Ilkar's Realm
Ilkar clenched his fists. He stood above the Quedrands, looking down, and he did not like what he saw.
Sure, the Ebrinada reaching peace was irritating, and that trap the time god had put down for the Bakaal was petty, but the real issue flitted around at the edge of Ilkar's vision as he looked elsewhere. Little... somethings swarmed across the Quedrands, hiding pretty much wherever was relevant. Anytime he tried to look closer, tell what they actually were, and they were gone before his eyes could properly lock on to them.
Whatever they were, they certainly weren't here naturally, and Ilkar didn't like them. They were godly spies, likely, or agents working on some grand plan away from the view of the other gods.
Old questions returned to his mind. Who had informed Rav'nixander of the existence of the Spindle? Who had influenced the naive love god to push for peace within the Ebrinada? It was only a guess, but Ilkar wouldn't be surprised if these things were involved. The only alternative was that there was somehow something else Ilkar's gaze had missed.
Fine then. If this is how the enemy wanted to do things; he could play along.
A secret corner of the Quedrands
Ilkar stalked through one of the many dry plains that populated the Quedrands. The sun beat down upon the land, and as he grew closer to his goal, so did the smell of death.
Ilkar marched over a hill, finally seeing his target. Some large animal had died here, though of what sort it had become impossible to tell as a flock of vultures had nearly finished picking the carcass apart.
He walked up to the scene. The birds were undisturbed, as Ilkar remained undetectable to the animals. He tapped one on the head, and an odd red light swirled within the entire flock's glassy eyes for a moment, before fading back to nothing.
It was done. In these mortal birds he had changed only three things; one, supernatural eyesight to hopefully pierce the veil protecting the enemy agents; two, the need to kill them ruthlessly whenever detected; and three, the ability to spread these changes to any other vultures within proximity.
Other than that they were still only mundane vultures- acting normally outside of the presence of their new prey and utterly unsuspicious. It would take a god a close inspection to find any meddling within the bird and, with the modification's simplicity, it'd be even harder to tell who actually made the changes. And with that third clause, it'd likely spread to every vulture in the Quedrands within a relatively short time.
Ilkar smiled at his work, and was gone.
Edited by AmazingGoob on Nov 30th 2023 at 6:59:40 AM
Chug, chug, chug. The machine marches on.
Fwomph
16.16
Though no sign of it showed on the titan-body, Rav'nixander's oft-suppressed emotions were turning sour. Such reckless disregard for his own creation this god of humanity had! On matters of such injustice inaction is endorsement! The city-body continued to stare.
"I will put it to you plainly Nathan Munsen. I intend to liberate these slaves and end the practice among your people. If need be I will remove their oppressors to do so."
A pause.
"Do you stand with me. Or against me?"
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
THE SLORG!
Nathan's Human civilization, (016.016) late morning.
The pyromancer looked over towards Rav'nixander's city body with an annoyed, slightly confused look, which turned to fury when it spoke again. "They are not chosen by the flame! They deserve nothing except for servitude or death! That is the way it is, and it is not for either of you to decide!" she shouted angrily, pointing aggressively at Nathan and at the city body with her still-on-fire arms. "We are not scared of you!" That was, well... Kind of a lie. She was in fact very intimidated by them, though was doing an excellent job of not showing it to the other humans, however for them as divine beings they could see through it right away. That being said, it was only kind of a lie, because she also genuinely believed that she had no choice but to stand against them anyway, especially given what Rav'nixander had just said.
... It did not seem that all of the other pyromancers agreed though, as maybe a third of them or so were starting to back up when they thought the others weren't looking. One far less courageous pyromancer at the end of their loose line formation even took an opportunity to turn around and make a break for it as fast as he could run in his armor.
That secret corner of the Quedrands, (???.??? but probably somewhere in the South) late morning.
As Ilkar left, the vultures slowly stopped their feasting on the carcass, one by one lifting their heads and staring at each other.
Normally when aggressive, these creatures would spread their wings out to make themselves appear larger, and possibly make angry, hissing like noises.
However, as per Ilkar's change, the vultures did none of that, as their attacks against invisible agents were to be ruthless. They were meant to be intending to kill, not intending to intimidate their target into leaving without a fight, as they normally behaved.
So it was without any of their normal display of aggression that these vultures promptly started attacking and tearing into each other. Scattered feathers and splatters of blood started to cover the sand as the flock ripped their own members to pieces, all murderously trying to get after the small, invisible agents that they now saw. Not Cato's bees, but Samauth's seers instead, one of which was attached to each vulture.
It wouldn't be long until the flock was reduced down to just a single, mortally wounded vulture.
You are reading this.
Druid Dude
Nathan Munsen, 016.016
And here he was hoping the situation would resolve on its own. Nathan could see right through his creation, and he raised an eyebrow at her fear.
"Look... Rav." he begins with a sigh. [[brown: "I have seen civilization after civilization. A lot of good, a lot of bad."]] he steps forward. "I was hoping that this whole slave thing will go away soon. I never pick sides when it comes to individual factions or humans."
"But..." he exhales deeply. "I guess you could co-parent this tribe. My Guides are one thing, but if you truly wish to better them, then I can't argue against that." Nathan didn't really feel like letting other gods have a say in how humans acted, but he'll give a pass to Rav'nixander due to their spheres of influence overlapping.
"I must entreat you. Please don't hurt any of them." he looks up at Rav'nixander. Nathan turns to the humans, his eyes flashing gold as, for the first time since their creation, their will became his. Rather than taking it away entirely, Nathan simply ordered them to release their slaves. From now on, they were equals under him and Rav'nixander. After giving the order, his eyes return to normal. "I do not wish to quarrel with gods." He turns away slightly. "For now, what kind of changes do you plan to bring? We can introduce them slowly."
You piss off the Venom T-Rex. Roll initiative.
Galius forging life.
Deeming that the ichor itself was more secured Galius begins thinking what to create next, something he had never done before was to create mortals. Sure there were mortals where he came from but he didnt made them so it would be a nice change of pace.
He got his more mundane materials various metals to form their bodies and using the ichor, the astral fire and his power to give them life until he had 50 of them.
Galius designed them shaped like humanoid reptilian beings, claws strong enough to dig and crush even bedrock, their sense of direction,touch and sigth are highly developed to navigate underground, their diet consisting on normally inedible matter like rocks and sand but they can eat normal food in a pinch, their stomach area glowed red due a second stomach made to work as a mini smelter Galius figured there wont be much material to make a forge underground so each one of them have a mini one, lastly Galius carved a small symbol on their backs the symbol of the forgemaster designed to create as a second barrier just in case if Arcellex wanted to take them for itself and as a means to make them know who is their god and who to pray to.
The first 50 in a state of slumber for now, Galius warped himself and the tunnelers to what would be the first Tunneler settlement.
Galius in 007.010
Arriving in the underground of the rocky desert Galius places the tunnelers there still in their slumber and then he goes back to his forge and awaking them.
The invertibrate 9 out of 10 doctors hate.
The great forge, once more
The sensations throughout the inky depths of the ichor seemed to reveal...nothing. Perhaps there could be thought, but it was not for anyone but the hand touching it to say. Suddenly, another crack shattered the sky, auroras flickering momentarily as a second shard of stone, glittering and azure, cascaded into the land near the forge. No ichor dwelt within this stone, but the cracks upon it read an inscription in a language built for the eyes of gods:
I feel pulses of suspicion. Hostility. This is alright. My betrayal is not an act I take lightly. The colorless magic could not stand. I cannot describe the abomination it is in my eyes. I do not wish to harm you. Take this, one final gift. The blood of my finger has no will but yours. However, you can imbue it with will of its own, if you so wish. This stone is yours as well. I only ask you make something for yourself. Not for mortality, or the whims of war gods, but for the love of craft. Create beauty, and let it radiate where all can see. Make great works, O forgemaster.
Edited by TrapDoorSpringBreaks on Dec 7th 2023 at 3:37:45 AM
"Isn't that right, celebrity rapper Snoop Dogg?" - The bravest soldier in the world, addressing celebrity rapper Snoop Dogg
Fwomph
16.16
"I did not... Have a plan for their society. I planned to deliver my warnings about the artifact of war and an emissary to secure it if it was found. But encountering this horrendous practice forced me to intervene..."
Still the metal colossus sat there unmoving, voice simply pouring forth from it.
"It is a cunning paradox. I dare not remove the will of the people. But I must act to prevent others doing the same..."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
THE SLORG!
Nathan's Human civilization, (016.016) late morning.
Many of the humans gently grabbed at their heads as Nathan's influence exerted over them. The head pyromancer winced, shaking a little as the forced words worked their way out of her lips. "No more... Slaves. No more... Castes." She let go of her head and was breathing heavily after it ended, looking around. "But, that doesn't..." She mumbled weakly to herself, watching what had been the slave soldiers at the front of the improvised formation talking among themselves.
"We're all equal? Then who is in charge?"
"Those two beings, I guess."
"Then we don't have to fight today?"
A sparse few of the former slaves let out cheers, but for the most part they stood around in confusion. Not fear or worry, just confusion. Plenty of them even started finding some place to sit down, and lay their weapons on the ground.
Underground of the rocky desert, (007.010) late morning.
The reptilian beings, originally of ichor but now forged by the god Malius, began to awaken and investigate themselves and their surroundings. Being newly accustomed to, well, existing at all, they were behaving like curious animals at first. So mostly just moving around, investigating each other and their surroundings, and experimentally prodding and/or attempting to eat things.
It would likely be at least a little while before they would do anything of significant note.
You are reading this.
THE SLORG!
99 days later...
The entirety of the Quedrands, during the interim.
Something was starting to change in that mortal world. To most of the mortal beings, it was imperceptible, but to the gods and their immortals, it couldn't be more obvious. The divine power of one god, Arcellex, was trying to reshape and alter a fundamental part of the world's order; specifically, how the magic functioned. It was not yet complete, and other gods could attempt to reverse it.
Presently, magic in the Quedrands worked as an incorporeal mana physically present in the world. Beings capable of using it could absorb it, then emit it back out in the form of spells.
If the change went through, 'magic' would instead be the byproduct of an alternate plane of the world, existing separately yet intrinsically tied to it. This plane would be like an ocean of mana, and any time a being in the Quedrands wanted to do something 'magical', it would be by causing ripples and waves in this ocean, which would then manifest back in the Quedrands as whatever spell was cast.
Of course, this would have no effect on the gods or their immortals, and their ability to shape the world. Their divine power was above how it worked for the mortals, and thus for their power it did not matter how it functioned for mortals in the world.
The only mortals on the world who were truly noticing what was happening was the Fairies, who had started to go into a mass panic. As they were literally made of magic as it presently worked, there was a fear among them that this change to their world would effectively cause their extinction.
World of the Gods, Fountain of Creation pavilion, the present.
As usual, Cato was present at the pavilion, but he was not alone. He was chatting with three figures standing in front of him, who had just shown up at the pavilion not long ago. Two of them were goddesses, appearing like tall, beautiful, fit Humans with fair skin and light hair. Their bodies were nearly the same, but their clothing could hardly be more different.
One of the goddesses was wearing a slim outfit that left her midriff exposed, made of bright, contrasting colors, and trailed ribbons from the sleeves and waist. She also wore a hat with multiple floppy cones, each a different color and tipped with a little bell. She was gently holding a baby girl in her arms, bundled up in a brightly colored blanket. The girl, other gods would be able to tell, was a demigod, and was most certainly the child of one of the goddesses, given her similar appearance, though she had brown hair.
The second goddess was wearing a light blue, slender and flowing dress. It technically covered more of her body than the outfit of the first goddess, but the dress was also ever so slightly transparent, just enough that one could see her silhouette underneath it.
The third figure was a Human man, and definitely not a god, as any god looking at him could tell. He seemed to be in his late twenties, had an average height, caucasian skin, and brown hair that was the same color as the hair of the baby demigod. He was wearing modern military camouflage fatigues under kevlar armor, and had an assault rifle slung on his back.
Cato was speaking to them, having been explaining how things were here. "You are free to involve yourself with any of the mortal worlds here. Though, I cannot guarantee that other gods will not object to it," the eldest god said, then motioned his cane towards the transparent image of the Quedrands and Leukippos, still circling a little ways away from the Pavilion. "That is the most recent mortal world to emerge, which is still being shaped by some other gods, including a couple of other recent arrivals."
The three of them looked at it, and the man took a couple steps closer, grabbing a pair of binoculars hanging from his neck to get a look at it. After staring for a moment, he lowered the binoculars and turned around. "Maybe I should check it out while you keep talking, y'know, god stuff?" he asked, specifically looking at the first goddess in the brightly colored outfit.
The first goddess glanced at the second goddess. The second goddess looked back at the first with a slightly judgemental expression, then rolled her eyes. "Might as well," the second goddess muttered, throwing her arms up in a shrug.
The first goddess frowned slightly, then looked towards the man. "Go ahead, Mark. Just, be careful please," she said in a cautious, caring tone.
"Always am," Mark replied with a smirk, then walked over to the edge of the pavilion. He glanced over the edge at the endless sky down below, and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, so how am I supposed to actually get there?"
"Oh, you cannot on your own. Here," Cato mentioned, walking over to Mark. The eldest god waved his cane over the man's head, and in a cloudy swirl, he vanished to the Quedrands.
Picoceles' underwater 'temple', (005.014) local time late afternoon.
After many failed attempts and lost Bakaal, finally, one strong Bakaal man in enchanted body paint had reached the center room of Picoceles' temple, and approached the 'treasure' within. As he accessed it, the final trap was sprung, and the Bakaal screamed as his body rapidly aged and decayed. His flesh flaked away, dirtying the water until only bones remained, and he was dead.
From the corridor behind him, three Bakaal watched. Two of them looked horrified, while the third, draped in a cloak, simply looked annoyed. As the temple rumbled, the cloaked Bakaal raised an arm to his side, and the water began to swirl around him.
One of the other two Bakaal noticed, still looking shocked as he turned to the third. "What are you doing?"
"This whole place was a trap. I'm getting out of here," the cloaked Bakaal said, continuing his spell.
"W-without us?!" the other Bakaal asked. The cloaked Bakaal didn't say anything in response, but just looked over and scowled at them for a moment, before turning his head away again. The other Bakaal's shock shifted over a few moments, and he looked both desperate and furious. "How dare you!" he screamed, lifting a spear and making a charge for the cloaked Bakaal.
The cloaked Bakaal swung his other arm, and the water around the spear and the charging Bakaal's arms froze, sending his charge off course as he was suddenly more buoyant. As he was about to drift over the cloaked Bakaal though, the cloaked one reached out and grabbed him by the throat. The helpless Bakaal gurgled and gagged as his very life force started to be drained out of him.
The hood fell back, and thus so did the disguise on Miklav, who regarded the Bakaal with a malicious smirk. "Thanks for the justification to harm you," the Hiverfolk vampire muttered, continuing to absorb the Bakaal's life force, only stopping once he was close to dead. "Shame I can't finish you myself," Miklav added, and threw the Bakaal into a mark on one of the walls. The trap trigger activated, and the wall rotated, slamming the Bakaal into one of the temple's many horrible traps, located inside of the wall.
The last Bakaal there watched what Miklav did, then turned and fled away in terror. The vampire then once again prepared to warp away, but it had already been long enough for the observing Picoceles to possibly notice him...
Nathan's Human civilization, (016.016) during the interim to the present, local time late afternoon.
With their caste system and slavery forcibly abolished, the Humans ended up adapting their society to a system where everybody was considered equal, and all had to work by their own merits. This still left the pyromancers with an inherent advantage, being capable of magic that the other Humans were not; but they also faced a significant amount of discrimination from their fellow Humans, who still remembered the way they had been treated by the pyromancers.
In fact, there was one matter that was causing a lot of divisive debate. The most heinous of the former pyromancers, especially that woman who had faced Nathan before, were finally rounded up and taken to the center of the settlement. Their limbs were bound in metal chains, and their mouth and nose covered by thick metal masks, so they could not properly utilize their pyromancy to escape. Nearly all the non-pyromancers were in agreement that something should be done in punishment to the pyromancers who were most responsible for the previous enslavement and flagrant murders. What they could not agree on though, was what should be done with those pyromancers. Three competing ideas had come out about the issue.
"We should force them to work as their punishment, like they forced us to work!" one large, gruff man was yelling, holding his fist in the air. "Hard, demanding work!"
"And let them continue to be a part of our lives?!" an older man yelled, looking frustrated and weary. "We should just banish them to the wilds! Force them to fend for themselves or perish out there!"
"They should be put to death!" a woman yelled, stepping out from the crowd, and pointing at what had been the lead pyromancer woman. Half of the yelling woman's face and much of her limbs were wrapped in rags to cover vast burn scars. "That's the one! That's the monster who did this to me, after killing my husband and all of my children, for her own amusement! You're really going to stand there and tell me that they deserve to continue living, after what they did!?"
From the shouting of the crowd, it seemed that the first idea, to put the pyromancers to hard labor was the one with the most support, though not by a wide margin. Then the one to banish them was second, then the one to execute them was third, but also not by a wide margin.
...
Meanwhile, just outside the edge of the settlement, there was a swirl of cloudy mist, and Mark appeared. He was facing towards the settlement, hearing all the shouting and seeing the edges of the crowd in the distance. He looked curiously through his binoculars at them for a moment, before muttering, "well those people sure don't seem happy." After that he lowered the binoculars and looked around at his other surroundings. He looked a little startled when he turned and saw the massive city body of Rav'nixander. Slowly, Mark leaned his head back and took in the full size of the colossus. "Holy moly," he thought out loud, in an impressed tone.
Underground of the rocky desert, (007.010) during the interim, to the present, local time late afternoon.
As Galius' Tunnelers continued to explore and dig underground, they came across something rather unexpected. There seemed to be ruins of a lost civilization, which utilized an elaborate magitech, yet had clearly all died out. Could it really be true that there used to be an entire civilization under this desert, and even the gods themselves hadn't noticed? Or was it that some entity had just placed them there, and simply made them appear to be ancient?
Either way, as the Tunnelers continued to excavate these ruins, it appeared that the race that allegedly lived there were humanoid crocodilians. It also seemed that they made a regular practice of replacing limbs and other portions of their bodies with magitech prosthetics.
The Tunnelers, primitive as they were, knew nothing of what to make of these ruins, but did find them incredibly curious, though also unsettling. As their excavation continued, some of the magitech began to activate, turning on lights in the ruins, and causing whispering of voices that were either long gone or hadn't truly existed to begin with. The Tunnelers began to think of the ruins as haunted, yet still they continued their excavations.
Finally, a group of Tunnelers had found an entrance into a unique, square room in the ruins. In the center was some kind of pedestal, and a curious Tunneler approached it and placed a hand upon it. The pedestal and walls glowed from within as magitech activated, and there was a blinding flash as the Tunnelers started to panic. As the light subsided and the magitech went dormant, the Tunnelers blinked and looked around at each other, with shocked expressions. Nothing had happened to them physically, but their minds had been imprinted with the knowledge of the civilization that had allegedly resided there, called the Crirtuti.
Edited by FirockFinion on Dec 17th 2023 at 2:57:12 AM
You are reading this.
Fool From The Depths
Picoceles, Underwater "Temple" (005.014)
Picoceles giggled with glee as he watched the Bakaal fall prey to his trap, rubbing together the triangular shapes that passed for his hands. This was going just as he had planned. Then, he spotted Miklav finally revealing himself, and became positively ecstatic. This was BRILLIANT! Not only had his trick worked, but he'd managed to attract the attention of his target as well! He'd killed two birds with one stone! In a flash, he stopped time for Miklav, bringing the vampire to a halt before he could warp away again. Then, just as he was about to manifest himself in front of Miklav, he realized something. There was going to be a Bakaal witness for this. He could use that to his advantage. The Bakaal were already predisposed to dislike him thanks to the statues of himself he'd placed around the trapped temple, but what if they didn't know it was him? An idea began to form, and he manifested himself physically in front of Miklav and the remaining Bakaal...but not in his usual appearance.Instead, he donned the appearance of a humanoid anglerfish dressed in an opulent red robe, and with a swish of one of his now fin-like hands, he summoned a temporary portal beneath Miklav at the same moment as he unfroze the vampire in time, casting a minor curse on him that prevented him from using his teleportation ability as he did. This caused the snowy man to be sucked through the portal and into a cell in the Pican capital, along with a good deal of water, before the portal vanished a second later. Then, he turned to face the Bakaal that had witnessed the event.
"Ah, hello there! Greetings!" he said pleasantly, though it was simply a veneer, his true feelings towards the Bakaal quite the opposite of the vibes he was projecting. "I'm so sorry about that monster attacking you. I've been trying to track down that wretched creature for ages. I'm terribly sorry I couldn't put a stop to its villainy sooner. Here, have this. I can't bring back the dead, but I hope this will help repay you for that demon's terrible deed." He was lying through his teeth of course, knowing that he could in fact bring back the dead Bakaal if he wanted to, having seen Theri do something similar. However, the Bakaal he was addressing didn't know that.
Another swish of his fin, and all sorts of seaweed and glowing underwater plants began to bloom around him and the Bakaal, and in a flash, a small golden token in the shape of a flower appeared in the Bakaal's grasp.
"As long as you hold this token, life will bloom around you, to make up for the life that was lost here today." he said with a toothy grin. "But...I would be happy to provide more gifts such as this, as long as you provide something in return. I am Librian, god of balance and transactions. Do not fear, I do not wish to take anything from you, nor would I force a transaction upon you. But were you to give me something as simple as prayer and devotion, I would be happy to repay you for the kindness."
Inside his mind, Picoceles was cackling to himself. This was the perfect opportunity to turn the Bakaal away from that brutish war god Ilkar, and subtly deceive them into worshipping him instead!
Edited by SushiKraken6414 on Dec 17th 2023 at 8:21:40 AM
Something's Fishy Here...
THE SLORG!
Picoceles' underwater 'temple', (005.014) local time late afternoon.
The Bakaal would've kept swimming away, if not for being swept back into the room by the water pouring through the portal before it closed. He stared at 'Librian', his eel-like head blinking and slightly agape in shock as the god talked. He was then startled a bit as the plants suddenly flourished around him, and the golden flower appeared in his hand.
"Uh... I am grateful?" the Bakaal finally said after a moment, clearly very confused, and still at the verge of a panic attack.
Picans' mountaintop fortress, (013.007) local time late afternoon.
Having no actual prisoners as of that point, the cells weren't closely guarded, but the mass of rushing water flowing out of one of the prison caves and down the mountain was certainly attracting attention.
Before the Picans arrived, Miklav rose to his feet and raised his arm, intending to teleport away. As it failed, he scowled. "Getting a little tired of gods and their curses," he muttered to himself, freezing the water still on him into a powdery snow, and shaking it away from him. He looked around at the cave he was in, and turned his attention to the door as he heard the running footsteps of approaching Picans.
"What, who is that in there? A Hiverfolk?" one Pican asked, holding a club.
"Yes, I'm afraid I've ended up in here by mistake," Miklav said, holding his arms out to his sides as he approached the bars, putting on his best friendly smile. "Please, let me be on my way?"
The Picans glanced at each other with doubtful expressions, then glared at Miklav. "The great Picoceles would not send someone here by mistake."
Miklav's smile dropped to a frown. "Well, so much for the peaceful solution," he thought out loud, pointing his palms out and starting to magically manipulate the pools of water. Water shot up from the pools and around the bars, before starting to freeze. The door started to creak as the rapid decrease in temperature started warping the metal.
The Picans watched in slight alarm for a moment, then one of them scowled and pointed their weapon at Miklav. "Stop that!"
"Or what?" Miklav asked, walking up close to the bars and continuing his magic. He had a sly grin as he waited for one of them to attack, giving him the excuse to act. The Picans thought for a moment, then one of them dropped their weapon and raised their arms. A shimmering barrier of light formed just outside of the door, sealing the cave. Miklav's grin turned to shock.
"You're not the only one here capable of magic!" the Pican said confidently. On the other side of the barrier, muffled to them now, Miklav screamed angrily and started to assault the barrier with barrages of ice. "Quickly, get the bell! While we've still got him contained!" the Pican told one of the others, who started to run off, towards the fancy hall where they kept the service bell Picoceles had given them.
You are reading this.
The Light That Blinds
Theri (Fountain of the Gods)
Things were finally settling down in the Quedrands. The entire world was no longer on the verge of self-destruction, and life had hit a new kind of normal. As such, it was a Theri in a very good mood that arrived at the Fountain...
...only to stop, staring in surprise at the newcomers. "O-oh! Um, hi," she said shyly, awkwardly weaving up to them. "Are you here for the Quedrands?"
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
THE SLORG!
World of the Gods, Fountain of Creation pavilion, the present.
Both of the goddesses looked over with mild surprise and interest when Theri appeared and spoke up. The one in the dress narrowed her eyes slightly and kept staring at Theri, as the one in the colorful outfit looked momentarily confused.
"The 'Quedrands'? Oceans and lands?" the goddess in the colorful garb asked.
"Oh, the Quedrands is what that mortal world is called. Did I forget to mention that?" Cato said in a light hearted tone, then turned towards Theri. "Theri, these two are newcomers to our existence. Sister goddesses, Sapphira and Seffora," the eldest god continued, motioning to them with his arm, then adding to them, "why don't you introduce yourselves?"
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Seffora," Seffora said, with a little bow of her head. "And this is my daughter, Diana," she added, holding up the bundled baby slightly. "I am goddess of jesters and acrobats."
"I'm Sapphira," Sapphira said, a little more dryly as she walked up to Theri, glancing down at the shorter goddess. Sapphira's eyes narrowed a little more, and she tilted her head, silent for a moment, as she seemed to regard Theri's very being, and not just her appearance. "... Hmph. So this is what he meant about there being multiple deities of the same thing," she then commented, a bit dismissively in tone. "Though it would be nice if it was my sister having to deal with someone else taking her style, for once," Sapphira added, slightly under her breath as she turned and moved back over to Seffora.
"Sister, please," Seffora said, with a slightly hurt look. She looked over at Theri with an apologetic expression. "I promise she's normally nicer than this, she's just..." the jester goddess trailed off, unsure how she wanted to finish that.
"Just what? Not over her sister's betrayal yet?" Sapphira suggested a little spitefully, folding her arms.
You are reading this.
The Light That Blinds
Theri (Fountain of Creation)
Theri gave Seffora a bright smile. "It's nice to meet you," she said, then gently knelt a little (not very much, she was already fairly short) to look at the baby. "And you too, Diana."
The other goddess was...quite a bit less polite. When she said multiple deities... "S-so you're a goddess of love, too?" Theri asked, a bit off-put by Sapphira's dismissiveness.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Fool From The Depths
Picoceles' Trap Temple (005.014)
"Excellent! I thank you for your gratitude!" 'Librian' chuckled. "Oh well, I must be going now. Enjoy my gift, and remember to spread my good word!"And with that, he disappeared in a flash of green light.
Fountain of Creation
Picoceles quickly took notice of the new goddesses who had appeared at the Fountain, and manifested there himself, offering a greeting."Ah! Hello there, newcomers!" he chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you! Welcome to the Quedrands!"
He bowed to them, though notably, he didn't actually go down too low.
"My name is Picoceles, Prince of Time and professional aristocrat. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Something's Fishy Here...
THE SLORG!
World of the Gods, Fountain of Creation pavilion, the present.
Sapphira gave a nod to Theri, keeping her arms crossed. "That's right. Well, more lovemaking primarily, but love too. Also seduction, fertility, and..." She paused for a moment, glancing over at the bundled demigod child and narrowing her eyes. "Childbirth."
"Diana didn't do anything wrong," Seffora said, holding her baby a little more protectively.
"No, I suppose she did not," Sapphira muttered, turning her eyes up towards her sister.
Both goddesses then looked a bit weirded out by Picoceles' appearance as he suddenly showed up and introduced himself.
"Um, Sapphira, goddess of love," Sapphira answered.
"Seffora, goddess of performers," Seffora answered as well, then added, "and my daughter, Diana."
"I thought this was the world of the gods?" Sapphira then asked towards Cato, somewhat confused.
"It is, do not mind Picoceles," Cato replied, in a light hearted tone.
"We did not have a god of time where we came from," Seffora mentioned, sounding a little curious of Picoceles' claimed domain. "We did have a god of the changing seasons, so sort of a god of the passage of time."
"And the twin gods of night and day," Sapphira added.
"I wonder how they're all doing," Seffora muttered, in a thoughtful tone. "I suppose we'll probably never find out, though..."
"Not unless they or a copy of them arrive here in the future," Cato said, in an apologetic tone. He stood with a slightly somber expression, before he then smiled and added, in a light hearted tone, "or, future copies of yourselves."
"That can happen too?!" Sapphira exclaimed, as both sisters looked mildly shocked.
Cato nodded his head. "Oh yes, it's happened here before. Only a small number of times, but it is indeed possible."
Edited by FirockFinion on Dec 24th 2023 at 9:31:02 AM
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The Light That Blinds
Theri (Fountain of Creation)
"Oh...I'm just love," Theri said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "Though...in all of its forms. Romantic, platonic, familial...oh, hello, Picoceles." She gave the time god a wave.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
THE SLORG!
World of the Gods, Fountain of Creation pavilion, the present.
Theri's statement managed to recapture Sapphira's attention, though there was another pause as the taller goddess just stared at Theri, looking a little taken aback. "... Platonic and familial love?" Sapphira finally said, then let out an amused laugh. "Maybe we do not have as much overlap as I thought. I think I have nothing to worry about from you," she added, looking at Theri the same way an adult might look at a child who just boasted that they can do grown up things now.
"You would have nothing to worry about from Theri regardless," Cato commented, still with a friendly smile on his face. "That is not our way of things."
"Come on sister, shouldn't we try to be nicer? Get along?" Seffora urged Sapphira, while casting Theri another apologetic look. "Just think, this is a chance you never would have back home, to talk to another deity over shared responsibilities. Isn't there anything you'd be curious to talk about with her?" the jester goddess suggested.
Sapphira cast a stern look at Seffora for a moment, then huffed. "Fine, since we're stuck here... I'll try," Sapphira muttered, then approached Theri again and looked very thoughtful. "Hmm... So, what do you normally do then, Theri, goddess of love? What's the craziest thing you've influenced a mortal to do for the sake of love?" the taller goddess wondered.
Picans' mountaintop fortress, (013.007) local time late afternoon.
After some hectic running, and explaining of the situation to others, a Pican entered one of the fortress' opulent halls at a sprint. Quickly he moved to a small table at one side of the hall, on which rested the little bell that Picoceles had granted to them. Wasting no time, the Pican man picked up the bell, and started to ring it.
You are reading this.
Fool From The Depths
Pican Fortress (013.007)
As soon as the lone Pican rung the bell, a quite literally faceless figure appeared in a flash of light. They wore a stylish tuxedo, and their face was completely devoid of any facial features whatsoever. In one hand they held a piece of parchment, in the other a quill. In a blur of motion, it quickly wrote out a sentence before presenting the paper to the Pican."HOW MAY I SERVE YOU?"
Something's Fishy Here...
The Light That Blinds
Theri (Fountain of the Gods)
"Craziest? Um..." Theri frowned, brow furrowing, before her eyes lit up. "Oh! I stopped a civil war from happening! Between the Ebrinada in the Quedrands."
She headed over to the fountain and pointed to said civilization. "There! They're right there. I also made these!" She then pointed to the Hiverfolk's small community. "They're called Hiverfolk."
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
THE SLORG!
Picans' mountaintop fortress, (013.007) local time late afternoon.
The Pican man seemed taken aback, though in that way where he clearly wasn't sure what to expect, and thus expected to be surprised. "Um, we have the killer Hiverfolk man, Miklav, in one of our cells. He's contained at the moment, but he's quite powerful, and we need help to keep him from breaking out," the Pican explained to the servant.
World of the gods, fountain of creation pavilion, the present.
Sapphira followed Theri with an amused look on her face, moving one hand to just below her neck. "Ah, starting a war over love. It's been a while since the other gods let me-" She stopped and blinked. "Wait, did you say, you prevented a war with love?" the taller goddess asked, a bit incredulous in tone, but also a little bit impressed. "I... I must admit, I haven't done that," Sapphira muttered, turning her gaze aside.
"Then perhaps Theri is a more benevolent goddess than you are, sister," Seffora suggested, in a very teasing tone. Sapphira simply looked a bit annoyed and embarrassed.
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 4th 2024 at 11:12:22 AM
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Fwomph
16.16
It had been a long time, sitting here idle in the lands outside of the human civilization. But all the while the immobile colossus had been working, completing the work inside itself to fabricate an emissary. Now, as a matter of justice or retribution had begun to brew the titan needed to snap out of reverie and act.
"Deploying emissary unit. Please do not do anything hasty until it arrives to mediate."
A hissing heralded the opening of a hatch on one of Rav'nixander's planted arms, an iris gateway to its interior spinning open so that a being that almost looked skeletal in its spindly metal framework could walk out. With its functioning assured the frame wandered off into town towards the center of the shouting.
"Greetings. I am Emissary Ought-Ought-One. I have been tasked with mediation and from there further assistance. It appears you are having issues with retributive justice... I am aware of my maker's preference but it is an unorthodox synthesis."
With the matter of the argument in town now assigned to the emissary, Rav'nixander had time to scan the horizons for potential threats.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Fool From The Depths
Pican Fortress (013.007
The faceless being reacted instantly, quickly writing out a reply that consisted only of a single word."UNDERSTOOD."
With that said, it took off towards Miklav's cell block at superhuman speed, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Somehow, it already knew exactly where to go.
Something's Fishy Here...
THE SLORG!
Nathan's Human civilization, (016.016) local time late afternoon.
Mark had started looking through his binoculars at the city body in more detail, but he stepped back in surprise when it suddenly talked. "Whoa, it talks," he commented, and raised an eyebrow as the hatch opened and the emissary walked out. He watched it walking into town, then he looked back at the city body again, then turned towards the emissary and shrugged before following it, keeping at a slight distance back.
As the emissary arrived, the people parted ways to let it through, looking at it with curious if somewhat wary expressions. The large, gruff man looked a little confused, the older man furrowed his brow in a slightly judgemental look, and the scarred woman scowled at the emissary.
"And how do you intend to... 'Mediate'?" the older man asked, trying to get a read of the emissary's intentions.
"What business is it of yours!? We're the ones who were wronged!" the woman yelled, shaking a fist in the emissary's general direction.
The large, gruff man said nothing yet, but did cross his arms. With all the attention towards the emissary, Mark was going largely ignored as he stood a bit outside the gathered crowd, watching curiously.
Picans' mountaintop fortress, (013.007) local time late afternoon.
When the faceless butler arrived, it would find that the cave Miklav was in was still sealed with a magic barrier. Two Picans were holding it, both sweating from exertion as Miklav launched attack after attack of ice shards against the barrier. Inside the barrier, the massive door that had previously sealed the cave was completely broken and off to one side in a crumpled heap of metal.
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 12th 2024 at 1:44:57 AM
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Nathan Munsen, 016.016
He clearly backed himself into a corner, but though he was busy panicking internally he smiled outwardly. "Whaaaaaaaaat? Nooooooooo." he chuckles nervously as he puts his hands behind his back and starts whistling, ignoring the lead pyromancer and turning to Rav's city body.
"To be honest... I tend to be pretty hands-off when it comes to humanity. Technically I'm not endorsing it, but I'm doing anything against it either. As long as no outside forces hurt the humans." he stares up at Rav. "....You want me to be more involved?" he mutters.
You piss off the Venom T-Rex. Roll initiative.