders. Since the world below is still at war, they mostly keep to themselves.
- 1 PP Command: The humans, trapped on the earthmotes above the crown bythe curious Sa, develop Psionic Magic.
Psionic Magic is different from Arcane or Primal magic in that it does not convert Mana into energy to fuel a spell. Instead, Psionicists learn to channel their reserves of Mana into a physical state, known as "Chi". Once manifested in this matter, it is a simple thing for the Psionicsist to direct it further with their will. Mana in this state is a malleable, and can be invested with nearly any property the wielder can imagine.
Simpler techniques include body augmentation - reinforcing one's existing muscles with strands of chi so the user can run faster and jump farther, or reinforcing one's armor and weapons, augmenting the physical material with a specialized layer of chi, strengthening the defense, or sharpening the cut.
This means, for instance, that psionic effects are a result of highly directed physics and natural reactions, rather than "magic". To duplicate a sorcerer's fireball, a Psionicist might create a ball of Chi, alter its density such that it can be easily thrown, hurl the sphere, then, while in midair, reduce the flash point of the substance to below the temperature of the surrounding air, triggering an explosion. Likewise, to duplicate a cone of frost, a psionicist might manifest their chi as a gas that reacts endothermically with everything nearby, in effect, drawing away all the heat in a conical region, and flash freezing it.
The strongest Psionicists can manifest Chi completely into physical matter, using it to craft buildings, structures, and tools, though these techniques are particularly taxing, and require a greater than normal time to recover the spent Mana.
- 1 PP Nourish: The skyfolk, with their use of psionic magic, are able to travel between earthmotes for the first time, using their power to leap the great distances, build permanent bridges out of chi, or fly, with the use of manifested wings and gliders. Since the world below is still at war, they mostly keep to themselves.
The battle raged within the red maw of the Eternal Volcano as flights of Craterspawn and flurries of Agni'Vohda clashed in the heavens, both boosted by the hot air rising from the magma that churned below, burning bodies littering its surface and slowly sinking beneath its depths. Scorch, one arm still unusable from Pruinus' embrace, struck viciously with his sword, ripping through soft wings and sending another Craterspawn plummeting.
Scorch looked upwards at the lines of his kin, slowly being pushed down towards the surface of the lake of fire by the seemingly inexaustible numbers of Craterspawn. A ring of flame, the defensive line of the Agni'Vohda where the battle was currently being fought circled the caldera roughly a third of the way up the tallest side. While it was true that the closer to the magma, the less suited the Craterspawn were to the battle, it also meant that it became significantly more perilous for the Agni'Vohda to fight. One wrong move would send them as well into the magma, where they would die just as quickly as the Craterspawn, if for an entirely different reason.
Shouting an angry cry, Scorch raced upwards once more to battle.
~Under the Lava~
The Sun, cast down by TASOE in his rage, had sunk deep into the volcano before catching on a cleft in the rock and getting wedged into the wall of the volcanic shaft. For a long time, it had been alone...
But now, it was no longer the only occupant of these depths. Bones were sinking into the depths. Most went by the ledge that the orb rested on, destined for complete destruction in the deep, hot, pressured core of the world itself. But some... some did not, and soon a pile of bones began to build over the Sun-fragment, and within each bone, a fragment of what had once been Life began to pulse in time with the orb.
Suddenly, the Orb flashed blindingly, visible even on the surface of the lake as a brief illumination of a particular region of the caldera. Around the orb the bones began to move. First randomly, but them with purpose, assembling first into long and thick strands, many bones tall and wide, and then, aided by the heat, fusing into larger ones, dwarfing the size of the Craterspawn bones they had been made from. The reaction spread, collecting more and more bones that were falling from the surface. Now the larger bones were coming together. Legs, Arms, a mighty spine, wings, an elongated skull. Linked together, the bones began to rise back up to the surface, defying gravity as muscle and tendon formed around them, seemingly impervious to the heat. Upwards and upwards the bodies slowly rose, dozens in number and increasing as the battle continued. Just below the surface, a slitted eye blinked for the first time and a grinning mouth opened to reveal rows upon rows of sharp teeth. The monster took a gulp of the Magma, which coursed down into the core of itself, and ignited something deep within...
~The Caldera~
Scorch knew it was only a matter of time now. They had lost half the distance to the Caldera in the last three hours, and it was growing increasingly perilous to continue to fight.
A wave of Craterspawn moved to intercept him, clearly seeking to smother him against the walls of the volcano, and Scorch dived to avoid them, aware that they had followed him down to the surface of the lava. Scorch moved in spark-form this close to the surface, dancing across the magma and trying to avoid getting tossed around by the eddies of hot air. If he could only...
He risked a look backwards and saw that the Craterspawn had lost two of their number, but the others were closing in. Scorch looked around, trying to find a way out of this predicament when suddenly the magma beneath him seemed to rush towards him! Dancing out of the way, Scorch turned just in time to see a red, scaly maw close around two of the craterspawn before whipping downwards, thowing them, screaming, into the fire. The mouth opened and a belch of Flame spewed upwards, incinerating several more! The magma bulged again, and the rest of the beast emerged! A neck that went on for what seemed like an eternity, followed by strong, bat-like wings, powerful arms and legs, and a tail that was just as long as the neck. And there were more than one! From where Scorch floated, he could see at least a dozen moving upwards, engaging the Craterspawn with unequaled force.
Soon, the battle was reversed, and soon after it turned into a rout, the craterspawn fleeing up and over the caldera edge, chased by the Agni'Vohda and these new beings: Dragons.
Scorch followed the battle, trailing just behind the wave of devastation left by the dragons. He crested the rim of the Volcano... and saw more Craterspawn spread in all directions. The war was not yet over.
AP:
3 AP: Shape Populace: Chromatic Dragons. For now, only Red Dragons are documented, but it is quite likely that other varieties exist near where the other Sun fragments have fallen. If you are interested in having some relevantly-colored dragons... feel free. I plan to mostly do things with the Reds.
1 AP remains.
Artun, it seemed, was soon to be punished by those he had tried to help. Eventually he'd be punished by those he had betrayed. Unfortunate. But that is why loyalty was required.
And the master saw loyalty in action.
Which is why Agni leaving was so unfortunate. Seg had hoped for drama. He needed fire, brimstone, confrontation. He had been given none of those. How much abuse could fire take before it lost control?
Still in the form of Leaf, Seg stood and pondered the situation. However, as he stood, the primal spirits arrived and, thinking he was the god of life, delivered Pruinus' message. There was a chance still, then. This would work nicely indeed.
The spirits led the way, and Seg-as-Leaf followed. As they went the ideas percolated in his head. He had to find the right lie. Some were too savory, others too sweet. Some too hard, some too soft, others too honest, others too bold. The lie had to fit the recipient just right. Like an angel's mask, he supposed.
When at last he arrived before Pruinus, Seg wasted no time. He hurried forward, bowing as he went. "Thank you for your kind invitation, Lady Pruinus. I will be only too happy to help resist the evil that assaults the world. However..."
Seg discarded the illusion that he was Leaf. Instead of the tiniest god that Pruinus had first seen on Seg's arrival, he now stood as a simple workman. His hands were dirty and calloused, his sleeves rolled up and his apron well used. There was an earnestness about his face. "As you can see, I am not Leaf. I am Seg, god of healing, and I am afraid to report that in addition to the world, your brother, Agni, is in much need of my services."
~Inside the God-Sun~
It was dark and warm. The thick layer of body protected the creature from the fires on the surface. That had not beeen planned, but it was a fortunate turn of events. The fires let the god hide in plain sight. Clearly, something that burned so must be dead, or at least in great pain. That was not the case. The ancient spirits had discarded the body as easily as they had grown it in the first place. It was unfortunate that they were so small again, but that would do for now.
Beyond the surface fires and false lights, the spirits worked. The being of darkness they had created was a delightful boon, but not yet a suitable servant. Seg would suffice for now, but more hands were needed in the world.
Within the sun, the god of darkness screamed.
~In the North~
Insanity and horror followed the people as they traveled north, and in turn they went even further. Forests turned sparse, animals were hard to find. But the harshness was itself a protection: the further north, the fewer things followed, choosing instead to turn south and hunt more pleasant prey. A few monsters lingered on, of course. Life was safer in the north, but never truly safe.
Along the way, over years and generations, as the people moved ever farther from warmth, the ancient tales continued. Huddled together at night, when the people sought distraction from the hungry cold, the old ones told the tales again. Out, in the wild, in the cold that hunts and the frost that eats, there was a kindly spirit. A branch broken off from a forgotten tree, but still alive. A little wooden man. It was shy and ever hard to find, but when food was scarce, when the children cried throughout the night and the mothers wept and the fathers beat their chests in agony, then, when slow-morning came, food would be found in the camp. Berries and fish and other things they had not eaten in memory. The following days and weeks, as their strength returned, herds of wild animals, thick with fur, would be found heading in their direction.
The people knew this was the work of Brother Branch, because though he was shy and preferred to work unseen, he could be found. In their need, the people would send a youth out into the wild to find him. And if their need was great, they would.
When the people traveled so far north that shelter became hard to find, a youth went out and Brother Branch taught him how to use the snow itself to build shelter from the cold.
When the people traveled so far north that wood for fires was rare, another youth went out and Brother Branch taught her how to use the fat from animals to build fires.
When the people traveled so far north that food was unheard of, a different youth went out and Brother Branch taught her how to cut through the ice to find fish in frozen over rivers, capture birds, and hunt the few animals that could survive in the region.
AP
1AP Nourish: Northern Peoples are adept at living in the eternal cold of the far north.
1AP remaining
1AP Nourish: Northern Peoples are adept at living in the eternal cold of the far north.
1AP remaining
The last words those spirits said to her mentioned an imposter that tricked Leaf, and this.... indidivual had proved that he could take many forms.
"Leaf, Seg... Are there any other names you go by, Imposter?"
Pruinus clicked her figures and within the blink of an eye, The Horned Knight appeared standing between Pruinus and "Seg", holding a glaive towards Seg's throat.
"Why do you call me here Coldmother? I am not your bodyguard."
The elder spirit did not hide his annoyance at being summoned in this manner, but he still held his glaive toward the imposter threateningly.
suppose that given your power, you can just whisk yourself off to some other place, can you not, Imposter? However, unless you can prove yourself to truly be this god of healing you claim you are, I will be able to pass on the knowledge that an imposter has been taking the form of Leaf and Seg."
Did this god of healing even exist? Was he merely a fabrication of the imposter god?
Pruinus held an icy stare at this Seg god, showing no friendship. She would show no friendship until this god proved his sincerity.
"Of course, mighty Pruinus. I would be happy to prove my good will. My first evidence of this is that I revealed myself as being able to take the form of others. I could have remained in the guise of Leaf: would you have had reason to doubt me then? But I desired honesty, and so I revealed myself to you."
"My second evidence of my good will is in the nature of my birth. I regret to inform you that Leaf is dead, killed, accidentally, I assure you, by your brother, Agni. But as the little lord often said, life endures. He created me before his end to see that made true. I am not my father, but I know much that he once did, which he gave to me as a gift."
Seg raised a hand out to the side, slowly, so as not to cause alarm. He concentrated, and then opened it. A sprig of winterberry was there. "You know what this is. It is a symbol of Leaf's devotion to you. Let it also be a symbol of my good intentions."
"My third piece of evidence of my good will is that I put myself entirely at your mercy. Come, have your servants tie my hands, bind my feet, until you can decide. I would rather be your prisoner than for you to not trust me. There could be no greater punishment than your lack of faith."
"And finally, my forth piece of evidence, is to explain honestly why I appeared to you as Leaf in the first place."
"As I said, I was born of my father to heal life. There was a monster in the south, it had captured Agni, Leaf, and others. Agni got free and burned it. He killed Leaf in the process, but not before Leaf created me. He claimed that life endures, yes? I was to be the fulfillment of that promise. But when I was born, I could sense the rage in Agni. Such pain. I had to help him, but anyone can tell that he will not truck with lesser gods, and I am least of them all. I took the form of Leaf so that he might reveal his hurt, so that I might heal it. And he did. His pain, his hurt, his anger..."
Seg closed his eyes. "Such anger. Uncontrolable anger. That is why he killed Leaf, though he doesn't know his brother is dead, yet. There was another god, one who had helped him, but was injured in the process. He killed him when he tried to help. Again, because of his anger. There was yet another who had tried to help, but Agni blames him. Even now he has taken that god to met out what he deems as justifiable punishment. His anger drives him to do horrible things."
"He is angry because he blames himself for Zebus' death, and other failures. He hasn't been able to express his emotions, and so they fester within him, driving him to madness. He fled before I could reveal the truth to him, and before I could try to help."
"It was luck that I was in the guise of Leaf when your message was delivered. I stayed in the appearance so that the spirits would lead me to you, so that I could seek your help for your brother, and to fulfill my father's obligation to you and provide help in return."
They had come from the south, from their homely villages and towns that were now nothing more than nightmares. They were not dressed for the cold. Every few miles a black, frozen finger could be found on the side of the road. The craterspawn flocks were still following, but they too were slowing down in the buffeting winds. The elderly and the crippled, of which there were many, were left behind... and this slowed the Craterspawn even more.
It seemed that they had at last out manuevered thier adversary. They settled down to carve out what scrap of living they could. They used to pray on the holy days, but now they simply scavenged. Artun had long since abandoned them.
For a few weeks, there was peace. There were tremors, but no death calls carried on the bitter winds. And that was peace enough.
There was no warning. No terrible sounds or sights or smells. It was a night like any other. The icy ground suddenly heaved and broke apart in multiple villages. Moonlight shimmered on the generous acid collums that drenched handfuls of villagers. Their skin bubbled and blacked and smoked. The giant worm-like creatures crashed through flimsy houses in pursuit of the panicking peoples. Weeks of effort were burst into armfuls of splinters and broken timber. And years of life were swallowed messily whole, breaking backs and knees to cram multiple humans into the razored maw. Even ones who had eaten their full continued the chase to grind men into meat, and then toss them aside. People scattered into the woods, into the snowy wastes and forests for refuge in the arctic.
One remorhaz was tunneling through the aged ice layers beneath an isolated grotto. It had felt something, heard the patter of wooden feet on ice. It slowed to a cautious halt, pinpointing the sound.
Its body coiled.
...
And then it rocketed up through the ice and clutched in its gaping, monsterous mouth a small wooden man and broken frosted stone. The mouth clamped shut and began to crunch.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The gelab duhr were also unsuspecting. The mountains given to them by the Stone-Steeped were surely rugged. They were winding and filled with spires and trenches almost randomly. But there had never been a greater menace than the challenge of endurace and slope. There had never been something...
waiting for them.
Caverns collapsed and entire communities were shattered. In the confusion, large mouths harvested gelab duhr like wheat. They dug into the blood of the Living Mountain and moved stone. They bashed granite slabs against the thick hide of the beast and created tombs of rock only to see these mighty prisons shake and moved behind the Remorhaz's muscled body.
The many gelab duhr who survived the initial attack moved, fled deeper into the stone and met with other colonies. they tracked the movements of the great beasts. It seemed they were...
Converging.
At Avarom.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Azgo attempted to tolerate the Soul Eater's mere presence, he felt a sudden ache. They had spoken for an age, and Azgo had not kept his eyes on the war. Something disasterous had just occured. He rolled his eyes back into the blood-black of his rotting godflesh and cast his sight unto the world.
Mountains... Fiery badlands. Ice. Rolling, empty seas. Nothing. Then suddenly, a mighty volcano. It was... indistinct as his visions always were, but the horde gathered there. Large swaths of the craterspawn had been slaughtered in mere minutes. Something, some massive creatures flew among them. They battered and roasted the angels even as they swarmed the winged creatures with hundreds of talons.
"AGNI!!" The Blood Crowned roared. The Firstborn were ready. They had finally taken up arms against him and created these... pests of fire and flesh. They were making soldiers to combat his own. And surely Leaf was at the spearhead of it all, plotting the second downfall of his brothers, demanding fragile loyalty from the others.
"I knew this day would come! When the Firstborn unite again in jealosy against me! They fear my power!"
He began to whisper, "And they are right to do so."
Azgo gathered the sickness within him, and as Leaf, Pruinus, Zebus, and Agni had gifted him with it, he poured out on the battlefield.
There was a sudden storm at The Eternal Volcano. A biting gale of acidic fumes and the thunder of wardrums. A flowing pillar, like lightning, surged forth from the cloud into the caldera. Craterspawn caught up in the cloud began to wither and contort and thier skeleton twisted into knots. Their ash was swept along the wind and together dimmed the light into a desperate bleakness.
Azgo felt a presence there. Marked with his own corruption. A seed, which was not like the craterspawn for they were the fruit of blight. No it was certainly a seed, and Azgo took hold of it.
And the seed blossomed forth into abomination.
OOC
Create Exarch (2AP): Ka'Vah. A creature made of wreathing flame and sickening smoke. The flames are sanguine, yellow, and pale greens. One arm is of fire, and the other in swirling black vapors. Scorch is no more what he was. You said you wanted him to turn into a monster Topheh, right?
Perhaps the best way to handle this was to play his own game.... and beat him at it.
"Knight, begone"
With a lazy flick of her hand and a growl from The Horned Knight, he disapprated as quickly as he appeared.
"Forgive me of testing you as such, but my brother informed me of an imposter and you demonstrated the ability to take other forms, I had to be careful."
She give him a quick smiile, although it pained her to do so.
"Although i cannot claim i still fully trust you. I gather that there is around a ten...no, five percent chance that you are this imposter."
Hmmm. More like a ninety-nine percent chance. Painfully oblivous, Pruinus had already asked the primal spirits to bring Agni to the crown. Agni wasn't familar with the spirits and whether he would trust them or not was unclear but.... this was all she could do for now.
"Leaf's death is surely a tragedy, what can we do to calm the Flame Lord?"
Yes, asking this question would serve well. The course of action he suggested would reveal a lot about his personality. She patiently waited for his reply.
"Where is fire," the little girl was asked, "where is life?"
The elder had handed her an old piece of wood, dried by the cold, smoothed by the countless years and generations. She had never seen a tree, but had heard of them, seen the pictures drawn into the snow by the knowledge-keepers. This was a branch from a tree. An oddly shaped branch, to be sure. It split and had twigs in such a way that it almost looked like a little man.
"It's dead," the little girl responded. She handed it back. "It has no life. But if you put it in the fire, it will burn."
The elder shook his head. "No. This is the secret of snow."
The little girl turned to look at her mother, who was standing at the entrance of the igloo. Light from the ice-windows gave her a concerned look, even though she was smiling. The girl knew that this was important. She had heard about it when her brother went through it, but everything had been overheard, whispers given when they thought she was asleep.
The elder offered the girl the wood again. "This branch is like the ice plains. To look with your eyes is to see death. But look with knowledge, and you will see life. You will see the warmth of the sun, the insulation of the snow, the sustenance of the fish, the warmth of the caribou's hide. Look at the branch with knowledge. What do you see? Where is the fire, where is the life?"
Removing her gloves, the girl took the branch again. She turned it over, ran a thumb over parts of it, brought it close to her eye. Still it looked old and dead. But... it reminded her of the old firetime stories. It looks a little like a man, and so it reminded her of the littlest man. And in all the stories, it is said that he helped the people in their need.
"Fire is in it," she said, "deep at its heart, hidden."
The elder smiled and nodded, so she continued. "Crack it open and you will not find it. The branch is smooth... the people have kept it for many years?"
He nodded.
The girl gained confidence. "But when the people have need, we will call the fire out of it, won't we?" Another nod. "And the fire will give life. It will give warmth to live by, light to see by. With the warmth we will survive another day, and with another day we will find more food, more furs. We will endure. That is where life is in this. It is in the gifts it gives us."
"You have spoken wisely," the old man said, "You are now-"
The ground beneath them cracked, caved, and the elder, the little girl, and her mother were no more. The remorhaz razed the village, and after all was dead, sat in the could crunching the branch. It saw with its eyes, ate with its mouth, and so it only ate dead wood, never knowing the secret of snow.
Seg thought back, and recalled a random god looking at him oddly. "Ah yes, I think I might have encountered that god. I had not met him before, so I had not made the connection. To provide full disclosure, that was when I had taken on the guise of Lord Leaf. If master Zebus informed you of an imposter after that event, he may have well be referring to me! If that is correct, then yes, I am the imposter. Alas, such are the dangers of acting in ignorance! I believe that was one of my father's criticisms of him, though far be if from me to cast such aspersions on an elder god."
Zebus might have also been referring to Artun, or one of the other servants of the master that were out in the world. There were many kinds of cons, but some of them required honesty and good faith. People with integrity could only be fooled by people with integrity.
"While I might have appeared as Leaf, I make no claim that I can act the part. Undoubtedly the disconnect between my own behavior and my appearance as Leaf would have been disconcerting to an uninformed observer. Yet another reason I worry for Agni: despite my very un-Leaf-like behavior, he was willing to believe the worst about the littlest god."
All true enough. Seg didn't like speaking the truth, but true lies were the most powerful sort of lies.
"Quite right in still not placing your trust in me. But I will trust you as my father trusted you, and hopefully my trust in you will be able to eventually earn your trust in me. Again, feel free to imprison me. I do not doubt that investigation will reveal my honesty and desire to serve you, so I have no fear of it."
"As for the Flame Lord, calm is ill advised. He cannot admit even to himself his emotions. As long as he denies them, his emotions will eat away at his goodness. They must be released. I tried to do so by making him angry at me-as-Leaf. Being flayed by him would be a small price to pay for getting him to admit them. But I failed in that."
"The only thing Agni is passionate about, that I am aware of, is keeping these emotions hidden. So I tried to make them public. But you, as his sister, might know another way? Perhaps he cares for his creations, and thus will be sufficiently angered by the soul-eater the spirits informed me of? Or perhaps there are other acts of good that he would be interested in. Would he be the sort of god to take delight in a mortal child's laughter, perhaps? Perhaps gift giving might be the thing to heal him.”
The dragons scattered from the caldera, tumbling this way and that to avoid the pillar of acid rain. While their scales were more resistant to its spray than the Craterspawn, several steaming corpses were slowly sinking into the lava below from where a direct hit from the pillar had burned away wings, arms and heads.
But Scorch wasn't particularly concerned. To be honest, he wasn't paying much attention to it. He had problems of a more personal nature. The little elemental was screaming, or trying to scream, at least. Scorch's body was no longer his own. It wasn't even really his body anymore. Easily twice the size of his old form, equal parts choking smoke and green-tinged fire, it moved haltingly, but with increasing control over itself. Most terrifyingly, it paid no attention to Scorch's attempts to control it.
Helpless, Scorch watched as its(?) body launched itself towards one of the twisting dragons, grabbing hold of a scale, wrenching it upwards and plunging a fiery hand deep into the beast's side, charring the muscles that controled the wing to cinders. The dragon gave an angry cry and began tumbling towards the ground as 'Scorch' launched itself towards another. From the corner of 'its' eye, Scorch saw the dragon eventually recover into a glide before landing on the slopes of the mountain far below.
~Southern Shores~
At the southern edge of the continent, at the top of a cliff looking over the ocean, Agni finally came to rest. A wave of force whipped the egg containing Artun over Agni's head and smashing into the ground a few feet from the edge. The black egg shattered, and magma poured off the edge of the cliff to the water below. Within, a dazed Artun lay.
Agni was disappointed. Although dimmed and clearly wounded, Artun looked much the same... No longer a burning orb, but now something akin to his Agni'Vohda, if brighter and hotter. Agni sighed. He had hoped to see whatever lay behind the illusion, and found this form unlikely to be it.
Agni opened his mouth and prepared to destroy his betrayer when Artun awoke.
"Whe-" a wave of revulsion washed over Artun's and his mouth closed. "Agn-" Again, his beautiful voice rang out and was silenced a moment later.
Artun looked downwards and started. With his arms, he began feeling himself all over.
"Agni! What have you done to me? My voice, my body! I am hideous! Oh Master, turn me back!" Artun cried out.
Agni closed his mouth. This was an interesting development...
Turn you back? Give me one reason why I should. He asked, playing along despite not knowing exactly what was going on.
Behind Artun, ignored by both God and Exarch, a black mass slowly moved away from the ruins of the egg.
1 AP: Modify Exarch: Artun's powers are weakened slightly. He now only appears beautiful to all other creatures as opposed to 'the most beautiful thing ever.' More importantly, however, is that his powers no longer work on himself, and he views himself as hideous and with a horrible, grating voice.
Just a reminder... Krika, you are ascended!
0 AP Remains.
Ka'Vah cast an array of flickering green light across the shadow-bathed volcano. Individual ashes caught ahold of the sickly glow, and shimmered like falling snow.
Wreathed in smoke, the burning sickness raced from dragon to dragon, engulfing even the largest in a tomb of poisenous fumes and biting flames. One by one they fell and were soon swarmed by the angel legions.
A vibrantly scarlet champion of the dragonkind, hulking in mass and terrible in strength, flew into the flikering smoke cloud and unleashed a blazing conflagration. The smoke dissipated. The green light was replaced with darkness.
Triumphant, the champion threw back his head and roared. Ka'Vah rushed into his maw in the smallest wisps of smoke and then exploded in sulfurous fire. The dragon's chest burst open and the corpse, aflame, tumbled into the rim of the volcano.
Ka'Vah was invincible.
OOC
Have at him, Shadow
A small grin on his face, he headed south towards what he hoped was a warmed climate.
-----
The remorhaz was in hot pursuit of the fleeing tribe and their endurance flagged as it closed. Desperation was setting in, and one of them suddenly stopping in his tracks, waving his fellows forward. "Go, I'll buy you time to escape!"
Drawing his short blade, knowing how futile this stand was, he crouched and waited. Moments later, he saw the beast emerge nearby, cautious of some sort of trap as it slowly closed on him. Good, he thought, the longer it takes with me the further away they get.
Then, like lightning, the beast struck, a single smack of its tail sending the warrior tumbling, his blade too far away to reach. Seeing it;s prey disabled, the remorhaz dove in face first, eager to eat and continue its hunt.
As suddenly as the lunge began it was halted, the beasts face smashing into hard steel and falling back stunned. The beast had no opportunity to recover as blade severed its head, sending it flying into the blizzard. The armored figure lower it's blade, offering a helping hand to the rescued man.
"Who are you?"
"Verndari, protector of the weak. Go with my blessing, that when next you stand against such a foe, you have the strength you need to protect those weaker then you."
As quickly as he came, the figure vanished into the blowing snow. The warrior returned to his people, spreading the faith of this god who had saved him from certain death.
-----
Fleeing eastward from the craterspawn, this poor band of humans had managed to escape pursuit, but their time was running out. The badlands held no sustenance form them. o animals to hunt, no food to forage, no water to drink. Finally, as darkness fell on their sixth day of march, the last of their meager water was consumed.
Exhausted and weakened, when dawn broke the group was disheartened, but they would not surrender their lives just yet. They lifted their battered bodies from the hard ground and began their seventh day of marching. Yet, the land proved no more endurable on day seven than it had on the six before, and as noon passed, the group finally came to a stop, unable to continue.
Their leader headed out, claiming he was going to scout ahead. But he lied, knowing that by dawn most of his people would be dead. Once clear of his friends and family, he broke down, falling to his knees as tears flowed freely down his cheeks. He did not know how to save them. Everything he had tried since coming to this place had failed. In his anger, he screamed at the sky "Curse all gods who left us to this fate!"
A rock moved behind him and he jumped to his feet, small knife quickly in hand. Turning he found a solitary figure standing in the shadowy overhang of stone.
"One should not curse those they cannot understand, my boy."
"Who are you?"
"Me?" he said, stepping from beneath the overhang, revealing himself to be an older man, with slightly pointed ears and a pale greyish green skin who leaned heavily on a wooden staff. "I'm just a memory. A memory of the land, a spirit of the forgotten past. Still though, even that which is forgotten has power if one knows how to reach it, and your cries awakened me from my slumber. What is wrong, child?"
Uncertain., but desperate for any solution, he was honest with this stranger. "My people starve over the ridge. We have no food or water. We have wandered for days and yet nothing is to be found. I am their leader. They rely on me, and I have failed them."
He chuckled slightly. "Your devotion to friends and family are admirable, young man. And if you and they perish in this place, it would be forgotten. We cannot have that now."
He placed his hand on his forehead, and both knowledge and power flooded into the boys mind. "Water never forgets, and so I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. You asked who I was and I did not answer. I am Tzu'misel. Go back to your people with the blessing of water, and with that blessing you shall survive this land."
The boy opened his eyes and they widened with awe as the old man simply collapsed into a puddle of water, quickly soaking into the dry ground.
-----
Further south and west he headed, flitting across the skies nearly unseen, when below he spotted a lethal scene. A hoard of craterspawn had surrounded a group of refugees as they fled towards the supposed safety of the mountains, and though they were valiantly trying to fight their way out, they were outnumbered and not nearly strong enough. Smiling as yet another opportunity presented itself, he let himself fall from the skies, true darkness descending over the fighting forces. Barely able to see more than a few inches in front of them, craterspawn and human alike cried in terror and the battle stopped as various groups chose to run in a chosen direction of huddle on the ground in terror.
Silently and unseen, the god slipped between craterspawn, seeking humans and whispering quietly in their ears. "Trust in your instincts. Follow them and thou shalt be free of this predicament. You have my blessings and my power will protect you. Trust in me, and you will be sheltered in darkness. As long as you stay true to Myrkur, the Sheltering Darkness"
Saved from certain death, those poor people escape from the trap, and in their hearts blossomed a new faith in forces that had once frightened them. Satisfied yet again, he flitted back into the sky, heading eastward.
-----
Still flitting about merrily, he came upon the scene of a grand battle. Craterspawn and Agni'Vhoda clashed in pitched combat about the caldera of an active volcano while dragons poured forth to engage in combat with wraith of flame and foul smoke. For many long minutes he watched as the battle raged back and forth.
But the wraith could not be defeated by simple mortal strength as he waved and crushed his way through the draconic ranks, and his imminent victory raised the morale of the craterspawn below so that they too pushed closer to victory. There was no fun in the battle ending, and it was clearly the wraith who pushed one side over the edge, seeing as it was more than mortal. With a thought and a grin, he slipped into a cloud.
-----
Ka'Vah turned to strike a nearby dragon only to reel in surprise as his target was sent plummeting to the ground by a bolt of lightning. The sky darkened and clouds gathered. As he turned to find more targets, the storm erupted in rage, rain pounding the ground below sending Agni'Vhoda skittering for shelter at it's fury while dragons were buffeted and scatter by the ferocious winds. Even the craterspawn were unlucky as bolts of lightning struck out at everything that moved below.
With an echoing below that range through the sky, a great chariot erupted from the darkest depths of the cloud, pulled across the sky by birds streaked with lightning. It's rider a great beast of a man, with lightning crackling at his long beard as his hair blew freely in the wind. "Beast, you ruin my entertainment with your interference. Begone."
Kha'Vah lashed out at his foe, but found that it's movements were just fast enough to evade. In return, the mighty birds unleashed blasts of thunderous sound upon him, and the chariot rider hurled lightning bolts as spears, sending the exarch reeling beneath the onslaught.
Again the exarch struck out at his new foe, this time striking true, one of the great birds devoured by sickly smoke and flame, falling free of its forgotten burden. Leaping free of his chariot, the god stood in the sky upon the winds themselves. "Now you dare strike down my minions. The fury of the storms have been kindled, creature of pestilence and flame, and they are coming for you!"
The clouds crackled with renewed rage, bolt after bolt of lightning tearing and rending the exarch, flying from both clouds and god alike. Within moments, the exarchs inevitable fate was clearly visible even to its stubborn self, and it fled as fast as it had come.
"Hear me mortals, and know me. I am Lysing, the Storms Fury!"
With a crack of thunder, he vanished off after his retreating foe.
-----
Kha'Vah fled to his masters home like a dog with its tail between his legs. And as he approached the exarchs home, he once more began to wonder how best to approach this new realm. Grinning to himself, he appeared on the ground near the edge of the crater.
His first step was unstable, as the cloaked figure leaned heavily on his staff to complete each step. He gazed on the crater from beneath his shadowy cowl, sensing great presences within. Nodding knowingly, he waited calmly to be greeted by those inside.
PP Actions
1 PP - Command Populace - Groups of humans in the north begin worshiping "Verndari, Protector of the Weak"
1 PP - Command Populace Groups of humans fleeing craterspawn into the western badlands begin worshiping Tzu'misel, lord of waters
1 PP - Command Populace - A group of humans fleeing craterspawn to the southern mountains begin worshiping Myrkur, the Sheltering Darkness
1 pp - Command Populace - A few among the Agni-Vhoda begin making offerings to Lysing, the Storms Fury
1 PP - Command Populace Groups of humans fleeing craterspawn into the western badlands begin worshiping Tzu'misel, lord of waters
1 PP - Command Populace - A group of humans fleeing craterspawn to the southern mountains begin worshiping Myrkur, the Sheltering Darkness
1 pp - Command Populace - A few among the Agni-Vhoda begin making offerings to Lysing, the Storms Fury
Artun barely noticed that Agni was there. His hands felt along his neck, and when he found nothing was there, he turned about, until at last he saw the god-beast in the sky. Weak with desperation, he tried to crawl north, closer to it.
"Master!" he cried out. "Forgive me, master!"
~Inside the sun~
Below the fires and heat, at the center of the god-beast, a heart began to beat.
AP
2 AP Exarch: The sun-beast. TASOE's mountainous form is turned into a unique monster. It's currently recovering and gestating.
2AP remaining
2 AP Exarch: The sun-beast. TASOE's mountainous form is turned into a unique monster. It's currently recovering and gestating.
2AP remaining
Your Master cannot help you. Your master is defeated by my hand, Betrayer.
Agni watched Artun squirm and continue to rub himself all over. Something had happened, that was for sure.
And by my hand, you are the way you are now. Tell me everything, and I may let you return to your former state.
If this god was geninue and honest, he simply was the kindest deity she had ever met. Being a god came with some amount of ego, even Pruinus would admit that. But still, he didn't believe Agni or Leaf to be her brothers, so he clearly didn't know everything. yet still she feigned ignorance.
"Both splendid ideas. I would gladly offer anything in my realm to see Agni well again."
Now, she would observe his reaction to her next proposal.
"But, say it becomes clear Agni is beyond redemption and is a threat to all, then comes the terrible task of slaying him. As lord of fire, Agni would simply melt me away in combat and, no offence intended dear, but i assume as god of healing your fighting capabilities will not match his either. If we must do such a dreadful thing, how would we go about it?"
Still on all fours, Artun dropped his eyes to the earth. His body began to shake and a glurgling began in his chests. The sound rose, in time with the god's shaking, until Agni could hear it like the crispingest crackling laugh. To Artun's own ears it was a rasping broken sound. The sounds came faster, until it was as if the god was vomiting forth laughter.
He turned and glared at the fire god. Heat washed over Agni, threatening to melt the stone off his face. If it had been real, Artun would have set the very earth on fire. "You?"
The god of vanity stood. "You?!"
Artun lept straight at Agni, hands outstretched. "YOU!"
As soon as his hands touched the god of fire, they ignited, but what did Artun care? He saw his flesh as rotting, deformed, a waste. Let it burn. Let it be purged. He screeched in pain and anger and rage. The heat and fire entered his lungs, charring them, burning his insides. Pure hate kept him alive, kept his hand clawing at Agni's face, clawing at magma and stone, digging, cracking, breaking.
~Pruinus's Palace~
"Alas," Seg said to Pruinus, "there I can offer no advice. It is not for one such as myself to judge such matters. I cannot imagine something that cannot be healed. I must leave such a decission for you and your siblings, in your wisdom."
~Western Ocean~
A wisp of darkness passed over the mountains and down to the lifeless waters. It paused for a second, then went further, forming an oiling sheen on the surface of the ocean.
The water was cold, lifeless, and stagnant. Hardly a suitable place, even for a god. Creating the last godbeast had taken a great deal of energy, stolen from imprisoned gods. Now, though, was the time for subtle actions.
Below where the sun ceased to shine, the ancient spirit descended, until they reached the unseen depths. It spread itself out, absorbing matter again, converting it to godflesh. A cancerous mass spread along the ocean floor. The bottom portion of it sunk into the mud, so that one could not tell where god ended and earth began. But the top portion puckered into spires and sent up small jets of slick algae. Motes of the goo twisted into the water, forming a variety of life, that fed on the jets, grew, lived, and most importantly, eventually suffered and died. That is what the god needed to feed, and its mass grew thicker and wider as it did.
AP
1Ap Nourish Ocean: TASOE creates a variety of sealife in the western ocean.
0AP remaining
1Ap Nourish Ocean: TASOE creates a variety of sealife in the western ocean.
0AP remaining
The Blood Crowned felt a deific shadow fall on the stone. A long shadow, but an unfamiliar one. Not The shadow of A Firstborn, for the Godcrater would have moaned and cracked in abhorent aknowledgement of their existence. And Azgo would have known as surely as his scars ached and his hearts convulsed when they should have burst long ago. Azgo turned to the quiet Altruis, "Arm yourself. Something comes."
With a thunderous voice that shredded the inside of his throat, Azgo bellowed and walked towards the rim of the basin.
"I know not who you are, but you will make yourself known! Your ambush has failed! Pruinus could not kill me, and Zebus was too afraid! The FIRST has given me strength, and I will not submit to traitors and thieves!"
He glided with malevolent nobility, carrying himself high and fortified, but inevitably readied. He would never let his pride ruin his life. Not before he crushed the smallest essence of life out of the guilty eyes of his betrayers.
As he walked, a sudden bitter chill ran across his fused spine. A whisper in his ear. He stopped and felt through the wind. Could there be another?
He paused, ready.
Yes. I did, you hideous wreck. Agni shouted at the beautiful being before him. You will be an object of pity from now on, Betrayer. Others will compliment you, but you will know them to be lies. Only when you come to grovel before me and beg my forgiveness... then I may consider reversing what I have done.
Agni turned, leaving Artun lying in the dust. There was another who deserved the sharp edge of his tongue. His Son, sworn to protect him, had been conspicuously absent. So Agni went to find the SmithLord.
He tapped his staff swiftly to the ground, energy crackling in the air defensively around him, then he lifted his arm leaving a light grey mist in it's wake. "I do not come as a traitor, theif, or ambusher. I come seeking knowledge. Knowledge as to who lives within this domain. Knowledge of who commands the wretched spirit I caught sight of fleeing to here. Knowledge of who you might be, if you would permit me to know. But I shall not be rude. I am but a guest here and one who brandishes such strength in this domain must be it's master, therefore I shall introduce myself. Veros the scholar. Will you grant me the same courtesy and knowledge I have shared withy you?"
Something felt off about this scholar. Azgo had not seen him nor even heard his name in all his searchings of the mortals and his kin. But he had courage to so blatantly disrespect The Blood Crowned in his own kingdom. Or was it recklessness?
Azgo's blind head turned toward Veros and spoke with shrunken, black gums.
"I am Azgo, The Blood Crowned. A lord of agony and misery. Son of treachery and heir to the plan of the First. I am sickness. I am hate."
His words crawled across his tounge with bitter, righteous animosity. The air grew hotter, and his speech seemed to worm its way like tendrils into the fringe of the other god's being.
"And you have stepped unto my domain. Into my war."
He stands a bit straighter. "I admit, I am fairly new to this world, and I know not of any war, unless its battles are that which your servant was fleeing. Would you care to share your knowledge with an elderly scholar, that perhaps I might aid you in some matter? Though I lack somewhat in knowledge of this world so far, I have much other knowledge that may be of use to you."
The journey to Avarom was a quick one for Cumbrous, and his appearance was none to soon. The Remorhaz were appearing all around the city, chewing through its defenses with little care. The Living Avalanche collapsed upon the nearest, his stone body pummeling and breaking its hard carapace an instant before the remorhaz realized it was being attacked. Cumbrous flung himself into the enemy with a wild abandon, but for all his power, the creatures were simply too numerous. And the possible entryways into the city for creatures that could eat stone were virtually infinite. It wasn't long before battles were breaking out in earnest inside the city, and the devastation was spreading. Cumbrous called out to his god.
~~~
Onus sat in a meditative state. He watched the progress of the war from beneath the shelter of his wings. Monitoring his faithful, providing his strength to those who proved worthy, but there simply weren't enough champions to combat the utter destruction caused by these new creatures. New creatures. That is the key. The enemy is evolving his army to better strike against Us. Onus studied the remorhaz for a long time. He watched the battles that raged, noting their great size and strength that allowed them to lay waste to whole battalions at a time. He watched for the weakness in their armor, and then watched as his exarch finally engaged the creatures. Now, I understand how best to combat these.
Unfurling his wings, Onus stood and reached his arms around a nearby mountain. Planting his feet to either side of it, he pulled, heaving it up and lifting it over his head. It was topped with ice, and dripped magma from its center. Perfect, he thought. And he put his strength into crushing the mountain and breaking it into smaller pieces, carefully infusing them with his power as he did so. He had seen Leaf do something similar, What did he call them? Oh yes, seeds. And Onus threw them far and wide across the world and wherever they landed, huge creatures arose and began to combat the forces of destruction. Some formed largely of ice, others showed a heritage of fire, but most were of a solid stone. Their size was the advantage that they bore. Each one of them was enough to combat a single remorhaz, and aided by those already battling, the tide began to turn.
2 AP: Populate Giants - Song, Ice, and Fire... er... Stone, Ice, and Fire giants are born and scattered across the globe to combat the remorhaz threat.
0 AP remains
This was a perfect time. The sliver went into the heart, and the heart began to spasm. With each beat, it tore itself against the wood, and slowly the creature was bleeding itself to death. Yet, even at that, the heart began to beat faster.
Then it stopped, and the sliver could feel the blood leaving the remorhaz's body. It waited, to make sure that the creature was actually dead, then it worked its way out of the body.
Once in the open air, the sliver planted itself in the ground and grew into a great tree. One of the branches tore itself off, and looked down at the dead beast. Much time had passed -- slivers of wood weren't known for working fast -- but it had looked like the creature had been decapitated. How rude of what ever being did that: they had stolen his kill. But, at least the thing was dead.
So, the little god headed back out into the wilderness to find the northerners again.
How could an elderly scholar know nothing of the world-consuming war that had lasted years? What was his origin? And why was he so eager for knowledge that any of his enemies would gladly posses? He was probably a spy...
His film-coated eyes narrowed with malice.
Sent by Leaf, who had cowed yet another into his service. Their pantheon of slaves were probably highly organized, working with each other... against him. Again. The thought filled him with wrath.
And yet... something about this god seemed honest. And what if he was indeed hoping to battle the tyrannical Firstborn, suckling on the fats and fruits of their tresspass?
Azgo scoffed.
"So then, scholar, you have come for... what? Plans? Or History? Of the times when there were six and the first words of creation were of plotting and curses?"
He felt the blood seeping and growing into masses of flesh within his throat. His cysts moved under his skin.
"This war. This CRUSADE... comes to a close. The final push is near, and those who worship traitors and their allies will be rightly punished. And then, my kin will pay dearly for what they have done to me."
In a glade not currently beset by Craterspawn patrols, a group of Galeb Duhr and Human soldiers were huddled beneath the trees that lined it. Some of them slept, others ate hurried lunches of hard rolls and water, and others held their swords and spears in their hands, tense and alert for any approaching enemies.
Suddenly, with a mighty downblast of wind, a large scaly, red shape twisted through the air and settled into the middle of the glade. Moments later, two other dragons settled to earth nearby.
The humans and Galeb Duhr pressed themselves further into the shadows of the trees, and many prepared to flee before the lead dragon opened her mouth.
"Fellow Foes of the Craterspawn. At last we have found you. Come out and meet with my brothers and I. We have come to help."
OOC
Since Rimmon seense to be MIA, I'm having It and the guardian angels move on. And since Altruis was near the godcrater...
"Go, carry out the plan we have agreed upon. Amass your forces; my own are readying for the final push into the underground."
Azgo let his form turn to dust and carried by the wind unto the nearest cliff overlooking Veros. Without pause, he plunged his gnarled finger through the palm of his hand and let the polluted liquids flow and spill unto the ground. For the memories were in his blood, his very flesh. He remembered every moment, every ounce of anguish coursing through the fusing bodies and the feeling of stone on unnatural skin. His fear, his hope, and his hate. He would never forget. Never forgive.
The blood massed together and figures of the grandest detail moved about and spoke with wretched, bubbling voices. Screams occasionaly. But the screams were incomplete, for they could not perfect the acute agony of his very purpose.
"The FIRST is our origin. From his power and his plan, we were created in the world. Six of us, siblings all and servants some."
And Azgo related with unnerving conviction and memory the whispered words of the Firstborn and the results of their labors. How they turned upon each other and thought him dead. How their very existence was a wound in the cosmos and how only through the ashes of their corpses would The Fused God become the Kings Azazel and Go'El.
But he spoke little of the all-reaching plan. For he had learned its entirety, but it would take millenia to decipher and enact.
And Azgo finished, unsure if he was speaking to the scholar or himself. He was enthralled in the animosity of the tale, and filled with driven wrath.
And then, something entered the rim of the vast crater.
The god looked around, but there were only shadows. Yet Azgo still had the feeling of another presence there.
More whispering. "It asks for knowledge, knowledge is power."
"It tricked you into giving it weapons. Weapons against you. What has it given you?"
"Then an army appears, creatures it knows. It doesn't know the war, it doesn't know your works, it knows nothing... but it knows these? Convenient."
"It's knowledge is... selective."
"These are works of a first, it says."
"Trust it, it says."
"It will deal with these things, it says."
"Yet it points a weapon at you.
"Convenient."
"Too convenient."
There was a stirring. A primeval pulse across creation. A feeling of victory right out of reach, scraping the fingertips. And a drive to grab hold of it by the throat.
The Craterspawn hordes on the surface, repelled again and again by the forces underneath sudenly plunged back into the depths with a vigor as if the invasion had only just begun. And the Remorhaz carved through the stone and the ice with abandon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The remorhaz broods rampaged through the sunken city. Entire buildings had been leveled and new corpses lined the darkened streets, smelling of noxious acids. As they burrowed under the city, districts fell into different layers and slopping stony plates. The city shook and rubble collapsed and tumbled into darkness. The people in the temple, and the handfuls scattered about the city had ceased to pray. They simply waited for the end, and cried in the arms of thier family.
In the center of the city was a large vortex of rumbling boulders and whipping, blinding dust. The remorhaz charged at the exarch from myriad directions, attempting to coil around it and bind it into submission. But each was battered with the weight of mountains to be cast aside as writhing, crippled beasts.
And then one emerge effortlessly from the granite layers. It was collosal and layered in deep, knotted scars. It launched itself headlong into the exarch and doused him in caustic chemicals.
It seemed that the city had been lost. For even more rumblings came from the cavernous void. But these rumblings were... different. They were footfalls.
Giant footfalls.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The battle cry of humans was tempered in the numbing winds. But even though they were deafening, there was a fierce encouragement to be found in the hidden words. A line had been drawn in the snow. Two many refugees had fled, and too many homes had been flattened. Those strong in the primal spirits had gathered here, in this massive forest of frost-coated pines who in their own way seemed stalwart. The humans and the dwarven tribes had sharpened their weapons and shook hands, and stared into the eyes of men who had accepted death's approach. They waited, uneasy.
The behemoth monstrosities plowed across the horizon and sent blizzards high into needle canopy. Treeps that had lived for centuries toppled and were still. As the first of the brood reared its head to swallow a dwarven clan, many heads turned to the sky at the warped and horrifying sight of the northern sky plunge into darkness. The craterspawn had arrived.
They would need a miracle.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A blazing wraith. A flash of lightning. And there was a singular moment of peace as the craterspawn swept back into flocks, and then dived unto the volcano. The breath of dragons ignited dozens at a time, but for every one that crumbled into ash, three crawled out of the countless ranks.
Dragons near the frontline were engulfed and swarmed, the extra weight and the severing of wings forcing them to crash unto the ash and sand filled desert.
And when the hordes descended into the vlocano, they used each other as bridges of molten flesh that soon sucumbed to ash. The Agni'Vodha had nowhere to hide.
A band of craterspawn had cornered a particular large group of humans near him. The humans would normally be able to decimate such a small group of craterspawn, but they were weak from running. The spawn easily felled the entire group. Zebus watching grew angry. He knew these creatures. He despised them also. He passed his hands over the bodies of the fallen, allowing peaceful rest before he moved on.
It wasn't long before he came across another large group, this one was mixed, but also weak. Zebus from the shadows, whispered into a few select ears. These mortals invigorated, disappeared from sight or at least from their enemies sight. Shadow falling upon the craterspawn, these newly empowered people fell upon the spawn dispatching them quickly. Asking for Zebus to watch over their fallen, they turn north in hopes of finding a better place.
Zebus thinking over the events, decides its time to call upon his siblings if this world is going to survive. Calling forth the shadows, birds land upon his arms. Giving them his message, they each in turn fly off drawn to their specific recipients. One flew north to Pruinus, another south to Agni. The last that flew off circled a bit before flying to Leaf. The message simple and clear, Meet where it all began.
Zebus gathering the shadows around him, left where he was standing and went to the same spot where everyone first meet. Pouring himself a cup of tea, he waited.
AP
1AP command Teach: Zebus whispers into the ears of the humans next to him and divulges the secrets of the shadows. Spreading that teaching to others, it allows the humans to vanish and fight back more effectively from the shadowed dark.
0AP remaining
And Tag respective gods!
1AP command Teach: Zebus whispers into the ears of the humans next to him and divulges the secrets of the shadows. Spreading that teaching to others, it allows the humans to vanish and fight back more effectively from the shadowed dark.
0AP remaining
And Tag respective gods!
Pruinus glanced at Seg. She wished to keep an eye on him, but this situation was too dire for her to ignore.
"Forgive me Seg, but even if you are faithful to the cause of good, your courage and dedication remain unproved. I am hearing that Azgo's minions are attacking mortals everywhere. I believe that us gods cannot always aid mortals, they must find their own way. However, this situation is out of hand and needs resolving. I am going to combat the beasts in the north, they shall NOT defile the lands right under my nose. It is my wish that you can join me in this fight. Heal the wounded perhaps? Or however you see fit."
And with that, she departed, hoping he would follow. If not, she would find him again later. But right now, these monsters were of greater concern.
---
The city of Avarom lay in ruins as the party of Anima Guard arrived. It was no longer a settlement but a relic, a relic crawling with vermin of the Maimed God. Rumours said that Azgo had joined the Soul Eater, and even if this was not true, the Anima Guard could not stand by and watch these hate filled creatures claim their world. Their mission here was simple: Drive the craterspawn and Remorhaz out and reclaim as much of the city as possible, establishing it as a base for the Anima Guard in the future. Failure was an impossibility. The Anima Guard did not know any special tactics for fighting the minions of Azgo, but their legendary combat prowess was applicable to fighting anything, so they were confident as ever. This unit consisted of twelve members, almost one tenth of the entire Anima Guard's battle force. The legendary standards set to enter the Anima Guard meant they were little more then one hundred soldiers within its ranks, but each Anima Guard was easily worth a thousand typical soldiers.
This unit was composed of some of the higher ranking members, their worth to the world beyond measure.
The commander of the unit, A Galeb Duhr, spat on the ground. The saliva seemed very similar to the ground it landed on. Without a word, the commander gave a nod and the unit began to march into the city. But.... they didn't march, it would be more accurate to state that they strutted into the city, not even caring to have their weapons drawn as flocks of Craterspawn began to circle overhead, descending for the kill. Only when the craterspawn were seconds away from them did they draw their weapons and carnage began to ensue as primal forces of nature tore apart the unfortunate craterspawn, the battle lasting perhaps half a minute. Afterward, The Anima Guard continued to patrol the city, engaging in many battles with craterspawn and Remorhaz, all ending in the same result. They found a temple deep within the ground. The least experienced of the unit was a Human Druid, whose capabilites were already legendary to have been placed within the unit, but still wished to prove his worth. He thought he heard a sound within the temple, a humane sound and rushed inside as the rest of his party cursed, following quickly behind.
---
The Horned Knight played his part in many battles across small towns, spending a minute or two in a skirmish here or there to even the odds. He didn't care for the mortals he protected, whether they live or die, the spirits within them would endure. However, he fought because the spirits were a lot safer within the mortals, and he didn't want their numbers to dwindle too much. He fought with a wild glee, using his glaive to cleave Craterspawn and Remorhaz alike in half, decimating platoons in minutes before moving to the next settlement, leaving the mortals to finish off the stragglers. Perhaps that would make them feel like they mattered, giving them the impression they had some control of their petty lives.
Agni flew north, looking down and seeing the war taking place between the immense hordes of Craterspawn and the other races of the world. He looked down on the battle with curiosity, but no real preference as to a winner.
Agni landed before Zebus.
You are not one that I expected to see again, DeathLord. Your death appears to have been fairly flammable.
Turning to Agni, Looks like Leaf isn't willing to be found. Wasn't he the one always bragging about how life endures?
This world requires saving? It seems fine to me. The TeaLord, on the other hand... perhaps it is for the best you did not find him. He is changed, DeathLord. And not pleasantly.
I wish to save this world, but I can not do it alone.
Very well. You wish a conflagration, so be it. The TeaLord told me that all things would be Flammable. Perhaps I wish to see if he told me the truth.
Zebus wished for us all to meet in the place where creation begin. She decided to obey his wish and join him, trying to fight the guilt as she turned away from the mortals she wished to protect.
This better be of utmost importance, she thought
As Pruinus joins them Zebus greets her about as warmly as death can. My dear, I think you know of the plight of this world as much if not better than we do. I think it is time for us to do something about it. There is a wound upon the land. One you know of so well for we both greeted each other there. We must........
Just as Zebus was about to continue a huge ball of light chasing one of his birds, the one looking for Leaf passed by them. What is that?
"Whoa, hey, wow! Hello!" it chirped. "You all certainly look neat! Agniflamelord, you sure have some interesting friends!"
It floated over to it's volcanic compatriot and politely bowed it's little head.
"Hello. I am Urru. I am Light. You, were you the one who made that little flying thing? That thing is fast but not nearly as fast as I am. It is a lot of fun though. What is going on here?"
~~~~~~~~~~
Pharos knew that something must be done to help the humans and their strange-looking allies against these horrid beasts. She flew through the lands seeing their numbers being pushed back and their lines being overcome. Even the great lizards from the Eternal Volcano were falling. Alighting amidst a group of her chosen, a cadre of individuals both Agni'Vohda and Galeb Duhr as well as human, she imparted the plans to design a new form of defense. Before long, those she had further gifted with the power of magic began their crafting, making powerful beings from the nature around them. The cost of making the golems was steep, creating new life was never simple, but the power that these new creatures added to their armies was well worth the sacrifice.
Farther away she set to work on a weapon for herself, steeling her will into physical substance. She had seen the one that called itself Ka'Vah. The being's power was horrible. If she were drawn into melee against such a thing there would be a fair chance that she would not walk from the fight and that her beloved mortals would be destroyed. To this end she focused and molded her power into an artifact that would strike true against the fell being: Corialn, the Glowing Scourge.
Show
AP Expenditures
Nourish Populace: 1 AP - Make more sorcerors within the ranks of Agni-Vohda and Galeb Duhr as well as Humans.
Nourish Populace: 1 AP - Teach the sorcerors the dangerous work of golem-crafting.
Create Artifact: 2 AP - Corialn, the Glowing Scourge.
A bound mass of extendable tendrils of light that pass harmlessly through all but what their wielder commands them to destroy. Will turn hostile against it's wielder if they are not Good-aligned.
Nourish Populace: 1 AP - Make more sorcerors within the ranks of Agni-Vohda and Galeb Duhr as well as Humans.
Nourish Populace: 1 AP - Teach the sorcerors the dangerous work of golem-crafting.
Create Artifact: 2 AP - Corialn, the Glowing Scourge.
A bound mass of extendable tendrils of light that pass harmlessly through all but what their wielder commands them to destroy. Will turn hostile against it's wielder if they are not Good-aligned.
This week is the first week of AP increases. Other players will see their AP increase soon. If you want to know what you can do to accelerate the process, talk to ff6shadow.
5 AP/week: Pruinus, Leaf, Onus, Azgo, Sa, Marcus, Agni, Zebus
4 AP/week: Yr, Thereus, Urru, Altruis, TASOE
Map: (Nothing changed from last week, so I just used the same map)
.Story:
Pruinus and Altruis square off against one another, leading Pruinus to call forth the Horned Knight, a mighty Primal Spirit, to defend against him. In response, Altruis calls forth nightwalkers from the earth and leaves to find Azgo and Pruinus counters with the creation of the Anima Guard, a group of amazingly strong mortal warriors opposed to Altruis (and Azgo, by association).
Marcus dies of his wounds, and his soul is claimed by Zebus. Seg and Agni fight about several things, most notably Artun, who is still Agni's prisoner, but also regarding Agni's failed attempts at saving Marcus. Angry, Agni storms away, dragging Artun with him.
Seg leaves the Blasted Lands and finds Pruinus, but is recieved coldly when he attempts to pass himself off as a new god of healing. He eventually concocts a story about how Agni had killed Leaf and was a danger to himself and others. The God is perhaps right, as at that very moment, Agni is breaking Artun, stripping the God of his ability to see himself as beautiful. Artun goes mad with anger and revulsion and attacks Agni, who abandons him on the cliffs of the Southern Shore.
Also happening at this time, TASOE flees the burning sun and moves into the deep oceans, creating an ecosystem there, and Sa grants psionic magics to the humans living in the earthmotes.
Meanwhile, the war rages on on multiple fronts as Azgo drives his followers forward, creating the Remorhaz to assist them in their war of conquest. In the North, the Remorhaz stalk the fleeing humans as Brother Branch, the avatar of Leaf, leads them into the frozen wilderness as Onus creates giants to fight the Craterspawn menace. In the Crown, the city of Avarom comes under siege by Craterspawn, but the city is contested after Cumbrous, exarch of Onus, who, after castigating Thereus for not involving himself in the struggles of the world, personally travels to Avarom, where he is joined by the Anima Guard to attempt to push out the Craterspawn horde. At the Eternal Volcano, the Agni'Vohda return to their home to find the Craterspawn attacking those they had left behind. A protracted battle begins, tipped in favor of the Agni'Vohda by the creation of Red Dragons by the fallen sun (other suns may also bring forth dragons if appropriate conditions [bones laying on the orb] are met). However, the victory is short lived after Azgo, noticing the new development, reaches out and corrupts Scorch, the Agni'Vohda who first met the Craterspawn, turning him into his own exarch, who turns the battle the other way. And at the GodCrater itself, a flight of Guardian Angels enters the home of the Craterspawn to do battle.
In the midst of this fighting, a new god of many names appears and strikes decidedly at the craterspawn in all arenas of the war, pushing them all temporarially backwards. The God follows the fleeing Ka'Vah (the deformed Scorch) to Azgo. The two gods begin to discuss possible alliances, although Azgo seems disinclined to join forces with a newcomer. Instead, he whips the Craterspawn to new frenzy, and the war reaches its climax as Craterspawn without number push their way towards total domination. In this time of darkness, Zebus summons the First Gods to meet and beat back the invasion. Pruinus, Agni, Urru and Seg appear near Zebus, and they begin to discuss a solution...
"Do you have any suggestions on how we might deal with this probelm? People are dying in their thousands whilst we chitchat!"
Perhaps this creature of light was the only other one who understood the importance of haste...
Seg picked up the hem of his apron and hurried after Pruinus. The goddess moved swiftly, as an elder god should. She raced far ahead, and the god of "healing" was left to catch up as best he could. Then she paused and turned abruptly. Seg nearly overshot the new direction. As it was, several coins fell out of his pockets as he turned quickly. Too quickly.
The god tumbled over himself for a moment, but righted himself and raced again after Pruinus. She was just a dot in the distance, but as it seemed that Seg would lose the goddess, she stopped. It still took Seg much time to catch up.
He panted as he approached the gods gathered there. "My, I'm not fit for such exertions: I'm a doctor, not a runner."
Seg bent over, placing his hands on his knees, and took deep gulps of air. When he looked up, he saw Agni there, and Zebus, as well as another god. Ah yes, Agni. A good time to "prove" his "good intentions."
"Ah, master Agni! If I may be suffered to speak before one such as you, as high and mighty as you are, I believe I owe you a most humble apology. You left so abruptly when last we spoke that I did not have the opportunity to explain why I appeared to you in the visage of my father, Leaf. I've explained my purposes to Mistress Pruinus: if there shall be a defense for me, let her utter it, if she believes it worthy. But I, I submit to whatever punishment you judge I have earned for the act."
ColdMother. It is good to see you again, here where we all began. I hope you understand why I have avoided your frozen North. It disagrees with me. I was also a bit preoccu-
Agni was cut off by the excited arrival of Urru. Agni opened its mouth to respond, when a new God appeared, clearly chasing after Pruinus.
Agni's eyes narrowed as the god began to speak.
You lied to me? YOU LIED TO ME? Agni's eyes glowed white-hot and his voice came out a careful, controlled monotone. Others have lied to me in the past. Ask the Betrayer how well that worked out for him. Let us just say that I find it... infuriating.
He turned his gaze to Pruinus.
Why do we care who lives or dies in this world, Pruinus? What gives these twisted things any less of a right to thrive and dominate than these humans?
James
Keep in mind that Agni has been out of the loop for a while, and doesn't know anything about Azgo.
Keep in mind that Agni has been out of the loop for a while, and doesn't know anything about Azgo.
It amused itself mimicking the icy goddess' transparency, dimming itself all the way to invisible and back again. Such a neat trick, Urru thought. I will remember this one!
A while after her arrival came another, very different looking thing. Urru floated down to it and got right in it's face once it stopped talking. "This one sure does talk alot. Do you know it, Agniflamelord? It says you do. It also said it looked different? Like the tricky one we knew a while back, maybe?"
Seg looked to Pruinus meaningfully.
"Tricky one, Master... oh my, I don't believe we've been introduced. I am Seg, god of healing, son of Leaf. And you are?"
After Urru had a chance to respond, Seg continued. "I am afraid I do not know of a tricky one, either. Surely you don't mean master Zebus, who appeared to be dead but is not, do you?"
"I would hope that master Zebus might agree with me when I saw that lies can be powerful things. They can uncover truths that straight-talk cannot. It is important to admit that these are lies, of course, which is what I have done."
Moving in close to Urru and Seg. Looking at Seg, This one is different, but I dont know why. God of healing huh? Then listen closely to what I must say, for it applies to you most then.
Looking at Urru, So, light are you huh? You sure are a brilliant one! Chuckling at his little pun he walks back to where he started and turns to Pruinus.
I agree my dear. Too many are dying and too quickly. None of which is by my hand or design. I'm most unhappy with it. If this is allowed to continue then we will be where we started again with no life in the world.
I believe there needs to be a purging of fire and ice to bring the world back into balance and for life to thrive again. Before we can do that though, there is a blight. The GodCrater. It festers and wounds the world. In it it teems with craterspawn and other creatures that are a blight on the land. Its lord and master is a hateful being full of spite against us despite that we have done no wrong to it is Azgo. Not far away is Altruis, the corrupter.....my brother.
If this world is to survive much longer, then this place and them in it must be removed. I can not do this alone though. I will need your help. All of your help.
"Are we on good terms with Agni now, Seg? If your word is to be believed, was it not Agni who slew Leaf, albeit inadvertedly? I look forward to seeing you lie your way out of this one"
She turned to Agni with the same contempt in her voice that she regarded Seg with.
"And you equally disgust me brother! If you cannot understand what makes a human or a dwarf life more worthwhile then these corrupted, You do not deserve a position amongst us! Craterspawn live only to kill, their lives are empty and hollow! But the others.... Their lives are full of so much... Wonder. They form friendships and fall in love, Tell stories to one another, laugh, cry, raise families together... Do you not see any value in that?"
As she spoke, Pruinus realized that she envied the mortals. Her duty to mother and protect them were the only things preventing her from throwing away her godhood and living amongst them.
OOC
Hopefully i've provided two reasons to make Agni angry there. Explosively Angry, you might say.
Azgo rounded on Seg, magma dripping from its mouth as it spoke.
And now you admit knowing that the being I carried off before was not Pruinus. Lies upon lies, deceit upon deceit. BEGONE.
"Mistress Pruinus speaks rightly, I did inform her that Agni, in his rage against the sun-monster, caused my father to burn. This is no lie. Look in the world, if you don't believe me. You will find Leaf nowhere. Send messages to him, see if he responds. My father was, as the fire master is fond of saying it seems, flammable. And most certainly, Mistress Pruinus, I have no ill-will to Agni. Why would you believe otherwise? Did I not confide in you that I wished to help him? And do you not now see the need?"
Seg bowed to Agni. "Yes. I had hoped that by playing the role of my father, you could release some of your anger. As part of this I did pretend that I saw what my father had seen, as his parting gift of memories to me indicated. When he looked upon that which was most beautiful in this world, he saw Pruinus. I am afraid I failed in my attempt to help you express your feelings. I hope you may someday forgive me for my shortcomings. You have commanded it, so I will obey, and not return to your presence until asked."
Seg bowed respectfully to the other gods, and departed a very good distance. They could still seem him, just barely, a speck high in the sky.
Azgo watched them with narrowed eyes, meeting each masked visage with the open, unashamed power of a god. These angels did not see defiance in his pairs of eyes, nor the pain they had so gloriously reaped from Zebus. There was only a simple look that was still enraptured in absolute purpose and unyeilding wrath.
And then he saw it. It was unmistakable. They thought him a monster. A monster to be purged at the behest of Leaf. Azgo smiled darkly at the irony.
The fume clouds darkened and lowered, shrouding them in a heavy sallow haze. The winds wipped fiercly over the strangling mist, battering the angel's wings with the heft of stone. His voice was the ailing, howling zephyrs both in the storm and in their ears.
"Ah, the slaves of Leaf come for retribution. Vengence... You have been sent to die, for that is all your master wants of you. Cares for you. He sent you to hide his mistake, preserve his falsified history. And what hurts you most should you recognize it? You are more like Zebus than you ever wanted to be. Fragile. Weak. And disposable when the need arises."
Azgo could almost taste a kind of sugary sweetness in his bile coated mouth.
"But I... I am not like Zebus. I am more than Zebus ever was. And this is no barren field. This is my place, it moans with my pain and shudders at my touch. And Leaf is not here to save you!"
And then he heard it. A doubt, a whisper, a voice, floating about in his head. And he listened.
Lifting his staff threateningly toward the angels, he projected his voice loudly and clearly so that the angels might hear. "You shall go no further, creatures of the realm. By my staff, you must go through me if you wish to attack him, and I will cost you dearly if you attempt to do so. Stand down or perish."
Cracking his staff on the ground, a ring of defensive flames circled the two gods, projecting heat outwards only.
A divine wind rustled his garments, and a storm of flower petals brushed against his face, his arms, tickled his ears, and swept between the folds of his clothes. The flowers probed relentlessly, and Seg found himself swatting away as they gatherd in larger and larger bundles. In short order, the air was suffused with them. Seg floated amidst a sea of color, surrounded on all sides by the infernal, tickling things.
There was a presence... somewhere. Seg knew that much -- however many flowers grew upon these motes of flying earth, the chances that enough petals would have spun off (to... greet... him?) was beyond miniscule, to say the least.
The petals grew eerily still, and there was a sudden silence.
Every day craterspawn and rehmoraz made further inroads into the north. Stragglers were cut down, staining the snow red in tribute to the bloodcrowned. Body parts littered the barren fields. Those who escaped death found themselves wandering a forest of limbs.
Yet, eventually, refugees gave way to the barren north. The creatures went further, seeking out the last mortals. Surely, that couldn't be all there was? There must be more. They could feel it. Life endured in the north.
A small band of corrupted angels found themselves separated from the rest. They passed through a drift-valley, an easier path out of the wind. They had little reason to fear, for in the monotone whiteness, they could easily see anything approach.
Nothing approached. Nothing needed to.
There was no sound as, to a one, a legion of figures stood up from the snow. Their skin was pale, their frames slight, their features fine, but their furs thick, their bone-bows broad, and their arrows true. Before the craterspawn could respond, they were exterminated in a hail of death.
The enemy dealt with, the artic elves descended upon their prey, taking everything of use. The northern winds will strip a man to his bones. The elves were worse. Nothing remained.
And they marched south.
The remorhaz were unaware. Though an army walked through the snow, they did so with light tred and uneven step. Their passing sounded like nothing more than shifting snow. Yet, when one rose to the surface, the elves were waiting. Spears dealt with the creature quickly, and it, too, was converted into supplies to fuel the war.
Every day the elves slew more, ridding the north of the infestation, driving the remorhaz and craterspawn back south. Those that didn't flee were never seen again.
AP
3AP: Turning the northern people into artic elves. The AP I spent on the notherners was specifically for this group, so I'd assume that it still counts towards their overall strength, yes? I know shadow spent AP on them too, but I'll let him decide if the artic elves worship him or if that is some other northern people
1AP: Command: combat. The artic elves are very adept at fighting. Their particular specialty is ambushes, though, and moving quickly through northern terrain unseen and without leaving a trace.
1AP: Command: The elves go to war and push the craterspawn/remorhaz south. I'm not really sure how far, but since Forgotten said that the war is over and wanted us to erradicate his armies, I'd assume all the way to the crown.
0AP remaining
3AP: Turning the northern people into artic elves. The AP I spent on the notherners was specifically for this group, so I'd assume that it still counts towards their overall strength, yes? I know shadow spent AP on them too, but I'll let him decide if the artic elves worship him or if that is some other northern people
1AP: Command: combat. The artic elves are very adept at fighting. Their particular specialty is ambushes, though, and moving quickly through northern terrain unseen and without leaving a trace.
1AP: Command: The elves go to war and push the craterspawn/remorhaz south. I'm not really sure how far, but since Forgotten said that the war is over and wanted us to erradicate his armies, I'd assume all the way to the crown.
0AP remaining
A few angels were overcome by their primal urges, and attacked. They were cut down easily. With no Leaf to return to, their bodies lay on the ground, dead. The angels didn 't fully understand such a concept, and so felt no anger at the fate of their fellows.
It looked around, and saw that there were plenty of other corrupt things in this place to deal with. The god could wait for last.
The angels turned aside and went further into the godcrater.
"I know that the time is dark, Sheine, but do not let desperation weaken your mind. We will win. I know it. The stoneskins and emberfolk are at our aid. This day will be ours. You have to believe that!" The injured man looked into the eyes of his kin. He could see the ravages this war had inflicted upon him. He was pale and gaunt, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair half-white. He had given as much as he could on the battlefield, and he was also at his limit. They both were, but what Sheine was asking was... He couldn't do it. He had a wife, and a young child who were waiting for him at the waycamp. After a moment of silence his older brother seemed to relent, though he still looked as if a great weight was near to crushing him.
"I am sorry, Solos. You are right. This day will be ours. Our lady Pharos has seen to that."
Without another word he put his brother to sleep. A tear came to his eye as he worked the powerful spell his goddess had given to he and his fellowship. In moments his brothers soul was gone, reduced to raw power in Sheine's hands. In his mind he built a warrior of raw stone and metals, a creature of earth unlike the Galeb Duhr. With raw magic coursing through iron bone and rocky sinew, it would have the strength to help turn the tide. Before long the powerful golem stood before him. "Go. Defend the soldiers." he commanded it and it silently obeyed. He took one last look at his brother's body.
"Forgive me, Solos." he muttered quietly, wiping that single bitter tear aside.
Show
Across the frontlines Luminaries go around sickbays asking if those soldiers too wounded to fight are willing to give their lives for the greater good.
Those willing are remembered as heroes. Those unwilling are turned anyway if the need is great enough.
Desperation is the great dissolver of sentimentality.
Those willing are remembered as heroes. Those unwilling are turned anyway if the need is great enough.
Desperation is the great dissolver of sentimentality.
Agni was immediately aghast, the magma quenched and dull within him.
Did I? He asked quietly to those around him. Did I kill the TeaLord? Seg is correct. Leaf was with me in the beast. I could feel him. I tried to save him, but I was so angry. Fire was everywhere. I was everywhere. Our enemy was flammable. But... Leaf was also Flammable. He showed me that he was when we first met. If I did not protect him properly. If... do I even know how to protect?
Agni fell silent. In his mind, thoughts flowed like cooling lava, bunching up on top of one another before breaking open in a new rush of anger.
Perhaps all I can do is destroy. Perhaps this is all I am good for. I destroyed the Beast. I burned the angels. But I did not protect Zebus. I did not protect Leaf, I did not protect the nameless God who helped fight for me. I am a tool, and all tools have a
PURPOSE. Agni shouted. He turned to Zebus.
You wish this war ended? You wish fire to cleanse the land. So be it. Agni wheeled towards the southeast, where smoke from the Eternal Volcano could be seen.
BEHOLD.
~The Eternal Volcano~
The entire battle was now inside the volcano. The remaining Agni'Vohda fought bitterly, circling around the handful of dragons who remained, burning back the Craterspawn before they could bring down the scaled beasts. Singe, elected leader of the Agni'Vohda and one of those who had actually spoken to their God, wondered if he had done the right thing in sending some of the dragons away to assist the other races. Would they not have been put to better use here?
No. He thought to himself as he saw another one of the scaled lizards fall. Better than some of the race survive this massacre. Certianly none of them would.
He had only a moment's notice when suddenly, everything changed. From deep below, an angry rumble sounded, far below the surface of the lake of fire. Singe looked down and saw the caldera rushing up to meet him. Only a few feet below the line of battle, the lava stopped rising in a single wave... and instead exploded upwards.
The dragons stood no chance. Shards of rock, wrenched from the Heart of the Earth, flew upwards in a rain of ten-foot-long needles, impaling the remaining dragons in seconds. Their bodies were flung upwards, colliding with the Craterspawn just ahead of the rain of death. The Agni'Vohda shifted to spark mode and rode the updrafts out of the volcano.
The corspes flew from the edge of the volcano, followed moments later by a blast of smoke and lava that launched itself high into the air, covering the sky with a thick black cloud. Singe flew low, avoiding the worst of the smoke, which was not thick enough to cause death to one of his kind, but was certainly unpleasant. He looked down at his home. To the west of it, the flocks of the Craterspawn flapped nervously. Singe's heart quailed at the sight of so many more warriors, and wondered how long it would be before they stopped watching the mountain, and started spotting him.
Singe did not need to worry, however, for the Volcano came to the flocks. With a loud boom, an entire side of the Eternal Volcano slid away, and a tidal wave of superheated ash and rocks and magma raced across the landscape in seconds, catching the flocks unaware. Eyeballs boiled in screaming faces, flesh charred to bone and bones were smashed to toothpicks in a matter of seconds as the cloud swept through the entire valley between the Southern Mountains and the Crown to the north.
As the pyroclastic wave moved on, Singe looked towards the volcano once more. The Caldera had been freed. A wave of magma poured forth, spilling over the rocks and following the path the flow had scourged clean. Those Craterspawn who had managed to hide, dazed and confused behind rock outcroppings were found and burned alive by the silent wave of fire that coursed through the valley.
Not a single Craterspawn remained.
~The Crown~
Agni turned from the Eternal Volcano, whose smoke filled the sky behind him with a red glow.
I can cleanse this land. This is something I am good at. All things are Flammable. Do you wish me to continue?
1 AP: Command Land: The Eternal Mountain, quite literally, explodes. An entire side of the mountain is ripped away and destroys all life (save for the Agni'Vohda) in the nearby vicinity, particularly to the west. A thick layer of magma now covers much of the land between the Crown and the Southern Mountains.
4 AP remain.
They were dealing with bigger threats right now, but sooner or later Azgo's minions would come to slaughter the animals within The Crown with ease. That was unless the creatures here changed, evolved.... transformed.
A shudder of wind and ice crept throughout the crown, to be followed by the same blizzard that birthed these creatures. This time Pruinus did not command them, the spirits acted of their own will. As the wind and snow and hail buffeted creatures of all shapes and sizes within the crown, their muscles and bones begin to contract and twist shape in what should have been an agonizing tranaformation, yet was almost painless. Almost.
Still, the crown roared with the savage, feral cries of predator and prey alike. A new form of life prowled out from within the mighty blizzards, their minds still adjusting to the transformation. They looked down at their forms. They were familar, yet their bodies had conformed to allow them to stand on two feet: Their back legs were their only legs now, their front legs twisting into arms and hands as they stood tall. For some species, such as the penguins, the transformation had not been as drastically different, they simpled resembled a humanoid form more. No longer hunting each other, six separate physical forms stood amongst each other as a single race: The Nix.
Closer to the cycle of predator and prey then any other race, whilst slowly matching the intelligence of the other mortals races, the Nix alone could combat the Craterspawn with the same bloodlust and primal, savage fury programmed into their very nature, but they were indepdent, capable of their own thoughts. And that, the spirits thought, made all the difference in the world.
---
Pruinus felt another wave of contempt as she listened to her brother Zebus speak of the world in such a manner. Still, this time she contained herself.
"I believe none of us would wish for a dead planet. What do you suggest we do?"
Pruinus asked, unaware of the events occuring in the crown and further north.
--- AP Create Populace: The Nix - 3 AP
Humanoid versions of six animals appear within the crown: Polar bears, snow wolfs, snow leopards, arctic foxs, Deer/stag and penguins. Forming tribes or "Warbands" of hundreds, they march out of The Crown to meet the Craterspawn and Remorhaz in open combat. Only around 60% of each species is turned into Nix, the species still exist within their "regular" animal forms.
2 AP left.
How convenient.
An army appears, he commands, it obeys.
Very convenient indeed.
He wants to be your friend.
But you don't have any friends.
He lies.
I wont lie. I'll use you, and you will use me.
Only open hate is honest.
~Skymotes~
Seg rubbed his chin as he considered these odd petals. The petals themselves seemed natural enough, but their occurance together spoke otherwise.
"I say," he asked, "is someone there?"
~Western Ocean~
The half-sunken mass of flesh rested. It was longer now than it was wide. A dozen pseudopods extended out from the sides, and a line of fleshy bulbs had grown above and below. These had taken a red tint, although there was no light to see this by, and they quivered as something moved beneath.
~At the Burning God-Mountain Of the Sun~
The volcanic explosion was so powerful, toxic fumes and debris flew high into the air, high enough to reach the sun. Several boulders smashed against the sun. The sleeping creature moaned, a noise that echoed well below, to the roots of the world, but it did not wake.
"Yesssssss. I am sa, lord of flowersssssss."
A pause.
"Who are you who standsssssss alone in empty skiesssssss?"
King Bernhar, Lord of Frosthaven, Third of Four, walked along the slopes of the mountains. There were such things in the north, but made of ice and snow, not... this stone business. It was all very strange.
The ancient tales had said that the people had traveled from the south, from a land without snow and ice. That had seemed like a ridiculous fancy to Bernhar, even when he was a child on his wetnurses' lap. But now? That such wonders might exist in the world. It was even warm. Where did the warmth come from? There should have been bonfires blazing all around, yet there were none. It was just... that way. Impossible.
Bernhar's generals walked with him. Though he was young and inexperienced, they obeyed him well. Out of respect for his father, no doubt. The old king had helped forge the five kingdoms. He was a great man, one that Bernhar hoped to not ashame.
It had been quiet most places along the strange circle of earthen glaciers. Perhaps the abominations had been erradicated. But in the east, the scouts reported, there was still movement and fighting. And so Bernhar went to look.
The mountains here were dotted with tunnels. The king ordered seal-blubber torches be lit and small teams sent down to find where they lead. There was something here that attracted them. He wanted to know what.
~Avarom~
Ghosts stalked the city. Beings in white appeared without warning, fell upon wandering craterspawn, and only blood on stone indicated the fate of the foul creatures.
OOC
I didn't want to be too definitive with the elves in Avarom. Maybe they're driving the creatures out. Maybe they're not. I'll let others decide how effective they are.
Culturally speaking, I'm envisioning "5" kingdoms for the elves. The northern most being the first kingdom, the southern most being the second, the western most being the third, and the eastern most being the fourth. The center kingdom is actually just common ground, where the other kingdoms can meet without exposing themselves to others. And yes, that is supposed to be like a mini-duplication of the crown and the four directions.
Culturally speaking, I'm envisioning "5" kingdoms for the elves. The northern most being the first kingdom, the southern most being the second, the western most being the third, and the eastern most being the fourth. The center kingdom is actually just common ground, where the other kingdoms can meet without exposing themselves to others. And yes, that is supposed to be like a mini-duplication of the crown and the four directions.
The monsters fought visciously for their survival, but the forces arrayed against them were overwhelming. A few giants were felled, but the battle here was finished and done. The cavern of Avarom grew quiet as the final death cries of the vanquished faded. The sound of shifting rocks as the giants and Cumbrous moved about was all that could be heard for many minutes. Slowly, a pocket of earth would open, or a well hidden door would fall loose, and people began to emerge.
The Galeb Duhr had been sent to protect Avarom. That is what they did. Though the buildings were little more than rubble, and the warriors were badly depleted, some of the people had survived, thanks to the ingenuity of the two races, Human and Galeb Duhr together. Rebuilding the great city would take years. With the scant few survivors, repopulating could take twice as long. But there were survivors.
Azgo's wrath trickled into them, bleeding from his presence.
The words pounded the inside of his bleeding foreheads. This thing knew him, and knew him well. Azgo did not want friends... he wanted servants and viziers. A kingdom. As the way it was meant to be. WILL BE.
But the present could not be sacrificed for the future, not yet. He needed... allies. Of all kinds. Surely Leaf was commanding them, rallying them into action. And the others would oblige, eager to slay that which they should have long ago.
This... scholar. Was he trustworthy? Had he proven his loyalty? Had he proven a lack of loyalty? The angels seemed to avoid the gods all together, with little hesitation. Like it had been planned...
But to slay his own forces? To gain his trust? Surely there were better ways...
And this other god, for he could sense its power, what were its loyalties? How long had it been here?But it was right. Pure, ufettered Hate was purely honest.
Azgo ldrew up the pits of hate within him and called council, listening to the voices that he knew intimately. Voices that would have crawled into the minds of other gods and would strike fear. They were him, and he was they. They spoke to him of caution, of suspicion, of plans.
"And how would I use you, one who walks here at their own peril, who feels the fringes of my sickness in their being?" he thought, while guarding his mind with purpose.
Looking down at Agni, Zebus nods his head in agreeance. He gives Agni the go ahead. You may wish to hurry though, he looks a little excited to get to work.
"A" god of flowers, or "Sa," god of flowers, Seg wondered. After some thought, he decided that he'd assume it had told him its name. Better to be corrected if wrong, as that might seem like he had simply misheard, than to act the fool and ask for information that was already given.
"Greetings then, Sa, Lord of Flowers. I am Seg, god of healing."
He paused, "I say, your's is an interesting form. Did you choose it?"
~Godcrater~
Forgotten
Am I correct in assuming that Azgo was trying to ask Umbra a question at the end, there? If no, I'll edit this out. If so, I'll leave it here.
Am I correct in assuming that Azgo was trying to ask Umbra a question at the end, there? If no, I'll edit this out. If so, I'll leave it here.
"You damned fool! You could have gotten us killed!"
As his shouts echoed and bounced along the walls of the temple, rumble scraped across the floor and mixed with feeble moans as Humans, Dwarves and Galeb Duhr crawled from their hiding places, begging for help. Despite some horrific injuries, a small glimmer of hope returned to their faces as they saw the Black/Silver armour of the Anima Guard.
Damn, Onyxixus thought to himself. Whilst he was glad to see some survivors, caring for them would make the mission considerably harder. But he was their leader and he would not fail them. He lowered Jayce down and began to command the squad in his rough, gravelly voice that sounded born for leadership.
"Jayce, Thom, Kadihu... stay here with the civillians. Protect em and get em healed up the best you can."
He spat on the floor again, getting a bitter taste out of his mouth.
"Don't leave till we get back. It's still teaming out there with those vermin, we can't risk trying to fight em and babysit the civillians at the same time. We'll continue on foot."
Just then he heard mighty rumblings outside, as though an earthquake had struck the city. That would be just their luck. Onyxixus gave a quick hand gesture for his squad to remain still. Setting an example for the hasty human, he slowly approached the temple entrance. He found it difficult to keep his composed minset as he gaped at the giants laying waste to the Craterspawn. It seemed the Anima Guard would have to share this victory.
---
Pruinus was shocked at Zebus suggestion. But she understood the logic behind it. "I will help cleanse the world with you only on the condition that we protect as much mortals as possible. They fought this war, it would not be right to remove them just as they claim victory."
King Bernhar, Lord of Frosthaven, Third of Four, ordered his forces to leave the large, Elfanoid creatures alone. They were doing quite well dealing with the corrupted angels: it would be undesireable to interfer with them.
There were other beings in this underground city as well. Men of stone, it seemed. And curiously clumsy looking elves, too. They were thick of limb, and unnaturally tall, but hardy of heart, it seemed. By all appearances, they were the creators of this city. At least, Bernhar had assumed this was a city, once. Then there were the midgets. Bearded midgets. Why were there bearded midgets? If Bernhar hadn't seen some children survivors, he might have thought that these were the thick-limbed one's young. Still, the bearded midgets seemed to be skilled at holding their own. Worthy enough to be left to their own devices, as long as those devices were directed at the corrupted angels.
The simple folk he had met directed him towards the main temple. They said that the leaders of the people could be found in the vague region.
Bernhar walked through the city as an elven king walks. Unafraid and unmolested. Bands of warriors cleared the streets and buildings of monstered before him, like a white wave. Refugees were sent to the rear of the army, to be watched, but also provided a modicum of food. These warm lands were ridiculously lush with food, and it wasn't in the way of the north to leave it. Their supplies were flush, too flush. It would slow them down if they kept it all, and so they shared. Pleanty was rare in the north, but it occured at times, so they weren't entirely unfamiliar with the concept of sharing. Not that they were used to it, either.
Those people who wanted it were also given medical treatment, in the manner of the north. After the first few patients, many survivors decided to go without, and they warned others who trickled in.
When at least Bernhar neared the temple, he saw a stocky-one in black/silver armor. At the very least this one appeared to be more put together than most of the creatures they had found in the city.
Flanked by his generals, the king approached.
Urru did a quick lap around the gathering and came to a stop next to Zebus. "But if that doesn't happen then what? I don't know if I can help much..." The little being frowned. "Maybe I should think about it more... What do you think, Zebusdeathlord?"
~ ~ ~
The side of the volcano blew apart, a wave of lava pouring down the hillside. Pharos had been helping a losing force curtail a great wave of craterspawn when the downpour moved to engulf her. She swung her weapon against the tide, destroying the lava as it rained down on her. The glowing arms of her scourge moved like wild serpents lashing at the liquid magma. It was not enough, however, and the scorching wave bubbled over them. Quickly the magma hardened into a shell of fresh stone
All was silent, until a glowing fissure spread across the surface. With a loud smash, Corialn blew apart the stone. Pharos rose from the surface, carrying the survivors out of the conflagration. "I was not expecting such an occurrence. Perhaps this land truly is lost..." She turned her eyes skyward, regarding the earthmotes. "Brave soldiers, we may need to think about our defenses from a new angle..."
Still, the pointy eared ones that approached him seemed tough enough, and he respected that. Perhaps the re-taking of Avarom could form an a new alliance.
Onyxixus laid his weapons to the ground as a sign of peace to the newcomers and walked forward alone. If they attacked him he was sure his squad could intervene but nonetheless, this should make negotations easier.
He offered his hand towards the stranger in the centre, he looked to be the finest dressed of their company and presumbly their leader.
"Pleased to meet you. Onyxixus, High Commander of the Anima Guard. This is my squad."
He tried the phrase in as many languages as he knew, hoping these creatures would identify one of the dialects.
He introduced his squad one by one. Members of the four known races were within the squad he choose for this mission. Five Humans, Four Dwarves, Two Galeb Duhr and an Agni'Vohda. The Anima Guard couldn't afford to discriminate, they accepted only the best, but regardless of race or sex.
"We came here in an attempt to drive those foul vermin from this place and claim it back for its rightful inhabitants. May i ask your business here?"
He asked, his nature was friendly enough but he gave the pointy eared stranger a militant gaze, Looking to see if he flinched or looked away. Best to see how tough these people really are.
And Seg knew Sa spoke true. The blossoms that even now danced before his eyes were utterly mundane. But in the presence of Sa, they had been swept up, sticking to the invisible, massless godessence like a storm of colorful burrs.
"I have no need for a body like yoursssssss. What would be the ussssssse?"
The self-proclaimed Lord of Flowers seemed to laugh.
"I need not your earsssssss to hear thingsssssss. I hear well enough already; whispered promisesssssss and promised whispersssssss."
Seg got the impression that Sa was looking downwards, into the heart of the crown valley.
"Whispersssssss of vengeance and shadowsssssss..."
Agni stared off into the distance, and when he spoke, it was as if his voice was coming from far away.
It appears that there are regions of this world that are attuned to me. From these places, my cleansing shall spread. Many are far from here, but one lies somewhere up there among the motes of earth. ColdMother, as a favor to you, I will withold my fury from it, and those below us shall not perish. I make no guarantees for the others.
It BEGINS. Agni intoned.
The God began to glow, red spreading from white-hot mouth and eyes along the carved lines that ran over the God's form. The minute the red lines touched at the back of the mask, the entire God burst into flames, a pyre ten times brigher than the old sun. Agni rolled backwards to face up towards the heavens, and his eyes closed as he began to laugh.
~The Arctic~
The band of Craterspawn flew low and slow to the ground, afraid to fly higher and risk the arrows and spears of the Snow Elves who chased them. For three days, the Craterspawn had been trying to find a good place to turn the tables on their foes, racing further and further into the cold North. But at every attempt, they had been routed. In the distance, they saw a craggy glacier, their destination and the best ambush spot they had seen yet. But the elves were drawing closer.
Another hour passed, and the glacier loomed over them. The Craterspawn began to split up, running for different crevasses, when suddenly, the glacier began to glow. Both parties stopped and stared as an orb deep within the glacier became visible, shining through the ice. Moments later, a loud bellowing whistle filled the air as steam trumpeted out of chasms in the ice. The elves turned to run, but only got a few feet before a wave of pressure shattered the glacier along its horizontal axis and fire and ice sped outwards, killing both sides instantly. The ice, drawn by gravity, fell to earth, and the fire rolled over it, melting and then vaporizing it. The fire spread outwards, south towards the homelands of the snow elves, burning up plant and animal alike.
At the glacier, much of the top half of the glacier had escaped destruction. Now, it collapsed down onto the spent and cooling orb, which melted away the ice it came into contact with. The glacier hit the ground and tilted, exposing the bottom of the glacier where the Sun had melted its way inside. A cave mouth gaped, and in its depths, the orb faded back to darkness.
~The Ocean~
A plume of superheated water raced through the ocean from the hole into which the Sun Orb had fallen, washing over the ecosystem created by the Evil Spirits and boiling many animals alive in their shells, while the plantlife was cooked and dissolved by the rushing water. Fish floated to the surface, pre-cooked.
~The Western Plains~
A last army of Craterspawn had made camp in the middle of a desolate and burned valley, where they found themselves temporarially safe from the Nix, whose appearance had been totally unexpected, and entirely disasterous. Now they huddled in small groups who had grudgingly decided to not kill each other just yet, although such decisions were revised on a minute-by-minute basis. Even now, a grand rearrangement appeared to be taking place as groups of Craterspawn turned on both other groups and each other in a fight for dominance. The eventual winner would lead the flock to victory once more, and the warriors, when not eyeing one another, would often look towards the head of their old leader, now impaled on a spear.
All such jockeying for position ended when the ground beneath them liquified, turning to magma in seconds. With alarmed squawks, the Craterspawn who had been flying at the time watched their landed brethren burn up, some pulling themselves into the sky on burning wings for a moment before falling back to earth. The lake of Magma bulged and flexed, and the Craterspawn could see a white-hot orb at the bottom which pulsed in time with the lake's movements.
A brilliant flash from the orb, and the magma flowed upwards explosively, catching the craterspawn in mid-flight and searing flesh from bone. The magma traveled high into the sky, spreading in every direction before gravity pulled it back to earth. A mix of magma and stone began to rain from the heavens for tens of miles in every direction, some even bouncing off of the slopes of the Crown itself. Where the rain landed, animals were crushed, trees were burned. A band of Nix scouts writhed beneath the searing rain as their fur caught alight. The great redwoods of the Western Forests burned as the magma fell.
Back at the lake, the magma began to collect and cool, eventually forming a broad shallow basin. At the base of that basin, a small portion of the Sun Orb remained exposed to the air as it dimmed.
~Sil Arkoth~
Giroth fought the strange beasts from the surface. holding, along with fifty of his fellow dwarves, one of eight tunnels into the open caverns of Sil Arkoth, jewel of the Dwarven City-States. The beasts had wings, that was clear, and the dwarves knew that if they were to break free into the caverns proper, the battle would be lost as their wings would give them an advantage the dwarves had, up until this point, been able to negate. It was not that the monsters were mighty warriors. In fact, their wings made them somewhat awkward in tunnel-combat. It was that there were so many of them! For every one that fell, it seemed ten took its place, and no warrior is perfect. The dwarves had been retreating for weeks through the tunnels, and now, here they were at the gates of the city itself.
Giroth locked shields with his brother Galfe, and the two dwarves pushed forward, driving the horrors back a step as along the line the other dwarves did the same. From behind them, others lobbed exposive concoctions that burst among the enemy and caused severe burns and lacerations. They would stand, they would hold. They would...
A warbling cry of panic from the enemy suddenly sounded down the tunnel, and the press of feathers grew even stronger. Surprised, the dwarves began to fall back, wondering at the increasing urgency of the cries if, perhaps, reinforcements from... somewhere... had found them at last.
As the lava rolled around the bend in the tunnel, such hopes were dashed. The dwarves turned and ran along with the Craterspawn as the lava swept towards them. At the lip of the cavern, Giroth threw himself towards a small niche in the wall just as the lava rolled past him, carrying the burning corpses of what seemed like thousands of the enemy. Giroth looked everwhere for Galfe, but the dwarf had been swept over the edge. Horrified and grief-stricken, Giroth looked out at his city. Six of the tunnels into Sil Arkoth spewed forth magma into the great cavern. Over the roar, Galfe could hear the screams of dwarven children as the magma reached the city proper, coursing down streets and into homes, burning indiscriminantly. The great cavern began to fill with magma as a pool is filled with water. Giroth could see dwarves running up towards the upper levels of the city, the mamga following them as they went. The smell of burning flesh brushed his nostrils, and he could feel the heat rising... rising...
Giroth screamed and looked down to see his entire foot burning. In agony, he watched and felt the flames begin to climb his leg, and he beat at the fire ineffectually with his hands, only burning them as well. In agony, he turned and leapt, and as the magma lake below grew near, he thought that at least he would join his brother soon.
~The GodCrater~
Angels fought in the Godcrater. Some were pure of wing, and fought their foes with valor and strength. Others were corrupted of heart, and fought their foes with viciousness and cunning. But the angels fought. Craterspawn wings flew up from the creation vats, met by squadrons of guardian angels who stabbed downwards at their rising foes. Beneath them all, the churning lake of the Godcrater steamed and bubbled.
But was it bubbling... too much?
A glow began to shine in the depths of the lake, barely visible on the surface at first, but growing stronger and stronger until the lake seemed to glow. The light pulsed...
And the lake turned to vapor, a caustic flow of humid air that washed over Craterspawn and Angels alike, burning, scarring and killing indiscriminately as it spread across the entire island the Godcrater resided upon. The creation vats steamed and hissed as the caustic rain fell and the surviving craterspawn tried to hide under the rocky outcroppings that lined the crater.
Slowly, the lake began to refill as the downpour began in earnest. But for now, at the bottom of the once-lake, a glowing orb rocked back and forth, buffeted by strong winds.
~The Crown~
Agni opened his eyes.
IT IS DONE. THE WORLD BURNS.
2 AP: Denourish... err... Creation: Devastation spreads from all of the Sun Orbs save the one in the Eternal Volcano (already done) and the one above the Crown. This results in devastation and, in some cases, a slight change in the status of the orb itself. In summary:
1) The Arctic Orb unleashes a firestorm that is currently sweeping southwards, seemingly unstoppable. If you have a race in the way, you can either describe the results or say that the fire dies out before it reaches you (I'm fine with either). The Orb itself is now at the end of a cave in a glacier. (Note: most of the cave is still vertical, so its not an easy find.
2) The Underwater orb has caused devastation to the new underwater Ecosystem, and probably annoyed TASOE. Tag, Thought!
3) The Western Orb has caused a rain of fire all across the western portion of the continent. The redwoods are burning (in places), and the Nix armies may, or may not (up to you, James) be caught in a tight spot right now. The Orb itself is currently about 10% exposed at the bottom of a depression.
4) The Southern Mountains Orb has unleashed a wave of magma that has coursed through and cleansed the tunnels of nearly all life, including all or most of the Dwarven capital city of Sil Arkoth.
5) The Godcrater Orb has vaporized the entire caustic lake within the Godcrater, killing large numbers of angels and Craterspawn in the process. The lake will refill in time (up to you how long that is, Forgotten). The Orb is currently exposed, and surrounded by bones, so this would be a great time to both claim that orb for EVIL and make some dragons (as the bones are a vital part). Remember, its already paid for.
The one in the West is probably dragon-ready itself as well. If someone doesn't claim it by end of the week, I'll describe something forming from it.
1 AP: Denourish Craterspawn: The Craterspawn got the brunt of this apocalypse.
King Bernhar, Lord of Frosthaven, Third of Four, raised a hand and a servant appeared. Though he, like the other elves, was dressed in white furs, Onyxixus hadn't seen from where he had come.
As the thick-limbed elf-thing talked, the servant listened. The odd one first said something that sounded like the barking of animals, then the cracking of ice, then the howling of wind, but finally the servant's face brightened and he responded in similar words.
The servant turned to Bernhar and said, "Glory of the Plains, this one speaks a strange dialect of the second tongue. He sounds like he has licked the ice and gotten his tongue frozen, but we can understand each other."
Bernhar inclinded his head slightly in acknowledgement, and the servant introduced his lord. "Before you stands King Bernhar, Lord of Frosthaven, Third of Four, Glory of the Plains, and chosen warmaster of the north"
There was a pause, and the servant fidgeted nervously. These warmlanders should show their throats in respect. But perhaps they were too uncultured to know decent manners.
The king smiled as slightly as snow. He spoke, and the servant translated. "A welcome, High Commander Onyxixus of Anima Guard, snow hide you. I have come, and the army of the people have followed. We drove these creatures from the north. We hunted them here, last where they remained. They remain no longer."
"We have food, and supplies. Those in need might seek us. Distribute the word."
---The North-South---
Queen Gisa, Lady of Thawhold, Second of Four, stood atop the breakwall. There had been a strange light in the north. That was worrying. The light was now fading. That was also worrying. There were no good omens in the northlands.
She turned and sent word for her people to make their way to the caverns below the settlement. Thawhold was the only place where the ground could be excavated: everywhere else, if it could even be dug down to, it was as hard as ice. This had been an advantage that the others of the four did not possess, and so Gisa had made sure to utilize it.
There were many people above ground when the firestorm hit, but not everyone. Though the settlement was destroyed, at least the kingdom had survived.
Now, though, it was time to turn north and discover what treachery the others had concocted.
---The North-North---
Queen Ilsagar, Lady of Iceheim, First of Four, rested in the inner fast when a messenger made himself known. She signed, pulled her furs up over her body, and motioned for the man to come further in. He sauntered.
The queen sighed. Elves don't saunter. She'd talked to this servant before, and still he sauntered.
The messenger reported that a strange light had been seen in the south, and that the prince had sent scouts to see what had occurred in the fifth kingdom to produce it.
---The North East---
King Evets, Lord of Snowburg, Fourth of Four, was out frolicking in the fresh powder when a bright light in the west caught his attention. Unfortunately, the north is not a prudent place to frolick. He tripped, tumbled down a snowy dune, broke his neck, and was lost to his people. His son ascended to the throne, tripped on the stairs, and cracked his head open on the chair. He died three hours later from the injury, sparking a succession crisis. No one knew that something had happened to the west.
The only sign that a being had passed was the trail of burnt godflesh left behind. As Artun walked, his own decemated body flaked away.
Agni.
The thought pushed him forward. It was all that kept him alive. Hate for Agni, a desire for revenge against Agni. Agni would pay.
Artun stepped, the snow crunched beneath his feet, and he cursed the name, Agni.
Artun breathed, the frozen air assaulting his useless lungs, and he cursed the name, Agni.
Artun dragged the corpses of a remorhaz, the snow tearing at its frozen flesh, and he cursed the name, Agni.
He arrived at the sun glacier, but did not stop. He had seen the flash of his target. And he cursed the name, Agni.
Ice melted at the presence of his hate, and Artun went inside the glacier, to where the sun rested. He cursed the name, Agni, and tossed the corpse onto the orb.
His old master hadn't been lacking in his education. Corruption twisted the corpse, binding bone with ice. Hate formed it, infusing blood with malice. And the sun gave it life, a cold-fire for revenge.
A giant, legless lizard screamed its hate of Agni to the sky. Frost and cold and pain sprayed out of its mouth, sealing the path that Artun had created. The god had left, his work here done.
The white dragon slithered up the walls of the ice cavern, stretched its wings, and took to the skies, screaming all the while.
And Artun cursed the name, Agni.
~~~Western Ocean~~~
The sun under the ocean began to grow bright. Too bright. The god-beast that slumbered near by woke and gobbled it up in a single bite. It nestled back into the muck, waiting for the day it was complete and would rise.
AP
3AP: Create Exarch. TASOE creates another godbeast, Leviathan. This is a large whale-like creature with six overly large fins on each side of its body, rows of red eyes above and below those fins, and a giant mouth sufficiently large to eat a god for a snack.
0AP: Also, the godbeast eats the sun and supresses its explosion... for now. Don't worry, it will release the energy eventually. I got Topheh's permission for this, to note.
3AP: Create Exarch. TASOE creates another godbeast, Leviathan. This is a large whale-like creature with six overly large fins on each side of its body, rows of red eyes above and below those fins, and a giant mouth sufficiently large to eat a god for a snack.
0AP: Also, the godbeast eats the sun and supresses its explosion... for now. Don't worry, it will release the energy eventually. I got Topheh's permission for this, to note.
Tears continue to slowly roll down his face. I do not relish my job, but it is one that must be done. If you wish to save more to live before His fires reach them, then Zebus finally turns to face Pruinus, his face gaunt, pale, and stricken, please go. You do not have much time left. Zebus turns back to his work his focus solely on the task at hand now.
As the tears from Zebus hit the ground it kills all life around him. The death and complete decay of everything in the near area creates a fruitful earth allowing for things to regrow better, and stronger.
AP
2AP Nourish: As the place of creation is undefined, I'm stating that random parts of the world that won't eventually get destroyed will become nourished from Zebus's tears, allowing life to eventually take over and bloom again. Since it is random parts of the world and quite large, I am making this nourish a 2AP nourish. If people think it should be larger, then please let me know in OOC.
3/5 AP left
2AP Nourish: As the place of creation is undefined, I'm stating that random parts of the world that won't eventually get destroyed will become nourished from Zebus's tears, allowing life to eventually take over and bloom again. Since it is random parts of the world and quite large, I am making this nourish a 2AP nourish. If people think it should be larger, then please let me know in OOC.
3/5 AP left
Suddenly a great wave of searing steam, brighter and clearer than anything else in the Godcrater, swept like a flood across the floor. The smells of acids were, for an instant, overwhelmed by the reek of burning flesh. A great orb of fire simmered and pulsed at the base of Guvarah An, the now shallow lakebed.
Agni! he thought. This- This fool Veros had indeed been a mere distraction! The angels meant nothing to him! What were a few troops compared to the fall of Azgo's palace?! He had been too trusting...
Azgo rolled his eyes back into his skull once more and cast his gaze across the war torn continent. The mammoth hordes... where were they? And the remorhaz, why had they not moved on from Avarom. It should have been a testament to his glory long ago...
Azgo would have turned on the scholar to rend him apart, but this "gift" was still dangerous- it could collapse the fortress towers, turn the whole palace into scorched rubble. But as Azgo turned and began to race towards the sun, he gave the scholar one malicous gaze through his blinded eyes. Its meaning was clear regardless. Azgo would break him apart for his deception, and cast his corpse at the Crown. A warning.
"Slave! One day, know that I will destroy you."
With the speed of a god, Azgo nearly crashed into the dying sun. It too, was becoming twisted in this realm as everything did. The steam forcibly tore at his skin and sent a haze of blood like a comet's tail behind him. At the rim of the sun, The Fused God held out his fist, still smoldering in viridian flame.
This was his trial by fire. Should he survive, Ka'Vah would be stronger, worthier. And if he did not, he would have been a poor servant anyways. Azgo whispered to the servant, "Redeem your retreat, and serve the Plan forever."
The green flame wreathed itself across all of Azgo's scorched gauntlets protectively. The Blood Crowned then plunged his hands deep into its brilliant heat. Corruption and the searing pain of the dying sun fused into Ka'Vah, who grew from a simple wisp into a towering inferno of nightmarish smoke and sickly light.
The sun was being broken apart. But within the fell clutches of Azgo, parts of the sun morphed. Density of flesh formed from the blood that seeped through the glowing armor's gaps. Crude skeletons fashioned in flesh and fume connected within the sun's tumultuous fire. And then... eyes opened unto the world.
Azgo strained and pulled the unsteady star, and eventually... it erupted. And from the eruption, titanic creatures soared into the skies with only a singular glance at thier birthplace. Azgo held out his hands, and guided the fire into himself. The armor glowed with an irredescent orange, and the skin underneath sizzled and fused to the metal.
The fire was gone. A glowing figure was kneeling under Guvarah An. And he was... laughing. His anguish knew no end, but he was laughing. For the Firstborn... they had underestimated him. They had failed. The first of many.
OOC
Enhance Exarch (3AP): Ka'Vah is blessed with the wrath of his master and the fury of the dying sun. Stronger than he ever was before, Ka'Vah will be fearfuly named as the Eclipse Aflame by the mortals for his presence often dampens if not blocks out all light in an area.
Populate Populace (0AP, prepaid): Black Dragons. The black dragons are, due to their heritage with Azgo's blood, among the most wrathful and destructive of the dragons. However, their culture is founded on a resistance to their "father", making it common for them to be highly disciplined and meditative. Thier unrestrained moods swing wildly from one powerful emotion to the next. On the whole black dragons are the most opposed to Azgo on the normal (read hellish) continent.
AP Remaining: 2
Populate Populace (0AP, prepaid): Black Dragons. The black dragons are, due to their heritage with Azgo's blood, among the most wrathful and destructive of the dragons. However, their culture is founded on a resistance to their "father", making it common for them to be highly disciplined and meditative. Thier unrestrained moods swing wildly from one powerful emotion to the next. On the whole black dragons are the most opposed to Azgo on the normal (read hellish) continent.
AP Remaining: 2
Urru thought about it for a minute and then nodded, flitting back over to Pruinus. "Zebusdeathlord thinks I should travel with you, Pruinuscoldone. I think this is a good idea too." The little godling hovered near her shoulder. "Whenever you want to go, we'll go together."
~ ~ ~
"A'right. Bring out the last volunteer for her reward." Dayrus shouted to one of his cohorts. He'd already turned six people in the last four days, but he figured he had enough juice left to make one or two more golems. His crew had grown in size since the explosion, most notably after finding his new right-hand man Char beneath a mound of dead Spawn. He'd pulled the poor burnin' bugger out of from under the pile of acid-dripping corpses and the emberman had pledged his life to him. Char didn't talk much, but Dayrus respected that. It was even better that he was a magic-user; he was a very nice tool in Dayrus' arsenal.
"Once this war is over, Char, you'n me're gonna find ourselves a little place. Maybe a nice little town whats needin' protection from the Spawn. We're gonna make sure they got the fear in 'em, and make sure they ain't too brave round us neither. 'Specially with our golem buddies." He took hold of his captive's blonde hair. She couldn't have been more than twelve. "Please, please mister, don't do this! I won't tell no one I swear! I gotta protect my lil sister! I'm all she's got!" she pleaded, her big brown eyes full of tears. Dayrus squatted in front of her and held up her head. "Oh don't you worry about that none, love. You'll be with her very soon. Ya see that golem there? The one with that big sword-arm? There she is!"
The young girl's eyes widened and she let out a half-sob, half-scream of despair that was cut short when Dayrus snuffed out her soul. In minutes there was another new golem and another body to burn. "'Ey, Char. Time ta go ta work." Without a word the Agni'Vohda reduced the girl's corpse to ash. Char knelt next to the remains and drew a small symbol in the embers, saying a quiet prayer to send her on her way. "Ya done? I really don't get that whole business but hey, as long as you do what needs to be done I could care less how you finish the job. Now we got a lotta ground ta cover. Let's move out, men!"
The train of wagons pulled forward, the two newly-formed golems walked side by side. Slowly, the breeze carried away the ashes. Slowly, and silently.
"They come from the lands beneath usssssss. Can you not feel the hatred of their promisesssssss."
Sa's petals swept out, directing Seg's gaze to the world below.
~The Crown Valley~
"I promise, you will pay for what you've done!"
---
Dayrus had not always burned the corpses of his victims. When the "Spawn" had raced like a ravenous plague amongst the crown valley, he and his men had often prowled the valley. They were looking for deserters, ostensibly -- runaways from the luminaries' forces that were, how had he said it?
"Reclaimin' those sorry sons of spawn 'at think they can get away with disrespectin' their fightin' kin."
They more often found craterspawn, of course, as even the rear lines weren't safe in those days, and more often than not, the golems in his unit were the ones to take the brunt of the casualties. His men considered this a good thing. The villagers he, 'conscripted', to replenish his forces... "Well, 's not like golems talk, now, do they?"
Hers had been like any of a dozen villages beset by the craterspawn. The beasts attacked only during the night, replenishing their strength during the day. So when Dayrus marched his company into town, at the height of midday, he found only a smattering of fighters, she and the rest out hunting, both beast and craterspawn.
Her brother had been one of those left behind. When Dayrus "asked" for volunteers, her brother refused. And so he had been the first taken - pinned to the ground with an arrow through the leg, then leisurely slain, Dayrus' magic stealing his soul the same as any other.
When she and the other hunters returned that night, Dayrus was long gone - as were 6 of their friends and family.
Her father had been blessed with the shadow power, and she had learned it from him. She had always thought of it nothing more than a useful tool - minor tricks to cloud the mind and hide oneself from sight.
But on that night, furious with grief, she walked herself deep into that dark place within her heart.
"Dayrus!"
She cried out, unafraid of who might be listening:
"I promise, you will pay for what you've done!"
She was changed; hardened. She stayed in her home, brooding with dark power. Superstitous, the villagers began called her Noctis, Dark of the Night.
AP
Will be embellishing Shadow magic shortly. Not in this post though! This box is merely a distraction!
Will be embellishing Shadow magic shortly. Not in this post though! This box is merely a distraction!
The vivid orange heat blackened his skin, which quickly fell from his faces. Underneath, the godflesh sizzled and twisted back into proto-flesh only to melt. There was a constant weeping of blood from his pores which tarnished the armor's collar. The pain was... intense, distracting, enveloping.
Azgo's eyes turned inward, and even more blood flowed through the edges like boiling water bursting through its shaking lid. How long had he planned? How long had he been distracted with idle, vague promises? And thus, his murky eyes examined the battlefields.
...
Vast. Empty.
The legions were gone. Most surface civilization had been abandoned and left to decay into ruinous relics of innocent ages. They were mostly silent, but the few explorers of heritage that wandered there would swear they heard the hammerfalls of forges, the indomitable march of golems, and crying. The crying of refugees forced to leave behind everything that they had known. Had been. A past they both yearned to know, and that they feared all the same and for the same reasons.
The Eternal Volcano stood, as always, in its fiery-eyed vigil across the deserts. A mythic graveyard of dragon bones, dry and scorched with the fury of a god, were littered about as monuments in the sandy wastes to an unwitting sacrifice. Half of the volcano was broken off, and in truth it was not a volcano any longer. And no flocks of monsters flew over its peak in savage conquest.
The West. It had never been an objective of importance. For it had been the spearhead of a different wrath long ago. And the redwoods there... now black, stood tall in their ashen coffins. Only a few Craterspawn were there, weaving between the once-trees in search of... nothing. And they found nothing.
The Southwestern hinterlands closest to the Godcrater, once blessed by the spirits, were home to veterans and the blind survivors of The Blood Crowned's plague. Dwarven warbands had gathered here once, but they rushed back to the city of Sil Arkoth at the sound of its destruction. And on the retreat they had been mauled, even in the upper stretches of the underground. Thier home was lost, and now they left allies to die for nothing. On the surface, The wardens and the barbarians and the shamans who had at one point fought impossible odds and survived now only choked on what food they could scrap together. Many left and in their absence, the blind died. Alone. And in the dark.
The North, which had once been a whispered promised land, had been reclaimed by new life. But the elven armies had rallied too slowly, and thousands of humans were swallowed up in the maws of the remorhaz. And the elves themselves had suffered casualties driving the flocks into death and retreat. And even when they carved out their petty kingdoms, they remembered that the remorhaz would never truely leave. They would burrow. And wait.
And the Eastern mountain chains... The home of the gelab duhr had been invaded for the first time in creation. They had only known the difficulty of slope and storm before, and when their armies left for the lowlands, their communities fell into newly carved abysses. Sections of the Journey, travelled by the very Cumbrous himself were lost by the dozen. Avarom had been salvaged, and the remorhaz broods martialed there cast back into the shadows. But only handfuls of survivors remained. When the gelab duhr returned to thier homelands, they were stricken with outrage and grief. For the command of thier god had turned blind eyes on the Journey path. And some began to doubt Onus...
Across the continent the craterspawn and split from legions to hordes, and from hordes into flocks. They were to be found in the wilds, for those near cities had either destroyed it or had been destroyed. For a few years afterward, the calls that had at one point been a boundless chorus of war that echoed in bones and dreams could still be heard in remote places. And those who went unprepared after them added a new scream to the memory, to the pulse. Golem squadrons followed them, as did seasoned warriors. The craterspawn fell upon them and hunters soon learned that "spawn" hunting was a quest that always required a little luck to merely survive. But the craterspawn were still disappearing, slowly. Surely.
Legions had flown out from the Godcrater like an endless, rolling sea of feathers and talons. An unsuspecting world had crumpled under the weight of unfettered slaughter and cringed at the sight of endless carnage. It had taken an alliance of races and the will of gods, but it had ended.
The invasion was over. And the world breathed an uneasy sigh of relief, unsure of the future that it had earned. One day, the invasion would become history. And history would be come legend. Legend would fade into myth. And a threat that had threatened to swallow the world one day would be naught but a tale of horror and courage.
Azgo felt the runnings of shallow diseased water run through the gaps in the armor. The water vaporized against the heat of the armor and soon shrouded Azgo in a regal cloak of steam. He stood after a long pause, and whispered to himself.
"Perhaps not all the worshipers of Firstborn have died. Perhaps they will rebuild what they have lost. Perhaps I have failed..."
And with a sudden revealation, a morbid euphoric surge of hatred took hold of his whole being.
"But they will never forget the days that the suns were scattered and their gods were deaf to their prayers, that the gods are not all-knowing and all-powerful! They will remember that thier gods are..."
"Fragile"
And he turned back toward the meeting place of Veros, eager for blood.
OOC
Claim Domain (1AP): Wrath. Azgo no longer lets his anger jeopardize his sworn purpose. His hatred now weilds his righteous wrath as a powerful weapon against the Firstborn injustice.
Claim Domain (1AP): Endurance. Azgo is willing to endure constant anguish and sacrifice his very essence for the sake of the plan. Pain is almost meaningless to him.
AP Remaining: 0
Claim Domain (1AP): Endurance. Azgo is willing to endure constant anguish and sacrifice his very essence for the sake of the plan. Pain is almost meaningless to him.
AP Remaining: 0
He looked around, and saw devastation everywhere. Whispering into the winds, Leaf you said life will strive on. That it will continue on and be reborn. Show me that you are right. Show the world that life will continue on. Show me that there is more than just death and destruction.
Stepping on down, Zebus wraps himself in shadow once more. There is but one thing left. It is time to remove the problem from this world so that it may never happen again...
In shadow and frost, Zebus moved swiftly, traveling only as fast as death can. Stepping from the shadows, what seems a few moments later Zebus stands upon the crest of the godcrater.
Noctis breathed deep. Ash, laced with the unmaskable stench of burnt flesh. But this was fresh. She had stalked Dayrus for weeks now, and it seemed he would soon be within reach. Noctis crested the hill, and her eyes narrowed.
Perhaps sooner than she had expected. Far below, Dayrus' caravan was making camp for the night. It was the twilight hour, and both man and dwarf grew tired and sleepy. The Agni'vohda flared, then faded into a spark, dancing on the edge of the campfire. The golems stood, eternally patient, by the head of the caravan. Idle, but alert.
They were complacent. Satisfied. Had they even bothered to set --- ah. There, by the tree at the edge of camp. Dayrus may have been cruel, but he wasn't stupid. The sentry adjusted his gear, and continued his vigil.
Noctis slunk to a crouch, caressing the top of her hill. It wouldn't do to be seen, not now, so close. Not while she still had the favor of surprise.
She watched until the moon rose high, and the mercenaries had retired to their tents. Noctis licked her lips, dropping down the far side of the hillock, concentrating.
To those Umbralists who worked shadow magic, emotions were key. Noctis forced thoughts of her brother into her mind. The other villagers who had been taken - Hector, Chrom, and Anise. She thought on the terror of the craterspawn, and the passionate arrogance of the luminaries.
And then, emotions running hot, she splintered her soul, and let her magic take effect.
---
The sentinel caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned, only to catch the full force of a panther collapsing onto his chest. The man wrestled with the shadow-beast, but it was clear he was outmatched, in size, strength, and speed. Against the man's futile struggles, it bit deep into his hamstring, eliciting a long, echoing scream. As quickly as it had attacked, the beast vanished, leaving the sentinel gasping in pain.
The sentinel's cries of pain had brought the rest of Dayrus' group to attention, and two foolhardy men struck out, lunging blindly into the darkness in an attempt to avenge their fellow.
A thunderous crack split the night, and both men stumbled back into view of the fire, jagged, throbbing splinters of purple-black piercing their arms and legs. They collapsed into quivering heaps, sobbing as their bodies spasmed in pain and blood.
The winds shifted, and the moon pierced the clouds, revealing a lithe, shadowy figure at the top of the hill. She raised her arm, and a bow of inky ebon darkness drew level with the camp.
"Dayrus."
Her voice was lilting, and strangely monotonic, though it dripped with power.
"Tonight, you die."
AP
AP
-1 Command : The humans previously given shadow power by Zebus develop it fully into the discipline of Shadow Magic. Practiced by so-called Umbralists, shadow magic uses splinters of the users own soul to supercharge their otherwise meagre store of mana. However, splintering one's soul in this way deadens the depth of emotions, andit becomes much harder to feel emotions of any sort. The process is not permanent, as souls can "regenerate" in the presence of strong emotions, both positive (happiness, love, trust), and negative (hatred, fear, vengeance), but this process takes longer the less of the original soul that remains, and if an umbralist should ever splinter their soul entirely, they lose the ability to feel emotions entirely.
Sufficiently strong Umbralists can avoid having to splinter their own soul if they can create intense feelings of emotion in other creatures, allowing them to "fracture" their unwilling donors' souls to supplement their own power. Fracturing is a lesser degree of damage than splintering (and heals much quicker), but the temporary deadening of emotion is unnerving at best.
-2 Spawn Creature: Revenants. Revenants are creatures which have shattered their soul beyond recovery. Without a soul, they cannot die, nor be killed. (Nor however, can they be healed or restored.) The state of their own "unlife" usually drive them mad, and most revanants are raving monsters, unwilling to listen to reason, seeking only to kill.
-1 Command : The humans previously given shadow power by Zebus develop it fully into the discipline of Shadow Magic. Practiced by so-called Umbralists, shadow magic uses splinters of the users own soul to supercharge their otherwise meagre store of mana. However, splintering one's soul in this way deadens the depth of emotions, andit becomes much harder to feel emotions of any sort. The process is not permanent, as souls can "regenerate" in the presence of strong emotions, both positive (happiness, love, trust), and negative (hatred, fear, vengeance), but this process takes longer the less of the original soul that remains, and if an umbralist should ever splinter their soul entirely, they lose the ability to feel emotions entirely.
Sufficiently strong Umbralists can avoid having to splinter their own soul if they can create intense feelings of emotion in other creatures, allowing them to "fracture" their unwilling donors' souls to supplement their own power. Fracturing is a lesser degree of damage than splintering (and heals much quicker), but the temporary deadening of emotion is unnerving at best.
-2 Spawn Creature: Revenants. Revenants are creatures which have shattered their soul beyond recovery. Without a soul, they cannot die, nor be killed. (Nor however, can they be healed or restored.) The state of their own "unlife" usually drive them mad, and most revanants are raving monsters, unwilling to listen to reason, seeking only to kill.
The World is burned, Zebus. Why are we here? I still remain confused as to why the wars of mortals mean we must kill one of our own. It seems wrong.
~The Eternal Volcano~
Slowly, the Agni'Vohda recovered. Estimations suggested that over nine in ten of them had died since going forth to rescue Agni from his captors. Those that remained carved steps into the side of the volcano from ground level to peak, where a platform of magma-proof stone reached out over the edge of the ever-smoking crater. It was decided amongst the Agni'Vohda. Never again would they leave their volcano in numbers. Never again would they expose themselves to such devastation. If mortals or Gods wished to come speak to them, let them come to the platform and offer gifts to them. Perhaps, just perhaps, they would find one or two Agni'Vohda willing to help them. Or perhaps, if their gift was deemed... wanting... the volcano would have a new sacrifice. As the blasted wall slowly grew back, the Agni'Vohda retreated into solitude.
1 AP: Command Populace: The Agni'Vohda retreat into the Eternal Volcano. While rare heroes might emerge from the Agni'Vohda, this basically represents the end of the race as a world power as they are becoming complete isolationists. Individuals may attempt to recruit a few Agni'Vohda for individual tasks by offering gifts to the race at a platform that reaches over the edge of the caldera. Good gifts will usually get a few volunteers among the younger and braver members of the race. Bad gifts will usually lead to death-by-volcano.
5 AP/week: Pruinus, Leaf, Onus, Azgo, Sa, Marcus, Agni, Zebus, Urru, TASOE
4 AP/week: Yr, Thereus, Altruis
MAP: Soon, you will behold the hellish landscape that is our 'beautiful' world
STORY:
Seg, god of lies, joined the meeting of Zebus, Agni, Pruinus (and Urru), though the paranoia of the other gods quickly drove him away. While gods talked, mortals acted. The long ages spent in the north had transformed once-refugees into the arctic elves, who swept south and destroyed much of Azgo's invading army. Humans, dwarves, and others destroyed the foul creatures in Avarom, and the Eternal Volcano took care of the rest. Nix, uplifted animals, appeared and dealt with any stragglers.
At Zebus's behest, the first gods, minus dead Leaf, destroyed much of the world. Agni caused the hidden suns to explode, nearly eradicating people still weak from their desperate victory. Zebus shed crocodile tears on the world, killing even more, and Pruinus set winter upon the world, althogh kinder than her kin, she also sent aid to mortals to help them resist the cold. The arctic elves, their attention caught, sought out the sun in the north. Artun sought it as well, and there created White Dragons, legless flying wyrms that hated Agni as much as he did.
In the godcrater, an unseen presence tried to form an alliance with Azgo, while an exarch of Order in the form of Veros appeared to do the same. The unseen presence whispered wise counsel in Azgo's ears and the liar was eventually driven away. Meanwhile, the solar explosion had caught Azgo's attention, and he used the sun to enhance his exarch, the Eclipse Aflame. This accidentally created black dragons in the process.
Among the skymotes, where Seg had retreated after Agni demanded he leave, the god of "healing" (that is, lies) encountered Sa, who asked him many questions. During this encounter, mortals learned shadow magic and revenants were created.
With the world ruined, Zebus and Agni sought out Azgo.
You are here. That is good. If you will watch my back. It wouldn't do well to get too overwhelmed when the time comes. The reason the mortals suffered so stems straight from here. This spot where even your flames dare not reach, is nothing but a pit of misery, hate and despair. I pray we only need to banish him into his own home not to venture forth too far to plague the mortals again, but if kill him I must, then that is what I will do. You have not met him yet, but I know he hates you almost as much as he hates me. For what slight I know not.
Seeing a figure approch, Zebus's body relax's in the way a warrior's might right before engaging in battle.
This is the calm before the storm. Be ready, and let me handle him. You handle anything else that comes up. Check to see if they are flammable!
He glanced at the ground. "They are important, for some reason. I don't know how or why, but I feel it is so."
He silently placed his hand, feeling the grit. "Still, the end of one era does not mean the end to all."
The air hummed around him as he focused his thoughts, power rippling outwards. For many long moments nothing happened, then the air crackled and as if a veil had been lifted a mirage of the land before the cataclysm hung in the air. Maintaining his focus, he opened his eyes and took in the sight. "I was right. They were. And they shall be again."
He cast out his strength, and reality shifted, the burnt cinders of the land fading and the once lush reality growing sharper and more solid, until at last the land was as it once was. Finding himself slightly giddy, and uncertain as to why, he stepped back into the shadows and vanished once more, heading to the east.
-----
They had endured. No craterspawn had haunted their lands. No great purging fire had destroyed their lands. No. This band of humans had fled into the inhospitable lands, fled where even their enemies would not pursue them, and by divine grace they had survived where nothing lived.
Still, despite the hardship and struggle, while the rest of the world fought, killed, died, and burned, they flourished alone and unnoticed by their neighbors. At least for the moment.
AP Expenditures
3 AP - Command Land - The western redwoods forests are the site of a time anomaly. In the moments before Agni's destruction rained down on them, the forest and its natural life (ie nothing from Azgo) vanished, replaced by a burnt and devastated landscape which was then subjected to Agni;s destruction. The forst and its natural life just returned to the time line.
2 AP - Nourish Populace - A band of humans hidden away in the depths of the western badlands are starting to flourish despite the area hardships.
2 AP - Nourish Populace - A band of humans hidden away in the depths of the western badlands are starting to flourish despite the area hardships.
"Please excuse me one moment. This news may be important."
He recognized the handwriting immediatelyas Captain Thackery's, a human quite bitter he didn't make the cut into this squad. Onyxixus read the letter showing little emotion, only to let out what was most likely a laugh, but due to his mannerisms and how raspy it sounded (as well as how odd the idea of this man laughing seemed.) could also have been a cough. He handed the letter to his human companion and began to speak again.
"Well, if my general is to be believed, half of the known world has been blown up and polar bears and wolves have decided to walk on two feet and combat the vermin of the world. I honestly don't know what to make of this."
Onyxixus sighed.
“There are a small number of survivors within this very temple.”
He gestured to the temples entrance.
“I think they could use some food and medical help.”
---
This was their reward?
That single thought seemed to echo amongst all of the Nix as fire rained down upon them, scattering their tribes apart. They were born into the world to combat an unnatural threat and many had given their lives for this cause. And their reward was this, death and destruction at the hands of fire. The few surviving Nix mourned the losses and fled back to their mountain home over the horizon. They vowed never to involve themselves in another war in the outside world, the world already owed them a great debt. Here, they begin to build their own civilization.
1 AP – Command populace
All Nix retreat back within the crown and begin to create small villages in various places such as caves within the mountains and glaciers, villages high up in the trees and low on the forest floor, or simply out in open fields
4 AP remain
As you may guess, this post is really not upto what I consider my usual standards and is certainly going to be expanded and given an overhaul, I am just posting now because I have not posted in a long time and do not want my inactivity to prevent others that are hinging on my response from playing so this is a bare bones report of what is taking place which will be heavily modified. (for now, I guess i am suffering a bit of Writer's Block in how I exactly want to describe these events)
When the acolyte god left, the darkness of the godcrater seemed to vibrate with satisfaction. Not at the fact that the god was driven away: Umbra had no particular reason to dislike it. It had just been a convenient lever to use, a way to gain the twisted god's... not trust, but tolerance. It had been little more than an opportunity.
The sun was another such opportunity. There was power in it, which the twisted god used, but there was potential, also. It seemed that there was a connection between these orbs and the god of fire. And connections were leverage.
Blindness ruled the world. In darkness, eyes are blind, but brightness itself is blinding. It is only went light is weak that sight is possible. And the blaze of the sun was not weak.
Light causes darkness to flee, but the stronger the light, the crisper the shadows. Umbra wasn't Azgo's shadow, but he was beyond it, in the unseen place. When the sun erupted into power, fusing the twisted god's armor, the orb shattered.
or did it?
Perhaps darkness took it.
Perhaps it was sent through the shadows.
Perhaps it was given to the behemoth in the sky, a promise that it would get it's revenge.
Perhaps not.
~~~Among the Skymotes~~~
"I cannot," Seg admitted to Sa, "promises and such are not my specialty. But what do you do with these promises you hear? Are you the force that gives them weight? Merely an observer of them? Do you enforce them?"
~~~Godcrater pt2~~~
The darkness felt other presences approach. One... was quaint. Darkness could feel an affinity with it, but it felt weak, simple. A mere shadow of darkness.
The other was a bringer of light, yes, and heat, yes, but also smoke and ash.
For a moment, Umbra paused and wondered if perhaps these were the creatures that Azgo was afraid of. Odd that he'd be afraid of these things. There was really only one thing to fear.
The dark. The unseen. The unknown. As of yet, even to Umbra, these creatures were only unknown, and easily remedied.
~~~The World in General~~~~
There were whispers among the survivors. They had just driven back the invading horde of monsters, life just seemed like it would take a turn for the better. And then fire and death. Why?
The whispers had answers. The gods were behind it. The gods failed to protect them. The gods, in their ignorance and pettiness, sent destruction on a whim. Unthinking. Uncaring.
And in the whispers, there was a call. A summons to freedom. A cry for justice. The gods had wronged the world, and they had to pay.
The gods had wronged the world, and they would pay,
AP
1AP - Command Populace: among the various thinking peoples of the world, a desire to overthrown and punish the gods develops. Not many people from each race and country and tribe feel this way. But every race has at least a few.
1AP - Command Populace: among the various thinking peoples of the world, a desire to overthrown and punish the gods develops. Not many people from each race and country and tribe feel this way. But every race has at least a few.
-----
Still, his gifts, meager as they had been, had given them the strength to continue, the drive to survive. And they had more then successfully escaped any pursuit. And then they reached the end of the world. They stood on the shore of the eastern ocean, and all they saw, as far as their meager eyes could see, was water. Salt water.
Some might have surrendered at that sight, They stood on the edge of all the water they could have ever wanted as they struggled across the wastes. Water that could have saved friends, saved family, made their journey easier. And yet it was foul and undrinkable.
Still, they would not surrender. Here they had to stop their flight. Here they settled down, living in shallow caves, using the meager magic they had been gifted to purify the water, and sustaining themselves on what little plants and ocean life they could scavenge.
And that would have been the end of their tale. Given the limited resources available, these people would have lived out their lives, as would their children after them, and maybe even their childrens childrean beyond that, but eventually these people would perish. But such was not their fate.
-----
He watched them strive to survive, irrefutable proof that life endures hardship. In his first days on this world, he had stumbled on these people. He had saw their plight, yet not truly understood it. It had simply been an opportunity to him, a chance to lie to simple mortals, to pass himself off by some random name, some random shape.
Yet he felt some attachment to them now. They whispered that name he had created in their private moments, asking for help, asking for safety, asking for aid for their friends.
"A deception I weaved on these people. But then, it is my nature. Decieve these people, decieve those people, even decieve the flame. And I even decieved a god, even if not in the fashion he seems to think. I am deception, but the finest deception is rooted in truth."
He smirked to himself. "I suppose then, that I should in truth give them what they seek. The water god I came to them as, offering meager gifts. And come again I shall, but this time I will offer them true power, that they might spread my deception for me. I will teach them what they need to know. Teach them to decieve reality itself."
An older man stepped fromn the shadows, his slightly pointed ears barely visible beneath his scraggly hair ad he limped towards the settlment, leaning heavily on his staff.
-----
The boy stood over the stone in deep concentration, scratching ever so carefully at the stone, each movement slowly scraping away a minute amount of rock. He had spent hours already on this project and, as he wiped sweat from his brow, he knew he still had hours left to go. Still, he worked hard, knowing that he lacked the skill of his elders.
As the light began to fade, he finally stood up and stretched, his long labor finished. The stone was the perfect shape for the task at hand, and the symbol he had long worked at was finished. He needed only to speak the word inscribed, to speak his deception.
He hesitated. He had seen it done before. Yet he still paused, holding his breath, remembering what the strange old man had said. "You shall deceive that which opposes you. But you must beleive. Reality is as you see it, and if you truly beleive, your words will fool even the world around you."
He smiled slightly, and spoke his word. For a long second, it seemed as if his work was for naught, then the symbol in the stone glowed with silvery fire, blinding for a second. When the flames receeded a large apple tree stood as if it had been their for a decade, ripe red apples hanging just within his reach.
For the first time in his young life, he reached out and took food easily available.
AP
1 PP - Command Populace - A group of humans learn how to tap into a special language born of deception. These Runes, when carved into objects and/or spoken aloud, deceive reality itself, bringing about that which was spoken of. However, the speaker must beleive that the word works in addition to the extensive study required to master words, both written and spoken. The spoken word is easier to master, but its brief existence makes its effect less than that of an inscribed rune, where as an inscribed runes power is based on the mass and/or value of the prepared object is exponentially harder to master but also packs exponentially greater strength.
This group of people call themselves the Vikari and are currently living on the ocean shore about half way between the eastern mountains and the volcano. Unbeknownst to them, each deception is powered directly by the Deceiver.
4/5 AP Remaining
This group of people call themselves the Vikari and are currently living on the ocean shore about half way between the eastern mountains and the volcano. Unbeknownst to them, each deception is powered directly by the Deceiver.
4/5 AP Remaining
Azgo relaxed. He no longer felt his presence. The slave had left to scrape before the-
The slightest touch. The smallest sliver of a shadow graced the stone. The Godcrater shuddered, and moaned in agnoy. The stone recoiled at their flesh, and the wind wispered old anthems. Familiar whispers.
He felt them. Them. He felt it, was it, knew it. That They were here at long last. The armor began to hiss and cool violently as chilled blood ran against its edges. His flesh wrinkled and rippled under the skin in revulsion and anticipation.
"Firstborn. Agni, and the fool Zebus..."
His form was carried grain by grain into the wind, and built itself up again on the highest balcony of Guvarah An. From its terrible height, The Crowned in Blood saw them step warily unto the plane. He was almost stunned. Almost. He needed no command, for the Godcrater was in as much pain as him, felt his grief, and knew of betrayal. The ground shivered and shook and trembled with the weight of ten thousand steps. Stone burst from stone, forming steep, fresh cliffs and gorges with the peel of thunderous outrage. Gesyers spewed fierce acidic curses, pouring rivers unto the new cliffs and forming caustic falls miles long. The fumes from ages old vats and pools were blackened and chocked with filth from the very depths of the plane. The billowing clouds spun wildly in the air into the heartbeat of a new, earsplitting hurricane through which a vast, thousand-toothed maw of fume opened hungerly.
A voice roared from every crack of stone and every noxious ribbon of fume. Azgo spoke, through the plane. With the plane.
"And so the heirs of a dying age come to pass here! In MY Domain! Have you come to finish what you started on the first day of Creation?!"
"I LIVE, BROTHERS! YOU FAILED!! Your callous jealosy was fruitless. Your unchecked greed for power has lead you only HERE, the last Bastion of The Plan YOU betrayed, and the brothers you sacrificed as a rite in your self-admiration! Did you think they were to be poor Kings?! Poor gods?! Or did YOU KNOW AS I KNOW that they were to be the Kings and YOU could not suffer them to rule?!"
The plane roared with pure hate. The sound, smell, and feeling was almost all-consuming. The thick corruption clawed at the fringe of the gods, unrelenting.
"WE HAD EVERYTHING AND YOU RUINED IT ALL!!"
A miasmic wraith emerged from the near black haze that hung low over the crater, standing on the edge of sight. The form became clearer and clearer as it apporached in regal pace. Blood flowed evenly across his brows and from his outspread palms unto the thirsting ground.
"Pruinus could not slay me! And You were too afraid to try, Zebus! Do not think that Agni will overcome MY purpose!!"
And he added, after a long pause, almost desperate to hear their confession. He needed to hear them say it.
"WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?! WHY DID YOU MAKE ME INTO THIS, BETRAYER?!"
Sa's petals had begun to drift as the god focused on other things, but they snapped back into rigid formation at the question.
"Sa hearsssssss all the promisesssssss of the mortal folk, and sometimesssssss also godsssssss. Those that pique our curiosity receive small blessingsssssss. But it isssssss how they turn that granted power towardsssssss their promise that drivesssssss our interestsssssss."
Sa's petals drifted east, and it was a few moments before the god spoke again.
"Tell usssssss what a Seg doesssssss."
You and your slights. We were born upon this realm. Given its gifts. We haven’t exactly been most kind to it, I will give you that. There was no power struggle that you have talked about. There is no plan, order sacrificed so that this realm may continue on. We had nothing and were given everything. YOU sent out those hordes! YOU are the one that destroyed the land! YOU forced my hand and caused the destruction around us.
Ever so slightly edging out his sword from the sheath, only the barest of metal shows.
I was not afraid to attack you. I had more concern for my dear friend than you had for yourself! I showed you my back not because I was afraid to fight you, but because you were afraid of the power I wield. There is no betrayer. The only one that made you what you are is you!
I will say this, I have come to finish this. Not what I started, but what YOU started! Hate breads destruction, and destruction leads only to death and that is me!
The winds blowing his cloak back, and his hat flutters off of his head into the wind, showing long flowing white hair. Zebus stands firm ready for what ever outburst the god of hate may have for him.
Agni certainly hadn't been expecting... this.
This God seemed angry, yes. Very angry. Rage-filled, even. But this was not the cold, calculating mastermind that Agni had been led to believe resided in this strange pit, who had set out armies to destroy the mortals and who plotted the deaths of Gods. That God would have been worth destroying Quite to the contrary, this God seemed to teeter on the edge of insanity itself, raging at percieved faults and... general impossibilities. This was who Zebus wanted to destroy? Visions of the death of the unknown God who had saved him danced before his eyes. Could he witness the death of another Divine? Could he help bring it about? Agni shuddered in revulsion. No. Not yet, at least.
Agni moved his bulk between the two gods.
DeathLord, Stop. I remain unconvinced as to the necessity of this action. Your words are known to me, but this new God is not what I thought. You, God. I am Agni, the FlameLord, although you appear to know this. I do not know your name, however. Who are you, and what may I call you? What is your purpose?
Of course, due to her nature she felt somewhat horrified at seeing the land burn. She wished to counter-act the heat and allow the land to stabilze itself for life again, but she represented the opposite end of spectrum, would her actions help or only make matters worse? Nevertheless, she would act. Perhaps she was being selfish, as she knew not whether she could help but simply watching made her feel anxious, she was acting simply because she had to.
As her hand hovered over the distant horizons, a familar chill swept over the land. Another winter began to take place on the burned land, this time the frigid winds did not bring challenge but healing.
The fires that scorched the land began to retreat back into nothingness as frost spread across fields and mountains.
As the cotinent froze in the wake of Winter, the berries that were universally associated with the cold season began to sprout and bloom in plentiful amounts. Usually, the fruit was rarely seen to grow even in Winter and in the cases it did, it was a single sprig in the ground that could be easily missed.
This Winter however, entire fields were dotted with bushes carrying the dark red fruit, providing substance and shielding those who needed it from the cold. There was not much variety, but the mortals had a supply of food that was almost endless.
Pruinus regret this course of action. The Agni'Vohda would suffer from this course of action, but that was necessary. Pruinus felt no malice towards them, but The Agni'Vohda had just enjoyed an age of fire spreading across their lands; if Pruinus had to cause them difficult times in order to benefit the other races, so be it.
1 AP - Command Winter
Winter comes once again. It is no colder then the previous, but fires open in the wild across the land seem to wither away and die despite previously having the potential to burn forever. This only affects fire's of a divine origin, allowing normal fires to be constructed for warmth, but unfornately leading to the consquence of...
1 AP - Harm populace: Agni'Vohda
The Agni'Vohda, being created by Agni, fit the criteria of divine fire. As such, many Agni'Vohda grow sickly and weak over the course of Winter, leading to many being extinguished all together.
2 AP - Nourish land.
Winter berries grow in plentiful amounts across the land, providing a large food source for those who need it, and also drink for those who learn to make drinks from the juices. Fitting Pruinus offer to Zebus in the early days, Winter Berries are said to create wonderful tea when the juices are added. Also, Winter Berries gain a rather supernatural quality of lowering the body temperature of those who consume many, not harming them but allowing them to endure the cold without much difficulty.
4 AP spent from my own pool, 1 AP left for Pruinus, 4/5 for Urru.
From frozen plains to winter forests, the storm moved, and from under layers of snow, dead leaves and dust and branches were added to the stormwall as it passed. As it went it grew, expanding until it stretched from east to west.
The stormwall hit, and those that had not sought sheltered suffered from piercing ice, slicing leaves, and impaling branches. But the wall passed quickly, and behind it fell nourishing rain, warm and soothing to the touch. Lavaflows cracked and split as roots dug deep, and trees and grasses grew up through the waste. Corpses decomposed and in their place new life arose.
Within the storm a presence watched and felt sorrow. It thought to itself, This is what happens when petty gods refuse to yield to life. It is a lesson I tried and failed to teach, and here is the result.
Within the storm, a memory of the past wished to reassert itself, but Brother Branch pushed it down. Attempting to assert order by force had not worked. Now was the time to try to earn respect through deed.
Eventually the storm reached the southern edge of the continent. It had expended itself, and was no more.
AP
2AP Claim Domain: Storms
1AP Nourish: The rain helps restore the environments to their previous state and to wash away the traces of the invasion
2AP Claim Domain: Storms
1AP Nourish: The rain helps restore the environments to their previous state and to wash away the traces of the invasion
The burbling of toxic gasses escaping from unknowable reservoirs quickened and took on the form of a hissing laugh. Light dimmed and a breeze swept up the unwholesome grit of the plane, sanding Zebus' skin as it passed. A tingling rose on his neck, the feeling that he was being watched, and a voice whispered in his ear.
What he has done? What you have done.
You could have stopped it.
You could have stopped it all.
He destroyed the land? You destroyed the land.
Too jealous.
Too jealous to share.
Who are you?
Liar.
Traitor
Father of abomination.
Yes...
Father of abomination.
Smoke circled around Agni's form, and though there was no cooling touch on him, magma itched.
And you...
Do you remember me?
Behind the smoke
Behind the fire
I remember you
~~~Among the Skymotes~~~
"I am the god of healing," Seg replied to Sa, "I tend to the injured... although, unfortunately, attempting to help an injured god has taken up much of my time. To right what once went wrong, that is my calling."
"In fact... hmm... flowers... that's an interesting idea."
Seg winked, plucked a petal from the sky, and blew on it. It turned to dust, the dust crumbled, and power swept out into the world.
AP
1AP Nourish: Various plants in the world take on medicinal properties.
1AP Command: The thinking peoples of the world realize this and people start to practice various forms of medicine. Of course, there's no formal education yet, so you're as likely to see a charlatan as a real knowledgeable doctor.
3AP remaining
1AP Nourish: Various plants in the world take on medicinal properties.
1AP Command: The thinking peoples of the world realize this and people start to practice various forms of medicine. Of course, there's no formal education yet, so you're as likely to see a charlatan as a real knowledgeable doctor.
3AP remaining
The ground near the gods split violently and rose into the air. Mountains rose like jagged bones all across the Godcrater, and new peaks pierced the hurricane's gusting fumes.
"Or have you forgotten me like you have forgotten everything that has served its purpose? Was I nothing to YOU? A moment's game of scorn played and tossed aside?! I remember you, AGNI, as you knew me in the begining. I WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU DID TO ME! TO THEM!"
The maw of the sky called out in misery, sensing the anguish of the truth that was coming. Thunder peeled.
"I AM AZGO, FUSED OF AZAZEL AND GO'EL AND WHEN MY CROWN WAS STOLEN, I WAS CROWNED IN BLOOD! I am the monster born of YOUR treachery! My purpose is to survive, and to ensure that YOU do not. To inherit that which you stole from me! To punish your heresy to the First with annihilation! Yes, I brought destruction upon the world and on its mortals that bowed and scraped before you. They worshipped you, and that is deserving of naught but death! They share in YOUR guilt!"
"WHY DO YOU HIDE FROM ME?! FROM YOURSELVES?! FROM THE PLAN?! AKNOWLEDGE YOUR GUILT AND LET CREATION BE CLEASENED OF YOU WHO ARE A WOUND FESTERING IN THE PLAN!"
Letting his sword fully return to its sheath, he motions to Agni to come forward.
I recognise neither name. I who was first born of the first, and I know naught of what you speak of Hatebringer. Do you recognise either names Agni? Do you remember of what he talks about, for I do not. I fear you might be correct in your assumption though. I do not think what we are dealing with is entirely sane. I think I have given him too much credit from my last encounter with him.
Yes, he's not sane... you're the one hearing voices.
Yes, because if you don't remember it, it must not have happened.
"A god of healing? What need is there for one of those? And why does a healer prowl the skiesssssss?"
Sa's petals had begun a slow spiral, generally pointing downwards.
"And what then, could a god of balmsssssss do to so anger the blazing lord of flamesssssss?"
Sa swung back around to buffet Seg's face with a storm of divine winds and petals. It was "pointing" at him. He presumed?.
"And what god would matter ssssssso little, that the firstsssssss would leave for distant horizonsssssss before bothering to finish started conversationsssssss?"
For indeed, both Agni and the Death Lord Zebus had vanished. Pruinous was deep in concetration, evoking the might of winter to cool Agni's flames, and the zippy light god, Urru, was... elsewhere (though given his speed, he could be most everywhere, as well).
Sa's voice seemed almost mocking -- It had never left the Crown, and so had noticed the arrival of the Firsts beneath it. Though Sa had not bothered to participate in the gathering, nor get close enough to listen in, Sa was close enough to feel the phoenix-hot fury of the fire god Agni, and the hasty retreat of the belatedly arriving Seg.
And that, Seg realized, is why Sa had revealed itself - not out of friendliness nor out of simple proximity, but because it sought to know what Seg was, why he had joined with the firsts in conversation, and what he hoped to achieve in giving them space.
Azgo, I do not recognize you. Nor do I know what you are speaking of. My first memory is flaring to life above a dark planet. I do not remember a life before, or anything you speak of. But very well. Let us say that I am, as you say, your betrayer. What Plan have I betrayed? I warn you, Azgo. I will defend myself if attacked. I have found Gods to be flammable in the -
Agni broke off as a familiar touch of smoke and darkness played about him.
You... he breathed out in a long, low growl. Do not think I have forgotten our last encounter, LightKiller. You will find me far less helpless this time.
"Ah, yes, them..." Seg said to Sa, and glanced down. He hadn't noticed that Agni and Zebus had left. "Those three are... overly cautious. And I am afraid that one, Agni, is suffering from mental illness. Manic depression, I think, perhaps paranoia. I wish to help heal him, but help cannot be forced. Trust is important: he asked me to leave and I left. Now, in some part of him, he knows that I am respectful. Next is to prove that I am a god of my word."
Seg stretched and looked about, "Which means that for the present, I should seek other work, others to heal. Idle hands are... well, you know."
~~~Godcrater~~~
It was as if droplets of water fell onto Agni's form, sizzled along his surface, and evaporated. There was a constant sense of sound and presence and sight just at the corner of Agni's attention.
Less helpless
But still helpless
Above, the god-sun groaned, a sound that sent reverberations into the very ground. It slept more fitfully.
Will you fight again?
What friend will die this time?
Kinslayer
Destroyer of worlds
Favored servant of the master
So is that thing up there your master? If so, it was quite flammable. You would be flammable too. most likely.
It's on fire
You're on fire
Are you flammable
You do the master's work
AP
Non-AP: Just defining my exarchs a little more. TASOE is crafting the "three" god beasts to be "replacements" for the three "still living" Firsts. The Behemoth started off as a mountain, but then someone lit it on fire, so now it's a creature of stone, magma, and fire. The leviathan is a thing of cold, darkness, and water. And the Ziz is... wait, I still have to make that one. For now, let's just say that its a giant flying cup of tea :P
Non-AP: Just defining my exarchs a little more. TASOE is crafting the "three" god beasts to be "replacements" for the three "still living" Firsts. The Behemoth started off as a mountain, but then someone lit it on fire, so now it's a creature of stone, magma, and fire. The leviathan is a thing of cold, darkness, and water. And the Ziz is... wait, I still have to make that one. For now, let's just say that its a giant flying cup of tea :P
And I find myself more and more willing the longer you evade my question.
Sad little Agni-man
Put me on fire
Dark little Agni-man
So full of ire
Cold little Agni-Man
He's a liar
Trapped little Agni-Man
We put out his fire
"Let us say? Let us pretend?! YOU ARE MY TRAITOR, AGNI!"
A faint gleam of hope shimmered in Azgo's eyes. He spoke with eqaul parts malice and rapture, enthralled in the future he would carve out.
"The Plan... it is the the recording of the First. The greatest decisions and their consquences all laid out out over the numberless stretches of time. The very best that creation could possibly be, down to the very fibers of the gods themselves. Nothing awry, nothing unplanned. Everything accounted for and predicted with the power of The First, God among Gods. It was... perfect. Beyond perfect."
And with the momentum of speech, his words rolled seamlessly from worship into righteous hate. The storm intensified. The stone moved into indistinct forms, words, odes of the plan. Entire civilizations of words glowed in the stone, brought straight from the memory of The Blood Crowned's aching mind.
"You had a part in it. We all did. You were my servants!..."
There was a painful pause, Azgo felt a twinge of vulnerability.
"You were my siblings... I did not choose to be King, Agni! I was told to be! Commanded to be! AND I OBEYED! BUT YOUR SCORN, YOUR GREED, YOUR JEALOSY TOOK HOLD OF YOU!! YOU COULD NOT SUFFER ME TO RULE! AND SO YOU BROKE THE WHOLE OF THE PLAN FOR YOUR OWN GAIN, TO WALLOW IN THE POWER THAT YOU STOLE! TO WALLOW IN THE SUFFERING OF THIS IMPERFECT PLAN YOU HAVE FASHIONED!"
The words disappeared, and the ground shook.
"THE TIME FOR WORDS HAS ENDED!! YOU ARE A WOUND IN THE WILL! YOUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ANATHEMA TO THE PLAN! YOU ARE UNFORGIVABLE! IRREDEEMABLE!"
"SURRENDER AND PERISH! OR RESIST AND PERISH! THE MIGHT OF THE FIRST IS WITH ME!!"
Powerful gusts of black miasmas and sickly, emerald light billowed out from the gaps in Azgo's hands. The armor gleamed in its light, and despite its bloody tarnish, the symbol of Thereus was faintly visible on the breastplate. Only a fraction of a second passed before the symbol was shrouded in smoke.
An eye, massive in size and bloodshot flashed through his mind for a brief instant before shattering his concentration. What? What was that?
Agni blinked and returned his focus, momentarially lost, to the present, just in time to see his son's symbol flash in the darkness. Where had the Smithlord gone? Agni suddenly wondered. His son had been honor bound to protect him, and yet he had never appeared when Agni was imprisoned. The presence of his armor on this God...
You killed my SON? Agni roared. I was prepared to speak, KinSlayer. I was prepared to attempt to bargain with you. No more. DeathLord, let us deal with this one.
Agni opened his mouth and a wave of magma flew from it towards Azgo
1 AP: Attack God. Die Azgo Die!
4 AP remain.
Azgo plunged his hands deep into the stone and gave it the very essence of his breath, and the ground before the gods split into a yawning chasm of erupting steam. The potent magma stream was pulled apart by the blinding black fumes and cast into the air. The Godcrater began to rain molten metal of the god's fury and cinders danced across the cyclone's currents. The Fused God's lungs felt like they were filled with searing fire. Even the sun had not been this intense. Summoning up his hate, the god spoke through the agony to the smoky presence at his command.
"Torment him. Distract him with the truth, for he is not worthy of deceit. You may die, but such is the price that we pay to make things right again."
Azgo imbued some of his memory into his servant. The darkening cloud seemed eager for conflict, and sunk its way into the ground. Moments later, the grand wall of smoke glowed with the eerily vibrant color of sickness aflame and the cloud soared into the air. The pillar gathered in the atmosphere, and then spiraled down unto Agni, swallowing him in The Eclipse Aflame. Azgo gave a moments glance at Agni; his servant could not possibly win, but with the plane's help, it could hold him off.
Azgo, still swathed in blood about his brow and seeping through the gaps across his whole body, called out to Zebus with a voice distorted in the howling wall's winds.
"Come Zebus. You cannot escape the past forever."
And the Godcrater shook so violently that it began to tear at the edges. Layers of stone fell into the ocean, and the tallest mountains of the basin fell into rubble. It seemed... eager as well.
OOC
Non-AP Action: The Godcrater is an extention of Azgo's power, will, and hate. It attempts in every way possible to harry the Firstborn, including moving the ground to impede their footwork or attempts at movement, opening monsterous gesyers to capitalize on their mistakes, and buffeting them with hurricane-strong wind. The corruption of the plane is begining to assault the gods, attempting to turn them sick with Azgo's illness. At this rate, the Godcrater will fall apart.
A human boy, barely old enough to walk, would never walk again. His legs had been injured in the attack, and the slender-folk's "medicine" was harsh. They amputated what couldn't be saved and cauterized the rest. Now his body was wane, weak from the ordeal, but his parents had hope. He was growing stronger every day, although he could still barely get up from his bed.
It was night and his father watched over him as he slept. It had been another hard day, and the child was tired. It would be a hard life. Best to let sleep hide his worries.
The child didn't rest peacefully, though. It turned frequently, twisting in his sleep. Even though winter had reached before ground here, the boy began to sweat. The father held back, unsure if he should wake him.
He didn't need to.
The boy's eyes opened so wide the father became afraid they'd fall out. He began to sit up, to comfort the child, but the boy sat up first and shouted.
"The darkness comes!"
~~~Godcrater~~~
Darkness grew and light fled.
Smoke gathered and blotted out the sky. Sun and moon were no more.
The fires in this acursed realm still burned, the gods could feel their heat, but darkness had become a thing. A creeping, coating, smothering, suffocating thing.
Darkness became so thick that even sound quivered and died.
Were there movements in the dark, or was that a trick of light-starved eyes? The sensation of being watched grew. Although it was silent, the silence whispered.
A chill, not of cold but of fear, brushed by Zebus. The silence broke, and there was a whisper in his ear.
Zeeby-Leeby stood very tall
Zeeby-Leeby had a great fall.
All the god's hope and all the god's preenin'
Couldn't make Zeeby important again.
The presence moved on, unseen but sensed, and returned to Agni. It paused, as if considering this creature. Then, it struck.
Zebus and Fire went to the crater
To this here god, to shove
Death came down to steal his crown
But Agni no one loves
AP
1AP Attack God - Umbra defends Azgo. Yes, with nursery rhymes. They're psychological fear attacks! Not really sure what psychological weakness Zebus might have, but I thought he might be afraid of being useless (after all, he doesn't have a good track record so far of, you not, not dying and not killing the very mortals he's trying to save). For Agni, I was thinking he might be worried that no one loves him. Let me know if you think of better fears for your god's, and I'll be happy to make new nursery rhymes.
2AP remaining
1AP Attack God - Umbra defends Azgo. Yes, with nursery rhymes. They're psychological fear attacks! Not really sure what psychological weakness Zebus might have, but I thought he might be afraid of being useless (after all, he doesn't have a good track record so far of, you not, not dying and not killing the very mortals he's trying to save). For Agni, I was thinking he might be worried that no one loves him. Let me know if you think of better fears for your god's, and I'll be happy to make new nursery rhymes.
2AP remaining
Who says I'm hiding. I have no past, nor future. I am the end point. The first born, and the last dead. Regardless of what may have been in a past life, is now null. We are born anew with new starts and new lives. You seek to ruin that, I seek only to collect what is mine.
Zebus jumps out of the way of Agni's magma. This one is mine I said Agni! Find the speaker, Get the one who messes with our minds, and you will have your vengance!
Then the darkness grew and fell over them all. One has problems with breaking the darkness when it doesn't wish to be broken. I shall wait till you depart, then Azgo and I may continue.
ooc
Zebus is being affected by the fear attack, but with everything else going on, and with him being focused its making it harder to see it visually.
Also you are delaying our epic battle! :P Zebus wont attack if it is uneven odds. Either for or against him.
Zebus is being affected by the fear attack, but with everything else going on, and with him being focused its making it harder to see it visually.
Also you are delaying our epic battle! :P Zebus wont attack if it is uneven odds. Either for or against him.
"I am the endpoint?!"
It was ridiculous. It was no wonder that the Firstborn had been so willing to crush him under heel...
They were drowning in delusion. Malice-tainted bile dribbled down Azgo's lips.
"Do you have no sense of place? The power you are unfit to wield was a gift! You are... replaceable; You are a god Zebus, nothing more. An arrogant, foolish god who deserted the others as swiftly as you deserted me. You strive to salvage purpose- but you know that is something you will never have. Hide from youself, but know that you cannot hide from me!"
What did that fool Zebus think this was? An honorable duel? A challenge for the sake of valor?
NO! Zebus deserved no such thing. He deserved nothing less than to be obliterated and to have his very name scoured from memory. Not even eternal suffering would earn penance. Only destruction.
Azgo could not see aside from the tiny motes of glowing ash in the wind, contrasting feebly the absoluteness of the black. But this was the Godcrater, Azgo's plane, and his manifested will in the stone. Azgo did not need to see. He extended his pain through the area and felt the abomination of Zebus' being. He felt his light steps upon his bursting, scaly back. He felt the frosted kiss of the Reaping Sword as it parted the winds. And he felt the slightest touch of deital corruption on the edges of the gods' essence as The Blood Crowned's sickness cralwed across him.
"And Vengance! What do You know of Vengance, Zebus? Do you know the suffering of the mortals who must toil under imperfection? Do you know the suffering of the First, whose final moments that were to be blessings were instead tears upon MY hands? AND DO YOU KNOW OF MY SUFFERING, THE PAIN I FEEL? THAT I AM?"
Embers spiraled everywhere, adn the wind gathered them into the the skies. The Godcrater glowed red and yellow, and was blanketed in noxious shadow.
"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF LOSS AND ANGUISH! OF GRIEF AND SUFFERING! OF HATE! COME, LET ME TEACH YOU!
Giant stony fists erupted from the ground as if they had waited there for ages. Four of them with taloned fingers interlocked in the air and came crashing down unto Zebus.
Azgo readied himself, and kept vigil into the darkness with blinded eyes. And hatred kept its counsel.
At the corner of his perception, words filtered through to him from that which had attempted to smother him before. Angrily, he turned his attention away from the smoke-being and sent a stream of magma flying towards where the sounds were coming from. The taunt cut off with a startled yelp and the sound of movement beyond the enshouding smoke, and Agni smiled for the briefest of moments before the smoke-being tumbled into him, clamboring all about, trying to get in. Agni coughed and cursed, taken by surprise. The dark being wrapped himself around and around, and Agni felt the tide of battle tipping, the renewed taunts of the dark God dancing through his brain.
~Another Perspective~
Scorch was not yet gone. He had been transformed, but some part of the Agni'Vohda remained, curled up in the corner of his new form's psyche. Usually, his new self ignored the sniveling remnant of what he had once been, but now Scorch roared to the fore.
NO! I will not let you hurt my Lord Agni! The soul-piece shouted, wrestling for control of its horrific body.
~Back to Agni~
Suddenly, the smoke seemed to go slack, and Agni was able to escape again into the less... corporeal smokiness. His enemy turned to follow him, but slower and with less control than it had had just moments ago. Not willing to make the same mistake twice, Agni poured fire into the smoke being and a wail of pain emerged from its midst as the smoke began to burn with a fire not its own.
OOC
Thought, time to Counterstrike!
Pruinus was glad to have the chance to mentor this god, Such a innocent and ignorant god wielding powers such as his was deadly, perhaps she would need to teach him of the position they held in the natural order.
Pruinus then thought she saw humanoid movements on one of the mountain paths. She gently floated down, the blizzards raging around the mountain covering her presence.
She saw the feral, beastly humanoids going about there business and she watched fascinated, for days on end, not even sure if Urru was nearby any longer.
---
1 AP - Expand Culture- The Nix
Pruinus travels around the crown watching the Nix for days on end, taking in and learning about every detail of the Nix's life. The discoveries she makes are as follows:
A note
Show
From now on every post that involves the Nix (And some that don't) will feature an OOC entry about the Nix and their lifestyle and culture. This is a lot easier for me then writing a huge list all at once and better portrays a growing, evolving race. I will spend extra AP to define the Nix's culture if it is of significant importance. All of these entries will be cataloged under the culture section of the Nix wiki page (when I create it)
Joran
I'm confused. You said that Zebus wont attack if the odds are uneven. Yet, there are two gods against two. So... what in the who now? I'm assuming you're taking Azgo's servant into account?
Regarding Umbra, just to give an idea of how I'm viewing things, since I'm mind controlling another god, I'm assuming it's better than a normal exarch but still less powerful than a full god. Also, since as I said previously, my characters are designed to lose, which tips the scales in favor of Zebus and Agni even more. I'd think that with Azgo's exarch, then, that actually would make us even again.
Regarding Umbra, just to give an idea of how I'm viewing things, since I'm mind controlling another god, I'm assuming it's better than a normal exarch but still less powerful than a full god. Also, since as I said previously, my characters are designed to lose, which tips the scales in favor of Zebus and Agni even more. I'd think that with Azgo's exarch, then, that actually would make us even again.
Winter still held the south in its grip. A dense fog had developed along the coast and was making its way inland. There weren't many about. Some rabbits and birds and other creatures, the rare elf or dwarf or human, but all was quiet and still.
Little feet pattered across the sand, then there was the sound of something being thrown into the water. The water whrished for several minutes, but eventually the quiet was restored. Yet, if one listened carefully, one could hear the different timbre in the sound of the ocean. There was something out there, a branch perhaps, that disrupted the waves.
The ocean is unforgiving of entruders. The wood must have become waterlogged, and it eventually sunk.
Time passed, and eventually a sprout appeared out of the ocean, and it grew into a mangrove tree. The tree continued to grow over the years, reaching ever greater heights. No other trees or plants shot off from it. It remained in the southern ocean, ever growing larger, until it was large enough to dwarf even small mountains.
AP
1 Nourish: Create a giant mangrove tree off the southern shore
0 Remaining
1 Nourish: Create a giant mangrove tree off the southern shore
0 Remaining
I know nothing of loss and anguish? Of grief and suffering or hatred? I who was there by their sides as thousands perished. Who was cursed and asked upon as families and loved ones perished. By Your creatures no less! Or how about when I was there and the tears rolled down my face as I gave the command to Agni to purge this world of your abominations.
Striding forward, Zebus draws his sword and splits it into two. I have eyes yet I can not see. My mind plays tricks on me trying to drain my resolve, but my resolve can not be drained. Let us see what can happen when I have no eyes to see with or a mind to trick.
Not finding too difficult to find a blast of Agni's flame fighting that of the godcrater's Zebus walks in. Searing flame and scorching heat rip the flesh and muscle from bone. As Zebus walks out the other side only bones remain. Well, bones covered in flames and skeletal hands clutching the swords.
One does not need eyes to see nor a mind to think.
The flames on Zebus glow white-hot as Zebus flys forward his sword leading the way. Crashing into Azgo, he forces the other god to defend.
Thought
Mind that Zebus didn't know about Umbra. He knew a little about Azgo's exarch from their last encounter, but Zebus still doesn't know about all of the different gods yet. At that point in time, Zebus had just learnt about Umbra and still doesn't know its name. He thought is was still two against 1 right then.
Now that the odds have evened and he is focused, it is time for the main show!
Mind that Zebus didn't know about Umbra. He knew a little about Azgo's exarch from their last encounter, but Zebus still doesn't know about all of the different gods yet. At that point in time, Zebus had just learnt about Umbra and still doesn't know its name. He thought is was still two against 1 right then.
Now that the odds have evened and he is focused, it is time for the main show!
Azgo felt him through the black. How the wind was drawn through the now empty vessel of his skeletal form. Azgo shifted his weight, digging the god-forged boots deep into the stone. He could have dodged. He could have parried. But he did not; the opportunity was much to great to pass up. And so he let Zebus collide into him with all the inevitable force of death's wicked edge. The two gods plummeted through the air and then through the outer wall of Guvarah An. They slid across the floor of the first central room until Azgo was rammed into the main pillar, 100 feet across in diameter. The Reaping Sword impaled through Thereus' armor and pinned Azgo to the inscribed pillar.
Azgo leaned forward and grabbed ahold of Zebus' bony limbs, suffering through fire far more intense that the sun. He was immersed in agony, and a lesser god might have perished there. Azazel/Go'El certainly would have. But Azgo endured, and now his foe was within his grasp.
"No, Zebus. You know nothing. You have seen it. Heard it. But you know nothing of suffering. Is your body a twisted horror, a form forced upon you? Were you betrayed by those whom you expected the best from? ARE YOU ALONE?!"
The gauntlets glowed white, and thick bloody steam whistled through the armored fingers. His hands were blackening. But Azgo tightened his grip, cracking the bones. Azgo poured his illness into Zebus, sending waves of pain along his being.
"Then you know nothing, for you have lost nothing. Empty sympathies and shallow apologies. Artificial tears. They all mean nothing, as ... you mean nothing anymore. You had everything! We had everything! And You are too blinded in delusion to learn anything! No amount of sundered flesh will remove that monsterous affliction. Your eyes may be missing now, but you will always be shrouded in blindness and hidden from the truth. FOR YOU ARE UNABLE TO HANDLE ITS BURDEN!"
The skeletal inferno was adjancent to him now, and now it was Azgo who felt... inevitable. Bringing all of his hands together, he summoned his wrath and cast Zebus across the hall. The god crashed through pillar after pillar before tumbling across the floor, his sword scattered next to him.
Azgo stepped forward, and proptly collapsed to his knees. He let out a cry of agony, one that had only been outdone in his initial descent. His hands clenched his now gushing chest. The wound was deep, and death lingered at the edge of severed godflesh. Entire dead organs were purged from his body through the wound before being regrown by gnarled hearts. Azgo staggered to his feet and felt the diseased winds being torn apart. Zebus, chipped, had charged again with blade raised at The Blood Crowned. And so they clashed once more. For every swift swing of the blade, Azgo brought his armor to bear, to weather its wicked edge as he had weathered existence itself. Sparks flew across the room in showers before being suddenly devoured, and rubbled began to fall from overhead as sections of Guvarah An became unstable. All about the room they manuevered, behind and around pillars and fountains and walls. Steel was scarred by death carnate, and returned its kiss with unfettered wrath.
The battle raged on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Eclipse Aflame assaulted Agni from every side, carving into the Godcrater's skin. And with a hideous moan, every wound burst into a jet that rained sulfuorous, acidic blood unto the battlefield. When bouts of magma were hurled at Ka'Vah, the ground heaved like purposely broken bone into his way to shield him. But Ka'Vah was suddenly slowed, stuggling against... something. The gree-lit smoke swirled and weaved through itslef as soldiers in a campaign.
All around Agni the smoke coalesced and began to take form. These forms were reminiscent of the Angels... no legs to speak of, just a broad base of fire that roared and crackled around a thin upper torso from which long, dextrous arms and hands flickered in and out of existence. The ring of smoke continued to grow, and soon a circle of the beings surrounded Agni.
They began to speak, and in perfect harmony one word was spoken per familiar form.
"Killed? Your Son? At the hands of King Azgo?"
And there was a smoky, wisp-like laughter.
"No. He is salvagable. Unlike you. Perhaps you would be suprised how little he cares for you. How little many care for you..."
"It was a gift, not a trophy. Your son was right to think that he owed you nothing. He understood how many die around you! How imperfection leads only to death. To suffering..."
And while the wisps mocked the god, their thoughts were divided. Some of them disappeared, slaying each other mid word only to be reformed seconds later. And so Ka'Vah commanded the feeble presence within him, hoping to cow him into submission. Tendrils, parasites, of ailing fire began to burn away at Scorch's very essence.
"You! I who I was! BE STILL BEFORE I SNUFF YOU OUT! I AM LORD AND MASTER HERE! STAY SILENT AND DIE, FOR NOTHING IS LEFT TO YOU!"
OOC for Thought and Forgotten
Thought: The erzatz Leafs are both burning to a crisp and NOT burning? That's trippy.
Forgotten: I'd prefer Scorch not to die completely, if possible, but subduing him is perfectly fine.
Thought: The erzatz Leafs are both burning to a crisp and NOT burning? That's trippy.
Forgotten: I'd prefer Scorch not to die completely, if possible, but subduing him is perfectly fine.
"Never fails? Oh, Agni... how you have failed. And how many have you failed?"
But he was correct. Ka"Vah did not understand Agni at all. Azgo would have called him abomination. Zebus had betrayed him out of pride, and Agni out of monsterous callousness. But Ka'Vah... almost agreed with him. He loved the feeling of consuming others, watching them burn alive. He savored their terror, and their agony.
Whether or not he believed it, Ka'Vah continued to speak as Azgo would have wanted him to.
"But no, it has nothing to do with thier like or dislike of you. You would be suprised in how... hollow your efforts are. You work with them, grant their boons, fight their wars, save them and fail to save them, and what does that amount to? They plot against you nonetheless. Plot to weild you like the weapon you denouce yourself to be."
"It is the way of Firstborn, to scheme. Betray. One day they will tire of your presence, and then you will fail for the last time...That is why Azgo fights you. They are always seeking for ways to climb upon the corpses of their fellows for place and power, and as you betrayed Azgo, they will betray you. And even if they are flammable, together they will break all of your contrived purposes."
Ka'Vah was enraged that this... memory dared to stand against him. And even more enraging, was that his strength was too divided to kill him then and there. Ka"Vah, of course, was no diplomat when he was angry.
"Even when your Master does not care for you at all?! He just confessed that your feelings are worthless! AND THE BATTLE? WHERE WAS HE? HOW MANY OF YOUR KIN ARE ALIVE BECAUSE OF AGNI? OR BY MERE CHANCE?! ANOTHER GOD HAD TO SAVE YOUR PEOPLE, YOU SAW IT! NOW DIE CREATURE!"
And so, remaining in the circle, wisps scrambled around themselves aginst the fiery form, weaving the flickering lights of emerald and scarlett into the smoke.Topheh You wound me, good sir! To think that I, the master of hatred and slaughter, would crush something that i find not merely annoying but terribly vexing in terms of righteous progress...is... justified. Hmmmm.... Ona more serious note, I did not plan to kill Scorch... yet. This is much too good of a moment to have him killed off.
"Which means that for the present, I should seek other work, others to heal. Idle hands are... well, you know."
Abruptly, the ten thousand petals began to spiral upwards, and away.
"You strive, overzealousssssss, to affirm yourself, god of remediesssssss. Your fervorsssssss are..." And here, Sa's voice hushed, as it drew out the next word, "Susssssss pici------ ousssssss"
The petals had nearly vanished, and with them, went the voice of Sa. "Be mindful, Seg, of your promisesssssss"
And of course, the implicit statement: Sa would be listening. It wasn't a threat, or at least, it did not seem to be. But it was clear, Sa knew better than to take things at face value - Seg had not convinced the flower god of his good intentions either.
Forgotten
:P I'm glad we agree!
:P I'm glad we agree!
If I am blinded in delusion, then you are blinded in your hate. Allow me the chance to make that permanent.
Zebus swung his sword towards Azgo's head looking to cleave it off only to be stopped by one of his arms shattering the bone inside it.
I know not of what you talk about, and I believe neither do you!
As they battle, Zebus also tries to avoid the falling apart fortress.
The battle rages on.
The Blood Crowned shifted his weight and stance, favoring Zebus' weakened side. A flurry of glowing fists hammered the whole side of his body, widening the cracks in the ageless marrow. And yet he retreated. They were always moving, slipping in and out of the other's reach, feinting and side-stepping, lunging with nothing less than the intent to kill with even the most trivial blow. But Azgo was constantly falling back, deeper into the labyrinthine hallways. With the sleightest gesture, pillars were loosened from their unseen roots and fell one after another. Many missed Zebus entirely, and the few that did hit only grazed his form. But they forced him to move, to be predictable. And Azgo was always waiting on the end with a deathblow.
The Reaping Sword carved jagged scars all across the Azgo's platemail. Bits of armor and clouds of steely dust were cast aside with every blow. The armor appeared as if it had suffered under countless campaigns, and struggled with the maw of a dragon's toothy crunch. But it held. Thereus would have been proud.
From the outside, the dizzing spires of the fortress grew unsteady and with a final curse, toppled into the roiling acids below. The stone bobbled and glided about in the lake before finally sinking beyond sight. The two combatants continued to withdraw into Guvarah An. Towards the throne room.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The question struck him like a sword, biting and bitter. Ka'Vah knew less of himself than he did of Agni. He only knew what he had been told. What he had been made to feel.
"I am the ravages of plauge given life. The bite of sickness' woes given blazing passion. My breath harbors the memory of pyres and the ruins of the temples of Firstborn.I am the ash of all fires. I am... Ka'Vah. Scorched."
"Azgo is of the Firstborn, yes. Youngest of six. Wisest of six. But he... he is not like you. He fights betrayal, fights aginst those who defy the plan. He wants... hope. Peace..."
But Ka'Vah had no such love of peace, nor of grand purpose. To kill was enough. To raze and horrify was enough. The many shadowy, fuming Agni'Vodha fought on with the brightly lit one, and seemed reluctant. The Godcrater shook with rage, but Ka'Vah was thinking.
Seg shook his head as the petals dissipated. What role was there for his master in a world such as this? The gods were so paranoid and destructive on their own. What could his master be but a drop of ill in this ocean of evil.
Sa was the one who had sought him out, asked him question after question, which he reluctantly had answered, yet Seg was supposed to be the suspicious one?
Trust, kindness, goodness... those were the foreign things in this land.
~~~Godcrater~~~
The presence was tired.
It had exerted itself much, more than it had ever before, and a weariness had come over it.
Yet, it was more than his "body" -- not that it had a body -- that was tired. It was his "heart" -- not that he had a heart -- as well.
Azgo should have run. One should never fight when the odds were even, or when they were only slightly in one's favor. Fighting was only appropriate when the conclusion was forgone.
It could appreciate the fact that Azgo was driven mad by hate. But even madness had self-preservation, even hate could wait.
Agni shook off the latest attack on his mind. Both of these gods were surprisingly resilient, given the simplicity of their minds.
Fire lashed out and caught something. Umbra wasn't sure what: it had no body itself, at least, nothing understandable as a body. But the darkness was thick here, thick enough for the Shadows to start to leak through. Perhaps he had grabbed one of those.
It was a surprise when Agni threw the shadow and Umbra felt pain as well. Agni had been so pleased with his victory that the emotion almost pushed Umbra out of his mind.
If he hadn't been so fired, that might not have happened. Agni tried to beat the unseen into submission. Creatures like Umbra couldn't be defeated by brute force.
The pain gave it pause, though.
Umbra's goal had been to buy Azgo time to escape, not to endanger itself in protecting him.
It waited.
You claim that Azgo wishes peace. But peace is meaningless. I do not desire peace, for peace is a fictitious construct made by those too weak to see what the world is truly like. Fire will always burn wood, and destroy it. It is in the nature of fire, and the nature of wood. All things, even Peace, are flammable. Those who deny this reality are not worthy of loyalty.
You are Smoke and you are Ash. You are the remnants of Pyre and the memories of Heat. Ka'Vah, I AM he who burns the Pyre, spreads the Smoke and leaves only Ash. I am not the memory of Heat. I AM Heat itself. Come, work for me, and you will never lack things to burn.
AP
2 AP - Abjure Region - The Vikari settlement and its surrounding region.
3 PP - Denourish - Every last living thing, down to the smallest blade of grass, in and around the Vikari settlement is annihilated, reduced to ashes. No soul remains to go to the afterlife. Given that they had no contact with any outsiders, even their very memory is erased from the world.
3 PP - Denourish - Every last living thing, down to the smallest blade of grass, in and around the Vikari settlement is annihilated, reduced to ashes. No soul remains to go to the afterlife. Given that they had no contact with any outsiders, even their very memory is erased from the world.
Zebus leapt forward barely missing a falling pillar by inches, only to jump into Azgo's waiting hand. Azgo's lower left grabbed Zebus's spine, and his upper right grabbed Zebus's left arm. Azgo ripping Zebus's left arm off, laughed out loud thinking the end was finally in sight, only to have both of his arms sliced off. Zebus jumped back, and lashed out with a tendril of shadow grabbing his missing arm and wrapping it shadow causing it to vanish.
With only one arm, and sword in hand, Zebus rushed forward even faster before. The flames raged about him, forcing Azgo back.
Rumours spread about an organization that had decided to do something about it.
AP
1AP command: An organization is founded to kill the gods.
1AP nourish: that organization increases in its supporters and resources
0AP remaining
1AP command: An organization is founded to kill the gods.
1AP nourish: that organization increases in its supporters and resources
0AP remaining
The smoky battalion looked at Agni. Silent. The gale-strength winds carried off the fringes of smoke far into the distance, along with his doubts.
Ka'Vah was not keen on serving, and yet...
... The figures were still silent.
...
Suddenly all the figures spun together, catching Agni in the eye of a storm, caught ablaze with the flash of viridian lightning. Like the matle of a great cloak, they storm continued to spin until billowing cloud of Ka"Vah was kneeling before Agni. His face was like that of a rippling pool, indistinct but withered.
"As smoke heralds the blaze, I will herald your wrath."
The Godcrater moaned and roared in protest. A new betrayal...
The ground cracked into a great fissure, sundering the mountains and the gorges surrounding the gods from the rest of the plane. Acid welled up from the cracks and surged like a flood towards the gods. And the island that the gods now inhabited began to fall and the stone enclosing the gods as the fist of Azgo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azgo reeled from the blow, letting Zebus follow his exposed guard with a perfect flurry of blows. Pieces of armor and fragments of bone scattered across the rumbling floor and were soon crushed under tons of rubble. Azgo was forced once again to go on the defensive, and retreated whenever he knew a good strike awaited him at the edge of Zebus' reach. Only when Zebus over-reached himself, thinking that Azgo was helpless, did he retaliate. More bones were shattered, and Zebus was left with the knowledge that Azgo was not one to die so easily. The pair of them fled to the very heart of the fortress. Around the last hallways and the last barracks.
And then there was no where left to go. When Zebus charged into the grand, vaulted hallway, he found Azgo at the height of the stairs leading up to a disfigured throne carved with prophecy down to the very inch. Four pillars dressed the rather simple room, one in each cardinal direction. Each depicted a different firstborn struggling under the weight and force of a giant fist, wracked with cysts and wounds.
Azgo did not seem fazed by his wound anymore. His pain was washed aside by his focus. He almost sauntered down the steps, and called out.
"So then, this is where it all ends. At the base of MY throne... You were a fool to come this far Zebus, to walk this far into my very palace. For stone can be rebuilt, but you cannot. You will always be broken, dearest brother."
He savored those last words, how bitter they were. His eyes met Zebus' with a stare that conyed volumes of anger, of injustice, of animosity. It was a haunting gaze, one so convinced of the truth that reality almost warped about it.
Blood of many filthy, unclean shades flowed into the room, building and bubbling up like a wellspring. A current ran about the room, faster and faster in the rumbling until a vast whirlpool began to pull away at the stonework. Each Firstborn Statue opened gargoyle eyes and slid out from under the pillar's hand.
The statue of Agni floated in midair. Streams of acid poured out from the mask, and vivid memories of his betrayal shown in the acid's reflection. Pruinus was covered from head to toe in cracks and rough, stony abrasions. She looked painfuly at Zebus, holding severed wings in her hands. Leaf was nearly swimming in the bloodtide, but at his gesture a host of familiar angels rose up from the pool, holding their hands to their faces and muffling their accusations. And the last statue of Zebus looked on with untold pride. The wounds of angel blades were covering it, and the statue leaked blood from its side.
"Come Zebus, and let us be done with your transgressions."
The statues charged into battle, and Azgo marched in, enraptured in all of his malevolent glory.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------OOC
Terrribly sorry, but i was hoping to expand on the following actions tonight. I ran out of time. I will hop on with some discriptions tomorrow. So untill then...
Populate Populace (3AP): Oni. Roaming packs of starving humans begin to feed on craterspawn ashes, which corrupts their very flesh and desires.
Command Populace (2AP): Many cults dedicated to the One who sent the legions begin to arise, promising salvation from the next attack. Azgo does not know of them nor guide them...yet. They are becoming powerful.
AP Remaining:0
5 AP for All.
Map: BEHOLD!
Story: In Outline Form!
Zebus and Agni travel to the GodCrater and begin to fight Azgo, Altruis and Ka'Vah. Azgo and Zebus split off to fight one another as Altruis and Ka'Vah both attempt to stop Agni. Agni wonders at the mental health of Azgo and attempts to steal Ka'Vah from his services.
Veros splits off the redwood forests from time, causing it to exist in both a destroyed and living state. He also moves some humans there.
The Nix retreat into the Crown and begin to rebuild there after their devastation at Agni's hand. Throughout the world, an anti-Gods cult begins to emerge, angry at the... really bad timing that the Firstborn had.
A new form of... divine... not-magic emerges from those humans saved by Veros. Deception magic to quite literally force things to exist that are not true. They are the Vikari. Long-term practice of this magic leads to fractures in the background reality of the world.
Pruinus brings forth a deep winter to put out the flames that Agni spread over the world, driving the Agni'Vohda into the depths of the Eternal Volcano and into retirement. The flames die out, and Winter Berries to sustain mortals and allow them to thrive in winter spread throughout the world.
Leaf/BB forms itself into a great storm that sweeps over the world, bringing rain to the world, helping to heal the wounded planet.
Seg and Sa continue to converse. Eventually, Sa finds Seg's repeated repetitions that he is God of Healing to be suspicious.
The Agni'Vohda develop a hatred of Pruinus and her minions.
The refugees from Sil Arkoth migrate to the surface
Azer emerge from the lava pit that was Sil Arkoth.
A massive Mangrove tree appears in the southern ocean.
The elves recover the far northern sun.
Veros nukes the entire Vikari people in a fit of pique, and ensures that no other God may interact with it until the destruction is finished.
Ka'Vah betrays Azgo and joins Agni.
Zebus and Azgo begin to fight in Azgo's throne room.
Several groups of Nix gathered on the mountainside pass that the Stoneguard claim so famously protected. Despite the zealous protection that the Stoneguards gave to the land, they made friendly enough hosts to the groups of Nix gathered in the huts and caverns that the clan called home. They were given shelter in the clans peoples very home until the night, in which a glorious banquet was held in the village centre, almost all of the food was meat, both cooked and raw. They were served food and drink until their stomachs could hold no more. Even the ravenous kinds such as the Ursidae Nix had their appetities filled by the banquet offered to them by the Stoneguards.
After the feast had finished, the many clans of Nix made their way to a large cavern. They took in the details of the stony walls silently but in awe, chalk drawings on the walls telling the events of what happened when the Nix fought alongside the other races, all so long ago. The chalk drawings showed images of fire raining down upon the Nix as they fled in terror. They all knew the gathering was held in this room to remind them of past tragedies and the importance of what they might do today. For some, these images frightened the Nix and instilled fear in their hearts, others felt rage build up inside them and the urge to march back upon the outside world fierce and proud. The Nix stood silent, gathered around fires, not for warmth but for light.
A wise old Sphen stood at the back of the cavern, stood on a large rock above his fellow kind. He was of the Stoneguard clan and he knew the most of the fires that that scarred the race back then; he was the last Nix alive who was there when it happened. His body had pathces were fur could no longer grew, burned tissue showing below. He began to speak, and the council would began. Today in this very cavern, they would decide whether the Nix shall return to the outside world.
---
Pruinus was so caught up in watching the Nix that she forgot all else, forgetting all about Azgo, Alturius and the other threats to the world. She forgot that Winter had raged on for far too long. A life of watching the Nix was all she had right now, and all she desired. Forgetting her godly duties, she had not a care in the world.
Nix Origin Names
Every different species of Nix can be refered to its animal name in casual conversation without being offended. For example, you would refer to a Bear Nix as a "Bear Nix" however, in professional contexts and certain rituals and ceremonies (As well as other important events) all nix species have "Origin" name which they are to be referred to in certain contexts that demand respect. The names are as listed below:
Bear Nix = Ursidae Nix
Wolf Nix = Canis Nix
Fox Nix = Vulpes Nix
Penguin Nix = Sphen Nix
Leopard Nix = Uncia Nix
Deer/Stag Nix = Cervi Nix
Nix Naming conventions
A Nix's first name is given to it by its parents and they are free to choose any name they wish. Nix names can be very harsh-sounding to members of the other races. A list of common Nix names can be seen below.
Varkas, Veesha, Renegar, Skar, Gashak, Raksha, Resha, Venok, Skhan, Tauro, Drakos, Drakar, Vaith,
All the names listed are unisex as most names are considered acceptable on members of both sexes. However, it is more common for the less fearsome Nix races (Fox, Penguin, Deer) to have the less harsh sounding names.
A Nix second name is given to them around their 15th Birthday (Equivalent to a humans 12th Birthday). The Nix's second name is given to them by their entire clan as they choose a name appropriate to the individual. The Nix's second name always has one of the words that makes up the clan name and is combined with other words to bestow the individual with a name that fits their personality or abilities/talents.
For example, A strong axe wielding warrior of the Proudheart clan might have a second name such as ProudAxe, Proudcleave, Heartcut ETC
Or a young Nix capable of talking to Primal spirits from the Everflame clan might have a second name such as Wiseflame, Evermind, Evertongue ETC
Nix and the Outside World
The Nix deeply remember how they were born into war and marched proudly from their home to fight the abominations of the world. They remember how their efforts were rewarded with death and destruction as fire rained down upon them. As such, almost the entirety of the race lives inside The Crown and fears the outside world. They also detest war and vow to avoid combat when necessary.
---
1 AP - Develop Culture
The Nix are deeply scarred and traumatized by the actions caused by Agni when he rained fire down upon them. Almost all Nix harbour negative feelings towards Agni, his creations and his followers. Some Nix fear them, others hate them, most a combination of both.
4 AP left.
Driving forward, Zebus draws his sword splitting it again in to two. Focusing on the statues, he seems to fly right through them right out the other side. Merging the sword back together, the statues fall apart. They don't seem to be made very well. You might want to try getting a better smith on that!
Zebus advances upon Azgo once again. This time he seems not as fast as he once was. Not tiring, but the expenditure of power is starting to get him as much as the wounds are getting Azgo.
They continued to fight for what seemed to be ages, neither giving much ground until Azgo's back was against his throne. Azgo fervently fought back starting a counterattack.
You are right it is time to end this, but it isn't me that falls today!
Zebus draws back his sword, and with a mighty thrust, pushed Azgo all the way back onto his throne impaling him to it. The sword freezing over Azgo's chest froze him to his own throne trapping him there.
I might not be able to destroy you yet, but some one will, then you will be mine also! For now enjoy your new home!
Zebus shed his armor of flame as Azgo roared and struggled against the sword and frost. Zebus's body returning to his normal fleshy self except for the arm that was severed off, and left the palace of Azgo.
Outside Zebus found Agni with a new apprentice. Unless you wish to join him in his new prison, you should leave now.
The air around him starts to glow violently. Soon the shimmer surrounds the entire godcrater and all of its denizens. Azgo, for your blatant attacks against the gods, for the destruction of the other races, I cast you and yours out from this plane! May all that share your hatred and wrath of destruction follow you into your abyss! May hate and evil be cast out from this land, so that balance can be restored once more!
Suddenly as the god of death's curse fell upon the land the godcrater was enveloped into a shining light turning night into day. As the light faded in the night sky, the godcrater was no longer. Reappearing, it was no longer apart of the mortal plane attached only through carefully crafted magic portals made by the mortals that shared Azgo's wrath.
Moving over to the side of where the crater was, he collapsed completely drained of energy.
AP
2AP Create greater plane: The godcrater is turned into an abyssal plane. A plane of evil thriving on Azgo's wrath and hatred.
2AP command: due to the destruction and erasure of the surrounding land as it got turned into a greater plane it filled up with water and turned into a sea.
1AP Command: All souls that share similar traits as Azgo are now to go to the godcrater/abyssal plane. All others will be judged whether they can be redeemed or not. Those that can be will go to the great beyond, those that can not will go to godcrater/abyssal plane.
2AP Create greater plane: The godcrater is turned into an abyssal plane. A plane of evil thriving on Azgo's wrath and hatred.
2AP command: due to the destruction and erasure of the surrounding land as it got turned into a greater plane it filled up with water and turned into a sea.
1AP Command: All souls that share similar traits as Azgo are now to go to the godcrater/abyssal plane. All others will be judged whether they can be redeemed or not. Those that can be will go to the great beyond, those that can not will go to godcrater/abyssal plane.
Could it have prevented this? Even it wasn't sure. Zebus had created a pale reflection of Umbra's power, but the two had not been tested. The presence disliked tests unless it was sure it would win.
It was fortunate, then, that Umbra no longer had need for the bit of god flesh. It had examined the arm, understood the whole from the part, distilled that knowledge, and extracted a fragement of the power it represented.
That took the form of a tiny seed. It assumed Umbra that the god of death would himself be a subject of life. All things lived, but not everything would have to die, or so the master promised.
That mote of information would be quite useful, in the right hands. Not that the master had hands....
Umbra slipped between the worlds.
~~~The Crown~~~
Onus stood.
He was ill. He should seek help, but he was ill. He couldn't think, couldn't move. Ever since the battle with the god mountain, there had been a pain in his body. Yet he had ignored it. Now the pain was growing, spreading, and he could not move.
His eyes still functioned, after a fashion. Along the crevices of his mountainous form, he could see rivers of dark mud growing, creeping up him. They hardened to a normal color when the sun hit them, but Onus could still feel them. He could feel them to his very roots.
A presence inside his mind pushed, and the living mountain yawned. His mind went to sleep, but in the sleep he dreamed and did many strange things.
AP
1AP Command: Onus. Crimson had pointed out to me that in the battle between him and TASOE, he had part of evil infect him. Since Crimson said he couldn't play anymore, I thought mind-controling this god would be useful, at least until Crimson decides to come back. As with Umbra, it's a free action for Crimson to free Onus.
4AP remaining
1AP Command: Onus. Crimson had pointed out to me that in the battle between him and TASOE, he had part of evil infect him. Since Crimson said he couldn't play anymore, I thought mind-controling this god would be useful, at least until Crimson decides to come back. As with Umbra, it's a free action for Crimson to free Onus.
4AP remaining
How long had this winter raged on?
She gently hovered up and saw the planet dotted with white, all sign of heat gone.
Holding her arms forward and facing her palms upwards, she curled with fingers back to her in a beckoning gesture. All the coldness in the world seemed to obey her, snow and hail redirecting its route back to her, frigid winds spirraling around as all the cold in the world seemed to drain away.
Once again, Winter had passed.
The storms raged on, and just as the erradic behavior had begun, it stopped. What happened next was far from happenstance. A rod of blinding light cracked the darkened skies, and a single amorphous cloud fell from the rolling storm and plummeted down to the earth below. Upon impact with the earth, the cloudy form spilled forth its watery remains and littered the ground with soaking mud. The heavens continued to roll south, releasing a lighter stream of showers and returning to their natural state.
The muddy earth began to change rapidly, following suit of the light mist that fell from the subtle storm above. The mist coalesced into a small, amorphous cloud that soon took a familiar shape-- a shape that resembled a common humanoid. This being was no ordinary humaniod, however. The misty form was mostly transparent and didn't hold itself together fairly well-- a slight breeze easily spread its essence away, but soon came back and molded with the form once again. The being turned its head whichever way, attempting to figure out where it was and what to do next.
It did not know where it was. It did not know where to go. It knew it was alone. It knew it was afraid. It had to move from the muddy hillside quickly to escape and protect itself from the howling winds below.
Climbing up the soaking hillside, it came across a strange divot in the earth-- some few hundred yards away from where it landed. It realized that this space should do, and so it hid itself underneath the cover of the dry stone as it watched the storm rage around it-- collecting more water as it fell from the skies above.
At first he struggled, chipping the ice and sending fractures all along its form. He screamed and bellowed in fury and never took his eyes off of Zebus. But as larger and larger sections of the fortress fell around him, a slow smile sprouted across his hideous flesh. Looking now, it was as if it has always been there, so set were the wrinkles and the glorious glint in his eyes. He had been eerily close. A hairsbreadth away.
Two gods had entered his realm... twice. And both had failed to destroy him. This was a great victory, for the Firstborn were indeed...
Frail.
"And so now you learn, Zebus."
The smile was consumed with a blood-curdling roar. His jaws unhinged, flesh strained and snapped, and as cysts burst from the pressure a cocktail of blood and pus flowed from within his mouth. It would be an image that might haunt Zebus for centuries.
"I. CANNOT. BE. KILLED. BY. YOU."
"FLEE LITTLE GOD! FLEE AND KNOW THAT ONE DAY YOU WILL HAVE NO WHERE LEFT TO GO! JUSTICE IS INEVITABLE! I AM INEVITABLE!"
And then Zebus was gone. The palace rumbled and shook. Spires tumbled and fell. Fountains overflowed.
Azgo lowered his heads and waited, in perfect slumber. And a blanket of rubble enclosed about him. A tomb.
There was a bright flash of light, and then the Godcrater had vanished from where it had been. Hurtling through the tainted abyssal air, the island crashed into the new plane-spanning sea.
Upon impact, the giant earthmote split apart into a wide archipelago. Large portions of rock are scattered along with the ruins of the great Guvarah An. Sections of walls, broken towers, and half-furnished halls dott the sunken, craggy islands at random intervals. Admist all the wreckage and from even the very tip of the island chains, the tallest tower of Guvarah An can be seen, keeping vigil. For a time, there was peace.
For a time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Large swaths of feilds had been torn down to the very roots. From village to village and between ruinous citys of forgotten ages, thousands of acres of farmland was no longer good for anything other than a grave. Entire histories of agriculture had been lost in the purge of civilization. Only the elderly spoke of bountiful harvests, something that was now seemed a harsh delirium. To sleep with a full stomach was enough of a dream in itself. And many animal herds had been slaughtered by the worn, desperate blades of soldiers on the march.
Food was a scarcity.
Many died in competition with each other. But most adapted, and numbers naturally thinned.
Some refused to lie down and die. Small clans of humans and dwarves scavenged amongst the long dead forests and hills. They hiked miles under the sun's glare, and when they could walk no longer, others carried them. It was a brutal life... But it was life! They would give it up for no reason. Which is why many of the clans, under dire pressure, fell upon the old battlefeilds with the abandon of an unprotected feast. They shoveled handfuls of craterspawn ash into their mouths, and broke knees for seconds. The transformation took weeks as the tribes gorged themselves, first on the ash, then upon each other.
They became monsters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They wandered around into refugee camps, frail towns founded on lost ideals, and temples to the old gods that were now only shelter for a bitter people.
Draped in tattered furs, the emmisaries were unassuming but confident. They were quiet but held an air of magnetism. Theirs was a simple message whispered in the ear.
"The gods abandoned us. Left us. But there is one who is left. One who still watches the world. Come with us, worship."
They were sometimes chased out of town, for the very idea of worshipping whoever sent the "Spawn" was sick. But silence and hardship were brutal companions, and when the priests retreated, a few always followed them out from the camps and into the wilds. Each cult was individual, independent from the others. But they all prayed to the Lord of the Craterspawn. The echoes of praises drifted through the ether.
OOC
Clarifications:
The Oni are created from the starving human clans. They have become tainted with bottomless sickness that manifests itself in strong, wild desire. They are clever, stong, and large creatures that are dominated by greed, gluttony, lust, and a desire for lavish lifestyles. They can shapeshift to appear as humans or dwarves.
The Oni are created from the starving human clans. They have become tainted with bottomless sickness that manifests itself in strong, wild desire. They are clever, stong, and large creatures that are dominated by greed, gluttony, lust, and a desire for lavish lifestyles. They can shapeshift to appear as humans or dwarves.
In retrospect, perhaps Sa had been projecting onto the other god. He seemed wholly fulfilled. Seg knew what a Seg was, even if he would not speak plain with Sa.
What did Sa have? Promises. Weak promises of uncaring mortals. They made no promises to Sa. Sa had to steal them, eavesdrop. Their promises lacked foresight, vision. They were made in haste, and were fleeting.
Had Sa a body, it would have stopped short.
Here. There was something here. Sa felt around the space, high above the barren wastes. It was empty. But it was filled with something all the same.
It was a promise.
A promise of what once was, and of what could be. A promise of vengeance against what should have been, but was not. There were echos too, of the promise that had brought Sa here, the promise of an invitation, the promise of an entire world, unsuspecting, ripe, and heavy with differences.
Sa drew back as it gathered its power, hesitating. What did it mean, to fulfill the promise of the world? Sa saw shining nations of peoples, united in harmony; Sa saw death, and doom, and despair beyond fiersome pyres of fires; Sa saw a broken god made whole atop a broken god split in twain.
It was a new thing, to look on the promises of the world. Sa concluded this was a good perspective to have.
AP Expenditure
-2 AP Claim Domain: Prophecy. Prophecies are not always right, but they are always possible, a flicker of a promised future.
3/5
Silent as a ghost, he advanced silently towards the massive beast, readying his twin blades to deliver two devastating cuts. Closer and closer he crept, until he could smell the the beasts poor victims on its breath. The Hunter wasn't exactly what you would call tall, standing at just five feet tall and the beast stood at what seemed the exact same height as him. Both the hunter and the dire wolf were pure white in colour, blending seamlessly into the snowy forest.
The soft crunch of snow beneath his feet sounded a marching band in his own mind, and an explosion echoed through the forest as his foot placed itself upon a fallen twig.
The beasts head darted towards it, the two creatures eyes met for a few seconds. The beasts mouth slowly formed into a malevolent snarl, darting forward with long, sharp fangs bared at its new prey. With careful timing, the hunter sidestepped the lunge, arcing the blade in his right hand towards the beast. The beast let out a yelp as a small spray of blood coloured the snow. The hunter turned hoping to see the beast defeated, but was not surprised to see the beast more angry and determined. The dire wolf now circled towards him more carefully and the hunter did the same. Without any warning or indication, the beast made another lunge and the hunter found his arm lodged within the beasts fangs, dropping the blade in pain as the fangs pierced the flesh on his right arm. Shifting his weight to that side and tackling the wolf into a boulder, he managed to free himself from its grasp, but was in terrible pain.
He was more skilled in his right hand, and now at a severe disadvantage. The Wolf scrambled back to its feet and stood the higher ground, savagely leaping towards him with saliva dripping from its mouth. With less then a second to react, he dropped to the ground to dodge the beasts lunge. Before he could get back upto his feet, he felt a claw press down on his left arm and the blade fall from his grasp. The Beasts fangs were now snapping at his throat and all he could do was lunge and try to push the beast back feebly with his feet under its stomach, but to no avail. The beast far outweighed him and he couldn't budge it an inch, and its with every attempt its fangs got that much closer to his exposed throat, the warm breath stank of torn flesh. He struggled with his right hand to reach into the pockets of his breeches and pull out one of the carving knives.
Managing to slip his hand in the pocket and retrieve the carving knive, he jerked his hand back upwards, the knife tearing through his clothing as he did. He gulped.
He had to do it or he would die. It was kill or be killed.
Without any delay, he jammed the point of the knife into the wolfs right eye, the beasts painful yelp mixing with a sickening crunch tormenting the hunter as he twisted the knife around, white puss and crimson blood trickling down from the eye socket. As he twisted the knife, the beast fall off of him and stumbled around, letting out a whimpering, pained howl.
He approached it once more, grabbing it. It struggled in his arms, flailing wildly until it simply seemed to give in. Lowering his head, he whispered to the beast.
"I-I'm sorry..."
His blade quickly slashed through the beasts throat, spraying blood on the pure white floor of the forest. He held the beast as its feet kicked in its last death throes, shushing it to sleep as it did. When he sensed all the beasts life signs cease, he began to sob quietly.
No.... You can't feel this... remorse... this weakness.
He felt the churning feeling in his stomach that often called after he made a kill. He willed himself not to do it, but knew he had no control as he felt to the ground on his knees and fell forward again, propping himself up with one arm as he began to vomit violently on the ground.
He repeated this process three more times, sobbing all the while before gaining his composure. He was disappointed with himself. He'd never be able to return to his homeland if he couldn't hunt like a true Nix. He couldn't be weak. He had to forget the way of life his human adopters had taught him.
Sighing to himself, he began to tear the knife through the beats thick, muscular neck. He severed the head from the beast and begin to walk home with it in his arms. He was in a lot of pain and didn't care to take the swords. He could get another forged. He wondered what his next hunt would be, and if it would kill him. They said the forests of the crown were teaming with dire wolves and more ferocious beasts, he'd have to carry on fighting and get stronger, or Timmy Bushytail would be torn apart in his homeland.
He looks around to see who, if anyone has joined him.
OOC
Really sorry about my absence this week. Unfortunately, with my computer problems, it looks like it will be continuing for at least part of next week...
They took only what they could carry, and even then, lightly. Their buildings metled in the new season, and so they left little behind as they went.
---Southern Shore---
Humans, ever curious, backtracked the elves, to see what they had left.
One band, barely more than a few families, went all the way to the southern shore. All they found were some spoiling food, furs that were ill suited to the warme climb, some bone weapons, and a giant mangrove tree rising out of the waters.
This last thing they were most curious about. The problem was, however, a matter of reaching it.
It was a little girl who solved the problem. She saw one of the tree's leaves floating on the waves. If a leaf might float, why not something else?
The people went about gathering many leaves and, carefully, sewed them together into a giant raft, which, though weak, was strong enough to send a few people over.
These investigated the mountainous tree and found it a delightful place. Further, given the difficulty of reaching it, perhaps here they would be safe. So the tribe relocated, and flourish in the tree's boughs. Over the years, their bodies became better adapted to their new life. Shorter of stature, but nimble, agile, and with dexterous feet, the better to climb with. All this, because a little girl saw a leaf floating on the waves.
AP
1AP Command: Teach this southern group how to make boats and the basics of sailing.
1AP nourish: The mangrove tree supports a diverse environment suitable for longterm habitation.
3AP popluate: Halflings. Turn this group of southern humans into halflings.
0AP remaining
1AP Command: Teach this southern group how to make boats and the basics of sailing.
1AP nourish: The mangrove tree supports a diverse environment suitable for longterm habitation.
3AP popluate: Halflings. Turn this group of southern humans into halflings.
0AP remaining
The clouds parted, and then he saw them. A large group of dwarves trekking across the roads. His eyes narrowed, and with the learned grace of ages plumetted upon them, his wings furling close to his scarred body.
With a bellow of challenge, the veteran dragon landed in front of the dwarves. He leaned back unto his rear legs and spread his iron-hard wings in front of the sun, casting a draconian shadow across the refugees. He eyed them with both disgust and... curiosity. These were definitely the hairiest craterspawn he had ever met, and the shortest. But that only meant they would be easier to purge.
"Prepare yourselves for death, foul children of Azgo! No longer shall you pollute this place, for the wrath of Cantorix is laid upon you!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azgo slept, resting as his skin froze upon his warm blood.
And as he slept, he dreamed. His eyes rolled back into their sockets and he dreamt of the world. The world had been wounded, and it had been a deep wound indeed. But people were once again gathering, building.
And... worshipping?!
The very thought darkened his dreams with curtains of bile. After all that they had been through, how dare they praise Firstborn names! How dare they!
...
And then he heard it, warped whispers that took the dancing forms of slaughtered angels in his mind. Praises... of Firstborn? No, no. Was it... him? Had they recanted the old ways?
With every word of blessing and invocation, stories of the world filled The Fused God's mind. Ashen forests, clawed bramble fields, rolling deserts, and broken mountains. Even as Azgo stirred, the thoughts remained.
And Azgo, still caught in the darkness between slumber and awakening, cast out a an answer. It stopped at the edge of the abyssal prison, and then rode upon the ethereal river of words that spilled through the cracks.
AP
3AP create exarch: Zizu, the third godbeast. When it hatches, it will be a monsterous bird, taller than a mountain, and particularly suited for countering Zebus.
0Ap remaining
3AP create exarch: Zizu, the third godbeast. When it hatches, it will be a monsterous bird, taller than a mountain, and particularly suited for countering Zebus.
0Ap remaining
No idea if Shadow or Joran decided on more AP, so I'll just assume 5 AP for everyone.
Map
No clue when I'll have this done. Will be after I get my computer back from being repaired, which should take the better part of this week at best.
Story
Ditto, although I might be able to get this done faster as it doesn't require a program that only exists on that computer!
They were one of many cults huddled on the frontiers, away from prying eyes. And after news of a few cults being slaughtered by god-haters and Firstborn worshippers alike, stealth was equal parts neccessity and virtue to them. Ragtag was an apt description of them. For dwarves devastated by their homeland's loss, gelab duhr left cold in the absence of Onus, exiles and outcasts of the evlen kin, and humans from many lands were gathered here in the antechamber. Torches, held in rusting brackets, lined the walls and a large brazier of dying coals sprinkled with supposedly holy powder stood at the front.
Their worship was just as varied and chaotic as their makeup. They chanted in elder tounges, danced in wild insaine patterns of flailing arms and eyes, raved with fiery speeches of events they did not know, and some with dagger in hand blinded themselves. They would start the night quiet and sincere, but as the moon climbed ever higher into the black maw of the night, the cult worked itself into a frenzy of passion and self-injury only to at last fall into a lethargic stupor. Many believed. A few were fanatical, and some were here simply to be different from the godless masses and to find a reason to celebrate once more. Almost all the cults were cut from the same cloth. Wild almost to savagry, zealous almost into mindless obsession, and content with ignorance in what they spoke of.
It was a night like the many before it, and as the energy of the atmosphere became charged to the point of lightning, the moon climbed to its zenith. The raving chant of the jibbering masses was sung from the very depths of their chests. And then, suddenly, something happened that had not happened ever before.
The wild chant was pierced and suddenly consumed by an awful scream that shook the outpost. The torches flickered, and went out. Many of the cultists fell to their knees, entirely unsure of anything around them. The dull horror of a nighmare given reality...
The ash in the brazier was blown into the air and a new, almost dense fire flowed between the cinders akin to roiling flesh. And something seeped out from the fiery, fleshy form to flow and then sizzle in the embers below. Was it... blood?!
"For long have i heard your praises and prayers. For ages I have watched the world fight and bleed and at last stuggle in its death throes. You have called upon me, but know nothing of my name. You have asked for mercy, but you know nothing of my anger. You seek only life, but not its purpose nor its future! Life for its own sake is worthless!!"
"But you were right to seek me, to worship me..."
There was a lengthy pause as the dreaming, blind eyes of Azgo saw into the depths of each cultist. The ash cloud grew and enveloped the room, and the voice that followed seemed not adressed to the crowd but to the individual.
"You have asked for a place far from here, far from the whip and the sword of the godless and the fools. A new begining. If you would serve me and right that which is wrong, go South. There is a giant tree of many twisting roots like the gnarled, grasping fingers of the tyrant god. At this tree the secrets of sea and the future are one. Learn of these secrets, and then swim across the sea until the horizon itslef comes to its edge. There is your begining, but the fools will follow you one day. To those i deem worthy, truth will be carved upon their souls and they will teach you of betrayal and prophesy. Obey them, and obey me. For there is a war to be waged, and we must be ready. Know that I, Azgo The Blood Crowned, Sire of The First Truth, will be watching."
And then the ashen flesh was gone, and the cultists were left in a felling reeking of both unbridled fear and awe. After days of numb waiting, they packed their things and began their exodus. And in a way, they scorned the crowds and villages they passed, for they were not abandoned.
And this small figure, in a multitude of forms, flared into existence to half of the cults all across the continent. The other half were commanded to strengthen their numbers, and in equal measure to infest wilderness and the underbelly of civilization. The cults grew strong. They were no longer frail.
And in the dream of Azgo, rock rose from the very bed of the ocean's darkness and into the light.
OOC
Command Land (?AP): A new continent(s) rise out from the ocean to the west of the main continent. The land is a collection of three very large islands together and dozens/possibly hundreds of smaller islands both between and around them. Something akin to two Australia's surrounded by a few Hawaii-s and Florida Keys. I Have no idea how much AP this costs. 3-5 I assume?
Also, there's a brand new contenient island chain to explore, populate, investigate, nurture and shape! Do something!
AP Remaining: ?
Also, there's a brand new contenient island chain to explore, populate, investigate, nurture and shape! Do something!
AP Remaining: ?
The dwarves quailed and dove for cover as the mighty dragon (the largest being they had ever seen) landed in front of them, shouting at them with a booming voice that knocked hats from heads and toppled one particularly top-heavy cart, to which one dwarf, who had been warning that it was quite topheavy and might fall over at any moment, gave a brief triumphant smirk to one of his detractors before remembering that it had been a dragon to topple the cart and growing scared again.
But one small dwarven boy, little older than five, had not run. In the strange and curiously fearless manner of children, it gazed upwards into the eyes of Cantorix.
"What's an Azgo?" The boy asked.
~Sil Arkosh~
The Pit of Magma that had once been the great dwarven city of Sil Arkosh was once more a hub of busy activity as new structures were being carved out of the walls. A new city was emerging, one with canals of liquid fire that poured into the walls of every home, keeping the entire city the blistering-hot temperature that the Azer preferred. Sil Arkosh prospered.
1 AP: Command Land: The Azer carve out a magma-powered city (named Sil Arkosh) next to where the old Sil Arkosh (now covered in said magma) used to be
4 AP remains
Cantorix loomed over the boy, and brought his rugged, toothy mouth close to the boy. His eyes looked all over the boy, spending most of the time looking for hidden wings. He snorted, blowing the ragged clothes as if in a strong headwind. The air smelled faintly of sizzling chemicals.
"How do you speak, craterspawn?! What foul ritual has the Wounded God performed upon you to make you capable of lies? And why do you crawl when you can fly? And where are your masks of bone? Answer me?!"
Cantorix was so bewildered that he never considered the idea that asking an enemy to explain its plans and strengths was not so reliable. And if they did not answer, they would soon be dead, and this day not more than the strangest dream of tomorrow.
"I know I don't talk so good yet." He muttered. "You don't have to rub it in." Memories of being teased by his older siblings, all burned in the flames that had consumed Sil Arkosh, rang through his mind in a taunting chorus.
The child remembered his toy masks, that he and his friends would wear as they ran through the deep darkness of the underground tunnels. They had been specially designed to protect their faces from damage if they stumbled in the dark. He had lost all of them... along with his friends. All gone. All burned...
And the boy burst into tears.
Cantorix tilted his head, his massive tail sweeping behind him. A tree caught the brunt of the blow, and snapped like an angel bone.
"Rub? I am interrogating you, monsterous killer, not 'rubbing' you! And why do you bleed from your face? Does your chin-wing pull at your head? If you think I am intimidated, I cannot be cowed by such petty displays! And more than that, you have not answered any of my questions!"
"Ahh... Err... I am not bleeding, My chin-wing? I think you mean my beard. It does not tug on my face, but it does itch. And, ahh.... I can't fly, and I lost my mask. I think thats all. Anything... else?"
The boy turned bright eyes up towads the dragon.
High up above, Morenth, a great red dragon, noticed that far below a group of humanoids were being intimidated by... a dragon of another color??? She had never seen such a thing. She turned in mid-air and began a dive towards the surface.
"Yes, you bled from your eyes! I saw it! Only dragons cry... not that we to... or are weak enough to..."
Cantorix's body relaxed. Finally! This chin-wing-beard boy was answering his questions. Hopefully he would understand more about Azgo's newest creations and his plans for them before he succumbed to the wrath that stirred in his blood. Discipline, Cantorix, discipline.
"My kin have told me that the foul realm of Azgo no longer floats across the western sea. The Wounded has moved his palace somewhere else. Where is it, flightless spawn?! From what sea or pit did you crawl out of?"
And then he heard something, a whistle in the air. The dragon's claws reached out and grabbed the small dwarf defensively and hid him under his wings. That thing would not be killed until he allowed it. His neck craned towards the sky.
"Let the little one go and tell me what manner of Dragon you are." She hissed.
Just as it came up the hill, it ran down the slope towards the waterfront. It stepped on a large boulder portruding from the surface and lept off of the tip and towards the sea. The air swirling around it turned it into a faint haze as it came closer to the waves. Once it touched the surface of the sea, the water behind came crashing down like the rainstorms and reconstructed itself beneath the water.
It felt at home once again. No longer did it need the sustaining storms that floated above the lands. There was more than enough sustenance for the being to hold itself together. This presented a posing problem for it, though. It realized that it could not leave the seas, otherwise it would become weak again as it did moments ago. It poked its head out of the water and took one long look at the shoreline. There were other places to be seen, yet it had so much to do. It needed to explore the inner landscape, but it was restricted due to its innate disadvantage of requiring a source of sustenance.
It contemplated , trying to figure out a way around that issue. It gave one hard look at the shoreline, then at the landscape, and then looked up the skies. It noticed that the clouds weren't just restricted to moving in one direction-- they had moved in whichever way the winds were. It took some time to figure out an astute plan, and then went underneath the waves. Its essence glowed brighter and parts of it flung out from its body and formed a small spherical ball of bright light. The murky water made the light dim, but it could still be seen.
The ball transformed once it reached a turning point-- small tentacles of light fanned out from either side of the source and started to grow even smaller tentacle-like portrusions from one side of the large portrusions. The source then expanded and it soon became covered in more portrusions that lined its body with a sheen coating. The portrusions flatten against the new body and a long, triangular nose stuck out of the face of the body. Large eyes grew from behind the new being's maw and had grown long legs with hooked toes. Its legs were covered with portrusions that looked like flat plates.
It was happy out the other being's creation, and swam right up to the being. It smiled and took one hand up to the being's head. As if it knew of the other being's existence, the creature brought its head to the being's hand. It brushed its hand against the creature's body, its soft skin soaking in and spitting out water as the new being filled itself with new life. It wobbled around the waves, trying to get a sense of its orientation. The being held on and comforted the giant-winged creature.
It opened its mouth, but it wasn't able to produce sounds. Bubbles emerged and covered its face. It smiled at its own silliness and soon mounted on the giant winged creature. The creature first flapped its long wings through the water-- its first attempt to move had failed, but then it flattened its wings even more. The second attempt sped it through the water without effort and soon breached the surface, where it spread its wings across the open air and let loose a beckoning call across the shoreline. The call bounced off the landscape and travelled across the immediate sea-- ever so slightly hearing the faint echo of its same scream. It shot up into the air and flew straight toward the clouds, with the humanoid clinging tightly on the winged creature's coat. The coat had hardened into a semi-maleable sheen of ice and dust as it reached the edge of the stormclouds and headed towards the center of the mainland at astonishing speeds.
The winged creature soon slowed itself down, as it coasted along the wind-draped clouds. It used its wings to its full potential, gliding along rivers of thermals and absorbed some of the moisture within. The being still held on tightly, while still looking toward the land below. There was so much to be seen. It knew not where to begin.
Large pillars of rock could be seen on the horizon, some spewing dark clouds of smog. Were those the sources of the storms? It had to know. The being got the winged creature's attention and pointed towards the pillars. The creature responded by changing its direction toward the dark smoke, hoping that they'd find the anwers to their questions.
PP Expenditures
3pp -- Create Exarch (Skreiasku, the Sea Hawk): A mighty bird forged from the heart of Lenauti, she is the primary mount of the god of the sea and enables Lena to travel amongst the world using the stormclouds as her vessel of travel.
PP remaining: 2pp
PP remaining: 2pp
Cantorix's stance immedietly shifted. His wings were held open, defensively, and he faced her sideways, allowing his tail to stand between this dragon and himself. As it moved, a few of the dwarves were knocked flat on their backs and the heavy cart was sent flying into a nearby ditch. He felt his blood heating in his body, eager. Her demand angered him. He had never spared a craterspawn yet and he was not going to start today.
"Little One?! This... This-flightless warped spawn of Azgo?! Never. Craterspawn, like all servitors of the Blood Crowned, deserves death. If you seek him, you will have to pry him from me!"
"YOU? You speak to me of Craterspawn? I, who have lost my mate, my sons, and most of my kin to defeat them and send them back to their forsaken home? You DARE accuse me of seeking to protect one? Open your eyes, you fool. This is no Craterspawn. This is..."
She reached out and grabbed a comatose dwarf and eyed it curiously. Smaller than a human, stocky like a Galeb Duhr, certainly not an Agni'Vohda... something new... but not reeking of the corruption of the Craterspawn.
"Breath in, Dragon. Do you smell the corruption? No? Now. Explanations. Where were you when the Volcano blew?"
The air around the two beings began to become heavier and more dense as they neared the pillars of rock. The being realized that they weren't just solitary peaks-- at the crest of the horizon, it saw that it was a chain of jagged peaks. The majority of them were completely barren, while only a few of them were spewing the smog. Even then, that was enough to make a huge impact on the air above and within the clouds. At first it seemed like the air became cooler, but a change in windspeed quickly turned that prospect around and the air became warm. The winged creature was also having trouble navigating the air current and soon, before it could even grab a bead on its orientation, it spun out of control as it reached a vortex of hot and cold air.
The two were sucked into a whirling funnel of varying air masses within the cloud-- being tossed around like ragdolls. The next moment, they were flung out of the cloud. The winged creature was plummeting toward the toothy maw of the mountains below. The being, knowing that the avian was semi- unconscious, smashed a closed fist on the creature's head and snapped it back awake. The creature continued to hurtle towards the ground, and as it was about to hit, it spread its large wings and caught a massive wave of air. The sudden surge of air caused the creature to quickly reverse its direction of travel with the being barely hanging on for dear life. The creature soon leveled itself out and coasted along the canyons and ravines of the mountain landscape.
The being blew a heavy sigh of relief, and said to itself never to do that again. The creature seemed to acknowledge the being's words, despite them not being spoken. As they continued to fly amongst the chain of mountains, the being noticed that either side of the chains had levelled out into low-lying valleys. On the left, the valley had continued all the way to the edge of the sea where it had come from-- to the right, the valley had came up to another set of mountains, although they seemed to have formed a ring around a raised level surface. The points of the mountaintops seemed to resemble a crown. It smiled at the thought.
A strong shudder went down the whole of his spine. He could feel his muscles tensing, and his eyes scanned over her body for weakness, old wounds, blind spots. His blood bounced around inside him. He felt a deep longing... Death...
No! No, no. Discipline, Cantorix. Resist the blood... His thoughts trailed off into the dark corners of his mind.
"Your kin? And what of mine?! From the first of our days we swore vengence! We hunted them, purged them! It was we who scattered the legions! We followed them into the depths of the underground, so unrelenting are we! And how many of us died for our duty?! Thousands! Tens of Thousands! This land is tained with OUR blood, our triumph over Azgo!"
"And do you trust only in scent? Azgo adapts, endures, and so do his creations! They may not always reek of taint. But perhaps... Perhaps this is no craterspawn. Perhaps."
And what did she mean by "Volcano"? What was a volcano?
"I know of no 'volcano', whatever that is. I know ashen forests and the canals of the deep. I know of the oceans' edge and the frosted north. And I know of The Fused God's floating palace. We do not venture into the lowlands."
"Truly? You do not know of the birthplace of our race? The Eternal Volcano of Agni where we were born from the eminations of the Great DragonOrb? Where the Craterspawn struck and fought and died in the millions, dragging our kin along with them?
I certainly do not recognize this Fused God's palace. I certainly have never seen one colored as you are before. And if you helped to defeat the Craterspawn, then you have my thanks, for those of Crimson were nearly destroyed before the victory was won. But there are more things in the world than Craterspawn. There are Humans and Nix and the noble Agni'Vohda, who fought by our side. And this," she waved the dwarf she was still holding, [colo=red]"is no Craterspawn."[/color]
But how did she think differently? No lessons of this history was taught to the Ebon. They felt it, knew it as they grew. They heard his whispered promises in their minds. They saw shadows of the Godcrater in their mind's eye. And the essence of acid always filtered in their nostrils. No dragon could be ignorant of this.
"We are dragonkin, born of darkness to fight the darkness. And we are no slaves."
Cantorix loosened his grasp on the dwarven child. He gave a meaningful glance at the dwarven refugees, or what was left of them. He was not sure if he was speaking to her or to himself.
"But there are no others. There are craterspawn and there are dragons. Night and Day. Black and White. The hunted and the hunters..."
"But you say there are others? Other... things? Things still locked in war? When we scouted the lowlands, there were only few craterspawn. The wilds were teeming with them, and so we followed them into the mountains and the north. This... this is... important. The moot must be called. It must."
Cantorix prepared himself for flight.
In the Great Beyond, Zebus steps out of the shadows. Stepping in front of Marcus, a throne appears behind him. It is time I turn to my duties here. See what you can out in the world below. With those very vague directions, Marcus leaves the twisting nether that is the Great Beyond and enters the world below. Order goes to seek its place in the world.
AP
2 AP Nourish: As Zebus leaves the world, he pulls his shadowy pall with him. Death is less common as people are finding food, both plants and animals, to be more plentiful. The destroyed lands, burned and destroyed are slowly starting to come back to life also.
As Zebus, bows out for now, he sends Marcus out into the world. To do what, not even he knows.
3/5 left
2 AP Nourish: As Zebus leaves the world, he pulls his shadowy pall with him. Death is less common as people are finding food, both plants and animals, to be more plentiful. The destroyed lands, burned and destroyed are slowly starting to come back to life also.
As Zebus, bows out for now, he sends Marcus out into the world. To do what, not even he knows.
3/5 left
The compliments on how fierce and mighty a hunter he had grown to be seemed a little ironic, considering most of the townsfolk stood at least half a foot taller then him.
As he expetced, his sisters eventually pushed past the crowd to get to him, the eldest of his sisters Lynda grabbed him and dragged back to the cottage for "Medical Attention" which usually hurt more then the injuries he sustained in the first place.
---
"Hold still, this might sting a little"
She told him, dabbing the cotton wool on his cuts. It did always sting. a lot. But Timmy had grown used to this pain and lay still, sucking air through his teeth.
"Why do you do this to yourself timmy? You don't have to prove yourself to anyone"
Everytime one of his sisters took care of him like this, a conversation of this nature would arise sooner or later.
"I've told you time and time again, I want to know where I came from, who my parents were, what my real Clan name is"
The conversation, as it often did, grew into an argument. The conflict concluded with his sister Lynda screaming that he wasn't greatful towrds his family and never truly loved them, before storming out. Timmy was left alone to his thoughts.
Timmy knew that years back the Nix ventured out into the world for the first time in centuries, the second time they had ever left their home. They had wandered the lands in packs, greeting the other races and making trades where possible. The Nix did not possess much beyond what they needed; Food, Water, simple clothing. As such, the trades were rare, but they hapened.
After this, many of the Nix returned to The Crown once again, but to this day the occasional indidivual or pack can be seen roaming around the areas closer to the crown.
His adoptive parents and sisters told him they found home alone that nearby forest, no parents or clan in sight. Their mother had recently lost a child in birth, a son. He would have been their only son, but the gods cruelly snatchd him from them. Having just lost a son, they couldn't bare to leave him in the wild to die, so they took him in. Or least that's how the story goes, Timmy was far too young to remember any of this.
The Occasional Nix would pass through town, so they asked questions of how to raise the cub, what he'd eat and drink, how to entertain him, whether he'd grow to be a seven foot monster; The usual parenting questions.
When a Nix explained to them how Nix gain their names based on their Clan name and the atributes of the indidivual, his surname was changed. Keeping in line with Nix tradition, his surname was an altered version of their family name of Tailsworth. He instead became Timmy Bushytail, obviously referncing the fluffy tail that hung three feet below him. As they all matured, it became apparent that this wasn't the kind of name the Nix had in mind but the name was already long set in stone, so it stuck.
Both his "parents" were long gone now and only his sisters remained. With mum and dad gone, he began to wonder what his real parents had been like and why he had been abadoned. He also wondered what his real clan name was. He really needed to replace his current surname, soon as possible.
Everytime a Nix passed thorugh town he would pester and interview them for hours about their race, the customs, the traditions, what the crown was like and anything that came to mind. It was obviously the Nix's pride somewhat biased what they said, but the crown sounded to be a truly wonderous place. He knew to get there and learn about his true identity though, he would need to play by their rules and be able to survive in the crown.
So he began to hunt. At just sixteen years of age, he was already the most deadly hunter in the village, but would he be able to match the Nix hunters? Would he even be able to take down the beats that lived in the crown? He didn't know, but as long as he kept breathing he knew he would not give in.
Timmy drowsed off to sleep, dreaming of meeting his ancenstors and joining them in a pure, simple way of life. One day, he hoped to reach an agreement where he could spend half of his time with his adoptive family and half the time with the clan that sired him. As he woke up for the next day and steeled himself to face the next hunt, that dream drove him forward.
---
2AP - Command Nix - Migration
Over the years, the Nix have spread themselves thorughout the continent and returned to the crown. What cultural, economic and political effects this has had on the groups under each gods control is up to them. Nowadays, Nix live mainly in the crown once again, but can also be found around the crown and anywhere else in the world. However, the Nix are still more common to find near the crown, and their groups more populated.
1 AP - Nourish Nix
The Nix have been doing very well as a race and have thrived in numbers, mainly as a result of conquering their fears of the outside world and returning with various goods from the lands beyond the crown.
Nix Culture Entry
Religion
The Nix worship the primal spirits almost exclusively. They do not care much for the other gods, simply seeing them only as pawns to the Primal Spirits in the end. They do however, feel more strongly about the gods more connected to nature such as Pruinus and Leaf. Their more passionate attitude towards gods such as Leaf and Pruinus can differ and often occupy the two opposite ends of the extreme, either believing that they are faithful towards the Primal Spirits and act upon their will. The other extreme is that they usurp the Primal Spirits and use their power for their own gain. The Crown is divided into different clans who conform to one of the two viewpoints. The two different groups often debate and argue over the matter, but their differences never turn to violence. The Nix do not fight amongst themselves, as to an extent they trust nobody other then their own kind.
Nix Jobs/Roles
Around the age of 15, a Nix is given a role within the clan based on their talents. Nix do not normally seek or train for one of these jobs. They simply wait and see what job is given to them. They believe the primal spirits decide what each talents and skills each Nix shall inherit, so they do not wish to be given any job, but gladly accept what is given to them.
Diet
The Nix are carnvious and eat meat exclusively. However, a strict set of rules exists defining what meat each nix can eat, as the majority of the animals they hunt and eat are the very animals that they descended from. Nix are generally allowed to eat any meat except that from the animal in which they descended. Bear Nix do not eat bear meat, Wolf Nix do not eat wolf meat and so on. It is also very poor manners to eat meat of another animal in front of a Nix who descended from that animal. For example, it is poor manners to eat the meat of Snow Leopards in the presence of a Snow Leopard Nix. This rule does have a contradiction however. Nix can hunt animals of their Origin and offer them to another as a gift. This is considered a great honour and it would be incredibly rude to not eat the meat in this case, as that would be an insult to the effort of the individual who went to hunt the animal and would mean the creature's death was meaningless.
At large festivals where meat of all kinds will be consumed by all kinds of Nix, a Representative from each Nix origin will stood and give a small speech that contains his/her permission for all the others to eat the meat of their ancestral animals.
" Nonsense. We were all born in flame and fire, that is why our skin is red the color of-" She trailed off... "Your skin is not the color of fire. I had thought it had been turned that color, but I gather from your words that you were born as you are now. The humans say that once there were seven glowing orbs in the sky, and that one by one they were thrown to earth and lost forever, dimming the day into its current state. Their descriptions of these 'Suns' match the orb that we were born from. Perhaps you were born from another orb... which suggests that we may have more kin out there, borne out of the four other orbs that are lost. That is an interesting idea. You are Darkness to fight Darkness, we are Flame to Burn away Corruption. What might our hypothetical kin be like?"
Morenth watched as the other dragon prepared to fly, and spoke before he could do so.
"I take it a moot is some sort of gathering of your brethren? Perhaps I should attend, as I have seen these things first-hand."
Before the other dragon could reply, a small voice brought both heads swiveling down on long necks to stare at a regal-looking dwarf.
"I am Enel, King of Sil Arkoth. Mighty ones, we are refugees, our home destroyed by Craterspawn and flowing fire. You, who can fly, I beseech you. Do you have word of a place of solitude that we may rebuild our people and our culture?"
Morenth tilted her head to regard the dwarf king.
"I know of no such place, Enel, King of Sil Arkoth. But perhaps such a place could be made for you, in time."
~Above what was once the GodCrater~
Joran
Hmph. Ignore my sarcastic ribbing, fine!
"Perhaps there is such a place, not-spawn. The moot-"
Cantorix cut himself short. It might not be wise to disclose such information...
Small acidic fumes floated out from the myriad nooks in his toothy bite. He thought for a few seconds.
"Perhaps."
"And you, Crimson emissary, follow me. The Moot must have proof."
His leathery, battered wings surged with strength, propelling him above the very clouds. There, he turned towards the southern mountains and glided along a familiar path.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Eclipse Aflame rose form his knees, and looked out to the world. It had been sometime since he had been here, and the smell of greenery in the air was... different. Starkly different compared to the scorching scent of sulfer and ash. It was enjoyable-no, it was euphoric! Not that he actually savored such organic scents, but to be so close to life so frail,so... flammable, was nearly enlightening. He had not felt this way since the battle at the Eternal Volcano. So many. So powerless. They fell before him like wheat to a scythe, and he promised himself that it would be so again one day.
"I accept."
It was a simple answer, but Ka'Vah was distracted. His thoughts turned inward, both at himself and at his distant ancestor.
"So then, Scorch, you have recieved what you wanted. Yes? We now serve a weak and absent god, who has left his people to die. Well, you do. I serve destruction. It will always be here, unlike you. And perhaps one day, smoke will choke out the fire that fathered it."
But it was more of an idle threat than anything else. Ka' Vah did not care for title and place. And while he would certainly be wary of Firstborn traitors, if they fed him along the way what did it matter? And Ka'Vah still despised the distant essence within itself. It was too... mortal, and much to dutiful. It had proven itself an enemy within.
Ka'Vah turned back to Agni, waiting. Azgo had kept him close, and that was what he had known.
The hatred that Artun had instilled in them at their moment of creation made it hard to think. It was so much easier to give into instinct, to hunt the fire, the false friend.
What false friend?
The white dragon shook its head. That had been a strange thought. Of course, Agni was the false friend.
By why was he false?
It seemed that the warmth brought some delirium. The dragon breathed as it flew, chilling the air around it, driving back the hateful heat.
Below, it saw two other large beasts. Dragons, but not. Perhaps they'd know where the faithless one could be found.
The white dragon descended, falling through the sky like a drunken rock that wasn't sure which way was down. It crashed past the dragon that had just tried to lift off, causing all sorts of turbulance for it, nearly shaking it from the sky.
The white dragon's tail coiled and cushioned the landing. It lacked legs, but the muscles of its underside made up for it. It didn't wish it had legs. Why would it? It had wings and a frost-bruning hatred of all things warm. What more could it desire? The beast slithered up to the meeting ground.
Warm... like that ugly reg thing.
The dragon swivled its cold-as-revenge head towards the large warm dragon-like thing and asked, "You, what are?"
~~~Elsewhere~~~
Seg had gone far to find privacy. This would be a delicate matter, and it wouldn't do to have others watching. He'd been safe before, probably, but one could never be too careful.
Satisfied that none was present, Seg tapped into the the source of power within him. It was like a thread that connected him to the master.
He pulled on that string, drawing power to himself, and he began to craft.
In front of him a new god began to form. There was it's head, there it's legs, and there...
Seg's hand darted forward, plunged into the half-born god's chest, and ripped out its heart. The husk of the stillborn god collapsed to the ground, forgotten.
The heart in Seg's hand, though, continued to beat. It was a divine essence that might have been, could have been, should have been. Seperated from its body, though, it began to fade as well. The god of lies threaded more of his master's powerinto it, preserving it, shaping it, giving it purpose.
He twisted the heart, changing it from flesh to crystal, making it eternal. But it was also hungry. It had no mind, but it wanted more power, more enegery. It wanted to complete the birth that it would never be possible.
Having done as the master commanded, Seg turned back towards the world itself. This tool needed to be put to work.
AP
5AP - Create Artifact: Heart of the Unborn God. This still-beating crystal heart is always hungry and will greedly eat anything willingly offered to it. However, because it's not natural, it also preserves perfectly anything it has eaten. If someone were to put AP into it, for example, that AP would remain across resets. It's difficult to take anything out of the heart, of course, but beings with sufficiently strong wills can do so, at the risk of potentially being drawn into the heart themselves.
0AP remaining
5AP - Create Artifact: Heart of the Unborn God. This still-beating crystal heart is always hungry and will greedly eat anything willingly offered to it. However, because it's not natural, it also preserves perfectly anything it has eaten. If someone were to put AP into it, for example, that AP would remain across resets. It's difficult to take anything out of the heart, of course, but beings with sufficiently strong wills can do so, at the risk of potentially being drawn into the heart themselves.
0AP remaining
I am a dragon, obviously. As are you, as is he." Morenth patiently explained to the other one. She looked up at Cantorix, who had just barely regained his composure. "It looks like some of our kin found us." she said with a hint of amusement coloring her voice.
~The Sea~
Agni watched Ka'Vah for a few minutes as the smoke-being appeared to watch him.
Well? Agni said after a while. Is there something else you are waiting for? I think we are done here. I will find you if I need you.
And Agni turned and left, flying over the deep ocean. He looked down at the watery expanse. How strange, how hostile of a substance it was. Perhaps it, too, could be made flammable. The god turned to face the surface.
Far below, the water began to boil as a white-hot point of fire appeared in the darkness. The water roiled and bubbled, tumbling upwards but losing heat as it rose until it reached the surface as little more than a warm patch of water in an otherwise semi-warm tropical ocean. Agni frowned and moved on a little before repeating his action, this time a little brighter, a little hotter. Here, the water seemed hot, like a warm bath, but nothing dramatic. Agni moved on. A third bright point of light that boiled the ocean. Here, at the surface, the water boiled gently, barely noticable over the background of waves and wind. Agni frowned and moved on, this time pouring all his will into the light.
Magma welled up from beneath the earth and forced its way heavenward, sending plumes of superheated steam in all directions. As the water receeded, a dark island could be seen menacingly squatting over still-boiling water.
Agni nodded to himself. About time. He looked up and spotted a familiar figure.
Seg... He growled.
2 AP: Command Water/Land: Agni creates, deep in the ocean, a sucessive chain of underwater fires. The first is hot enough to make the surface warm, the second makes it hot, the third causes the surface to boil... just barely. The fourth is an actual island ringed with boiling water and wreathed in storms.
1 AP: Nourish Ocean: Each fire is a point-source that is exceedingly hot. As a result, it causes all sorts of strange compounds to form in its vicinity. These compounds are found to be very useful for magic-users, as they amplify the effects of the soul-charged magic without further demand on the user's soul.
1 AP remains.
Strange, it thought. The being motioned the creature towards the direction of the white cloud, and they whisked around a mountaind top and flew towards the direction of the strange plume of gas and clouds.
~Open Seas~
The being and the creature made a straight nose-dive into the ocean as they flew past the shore into open waters. For a few moments, they stayed underneath, replenishing themselves of their essence, before climbing their way out and onward towards the plume of white gas. At this point, the being noticed that there was something on the other side of the gas-- a lonely, solitary land mass. As they got closer, the air became gradually warmer, and soon they heard the hissing of the water as they neared the caustic boiling shoreline. The creature flew upwards next to the pillar of steam rising out from above the boiling water, and the air suddenly began to cool down. What would've caused this to happen?
The airmass began to swirl and stagnate, just like their last encounter with the dark, warm cloud earlier, only this time it didn't throw them off. The creature gently coasted along a breezy thermal, letting the cold moist air flutter by them as they absorbed some of the residual moisture. The being felt a strange presence, almost as if something was tugging on here. It felt like it was tugging down from below. The being looked down towards the island mass, but saw nothing amidst the thick gas plumes.
His blood ran rampant in his veins, fighting a reluctant war against the practiced years of order he had been taught. He had been through too many suprises, too many revealations. To discover an entire new world, in the course of a day, let alone the same spot! The odds of it all... could he trust any of it? Had he been fooled?!
The crimson matron's words suddenly resurfaced... "you fool"...
And that... thing-that-crawled... It seemed eeirly similar to the Remorhaz. Winged, and the face was different, but it was similar in many respects. Old enemies, or new friends? Was there a difference?
He could see the crimson dragon speaking to him. He could not hear a word she was saying, but she seemed- could it be-amused? At it? At him? At their trap?!
Cantorix hovered, some would say loomed, over the pair. He was caught fastly between action and thought, bloodlust and control, hunted and hunter. He viewed them both with renewed suspicion and a tint of thickening anger.
The Primal Spirits had championed the Nix long ago as a race to stand against the Craterspawn and other unnatural abominations that stalk the world. Yet what they had in pure physical strength and finesse, they lacked the correct equipment. Should the abominations that hunt them evolve and grow stronger, the world's defenders may not be able to stand up to them anymore.
With that thought, the spirits began to ebb and flow together in the ground, the ground shaking ever so lately. You wouldn't notice it unless you pressed your ear to the floor and heard the soft rumble, so many didn't even notice such an occurrence.
As the ground rumbled softly, various cones and spikes of bluish-silver metal slowly raised themselves from the earth, pushing dirt and soil aside as they did.
Around the crown, these cones of metal were more blue then silver and felt cold to the touch, but the substances were still very similar. It wasn’t long before the various races begin to mine these new exotic metals and forge them into weapons and armour.
---
In the past, stories were told of the western wastes, how those who crossed the impossible badlands stumbled upon a divine forest. Sometimes, stories are true. The world remembered Leaf's old home.
AP
2AP: Create Plane - The Forgotten Forest. A demiplane connected to the western wastes. Usually mortals can't find it, but occasionally one will stumble in.
3AP Remaining
2AP: Create Plane - The Forgotten Forest. A demiplane connected to the western wastes. Usually mortals can't find it, but occasionally one will stumble in.
3AP Remaining
In short, the Chitrarchs did not 'just' surprise the Humans. They surprised a race that had spent the entirerty of its existence clinging to life. They had, wittingly or not, made the worst possible invitation to diplomacy, and the lack of common language only exacerbated the situation.
"Kr'ra'RErv'Rwad'Lrrrreeeeeee'fWeAeeellffff'Rwrraaaak!" Said one of the bugs, which appeared to be a leader.
"Craterspawn!" cried out the farmers in terror.
The call brought farmhands running from everywhere at once, but the pair of humans the Chitrachs had hoped to greet dared not wait -- they knew exactly how vicious craterspawn could be, knew the craterspawn were faster, stronger, than the average human, and if escape was impossible, well, there was only one logical option for the farmhands to take - for if you were to die anyways, better to die fighting for your kin and kind.
The farmers charged, drawing knives and shortblades, and crying out in fury. There was no malice nor fear in their eyes, just grim concentration and a sort of resolute sadness.
~The Sanctuary~
With the sun (sort of) returned to the sky, The Skylanders had little need for The Beacon's direct light. Rather than suffer unending days of brilliant white light, they had constructed a shrine out of Chi and stone, to hide the Beacon's light. It was a mausoleum of immense size, and the center of Skylander culture. They interred their dead beneath the shielded sun, secure in the belief that the neverending rays from the Beacon would purify their dead, allowing them to join with the Divine Voice of the Wind, the Sssssssaaaaaaa that sang forth from their fields and between their islands.
But despite its significance, it was sparsely staffed, and so no one noticed when The Beacon began to hum with life and death. One form of scales and claws dropped to the Sanctuary's floor, then another and another. It was not until the next morning that the creatures were discovered -- great lizard-like beasts with wings instead of arms, and scales of deepest Azure.
~The Eastern Badlands~
Reality, once weakened, is not so easily forgotten. Above the sands, the world warped weirdly, fraying, and casting long shadows despite the blinding rays of desert suns.
AP
-2 AP Nourish Skylanders: Skylander culture improves as they continue to adapt to their unique situation. They do not have real "cities", but they manage to create large buildings like the Sanctuary (1 AP entirely devoted to this) and several monasteries.
-3 AP Create Artifact: The Quickening -- Above the eastern badlands, where the Vikari once deceived, the barrier between worlds grows thin. The region feels off, but there is nothing outwardly noticable about the area other than the Promise of something, somewhere, else.
-0 AP Create Populace: Azure Dragons. Azure dragons resemble White Dragons, but while the White Dragon lacks hindlegs, the Azure lacks forelegs. They do not breathe cones, but can rather spit gobs of volatile energy great distances, which then explode outwards in an area blast of force and sonic power.
Everyone stays at 5.
Map sometime when Toph gets his PC issues straightened out. Story another time.
"You... are warm," the white dragon said. It didn't have a name. That took too much brainpower, and its overwhelming hatred of Agni didn't spare it any.
"The faithless is warm..."
The dragon took a deep breath, then proceeded to try to encase the red dragon in ice.
~~~The Sea~~~
Seg found it quite inconvenient that Agni had decided to appear right in his path, but he skirted around the unstable one as best he could. He had promised that he wouldn't come before Agni again unless the god asked him to. He wasn't going to break that just for logistics. If Agni wanted to talk, he'd have to approach Seg.
~~~The Godcrater~~~~
Altruis held his head, his vision weak. Whatever had happened to him had left him... changed.
There were impulses there that he had never had before, directing him, guiding him. He tried to ignore them, but in the same breath, he couldn't remember why it was that he should ignore them at all.
Undeath stumbled through the broken realm. There was power, here, and that, at least, remained the same. He wanted power.
Down into the broken halls he went. There were signs of a great battle. What had happened to this place.
Down further, until he came to a ruined room. He could feel it. There was... deliciousness under that rubble.
Still too weak from his ordeal to alter reality, Altruis instead took to moving boulders by hand. Soon, he had the Blood Crowned unburried. Zebus' sword was sticking in him, just asking for Altruis to pull it free.
~~~The Crown~~~
The giant eggsack pulsed, and something moved underneath it. Darkness was with the creature, darkness nursed it and helped it grown. Darkness put in it the fragmented aspect of the sun that Azgo had destroyed. There was use for these, yet.
Soon, the great creature would be ready to awaken.
~~~The Skymotes~~~
The earth moaned as Onus stretched. His mind had been clouded for so long, but now he felt stronger and more awake than he had in ages. He saw Pruinus head towards the sky, and he decided to follow.
Great stone wings reached out, covering valleys and more, and the god's mighty legs launched him up into the air after her.
~~~Somewhere~~~
Agni
Artun searched.
Agni
He'd have his revenge.
Agni
Fire would die.
Agni
The Chitrachs couldn't understand a word the humans were shouting at them. Meat slapping against Meat was all they heard. But the intent of the humans was quite clear. Deeply concerned, the Chitrachs bunched together into a defensive formation, long serrated arms poised to strike if needed.
The leader of the Chitrachs chittered uncertainly, and spoke
«No, you don't understand! We do not wish to fight.» It accompanied these words with a gesture that existed among his people to mean 'please stop.' Unfortunately, what the humans observed was a random string of chittering sounds punctuated by the bug displaying his sharp arms and waving them in a vaguely threatening matter.
This did not help.
~The Sea~
Seg bolted, and Agni raced upwards through the clouds to catch him, but had to quickly stop just before he hit a God that he did not recognize. As Agni watched Seg dissapear over the horizon, he greeted the newcomer.
I am Agni, the FlameLord. Who are you, and what is your calling?
~Road to the Crown~
Morenth reacted quickly, a blast of flame meeting the ice from the white dragon as she quickly jumped to attack, sharp claws raking into the scaled white body.
Cantorix fell upon the dragons with a primeval screech. Savage pragmatism flooded his mind with hot blood, sending reason slinking back, ashamed, into the cellars of the mind. Every blow was fueled with the shadow of a god's fury, and yet was coldly calculated. If a blow could not kill, it was meant to cripple.
Cantorix aimed first for the thing-that-crawled, enwrapping himself in the battle. A flurry of massive claws lunged out for the the white dragon's leathery wings. He wanted this foe inable to flee. But whenever Morenth was within his range and he was not in immediate danger, Cantorix swung out aganist her as well. He eyed her with a striking savagry, no longer himself.
And for every swing, a fiber within Cantorix was strained and snapped. Blow for blow, this rage was destroying him...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The dream stirred. Colors faded in and out and merged together into darkness. In a dream within this dream, the feeling of stagnant air was wisked away. Pale, yellow light covered sickly skin. Something had cast off his slumber. The dream was carried away from the mind, and eyes rolled back into place.
Azgo awoke. His head slowly angled up towards this... intruder. Their eyes met, and Azgo gave the slightest grin.
Through heavy breathing and the sounds of bile welling up in the thraot, Azgo spoke.
"So, Soul Eater... you have at last returned to me for the spoils of a war you abandoned."
There was a silence. Azgo motioned at his chest.
"Go on... Take it... If you have the strength, take it."
"Stand back, my fellows!"
The growing crowd turned to see a Luminary stalking towards the chittering bugs and/or craterspawn.
He pushed the nearest away from him, as he flexed his Mana, fire limning his hands.
"These so-called 'Craterspawn' can't be as dangerous as the ones in the tales. They've yet to tear anyone limb from limb." He cracked his wrists, then assumed a combat stance. "I bet they are still flammable, however. I shall save us from these fiends."
He raised a fist, summoning a ball of burning fire. But as he tried to throw it, he found inky tendrils wrapped around his arms, staying his hands. From the sudden numbing they caused, he knew it was shadow magic. The caster walked forwards, a gaunt, lanky fellow.
"Do you not see? The very fact that they have yet to kill us means they do not wish to. The craterspawn did not leave survivors. These then, must be rogue elements, and could be powerful allies for when the craterspawn return. To think, we could have some of their kin fighting for us!".
A shaman stepped forwards, eyes darting between the 'craterspawn', the Luminary, and the shadowcaster. "I do not think them craterspawn at all. The primal spirits do not know them. They are some new blight, sent by those gods most foul, determined to exterminate us!"
The three parties continued to glare at each other, but with the threat of each others magic, they would not yet move.
Another voice broke over the crowd, and a monk stepped forwards. "They have not yet attacked, even forfeited the element of surprise. If they meant mere harm, they would already have it. As it is, they want something else." Her eyes narrowed. "What that is, I know not, and think it perhaps most prudent to simply drive them off. Do not kill them, but do not let them linger."
There was no clear consensus. As the adults argued, a small child darted out from behind her parents to get a better look at these "craterspawn". She heard their chittering, and cocked her head, curious.
"They're talking!"
No one paid her any attention.
Frowning, she slipped through to the front of the loose human circle, obtaining an unobstructed view of the creatures.
"I cannot understand you", she repeated again, to no one in particular.
It had heard of the notion of 'voice,' but it does not remember how to make a voice. The being opened its mouth and proceeded to open,and close its mouth and move its lips and tongue to attempt to make words, but no sound was made-- save for the intermittent wheezing and choking from its essence. The being covered its mouth in surprise when it realized it couldn't make a voice.
The creature rolled its eyes in pity-- it spoke, with a fairly moderate feminine voice topped with a slight rasp. "She cannot speak-- at least, not in her current state." The creature eyed the being, then looked back at the other, known as Agni the Flamelord. "I am Skreiasku, a noble chariot of the lord of water, who is umm..." Skreiasku paused. She eyed the silent one, who seemed a bit wary of Agni. "I'm not sure if she even has a name..."
Lena
"Ah, yes, it must've slipped my mind. Her name is Lena." Skreiasku grinned." It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Flamelord Agni, even though your entrance seemed quite... shocking."
«This really isn't working.» One of the Chitrach's muttered to its neighbor, who scraped her forearms together in agreement.
«At least they haven't attacked us yet. It looked like they were about to. Did you see what that one human was able to do? Fire from the air itself! Facinating! If only we could do something like that.»
Chitterings of assent rose from the group of Chitrachs.
Krr'Ree'E turned back to her companions.
«Our mother was clear. We were to come here and determine the intentions of these fleshy-things. We can't leave until we've done that. If anyone has any... would you look at that...» Krr'Ree'E trailed off, looking at the young girl who, unlike everyone else, actually appeared to be talking at them, rather than to one another (at least, the meat-noises that Krr'Ree'E heard she assumed to be speech. Hard to say, really. MeatMeatMeatMeatMeat. Enough to send a shudder through her carapace.
Krr'Ree'E waved her forearm at the girl, then bent down into the dirt and began to draw with the same arm, drawing a rough stick picture of the girl.
~The Sky~
WaterLord? I fear we are not to be friends, then, Skreiasku, for I am heat and flame incarnate, and I shall boil the oceans before I am quenched. And yet, if I can be amiable with the ColdMother, then perhaps I can be amiable with... wait, I am confused. Are you the WaterLord or is the silent one on your back the WaterLord? And why does that one not speak?
Her name was Illya, and she was not afraid.
With the serene innocence of a youth unmarred by years of strife, flame, and ice, she had approached nearer the Chitrachs than any of her kin had dared.
Though she did not know it, Illya had something that none of the other humans, not even their most adept casters, had possessed since before the fall of Avarom.
Faith.
Illya possessed a calm assurance that the Chitrachs would not attack. A faith that she would come to no harm. It may have been borne of childish naïvety, but it was faith all the same.
The Luminaries, the Shadowcasters, the Primalists, the Monks, they were all hardened, borderline paranoid of a world which demanded their power all too often - faith was a luxury they could not afford. Faith, trust? That was a path that lead only to death; that was all they had ever known. But Illya... catalyzed by an unexpected situation, did not lash out with words, spells, or mistrust. She was the first in years to rise above the bitter history of her people. To embrace the unexpected with Faith -- the promise of trust and honor.
Illya saw the picture and laughed, a carefree, lyrical sound -- and utterly alien to the gathered humans, who found their conversations trailing off, all eyes on the small child.
She reached down, and picked a wildflower from the grass, and walked forwards, holding it out to the group of Chitrachs.
"I promise to not to hurt you, honest!"
Human and Chitrach alike started, for the small one's words tasted like red. The peculiar sound and the rush of power was unmistakable; Illya had cast a spell.
None seemed more startled than Illya herself. She misjudged the response of the chitrachs and abruptly stopped, a small frown creasing her face.
"I promise I won't hurt you // Kr'ree'Rwaaad'Lrrrr'RErveelikilk'eeeee'fWe."
AP
-2 Command/Nourish: Humans discover Divine magic. Divine magic is fueled by faith. When a being has strong faith, it matters not in what, as long as they have faith in it, they are able to draw Mana directly from Sa to power their magicks. Divine magic must be invoked through the use of flowers, flower-based implements, such as plant-dyes, or metals(e.g) carved into the likeness of flowers. Each worshiped god has an associated flower that provides an especially strong conduit. Practitioners who worship Sa (or have faith in something other than a god, such as the certainty of goodness, or the strength of a codified law) have no preferential flower, though any individual Divinist is likely to find an icon that suits them, and stick with it.
The amount of Mana Divinists can channel from Sa is proportional to their inner reserves, but like Primal Spirits of Primal Magic, Sa simply refuses to power spells that would doom their casters.
Even the most powerful mortal spells are no more trouble than breathing for gods, and so it does not trouble Sa to provide power to worshipers, even all worshipers, in this way.
-2 Command/Nourish: Humans discover Divine magic. Divine magic is fueled by faith. When a being has strong faith, it matters not in what, as long as they have faith in it, they are able to draw Mana directly from Sa to power their magicks. Divine magic must be invoked through the use of flowers, flower-based implements, such as plant-dyes, or metals(e.g) carved into the likeness of flowers. Each worshiped god has an associated flower that provides an especially strong conduit. Practitioners who worship Sa (or have faith in something other than a god, such as the certainty of goodness, or the strength of a codified law) have no preferential flower, though any individual Divinist is likely to find an icon that suits them, and stick with it.
The amount of Mana Divinists can channel from Sa is proportional to their inner reserves, but like Primal Spirits of Primal Magic, Sa simply refuses to power spells that would doom their casters.
Even the most powerful mortal spells are no more trouble than breathing for gods, and so it does not trouble Sa to provide power to worshipers, even all worshipers, in this way.
Fire boils
Water rises
Water falls
Water is renewed
The cycle of fire and water
Why should we not be friends?
No friendship stops the balance of the cycle
Lena pondered silently, as Skreiasku continued to converse with Agni. "She has forgotten how to speak, and I am not the wa--."
A soft squeak rose from behind Skrei, which interrupted her train of thought. Lena had tried hard to make a voice, but only managed to make a small sound. As more steam swirled around them, some of it had flowed into her body, which then condensed and defined her inner essence. She let the new form flow through her own, and it was at that stage where the knowledge sunk in.
She proceeded to open her mouth again-- this time, she was able to make a sound, with a fairly high-pitched tone. "Fire burns. Fire boils. Water rises. Water falls. Water is renewed. The cycle of Fire and Water. Why should we not be friends, Agni of Fire? No friendship leads to the end of the cycle." Lena held out her ghostly white hand towards Agni. "Lenauti, Mistress of the Sea. I could not speak because my form was not complete, before now. Your power over the flame has helped me complete my form, as well as sustaining the cycle."
What? Krr'Ree'E was astounded! She could understand the meat-thing! The Chitrach did a side-to-side rocking of pleasure.
"And we have no desire to harm you either, little meat-thing" Krr'Ree'E chattered. It occured to her that 'meat-thing' probably wasn't the right name, but it was said before she could swallow the sounds.
~Skies Above~
Agni frowned, cracks running along the mask of his face and magma dripping down to sizzle in the ocean far below.
A cycle? No, this will not do. A cycle suggests that at times you would be dominant over me. You do not know me, WaterMaiden, or you would know that, especially given recent events, I will not agree to such an arangement. I must be the dominant partner in any arrangment we come to.
Xeadin
Sorry, Agni's a bit of a jerk.
Constant, bitter dominance? She raised a brow in question. Two can play that game. "Your approach of discussing your vision to us is quite... flattering. I am not one to arrive to bitter conflict, especially with someone of literal opposite context such as yourself. A being of flame. What does flame represent? To my eyes, so far, you are an indiviual who is noble and determined, yet selfish and rash."
The clouds of steam began to swirl more violently around them. Lena gently floated off the back of Skreiasku, as her form began to glow with beautiflu brilliance amidst the swirling clouds. "You may view water as a meagerly weak aspect of the world, but it plays a much more critical role than you could dare realize, firespitter. Take a look at the glowing hot landmass below." She looked down below thorugh the swirling clouds. "What kind of a world would this be without the ocean? Without the clouds? Could it still thrive like it is now? You may not know me and I may not know you, but we each know that we have a purpose. You talk about fire playing a seemingly greater dominant role, but there are times when water plays a dominant role as well."
The clouds swelled around her, and it was as if this maelstrom had created a monstrosity of dire waves on the ocean surface below. "I do not wish to fight against others who wish no harm, such as you, but when they begin to question forces they do not fully understand, they will, soon, bring upon injustice to themselves."
OOC
I think I did mention that she may be a bit soft-spoken at times, but she can be quick to defend herself and her position, and she attempts to do so in a way to prevent conflict.
I think I did mention that she may be a bit soft-spoken at times, but she can be quick to defend herself and her position, and she attempts to do so in a way to prevent conflict.
Looking around, he saw that much had changed since he passed away. Zebus had kept him very busy in the Great Beyond. Zebus had saved him, but for what? Then sent him back out into the world, but why? For what purpose did he have in this world? The godling of order pondered these questions, and started to walk. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he knew that in order to find these answers, sitting there was not an option.
Agni looked below at the steaming water, then looked back up at Lena.
You are not the first to speak to me of how important it is that the world below looks exactly as it does now. I fail to see the point when you say it as well. Why is this world inherently better than some other world? A world of no oceans and endless magma seems just as nice as this one. Far less dangerous to me and my kind. I am inherently dubious of cycles and the 'benefit' of them for the same reason. WHY should there be a cycle? What makes a cycle better than a constant?
Agni contemptuously spat a ball of magma into the darkness of the storm.
And do not speak to me of the benefit of the current status of the world to the mortals that live upon it. The DeathLord and the ColdMother already took that route, and it did not sway me whatsoever. As for your dominance...
Agni grinned viciously, and suddenly they were not alone in the storm. Lightning burned white-hot lines across their vision, and static electricity sent sparks dancing over Agni's form.
But the lightning was alive. With each flash, briefly, a humanoid outline was revealed in the arcing, jumping electricity, coursing down broad shoulders and arms, light poured around hollow, hungry eyes that looked down at the water below for flammable objects. Finding none, they voiced their outrage in loud, angry bellows that shook the sky seconds after they appeared and vanished, only to reappear somewhere else a moment later.
Behold, WaterMaiden. My Power follows you. Where you are strongest, so too will I be present. My Lightning will appear when your storms grow strong, to remind you that you are not in command.
2 AP: Shape Populace: Lightning elementals. Although they 'exist' when lightning is not present, they lack the ability to do anything. They live in (some) storms and direct the lightning to where it will cause the most damage. (They're not very friendly)
The roads were largly undefended, and coiled about the country side with the primitive designs of older generations. They were always harried, by the beasts of the wilds and the beasts of the cities. Both called hungerly for death.
And yet the majority of the cultists were nothing less than zealously enthused. For they had a purpose that they thought no one else could even come close to grasping. The others either sat in fearful silence, death looming over their head, or called out to Firstborn names with a tinge of uncertainty. But the cultists, someone was watching them, guiding them. They had stopped recruiting along the way to stay hidden in suspicion rather than in persecution.
The exodus continued. The tree was close.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Something shuddered in the sea. More and more land continued to rise out of the sea' heart. Hundreds of islands stood out from the water and fell under the rays of a sun they had never known.
The sea churned and sent powerful currents out from its origin.
OOC
Command Land (5AP): The continent rising from the western ocean is finally finished. This AP is in conjunction with last week's 5AP
AP Remaining: 0
AP Remaining: 0
Brother Branch sat on a limb of the great mangrove tree. It was the top-most, thin and fragile, entirely unsuited even for the nimble halflings who had made their home in this place. The god looked north, towards the crown. He found himself... sad. None of his siblings had noticed that he was gone. None of them had come looking.
That seemed to confirm his suspicions. They didn't care for Leaf, the generous lord. Unfortunately, that also meant he was wrong. They hadn't noticed -- or if they did, they didn't concern themselves with -- Brother Branch, the humble servant. His efforts on their behalf had gone unnoticed and unrecognized. And from the occasional glimpses he caught of the larger world, the society of the gods wasn't flourishing in his absence. That is what happens when leadership is lacking... but no, that wasn't Brother Branch's place. Perhaps another was needed...
Even now the arctic elves said words of thanks to Pruinus. They didn't worship her, but at every meal there was a spot left empty for her. They viewed her at their friend, the one who challenged life and made it worth living.
Below him, in the lower branches, the halfings went about their lives. They had found a curious worm living in this tree, the cocoon of which could be boiled and turned into thread, which in turn made the finest cloth. With this, they built boats. Large, leaf-shaped junks with multiple sails. These plied the waters, seeking the bounty of the ocean, and trading with those on the mainland. At the dusk of each day, they sat down, heated water, crushed certain leaves, and drank to the health of death, the companion of life. They hoped his travels in the world went well, and that he'd not have too much cause to come visit before his duly appointed time.
Perhaps it was time Brother Branch headed east. Maybe Agni would notice his work? Or perhaps Brother Branch was as much a failure as Leaf.
AP
1Ap Command: define Arctic Elf religion. Elvish religion is a subtle affair: they respect certain gods as friends and companions, honoring them, but not debasing themselves. They do view the gods as different than themselves, and incredibly powerful, but they do not treat them as inherently superior. Pruinus is their most favored patron.
1AP nourish: the mangrove and the ocean around it increases in suitability for life.
1AP Nourish/Command (not sure which): Silk. Silkworms live in the mangrove tree and the halflings learn how to use silk in a variety of capacities.
1AP command: the halflings become expert sailors and ship builders
1AP command: define halfling religion. Halflings also have a more subtle religion, although they hold the gods in higher regard than the elves. They view their relationship as one of honor-binding each other. By giving drink, food, etc to a god, the god is then obligated to perform a favor. In the case of Zebus (their favored "patron") this is to enjoy his travels in the world as much as possible, and to be kind when at last he comes to a halfling home for a "visit" (that is, to end a halfling's life).
0AP remaining
1Ap Command: define Arctic Elf religion. Elvish religion is a subtle affair: they respect certain gods as friends and companions, honoring them, but not debasing themselves. They do view the gods as different than themselves, and incredibly powerful, but they do not treat them as inherently superior. Pruinus is their most favored patron.
1AP nourish: the mangrove and the ocean around it increases in suitability for life.
1AP Nourish/Command (not sure which): Silk. Silkworms live in the mangrove tree and the halflings learn how to use silk in a variety of capacities.
1AP command: the halflings become expert sailors and ship builders
1AP command: define halfling religion. Halflings also have a more subtle religion, although they hold the gods in higher regard than the elves. They view their relationship as one of honor-binding each other. By giving drink, food, etc to a god, the god is then obligated to perform a favor. In the case of Zebus (their favored "patron") this is to enjoy his travels in the world as much as possible, and to be kind when at last he comes to a halfling home for a "visit" (that is, to end a halfling's life).
0AP remaining
Sa fluttered about The Quickening, petals spinning madly, blurring into and overtaking one another in a haze of phantasmagoric color and motion.
This close to the anomaly, Sa was almost drunk on its power. Never before had Sa tasted a promise so fierce, of such power and magnitude. It was a promise, from one world to another, the tantalizing promise of an elsewhere. Sa extended its awareness and found them - the psyches of those others, all yearning, pushing towards this tantalizing promise of elsewhere -- here, with Sa.
Sa shuddered briefly, delirious with anticipation, then acted, extending itself into The Quickening, and bridging the gap between here and elsewhere.
Then Sa was consumed by a tempest of euphoric power, and knew no more.
~The Human Settlement~
"And we have no desire to harm you either, little meat-thing"
Shock, confusion, and anger were felt in abundance, as arguments everywhere were silenced in the sudden clarity of kin.
"Meat...thing?" questioned one of the shamans.
"Get her away from those... creatures" ordred a Luminary, and some of the farmfolk swooped in to whisk Illya back to safety.
Spears, Spells, and farm implements were readied and leveled at the Chitrachs. In an instant, the tone of the delegation had swept from paranoid optimism to nervous distrust.
No one was arguing anymore.
The humans knew how to deal with Craterspawn. They knew how to fight them, how to subdue them, and how to kill them.
Illya's prayer had made it painfully obvious that these were not craterspawn -- and painfully obvious that the humans did not know how to deal with them.
Nothing unites better than a shared fear of the unknown.
When it became obvious that no one else dared to speak, the Umbralist stepped forwards, motes of shadow at the ready, a spell on her lips. She wasted no time.
"What are you. Why do you invade our lands."
The silence was stifling.
AP
-2 Modify Artifact : Sa fulfills the promise of The Quickening, turning it into a planar focus(Now 5 AP in total), allowing planar gates to form between the world and Elsewhere. These gates are one way for now, allowing things from Elsewhere to pass through, but not vice versa.
(Doing this caused Sa to eseentially overdose on its own divine energies. It'll be back once it sleeps it off.)
-2 Modify Artifact : Sa fulfills the promise of The Quickening, turning it into a planar focus(Now 5 AP in total), allowing planar gates to form between the world and Elsewhere. These gates are one way for now, allowing things from Elsewhere to pass through, but not vice versa.
(Doing this caused Sa to eseentially overdose on its own divine energies. It'll be back once it sleeps it off.)
Her brother once told her that whatever trials it faced, life endured.
She could see the truth of those words before her. She wondered what lived here.
She saw that through the windows and doors that stood slightly open, humans watched her. She expected to see something more impressive then common humans here, something better adapted. But no, humans lived here.
She had to admire their resolve, living in such an environment had to be challenging. Perhaps Pruinus could make their trials easier; they had already overcome great difficulty just by surviving here. There was no need to subject them still.
That made Pruinus think.
Did challenge improve life? She had always stated as such, but there was no such evidence. That had to change. Invoking the power of the primal spirits, a book appeared before her. The same "Book" that Leaf once wrote the laws of the universe in. He couldn't possibly mind if she added just a single rule of her own.
As the "pen" scribbled words into the book that was actually reality itself, every living thing changed. They did not notice the change of course, for it would take generations for the effects to become apparent. But the change was there nonetheless. The sky-dwellers would have to wait a little longer, but their life (and all life, for that matter) would improve if they held in just a little longer.
She whispered to a group of primal spirits to search for Leaf, informing him of the alteration she had made.
---
@Raven: Starting tomorrow (I'm spending this AP now) I'll donate any AP you wish towards the development of the sky-dwellers, considering a god had been merely meters away from them, it's fair to assume Pruinus has had a fairly large impact on them and may influence their culture.
AP Expenditures
Claim Domain - Challenge/Evolution/Change - 3 AP
Not quite sure what I should call this domain as it resembles all three of the above aspects, but let's go for Challenge. Pruinus is recognized as the patron of bringing challenges to mortals, in order to bring change for the better.
Command Populace (All) - Rapid Evolution - 2 AP
I can't tell if lore-wise evolution already exists, so evolution is either introduced to the world or sped up greatly. Creatures begin to adapt to their environment and creatures they commonly encounter, over generations they change to be better suited to their surroundings. This evolution is incredibly fast compared to real-life evolution, although no set timespan is given. Evolution does cost AP, but as Pruinus is the one who made it possible, you can ask me and I will almost always be willing to donate AP towards any evolution actions. I'll only turn you down if i really need the AP myself, but if I have spare AP at weekends then feel free to use it, as most likely I will not post before the weeks end and my AP would go otherwise wasted.
No AP remains.
Krr'Ree'E looked at the angry humans.
"I'm sorry. Did I say - was 'Meat-Thing' not respectful? What should we call you?" She asked the surrounding villagers. Her faceted eyes raised to meet the Umbralist's.
"I assure you that the ten of us are not an 'invasion.' If we wished to invade, I would have brought all of my sisters with me. But we do not. I am Krr'Ree'E [the translation spell worked furiously to translate this into something equivalent to 'Princess of the house of Ree of the nation of Krr,' but gave up on finding exact translations of Krr or Ree.], and we are the Chitrachs. We have come to inhabit the lava plains to the south, and have come to greet our neighbors... that is all."
Krr'Ree'E's words were interrupted as thunder crashed and the sky turned a strange shade of indigo. As she finished, she glanced at the humans - but they appeared as startled by the violet skies as she was.
The space between Krr'Ree'E and the shadow-magic human seemed to warp and dance weirdly before their eyes, but both parties blinked, shook their heads, and grit their teeth against the creepling sensation of other.
The umbralist rubbed at her temples before responding:
"We would like to believe you, stranger, but our kind has fought long and hard to vanquish that which threatens us, and for you to arrive in such a manner, erupting from the very ground beneath our feet in the way of the iceburn remohraz stirs up harsh memories of death and war. Bring you any assurances other than your chittering words?"
And around them, a subconcious echo of the shadow mage's words: "--threatens us --- chittering --- death and war ---"
AP
-3 AP Create Population - The Umbrage. An umbrella term referring to the collective dwellers of elsewhere, they emerge into the world when and where they can, gorging themselves on the latent mana of specific emotions. Individuals are rarely satisfied with "natural" emotions, and so will attempt to induce it wherever (and however) they can.
They are a combination of undead, abberation, and devil, and come in dozens of individual sub-species. Powerful magic of any kind can, rarely, create short-lvied planar rifts, allowing the weakest of these to slip through from elsewhere. Unnatural creatures, they are hard to notice, with a sort of perceptual invisibility, that renders them hidden unless one is specifically looking for them,
-0 AP Drawn by the residual energies of the Divine translation spell, an Antiphon escapes elsewhere to infiltrate the Human / Chitrach gathering. Antiphon's are creatures of strife and dissent. They are nearly featureless, halfling-sized creatures of oily, eggplant-colored skin, with short knobby claws, and with two dark voids which serve as the creature's eyes.
Antiphon's are too dim to actually converse, but they can mimic sounds, and use their perverse intuition to stir up fights and arguments, from which they draw sustennance.
-3 AP Create Population - The Umbrage. An umbrella term referring to the collective dwellers of elsewhere, they emerge into the world when and where they can, gorging themselves on the latent mana of specific emotions. Individuals are rarely satisfied with "natural" emotions, and so will attempt to induce it wherever (and however) they can.
They are a combination of undead, abberation, and devil, and come in dozens of individual sub-species. Powerful magic of any kind can, rarely, create short-lvied planar rifts, allowing the weakest of these to slip through from elsewhere. Unnatural creatures, they are hard to notice, with a sort of perceptual invisibility, that renders them hidden unless one is specifically looking for them,
-0 AP Drawn by the residual energies of the Divine translation spell, an Antiphon escapes elsewhere to infiltrate the Human / Chitrach gathering. Antiphon's are creatures of strife and dissent. They are nearly featureless, halfling-sized creatures of oily, eggplant-colored skin, with short knobby claws, and with two dark voids which serve as the creature's eyes.
Antiphon's are too dim to actually converse, but they can mimic sounds, and use their perverse intuition to stir up fights and arguments, from which they draw sustennance.
Happy Easter!. One week of SIX AP for everyone! (We'll go back down next week, most likely). Unfortunately, as I got my computer back late and I've been swamped with Triduum stuff, I don't have the map/story done... but I'll catch up this week... boss is out of town :D
Map:
Story: (From the last... 3 weeks... Ugh.)
The battle to banish Azgo from the world ends as Zebus manages to pin Azgo to his throne and then causes the entire GodCrater to be riven from the world into its own plane. Zebus, Agni and Ka'Vah barely escape. Azgo, finding himself trapped, reaches out in the world. There, he finds, to his immense pleasure, worshipers. He leads them westward, where he wills a new continent to rise from the ocean depths. Meanwhile, as Ka'Vah and Agni discuss the terms of their new relationship, Zebus retires from the world for a time, giving Life the upper hand for a time. The spirit of Leaf acts on this shift, nourishing life throughout the world and spreading the biomes on the main continent further than ever.
The long winter ends as Pruinus withdraws the icy storms from the world. As the snows retreat, the mortals of the world begin to become active once more. Deep inside the crown, the Nix gather together to determine whether they should return to the outside world. Meanwhile, heading towards the crown, the refugees of Sil Arkosh encounter several different forms of dragons, each which have differing views as to their 'craterspawn-edness.'
Far to the south, a massive Mangrove tree sprouts and is colonized by refugee humans who eventually shrink and become halflings. The halflings flourish, learning to harvest silk and build mighty ships.
With the end of winter, a warm, moist wind flows over the world, developing into a great stormcloud. Within the stormcloud, a new God, Lenauti, appears! She explores the world for a time until she is drawn to where Agni has been experimenting with creating underwater hotsprings. Agni and Lenauti enter into a debate regarding the nature of the world... and eventually try to intimidate one another through the creation of new elementals.
Pruinus observes the Nix for a time, then spreads magical metals of Mithril and Glaciril through the world before turning her attention to the skymotes. Here, Skylander culture has flourished, and large structures have been built on the skymotes. Azure dragons are born from the only sun that remains in the sky, now ensconced deep within a shrine built by the skylanders.
Deep below, the Azer work to rebuild a new Sil Arkosh, but are met with disaster as a quake plunges the underground sun which had destroyed Sil Arkosh the first time into the magma pit, where it interacts with the bones of the many dead Craterspawn to create not only friendly Orange Dragons, but also all numbers of evil Slaadi, who pour from the pit to overtake the Azer. One of the Azer sets out to the surface to find someone who knows more about the suns. Meanwhile, on the surface, a number of arctic elves attempt to determine a means to return their sun to the heavens.
In the magma fields west of the Eternal Volcano, a race of insects, the Chitrachs are born. They go to greet their neighbors, the humans, but discover that they cannot understand one another. That is, until magic allows them the opportunity! Things seem to go well, but then a strange being emerges among them. An Antiphon, a creature that subsists on fighting and dissent.
For the forces of Evil are still at work. From the Mountainous-Sun form of TASOE drops a large egg that pulses with malevolent life. Meanwhile, TASOE reaches out and insinuates himself into the minds of several Gods who had been previously wounded by the Spirits. Seg creates a mysterious artifact that has the capability to absorb AP from the Gods themselves, and Altruis has found Azgo deep within the planar prison that was once the Godcrater.
But hope is not all lost. As Sa builds a planar portal between this world and the Elsewhere, the Hero of Ages, Timmy Bushytail, is born.
OOC
Seeing as Thought hasn't been here in a week or so, I am going to move forward with some of my plans, and forward in the scenes that I am involved in. If Thought or anyone has a problem with what the outcome is, i am more than willing to edit or erase answers. Just let me know in the OOC
In the first few days, there were multiple disappearances among the halflings, those who had been too prying and a few too pious. More corpses were found drown at sea, or broken from a long fall. But the refugees quickly organized themselves. The murders stopped almost as soon as they began. But the whispers remained.
The only thing the refugees spoke freely of was sailing. In the day some lined up at the piers and watched the ships not out of fascination but analysis. And at night they snuck aboard the docked ships and looked in between every board and sail. Whenever the ahlflings needed a spare pare of hands on a short excursion, the refugees clamored for a chance upon the boat. Many returned satisfied, and a few boats did not return at all.
No, some boats set sail into the gloom of westward twilight and never looked back. They left a trail of bobbing halfling corpses in the ocean behind them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not all of the cultists had orders to sail. Those that remained drew to themselves power and wealth, whether in the wilds of an old ruin or the cisterns of what few cities had risen out of bedrock.
A large group, almost herd, of haggard people descended out of the northern mountains that grew out of the crown like a spine. Most of them were humans, covered in blistered, tested skin, but almost half of the group were of the hardy Gelab Duhr. Recruitment among their peoples since the war had been... easy. Onus was silent. Azgo spoke.
They needed a place to stay, to infest. One of the Gelab Duhr spat at the edge of the hilltop as a great fissure loomed ahead.
"The sunken city. And I thought it was a myth..."
They rested, and then continued into the depths of the stone. And they wondered as the darkness grew...
What could possibly live here, at Avarom?
OOC
We kinda left Avarom in the dust a while back. Last time i checked, there was a meeting between The Anima Guard, the elves, and the Giants/Gelab Duhr. So who owns what?
Tales spread of truly incredible, heroic indidivuals throughout the world. Human Warriors with skin thicker and tougher then that of the very armour they wear, with the strength to tear down walls of stone. Wizards whose spells could destroy entire armies at their will. Rogues and Thieves able to dance between the blades and knives of a thousand enemies.
The details differed, but all the tales told of mortals achieving deeds that many would think impossible. Many who spread the tales say they have seen them with their own eyes, and more and more evidance slowly unearthes to the existance of these spectular people: Heroes.
2 AP - Influence Culutre / Modify Populace
Because of the way in which Pruinus worded evolution when she wrote it into the laws of the universe, indidivuals rise from the masses with impossible abilites. Those who face enough challenges and obstacles become stronger, as it has always been, but the limit that once applied no longer seems to exist. It could be said that by facing enough challenges, mortals can undergo evolution throughout their lives. However, these people are still incredibly rare. What this does is create a planet in which the peoples are self-aware of the enire idea of "Levelling up" and gaining experience to become inhumanly strong. Obviously, in-universe there is not a specific set of values such as level or experience, but people know that by accepting challenge that they can gain strength beyond that of the majority of their race could ever hope to achieve.
Note: I've always liked the idea of explaining game mechanics in universe and this is my attempt at explaining "Levelling up" and the like in universe. If anyone has a probelm with this feel free to speak and I may remove this post, but I'm just wanting to try the idea out.
Also, Retcon: Although the legends have not changed and many still believe them to be impossibly strong, the case of the Anima Guard was largely exaggerated. To put it one way, they had the stats of someone around level 7, but could use spells of any level. Their powers were devastating, but their HP and defences were still entirely human and could be killed easily. They just managed to kill their enemies before they themselves could be killed.
1 AP - Create Hero -Timmy Bushytail
Nothing changes Lore-wise here, I just wanted to cement his status as a hero.
"Do I bring you more assurances?" Krr'Ree'E's translated voice quavered with the carefully controlled annoyance of an insulted noble.
"I come, myself, the daughter of our Queen, with only a bare handful of protectors, to your settlement. We come bearing no weapons other than those that cannot be removed. We have kept our limbs in plain sight at all time, and have waited patiently as you threaten and surround us, and now you wish for more assurances? You first. What assurances do you provide that you will not kill us the moment we let down our guard?"
And in their minds, a quiet echo: "the daughter--- removed--- limbs--- threaten --- kill us---"
~Chitrach Hive K!r!r!~
K!r!r! grew as Krr'Ree'A, the queen, gave birth to more and more children. The males destined for her daughter danced a dance of lonliness in their corner, waiting for her return.
~Dragon Battle~
Morenth lashed out and finally felt her hand make contact with the white dragon's throat. Gripping hard into the dragon's scales and the flesh beneath, Morenth shoved the head upwards, feeling the air grow cold as the icy breath streamed towards the passing Sun-Monster. Morenth planted her feet and twisted, and the white dragon twisted in the opposite direction, trying to escape. Suddenly, Morenth jumped into the air and briefly let go. The white dragon spun, wings scraping against the earth and Morenth heard a sickening snap as one of the smaller bones snapped. Morenth did not let herself get distracted. Not by the sound, not by the cold, and not by the dozen or so bleeding wounds that covered her body. Landing heavily, she wrapped her legs around the lower portion of the dragon and pinned its arms with her own.
"FINISH IT!" She yelled at her (she hoped) 'ally'
~The frozen north~
Cold. So very, very cold.
He had traveled for weeks, asking if anyone had heard of glowing orbs that dispensed horrible monsters. He had heard little to help him. The orbs were called 'Suns' apparently, and, in times past (at least, according to the humans he had encountered), there had been seven of them, and they had all been up in the sky, but they hadn't summoned monsters. One day, all but one had been cast down, but after a few weeks of terror, the Sun-Monster had replaced them.
No one knew where any of the others might be. At least, none who were willing to speak to the Azer, whose very appearance, not to mention proximity, was deemed unpleasant by many. It was soon after that a small spiritual form, barely larger than a mouse, had come to Giroth. It had introduced itself as a primal spirit, and said that it had heard the prayers of elves, far to the north, that had also come into possession of a sun. Overjoyed to finally be making progress, Giroth left that very night for the North.
But he had not expected it to be so very, very cold. The Azer trudged onwards. One foot, then another. In the distance, he could see lights. A city... one where he hoped he could find more information, find out where to go.
~Above the Clouds~
Agni looked around. Yes, the Lightning was Fire, but it was surrounded by storm and water. Yes, the Volcano was Fire, but it was surrounded by ocean.
It is too late here. He muttered angrily. But not elsewhere. Elsewhere, I may be dominant without contest, WaterMaiden.
Agni drooled out white-hot magma, which plummeted through the clouds and struck the very center of the obsidian island below. The magma spread and began to melt the rock in a perfect circle. Protected by the obsidian, the magma was able to continue burrowing deeper beneath the ocean, then the seafloor and beyond. Finally, the Gods felt more than saw as the magma broke through to something... else. A world made of roiling fire, with continents of obsidian and oceans of magma.
1 AP: Ascend Hero: Lets make Giroth a hero too. Poor Azer. Probably gaining XP just from shivering.
1 AP: Nourish Populace: The Chitrach hive grows in size and population
4 AP: Create Plane: The core of the world is actually one giant portal to the elemental plane of Fire, which is, itself, a world made of fire. Currently, the only 'way' to 'reach' the portal is to cross the ocean until the water starts to boil beneath you, then run across the super-hot obsidian to the pit in the center of the obsidian island, then somehow climb down from the surface to the center of the planet through the shaft that Agni just carved out. Seems simple, right?
0 AP left.
The god of lies went westward and entered the ocean. Deep down, far below where the light stopped, he felt a movement in the water. Something was coming for him.
There was a glimpse of light, and Seg turned to see a glowing maw open to swallow him. The sun inside was a barely-contained fury. He hoped his master could suppress it for a little longer, at least.
Even knowing he was safe, it was hard not to cringe as the Leviathan chomped down around him. Mucus and muscles moved him down from the mouth, and the god entered the rest of the thing's body. He wasn’t sure if the master was here. But then, the master was always watching. Best not to delay.
Seg went to the core of the creature, to it’s life essence, and held out the stillborn god’s heart to it. The life essence was consumed and protected.
Even if the master wasn’t here, Darkness was. It took him quickly, now that they were away from prying eyes, to the other two godbeasts, and Seg repeated the process with each. Finally, he put a lock on the heart. Everything that was done could be undone. That was a regrettable law of the universe, penned by a dead god. But that could be limited.
The lock was keyed to the society of the gods. The beasts would live until their essence could be removed from the heart. And the heart would remain locked as long as paranoia dominated the divine society.
AP
3AP Modify Artifact. Seg instills the life essence of the three god beasts in the heart and locks it, preventing their removal. Effectively, the godbeasts are immortal until this lock is addressed. The only way to unlock it is for the gods to join together. I don’t want this to be tied to the whims of a single god, so it doesn’t have to be every god, but certainly more than are presently friends.
3ap remaining
3AP Modify Artifact. Seg instills the life essence of the three god beasts in the heart and locks it, preventing their removal. Effectively, the godbeasts are immortal until this lock is addressed. The only way to unlock it is for the gods to join together. I don’t want this to be tied to the whims of a single god, so it doesn’t have to be every god, but certainly more than are presently friends.
3ap remaining
And yet it was also a confusing one. It was obviously a foolish move, and possibly a fatal one. Why would one dragon so easily expose themselves, knowing that she could not possibly avoid a strike in time? She even looked directly at him...
Cantorix charged the pair of combatants, shifting his momentum as his body turned. His eyes watched Morenth's throat like clockwerk. Every bone in his muscled tail aligned for impact-
And in the haze a brief light flashed. A last ditch effort of caution left behind by reason. Surely, he would regret it.
The tail twisted in angle before lashing out, instead catching the white dragon's skull and Morenth's chest. A few brittle snaps could be heard, but the force of the blow was more intended to knock her back than deal any serious damage. The crimson dragon staggered back, and Cantorix continued his assault. Without missing a step, he reared back on his hind legs... and brought the weight of his body crashing down unto the stunned white dragon. Cantorix could feel the muscle contorting and the bone fragments gliding just beneath the skin. The ribcage split open.
Digging his claws into the flesh, Cantorix pried the skeleton apart. He lowered his head within the blood-spewing hole and let loose a torrent of acid acorss the organs. The white dragon writhed and slammed its tail repeatedly against him, catching many good blows before the strength of its life began to swiftly fall away.
Cantorix paused over the body, triumphant. He felt powerful, unwavering, and unstoppable. The corpse of a dragon!!
....
The corpse of a dragon...
...
The corpse of a dragon?
A look of horror peeled across the layers of blood on the young dragon's visage.
...
The corpse of a dragon?!
Had he slain a dragon?! What abomination of an act was it, for hunter to slay hunter? All his life, the teachings had guided him. Discipline in all things, brotherhood for all things. That tenet had salvaged his kin from death by craterspawn talons. It was the way of the world, for dragons to hunt craterspawn, not each other! Had he violated nature itself?
The savagry evaporated. Cantorix stared at the corpse, dumbfounded. He left himself vulnerable.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so Azgo was left alone. The water rushed with the chorus of waterfalls. The stone moaned, content that not all was lost. It felt strange to be awake.
And this realm was no longer what it was.
Azgo began to walk. The rubble moved away from his feet, and the ground became even. Everything seemed so broken, but there was a life here yet: a sickness that refused to die. One day, it would be rebuilt stronger.
Weeks passed as Azgo moved about the ruins. He moved, and he thought. He thought of Firstborn. He thought of battle. He thought of the Plan. And Azgo thought of the First. And those thoughts brought about tears in his pairs of eyes. Survival may very well be a victory for now, but was he worthy of The First's blessings? Would a better son have succeeded by now? Why did They betray him?!
He knew, in his hearts, but he could still scarcely believe it. He HATED them for it, and he HATED them even more for thier refusal to aknowledge it. And so hatred consumed sorrow once again, and they merged once again.
Moving aside some rubble, Azgo saw a familiar sight: his sundered, rotting arms still encased in the Apostate's Bane. The dead godflesh twitched at his approach, still responding to old commands. Azgo held the limbs aloft and studied them.
But no, they were too far gone for reattachment. The arms were dead. Truely dead. A sudden surge of resolve flowed through The Blood Crowned. The First had chosen him, and the First did not choose lightly. He was meant to be king, and a king he would be. He was worthy, for hatred had given him worth.
Azgo merged the two limbs into one. Flesh melded with cold metal. Like a crucible, power was poured into the mixture which grew in size and might. The large maul felt effortless in Azgo's hands, for it was his scepter.
Renewed his purpose, Azgo continued to walk through the abyssal layers untill he found himself at the edge of the Abyss. It was ethreal rather than physical, and it was felt rather than seen. The wards were strong, beyond rebuke... almost. For Azgo could also feel the smallest flow of prayer into the Abyss through the porous wards. They seeped through, slowly but surely. Azgo crept towards the holes, and willed himself through.
There was the darness of between planes.
And then there was light. Azgo felt like a wisp of himself, similar to when Altruis had attempted to consume him. His power had fallen away from him, and everything felt distant. He felt frail again for the first time in eons... But he was here.
Azgo walked the world once more.
Abyssal Prison Limitation
The prayers of Azgo's followers have opened holes in the Abyss large enough for a god to fit through, allowing Azgo to escape his confidement. However, the prison, untill Azgo attempots to change it, is still powerful and attuned to Azgo. As such, Azgo's fighting strength is reduced from a god to a 5-AP exarch whenever he leaves his prison. Also, his artifacts are aborbed into his form, meaning they can't be lost and they can't be used.
"Do I bring you more assurances?" Krr'Ree'E's translated voice quavered with the carefully controlled annoyance of an insulted noble.
"I come, myself, the daughter of our Queen, with only a bare handful of protectors, to your settlement. We come bearing no weapons other than those that cannot be removed. We have kept our limbs in plain sight at all time, and have waited patiently as you threaten and surround us, and now you wish for more assurances? You first. What assurances do you provide that you will not kill us the moment we let down our guard?"
And in their minds, a quiet echo: "the daughter--- removed--- limbs--- threaten --- kill us---"
The human bowed her head. Her brow furrowed - they intended to maim the child Illya? She shook her head at that errant thought, then snapped out of it.
"My choice of words was poor, perhaps." She cleared her throat and stepped forwards. "Though perhaps too, you do not understand who you are dealing with. We are not nobles, or leaders of any sort. We are simple farmers, former fighters of long bloody wars. We have no need for queen or king. We seek assurances because fighting is all we have ever known."
"Let us try a different track, then. You are clearly not craterspawn, for you show little desire to slaughter our kind and burn our lands. In short, we do not know your people, and we are slow to trust. I full accept that we are a wary people. It seems that you want peace, or at least, no overt hostilities. That is true of us as well, but it is only the luck of fate that we did not strike out at you in fear when you first arrived - had the child Illya not forged this link between us, we would have struck you down, or died trying."
"I ask then, in order to prevent such misunderstands from happening again, that you close your tunnels, promise never to tunnel beneath our lands, and approach from a direction other than down."
"we are --- fighters of long bloody wars."
"you --- desire to slaughter --- and burn --- you want --- hostilities."
"close your tunnels --- never approach"
Morenth breathed heavily, feeling blood run from her open mouth and pool on the ground. Barely thinking about it, she quickly cauterized her internal wounds with a small flame that barely flickered out of her mouth. Instead, all her attention was fixed on the gory scene before her. She
"I... that... was very decisive, friend. I question whether it was necessary, but... it was decisive. Are you badly wounded? I can seal your wounds, if you allow me."
To demonstrate what she meant, she began to seal her own wounds with her breath, wincing as the fire scorched shut the flowing blood.
~Humans/Chitrachs~
Krr'Ree'E shook her head. She had heard the words that the human meat-bag had said, but... some words seemed... underlined... by anger and hostility. Was this some strange form of diplomacy? Saying something long and kind-sounding while subtly empasizing certain words to convey the real, deeper meaning?
Krr'Ree'E hated word games. It was one of the weaknesses that her mother was always trying to 'fix' in her to no avail. She preferred a more direct approach.
"Enough. No more games. We do not wish to fight. Why do you insinuate that we do?"
"Enough --- games. We ---- Fight."
At last it came to the east, to the heart of the savannah, and there it rested.
The seed buried itself deep into the ground, and from that seed a bush grew, thick of thorn and bramble. A branch broke itself off of the bush, and Brother Branch stretched. After taking a look around, he headed towards the nearest camp of humans he could find. The wind and rain had brought them east from the Crown, same as it had brought him. There was no beginning or end to the wind, though each gust was a beginning.
Brother Branch went among the humans. They did poorly in the heart and harsh environment, but the god of life taught them how to find water in this wasteland, how to resist the heat. Their skin grew thick, over time, to better protect them. Their bodies more solid, to survive in this place. Brute strength brought brutishness, and often the people fought and separated, forming new tribes. But every generation one would rise up, stronger than the rest, and that one would forge the orcs into a single nation for a time, before they crumbled back into tribes.
During this time, Brother Branch observed that the dead did not always stay dead. He felt that his time was drawing it a close, and began to prepare the way forward.
AP
1AP command populace: Humans head east
3AP create populace: Orcs in the east.
2AP Nourish populace: Orcs flourish in the Savannah
0AP remaining
1AP command populace: Humans head east
3AP create populace: Orcs in the east.
2AP Nourish populace: Orcs flourish in the Savannah
0AP remaining
The humans reacted immediately to the twisting of Krr'Ree'E's words. Half-lowered weapons were brandished once more, though there was a good deal less confidance in their wielders. It was one thing when their foes had been nameless, wordless, "craterspawn", but fully-thinking beings?
And so the humans staid their hand.
Several tense moments passed before the umbralist slowly lowered her weapon again. She thrust her blade angrily into the ground, its hilt pointing awkwardly at the Chitarchs.
"Don't toy with us. You demand a fight, then stand still as if you did not mean it. If its war you're after, we won't dishonor ourselves to strike the first blow. If you want that, you must do it yourself!"
"---fight --- war --- strike --- do it ---"
"No."
The echo seemed... unable to do anything with such a simple statement.
Only an hour before he was so sure of the world that he would've died for his truth. And now... nothing seemed similar. Everything was different, and Cantorix was different. It felt like a blank slate, as if he only knew his past because it had been told to him.
He needed time to think... to think and to question. Perhaps the truth of his fathers and and the truth of their fathers was... wrong. Could there be such a word? Could a whole world be so shifted by such a short word? Or it had been... incomplete?
That thought gave what little comfort his mind could muster. Perhaps he shouldn't start over from scratch.
"No." he muttered.
"I have earned these wounds. Let me bear them.
He lapsed into silence.
"You seem troubled. Was that the first time you have killed? It is always difficult the first time, but in this case it was necessary. The White One would not listen to reason."
"No?" sputtered the Umbralist. "Well, good."
She retreived her sword and sheathed it.
"Good." she muttered, mostly to herself, brow furrowed in thought again.
Something about this whole encounter was giving her a headache. She rubbed her temples. "Nn--"
She had been about to ask, 'Not Enemies?' but some instinct cried out, and she stopped short. Instead, she questioned again: "Friends?"
The echo seemed to scream in frustration at that, but again, remained silent.
"No. Thousands of craterspawn... crushed under my heel, torn... between my claws."
His eyes remained on the white dragon's face.
"But a dragon? Never once have I heard of such treachery... It is not the way, for hunter... to slay hunter..."
His voice trailed off. His body could not relax, and his whole frame remained tense.
Morenth nodded and looked down at the dragon's corpse.
She spoke quietly. "That is difficult, I agree. Dragons should not kill Dragons. And yet, this one acted more like a Craterspawn than a Dragon. We tried to speak to it, to reason with it. It would not listen, would not even acknowledge us on the level of equals. Truly, did we have a choice but to fight for our survial?"
~Chitrachs~
Well, that was clear.
"Yes. Friends." She said. It seemed that short, positive sentances were the safest
"Why did we misunderstand one another for so long? Strange."
"We could have died. Perhaps... perhaps it would have been better to have died than to kill. Follow."
Cantorix took a deep breath and took to the skies. The wind was pleasing, and the skies burdened with clouds. It felt uplifting, and Cantorix emptied his mind. The moot awaited him... or them, if she did indeed follow him.
The Umbralist narrowed her eyes in agreement. "Is there... someone else?" There were mumurs of confusion and agreement all around as the humans broke their gaze from the Chitarchs, searching for... something else.
The Umbralist traced a circle, scanning the clearing. But it was the child Illya who cried out, "There!".
All eyes were suddenly focused on a weird-looking purple... thing, curled half-way around one of the nearby tree trunks.
It hurt to look at, andone's eyes slid off of it the harder they tried to focus.
"What... is that?"
The creature "roared", despite its lack of mouth, and beat its shadowy claws against the tree and ground. Strangely soundless, it trundled towards the delegates, a leaping charge that sent it flying directly at Krr'Ree'E.
visual aid
Except purple-green-blue-octarine.
Except purple-green-blue-octarine.
"Then this one would have killed again. That cannot have been preferred."
Slightly favoring one wing, Morenth took to the skies to follow its kin.
~Chitrachs~
Krr'Ree'E's multifaceted eyes carefully analyzed the approaching thing, closing the lenses that would be staring directly at it while using the peripheral vision from a dozen more to track it exactly. As it approached, Krr'Ree'E raised her arms defensively. The beast began to dodge from side to side, a move that would have made it nearly impossible for someone with only a single pair of eyes to keep track of it, particularly with the strong urge to look away when it was stared at directly. It drew closer and closer, and then the Chitrach lashed out with a long, outstretched arm. With a sickening noise, the monster impaled itself on the outstretched claw, and howled in pain as Krr'Ree'E's other arm began methodically chopping off portions of 'flesh' from the being. Soon, Krr'Ree'E was retracting her impaling arm and watching as the entire purply-green-blue thing slid off to land, dead, on the earth.
Immediately, the sense of dread and conflict in the air lifted.
"This appears to have been the source of our difficulties. Have you ever seen its like?"
We've all been really sucky at posting the last few weeks, so we're docking most people back down to 4. If we have a good posting week, we'll raise (those who post) back to 5 and then move on from there.
5 AP: Forgotten.
4 AP: Everyone else.
Map
Story
Altruis comes upon Azgo in the Abyss, and is induced to take the sword of Zebus from Altruis' body. He does so, wounding himself as Azgo is freed and begins to heal. As Altruis leaves, Azgo bides his time, healing his wounds before eventually stepping forth into the world in a weakened form... some part of him remains tied to the Abyss itself.
As Brother Branch creates more creatures (orcs, this time) in an attempt to be noticed by the other Gods, his halflings are beset by 'refugees' who are in truth secret cultists of Azgo. They begin to kidnap and kill halflings before leaving again in a fleet of stolen ships. Meanwhile, another band of cultists makes their way to Avarom. What will they find there?
New bonds are formed between the mortal races: The Azer make contact with the elves of the Northern Wastes, the Humans and Chitrachs soon realize that they are being manipulated, and kill the monster that is twisting their words, and the Red and Black dragons begin to call a dragonsmoot.
Meanwhile, Agni creates a portal to the plane of fire at the core of the world to show Leni that he is truly dominant over her. Seg puts the essences of the three GodMonsters into the heart of the stillborn God, making them 'immortal' until 'the Gods join together.'
And Pruinus' evolution begins to take hold, but in an unexpected way. Individuals are able to evolve over the course of a single lifespan. Some come to call this process 'leveling up.'
The light that the Azer-man had seen was no city. With light came warmth, and it was rare indeed that warmth would be so wasted in the north where it was more precious than money. Even the largest elvish settlements, such as the home of Queen Ilsagar, Lady of Iceheim, First of Four, produced barely more than a mote of illumination.
No. It was no city, though the Azer-man had passed several on his travels through the realm of Queen Gisa, Lady of Thawhold, Second of Four, but he didn't have eyes to see them, made as they were from snow, and by snow hidden.
It was what the arctic elves had come to call the Midnight Sun.
With the thaw in the south, King Bernhar, Lord of Frosthaven, Third of Four, had returned to the north, and had taken up residence alongside his two kin. The seat of the Fourth of Four, ruler of Snowberg, remained vacant as years of inbreeding had ruined its rulers. After King Evets's son had died, Mot the Stout won the war of succession, but died after a healer sent from a rival house assured him that an arrow to the eye was a potent cure for headaches (although to the healer's credit, Mot never did complain of another headache). Mot was in turn succeeded by Derf the Tall, who decided to keep a polar bear as a pet. Such pets are not conducive to continued life. The scat that was thought to be Derf was burned with full rites, and he was succeeded by Nasus The Average, who was at least more competent than her relatives. Unfortunately, she remained preoccupied in Snowberg, attempting to shore up the line of succession and prevent any more "special" rulers from coming to power, if an ill-fate befell her.
The farscouts found the Azer-man heading directly towards the Midnight Sun, and by happenstance, the royal encampments. Provided that the warm-one didn't struggle or prove a threat, they'd bring him before the Three.
-The Mangrove Tree-
Winslo rubbed his forehead, massaging his eyes with this thumbs. He'd been up for too long, with too much bad news, but there was little to be done about that. The world was as the world must be. The messenger before him shifted nervously. There was, of course, no legitimate reason for her to be nervous, but Winslo was the Wavemaster. Together with the Windmaster and Oarmaster, they oversaw the fleet of ships.
A fleet that was, it seemed, reduced in numbers.
Merchants and private citizens had been bringing complaints to the three starting early in the morning. During the night their friends, families, and employees had been murdered and their ships stolen. The Three had to so do something. It was their duty, and the world was as the world must be.
Were the mainlanders behind this? That seemed unlikely, as they had been trading up and down the earthen-coast for years without any such incident. And besides, the fact that the ships were sailed away without their crew spoke ill. This was planned. In truth, even halfling sailors were reluctant to venture too far from the coast, but the fastest skimmers had seen no sign of them there. The criminals must have ventured out into the open ocean.
The poor fools. Halfling ships only carried enough food and water for two days, as an emergency supply. They depended on being able to make shore each night to gather resources. Skilled fisherman might be able to keep a boat feed at open sea, but potable water? A halfling crew would be reduced to delirium in a week. How much quicker would some of the bigkin?
Even assuming that the thieves were headed to other, undiscovered lands, those lands must be weeks or months of travel away. The thieves had given themselves a death sentence.
No more punishment was needed for them. But the people wanted their boats and ships back. That was a prickly dilemma. If only he had an inkling of which direction the ships had gone.
Days passed, and the wide expanses of the lowlands were replaced with the Southern Mountains. Cantorix glanced over their summits, remembering battles of yore and the hundreds that had died here. Sometimes, the odor of ash would reek even at this height... or perhaps that was the fumes traveling through Cantorix's snout. But regardless, this place would always be remembered for victory, and for loss. And then he saw it. And descended.
The mountain was no taller than the others, but it was much wider. But the mountain was covered in cliffsides and feilds of loose rubble. Many sides and were constantly switching from perilous falls and the threat of rockslides. Trails eventually ended in a vertical cliff. Every single mortal who had attempted the climb had failed, and some failed to come back at all. The stone was of tempered granite and did not budge before the mines of the dwarves. Cantorix admired its tenacity.
The summit was in sight, and Cantorix dived through the cloud cover. He was closer to falling than to flying. At the last moments, Cantorix prepared to land in the lake that surrounded the massive stone pillar. A tremendous splash blocked his vision. The water was bitingly cold.
When at last the water settled, A juvenile dragon was sitting perfectly still before him. Nine others stayed close to the Mootstone, but watched from a distance. They were curious... and a little frightened.
The young dragon spoke with rehersed confidence, "The refuge of the elders is found, the prison fled, and a god defied."
Cantorix hesitated. He hadn't learned the reply in many years, and he had been delibrately avoiding the temptations of thinking. His mind stirred back to its senses.
"The throne of the young is founded, the prisoners bled, and we continue to fight."
The juvenile smiled.
"Welcome back... Canntor, is it? If you are looki-"
Cantorix's face remained as cold as the icy waters.
"The Moot must be called."
The youngling fell silent, first with a humorous chuckle. But as the young dragon searched for a witty reply, the look of Cantorix's eyes did not shake. A slow, paralyzing fear crept through his body, and into his eyes. He managed to whisper.
"Wh-What? The..."
"The Moot."
The other young dragons gathered around the bloody pillar looked on with confusion. They couldn't hear what was being said, but the look of the young dragon filled them with concern. Was the other one threatening him? Or... could it be?
"The Moot has not been called in ages, Canntor. Not since the first wave of craterspawn. Its... Its not possible..."
"Cantorix. My name is Cantorix, not that it matters any longer. I come bearing news that will change all of our teachings."
The young dragon grew even more still, and his breath shortened. So, this was no trick...
"What could possibly-"
"There are others, other dragons. And they are not of our color. Nor do they know the Shared History. And more than that, there are other creatures. Things that are not dragon nor craterspawn. Things of flesh that oppose The Wounded God and cannot be called dragons."
There was a silence, the silence of the grave. Even though it was mid-day, the sunlight felt eithered and cold to the touch. The water remained still as glass. The young dragon attempted to speak, to fight against reality.
"That's not true... that's impossible..."
Cantorix felt no need to speak. The dragon knew he was telling the truth. A look of pity entered his eyes, and seeing this, the youngling broke down, inable to escape.
"NO! No, no no no no! Perhaps, perhaps you believe it, but that does not make it true! You're... your'e sick-yes, sick in the head. It was a dream Cantorix-"
The pity intensified.
"Where is your proof, Cantorix?! Where?"
The "Proof" broke through the cloud cover and plummeted to earth, mighty wing-sweeps buffeting the dragons below as Morenth pulled a seemingly impossible loop to kill her momentum before landing next to Cantorix. Morenth eyed the younger dragons suspiciously, then bobbed her head in greeting.
"My name is Morenth. I too come to the Moot."
~The North~
He tried to hide his terror at the way in which the elven scouts had seemed to materialize out of the snowy wastes.
"I have come north seeking those who have a Sun, for their aid is greatly needed." He said simply.
The closest one retreated a few broad paces. His head craned low to the ground and his wings shrouded the vulnerable places of his body. An instinctive rumble crept out from between his sharpened teeth.
"What... what are you?"
Cantorix stepped forward, sending a long wave rippling across the lake and to the base of the Mootstone. A quick snort drew the youngling's attention.
"There is no violence at the Moot. Draw blood, and you shame the countless generations that died for this place."
His words were harsh, but they never lost an undertone of empathy. Cantorix understood breaking under pressure. The other dragons gathered defensively about the Mootstone as they had been trained to do. An uneasiness hung in the air.
Morenth nodded to Cantorix.
"He and I have fought together now against a common foe. This has formed a bond that should be strengthened. It is for this reason I come to the Moot. The Craterspawn... the Enemy... both remain. We must join together to become vigilant."
~Portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire~
OOC
Sorry Xeadin... I'm going to move on. Hope you come back soon!
Cantorix glanced at Morenth from the corner of his eye. A bond? He had never thought of it as a bond, news certainly, but never a bond. Interesting. Cantorix looked over the youngling at the others. They were surely younger. Then the Duty fell to him.
The youngling stared at Morenth, but his focus faded away. Morenth was much more than a mere dragon, she was a begining, and an end. He stared through her, and past her. He felt as if he was falling away, wingless.
"So then... The Moot..."
"Must be called. Tradition dictates that the Moot be summoned as soon as it is called, but I will give you untill nightfall Keeper. You have given up enough."
The youngling continued staring at Morenth. His body was oddly relaxed, given the chill of the water. He didn't feel it at all.
"I-no. No. It will be done."
He retreated slowly. Was there an accusatory glance in his eyes? After what felt like a lifetime, the youngling turned his gaze over his shoulder towards the others. A dullness krept over them. No words were exchanged, and only the wind tore open the silence across the jagged peak. Like a shadow, the youngling slid away and silently glided into the air, higher and higher over the Mootstone.
"I am sorry, Keeper."
And then he fell.
The youngling crashed into the jagged pillar. The cacophony of shattering bones was carried away on the wind, but the scream remained. The corpse split open like a fruit, pouring warm blood across the Mootstone. After a few seconds, it rolled over the stone and tumbled into the lake.
The Moot had been called.
"What was that? To call a meeting you sacrifice one of your own? That is the PRIMAL Sin! I... I am not sure this was a good idea."
"This appears to have been the source of our difficulties. Have you ever seen its like?"
Even in death, the Antiphon was hard to look at. Had it really been in ther midst all along?
The Umbralist shook her head in response. "No. I have not. But if it is a sign of things to come, then I fear we may need all the allies we can have."
She extended a hand.
"Welcome, in friendship, to the Crown Valley."
"Forgive me, but you do not wish to grip my 'hand.'" She waved one of her forelimbs. "They are quite sharp. But we thank you for your welcome and extend our friendship to you on behalf of my mother and the rest of our people."
The Chitrach looked up at the setting sun.
"It is late. We should return to our nests. Until we meet again."
Krr'Ree'E made a sharp jabbing signal, and, as one, the Chitrachs burrowed into the earth and vanished.
"This is forced upon no one. It is among the greatest of duties, and the few here chose this knowing they may die for the benefit of the whole. The brave go forth happy to die for kin."
Cantorix pointed his snout at the other dragons. They hung their heads low, and none looked at Morenth. They could all feel it, even Morenth due to proximity. A pulse in the blood. An innate knowledge.
"They know his name, and it will be recorded along with the Elder Wyklix. He will be buried under the lake along with the first martyr. He will be missed."
Cantorix longed for the wind. It was comforting in its own way. It was... distracting. And now nothing distracted away from the corpse. Cantorix had never imagined himself here, a murderer. Was this a moot or a trial?
"The Mootstone, it is a brutal blessing."
"What you do, even by choice, is abomination to my kind. We are so few after the Cataclysm of the Eternal Volcano. To allow another to die... is wrong."
A shudder rolled its way down from neck to tail as Morenth considered the thought.
Urk lifted his arms and closed his eyes. The green sun rose in the sky, and it warmed his body. He could feel the light inch along his skin, starting with his forehead, then passing over his placid face. This, the warm of the sky, was the second great blessing, and his body was eager for it. The blessing passed too quickly. His skin grew accustomed to the temperature, and the communion ended.
He opened his eyes, drew his club, and raised it to the sky. The warriors with him did likewise, and with voices as one, they screamed their gratitude to the heavens. The bellow lasted for a moment, for a miniute, for as long as the warriors could hold it. One by one, out of breath, they stopped, until only Urk remained. Every muscle in his chest was tight, trying to force the last speck of air from his lungs. Not for the first time he wondered if he could break his own ribs from doing this.
At least Urk stopped screaming, and gasped for air. This was the fifth blessing, the feel of new air, new warmth, entering the body. He filled his lungs and he could feel his skin stretch to try to make room for all he took in. A joint in his back, one that had been bothering him all morning -- he must have slept on a rock -- cracked.
The warriors exhaled, controlled, as a hunter is controlled.
The cooks called for them. The first blessing, the warmth of wood and cooked food, was ready. The meal was small and simple, made from roots and other plants, but that was alright. The warriors went hunting today. The blackfoot tribe had encroached on their land, and they would erradicate them. There would be meat tonight.
Despite the early hour, the day was already warm, and as Urk ate, he began to sweet. The food was almost too hot to swallow, and many spices had been put in, but that didn't account for the heat. Perhaps this was a sign that Agni had heard the prayers of the shamans last night, and that he was watching over them and would grant them victory.
-The North-
The arctic elves barely spoke to the azer-man as they escorted him to before the rulers. Although Queen Ilsagar, Lady of Iceheim, was the First of four, she was the first among equals. The farscouts didn't take the azer-man to her alone, but all three.
Out in the cold, in the raw wind, servants had constructed three thrones out of snow. It was a hasty job, and flakes fell off the one on the right. The backs of the thrones were to the glacier, and the Midnight Sun hung just above it. Despite the years of trying, the elves had not been able to move it further.
The farscouts brought the azer-man before the three. Ilsagar was in the middle, her body as naked as a blade. Her legs were crossed, but her arms rested on the chair, palms up. Here eyes were closed, and her chest rose slowly but steadily for many long moments before she exhaled. A dusting of snow fell from the sky, and as each prick of ice touched her skin, she smiled.
To her left was Queen Gisa, Lady of Thawhold, Second of Four. Her throne was covered with furs, most white, but a few rare brown ones, brought from the far south where creatures didn't live in perpetual snow. Poles had been stuck in the ground around her throne, and a leather tarp between them, which protected her from the weather. Occasionally small tufts of the stuff slid off the back and onto the ground behind the throne. Gisa herself wore simple leather clothes, with white fur peeking out around the collar and sleeves. Her hand covered her eyes, protecting them from the brightness of the landscape. Every other moment she shifted, looking to see if the azer-man had arrived yet.
On Ilsagar's right was King Bernhar, Lord of Frosthaven, Third of Four. His chair lacked cushion, but his clothing was thick, and a great cape of fur and skin was draped over his shoulders. He was leaning forward in his chair, and there his body remained, though his eyes darted to every movement. They paused just long enough to assess the threat and then moved one, seeking. His left hand was pressed against the armrest of his throne. His fingers moved up and down the side, melting troughs into it.
The azer-man was brought before them, and though he was offered a snow-chair as well, they offered no warmth or other comfort. It remained to be judged is hospitality would be extended or not.
The world still felt like the edge of a dream, or a nightmare. His escape... he had been flour under a millstone, ground into dust. Had he been stripped of everything? Azgo might have been free, but The Crowned in Blood still felt shackled. Like a turtle with too heavy a shell...
He took a moment to adjust himself. The world felt unfamiliar and distant. Upon what shore did this wisp of a god come into essence? Azgo spread himself out and caressed the brail of the coastline. Grain by grain, he slowly remembered this area. He had once laid a plague upon this area, these hinterlands. Many warriors had gathered here, awash in the vigor of the Primal Spirits. They had held their own against his legions.
Azgo smiled faintly.
And what had thier defiance earned them? Blindness. Entire towns covered up in milky blindness... They had died alone, and afraid of his power. Such is the way, for the blind to lead the blind.
But there would be time for such things later on. His followers had called out to him, and a world was ripe for the rotting. Azgo molded himself into a cloud, and then raced with the stormwinds along the coast untill he came to rest above the halfing's Mangrove tree. The sky grew paler and covered itself in the puss-white sores of cloudcover. Over the next several days, the ailing tempest spread itself across the western ocean. Under his breath, gardens began to wither. The leaves dried up along the tops, and the fruit blackened here and there. A cough went out among the halflings, swelling their lungs with mucus. Handfuls of silkworms shriveled up and died.
Far out at sea, the scattered flotilla of halfling ships crawled along the sea. The boats were as haggard as the sailors, showing bare bones and timber under skins of flesh and sail. The followers, they had been too eager. They had been so occupied with sailing that they had underestimated the length of the journey itself. In the first few days, the halfling rations were greedily gorged in celebrations reminiscent of the old wild dances. Then they had split and rationed what food was left. Meals became loaves. Loaves became slices. Slices crumbled into nothing, and fell between the planks. A few more days, and they consumed the halfling limbs in a rush of new, sogging meat. Legs were prized and killed over. Eyes were a delicacy for the few who resprted to such things. Nothing was left to throw overboard.
Azgo watched over them, letting the "feasts" continue. They had been foolish, and they needed to suffer for such ignorance. They needed to feel the hunger of the dead man, the paranoia that kept them awake at night wondering whose turn it was next, and for some the agony of being broken apart like bread. What Azgo would give to go through such little pain...
And after six more days of this suffering, He reached out with swirling fingers into the water, a hive of typhoons penetrated the waters around the ship. Given what little strength he had, Azgo plunged his grip into the ocean's depths leaving blood in his wake.
And with his other hand, Azgo pulled a fang from his blackened gums. Breaking it into fragments, he cast the fragments of his hunger and his wrath into the typhoons. The storms raced ahead of the boats, always on the horizon.
And hours after the storms passed, schools of fish would float to the surface, bloated and bruised. Lesions ran down the length of the scaly sides, and the flesh was a cocktail of spewing, juicy scarletts and chewy blacks. And from the air, swarms of palm-sized locusts flew between the galleons. They allowed the cultist to grap them by the handful. Crunchy...
Azgo turned from the boats, ingoring praises from the many remaining. The cloud began to move forward, searching the land. What else had transpired in his absence?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cantorix said nothing.
How could he reply to her? She was right; The call of the Moot was an evil thing. But it was a neccessary thing, or so he had been told.
Eventually he whispered in response.
"They will come. They will not sleep nor eat unless they will die without it. The Moot will begin in three days, and more will come during its progression."
"There are caves beneath the mountain, a place to slumber. I will show you if you care to."
Cantorix did not want to sleep. Dreams had a way of making him think, and that was too much for him. For now...
OOC
Populate Populace (1AP): Locusts are formed. A great plague upon sentient species will soon begin to take its toll.
Nourish Populace (1AP): The cultists survive their long journey be feasting upon the "gifts" of Azgo.
AP Remaining:3
Nourish Populace (1AP): The cultists survive their long journey be feasting upon the "gifts" of Azgo.
AP Remaining:3
Quietly he watched and waited. It would be rude to interrupt after all, but something told him this wasn't to be missed.
ooc
Oh boys! can marcus play too?
Oh boys! can marcus play too?
Pen
His name is Giroth
Her journey brought with it chilling winds, clouds choosing to spit hail at the ground on which she walked.
One of the first changes she had noticed is the growth of the creatures known as the Nix. They began to inhabit more lands then they previously dared themselves. She spot a train of carts and wagons slowly making its way from The Crown towards a nearby human settlement. Here, the two cultures made a trade. The Nix gave away stocks of meat, pelts, fur, wool, bones, ore, herbs... Generally all manner of objects which a Nix would see everyday in The Crown and consider mundane.
The humans in return granted them weapons and armour. One might think it a foolish move to give weapons away to those who you trade with, but the Nix did even seem capable of such dishonesty as to use traded weapons against their previous owners. Even were there a risk of the Nix turning hostile, with the bitter, freezing winds of winter returning the humans simply needed protection from the cold more then from the blade.
Many more caravans emerged from The Crown carrying similar goods.
Pruinus carried on her journey, walking up and down the continent as blizzards and snowstorms covered her from mortal eyes.
---
Non-AP: As Pruinus travels the continent, winter follows her. The winter begins in the north-east of the continent, spreading up and down as Pruinus travels.
2AP: Command Populace - Nix
The Nix culture has grown and evolved. Their respect for nature and the primal spirits remains the same, but their methods and customs around this change. Previously, Nix only kill animals that they need the meat for in the immediate future. Hunters now hunt every animal for its meat, fur, bones and every other scavengeable resource, storing them in huge quantities where qualified Nix shamans would cast spells to preserve the remains until they are ready to ship them out. The Nix do not trade with currency, only for other objects of worth, although they may give away their goods to those they feel need it.
1AP - Harm locusts
Pruinus isn't making any effort to do this and isn't aware of it even happening, but I imagine a winter lasting years could cause a dent in locust population. Note that Agni'Vohda are NOT harmed by this winter as it does not target divine fires.
1 AP Left.
Queen Ilsagar, Lady of Iceheim, First of Four, rolled her head back and stared at the sky. "The Primal Spirits speak in your favor, Giroth Azerman. Winter has come, and it is time for the elves to march south again."
First of Four looked to her cohorts, Gisa first, then Bernhar, and, with hesitation, each nodded their approval. Third of Four stood and said, "I will see to the migrants. Though, Giroth Azerman, we cannot promise great things. As you can see-"
Bernhar inclined his head towards the Midnight sun, which still hung barely above the glacier it had been encased in. "- we are not masters of these things. But, Pruinus willing, the deed will be done."
-The South-
The pestilence arrived without warning. Did it come from the halfings themselves? Or did they get it from the tall-folk on the shores? There was barely time to answer the questions before coughing followed.
There was much to do, and the Wind- and wavemasters had fallen ill themselves. The oarmaster, least of the three, was alone left to organize the halflings to combat this ill news of ill air.
The first thing was to seek doctors. There were some on the mainland, and no expense was missed in enticing them hither. The halflings even established a great library, which they filled with medical texts, and a school as well, where they paid the best medical practitioners to spread their craft.
Student by student, doctor by doctor, the illness was tended to. Many died, but what was is what must be. A halfling who feared the return of Wayfriend Zebus was no halfling at all.
AP
2AP command: Halflings create a great medical school in the mangrove tree, and also benefit from it greatly themselves, eventually becoming the best trained doctors around.
2AP remaining
2AP command: Halflings create a great medical school in the mangrove tree, and also benefit from it greatly themselves, eventually becoming the best trained doctors around.
2AP remaining
It was decided then. He would hold a vigil tonight, taking the ceremonial place of the tenth keeper.
"I will return." he called out to the younglings. They did not hear him. They were too busy moving the corpse.
And then he took to the skies, strangely glad to be sailing again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How long had he remained there, on that solemn beach, Speaking to himself of dreams and threats and promises?
He had enough. The wispy figure took one divine pace, and then another, and another. A great cloud hung low upon the sky and paced with eager feet into the realms of men. The Eclipse Aflame soon would hear not the echoes of former glories, but the screams of mortal coils.
"For too long have I argued with you, petty ancestor of mine! For too long have I done nothing while my memory turns to dust! The mortals will remember me and fear me! Ka'Vah returns!!"
The first village came into sight. The sky darkened. Thunder the sound of bellowing laughter rumbled into intamate distance. And a sickly green light fell upon the rooftops. Many villagers gathered outside, wondering at the nightmarish storm that had come into range without wind, and the sudden gloom.
"Flee, mortals! For Ka'Vah comes again!"
And a pillar of fire erupted within its center, blasting ash and flesh alike into the air.
The warpath begun.
OOC
That would be the hometown of one Mister Bushytail. Cliche? Yes. Among my favorite ones? Absolutely.
Forgotten
If I come up with something for Morenth to do, I'll post it, but if not, we can just start the Moot at some point.
But the Azure Dragons in the sanctum heard it clearly enough. Eventually, it was decided that the noise must be investigated -- and so a single delegate left the Sanctum, dropped from the sky, and spread his wings wide.
His name was Lucen, and with the strength of his wings, he reached the moot in hours.
Lucen circled the bloody obelisk warily, far overhead. Here was clearly the origin of the noise, but what were those black shapes slinking around below. He trumpeted his arrival at those down far below and waited. If there were others, that meant this was their home, and a guest does not simply barge in unannounced.
They did not speak, nor whisper, nor whimper. They thought, and even when they were not looking at Cantorix, he could feel their hefty stares. Confusion, anger, dull pain, grief, and a sense of restlessness. The Moot loomed over them all...
A powerful roar tore open the relative silence. With a jolt, the nine Keepers' muscles tensed.They were ready to die at any moment. Cantorix's tail curved defensively about two of the younglings, and he peered into the black-blue hues above. Why would a dragon call out? That was no part of the Moot, they simply came and rested. Unless... it wasn't an Ebon dragon. Had more of the white dragons followed him here?! How could he be so FOOLISH as to let them so idly trace him to the Moot?!
"Show yourself fiend! We have not feared death since the first days!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For weeks Azgo floated about on the wind, stetching himself thin enough to gaze over dozens of miles at a time. Countless people, rebuilding and worshipping... It was infuriating. Had they learned nothing?! The coldness within him was purer than the wintery gales around him and the glacial ice beneath. Where he passed, unnatural night fell and many grew dangerously sick.
And yet he learned of other things. Many names he had heard whispered in ages passed had almost been forgotten. Onus had fallen silent, and the Journey was nothing any longer. And what of Ka'Vah? Azgo pitied him. He must have died defending the Godcrater. Such is the way of the righteous, to die at wicked hands. And what of Thereus, his old... ally of sorts? Perhaps he had retreated back to his lair.
A sudden spike of hatred burst through his essence. A deep thunder peeled over the hills.
And what of Veros the Scholar?! That bootlicking, manipulative Firstborn slave of a god! No one mentioned his name, not even the foolish wise men of the mortals. Had he disappeared? Or... was there ever a Scholar at all?
So many questions, and so many doubts.
Over the course of time, The Fused God felt himself drawn towards... something. Something powerful... and divine. Not Firstborn, for Azgo knew the foul stench of the blood on their hands, but divine certainly. And then he saw... it: a maelstrom of petals. A maelstrom of petals?! What was this thing? An exarch of Leaf? Or a newcomer?
Azgo approaced cautiously. He could be killed like this, and yet he needed information, and allies. He was much less hopefull on the latter however.
"Greetings, kin. Whom do you serve?"
Sa turned. The petals didn't seem to alter their gyrations, but Azgo felt, more than saw, as the divine conscious gave him its attention.
"We are Sa, and we serve only ourselvesssssss."
This presence was... unique. Sa recognized that it had never before seen its like. Promises were woven into its very being. Sa saw death, and pestilence, and the jagged voids of broken promises.
"Who are you to come before Sa's petalsssssss?"
~The Moot~
Lucen dropped, then, diving towards the moving shapes below. Glorious azure wings spread wide, and his descent was halted with a force that briefly swept back nearby trees and plants.
Gingerly, his talons alighted upon the rock, and the dragon furled his wings wide again.
"I am Lucen of the Seventh Sun, Guardian of the Beacon, and Delegate of the Azure Sanctum. We heard your call and..." Lucen's tongue faltered as he got a better look at Cantorix. "And you are... dragons?"
Lucen folded his wings, suddenly self-concious. "And yet here you stand, upon two sets of legs, with gleaming scales of jet. You are dragon, and yet not-dragon."
OOC
Why not...
"As to where I came from, I return from there!" and points to the emptiness that is the sky above.
"He said he caused great harm and asked me to see what the world is like now. I travel now. Maybe I can find my place again in this world full of chaos."
"Who caused much harm? Was it a God? Which God? Much Harm was done, yes. Much harm. The Eternal Volcano still rumbles occasionally, a memory of the great eruption that created these plains. Who sent you, divine messenger?"
Nothing gave way to life, and, as had been commanded since the early days, life gave way to death. The soul of the living parted from its body and made its way to a different world, a different form of life, while the body greyed, faded, and decomposed. There had been some natural variations on this, and a few unnatural ones, but for long ages, this was the course, the way the world worked.
Then there came that unholy star, unique in a sky filled by suns, a strange moon, and nothing else. From where it came, few could tell, but soon after its appearance, it earned the name Wormwood.
This star twinkled, blinking like an any, and from it fell unwholesome light. This light brought no warmth, it did not illuminate the shadows, but impaired the sight so that everything seemed the blacker for its presence.
The soul leaves the body in an instance, but mortal eyes cannot catch this. They are too slow. If they could, then their owners might have called the unholy star worse things. The light itself moved. Too quickly for eyes to see, but it moved. It groped and fondled and sought. And when a soul peaked out of a corpse, ready to leave for the afterlife, the light struck. It was over in an instant, the soul was shattered, and a shard, the barest sliver, remained in the body.
More alone than it ever had been before, the shard waited, confused, but a hunger to be complete, to be whole again, drove it to action. It tried to escape the body again, but it was too small now, the body too firm a house. With no other options open to it, the little soul forced the body to life again. Shambling, it tried to follow the rest of the soul into the afterlife. This boded poorly for the still living. The soul-shard hungered for the companionship of other souls, but was too small to conect as it had in life. It tried to eat the bodies of the still-whole souls, only for the souls to escape, leaving it as alone as ever.
From Frostheim in the north, to the skylanders above, and even the uppermost reaches of Avarom, where starlight could creep down, the unlucky dead rose, sought, and killed.
The matter was particularly bad for the light-forsaken cultists on their ships, traveling to a new continent. They had thought they were so clever, first discarding, then eating, the bodies of the dead. But the bodies did not remain dead. Many came back to life in the water and, seeking the closest companionship followed as best they could. Corpsegas had set in, allowing many to float, and though their struggling was not quick, it was constant. The boats were subject to the fickle nature of wind and wave, but the undead were relentless.
After much time, when the cultists were asleep after gorging on the "feast" their god had provided, the corpses reached the boat and climbed aboard. They extended their arms for a hug, and kissed their new friends with their teeth, and tried to bring those fleeing souls ever closer. Several died.
AP
2AP Harm: the sudden appearance of the undead prove to be irksome. No one escapes having some dead rise up, although given the state of the cultists (open air boat, no where to bury their dead), I'd think that this sudden apperance would be particularly troublesome.
2AP remaining
2AP Harm: the sudden appearance of the undead prove to be irksome. No one escapes having some dead rise up, although given the state of the cultists (open air boat, no where to bury their dead), I'd think that this sudden apperance would be particularly troublesome.
2AP remaining
"I..."
Azgo paused. It was not wise to speak his name. Who might be listening? And if Zebus learned that his prsion was not nearly as secure as he intended... No. No, Azgo needed to rebuild. Recruit. Rally. He needed an army, and information. Let them think himself entrapped.
And yet, Azgo did not wish to lie to this god. It would endanger himself should he be caught. The last thing he intended was to deliver another servant to the tyrant god. Unless it was already a servant and this was a trap! No, that was paranoid. He had only just escaped, and the Firstborn woere not ones to play games. They would sooner destroy him. Still, Sa might be lying to him.
"... am the Wounded One. I come seeking knowledge. Long have i slept, and in my absence the world has changed. And even when i was awake, the Firs-"
He stopped himself. Even in his wispy form his voice sounded strained with sickened flesh.
"The elder gods moved beyond my sight. Do you know of the, Zebus and Leaf and Agni and Prunius? They betrayed me once, even when they had everything to gain. They bade me sleep, for they feared my power. My Vengence."
"What do you know of Onus? Of Thereus? Ka'Vah? Veros? A god of darkness? The Primal Spirits? Do they still walk this world? And the elder gods... where is the Tyrant Leaf? Where has he built his wretched palace? And new things , alive and dead, wander over these plains. What are they?"
It was a barrage of questions, but Azgo could not help himself. His fury was rising, not at Sa, but at reality. How could things be so different from the Plan? So... imperfect?
We did better this week. Everyone who posted more than once is back to 5 AP.
5 AP: Azgo, Agni, Leaf, Zebus, Sa
4 AP: Everyone else. Of those still active, that would be: Pruinus, TASOE, Lena.
Map
Story
The poor, poor Eternal Volcano.
Shortly after the fall of the god-sun, the earth began to tremble and a glow appeared in the distance. Some of the Agni'Vodah went to the rim, to see what was causing it, and they saw a mountain aflame crawling towards them atop a dozen earthen legs. Everywhere it went, it left fires in its path, scorching a trail from the Crown to the Volano. Even rocks were purged and punished. Only an obsidian desert remained behind it.
The great behemoth didn't pause as it neared the volcano, but the mortals shied back. They were used to heat, but this was something different. Fire that threatened to rip reality apart. It was stand or flee, and many fled the approaching mountain.
It climed the side of the volcano, ruining its slopes, spilling magma northward. A claw reached into the volcano's heart, searching for the sun that was there.
The other two creatures paused for a moment and watched, but they hurried on further, as if brought to heel by an unseen master.
AP
1Ap Command Land: The behemoth leaves a trail of obsidian as it travels. The further the behemoth goes, the longer the trail. At present it reaches from the crown to the volcano. We'll see if it goes anywhere else. The trail itself is about a moutain's width wide, smooth except for the jagged cratters where the behemoth's legs pierced the ground, and a hundred of so feet thick.
3 (or 4?) AP remaining
1Ap Command Land: The behemoth leaves a trail of obsidian as it travels. The further the behemoth goes, the longer the trail. At present it reaches from the crown to the volcano. We'll see if it goes anywhere else. The trail itself is about a moutain's width wide, smooth except for the jagged cratters where the behemoth's legs pierced the ground, and a hundred of so feet thick.
3 (or 4?) AP remaining
"An interesting story. Perhaps we should hear more over this tea you suggest. Perhaps we can return to my home. I am sure my mother..." Krr'Ree'E trailed off as she watched the sun descend from the heavens and begin to walk. Dumbfounded, she could do little more than stare as it passed by to her north.
~The North~
As Giroth waited for an answer, he felt the temperature drop even more, and turned to watch the sun descend to earth in the far distance.
~The Eternal Mountain~
The creature had barely had time to grope about a few times when, blazing like a comet, Agni was there, slamming into the God-mountain and sending it tumbling back down the slopes of the Eternal Volcano on its many legs. The God had not noticed the descend of the monster for some time, devoted as he was to his search for the creator of the Orcs. It was the Orcs themselves, pointing and shouting at the sky, that had alerted him.
Did I not kill you before? Agni shouted, not caring if the beast could comprehend him.
Agni prepared to attack the God-mountain that was slowly getting back to its feet. As he did so, he sent out a call.
Ka'Vah. The Time is now. I have need of you.
Almost nothing.
There were echoes, born in wounds rather than fear. Lazy ash floated on the wind.
But aside from that, there was nothing left. No bodies. No lumber.
Just ash. And sickly smoke.
...
...
Ka'Vah turned from the battlefield, and vanished into the wind.
Angi's bodyslam had left a crater in the side of the god-mountain. Parts of its still-flaming shell sluffed off and fell the perils distance to the ground, shattering there, and turning the stone to magma. The wound was not long, however. Ooze, like oil, seemed out of the creatures shell, filling in the crater, and catching fire as it did. The fire hardened the oily substance, and within minutes it was hard to see where the wound had been, except, perhaps, for the patch of fire that seemed to burn brighter.
On the ground below, the broken shards of the godshell still gave bold testament to the fact that the monsters had been injured. But the fires of those pieces flickered and died out, and as the shards cooled, they lost their rigidity and returned to noxious ooze. That ooze in turn began to move, like a worm that thought it was a snake, and inched their way together, then towards the behemoth. The slime slinked onto the creature's leg and was absorbed, replenishing the substance that was lost.
The behemoth turned its head towards Agni and opened its mouth. Fire of the god-sun, boiling in the sky for ages, always growing hotter, erupted and encased the god. Agni's own face threatened to melt, the very fabric of existence around him and in him threatened to be burned away.
~~~The Azer Home: Sil Arkosh~~~
An ocean hovered throug the air, but as it neared its destination, tendrils of liquid reached down, searched the ground, and finally found the cavern entrances it sought.
Water flooded down into the Azer home, filling the streets and threatening to drown the inhabitants. The earth trembled as the leviathan forced it's gigantic body through the too-small tunnels, widening them. It sought the ancient sun hidden here.
~~~The Halfling Home: The Mangrove Tree~~~
Though the sky was darkened when the sun fell, it was not like this. A massive bird approached the mangrove tree, it's wings blotting out most the sky and remaining light. It nestled in the highest parts of the mangrove tree, it's claws digging into the heartwood of the tree and causing the entire planty-island to shudder and groan. It waited and sniffed at the air, searching for something.
He imitated the moves of the Nix and began to learn to skin his kills. His sisters all learned to sew and fashioned the wools into clothes and garments of outstanding quality. Their labour finally paid off when a count of one of the local human settlements decided to pay a large amount for their collection. With that, they could afford the material's to insulate the majority of Whitetop Glen's homes, offering further protection from cold. Timmy had proved himself, in the eyes of himself and his peers. When this winter ended, he decided he was going to finally venture to the crown, his homeland.
All those memories and dreams began to shatter when Timmy saw the explosion. He was out hunting, but the sounds and bright, fiery light was clear from here. Rushing through the trees, his heart sank when he saw the houses of his friends ablaze. What could have caused this? Right now, the answer to that question frightened him much less then the prospect of losing his sisters. His crisp white fur blending in with the melting snow, Timmy moved through flaming wreckage in a sort of tiptoed run; Not fast enough to cause noise to alert nearby arsonists to his presence, not stealthy enough to completely pass by escaping a more
Vigorous investigastion. He could not commit himself fully to speed or stealth at this point. As he hopped over a charred joist, he saw the flaming pile of wood and ash that was once his house. He had no doubt in his mind, if his sisters were in the house when the explosion happened... His stomach churned as punishment for attempting to finish that thought. He fell to his knees and promptly threw up, a loud reeching noise betraying his location to anyone nearby. He crawled to his feet and silently traversed his way through the village for signs of life. They were none. It had only taken Timmy a few minutes to reach the town when he saw the explosion, they couldn't have gotten far, he would have seen them. No, if his friends and family were not on the outskirts of town, they were trapped within it forever.
The world had ended and all that remained was Timmy and the bright orange flames that surrounded him, licking at the cold night air. It was tempting to allow the flames to claim him. But something inside him would not let him take the easy way out. His sisters wouldn't have wanted that. Timmy dragged his body away from the village almost unwillingly, his heart never wanting to leave his home. Only know did he truly recognize this as his home, not the crown. This was the place where a family of humans, grieving the loss of their child, had taken in, to them, an alien lifeform. He was raised and treated as one of their own. The villagers all accepted him. A Known only death and destruction at the hands of other creatures, accepted him into their community. The Crown would never offer him the same kindness. Where would he go?
With no plan in sight, he crawled into a log and began to cuddle himself, weeping. His stomach groaned at him in hunger, but Timmy's appetite was the last thing on his mind. Perhaps we might die of starvation, or be attacked by wolves as he slept. If that happened, he wouldn't have given in. The circumstances of his death would be out of his control, nobody could blame him for that. Only as the sun began to rise the next morning did Timmy manage to sleep. For a few hours, he was allowed to dream and leave cruel reality behind, an escape he desperately needed.
race that had
OOC
Well, everyone else seems to be doing it, so fine. I give up. I'll add location titles...
Sa paused for a long time, saying nothing as the godwisp lashed out, raving and ranting until it had passed through denial and anger.
"Sa doesssssss not know those othersssssss." It finally said, in its breathless way. Which was true, in its own way. Sa certainly knew of the other gods, but had not bothered to ever speak with them directly, though it had tasted the fire god, once, ages hence.
A flurry of motion sent Sa's petals dancing amidst the essence of Az'go.
"Promisesssssss of what might have been dance amongst your essencesssssss." The god swirled a moment in thought, and then the petals abrupty coalesced into two figures.
"Before the advent of all, the promise of what wasssssss." To Sa, the figures meant nothing, forged from Az'go's own memories. But to the godwisp, they appeared all too clearly to be perfect, flawless sculptures of Azael and Go'el. Whole, unblemished, and absolutely loathesome.
"A promise of what might have been, when the world first drew breathsssssss." The figures swirled together, an inward spiral that drew Az'go back to his own genesis. But there was no pain, no screaming, no agony. The two petal-gods collided, fused, and were whole. A singular entity, with flowing, perfect form, confidant in both word and deed.
The images faded, and Sa spoke again. "And promisesssssss of what yet might be, whispersssssss, future portentsssssss." The god of prophecies split its petals in two, forming two opposing images. The first held Az'go triumphant, still in his twisted form... and yet, somehow different. The world lay scorched and burned, devoid of all but dust as the god laughed on. The second had Az'go in chains of vines, frozen in a block of ice, limbs entombed in molton stone, and smothered with a cloak that stank of souls.
"You seek paths, and Sa offersssssss three. If you turn away our aid, you will walk the fourth by yourselvesssssss."
Agni was fire incarnate. At his core, he was the raging inferno that lay at the heart of each Sun, that roiled at the bottom of each Volcano, that laughed and danced in each conflagration. And if there was one thing that could be said of him, it was that he greatly enjoyed high temperatures.
So as the God-Mountain poured the pent up radiance of the Sun upon him, Agni felt waves of pleasure coursing through his being, felt his power growing, buoyed by the heat that surrounded him.
But while Agni was Fire, his body was not. Under the intense pressure and heat, his mask began to change, granite superstructure cracking and fusing as fast as the Magma within Agni could replace it. Agni laughed as he considered his new diamond form, which no longer concealed the magma which was continually generated by his divine spark. He was stronger now in Body as well as Spirit. The Beast had done him a favor.
And yet, the temperature continued to rise. Agni watched as all around him, reality began to melt away, regions of the Real around him distorting and bending in every dimension. Here, the fire burned purple. There, Green. There, it flowed like molasses. Here, everything seemed faster. Here, the fire seemed to be flowing past him. There, it seemed to be flowing away. Agni saw his own mask distorting and felt the very fabric of his soul stretching towards a breaking point.
Agni screamed, and others screamed with him. He felt himself spinning in the flames, and percieved that others, separated by the merest scraps of reality, were spinning as well, buffeted by blasts of fire from a thousand other God-Mountains. The heat intensified and reality... merged.
Fusion.
In some place beyond reality, a massive explosion rolled through the Nothing, and with that release, the Prime healed itself, snapping back together and throwing Agni from the rift as a shockwave knocked the God-Mountain over once more. Dust and smoke rose from a long trench in the earth.
Agni groaned, and a dozen voices groaned with him, echoing in his mind. Groggily, he rose from the earth, and it took him a few moments to realize that everything had changed.
Agni was no longer a mask. He was many. His mind... it was still his mind, he was fairly certain, began to process the chaotic memories of moments ago. Reality had frayed thin, he had met... other versions of himself, all being destroyed by the same God-Monster, but... not the same God-Monster. Fleeting glimpses into the other worlds revealed that in many, Agni fought the God-Mountain. But in others, he fought a living ocean, and in still others, it was Azgo who loomed over him, surrounded by hordes of Craterspawn. But all had unleashed the power of a captured sun on Agni, and all had torn reality, if only for a split second.
Agni took stock of his new form. A large diamond sphere, easily thirty feet in diameter. All across its surface, faces, images, imprints of the Agnis-that-were were layed out chaotically, although none overlapped with others. From each mouth, magma poured. From each set of eyes, fire glowed. And deep within, the essence of Agni: He that Is Fire roiled brightly. With a roar that burst from each of his twenty-ish mouths, the God slammed his very being into the God-Mountain repeatedly, breaking apart the shell with repeated blasts that drove the monster back across the magma plains and towards the Eastern Ocean...
OOC
I've got a LOT more to write on other topics. I'll do that later tonight. Also, expect the middle part of this to be changed... want to come back to it later and modify. Regardless, Agni is now a diamond sphere with many masks embedded in its shell. Still lovable, though. Gives me a chance to finally move into another domain that I've been wanting for a LONG time, so thanks, Thought!
A small voice raged in the back of Ka'Vah's mind.
You Promised! I heard it! I let you do all those horrible things to that village because I knew that if you had to, you would help. This is my HOME, you monster. The last time we were here, You... I... was the danger. Now, I can help. We can help. We WILL Help. Or Else.
And somehow, the Ecipse Aflame began to reform near the site of the battle.
~The Moot~
Morenth watched as dragon after dragon arrived. So Many! She thought to herself, comparing the numbers here to the 75 or so of her own kind. And so hostile! she was grateful to Cantorix and several of his kin for protecting her and the other dragons from the more... hotheaded... members of his clan. That more dragons had died today was appalling, but it was better them than her. As they waited for the Moot to begin, she looked at the azure dragon next to her.
"I have not seen your kind before, although I have been to the Crown on many occasion. What is it that you do up in the... Sanctuary, was it?" She asked, continuing a conversation that they had struck up earlier.
And then, the Moot Began.
~Sil Arkosh~
Water flooded the streets, pouring down the roads towards the lake of magma, knocking down Slaadi and crushing them against the walls of the homes that had been overrun. A line of fire and steel and blood rang out from the newest portion of the city, the Forge District, located in the far back of the cavern deep underneath a natural overhang. Here, over a canal of magma, Azer, Dragon and Slaadi fought on narrow bridges that were the only connections between this portion of the city and the rest of Sil Arkosh. The battle had been hard fought, but the Slaadi had been relentless... an entire army of Craterspawn reborn and attacking a city whose population had, in fact, shrunk since the last time. The Azer had retreated, and had finally managed to establish a line of defense here, using similar tactics to those they had used to defend the tunnels far above all those years ago. After all, on the bridges only a few Slaadi could approach at a time.
The dragons had been crucial. After a few moments of abject terror as the squat creatures had waddled out of the magma, the Azer had been overjoyed as the gruff, taciturn race had turned to fight with them. Now, the dragons spat balls of magma at approaching Slaadi patrols, acting much like living artillery.
And so it was, at least initially, that the Azer did not notice the arrival of the Leviathan, exept perhaps to note that the number of Slaadi attackers seemed to be diminishing. That all changed when the actual body of the Leviathan sliding through the blasted-open caverns until it lay on the ledge above, dangling its arms down and trying to find the Sun. Water poured down in a massive flood, sweeping in all directions.
"It has to be NOW!" Galfe, brother of Giroth shouted, waving furiously at a group of nine Azer, five male, four female, who stood looking at the approaching wall of water. "DO IT!"
The Azer linked hands with one another and their flaming hair seemed to flicker as if a mighty wind was blowing on them. Their skin grew pale and cold and several cried out in pain as they called out to the Magma.
As one of the Azer collapsed, the Magma responded, surging upwards all along the canal moments before the water hit. A wave of scalding steam blew past all the gathered Azer and Dragons as the two elements met, and for a moment, everything was white.
As the steam cleared and the last of the Slaadi died, Galfe peered through the clouds and spotted a great stone wall, completely encircling the Forge District. They had once again somehow survived the flooding of their city.
A cry of sorrow from behind him caused him to turn. Five of the nine pyromages had died, the magic pulling all the fire from their beings, leaving them looking much like the dwarves they had once been, if hairless. The remaining four lay panting on the earth, color slowly returning to their skin.
1 AP: Guide Populace: The Azer learn pyromancy. Like other magics, this magic drains the necessary energy (in this case, heat energy) from the person who wields it. It *is* possible, if very difficult, to use other sources of fire as a source of the magic. They use this to save a portion of Sil Arkosh from the Leviathan (and the Slaadi).
1 AP remains
A door, once opened, may be entered from both directions.
Long ago, when the world was still young and growing fast, the fire god had been captured and sealed away in suffocating ooze and encroaching darkness. He might have passed from the realms, save but for the thinnest thread. Something he had created, the suns, still burned, and they were still connected to him. Agni had drawn on the power of the suns, and from them reignited his fires.
He opened the door, and through it fire flowed. Now, that flow was reversed.
Agni slammed his body again into the god-mountain. Each blow cracked the shell, sending pieces to the ground that cooled and slunk back to the body. Yet, with each blow, the creature sucked more heat from Agni. With each blow, the creature was hotter. With each blow, the shell was harder. Fewer pieces fell to the ground, and soon it was as if diamond was hitting diamond. But still the creature took in the flow of power from the sun.
Agni was hot, the creature hotter, and the point of contact hottest. The edges of Agni's new form, exposed to the air, sizzled and flashed to fire. The god experienced firsthand what he already knew: even diamonds are flammable.
The faces of Agni that had made contact, the parts of the god not exposed to the air, blurbled and bubbled. Agni knew that everything was flammable, but he might not have known that diamonds are meltable.
The diamond-born readied another body slam, but the god-mountain, as quick as a spark, quicker by far than a mountain had the right to be, darted out of the way and landed a blow on Agni's back faces as he passed. Fire met earth, and the earth steamed. A claw grabbed the god and pulled it out of the liquid crater. And the claw began to crush Agni. Pressure creates heat, but the god-mountain used Agni's own heat, drawn through the sun, to create pressure. The pressure of the heart of a sun, the heart of a star, the core of the world. The pressure of the universe collapsing in, pulling matter into itself. The diamond-born's frame tried to crack, but pressure had given way to gravity, and no shards could flake free.
So much pressure, so much gravity. Dust and rocks and animals and trees from below began to fall upwards, towards Angi, coating the diamond-born in a layer of matter that condensed around him, increasing the mass, increasing the pull. Within him, Agni could feel something new threatening to come into existence. Or to leave it. The rules of the universe quivered under the pressure, bent, and threatened to break, drawing everything into an endlessly hungry nothing, a blackened void of a hole.
~~~Sil Arkosh~~~
A torrent of water ran over the new stone dome that, but luck, protected the Forge District. The water wore it smooth, then wore it thin, before its force abated. The Leviathan had found what it was looking for. It gobbled up the sun, then, no longer needing to be here, rose up. Straight up, through the earth and stone.
The monster crashed back into the open air, leaving a lake behind where there had been mountains before. Frost formed around the edges of body of water, and as droplet's from the monster's body fell into it, they turned to icebergs and glaciers.
And at the bottom of this frozen lake was the Azer city.
AP
1Ap Command Land: Form an eternally cold lake over Sil Arkosh
2 or 3 AP remaining
1Ap Command Land: Form an eternally cold lake over Sil Arkosh
2 or 3 AP remaining
Brother Branch wandered among the Orcs, appreciating the changes that Agni had wrought in them, when the fading light caught his attention. The ancient godsun descended to earth.
The little god was stunned and confused over event, but the Angi-comet brought him out of his daze. A part of him, the part that remembered being Lord Leaf, urged him forward. Brother Branch followed.
The blows between Agni and the monster were exchanged too quickly for Brother Branch the servant to do anything. He could only watch, and wait for the moment that his help might be of use.
Then it came. The monster had the new-Agni in its grip, and Brother Branch threw himself at the beast. He shed much of his form until he was just a sliver, but a long one, and one that impaled the creature in one of its many eyes. It screamed and Brother Branch could feel it's muscles relax enough that, hopefully, Agni might be able to escape.
---Eternal Volcano Outskirts-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Infuriating!!
"Let? Let?! You hold no power over me, little, dying ember! Ka'Vah does not obey; he chooses!"
The smoke was chaotic, undisciplined and only a vague shape of a humaniod. And yet, it billowed purposefully forward against the wind's rebuke.
"And when did i choose otherwise? You assume much, worthless little Scorch."
The ever rolling cloud twisted in the heated atmosphere, and with every turn took upon itself more and more structure. The cloud was long and agile, weaving between mountains of mist built upon the skyline. Soon sleek edges were carved along its sides and a green light glowed fiercly underneath like warm blood.
The battle between god-mountain and the god-ants loomed beneath. With a sudden gale, the clouds parted, and a serpent of filth-black smoke fell upon the combatants. It turned and twisted with the searing wind, pouring a fountain of emerald flames across the mountain's sides and back. As the flames landed, a small conflagration of sickly greens burst like fireworks. Large patches of the beast died out into sizzling embers and pillars of smoke towered into the sky. For Ka'Vah was, at his essence, the sickness of fire, its sputtering death, and its lingering corpse.
But only a fraction of a second passed before the creature's molten hide erupted once more into fire. A thin curtain of smoke followed the battle, the only evidence of progress.
Ka'Vah grew worried. It seemed that this creature was beyond his ability to wound, he could only distract. So distract he did, keeping to the edges of the battle between swift assults of gale and fire. And whenever he could, Ka'Vah positioned himself behind... this gem god. It seemed more than happy to take the blows. Where was Agni anyway?
---The Edge of Knowledge----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azgo shuddered, and then averted his vision from the images of Azazel and Go'El. A sick churning bubbled up in his lungs. It was a deep wound to remember what he had been... and what he was.
How could a thing as small as a god look into the future? How could such sight exist?
There was a pause, the calm before a terrible storm. Something was about to happen that could very well change an age. Was it wise, to trust in prophesy? What would be sacrificed, and what if he failed? But before he could feel fear, he felt strength. An immovable strength built on the foundation of creation. The will of the First, he remembered it.
A rough voice sent the petals into a flurry, some tinged with scarring death.
"I choose Victory. What must be done, Seer Among Gods?"
---The Moot--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cantorix looked out on the sea of scales and eyes, watching him, some blaming him.
"Sisters! Brothers! The Moot is called!"
Cantorix opened his mouth, but nothing more came out. He had avoiding memory and thought as long as he cpould, and suddenly now, the sight of his kin and the vallys beyond broke open his mind. A rush of thoughts spiraled around, colliding and merging, seperating and each one fickle as smoke. So instead he said nothing for a full minute, just looking from dragon to dragon. He had no idea what to say, and neither did they.
A minute passed, marked with stares that held more questions than a lifetime could answer.
"And I come bearing terrible news. Our fathers, and their fathers... they were wrong."
The crowd remained silent. The lake was bitterly cold.
"For ages we have taught and learned of place and power. Of hunters and the hunted. It was we, the dragons, who were given the heftiest of burdens. Out from the Godcrater and between the Fingers of the Wounded One we flew. His blood, was our blood. His anger, our anger. But we did not lie down to die before him. Born from shadow, we flew into the shadow of the world where his eyes could not see nor his fist reach. Or so we thought...
For hordes upon hordes of his ailing monstrosities swarmed from the skies and poured out from the darkness of the depths. Hundreds we killed, and a few were lost. Thousands were slain, and more were claimed by wicked talons. But they did not fall. Ash rained from the skies. But Craterspawn were the coulds of the heavens stretched out to the edges of the world. And then We found this, The Mootstone, and Wyklix fell upon the stone in grief. And with his tears the Ebon raillied. We were called together, and the hunted became the hunter. So is... was our place, as given not by any god, nor mortal, but by the very cosmos. Discipline was our might. Honor, our wisdom. It was the way, for every dragon's death to be paid tenfold with the broken bodies of angels. Hordes scattered, ash blew away, and the sun fell upon the victors. And one day we would lay seige to the Godcrater, and finish what The Wounded started under his bloody hands. There were no others, no creatures. There were only shadows, and a war between them."
Cantorix's head swiviled from edge to edge, and he could feel them waiting on him. Even those who had hated him before he spoke wanted to hear, to listen. A world was dying.
"But that is false. Always has been false. There are others, dragons who know nothing of Wyklix and Azgo, the Moot and our wounds. Others, who share not our colors. From beyond the lowlands, the Ashen Plains as our fathers called them when the skies were forged of feathers. They fight, and die while we bathe in victory. And there are things, mortals made of flesh, who are neither dragon nor craterspawn. They are not shadow, but beyond it, beyond our old ways."
And from within the back ranks of the dragon, who now surged in uproar, a chant carried out.
Proof.
The Moot demands Proof.
Sa rustled with laughter.
"That is not how it worksssssss." The god's petals dropped their shapes and were swept away, leaving the air barren.
"Sa can help you reclaim the past, but the future is full of uncertantiesssssss. We offer only guidance and the whispersssssss of promisessssss."
Sa's petals began to glow with a red light, and sparks, like raindrops, slipped from them, were carried along the wind, and vanished.
"You are sustained by the prayersssssss of your minionsssssss." Sa's petals grew still again, as the god turned introspective once more. "Sa has given you the meansssssss to sustain them back. Grow their power, and use it in turn to grow yoursssssss."
AP
-1 AP Nourish/Command : Sa blesses the cultists of Az'go, gifting them with the ability to wield divine magic.
-1 AP Nourish/Command : The cult of Az'go, newly empowered by their god, expands its chapters, including amongst the Nix and the Snow Elves.
-1 AP Nourish/Command : Sa blesses the cultists of Az'go, gifting them with the ability to wield divine magic.
-1 AP Nourish/Command : The cult of Az'go, newly empowered by their god, expands its chapters, including amongst the Nix and the Snow Elves.
Deserts held less sand, and oceans less hadfuls of water, than the Abyss swallowed souls. It was slow at first, but soon the spirits of hundreds of thousands glided through its ethereal doors.
Cast out from The Great Beyond, these exiles found a horrid home within its boundary. Their emotions and desires were amplified, or the Abyss slowly stole all essences but its own from their very souls. There memories became warped and large sections of their lives fell away. They wandered, sprinted, crawled, climbed, stumbled, but always moved through the plane until they found a kindred vice within the very ground.
The first layer of laberinthine, glacial caverns carved with the etches of a broken goddess drew the fantatics and the fettered. Those in life whose loyalty had driven them into darkness, who followed duty above righteousness, nestled here within the howling canals of black ice. There was no light aside from a pale, dim glow that emulated from within the cavern walls. Any in many passages, it was nowhere to be found. The majority of souls are here, some home and some attempting to find the way through the frozen labyrinth.
The lush, blighted jungle beneath the caverns drew the power-hungry and those that clamored for fame. False kings, wicked advisors, slave-masters and others hunted each other and fled from the very undergrowth. Locusts hummed through the air and mauled the slow-footed. The ground soaked with bile and disease ridden waters, vines pulled at the unwary. The Hunt Eternal waited here, bursting with life and death.
In certain spots, the jungle pools were deep enough to drown souls and drag them into the layer after. The churning, acidic sea of the third layer never rested. Waves the size of inns collapsed atop entire generations, and currents swept up the countless spirits treading on the surface far away. Anger and bloodlust were in the air, in the sea' roiling grin. The violent always felt the painful wash of sulfur on them as they brutaly attacked the others surrounding them.
And Within the mask-shaped whirlpool of the sea the final souls, some say the most wicked, the last layer could be found. The wastes...
Empty...
Just ash and sandy wastes, cought up in dust-storms. Only the proud felt compelled to come here. And the slim few who did come wandered up and down the ridges of the dunes, mumbling the glories of olden, dead empires. They were lost, in footfall and mind.
And as the souls festered here, so did the sickness of Azgo. His blood pulsed in the stone, the ice, the verdant, the acid, and the ash. Tainted with the sickness of a god, the unending agony of unnatural flesh, and his Hatred. The Abyss was built of Hate.
It was storng.
Strong enough to weaken even the divine. The Deicidal Taint.
---These Names are Becoming Overly Fanciful----------------------------------------------------------
Azgo could not help but be suspicious. How could it be this... easy? Altruis was a monster, and deserved nothing less than destruction. He worked only to further his sick pleasures. And Veros... Veros had been no ally, just a lie. And the god of darkness... gone. They always required something in return, pushed ulterior motives... Could a god truely be so open with power? The thought of it was unsettling to say the least. What kind of power were the Firstborn giving to their slaves, and how often? Was he facing his brothers, or an Army?
"You offered me paths, and then say they cannot be chosen."
His tone was less accusatory and much more questioning.
"Regardless, that is the path I will choose. It is the path I will earn. But I will... consider what you have said."
Cautiously, Azgo reached inside himself, like dipping into a shallow brook for lost ore. Kings did not let gifts go unrequited.
"Perhaps... perhaps you will never use it. But perhaps you will, Sa. Take this and know that you are granted safe passage across and within the Abyss."
One of Sa's petals withered. Water seeped and bled from its pores, leaving only a dry, rustled leaf that spun weakly in the air. The veins within the leaf bent and twisted until a hazy image of a two-piece crown was embroidered onto it. After a few minutes, the petal fell away from Sa and crumbled into dust. At the same time, the process repeated itself with a new leaf.
And then Azgo drifted away. These visits to the "outside" should be kept sparse and brief, if only to avoid his siblings. It was one of the few times Azgo turned his back on a god.
---The North-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For as long as they could remember, the cults along the northern borders had struggled.It was a harsh place, and the elves were a harsh people. They converted only the criminals and the eccentric nobility, looking for an outlet from a sheltered life.
And then the brutality of Winter descended.
And the cults rejoiced. For the elves marched out of their lands in the winter, and the North was spread thin. The cults ran as fast as they could across the tundra wastes and between the frosted pines, being careful to avoid Elven battalions and caravans. A few settled in the prominent cities and kept an eye on what left and when. But a few walked even further, untill the storms at last battered them beneath the ground. It was here, in the warrens of the long forgotten Remorhaz that they brought chisel unto stone and began to carve cathedrals in the dark.
The calls of the Remorhaz echoed through the halls.
OOC
Modify Plane (2AP): The Abyss is begining to fester and rot with the sickness of Azgo. All divine beings that enter the Abyss are weakened. At its current stage, the most it does is unsettle the gods and haunt them with the shadow of frailty. But it will strengthen over time.
Command Populace (2AP): Cultists of the Northern caverns flourish miles under the thick ice. Their temples are equally fortresses braced against the surface, and research into training Remorhaz from youth becomes the primary concern.
Create Artifact (1AP): The King's Mark. Azgo forges from the crucible of his veins the King's Mark. This emblazoned symbol renders its bearer immune to the Deicidal Taint. Creating it costs Azgo 1 AP, and it can be removed with 1 AP... and physical contact with said god. The King's Mark cannot be duplicated, however, effects similar can be achieved by spending AP higher than the cost of a King's mark. I have no idea about cost ratios yet. One half the current AP in the Deicidal Taint maybe?
AP Remaining: 0
Command Populace (2AP): Cultists of the Northern caverns flourish miles under the thick ice. Their temples are equally fortresses braced against the surface, and research into training Remorhaz from youth becomes the primary concern.
Create Artifact (1AP): The King's Mark. Azgo forges from the crucible of his veins the King's Mark. This emblazoned symbol renders its bearer immune to the Deicidal Taint. Creating it costs Azgo 1 AP, and it can be removed with 1 AP... and physical contact with said god. The King's Mark cannot be duplicated, however, effects similar can be achieved by spending AP higher than the cost of a King's mark. I have no idea about cost ratios yet. One half the current AP in the Deicidal Taint maybe?
AP Remaining: 0
---
3 AP - Modify Realm
The primal spirits redesign the halls of creation, creating a series lf winding tunnels and hallways deep within the crown. Every creature, race, hero, god, exarch and avatar has a sculture here, amongst anything else of great importance. Addiontially, the halls update themselves automatically whenever something of importance is noticed by the primal spirits.
The father sealed the exit to the room with several layers of fresh hide (old hides weren't safe, not for this). He took new paints and, with his finger, scratched symbols onto the taut tarp. Here and there the paint was too thick and it ran, but that was okay. The wards were stronger that way. Passion was important.
The father scrawled the sign of Pruinus in the center, largest, but other symbols spiraled out from it. The children noticed that some were missing, but that was why their father had brought them here.
When the room was secured, the Father sat down on a chair and called his children to him. They crowded on the floor and some on his lap. They clung closely together: there was no fire in this room, and the room itself was both old and cold with disuse. The children knew that the warmth of their kin was sweetest.
"Quiet now, settle down," the Father said. The words were tradition, passed down from many generations. The children here were quiet and still, though they did lean forward to grasp the words as they came from the Father's mouth.
"The time has come," the Father said, "to tell you of the kindly ones and the selfish gods. By whom do we swear?"
"Azgo," a little voice answered.
"Marcus," another spouted. A few other names were called out.
The Father nodded his approval. "And whom do we love and honor?" he asked.
"Pruinus." "Brother Branch." Other names joined the list.
Again the Father smiled at the asuteness of the children. "Wisely put, wisely put. But why, if we love Pruinus, do we never swear by her name? Why, if we swear by Azgo, do we hate him?"
To this the children had no answer, so the Father answered his own question. "For some are the kindly ones, and others are the selfish gods. The selfish gods think themselves warm, thinks themselves tall, think themselves hardy. They are not. We worship them to trick them. Their egos are satiated, their pride stroked. They never suspect that the elves do not truck with arrogant gods. They are like drunken louts, more trouble than they are worth."
"The kindly ones, they understand. They do not ask us to worship them, and we do not. But like an old friend, they are respected. Honored. An elf might swear by a trusted spear, because it has always been by his side and never let him down. An elf might swear by Pruinus, for she is ever by our side and never lets us down. She is a friend."
"But," a child interrupted, "no one ever swears by Pruinus's name."
The Father nodded, "True enough. That is because the selfish gods would throw a tantrum if they saw true devotion. We swear by Azgo, but we mean Pruinus, and an elf always knows this. To debase ourselves, to worship gods, that is not the way of the elves. It is as against our nature as it is for a fish to breath air. Pruinus, the old friend, she hears our vows, and though her name isn't the one we use, she knows us, and so she knows the words that are said are not the words our heart speaks."
The children huddled together with this information. The room seemed smaller, as though there were forces outside it, trying to get in and eat them. The Father saw this and smiled and spoke to them with reassurance. "Do not fear. You know the hidden ways, now, so you may not anger the selfish gods. This room is warded against them, the kindly ones keep them at bay. Here, when the portals are sealed, we are safe to speak the truths openly."
AP
1AP command Elves: Defining their religion more. Elves don't view gods as fundamentally superior beings, and the idea of honestly worshipping them is utterly ridiculous. Instead, the elves honor those gods that are willing to be friends (they current see Pruinus as one of these, although she's never had any interactions with them). As such, when the elves "worship" a god, that is entirely an act designed to appease that god. It's considered more of a bother to deal with a selfish god than to go through the rituals of worshipping them. The elves do use the selfish gods as vows, but this is understood to be a stand-in for the kindly ones.
As a side note, this does mean that "worship" of azgo is actually quite common among the elves, although none of them are actually devoted to him. I'll leave it up to Raven to say if that's good enough for them to be able to channel divine energy "from" him.
4AP remaining
1AP command Elves: Defining their religion more. Elves don't view gods as fundamentally superior beings, and the idea of honestly worshipping them is utterly ridiculous. Instead, the elves honor those gods that are willing to be friends (they current see Pruinus as one of these, although she's never had any interactions with them). As such, when the elves "worship" a god, that is entirely an act designed to appease that god. It's considered more of a bother to deal with a selfish god than to go through the rituals of worshipping them. The elves do use the selfish gods as vows, but this is understood to be a stand-in for the kindly ones.
As a side note, this does mean that "worship" of azgo is actually quite common among the elves, although none of them are actually devoted to him. I'll leave it up to Raven to say if that's good enough for them to be able to channel divine energy "from" him.
4AP remaining
The hand of the beast surrounded Agni in a smothering grip, funneling the heat of the sun into the God as the hand gripped tighter and tighter. Intense pressure and heat beat upon Agni, and the God began to feel decidedly... strange.
It was not like before. The heat was not fraying the universe to pieces around him. Instead, the heat, the pressure, it was all being directed *in*, at the core of what made Agni Agni. Deep within himself, that everflowing font of magma was being drained out of that extradimensional place which it drew from at an accelerated rate, increasing the pressure on the interior of the diamond shell that was now Agni. From the outside, falling through the perfect sphere of the crushing assault on himself, dirt and leaves and branches and rocks and even animals burned up instantaneously, charring to ash, then atomizing into flame, falling through the open and screaming mouthes of the God and becoming Magma itself.
Agni knew that his time was finished. It was the end. As the pressure built from the inside, it would eventually reach a point where an imperfection, however slight, would give way, fracturing the diamond structure. Moments later, the fractures would burst apart and That-Which-Was-Agni would be lost. He could not move, could not maneuver. Dimly, he was aware that Ka'Vah had answered his call, and wished he could tell it to flee as far away as possible... but words, thoughts, were nearly beyond him.
And then Branch struck, and the hand of the God-Mountain slipped and relaxed just enough. The pressure of a thousand suns, the pressure of an entire plane of magma, surged from one of Agni's many mouthes and through a small gap in the formerly uniform grip. It was no longer Magma. Pure Plasma, the fury of fire amplified to astronomincal levels, burst free in a beam of destruction, and lanced directly into the Godmountain, breaking through the entirety of the beast's body in the space of an instant. The Godmountain roared in pain and fury, and shook its hand, which sent the beam lancing all across the monstrous form, carving entire sides of the creature off to tumble below. And then the beast let go.
A massive shockwave of flame and fury burst from the many mouths of Agni as the pressure within him found instantaneous release, devastating the land and crashing into the stunned Godmountain, who stumbled, scrabbled, and fell off the cliff towards the water below as Agni lost conciousness and fell like a stone, smashing into the ground, rolling, and eventually following his foe in a plunge towards the depths.
OOC
Thought, as I know I can't actually *kill* your God-being, I figured extraordinary damage was... fair game
The godwisp clawed through the ethreal cracks in the wards. The walls were under constant pressure and threatened to collapse on top of him. And the wards, how agonizing to the touch... with razor, frigid edges they carved across his essence. Azgo screamed, remembering the feeling of the Reaping Sword within him.
And then... vast space. light. Power.
A rush of life flowed back into the wisp, organically wrapping the bones of the Fused God in careful, sickened tissue. He could feel the filth pumping in his chests, and the tightness of swaddled skin. A deep breath shook his mucus-lined lungs.
Azgo, the true Azgo, stood once again in the Godcrater. It was a broken land. Islands had been forceably crashed into one another to form its likeness again. Crags and canyons scarred the once smooth ground, and geysers bubbled over like cracked cauldrons. Azgo surveyed the first battlefeild of the gods for hours, thinking. Rubble was everywhere.
There was much work to be done.
OOC
Modify Plane (0AP): Azgo spends a few years building and rebuilding Guvarah An, Palace of the True King. Rather than the last incarnation, which was a large fortress in the middle of the crater, this new fortress city covers the entire island. Walls run up and across cliffs and gorges, towers as numerous as wheat dot the landscape, and fortress connect wall segments. The largest fortress of them all is the size of a capital city and houses the throne. But despite its impressiveness, it holds no AP value in terms of combat or defenses... yet.
Ka'Vah, Thank you.
Ka'Vah, Rrwew asdodddd.
Ka'Vah Dominu Geaeka.
Ka'Vah, rrrrreeeee, Eqwewaaakkkkk.
Ka'Vah Dank Shen.
Ka'Vahpppppppppppfffffffffffeeeewwwwwwwww,
PewkewkaalaKa'Vah, DAda.
Ka'Vah, Grac Ti.
The God spoke, but all the mouths spoke in a different language, a cacophany of sound that crashed against the 'ears' of the exarch before him.
Agni frowned, diamond flowing like molten glass. After a moment, he tried again. Now, one language and set of mouthes were dominant, while the others were reduced to a buzzing whisper.
Ka, Vah. Thank you. I am glad to know that I could count on you in the end.
---Eastern Coastline----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ka'Vah's form gathered itself with newfound steam and smoke untill it loomed over Agni. Not that Ka'Vah meant to be imposing (though he would relish any fear that came with it), but when that God-beast reached through the curtain of steam to attack them, he wanted to see it coming.
"This is no end, gem god. It will return..."
Ka'Vah continued to stare into the mountains of hissing, salt-scented steam. Eventually something clicked in his mind.
"Wait. How do you know my glorious name, gem god?"
---The Moot--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The light flared, and then died. Shadows fell and lingered over the crowds. An uproar sounded. Cries in hundreds of voices rang out and drowned themselves in the new marshes of sound. Rustling, slogging, muddy voices stuck and churning with each other.
Some were astounded. Most kept a hollow dignity, fear raining about their insides. And a select few... were angry. Very angry.
Cantorix stood still and for the first time in a long time, thought about what it meant to be Dragonkin.
"Proof?! You want more proof than these kin gathered before you?! Then take up the mantle of your fathers and fly with us! The Crownlight has faded, and the lowlands call for aid. You are so quick to deny what you have not even seen, to label what is beyond your home impossible. Then come! Ready yourselves if the blood of dragons means anything to you! Ready yourselves if the honor of fallen kin is deserving of retribution!"
Many were hesitant. First a Moot, and now a fallen sun?! What could possibly be happening? And then one young dragon, one of the Keepers, parted through the crowd and called out a challenge. She was just beneath adulthood, and a long horizontal scarr throbbed upon her neck. Her voice was rasping.
"You expect us to believe this... this--Treachery? How foolish! First you invite them so that they may find our hiding place from the Wounded One, and now the sun falls in the East. What will happen now? A horde of craterspawn will swoop down from the darkness upon our marshalled forces? These strangers have brought nothing but violence in their presence, deciet in their words, and darkness in their wake. Perhaps they are the true sons of Azgo!"
The crowd began to whisper, dividing glances between the two primary forces at the Moot. And many looked back at Morenth, Cantorix and Lucan with renewed suspicion.
Ka'Vah's flames were flames nonetheless. Fire against fire. The godbeast soaked up the heat, its form strengthening. Yet Ka'Vah was not flame alone. A sickness was in that fire, and it seeped into the god. Disease attacked the godbeasts body. Its ooze turned sluggish, and the black shell lost its gleam. But the creature was hot, drawing warmth from the source itself. The disease slowed the beast, but it could not take hold or distract it, as its own heat burned the infection away, like a fever to end all fevers.
Then the branch struck and Agni freed himself.
In thanks, the diamond-born attacked again with the pure essence of fire. At first the blast did little that could be seen. The creature's shell grew harder. But the blast continued, and it's blood grew sluggish, then hardened as well. Through and through, liquid turned solid, and that which was solid hardened impossibly. Hard enough to cut an atom, but brittle too, brittle enough that even the wind caused sheets of the shell to slough off.
The godmountain froze, turned into a statue by the heat.
And then it was tossed into the ocean, the great heat sink of the world. The paralyzing heat dissipated, solid joints were freed, and the creature could move again.
The shard of petrified flesh on the continent cooled as well, and turned to liquid.
Neither Ka'Vah nor Agni had warning. One moment the hill around them was pleasant. There was burnt grass and the traces of destruction, but through it all green life grew, and keen eyes could see the animals peeking out of their hiding spots, looking to see if the end of the world was over.
The next, the hill and all the area around it was vaporized.
There was the briefest of instances in which the smoke retained the shape of the land and grass and creatures. That instant passed unnoticed, so brief it was, and a shockwave followed that flung the two gods high into the air. The matter, that had been solid but now a gas, expanded violently.
And up through this the god-mountain came.
AP
1AP Command Land: A great round chunk of the eastern coast is vaporized. Eventually this will get filled in by the ocean waters and would make a great bay/cove thingy
2AP remaining
1AP Command Land: A great round chunk of the eastern coast is vaporized. Eventually this will get filled in by the ocean waters and would make a great bay/cove thingy
2AP remaining
As the giant mountain rose up out of ocean, it paused. The splinter in its eye still irritated it. It had already cost the mountain its prey once, it wouldn't let it meddle again. All the mountain was aflame, and the creature stroked its heat until the branch in its eye had no choice but to burn.
And it did burn, releaving the monster for a moment, of its pain.
Though Agni had been thrown high into the air, even from his distance he could hear a distinct "splorch" as one of the mountain's eyes burst is a cascade of light and life. The tendrils of a giant bramble bush curled out from it and, with thorny delight, grew again into the mountain's flesh. Thorns the size of trees grew sharp and strong, impaling the creature, brining pain to its every move.
More and more brambles wrapped around the mountain, weighing it down, dragging it back to earth. Though the mountain's fires raged, the briar was sustained by divine powers and would not burn.
It was the first truth and it will be the last truth: life endures.
A few smaller tendrils of the plan wove into the air, and twisted themselves into the shape of an old man. Bramble and briar formed his bone and flesh, and from them grew leaves and flowers that in turn formed his clothes. Father Thorn, old and twisted, hurried with speed as quick as thought. He grabbed the two gods, his fire-hardened thorns piercing even diamonds and teasing out magma, and hauled them off. Far off, to the west, past the crown, into the badlands, too fast to notice the sun burried there or the god seeking it, and into the might-be forest of forgotten dreams.
With a hrumph, Father Thorn tossed the two gods onto the ground. From within the bramble, eyes as dark as blackberries locked onto Agni. Insults grew on his tongue, but Father Thorn pinched them off before they could produce fruit. Instead he said, "The land couldn't have taken much more of that debacle."
AP
4AP-Create Avatar: Father Thorn. A large humanoid. His body is made of thick, song-of-the-south-esq brambles, although leaves and flowers from these brambled serve as simple clothing, almost militaristic in form. Father Thorn gives the appearance of being an old man, and his personality is far more tyranical than other iterations of Leaf.
0AP remaining
4AP-Create Avatar: Father Thorn. A large humanoid. His body is made of thick, song-of-the-south-esq brambles, although leaves and flowers from these brambled serve as simple clothing, almost militaristic in form. Father Thorn gives the appearance of being an old man, and his personality is far more tyranical than other iterations of Leaf.
0AP remaining
Tealord? He managed to say after a long moment.
"You nearly died twice yourself. Why'd you attack that monster alone? Where are Pruinus and the others? And what is this one?" Father Thorn inclined his head towards Ka.
5 AP: Agni, Leaf, TASOE, Zebus, Azgo, Pruinus, Sa
4 AP: Leni and the rest.
Map: Man, this was a hard one to try and update. 'Burning Tree' and 'Plain of Glass' aren't easy
Story: Two weeks here...
Last Week:
Giroth the Azer arrives in the north and is brought before the rulers of the elves at their court before the Midnight Sun. The elves agree to help the Azer, and begin preparations to head south. To the south, the meeting between the Chitrachs and the Humans finally ends peacefully, as they come to a cautious agreement of future discussion and friendship. As the Chitrachs leave, they come upon Marcus, and invite him to visit their nest. He accepts.
On the oceans to the west, the followers of Azgo sail across the seemingly endless ocean, sustained by the blessings of Azgo. Unfortunately, they are the first to experience the power of the star Wormwood, which reanimates the dead. In their wake, the Halflings develop a revered school of medicine.
The Black dragons call a Moot, which entails killing a young black dragon. Morenth, the emmissary from the Red dragons nearly leaves, appalled at the needless death. The Mootstone calls not only the black dragons, but also a nearby Azure and Orange dragon as well.
To the east, a tribe of Orcs, blessed by Agni with power and supernaturally powerful hunting animals, begins to unite the tribes beneath them, while the Nix begin to trade on a massive scale with the other races, using their link to nature to gain large stockpiles of animal and scavengable resources.
All is not well for the Nix, however, as Ka'Vah destroys the hometown of Timmy Bushytail for... the fun of it. Timmy takes the death of everyone he loves and everything he cares about... about as well as one might expect.
Far above the world, Azgo and Sa meet. Sa is intrigued by the myriad broken promises that surround Azgo. Azgo, meanwhile, wants knowledge of what has happened since he was imprisoned.
And once more, a doom stalks the land. The Godbeasts rouse from their slumber/hiding/egg. The Behemoth falls from the skies onto the Beacon-sun, destroying the sanctuary temple before swallowing the Beacon itself. The Egg breaks open and a massive bird-beast, the Zizu, appears and takes wing. And in the oceans, the Leviathan rises from the depths.
This Week:
The Godmonsters are clearly heading for the suns, replacing them one by one with red, pulsing orbs of Evil. The Zizu and Leviathan encounter little resistance, the former destroying a large portion of the Mangrove Tree of the halflings, while the Leviathan floods Sil Arkosh, 'solving' the problem of the rampaging Slaadi. The Azer are barely able to escape destruction by sealing off a portion of their city using new Pyromancy magics. The Leviathan leaves a frozen lake when it leaves, the Azer trapped at the bottom. Seg approaches the sun buried in the western fields.
Only at the Eternal Volcano is the Behemoth stalled by the arrival of Agni. The God and God-monster fight, and Agni is nearly destroyed as the Behemoth rips apart reality itself around the God. This causes Agni to merge with nearly identical versions of himself from other parallel timelines, as well as turning Agni into a diamond. As a consequence, Agni now speaks in a cacophany of different tongues. Eventually, Agni, aided by Ka'Vah and Branch, fight the Behemoth to a standstill, and are eventually pulled away by a new form of Leaf: Father Thorn, leaving a heavily wounded Behemoth to manipulate the sun within the Eternal Volcano as the landscape groans in the aftermath of the battle.
Elsewhere, the Moot begins and moments after it does, the Behemoth swallows the sun. The Black dragons panic and splinter into factions. Seeking to keep the meeting from devolving into complete chaos, Morenth and Cantorix make impassioned speeches and Morenth spills her blood on the Mootstone.
Sa and Azgo negotiate for Sa's support of Azgo's eventual plans to defeat the firstborn, but eventually part ways, no bargain having been struck. However, Sa is given the rare gift of safe passage across the Abyss, which grows darker and more malevolent as it fills with evil souls. Azgo, tired from his extended journey, returns to it to brood and recover.
And if a coast could, why not the whole world? It was something to think about if nothing else.
Taking the form of a serpent again, the Eclispe Aflame glided behind the gods, putting as many bodies between himself and the god-beast as possible. He finally coiled himself, watching the eastern horizon.
Perhaps it was time that he left. Surely the gem-god and this... bramble-man could deal with the god-beast. And then Ka'Vah eyed the Gem-God closer, still waiting for a response. His vision narrowed. Each facet seemed... oddly familiar. And a similar heat radiated from his mere presence.
Ka'Vah smiled. Perhaps this gem-god had absorbed the dead god's essence!
...
Or perhaps it was...
Ka'Vah stopped smiling.
As soon as the divine influence vanished, the vines and thorns that had encumbered the Behemoth were set on fire and burnt to nothing. The creature, however, was not quick enough to catch where the gods had gone. That was fine by it. It had work to do.
The behemoth trudged back to the Eternal Volcano. There was something different in its behavior: it was as if the hand of an intelligent master guided the pet, instructed it. Taking the sun burried there had proven to be bothersome. But the sun itself wasn't truly needed. Being hidded was as good as being taken.
The deed done, the Behemoth left the volcano and headed back east. There were mortals there that needed... attention. Before it went, a red star began to shine over the home of the Angi'Vodha
~~~The Frozen Lake~~~
Above the ice and frost and water, as the Leviathan swam north through the air, it left behind a red star that bathed the water in crimson.
~~~The World in General~~~
Agni.
Where Artun had come from was marked by small pieces of charred flesh and blood. What passed as feet for him were burnt and worn to blood and bone.
Agni.
His hatred of the god still drove him on. He'd been seeking the betrayer for ages, and had a bit of luck when the fire god flew towards the Eternal Volcano. Artun arived just in time to see Agni transformed, but the battle moved too quickly, and soon the Behemoth and the betrayer were far to the east. Even then, Artun neared just as the Behemoth's eye exploded and the strange god dragged the diamond-Agni away. To the west. So it was west that Artun headed.
Agni.
AP
2AP: Setting two more Nourish/Harm time bombs.
3ap remaining
2AP: Setting two more Nourish/Harm time bombs.
3ap remaining
In the darkness, the Black dragons murmured and jostled against one another. Suddenly, a pillar of flame split the night, flowing from the mouth of Morenth and bathing the Moot in its light. A few moments later, a grunting belch unleased a river of glowing magma from the mouth of the Orange dragon. As the Moot watched, the magma raised itself from the earth and began to spin around the fire. Morenth, surprised, stopped breathing out flame, and the magma wavered in the air unsteadily for a moment until a voice worked its way into her head.
Keep breathing fire. I need it to work. The voice of the orange dragon rang in her head. Obiediently, she continued to breathe out fire, and the magma worked its way around, forming a glowing lattice around the flame. Suddenly, the fire grew ten times brighter, bathing the terrain with brightness.
You can stop now.
Morenth stopped, and the fire remained, trapped within a lantern of floating Magma which sustained and amplified it as it bounced about like a caged animal.
Morenth looked down at the squat orange figure.
I've done what I could. You're the one with the words. Talk to them before they kill us all!
Morenth's mouth twisted. The dragon was right. Things looked bad, although the lantern had brought silence to the gathered crowd. Morenth opened her mouth and began to speak.
"Would a creature of darkness provide you light to see? Would a creature of darkness have the light of Fire within her? No. I am not a creature of darkness, and I speak the truth. Listen to the story of me and my kin, and tell me that I have not suffered as much as you against the Craterspawn.
I was born into combat. My first memories are my very bones being stitched together and the searing pain of magma surrounding me moments before I burst into the caldera of the Eternal Volcano. I opened my eyes and saw Craterspawn armies descending into the caldera, intent on killing its inhabitants. I breathed, and fire engulfed them. I beat my wings and saw as my kin pulled themselves from the liquid fire. For a time, we were as the gods themselves, burning wave after wave of those fallen angels from the skies as we pushed up and over the edge of the caldera and into the world itself.
To behold the true might of the Craterspawn horde, surrounding us. Fifty of our number were chosen to fight free of the armies and seek allies in the world, and I was chosen as their leader. We fought free and flew to the Crown, where we met other races fighting the Craterspawn as well. Nix and Humans and Elves and Galeb Duhr joined together in an alliance of desparation against the Craterspawn who slaughtered them at every turn.
But they could not help us. They needed our help more than we needed theirs. And so after a short time, we returned to the Eternal Volcano, or at least we tried to."
Emotion began to work its way into the voice of the dragon as she continued.
"But the war had taken a dire turn. A beast of choking smoke and dying flame stalked the battlefield, killing our kin. Before the assault of that Servant of Corruption, we stood a chance. After, it was futile. Even when a miracle occured and a God took away the Servant, we could still see the bodies of our kin falling to the earth...
And then-" Morenth's voice caught and she breathed heavily for a moment. "And then the Volcano exploded. In an instant, the war of the Volcano ended, and in an instant we fifty dragons were all that remained of our race. Fifty, out of an estimated thousand that were born from the caldera."
Morenth's voice grew hard.
"Can you not say that my kind has paid the price against the Craterspawn? Can you not say that we have earned your respect and trust, the respect and trust of the whole world? Can you seriously say, to my face, that I am a servant of the Corruptor after he took nearly everything from me?"
She looked directly at the challenging black dragon.
"Perhaps you can. But you are wrong. I shall prove it to you. I have told you the story of my kind. To those of us who number so few, to shed our blood is the most powerful of pacts. And so, in the presence of all of you as witnesses, I hereby swear---" Morenth grunted as she cut into her arm with a claw and the red blood began to flow out of the gash. "--- That I speak only the Truth. I am no servant of Azgo, and I stand with you to bring the light of the suns back to the heavens."
Morenth reared back and swung her arm, spraying blood over the gathered dragons and splattering the Mootstone itself as she did so.
The thorns over the god's eye twitched. He had hoped, foolishly, that the gods might have matured over the years. That is what he got for being optimistic. "And your resemblance to a dragon's backside is uncanny, Agni: shall I take that as evidence that you're an a-"
Father Thorn cut himself short. He took a deep breath and then exhaled, hoping to force out his frustration as he did so. "I did nothing to the beast except to be born. I can't imagine that birth is anathema to it. But again, where are Pruinus and the others? Why did you fight that monster alone?"
The bramble-man glanced to the smoke-serpent. "Well... effectively alone."
He turned inward.
"HOW DARE YOU! You knew! You knew that the gem-god was Agni and you said nothing! For too long you have been a parasite, feeding and chaining my power to whatever ends you wish. I AM MORE THAN YOU! I was destined to be greater than you, and I will find a way to cut you out worthless little Scorch. I will..."
Ka'Vah's head slowly turned, centimeter by centimeter, towards Father Thorn.
"We did not fight. We fled. We had the advantage, the Glory, and we fled. How... brave."
---The Abyss-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long, unhallowed footfalls reverberated between the stonework, bouncing miles ahead. The carved bricks shook, not from force but from reverence as god-forged steel passed. A long crooked finger dragged against the walls and the battlements. Yellow dust danced in the air and at last sank in lifelessness. And in the distance, over the hundreds of walls, a collum of steam rose even higher than the towers.
He had built every inch, carved every pillar, layed every foundation in the unyeilding stone of his brutal cradle. And not once long stroke of the hammer or the blade had been with divine will. It had been by hand... for he wanted it secure.
He closed his eyes as his hand slowly moved over the hard, uneven rocky surface.
It takes its..due time you see to do something proper. Especially when you are alone.
A great smith had told him that once. At the time, he found this idea foolish. But now... perhaps it was wise to be much less rash in his wrath. Where was Thereus now? Perhaps that was something to investigate, for the young god showed promise despite his refusal of war.
He continued to walk, remembering. The steam grew closer, and then even closer pace by uneven pace. Azgo had never walked with graceful step. Three legs... always fighting for place. The shadow of a gate passed over his shoulders.
Azgo emerged into one of the larger courtyards. At its center broken crag suppressed the many fingers of steam clawing out from between the cracks and openings. A shrill hiss... the smell of blood and filth and flesh...
Azgo leaned down and curled his fingers under the boulders. At his reproach, the stone crumbled and a searing cloud of steam suddenly exploded out from its prison and into the sky. And the hissing faded...
Clawing. The scrape of anceint talons on slick, acid coated stone.
Out from the curtain of chemical vapor a twisted hand grabbed hold of the pitt's rim. The fingers were strained and broken, swelled with unnatural liquid. And there was no skin. Melted off...
A long screech peeled across the miasmic air like a wound being torn open again, the scab run over with blood.
Azgo let the creature crawl up untill its head loomed forth from the depths. The skull was scorched black with noxious, toxic wear. The hand of a god gently bent down and rested on the searing skull. The organs were roasting on the inside. Azgo stared it in the shadows of the skull where eyes once were.
Push.
And the creature fell, hitting the sides of the pitt over a dozen times before crashing into the boiling tar. It struggled, and clawed at the air, and slowly sank. Azgo whispered the command word, and the Apostate's Bane in a flurry of metal meshed once more into the ring. It had been ages since the wind had flown across that sickened, pale skin. It had been ages since that flesh had not felt a carapace of cutting steel. And it had been an age since Azgo had felt his heartbeat push with warped fevor on his chest. His hands moved across his chest, feeling the movement of intertwined organs, untill they came to rest at his ribs.
The Wounded One breathed deeply...
And then tore at his body. Layers of skin and bloated muscle. Pockets of pus and bile pooped and overflowwed across the exposed bone of his merged skeleton. His hands pried open the hole and bend the ribs beneath. One hand crawled even deeper, and wrapped around his gnarled, warped heart. Valves and veins connected and diverged, and wrapped it in a pulsing coat of flesh. For a mere moment, Azgo held and felt one of his hearts. The beat. The same beat at the edge of his fingers. And then the fingers tore open the heart, shredding the feverish tissue.
Azgo screamed as blackened, clooted blood poured out from his chest and down his arms into the pit.
The tar darkened with utter black. Its stagnant liquid churned with new, zealous death and pulsed like a heart.
The agony... was intense. It too pulsed in his chest and in his mind, throughout his whole being. And then he thought of Duty. Retribution.
HATE.
The pain did not fade, but suddenly it became trivial, a splinter, as thoughts of Zebus and Leaf and Prunius and Agni marched in. The pain of his whole experience flared into being, and he HATED them. His fingers tore open the heart even more. One day, he would tear them limb from limb and essence from essence untill nothing was left. And his scream became a Roar. And that roar lapsed into determined silence.
His hands, coated in the toxins of Azgo's blood, pried the bone back into place, and the flesh was sewn together.
"Rise, for you are frail no longer."
And a new beast flew up and out of the pitt. And a new screech broke the silence.
OOC
"Nourish" Population (3AP): The craterspawn take to the barren grounds of the Godcrater once more. Having been fed the heartblood of Azgo, these new monstrosities are far stronger than their elder peers. They are mechanically size Large, and seem much more muscular. The bony helmet/skull is thicker, and rugged bony plates cover parts of the chest, back, and lower arms.
Ap Remaining:2
Ap Remaining:2
...
...
...
Silence.
No voices. No wind. Not even a heartbeat.
Just Silence.
...
The blood dripped slowly down the snouts of the closer dragons and into open mouths, where it sizzled with diluted acid. But not a single dragon was watching Morenth. All eyes were fixed on the Mootstone. The thick blood, glittering with the flicker of nightime fire, seeped into the pillar. Even as it flowed over the drying scabs of the youngling, the blood transmuted through the skin of the stone. The pillar rumbled. The icewater of the lake, forever tear-taste bitter, felt a particular heat move between the dragon claws. Not the heat of boiling, slick and heavy, but fire's wicked kiss.
And then... nothing. The water's caress vanished into bitter cruelty and the stone that had shaken was still.
The assembled kin were stiller than the Mootstone, stunned. A few forgot to breathe, and endured the spasms of the chest untill at last a pained gasp broke the surface. They seemed caught in a dream on the verge of waking up to a great realization but inable to force the final stirrings of the night.
And Cantorix. Cantorix was also suprised and yet very assured. Somehow, in that moment, he knew that he would never again release his burdens. His pain was to be carried. His grief felt. And thoughts thought. It was dishonorable...no, wrong to forsake his mind in the hopes of empty comfort. A bond...
The time for speeches was over. Morenth had spoken, and the Mootstone had spoken, and both had layed the foundation for a... bond.
"Why do you hesitate, kinsmen? The Mootstone has accepted these former-foreigners. Do you stand with them?"
And every eye in the audience looked away from the Mootstone. Cantorix seemed older than he had a few seconds ago. Worn.
And then... one by one, different dragons from random spots in the crowd came to life, and spoke with an ancient pride.
"I stand with them."
"Kin are not to be abandoned."
"You are not alone, bloodkin!"
"As you have lost brothers, so we will die for ours!"
One voice shook with rage. The youngling raored and frothed with anger.
"Blasphemy!! Defiler of the Dead and Living!"
A few choice members from the crowd gathered to her, drawing attention and forming an unofficial seperation from the crowd that engulfed it. They cried out, but were left mostly unheard beneath the uproar of pledges and oaths. This splinter group of dragons suddenly became aggresive, beating and clawing their way toward the Mootstone.
OOC
Modify Artifact (0AP): The Mootstone has been attuned to crimson dragons, and the death of either a black dragon or a red dragon will summon both groups to the Mootstone.
AP Remaining: 2
AP Remaining: 2
The voice whispered its way through Ka'Vah's mind.
Of course I knew. Who else would he have been? The Source of All Fire called, and at our core, we heard and answered.
A small bit of steel worked its way into the voice.
You wish me, what passes as your concience, gone. You will get your wish, and soon. I feel my essence grow weaker. But beware. I have been doing some exploring in this shared body of ours. It is you that is the parasite, not I. You are the sickening of fire, the poisoning of smoke, but without something... without me for you to feed upon, you are nothing, Ka'Vah. A fire without fuel. When I die, you go too, Ka'Vah.
Agni's voice cut into the internal dialogue.
Ka'Vah. We did not have the advantage. If not for he-who-swears-he-is-not-the-Tealord, I would have perished, as would you. At best we fought the beast to a tie. I fear this is too much for any one of us, as the Bramblemaster noted.
As for your question. Agni faced Thorn. There was no time. I have lost track of my kin in the many years since we cleansed the surface of the earth, but I agree, we must find them if we are to stand a chance against this monster and finish this.
Agni's many faces frowned.
Something is happening to the loci from which I unleashed the devastation that cleansed the world of Craterspawn. They are being... manipulated. I am losing my connection to them.
Ka'Vah. Agni's active faces turned to look at the Eclipse Aflame. I send you to find our allies. Find The ColdMo- No, she probably would not wish to see you. Find the DeathLord. I am sure you are up to this task. Tell him to meet me here. Or, if you cannot find him... Go back to where we met. See if you can find some way back into the realm of your former master. CONVINCE him that at this moment we must work together. Go. Now.
Now for the ColdMother. Agni had no servants left, other than Thorn, and he didn't think the Leaf-eque being would take kindly to being given orders. A more... creative solution was necessary.
Agni rose from the earth and above the line of the trees, and he began to spin. Each mouth filled with Magma, and as the mouths came to point towards the heavens, Agni spat out a lump of lava to the heavens. He spun so quickly that his features blurred, and for nearly ten minutes he sent Fire into the heavens. Finally, at long last, he slowed and stopped. Above Thorn and Agni, receding into the sky was a picture made of thousands upon thousands of points of light: A portrait of a snowy peak, a mask of fire, a leaf and a pentagram and skull. If Pruinus (or Zebus) was looking up, she should see them and be able to find them quickly.
Agni returned to the surface of the world and to Thorn.
I have done what I could to get her attention, BrambleMaster. Now, there are two loci of power left to me that remain undefiled. One is in the far north, but the other is very close. Please, follow me and we can talk after we have secured it.
With that, Agni sped from the forest and to the east, heading for the Crown. Soon, he came upon the mostly-buried sun... and a familiar figure standing before it.
You... He growled as he descended next to Seg.
What are you doing here?
OOC
I'll get to the Moot tomorrow
Seg hesitated. Wind screamed across the badlands, and dust, nearly invisible from the lack of light, tumbled along with it. A fragment of a sun glinted through the dirt and rock, twinkling like the unholy star, calling to the god.
An odd cloud swirled within the orb, and it gave Seg pause. He approached, and it whirled faster. Did it beckon or warn? The master's command or not, Seg had no desire to be attacked by a puny artifact. Yet when it did nothing, he came closer. The thing seemed safe enough.
His order was to simply take the artifact. But that swirl gave him pause. He held back his leather apron with his left hand and bent forward, leaning in towards the thing, entranced by the way that the light and other-light danced within. With his right hand he reached out and brushed some of the grey earth and rocks away, to get a better view.
That swirl wasn't part of the sun. A different power, with a different purpose, that much was clear. But what was it for.
An unpleasant but familiar voices startled Seg. He stood up and whipped around, and began to speak as he did so.
"Ah, Master Agni, I-" Seg saw the diamond creature before him. "Ah... it is Master Angi, yes? You have changed much since we last met. But, your orders to me still ring in my ears. As you have commanded, so shall I be gone from your presence."
Seg turned to leave, but paused, "Or, after all these years, do you wish to invite me into your presence again?"
Seg gave a pained smile to the thorny one. "I must apologize to you, I would stay and talk, but Master Agni's orders and all..."
~~~The Eastern Coast~~~
No one watched as the Behemoth moved west. Well... that depends on how "no one" is defined. The monster left behind a black slug, longer than a man is tall. This thing watched as the Behemoth moved away. Although it was just one slug, it wasn't a single thing. A thousand thousand voices echoed in its mind, all demanding the same thing. Evil.
The air around the Behemoth groaned: mountains aren't meant to move. It displaced vast quantities of gas, which only crashed back together behind it like thunder.
The slug, satisfied that the pet would attend to destruction, moved up the eastern coast. A mirage in the distance had caught its attention.
Further up the coast, the ancient spirits found a lie. From the outside, it looked perfectly normal. Just a desolate bit of coast. But the spirits passed its boundaries, and found inside ash. Even the air was dead, it decayed as is hung there.
The slug moved onto the ash and grew. Tendrils of slime stretched out from its body and hardened to bones. Two legs, four arms, ribs and spine and head. On this framework the slug hung itself, drooping but satisfied. A great evil had been done here. It was beautiful.
The spirits stumbled forward, kicking up long-dead ash into the still air. Dust-devils formed and danced across the expanse, mocking the life that had once lived here. Towards the center of the region, there was another deception, and the spirits moved towards his.
Irked by the illusion, the spirits waved an arm and dispelled them. A god was revealed before them. Old, elfish in appearance, and asleep.
No. Not a god. Another deception. But this one was stronger. There was a god here, but it was asleep within its own deception.
The ancient spirits picked off a glob of gloop from its own body. The mass formed into a tiny slug, and the spirits dropped it onto the deception's face. The slug crawled around the deception's face for a moment before finding its nose and sliding into it.
Within, the slug found the tiny god, barely alive. Barely more than a loose concept that was unlikely to even have a sense of self. The deception was far more interesting. Memories of what it had been, what it had done. And memories of what the god within had tried to hide.
This might be useful. The slug expanded, covering the sleeping god, and pretended to be it. It ordered the deception to awake, and, the deception thinking it was the god, responded.
Meanwhile, the ancient spirits headed elsewhere.
AP
1AP Mind Control Shadow's god (in Tsu'Misel's form, for now). I got Shadow's permission ahead of time.
4AP remaining
1AP Mind Control Shadow's god (in Tsu'Misel's form, for now). I got Shadow's permission ahead of time.
4AP remaining
Ah, impatience. Father Thorn hadn't missed it.
The diamond body of Agni hurdled through the canopy overhead. The trees were more of an illusion than anything else, so they didn't catch fire, but it was a close matter. Perhaps if the god had lingered among the foliage longer.
With a sigh, Thorn looked around. The forest hadn't changed much since Life had last been there. There were even still piles of seeds, plans for all life that ever was or would be. Many piles were missing, summoned into the world by his predecessor or others. But many piles remained. One day, Thorn hoped, the forest would be empty.
There was work to do, though. Thorn held out his hand and willed the universe to form the books of natural laws. The tome condensed in one hand, the quill in the other. Thorn opened the book to a fresh page: it was always a fresh page, when he intended to write new laws. Pen was put to paper and the world changed.
Across the continent and further temperatures roles and the humidity increased. Clouds formed over the oceans, and raced across the land to wetten the world. Plants stirred from their slumber. Green shoots grew out of trees, seeds long forgotten in the ground sprouted. The animals, too, took notice. Many mated, others gave birth to their young.
Spring had come, the season of life. Surely, Pruinus would notice. But to be on the safe side, Thorn sent the newly-invigorated primal spirits to seek her out.
With that done, Father Thorn followed Agni.
AP
4Ap Command Universe: Father Thorn creates Spring. Basically, this is exactly like how Pruinus created Winter, just a different season. Like Winter, Spring usually lasts a turn, and Father Thorn can summon the season at will.
1AP remaining
4Ap Command Universe: Father Thorn creates Spring. Basically, this is exactly like how Pruinus created Winter, just a different season. Like Winter, Spring usually lasts a turn, and Father Thorn can summon the season at will.
1AP remaining
Ka'Vah looked furiosly at Agni. Was this a god or a child?! Did he have any concept of glory?
"No! I slowed him, you wounded him, and this fearful one blinded him! He was vulnerable, crippled! And we-No, Wait! Listen to me, Ka'Vah..."
And then Agni was gone.
"...commands it."
Could things get any worse? Agni... ordering him around. And that mortal... that mortal! Aggghhhh!!
"You! Thorn-thing! Where is Zebus? Where can.... Thorn-Thing!"
Ka'Vah's serpentine twisted around, peering around the tree trunks and the shrubs.
"Where are you?! Bramble-man! Do not dare walk away from me!!"
Ka'Vah shook with rage. Despite all of his power, all of his effort, they simply... walked away from him?! His form broke apart into a swirling tempest, fighting the illusions and himself. Spurts of sickly fire flew at random from his body, choked, and then were snuffed out. Suddenly the smoke launched into the air with ferocity and consumed the skyline, raging in the heavens.
Ka'Vah felt the overwhelming urge to kill something... and he had an idea as how to summon Zebus.
---The Abyss-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He had grown accustomed to it over the endless cycle of years, the constant rush and crash of water overhead. It was soothing in its own way. And if Azgo eventually tired of its bombastic babbling or the new shreiking, the very depths of his palace blocked the sounds of the outside world. It could be quiet, very quiet. Never calm, but quiet.
For the past few hours he had wandered from one creation vat to the next, opening that which had been sealed and pouring fresh blood into the depths. New flocks were emerging. Straight from birth, their talons sunk into the unwary and the useless. The command of Azgo echoed still in their minds.
...
How many years had passed since he had seen Sa? 10? Just a day? Time felt strange to him, always distant. He had built the entirty of Guvarah An... but it now felt like a mere blink, like all memories do. But all of this loosely flowing time Azgo had wondered what he needed next. His army was returning, loyal as they were visceral, but he needed advantages in other feilds. Allies...
His hands ran over the rough stone of the throne's armrest.
He had once said to himself that his visits to the outside would be kept sparse, and only used in neccessity. As far as he could gather, only Sa knew of his "escape" from the Abyss. And if Sa knew little of the others, then the Tyrant Leaf was less organized than Azgo had originally pictured. This was the best time and a slowly closing window.
For there was another. Another entity free of the tyrant's corrupting touch. Perhaps it was time Azgo sought him out, before the Firstborn did. Yes... perhaps it was. Azgo rose from his throne, and began walking with unyeilding purpose, like he always did.
For Azgo was always working. He did little celebrating and even less relaxing. Even in rest he was planning, unlike his jubilant siblings outside this warded cage. Azgo smiled a thin, chapped, toothy grin.
And Let them be Jubilant! Let them tend their gardens, nourishing the fruits of their picking. Let them cultivate and nourish. Let them build an organic monument to the rewards of betrayal! For on a day of Azgo's choosing, the sky would darken and the winds would lash against the branches. Fruit will fall from the vine, sour... and rotten.
His home was gone. Swallowed.
Lucan felt nothing but a cold hollowness to himself, and this worried him.
The sanctum had been the only home of the Azure brood. All his kin had spent their entire lives there.
And now it was gone. Swallowed.
He was alone among strangers. They were dragons, true, but they were not his kin.
His pride was gone. Swallowed.
Lucan shook thoughts from his mind and stepped to the Mootstone. He spoke slowly, with perfect, chilling, enunciation.
"With The Beacon swallowed, I am now the last of my kind. It is not much, but I offer myself to this pact."
Lucan bit into his foreleg, daintily dripping cupriferous blood along the stone's side.
"Brethren. Kinsmen. It seems my people are young, for we have grown and lived in a world bereft of these "Craterspawn". But I doubt not the cause, nor would I, nor any Azure dragon, dare to stand against brother or sister."
Lucan spread wide his wings and roared, a sound of rage and sorrow.
"And yet it would seem our ignorance bespoke our downfall. Who else but these 'craterspawn' could be behind the theft of a sun and the death of my people?"
Lucan hopped to Cantorix and bowed his wings. "I know not how to fight these craterspawn, but I have tooth, and breath, and place myself at your service. I promise that the dying glory of my kind serve the greater whole, lest our legends all be swallowed by craterspawn beasts".
~The Quickening~
As the spirits left the deception wearing the face of the god, they found a single flower had bloomed amidst the barren desert. It blew into petals as they approached and then was gone.
~The Northern Winds~
Sa hummed to itself as it traveled north.
Interesting developments indeed. As Sa drifted along on the icy northern winds, it sent out tendrils of power. One found the frozen sun below it, and quickly surrounded it, smothering it gently with power and will.
With the sun as both anchor and compass, the second tendril sped far to the south and east. It passed through the flesh of the God Mountain, finding the Beacon within its gullet. This tendril needed no subtlety. As soon as the conduit was established, a jolt of power spanned the distance, and was gone.
~The Godbeast's Gullet~
The Beacon shone bright, and the Azure dragons within arose from their catatonia. The Godbeast stumbled in its westward trundle , as the beast's stomach began to quake. Every few moments, a rhythmic shock shook the beast. It began as a dull pain (though if the beast knew enough to care was a different story), and it would only get worse.
~The Elves' Glacier~
The frozen sun ignited, bathing the surrounding area in pale moon-green light. It was a soft and gentle thing, much kinder than the harsh reflections the sun had previously radiated.
The elves took this as a good omen, but it was not upon them that the sun had the profoundest effect. The white dragons, long little more than rage-driven and primal creatures, seemed to calm in the presence of the light. Their scales shone, ice limned their scales, and their eyes gleamed with a predator's cunning.
AP
- 2 AP Create Artifact: The Northern Light -- Sa alters the power of the icy sun. It gives off a soothing green-white light that most sentient beings find soothing and pleasant, despite the sun's utter lack of warmth. White Dragons are actually empowered by this light, and while it does not increase their intelligence or manner, being exposed to enough of it augments their internal organs with a more refined cold, such that they can travel southwards without losing their mind to the thought of Agni "infesting" the warmer climes.
- 1 AP Nourish: Azure Dragons / Alter Artifact -- Azure dragons are likewise empowered when they are close to the Beacon. It gives them energy in a way somewhat akin to photosynthesis, and increases the power of their spitting breath weapon
- 1 AP Command: Azure Dragons -- Azure Dragons, with the aid of the newly augmented Beacon begin to attack the walls and lining of the God Mountain's gullet.
- 2 AP Create Artifact: The Northern Light -- Sa alters the power of the icy sun. It gives off a soothing green-white light that most sentient beings find soothing and pleasant, despite the sun's utter lack of warmth. White Dragons are actually empowered by this light, and while it does not increase their intelligence or manner, being exposed to enough of it augments their internal organs with a more refined cold, such that they can travel southwards without losing their mind to the thought of Agni "infesting" the warmer climes.
- 1 AP Nourish: Azure Dragons / Alter Artifact -- Azure dragons are likewise empowered when they are close to the Beacon. It gives them energy in a way somewhat akin to photosynthesis, and increases the power of their spitting breath weapon
- 1 AP Command: Azure Dragons -- Azure Dragons, with the aid of the newly augmented Beacon begin to attack the walls and lining of the God Mountain's gullet.
No. This time you will stay, Deciever, for at the moment answers are more important than my hatred of your very presence.
I ask you again, with this other as my witness: What are you doing here, so close to one of my nodes of power when all the other nodes have been tampered with. You know something, and I will know what that is.
Agni's many eyes flared brightly as he moved threateningly towards Seg.
NOW.
~The Moot~
As the black dragons fought among themselves, Morenth watched as first Lucan and then the Orange dragon, who had yet to give them a name, bled upon the Mootstone. Each time, the stone rumbled as it soaked in the blood, then grew quiet.
Morenth turned to Lucan, shouting to be heard over the sounds of clashing scale, claw and tooth.
"I too so promise Lucan. It is clear to me as well that nothing but the Lord of Corruption, Azgo himself, must be behind this. It is our duty to stand against his minions. Cantorix, do you stand with us?"
As they waited for Cantorix to answer, the voice of the orange dragon slid into their minds.
"I guess I'll committ myself and my kin to this fight as well, although we're going to have to come up with something to do about my lack of wings. Makes us less useful, I fear. Name's Paren, by the way."
~Chitrach Hive~
"Welcome to the mighty Krr, friend Marcus" Krr'Ree'E chittered at the God-man as she led him down the entrance tunnel, carved and widened into the solid rock of the magma field west of the Eternal Volcano. Once they were deep enough, Marcus could see huge slabs of stone suspended overhead, held in place by tiny bits of rock that had yet to be carved away. Krr'Ree'E noted the direction of his attention and said:
"We are not stupid. We understand the dangers of living so close to a volcano of this magnitude. We understand that at least once in the history of the world, this entire area was covered in a flow of lava, so we have taken precautions. If such an eruption were to happen again, either the shaking of the earth itself or dedicated guards of our people would destroy the bits of rock holding up those slabs. They would fall and seal off our nation from the approaching magma. Eventually, we would emerge, once the danger had passed. Ah, here we are."
The Chitrachs and Marcus entered the large cavern that was the core of Krr. Flanking each side of the entrance, tall statues of warrior Chitrachs gazed out into the buzy cavern. In every direction, tunnels snaked off into the darkness as Chitrachs moved about their daily business. A broad path, orantely carved to mimic the look of a rushing river, led from the entrance that Marcus and the Chitrachs stood to a large building at the far end. Krr'Ree'E led Marcus along this path and soon they entered the palace.
Inside, Marcus saw the largest Chitrach he had ever seen, easily five times taller than Krr'Ree'E herself. A chittering sound filled the air as the Queen said:
"Daughter, you return at last. Your suitors were growing restless. I see you have brought back someone for me to meet. Is this one of those meat-bag things that I sent you to meet with?"
Krr'Ree'E waggled back and forth in the manner that meant 'no.'
"This is not one of those, who call themselves humans, Mother. I will speak to you of them more at a later point. This is, instead, an emmisary of one of the Gods."
The Queen blinked a slow blink of surprise before turning her attention to Marcus.
"An emmisary of the Gods themselves? This is quite the surprise. Welcome to Krr. I am Krr'Ree'A, queen of this nation. What business do you have here?"
He remembered the way.
He was more concerned with what he should say than remembering directions. How should he approach him? Thereus was decidely neutral in the "surface" gods' affairs. A decidely foolish mindset for a god, but then again, this was a fool's errand! The odds of success were punishingly slim, but Azgo could not afford to pursue it.
Should he be polite? Dignified? Threatening? Deceptive? Friendly? At that thought he paused. Friendly? Azgo did not have friends... maybe one day. His vaporous body inched through the cracks in the stone, akin to slipping between the wards. He was close.
No. Lay the truth bare. He deserves at least that much...
Azgo gathered himself together, and entered. His voice echoed about the cavern's carved walls, weak and lacking his inherint athority. Like a dream speaking of reality.
"Thereus! From Whom all smiths were scioned! A day long ago I warned you of war and death, that your tools would be ... no longer useful..."
Graveyard. That's what this place had become, a burial ground of unseen glories and powers. The forges were bare, and the corpses of god-forged blades were rotting on the slabs. The ash in the fireplaces had become dust dancing in the ever-dark. Tables had been overturned. The unfinished bodies of dwarven experiments had fallen through the storage vaults, staring at nothing.
"Thereus!"
The dust scattered in response to an old master's name, fearful of the old ways and old days when dust had no place in this hall.
The godwisp wandered forward following the steps he had taken next to the grand anvil. The shower of sparks had faded, the glow of white metal had darkened, and the hammerfall was gone. An old mark, a stylized mountain, remained hammered unto the anvil. Azgo traced it with his "finger".
He was silent.
Slim indeed.
The Godwisp wrapped its essence about the forge, and the workplace was consumed in sulferous stench. A sallow light flared, and then vanished with the forge.
Azgo walked silently out of the forge. He doubted that any being would ever step there again.
And then he found himself at the base of the mountains, much darker than it had been before.
OOC
Modify Plane (2AP): The Deicidal Taint grows stronger. While Exarchs are heavily affected, the gods are only slightly hindered.
The forge of Thereus is taken back to the Abyss by Azgo for later use.
AP Remaining:0
The forge of Thereus is taken back to the Abyss by Azgo for later use.
AP Remaining:0
"Of course, Master Agni, you are always so kind. Your command is my dearest wish. These suns -- power nodes, you called them? -- were entirely ignored for ages, but recently the Beacon vanished. At the same time, several large creatures began running amok. As it is unlikely to be coincidence, it is my duty to help the world as I can. A simple god of healing has no hope of making a difference in a fight against the beasts, but perhaps a lowly one as myself might be able to ensure that no further suns are lost. The world is already dark enough as it is. If I had but known these were yours, I would not have dared to presume. But, alas, as I said, they'd been ignored for as long as I have been alive. I had no way of knowing."
~~~The Eastern Coast~~~
Tsu'misel shambled out of the field of ash, tripping on a dead stalk of a flower. Odd that one would be here, given that he had turned everything else to ash. Even his body felt dry and desiccated.
The godlings paused for a moment and let his flesh melt into a pool of water. THAT was much better. Water, a moving body of water, felt so natural to him. But, unfortunately, it was rather ungainly. Hard to travel from point A to B, it is, unless point A is the source of the river, and point B is somewhere downstream. Much much harder when point B was... somewhere to the west. Which meant, uphill.
A river would never do, no matter how it ran, so Tsu'misel willed himself to evaporate, and took to the sky.
As a cloud emissary, he woozled around the sky. Perhaps gods can get drunk, perhaps not, but his path made it look like it was quite possible. Unfortunately, the godling's head felt cloudy, though he couldn't put his finger on why, and not just because he didn't have fingers at present.
A basic impulse drove him westward, over the crown, until he was hovering over a barren stretch of nothing. The sense of unease grew into dizziness, and Tsu'Misel found himself vomiting water onto the land below, evaporating the cloud he was in.
The rain fell into the base of a large blasted crater, but it didn't land as water. Each drop was like a glop of stone, building on what had come before, pouring down mote by mote, until a giant tower dominated the landscape, and for a moment, that tower WAS Tsu'Misel.
The nausea returned, and the god felt the need to throwup again. Something moved within him, like week old sushi. The tower warbled and gurgled, and a bright orb was passed up through it, from its base, to its top most point. As it came, its heat drove Tsu'Misel out of the tower, back into a humanoid form.
Tsu'misel took a step backwards, to appreciate this accidental work. And he backed right up into something as hard as a diamond.
AP
1AP - Command Land: Create a giant tower in the middle of the Badlands
3AP - Alter Artifact: Tsu'Misel modifies the sun in the badlands. The Forgotten Sun wreaths the continent in a perpetual storm, making it impassible to mundane means (such as ships), and offering resistance to divine powers attempting to cross its boundaries (mainly artifacts). The short of it being, if there was an artifact that allowed scrying, the scrying would get scrambled if it tried to look on the other side of the storm. Or if there were teleportation artifacts, those likely couldn't teleport across the stormwall.
The stormwall itself appears to be quite fearsome. However, those brave enough to venture into it find that it is just an illusion. The real stormwall is hidden inside, and it is much much worse. The illusion is the deception, in this case.
0AP remaining
1AP - Command Land: Create a giant tower in the middle of the Badlands
3AP - Alter Artifact: Tsu'Misel modifies the sun in the badlands. The Forgotten Sun wreaths the continent in a perpetual storm, making it impassible to mundane means (such as ships), and offering resistance to divine powers attempting to cross its boundaries (mainly artifacts). The short of it being, if there was an artifact that allowed scrying, the scrying would get scrambled if it tried to look on the other side of the storm. Or if there were teleportation artifacts, those likely couldn't teleport across the stormwall.
The stormwall itself appears to be quite fearsome. However, those brave enough to venture into it find that it is just an illusion. The real stormwall is hidden inside, and it is much much worse. The illusion is the deception, in this case.
0AP remaining
True to his nature, not all was as it seemed within the cloak of another gods form. The infiltration, subtly as it may have been, disturbed the rest of one better left undisturbed.
Still, he was content to remain silent and motionless, decieving this outside power about his awakening while waiting to see what it might be up to. Besides, while he waited, he could get a better understanding ouf how this little creature works.
Tenderly and ever so gently probing, he slipped along, never more than the slightest tickle of a thought in the mind of the controller. A web with four strands. Small, but with great potential to grow. Unless, of course, it were broken. From the center, he silently slipped along to see who else suffered under this creatures control.
At the end of the first, he found a creature who mirrored one of his own deceptions. Concluding the second line, he found a creature od undeath and fear, who's mind reeked of danger, and so he withdrew.
And finally, ending the third thread he sensed a being of earth and strength. One he could bend to task quite easily were he awakened. Reaching out, he slipped into this gods mind, and grew depressed. No wonder such a being of strength had been controlled. The mind slept deeply, and he was certain he would not be able to bring it awake once more.
Slipping back through the threads, he returned to the fourth thread, slinking back into the mind of his own deception, amused by the controllers limited ability to control it with him gone.
Realizing the danger that this outside force has just brought it to, he moved to action. With a thought, he unleashed a jolt of mental energy into the controlling thread, signalling as if he had suddenly awakened.
The energy rushed into the gentle network like a forest fire, certain to cause the offending little slug some pain. Certainly, he could restablish his other links if he wished, but for now, he'd have one hell of a headache and no access to the minds of his minions.
With a jolt, the deception stablizized as its creator restablished his control over it. He stepped back several steps and offered a short bow. "Greetings."
Behind his back, a few droplets of stray watter fell into the dirt, quickly vanishing.
-----
Many miles away from Tsu'misel, a glob of shadows beneath a rocky overhand seemed to shift in the wind. He could control his little deception from here, and not be in any danger should the assembled gods happen to turn violent. After the situation with Azgo, one could not be too cautious, and he had little idea what may have passed as he had slept.
His failed experiment and the meddling of outside forces had shown him that he needed that sleep, to contemplate and study and grow into just what he was capable of. And he had learned much.
Inky tendrils of darkness shot off from the overhand, forming into a vaguely upright form before him. "You understand?"
"I do."
"Good. You are one of the first of my deceptions. Go forth and see what yoou might encounter."
With out another word, Myrkur off into the south, barely more than a flitting shadow among many.
Actions
0 AP - Temporarily disrupt Thoughts mind control network until her revisits them to re-establish it. And free Deception from it entirely.
3 AP - Create Exarch - Myrkur.
1 AP - Create Artifact - Cloak of Shadows
3 AP - Create Exarch - Myrkur.
1 AP - Create Artifact - Cloak of Shadows
Agni growled at Seg.
Give it up already. We established a long time ago that you were no God of Healing, Seg. Clinging to that falsehood is a very foolish idea at this time. This Object... this Sun, barely provides light as it is. Are you now also going to claim that the TeaLord has died when he stands before you now, still alive? What other lies will you spread?
You appeared just after my last battle with the Behemoth, and you reappear next to one of my posessions now. I find it difficult to accept the coincidence of these events. Explain it to me.
The myraid faces of Agni floated closer, and Seg could feel its hair starting to singe.
Did you know that I can detect lies now? One of the benefits of this form. Choose your words carefully.
But before Seg could answer, globs of stone began to rain from the heavens, and in moments, a tower appeared, and moments after that, with a great rumbling, the Sun appeared at the top of the tower, its light bathing the area. And a figure appeared, bumping into Agni.
What? What did you do? Who are you? Agni asked the newcomer. Why have I never seen you before?
~South of the Chitrach Hive~
A patch of earth, thirty feet across, began to glow red-hot. The heat intensified, forcing nearby animals to shelter. Red hot, blue-hot, white-hot. And the stone began to melt. As Chitrach sentries at the entrance to Krr watched nervously, the sky turned a vibrant red for a moment, then returned to the black of night. Where the stone circle had been was now a smooth bore deep into the earth. And at the bottom, the Elemental Source of Fire roiled and burned.
~South of the Tower in the Badlands~
Another patch of earth, unseen by all mortals and ignored by the Gods, glowed white hot and melted into a new tunnel into the earth.
~The Northwestern Forests~
A conflagration spread from the site of another hold into the earth, the trees turned to ash at the site itself, drifting slowly down the bore to join with the Source below.
3 AP: Create Portals/Command Land: Create three new portals to the Core of the planet/Plane of Fire. These are smooth holes going straight down into the earth with perfectly smooth sides.
I sense big things coming. Lets make sure we have the AP for it.
6 AP: Azgo, Agni, Leaf, TASOE, Zebus, Sa
5 AP: Marcus (Welcome back, Shadow)
Map:
Story:
Whenever you think you've found evil, whenever you think you have it pinned down, whenever you come close and examine it, the less you actually see. For every single spirit of evil, there are countless others. For every one in front of you, there are ten behind.
The god examined the single spirit of evil that had infested the deception, but that spirit was one just of many. If the god had sought to know no more, if it hadn't willingly ventured out into the network of ancient spirits, the others would have likely been unaware as well. Yet as the god passed, it was impossible to not be seen or noticed by at least a few of the many. From the center, the god went to darkness, fear, and stone. The many hadn't thought on these creatures for some time. The experience brought back a sense of nostalgia to them, and for that they were as thankful to the god as evil could be. Which is to say, not insanely homicidal. Still, the past was the past, and the many made no move as the god severed its link with the toys.
Evil is like a weed: cut of the top, but leave the root, and it will grow again.
The slug that had infested Tsu'Misel was removed from control, and so it nestled down and waited. Perhaps it would wait forever. But the seed of evil was there.
~~~Badlands~~~
"Of course, Master Agni," Seg said. "Surely, it must be as you say and that I am no god of healing. I do wish I had been informed of this. Perhaps you would be so kind to share with one as low as I the evidence you have that brought you to this conclusion? I am sure that a different Seg was the one to teach medicine to mortals. I am sure that it is to a different Seg that doctors pray."
"As for lies, again, it must be as you say. Who am I that I would object to what someone such as you has said? Though I have done nothing but speak to your honestly in this form, though I have done nothing but seek to promote your welfare, surely, if you say it is so, every word I say must be a lie."
"What can I say, then, that will not raise your anger? How may I answer your questions? What explanation can I give? If I speak truth, I am called a liar. If I lie, will I be believed? What is left to me? You are so wise, so all knowing, dare I even insult you by saying that which you must surely already know?"
Seg turned and bowed to Father Thorn. "And to you, Master Bramble, I apologize that we might not have been able to meet in better light. By the decree of Master Agni, it would seem I am a liar and a god of ill-repute. Perhaps it is best if you do not associate with one as I. If Master Agni is to be believed, and I am sure he is, no good can come of it."
The elvish fellow stumbled into Agni, then backed up and bowed. Seg prostrated him before that god as well. "And a greeting to you, great one. I am Seg, the low god, a servant."
~~~Slightly West of the Badlands~~~
Agni.
Every step was a lifetime of pain.
Agni.
Every moment was death.
Agni.
Every instance brought him closer to the betrayer. One of them would die, and Artun barely cared who.
Agni.
~~~The North~~~
The sudden change to the Midnight Sun dazed the Zizu, forcing it to flee backwards. The sun rose above the glacier and its light was painful.
Flying away was too slow. The Zizu drew darkness around itself, and vanished.
~~~The Great Beyond~~~
Darkness drained away and the Zizu found itself in a new world. One untouched by disaster.
~~~Dragon Moot~~~
The skies over the gathering of dragons darkened, and an ocean passed overhead. Dragon eyes, keen eyes, eyes used to darkness, were able to pierce it and see the dark shape swimming within.
Father Thorn's spines bristled in irritation. Every needle vibrated, sending a dry rattling into the air. His arm twitched as he wanted to backhand Agni, but, though he regretted it even as he did it, Thorn held himself back from violence. "Father Thorn, Master Bramble, or Supreme LifeLord. Those are your three options, FireBringer, no others."
The primal spirits returned, and informed Father Thorn of what they had found. He said to the others, "Pruinus is missing. Explain, FireFinder, how it is that you've allowed your sister to go missing. And Leaf had held you in such high esteem."
Eyes as dark as blackberries fixed upon Seg. "You saw Lord Leaf die?"
Thorn spared a glance to the newcomer god. "I am Father Thorn, the stormbringer. Who are you to come in cloud and rain?"
-The Dragon Moot-
It smiled at the dragons. His kind had faded from the sight of mortal ages ago, but they were still around. Watching. Protecting as they could. The fall of the godcrater had scattered his people, and neither It nor Other-It knew where the rest of their kind had gone. Perhaps they had faded even from their own sight.
Then the sky overhead darkened, and It reached up to ensure that its mask was well secured. It felt smooth and cool to the touch. It was ready for whatever would come.
Are we forgetting, Seg? You came before me claiming to be the TeaLord himself, stumbling and bumbling over things known to both him and I.
Are we forgetting as well when you approached the ColdMother? Where you admitted that you were not the TeaLord, but that the TeaLord had died? The... Father Thorn... is evidence otherwise.
Are we forgetting how you then tried to turn her against me, only to see your pathetic need to be liked cause all of us to cast you out?
Your protestations are as the collapsing of dried branches on a flame. Flashy, Loud, but of no lasting substance.
I ask again. Why are you here, and what do you know of the beasts that roam the land. You too, stranger.
Curious. I met a Goddess of Wind and Water not too long ago, but her name was not Tsu'misel. Do you have a sister, Stormmaker?
-----
"A sister? No I cannot say I do. But then, need there be only a single master of such a powerful and abundant resource. Water is everwhere, from the oceans below to the air above. I need not be the only lord of water, just as this goddess you met need not be the only mistress of it."
This is not the way that the rest of the Gods are divided, but... This is a possibility that I must consider, given recent events.
A few faces grinned.
I am the FlameLord, Agni. Here we have Father Thorn and Seg, the Liar.
He offered only the slightest of bows and offered a shining smile. "I would offer more, but my old back doesn't allow that anymore. Time has not been a pleasant companion. Anyhow, my apolgies once more for my interruption, but might I ask just what I have stumbled into and interrupted?"
It was an interrogation. I was asking what Seg was doing so close to my property. The crystaline God rotated briefly to indicate the sun burning above the tower. Especially given the fact that my suns are being manipulated by others for purposes I do not understand.
I would ask you the same question, StormLord. This tower appeared moments before you came into our midst. Are the two related?
Infected by a strange creature? A God? Do you have any knowledge of the nature of this parasite? Its interest in my posession at the time that the others are being modified seems to be more than mere coincidence. What more can you tell me about this parasite? Anything at all?
OOC
Edited my post slightly to make Thron's accusations less definitive.
The new-comer told its story. It was a lie, of course. Seg didn't know the details, but he did know that no one escaped the master. Once the taint of evil was there, it remained.
"Is that the kind of tale that Master Agni wishes to hear instead of the truth?" the worm of a god asked. "Then I beg of you, allow me to please your ears, master Agni. I was infected by such a strange creature, and it brought me here. But as you know, I am a worm and could not expel it. Oh master Agni, forgive me, for I am a servant of a dark god. Its plan is to collect all the creations and artifacts that other gods created and then didn't care enough to tend to. It will make a hall to put these things on display, and it will charge the gods money to stroll through that hall and look at these artifacts of ancient days. And there will be a food court. Oh, Agni, forgive me for the food courts! It is a horror beyond horrors. It will sell cheap, undercooked meats and soggy vegetables for more than they are worth! Please, forgive me, for I serve Curatorious, the Dark Lord of Museums."
Seg threw himself on the ground and sobbed.
He closed his eyes for a moment. "Why is the scent of life absent from me? That I do not know, lest it be due to my recent reawakening, and the control that was held over my body."
Offering a smile with a twinkle in his eyes, he offered another slight bow. "Have I done something to offend you, Father Bramble? You seem most hostile towards me."
Turning towards Seg, he eyebrows turned up in disdain. "Such a pitiful creature. To prostrate himself such, he seems to be taking on that attributes to which you attributed him, Agni. Forgive my doubting you."
The godwisp climbed the nearest mountain peak and settled upon its top. The rough, enduring bramble and gnarled trees that had survived here for ages at last fell under the miasma. They cracked with age and blight and tumbled down the sides. Even through the haze of his wizened form, he could feel something amiss. The sky was unnaturally dark... again. And new fires kindled in the depths of the heavens like pearls in stagnant waters. Had someone destroyed the sun?!
No. He would have heard it in the prayers, felt its rumble in the Abyss. Then it had been stolen, or something else entirerly. And why were there these new fires?
And then he recognized it. The likeness and symbols of his siblings cast up into the skies... A sudden spike of wrath drew up in him, giving a tinge of solidity to his essence. Thunderous curses peeled over the valley below.
"Is the very earth not enough of a trophey for you? Must you own the skies and the waters and the very sun?! Must your names be carved on the insides of every mortal's eyelid?! DOES YOUR PRIDE HAVE NO BOUNDS?!"
It was disgusting to see them fall so far. So... enraptured in their falsified glory. He had been here long enough, and this sudden darkness would need investigation. The wisp vanished into the Abyss, leaving a bald mountain behind.
He slipped through the wards once more, feeling the burden of hardened flesh and weighty blood upon his soul. It was constant rebirth, the formation of the organic and the pain. The pain indeed...
Azgo wandered through the first layer, through the darkness of the caverns and its familiar chill. Souls scattered at his heels and the few craterspawn flocked to his return. Eventually a large, black ice wall loomed even over his head. Icicles thick as trees protruded from the cavern's roof. Azgo paused, watching the slick water coating dribble down like sweat. This was it.
Azgo walked forward unfazed as the glacial, horrid ice grabbed hold of his body. All around him the wicked grasp of Pruinus tore at his skin and froze the surface sweat. The cold seeped into the spaces around his eyes, and crawled deep into his skull and down into his spine. Nerves and vessels popped and froze over in black, clotting blood in thousands of blockages. And there, in his merged, crooked chest that ice found a colder, bitter place and could not besiege it. His heart continued to beat, forcing pressured blood to break open the veins and arteries into new passages.
And then he was on the other side. A large hall of stone, chilled to the very bones of the rockbed. There were no entrances and no exits, only a curtain of ice about the walls. A tattered forge and workshop lay ruined at its center. The ashes cold, the steel warped and tarnished, the anvil coated with dust.
Azgo reached out, and breathed the heat of his tissue into the forge, which flared to dire, sickened life.
OOC
Create Artifact (3AP): The Forge of Thereus is strong and kindled with new flame. Artifacts forged upon its power carry the tint of Thereus' craftsmenship and mettle.
Modify Plane (2AP): The Deicidal taint is festering now at 6 AP.
AP Remaining: 1
Modify Plane (2AP): The Deicidal taint is festering now at 6 AP.
AP Remaining: 1
To Seg, in a lilting language made of pure tonality: Oh, Get up. This groveling is beneath a God, even one I despise. However, I find it curious that you are trying so strenuously to deny the validity of this one's claim... making up such a ridiculous story to make me doubt him as well. A direct question, Seg, and recall that I can tell if you are lying to me. Do you know of this dark power?
To Thorn, in the chittering language of the Chitrachs:
We shall see. Let me know when the Betrayer arrives... that description sounds like him.
To the newcomer, in the language of the humans:
You didn't answer my question.
The Zizu's departure had done more than simply mutilate the tree. It had rent the halfling psyche. It was a time of trouble - resources were scarce, but the haflings, rather than banding together and sharing their resources, overcoming the adversity with a unified solidarity, splintered into avaricious factions, jealously guarding what resources they could hold, and shunning those less fortunate than themselves.
But all blame could not be laid on the Halflings alone -- in the wake of the Zizu, a Shroud of Umbrage descended upon the Mangrove Tree. This Shroud was filled with tall, thin, faceless abominations that appeared to be cloaked in long cloaks of inky darkness (when they deigned to be noticed). They were the Scorn, an imperious brood that fed of the emotions of greed and loathing their mere presence engendered.
The halflings, for their part, did not know of the danger posed by the Shroud, and though a few of their number noticed the occasional looming stranger, there was no one to make the connection between the Scorn's arrival, and the cultural fissure that had beset their society.
~The Nix~
The Godmountain too wrought psychic damage as it trudged, and in addition to the scourged land and bodily destruction, the Nix suffered, and their suffering weakened the realm enough to invoke a Shroud. This Shroud was filled with the Carnage, a hulking, brutish Umbrage that thrived on war and spilled blood. Its very presence drove the weakest willed of the Nix into a xenocidal bloodthirst, and the 6 tribes soon found themselves at war for slights both real and imagined.
~The Azers~
Already crammed beyond capacity, the Azer of Sil Arkosh were not prepared to handle violent murders at all hours of the day. There was no question that the slavering, long-tongued monsters responsible should be hunted down and killed, but the soldiery was spread few and far between, and the creatures had a troubling tendency to dissappear after each bloody, torturous attack, slinking away as the Azer mobbed the passages in fear and primal rage, trying to slay the beasts that were hunting their kin.
The Umbrage is filled with dozens of broods of all strengths and intellects. But the Dissidents who slunk into in the wake of the Leviathan had little of either. Small, feral, and doglike, Dissidents draw strength from chaos... and kill all they can in their endless attempts to cause it. The Azers of Sil Arkosh proved a fertile ground for chaos, and as riots and protests became daily occurences amongst the insufferable conditions and the ongoing murders, the Dissidents grew lean and strong.
AP
-1 AP Command - The Nix begin a bloody civil war, goaded by Carnages and Antiphons
-1 AP Harm - The Halflings of the Mangrove Tree become fractious and cruel, subtly influenced by a shroud of Scorn.
-1 AP Harm - Beset by Dissidents, the Azer of Sil Arkosh, already weak from the Leviathan's invasion, begin to lose all shape of their government beneath a series of riots and protestations.
-1 AP Command - The Nix begin a bloody civil war, goaded by Carnages and Antiphons
-1 AP Harm - The Halflings of the Mangrove Tree become fractious and cruel, subtly influenced by a shroud of Scorn.
-1 AP Harm - Beset by Dissidents, the Azer of Sil Arkosh, already weak from the Leviathan's invasion, begin to lose all shape of their government beneath a series of riots and protestations.
Morenth looked up as the Leviathan passed overhead, and a sense of revulsion ran through her entire being.
"Look! It is one of the Monsterous Ones! Kin to the one that left our kinsman alone among his Color. If the Behemoth can take away his family, let us destroy this monster in retaliation!"
With a roar, Morenth jumped straight up into the air, turned, and dove for the Leviathan, belching a wave of fire that preceeded her...
OOC
I have more battle scenes prepared, but wanted to give Raven, Forgotten and (maybe) Thought a chance to join in before I did anything... exciting
Cantorix eyed Morenth strangely.
"Yes. Together..."
Cantorix had spent the majority of his life alone. Only himself and the craterspawn, the legions of craterspawn. A bond felt strange, alien...
And then the mammoth god-creature "swam" passed the Mootstone. It was borne aloft by a floating sea or murky darkness and swirling current. But even masked by the sea the creature's outline was distinct as faint moonlight fell upon the peak.
The dragons below were as tense as a coiled spring, ready to snap with loyal fevor. Ancient strengths and memories of battles won and lost flowed in their minds as they watched the strongest foe they or any of their ancestors had faced. The energy tightened.
They were ready to battle. And they were ready to flee. The decision fell on the edge of a knife, teetering without dfirection.
And then Morenth charged at the unapproachable abomination. The knife wavered, then tipped at the sight of her courage.
There was no concious decision, no rallying cry, little direction. Cantorix seized up, gripped tight with fear and the desire to be mindless once more.
... No.
Cantorix allowed his fear to spread throughout the whole of his body, and embraced it and the terror that came with it. With Cantorix, hundreds of veteran dragons took to the air in a swarm of acid vapors and thick fangs.
Truly nothing? Anything would be helpful, even if you find it unimportant.
~The Moot~
The dragons attacked the Leviathan, Morenth leading the charges and blasting fire at the beast, who rolled and lashed out with living water at the dragons who swarmed like gnats around the beast. And like gnats, they were little more than nuisances to their significantly larger foe. Morenth's flames sizzled out in the lake's-worth of water surrounding the Leviathan, and the acid of the Black dragons was diffused to uselessness.
Draw it downward! Paren shouted from below.
"What, you want us to make it land so you can swim in it?" Morenth shouted back.
No. Just get it closer!
"Fine!" Morenth snapped, ducking under a flailing rope of water that caught two other dragons and sent them tumbling down towards the earth.
Morenth briefly considered turning towards the open sky and dive-bombing the Leviathan to drive it lower, but knew that her attack would simply be ignored. Something more daring was necessary.
Morenth stoked her internal flames and began to belch out a flashy show of pyrotechnics as she flew in circles in front of the Leviathan's face. For a long, long moment, Morenth worried that even this would not be enough.
Then, the Leviathan noticed. Living waves of water lashed out to catch the bright red thing that ducked and weaved around the dragon-killing waters. Morenth cursed in the name of every God she knew, and some she made up in the moment, feeling the spray of water as she dropped like a stone to avoid a wall of water rushing towards her. The Leviathan turned, ignoring the other dragons for the moment as it sought to destroy the brighter one. Morenth briefly saw Cantorix out of the corner of her eye as she darted past, tentacles of water close behind her. Before her loomed the trapped fire that she and Paren had created together
Just a little closer, Morenth. Come on. Wait... There! Get out of the way! Paren shouted.
Morenth twisted and dove to the right as the fire burst free, breaking through the obsidian barriers and slamming into the Leviathan, who roared in shock as the fire boiled away portions of its protective covering. Below, Paren glowed with the power of the Source as he drew opened a small portal in the sky to the Source of Fire and drew forth more and hotter flames. More and more water turned to steam under the assault, but the Leviathan began to move away. Morenth tumbled to the ground near Paren, breathing heavily and trying to recover from her intense game of cat and mouse. Paren grunted in pain and wove more fire at the monster, eyes glowing with inner fire and mouth open and drooling out magma into the MootLake. But it was clear to Morenth that Paren was not going to burn away even half of the lake surrounding the Leviathan before it was out of range.
NO! Paren shouted. Agni, help me!
A scream of pain shook the lake, sending ripples across the water as Paren ripped open a dragon-sized hole to the Source of Fire, pulling through a blindingly white ball of Pure Fire as fire raced under the scales of the orange dragon. Paren opened his mouth, and magma rocketed forth, followed by a blast of fire that would have put anything that Morenth could do to shame. With obvious effort, Paren drew the magma upwards and wrapped it around the Pure Fire, hardening it to Obsidian and forming a dark black ball.
Paren caught Morenth's eye.
good... bye. He whispered, then, with a mighty roar, he drove the encapsulated ball of Pure Fire at the Leviathan. As the ball flew into the protective lake, Paren's body was immolated, combusting from within and turning to ash. As he died, the portal to the Source of Fire dwindled and winked out of existence.
Thought
As I mentioned earlier, Thought, I have two thoughts of what could happen with this. Either a) This burns off the Lake and you release the Sun in retaliation, or b) this thing is SUPER EFFECTIVE and blasts a hole in the side of the Leviathan such that Morenth and Co can get inside and rip apart the Leviathan from within... as was your idea at one point. The sun more or less slips out. Either is fine by me and I leave the choice to you.
For a moment the cavern where Azgo was filled with the screech of ice moving against ice. That faded quickly, though, to reveal the echo of a different, deeper noise, a noise that had made the earth groan and the caves buckle.
Some unmentionable thing must have happened overhead.
~~~The Southern Mountains~~~
The Behemoth stumbled and fell into the side of an ancient, crag filled mountain. There had been trees on its slope, but as the monster approached, those had been turned to blackened sticks. The snow from its peak melted, then evaporated, then was gone. There was a crack as the mountain was dislodged, then a long, drawn out scrape that melded with the monster's own bellow. The mountain was dislodged from its roots and forced off its base.
Great beads of oil, each the size of a god, rolled off the behemoth's back like sweat, splashing to the ground, burning life and melting stone.
As for as the external eye could see, there was nothing to cause it such distress. Yet it was clearly under some assault, and had been driven by unseen forces south.
~~~Inside the Behemoth~~~
The azure dragons proved that divine creatures could have heart burn. There attacks ate away at the Behemoth's innards, opening up great gulfs of smoke and lifeless flesh.
As the dragons swarmed over the Beacon, the Behemoth's connection to the orb was weakened. It could draw less power, and with less heat it's form lost its rigidity. As on the outside beats of oil fell, so too inside. Or so it appeared at first.
In the Beacon light, a drop of ill fell from a recent wound, but paused in midair. Dragon wings reached out, and horns, and claws and teeth and snout, but the resemblance to the lizards ended there. The creature that emerged looked more like a dragon that had been turned into a man, a very very large man, then flayed and given life again. A great mane of matted fur grew out of its head and trailed down its back. Where its eyes should have been, there was black holes. Yet the creature stretched, and within those holes a spark came to life, then blazed, until it seemed that the creature itself held a portal within itself to the plane of fire.
Other balor formed, and sought to end the indigestion of the god.
AP
3AP Create Balor
3AP remaining
3AP Create Balor
3AP remaining
The blows likely would have damaged Agni's old form, but Diamond is the hardest of all rocks, and God-Diamond, forged in the center of a supernova is harder still. The pounding of Artun on his body was barely felt, but it was annoying. Agni prepared to blast away He-who-had-betrayed-Him with a superheated bolt from the Source of Fire, when a thought wormed its way into his head.
What if Tsu'Misel was not the first?
It was an unsettling thought, but it forced Agni, still being rocked by the punches of Artun, to think back. It was true that Artun had led him to the Cave of the Behemoth, and had been the one to get him trapped. But he had also apologized and seemed to come to a sudden change of heart in the moments after it had been too late. He had fled, yes, but what if he had gone for help as Agni had ordered? It was true that he had found Artun battered and unconcious after the battle. Had he been there to help him? None of the others had reported fighting him.
Oh... Artun. Agni breathed, looking at the burned, scarred and bleeding figure as it struck him with heart-shattered frustration and desparation. I fear I have made a terrible mistake.
Western Cultists,
---The Savannah----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How does one summon Death itself from beyond the eyes of gods?
Swiftly and without forgiveness.
And on a massive scale.
And so Ka'Vah began the warpath once more in the eastern plains, engulfing dozens of tribes in sickness and shadow before charring their very bones a raw black.
"Go, mortal fleshlings! Go and pray to Death that he might deliver you from Ka'Vah! For none else can! Glory! Glory to Ka'Vah!"
Small fires broke out here and there and left barren, almost salted, hunting grounds in their wake. And despite his anger in..."servitude", such wanton, careless slaughter lightened his spirits. And when Scorch protested his pastimes, all the better for that worthless little elemental to recognize his place.
And so his eventual conquests led him to a stronger, larger tribe. One that had garnered much respect.
Ka'Vah approached their camps with zeal. Glorious, addictive zeal.
---A... Coastline-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They were not preparred. What haggard robes they kept barely covered their decency and less of their warmth. The stains of insect blood now outnumbered the original linen's color, and barefeet seemed tattooed with fish scales. For months they had wandered about this same deck, talked to the same people over the same things, and dreamt of dreaming dreams. Had there ever been a world that did not sway and rock with tide and gust? Was there food that did not crunch with chitin and mucus?
And then the final winds of winter caught the patchwork sails and whipped the backs of the refugees. Insects fell into the ocean by the swarm, and many nestled inside the corpses of those that perished for warmth, breeding. The cultists slept in massive piles, and always dug up a body or two that had perished in the night. Occasionally the crews would rise only to see motionless ships, swaying with the dead and the frosted wings of locusts. They were dying by the day, by the hour. It seemed that months of death and suffering were for naught.
In the death throes of certainty, many gave in and simply waited, limp and lifeless, for fate. But a few, a slect few of enduring heart prayed to Azgo not for help, but in thanks. Thanks for his power and his deliverance from the East. They would not fail... they couldn't. They did not doubt.
And with this surity and will, the faithful dreamt of warmth and home. And when they woke, the boats were not coated in frost, and the insects swarmed freely. A few held out their hands, and the snow in the air melted into rain with a newfound feeling of...
of...
Power.
The survivors blessed Azgo and the jounrey over countless ocean miles, for they could see that very image that had made all their pain tolerable. Land.
OOC
Command Land (1AP): The Exile Cliffs are formed on the east side of the first island. They are as imposing as they are tall, and only a few passages wide enough for ships allow travel further inland.
AP Remaining:0
AP Remaining:0
The earth heaved and shook, but nothing was there to observe it. A white-hot glow colored the sky as the ground melted away into a deep, smooth-lined pit. Heat wafted from the depths, but unlike the other portals to the Source of Flame, this one had something waiting to emerge, something red and molten that filled the entirety of the tunnel. Magma sloughed it way over the edge of the pit, reaching out and grasping with pseudopods of molten stone as it sought grips to pull itself further out of the earth. Finally, it gripped a crack in the stone and pulled, and the rest of the thing slid out of the portal, skin cooling to a dark ochre-red and becoming leathery instead of molten. Behind it, the walls of the portal collapsed and fused together, leaving nothing more than a small divot in the stone ground. The pseudopods of magma retracted into the forming mouth of the creature, which remained hot and molten as series of diamond-encrusted teeth emerged from the rim of the worm-like creature. Finally, with a keening cry that shook the heavens, the Sun Worm reared upwards and burrowed into the stone earth, eating away stone in front of it and leaving a combination of sand and glass in its wake as it tunneled.
~The Moot~
Morenth watched as the ash that had been Paren drifted away on the wind to the west for a long moment, ignoring the carnage happening above her. When finally she looked up, she began to scramble out of the way as the Leviathan fell from the sky and impaled itself on the Mootstone. Morenth hopped into the sky, shoulder muscles crying out in pain as she worked her exausted wings furiously to gain altitude. Thanfully, she made it far enough away such that the Dragonspawn, when they emerged, were unable to reach her. Flying up next to Cantorix and Lucan, she panted out.
"We need to regroup."
3 AP : Spawn Beast: Sun Worm. Think a sandworm from Dune, but with less Spice and more... molten core and turning things to glass/desert slowly over time.
Lets say... 6 AP to anyone who posted last week, 4 to anyone who didn't.
Map: No changes. Will update when... there is something to update!
Story
Last Week:
The Behemoth and Leviathan, victorious, leave behind red suns at the Eternal Volcano and Frozen Lake as the Zizu starts to head north to the Midnight Sun. Artun leaves the north, heading south to find Agni and finish their fight. In the darkness of the Abyss, Azgo begins to rebuild his army of Craterspawn, while also stealing the forge of Thereus from the Prime and moving it into the Abyss.
Agni, Thorn and Ka'Vah debate briefly over whether or not retreat from the Behemoth was warranted. Agni eventually takes charge and sends Ka'Vah to find Zebus or Azgo, while he signals for Pruinus by creating the stars and then goes east to where one of the only two untouched suns are, finding Seg standing over it. Thorn follows soon after creating Spring, also to get Pruinus' attention. While they are confronting Seg, Tsu'Misel, mind-controlled by TASOE forms a strange tower over the badlands sun, drawing it out like pus from a wound until it shines above the surface of the earth once more. At this time, Tsu'Misel breaks free of the mind-control.
At the Moot,
Morenth swears a blood-oath to the Black dragons, and the Dragons discover that the Mootstone can be attuned to any type of dragon. This causes the Black dragons to break into two factions, a very large one that welcomes the new dragons as kin, and a smaller one that violently opposes it.
Lucan swears an oath to avenge his kin, and Sa hears the promise and honors it, pushing magic into the suns and calming the white dragons and reviving the azure dragons within the gullet of the Behemoth. They begin to cause... indigestion.
This Week
The Zizu is driven away from the Midnight Sun and finds refuge in the Great Beyond.
The dragons rise to the skies to fight the Leviathan, who destroys many of the black dragons in its counterattacks. The Dragons are sorely pressed to fight the Leviathan, unable to break through the shield of water that surrounded the beast, until Paren, the Orange Dragon, weaving the power of Pyromancy, rips open a portal to the Source of Fire and pulls through a ball of Plasma, wraps it in a ball of Obsidian and sends it flying into the Leviathan at blindingly powerful speeds. This overexertion kills Paren on the spot, but does massive damage to the Leviathan, boiling away the water, which causes the Leviathan to fall from the heavens and causes the long-supressed explosion of fire from Agni's long-ago attempts to cleanse the world to be released, doing most of its damage to the Leviathan, but also burning a number of the dragons still in the air. The Leviathan impales itself on the Mootstone, and as a final defense mechanism, the mortally injured beast spawns dragonspawn, which begin to attack the Dragons.
Elsewhere, the Behemoth begins to stumble and falter under the constant internal assault of the Azure Dragons. It forms Balors to fight the Azure dragons.
Tasked with finding Zebus, Ka'Vah starts wholesale slaughter of the Orcs to summon him, but finds Marcus and one of the Orcs instead.
Far to the east, the cultists of Azgo reach the coast of the new continent. On the far side, the continent begins to become a desert.
The beings from the Umbrage cause strife across the world:
The Nix begin a bloody Civil War
The Halflings become fractious and cruel
The Azer begin to lose all semblance of government.
Agni asks if Tsu'Misel is related to Leni, and is surprised to find out that they are not. He begins to question both Seg and Tsu'Misel over their possible involvement in the poisoning of the suns.
Artun attacks Agni, but is mostly ineffective against the God's new diamond form. Surprisingly, Agni feels pity for the God, wondering if he had made a mistake all those years ago.
Father Thorn answered Tsu'Misel with the rattling of his nettles. "Don't approach the briar if you don't wished to be pricked."
The smell of burnt flesh waxed, and by instinct Thorn summoned the scent of rose blossoms to prevent the stench from overwhelming. Mixed in with the burnt flesh was festering wounds and decaying liquids. The life-god tried to call out to Agni a warning, but the creature attacked swiftly.
Thorn stepped back, his mind confused at what he saw, for what he loved most of all was rigid order. To see such an abstract concept made physically manifest was discomforting. There was a lurch in the pit of his being, like a hook had been inserted into him and tried to pull him towards the creature.
A small part of the god's mind warned him that what he saw could not be real: how could an abstract concept exist like that? This same part pointed out that the beautifully ordered thing was attacking Agni. Order didn't behave so chaotically.
Three needles, each two feet long and as thick as a wrist at their base, shout out from Thorn and hit the creature, trying to knock it off Agni. Each struck true, but the monster didn't seem to care. It wasn't even clear if it had noticed. But life begets life. The thorns grew vines that reached to the earth, dug in, and grew thick. The plants turned thick and tried to pull the mad creature off of Agni.
-The Mangrove Tree-
A ship sailed off from the Mangrove tree, and headed towards the nearest coast. The ship had been painted black with pitch, and flew a flag that was embroidered with a bloody talon. Those living on the coast had never seen the likes of it before. Then the ship landed, and the halflings flooded off, killing and stealing as they went. The town was left as nothing more than a burnt husk.
AP
1AP Command Halflings: In response to their increases avarice and greed, many halflings start turning to piracy.
5AP remaining
1AP Command Halflings: In response to their increases avarice and greed, many halflings start turning to piracy.
5AP remaining
How long had it been since they had first heard the sand bend beneath the hulls of rickety boats? How many seasons had looked over the seas of grain on the lands and fish beneath the cliffs? How wizened and illegible were those old graves weeped with the taste of sea salt and the promise of a god?
Years. Many years of peace, and construction.
Buit into the towering sides of the Exile Cliffs, a new section of city walls gave ordered form to nature's edge. Butresses, towers, citadels and outposts lined the winding crags and kept a generation's vigil over the edge of the sea, waiting for the day their persecutors would return. In the daylight, the granite shone with crafter's kiss. In the moonlight, the warm reach of fire passed over the amber sands.
Heartwood galleons, of smooth oaken skins, patrolled the waters and the passes between the cliffs. The stony islands almost saluted at their passing, and the waves bowed and scattered before the banners hoisted high into the tumultuous sea-breeze. Carving of mythical craterspawn decorated the ship bows, timber wings soft as feathers and the lantern eyes beneath the skull glowed with that storied hunger.
And behind the comforting embrace of the cliff walls, a sprawling city rose up, almost naturally-fatefully some might say- from the rockbed of the continent. The avenues were wide, the markets brimming with good-natured chatter, and in the shadows of the alleyways inquisitors watched for the treacherous and the unfaithful. Occassionaly men and women would dissappear. Lost at sea, they said. Lost at sea... but that was a rarity, for the good majority of the peoples were zealous in the praise of Azgo, the True King. They laughed at the invented mistakes of the Firstborn gods of old, cried at the embellishment of Azgo's wrongful sickness and imprisonment, and they extolled in the virtues of the Wounded One that had pitied their fathers and forefathers in the face of adversity. As he had pitied them, they pitied others and as he was wrathful towards the wicked, so they too disdained the Firstborn vices: misplaced loyalty, bloodlust, greed, and pride. But above all else, they could not stand betrayal...
And just beneath the walls, on a lonely hill of its own, a great palace-cathedral stood alert and lively beneath the sun. Throughought all of hours of its waking, billows of sugary incense rose and paraded down the streets and unto the harbors where it was carried off into the bitter sea winds. A great throne rested within that palace, surrounded at all corners with the blazing braziers of incense. The smoke curtained the figure behind it, bestowing an air of mysterious distance between mortals and the immortal. And it was good that this curtain was constantly drawn, for the people would have been sickened... and horrified to see what lay enthroned upon their fathers' refuge.
A pulsing, snaggled heap of flesh, close in resemblence to a man but without appendages was bonded to the throne, drawing fuzzy indistinct lines between the granite and the flesh. The eyes were bulging and blinded with disease, and the mouth always heaving with pus-clogged breath. The skin was sallow, and pale, and covered in sweat from liquids never swallowed. But such was the price of the King of the City of High Ithrol. Pain, in exchange for wisdom. Sickness, in exchange for longevity. They suffered, so that their people might not, and in doing so, understood the pain of the righteouss Wounded One more thabn any other.
Hail! Hail the City of High Ithol! Hail the King and his blessed rule!
Hail Azgo the Blood Crowned and True King of Creation!!
OOC
Command Populace (3AP): The grand capitol of High Ithol is founded on the Exile Cliffs. It is a fortress-city in and of itself, and both the study of martail disciplines and the sea-faring ways are widespread. The people are hardy and filled with zeal, and try to live honorably. The spearpoint of Azgo's cult is centered here, and this may become the center of the West.
AP Remaining:3
AP Remaining:3
He seemed almost a corpse, still as he was. There was breath, and the blood was motionless, free-floating, in the pools of mangled flesh beneath the skin. And an intense cold radiated from the core of the body, but not a cold of the flesh that wrinkles skin. No, it was the deeep cold of the ether and it carried an uneasy peace about it. The calm before a storm, during a storm. Even the statue in the Halls of Creation seemed more lifelike than this limp abomination slouching upon the throne of the Abyssal Depths.
And then the throne shuddered. A violent, determined shudder that rippled out into the layers and caused mortal souls to lose their footing. Azgo's eyes opened. And then it was as if he had just been born with a flurry of rattled life. The body, coiled as a spring, rose from the throne and stepped gracefully down the steps.
He had been meditating, thinking deep within the only place he found solace: the fleeting moments before his... transformation. They were hazy, and so far distant that they seemed to be agreed-upon dreams rather than history. He was meditating more often now, a week here, a year here, and a few decades inbetween. He had been too rash before, too eager. He couldn't afford that foolish luxury any more. it was the duty of a king to think, not to wildly follow the footfalls of promised glories. He couldn't lose...
He mustn't.
He had been thinking, not resting. Thinking about what he had seen and what should be done. And the prayers!! How many prayers, he constantly felt the flow of words tumbling over one another over the sharp edges of the wards. He could ignore them if he wanted to. And most of them needed little answering. But a strange... phenomenon had occured recently. Words from the mouths of elves, countless elves of the North, had risen over only a few generations. They used his name in blessings and in curses, beneath their breath and in loud chouting. His name was everywhere...
And yet-
There were hardly ever prayers, no incantations, no lengthy praises. In fact, he was almost never directly adressed in private. What a strange dicotomy. He had welcomed the praises in his sleep, and sent visions and decrees to the well-spoken and the talented. And still... Something was wrong. Azgo had his suspicions, but he had to be sure. And there were many things he needed to do. So he had devised a simple plan.
Azgo continued to walk through the halls of Guvarah An, up the legions of stairsteps and subverted balconies. The calls of Craterspawn, not deeper and... fleshier than before could be heard clearly through the mists. At last Azgo arrived at the peak of the tallest spire. If he but only strecthed his arm he could feel the wall of churning water above him. The mists were strong here, blowing fiercly about but never disappating.
Azgo reached out into the mists which bent and flowed like a harp's chorus beneath his rugged fingers. He could feel the entangled mesh of life strewn about across the planet, each piece indefinetly intertwined with another. Azgo took a deep breath.
And through the countless vapor particles swirling about together in pain and the sheer vitality of life, Azgo selected a singular grain. One little piece among hundreds of thousands that was a mere hairsbreadth away from a thousand others. But this one... this one had potential... and pain-great pain.
This one would be it. Azgo released his breath through the mists and across the ether to surround this little grain of mortality with his words. The essence flowed and poured freely into the night under dappled starlight.
"I have sensed your pain, your anguish, and your loss. Everything has been taken from you before it should have and the world is made less because of it. And if the Elder gods would have it, you would be left alone in these ashen feilds to sleep... and to die. And your body would mend with the feild and be no different from it. Travellers would walk by these wastes one day years from now and they would not now it to be a mass-grave, a home once."
"But i am no Firstborn, kin to traitors and theives and the apathetic. I have seen You for who You are and have deemed you worthy. You are stronger, wiser, and braver than you believe yourself to be, and you would need all those things to heed my offer. If you journey North, past the Crown and into the forests of the Elvish armies and preach to them of my Name and my Words and do the wonders of my hands, I will grant you what your pain cries out for. I will feed the void placed within you, carved out from your soul. I will restore your home and your family and your life before if you can earn it. It can all be yours again, one day. What say you, one who many have forgotten?"
The eyes of Azgo, flared with life and sickness, wounded pride and power, but a godly majesty, opened wide in the darkness of the dream.
Timmy Bushytail awoke with a start.
OOC
No, this is not my attempt to turn Timmy Bushytail evil. I just want to pick up the storykline, maybe give him a darker edge in his Hero of the Ages tale. Perhaps this is his greatest mistake, his skeleton in the closet? Or not? If anyone wants to contribute to him, i think we would all appreciate that.
Sidenote: I should get on the Moot and Kavah tomorrow.
Sidenote: I should get on the Moot and Kavah tomorrow.
Galfe, High Priest and Pyromancer, stared out the window of the Temple of Agni and down at the compound of basalt buildings that had been hastily erected in the past few weeks. The courtyard was packed, full of refugees who struggled to find places to sit or lie down. Not in the sense that they all were refugees, driven from the rest of Sil Arkosh by first the attack of the Slaadi and then the sudden and decisive end of that conflict when an entire lake had fallen on them from above and trapped them here in a recently-constructed portion of the city, meant to be the new industrial area.
No... not like that.
Instead, they were more... recent... refugees. Galfe looked beyond the gate to the compound, watched at all times by a dozen heavily armed temple guards and two dragons. The streets were deserted now, but half an hour ago a band of thugs had made their way down the street, sending a small ball of flame into each building and looking inside for valuables, tools, or people to conscript into their particular band. They had given the Temple a wide berth, having learned from other... rasher... groups that an assualt on the Temple compound was death. The Pyromancers of the Lord Agni had made the walls of the compound impregnable, and the entryway and the roadway in front of the compound was laced with traps activated at Galfe's Word of Command. Galfe could see in the distance the fires burning in several other compounds. He had sent priests to visit each of them. All of them were filled with criminals who had set themselves up as erzatz kings. One had even demanded to be addressed as such! King Pozni the First, Lord of a dozen buildings and a hundred starving 'subjects.' Disgusting. Somewhere out there, according to the refugees, the army had established a safe zone, and was expanding it day by day, dispersing the criminal 'kings' and bringing the Azer back to order.
Galfe thought that theory was worth as much as Craterspawn dung. The army had splintered into a dozen groups, and that didn't account for the individual soldiers who had left entirely. The thugs from earlier had had no less than three wearing the arms of a soldier of Sil Arkosh.
"Lord Agni," Galfe whispered into the hot air. "Do not abandon us, your children forged by your own hand in the bath of Fire that was our creation. Hear us and free us with your righteous fury from this prison."
Galfe stood and reached up, grasping a short rope. It was time. He pulled, and a bell began to ring in a room above him, sounding out over the cavern as from below, the huddled masses began to sing a song of worship to the Great Firebringer. Galfe went to the window, raised his arms, and began to sing as well. The Azer might be breaking apart, all semblance of unity lost, but this, this was some bit of continuity he could provide. For now.
Western Continent
As the Sun Worm tunneled through the earth, it broke apart the ground around it, first to boulders, then to rocks, the to gravel, and eventually to sand. Over a wide swath of the westernmost of the Western Continents a desert slowly grew.
The Dwarves
The dwarves had waited for the dragons to return for a long, long time, but as the sky grew dark and the Monsters began to roam the land, they continued on their journey, eventually coming to the Crown and its majestic, ice-covered peaks. They found a cave to sleep in, and rested.
When they awoke, a child was missing. Searching everywhere for the child, they eventually discovered that the cave was no cave, but was, in fact, a natural tunnel, leading deep into the mountain, curving left and right before eventually opening into a pristine alpine meadow, surrounded by glaciers on three sides and with a commanding view to the south. And there, waiting for them, was the boy they had lost, happily racing through the meadow and chasing the rabbits which desparately raced to avoid him.
It took no less than an hour for a concensus to be reached. This was their new home. This was Sil Peraz.
PP
1 PP: Guide Populace: The Sil Arkoshian Azer, driven apart by the beings from the Umbrage, break into warring camps and factions separated by deserted streets.
2 PP: Command Land: A great desert spreads over the west of the far Western Western continent (We need a better name for those three islands than 'Western Continent ;))
1 PP: Command Land: A meadow far up in the Crown mountains that is inacessible aside from a long dark tunnel is formed.
1 PP: Guide Populace: The dwarven refugees from Sil Arkosh finally find a place to settle, in that same meadow. They name their new home Sil Peraz.
1 PP remains... what to spend it on... tonight...
1 PP: Guide Populace: The Sil Arkoshian Azer, driven apart by the beings from the Umbrage, break into warring camps and factions separated by deserted streets.
2 PP: Command Land: A great desert spreads over the west of the far Western Western continent (We need a better name for those three islands than 'Western Continent ;))
1 PP: Command Land: A meadow far up in the Crown mountains that is inacessible aside from a long dark tunnel is formed.
1 PP: Guide Populace: The dwarven refugees from Sil Arkosh finally find a place to settle, in that same meadow. They name their new home Sil Peraz.
1 PP remains... what to spend it on... tonight...
Cantorix watched the battlefield with steely eyes.
... Regroup. Yes, he already knew. His kin were disorganized, almost as wild as the craterspawn hordes they had fought once long ago, and a few were slipping into the Wrath. They were losing control of the battle, and swiftly.
"Yes" he answered. There was a long pause as Cantorix analyzed the emergence of these newer spawn. They were... hideously familiar. And now it was the dragons who knew what it was like to look into corruption in their own flesh, as the angels had in elder days. But if Cantorix knew anything, it was how to scan an opponent for weaknesses, and then how to kill. It was an integral part of him, one he regrettably embraced.
"Morenth, take to the west and rally the Ebon that are fighting those... those things. Fall back and let the center bulk fill in the gaps. Flank when you have the room and provide relief."
It was an easy job and she would know it, but Cantorix couldn't let her die on the frontlines. If a few more Ebon had to die for her, so be it. They had sworn allegiance to all blood-kin.
"Lucan, multiple broods were scattered into the sky when that creature fell unto the stone. Gather them and direct them as you see fit. If you see any openings-take them."
Again, an easy role. They would be skirmishing at the most, and away from the thick of it. But that was how he wanted it.
"If either of you see that the battle is lost, flee. If my kin will not listen, leave them behind. May your ancestors look over you."
Decisive Morenth had called Cantorix's actions once. He felt that he would need to be decisive again.
And so he left for the front lines, clawing through dragonspawn and frenzied black dragon untill he was surrounded by the enemy. A flurry of dragonspawn limbs hacked at his skin and at his flesh until the bone was pristine and starkly visable. Cantorix centered himself.
All the bars of the mind collapsed. All the floodgates were opened. All the concious hold upon reasoning slipped into nothingness. Cantorix let go, and fell fast into the savagry of Azgo's wrath.
And he enjoyed it.
---Eastern Savannah---
Ka'Vah was about to respond to Marcus, when a miniature voice called out from far below. It was akin to the squal of mice, naive mice scurrying about in the feild. Ka'Vah froze with awe, and not a single wisp of his being moved. A darkly pleased grin split across his ambiguous visage.
"Do my ears decieve me?"
Suddenly the entirety of a storm fell upon and around the orkish mortal, like the hair of a great conflagration. The taste of dry, powerdy ash coated Urk's throat as he attempted to breathe. Smoke peeled through his closed eyelids, feircly vexing the eyes until they were flush with tears and blood.
A pair of eyes, glowling softly green in the wavering haze, bathed him in flichering light.
"Or has a mortal dared a feat that even gods tremble at its mention?! Did you... CHALLENGE me, foolish orc? Have you challenged the great and dreaded Ka'Vah, shadow of the sun and the death of light?!"
Ka'Vah waited for a few seconds, feigning interest in the Orc's reply and possible apology.
"I accept."
It would be honorable to reduce his own power, to fight on the orc's terms untill the better between them was decided. It would have been honorable for him to form himself into solid godflesh with breakable bones and flimsy organs so that his weaknesses would match that of this bold orc. And it would be honorable to fight and play with dignity and respect, and leave this mortal with his body, if not his pride, intact in turn for his admirable courage.
...
But he was Ka'Vah. And honor... was worthless to Ka'Vah.
A form about the size of a human coalesced in the thick curtains of smoke, it was neither seperate nor wholly apart from the haze. Ka'Vah rushed through the darkness at the half-blind orc readying a forcefull blow and savoring every singular second of its buildup. His fist connected with the force of a concentrated stormwind, the winds that would break branches and rattle the bones inside of men. And it connected again... and again, and again-and again. Only the physiology of the orc restricted Ka'Vah's speed, as he wanted the challenger a few moments to register the individual pain on each blow on his joints. Between blows, Ka'Vah forced billows of smoke in and out, to expand and shrink instantaneously. Urk's lungs constantly teetered between popping and collapse. Large areas of the tissue became saturated with the oily smoke and withered into black chunks of leather.
The longer the fight went on, the more Ka'Vah had to stiffle his needle to giggle. What euphoria!! It was an art, truely. The ork was a fierce warrior however, and despite the onslaught continued to swing his hammer at Ka'Vah with uncanny precision. Occasionaly Ka'Vah would cry out as the hammer swinged through his form before he dissapated. When Urk had just recovered enough sense to attempt to understand the situation, Ka'Vah would leap back into the fray with abandon, dashing his thin hopes.
He loved every snap, every gasp, every stumbling misstep and every pitiable swing of his weapon. Wait, his weapon...
Was that a... yes, it was. Agni's symbol. It was weak and sputtering from former power, but it was recognizable.
And then Ka'Vah remembered. His heart plumetted. He did have a schedule to keep, after all. How dissappointing.
"For what is worth, little mortal, you have been quite the amusement. Perhaps we should continue this again one day. But know this mortal, for your efforts, Ka'Vah the great and mighty will spare your people. The orcs are no longer subject to my fell influence. Go, go and warn them of Ka'Vah."
The blanket of smoky darkness was sudden;ly pulled up and out from the feild. New starlight fell upon the orcish champion, who Ka'Vah had left wheezing, battered, and broken. And with regretful pace, Ka'Vah stepped into the Great Beyond, still thinking of the mortal's thrilling pain.
---The Western Continent---
High Ithol reveled in its splendor atop the cliffs, but over the course of many years, it was not the only point of civilization. many dwarven clans, eager for the traditions of old and the glories of their old warbands left the city for the foothills and sparse Mountains that flanked the city's western side. Out of the ores and granite they found there, a series of fortresses both above and below the surface were crafted in dwarven technique. Hamlets and villages of both dwarves and humans soon dotted the lands between the fortresses.
The kingdom was expanding.
OOC
Command Land (2AP): A series of foothills and isolated mountains rises west of the city. It is rich with practical ores and stones. The hills are covered mostly with thin underbrush, grass, and meadows of Nightshade. Later on, this will become the flower associated with Azgo worship.
Command Populace (1AP): The dwarves expand out from the city and build a network of fortresses and outposts between the hillcrests and beneath the mountains' feet.
Command Populace (1AP): The dwarves expand out from the city and build a network of fortresses and outposts between the hillcrests and beneath the mountains' feet.
A primal cry of rage emanated from deep within Artun's form. The plant-chains hauled him off of Agni's body, but still the exarch struggled. Bits of his body and blood fell to the ground. He ripped one shoulders loose, and the image of the beautiful god flickered. He struggled more, ripping another chain from his body, and the image faded entirely. In its place as a burn creature. It might have been humanoid once. Or perhaps just a face, like Agni had been. Whatever it originally way, it was lost to fire.
The thing should not have been alive. But it was, because Agni had found one thing that fire couldn't consume. Hatred.
"Betrayer!" the corpse god screamed.
~~~The Great Beyond~~~
Wherever the lord of death was, his attention was not on his domain. The Zizu tore at the very fabric of the afterlife, and the great beyond grew different. An entire side of eternity was discarded, and ill things lay on the other side.
AP
6AP: Modify planes (yes, plural): The Great Beyond becomes attached to the abyss. Generally they still function like different planes (or at least, demiplanes), but one can travel between the two by simply walking. There's technically no barriers preventing travel between them (although hopefully someone will set up guards).
6AP: Modify planes (yes, plural): The Great Beyond becomes attached to the abyss. Generally they still function like different planes (or at least, demiplanes), but one can travel between the two by simply walking. There's technically no barriers preventing travel between them (although hopefully someone will set up guards).
6 AP for everyone once again.
Story
Map
Divine though it may have been, untaken by death, though it might be, the Behemoth was a physical creature of muscle, flesh, and sinew. The Balor it spawned required sustenance, energy, to birth, and the Behemoth, with its stomach in turmoil, was in no position to regain either.
The Azure brood, however, had the Beacon, a shining light of Divine energy and glory. Every scratch the creatures made, every wing the creatures ripped, every drop of cyan blood spilled, was repaired, in time.
The balor too regrew, mended, drawn inexorably back together by their lack of death, but theirs was a slow. While a wounded Azure, curled asleep around The Beacon, might grow to full strength in a matter of hours, the pulped mush of slain balor took weeks and months to regrow. Some were so obliterated it would take months or years.
It was a war of attrition, and one the Azure Dragons seemed ill equipped to lose.
The Behemoth, for its part, was a dim beast. Where before it did not win, it did not alter its strategy, simply increasing the numbers. More Balor were birthed, and more Balor were banished. As the Behemoth poured more and more of its flesh and quintessence into its strategy, the Azure held firm. In time, the Behemoth shrank, the lost mass of slain Balors vanished from its gullet in acrid smoke or questionable pools of filth. When the light of the Beacon finally broke through the godbeast's sides once more, the beast was only as large as a small hillock. And with the sun freed, so too were the Azure dragons -- but few things are as large as a dragon's capacity to grudge, and while some drakes flew off with their rescued Sun, a great many more stayed behind, continually hounding the dying beast, which still sought to birth Balors.
It did not know it, but it had lost. When at last the beast stopped to consider that its strategy had failed, it found itself little more than a spine, a pair of ragged wings, and a maw of razor claws. Then it, like the rest of its children, was scattered along the winds, blasted free by the thunderous breath of deep blue.
AP Expenditure
-4 AP Modify - The Behemoth is fragmented into roughly 6,600 Balor. Each Balor shares traits of the godbeast -- unable to die, fierce temper, the ravenous hatred of TASOE, etc. but exists as its own discrete entity. While it is possible that these Balor might re-merge into their greater whole once more, that seems unlikely in the near future, as without the overriding will of the Behemoth to direct them, each Balor is left to its own devices and free will.
-0 AP Modify - The Beacon returns to its previously scheduled programming.
Ahh... Agni breathed out a long breath, taking in true form of Artun. At last, we see you as you are, Artun, and not how you wish us to see you.
I never betrayed you, Artun. It was you who betrayed me. I remember you staring as the Behemoth swallowed me alive but ignored you. But perhaps you betrayed it and found rescue for me. Perhaps that part, at least, is true, and a truth that I did not wish to hear, could not hear. I cursed you, Artun, and now you are here without illusions. Speak, Artun. I would hear what you have to say.
OOC:
(More soon on other fronts...)
Such was the case on this day. It was a simple clearing, boring even, as clearings go. Bounded by a rough ring of saplings and filled with calf-high vegetation, it was the sort of places that dotted these woods. It could have been any one of a hundred such clearings. But it wasn't, it was this one.
In the centre of the clearing was a man, standing and observing the swell of the moon as it rose high into the sky. But this was no ordinary man. The least conspicuous thing that could be said about him was that he was extravagantly dressed, like an impossibly wealthy king from a ludricrously prosperous kingdom. His vestments were worked with elaborate decorations and adornments that twinkled as he shifted in the moonlight. Jewels and gold clasps glittered on his doublet and at his wrists. A belt set with precious gems was slung about his waist, and from it hung a beautifully worked sword with a fat ruby in its pommel. But that was not the strangest thing about this man. No. For when he turned his eyes from the luminous moon, they were not the eyes of a man. They were the eyes of a beast.
If one can be called a man by his upright stature, then he was a man. If a man is so called by his two eyes, a nose and mouth, then he was a man. If a man is a man by the two feet he stands upon, or the arms that reach and clasp, then he was a man. But only a beast had teeth that razor sharp, only a beast was covered in such a thick pelt, with a mane like the fiery sun. And only a beast had those eyes. But then he spoke, and it was the voice of a man that emerged.
"I seem to have lost my way. May you please direct me towards home?"
3 PP - Ascend Exarch - Lionheart
Krr'Ree'E blinked and rocked back and forth in surprise. How had she wandered so very far? Trees? There were no trees taller than five feet near Krr, the earth still recovering from the volcanic explosions that had turned it into a barren waste. And yet, here she was.
A racheting sound of uncertainty clambored its way up her throat and out into the air, followed by speech.
"I can understand you. Do you serve a God as well? And where is home, that I might direct you?"
~The Moot~
"But that is-" Morenth cut off her protest as Cantorix led the bulk of the black dragons nearby into battle. "Very well. I hope to see you safe at the end of this, Cantorix." she shouted instead.
She made her way to the skies and began to help pull back the disorganized western flank of the black dragon army, bellowing at the confused, recalcintrant and stupid alike to retreat and regroup. Slowly, things began to coalesce, the bulk of the... Morenth needed a word for these monsters... Dragonspawn would do.... Dragonspawn turning to fight the oncoming Cantorix.
"Mother!" A bellow from above caught her attention and she twisted in midair to see a rapidly growing set of red spots resolve into several dozen red dragons. One pulled up before her, and Morenth smiled as she recognized her son.
"We felt a stirring in our bones, Mother, drawing us here. We came as soon as possible. We will fight."
With a unified roar, the red dragons struck from above, fire blasting through knots of Dragonspawn as they burst forth from the Leviathan's body.
The man threw his head back and made the first bestial sound she had yet heard him make. It was somewhere between a laugh and a gleeful roar, as though his vocal cords couldn't quite decide whether he was a man or beast.
"King Lionheart, serve a god?" he roared, though the exact details of his emotions were concealed in the folds of his lion face, "Presposterous!"
He threw his head back (quite a significant affair with all that hair) and laughed once more. And then he straightened himself and coughed into his hand (paw?) in a ludicrously human affectation.
"As for the home bit, well, rather hard to explain isn't it? Difficult to say, really. And then of course is the matter of which home do you mean? And quite the other matter of which home I meant."
He stared at her for a moment with the sort of dejection only animal eyes could muster.
"Perhaps you should start by telling me who you are, and where we happen to be, and perhaps then I'll be able to acheive my bearings. Yes, that's the thing."
"I am Arr'Pkk'R, King Lionheart." She assumed that this was his name. "I am on a long journey from the Crown," She waved in the direction of the mountains to the north. "To the dwarves in the south" She had heard that the dwarves had once lived there... but the truth of that was unascertained. "To trade. We are... somewhere in between there. Closer to the Crown."
"Crown?" he said, astounded, "You have crowns here? Where I come from, I banished crowns. Can't wear them, see?"
And he pointed to the top of his large and strangely proportioned head. It was exactly the size and shape of a lion head mounted atop a broad set of human shoulders.
"And if I can't wear a crown, no one else bloody will!" and at this he roared again with laughter, "But we have got dwarves where I come from. Greedy little bastards, but darn useful. Can make you anything you want, dwarves. Made the metalwork on my garments and..."
With a grand flourish, he pulled his elaborate sword from its elaborate sheath.
"Even made me this. Isn't she a beauty?"
"It looks very nice." She said after a long moment. "Not something I could use," She waved a sharp forearm in demonstration, "but nice. The Crown is those mountains, of course. Why would one want to wear a mountain? That seems heavy. Where did you say you were from again?"
Everything felt oddly distant too Cantorix, as if he were reading out of a book and slowly flipping pages upon pages of gore without an end to the chapter. His eyes could see the animalistic flailing of the beasts about him. His ears could sense the splintering fragments of bone whiz through the air. And his tounge could taste the swirling cocktail of spinal fluids. And yet... it felt distant, if enjoyable.
He was a constant blur in their midst, bounding over the rough hills of the Levithen's organs from one dragonspawn to the next. His skeleton rattled and shook in his flesh, and blood jubilently crashed within the weakening walls of his arteries. Many would have said that his heart was a living creature all its own the way it wanted to escape the confines of his chest.
Cantorix leapt high and pounced on a newborn dragonspawn admist the flurry of battle. The creature saw him at the last moment and attempted to roll through the marsh of snaggled Leviathen flesh. It was not fast enough to avoid a glancing blow from Cantorix, which stunned the dragonspawn with his sheer force of weight. With a squeel the creature struggled beneath one of his forearms. Cantorix studied it for a mere moment. Hot, savage and alien eyes bore into the creature with unfettered pragmaticism. There was a shade of hatred in them, awoken in the blood.
Then that moment passed, and Cantorix dug his claws across its throat untill they set fastly behind the jawbone like a fish hook. Cantorix heaved the beast into the air effortlessly, and tossed it at a charging dragonspawn. The bodies clashed and rolled together off the mountain peak.
And Cantorix was off again, letting the momentum of battle surge him into the thick of the bloodshed armed with tooth and claw and tail and acid fountains. He was already coated from the crests of his horns to the tip of his tail in blood. But at least half of it was his own...
The battle continued.
OOC
Nourish Populace (2AP): The Ebony/Black dragons are all gifted with the wrath of Azgo in their blood which they can access and some can even harness. Any black dragon that enters the "Wrath" is moved one age category upward in determining its level and stats (EX: A young dragon becomes an Adult dragon, an Elder Dragon becomes an Ancient Dragon, and an Ancient Dragon gains a stat boost.) untill the Wrath is over. However, during this time the dragon takes ongoing damage tiered to its level while in the Wrath and may have trouble distinguishing friend from foe.
AP Remaining: 4
AP Remaining: 4
He looked up at the moon once more and stared at it for a goodly while before answering.
"Well, I guess that's a difficult question. I am Lionheart, King of the Humans, with all the land from the mountains of the Spine in the North to the crystal-clear waters of the Sunset Seas in the south. I rule from my holdings at Sol Leona, and all of men are beneath my purview. But that is not where I come from."
Lionheart sighed, and sat upon a rock that protruded from the centre of the clearing.
"I have a dream, a dream where my mother bathes me in a river. Except she is not my mother, she does not bear my mother's face, and yet, I can't help but feel she is my mother. And as she bathes me in the river, I can't help but notice the feel of the water, not on my fur, but on my scales! Imagine that! And then she releases me into the water, and I find that I can swim! I swim far, and soon I find that I am not alone in my swimming! All of my brothers and sisters are around me, and they are swimming as well. What fun we have! I turn back to call to my mother, to show her what fun we are having! But she is gone. My mother has left us. And so I swim on. And when I awake, I can't help but wonder, where did my mother go?"
The Chitrach unconciously sharpened her armblades against one another as she listened.
"You are the ruler of the fle- err, the humans?" She asked. "The humans that I met seemed to have no leader, or at least, they did not mention one. The Crown is far from the... did you call it the Spine? Yes, the Spine in the north. That must be further north than my people dare to go."
Krr'Ree'E fell into silent contemplation as Lionheart told his story.
"That is an interesting story, but I am afraid its message is lost on me. What does it mean?"
~Western Continent~
In the middle of the large island that the followers of Azgo landed on was a mountain, wreathed in green forests that spilled off of the slopes and across the surrounding landscape, eventually giving way to brown-green grasslands. And on the slopes, the Insuannon lived high in the trees, flying from branch to branch on iridescent, wings that spread like feathered sails from wrist to waist and calling out to one another in words composed of pure pitch and tone as they spread coarse-woven nets of bark to catch the scarce game that hid whenever they approached.
Until one day, strange, pale, unfeathered beings approached the edge of the forest, bearing axes. A group of Insuannon gathered in the branches above the small band of humans. They gripped the bark of the trees with clawed feet and watched with intense curiosity as they grunted at one another in ugly, monotonal sounds that meant nothing to them.
1 AP: Command Land: A mountain arises near the kingdom of High Ithol
1 AP: Nourish Land: A forest grows on and around the mountain.
2 AP: Shape Populace: The Insuannon, who look something like a cross between a bird and a flying squirrel live in said forest.
In greater detail: Think of a 4-foot tall bird, but instead of "normal" bird wings, think feathered arms that end with human-esque (opposable thumb) hands, and a large membrane of feather-covered skin stretching from wrist to waist like a flying squirrel. Normal (if large) bird feet, though. If it helps, they're modified, brightly colored harpies.
They don't speak common, but instead communicate in something that sounds like *particularly* beautiful birdsong.
"How should I know! I'm a lion, can't you see? Not a fish!" and with a sweep of his finely-clothed arms, he rose to his feet, "But I suppose it's a clue. Yes, a clue!"
He strode purposefully to the edge of the clearing, in what he clearly assumed was a Northerly direction.
"Now if the Spine is far to the North," he began, gesturing in that same direction, "Then my destination must be located somewhere between here and there! You shall be my guide, and we will head there straightaway!"
He gazed at the Chitrach with something amounting to expectation, and waited.
Ka'Vah called out into the vast regions of the Great Beyond, unsure if anyone was listening.
"Zebus! Zebus, can you hear me?"
Silence. And the silence only added to Ka'Vah's unsettled mood. There were souls here... legions upon legions of souls, wandering. He was used to the flesh bound realm of the Prime, not... not this. The shadow of death clung to the very fabric of the plane and wove itself into the stranded souls.
Did Zebus actually like this place? Ka'Vah shuddered.
"Zebus! The gods call for your aid on the Prime. Great, monsterous beasts roam the land and have dared to challenge us. The gods are scattered and missing and the mortals perish by the thousands. Agni also requests that you free Azgo..."
And suddenly Ka'Vah felt a presence. A very familiar presence, and a terribly old one. Ka'Vah waited anxiously for the presence to adress him. But it did not, and it left as soon as it had arrived.Could it have been... No, of course not. Ka'Vah was in the Great Beyond; it must have been Zebus.
But deep down, he feared it was not.
---Beside a Ruin---
The young Nix breathed heavily, staring into the dark for the source of the voice. The smell of ash and of burnt flesh clung in the air and stirred in the morning winds. Distant animal calls heralded the dawn.
For another good hour or so Timmy slipped freely between waking and slumber. Images of friends ablaze and rivers of smoke pouring freely from the mountainsides haunted his fickle dreams. And eyes... powerful eyes watched him. Every time he awoke he prayed for a few precious moments that such destruction had been naught but a nightmare, and everytime he came to realize that it wasn't he drifted back into the corridors of his mind where truths stalked and hunted him down like game.
Eventually the pain of his dreams fell into the balance with reality, and then realm of one was not the escape from the other. Timmy awoke slowly, and sat up in the thin wilderness.
Before the dawnlight had washed over his home Timmy was on the road south. He didn't want anything to do with this place anymore, and that promise was nothing more than a dream.
And so the Hero of Ages wandered the farthest away he had ever been from home.
And he did not look back.
---The West---
A young dwarf, dressed in full regalia, kneeled on the carved granite. His normaly red beard glowed a lively violet in the firelight of the holy braziers. He felt small, terribly small, beside the pillars of the palace and the curtains of smoke that graced the arched ceiling. A pedestal the shape of a reaching hand stood between the dwarf and the fires. A glaceril dagger, sharpened with years of keen effort, and a gilt chalice rested in the plam of the pedestal. The coals of the braizers were sputtering, and near dead. It was a private ceremony, and none of the normal guards were at their stations.
A pained voice called through the constant crackling of the fires and the echos of cheering crowds in the courtyards.
"Arise, Lord Ogrim. Dawn has risen on the steps of the cliffs and across the sea. And now... as light bears its burden across land and heaven to shed light upon the darkening world, so too does a new king bear up the weight of High Ithol into a new age. The first child of Azgo has withered into age and soon the throne will be found wanting."
There was a pause. Lord Ogrim had no idea what to say, given that no question had been asked. Instead, he waited, giving breif glances at the pedestal.
"It is a great, and terrible burden, to carry the True King's will into the Prime when his betrayers gather and conspire. Are you ready?"
"Yes, my King."
There was a great wheezing fit of coughing and pitied sighs. The haggard voice continued.
"No. You are not."
Ogrim's body froze up with panic. Had he somehow failed the King?! His knuckles turned white with blood.
"But no mortal is, truely. The pain of a god is a vast, depthless trial. It has no begining, and it has no end. But such is the way of the noble, to suffer so that others might have peace. And my suffering... has come to an end. Approach the pedestal."
Lord Ogrim stood hastily and walked forward with what dignity he could muster. His heart was pounding in his chest. His eyes fixed on the dagger's edge. The voice behind the smoke continued, aware that he had obeyed before Ogrim could respond.
"Draw the dagger from its sheath, and draw blood from your hand."
A thick, burly hand reached out for the hefty dagger, lifted it up, and peeled open the skin of his palm. Lord Ogrim bit his tounge in an attempt to stifle his cry. It was the most pain he had experienced in his noble life. A few drops of blood splattered on the inside of the chalice. The blood suddenly swelled and bubbled, as if the goblet itself was bleeding on the inside untill the scarlett fluids brimmed to the top. Lord Ogrim lifted the chalice with both hands over his head.
"Annoit yourself."
Lord Ogrim hesitated again. His hands strokked the velvet pockets and laced linings of his shirt. His regalia would certainly be ruined! He stuttered, face flush with embaressment.
And yet somehow the voice knew.
"Annoit Yourself!" it demanded.
More instinctually, and out of fear rather than reverence, Lord Ogrim poured the blood slowly over his face. He could still feel its warmth on his wet beard.
"In the name of Azgo, whose crown of creation was stolen from him by thieves and liars, whose crown of dominion and purpose was the blood of his brow, I crown you King of High Ithol, King of Varendrel, and King of The Promised Isles! Take my throne and carry the will of The Fused God. Take my throne, and may Azgo bless your divine rule! AAAUUUGGHHHHH!!"
The voice cried out with an intensity that hurricanes would envy. A fell wind swept through the palace halls, extinguishing the braziers and shaking the stone. A mass of Nightshade petals flew out from the seat of the throne and scattered into the open morning. Flowers rained upon the crowds by the armful, and the distant cheering became ecstatic.
Lord Ogrim, freshly coated with cooling blood, staggered confused and afriad towards the throne. Was there no person here? Where had the King gone?? Every fiber of his body told him to go back. And yet... he felt compelled to go forward; to finish what had been started. Gently, Lord Ogrim sat upon the throne of his former king. And then... IT happened.
If anyone had been there to see it, they wpould have called what happened next an nightmare and an abomination of truth itself. The throne seemed to envelop him, fuse with his skin. The stained garments that once sparkled with valor and glory ripped and tore and fell away unto the floor. His skin sagged into folds in places and drew tight enough to be translucent in others. Organs shifted and twisted together into a gnarled incomprehensible system of agonized flesh, like the roots of a tree inside of a man. Lor Ogrim tried to call out, but could only hoarsely cough through puss clogged lungs that now rooted inside of his once-feet. His eyes bgan to sink further and further into his skull before being swallowed by the throat, leaving only empty pits. And above all else, he could feel a sickness in him. A horrid, inheritant wrongness with his existence that pulsed like blood through myriad hearts.
The braziers lit up in an inferno of divine fire and scented smoke, higher and hotter than they had been in decades.
Lord Ogrim was no more. King Ogrim had been born.
Long live the King.
OOC
Create Artifact (2AP): The Throne of High Ithol is the seat of kings and prophets in Azgo's name. The transformation of Ogrim, and the transformation of every king is a pact signed long ago between the refugee cultists and Azgo. Azgo gives a piece of his spirit to the King of High Ithol. This techincally makes the King/Queen a demigod if you prefer. Whoever is the king/Queen of High Ithol takes on a fractions of a god's wisdom, knowledge, power, and longevity. The ruler of High Ithol is granted a new lifetime of about 300-500 years, and this is how the West measures time in ages. However, the spirit is also infected with Azgo's taint, and in turn passes incredible pain and sickness into the individual. The King/Queen has no need of food, water, sleep, excercise and cannot fall ill... or at least, any more ill than they already are.
Ap Remaining:2
Ap Remaining:2
Azgo sighed a long, repressed sigh. It seemed that his chosen prophet refused him. The Nix required time: time to process and to mourn. Azgo hoped he would agree one day...
He began to walk the halls he had walked for an uncounted age. Most mortals would have driven insain by now, seeing the same walls and towers in the same places over eons of the same patterns of walking. But Azgo did not break so easily. He had to survive... he had to.
And these halls were empty too. That... that was exhausting to think of. There were Craterspawn, yes. Tens of thousands of Craterspawn had flown triumphantly from the depths of the creation vats to infest the sky with the constant battering of wings. But Craterspawn were mere animals. They were a means to an end. But anything intelligent that was more than a mortal soul Zebus had judged to be vile? Nothing. No gods flocked to Azgo's banner. No exarchs swore allegiance to him, seeing the error of their former ways. He had no allies. And though he would never admit it, he had no friends ...and that ...
pained him as great as the troubles of his ailments.
Feeling that unspeakable pang within, Azgo suddenly cursed up and down the day the Firstborn betrayed him. They had taken more than they could have imagined. They had stolen the crown he was meant to wear. They had stolen all the comforts of his flesh untill every moment was a nightmare that he could not simply awaken from. And above that, they had stolen his family away forever.
For Azgo's crown could be forged once more. His flesh could be healed and seperated into Azazel and Go'El. Neither would be easy nor quick, but it was possible. But from that singular moment of greed and betrayal, Azgo's siblings became somthing more abominable than his monsterous form. It was something from which they could not return even if they wanted to. The First demanded it, and the First was always right. Always. And when Azgo restarted Creation from the very foundation of divinity, and created new gods to serve as their replacements... it would not be the same. They would never be the same. There was only one Pruinus. One Leaf. One Agni. One Zebus. No more.
Azgo's tirade of curses trailed off into whispers and silence. He was a king afterall, and it was better to light a candle than curse the darkness, deserving though it may be. He was always busy, and there was always something to do.
The Crowned in Blood spent the next few days building more fortifications and creation vats, tempering the Grand Scepter and the Apostate's Bane, and meditating. Hatred pumped strongly in his blood and through the bones. It gave him strength. It gave him patience.
And then he felt it while meditating. A disturbance in the plane, on its very edge. Something remarkably different. It was as if the Abyss, which was indeed a fundamental part of Azgo, cried out. But was it in pain, or... joy? One second Azgo was within Guvarah An, and the next, he felt himself standing on the edge of the void. At the wards that harrassed and hounded him... or where they had used to.
For here, there were no wards.
OOC
Nourish Populace (2AP): The craterspawn ranks swell once more into the glory-legions of old. The dogs of war strain against their leashes, eager for the flesh of mortals.
AP Remaining:0
AP Remaining:0
OOC
So, I've looked through the IC several times, and I'm just not seeing anywhere that Sa needs an interaction from Artun, or any of my characters. Sorry, Raven, you'll have to point it out to me.
Thought
Well, Agni doesn't really have a *main* face anymore. He's more a superposition of a bunch of different Agnis
The beast swooped down upon Ka'Vah with little warning, and sent the petty god scrambling for a mobile defense as he recovered his senses. Walls of smoke, gusts of fierce wind, and deft movement kept The Eclipse Aflame a few paces ahead of the godbird.
"Zebus! Zebus!! Abyss take you Zebus; Answer me!"
Despite his defensive focus, Ka'Vah was quickly understanding what he was facing and what it was capable of. Every sidestep and every glancing blow brought Ka'Vah a few steps closer to a level battlefield. To defeat such a creature, alone no less. Think of the Glory!
But the fight was tense, and heavily straining upon Ka'Vah. And at one pivotal moment when pain and confusion exceeded his will, Ka'Vah...
...lost control.
OOC
Modify Exarch Temporarily (0AP): The body of Ka'Vah is, for a time i will leave to be designated by Toph, under the control of Scorch.
OOC
Ah, sorry Topheh, I thought Agni still favored one face/facet over the others. Namely, the face/facet from this reality, as opposed to all the other realities that collapsed in on him.
Ah, sorry Topheh, I thought Agni still favored one face/facet over the others. Namely, the face/facet from this reality, as opposed to all the other realities that collapsed in on him.
Agni once again spoke in two languages at once, A gutteral rumble that sounded like stones scraping over one another and the high, tonal language of before.
To Artun, he said.
So your argument is that I should have not trusted you, and therefore it is my fault? You are correct. I should have seen the problem right away, your words made no sense at the time, for to me you were the most beautiful ball of pure Fire that I had ever seen. You would have lit up the cave better than I. But I did not think, did not question, because your very form distracted me, as it was meant to do. You more or less admit that you knew the danger from the moment you first told me of it. And so my question remains: Why did you not tell me sooner?
But very well. Answer that, and then tell me what this 'revenge' you desire would entail.
To Seg, he replied.
Ah. Now we are getting somewhere. Protection? Done. I promise, for myself, my son and my Kin Agni concentrated on Thorn for a moment, wondering if he would agree, to keep you safe from whatever will be angered at your telling us what is going on.
~The Beyond~
Scorch/Ka'Vah briefly as the Agni'Vohda regained control of his body for the first time in ages. The darkness closed in for the kill as the smoke-being twitched and struggled to control its new/old body.
And then the process was complete. The smoke drew back towards the center of what is Ka'Vah/Scorch, all the disparate portions of its body coming back to the center. And when enough of Scorch was present, the smoke ignited. A roaring inferno that did not consume its fuel, the smoke, blazed in the darkness and slowly resolved into the form of a tall, diffuse Agni'Vohda.
Scorch lashed out and the Darkness shied away from the Light. With renewed vigor, the flaming cloud struck at the Zizu, strands of fire darting out from the main 'body' of Scorch to hit feathers and skin.
And Scorch/Ka'Vah laughed.
~Verandrel~
Eane kicked and scratched the thing that had hurt it, but to no avail. Garth only squeezed tighter and tighter, trying to hold on...
Until with a series of snaps, the hollow bones of the Insuannon's back and chest broke and collapsed inwards, puncturing heart and lung. After a long pained cry, Eane's head rolled backwards, and he died.
Agni's promise lingered in the air. The wind flared briefly, and a smattering of flower petals danced amidst the assembled gods, and then drifted back to the ground.
Sa had arrived. The god of Prophecy did not speak, did not reveal its presence, but it had arrived.
It knew them, these assembled.
The promiser that had brought it into this world.
The mirror of beauty it had goaded into crafting humans.
The healer-who-did-not with whom it had argued.
The deceitful source of the tear that was The Quickening.
There was also one it did not know.
The diamond one with a thousand voices. That, was interesting.
And so Sa waited.
You bellow upon my realm. You slaughter, maim and destroy just to get my attention. All you really do is increase my workload you bumbling arrogant fool! You who are about as incompentent as your own masters! Take your pick as to which one you believe you swear fealty to. I do not really care. You and that thing where here not only at my whim, but because I'd cared not to deal with you. Now it seems that I have left you to your own devices too long!
As Zebus commands, the rents and tears to the plane of darkness repair themselves.
I have much work to do with these supposed creatures flailing about. I just kicked one out of here, but by no means is it dead sadly... Now leave back to your masters. Azgo will have to find his own way out, and if my messengers are correct he is already working on it. I have my own work to do. I caused enough destruction for one era, they can destroy themselves with out my help.
Zebus finally steps out of the shadows, and starts to walk away from Scorch/Ka'vah
AP
6 AP removed the connections from The Great Beyond and The plane of shadow/darkness/w/e
6 AP removed the connections from The Great Beyond and The plane of shadow/darkness/w/e
"W-w-w-w-wait!" Scorch cried out after the departing God. "That wasn't me, but the corruption within me. I did not condone that, but the message of Agni remains. He needs your help, DeathLord. Not to destroy, but prevent destruction."
Ka'Vah shook with foaming rage. Fool? Arrogant? Bumbling? BUMBLING?! Ka'Vah, if ANYTHING, did not bumble about! Was this what humble, tireless service lead to, humiliation and proofless accusations?! Even Azgo in all of his obsessions and Agni with all of his demands were more tolerable than this pretentious, narcissistic, and power-blinded hermit of a god!
Ka'Vah unleashed a spewing, frothing river of long-winded and visceral insults untill they filled the brim of Scorch's private thoughts. It was then that he realized that it was Scorch, not himself, on the outside. Without losing a shred of velocity, the river poured instead unto Scorch.
"Corruption?! Corruption?! It is you who has usurped my body and my voice! Return what you have stolen from me at once!! You are NOTHING compared to me! Nothing but kindling too be burned and flames to sputter and die out before the deital might and majesty that is Ka'Vah, The Eclipse Aflame! I demand your surrender, you meaningless, worthless mortal parasite of my potential! YEILD!!"
Ka'Vah had never felt a stronger urge to kill something. Or several thousand...
---At a Divine Meeting---
A sudden maelstrom enveloped the meeting's outskirts with fierce stormwinds that echoed with the screams of angels. Little light pierced through the sulferous curtain, casting a sickly glow upon the attendents within. The ground turned black with blight. The grass withered into dust.
And for the first time since before the uncounted ages of the Invasion, The Crowned in Blood stepped once more on the Prime. His god-forged plate glimmered in the warped starlight; his maul rested lightly in his hands. He stood for a moment, remembering the taste of dirt beneath his heels. The stench of dying flesh poured out from his presence.
The storm fell away, ripping itself apart. An odd... coldness hung in the foul air.
Azgo's blind head veered toward the Gem-god, for it did not vision to see that this was Agni. Azgo could feel the essence of the god within him. No Firstborn could hide from Fused eyes.
There were so many things he wanted to say. To ask of them... Answers. Why they had betrayed him, why they ran from their mistakes, why their brothers were not worthy in their eyes. But this was Azgo, not Azazel/Go'El that stood before them. He was filled with purpose, and so were his words.
Bile and blood seeped through his rotten gums and down his sallow chin.
"Your plan. What is it?"
As Agni waited for answers, suddenly Azgo was there, weapon in hand.
Corrupted One. Azgo. I see your old servant finally found you. Good. Agni said in a langague of screams, grunts and sudden changes in pitch. My plan is simple. There exist several massive beasts that scour the land, seeking to destroy all of creation. My initial plan was to stop them, but it appears that there may be a dark power that seeks all of our deaths. These two know something of it, but it has been... difficult... to draw details from them.
Do you still wish to kill me and my siblings? I fear I may be the only one left. Ka'Vah was supposed to find Zebus, and then you, but my brother has not appeared, and the ColdMother and TeaLord... are both missing as well. Will you accept a truce until this matter is finished? I feel certain that this dark power would love to see us kill one another and weaken the forces which would stand against it.
Freeing Scorch/Ka'vah from the shadowy tendrils Zebus shakes his head in amusement.
Tell your master or masters I care not which, that the role of jester does not suit him. I still have a mess here to clean up from the last time before I can make a new one.
Azgo's seeing head glanced at the others gathered here with yellow, milky eyes. The stare was penetrating, and ancient in its pained observation. Eventually the eyes fell upon the charred corpse god Artun. A kindred hatred pulsed like an aura off of the once-god.
A small amount of pity shone beneath the egregious coatings of the eyes.
"There is nothing from the center to the very edge of known creation that will justify your betrayal of the First, the mortals, and the condemnation of myself into this abomination of godflesh. You will always be deserving of true death, and I will always pursue you, no matter your form nor power. The First demands it, and I demand it."
The Fused God hefted his maul across his plated shoulder, letting its immense weight crush the smaller bones in his arms. He needed to be ready.
"But unlike Firstborn, I know when to put aside my desires, no matter how righteouss, for the good of creation. Untill victory is assured, I will take no action that jeopardizes the safety of the world."
Agni's response was flat and emotionless.
Then we understand one another. So be it.
Azgo's mouth filled with bile, which slithered back down his throat. The veins in his face throbbed with vigor at Agni's response, flushing the skin with a black undertone.
"No. We don't."
A tense moment passed as Azgo's seeing eyes held Agni's gaze. Centuries of imprisonment and agony danced wildly behind the irises. The knuckles under godplate turned white with pressure.
"How many beasts, and where are they?"
On the topic of our working together until the danger to all creation is passed, we have come to an understanding. Is that better?
Two or perhaps Three. Some sort of living ocean that went to the south, and the Behemoth which rampages to the east. There may be a third, a massive bird-creature, but I have not seen that one with my own eyes.
Azgo motioned with his hand at the other gods assembled with a touch of disgust. They would have to do...
"Is all you could muster? I should have expected as much apathy and laziness from Leaf's court. Willing to feast on the fruits of betrayal but not to fight or die when it is necessary."
"The beasts must be dealt with first, before the world falls apart. I will handle this 'Behemoth'. Have you engaged it before?"
Yes. I look the way you see me as a result.
This, then, was the moment.
The 10,000 petals of Sa jumped from the ground and blustered about the clearing.
"Allow usssssss to bring tidingsssssss of the beast of mountainsssssss."
The assembled gods found their eyes drawn to a single whirling petal of deepest blue. Before their eyes, it folded upon itself, then again and again, until the cariacture of an Azure Dragon drifted on the winds before them.
"When the beast fell from the skiesssssss, it swallowed the seventh of the sunsssssss. These "Dragonsssssss" had been birthed by the artifact, and were taken whole into itsssssss bowelsssssss. They fought a war of long attritionsssssss, and left it slain, scattered it into a thousand living piecesssssss."
The orihana dragon was lost amongst the rest of the gently drifting petals.
"With itsssssss sidesssssss torn asunder, our artifact wasssssss returned to usssssss."
On cue, dawn broke over the world for the first time in weeks. The lonely white light of The Beacon, though it did not match the furious green light of the God Mountain, the light, shorn free of the Sanctum in the wake of the Behemoth's awakening, was a welcome sight.
-----
Tzu'misel raised his hand slightly. "You said one of the beasts was some sort of living ocean? Perhaps I might be of assistance."
Mechanics
3 PP - Create Exarch - Verndari
3PP - Create Exarch - Lysing
3PP - Create Exarch - Lysing
Azgo's newly lit eyes, both blind and seeing, turned to Sa for the first time. Unconciously, Azgo's posture changed to one of discreet respect.
"Living pieces you say? And thousands of them? How are we to slay a creature that simply splits apart?"
He lowered his heads, thinking.
"Perhaps then, our efforts should be more diversionary, untill this 'dark power' is dealt with, assuming that it has some influence over these events."
---The Moot---
Cantorix waded through the flesh marsh of the Leviathen, still enthralled in the rush and heart of battle. Dozens, no scores, of dragonspawn had been split open like fruit, broken upon the bones of his bruised arms, and drown in the acidic fluids flowing into their lungs.
But there were always more, and Cantorix was always on the move. But he was shambling now. Every step was accompanied with the cracks of smaller bones and the slushing of internal blood. His eyes were wild, both from Wrath and the pain that wracked him.
The dragon frontlines had been pushed back considerably, and many would be horrified to admit that it was nearly impossible to tell the corpses of dragons from the dragonspawn, broken and shredded as they were. The moot was awash in blood, and it flooded down the mountainsides with impunity.
How long could they continue?
OOC
Sorry... crazy weekend.
The thousand faces of Agni glared at Seg.
Speak. Why do you remain silent? We have promised you our protection. While you... muster your courage, I shall return my posession to where it belongs.
Agni breathed on the Sun-Orb, and it began to rise up to the heavens, moving slowly to the west on the long-abandoned route that Agni had commanded it to. As it rose, it grew brighter and began to burn, tounges of flame shooting from it into the air. Suddenly, it pulsed a particularly powerful burst of flame and divine power and scores of dragons seemed to burst from the flames, scales as golden as the orb that had birthed them. En-masse, the dragons circled the Sun and followed it up, forming an honor guard around the returned orb. As the Sun reached the ancient Line of Fire, the gold dragons left it and headed south, a flowing flock of golden scales and beating wings.
Agni looked down as they flew south.
Unexpected! Brilliance. He said, laughing.
~The Eternal Volcano~
Scorch turned as extra light touched the lip of the Volcano and watched as the new Sun moved above the caldera. He looked at the orb he had found.
"You know... I bet that this..." He said, trailing off. The Agni'Vohda/Parasite-Smoke-Demon wrapped the orb in its essence, and rose with it up to the sky. As the orb rose, it began to shake and lurch from side to side, and Scorch had to hold onto it tighter and tighter to prevent it from rolling free and falling back to earth. Higher and higher he rose, until the Sun burst into flame. Scorch was knocked free of the Sun and fell, dazed to earth, where he hit the ground to the west of the Eternal Volcano and all went black. The sun rose and joined the other, and both grew brighter in proximity to one another.
~The Moot~
Paren looked up as the Sun rose to the heavens. He looked at the two orbs he was guarding. The one he was perched on, he still had use for. The other, however, he was more than happy to return to its rightful place.
Rise he commanded to the Sun which had once fallen into the tunnels of Sil Arkesh, which had burned the capital of the dwarves and birthed both the Slaadi and the Orange dragons. A small portal to the Source of All Flame opened beneath the Orb, and it rose to the heavens on a narrow pillar of flame, soon sparking and bursting to life like its brothers.
3 AP: Raise three of the Suns (Badlands, Sil Arkesh, Eternal Volcano) back to the heavens to join the Beacon.
OOC: I'd like to bring all of the Suns back. There are three left. One is under the protection of Paren, and will go up as soon as he makes the dragonborn. One is still in the north, and is unattended. That should be easy enough to raise up. And one... doesn't exist anymore, which... I'd like to figure out how to reverse. Forgotten: 1) How can we do this? 2) Feel free to take back Scorch/Ka'Vah... he's done what I wanted him to do. I plan to have Krr'Ree'E run across him shortly.
The Northern Light was surrounded by hundreds of White Dragons. They were, for the most part, not intelligent enough to know that this was an immense artifact, something touched by deific hands dozens upon dozens of times. But it was cold, and it glowed, and the White Dragons liked both of those things.
And so when The Northern Light rose in the sky to resume its long-diverted orbit, the White Dragons followed, flying south.
AP Expenditure
- 1 AP The Northern Light resumes its orbit as one of the seven suns.
- 1 AP Enhance the affinity between the sun and the white dragons - as long as the Northern Light continues to orbit (and a white dragon basks in its glow), their temperature remains cold enough to think clearly. (Previously, they could only 'store coldness' in the vicinity of the sun)
~The Godmeet~
Sa spoke up where Seg was silent.
"Then let usssssss speak in itsssssss stead. There are forcesssssss that seek destructionsssssss for their own endsssssss. It seeksssssss destruction for destruction'sssssss sake, a massssssss of spiritsssssss. It erred when it sought out thisssssss"
Sa's petals briefly swirled around the God of Deception. "It thought itselvesssssss unobserved, but we were present and observed itsssssss skulkingsssssss."
"It isssssss what corruptsssssss the sunsssssss and sendsssssss great beastsssssss acrosssssssss these landsssssss. We believe that Artun, and thisssssss healer Seg are linked to those spiritsssssss."
Agni leveled a flat stare at the swirling petals.
Yes, I had come to the same conclusion myself. The identity of these spirits or forces remains to be revealed, however.
There was a brief swirl of petals, then thoughtful stillness.
"We think that perhapsssssss, their identitiesssssss are meaninglessssssss. It doesssssss not matter what they are, as long as we prevent their evilsssssss, yesssssss?"
Again, the petals halted, nearly frozen in mid-air. Sa was still for many moments, apparently lost in thought.
Azgo's discipline slipped, and he could not help a slight amount of scorn drible into his ancient voice.
"Yes Agni, imprisonment always works... and tell me, what is the easier foe: A Lion, or a hive of wasps?"
Azgo's blind head swiveled towards Sa.
"Meaningless? No, not meaningless. But i feel you are right in your... priorities. First learn where it is, and stop it if possible. But knowledge is a powerful weapon. The origin of this creature should be known, and kept vigil for in the future."
Azgo waited, growing less and less content with the effeciency of this meeting. Azgo reazched out for Seg, but thought better of it, and instead loomed over the smaller god. His maul glimmered in the sunlight.
"Agni, why is this servant silent? We have little time for children's games! If you refuse to do what is neccessary, hand him over to me!"
Give him time, Azgo. Cooperation is new to him, and it is very clear he is quite afraid of whatever his master is.
~The Moot~
They came. Drawn from all corners of the earth, the dragons came to the Mootstone, which had bathed in the blood of dozens of dragons, drinking in the essence of DragonKind itself and broadcasting an irresistable call. From under the earth, where they had scattered, the Orange Dragons crawled to the surface. From the east, still flecked with the ichor of the Behemoth, the Azure Dragons flew over the Mootstone, circled and came to land not far away. The Red and Black dragons, tired from their long battle against the Leviathan and its minions, huddled against the Earth and licked their wounds as they surveyed the ruined corpses of many of their kin. From the North, minds blessed by Sa, the formerly bestial White Dragons flew a complicated greeting overhead and settled their serpintine bodies to the ground. And from the West and Above, flying down from the restored Suns themselves, dragons the color of liquid sunlight expertly landed just south of the Mootstone.
Paren looked out from his perch atop the last remaining untapped DragonOrb. Beneath him, he could feel the latent energy pulsing, waiting to be released. Around him, he saw his kind, arrayed in all their colors, a living tapestry of life. Agni would be proud of what he had created, even if Paren knew now it had not been intentional. They had been separated, like the suns, for so long, but their great division was ended now. The Moot would truly begin.
A low droning noise escaped from Paren's ashy body, a subtly modulating tone that carried within it a strange, syncopated rhythm. It carried through the crowd, cutting beneath the words spoken from one dragon to another, unnoticed. Another drone joined his, an Orange Dragon not far from the edge of the circle of Dragonkind. After a moment, it fell into rhythm, and the drone carried on. Another Orange Dragon joined in, then another. Then, a new sound, higher, weaving a string of tones over the base rhythm of the Orange Dragons. An Azure Dragon, looking surprised and bewildered at the music escaping its lips, was joined by another, and another, and the Song grew. The Red dragons were next, Morenth's voice leading a careful harmony that slid into and out of concordance with the Azure song. And the Song grew. Next, the White Dragons, letting out a high descant that danced along with the syncopation of the Orange Drone while strengthening first the azure notes, then the red notes of the base song itself. And the Song Grew. The Gold Dragons joined next, rich melody drawing the red and azure into a whole. And the Song Grew.
Paren looked over at Cantorix and his voice whispered in the black dragon's head:
You lead the Black Dragons, Cantorix. Join us, the song is so nearly complete. Let the Moot Truly Begin.
Forgotten
I have plans for either direction, so if the black dragons think this is all to 'pretty', that is completely fine
Azgo loomed even closer over the relatively small form of Seg.
"He has much greater things to fear... Perhaps the Abyss would calm his nerves."
Azgo felt no pleasure at all in threatening the god, but the necessary was indeed necessary.
And if Anyone, in all the wide feilds and nooks of creation, knew of pain and its infliction... it was The Crowned in Blood.
---The Moot---
It had been over so quickly... One moment, the dragonspawn had threatened to overwhelm what little opposition was left, and suddenly, the marsh of flesh and sinew had been casted out. The dragonspawn gone, and light broke out over the Moot.
Cantorix's mind was still steeped in blood and the Wrath. Everything was muddled, and the differences between dragonkin and dragonspawn were slim. Cantorix stumbled towards the nearest dragon with claws upraised, and shambled into collapse. The ice cold waters about the Moot stone were clouded with blood, and they numbed his tissues.
Though the mind was eager, the body could not bear another step. Bone fragments rattled about in his heaving lungs before being clogged with mucus. Thick serpentine bruises marked the whole of his limbs, and gaping holes in the skin let blood and swollen organs relax. His leathery wings were torn like bedsheets and beat uselessly against the wind. And in a few places the claws and even a few fingers of dragonspawn were embedded in the flesh as if they had been there all his life.
Pain welled up like a geyser in his broken body, only to be carelessly ingored. Battle still consumed Cantorix. He attempted to crawl towards the nearest dragon, sizing them up for the dealing of death. It was clear that the Wrath had seized and destroyed him.
Or, it would have. But something pierced the burdensome veil of his mind. Amid all the cries for blood and the echoes of bones breaking, a shard of true draconic essence drifted upon the wind and rang about his mind. It was more than the Wrath, more than the Pain. It was... what it was. The shadows of blood were cast into light, and the distant demands of Azgo were drowned out in the chorus. Something stirred in Cantorix, and in all the Black Dragons caught up in the Wrath.
And yet, it was incomplete.
Over the course of several, long seconds, Cantorix's mind returned to him, filled with wonder. He tried to stand, but found himself inable to. His breathing grew heavier.
He couldn't explain it, what he felt. What They felt. Or what he did next. But he did it with little hesitation. He sang. All of them did, but it was different from the others.
For the Black Dragons sang a dirge. Its notes were haunting and heavy on the heart, flowing into an undercurrent beneath the song that bore upon itself all the other notes. For it was on the shoulders of pain, and loss, and misery that all the other emotions rested. It was on the shoulders of the strong that the weak flourished, and in the arms of death that victory was paid for.
The loss of the ancestors felt as sharp as the loss of their brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and sons and daughters.
But aside from all the pain was a strong, if subtle,... bitterness. It was an ugly bitterness and horrid company to those who felt it. For only now did the Black dragons keenly understood that this pain, this loss, would always continue untill Duty itself crumbled. As long as the Wounded One lived, as long as Craterspawn flocked to the skies, and as long as there were followers of his ways, it was the Duty of Black dragons to die for the good of all. They could not escape it. And that was embittering.
But a few did not sing. A few Ebon Dragons fled in the chaos to the wild expanses of the world below. And it was there that they plotted vengence upon the foreign dragons and all who aligned with them.
Seg took a deep breath and opened his mouth -
~The Moot~
Paren's ash form lit up with appreciation as Cantorix and the other black dragons began to sing a dirge that resonated deep beneath the other music, and brought it to completeness. It was fitting, that the darkness of pain and death was what underlay the beauty of the combined draconic races. Paren's conciousness flitted around the gathered dragonkind, soaking in the song and seeing how it affected each color of dragon. Some, such as the red dragons, accepted the entire song. The joy, the despair, the happiness, the anger, all combined into a whole. Others, however, resisted. The Gold dragons, born moments earlier, rejected the sorrow. The whites sang their angry descant louder in an attempt to drown out the happier tones. And the Blacks, for so long caught up in their rages, refused anything but the unhappy notes that resonated through several of the lines of harmony.
Paren cast his voice outwards, speaking into the mind of each gathered dragon.
"Do not resist. This is dragonkind, all of it. The worst parts and the best." He looked at representatives of each race as he spoke. "Each of you, each kind, was born from sorrow and even death. The Reds, first born, born from the bones of Craterspawn and the souls of Agni'Vohda who struggled and died above you. Whites, born from the death of an entire city of elves. Blacks, born from the remains of a great battle and scarred at the level of your psyhche by the place of your birth. Oranges, born likewise from Craterspawn bodies, set to fight at the moment of your creation. Azures, born from the deaths of the Nix and the sorrow of the humans. Golds, born from the immolated corpses of an entire Craterspawn legion. This is your heritage, the spark of life, the spark given by death that allowed the power of the Gods to flow through these orbs and bring you to life.
But to those of you who feel that your only option is these baser, darker emotions, as that is your heritage, look around. Reds, decimated by the explosion of the Eternal Volcano, you have found the meaning of family in your times of trouble. Whites, by the power of the Gods, your anger has been tempered and your cold, calculating nature has revealed itself. Oranges, gifted with the powers of Pyromancy, you and your kin saved an entire race and learned the meaning of honor. Blacks, born of chaos and cast from your birthplace by an angry God. You came together and formed rules and a means by which to tame your natures. You have learned the meaning of discipline. Azures, your lives guarding the Beacon, now returned to its rightful place with its sisters, taught you the lesson and meaning of duty. And Golds, summer children born as the Suns returned to the heaven, you personify the meaning of joy.
I speak of what you have learned for a reason. Once, there were seven suns. Six were cast to earth and lost, for a time. All seven were gifted with the ability to create dragons. Look around you. Six of those orbs fulfilled their purpose, birthing all of you in your rainbow of experiences and knowledge. But one, one Orb remains.
Paren hopped from the orb and wrapped his forearms around it, lengthinging his limbs to accomodate the size of the Sun.
This one. But this one is different, is it not? It has not been primed for creation by Craterspawn... mindless killing machines. It has not been primed by the fear of the Nix or the corpses of the elves. This Orb, my kin, was primed by us. By dragon blood spilled over it. Those of you who can, reach out and feel the power within. This, friends, is the last DragonKind, and with our combined knowledge and experience, we will teach this kind to be the best of all of us.
Paren unfurled his ashen wings and lifted the orb from the earth, flying high into the sky above the Mootstone. As the dragons below craned their heads upwards, Paren let the orb drop.
The orb landed directly on the tip of the Mootstone, the sharp tip cracking it open like an egg and spilling divine power down its sides. As the golden light slid down the stone and hit the earth, it underwent a dramatic transformation, the liquid potentiality shifting and morphing itself into hundreds of tall, scaled men and women of all the colors of Dragonkind, who dragged themselves to their feet and stood, staring, at the assembled dragons surrounding them.
Behold! Paren said after a moment. The Dragonborn.
As the exarch spoke, two Dragonborn, a male gold and a female black, stepped out from their kin and she spoke to all Dragonkind.
"We have been born from your very blood, kinfolk, and have heard all that has been spoken. We too will defend the world from our twisted kin, and will live and build our greatest cities not far from this valley."
The man gestured to the ruined landscape, poisoned lake and wounded dragons and continued.
"But this is no place to build a home, not like this, poisoned by the Leviathan's blood and stained with our own. Let it be cleansed."
The two dragonborn lifted their arms, and small portals to the Source of All Fire appeared between their raised hands. Fire darted out, wrapped around one of the green orbs floating nearby, and squeezed. The orb broke apart into hundreds of thousands of shards that scattered and fell all across the valley. Wherever they touched, the shards would vanish, and healing would begin. Some fell on the earth, and grass grew and spread to fill the valley. Some fell on the water, and the lake became pure once more, and some fell on the dragons themselves, healing all wounds and reinvigorating everyone.
As Paren finished reforging the sun and sending it heavenwards, Morenth approached Cantorix.
"Are those kin of yours going to be a problem? The ones that refused to sing, or the ones that attacked us earlier?"
0 AP (already paid... a VERY long time ago): Shape Race: The Dragonborn. Dragonborn come in six colors (the colors of the dragons), and individual temperments of the dragonborn tend to mirror those of the color of dragon they are.
In my conception, in some strange, paradoxical way, the Dragoborn are the apex of dragonkind... a 'dragon's dragon' if you will. This is not to say that they are more powerful than other dragons, or that other dragons necesarially 'respect' them overly much, but more that they lack some of the limitations of the other dragonkin (the Black's overwhelming sense of rage and fatalism, the white's tendency to lapse into ferality when exposed to heat, the red's sense of paranoia, etc) while still posessing their 'better' traits (Discipline, Intelligence, Loyalty, etc). Oh, and they can all do pyromancy. Dragonborn mages are totally cool in this setting :D
Yeah, I'm taking liberties with what the Dragonborn know, but we're trying to wrap this all up, so... no time for long discussions catching them up :D
0 AP: One of the green orbs is expended, healing all combatants of their wounds.
1 AP: Reforge the Sun and send it up to the heavens.
5 AP remains
Cantorix gasped, feeling the rippling of his flesh knitting together. Bones snapped back into place, bloodevaporated, and skin fused into itself. For a few moments, he remained still. It felt almost foreign to be able to breathe with both lungs again.
And more than that, it felt foreign to be... himself again. He had felt the deepest corners of the Wrath and stared into the eyes of Azgo himself. It was something that any dragon before, if any dragon had experienced this before, had taken to the depths of the grave. Cantorix would now live with the visage of a God emblazoned on the insides of his eyes, stirring with the movement of his blood. To think that such Wrath was not only in every Ebon dragon, but that such anger was only a shard of his true Wrath... It was disturbing.
And so he lay, contemplating, untill Morenth's voice called him back from the depths. A thick shudder went down his whole spine, and Cantorix was spurred into action. He shakily stood, and looked at Morenth as if he had not seen her in years.
"Kin of ours... you mean."
Cantorix took his time, pausing often for breath.
"Who can say? Perhaps... they will gather power... to shake the bones... of the.... mountains and the pillars of the... sky. A diety's favor... can kill and save... even in the same breath.
Or perhaps they will struggle and over the slow course... of years dwindle into a handful of blinded rebels searching for a... purpose."
Cantorix examined himself, feeling vigor returning to his breath. He was covered in scars across the whole of his body. By all rights, he never should have survived his wounds...
"But they are not a threat now. What of the Moot?"
Cantorix looked out over the assembled crowds of dragons and the dragonborn. This was a moment generations from now would hold in the highest regard. They would live, and kill, for the mere opportunity to have stood here and listened to the Song. In his own way, Cantorix did not want the Moot to end... But it had to eventually.
Morenth fell silent, listening as the Song began around them once more, dragonborn each taking up the part of their color as they joined in. But the Song had less urgency now, less... necessity. The reason for the Moot, the gathering of the dragonkin and the birth of the dragonborn, was now at an end.
"It would appear the Moot is drawing to a close, my friend. But I assume the stone itself still works. Could we not hold these at regular intervals? Perhaps every fifty years would be a good time. Would you agree to that, Cantorix? How about you, Lucan?" Morenth turned slightly to include the Azure dragon, who had recently landed nearby.
They had spoken for a few minutes when Paren, followed by a regal-looking Gold and a particularly crafty White.
There remains one task that I must perform, and I cannot think of better companions to do it with me, if you are willing. If you recall, my story said there were seven Suns turned into seven Races of dragonkin. But only six shine in the heavens above. One was shattered and lost, the one that created your kind, Cantorix. Tell me, do you remember anything of the orb? Even the smallest fragment of it would be enough to reforge it, although we would require the tools of the Gods to do it.
OOC to Raven and Pruinus (and Pen or Thought or Shadow or anyone else lurking if you want to jump in and claim one of the unnamed dragons)
Yes, what I am proposing is a dramatic final adventure for our favorite dragons into the Abyss to find and kill Umbra, claim a shard of the Sun from him, carry it to the Godforge of... Aldii's God (blanking on the name) and reforge it. Why should the gods have all the final adventures?
Yes, what I am proposing is a dramatic final adventure for our favorite dragons into the Abyss to find and kill Umbra, claim a shard of the Sun from him, carry it to the Godforge of... Aldii's God (blanking on the name) and reforge it. Why should the gods have all the final adventures?
"Don't let any escape! They'll regroup and return if even one manages to survive!"
A howl of bloodlust and adrenaline rose up among the armored band as they took up the hunt. Their blades flashed under the scorching sun, and a thin mist of blood followed in their wake. There was no mercy to be found here, and there was even less hope.
But the families ran anyway; they had to. The crumbling fortress that had given them such security now was nothing more than a crypt. They ran over hill and plain, leaving the hobbling to their own fates with bitter tears. And in the unholy hours of the night they tossed about in their sleep, thinking of those that had been put to the sword that one day long ago they had held in their arms.
Days of fleeing passed, and the soft grasses faded into deset. Wild winds lashed their eyes with sand and their backs with scalding burns. Even more perished, swallowed up in the shifting sands of the dune seas. Their pace slowed. And the... party that had hounded them finally ran them into the ground.
The few that could speak cried out in dry, wretched voices.
"Save us, Azgo! Deliver us!"
And that scream would have echoed into obscurity, if a small patrol of humaniod insects had not been close by.
---Sil Peraz---
They had heard rumors. Legends of dwarven paradise where ale rained down from the clouds and the gems of the earth practically burst from their pockets. Myths of demigods living among mortals, teaching and crafting wonders. Stories of clans with the favor of the gods and the peace of dreams woven into the very stone.
Sil Peraz.
But the Sil Peraz was no legend. Those that searched long enough, gave up their lives and their riches in pursuit of its fabled gates, found it. Were the rumors true? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
But They had to know. They hungered for luxury, craved splendor. And so the Three of Them let their dark obsessions drive them forward. Any beast that stood in their way was slain, and dwarf that called them fools... was eaten, bones and beard and all.
And they had found it. They stood before the gates and trembled at the reward of all their wicked labors. The "paradise" of the dwarves.
The new "paradise" of the Oni.
Reminder
Just a quick touch up, the Oni are humanoids warped by the consumption of Craterspawn ash. They feel terrible hunger, greed, and lust and seek to dominate wherever they are. Oni can shapeshift into humans, and into dwarves.
The inhabitants of High Ithol were afraid to leave their villages, afraid to venture into the forest that was the sole source of good wood on the island, for many of those who entered did not return. A few survivors of the attacked parties had reported strange beings of ice and crystal who appeared out of nowhere, dealing death with effortless ease as the panicked woodcutters fled. The towns and cities of High Ithol began to grow crowded, as construction on new homes slowed to a crawl.
~Desert~
Krr'Ree'E uttered a sharp trill which brough her companions up short. She thought she had... the Chitrach dropped to the ground and laid flat against it, letting the tremors of the earth enter her body and reach her sound-processing organs. It was faint... and completely incomprehensible, but the tone of desparation was unmistakable.
«Someone is in trouble. To the... northeast. Hurry and follow.»
Her band of Chitrachs fell into place behind her, scampering with ease over the dunes that had finally come to replace most of the ruined land left over from the eruption of the Eternal Volcano long ago. Soon they reached the remnants of the band of Azgo-worshipers and, moments before their pursuers could overtake them, the Chitrachs rushed and surrounded the beleaguered refugees.
Krr'Ree'E eyed the attacking party, singled out the one that seemed the most likely to be the leader and, after letting out what sounded very much like a human sigh at the futility of talking with meatbags, said:
«Why do you chase these people over our lands? Explain yourself.»
~Sil Peraz~
The tunnel to Sil Peraz was blocked by a large wooden gate. As the three dwarves approached, a voice boomed out.
"WHO APPROACHES THE LAND OF THE DWARVES? THE LAND OF SIL PERAZ?"
~The Eternal Volcano~
The Caldera of the Eternal Volcano was said to be one of the holiest places in all of the world, or at least, that is what ancient Nixian lore had said. Timmy wasn't sure that he put much stock into any of that, but it was also said that those on great quests would find help there, and that, Timmy could understand. As Timmy crested the edge of the Caldera, he temporarially staggered back from the heat that was rising from the lake of fire below him. As he returned to stare down at the lake of fire was surprised to see a set of stairs carved into the wall, leading down to a platform that led out into the middle of the Caldera itself. Timmy, not entirely certain that what he was doing was by any definition sane, made his way down these steps. It was not until he had stepped onto the platform, made of thick, opaque glass, that he realized that he was not alone. Before him, resting against a glass pillar, was a being of fire and ash, an Agni'Vohda.
"It has been a long time since a Nix has come to visit us." The fire-being said, black eyes seeming to stare through Timmy. "We have been watching you. Why have you come?"
Sa had been still for many moments.
But then both Seg and the burned husk of Artun began involuntary giggles and singgers as they were tickled by thousands of petals.
Before long, a black inky cloud was seeping from the laughing gods, that drifted lazily through the air in the direction of Tzu'miel.
More petals struck out, and the god of deception remained silent - he too was laughing helplessly, but he at least had the dignity to deceive the others into his apparent silence. Sa, if it cared, said nothing, for it was not Tzu'miel that the flower god was after.
"Lurkersssssss in shadowsssssss, reveal yourselvesssssss! Plague of corruptionsssssss, reveal yourselvesssssss! Spiritsssssss of Malice, reveal yourselvesssssss!"
And with a pop, it was done. TASOE was expelled with a wet, flopping sound, hurled from the body of Tzu'miel like so many raw fish. Its first thought was panic -- never before had it stood alone, and vulnerable, before those not of its own making. For a time, there was a standoff, as TASOE considered the other gods, and they, in turn, viewed TASOE with varying levels of surprise, anger, and confusion.
Then, TASOE did the only sensible thing -- it fled.
As it skittered away, so too did the moment of silence, and the other gods hurried to chase. "There they are! Get them!" said no one in particular.
AP
-1 AP : Sanction Gods -- TASOE cannot re-enter the body of any god (willing or otherwise) until it spends 1 AP to counter this action.
It was barely dawn in High Ithol. The sunlight reflected off the stoney roofs like brass and slid smoothly down the ramparts. A light, salty breeze flowed over the streets and ruffled the hair of the citizens gathered there. They were pleasantly, yet anxiously, silent. They unconciously leaned forward, glancing towards the palace steps every few seconds. It was as if the day could not start before the ceremony was over.
Suddenly ten robed figures, ranging in sature from dwarf to human, descended down the broad stair flights. They moved with near alien grace and stealth, and a few people mistook them for phantoms rather than mortals.
A great cheer welled up in the crowd, such a mixed, incoherent rambling that it was almost droning in quality.
"Blessed be the True King!"
"Give those monsters what they've been waitin' for!"
"Lay bare the Wrath of Azgo! For Victory, and for Family!"
"Hahahahaha! I'll give those blighters in the forests no more than a few days to live. Hail KIng Ogrim and his mighty Fist!"
But the ten figures continued moving, practicaly unaware of the crowds as they cheered and threw flower petals into the air. They only shifted when a spectator caught a glance under a member's hood. The face was pale, deathly pale, and a thick, violet tattoo of a Nightshade flower was carved into the visage. Eventualy the ten left through the great gates of High Ithol, and the cheering fell to a pleasant mummering in the streets. They felt comforted for the first time in weeks, and dreams of reclaiming their old homes filled their heads.
The ten continued to walk, eventually reaching the frontier outskirts. Only a handful of villages remained intact.
The crowds of villagers parted and scattered at their passing, bowing their heads in due respect and fear. Children fled and clasped themselves behind their mothers' legs and watched the strangers passed. Marketplaces and gardens and courtyards that had been abuzz with ecstatic conjecture fell into awed silence in their wake.
They were here. The King's Fist.
And when the opportunity presented itself, they would reach back unto the marauders... and strike without mercy.
OOC
Command Populace (2AP): Divine magic takes a great foothold in Verandrel and is begining to be practiced more and more widely. In addition, an elite group of divine mages named The King's Fist is founded to combat the attacks on the frontier.
And so the true race began, in the wake of the broken bodies of Seg the Liar and the scorned Artun. The fleeting forms of gods danced across the continent, hot in a pursuit that left the balance of the world on the edge of a knife. Agni, Sa, and...
... no one else.
Azgo turned, and slipped into the shadows of the Crown. The fleeting forms of the other gods vanished swiftly into the distance. Azgo was alone.
For now.
He began to walk across the valley, following the hate of his blood. And the blizzard above filled in the footprints of a god.
Krr'Ree'E danced a dance of confusion at the quixotic agressive-yet-afraid stance her opponent was clearly taking. She raised her forearms and waved them threateningly, watching the color drain from the adventurer's face as he observed the speed at which she could move them.
The leader took a step back, then another. Pleased pheremones flowed from Krr'Ree'E. She was about to-
*thwunk*
A crossbow bolt, loosed by one of the adventurers which had, up till now, been hiding in the back of her compatriots, whizzed by Krr'Ree'E and landed squarely in the upper thorax of her second-in-command, shattering the chitin exoskeleton, piercing straight through the soft flesh beneath it, and out the back before lodging in a sand dune. Her second gasped, waved her hands at the wound, and collapsed, legs buckling and snapping as she fell hard onto the earth.
In one fluid motion, Krr'Ree'E leapt into the air and over the heads of the enemy party, landing a few feet from the crossbow-holding woman. Before the woman could even shout with alarm, Krr'Ree'E lashed out, and instead the woman collapsed to the sand, clutching at her ruined neck. The Chitrach turned to begin the dance of death with the remaining enemies, seeing her pack racing up the slope to do battle as well.
~Sil Peraz~
"We know no Gargarim. From where does he rule?" Came the response from the doorway.
OOC
Note: Just embelish a little bit, the dwarves just want a good story, mostly
Only a few seconds passed before the morale of the adventurers broke. Their intimidating illusion was unveiled, and they had neither experience nor ruthlessness to hide behind. The back ranks split off and sprinted back the way they came, tossing thier heavier weapons and armor into the searing sands. Without the support, the frontline defenders were soon surrounded. Their sword and axe swings were wild with panic, and only a few undisciplined strokes connected with the exoskeletons.
A small cloud of sand billowed out of the conflict and surrounded the battle in a blinding, stinging haze. The sounds of flailing steel and squirting blood signaled the end of the battle as the cloud cleared.
Every adventurer who had stayed was half covered in the sand and blood. A few quivered untill a strong wind entombed them within the dunes, never to see the sunlight a second time. Wavering dots in the distance was all that was left of the escaping adventurers. A thin silence lingered behind.
Then the cultists cried out.
"Hail the Crowned in Blood! We were hunted to the edge of the world, and those who endured have his blessings."
"Death to the Firstborn and to their followers!"
One of elder cultists, a waylaid arctic elf, rose gingerly and hobbled towards Krr'Ree'E, the first to have stroke a blow. His skin was cracked and peeling with dryness, and sand was thick under his fingernails. He fell before Krr'Ree'E, and admired her form with fanatical awe.
"Truely, Azgo watches over us personally. Look at their forms..."
His arm traced the chitinous armor of her arm.
"He has reached out with his hands... and made Guardians out of the Locusts that guided our western brothers! And how divine is their ferocity!!"
The other cultists voiced their agreements and laughter. They were alive- how incredible!
It was then that he heard the dying moans of the second-in-command as he bled on the desert floor. His eyes widened with zeal, and he stumbled with unusual swiftness towards the body before collapsing next to it. An outreached hand scattered dry, withered nightsahde petals into the wound.
"As fellow children of The Crowned in Blood, and as our sanctioned vanguard, I return your obedience with Life: The Life of the faithful."
The petals glowed, and the wound knitted itself together again, twisting meat and chitin. A scar faintly resembling a flower was left in the fused chitin.
---Sil Peraz---
The Oni frooze, thinking as fast as he could. A few beads of sweat dropped into his beard.
"King Gargarim? He rules..."
His breath shortened, and his fingers twiddled together.
"Umm..."
And then it came to him. The truth... Yes, the truth. A confidant grin spread slowly over his face.
"-Var. The mighty fortress-city Umvar of the South. Do you not know of his glory, or of his valorous defeat of The Oni Prince Hassan?! Even the dwarven children of today know of Gargarim and Hassan."
The other "dwarves" looked nervously at the lead dwarf. Was this wise?
Gargarim's Story
"You see, Gargarim has the thick blood of Thereus himself running in his veins! His mother's mother, Ysralla, had been exiled from her home city and forced to wander the wilds of the southern mountains. After three years of living in barbaric isolation, Winter descended and covered the land. Ysralla was forced to hide in the black depths of the tunnels. For another three years she wandered, blind and confused, through the caverns of the deep untill she stumbled into the Forge of Thereus himself!
Lonely Thereus could not bare to see her leave, after his ages of solitude. He took her for his bride, at the behest of one promise, that her bloodline would be as strong as the stone itself, that their blood was thick as molten iron and their hearts purer than than flawless gold. And that Thereus would guide this son in taking vengence on the peoples her exiled her.
Thereus agreed, and from thier union was produced the Shield-Maiden Farsi. There is another saga entirely about how she crushed the vile dwarven tyrants and drove even the Agni'Vodha mercenaries before her! Suffice to say, she was betrayed in her prime in the very temple of Thereus. As she prayed, her treacherous squire Hassan slipped a cursed dagger into her neck. With her dying breath, she cursed Hassan to die at the hands of her unknown son. It was then that Hassan revealed that he was no dwarf, but a monsterous, ravenous Oni! Hassan then mocked her, and attempted to devour her... but he could not! Her skin bent his teeth, her bones broke his jaw, and her very hair almost chokedn him to death. In the struggle, The Sheild Maiden Farsi forced Hassan to swallow her sword.
In rage and shame and pain, Hassan fled. And for Thirty years no dwarf could find him. Kings and warriors, priests and assassins, and even Thereus himself could not find Hassan. And when they could not find Hassan, they began the search for her mysterious son. But they were not the only ones. For in the shadows of the gods, Hassan plotted against the unknown son of Farsi with a terrible power.
For thrity years the son son of Farsi lived with his father, a humble farmer, suffering through Winter and drought and poverty. It was a tough life, but a neccessary one. His father taught him the strength of the unyeilding plow, the patience of the silent wheat feilds, the compassion of livestock for their young, and the cunning of the wild beasts.
And on the day of his thirtieth birthday, their farmstead was attacked while the son of Farsi was hunting in the woods. The ground shook, the wheat feilds split apart and their seeds were scattered to the winds. Their homefell under its own weight as a great fissure cracked open. And from the depths a tainted Remorhaz emerged with the fury of a god and the might of ten armies! It destroyed the entirity of the farmstead, and swallowed up his terrified father with acid and crushing jaws. Thinking it had killed the son of Farsi, the creature burrowed back into the earth.
The son of Farsi returned in the evening only to find the ruinous husk of his whole life. Enraged, he dived into the bowels of the earth with a thunderous roar. The Hunter had become the Hunted, Haha!! For three days and nights, the son of Farsi fell and climbed and hunted the creature deeper and deeper into the caverns. Finally, he caught the creature at the very bed of the earth, caught fast in strongest granite a dwarf can imagine. The son of Farsi, still mad with anger, pulled the squirming Remorhaz out of the ground like a bird pulls a worm from the mud. A great battle happened as the dwarf demigod tore open the Remorhaz with his bare hands untill he reached the stomach. Inside the corpse of the creature, the son of Farsi wept on the acidicly roasted body of his father.
It was then that he noticed the warm glow of fire from beneath the bed of the earth, and heard the chorus of hammerstrokes like thunder below... and the sounds of a god weeping with him. Cautiously, the son of Farsi entered through the opening. It was a mighty forge, miles long and miles high! Countless anvils aglow with brazen light guarded his flanks, and mountains of precious ores both known and unknown to men spilled across the marble floor. And a mighty god with firey-red hair stood near his anvil and wrought the tomb of his daughter in mithril and gold.
The son of Farsi called out to him saying "You there, who dwells below the earth in the splendor of kings, to whom all the ores of the world belong, and whose hands craft the wonders of Creation, how could you weep when you have so much?"
And Thereus answered him, "What is splendor if I cannot share it? What comfort can ores and minerals bring to the hollowness of the soul? And all of these things of my hands, and they not less wonderful than the living flesh, which is filled with joy and sorrow and love? I have lost my daughter, and no 'wonder' can replace her. I ask the same question of you, mortal: How can you weep? What have you lost?"
The son of Farsi leaned heavily upon the god and spoke the troubles of his heart, "I have lost my father, whom loved me more than I knew and now is taken from me as well. Oh, Fickle Death!! Curse the day that Zebus challeneged Leaf and doomed us all to perish!!"
Thereus wiped the tears from the eyes of the son of Farsi.
"Fellow sufferer, would you do me a great kindness? I wish for you to take this, my Brazen Torch, and enter the land of the dead. Find my daughter, Farsi the Sheild Maiden, and give her my token of love. In exchange, the Brazen torch will lead you to your father, that you may say your goodbyes as well."
The son of Farsi took the Brazen torch, and agreed to weeping god's request, if only to ease his suffering. And there in lies yet another tale of how the son of Farsi earned the respect of an Angel of Death and gambled with his life to enter the realm of the dead. With the Brazen Torch as his guide, he did not lose his way in the Great Beyond amid the countless souls. He eventually found Farsi the Sheild Maiden after many trials of spirit and courage. She revealed his heritage and her prophesy of her enemy's demise.
In loyalty to his father, rather than his mother, the son of Farsi agreed to her command and took the new name Gargarim, which means "Son of the Curse". Gargarim petitioned Zebus for his otherworldly knowledge. After another bargain, Gargarim learned that Hassan had fled to the very tip of the North, where he was bending the Remorhaz to his will.
Gargarim returned to the land of the living, gathered up an army, and ventured into the kingdoms of the Elves and beyond their farthest borders. There, Gargarim used the Brazen Torch to melt the heaviest layers of ice that sealed Hassan's hidden palace. Dwarf rose up against Remorhaz, and Gargarim battled Hassan in the heart of his towering Ice palace. Countless soldiers on both sides drowned as the palace melted before the blazing fury unleashed in Thereus's Brazen Torch. As the palace shook, and soon fell, Gargarim plunged his hand into Hassan's stomach and pulled out his mother's mighty sword. Hassan, gurgled... and then fell dead.
Lonely Thereus could not bare to see her leave, after his ages of solitude. He took her for his bride, at the behest of one promise, that her bloodline would be as strong as the stone itself, that their blood was thick as molten iron and their hearts purer than than flawless gold. And that Thereus would guide this son in taking vengence on the peoples her exiled her.
Thereus agreed, and from thier union was produced the Shield-Maiden Farsi. There is another saga entirely about how she crushed the vile dwarven tyrants and drove even the Agni'Vodha mercenaries before her! Suffice to say, she was betrayed in her prime in the very temple of Thereus. As she prayed, her treacherous squire Hassan slipped a cursed dagger into her neck. With her dying breath, she cursed Hassan to die at the hands of her unknown son. It was then that Hassan revealed that he was no dwarf, but a monsterous, ravenous Oni! Hassan then mocked her, and attempted to devour her... but he could not! Her skin bent his teeth, her bones broke his jaw, and her very hair almost chokedn him to death. In the struggle, The Sheild Maiden Farsi forced Hassan to swallow her sword.
In rage and shame and pain, Hassan fled. And for Thirty years no dwarf could find him. Kings and warriors, priests and assassins, and even Thereus himself could not find Hassan. And when they could not find Hassan, they began the search for her mysterious son. But they were not the only ones. For in the shadows of the gods, Hassan plotted against the unknown son of Farsi with a terrible power.
For thrity years the son son of Farsi lived with his father, a humble farmer, suffering through Winter and drought and poverty. It was a tough life, but a neccessary one. His father taught him the strength of the unyeilding plow, the patience of the silent wheat feilds, the compassion of livestock for their young, and the cunning of the wild beasts.
And on the day of his thirtieth birthday, their farmstead was attacked while the son of Farsi was hunting in the woods. The ground shook, the wheat feilds split apart and their seeds were scattered to the winds. Their homefell under its own weight as a great fissure cracked open. And from the depths a tainted Remorhaz emerged with the fury of a god and the might of ten armies! It destroyed the entirity of the farmstead, and swallowed up his terrified father with acid and crushing jaws. Thinking it had killed the son of Farsi, the creature burrowed back into the earth.
The son of Farsi returned in the evening only to find the ruinous husk of his whole life. Enraged, he dived into the bowels of the earth with a thunderous roar. The Hunter had become the Hunted, Haha!! For three days and nights, the son of Farsi fell and climbed and hunted the creature deeper and deeper into the caverns. Finally, he caught the creature at the very bed of the earth, caught fast in strongest granite a dwarf can imagine. The son of Farsi, still mad with anger, pulled the squirming Remorhaz out of the ground like a bird pulls a worm from the mud. A great battle happened as the dwarf demigod tore open the Remorhaz with his bare hands untill he reached the stomach. Inside the corpse of the creature, the son of Farsi wept on the acidicly roasted body of his father.
It was then that he noticed the warm glow of fire from beneath the bed of the earth, and heard the chorus of hammerstrokes like thunder below... and the sounds of a god weeping with him. Cautiously, the son of Farsi entered through the opening. It was a mighty forge, miles long and miles high! Countless anvils aglow with brazen light guarded his flanks, and mountains of precious ores both known and unknown to men spilled across the marble floor. And a mighty god with firey-red hair stood near his anvil and wrought the tomb of his daughter in mithril and gold.
The son of Farsi called out to him saying "You there, who dwells below the earth in the splendor of kings, to whom all the ores of the world belong, and whose hands craft the wonders of Creation, how could you weep when you have so much?"
And Thereus answered him, "What is splendor if I cannot share it? What comfort can ores and minerals bring to the hollowness of the soul? And all of these things of my hands, and they not less wonderful than the living flesh, which is filled with joy and sorrow and love? I have lost my daughter, and no 'wonder' can replace her. I ask the same question of you, mortal: How can you weep? What have you lost?"
The son of Farsi leaned heavily upon the god and spoke the troubles of his heart, "I have lost my father, whom loved me more than I knew and now is taken from me as well. Oh, Fickle Death!! Curse the day that Zebus challeneged Leaf and doomed us all to perish!!"
Thereus wiped the tears from the eyes of the son of Farsi.
"Fellow sufferer, would you do me a great kindness? I wish for you to take this, my Brazen Torch, and enter the land of the dead. Find my daughter, Farsi the Sheild Maiden, and give her my token of love. In exchange, the Brazen torch will lead you to your father, that you may say your goodbyes as well."
The son of Farsi took the Brazen torch, and agreed to weeping god's request, if only to ease his suffering. And there in lies yet another tale of how the son of Farsi earned the respect of an Angel of Death and gambled with his life to enter the realm of the dead. With the Brazen Torch as his guide, he did not lose his way in the Great Beyond amid the countless souls. He eventually found Farsi the Sheild Maiden after many trials of spirit and courage. She revealed his heritage and her prophesy of her enemy's demise.
In loyalty to his father, rather than his mother, the son of Farsi agreed to her command and took the new name Gargarim, which means "Son of the Curse". Gargarim petitioned Zebus for his otherworldly knowledge. After another bargain, Gargarim learned that Hassan had fled to the very tip of the North, where he was bending the Remorhaz to his will.
Gargarim returned to the land of the living, gathered up an army, and ventured into the kingdoms of the Elves and beyond their farthest borders. There, Gargarim used the Brazen Torch to melt the heaviest layers of ice that sealed Hassan's hidden palace. Dwarf rose up against Remorhaz, and Gargarim battled Hassan in the heart of his towering Ice palace. Countless soldiers on both sides drowned as the palace melted before the blazing fury unleashed in Thereus's Brazen Torch. As the palace shook, and soon fell, Gargarim plunged his hand into Hassan's stomach and pulled out his mother's mighty sword. Hassan, gurgled... and then fell dead.
Lucan nodded once, briskly.
"You have my wings, and my voice", said the Azure, with little fanfare.
Show
Will get back to the chase tomorrow or saturday; currently preparing for another playtest of my d20 game! Busy! Busy! Busy!
Will get back to the chase tomorrow or saturday; currently preparing for another playtest of my d20 game! Busy! Busy! Busy!
Paren grinned and faced Cantorix. And you?
~Sil Peraz~
Although the story woven by the visiting dwarf seemed too fantastic to be true, it was also detailed and, in some manner, convincing. The dwarves of Sil Arkesh and now Sil Peraz still told stories of the times that Thereus walked among his children, the dwarves. It was said that the problems that had befallen their race had begun when Thereus had left them. If it was in fact true that this Gargarim had found and spoken to Thereus himself, this was something very, very important not only for Sil Peraz, but all dwarfkind, who were begining to pull themselves out of that dark age when they had been driven from their ancestral homes by Craterspawn and Lava.
The gates opened, and the dwarves were allowed entry through the thick carved doors, inlaid with precious stones which showed a fanciful depiction of the flight of the dwarves from their lava-consumed city. After that, it was a few minutes of walking through a dark tunnel, and then blinding light as they emerged into Sil Peraz proper. rows of pastures filled the valley and cattle and other livestock grazed placidly, looking up only briefly as the Oni walked past them. Cut into the very walls of the mountains themselves were terraced fields that grew the crops that fed the people of the city that filled the back third of the valley. Mighty statues of dwarves stood as sentinels over the main entrance to the city, easily twenty feet tall and decorated almost garishly with large gemstones on their helms, armor and weapons. Beyond the statues, majestic buildings rose up, covered with artwork. It truly was a golden city.
2 AP: Nourish Populace: Sil Peraz is a beacon of wonder!
~Desert Wastes~
Krr'Ree'E tensed as the humans touched her, babbling their strange meat-language and making generally excited noises. She then gaped in wonder and joy as her Second was healed, somehow, by those they had just saved. After her Second assured her that she was fine, Krr'Ree'E turned to face the survivors. There was no way they could live in this heat, and there was no reason to assume that those that had chased them would not return if they left. And with no way to communicate with them, she couldn't exactly ask them what they wanted or where they were going.
After a moment, she decided that her mother would know. She opened her mouth and scratched out a word she remembered from before.
"Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhm" She rasped, gesturing with her arms in the direction back to Krr. When the survivors made no move to follow, she gestured again and said "kkkhhuummm" again, trying to force meat-sounds to come out of her mandibles. She waved to her pack, and they began to try and herd the humans to travel with them.
~Eternal Volcano~
The Agni'Vohda rose after Timmy had been silent for some time.
"You have nothing? Nothing at all of value? This is... strange, Nix. Everyone comes with something. Very well. You are clearly here because you wish help, and what say you to this deal. At some point, you will discover something of value. When you do, it belongs to the Vohda. If we are agreed, you may approach the lip of the platform and speak your need into the Caldera itself. The Vohda will hear, and if your need is acceptable, one will come to join you."
Cantorix nodded solemly, letting the aches in his body give him strength. He would need it.
"I will come..."
The statement carried more weight than the Mootstone.
"The Moot can not last forever, Paren."
---Sil Peraz---
The story had worked it seemed. Funny, how the truth can be so easily wielded for deception.... Well, it was mostly true. There were a few details out of place, but that was how the story was remembered, and how King Gargarim told it to his stewards. And to his credit, the story was true... as far as he knew.
The leading Oni shook with ravenous hunger and pleasure. Sil Peraz... it was greater than any city he knew. It was a fine place to build a palace, and then an empire.
And so it was, that Hassan stepped into the gilded halls of Sil Peraz.
OOC
Why not? Create Exarch (1AP): The demigod Gargarim, grandson of Thereus, walks the earth, bringing light and wisdom to the dwarves. But he is indeed aging.
The First Battlefield was porous and filled with blackened, festering holes of GodMountainFire, a thousand thousand tunnels that formed the perfect hideout for TASOE to remain unseen. Yet TASOE knew it was still vulnerable, rent from a divine body as it was. It drew still as the flames of Agni passed overhead, closely followed by a smattering of petals -- the intangible body of that strange entity, Sa.
Eons of schemes had taught TASOE with patience. Not so for Agni, and TASOE wasn't sure about Sa, but it knew it was only a matter of time before Agni got impatient. And when Agni got impatient, things started to burn. Including, perhaps, TASOE. That was not an ideal outcome.
The seekers knew about his husks. The Deceiver, The Mountain, The Shadow. The seekers know about its minions. The Vain and The Liar. It could not hide here, among the ground, forever.
It needed a new body -- and the appearence of a new god would no doubt raise alltogether too much suspicion.
Something deep within the roiling, oily mass of TASOE clicked. The Light God, Urru. TASOE extended his senses, and in short time, found where the god of Light and Lightning was slumbering.
TASOE peeked a tendril above ground, saw the coast was clear (for the moment), and flew off towards the East, where it sensed the Light God.
----
"Yesssssss, we see the spiritsssssss. Hurry, it goesssssss towardsssssss the eastern windsssssss".
A brief flurry of petals pushed Agni eastward, then hurried along past him. "Come, lord of flamesssssss".
Secret AP
AP
- 5 [Secret] Create Exarch -- Before approaching the Godsmeet, Sa created a mindless exarch in the form and shape of Urru. This sleeping "godhusk" is what TASOE is racing towards, too panicked to notice the few subtle differences between this husk and the real Urru (who is in parts unknown).
AP
- 5 [Secret] Create Exarch -- Before approaching the Godsmeet, Sa created a mindless exarch in the form and shape of Urru. This sleeping "godhusk" is what TASOE is racing towards, too panicked to notice the few subtle differences between this husk and the real Urru (who is in parts unknown).
Of course the Moot cannot last forever, Cantorix. Do you not already sense it dissapating? This task is for the six of us only.
And Paren was correct. Around them, the Moot was slowly breaking up, the song quieting down as a few dragons here and there took wing and flew off. Here and there a few clusters of dragonkind stood in conversation as their kin left, but no longer was the lake-filled valley crowded with draconic bodies. Some of the dragons, particularly the Orange and Azure, who had prior experience with two-legged mortals approached the Dragonborn, and they began to discuss plans for the first Dragonborn city.
I am glad we are all in agreement. Cantorix, we must enter the Abyss, and it seems only logical that the best place to enter it would be at the very site from which it was torn from this world. You and the Ebon dragons have long held secret the location of this scar on reality, but now I fear we must travel there.
~Desert Wastes/ Krr~
And so it was that the cultists were led deep into the boundless sands of the desert. Krr'Ree'E and her second briefly discussed blindfolding the cultists, but after a tense debate, decided to let them walk free. It wasn't as if there was any defining landmarks to help them navigate.
Soon, they reached the entry portal and climbed down into the tunnel leading to Krr. Krr'Ree'E heard the sighs of relief as the cold air washed over the cultists. Down the tunnel they went, past the doors and failsafes to protect the city against another eruption of the Endless Volcano, and finally into the city/hive itself. Krr'Ree'E led the cultists along the sloping path and to the palace, in which her mother waited. Krr'Ree'E approached her mother, climbing up a twisting ramp to reach her head where they could talk in private. Krr'Ree'E explained how she had found these meat-creatures being attacked by others and how she had brought them here.
«I thought it would be an opportunity to try our new creations» She said softly to her mother.
The queen's eyes glowed slightly as she thought. After a moment, she replied.
«Yes. If what you say is correct, no one will miss these flesh-things if things go poorly.»
Krr'Ree'A made a few communicative shifts with her body, and the males that tended her scurried off, hopping onto the shoulders of the guards and relaying messages. Quietly, the guards began to surround the cultists.
Krr'Ree'E climbed down from the pillar and, as she stepped onto the ground once more, paused as two males raced to her, holding a chest between the two of them and trying not to drop it.
«Thank you, little ones.» She said to the males, who bowed and chittered a high reply before bounding back to her Mother's body.
Krr'Ree'E opened the chest and reached inside, carefully lifting the thing inside into the light. A long insect, resembling a dark millipede with a highly developed head (if such things were nearly a foot long and had a diameter of three inches, rested in her arms, legs and tentacles waving softly in the air. Krr'Ree'E walked forward and held out the insect to one of the cultists. It was clear the Chitrach wanted him to take it.
1 AP: Spawn Creature: Translator Bugs: Long, millipede-esque creations of the Chitrachs that allow for communication between species... after a fashion.
~Eternal Volcano~
Silence answered the Nix as he stared into the depths. After a long moment, the voice of the Agni'Vohda rang out behind him.
"As I said, we are retired. Most appeals for assistance are not answered, especially not ones that promise... peril. Good luck on your journey, but -"
"I'll go." A new voice said, as a smaller Agni'Vohda appeared, climbind out of the depths of the caldera and landing gently on the glass platform. "I've always wanted to see the north."
The Agni'Vohda approached Timmy. "Plus, this means I get to decide what the Vohda gain from this journey. I guess I'm your army. Name's Firebrand."
~Verandrel~
And as the King's Fist approached the Forest, they were met by a large group of crystaline beings, who stood silently, barring the way into the forest proper.
~Somewhere... Esle~
Galfe coughed and hacked in the strange air that seemed barely capable of supporting life. He had wandered the purple-mist-shrouded halls of this place for what seemed like days, finding door after door that seemed to lead to more halls and corridors.
He was growing certain that he was going in circles.
~The Chase~
Agni spun and changed direction instantly, for such were the benefits of being a God. For the briefest of moments, the God wondered where Azgo had gotten himself off to, but the reappearance of the Slimy-slick Spirits, visible in the distance for the barest fraction of a moment, banished all thoughts but chase and destroy from his mind.
It was a majestic place.
Azure ice glimmered with the soft flare of mithril and gemstone. Gentle sunlight flowed into the icy pillars, painting the ice a rosewater red in the dusk. Pillars carved into the exact likeness of angels lifted the arched roof with a natural ease as if they had always been here and had only been recently freed from their icy prison. There was a warmth here despite the cold. The flow of primal energies was calming to the point of alienation with the tightness of your skin and the weight of your organs. Like the cradle of a god carved into the mountains...
A tentative step fell upon the ice, a cumbersome steel boot smeared with all manner of blood and filth. A disgusting yellow tint reflected off the wall's mirror surface with gnarled faces. The dripping rythem of blood bounced about with an unbridled energy. The angel statues almost turned away from the... abomination.
Azgo stopped just outside of the entrance. It was as if the weight of the world was wretching on his body, tearing it down. How many times had he come this close? So close? A surge of emotions rushed through him: bitterness, hate, lust for vengence, righteous anger, and a metalic taste of regret. If he had any other option...
He took a deep breath and bulked himself up. His fingers curled tightly around the Grand Scepter.
He didn't. It was the right path, the neccessary path, the only path. The First Demands it, and Azgo demanded it.
Azgo took one step, and then another, and another, and another untill his pace was a harmonious mix between an eager bloodlust and divine, ancient grace. The entrance hall was a long corridor of murals and icy scenery depicting the creation of the world. The rising of continents at mere whims, the planting of forests seed by precious seed, the light of the sun combing the darkness for life, and the assembly of the gods... The Firstborn in all their mysterious glory themortals praised them for. Azgo's steps cracked the ice, sending unnatural shrieks from the floor as primal magics were tossed aside.
They recognized him, he could feel their presence. A legion of spirits unlike the souls of the mortals flowed to the colossal glaceril double doors. The runes carved into the door since the first few turnigns of the world pulsed with an astral aurora, daring him to proceed. the faint image of a horned knight wavered in the door.
With all the power of an earthquake and the momentum of a raging river, Azgo charged into the door. Azgo's wardrum hearts beat ferociously, squirting blood from behind his milky eyes as he screamed. The brass maul was lifted, and then fell with monumental weight upon the doors.
The ice shattered, scattering thousands of razor ice blocks and splinters hurtling into the atrium. The glacier forged door-frames crashed and bounced across the floor in an avalanche, breaking dozens of statues effortlessly. A heavy mist shrouded the doorway as the screech of ruptured ice died.
A slow black haze chewed through the mist, swallowing the sparkling ice flakes left in the air. Primal spirits were dragged, squirming and screaming, into the haze. Their radient souls blackened, withered, and dried up into an empty husk left peeling on the floor.
A wounded abomination of a god stepped out from the black haze. Blood seeped freely from his eyes and from the scar tissue torn out from his brow. The blood poured unto the god-plate armor and pooled on the floor. The light glowing naturally in the atrium slowly corrupted into a poisonous scarlett.
"Greetings, dear sister."
Cantorix prepared for flight, flexing the fresh scar tissue enwrapped about his skin.
"Were I you, Paren I would not fear the Abyss."
Mighty leathery wings flapped and sent small gusts skimming across the cold water's surface. Cantorix hovered over the other dragons. His tail flicked for them to follow him westward.
"Fear what lurks within..."
And Cantorix took off at such a pace that it would have been foolishness to guess the fear that hid beneath his scars.
---Krr---
The cultists moved like sheep through the hive grounds. They bumbled, paused, and occasionally wandered off, eager to see and smell and hear and touch. Their meaty voices were obviously filled with the pitch of excitement and awe... but to the subtle of hearing, there was another tone. Not arrogant, nor domineering, but... possesive. Familiarity. They spoke like a braother-in-law come to see his prodigal family and admire their success
The cultists were begining to break down however. Their bodies were worn and battered. Sand was entrentched in their nostrils and around the rims of their eyes. Their muscles were atrophied, and skeletal frames stretched the skin.
The wizened elf took the millipede-creature, curious but oddly calm with insects. The creature scurried up his arm and around his shoulders, and hung there like a chitinous scarf.
---The Eternal Volcano---
Timmy grimaced thinly, trying hard not to look him in the... "eye". In his own way, he didn't want any Agni'Vodha to join him. How many had died on his account? Too many...
"Firebrand, yes? You do your people... and the gods, much glory."
The sentence hung there in the blistering air, awkwardly. Timmy shifted his weight, knowing he had acomplished something but not what exactly. What now? He had always looked out for himself, on his own initiative, since the great fire. Now he was looking after two.
Timmy motioned with his head.
"Well then... Lets-uhhh-Let's get out... of... here. I guess."
Following Sa was proving... unsettling, for Agni. The god of flowers had no real body, but it still existed, and often, as Agni felt he might be gaining on the fleeing TASOE, he found himself stumbling into the divine manifestation of Sa, delaying the two as they quickly untangled themselves.
It happened time and time again. Eventually, Agni grew suspicious. Was Sa intentionally slowing their chase? What could it have to gain from--
"Still it fleesssssss"
Agni and Sa watched as TASOE suddenly leapt from the ground, coiling and rolling through the air, shooting like an arrow towards one of the Suns. Wait, no, that wasn't the sun, that was... the Light Lord?
With a cry of triumph, TASOE reached its target and vanished into the brilliant godflesh. Within moments, Urru's forward motion was halted, and the godling spun, jerkedly, around. TASOE's baleful gaze gleamed out of the Light God's eyes.
With that, the chase came to a sudden halt.
"Stop. Back away. Unless you will that the young god of Light fall, an innocent casualty of your murderous ways."
TASOE's voice dripped with inky Darkness. There was no doubt; this, then, was the being which had imprisoned Agni in the Godmountain.
There were only a few crags of stone that reached out of the sea that seemed continually tossed by gale-force winds against which the dragons fought with all their might. It was with considerable effort that they managed to all land on one of the larger rocks, gripping tightly so as to be blown off.
"Where did this storm come from? One moment it was blue skies, and now this!" Morenth shouted over the rain and wind.
Paren looked over at Correloth, who nodded once.
I would say we are at the very site where the Abyss lies closest to the world. Here, and only here, may we enter. But to reach it, I fear we have a much more difficult journey ahead. You see, the seals placed by the Gods and by the Corruptor on the Abyss are sealed so tight we cannot get there from this place. We must go by... another route.
A long moment passed before Morenth gasped: "You couldn't possibly-"
Yes. To get there, we must die.
One of the dragons, a gold with a particularly fierce demeanor, stepped forward at the words. Or perhaps it was more appropriate to say he scurried forward, for the wind and the slickness of the rocks made it difficult to gain purchase, and he sort of scrabbled his nails against the rock. The dragon, who's name, much to the amusement of his peers, was Sneferu, tossed his majestic head as nobly as he could with his dragon-whiskers slapping him maddeningly in the face. And then he spoke with the most resonant voice he could muster.
"Surely not! There must be another way!"
He appealed to the rest of the dragons, huddled as they were against the storm-tossed stone.
"We are the mighty dragons! Greatest of any race, living or dead! We laugh at the ground when we beat our wings! We laugh at the wind when we breath our fires! Those too were wrought by godly hands, why should this be any different?"
He laughed, as though to demonstrate his point.
Cantorix sat quietly on the godforsaken outcrop with his back turned to the others, lost in thought. The rain lashed heavily, thick as hail, and the winds threatened to push them into the seas. Cantorix watched the distant lightning cast its cloak across the clouds.
He could not help but scoff at Sneferu. He glanced breifly at Morenth. The word "Fool" was practically written across his irises. Then his lonely gaze returned to the thrashing ocean, and he waited for a decision.
---Verandrel---
The King's Fist loosed themselves into a skirmishing formation. A light breeze flowed over the soon-to-be battlefeild and their robes wavered in the wind. The mages' faces were cold, in both senses of the word.
At some invisible signal, three of the mages stepped forward and held out their hands with authority. The tattoos on thier bodies suddenly glowed with violet light, and the outlines moved across the skin with organic fluidity like flowers caught in the wind.
The ground shook and a fissure snapped open beneath some of the crystaline warriors. With a roar that dimmly mimicked an angel's scream, spectacular geysers of acid blasted some of them into the air. More and more geysers erupted sporadicaly, and wide brooks of scalding chemicals sunk into the porous earth. Grasses shriveled, trees snapped under their own weight, and the meadow had swiftly become a hellish marsh.
The over seventeen mages began sprinting full force at the beings, their hands drawing lances of fire and lightning from thin air and their faces emotionlessly cold.
Morenth, although still agitated from Paren's statment, couldn't help but chuckle (the noise of which was lost to the storm) at the expression that flashed across Cantorix's face at the heretofore-silent Gold's words. Despite his prickly personality, she liked this dragon, perhaps as much because of his orneryness as despite it.
"You know nothing, Summer's child," She shouted back at the Gold. "You and yours are the only ones of Dragonkind that have never faced hardship. My kind was decimated at the Eternal Volcano. The Blacks fled from this very spot moments before it vanished. The Oranges were born to combat, and Paren has obviously paid the steepest of prices. The Whites were born unable to think, driven by mindless rage. And the Azure saw most of their number swallowed by a monster, within whose gullet they fought a seemingly unwinnable battle for survival. Only you and yours have been spared this. We are but pawns of the Gods, we move as they will. And if Paren here states that this is the only way, then it is. If I must join my kin beyond the veil, then so be it."
She turned to Paren and nodded her assent. The White, after a long moment, shrugged and silently nodded as well.
I fully anticipate that those of us who survive the... attentions... of the Abyss will return to our bodies and live once more. Paren said to all of them. If you prefer, we can call it something else. A deep sleep, perhaps. But so long as our souls can find their way back, we will not perish on this journey. But, once more, this is the last point in which you can back out, so if you wish to, do so.
~Krr~
The insect lay still for a moment, legs gently settling themselves so that the bulk of the beast rested as unobtrusively as possible on the man's shoulders. Finally, the head, adorned with tentacles that waved langidly in the air, rose from where it had settled near the man's throat.
With a sudden surge of motion, the head surged forward, sharp teeth suddenly appearing in a tiny mouth that burrowed into the flesh just under the man's adam's apple. Blood flowed freely as the man, too shocked to cry out, flinched backwards, trying to get away from the thing draped around his neck. As soon as a hole into the esophagus was created, the insect pushed tight against it, latching on with tiny clawed hooks as a strange membranous tissue was revealed on the back of the head. The largest tentacle reached upwards and touched the man's temple, and the man grunted once more as, with a flash of light, the tentacle fused with the man's skin.
"We are sorry for that." Krr'Ree'A said, leaning down to inspect the man. "We actually had no idea how exactly that would work. Do you understand us?"
And, as it turned out, the man did.
~Eternal Volcano~
Firebrand sneered.
"Leave the Gods out of this. They never have done a thing for my people, other than get them killed. Why should we worship beings who ignore us, then kill us indiscriminantly? Pointless waste of time, I say. But yes, lead on. What did you say your name was again?"
~Somewhere... Else~
Galfe had gone over the moment he had been kidnapped (for he was certain that that was what had happened) a hundred times or more in his head as he had stumbled around the strange manor complex that he found himself trapped in. To be honest, he had recalled far less than he had hoped. It had all happened so very, very quickly. There had been... a chill... to the air, a hand... a purple hand? Yes, purple, and finely scaled, grabbing his arm and pulling him, harder than he had known possible. He had fallen backwards, through a portal, seen a glimpse of glowing yellow eyes and a toothy grin, and then... nothingness, until he had woken here.
Wearily, he pushed open another door, and froze.
A corpse lay before him.
Galfe ran forward and turned over the body of the Azer and gasped in dismay. It was Hrundi, General of the Flame Brigade and who had been the only person keeping the army from fragmenting... until he had disappeared mysteriously, and the situation in Sil Arkesh had deteriorated. His throat had been cut from ear to ear.
A creak in the hallway behind him.
Galfe turned to see a purple hand wrap itself around the edge of the doorframe, long fingers seeming to bend the wood as it grasped it tightly. Galfe spun about, saw another door on the far wall, and started running.
AP
1 AP: Spawn Exarch/Superbeast: The Azer Boogeyman. The principle antagonist behind Sil Arkesh's woes. Purple-skinned with glowing yellow eyes, sharp teeth and long, claw-tipped fingers.
1 AP: Spawn Exarch/Superbeast: The Azer Boogeyman. The principle antagonist behind Sil Arkesh's woes. Purple-skinned with glowing yellow eyes, sharp teeth and long, claw-tipped fingers.
Cantorix spoke over his shoulder, still watching the lightning drawing closer to their sanctuary.
"Do what you must, Paren."
The darkness slinking in the distance was suddenly scattered by a cobalt bolt, only moments later to reclaim its posession as if nothing had happened. And only the whimper of thunder was left to those who could hear it and one day forget it. Cantorix swallowed bitterly.
Perhaps the dragons would be no different.
Glorious one day...
And gone the next.
---Krr---
The man fell to his knees, attempting to cough. His thin arms shook under his own weight, and his chest buckled.
"Gaaagghhh! The... pain. Augh. The pain..."
The man covered the insect where it peirced his neck, small amounts of blood and saliva flowing between his fingers. After a few seconds, he looked up suprisedly at the Chitrachs. His head was spinning, and the corners of his vision were flush with darkness. Had they...
"What?" he moaned in the insectoid tounge. His voice vibrated within his throat, and felt as if someone were playing an instrument inside of him... using his muscles as strings.
The other cultists gasped from shock, but were rather calm about the entire situation. They worshiped the Wounded One, and as such, they had seen worse. Much worse.
Sneferu looked dejectedly around at the other dragons, searching for sympathy in those face and found none. Each face was as stony and determined as the rocks upon which they clung, beaten down by the rain and the hardships they faced. And Sneferu hung his head. It was fear, after all, just as much as pride that had lead him to speak out as he had done. Fear, like the pounding winds, had beaten him down and now shame at his own cowardliness drove him even further to desperation.
"Please... Morenth..." said Sneferu, he must make her understand, he had to, "I do not wish to die this day..."
Not-Urru quivvered. In rage? Fear?
"We are not to be trifled with. This is your last warning!" The god flittered back and forth. Urru's body made it hard to tell what it was thinking, beyond the malice dripping from every word that was.
A rush of flowers spun in flurries arouind both Agni and Not-Urru.
"We think it isssssss nothing more than a bundle of cowardice and fearsssssss. Since it emerged into thisssssss world, it hasssssss alwaysssssss hidden behind the facesssssss of othersssssss."
Sa's petals suddenly hung motionless, swiveled such that each directly pointed at Urru. "By all meansssssss, Agni, let usssssss see if it burnsssssss"
Krr'Ree'E rocked back and forth on her feet in a dance of joy.
"It worked!" She exclaimed. After a moment as she watched the man continue to grunt and whimper in agonized pain, she looked to her mother. "The next breeding goal needs to be reducing the pain caused by the joining. But this is an excellent step forward."
Krr'Ree'E stepped towards the man.
"As you have no doubt guessed by now, you are now the first human to understand us without the need for magic. Our little creation here picks up our voices and translates them by feeding the impulses directly into the hearing portions of your brain, while the air of your voice is manipulated and used to speak in our tongue. But your language is not taken from you. Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth."
The man did so, and felt the insect release his vocal chords. He coughed a few times, blood flecking his face as he did so.
"If you would be so kind to tell your companions to follow my sister, Krr'Ree'O?" She gestured to another Chitrach standing near a side door. "She will see that you are made comfortable. Before you go, however, would you mind staying and answering some questions? You see, we have no idea what to feed you, or what other amenities you may require. Furthermore, we want to know all about how the Bug feels. And we should talk about the circumstances by which we found you, of course. Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to awaken the Bug."
~Southwest Ocean~
Morenth sighed.
"Sneferu, Paren was very clear. If you do not wish to do this, you do not have to. I am afraid to die as well, but Paren has been our ally in the past, and I do not think that he would steer us wrong now. Yet, if you will not go with us, perhaps you could stay to guard us?"
Morenth paused, then turned to her Azure companion.
"You've been quiet. What are your thoughts?"
~The Chase~
I thought you'd never ask. Agni said, laughing as he opened his myriad mouths.
Within Agni's core, the link to the plane of Eternal Fire was opened, and the white-hot fire of that place was released, blasting free of Agni's open mouths in a wave of heat and fire that washed over the current hiding place of TASOE. The Not-Urru screamed in pain, and the souls within it cried out in anger, black ichor spewing from cracks in Urru's form to form a protective shield around their erzatz body, providing a moment of cover before being boiled away, but always replaced by more.
And then the earth began to shake. Agni's eyes looked around, and finally spotted a massive rocky mountain-that-moved bearing towards them.
The Stone-Lord... He breathed in surprise as he recognized the approaching God.
But his one-time child with Pruinus had been changed. Gone was the noble beauty of Stone, the meeting place of Fire and Ice. Instead, the God was slick with mold and mildew, which covered its body in a toxic cushion of blues and greens and browns. Gone too was the purpose that had once shone within the God's eyes, in fact, gone were the eyes, replaced by pulsing sacks filled with poisonous spores that threated at any moment to burst free.
As Agni increased his attack on TASOE, He shouted at Sa.
Do something about that!
Lucan snorted. "I have seen the death and subsequent resurrection of my people. She lends me no fear now. Let us do this, and our mark on history be secured."
~The Chase~
Sa was reacting before Agni had even began to speak. Petals flared out, some arcing into Onus' hide like tiny arrows, others darting up into the air and gathering a mirror-like sheen, reflecting sunlight at the approaching godcorpse.
And then Sa held its position, doing nothing as Onus lumbered close and closer. But each step of the great stone god was heavier and came slower, and it was a good many moments before Agni pierced together what was happening -- Onus' rotting, festering bulk... was in bloom! The hulking God had slowed almost to a stop, so innundated with blooming flowers. They bloomed despite (or perhaps, because of), the rot of his body, and though each flower alone was next-to insignificant, their combined weight was immense -- enough to bring the stone god to a standstill.
But Not-Urru wasted no time. It pushed forward, directly toward's Agni's fire. (What did it care? Pain was temporary, and this body was not its own) It grappled with the fire god (despite neither being having arms, per se). Its dark presence pulsed, and Agni was in a cave again, alone and dark. "Die." spat TASOE. "Die alone and withered, you inflammable hulk".
Sa turned to watch as Agni's eyes glazed over, the god in the throes of some mental battle. For the moment, Sa did nothing.
The aged elf stood shocked. He faintly festered toward the other Chitrach and coughed up a command to the other cultists. The ...creation still felt horridly unnatural, even if it was indeed mundane.
"Go with that one.. Krr...Ro-rrr.We are safe here."
Even if he understood the name it was hard to pronounce it in the human tounge. The others, moderately unsettled, began walking with high heads.
"Ask your questions then, child of the Blooded King, and I will answer."
The elf followed Krr-Ree'E, answering any question she had, often quoting the words of ancient priests still recorded from the time of the first believers.
Sneferu's fear and innate pride born of being a dragon battled briefly across his face. But it hardened into resolve almost immediately. It would not be he who sullied the shining name of gold dragonkind.
"Forgive me my moment of weakness, Morenth," said Sneferu, bowing his head, "It was unbecoming. I shall accompany you into whatever darkness awaits us."
OOC
I'm pretty happy with this as it is. Forgotten, feel free to post anything else you want, but I'm pretty content wrapping up this part of the storyline.
If there were a word to describe the state of Sa's petals, the best attempt would be, vacillating.
The Spirits had fallen into the first part of its trap, but now, they attacked Agni, unwittingly delaying their doom. Sa could act... and martyr Agni in the process.
No... No... better to let the fire god finish its fight with the creature. The remainder of the trap would spring, regardless of the victor of the internal conflict.
After all, Sa had Prophecied it would be so.
~Agni's Inner Monologue~
Around him, the darkness laughed.
"What mortal creature is this? You would flee into such a weak mortal body?" The darkness rumbled. "Do you not remember this?"
And suddenly The Agni within Agni'vohda was simply one among many such flames, a charge of furious Vohda. But so too, appeared the Godmountain.
*THUNDER*
The Behemoth's fist clapped down, and a dozen dozen sparks sputtered and died. Behind him, the Eternal Volcano erupted, sending more sparks into the lava of their doom.
"These mortals are battered! Broken! Our minion killed this race, and now it will again kill their god!"
The Godmountain rumbled forward, and the Fist raised for a second strike.
"Die." spat TASOE. "Die cold and lightless, you fleeting wisp."
The skirmishes continued on the western front of the island for months. The border between the forest and the sparse hills of the dwarves became a bruised, war torn marshland littered with the bodies of humans and crystalines sinking together into the bloated mud. Stony fortresses soon appeared overnacross where the land was solid, keeping a cold vigil over the thin marshland. Occasionally patrols of mercenaries and guardsmen marched out from the thick gates and into the wilds. And only occasionally did they return.
In response to the unexpected resistance, new fleets of ships sailed out around the island. Colonies sprang up like weeds, suffered, and left only ruins in their wake. But a few survived, and grew into ports, and then flourished as cities. The waterways between the islands swelled with new ships and lumber gathered from the other isles. The spirits of the Itholians were soaring high, and their wrath was gathering like a storm over the forbidden forest.
---Krr---
The elder priest bent down, and plucked the luminescent flower out of the sandy garden, admiring its azure glow in the near darkness. His hands reflected the pale light, casting a alien tint on his wrinkled skin.
"So we are the light in the darkness." He whispered. The flower seemed to smile.
the priest gathered a small bundle of the flowers, secretly dead that they could not remain there forever. A sudden voice boomed from around the corner.
"Brother Gylderstan? Is that-"
The priest threw the flowers into the air, and clutched at his pounding chest. A cascade of light cast dancing shadows across his cotton robe. The flowers landed lightly in the sand.
"By the Blood of Azgo!! Blast it, boy; you scared me."
Brother Gylderstan leaned heavily against the wall, letting the throbbing come to a gentle close. The translator bug in his throat stirred, and then was still. He licked the inside of his mouth.
The young priest began picking up the flowers off of the flower, hiding his contempt.
"Sorry, brother... Another one's entered the clinic."
"What? At this time of... night?"
"Yes. He's waiting for us now. The others request your presence when you can."
The elder priest smoothed out his robe, in the hopes that his dignity would heal with its correction. He gestured towards the alleyway.
"Then what in the Abyss are we waiting for?! Let's go."
---The Abyss---
The dim glow of the Great Beyond had vanished, and every dragon soul present could feel the void in the air, in the ground, and in the very fringes of their being. The darkness was almost absolute aside from an unholy flicker within the veins of ice.
A sound bubbled up and out of the darkness, all around them. It was strained and cold... and.... lost. As if it knew that it didn't belong. One of the drastood craned to listen, but it swelled away from them, only returning to the edge of hearing when they thought it was gone.
Cantorix shuddered. So this is what death was like... He felt empty. Disconnected from the binding connections of the flesh. He could feel the corruption around him, and the visage of Azgo imprinted on the insides of his eyelids gathered crisp lines and power in the darkness.
"Welcome to the Abyss..."
OOC
Command Land(1AP): A marshland appears as a result of the magics of the King's Fist. It becomes contested grounds for the territorial war.
Nourish Populace(2AP):Chitrachs. The cultists staying with the Chitrachs confer the blessings of Azgo on the populace with Divine Magics. New gardens of fungus and plants that don't require light spring up around the hive. The humans occupy a section of the hive close to the palace and turn it into a faith-healing clinic and nightshade garden. The cultists begin applying influence on the Chitrachs, egging them closer to war and to breeding inspection war beasts.
Nourish Populace(2AP):Chitrachs. The cultists staying with the Chitrachs confer the blessings of Azgo on the populace with Divine Magics. New gardens of fungus and plants that don't require light spring up around the hive. The humans occupy a section of the hive close to the palace and turn it into a faith-healing clinic and nightshade garden. The cultists begin applying influence on the Chitrachs, egging them closer to war and to breeding inspection war beasts.
Fear gripped Agni-Vohda's chest and threatened to squeeze the resolve from him. Agni rolled away from the fist, grimacing as many of the other Vohda were too slow to avoid the attack and perished. Behind him, he felt more than saw the pyroclastic wave, which seemed to grow larger and larger as it approached from the Eternal Volcano. If the Godmountain did not kill them, then the cloud surely would, smothering and ripping them apart in moments. And Agni, for a moment, despaired, stuck between two certain deaths.
No.
This was not how it had been. The Volcano had erupted later, and the Godmountain...
The Godmountain had burned.
A flash of light shone around Agni, and the talsiman he carried suddenly sported onxy tracings along with the ruby which had been there previously. Agni turned to face the Godmountain and, pulling back his arm, threw the firey blade at the beast. The sword turned in three lazy revolutions before landing in the flesh of the Godmountain and sinking into the ichor that protected it. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the entire Godmountain caught ablaze in a single instant. A roar rang out, and reality seemed to shatter under its force, the scene around him breaking apart until once more it was him in the darkness with the Spirits. The sword reappeared in his hand, longer and brighter than it had been before.
No. I shall not. I shall cast you out, TASOE. Reveal yourself to me.
~Verandrel~
The success of the colonies of the Itholians encouraged them to expand even further, exploring more and more of their continent than ever before. For a time, aside from the constantly simmering war between the Forest and the City, life was good. So what if wood was a bit more expensive to procure than it 'should' be? The stone quarries still put out plenty of stone for housing and the colonies were beginning to ship back lumber. Perhaps the Forest wasn't needed after all.
That is, until the ships began to return from Chubek, most propsperous of the satellite cities with tales of disaster. The city was destroyed, walls torn down, homes burned or smashed, and corpses lying where they had fallen, many with relatively minor injuries but faces blackened with poison. It was not until a week after the reports had begun to arrive that the only survivor of the attack was finally brought to High Ithol... a young girl, barely five. She was barely capable of speech, rocking back and forth holding with her remaining hand a freshly bound but still raw stump where her other arm below the elbow had once been. The soldiers had found her unconcious and barely alive next to the body of an older man with an axe and, presumably, her blood still on it. Any possible family resemblance had been lost due to the poison that had distorted the man's face, but the best guesses of the physicians had been that the man had acted to stop the poison from spreading in his daughter in the only way he could moments before his own death.
The only thing the girl would say was 'snake-men' when asked what had done this to her city. Eventually, the concesus was that she would be cared for in the hopes that as she recovered, more details would emerge.
In the meantime, however, the ire of High Ithol lifted temporarially from the Forest to deal with this new threat. Deep inside the forest, however, the Insuannon and Crystallines were hard at work, infusing hollow gourds with powerful and explosive elixers. Soon, the towers of their enemies would no longer stop them from wiping the humans from their lands.
~The Abyss~
Paren stared into the darkness for a long moment, then, straining to cross multiple planar boundaries, pulled out a small ball of Magma and Obsidian from the Source. The illumination provided by the makeshift torch seemed tiny compared to the overwhelming darkness that surrounded them like a hungry pack of wolves, just waiting to pounce and devour the light, and the n them.
Or at least, that's what it felt like.
The light was enough so that the dragons could see in their immediate vicinity. blue and orange and brown splotches of lichen covered the ground, relying on something other than sunlight for nourishment. The air was humid and yet icy cold, sucking the heat from their flesh at a rapid pace.
We must move. Paren said to the others, lifting off from the ground and into the large cavern. It is likely unsafe to stay in one spot for long. Keep your eyes open and let us find a way out of this place. Cantorix, I have heard that this place has several layers, each worse than the last. Can you confirm this?
2 AP: Create Populace: Naga. Standard Naga except extremely poisonous and capable of turning themselves fully into snakes. Awoken on one of the other islands by the expanding Itholians and retaliating against human settlements near their ancestral homelands.
1 AP: Command Populace: The Itholians temporarially relax their attention on the forest to deal with the new threat to their colonies.
1 AP: Command Populace: The Crystallines and Insuannon are working together to create ways to deliver explosive potions to the battlefield.
If there was one thing Admiral Davus loved more than the sight of well-built ship, it was the sight of dawn on the water. Every morning he stood on the bow of his galleon... watching the horizon and feeling the breeze on the cuffs of his jacket. Any onlooker would have said that he dressed finely dressed statute carved out from the hull of the ship herself. There was a long pause as the water slowly melted into soft gold before the sun, and rippled with the promise of days long since passed. What awaited them, those bold ennough to come this far?
The clatter of crewman stirred him from his thoughts. His cloak fluttering in the breeze, Davus turned and walked between the bustle of the crew and the spray of sea salt from between the rails. He would be needed in his cabin shortly.
Davus closed the ornate door behind him. A quick glance over his shoulder warned him that his darling pet was still asleep. He swiftly ruffled through the mounds of parchment on his desktop, leting charts and reports fall to the floor carelessly. A triumphantly look flashed in his eyes was a stained leather notebook emerged out from the ruins of paperwork. his salty hands grabbed hold of it, flipping exactly to the page he had left behind.
In silence, Davus began sketching, eager to capture the natural splendor of the Insuannon behind the iron bars. The poor thing was hardly eating, but the fathers were still glossy as the pearls of the sea floor. He loved sketching. It made for a great focus of his spare time...
And outside the widows of his cabin, the prows of a hundred ships could be counted, all beating effortlessly into the sea in pursuit.
---Verandrel---
Arggghhhh!!! Outta battery. Tomorrow.
OOC
Command Populace (1AP): Itholians. The king has ordered a new fleet be constructed and an army raised to traverse the path of the ancestors. Their mission is too raid, capture, and explore the condition of the East and report back to the King.
Command Populace (1AP): The dwarves are commissioned by the King to begin undermining the forests in preparation for collapsing sections of heavy resistance. The dwarves reluctantly comply.
Command Populace (1AP): The dwarves are commissioned by the King to begin undermining the forests in preparation for collapsing sections of heavy resistance. The dwarves reluctantly comply.
Canorix flinched away from the sudden light. The sheer cold was begining to set into the bones of his soul, chiping away at their sturdiness.
"Confirm? No. But there have been ruminations that it is so."
Cantorix focused inward, feeling his soul clotting together. He felt... off, as if districts of his mind he had long since sealed away were moving with malevolent life. Something was stirring within him from an age-long slumber.
Cantorix lurched as it began to squirm. The Abyss was inside of him, and as such it affected him more than the other dragons. The vast depths of the plane called out to him... with familiarity of an old friend.
"I can feel it... how far the Abyss goes. It is far enough-"
Cantorix opened his eyes- and gasped. They were surrounded... by dragons. Dozens of the pale wisps had emerged from the darkness and out from their tombs of icy embraces. They flirted on the edge of the firelight, inexplicably drawn and repelled by its otherworldliness. And in the light, the fresh wounds of battle scarred their indistinct souls: gashes the size of trees, necks and joints in impossiple positions, and loose tendons where limbs had once anchored. Horror flashed in Cantorix's sable eyes. He knew some of them... by name.
They were murmering, whispering truely, to themselves.
"Where am I?"
"Guard the flanks. The dragonspawn musn't escape..."
"Behold the glory of the... dragons.... Behold and be amaz...ed."
"Alone."
"I don't want to die, somebody, anybody... I don't want to die. Azgo, if you can hear me..."
But none of the souls seem connected to the reality around them yet. Their hollow eyes gazed into the void beyond mortals.
They spoke, and could not hear.
They whispered, and no one answered.
They died, and the living celebrated.
Had an age passed? Had a generation of humans learned to walk, to speak , to sin, to live, to love and to hate and how to surrunder a last breath? Had the stars, ever fleeing the the destruction left in the wake of the gods, finally vanished into the black where even the echoes of the first scream travelled onward? Had everything changed? Had nothing?
Time was a vague thing to the gods, something they controlled without being familiar to its delicate weave. Time was beneath them... and beyond them. And so it passed.
Azgo and Pruinus held the other's gazes for a time. There was a mutual understanding there, bidden in their eyes. It manifested as a stark and bitter grimness at the events unfolding almost outside of their control. They seemed more puppets than gods, moving under the strings of the inevitable. Perhaps in the end there was no difference.
The time had come.
There were no words, for those that understood each other had no need for such petty inventions.
The ice pulsed with newfound glow, awash in blood and ichor. The statues trembled like children. Or ants, truely. Quivering ants in an earthquake. Primal souls crawled away from the towering god-prince, choking on the filmy miasma spread wide as a noble cloak. A low holwing roared from the outside blizzards and was gently absorbed into the azure ice.
And then it began. Who started it? Who seized the first step? Whose heart was ready for death? That was lost in the first moment. They simply... fought.
Like leaves in the autum's arms, eagles plummiting from the mountainpeaks, and currents of water sweeping between the pebbles of a surging river they fought. The initiavtive flowed back and forth as fast as gods' eyes see, eash combatant-no, artist- exploiting the momentum and rythym of the other and adapting their own. The Fused God, clad in the frosted platemail of Thereus, swung the Grand Scepter in a constant whirling flurry. Wide, punishing arcs forced Pruinus on the defensive. For every swing there was a step, a slide, a weave, and the spin of a soft snowfall. Spring water was envoius of her grace.
And in a singlular manuever, she slipped inside Azgo's fell reach. A year of winter over the whole of the continent fit in her grasp. She struck again and again at the Godplate. A rim of glacier ice enfused into the steel. The battle's gravity shifted, and Azgo fell back like an avalanche, letting Pruinus stagger forward fruitlessly and awaiting a dire mistake. But Pruinus had learned a world of experience from their last encounter; she fell back on her footwork just in time for a lightning uppercut to merely graze her shoulder. They stood across the hall from each other, and with the magnetism of suns drew each other back into the combat.
The pair of them clashed again and again across the vast collection. The bare force, let alone the weapons themselves, scattered statues and pearl glimmering murals. Fragments of hand-carved fingers and marbled hair splintered into flakes and frost and were lost to the ages. More and more frequently, Prunuis lifted her hands and commanded the very foundations of the Hall to rise. Right when Azgo was about to land a mortal blow, a pillar of ice dense as stone broke open the ground between them. A dozen he broke open with his swing, unhindered, and a dozen he skirted about to keep himself unpreditable. The blood red ice crumpled and collapsed, shattering under its own weight. Soon the cavern walls trembled and sections fell with the angel chandeliers of the ceiling.
Prunuis had been waiting for this moment. The instability was her ally. She suddenly cast out her hands, and the statue of a Remorhaz drew in the weight of hundreds of layers of ice beneath itself like a porous stone. It launched itself over her head at towards the charging juggerneaut that was HATE incarnate. Azgo drew his maul in close, and braced for the impact. The statue broke open into an avalanch and dragged his dug-in heels across the ice. It was a strike that could have leveled a city, or emptied an ocean.
The battered ColdMother leapt into the air, phasing through the ceiling ice and into the second floor carved within the humble mountain. She collapsed, only somewhat intentionaly, and merged her hands into the floor. Summoning the largest amount of power she had ever commanded, the supports of her creation that had been built to last were crushed. The entire first floor caved in from the sides while a mountain of ice beneath rocketed up. The sheer roar of the crunching ice deafened the ears of all living creatures within a mile from the entrance.
The Hall shook, only kept together with the presence of its Lady. Prunius crushed the ice together, and then released. The ice fell apart and expanded outward, leaving an unrecognizable waste of a thousand years of effort. The floor shook... and then was still.
Prunuis shivered, the thrum of battle fading away to the pain of Azgo's thrashing. The seconds dragged on, and the scarlett ice pooled with blood. Prunuis grimiced, almost choking on her own words.
"I'm so sorry, Azgo."
OOC
Well, that wasn't how I expected that fight to go!
Pruuis nursed her wounds, feeling the first cracks in her otherwise flawless form since her wings had been stripde from her. An unnatural calm settled over the ruins of the tiered Hall, like maggots feeding on a recently animated corpse. Blood was everywhere, and the sounds of the blizzards were stronger than before. And in the very distance, Prunuis knew that a host of primal souls were converging here. They were drawn by the death of the Horned Knight. This Hall would be safe, but perhaps it would not be rebuilt.
She should have felt overjoyed.
Pruinus staggered to her feet. If Azgo was loose, then something had gone horribly wrong. Did Zebus know? She had to find him. There was so much she had to ask him. The Maiden of Winter hobbled towards a gaping hole in the mountainside. She seemed to have aged tenfold, and she had not aged well...
But she did not.
Prunuis stopped herself at the cliff edge, looking out. Light, dappled from the pounding snowfall, slid down the Crown mountains like quicksilver and pearl. It seemed to admire her in its own glow. A branch of winter berries, sleek with gentle frost, sheilded her from the rising sun over the mountain peaks. A sudden feeling washed over her and rooted her to the spot. There was something she had to do first. Zebus could wait for a few moments.
She felt...
Prunuis reached out and plucked a small twig from the branch. A handfull of ripe berries bounced in her grasp. The distant smile of Leaf appeared in her mind's eye. Prunuis' grimace melted into a vaguely disspossessed frown. She skirted across the ice, between the masterwork carvings still intact. A stream of memories occupied her thoughts. The stench of acidic fumes. The callous touch of gesyers. Those... craterspawn is what the mortals called them, yes? Yes. The craterspawn flocks. Prunuis stopped in front of an imposing statue, refusing to look at it in the eye. It was Azgo, and yet not Azgo. The statue seemed more passive than Azgo had ever been He was not in pain, and he was not threatening. But it did seem to be an outcast. It was scared. It was...
Alone.
-He should not be pitied, for there lies a malignent evil underneath...-
An icy hand lowered the berry branch over the inscription. This statue finally belonged where she had placed it long ago. A few tears rolled down her face and cascaded down the statue's base. Things had come full circle at long last. Pruinus hesitantly looked up at the statue. Were the eyes indifferent? Or forgiving? She hoped for the latter.
---Over the plains of the Continent---
Ka'Vah had seized control once more! How incredibly GLORIOUS!! The rush of power, the dominance of control, and... Oh, the power!
But why was he doing this? Every thought in his mind, excluding those of hishated dissenter, knew explicitly that this was a horrible idea. Return to Azgo?? Why would Ka'Vah enslave himself again? He had just broken free of Agni's chubby fingers squeezing the life out of him. Now was the time to be celebrating! It was the time for nations to fall, for families and farms and cities to burn into ash, for wastes to be made of the lush!
And yet... he felt drawn here. Summoned of a sort.
He hoped he knew what he was doing.
---A Town...Somewhere---
Timmy leaned back heavily on the oaken chair. His feet throbbed with sores, and his back was strained with the weight of their surplies. He sighed a deep breath of relief. It felt good to be back in civilization.
A rather attractive server passed his table, winking at him from the corner of her eye. She nonchalantly placed a frothy mug on his table.
"Compliments of the house."
Timmy raised an eyebrow as she walked away and into the backroom, looking back him over her shoulder.
Scratch that. It felt great to be back in civilization. The mug was rimmed with alcoholic suds, and it tasted better than sweetened honey. Timmy cast a casual glance about the tavern, his brows furrowing in slight annoyance. Where was Firebrand? He better not have gotten himself in another fight, or else so help him... And if he starts complaing about how they haven't fought a bandit in the last two weeks again, well...
Timmy shook his head. He had no idea what he'd do. That was when a rather haggerd looking dwarf stumbled into the tavern. Timmy could sense that this was no ordinary dwarf... and he seemed to be on no ordinary purpose. Timmy drew his hood down low, eager to pass the time with dwarf-watching.
The flaming husk of God Mountain collapsed into itself, splitting out a battered Artun. Agni could see the god how he saw himself - a muscular, pale-skinned humanoid of indeterminate form, and then how Agni perceived him -- a phantom ball of unimaginable heat and light.
Great strands of fire drooped from the remains of the godbeast, above, stringing the god up like a pupeteer's plaything. Artun opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out -- his tongue was missing.
"You martyred him, you know."
TASOE's voice came from everywhere and nowhere as Artun bounced helplessly about his strings, mouth open, face and fireball both screaming alike.
"All he wanted to do was help his friend, to warn him about us. And look what you did to him."
A burdeonsome guilt assailed Agni's form, bearing him down, dragging him back, dredging furrows in the ground.
"Die." spat TASOE. "Die scorned and without mercy, you prideful creature."
Agni felt as if he was being smothered in darkness and smoke, a physical manifestation of the emotion he was feeling. He cast about with his sword of fire as he ineffectually tried to fight back.
Yes, I did. I acted in haste, I acted rashly. I allowed emotion to overwhelm me and my senses to be dulled. Artun was always my friend, always the bright shining one, I feel great remorse at what I have done. Wrong, Wrong, so wrong was I.
But the sword flickered, its flame threatening to be quenched. Still, Agni tried to fight, until a thought burst in on him.
But Artun did betray me. His actions nearly cost me my life. He did not reveal his masters, he FED me to them.
The greenish-blue of tanzanite came into existence on the talisman around Agni-Vohda's neck, and the sword of fire flared back to life in a white-blue blaze that was painful to look at. Darkness fled, and Agni leveled the sword at the Spirits, whose forms were almost distinguishable.
No. I will not. I have sinned, it is true, but you have been the root cause. I deny you. Get Out.
~A Town~
Giroth muttered to himself as he entered the tavern. This place seemed reasonable enough, he guessed. No one was likely to try and slit his throat and steal his few pieces of gold.
That said, the dead thieves who had tried it had proven to be an excellent source of gold themselves.
Giroth surveyed the room, spotted a mostly empty table, occupied on one end by a Nix who studiously was avoiding calling attention to himself in the manner that made everyone notice him, and sat down at the other end, being sure to leave several chairs between the two of them.
After several very high proof alcoholic beverages, he looked over.
"Know where I can find some heroes?" He asked.
---The Halls of Creation---
Pruinus breathed a heavy sigh of relief. A great burden had been lifted from her tired shoulders, one that had worn on her since she had first encountered him. His pain was at an end at last. And her children were safe. She wanted this moment to last forever...
But it could not.
The First demands it.
Suddenly, a pair of monstrous hands erupted through the icy floor and burrowed into her calfs, followed by a behemoth of frozen steel and dead flesh. Gnarled limbs and vapors heavy as stone coiled around her and began to crush. The glory of the azure Hall was suddenly drowned in thick black. The stench of dying flesh left to rot and heal for eons clung to her face like a mask of wax. What was happening?!
Pruinus could acutely feel the bones of her frozen body strain... and then shatter under the pressure. Agony ran across her limbs like charged lightning. She cried out, but no sound broke free of the mask. But more than the agony, a sickness pumped its way into her body. Ethereal tentacles cut open the fringes of her divinity, and godblood thick as tar poured in by the oceanful. She felt like she was on fire.
She began to struggle, fighting as hard as she could against the vice grip. Inch by inch, her slick skin made progress. But as she got close to escaping, the abomination tightened its grip, lurched, and threw her limp body through the statue of Azgo. The berrry branch fell through the hole and p-lunged into the bloody slush below. Her body skipped across the floor, breaking several more statues, before it crashed into the wall. Frosted dust flew up in a cloud at impact.
The ColdMother gasped, choking on... nothing. Her whole soul felt tainted with poison and bloated with bile. She risked a glance at her scalding hand. Her flawless carved hand was cracked like a spider's web and festering from within. It was becoming opaque with corrupted blacks and sallow shades. Pruinus staggered to her feet and leaned on the statue of Zebus, waiting for the dust to settle.
And flake by flake, the indistinct danger took on edges and shadow. Two nightmarish faces emerged out of the murk, and became only more horrific with clarity. He was barely recognizable. Pruinus wanted to scream, but his glare held her fast. Was this.... had he...?
The Crowned in Blood loomed over the broken base of his statue, unmoving in the slightest regard. His body had been stripped bare inside of his armor. Bones were covered in thin, black membranes. Cavernous holes had been carved where a tangled system of organs had churned with hot blood. Azgo's faces were little more than blue-black skulls with eyes frozen solid, starring into her. His cheeks were gone, and small streams of cooling blood poured down between his remaining teeth and onto his shoulders.
The Apostate's Bane was little more than piecemeal, rimmed in solid blood and scrags of loose meat. A gaping hole in the chest revealed the only moving things in his body: a pair of fused, pus-coated hearts. Veins and arteries grew in and out of the organs like the mixed roots of ancient undying trees. Blood seeped and spurted through the weak walls of the organs. Pints of blood messily splashed to the floor every few seconds, sizzling and bubbling.
Azgo looked down at the uncovered inscription, shaking his skeletal head in disgust.
"Evil, Sister? You have no idea what true evil is, do you?!"
His voice was more mechanical than before, like air scraping against bare bone. The sickly vitality was gone... but the HATE in his voice was distinguishable enough. His decrepid body shambled forward.
"I am the seed of YOUR evils! I am the monster birthed of YOUR ambition! All of my pain... all of my suffering... all the toil and foolishness of the mortals... All of the evil in this world can be traced back to your hands and your heart."
A tenderness entered his voice, weak as it was. "I know you didn't want it. The appeals of power never had the same temptation for you that they had for the others..."
"But YOU held their counsel! They might have listened! But that didn't matter, did it? You followed them because... because... because you loved them more than me."
Azgo suddenly lurched over. That was more painful than all his years of sickness. He glared at her. Prunuis hardly held his gaze, wracked with pity. Azgo felt his blood boil at her eyes. Did she pity him? Still?!
"DO YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF GUILT? OR ARE YOU AN EVEN GREATER MONSTER THAN I THOUGHT?!"
The husk of Azgo roared, and charged her. Pruinus stumbled into a better postion mindlessly, enraptured with new guilt. Not guilt for betrayal, but that she had failed to ease his suffering twice now. She had in fact, only tormented him. They clashed again, and the Halls of Creation rumbled with their force.
Pruinus did her best to weave between the storms of calculated blows, but it seemed that Pruinus was pushing herself to her very limits just to keep pace. The Wounded One had only become faster, his footwork like the steps of a ghost, and he attacked with more than just his fists. The ColdMother ducked beneath a pair of apparently inaccurate attacks, ready to exploit his lack of defense, when an invisible fang of energy impaled her abdomen. Gallons upon gallons of searing sickness invaded, rotting her soul in its wake. She stumbled, clutching her side, and almost didn't see the follow through of Azgo's full-body clash.
Over and over it happened: distracting swings and imposing footwork only to trap her into an unseen strike to her divinity. The room spun before Pruinus' eyes, and her own body felt alien and frighteningly unfamiliar. The festering was worsening, and the translucent beauty of her form was replaced with patches of stygian darkness and curdled blood.
"Azgo, I-" A swift and destructive uppercut landed Pruinus on her fragile back. Fully black portions of her body crumbled into frosted ash. Azgo began to advance, but stopped mid-step and threw up a wall of noxious fumes all around him. Several blue-white bolts of energy cascaded unto the wall from behind, but were absorbed into the smoke. The room filled with light, and with the warmth of... souls. Hundreds of spirit packs and herds crowded the room. They moved with perfect cordination, throwing themselves at the vaporous cocoon. A few dozen of the strongest floated over to Pruinus, and began carrying her away from the fighting and towards the stairs to the third floor.
The cocoon twisted, shuddered, and then split open with a hurricane of acids and lashing winds. Azgo caught a glimpse of the spirits bearing Pruinus to the next floor. With an abyssal bellow, The shambling god began wading through the masses of spirits. With one had he smote them with disease of the soul, and the spirits imploded in ashes. With the other, he washed them with acid and toxins untill the souls attacked themselves out of the desperation to die. But for every herd that perishes, two more took its place and forced him back with sacrifice of dozens. Then it was over... and Pruinus had escaped once more...
No.
Azgo would fail again. He had come too far. He had sacrificed too much. The Lord of Pain dug his heels in, and with the momentum of a falling mountain pressed again into the spirit hordes. The room was swiftly plunged into a hazy green shroud, snuffing the light eminating from the Primal Spirits. The sent of ash and death floated and filled the room to its brim. A tall indistinct figure crawled out of the smoke, horrified at what he found.
"Is that...Azgo?... You escaped?! Oh no.-I mean, uhhh, Master! You escaped?!"
Ka'Vah shuddered to his core just saying those words. 'Master'... nothing filled him with more dread than the idea of being Azgo's servant, except being the servant that Azgo may learn betrayed him. What had he gotten himself wrapped up in?
Azgo's frostbitten skulls stared at Ka'Vah in disbelief. How had his servant survived so long? And why hadn't he reported to him sooner?! But this was no time for questions. There were only commands.
"Ka'Vah! Slay them all! Let not a single pup escape! Pruinus must die!!"
The Eclipse Aflame hesitated. If he did this, was there turning back? What if Azgo survived?! But in the end, he had little choice. If he left, and Azgo survived... it was best not to think about it. Ka'Vah gathered up the scorch of his old fires andspread himself thin across the spirits, suffocating and smothering them with bitter defeat.
Azgo passed through the carnage, shaking off the petty spirits clinging to his heels. He sprinted up the flights of stairs, eager to finish what had been started so long ago.
...
The grand, delicately inscribed door was ajar. Carvings in the language of the gods adorned its edges, all describing the vastness and voids before the gods themselves. Azgo gently pushed the door open, and entered with the stride of a king come home to his throne.
It was a terribly large room. No mortal or even god had walked in its chamber before this moment. A collossal statue stood mysteriously and magnificently on the far end. It was a cross between a humaniod and a cloud of darkness, of a void. At all junctions and edges it was unrecognizable and yet fatherly and motherly. The entirety of creation stretched under its outreached limb.A simple inscription was the only writing inside of the room.
-THE FIRST-
Pruinus was leaning heavily on the spirits, hobbling towards a carvedhole in the roof through which sunlight could reflect off of the statue. Only heavy, razor snow flowed into the chamber at the moment.
Pruinus looked over her shoulder. There was a horror in her eyes, and a calmness.
Azgo paused.
...
The time had come.
Azgo lashed out with a flood of ethereal, deicidal poisen. The spirits collapsed, choking. Azgo slowly advanced towards her. He had come so far. It felt more like a dream than reality. His voice seemed lost in the past and in the pain.
"Do you know why I hate you more than any other, Pruinus?"
The Coldmother summoned up the last portion of her strength, and burst apart into a feirce blizzard wind. The gust raced through the hole and towards the castles of clouds. Azgo disincorperated into a dark, sallow miasma and followed with the force of a summer tempest.
The summit of the mountain was soon wreathed in a terrible blizzard that seemed to be moving like a comet's tail toward the upper reaches of the sky. A thick sulferous storm blazed in pursuit and enveloped the blizzard in darkness. A thousand storms brewed within, as lashing winds and brutish power churned wildly within. Azgo reached out and crushed the storm, which fought back with nigh unstoppable resistance, untill it at last collapsed back into Pruinus, miles and miles above the surface. Azgo resumed his physical form, locked in a grappling combat, and falling back to the planet's surface.
Azgo clasped her throat with both hands, and let the floodgates open of his illness. A never-ending river of rotting soul merged into Pruinus. She tried to scream, but the grip was too tight. It was agonizing at first, but the longer it went on, the less she felt, and the darker the daylight seemed to be. She was more ash than ice now. Her eyes glowed yellow in the depths of the ether. Azgo forced her to stare into his eyes, both blind and seeing.
"It is because I loved you more than any other... And I would have suffered everything I have suffered up untill now if you had only asked me to, my little sister."
No mortal artist could have painted those eyes. And no god could have imagined them. Pruinus coulsn't tell if they were nothing but HATE or LOVE.
The pair hurtled back towards the planet. Faster. Faster. Faster. Azgo took one fell hand off the throat of his dreaded enemy, and plunged it into her soul.
A warped scream echoed into the ether and, having no boundaries in the darkness, was lost forever.
The pair of gods crashed back into the mountain, breaking through the summit, every floor of the Hall, and a few caverns beneath the mountain. Dust and ice bathed the entirety of the new... crater as the mountain collapsed outward. The world shook, even at its very edges. Beneath the layers of rock and the clouds of dust, a god kneeled over the corpse of his sister.
...
Azgo wept.
OOC
Pruinus, the Coldmother, has been obliterated. She is not dead, and cannot be revived by Zebus.
Claim Domain (3AP): War. Azgo's previous experience with fighting and destroying the gods themselves, as well as his mastery of the Deicidal Taint, have forged him into a powerful and dangerous enemy for any thing in creation. People do not worship Azgo for war, but any worshipper knows that War is an essential part of the belief in Azgo.
Claim Domain (3AP): War. Azgo's previous experience with fighting and destroying the gods themselves, as well as his mastery of the Deicidal Taint, have forged him into a powerful and dangerous enemy for any thing in creation. People do not worship Azgo for war, but any worshipper knows that War is an essential part of the belief in Azgo.
The Primal spirits fled in panic as the Halls of Creation began to collapse around them and Ka'Vah chased behind them, choking the stragglers and any who chose to fight in a dark miasma of poison and flame.
But there. There was the exit, still open to them as a slash of snow-glare sky at the end of a long arcade. The spirits raced for the exit... but Ka'Vah was faster.
A blanket of smoke descended over the exit, and eyes of malevolent flame burned out from the darkness. Without mercy, the exarch attacked, killing one spirit, then another, then another in ruthless efficiency. Those who tried to fight through were met by waves of fire and choking fumes, forcing them back. Despair began to burn brightly in the eyes of the Primal Sprits...
Suddenly, a ripple washed over Ka'Vah and the smoke demon seemed to contract in on itself, forming a hazy, indistinct shape of an Agni'Vohda.
"Run! Get out of here!" The exarch cried, waves of conflict racing across his body and seeming to push at him from the inside.
The Spirits, who had gathered in the back and corners of the room to hide, stood and ran for the exit, pushing one another in their haste. A dozen or so made it past the monster and through the exit before their temporary ally appeared to lose whatever war it was waging against itself. With a cry of pain and frustration that morphed into a roar of triumph, the exarch expanded outwards once more before sweeping forward and catching the remaining primal spirits in its embrace.
The survivors ran down the mountain, hearing the cries of their friends, their families rise to a climax, and then fall silent forever.
Timmy leaned in, carefully setting his drink beside him. The last thing he wanted to do was set it too close to this bottomless pit of a dwarf... it might just "fall" into his iron stomach.
"Heroes? No, no heroes."
His tail twitched, and a confidant smile slowly spread over his muzzle.
"But I do know that an Agni'Vodha sellsword is in this very establishment. That's right, you heard me; an Agni'Vodha. None of the road bandits have touched him yet, they're so scared of him. Perhaps I could... arrange a meeting? A few details might be nice."
As much as Firebrand could be frustrating, Timmy enjoyed the infamy of the Agni'Vodha assassins. Sometimes all that was needed was a name drop, and things smoothed themselves out. Sometimes...
Timmy rocked backwards as the dwarf's eyes literally started to glow with an internal light and his bright red beard began to move of its own accord. This was no ordinary dwarf!
"An Agni'Vohda?" The sort-of dwarf asked, turning and leaning towards Timmy, surprise, excitment and... relief(?)... evident in his voice.. "One is here? That is perfect. I need someone of his, I mean, I want to... eeehhhh... Yes, I would very much like to meet him. Direct me-"
Just then the doors to the inn burst open and Firebrand all but roared into the common room, sending patrons standing by the exit diving for cover and splashing alcohol everywhere. Firebrand paid them no heed, spinning quickly in a circle, spotting Timmy, and racing over.
"Timmy! You need to come right now! I did it for you! Yes! I-" The Agni'Vohda paused, and glanced at the Nix's table companion. "Huh. An Azer. Didn't expect to see one of you on the surface. Anyways!" He turned back to Timmy, Giroth all but forgotten. "Come on!"
The Agni'Vohda dragged Timmy to his feet and pulled him from the inn as Timmy cursed and tried to slow the determined Firebrand down. Behind them, the Azer followed from a somewhat safe distance.
It took all of three minutes for Firebrand to lead them to an empty stable not far away. They entered, and Firebrand pointed towards the back wall.
"See?"
A body lay slumped against the wooden slats of one of the stalls.
Under his hood, Timmy's eyes widened considerably. He scrambled towards the body.
"Firebrand! You can't just kill any elf we encounter!"
Timmy leaned his ear close to the elf's mouth with concentrated effort. A whisper of breath graced the scruffs of hair, and Timmy relaxed. As Firebrand came closer, the glow of firelight illuminated the rustic stable. The elf's silken garb shimmered at the silver threading. An intimidating sigil was emblazoned proudly on his chest. His skin was heavy with sweat, and light with any kind of color.
"Wait... is this... a royal courier? From the elven lands? Firebrand... how..." Timmy's voice trailed off. His stomcahc was aflame with butterflies. This felt like the true first step in something much MUCH larger than anything either of them had probably ever experienced. Timmy reached inside of the satchel lying across the elf's lap. A thick, lavender scented missive had been uncerimoniously crammed into the tiny pocket along with a few loose papers. Timmy scanned the documents quickly, only vaguely listening to anything Firebrand was saying.
An... invitation of some sort... and a schedule. Seemed that the courier was far behind. Infection, out of the nowhere. Went to sleep healthy, woke up nearly dead.
Timmy paused, rereading. He paid no attention to the gleaming dagger slipping artfuly into the elf's open hand.
"But I thought this would be what you wanted. I mean, you keep talking in your sleep about how much you hate the elves. Wasn't that why you came to my home?" Firebrand asked, genuinely confused. "Why else would you try to hire an Agni'Vohda if not to kill your enemies? I mean, granted, I didn't kill him yet, I figured you would want the honors... this is a nice and tame elf, after all... barely much of a fight."
Firebrand was about to say more when suddenly a dark shape hurtled past him and collided with the elf. Moments later, Giroth's voice growled: "Drop it, in the name of the Northern Sun." The blade clattered to the ground and Giroth turned his head to look at Timmy.
"So what is it you've found? A courier from Iceheim shouldn't be anywhere near this backwater." He looked back at the elf. "Feel free to enlighten us, if you can."
OOC
Keep in mind that Giroth actually spent quite a bit of time with the elves, so he can help with the details of any given story. He's also pretty annoyed with them for abandoning their joint quest together...
A chorus of screams like rusted iron on slate shook the mindscape, and the spirits vanished, allowing the god-puppet of Artun to slump limply. One of the god's hands flung open and a small green bundle shook free.
It landed, straighted itself, then glared petulantly up at Agni. "And what of me, then, Fire?"
Leaf's voice was unmistakable, as was his form -- this was no Brother Branch nor Father Thorn, but Leaf all thesame. "Artun was punished by his master for bringing your plight to my attention. And yet, for all the risk involved in your rescue, how do you treat me?"
Leaf spat, a small puff of pollen landing near Agni's feet. "Left me for dead, and move on with your life. Some vassal you are, to so quickly abandon his duty to his liegelord."
And though the darkness had fled, still there were echoes of TASOE's voice.
"Die." spat TASOE. "Die abashed and ashamed, you smouldering cinder."
A great rumble took hold of the caverns. Clouds of black, almost metallic frost gushed out from the fissures in the walls and across the plated floor. The thunder of sundered stone and the screech of fractured ice pierced like the wail of a god into the ears of the intruders. There was a terrible pain masked in the howl... and a pulsation of ecstacy. The taint within them, which writhed about worm-like, squirmed with hateful pleasure. The bitter cold of the Abyss was suddenly wreathed with the fawnful, wild joy of a child realizing that perhaps indeed the stars were within reach. A flood of familiarity nearly drowned the gathered dragons, as if a terrible, ruthless enemy had been killed. Was it relief... or bloodlust that gripped ahold of them?
The crowds of souls scattered, weeping tears of madness. They flowed in and out of one another untill the ancient bore the face of a newborn, the heart of a stranger, and the malevolent grin of an old friend. Many of them surged forward, into the wall carving. Their otherworldly lantern flickered weakly, the flames felt more compelled to wander than to dance.
A terrible wave of acid, milimeters deep, began to pool out from the crevases and unto the floor. The stench of festering wounds drew stronger. The dragons had to move, if they could.
Something was coming...
Paren swore, letting out a stream of invectives that was drawn from half a dozen languages, including several that hadn't been spoken yet.
I was worried about this. It seemed foolish to assume that we could just wander about in here without alerting some sort of sentry on the Corrupted One's prison. Regardless of whether this is one of Agni and his kin's doing, or one of Azgo's make, it matters not: We cannot be caught. Fly with me, now! We must find and recover the Sun before we are caught.
The dragons burst into the second cavern of the Abyss, a massive tangle of vines, thorns and twisted wood permeated by the stench of decay. Paren barely gave them a thought before lashing out with magma, burning a path through the vines.
Search for a way further in! A prize as precious as the Sun would be stored at the deepest level of this place, and this is not it.
As they flew, ice/fire/magma/acid clearing a path, Morenth said to Cantorix: "What lies at the core of this place, Cantorix? Do you know what we must face ahead?"
As Paren flew, he felt more than saw the vines reaching out towards him, trying to grasp him and drawn him down to the floor below, where souls innumerable waited, grinning up at him with sharpened teeth. Paren shuddered and redoubled his efforts. Somewhere here was a portal of some sort, and he would use it.
~Agni~
A wave of remorse flowed over Agni, but the medallion on his chest pulsed once, and the emotion vanished as as Agni laughed.
This was the weakest attempt yet, Evil One. I did not know Leaf had died, I was tricked into believing he was still alive, otherwise I would have lended him aid. That said, it was not my fault that Leaf died, nor do I particularly care that he did. My swearing of fealty was nothing more than a convenient lie. I, Agni, the FireLord, the Enkindler do not swear oaths to any man or God, especially not a tiny bit of flammable material such as He.
Agni breathed out, and the little Leaf-avatar burst into flames, screaming as it died in flame anew. The talisman's mosaic was further filled in, waves of citrine surrounding the still unrevealed center image in a ring of fire-bright stone. The sword grew brighter still, and Agni waved it before him, driving the darkness back.
I grow tired of this. Do you fear me so, to test my concience? It is clean. Reveal yourself and fight me, or are you a coward, Evil One?
Angry hissing filled the darkness, surrounding Agni in a cocoon of echoes and uncertainty. The darkness rushed back in....
Sneferu was snapped from his reverie by the shouts of his comrades. They seemed to have breached the dense thicket and accessed some sort of inner sanctum. There was a circle on the floor free from the snapping faces that Sneferu remembered, and when the dragons alighted upon it, the tendrils retreated, weaving together to form a dense and imposing canopy above and around them, and the faces grew still, ceasing their snapping and closing their spiteful eyes. They were safe, for a spell in here, though a circle of fire lilies blossomed around the perimeter, pointing their wicked barbs and thorns at the group as though readying them. Sneferu had once picked fire lilies by the banks of a great river in the summer of his youth, and had been disappointed then to find that his talons would rip them to shreds even as he plucked them from the earth. Somehow, he felt these blossoms would not be so delicate.
But the most significant thing by far about the sanctum was in the centre, where there was a great big pit. It was filled with a milky-white liquid which boiled and bubbled. The colour was flat, and yet held a depth that seemed only possible in this most infernal of places. The dragons felt, as one, as though the only way further was into this mysterious cauldron. Yet each felt immensely reluctant to actually take the next step.
...And was then vanished, abruptly gone. There were no insidious whispers, no creeping tendrils striking from the corners of one's eyes...
Agni spun in confusion, certain some new attack was about to come, but the mindscape was calm. For the first time since their fight had started, Agni's mind was... quiet. Empty.
Reveal yourself and fight me!
"Fight... me..." Agni's own voice echoed back at him, and for many moments, there was nothing. But wait -- what was that, very faint. A sort of whistling sound, as if a hundred hundred rocks had been hurled through the--
Agni could not help but flinch as thousands of stone spikes suddenly needled the mindscape. They rained fiercely down upon all sides, but none even grazed the god of flame.
The deluge of rock lasted for more than a minute, then abruptly stopped, as suddenly as it had began.
Is this supposed to be some attack? Your aim is poor, Evil ones!
Again, Agni's voice echoed off into nothingness. And as before, for many moments, there was nothing. Then there was a groan of flesh, and Agni looked up in shock to see Marcus.
Marcus' body slowly crumpled, and Agni only barely flitted out from underneath the god's bulk. His body hit the ground with a muffled thump, and then again, silence.
"Die." spat TASOE. "Die abhorred and unrepentant, you sinful scourge."
---
It was him.
The fact that Agni had only actually seen him in Life for a moment did not in any way diminish the holes being ripped into his psyche by the grief and remorse that flooded him.
This was the one who had saved him, the one that had helped him to free himself from the darkness that had been TASOE and the Behemoth.
The one he had killed.
A name floated upwards: Albertus. Agni wasn't actually sure that was the God's name, but it seemed a good as a name as any. Albertus lay dead before him, once more. But where before the other had been small, now he was large compared to Agni, looming like a mountain range over the diminishing God.
What could Agni do? This was the one being to whom he owed the most, and to whom he could never repay his debt.
Agni continued to shrink, or perhaps Marcus continued to grow as Agni's mind grew trapped in a perilous loop, trying to determine the best way to honor the dead and only coming up with not letting them die in the first place, only to be confronted with the image of the God screaming in Pain as Agni covered it with Magma.
And when Agni had grown so very small, Marcus rolled over. Suffocating blackness surrounded the God, but this time he did not struggle. How could he struggle against one who had every right to be angry? If his death could repay his debt in even the smallest of ways...
~The Outside World~
Agni's eyes began to glow with a soft greenish tinge, and a low growling laugh began to reverberate throughout the region.
Cantorix froze... waiting. His muscles coiled with the anticipation of battle, and his eyes twitched at the slightest movement. He scarcely breathed.
...
But nothing appeared. An uneasy silence stretched like a thin membrane over the collective intruders. It seems that whatever had approached them had been thrown off their trail.
For now.
Cantorix reluctantly relaxed, taking a deep breath of the vile, humid vapors pouring out from the verdant undergrowth.Everything had changed so quickly that at first Cantorix had presumed himself dead, claimed by the forces gathered here. The caverns had been a haunted, lonely place of eldritch lights and unmelting veins of ice splitting open rocky collums. The darkness at the end of their lantern had been a patient, starving thing eager to swallow them in the passing of ages. But here, it was as if it was an entirely different god that ruled here.
Everything was... crowded, choking almost in its over-abundance. Pale, yellow Light passed through the miles of oily canopy only to vanish into the mesh of the mossy gardens. Trees blighted with blackness and rot had little room to fall over; new trees and parasites grew directly out from and between the previous generation. Some groves were so devoid of life that eras of trees fell apart into a pile of mulch at the slightest breeze, of which there were few. Clouds of insects droned in the upper reaches of the canopy, and crawled aimlessly between the root clusters fused with the ground itself. The taste of pestilance was thick on the tognue and stained the back of the throat.
Cantorix coughed violently, trying desperately to rid his mouth of the taste.
"The core... of... The Abyss?!... Some say the very founda...tion of the Wounded... One's throne... The Godcrater of yore. It-"
He would have continued, if the distant calls of Craterspawn had not rendered his speech inconprehensible.
Rain lashed and beat on the soft shores with the weight of hail. It soaked into the coiled mesh of rope, into the pounds of soggy silk drapped on the shoulders of halfling sailors, and into the churning skin of the ocean. The sounds of sloshing waves and toes drowning in the confines of leather boots was inescapable, even in the lowest reaches of the hold. Hearts were as dark as the storm-clouds, hellbent on lashing out in return on... anything truely. It was a foul, wet day.
Husks of crowds and crews huddled together under scant roofing, sucking in pot bellies from the relentless water curtain that seperated them from the street. Taverns and broken-into homes were fit to bursting. They squirmed at the tables and on the stairs like fish thrown from the net into a basket just a few inches too small. Leaks were common. Fights were more so, often because of the former. Hours passed. Nothing changed. Tempers flaired and sputtered to death under the brutish paw of the rain.
And then there was a buzz in the streets, a motion against the currents, a rallying. The pressure within the taps and the houses leaked suddenly and violently, spraying schools of sleek people out into the streets. They crowded together on the decks of ships and leaned over the edges of the piers, all peering into the storm's embrace.
A fleet of battered ships could be seen behind the waves, pulling cautiously forward. Foreign sigils and artwork was carved into their furrowed prows.
A bone-chilling cheer tore through the storm, as if a bolt of lightning had crashed into the shipyard. The crowds piled into the anchored ships, drawing steel and lossening ropes. The taste of blood was wet in their mouths, warm and metallic.
By the time the cutters were loosed from port, the initial volly fell like thunderbolts. Between the rain and the stormclouds, only a few crew members saw the barrels before they landed. A half a dozen crashed on the pier, and another half dozen on the outlying ships. One or two landed in the sea and were swept beneath the woodwork, useless. The halflings beneath the barrels were crushed, and those beside it were shredded with wooden shrapnel. Thin, slick liquid washed entire decks with a greasy coating. The hafling pirates were baffled, but the conformation of violence sent their hearts aflutter with murderous rage. More and more ships left the cove, headed out to aggressive welcomings.
The foreign ships plowed forward, firing barrels farther and farther inland. The waves toppled beneath their prows, bleeding white froth along the edges of the armada. The black, roaring face of the stormcloud bellowed with anger: anger for deeds long since past and generations long since dust sinking into the depths of the ocean. They were his children, and their toys were of tempered steel and tempered hearts.
The pirate vessels sauntered boldly forward. Balistas were cocked, armaments loaded, sails drawn low... and for the briefest moments there was a profound sense of calmness thin as mist across the choppy water. Only the rumble of thunder was felt in the bones of the men and women, and even then it was a strange and distant thing. They waited.
...
And then they glimpsed, just by chance at first. Fireflies in the distance, flickering orbs of rusted orange swept up in the storm's anger. Any eye that beheld them was instinctualy swaddled with parental fondness for the helpless lights. Any time the orbs flickered or sputtered out they gasped, slowly begining to wonder what they were in the first place. The lights arced skyward in a great swarm, descending on the halfling fleets.
From the deck of his galleon, Admiral Davus stood like a statue, the lights of the blazing halfling ships reflected fiercly in his eyes. The cutters in front lost control and swerved into the paths of the following ships. As the rain fell, the fires burst into salty infernos across the sails, the ropes, the deck, the hull... They sank, and the halflings drowned.
"Admiral, orders?!" asked a faceless sailor, one of countless. He had never seen destruction on such a scale. The pet Insuannen stared out from its cage, transfixed with the fire.
"... Full speed ahead."
OOC
The Royal Fleet of The West has landed on the Elder Continent. They begin a campaign to destroy resistance and conquer the natives whose ancestors persecuted their own. Over the course of time, they will spread themselves dangerously thin in the pursuit of Azgo's will.
The intoxicating fragrance of burning sugar and sea salts wafted out from the fireplaces, clinging to the silken pillows scattered about the floor. A score of dwarves wallowed in the smell and licked their fingers with eagerness. They whispered to each other, admiring the pounds of jewelry and elegant tattoos the other had and predicting the best condiments to come. Only one dwarf kept to himself. She was a young, pretty thing robed in black felt and self-consciousness. Her fingers drummed across the low tables, waiting for only Thereus knows what.
She turned to the corpulent dwarf next to her, who seemed entrenched in his own fat. In fact, all of the dwarves were rather large. It was... grotesque to be honest.
"Uhh, excuse me?"
The dwarf met her timid gaze. "Yes?"
"Where is the... silverware?"
The dwarf laughed, though it was a laugh devoid of all humor. It was a booming, cynical laugh that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"I take it this is the first time you've dined with us, isn't it?... There is no silverware." Spit and scorn dribbled down his many chins. "Thereus gave you hands, has he not?! Use them. This is a place free of earthly... civilities. Believe me, in time, you will learn to love it."
A few awkward minutes passed. Sweat collected on her brow and in the palms of her ghost-white hands. Then a handful of servants, each as burly and large as the guests, brought out a chain of plates and bowls and racks of spices. There was no ceremony, no toast or prayer. As soon as the foodstuffs were in arms-reach, they were grappled by grubby fingers and dragged into the maws of the dwarves.
A magnificent array of plates and alcohols were laid across the tables, needing constant replacement. Lightly seared fillets of Crown-bred trout, armfuls of fresh fruits left to soak in dwarven ale, roasted golden chicken stuffed with a winter berry/breadcrumb paste, caramel puddings, sugar crusted nuts, entire heads of lettuce and cups of oil dressing, stinking skin-thin cheese slices... and the alcohol! Oh the brandies, the honeyed meads, the crisp, smoky ales! How many barrels did they have?! There were too many to count.
Leftovers, were pushed sloppily off the table and unto the floor in small piles of skins, oily fats and small bones. Servants crawled under and around the table on their knees, gathering the trash... and swiftly eating it. The floor and tables glistened with cooking oils, and the dwarves glistened with saliva and sweat.
The guest picked distractedly at her food. There was a deep, twisting knot in her stomach, and it certainly wasn't from hunger. She noticed that only one chair was unoccupied, and it was at the head of the table. The chair was remarkably smaller than the plush cushions laid about. The stain of red wine had settled deep into the woodwork.
The guest nudged her neighbor, who seemed to have forgotten that she was here at all. He let out an indignant belch.
"Yes?! What is it? Not enough bird? Or Fish? Just grab it, don't ask me!"
She adjusted her collar nervously, "Umm, no. No. I was wondering... where is... your superior? He invited me here on..." She choked a little on the words he had used. "Casual business."
The dwarf replied through mouthfuls of crunching lettuce.
"Ahhh... So you're not a... I see now. He has... lost the taste for lesser foods. He joins us only in the main course, which should be along after the second round of appetizers."
Appetizers?! By the gods, how much did these criminals eat? And how could they pose such great threat to her family if they were so obsessed with food? She nodded a silent and worried thanks, and waited.
There was no formal announcement of the next food wave. It organically meshed into the meal. Plate by plate the new foods were served and the old ones taken away. The servants, two by two, carried tall cooking pots and placed them between two feasters to share. The lids were removed, and the dim cacophony of a hundred tiny squeaks ringed in the room. Sugar coated hands reached into the pots and drew out a fistful of...
The guest stared wide eyed in disbelief. Surely they didn't mean to...
Litters of domesticated house mice, thin as a feather and still blind. Handful by handful the mice were crammed into the gaping jaws of the dwarfs, and were chewed into a furry paste. Blood gushed out between the lips, and dribbled down the neck and chest. Two of the dwarves began a loud contest as to who could slurp the rat tails down the fastest. With a mug in one hand and a few mice in the other, they established a strong rhythm between the hands. Mice, alcohol, mice, alcohol, mice, caramel for the sweetness... The sizzle of mice rotating over the fireplaces droned into a casual background noise. Mouse tails and peeled pelts littered the floor.
The guest rushed her glass up to her face, and did her best to throw up discreetly. Her skin was flush with cold sweat. Her dwarf companion seemed thoroughly disinterested in the serving.
"How... disappointingly unfilling. I suppose we can't have pork every week."
The charged energy of the feast soon died down as the mice litters ran dry. The pots were carried away, and the trash gathered up with tedious effort. Fingers picked at teeth and patted bellies greasy with blood. The murmuring returned.
Suddenly the guest felt a hand on her shoulder, lightly shaking her from the ravages of her now greenish drink. "He's here. Pay your respects." She jerked upright and frantically scanned the room with bloodshot eyes.
All of the dwarves were bowing toward the end of the table. A young, black-haired dwarf occupied the head chair. He was much thinner than the others, despite his wide silken garb. A thick, earthy perfume radiated out from the clothes. It was rather captivating in its rustic charm. But most beguiling were his eyes. She would not have been surprised to learn that someone had poured liquid silver into his irises and the shadow of a raincloud into his pupils. His voice was soft, but firm, commanding, but calm, otherworldly, but not deranged.
"Greetings, Sergeant Thamril." He paused, as if to let her respond in kind, knowing that she had no words at the moment. Her silence gave him dominance over the conversation.
"Well then, no more pleasantries. I assume we are both very busy. The reports?"
It was phrased as a question, but it was certainly a command. Thamril reached inside her felt and drew out a heavy stack of disorganized papers. A servant grabbed ahold of the papers as soon as she had them out, and rushed them over to the superior. Thamril coughed.
He flipped through them slowly, sometimes rereading the same page for minutes. On the whole though, he seemed strictly bored... as if he had seen these all before, and this was for her benefit more than his own.
"This is... enough. Between the shipment reports and the delivery of the Captain, you have held up your end of the bargain. Your family will remain untouched by my agents as long as they do not openly defy us. Oh, but you look so... pale. Now is a time of celebration! You've done oh so very well."
He was toying with her, she could see that. Not that she had much flexibility in the matter however. This was a horrid place for disagreements. He raised his hands, and clapped once. His eyes glowed with hunger.
"Bring out the main course."
A few servants could be heard dragging something, something much larger than a pot of mice. With a heavy grunt, they threw a bound and gagged dwarven elder unto the table. His stock white beard was matted with blood. His wild eyes locked with Thalmir's, accusingly and fearfully.
Sergeant Thalmir frantically rose to her feet. Her voice cracked.
"What's the meaning of this?! You said-"
"-That I wouldn't dare lay even a finger on him? That he would be returned to you when all of this was over? That I did. And I am a... man... of my word. Brothers, sisters, please... Indulge yourselves."
Thalmir tried to move, but she couldn't. Her legs buckled, her hands felt stuck to the table. She watched on in horror as the guests crawled across the table and fell on the Captain. They gorged themselves with the malevolent eyes of the superior looming over them all. The sloshing, the slurping, the sucking on marrow... Thalmir hoped that any moment she would wake up.
Minutes passed, and the head of the late captain, still intact, rolled across the table until it stopped on her wide open plate. The superior grinned wickedly.
"Next time I recommend you do not falsify any report you send me. I find dishonesty so... vexing. I want the entire guard roster and patrol schedules by the end of the week. Understood?"
Thamril nodded, unable to draw her gaze away from her plate. She would never forget. Never.
"Yes... of course."
The superior's gaze returned to its satiated elegence. Hundreds of years had marked those eyes, and a thousand feasts. Eventually they lose any sense of violence, of murder. Eventually one plate is as good as another.
"Yes, what?" he asked. The table fell silent.
...
"Yes, King Hassan."
(((((HIghly irregular, but an OOC bump in the IC to help people refind this)))))
OOC
I hope this makes sense... I'm rather jet-lagged (my brain thinks it is 4 AM or so). Anyways, two suns/colors to go. By the time the sun that Azgo has starts to rise from the Abyss, we should be on the last sun on the internal battle.
Edit: Apparently I am very wrong about things, and this is the second to last sun.
Azgo concentrated for a moment, reaching out into the ehther with the pulsating of his blood. Out from the Abyss, out from the western coast, out from the miles and miles of land... untill he felt a kinly pulse far out in the world. A drop of his blood, a carving of his mark... An old promise.
Azgo waved his hand, and the wall of water that had been the entrance for the dragons opened up once more. Steam from the water obscured its destination, and it wavered like a curtain in a storm. There was power on the other side... a terrible power. He straightened his back, and slowly began walking forward. The claok of shadows was falling away from him, shroud by shroud unwravelling the horror of a dying god before the guests. The Abyss whsipered with wrath, with conviction, with the powers of gods. every soul within the Abyss turned their head, every soul waited with bated breath, every soul strained to see through the blighted rock and ice and undergrowth to see The Crowned in Blood, The True Heir, The Wounded One, The Fused God, return... return to finish what he had started.
"The way is open, my warrior. It will take you... home. The sun will rise on your arrival, and it will light your way. Hatred give you strength... and Love..." Azgo stopped. He was right in front of the vaporous veil. His shadow was gone, and all the twisted blood and organs were visable through the shell of his armor. With one hand he drew the Grand Scepter from within his skeletal frame. With the other, he struck a single finger through...
"Love give you duty."
Azgo walked through. And he stood on the outskirts of the battlefeild, ready. Ready to put an end to this menace of the gods once and for all.
~The Abyss~
And it rose, a radiant orb in the strange light of the Abyss, breaking free of wherever it had been trapped and travelling... up.
Morenth. That is our way out. We follow the sun and keep it safe as it rises. Cantorix still seems stunned by his rebirth. Keep him with us. Now, we fly!
Paren took to the air, the other dragons following behind him, nudging and pushing Cantorix to follow them. They reached the orb, and followed it closely.
Suddenly, the very air of the Abyss seemed to warp and tremble about them, and a tear of... something... appeared above. They rose through the hole, and found themselves back in the sea of acid. But where before the sea had threated to destroy them, the sun protected them, keeping the acid waters away. The orb continued to rise.
Paren looked down and saw Azgo look up and meet his gaze for a moment. As Azgo stepped through his portal, Paren felt a strong pulling sensation...
~The World~
And suddenly, the Abyss was gone. Paren dropped like a stone for a few moments before regaining his composure, and looking down at the earth. Immediately, he saw why he was here.
Ka'Vah.
Thousands of craterspawn swarmed the behemoth-born balors, not driving them back but at least stopping them from moving forward. More and more poured out of the skyward portal and unto the battlefield below like water crashing on rocks a hundred feet below. The land was a torn husk, broken up into a valley of gorges and impacts from rampagin balors. And the few villages... they were barely landmarks anymore. They were graveyards and vestiges of the protection of the Firstborn.
Ash fell and was swept up in the powerful currents created by hordes of flying angels, sprinkling the ground like rain. The sky was dark, save for a single light that cast an unholy glow over all the blackened feathers of the corrupted angels. The stench of death and burnt flesh wafted in the air. The serpent of smoke looked out over the carnage, subtly content. Its eyes glowed with green, flickering light. The Eclipse Aflame...
Something caught his eye. Was it another balor, who succeeded in breaking through the defenses?! Ka'Vah moved down to strike out at the intruder, only to recognize him as... distinctly dragonlike. Whatever it was, it was no balor. But there was a kinship between them... the power of ancient fire, and the shadows of smoke and ash. A servant of Agni, perhaps?
"You there! Has Agni or Zebus sent you? Tell your master that I have rallied my old master's aid! The battle is ours!!"
~The World~
Paren stared at the war below, noting that the craterspawn of Azgo were attacking the Balors which the Azure dragons had fought long and hard against. Indeed, Paren saw even now that some of the Azures had joined with the craterspawn, lending advice (as much as it could be given) and flying attacks against their foes.
Perhaps Azgo, and his minions, are beneficial, in their own way. He mused aloud, as he spotted Ka'Vah, whose body strangely mirrored his own, rising towards him. The exarch greeted him, and Paren replied.
I do not serve Agni, even though he brought me to life. Why would I serve him who may or may not even know of my existence? I serve my kind, and my kind alone. It appears you have this situation well under control. I would thank you... But I have made a deal.
With a slash of claw, Paren attacked Ka'Vah, hoping to end the battle quickly. Unfortunately for him, the Eclipse Aflame danced back, hissing in surprise and pain as shallow red tracings appeared in his smoke.
Your true master sends his greetings.
"My true... you mean Azgo..."
Ka'Vah's eyes glowed with fury, and his smoke swirled with the currents created by thousands of flapping craterspawn wings. His form seemed to have doubled in size, and it loomed over the battlefeild.
"HOW DARE YOU!! AFTER ALL I HAVE DONE?! I fought for him at the Eternal Volcano! I defended him when Veros and the angels invaded! I was his greatest creation! Do you even know who I am?!" The wind grew thick with smoke and turbulent ash. A storm had formed around the pair of them, speperating them from the battle below.
"I am the bane of all dragons! I am the one who felled the orcs! I saved Agni, an elder god, from death itself! I know of only destruction! I Am destruction! I am a god! I am the Death of Fire, The Last Gasp of Flame, The Harbinger of Ash and Smoke!"
The serpent god slithered forward in a fierce, windblown pattern like a fork of lightning. Green fire arced across his back and sides, and his fangs were of sickness and disease.
"BE STILL AND DIE! KA'VAH DEMANDS IT!"
OOC
Bah. Okay, just moving along the main plot...
"For Agni?!" Ka'Vah spat, his eyes blazing like a wildfire. "I betrayed Azgo for myself! I was his battle-slave, his champion, but Azgo was weak. He still is! He wants peace! He wants a world where there is no more battle, no pain. War serves itself, justifies itself. Where is the joy in peace, waiting for war to return?! Where is perfection if the weak are not weeded out and the strong remain?! Peace is a fool's errand. The only worthy goal is yourself! Agni understood that, but I serve him no longer! I am free from my bondage to the gods; I serve only my own ends!"
Ka'Vah lashed out again, barely missing. He fell back in a defensive feint, and when Paren was about to speak Ka'Vah charged again. it was a glancing blow, but some of the fire within Paren dwindled inside of him, wreathed in Ka'Vah's corruption. He slithered away, waiting for its full effect.
"Ha! You're much too predictable, like all other dragons. The Eternal Volcano proved that. Azgo truely has disappointed me if you are the best he could muster!"
The battle below was breaking down. The craterspawn flocks were becoming wild, undisciplined, without Ka'Vah's oversight. The balors were breaking up the walls that seperated them, made them weak. A few broke loose of the edges, and attacked the craterspawn on their flanks. But there were true legions of them, and they did not slow down in the slightest.
Paren coughed twice after Ka'Vah's attack, feeling his foe's taint seeping into himself. He pushed that little bit of ash-self far away from his core. That would, at least, buy him some time.
The Azgo you describe is not the Azgo that I met. Peace? He who sent the Craterspawn hordes, and You, and allowed them to rampaged over creation? Who stood by and did nothing as life after life was snuffed out? Who, even now, prepares to invade the world once more? I do not know what peace you speak of, Ka'Vah, but Azgo assuredly does not seek it.
Now I. I seek peace. You seek to destroy peace. Therefore, I must destroy you. I will deal with Azgo... somehow... later.
Paren darted forward, then spun in a manner impossible for normal dragons, wings briefly blurring into the rest of his form as he reversed himself in midflight. Talons of obsidian raked downwards, scoring a blow along the back of the Eclipse Aflame. Sadly, however, it was not a death blow.
Do not consider me like other dragons, Ka'Vah. You will find that your undoing.
And somewhere, deep within Paren, something... darker... began to stir.
Ka'Vah grimaced... just a little, and then he grined widly. Finally! Perhaps this dragon-god was worth some sport after all! Ka'Vah lived for the battle, for the challenge, for the Glory. He coiled back, drifting between the clouds with only the palest of green lights, waiting for a good opportunity. He had to be careful, and he liked that.
"Hahaha... You are more than you appear... Did Azgo truely send you? I see his... touch in you. The same taste of death, of sickness. But you are my beginings, a feeble recreation of the glory that is Ka'Vah. You deserve death, as all who seek peace do. Disagree as you may, but Azgo does indeed want peace. I know... otherwise I would have stayed."
The swirling of the cloud grew thicker, and multiple smoky forms of Ka'Vah appeared, sticking serpentine heads out from the storm winds. The ash was falling like snow. He had to wait him out... let the corruption break him down...
"He believes war must serve peace. That the blood shed in the invasions will prevent even more deaths over the course of millenia in an imperfect world. That a few must suffer for the good of the future."
Paren laughed bitterly, then spoke in a vicious tone.
I am your beginnings? Hardly. I am no puff of acrid smoke pulled over the still-living body of a child. Azgo revealed much about you, Ka'Vah, including your origin. Tell me, was it as hard as Azgo made it sound to subdue that tiny Spark that is your core? It is an insult to compare me to you. To even think that you would-
Paren watched Ka'Vah carefully, and dived out of the way as Ka'Vah lashed out, roaring in anger and rage.
There! He thought to himself, breathing out a blast of superhot stone that passed through Ka'Vah, but left angry red welts throughout the dark miasma.
But a sharp pain in his side told him that Ka'Vah had also been successful, although given the angle, he could not determine how serious the injury was. Not life-threatening, for sure.
Is that all that you can do? Paren's voice hissed inside Ka'Vah's head.
Ka'Vah tried to speak, tried to taunt Paren... goad him into wasting time as the poisen concentrated... But he was too angry. Much too angry. He didn't say another word, only hissing with indignant hate. He was done skirmishing... This... this dragon-god would learn what war truely meant. What slaughter meant... Ka'Vah payed no attention to his own wounds.
As soon as he had struck he circled back, winding around and passing through himself in a secondary attack. Every attack was the setup for another, every motion was a blurr of twisting smoke as Ka'Vah began coiling around Paren, lashing out in a flurry of fangs and arcing fire. It was as if a great heavenly serpent hadwrapped itself about a mouse, squeezing inward and injecting enough venom to fell a horse with every successful bite. But even more infuriating than the dragon-upstart was... someone else. A pale, distant sound beneath the ragin winds and thescreams of gods. It was ... laughter. Scorch...
Ka'Vah screamed with fury! Enough!! Enough with this parasite! Ka'Vah wopuld not be chained to him any longer! And as Ka'Vah fought Paren, factions of smoky legions turned inward, intent on slaying the Agni'Vodha. Galewinds tore the smoke and the ashen clouds apart, scattering the fumes across the battlefeild. It was dark, and angels danced with hunger in the shadows...
ooc
What happened to different color'd texts?
~Inside the Mind of a God~
And Agni saw.
As his body tumbled towards the earth, grappling with, burning and being scratched into a thousand pieces by the talons of the final Godbeast, he saw in quick flashes the despair and pain of the world below, and knew in his core that these were not the decietful whispers of TASOE, but reality.
He saw the Azer, trapped beneath a lake of ice, fighting one another, strings pulled by malevolent entities from beyond this plane.
He saw the Dwarves, who believed themselves safe in their mountain homes, slowly being infiltrated by beings who thrived on pain and death.
He saw the Elves, their culture stagnating as conflicts rose between the four remaining kingdoms.
He saw the Nix, leaderless and lost.
He saw the Agni'Vohda, his first creations, cowering in their smoking and deformed volcano.
He saw the world turning to worship of Azgo.
Agni's flowing arms struck at the Zizu, burning off large swaths of feathers and charring the skin and muscle beneath, trying desparately to kill his foe despite the flashes of pain that came up to him from below. The two beings, evenly matched, fought and fell.
~The Abyss~
The Sun continued rising, punching a temporary hole through the 'sky' of the acid ocean, burning away foilage in the deadly forest, and bringing bright illumination to the dark cave before punching free into the Great Beyond. Morenth and the other dragons followed, herding Cantorix before them, trying to deal with his increasingly angry lunges and bellows.
And the sun continued to go... up.
~Paren/Ka'Vah Fight~
The fight continued, Paren taunting Ka'Vah, and the other lashing out with increasing anger, but beings with nearly the powers of Gods could fight for a long, long time. And so they did, neither able to score a decisive blow against the other.
Paren, however, was confused and concerned. The early portion of this fight had been a desparate fight for Paren's own survival, with Ka'Vah's lifetime of combat giving him a distinct, and deadly, advantage. This latter portion had been... different. As if Ka'Vah was... distracted, just enough to make this a fair and even fight. Paren tried to press his advantage, looping and arcing, fighting and flying, dissapearing into a cloud of ash only to reform after Ka'Vah's attack had passed through the space where he just was. Paren trumpeted in joy as he once more managed to score a long line of red down the side of the smoke-serpent.
But it would not last. Somewhere deep within himself, Paren knew that eventually, Ka'Vah would recover. If not, this battle was going far too slowly, and the poison was creeping up his tail.
~ Confluence of the Gods ~
Azgo arrived to see... he wasn't quite sure. Agni floated, near motionless, in the air, next to the likewise still body of... an unknown god? Azgo couldn't be sure.
Swirling about them both was the storm of petals that had been his beacon to this remote place.
"You are late, firstsssssss." came the whispery voice of the Lord of Prophecy.
Sa sounded... frustrated? Outwitted? It was always hard to tell with that one.
"Have you ever fought one of the godbeastsssssss?"
~ The Mind of Agni ~
The Zizu broke off its furious assault, and began to circle, vulturine, as Agni continued to fall. The deeper his despair, the faster he crossed the infinite distance towards the yawning expanse of the earth.
He should give up. Embrace the sweet oblivion of death. All he had to do was close his eyes and fall.
((OOC: Because I can't colorize this font appropriately, just know that these are TASOE whispers, and not Agni's thoughts))
It would be... so easy.
~Paren/Ka'Vah~
Paren's tail felt sluggish, the ash moving in a torpor under the influence of Ka'Vah's poison. At the same time, it pulsed with its own rhythm, similar to how Paren's heart had beat once, when he had had a mortal body.
The fact that something was beating deep within his chest, pulsing in time with the poison was something Paren was explicitly trying to keep from his mind as he fought. No distractions, no second guessing, no TIME for any of that.
There was only time for instantanous thought and reaction as the two exarchs fought with blinding speed and precision, bodies of ash and smoke twisting into unnatural shapes that barely recalled the dragon and serpent that they were. Their forms flashed by one another, nearly touching, straining to hit with enhanced claws and teeth and magics. Around them, the storm of their fighting whirled with dark anger, spitting lightning at the fighting Craterspawn and Balor warriors, dealing indiscriminate death and incapacitation to both sides.
But neither appeared to be able to score a hit on the other. Eventually, one of them would make a mistake, but until that point, Paren realized, they would simply have to fight on.
~In the Mind of a God~
Agni fell, but as the Zizu broke away, the voice of TASOE grew... softer. Its weight still settled on Agni's thoughts like a heavy shroud, but while despair was still the primary emotion, the lessening of TASOE's influence allowed that despair to be joined by another emotion.
My siblings are dead. I have seen them, eaten by TASOE, living a half-life. I must avenge them.
The races of this world suffer under the assaults of TASOE. I must avenge them.
The suns of this world were snuffed and dark. I must re-
The Zizu slammed into him, talons gripping him and shoving him downwards. TASOE's voice roared in his head, driving out all thought.
DIE! The Spirits/Zizu screamed.
Agni hit the earth, and broke.
~Paren/Ka'Vah~
Paren suddenly felt as if a cold hand had gripped his soul, and for the briefest of moments, he faltered in a turn.
It was the opening that both sides had been waiting for. Ka'Vah lashed out, sinking his jaws deep into the chest of Paren and ripping out a large chunk of ashy matter.
Paren staggered backwards, knowing he was mortally wounded, feeling his body starting to shut down.
He had lost.
~Confluence of the (remaining) Divines~
Suddenly Agni began to move. His many eyes began to glow hot once more, and he spun to regard the still and floating God before him.
Begone, inferior shell. TASOE said, words sliding like an eel through the minds of Sa and Azgo.
Agni opened his mouths, and white-hot fire lanced into the comatose form before him. Within seconds, it was reduced to cinders. Agni/TASOE turned back towards Sa, and noticed Azgo for the first time.
Ah. I was wondering when you would arrive. You, who were my first and most perfect creation. You who have caused so much pain and suffering in this world. I am proud of you.
Son.
~The Great Beyond~
And in the darkness of the Great Beyond, three dragons herded a fourth, following an orb that seemed to keep traveling... up.
Azgo paused... no... he faultered. He had been ready for battle, ready to weild the power that had wounded and destroyed gods, rasied entire continents out of sheer will, nd endured suffering only a few entities could fathom let alone survive. He had been waiting for this moment, to end this comsic parasite and destroy the weakened Agni in the aftermath. He had been ready for war.
Was Agni dead? ...
Something told Azgo that he was not. No, Pruinus was not dead either... They were gone. Not dead, non-existant.
His grip loosened, and his weight was off-balance. With eyes both seeing and blind the Crowned in Blood stared into the pitch heart of something that no mortal could call a god and no god could call sibling. In all his pain, Azgo shuddered with a coil of repulsion that was not HATE... and not LOVE... but something even deeper than those... something so primal it was the backbone of divinity and mortality, the groundwork of creation. Its name was unknown to Azgo... but he had always known it...
And only in its wake did HATE arise and take control.
"... I.... I am no son of yours, Parasite! You insult the First with your very presence, and wound its memory! The First demands your annihilation, and I obey, as I always have."
Azgo tightened his grip, advancing slowly towards what felt like an abyss in the Plan. Creation had been waiting for this moment, all this time. This crossroads of truths and half-truths, shadows and flickering, dimming lights... and perhaps there was no truth... no, nothing at all. And that was the abyss... perhaps.
~Confluence~
An indulgent laugh, wholy uncongruous with Agni's nature, rolled from the God.
My dearest child, who do you think you are speaking to? Whose drum do you think you have been marching to since the moment you crashed into this gloriously nihilistic experiment, screaming with the pain of your birth?
I am the FIRST.
A brief frown rippled across the many faces of the posessed god as it looked around at the knights who surrounded it. Its eyes met the 'core' of Sa's essence
Are these meant to scare me? I spent a long time preparing this body as my receptacle. I doubt those lances will pierce diamond.
Azgo stopped... staggering across the ground like a fledgling bird unfamiliar with the rididity of its legs. Blood seeped effortlessly out from his brow in streams that could drown herds of cattle. The Grand Scepter fell to the ground with a crash. The world spun in eldritch patterns, impossible patterns.
Azgo struggled to regain his sense of place... his sense of being. All the words of the First, verse after verse, chapter after chapter, volume after volume, library upon library... entire civilizations could not contain the words that Azgo had memorized and had not understood. And while he was drowning in words, Azgo could see... flecks of letters adrift in the currents. Like bubbles crashing against the rocky shores.
He mumbled... the god of HATE and LOVE who had commanded legions and sworn the strongest of oaths with his voice had been reduced to mumbling.
"Ex-expirment?... No, no. You lie, foreign spirits. I will not be tempted. The FIRST does not falter, and neither do I."
Azgo grabbed ahold of his maul, but he could not lift it. He couldn't concentrate... too many words... too many....
Falter? What a strange word for such a glorious result. This is no failure, Azgo. This is the culmination of the purpose for which I created this entire universe.
TASOE's voice took on a pedantic tone, as if explaining something to a particularly slow idiot who had then fallen on his head and gotten the wits knocked out of him.
My experiment, Child, was not one of whether or not I could succeed, for I was certain I could. No. My experiment tested the magnitude of my victory. I have caused such suffering on this world.
Flashes raced through the minds of Azgo and Sa: The suns being plucked from the sky, the Godbeasts, the insinuations and interference of his avatars.
One by one, the Gods of this world have wandered from their kin, wandered away from the safety and protection of each other, and in the dark silence of their lonliness. I was there.
Flashes of enslaved or dead Gods The Smith, a skeleton beneath the mountain, the Mountain, dead, but not before a life of slavery. Darkness itself, twisted and lined with green corruption. Corruption, laced with black darkness. The God Marcus, dead protecting Agni. Death himself, comatose in his palace Beyond the World. And Leaf, ash and dust, as his avatar Thorn stumbled across the tundra, rotting from within.
And where I was not, you were there, my Son. Fulfilling my will. Spreading my desires.
Flashes: The world suffering under the Craterspawn assault. The predations of the worshipers of Azgo. Pruinus, dying.
And now only the Petal-wisp remains. Come, Azgo. Let us kill the final godling, and bring all of this to a final Completion.
Azgo weeezed and heaved for breath, shaking on his knees. He felt himself almost unraveling... being stripped apart. The edges of his mind were growing dark.
"...No... No, the First did not create suffering... It hated suffering, as I have HATED it... suffering was a consquence of the Firstborn betrayal, a symptom of imperfection... I fought imperfection with imperfection, any ... suffering wrought on anyone was for good of the whole... Tens of thousands died so... so millions could live innocent of pain and sickness and deciet."
More and more words flooded his soul... countless words that made the stars envious in number. The names of every creature, the actions they would take and the consquences it would bring, the thoughts of the gods, the movement of every drop of water and every grain of sand in the wind. The nature of creation and destruction, existence and non-existence, the plan of all other creations, parallel in form and different. And every few thousand libraries a fleck of a letter fell off from its page, drifting away. In the sea of ink, pulsating with touch of TASOE, these flecks glowed with the gentleness of candlelight. They were forming something... swarming together...
Azgo's voice gained a new quality of strength, a hollow quality... duty to a god he had barely known. A god who had abandoned him. But it was a strength all the same. Black, vile organs shifted against the presence of TASOE. Every fiber was ready, begging for war. But the soul... the soul was so quiet, so alone...
"I suffered because the Firstborn hated... me, were jealous, greedy, callous... and ... foolish. And then ... I endured, for the FIrst gave me strength! I endured, for I am AZGO, THE TRUE HEIR! LIES DO NOT WEAKEN ME! THE TRUTH IS IN ME, FOR I WAS THE ONE WHO OBEYED!"
Azgo managed to stand to his feet, leaning heavily on nothing... his heads spinning with words and visions and growing darker. His armor was tattered and piecemeal, his maul still laying on the ground.
Oh yes. You obeyed. Like a little marionette on strings, you danced in response to my every action. You have seen the other Firstborn...
Agni spun in midair as if pushed by an unseen hand.
You have interacted with them on many occasions. Do you really still believe them capable of the things you claim of them? They could barely stand one another, and their 'solutions' were always ones of excess and overwhelming force, not the delicate and special care it took to force two beings into a single body. That took a skilled hand, a careful hand...
My hand. Look at the 'perfect plan' that I gave you long ago. Is it truly what you think it is? Or is it, too, designed to fail? Accept it, Azgo. I planned this from the start, and now, it reaches its final conclusion.
...
Azgo fell.
...
Within Az'go's fragile Psyche, a single image flashed briefly, then flashed again and again, one thousand flashes of infintisimal insight, a zoetrope of thought that forced its way to the forefront of his reeling mind by tenacity and sheer volume alone.
It was a simple image: that of a wilted lotus petal. In his more lucid moments, Az'go would recognize it as the Mark of Corruption he had bequeathed to the Petal-God Sa.
Sa.
Sa.
Sa.
The litany of the god's name helped steady his mind. It had been so very long ago. Why had he given that enigmatic god such a token of his affection.
Sa. Sa. Sa.
It was a choice... no, that wasn't quite it. A promise. Of what once had been.
A promise of what could have been; Of two gods, whole and perfect.
Sa. Sa. Sa.
A promise of what still might be.
What say you, lord of hatredsssssss?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I planned this from the start, and now, it reaches its final conclusion.
The perfect triumph of TASOE's crowing monologue, voiced through Agni's bellowing flames, was marred as six slender lances stabbed into his/it's body, easily penetrating the diamond exterior, and quickly fusing with the divine quintessence of both. For the lances were not meant for physical harm -- they had never been. For these lances, in truth, spokes of raw mana, were like nails in the coffin of an iron-maiden -- designed only to anchor the prisoner within the prison.
Then let Sa alone stand against your machinationsssssss. For Sa is not of your experimentsssssss, but of realmsssssss far beyond your machinationsssssss. Sa regretsssssss the sacrifice of the god of flamesssssss, but acknowledgesssssss it as part of necessary measuresssssss.
The Orihana Knights fled, their duty done, and Sa, Lord of Promise and Prophecy, Steward of Magic and Guest from Beyond, Sa alone stood defiant, untarnished by the influence of TASOE. Ten thousand petals spread to fill the space and so to, was Sa -- everywhere and nowhere.
On the ground, hands buried deep into the earth, Azgo wept as his hearts slowed in their beating. The agony, the churning and twisting of his flesh... the splitting, jagged bone and blighted marrow... the unquenchable fire in his blood that scalded and froze the tissue it contacted... the pain he had endured for eons, the pain that he had hated and loved... it was too much now. He could no longer control it... he didn't want to control it.
It had been worthless, for TASOE was truthful. Azgo knew. He had been...
Wrong.
All the people he had killed, the thousands he had slaughtered. Their corpses scattered across the feilds of blood to outnumber the maggots that feasted on them. The orphans, the windows, the widowers, the childless, the lonely...
Wrong.
The villages and the cities that he had crushed under heel. The host of civilizations devouted to his rival siblings that had once been gardened, pillared monuments not of astral glory, but of mortal cooperation in spite of hardship, in spite of imperfection, empty and ruined now. The shattered husk of imperfection's best attempt to make something from nothing...
Wrong.
The angelic abominations that encircled the sky, bound by flesh and bloodlust. Their souls and minds stripped to the very core and broken into feral monstrosities and bred in legions to rival the teardrops shed on the face of the world. Their lifelessness a mockery not of Leaf, but of purity and sanctity, irredeemable...
Wrong.
Azgo wept, shaking nd coughing as the agony gripped ahold of his lungs and crushed them. A sudden chill of memory, colder than the depths of the ether itself wormed up his spine. Azgo cried out, his voice broken as a man's... a mortal's... "Pruinus, forgive me. I... love you... more than anything..." And Azgo wimpered, for he knew that she could never hear him. He longed to cradle her, one last time. To crawl into her arms and perish. For she had never betrayed him... she was innocent. They were all innocent... Firstborn... Innocent... a second tremendous wave of pain forked through his body, not in the flesh but in the soul. Azgo... had betrayed them. He was the True Monster, the Murderer of Gods, the Dutiful Son. The First commanded, and he had obeyed. The First had abandoned him, the First had twisted him into... into this... this abomination of a god, a wound in creation. The First had never loved Azgo... never understood him. It had broken him, and he was worthless.
The flecks of the letters were floating in the sea of ink, moving across the thousands of faces of TASOE embedded in the shadows of the plutionian ichor that was the ink of the Plan. They swarmed around him, embracing him. The pain... it was too much. Azgo cried out, "Why, First? Why did you not love me?" Colors of the planet danced across even his blind eyes, drowned in the blackness of the ink. The Everlasting Volcanoe. The Crown. Long unbroken mountain chains. Lonely islands buffeted by the fingers of the sea. Blighted marshes and undergrowth corrupted into rot. The burning lands streaked with pitch and ash and littered with the bones of dragons. An empty garden with screaming flowers. Shades of life and death and movement. The calls of worship and praise, hailing the names of TASOE. All of creation spun and moved about Azgo. No single image or sound was left intact by the next. A cacophony of defeat, of worthlessness...
He felt himself falling, falling into the horrifying jaws of truth, crunching into the fiber of his former hopes, his convictions that had damned so many. His powers split like bursting membranes. His pain enraptured his entirty. His sense of self only lingered by in a purposeless stagger. He was lost, and his betrayer in everlasting victory. Guilt enwrapped his mind, and dragged The Blood Crowned into nothingness, promising him that there was nothing left at all. There was no hope. Azgo was the Betrayer.
"I'm am so sorry, my siblings, I am sorry for... everything. I... regret everything. Forgive me, siblings! Forgive me!"
The sea of ink poured out from his mind and into his eyes and his body, flooding his veins and muscles and cavities with the trillions of trillions of words written in moments. Azgo shuddered, and was still, tears of ink stained on his cheeks.
Azgo endured no longer.
Agni cursed as Sa dissapated.
Do you think that you can hide, Petal-wisp? Do you think that you can outrun the being who orchestrated all of creation? COME BACK HERE!
A wave of magma exploded from the mouths of Agni, sweeping outwards and striking at the dissapating flowers. Beneath the gathered Gods, the earth cracked and buckled, the magma beneath the earth forcing its way to the surface in an instant, sending red-hot rocks streaming into the atmosphere only to crash down all across the world within moments, setting fire to forests, destroying homes of stone and wood alike and devastating fields.
And the magma began to spread from the Crack in the World, flowing outwards...
~The Great Beyond~
"We're nearly there! Just a bit more! Morenth cried out, feeling more than seeing the distance between them and home shrinking.
2 AP: Mold land: A massive rent in the earth opens up and magma pours out.
20 AP Denourish... everything. Burning stones fall all over the world, causing untold amounts of destruction.
~The Crown Valley~
As stones and roiling lava tundered against the countryside, the humans of The Crown cried out, not in deliverence, but in rage. Here again was the baleful hand of the gods. Where was Artun, their patron, silent for countless millenia?
Ancient structures of a long-decrepit civilization shattered amidst the storm of molten rain, leaving nothing but dust and rotting phantasms.
~The Western Contintent~
Az'go!
The great rain of chaos struck across the globe, and even here, on the far edge of the opposite side of the world, the wrath of TASOE was felt. Throngs of Az'go's faithful took to the streets; some chanted, seeking solace in this age of endings, others simply pillaged and looted, with Az'go's name a thankful charm, blessing the panic. But regardless their intent, prayers they were, and so were delievered to the god of Hate and Love.
Az'go!
~The Frigid North~
The Northern Light shone silver in warning as the storm of burning rock battered the glaciers and sundered the perfect surface of the icy tundra.
The elves halls had long been vacant, and their thrones of ice and furs whithered, cracked, chipped, and was washed away by TASOE's assault.
~The Battle~
Az'go.
One does not hate the sword for cutting.
Az'go.
We forgive you.
Az'go.
~Another Battle~
Paren gasped a final gasp, and felt his conciousness fading as his death raced closer and closer. Thoughts became sluggish, his perception of the outside world grew dim and dark as he watched Ka'Vah give a triumphant and exuberant bellow of victory. Paren's mind thought about the other dragons, hoped they would be safe and return the sun to the heavens, and knew, as the thought dripped molasses-slow through his psyche, that it would be up to them to finish this particular fight... somehow. With that thought finished, Paren simply... let go.
And in letting go, let something else free. Locked deep within Paren's body and mind, the 'gift' of Azgo finished gestating and broke free once the exarch's mind failed.
A Rhemoraz head, lined with the corruption of the One-Who-Is-Both-Love-And-Hate, burst forth from the chest of Paren, teeth sinking into a surprised and unprepared Ka'Vah. The Eclipse Aflame lashed out with all of its might, sending poison and death into the still-emerging Rhemorhaz. Both beast and exarch cried out in pain as their respective poisons worked on one another, feeding off of each other's corrupted essence and growing stronger and stronger. Around them, the storm grew stronger and stronger, feeding on their rage as the two combatants struggled to kill the other before they themselves were killed. As both, mortally wounded, began to die, their bodies were ripped apart by the storm, both preventing the other from escaping.
And then, both were gone, their bodies ripped apart by the stormwinds. But the storm did not die. Within the storm, the conciousnesses of the Rhemorhaz and Ka'Vah raged on, attacking each other with lightning and thunderous roars.
So the storm continued, moving at a glacial pace across the landscape as the essences of Beast and Destroyer continued to fight. Beneath them, their fury was visited to the land itself in the form of torrential rains, hurricane winds and flashing lightningbolts. Woe to any in their path.
4 AP: Command... Atmosphere: The Everstorm is born. A slow-moving hurricane that travels a few feet per day and visits absolute devastation on anything beneath it. We're talking 200 MPH winds, a foot or more of rain a day, and lightning... all over the place. The only real option when it comes towards you is to simply get out of the way... and stay out of the way for the next few decades.
Prayers move not dead gods.
And Azgo... was unmoved. The pleas of the hopeless, the thanks of the brutal, the demands of the confused, the curses of the angry... they fell on deaf ears. The Crowned in Blood had been striped of his sovereignty, and the blood with which he proved his authority had been replaced with the ichor of empty, deceitful words. Ink continued to pour out of the corpse, staining the battleground a penetrating plutonian black. All was still, unmoving and permanent... as TASOE knew it would be. It had tried, but Azgo had been made to be weak... to be... fragile. He was broken. Gone.
...
Almost.
It was a powerful word, not for its letters, and not for its ink, but for the omen it symbolized and the power vested in its hope and hopelessness. For while Azgo was gone... an essence was not. This essence was only mostly dead... gliding smoothly across the back currents of pain and death into the oblivion that shut its gates to all mortalkind. The final abyss...
Stirring. Something stirred, refusing to die and knowing that it would have to. It wormed and writhed across the vast emptiness untill years, nay, centuries had passed within the void. As the deaceds passed upon the sea of ink, calm now with the rest of dead hearts, flecks of letters sparkled in the dark. And not knowing why, the boatman laboured across the seas of fading emptiness to collect them as they floated. They were trinkets really... flashes of light in a dark, dark place. A soft spot on sore eyes, not that it mattered. In the face of oblivion, nothing really mattered. But it was... comforting to collect them regardless, if only to embrace that tiny sliver of light.
In their own way, they were painful to collect, for shards of memory were woven into those lights, were their source. The pain made them brighter in the swallowing darkness.
The first time Azgo had looked on Pruinus' face. The words of an old, timeless prayer. The caress of the sun on his peeling, wretched skin. A few, brief moments when the pain was... managable, pleasantly distant. A look of respect... understanding, in Paren's eyes.
The essence sighed, feeling itself dying. There was nothing left. Nothing to turn back to, no home. There had never been a home really. TASOE... TASOE had one. There was little anger in the essence, little hate or love. Just... exhaustion. It had been living far longer than it should have. The essence gathered up the letter flecks, embracing them tightly in a wreath of light... the only light... in the darkness. The only comfort in a cold ocean of ink. It squeezed tighter and tighter, getting ready to let go... of more than just the light. It was time...
The essence paused... and with one last ounce of strength, drank in the pain of the flecks as well as the sweetness, the warmth. But underneath the arms, as the result of one last clutch for comfort, the flecks of light and letter did something they had never done in all the years adrift. They swarmed together once again. The essence cowered in fear, not knowing what to expect.
It was a message. A message that Azgo could never hear. A message that was as against Azgo as... betrayal was. A simple message. The essence opened its eyes, struggling to read in the sudden shower of light that nearly blinded it. The light was as harsh as steel, and soft as the petals of a lotus.
BEGINING
The essence stared at the word, lost. A... begining? A begining of what? No, no... it was too late for beginings. TASOE had made the begining, and now it was an end...
... Almost.
The essence paused again, feeling something so small that it could not compare to the sliver of a shadow of a hairsbreadth. But it was something... new. No, not new.
NEW
The light intensified and so too did the feeling. The essence looked around, frightened... and enraptured. All that it had known was darkness. The darkness of TASOE's Plan, which had covered the entirity of the void in irreversible blackness. And this blackness, it was too sick to cure, to dark to remove. It was permanent. But this light, it did not cover the blackness, it did not banish the darkness. It remade the void in its image. The darkness was not being destroyed, but made anew. What had been a speck was now the shimmering of all the stars in all the world and more. It was beautiful... it was new. The essence suddenly dove into the light, and was drown in a sea not of ink but lucid astral crystal. And reflected in that crystal, the joyfuly weeping essence saw something, saw a thousand copies of it. A promise of what could have been; Of two gods, whole and perfect.
PERFECT
A new HATE. HATE not of imperfection and disloyalty to the FIrst, but of all the wickedness and cruelty it embodied and cast into the world, of its betrayal of him and the mortals for amusement.
A new LOVE. LOVE not of the First, but of everything it was not, of the power of mortals despite the Plan, of the glories and pains of life that gave it value and the choices that gave it meaning.
The corpse of Azgo moved. The continual pouring and seeping of ink rushed with the pressure of something NEW inside of it, beyond it. The corpse violently shook, the bones rattled in their place, the muscles vibrated, and then the seams that had kept all the pain and misery and sickness of the old world split apart never to be mended as they were consumed in a colorless, translucent fire. Deep from within the god-corpse, a pair of lights flared into existence. These blazes of creation, of brilliant kaleidoscope colors, orbited one another in an intricate dance of birth and purpose. Their light intermingled as they drew close to one another, racing to the echo of TASOE's unshakable laughter out from the old flesh which was now burning. They did not speak to each other, but simply understood the other in the sense that only gods could. United.
Two new gods, bathed in crystal color and majestic swathes of noble white stepped out and unto the battlefield. The ground trembled with the power of a godcrater, the force of a divine meteor and a new creation.
"That which you have made, We have made again." The voice was strong as the roar of a thousand storms, cold as the ether's touch, and pitiless. It was confident, proud, and so alien from the world it echoed as if it did not belong in this anceint land of pain and bloodshed.
"This is not the begining of the end. It is the end of the begining." The voice was soft as flowing water from a woodland spring, sweet and rugged as the honey of the wild lowlands, and patient. It was wise, unyeilding in direction, and also so alien that it heralded an endtime simply by its presence.
"For You may be the First..." The former voice challenged.
"But it is We who are the Last!" The latter voice finished.
The ground heaved and shook with the birthpains of creation as the twin deities stepped forward.
OOC
Ascend gods: Azazel, originaly the god of HATE of all things evil, is now the god of LOVE of all things imperfect. Go'El, originaly the god of LOVE of everything of the First, is now the god of HATE of everything wicked and cruel.
Ascend Pantheon: The Last ( a combination of Azazel and Go'El working in perfect harmony)
Abandon Domains: Pestilience, Suffering, Wrath, Endurance
Claim Domain: Rebirth
Current Domains: Love, Hate, Rebirth
Destroy Artifact: The Deicidal Taint, The Apostate's Bane, The Royal Scepter
Abjure Region (10 AP) : Everything whithin a 100 mile radius of the current fight between Azazel, Go'El, and TASOE.
~Inside the Mind of a God~
All was dark. Agni was on the ground.
Somewhere, far above, Agni could hear the Zizu swooping down to end this last spark. It seemed far too much work to dodge or get out of the way. Better, then, to simply let it come.
But as Agni watched, the omnipresent haze of this mental realm solidified into binding tendrils, swiftly ensnaring the Zizu, and simultaneously muffling its cries of outrage.
The god-spark blinked. Haze? He peered closer. Since the very beginning, this space had been suffused with petals, dancing shapes always dancing too far out of perception to make out. But now they had acted, had, in a single, long-planned trapped, cornered the Zizu and saved Agni's essence.
"It isssssss not too late, lord of flamesssssss."
~The Fulmination~
Suddenly, TASOE spoke, in words that were not its own.
"Promise seekersssssss. Eliminate the last of these abominationsssssss!"
Through the air of burning petals, Azael and Go'el watched as TASOE/Agni struggled against some great compulsion, like a very angry marionette on a hidden puppeteer's last frayed strings. But then a threshold was reached, and TASOE/Agni swept forward, expelling a battered and dazed Zizu upon the earth once more.
This task complete, the petals withdrew, coalescing into a more tangible body of flowers, though it was clear to all involved that it had lost a great deal of mass.
"Let usssssss end thisssssss."
"No, Sa."
"Let us... begin."
The twins surged forth, transforming mid-flight from near mortal bodies to a swirling, luminecent comet rocketing upward. Fierce, lashing winds covered the battleground in its wake and broke open the mountains of clouds gathered above the battlefield in awe. The battered Zizu was struggling to stand when a ring of translucent fire bursted from the ground around it. Waves of heat, with all the intensity of the Eternal Volcano, and riptides of cold, to rival the Crown's tallest peaks, blasted the creature from every side. And for every second that passed, the fire's touch grew harsher.
The Zizu, hysterical and agonized, attempted to fly upwards and away from the fire, only for the ring to rush inward and upward. The ring had become a vortex pillar of mirrored flame, and it erupted skyward with no signs of stopping and no signs of releasing the Zizu from its clasp.
The twins, on the very edge between the world and the embrace of the ether, stopped, suspended. A fraction of time slipped away. They nodded to the other, and then fell back to earth. The comet had brightness of a falling star, and a tail that spanned the tip of the world down to its crust.
Comet
http://www.astronomynotes.com/solarsys/west-big.gif
~Inside the Mind of a God~
But did it matter? Agni looked up from where he lay, broken by the attack of the Zizu. Sa had, somehow, managed to save him from his more immediate demise, dragging the monster away to somewhere else. Agni was thankful, to be sure, but couldn't move a single part of his body, pain radiating throughout his entire form and dimming his vision whenever he tried to do more than lie still and breath shallowly. Far above, he could see the spirits of TASOE, ignoring him as they interacted with the world beyond his own mind. He had already tried the advice of the mysterious woman, imagining himself healthy and well, but this time the damage was far more pervasive, affecting his soul itself. And so Agni despaired. He was out of immediate danger, but there seemed no way to regain control of his mind.
~The World~
TASOE roared at the defeat of his final servant, and sent Agni's body careening towards the twins, shoving aside Sa and sending the weakened God tumbling in a flurry of petals.
I was your beginning, and I will be your end. And after you are dead, the world itself will rot. Die, shorn from one another, you miserable worms! The god roared, diamond body slamming into Azazel and driving the god backwards, leaving deep furrows in the earth as the embattled Twin tried to resist. Finally, Go'El arrived, sending a shard of bright energy into TASOE and pushing the god away. TASOE spun in the air and began to descend for another attack.
~Inside the Mind of a God~
Within Agni's mind, all began to grow dark, the light of Agni's spirit being slowly extinguished by what looked like tiny wisps of smoke that danced and cavorted through the landscape, pausing and ripping away a portion of sky or land or water, leaving a dark hole where before had been light. For now, they avoided his body, but it was merely a matter of time.
~The World~
Go'El cried out in pain as a lashing cord of magma leaped out from one of TASOE's many mouths, gripping the god by a leg and sending it tumbling. Go'El stumbled to her feet as Azazel landed to defend her, a spear of dark energies appearing in his hand and streaking out towards TASOE, who spun out of the way before opening his many mouths and unleashing a torrent of steaming, putrid ichor-acid that narrowly missed the scrambling-away Twins. Where the acid hit the earth, the stones themselves bubbled and melted.
~Inside the Mind of a God~
Darkness reigned, and Agni watched, horrified, as the dark smoke-beings began to climb over his body.
My siblings... I have failed. I am sorry. He thought to himself, waiting for the end.
~The Great Beyond~
The fabric of the plane rippled around the sun, and Morenth cried out: "HOLD ON!" as their bodies seemed to twist and distort -
~The World~
Suddenly, the Dragons awoke in their own bodies, all save for The White, whose body remained frozen, as if stone. Cantorix roared and bellowed in confusion and anger, lashing out at the other dragons, almost ripping one of Morenth's wings before the Red could scramble out of the way. Trumpeting in alarm, she shoved open the doors to the stormy oceans and flew outwards to behold the seventh and final sun rising into the heavens.
~Inside the Mind of a God~
A tiny spark of light flared in the darkness, streaking through the ruins of his spirit and landing on his chest, and moments later the amulet grew warm on the body of Agni. Suddenly, a blaze of light scattered the smoke-beings, many of them crying out in tiny voices as the light ripped them into pieces. Around the god, the light shone like a beacon, illuminating him in dazzling white. On his chest, the amulet of the dragon glimmered in all of the shades of color imaginable, and at its center, the dragon in the amulet raised its head and roared. Agni's body dissapeared in a twinkling of light, which rapidly reformed itself into a massive dragon the color of all the shades of the rainbow. Agni the Dragon raised his head to stare at the Spirits that controlled him far above, and took flight.
~The World~
It was too much. Azazel and Go'El fought TASOE, each trying their hardest to find an advantage over the posessed Agni, but TASOE had spoken the truth. In Agni, he had created the perfect vessel: forged in the impossible pressures of the Behemoth's wrath, Agni's body was harder than diamond, and able to summon forth dauntingly large amounts of power and channel it through his perfected frame. Go'El grunted in disbelief as another shard of light seemed to simply shatter against the side of the God, and she dropped down to where her twin was waiting.
We need to be more clever about this. She said, looking upwards.
~Inside the Mind of a God~
Agni struck like a bird of prey, climbing high above TASOE and diving down in silence, intending to grab the lead spirit by the throat and end its life quickly, but just as his mouth opened to bite, the spirit spun impossibly quickly and knocked Agni aside, sending the dragon tumbling into a group of lesser spirits. Shocked, Agni managed to snatch one of them, which looked like a cross between a snake and a diseased swan, as he passed, biting down and dissolving the spirit into a puff of noxious miasma. The dragon grimaced at the taste, belching a ball of fire to burn it from his mouth, and glared at the Spirits.
Let us end this, Evil Ones. Agni said as the Lead Spirit gestured to a number of its companions, and they broke off, descending to do battle as their leader turned to deal with the outside world once more. Agni watched them come, diseased amalgams of animals and sentient beings who squaked and croaked and hissed dozens of battle cries. When they grew close enough... he attacked.
~The World~
Azazel tumbled backwards, hit by a ball of obsidian that had launched from the body of TASOE and caught him squarely in the chest. The God tensed, waiting for a follow-up attack that he knew was coming...
Instead, he managed to right himself without incident, and looked backwards at TASOE, who seemed momentarially frozen in place. Not one to give up an advantage, regardless of its source or duration, Azazel summoned forth rippling balls of black power and sent them shooting into TASOE, sending the Evil god tumbling and slamming into the earth. He chased after his foe, sensing more than seeing his Twin falling into position next to him. Twin bolts of Black and White, they launched themselves at TASOE.
~Within~
It was too much. Even with his new form, Agni was so very, very tired. His spirit and soul had been bruised and battered by his long (Decades? Years? Days? Minutes?) battle with his posessor, and there was only so much an extrinsic source could do to supplement that. TASOE still held tight control of the Source of All Fire, cutting Agni off from its powers. But Agni knew that if he stopped fighting, there would not be another chance. And so he lashed out with tooth and claw and billowing fire, rending and burning his way through the spirits before him. His claws grabbed and ripped apart a rabbit, whose single eye hung precariously from its socket as it tried to bite him with filed teeth. His breath caught a moose, whose antlers writhed with parasites, sending the spirit tumbling away into the Greater Darkness that still surrounded the combatants. And yet, they kept coming... and Agni was being pushed back. He needed...
~Without~
They struck with fury and force, their impact shaking the earth as they, in unison, hit TASOE. The God roared in pain and annoyance, and a wave of heat shoved both of them back as TASOE rose from the earth.
Enough Games, Children. Die, Cold and Afraid, you pathetic excuses for Gods!
~Within~
Suddenly, the entire inner world seemed to ripple and warp, and the spirits cried out in pain and surprise. Agni took advantage of their momentary distraction, surging forward out of the cloud of lesser Spirits and pushing himself towards where their leaders still looked out at the world. As he approached, two huge bear-like creatures, yet with feathers for fur and scorpion tails, turned, opened their mouths, and spat a black, thick acid towards him. Agni twisted, but still felt a light spray of the stuff hit one of his back legs. Pain lanced through him, but, remembering the lessons of the mysterious woman, he willed the pain away. One of the bear-things blinked in surprise as Agni raced forward and gripped it by its neck, twisting and pushing off of its body with his feet, ripping out the throat of the massive monster, who fell away, already disintegrating into smoke and miasma. The other defender hissed at him, a snake's tongue emerging from its mouth as it struck at Agni with its tail. Agni twisted and, as the tail sailed inches away from his body, struck with his claws, cutting through the diseased spirit-flesh and sending the stinger tumbling. The Bear roared in pain, and Agni somersaulted in mid-air to land squarely on the feathered back before blasting the creature's head with a blaze of fire, cooking the brain. Agni let go, and the monster fell like a stone. Confirming that the lesser spirits remained far below, Agni continued upwards. The lead spirit looked down, then gestured to a subordiate to take its place before dropping downwards, body changing as it fell. Agni stopped and watched in horror as the spirit expanded and elongated, becoming a massive armored serpent who stared out at him from large blood-red eyes. Without saying a word, the Worm attacked, and Agni was forced to give ground, strugging to strike back as the worm twisted and attempted to crush him within its coils. Agni cursed as his fire was diverted around the armored scales, leaving a charred mark on the shining scale itself, but no evidence of any actual damage.
And yet, the Worm seemed weak, somehow. Sluggish. Agni could not kill it, but neither could it catch him. Agni caught, from the corner of his eye as he twisted out of a trap of coils, a furtive signal from the Worm to his minions above. Agni saw them burst into renewed action, and knew that something was about to happen.
~Without~
Go'El pushed herself up from the earth, head ringing from the burst of light from TASOE. She shook it a few times and got her bearings. She stood at the base of the Twincrater, and... TASOE and Azazel were nowhere to be seen! She launched herself up into the sky, spun, and caught sight of TASOE pushing an overwhelmed Azazel before it, driving it northwards. Go'El took off in persuit, racing behind them and straining to catch up. Before them, the mountains of the Crown pushed upwards from the earth, and TASOE barreled towards them. With a loud rumble, TASOE drove Azazel against the stone of the mountains, and the mountain shook and cracked from the impact. As she raced ever closer, Go'El watched in horror as TASOE began to... feed. Streams of power twisted off of the body of Azazel, who squirmed in an attempt to break free. As the power reached TASOE, it twisted its way into one of the God's eye sockets. Roaring in anger, Go'El slammed into TASOE, who laughed, and, letting a weakened Azazel slide down the mountainside, reached out with arms of stone to hold Go'El close.
And here, in my embrace, you will die. TASOE whispered to her as her power began to leech from her body and enter his. Go'El gasped in pain as she felt herself becoming... lesser.
~Within~
Agni struggled with the serpent, waiting for whatever the lesser spirits were doing to come to fruition. Eventually, he sensed it. A wave of invigorating power coming from... somewhere else. Not even thinking about it, Agni closed his eyes...
...and reappeared directly in front of the beam, which struck him a moment later, filling his body with overwhelming powers of Love and Hate.
I can't believe it. Az'Go was right all along! He thought to himself, feeling and understand the powers of Go'El and Azazel flowing through him. Beneath him, the Worm roared in shock and surprise, racing upwards to attempt to sieze the power back. But Agni was more concerned that the power kept coming. Looking to his side, he saw the Spirits that controlled his body, and he launched himself into them, lashing out with shards of white and black energy mixed with fire and plasma, driving the spirits away... and he felt control of his body returning to him.
~Without~
Suddenly, TASOE/Agni let go, the stream of power from Go'El to him cutting off in moments. Go'El, weak and drained, hovered warily as her Twin approached. The greenish tinge to Agni's eyes and mouth faded, and the god's voice came to them.
Siblings. I am, for the moment, at least, back in control of my body, although for how long I cannot say. You must destroy me.
Azazel shook his head. Agni, we cannot. This fight has left us both drained, mere shades of what we once were. Even at our full strength, we were barely capable of wounding your form. The stuff you are made of... it is too strong to break.
Agni frowned. This is dire news. TASOE remains inside me, and draws closer. I will not be able to retain control beyond a few more seconds before I must return to the fight within me. At that point, I fully expect one of the leader's deputies to regain control of my body and continue the attack on both of you.
Go'El spoke. Is there any way you can weaken your body from the inside, Agni? Perhaps working together-
Agni cut her off. Forgive me for interrupting, but It is nearly here. Such a way does not exist, however that has given me an idea. Whether I succeed or fail, I suspect this will be the last time I will speak to either of you, so let me say to you both that I am sorry that I doubted Az'Go, as he was right. Forgive me, and watch over this place. It will need a careful hand to guide it as it heals from all that we have inadvertantly done.
With that, Agni's eyes grew dull, and the Twins knew that he had returned to his fight.
~Within~
As the Worm approached, Agni spun and dove directly down, twisting through the coils of the Worm and heading for the 'surface' far below. The Worm bellowed in surprise, and turned to follow, but Agni, enhanced with the powers of Go'El and Azazel, was fast enough to stay just ahead of the angry spirit. Like a burning spear, the dragon slammed into the earth, plunging deep into it. Pain radiated through him as he felt his dragon's bones breaking, but just as he thought he had failed, as his forward momentum slowed, a burst of magma pushed him upwards, the power of the Source of All Fire welling within him, burning away the dragon but, somehow, keeping Agni present and filled with power. He gestured, and the entire surface beneath him buckled and exploded upwards, a wave of magma sweeping towards the sky, catching lesser spirits up in it and burning them to cinders. Agni and the Worm rode the wave upwards, the Worm grunting as it was moved against its will.
~Without~
Suddenly, Magma burst from every mouth, every eye of Agni, cooling and dropping to the earth far below in a rain of obsidian. Go'El and Azazel watched as the rate of flow grew stronger, and the Magma grew hotter.
~Within~
Agni gestured to the air itself, and the air warped and melted, and the Source of All Flame entered in through the heavens, pressing down from the sky and sandwitching Agni and the Worm, along with a few of the other more powerful and resiliant spirits, between two layers of fire. From above and below, the Source continued to pour into Agni, the barriers that the God had put in place at his birth ripped free.
We Die Together, TASOE. Agni said, grunting and pulling more Fire towards him. The pressure crecendoed.
~Without~
As the magma poured out, it soon became apparent that it was slowly sealing off the orifices of the God, encasing his eyes and mouthes with more of the same crystaline stuff that made up the rest of his body. Soon, the magma stopped flowing, and the crystalization began to move inwards, the magma receding as the crystalization began in earnest, transforming the entire body of Agni into a crystaline ball of impossible strength.
~Within~
Agni felt his essence seeping away into the Source, returning to where it had been drawn long ago. As his conciousness flickered and faded, he distinctly saw and felt others in the fire, reaching up and calling out his name, welcoming him home with cries of happiness. And so he let go, leaving the Worm to rage impotently, trapped within an inescapable prison of his own making.
But before he went... there were three things he still needed to do. He cast his mind outwards.
~Above a Raging Storm~
Petals drifted lazily under the new light of the seventh sun. Sa's petals were tattered, but still whole enough to float along the newly Summer winds.
The flower-god was gorged to bursting with quintessence, and no wonder -- through it's actions, Sa had once more given the entire world a promise. A world without TASOE meant a promise of a future. It would be hard, and it still yet might come in blood, but the mortals of the realm would recover, expand, and endure.
Sa drifted once more to the Crown Valley, amongst the first flowerbeds in that ancient cradle of human history. It was here where Sa had entered the world, and it was here that Sa would leave it -- for just as a promise had drawn Sa here, even now there were murmurs of promises from dozens of other worlds, shielded from all but those who cared to listen for them. So Sa had journeyed for eons, a traveler between worlds, and so Sa would continue.
There was a final sussuruss as the lord of flowers and magic slipped between the dimensions, a final message to those who might be listening:
"Farewell, friendsssssss."
AP
Unascend God: Sa leaves the world in the same way in which it entered, venturing to parts and worlds unknown. It sends a final goodbye to Azazel and Go'el.
"... Farewell" they whispered, for a whisper was all they could bear. Pain ravaged their souls, and echoed in the hollowness of their stripped power. TASOE had taken so much from them... The vibrancy of the world was dim to thier eyes, its movements were sluggish and distorted. They tried to steady themselves, balancincing on each other at the base of the Twincrater. And as the world seemed sluggish, so too did they feel restrained, fettered by the impossibilities of the past.
Azazel stretched out her hand, feeling shreds of power fall from her fingertips like sprinkled rain. The ground shook, but that was all. Go'El motioned at the wind to draw up a hurricane, and a cool breeze swept over the crater. Their arms trembled with burning strain before they collapsed, exhausted. What had been so... natural, so quick, easy, so powerful was now gone into the darkness of the ether. The world was so dark... so quiet... and they were afraid as they slinked together like worms at the depths of a tremendous lake of prehistoric titans of the sea. What was it like... for gods to fall? For order to bend its knee to chaos?
For truely, They were The Last of the gods. Last of the Old.
And while they wept for their loss, they could not help but smile. Things could be reborn. The world could be new... No, no it couldn't. But it could be NEW.