[centre][color=black][b]Vowzra, Level 5 God of Time 9 Might 4 Free Points[/b][/color][/centre] Neither completely sleeping nor awake, Vowzra let the prayers of the world wash over him. They were a constant companion, these prayers, though one could often brush them aside or silence them. It was pleasurable to float through the myriad of pleas and requests at times, just to gain an insight into the state of creation - the ant's single-minded desire for the growth of the colony, the Cimex's desire to adapt, the lion's desire for food, and so on it went. In the beginning there had not been many requests - Mankind had only one wish, and that was to be one with the Celestial Above. But times changed and they grew, and so too did their needs. And so too did their plight. [i]'Oh lord, if you're up there, have mercy on me soul,'[/i] came one elderly voice of a woman in Garakai. [b]'Oh Celestial Above, Father of Man, save me from the wrath of this warlord!'[/b] came another, of a Garakaian man marching with the warlord. [color=ed1c24]'Aid me in this hunt!'[/color] came the demand of an Orabakhian hunter. [color=00a651]'Please lord, return to me my love and the father of my children,'[/color] came the prayer of a Sviebardian woman who had lost her husband in the night. Vowzra heard them all, those prayers directed at him. He did not answer them all, of course, for there was no benefit in the long term in so doing. But there were some occasions where he saw it fitting to interfere, and the one which now reached him was one such prayer warranting answer. Aztoc's words reached the god of Time. "Gods of Galbar, I will not lie to you. I am an evil man, by anyone's idea of 'evil'. I have lied, stolen, murdered, enslaved, conquered, and betrayed. All in the name of power. And I regret nothing. I do not throw myself at your mercy. I do not pray and beg to have my life spared. My choices have brought me to this situation, and I will accept my Fate. I pray to you to give me the power to fight my enemies. To leave my mark on them before I die. To let the future know that the last true Lord of Garakai did not go quietly into the night. That I did not die cowering behind my walls. That I fought with my dying breath and my enemies knew fear. I will pay any price demanded from me. Just give me this one chance to make Garakai's memory be that of an Empire and not of a hovel." The man's words did not move Vowzra into action, if anything they were rather dissuading. But Vowzra could see that if the Eternal Night was to end, Garakai needed to survive, if even temporarily. There was no possibility for victory over the warlord - indeed, the warlord's Fate was to conquer and rule - but letting Garakai survive a little longer would quite possibly be better for Mankind and the world at large. The Eternal Night may have been ended by the Chaotic One temporarily, but the only permanent cure to it, even more permanent than Orabil, was to have Vestec himself remove it. That required Thulemiz to accomplish the mission, and that mission would be easier accomplished with Aztoc on the Garakain throne. [color=black][b]'You shall receive my aid, Aztoc of Garakai. All that you must do is take the enemy of your enemy as a friend and overlord. When Thulemiz arrives, give him all he needs,'[/b][/color] and with that, the earth trembled around Garakai and the city found itself lifted from the very earth, along with some surrounding farmland, leaving a giant crater in its wake. It rose high into the heavens, stopping when it was a good half mile above the ground. A force-field grew around it, which would prevent missiles and magical attacks from entering, and hinder anyone trying to get in or leave. Unbeknownst to Aztoc, Vowzra also placed within the man a small vein of Time energy. It was only temporary, but he would heal much faster and his enemies would slow around him, and if he was hit with a critical blow he would be cast through the fabric of existence and deposited on Vestec's island, for that was where those closest to his heart now dwelled. [color=black][b]'Your duty is to survive. Your duty, in this final act of defiance, is to serve Man; then only will you be redeemed and cleansed.'[/b][/color]