The wretched throng scrambled up the mountain in slow motion. Bodies worn hard and made desperately tired from the long journey now moved only at the insistence of addled minds. Leading the desperate procession was the sole man among them undiminished, a figure whose energy never faltered as he helped the others along even while carrying a child on his back. Newly named, Orynn Kaseyk, the God of Defiance, led the first mortals into the divine city at the center of the world. Upon seeing it, some of them even smiled.
Most struggled to stand. The God among them could keep their minds focused and their spirits unbroken, but he had made no effort to accomplish for them what they couldn’t have done for themselves. Yes, he had led them here, and helped them along. He had not summoned a golden chariot and spirited them all off to safety as some of his followers now silenting gazing upon the divine city realized he most likely could have done. Had they the strength, they might have asked.
The God was not likely to answer if they did. The truth was they were right, and Orynn could have saved them all if he’d chosen to, but sometimes the truth wasn’t helpful. All of them would have died if he hadn’t led them to safety. Around him they had the strength to imagine questioning a God when they couldn’t even stand, and they’d probably do it if they were capable. When he left, the questions would die, not that that made it better.
As it was... Orynn had allowed them to save themselves. He’d given them the strength to do what they knew had to be done, and he’d given them a direction. They had refused to die, others had not. Everyone had accepted the risks.
And the reward! Orynn looked out at the nascent Divine City almost as surprised as the raggedly clothed and travel weary humans behind him. He waved his people forward, which they managed, and remarked to himself, ”They’ve been busy.”
Ze'kelia flew around the great heights of the central mountain of the continent. She didn't know exactly what she was looking for, after all she wasn't exactly sure what someone who hits people with rivers looks like. She had been imagining a sort of animate water thing, or a mean looking giant of some kind. Unfortunately nothing so obvious was present in her initial survey, she'd been ignoring most of things going on in the place for now as she'd been trying to discern anything of particular note to her imagination.
Although she did see a group of people at an edge of the whole place, they didn't look particularly river-make-y but they did have a rather worn look about them. She hoped at least they wouldn't be too inclined to throw rocks at her.
She dived down towards a rock that she could sit upon and still have an height advantage over them, gently squeezing an orb she carried as she stood just after landing. Standing tall with spear in hand, she spoke down to them as politely as she managed, "Excuse me, do anything of you happen to know who unleashed the northern River?"
A few of the more lively looking examples of the assembled humanity spared her a curious glance, but none answered her question before continuing their slow trek towards the heart of the divine city. They were, it seemed, supremely disinterested in being delayed. Their leader waved them on and looked up at Ze'kelia with a knowing smirk, “That’d be me and Lonn. North, south, west, all of them. I’ll throw a little credit I’Iro’s way, for the sake of fairness.”
”WHAT ABOUT ME?” The shouted question came echoing down from the top of one of the half-constructed structures. There, leaning dangerously over a would-be-balcony, was the short, tan Goddess named Astella. Even from so far away, her frown was evident. ”I WAS THE FIRST TO FIND THE WELLSPRING, YOU KNOW!” She shouted again, before disappearing into the structure, followed by the sounds of absolute chaos as several things tumbled down the stairs and a few scaffoldings broke.
Orynn grinned as she Goddess spoke, waiting until she vanished from view to speak hushedly in Ze'kelia’s direction, “And that’s about all she did do.”
Ze'kelia watched the little amount of by play, her head swinging between the apparent leader of this little herd and the short yelling Goddess. Flapping her wings and soaring down her perch she first soared over the uninterested group saying, "Thank you for your supreme unhelpfulness!" Waving a hand to have baskets appear laden with colorful cloths and fruits.
She ended her short flight coming to a stop in front of the evident leader. "Now!" A broad smile that quickly devolved as she continued, "You and 'Lonn' hit with me a river! Did you maybe think of actually paying attention to the consequences before you went out and did something like that?!"
After an apparently unprepared outburst she composed herself also whispering, "And what is a wellspring if I may add?"
“No.” The Orynn responded flatly, staring down the Goddess. He managed the pose for nearly ten seconds before a budding smile ruined his act and he spat out, “But you did!”
Orynn lapsed into a fit of barely repressed laughter as he added, helpfully, “When it hit you!”
By the time he was finished the God of Defiance looked simultaneously shamed, and no less pleased with himself than when he’d first made the joke. With a pronounced ‘whew’ he steeled his features, somewhat, and answered Ze'kelia’s last question as he regarded his followers ahead combing through their gifts, “And The Wellspring, unless you find another, is where all the water on this fragment comes from.”
“Y’know,” he went on soberly, “Popping the cork on it probably saved the lives of a lot more people than came with me, if you’re one to care about those details. Not all of us are.”
Ze'kelia replied as she fell back onto a helpfully newly made bed of furs, "Ugh, I just wanted to hit some jerk for hitting me and you had to go and make all this morality things, totally ruined."
She laid there a moment, taking a look over at the small group before her eyes shifted back to Orynn once more, "I'm Ze'kelia by the way, Goddess of Light and maker of the Su'une." Finishing with a vague wave towards the solar disk in the sky. "Who are you?
“Orynn Kaskye, God of Defiance. Friend of Humanity, maker of assorted plants, and a popper of the worlds cork,” The God introduced himself with a grin and a wink, “But you can just call me Orynn.
"Well nice to meet you Orynn! Or maybe Lady Orynn as someone I met earlier on my journey here had the intent of calling deities..." After speaking Ze'kelia, leaned in close whispering, "Are those ones you brought a humanity by the way?"
”YES!” Came the shout, muffled behind a pair of intricately carved wooden doors. Those doors shot open, pushed by the short Goddess. She was wearing a silver-coloured noblewoman’s dress and her hair, which was longer than Orynn remembered, was tied styled in a fancy braid. She was panting, a couple beads of sweat rolling down her brow. ”Those.. Are one humanity, yes! Careful Zekee, or they might stick to you like lost kittens. Kinda like they stuck to the one-who-had-no-name-but-is-now-named-Orynn. You don’t want that, they have no concept of privacy.” She explained with a smirk, chuckling under her breath as a nearby man walked off sharply.
After a moment of silence however, a white and furry cat’s head peeked up over her shoulder. She grinned and relaxed her posture, walking closer to the pair of Ze’kelia and Orynn. ”Astella’s the name, by the way.”
"Well, hello Lady Astella! Or just Astella perhaps?" Ze'kelia said with a grin, "A humanity huh? Also...
...Zekee?" Ze'kelia laid back on her bed of furs saying further. "This does seem to be a rather more built up place than most, and is on the highest mountain at that. What exactly is this place special for? Why did you lead the uh, one humanity here Orynn? It seems like there could be better places for building up in any case, space does seem at a premium when building on a mountain."
”She started building up,” Orynn directed a perfunctory gesture towards Astella, “I just brought them to the place they were least likely to die, and hey what’s a city without people anyway?”
”I’m not actually involved in any building. Not directly, at least. I just helped I’Iro make the schematics she fed into her lil worker crabspiders. Nowadays I’m just making sure everything goes smoothly and that they have enough materials to keep working. There is one thing, though...” Astella ran her hands through her hair and wiped the sweat off her brow before sighing, ”You do know the sewers aren’t done yet, don’t you, Orynn? Who’s gonna clean up all the mess? I’Iro’s workers aren’t programmed for tha-” She was cut off as some high-pitched whirring, followed by a small explosion rung out through the whole area.
In the distance, one could see a half-finished structure begin to collapse, kicking up dust and dirt into a large cloud that soon fell over much of the city.
Astella groaned and slouched, rolling her eyes. ”Not again… These little crabspider bots are impressive, but they can be so dumb sometimes... ” The short Goddess rubbed her temples and swiftly turned around and began to move towards the collapsed structure on the other side of the city. She lifted her left hand as she walked away, waving her farewells to the pair. ”I’ll see you guys around. I’ll take care of the mess over there while you two help the humans set up around here.” She half-shouted just before she turned and disappeared at a bend in the main street.
"And she's gone again. I wonder if it's me?" Orynn watched Astella vanish behind the bend as he spoke. With his eyes lingering on the wall he remarked, "Eh, probably not."
”Naw I think it’s a good chance it might be you, I mean you can be pretty rude although I suppose it’s best we don’t speculate too much. Don’t know what’s inside her head after all.” having evident lounged on her furs long enough, Ze’kelia hopped up and lazily meandered around continuing off her brief quip, ”So what do you do being a God of Defiance. Do you just like being contrarian or...”
“I couldn’t honestly say I don’t!” The God laughed, “But what do I do? Whatever I want to! And I encourage you to do the same. For me? Now? That’s keeping myself and as much of this place is left alive as I can.”
“That’s fair enough, I wanted to light the place up a tad and well I did at that!” Ze’kelia walked around and peered after the group of humans who had gone back further into the city. “Where did you even find a group like that? Have they really managed to survive much out in the barrens? I didn’t see much chance of that out in the world, even with the rivers- I’m not sure that’ll do much.”
“I got a tip from a like mind as to where I might find them, but they’re the ones who survived and made it here. Don’t listen to Astella, by the way. Humans will surprise you even when you’re not underestimating them.” Orynn was still smiling as he spoke, but his tone was humorless, “As for chances, whether this fragment is doomed or not, I don’t think I care. Neither did they. None of us plan on dying. No point lying down and watching everything fall apart, chance or not, better to die fighting if that’s how it's going to be.
She snorted at his words replying dryly, "You have a real talent you know."
"I didn't start out bringing light to this world to have it be a comfort in death. I started bringing light to make it a better world, even if I have to chain it all together to keep it from falling apart I'm not one to give up easy even if I don't trek out to save a few souls Orynn." She turned back to face him. "So what now?"
“I thought so, but you never know.” He punctuated his sentence with a pleased little shrug, “I don’t expect all of us to be on the same page. A few might need convincing. As for what now? I’m planning to head west, see if I can save anyone or anything else out that way. The Humans can manage themselves, sewers or not. What about you Ze'kelia?
"Plans plans plans! I don't know, more water can't hurt right? There's a lot of land and not a lot of rivers comparatively I suppose." She looked around, flying up to get a better view, she pointed somewhere to the north east, "That would be a good direction right?"
“Might be,” Orynn hedged, “I’ve been around. Nowhere north of here though.”
"You know its a bit greener than I remember it but... A sudden blast from her spear vasporized some rock and a huge gush of water spilled forth on the north-eastern side. ...I'm sure it'll be fine. There now I made a big river for all of them. Should put it all in order up there."
The God of Defiance watched the lip of the crater lake collapse as a frothing torrent erupted from the formerly placid crater lake. An infinite source of water poured out, shattering the rock left cracked and damaged by Ze'kelia’s spear until the new river racing out from the mountain dwarfed its peers in scale and intensity. Once the chaos had begun to subside Orynn snapped his fingers and added with a wide grin, “While you’re at it!”
He bent over and went rummaging around until he eyed a weighty rock which he promptly picked up. The God brought it to his ear and seemed to share a hushed conversation with the object before appearing to unceremoniously whip it at the westward rim of the crater lake. Accelerated by a God, when the projectile met the rim it had more than enough energy to detonate.
By the time the dust faded another river, less than half as powerful as Ze'kelia’s, but a river nonetheless flowed west. Orynn eyed his, and Ze'kelia’s, handiwork and nodded approvingly. The God shouted to his counterpart, “Good to meet you Ze'kelia! And if you wouldn’t mind, don’t tell Astella this was me!
And thereafter dove into the river he’d unleashed with a wave, letting it sweep him down the mountainside. In a low voice, "I'm not sticking around that long..." and a quick flight eastward over the lip and down the mountain to travel along the eastern peaks.
Ok listen up here’s how it went down:
Zekels rolls up to Orynn and the cannibal gang and is like, hey whats with the river heading north, humans ignore her while Orynn talks about unclogging the wellspring with peeps, humans get gifts from Ze’kelia for being unhelpful and Orynn makes a bad joke during Ze’kelia’s anger. Orynn also deflates said anger with talk of morality while Astellia comes up to join the little gather. Some back and forth ensues on what everyone has done, what to do, Astellia dips at one point and Orynn and Ze’kelia continue a bit longer before bursting out two rivers. Orynn floats away west on his, Ze’kelia makes the Chak’s river before heading along the eastern range. Astellia is left unknowingly with all the humans and two new rivers haphazardly taken out of the wellspring.
-Big River to the NorthEast through the Chaklands -River heading west threading the needle -Nobody hit Orynn for his bad sense of humor
Light streaked like one of the new found stars in the sky, but brighter, moving across the heavens. Different from the various burning lights that had so recently streaked down from the sky before the stars were gifted to the heavens, this light was closer and by some margin ever so brighter and more luminous that it seemed to light up the world below.
If one had the sight for it they would see not just light, but a woman carrying a spear and darting through the sky, gliding on leathery wings and propelled ever so fast as she herself glowed amid her dress of fancy form. If one had the hearing for it they too would hear the exclamation, “Wait, that’s not a funny tree, that’s a person!” before that woman descended down upon the sea the reflected her shine so well, to a bank by the river flow.
She landed gently nearby but the pale woman paid her no heed, so engrossed by something she saw in the water. It didn't take long for the luminous lady to approach, in fact in took a very short amount of time before she was sitting down next to her saying, “So my name is Ze'kelia, light is kinda my thing, and who the f- I mean who might you be?”
The woman blinked and then her eyes gazed upon Ze'kelia's reflection as if she was picking apart the goddess' every detail. They sat in silence for a few moments and then the woman turned to the goddess with a frown. "How uncouth." she said in a rich, velvety voice. An air of authority laced within it. The woman stood up, arms folded behind her back as she walked around the Light Goddess, head held high. "Is that anyway to greet a fellow Divine? Rushing in without a modicum of patience? Asking who I am with such disregard for pleasantries? Sitting with such poor posture?" she came to a stop before Ze'kelia and looked down with a frown that turned into a dazzling smile. "Well, we are new after all so it can be forgiven." At once her deamnor changed and she seemed to relax as she extended a hand to the Goddess. "I am Wyn, Goddess of Beauty. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Ze'kelia, Goddess of light." her voice lost its air of authority and became softer, friendlier even.
Ze'kelia feigned a look of extreme suspicion after the sudden change of tone. She rammed the butt of the spear into the ground, before smiling warmly and taking Wyn's hand as she began to stand. She paused to kiss Wyn's hand as her head came up and then laid her other hand on top holding it for a moment. Wyn smiled further at the display. “And a pleasure it is to meet you Lady Wyn, Goddess of Beauty!” Ze'kelia then let go doing a small flourish with both her hands.
“You are more pleasant by far than the first thing on this half-blighted land, an ugly creature on three legs that threw a rock at me, a big one!” She paused to pick up her spear once more, resting the butt of it on the ground. “I'm traveling to see who exactly hit me with this river you see, oh and to head up to the big mountain over there to give a signal to my two giants to start throwing my light disk. I've been thinking of names for it, I figure actually making this dark place a bit more enlightened and warm might do it some good. What do you think of...”
Ze'kelia threw her arms into the air and with a flourish of her spear an array of lights appeared behind her as she spoke, “THE SU'UNE!”
She kept gently wiggling her spear above her head as she awaited a response.
Wyn clasped her hands together and tilted her head to the side, her smile never fading. "My, you are quite the charmer and just a ball of energy, aren't you? A wonderful combination darling, one I have no doubt you'll realize how easy it is to fall for." she said nonchalantly before bringing a hand to her chin. "Now, let's see, the Su'une did you say? You know it's quite funny that we'd meet actually, as I was going to work on that very same solution. The water behind me needs a light source to fully realize its potential and here you are. Oh and no, in case you were wondering, I did not hit you with that river. I came from it actually and it no doubt comes from the same place you're heading. But oh, the Su'une… I suppose it could work." she said with a nod.
Ze’kelia twirled her spear around her head before bringing back down to her side as she spoke, “The water needs some light huh? It might be a while till the Su’une gets up above, I could always make a little something for your dear little place here Lady Wyn...” She trailed off leaving the option open as she renewed her smile looking directly at Wyn the whole time.
Wyn raised an eyebrow. "And kind too." the goddess said, curling a strand of her hair with a finger. "I did have a bit of an idea. Come, let's take a stroll you and I." Wyn smiled before turning around. She then began to walk on top of the water, in the direction of endless sea.
“A stroll yes sounds wonderful!” she eagerly followed although with a noticeable lesser amount of grace walking on the water for the first ten steps or so catching up, ”You know, I went for a bit of a stroll once before, actually I don’t actually know if it could be called a stroll. Probably a bad word for blasting your way out of a dark monster filled cave system. Awful design let me tell you, wasn’t a single sign or anyone helpful at all!”
Wyn put her arms behind her back and interlocked her fingers as they walked. "Yes you mentioned seeing something… Foul. It pains me to hear that you have had such a difficult awakening, Lady Ze'kelia. Such monsters have no right to even look upon your brilliance, if I be so bold to say. It is an affront on our divinity to allow such creatures to exist. Fortunately, I have not come across anything monstrous yet but if I do… Well. " she smirked at Ze'kelia. "I will remind them of their placel."
Ze’kelia absentmindedly tapped the spear but against the water surface as they walked, sending ripples of light off below. ”Now aren’t you the charming one Lady Wyn, be bold as you would, I’d hardly hold it against you. I have been thinking this world is lackluster to live in, it sucks a lot. It’s dark, cold, the ground is dusty and a rather odd color in most places. It could use a great deal more beauty so I am glad to have you around with such an eye and care for it.”
"Oh that's just what I'm here for, dear. The calling to turn the world back to beauty, back to a livable state. For what, you might ask? Who knows? Perhaps it's just something to do? Perhaps it's why we came into being? All I know is that this world is ugly and I, or in this case, we, must fix it." Wyn went silent, as if she was contemplating something but it wasn't long that she piped up again. "We have come along way already, haven't we? This spot will do." she unfolded her hands and placed one over the water in front of her. There came a sudden groan and the water bubbled. A large piece of land rocketed up from the depths at their feet, sending them high into the air as they stood upon it.
Ze’kelia kept silent as she thought on a few of the questions and even as they rose up with the land. Finally she did come to speak turning to Wyn, ”What are we to do Lady Wyn? You seem to have a solid idea in your own mind of things.”
When the land came to a stop it was a sizable island. Pools of water had collected on the gray stone as most of it returned to the sea in thunderous noise. Wyn turned to Ze'kelia and eyed her again. "Not to worry dear, you'll see and all will be made clear." she brought up her hands and made a box with her index fingers and thumbs, placing it in front of her face as she looked at Ze'kelia with an eye closed. "That'll do perfectly darling." she said to herself then turned back towards the island. She raised her hand and the ground began to rumble again. Stone gave away to white as something emerged from the center of the island. It rose, first revealing a hand, then the top of a head, then shoulders and wings sprouted with an unrefined look. An outline. It rose further, towering and towering above. When it at last stopped moving a giant statue stood before them. It was far larger then any ruined monolith or hill but not as large as a mountain. Its outline resembled a woman with a hand outstretched, spear in the other, striking a pose. Wyn hummed to herself then flicked her fingers and the stone began to break and crack, but the goddess did not look concerned at all. Great chunks of rock began to fall with mighty cracks upon the island, sending dust into the air.
This rent on for several moments but when the noise died down, Wyn summoned a wind that blowed the dust away, revealing a magnificent statue of Ze'kelia. It was an immaculate display, with details weaved into the stone like the fabric she wore, all the way to individual feathers. Her build was appropriate to her current form, but her face was enhanced, perhaps far too beautiful or with a hint of an artistic flare. "If you could place a light within your palm, it would be appreciated, Lady Ze'kelia." Wyn said, one hand on her hip and the other touching her chin. She stared at the statue but her face conveyed little to what she was thinking.
Ze'kelia had awaited patiently as first the stone was shaped and then detail added, growing more aware of what exactly was being formed here. Somewhat stunned by the whole thing she calmly did as asked, an orb of light flickering through the spectrum came into her hand as she stared up at the construction. A single look, when she had taken a very long while to shape a physical form to her idea not too long ago.
"Ah, there it is, light. It's warmth shall illuminate this sea for time eternal. Bringing about beauty untold. Thank you, Lady Ze'kelia." Wyn said to her, then snapped her fingers and turned around to look out over the sea. From behind her the rocks groaned again and formed a hexagonal platform beneath the statue. Smaller statues, that maintained the same visual appeal, formed on the corners, each depicting Ze'kelia holding an urn. From those urns a a stream of water gushed pooling into rocks as they flowed to run off the island. A stream ran by them and Wyn reached down, placing a finger within and then bringing it to her lips. She tasted it. "Salty. Perfect. Come Ze'kelia, look upon the view you created." she said. Ze'kelia flapped her wings, bolting herself to a easy landing by the edge to look out onto the fullness of the landscape.
With the added light, what was once a rather dreary look had transformed into a wonderous view. Her light painted the water crystal clear, and where the salt began to mix with the water, the particulates reflected and sparkled. It was a spark of hope in that dreary world and would only grow better as it aged. Wyn finally spoke up again, "I imagine your… What was it again, suun? Sun? When that illuminates the world it will only look better I think. Or I should say, hope."
"You know, Lady Wyn, I think this world has waited long enough for the rising of the Su'une. My Solar Disk, I shall think it might be good to get that going, so you might see for yourself."
With that comment made she flew up into the air and held her spear with both hands, aligning it upward towards the sky and unleashing a great burst. It wasn't blinding, it slowly drifted up luminous beyond anything else higher and higher into the sky. A small trail of plasma and heated atmosphere was left in its wake, bright anywhere else except in the wake of this light. When it seemed so far above the surface, so far above even the highest mountains it exploded out in a great wave of light.
Mostly low energy, high in wavelength, the least harmful to most that which still lived. Some in the higher bands of visible light stayed as did others not absorbed quickly into the atmosphere, heating it ever slightly. And the light faded from the sky once more, dimming...
...until from the North, almost as far as one could go and starting low in the sky. A bright light arc'd, from east to west, it was blinding to look at and warm, warmer than anything had been for a long time in most places along the surface. It radiated out over, so low that some were blocked by mountains or hills. Then it landed somewhere unknown, and then a light flew from west to east, not as bright, but warm still if less so. One could look and see this clearly, the best eyesight could tell a beautiful design of colors and light shifting as it flew, but from a disk so radiant and small that to most it appeared white in their merging, soft and gentle light. It flew in an arc slightly higher in the sky, going slightly further east than the first light.
And then it began again when it landed, eachtime moving a bit further, a bit higher. One could see that eventually it would be high in the sky and enlighten all that it could reach.
"I think my Guardians got the message Lady Wyn!" Ze'kelia called back below as she circled slowly down again.
Wyn gave a clap as she smiled up at Ze'kelia. "Marvelous darling. Oh what beauty your light will illuminate one day." Her lips curled into a frown however. "But right now it paints how much work is still needed to achieve that dream. I think it best we depart for now. For you have to hunt down whoever hit you with that river, and I must busy myself with tidying up this place we now call home." she said, her frown relaxing.
Ze'kelia landed once more speaking softly, "One last thing Lady Wyn before I continue on my way and you continue with your work."
She held out a small crystal orb, to the other Goddess and displayed one in her other hand after letting go of the spear where it stood in the air as she left it. She squeezed the one held out and it glowed red as the other glowed blue, she stopped and then repeated for the other. Squeezing both at once made them glow purple.
"So that no matter how distant on this world we may both remember each other and let the other know."
Wyn looked upon the orb with great interest, then back to Ze'kelia. "How kind of you, Lady Ze'kelia. Hmm, let's see." she said, hovering the orb closer. Upon further inspection she touched it and the orb sparkled, then a crystal band grew from under it and she placed it on a finger. She held it up towards the light and it shimmered. "You are sweet, thank you." Wyn said softly.
Ze'kelia smiled and waved as her wings began to beat and she took off, turning to head upriver towards the mountain once more. Wyn watched her go, a devious smile playing at her lips.
Ze’kelia flies up river until she comes across a lady along the banks of an inland sea. She very unceremoniously introduces herself to Wyn which causes some authoritative talk before she adopts a very smiling and happy venere. They talk for a bit, sharing who they are and some facets. Wyn leads Ze’kelia away over the water before eventually making an island rise and adding a neat statue of Ze’kelia, although face touched up a bit with the artist's mind there. Ze’kelia adds a light to the statue’s outstretched hand as other statues pour salt water into the sea. They have some talk of Ze’kelias plans over such and the need for light. In which Ze’kelia mentions her solar disc, the Su’une as she calls it.
With the minor light given and some more talk Ze’kelia decides to give the signal now, sending a light way up into the sky which explodes in the higher light frequencies down to barely in visible light. This starts the two Guardians way in the north throwing the solar disk between them. East to west bright and warm as a sun, west to east as a beautifully crafted art upon the disk in light, appearing white to most unenhanced eyes serves as bright and warm a good full moon.
Starting very low in the sky the disc slowly begins to go both further and further across the horizon but also higher and higher in the sky. As a source of light and warmth spreading to all of the Fragment in time.
Ze’kelia gives Wyn a paired light orb and then departs on pleasant terms to go to the central mountains and find who hit her with a river, as Wyn has her own plans.
-Light burst as described lighting and hitting all over Galbar from its explosion after rising in the sky. Light in higher wavelengths of light to barely into the visible spectrum. Gives signal for the Solar Disc, the Su’une, to begin to be thrown between the two Guardians Ur-Nikatel and Ur-Alz(f)elia
Hi, I was wondering if there would be room for one more character? I had a god character from another rp, that was the god of memories and dreams. Would that be an acceptable character?
Hello! We certainly could still have a new god character, there is some overlap with extant gods however that isn't necessarily a problem. I'd like to encourage you to come onto the discord to discuss this if possible, so that we might be able to help you rework your character for this roleplay.
Light, dwindling in the darkest corner as monsters and those who have sunk to the level of the same flee ever further from the dark to the last spots of light. Where above in the upper surface world lightning struck and brief flashes still gave illumination even as cold and dark set in so strongly. It was in the heart, the deep corners where heat radiated still from cooling and dying light from the cataclysmic energy of destruction that had befallen the old world.
In that deep hidden pocket where living creatures had long abandoned with the chaos and quakes of the destructing world a coalescent came to be, a formation in that dying light around a single thought of a being not yet born.
No. Not yet done.
Some unleashed thing with the apocalypse or disappearing divinity had sprung forth new hope and new creation. Light sprung forth anew with a new being born in its midst with words coming forth in the after effect of such a creation she spoke, “Golly gosh it's darn cold here!”
Perhaps not the most eloquent first words but firsts rarely are.
She settled in form, clothing and body forming solid even as the radiance only grew stronger in that dark deep cavern, sealed by quake and rock. Black leathery wings and pale skin, glimmering hair of blue and gold. She gathered that light still radiant around her and formed a spear of light. Shining ever greater with power infused as she spoke to herself, “I didn’t come into being just a few seconds ago to be trapped somewhere so boring.
She lowered the spear pointing it at a sealed tunnel and her wings flared outstretched as she prepared to leap into flight, “Even if I have to force my way out.”
A blast of searing high energy boomed through the cavern as she took flight through the mix of plasma and gaseous rock, flying further out of the caves, blasting and melting her way through as needed. She maneuvered deftly, twirling her body this way or that, a half folded wing to change direction or a twist to pass through a small space.
Still it took a while, a lot of melted and vaporized rock, paths carved and traveled, reversed and confused. While light returned it was trapped, still taking time to map and figure out how to move forward or get out. She never accepted that this was there was to see, she knew who she was as a name came to her mind, to put forth her identity.
She was Ze’kelia, and she would not be denied her brilliant lighted world.
Her speed and power scared trapped monsters and underworld beasts alike as she fought and flew and clawed her way forward, her way out.
In truth although she tried a lot, the caves were too complicated and twisted with rock and quake changes, so it left only one option as it seemed the ground solidified.
Boring a whole straight through solid rock was a hard task, but possible, especially if you had the brilliant energy of light to blast through.
Ze’kelia finally flew out upon the side of the continental mass. Into open air and circled around, she pulled out some stone for an outcropping, or created a bit as it were, and rested. Laying back facing upward to sky she closed her eyes even as she had seen. “This world stinks, but I guess here I am. So dark, so pointless, so…
...noisy?”
She heard a strange sound, one she had not heard before, a rushing shushing, a crashing and breaking quiver through the air. It wasn’t an earthquake for one, it came from the air not her outcropping. She opened her eyes and sat up trying to locate the sound. She shot a light back from where she had come from, looked below the outcropping, off to the sides in the distance away from the small bit of cohesive land remaining.
“Huh, it sounds almost like its coming from above?”
Ze’kelia located the source of the sound when she looked up, just in time to be hit with the full force of a new river coming over the edge of the land. So strong it knocked her back to the ground of her outcropping and then soon broke off the outcropping itself!
Ze’kelia was not one for easy defeats, a blast of light to vaporize the water, and the rising up by flapping her wings and once more coming to a rest, this time on the side of the surface of the continental mass itself. She set down with the calmness one would have come to expect from her, this is to say, she kicked half a dozen rocks off the edge and screamed a bit before blasting some light to vaporize tha last bits of water on her before sitting down in frustration and exhaustion.
“It’s always the next thing! Well guess what you stupid world? I don’t agree, you’re cold and dark and I’m gonna make you better, no more darkness! No more pointless unending cold! No more stupid waterfalls out of nowhere!”
With that out of the way, and the world at large properly chastised for its unladylike behavior, she laid back down and with a huff and closed her eyes once more.
“A big rock, no a disk, able to be as bright as I want it, and it could be warm and nice and this world could stop being so darn-”
An approaching stomping caused her to bolt up and open her eyes, two large creatures, one approached fast on three legs, holding a rock. It was many times her size and she had to quickly open and flap her wings to get out of the way in a quick roll.
“Hey! Excuse you!
The creature just roared and beat its scaled and furred chest, gazing back with fifteen, it had clearly lost three, eyes.
“I’m so done with this,” she said raising her spear. “Ha!”
With that last exclamation and bolt of light seared skin and scale and burned fur, leaving lightly charred and burned flesh as what was that roaring creature fell backward as a remnant flesh. The other cautiously approached and dragged it a short distance before beginning to eat its former compatriot. Ze’kelia muttered, “Ugh, this world just keeps getting better and better…”
Ze’kelia had a thought as she sat down again, and she began carving. Or more precisely she began picking up rocks and melting them with light between her hands trying to get the shape she wanted, testing out ideas. Practicing.
She was a quick study, you know, compared to the rocks, the dead creature, and his friend eating him.
Several thousand attempts later she had got it! The perfect defender, servant, a being perfectly designed for destroying mean strangers and building the new world she wanted. A thrower of the sun, defender against threats big and small, smart and communicative too, with a good sense of art. They were to be mighty and big, large tusks to fight and stab and club, trunks with dexterous digits to manipulate and throw as good or better as her own hands could. Four large legs to support and carry its might, large ears to hear, and good but small eyes to see. They would drink water and eat all that this land could make.
She had done countless tests.
“Grrr! Raauggh!” Ze’kelia made the noises as she smashed the Guardian figurine into a smaller one she had made of the creature that attacked earlier.
Countless tests.
And knew that this was truly the superior being, so as the two that had come upon her came into twos, so did she make two of her great Guardians! A new couple and bonded pair that would throw her enlightened power over the world so all could know light and warmth and such clearly good things!
She also, thankfully, remembered to make the actual disk she meant to give them, it was a bit harshly bright so she adjusted it to be controllable by the thrower. One could choose how much of what kind of light, of a pattern or form. Although at its brightest it might be a bit hard to look at still…
She was catching up her two Guardians, they clearly had a strong bond as they kept checking to look back at each other as she told her story, she knew they had such clear affection that wanted to check and make sure that the other was hearing the same tale!
“...and so that’s how I created you two! Now! What are your names, I thought of my own amazing name as I’m sure you could tell.” Ze’kelia paused to smile and give a flip to her hair as she stood speaking up to the two towering Guardians. “Oh! I almost forgot, I’ll make bags that’ll have as much food and water as you need! But don’t be shy about getting any more, too many nasties about. What was I saying? Oh right! Your names!”
Clearly this was of great import to them she could tell, they had to both look at eachother once more before one spoke, “I shall be Ur-Nikatel.”
He spoke with a crisp voice, even as the other spoke soon after, adding a shrill of her trunk to the middle of her name. “And I shall be Ur-Alz(f)elia.”
Now she had let them speak, Ze’kelia launched once more into communication, “Great great great! So I’m gonna fly to that big mountain in the distance, kick whoever hit me with that river, and then give a signal that you two should start splitting up and throwing the Disk of Light between you two. It should be able to track between you two well enough if you give it a decent throw! Okay byeeee!”
With that she took off in flight towards the mountain, a shooting light in the sky leaving the two giants alone together with their magic gifts and the ever so important disk…
Ze’kelia is born! In a cave. Deep underground. Fear not, she makes a spear with light and starts blasting around, and can’t find her way out. Until she just goes in a straight line! And makes it out the side, resting on an outcropping she made.
But what’s this? A sound onrushing! But she identifies it as the full force of water of a river going over the edge and about to hit her! One very drenched Goddess and a number of angrily thrown stones later she rests on the shore of the continent, bemoaning how it sucks and is dark and cold. She decides to do something about that, when she is attacked by a creature! She then basically just burns it with the light spear, not that hard when your a Goddess.
A lot of thought, ‘testing’, and minor chaos later, she had created two Giant Guardians that…
...okay they’re basically big elephants with more intelligence and more and better digits on their trunks. She gives them a disk of light that could be a new sun for the world, some bags that magically give food and water, and tells them good luck I’m going to beat up who hit me with a river, I’ll send a signal from the mountain when you should split up and start the disk throwing!
Basically made two great big super Elephants to do cool stuff, immortal and all. Gave them magic bags for food and water. Also gave them the future sun/maybe moon in terms of light to throw across the sky when she gives the signal later. ABout it besides shooting off towards big central.
Ze’kelia is the Goddess of light, a full spectrum of energy, from the most intense and powerful to the least, Ze’kelia holds power and knowledge over it all. From the caring and helpful light and warmth that comes from the Sun to the most destructive beams of light. Within her domain is the supreme control of the fundamental force, element and power. It’s manipulation to abnormal and magic means to the most simple physical properties, she knows and embraces light most above all. Ze’kelia loves the light and abhors true darkness, those who spread light are fond in her heart, those who snuff it out are abhorrent to her.
From the means and measures of the various properties and uses of the light physic, to the very pointed nature of light and magic, Ze’kelia is most keen and present. From a shield of headlight to an ever emitting stone, a star or sun’s light above.
Myth
Sing through me my ancestors dear! Share with me your memories, so all may hear!
New children should know their past So that true faith can ever last
Tell through me the last story of true fear The story of the Scorned Man, of ancient year!
Oh so troubled and and so harmed He led from dark and end alarmed
He spoke of the end, the old pacts abandoned Powerful men for him did so shunned
His people ignored his warning last He spoke to those who would undertake a journey vast
A man scorned by the people he held dear Took flight with all those who shared his fear
Searching for a land anew Where things still grew
Searching for safety and life Amid a time of great strife
So did the Scorned Man search Even as walk became lurch
Hunger and thirst so terrible A mountain, their hope shareable
Fighting monstrous beast A world crumbling to its least
The Scorned Man did lead Though death and fear did feed
Upon that group so dire Withering in the light of their fire
Dim light faded A group jaded
The world around continued to crumble On their journey ever forward did they stumble
They had come so close and so far Weary trouble did so to their bodies mar
In those troubled times the world cracked Old gods abandoned ancient pact
Magic came forth in terrible power The sky burned in faded azure
Light did hide as darkness came In mortal minds fear brought blame
Brother beset upon brother Every man became a butcher
War became feud became fight Resources dwindled along with the dying light
So the Scorned Man and his fellows Fled in hope, rather than come to blows
As their hope did flicker with the flame A small child did exclaim
To the sky their gazes did look Their hopes rising as they were not forsook
A new light streaming across the sky From upon the mountain ever so high
In beams and power so bright Life grew anew, land melded by light
So did renew the Scorned Man And did start the Star Shooting Clan
Light. Unabated, undiluted, in all and every form. Ze’kelia in her true form is light. The essence of that all things one may find of it radiating so greatly across the world. The power and sheer unyielding brilliance of this form is harmful to much by accident alone.
Any and all questions can be PM’d to the GMs either on Discord or here on the forum (preferably Discord as we are mainly active there). You can also comment here in the OOC thread. @Dark Cloud
It took us a while to realise you double-posted your sheet, so we assumed it was unfinished. However, after reading through your sheet, we think it possesses all the qualities we could ask for! Saucer only remarks that it would be nice if you elaborated on what the effects of the True Form are on that which or whomsoever is unfortunate enough to experience it first-hand.
With the exception of the domain, the sheet is accepted - wonderful myth, by the way, sets the tone well. The domain should be defined and described as to show what aspect of death your goddess specialises in. While the myth serves to hint at the aspect of death Ekun occupies, we would prefer it if you could elaborate on it in the domain section. Should you have trouble, we encourage you to check out the other sheets or reach out to us GMs for direct feedback.
Okay, we had originally written that the myth was too light, but then you changed it. Upon reading it a second time, however, there are some points here that need to be changed: No god is omniscient, even if Mowyn has nine personalities. We will allow the personality split, of course, as long as they all are gods of the same domain and function as one unit.
As for the domain, we felt that references to established series should be kept to a minimum. It would be best if things were described in full rather than relying on concepts and phenomena from other franchises.
With the exception of the domain, the sheet looks good! The myth is very fitting for a civilisation goddess, and both forms are well-described and acceptable.
Regarding the domain, we feel like it was a bit all over the place and didn’t quite narrow down what aspect of civilisation you wish to embody. There was a strong focus on tools and the improvement of tools, but that alone is only a facet of civilisation. If you wish to focus more on this, we wish for you to specify it down some more to exactly what sort of powers the domain gives Armok. We are also curious as to what is meant by the self-perpetuation of civilisation - we can discuss this in PMs.
Both sheets are very, very good, but if you would like any help to decide between Xem and Memteus, us GMs find ourselves favouring Xem. His sheet is exemplary with a very good domain description and fascinating myth, and corruption is a much more flexible domain to play around than contracts, we feel.
However, you stand free to choose. Memteus’ sheet is also accepted if you can fill out the myth a bit more.
Fantastic myth! Looking forward to playing alongside her, Valor. Our only comment is really just that the domain description terms Celvanya as a goddess of war in all its aspects, but that, we deemed to be too broad. If you remove that line, the sheet is accepted with gold stars!
We would like a description of what the Souls domain entails before we can accept your sheet. If you wonder what this entails, don’t hesitate to look at others’ sheets or ask us GMs for aid.
A very tasty sheet, fam, but we have one very crucial requirement for it to be accepted: Exo unfortunately cannot have knowledge of other worlds, at least not of worlds beyond Galbar before the Apocalypse. They must come into existence at the same time as the rest of the gods and be as unknowledgable as the rest about the world. What Exo does after their inception, though, is free game.
Dope concept, fam, but we did react somewhat to the myth: A race is an awesome idea for an illusion race, but mentions of doping, 110 meter Hurdles and seconds with decimals seem a little too modern for the 16th century - the measuring units in particular seemed somewhat out of place in a fantasy setting. Would it be possible to turn the time dial a little further back and remove references to such?
Super dope! Immediately thought of Mufasa explaining the circle of life to Simba. Approb! One small thing is that we wondered if you could define some borders for your domain, just so we know what isn’t counted among Cycles? You are already accepted, but we think this could make the domain appear clearer and cleaner.
Divinus will be a story about a pantheon of deities, their creations, and the world of Galbar as it is shaped by our collective actions.
It is unclear to all how the world came to end, but it is ending. The blooming flower of the cosmos, constructed through the toil and labour of the Old Divinity, fell into chaotic disrepair, and now, there is no saving it. Most of the Old Divinity have vanished (all, according to some), and guardianship of the breaking mortal world falls to the New Gods, brought into reality by the tumultuous forces of cosmic disarray. How did they manifest? Did something or someone create them to continue the legacy of the Old Divinity? Can the world ever return to the way it was? Nothing is known; nothing is certain. The only truth that remains now is that the world is collapsing, and the New Gods must save it.
Though (most of) the gods may share the mission of protecting the world, like the mortals they rule, no mind is like the next: Right and wrong, good and evil, civil or uncivil - these are but a few of the concepts which definitions may differ across the pantheon. Alliances may form and break; intrigue between the divines may undo centuries of good or bad blood; and holy wars may break out at any time and plunge the world into chaos once more.
The New Gods have been granted the gift of divine ichor - the very substance which flows in their veins allows for the manipulation of the fabric of space itself. It remains unclear why they were chosen and who made that choice, but it is certain that this power will in the future shape Galbar into something unrecognisable.
Mechanics
The roleplay is divided in turns. They may denote the passage of IC time, but this is left up to player-specific plots and RP-wide timeskips will be agreed upon in advance.
Each turn gives the player 3 Major Action (see tab) points to spend. These will be refilled upon reaching the next turn and will not exceed the max amount upon refill even if nothing was spent during the last turn.
Turn 0 takes place during the Apocalypse. This gives gods a chance to unite mortalkind and save them from doom, all while shaping the dying world into a liveable habitat for the coming age.
Upon the end of the turn, the world enters a multicentury timeskip where the gods rest and recoup after saving the world. During this time, the world’s technology level advances at the maximum to a 16th century level, with all the architecture, science and black powder that implies. During this time, the populations of the world have formed many societies, some player-created, some not. The narratives created from the interactions between these societies are sure to draw the attention of the gods once more.
Domains are 'elements' of the universe over which a god rules. These 'elements' are broad and can range from the obvious (Love, War, Death, Crafting, classical elements such as Water and Fire) to the abstract (Journeys, Secrets, Purity, Loss). They often align with aspects of a deity beyond merely what powers they command, especially in their worldview or personality.
Domains can be shared by multiple gods, and while it’s not strictly required, it is highly encouraged for gods that share domains to occupy different themes within that domain. For example, between two gods who both occupy the water domain, one can be a god of the seas while the other can be a god of the rain.
New domains are acquired through narratives, usually a Quest, wherein the player should convincingly show their god’s journey to understand the aspects of the domain they wish to acquire. While there is no hard cap on how many domains a single god can acquire, one should be wary that, like in any other facet of life, growing too big too quickly may draw many jealous ires.
A major action is any action that affects the world in a large, meaningful way that would inherently affect others. Examples here would be causing a volcanic eruption, carving out a gulf on the continent or annihilating or otherwise altering a large biome, creating an artifact or monument with a regional or world-wide effect, creating a world-wide or regional phenomenon such as aurora borealis for all to see, etc.
A minor action is any action that does not affect the world in a large, meaningful way and does not inherently warrant a reaction from other players. Examples here could be creating localised species or biomes, creating artifacts or monuments with a localised effect, or blessing or cursing individuals or small groups of characters (players do not need to use a major action to bless or curse individuals or small groups of other players’ characters in collabs).
Examples of Major Actions:
Creating a massive mountain chain.
Creating a singular, small mountain would not require MA expenditure.
Creating singular, small mountains REPEATEDLY to get around creating a singular chain will result in MA expenditure.
Altering the color of the sky.
Altering the color of the sky over a specific village would not require MA expenditure.
As above, altering the color of the sky REPEATEDLY would result in MA expenditure.
Creating a Sapient Race
The creation of a single member of an extant sapient race, with no notable features beyond being singularly created, would not constitute MA requirements.
As above…
Examples of Free Actions:
Creating a field of strange colored plants.
As this would require a very specific, intentional post by a player to visit, this would not require MA.
Creating a MASSIVE field of strange colored plants, large enough to constitute an unmistakably large biome, would require MA.
Spawning a species of unremarkable animals, like cows, in a given area.
As this would be a very specific introduction of animals to an area and would not necessarily affect others, this would not require MA. Spawning cows in every biome on the continent would, by nature of now requiring other civilizations to interact with cows, require MA.
Creating a sword that glows
As this sword has no serious effect on the narratives put forward by others, this would not constitute a need for MA expenditure.
Creating a sword that glows so bright it can blind gods and heroes would make it able to seriously affect others in RP if ever they were to interact with it, and thus requires MA expenditure.
The List of Things Not Done and Further Addendums:
Destroying the World
One may never spend MA to destroy the World. One may never spend MA to make something that destroys the world.
Creating New Land Mass
Additional land cannot be made regardless of MA spent.
Islands, as example, can be raised or broken off from the continent.
Killing Gods
A God may not be killed solely through MA expenditure.
The narrative death of a deity can only occur with approval from both parties.
Altering Global Physics
The laws of physics cannot be altered on a global scale.
In example, gravity can be altered in a building for free or in a biome for MA.
Exterminating a Species
Creating a race costs MA; destroying an entire race is impossible.
Overtime, with approval of all players associated with said creation, an eventual extinction can be discussed.
Destroying Player Content
Destroying player-made content, such as a civilization, can never be completed by just expending MA.
Damage can be done to other people’s creations without consent and with MA expenditure, but complete destruction can only be done with consent from the creator.
Advancing Technology Recklessly
Technology is restricted to a reasonable rate around the time period; humans require many lifetimes to figure out major advancements, even with assistance.
Some groups can be more advanced than others, but must remain within the reasonable limits of the period.
Creating New Worlds
Creating entirely new worlds in an attempt to get around the rule against creating new land masses is impossible.
Creating some sort of lunar body, however, could be done and cost MA; it should be nowhere near the size of the planet and be more in line with a small asteroid whipping around the world.
Creating Gods
It is impossible to create another god through MA expenditure.
A new god may only be created if a new or returning player narratively creates one, and may be created spontaneously or through potential acts of other gods.
Unforeseen Nonsense
The list above is not-exhaustive.
Additional addendums may be added if and when such precedences need to be set.
Heroes are mortals who have completed some extraordinary feat, enough to be written into the Cosmic Chronicles. The Cosmic Chronicles is a metaphysical registry of names and the great deeds tied to them. To have one’s name written into the Chronicles grants the named powers related to their deed.
Here is an example:
Anatzasia is your average village girl, living the day-to-day life at the farm. One day, she is out picking mushrooms in the woods when she hears a scream. She runs over to see what’s the matter and finds Vanya on the ground with her hands in a desperate guard, shadows in the shape of three goblins looming over her. Thinking quickly and feeling brave, Anatzasia reaches for a nearby stick and runs over, knocking out one goblin cold. This draws the attention of the others, and through a feat of perseverance and unyielding courage, Anatzasia manages to defeat all of them, even as they managed to hurt her badly. This lets her and Vanya escape before the assailant regains consciousness and earns Anatzasia the respect of her village and a spot in the Chronicle as a “Saviour”. This grants her powers related to her act, such as maybe better hearing when someone nearby is shouting for help, faster legs when running towards that person, or stronger strikes when fending off an enemy trying to attack a friend.
It should be noted that the act should be heroic for the Chronicles to accept the name. If Anatzasia only had had to knock out a single goblin, then the feat would not have been heroic enough. The deeds should be of extraordinary quality for the Chronicles to care. Other examples including valiantly leading a charge or defense in a battle, saving hundreds from death with medicine or healing magic, uncovering ancient knowledge and so on.
Like with domains, there is no limit on how many titles can be acquired, but all mortals should beware the danger of hubris, and know that anyone who flies too close to the sun is bound to burn and fall to the earth once more.
It must be noted that heroes are not immortal by default, but literal and metaphorical immortality are both possible feats. Literal immortality (or longevity) can be achieved either by being blessed with it by a god or by drinking water from the Wellspring (which must be done as a quest); metaphorical immortality can be achieved by being so heroic that the hero’s lineage will be remembered for the progenitor’s greatness, granting all their children the title “Descendant of [HERO NAME]”, which allows for the inheritance of one of the progenitor’s physical titles, mental or magical titles per child.
Holy orders, unlike in previous iterations, no longer function as what are essentially collective heroes. Instead, since heroism now is decided by deeds rather by blessings, holy orders will function a lot more like they did in history (see monastic orders, knight templar, warrior monks and so on), i.e. be groups where characters can train to become heroic. Holy orders will rely a lot more on their individual members to appear heroic, such as order grandmasters, elite veterans, magisters, high priests and the like.
That being said, orders that do collective efforts can acquire feats that affect the whole order. Example: A monastic order that frequently sets up soup kitchens for the poor could be titled "Generous" and find that the more they give away, the more they seem to get back in terms of ecological and social goods.
Additionally, gods can bless monastic orders or cults with abilities and powers, but this does not inherently make them holy orders like in previous iterations. Like with heroes, though, divine blessings can contribute to an order more easily achieving heroic feats.
Artifacts and monuments are respectively extraordinary items and structures created by gods. These may be created using a Major Action or Minor Action, following the respective rules for point usage. In general, very few artifacts and monuments warrant the use of a Major Action, as their effects are often localised in both space and time. That being said, some may have effects which follow a character, changing the world around them, or change a locality so much that it starts affecting the surrounding region. This tab offers some examples of what counts as major and minor artifacts and monuments.
Major artifact examples: A box filled with disease that could cause widespread devastation across the realm; a crown that forces others to kneel before its wearer; a staff that regrows the forest rapidly wherever it's brought.
Major monument examples: A tree that sucks the life out of the soil of the surrounding land; a temple that spawns roaming spirits that suck the dreams out of the skulls of bypassers.
Anything which effects are highly restricted to the locality, like simple flaming swords or everlasting hearths, can be made for free.
The gods that players will be playing are known as the New Gods, spawned from the chaos of the apocalypse that ended the Age of Legends and sparked the Age of Mystics. While being nowhere as powerful as the Old Divinity, they are still immensely mighty beings in both strength, skill and vitality, and they have the power to manipulate the fabric of the world, performing miracles unachievable even with the most powerful magic. However, they are not all-powerful and certainly not all-knowing, and in many ways, the gods are like mortals - the only difference is that a temper tantrum in the Divine World may level cities.
There are some who believe that the gods are not alone - that one of the Old One (or ones) are still watching over them. They go by many names and have been prescribed many forms. Many who seek order in the chaos hold the belief that this master created the New Gods before all was lost; others reject this idea, believing the Old Divinity to all have perished without a trace. Others still find themselves in between, and some wish to undo the world altogether. Whether this Old One exists, is unclear, but to some, having a Master in times of uncertainty brings order and stability.
The planet “Galbar” is gone. All that remains of her now is an island the size of a continent, floating on its own in the darkness. In its centre, the greatest mountain range in the world pierces the heavens. These mountains are the home of the gods, and they live atop them, within them and below them, centered around the Divine City. In the centre of the mountain range lies the Wellspring, which in cooperating with the rain provides all the water on Galbar in a perpetual flow.
On Galbar, everything has a soul and everything has a mind - from the smallest grain of sand to the seas themselves. With the right competency, one can potentially communicate with anything and hear their insights and learn their lessons.
The world is much more than just Galbar, however; the collapse of reality has opened doors to other facets of the multiverse, manifesting in the form of Layers. Layers are parallel realities with completely different worlds and life than those of Galbar. These can be accessed by gods and mortals alike, but one important factor should be noted: The worlds are fundamentally different, and so the gods have no power there. Their rules are not ours, and even the all-powerful become meak and petty when the rules of reality shift.
With the chaos of magic, layers come and go as the laws of nature see fit. However, with divine power, some layers can be kept open permanently, allowing trade with the other side and adventures on unknown worlds. Layers whose doors have been closed cannot be recalled, as the multiverse is much too chaotic for such (unless one has the relevant domain related to space and/or time). This, of course, counts for the other side, so don’t expect to venture in and out of new worlds without drawing some attention.
The only mortal race to have survived the Apocalypse was humankind. What other races that may have existed before disappeared with the rest of the world. As such, humankind stands as the primordial mortal species.
It is no wonder, then, that many look to humans as a template for other mortal races, and many races may form from humankind. The nature of magic and divine ichor enables mutations to occur in humans, changing them into various other species. This can be willed or just natural phenomena. Thus, elves, dwarves, orcs and other known races may come to be.
Perhaps others still seek to draw inspiration from other parts of nature. That is possible, too. In the post-Apocalypse, the gods can create any sort of race they’d like, humanoid or otherwise. The humans may predate the New Gods, but they are still at their mercy, and can be toyed with as the gods may wish.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANIPULATION Control over weather, landscape, and other physical phenomena in their direct vicinity. Gods whose domains are specifically geared towards a particular field, of course, have increased control over these. All gods have the ability to control elements within their vicinity using only their minds. They may raise rocks and water from the ground, purify or mix materials, extract a particular element out the ground, or compress, melt, ignite or freeze something.
FORM Gods have innate shapeshifting capabilities and can appear in whatever shape or form they wish. Most do tend to have preferred forms, while those more geared towards deception and espionage do not.
All gods also have a True Form: This is their domain(s) incarnate, the god becoming what they represent to all the awe and horror of unfortunate onlookers. What this shape manifests as, is entirely up to the player: A war god can become a bloody battlefield; a merchant god can turn into a mountain of gold and goods; a dream god can take on the shape of everyone’s nightmares simultaneously. Activating one’s True Form is a Major Action, as the widespread implications of a god taking on the form of their domain are most likely literally ground-shaking.
IMMORTALITY Gods are ageless and almost unkillable. They cannot be harmed by mundane weapons or magic. A god's weakness is usually particular to that individual god and a secret hidden with the utmost care and vigilance. If they are to die, it must be either by suicide or by the direct efforts of a very powerful god or a group of gods. Mortal efforts could at best cause superficial harm to a god, and more often have no effect.
PERCEPTION Gods can see in great detail, able to see even in the true darkness of deep space, and can observe aspects such as heat, magnetic fields or souls. They can hear as far as they can see, are able to pinpoint the direction of sounds and are able to simultaneously understand all speakers of a large crowd.
DIVINE HOMES Any deity can create their own, non-euclidean home room in the Divine Realm, tied to the Galbarian layer. This can act as a private retreat or a manner to escape from other gods. These generally cannot be located by other gods unless the god in question allows others to find it, and those gods whose domain involve dimensions or space/time warps may be able to find said planes. (Or: These planes can be visited by anyone, so if one seeks privacy, one must find some way to lock or hide away the opening, either by using powers or artifacts.) These planes are very small, but can be customised as the god wishes it to be. This can be your Tartaros, your Hell, your Elysium, but lite.
Divine homes are separate from layers in that layers aren’t constructed by the gods, whereas divine homes are.
MOVEMENT A god can fly, run at high speeds, swim and breathe under or walk on water. Some gods may have preferences for particular modes of travel, creating vehicles and such, and those with relevant Domains may be better at utilising certain modes than other gods. The form a god takes may also hinder or facilitate travel - light, agile form with wings will be able to fly much faster than a large heavy form without wings. A god cannot teleport, may not gain such an ability, and cannot teleport anything or anyone (exception being for a god with a relevant domain: a god of Gateways should be able to make cool gateways that can lead to anywhere, or a god of Speed should be able to move so fast that it effectively functions like teleportation, or a god of Space should be able to tear through the fabric of Space/move themselves instantaneously through space).
TRAIL AND PRESENCE Each god has a unique essence that leaves a trail wherever they go and a mark on all they create. This trail can only be detected by gods with relevant domains, and may only be concealed by gods with relevant domains. A god with a Domain related to Deception may be better at covering their trail, for instance, while one with a Domain relating to Espionage may be better at detecting such trails.
CREATION A god can create anything following the rules for Major and Minor actions. The nature of these creations will be left up to the narrative, but it should be noted that any proliferating, powerful and space-needing species of life are very likely to be major actions. Below are some examples of what a god can create in terms of life:
A god can create tiny creatures without magical properties, like ants, beetles, mice etc. These can reproduce, survive, and thrive.
They can create unintelligent species of animals or other beings who can reproduce and thrive. These can continue to grow and survive even if the god should be destroyed. This includes magical and non-magical creatures.
They can create intelligent species of animals or other beings who can reproduce and thrive, even if the god should be destroyed (humans, elves, dwarves and whatever else you can think of.).
Can create life. This includes all kinds of flora, fauna, and lesser spirits. Intelligent life may not be produced en masse - it must be done one at a time or allowed to multiply on its own.
Gods are able to create things from nothing and shift them with ease. On a very small scale this does not drain their energy at all, for example, they can create a clump of metal and heat the metal to melt it, they can shape clay and carve stone with their touch, they can cause seeds to grow rapidly by merely focusing on it.
A god may modify existing life-forms using their essence in a manner befitting their Domains. Such modifications typically affect a small proportion of the species’ population.
STRENGTH Wield great martial power and resilience, depending on the god. Most deities make terrifying opponents for all but other deities. Normal weapons are generally ineffective against them, as are low-level magics. They are immensely powerful, capable of lifting objects larger than them, and are unaffected by fatigue. They are able to shrug off mundane threats and perform impressive feats such as smashing large boulders with ease.
COMMUNICATION Can understand all sapient mortal languages and can even communicate with non-sapient creatures or inanimate objects. In terms of long-distance communication, mortals may only communicate with Gods through a specific action or process (usually called ‘Prayer’).
Examples for how to pray to a specific god may include: whispering into a flower in the case of a God of Spring; sacrificing a lamb in the case of a God of Domestication; writing their prayer into a sheet of papyrus doused in jade powder in the case of a God of Archives, etc. Gods may only respond in non-verbal ways such as a gust of wind pointing people in the right direction, a bird that had been flying overhead a starving man dying all of a sudden and falling in front of him, etc. Methods of communication on both sides will vary according to domains.
Gods may not telepathically communicate with other Gods, requiring the creation of a specialised Divine Communication System (i.e. messenger system, such as flying magical talking crows, a God who tapes wings to his shoes, etc.). Telepathy is restricted to gods with relevant domains.
AURA May exude a supernatural aura that inspires, frightens, calms or generally affects nearby life. An aura may have additional effects depending on a god’s Domains and can also be further enhanced by using a Major Action if it affects the world at large.
ACCLIMATISATION There is no place where a deity cannot survive. A god is unharmed by mundane environmental hazards such as extreme temperatures, extreme pressure, poisons, or falling. A god does not require food, air, drink, or sleep to survive. However, extreme environments may still prove difficult to navigate.
DEMIGODS Gods can breed with mortalkind to create demigods. Demigods are hybrids of god and mortal and are automatically granted the Chronicle feat of “Demigod”, which allows them to perform minor miracles relevant to their parent god’s domain. Examples: A demigod of the war god is unmatched on the battlefield; a demigod of the family god is immensely fertile; a demigod of the lightning god can control, well, lightning.
It should be noted that demigods, like heroes, are not immortal by default. Immortality can be achieved in two ways: either a god can grant it or the demigod may achieve it on their own. Demigods often have an easier time reaching out to the gods on account of their lineage, too. While the power to perform miracles cannot be inherited by the demigod’s offspring, anyone who can claim to be descended from a demigod and thereby a god will surely almost naturally be quite popular (or unpopular) with the mundane.
A demigod can ascend and become a true god. The only way to do this, however, is to challenge their parent and absorb their divine ichor for themself. This will mortalise or, at worst, kill the parent god.
The world being as chaotic as it is, new gods can pop into reality at any time, anywhere. The gods may need some time to adjust to life, but they are just as powerful as the others once they come to their senses.
While the copulation between two gods would also result in a new god, this is a very, very rare occurrence (read: only to be used for when new players explicitly want to play as the child of another god/other gods). Normally, divine relations result in divine beasts and monsters of myth. This could manifest as your Fenrir, your Minotaur, what have you.
Quests are a way for gods and mortals to acquire powerful artifacts, titles and even domains by following a narrative. While gods can create artifacts if they like, artifacts acquired through a quest are stronger and better on account of the materials gathered/time invested. Additionally, gods can only acquire new domains by studying that new domain of their intently, which can in many ways be seen as a quest. Heroes seeking to achieve immortality without the explicit aid of gods must do this through a quest as outlined in the “Heroes” section.
There are no fixed requirements for length or plot structure in a given quest, but the player is highly encouraged to create convincing narratives that paint epic journeys and thought-provoking dilemmas.
Magic is a force that operates under the seemingly simple law of change - inevitably, something will change into something else, either with agency or just by chance. While mortals and gods can study this, none of them can truly grasp what exactly makes magic possible and how to predict it. They can only manipulate it and observe the outcome. It is a primal energy of change and in its raw, untouched form it is prone to violently alter whatever it comes into contact with.
Following the apocalypse, these energies can bleed into the world in pockets and rifts, creating fantastical landscapes, weird magic-beasts and chaotic non-euclidean ruins. Now, it's just a normal part of life, like rain or any other phenomenon - the infertile cow can turn up pregnant one day, the silkworms we've been growing can sprout wings for no obvious reasons and fly off, someone sleeping in bed can suddenly become permeable and sink through the ground forever etc.
This energy, otherwise layered neatly in its own dimension or reality (like oxygen, just chilling inertly for all intents and purposes) can after the apocalypse be harnessed and used by mortals to affect the world directly in different ways. This would mean magic is to all intents and purposes, new to Galbar with the apocalypse and birth of our deities, and the following age is the "Rise of Mysticism".
Creatures born after the apocalypse can manipulate magical energy, magical energy can be studied and influenced in different ways, and there are many ways to draw upon it, opening avenues for mortality previously unknown.
Even to the gods, magic is like unknown. While they don't need it for anything specific unless they want to, it is a puzzling force that none of them can truly grasp. They may be able to manipulate it better than any mortal, but they are as baffled by its nature as everyone else.
Mortals can approach it with mysticism, they can apply provable methods, the end result is the same; they enact change on the world. Some applications of magic can be predicted or manipulated according to rules that seem work, producing spells and rituals one can perform for tasks. However these still fail to account for what magic is, many approaches succeed in seemingly contradictory applications of similar components. Provable and testable with outcomes that are reproducible, but understood not more for it. That is not to say magical energy is not dangerous. Beyond being able to create nearly anything (within the arbitrary laws of the universe we decide), magic much like most elements is dangerous to an individual if exposed to it.
General Rules and Regulations
The Golden Rule--Do not godmod/metagame/powerplay. It’s ironic because this is an RP with actual gods as characters; however, there are definitely limits as to the power level of our gods. We’re trying to make a collaborative story rather than host a game meant to be ‘won,’ so please keep that in mind as you write.
The Rule of Fair Warning--Before significantly influencing someone else’s creations, especially if it is going to be in a destructive way, give them some fair warning OOC so that potential objections can be made ahead of time and plans can be shifted. Ideally conflicts between two gods that lead to destruction or harm of one god or its possessions will be written with the consent of both players, but if you think that somebody is being unreasonable, us GMs can intervene.
The Good Summaritan Rule--Somewhere in every post, please attach a hider box containing a short summary of the post’s actions and then add an entry onto the Wiki here . As Divinus RPs have traditionally had some massive posts, this helps greatly when trying to keep track of all that’s been going on and when trying to make sure you didn’t miss any important plot point within some massive post. That being said, please do still try to read all IC posts and not just the summaries.
Example: Your summary should convey the bare minimum of which characters were involved, what major plot points were covered, and which (if any) other peoples' characters you're initiating some sort of action with, and whether, if relevant, a Major Action was spent.
The Bookkeeping Rule--We will be using a wiki to store character and creation sheets, as past experience has demonstrated that RPGuild character tab on this thread won’t be enough space and will get too cluttered. For all creations of significance, please make at least a 1-2 sentence page for them on our wiki. The 0th post on the characters section will contain a link to our wiki; if you need any help figuring out how to use the wiki, by all means feel free to ask.
Clarification: Though the wiki is considered canon, you should still describe your creations IC. Don't simply reference that you've made a creation IC and then make us all go to the wiki article to find out basic details on what the creation does; it's unhealthy to make reading the wiki articles obligatory for one's understanding of what's happening IC.
Leave of Absence--Please give us forewarning on the OOC if circumstances dictate that you will become inactive in the RP for a time. I’m sure we’ve all seen the phenomena of people simply vanishing; it’s frustrating and leaves work where the others have to pick up the narrative pieces. Failure to do so will result in the termination of your god as a result of the chaotic forces of the cosmos.
Sexual Content--Please keep it PG-13. Fade to black, and always remember, the Guild Rules come first and foremost.
The above commandments are most important. Almost every other conduct is to fall under the domain of common sense and the RPGuild rules, with the understanding that our goal is to collaboratively create cool narratives. Be considerate to one another and facilitate storytelling. If there are any concerns or clarifications required, the GMs are always happy to help.
Character Creation
We would like to reiterate that we will be using a wikia (link can be found on the 0th post of the character section) to store and organize all character sheets, rather than the character tab on this RPGuild thread. This is obligatory; however, if you need help figuring out how to work with the wiki, just let us know. If you like, you may still use the character tab to compile links to the various wiki articles for your creations.
With that out of the way, feel free to format your sheet however you like, so long as it clearly contains answers to at least the questions posed by this example sheet below.
As you consider ideas for your character and grapple with what you want to do, We would encourage you to first focus upon what sort of Domain you want to have, and then use that as a foundation to construct a god that makes sense given that dimension.
Beyond the concept for your character, you should also have an idea of what you want your god to do, how your god might change or progress, how they will contribute to the story and how they will interact with other players.
Name: ((To know your god, name your god.))
Domain: ((Here goes the domain of your god, i.e. their theme. We’re talking lightning, fire, music, child birth - whatever you’d like.))
Myth: ((Share a scene from what you imagine the myth of your god to be. Maybe it’s a story of one time the god performed a miracle, maybe it’s an old hermit sharing some scripture on the god’s wisdom, or maybe it’s a scene of the god themself doing something godly.))
Base Form: ((Pictures, descriptions or both are fine. Any specific capability of this form over the others should be described.))
True Form: ((The god’s unshackled form, one where they embody the full and unrefined sum of everything their domain represents. Assuming this form is usually enough to cause widespread damage and break mortal minds. Think fire god becoming a volcano or a dream god taking on the form of every dream everywhere at the same time.))
Musical Theme: ((What’s their jam? Optional.)) ((Lastly, remember to read the OP thoroughly!))
“I still don’t see the point of giving mortals these kinds of things.” Jaav was his usual charitable self.
“First the outer walls and duct lines…” Guul was, as always, more focused on the task than the other two of three.
“This isn’t some major philosophical quandary, although you have trouble with those so I suppose it makes sense you would struggle even here.” A replying harumph was all Kiim needed to continue over any objection, “It is quite simple, we display a matter of Divine will and power, a promised land to which a selected group can be carefully guided towards more right minded thinking while keeping them safe, ensuring the prosperity of Thaa’s ideals!”
”It would still be much simpler to burn a city or two and dictate to the survivors…”
“...the notable towers and gates facing the four cardinal directions, inner walls and ducts back to the central point…”
Explosively speaking, ”And would completely not serve the point! Even if short term the souls would be saved in the long term a philosophy enforced by force would again antipathy beyond normative reason!”
”Why do we bother convincing so many? A few diseases, some droughts and curses, we could bring down half a continent if tried on our own, all these little plans never seem to work out very much.”
”That’s because a little subtlety is beyond you as it becomes ever more apparent. Quiet down and maybe we can go unleash a blight somewhere I suppose.”
”...central chamber of blessed water to fill ducts when sluices are opened at appropriate levels, infrastructure for the city…”
”You’re just trying to play me off, you’re not that subtle yourself you overgrown puppet.”
Truly getting work done was actually somewhat easier with one head instead of three as it sometimes did occur to Guul. Shaping the city below, near a river with good access to trade routes, tribal populations and of course the alluvial plain. Now the defenses and ensuring everything was to specification that was a bit more…
...magical.
”Puppet am I? You’re a child, lashing out at his parent because he can’t stand to be the same, I can at least see good sense and agree when a good point is made.”
The mists bellowed out around the tower, death energies setting into the land itself and spread out from the newly arisen city, it was a careful guided energy. Guided with purpose beyond the avatar’s direction even as control ultimate came to them. The mists would target whoever was chosen, by Thaa, by The Three, or by the soon to arrive Dragon. A very strong protection against any attempt at siege, one that most mortals were by far ill-equipped to even conceive to defend themselves. A clever enough plan to protect a burgeoning haven as it was to be, a good place for good people was the thought as Thaa said.
”Agree-agree,” Sing-song mockery was well know by Jaav to be the height of argument, ”you don’t have an independent thought in the entire stretch of you, whenever you do something its radiates unoriginality.”
”You’re addled, its probably all those bits of life you insist on eating so much, I’d said you’re as dumb as a rock but even life knows not to eat them, most of the time at least.”
”THAT WAS ONE TIME AND YOU KNOW IT!” A flight of birds from some nearby trees gave Jaav pause and lowered his voice as he replied, ”Its not my fault it looked like an egg.”
”It was by a river, why would you think it was an egg?”
”Some creatures lay eggs by water…”Jaav trailed off as he noticed they were leaving the area. ”Hey Guul, we done?”
“I want to go to Mydia. I think I will try painting.”
”Huh, okay then.
And they were finally quiet.
For at least an hour.
Guul makes a cool city with cool stuff for Cool Sigerans and Friends while Jaav and Kiim bicker over things. They then decide, by Guul deciding, to go to Mydia. Guul wants to paint.
Thaa Start: 5 MP 5 DP -3 DP, Baleful Mists III: This locale is surrounded by unnatural mists that being in the mere presence of will cause unwanted intruders to gradually sicken and die. The mists attack the life of anything deemed unwanted, those who flee in good time may still find themselves ill or living out a shorter life due to the damage inflicted. These mists are essentially manifestations of a local suffusion of death energies, however ones that are guided to target only the unwanted lives present. These mists are targeted and controlled by Thaa or his representatives on Galbar, Avatars, Heroes and Artifact Holders granted power over the mists by the Lord of Death. -2 MP, Wellspring II: The Well-spring of Sweet Water generates an amount of freshwater within itself sufficient to supply the needs of some hundreds of persons each day. The Well-spring will continue to generate the water till filling the pool that it rests in, of a size that the same population would use in a week. Most notably is this water remains fresh water and free of any mundane growth or infection as long as it remains in the pool. Once the pool is filled, the Well-spring stops generating fresh water, until some amount of water is taken from the pool. -3 MP, Make City and Surround Infrastructure of some complexity Thaa End: 0 MP, 2 DP
The events of this post take place prior to ‘A Failed Gamble’ and subsequent posts.
Going to another’s realm was always a useful option, especially when one had need to talk directly. Besides the information one could divine from the nature and status of things in their realm itself. Of course such things were not entirely without risk. One put themselves at risk to encounter another deity in their own field of complete control and power.
Thaa however did not worry much, a short and curt message. ”I will be visiting shortly.” He did not worry about such things for this one, or rather he did and had his own set of assurances that his work would not be impeded regardless of the happenings here. Celestine was not an object of great worry for Thaa, although he did have his matters to discuss. He entered through her portal even now to enter her realm. Keeping a broad mix of only a few thousand corpses and his Golden Disk and Eye.
Shortly after she received the message from Thaa Celestine would rise from the throne overlooking The Longhall and send a divine message out to the Virtus Elves and Death Dragons that inhabited her realm. The contents of this message were simple: ”There will be another god visiting. I trust them well, so you will all most likely be safe from harm. Best behaviour please.
With this message sent Celestine would walk briskly to the approaching path of her castle where visiting gods would be placed upon their arrival. It was here that she waited for Thaa to arrive, and when he did she would curtsey in greeting, as was typical of Celestine. When Thaa first arrived the first thing he would probably notice would be the sky being filled with a few dozen Death Dragons conducting their business as they saw fit. The next thing would likely be the massive castle that The Bulwark had been transformed into and the large city surrounding it. It was roughly around noon within Celestine’s realm, so the castle and surrounding city were almost radiant in appearance.
The two Death Dragons closest to where Thaa would manifest would be a pair of juveniles that were playing together. They pushed at one another and wrestled a bit before taking off into the sky to see who could beat the other in a race. Then they both dived down towards a few idling cows and took a moment to eat and chat. A few minutes later they would race into the sky again, resuming their play.
Rising from her curtsey Celestine would speak with a soft smile upon her face. ”Greetings, friend. What brings you to my realm? Did you have a desire to check in with the dragons that you sent over? Or was there something you wished to speak about?”
Stepping to the side and raising a hand towards The Bulwark and surrounding city, Celestine would speak again as a thought came to mind. ”Or perhaps you wished to see how our first arrangement goes? I’ll be happy to give you a tour of anything you wish to see, all you must do is ask.”
With that said Celestine would drop her arm to a neutral position and wait for Thaa to speak.
As the Goddess had spoken the great eye of Thaa drifted around his form gazing in the multitude of directions that presented themselves to him. He spoke finally a few seconds after she had stopped, his eye settling directly upon her once more as the mound of corpses that was his body took a more bipedal form. "We have much to discuss. Beginning with a tour of all things sounds like a wise proposition."
"I see there is a great deal of mimicry of the lands and places one might find on Galbar, although built to a grander scale than the mortals have accomplished on their own in most places to be sure." His form began to slow walk forward as he spoke, clearly intending to speak while walking with the Goddess.
Celestine gave a few nods as she turned to walk slightly ahead of the now bipedal form that Thaa took on. The immense size of it made traversing beside such a form less practical due to the possible margin of error of Thaa’s movement. As they walked, Celestine would pose a question so that she could better arrange the tour that she was giving. ”So, what exactly did you wish to speak on? And beyond that, did you have anywhere in particular that you wanted to see first? I could show you the city around The Bulwark, or The Bulwark itself? Or perhaps you would like to check in with the dragons and see how they’re doing? Of course, if you’ve another idea feel free to share and I’ll see what can be done.”
As they walked, Thaa would see the massive protective wall surrounding the town coming into view well before Celestine did due to his immense height, though it would be notable that Thaa could not quite see over the top of the wall, as it was roughly sixty meters tall to better shield the town behind it from the flying difficulties of developing dragons.
”The City, the dragons, Bulwark, all of these things I would examine. We have much to discuss and principally of Galbar, you have taken keen interest in affairs. You worry about the well being of mortals, it is commendable for one so young. You outstrip many of your peers in that regard, but there are some manners of wisdom and control that come with the perspective of time. It is my desire that your empathy develops along with your wisdom and perspective, to make full use of your potential.”
Thaa paused briefly in his speech, he kept walking as his eye glided along the surface of his corpse-body, gazing upon Celestine directly. ”What manner of things live here? What creations take care of any in your city?”
Celestine gave a few more nods at Thaa’s observations before she began to answer some of the more immediate questions that Thaa posed while walking with him towards the front gate of the city. ”My Virtus Elves live here, as do the dragons which pledged themselves to my cause. They form a fair sort of harmony and I’ve been taking steps to try and enable them to further coexist, like giving the Virtus the ability to leap great heights and survive great falls. That way a dragon does not have to land every time a Virtus that they’re interacting with wishes to descend to the ground or ascend to their back. Something else I’ve been thinking of trying to do would be to grant them the ability to communicate with one another mentally, but I worry about erasing their individuality if I tie all of their minds together. It’s a complicated issue that I don’t readily have figured out yet. As for what takes care of the people in my city, that is my job. The Virtus are largely self-sufficient, but any need that they come to me with I do my best to see answered. Though I am doing my best to prepare them for the hardships that Galbar will provide.”
As they now approached the front gate Celestine lifted a hand towards the Virtus Elves that were manning the gate and signaled for them to open it. Mere moments later the gate was pulled wide and the two were allowed to pass. A fair number of the Virtus that were manning the gate or otherwise stationed along the wall raised a hand in greeting towards Celestine and Thaa in an effort to be polite. Unfortunately for Thaa, the gate was a fair amount smaller than his current form and only stood at roughly fifteen meters tall. The gate had never really been considered as anything bigger than the gate also had a pair of convenient wings to access the entire realm with. Pausing before the gate, Celestine would look back and forth between the gate and Thaa before apologizing. “My apologies, the front gate of the city was never designed to allow for such a large being like your current manifestation through. I could take a moment to modify the gate to accommodate, or if you prefer I could walk with you to the rear of the castle wall? I left a large gap in the wall there to allow the dragons to have easy access in and out. Whatever would be your preference.”
Thaa gave a simple enough reply by collapsing the corpse-biped to the ground of its composite corpses in a mound which proceeded to creep along towards the gate, much lower in height. ”No need for such, we shall proceed.”
”What plans are you so certain to proceed with that you invest in your Elves to send to Galbar?”
Celestine raised an eyebrow at the sudden collapse of Thaa’s chosen form. Having a form so malleable was unfamiliar to her as her own form was overwhelmingly static and didn’t change shape much. But it did seem to solve the problem of the gate not being large enough. As Thaa asked what plans she had in motion there was a notable but slight delay before she began to speak. ”I will be deploying a portion of them soon, but I’ll be recalling them when the situation they’re being deployed for is resolved. Once that’s done I plan on interviewing them and learning what issues they encounter with being upon Galbar, and from that knowledge I’ll either grant more boons or more knowledge to them. Beyond that, I have a few more things that need to be arranged before they’re given a more permanent presence upon Galbar.”
As they moved through the gate Thaa would see that there was a small buffer of empty space between the wall and the city that it was protecting, and beyond that was a beautiful city constructed mainly of white brick houses with blue tiled rooftops. Webbed throughout the city were smooth cobblestone roads that linked every structure together and ensured that none who were traveling had to walk through fields of mud should the weather turn to rain. Within the town square lay the shrine to The Akashic Gate, which was currently closed and displayed the overlapping symbols of Celestine and Àicheil in full.
From six places in the city rose notable pillars of smoke, and due to Celestine’s lack of alarm it was obvious that she was unconcerned about them. Looking to Thaa and raising a hand to the city that lay beyond the protective wall, Celestine asked a simple question to better structure the tour. ”What would you like to see first?”
Thaa gave no easy reply to the answer to his question, instead waiting and responding at last when she had finished, his eye roamed both his form and in gaze all around, occasionally switching back to the Goddess. It lingered on the Akashic Gate for a moment. Thaa spoke, "I wish to see more of this city and the elves that do inhabit it."
Celestine gave a few nods, though found herself a bit puzzled with what exactly to show Thaa first, figuring that it might be best to slay two birds with one stone she opted to show him the nearest smithy and hoped that she would reveal both one aspect of her plans and allow Thaa to observe her elves at work. Raising a hand towards the nearest plume of smoke Celestine spoke once more to vocalize her decision. ”Very well. If you would kindly follow me this way I will show you what some of my elves are working on in preparation for their upcoming deployment to Galbar. I’ve been meaning to check in with how things have been coming along as well.”
With that said, Celestine would guide Thaa along through the city to the closest smithy. They passed a handful of Virtus who were carrying out their daily tasks, each dressed in plain outfits of green, brown, and white cotton and wool. Celestine took a moment to pause in her guidance as Thaa observed the elves for a time, but was able to resume leading him before too long passed. When they arrived at the smithy it had a notable amount of space between itself and the surrounding buildings, and beyond that the elves that worked inside wore thick leather aprons and gloves alongside their regular outfits of wool and cotton. Raising a hand and nodding her head in greeting, Celestine looked to Thaa once more before raising a hand towards the smithy and speaking. ”This is one of the six smithies I have placed around my realm. Teams of elves come and go to produce arms and armor for their upcoming deployment. Do you have anything in particular you would like to witness while we are here?”
Thaa spoke with out much delay, What metals are they working in here? This deployment is certainly going to be interesting as a solution and more than likely cause a few problems in its own right, but we shall see which is greater in the end, the current path or the diverged one. You may get more attention from other divines as well..."
Thaa seemed focused on the Elves themselves as he drifted off in some manner of thought after his little burst of speech.
Celestine gave a few nods before taking a moment to whistle sharply and approach the smithy. She exchanged a few words with one of the elves inside before they stepped away to retrieve something. It was a few moments before they returned with one of the swords they had made and offered it to Celestine. Taking it with a thanks, Celestine stepped back outside to Thaa before holding it aloft with both hands and speaking. ”They work with what I’ve come to know as steel. My own armor and sword are made out of roughly the same material, and so I felt it only right to give such a metal to my children. I do have aims to try and grant them more exotic metals in the future, but this one came to mind earnestly and is more than enough for the current deployment awaiting them. Do you think the other divines will take much issue with it?”
Thaa examined first the Elf stepping forward then the sword carried, his eye large in its own right barely shifted. "Iron and other base materials..."
"No, I don't think there will be much alarm among the divines of this metal in particular. I could see some having issue, or a desire to force their own pet projects into copying if they can recognize some logistical natures. I would worry more about the deployment itself for the deities therein. Many grow attached to certain locals and their peoples, they like the way of doing things each giving their own little boost to make sure their group dominates others. Most dislike more direct intervention, especially should it disrupt their plans."
Celestine gave a few more nods, though these held a distinct weight of understanding an intricate problem rather than just acknowledging that he had spoken. Before replying, she took a moment to return to the smithy and return the sword to the elves working there. Returning once more to Thaa she would hold a hand up towards The Bulwark before speaking. ”I’ve considered that heavily. Perhaps it would be best if we moved to The Bulwark? I can better illustrate the full details of my plan from there, and it will allow me to summon some Dragons should you wish to check up on them afterward.”
"This is acceptable, lead the way."
Celestine nodded once again before setting off through the streets of the city. This time it was approximately thirty or thirty five minutes before the two would arrive at The Bulwark. Once they were within the courtyard Celestine paused and made a mental note that it would likely be a good idea to arrange a sort of meeting room at a later point in time, especially given that her castle would likely be too cramped for Thaa’s form to easily move around in, even when not condensed into a bipedal form. The courtyard would have to do for now.
Raising a hand and tracing a circle in the air, Celestine willed into existence a small recreation of Galbar. Most of it was undetailed, but Toraan was replicated quite well. It grew to dominate the sphere as Celestine focused upon it, and now she raised a finger to point to The Anchor mountain before speaking. ”This mountain here is the foundation of my plan. I believe it is known as ‘The Anchor’. The key that I am noticing there is that it is relatively central to Toraan. This is where I have plans to place a mighty tower-fortress known as The Crystal Spire. It will be both a home and a base of operations for my Virtus elves and the dragons you have entrusted to me.”
It was here The Anchor would shift into possessing a massive tower-fortress, and lines pointing to the major corners of Toraan would project from the tip of this tower. Once that was done, Celestine would resume speaking. ”With their placement I will do my best to contact all of the mortals in the region with a message: Aggression shall be punished and stamped out. That is what I have aligned myself to do in an effort to break the cycle of war and violence in the area: Stop all aggression before it starts, and hopefully all that will be left is peace. Of course, I also aim to include an area for tournaments within The Crystal Spire, which will hopefully be enough for those who cannot contain their bloodlust to exercise themselves. Though now that I think about it again I will have to see about some sort of curse protection charms considering what happened at the one other tournament has taken place.”
Turning to Thaa, Celestine would pose a question. ”Well. There you have it. That is the general summary of what I plan on doing. What are your thoughts? And please, do not be afraid of offending me with truth. It is my preference that flaws and imperfections be revealed sooner rather than later.”
Thaa watched the changes in silence before finally speaking a number of long seconds after she had finished, his eye not moving from the projection. "What is 'aggression'? What is 'violence'? The Westfold as you know is predominantly controlled by humans, there are some trolls in hiding and a few settlements of the Merelli, but humans dominate. If they all disobey your edict will you wage war to bring them into submission? If trolls pledge to be at peace with humans and others alike, would you protect them? Or would you allow the unspoken war between man and trolls continue in a realm of 'peace'?"
He began to move and shift his form around the courtyard, his many corpses marching and crawling as a great crowd, slowly encircling the sphere and Celestine. Humans, Trolls, Reshut, Goblins, Nelves, and others seen and unseen on Galbar made up these corpses, their dull eyes staring in space or sometimes seeming to glance across the sphere of the world or the Goddess, "Is it violent to kill your own people? Kill those who think differently than you do, those who won't obey a tyrant? If their neighbors do nothing and watch and none can stop the depredations from within, will you watch? Will you act? Where is the line drawn? If there is a drought, or a flood, a people are starving and another eeks by, do you punish the hungry? Do you watch them starve?"
His eye moved with the great mass of his body, until he had made a circle in entirety. The great disk began to slide back along his great mound of corpses back to a position near the Goddess, "If you seek to control your Elves through ideals and knowledge, those will change as they must and want on Galbar, through force you make yourself Queen although distant. Will your Elves and their Dragon companions stay strong in their will? Should they have power to control the Westfold, they would have power to rule it. Even if you forbid them, what if in a hundred or three hundred years they decide it is better to do away with the pretense that all would not bend to their wills?"
Thaa turned his eye onto Celestine finally as his eye came to a rest, "I need not answers to all such questions, there are many more I can ask. You need those answers from yourself, from what your Elves are willing and able to do. Know the limits of what you can, and what you will do, long before you need to make a choice and action. Ensuring peace of a land has been the domain of rulers, you may become one, or create one, if this does be the path you intend to tread."
Celestine remained silent for a few moments after Thaa finished speaking. Then a few moments more as she took a few moments to study the corpses that surrounded them. When she finally spoke, the tone of her voice had changed slightly to one of contemplation and doubt. ”Your points are fair and just. To give my thoughts in the same order as you gave your questions: When I speak of stopping violence I speak of stopping the widespread warring that has been taking place. I cannot hope to stop every act of murder or assassination as I would have to be essentially everywhere at once, but if I can stop hundreds or thousands of innocent people from dying because of warfare and its aftereffects then I would think my mission successful. If all in the land sought to disobey such an edict I would likely see to it that a group of death dragons landed around their forward military camps at night and offer them one final chance to turn to home. If they declined… Well, balefire would be the response. If the trolls agreed to a peace with the humans and are later attacked, I would come to their defense. Likewise, if the trolls agree to a peace and then attack, I would come to the defense of whomever was on the receiving end of their assault. When I say peace for all I do truly mean peace for all.”
Pausing for a moment, Celestine gathered her thoughts and then continued to speak. ”If a nation turns to civil war I might try to send an envoy to cause a cessation of hostilities and a negotiation to separate. The issue of tyrants is a peculiar one, as I do not have a clear answer for it. Perhaps if my people are asked to intervene I might see about it, but I would hesitate to respond with dragons, as I feel like such an issue would require a more delicate touch. If there happens to be starvation and famine then I might see about bringing food to those affected and help them to become self-sufficient once more.”
Celestine paused once again as she was left with questions that were incredibly difficult to answer. In a surprising move, Celestine took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Much like mortals did when they faced such difficult considerations. Then Celestine spoke carefully so that she didn’t say something she would come to regret. ”If I leave my avatar to reside at The Crystal Spire and assist with governing, I can likely slow the divergence of elves and dragons from the original ideals that I sent them with, but you are right in that such a divergence is likely inevitable. I cannot and will not try and shackle their ability to think freely to my will. As before, as now: I would have to use my words and promises alone to maintain the integrity of such a grand design. It is inevitable that some will leave to found their own towns or cities, or some will leave to wander. I cannot prevent them from expressing alternate desires, lest I myself slip into the trappings of being a tyrant. It is my greatest hope that I will never need to see Virtus Elf turn against Virtus Elf… But should that day come I will weep. If they desire a land of their own to rule over, I will use my divine ability to forge one for them in the hopes that they don’t seek to take the land of others. And, truly, that might have to be the stance I take for all people upon Toraan. Perhaps the land as it is has simply grown too small and too famished for people to coexist? I would hope not, but if peace requires that I expand upon the landmasses that exist upon Galbar then I will if I must. Though I will likely need to seek the assistance of other deities should I find my reserves of divine power lacking.”
Finishing her train of thought, Celestine looked to the map once more. Then to the corpses surrounding her. Then to the eye of Thaa. It was now that she delivered one final thought. ”Does this satisfy, Thaa? If you take issue with anything then please voice it. I will be happy to improve my ideals should they be lacking.”
"Having good answers is difficult, but nonetheless important. We both have our differences and I will not deny you your thoughts, however I will say a few things that my experience and knowledge may assist with. Firstly, there is plenty of land to use, even more so no doubt as technology and experience improves. I remember when the grandest populations of mortals sustained were in the hundreds in a small local, hunting and foraging long before they discovered the tilling of fields or domain over animals. With stone, then metal, the amount of food they could grow, the lands they could use improved. No doubt they shall find some new such way when means and times allow, bronze really has spiked their numbers greatly I must admit across much of Galbar."
Thaa took a moment to turn towards the display, "In truth, I believe your plans would likely transform the Westfold from soldiering to assassins as their hatreds grew from the unresolved feuds. From the evils of Ha-Dûna to the brutality and mercy of the Celeviaks, down to the people of Kirin's Rest. Perhaps that would be easier on the people themselves, but all the more likely to boil over should your intervention ever cease or be delayed. Ultimately, it is worthy to try in any case to reduce the suffering that abounds, I have sponsored other experiments as well so I will watch most eagerly. You may succeed in reducing suffering, even if I do not think you will be well liked, although I have never been greatly popular myself..."
His eye turned back onto the Goddess, "They may turn to plagues and poisons, divine aid and retribution from other gods they might corral to their whims, such is common enough. Wars have always been common, you might find a way to cease them perhaps, I have no doubt mortals will find means and measures to test your patience, your resolve and your will to continue your peace. I hope your will is strong and not brittle to the stresses of the task you set before yourself."
Celestine gave a few nods as Thaa spoke. His revelation that there was more than enough land to go around for the mortals was helpful in the sense that she could figure out the limits of what she should do better, but it was also disheartening to learn that there was plenty of land and yet wars were being waged to take the land from others. Such a lack of harmony was concerning, and perhaps that would be something else to strive towards once the current project was done.
When he mentioned the catastrophe that would likely result from a delay or cessation of interventions, Celestine couldn’t help but nod again and respond once he had finished speaking. ”That is something that concerns me. One possible solution that I’ve been considering is setting up multiple smaller towers to serve as outposts for a swift response force while the main tower serves to hold the bulk of their forces, but I think that such an idea will have to remain on hold until I have the main tower completed first. I suspect that there will be many hidden challenges that make themselves known when I put the main events of this plan into motion, and I hesitate to fatten my designs with additional ideas before those possible challenges are answered.”
Returning her thoughts to how Thaa had mentioned his lack of popularity and the trials that her plans would undertake Celestine raised a finger to her chin. If her plans were to make her equally unpopular then perhaps that would simply be the price to pay? It disheartened her that trying to do what felt right would cause her to become unpopular, but it would take far more than just unpopularity with the other deities to cause her to give pause. Such unpopularity might also prove useful in revealing the hidden agendas that Thaa had previously warned her of in their first meeting.
The idea of such truths being brought to light served to affirm the idea that what she was doing was a fair idea. Looking to Thaa, she figured to ask after something that might prove troublesome. ”Please excuse my curiosity, but I must wonder: You said that your designs have made you somewhat unpopular. Would you kindly elaborate with who, or how? Of course, if you would rather not elaborate I entirely understand and will rescind the question immediately.”
Now all Celestine could do was wait for Thaa to reply. And reply he did, ”I am the Lord of Death, few appreciate my work or know truly the results of it on the mortal plane of Galbar. I have no doubt that my actions have displeased other deities as well given their broad designs to disrupt plans set in motion as asked by the mortals that did request my aid and so want it. “
”Life does not take kindly to death, it has been built and made to find a kind of repulsion in it. Even as I seek only to reduce suffering, I fear most that the creation of life was never in the interest in a moral order or a lack of suffering but much the opposite.”
Celestine would raise a finger to her chin as Thaa spoke. Comparing what he said to her own plans she found that he made quite a good point for why he might not be popular. Her plans had lacked vision of what their ends might look like, and that might’ve cost her immensely. She would need to think about such details when she had the free time. Celestine took a moment to stop thinking of death as being something exclusive to just mortal beings. Could an idea die? Could a culture die? Did less physical things like ideas and cultures ever truly die in the same way as mortals or were they immortal in the sense that some part of them could possibly be adopted and carried forward by someone else?
It was a difficult thing to think about, but as she thought about it she gained a newfound respect for Thaa, and came to understand his importance in the pantheon of deities that had emerged: He was a reminder that things with beginnings typically had endings, and even beyond that Celestine could reasonably see Thaa as being a sort of divine clean-up crew for errant projects that had overstayed their welcome.
And with that understanding, she understood why he wasn’t popular.
Lowering her finger from her chin, Celestine nodded a few times before speaking. ”I think I understand, having contemplated a few things. Though in this contemplation I have been reminded that there is something that I would wish to ask after. Do you know of Boudicca of Ha-Dûna? She is one of my knights, and I have made a request of her to stay with me in my realm as an advisor after the end of her life upon Galbar. As I made this request she lamented that she would miss her family while accepting it. I would thus like to discuss the possibility of securing their souls to journey to my realm after their own deaths so that she can be with her family. Would that be something that you could arrange? Of course, if there is a cost you wish to request for this service I will gladly hear it.”
With her question posed, Celestine could only wait and see what Thaa would propose.
”I am very much aware of the one named Boudicca. I could easily arrange such an occurrence, I have two conditions one of the souls and one on your own being. The souls must be allowed to choose whether they go to leave Paradise and their ancestors and friends there to go with your Knights.”
“As for the condition on you, I would request you use your extant influence on Boudicca and Ha-Dûna to end the immoralities so prevalent there under her command.”
Thaa’s great eye lazily shifted along the ring of bodies he had made.
Celestine nodded a few times as Thaa spoke. The condition he placed upon her was easy enough to agree to, Celestine would not want to enforce her will upon someone so thoroughly. But the second request was more complicated. Especially since it did involve trying to actively influence someone in ways that might complicate the friendship between the two.
However, it would have to be done. Celestine knew that Thaa had already gifted her with many things without much of a cost, and she did not want to test this generosity too thoroughly. Speaking up, Celestine sought details about what exactly he would want curtailed. ”Immoralities? If you would be so kind to elaborate in detail about what you mean then I can certainly attempt to see such things done. I would also request that if these details come in the form of memories from a soul within your care, could you possibly make some form of copy of them so that I could show Boudicca herself? I can pass whatever medium you place them into onto my Avatar and then show Boudicca when I next see her.”
An orb appeared in the hands of a corpse of an unknown humanoid being nearby Celestine as Thaa’s eye drifted.
”Cold blooded torture of an innocent on conjecture is one. I worry you rely too much on Boudicca herself but perhaps my methods are at fault for my own lack of influence. Another is the increases in control and policing to the Dûnan will. Finally is the matter of denial of crimes, adventurism and the own growing tyranny of Ha-Dûna.”
“You may wish to prepare yourself before you view those memories…”
Celestine’s eyes narrowed slightly. Were secrets being kept from her? If they were, this was immensely displeasing and she would need to chide Boudicca on such practices. If they were not, Boudicca had another problem to manage, which would likely not bode well. Neither option was pleasant in the slightest, but now Celestine was too involved to merely back away. Looking to the orb that appeared in the hands of the unknown humanoid corpse. Celestine nodded grimly before speaking. ”I am ready, and will endure. Show me what has happened in Ha-Dûna.”
The orb was tossed gently to Celestine’s grasp. As soon as it was touched, the memory flooded, a rapid pace from that orb. Memories of a girl named Ciara, brief snippets of a life, arriving in Ha-Dûna, optimism and hope, distrust, betrayal. Accused of crime not commit and tortured beyond even the captors assurance of innocence.
Thaa’s words echoed out softly as the last faded memories to death, a hundred voices, ”The Dûnan’s manage to find more of the worst quite quickly. One would think a people so tortured by the past of Ketrefan atrocity would not be so quick to create a new legacy of atrocity all their own. Perhaps that is precisely why...”
Celestine caught the orb gracefully and closed her eyes as the flood of memories hit her. As the memories were played out, Celestine’s expression hardened. When it was done, there was little more than a thin mask of calmness to hide the anger that boiled in her mind. Opening her eyes slowly, Celestine lowered her hand. Nodding grimly, Celestine spoke softly. Her voice was barely above a whisper at this point, for any louder and she would find herself caught between screaming and crying. ”I see now why you desire this. Very well. Thy will be done. Justice shall come in one form or another.”
Celestine hefted the orb once more, looking at it with pained eyes. Then she lifted her hand towards the back of her head and pulled at her hood. Setting the orb into it, Celestine tucked the hood into the back of her breastplate for security. It would have to remain there for now until she found a better place to put it, or was otherwise finished with it. At that time she might just return it to Thaa in order to be rid of the weight that it placed upon her mind. These memories held a double pain for Celestine, for within them she also saw that fateful day once again. The day where a tournament had been defiled. The day where her good intentions had met their first true insult.
Celestine despised that day. What made matters worse was that the events of it were not yet fully corrected, and she had failed in her attempts to find the culprit. It was a humiliating time for her. To be reminded of it was something that she abhorred, but it was something necessary: Until the culprits were punished and the cursed given peace those events would be a splinter in her mind.
Emulating mortals once again Celestine took a deep breath into lungs that did not technically exist. Exhaling slowly she looked back towards Thaa to ask a simple but somewhat blunt question. ”Is that all you wished to see and discuss, Thaa? Or was there more that you wished to see or discuss?”
Thaa began to uncoil around the chamber, saying simply, ”The quarters for the Dragons.”
Celestine nodded before speaking as simply as Thaa did. ”Of course. This way, please.” She would then lead Thaa out of the castle courtyard before taking a side path that eventually led to a staircase that would bring them atop the wall surrounding the city. From here Celestine would walk to where the exterior curtain of the wall began to bend protectively around the town before lifting a hand towards the hundreds of individually customized homes for the Death Dragons. It was now that she would speak once more. ”Each dragon has their own home, made to their own tastes. When they want changes they call out to me, and I adjust things until they are satisfied. Do you wish to see any of them up close, or would you rather ask the dragons themselves?”
”No, I am quite satisfied as it does happen to see this. These seem to be adequate enough, divine prayers would likely have warned should there be any issue from you outright given they are evidently still extant and capable.”
Thaa’s form had snaked down to follow. ”I would also offer, should you require a locale or some assistance on Galbar, a number of assets that I still have as current under my control on Galbar. Certain things under my control that could be useful to your designs in the westfold region, lending a little more weight to your concerns in any matter.”
“You are young yet Celestine, while I may ask my price, the accumulated power of me or my fellow elder divines may be useful to your own acts I have no doubt.”
At the mention of having assets under his control in the area, Celestine couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. That was something quite surprising to her, as she had believed that Thaa wouldn’t have too many things physically located upon Galbar in order to not interfere too much. But then again she wasn’t aware of all the prior activities of the gods and so this could just be something new to learn.
Turning to face Thaa Celestine inquired after what exactly Thaa had under his control so that she could better shape her own plans. ”A number of assets under your control? Would you kindly be able to elaborate as to what exactly you have active? Even if I do not request the usage of such assets I wouldn’t want to have a plan of mine knowingly interfere with a plan that you’ve got going already.”
”Its quite simple of course, most remain left over from when I walked on Galbar, a flying temple and some artifacts to ensure tranquility in a small area. Most under the command of my Avatar.”
“I don’t have much plans of the region myself anymore, however there is a Dragon in the region, she is leading a group of people to safety further out of harms way. We don’t agree on everything but she was moral enough and wished to attempt to make a change after gaining some perspective.”
Thaa’s great eye matched Celestine’s gaze moving along his form to face her. ”There are a number of servants and beings I could induce action upon that could be brought to the region, although they are few enough as you would imagine...”
Celestine raised another eyebrow at Thaa’s mention of being able to walk upon Galbar before speaking. ”You were able to walk upon Galbar? I’m rather impressed. I had thought that the gods were always disbarred from bringing our full might onto the surface of the planet, hence the need for avatars? Was this not always the case?”
Turning her mind to the other things that Thaa mentioned, Celestine decided that it would be best to press him for details so that she could better shape her plans. Out of all of them, the dragon he mentioned was the most interesting. If she could recruit her to assist in educating the dragons she would send to The Crystal Spire on the ways of Galbar then there would possibly be a lot less headache and complication from a dragon not understanding some of the unspoken rules that the mortals had. ”The dragon that you mentioned, where is she? Do you think she would be amicable to the idea of aiding the dragons that I will send to Galbar to reside at The Crystal Spire? I would imagine that she would have valuable experiences to share that the others could learn from.”
”There was a time when the world was new and the first gods were born of the primordial elements, land and sea, heat and cold, sun and moon, life and death. In these times before the first mortal peoples the lands and seas were made physics and laws of order, magic, and chaos were added to the world. Realms were no such consideration as each god acted directly in their full power on Galbar. The lifeblood was active then too, a much greater creative force than it seems to enact currently.”
“However, soon enough as the gods enacted ever greater powers on the world, the lifeblood cast us out, the realms our bubbles of power so far away from the centrality of Galbar and all the work we had done, all the good and evils set in motion. The lifeblood wanted, as much as such a thing could want, to keep us out, to force our way back in full power only threatened to destroy the surface of Galbar with the contest of will with the lifeblood. Not to mention the grave danger of defying something so powerful.”
“Two thousand years passed on Galbar, and then antiquity formed, connecting our realms and with the discovery of avatars we were capable to directly interact once more. I had busier myself with caring for the dead. Few or none talked as I know in time, a number of deities seemed to abandon their duties, Oraelia was not heard by any of the souls I had collected in that time I recall as example.”
“With antiquity and avatars came a new period of interaction, things once set in motion could begin again and new efforts undertaken. For example this is how Ha-Dûna first grew strong, it was empowered beyond any other Druidic locale by the might of deities I would not agree to their overall benevolence. In any case, when the full might of a god was in the primordial days we were so much more capable than the mere fragments we send down now. I personally built the Hreelcii isles in a matter of side project hoping to create a better land, moral and righteous and safe. Such things have been abandoned in part with the long absence I have to say, so much less power we have now. Even if we still can shape the course of mortal civilization.”
Thaa turned his great eye away from the goddess as he continued, ”It is possible that she might be of some help, that is her decision. She is a powerful champion of my will yes but I agreed to empower her so that she may attempt to follow her ideas and ideals. She has much more hope and feels it is possible to reform and improve much with good wisdom and a strong hand such as hers. A ruler, something I do not necessarily see yet but I agreed to let her try. Perhaps she might help you in exchange for her own plans to be assisted.”
”You will find her in the westfold, search on the East along the mountains, she leads her followers south to a promised land.”
Celestine gave a few nods to the history lesson, but didn’t have too much that she could really say about it. It was a curious time, and there was no doubt that she would’ve enjoyed being present upon the surface of Galbar with the others, but that time had passed and contemplating about something which could never be was a dangerous pastime. Making some mental notes on where to look as Thaa described the whereabouts of the dragon that was active Celestine reminded herself of the need to convince the dragon with words and promises only. Though this did pose an interesting question about the dragon that she had forgotten to ask before. Seeing as it would be quite helpful to the effort of convincing the dragon to offer assistance, Celestine asked after a small but critical detail. ”I see. What is this dragon’s name? I would wish to call her by a name that only you might know, to show that I am a friend of yours and not just someone attempting to exert my will over her mind or put threats towards the people under her care.”
”Her name is Aen’drannan, but you would get well along with the epithet ‘the curious one’.”
“Although, I do have to make one request to satisfy my curiosity in the matter of the Dûnans”.
As Thaa had turned away to gaze towards whatever he wished to gaze toward, Celestine had turned to look over her realm as a whole. She watched as a pair of more mature dragons engaged in a bout of play in midair. Pushing against one another briefly before racing off towards the more mountainous biomes of her realm to engage in a race of sharp twists and turns. Nodding at the mention of the name Aen’drannan Celestine made a few mental notes on how to approach that possible conversation and set them aside for later. She raised an eyebrow at the question that Thaa wished to pose. Pulling her eyes from her realm and turning to face Thaa once more, Celestine would give an eager nod before speaking. ”Of course Thaa. I will answer to the best of my ability. Please, ask away.”
Thaa’s great eye shifted again to look at another far corner as he spoke again. ”When you react in your investigation of the Dûnans, I would like to know if you can ascertain why Ciara was the one so chosen for their depredations. Whether it was her unusual openness to them or just happenstance that she was captured to be so tortured and blamed by them.”
“She cared for them greatly as a people I know, and Boudicca herself was much beloved, I’m sure you got a sense of that from the brief amount seen in the memories I shared. The sneaking away to visit Ha-Dûna in her teen years, her eventual apprenticeship to Darragh, her hopes of peace and growth for the Dûnans and the Cenél.”
“It made her not suspect that they would or could turn upon her, something that no doubt left her vulnerable in a way Darragh was not in his apparent fleeing the town. Dûnans began their first conquests under false pretenses of murder of a Dûnan by foreign raiders. Staged by Dûnan leadership they went and slaughtered the people and took their land. The point of such a tale is that to Dûnan leaders the killing of their own has not been an issue, so the torture of Ciara in a mostly unreformed society is no great mystery. What I would ask then is the chance for a scapegoat for war was merely stumbled upon or if this was another planned event. I’m sure you’ll find such answers in the course of your own search so if you would share your findings I would be most grateful. They dead arrive the same and paradise awaits, but to satisfy my curiosity ahead of time would be appreciated.”
Celestine gave a few nods, and began to ponder such a thing herself. Unfortunately, she was able to piece a few things together from the experiences that she’d had already, and was able to answer such a question promptly. Emulating mortals once more, Celestine took a breath before beginning to recount what she knew. ”This traces back to a day I despise. Do you recall the fate of Hilda the Leoness? The day where she was cursed and turned into a demon? On that day Ciara was in the stands of the arena with Darragh, and Darragh’s method of fleeing brought him into suspicion even if he was not the one to commit the original crime. According to The First Knight he slew a guard and wounded another as he fled the city, which made him appear the culprit as there is a lack of understanding of the Cenél arts. Ciara, being Darragh’s apprentice, was captured and placed within the Temple of Truth, and we are both aware of her fate thereafter. I do not think it was intentional malice on the part of the people of Ha-Dûna, at the very least not all of them. I think it was closer to a mistake made in panic and grief, but such a mistake is something that I do not approve of, especially not when it ends in a needless death.”
Pausing for a moment, Celestine clenched her fists tightly as she remembered her failings involving that particular situation. When she spoke again, her usual calmness had become a thin veil that barely hid an anger capable of sundering mountains. ”I have not been able to find out the whole truth of what happened on that day, but if someday I can find out the truth of what happened… It will never happen again.”
Following this, Celestine fell silent. After a few moments she released a slow breath and returned to her usual calm demeanor. Looking back to the horizon and her realm as a whole once more, Celestine used a question to cap off her train of thought. ”Does that satisfy, Thaa?”
”Truth is always difficult, I am perhaps not so content to accord that it was mass will that shaped such an event, their leaders have found deception and trickery of the masses easily enough but I know it not their direct action or not it of Darragh or Ciara.”
“A true tragedy in every case, ironic perhaps in some. The Dûnans turn on the one that would still trust them after all they have wrought before and after their civil war. The cursed one herself a great leader of the Dûnans and now one of their blights. I have a friend I should tell such a tragedy to, they might wish to know of such a tale...”
Thaa’s eye swiveled along his mass to stare at Celestine, he spoke again, ”It shall be enough for now of course, I’m sure if anything notable came up you might comment on it whenever we do come to discuss such a topic again. Tell me, have you meet much of our fellow divines since we last spoke on such a topic?”
Celestine did not inquire after who Thaa might wish to share the tale with, as her anger had already been roused enough that she truthfully wished to cease speaking about it, especially since she would need to speak with Boudicca about such an event in detail while retaining her calm demeanor. As Thaa shifted the conversation to be about the other deities that Celestine had met she nearly let out a sigh of relief. That was a much more palatable topic at the moment and one that she was happy to elaborate on. Looking back to Thaa as he had once again turned to look at her, Celestine would detail her encounters with the other gods quite frankly. ”Shortly before I came to talk with you about the issues that I was struggling with in terms of my desires for neutrality I had a communion with Àicheil and received a gift from them to ensure that my Virtus Elves will not lose knowledge or skills over time. It is a memory library of sorts, and they can use it to experience the memories of others and pick up the skills that they did from them. The large tome that you might’ve seen enshrined within the city is The Akashic Gate. It is the centerpiece of the gift and allows my Virtus to reach their memory library. When I send them out onto Galbar to live within The Crystal Spire I will be sending it with them. After our meeting to discuss neutrality I met with both Cadien and Neiya. In truth I had gone to visit Cadien to discuss tournaments for the souls that come to inhabit our realms, but Neiya arrived afterward and the discussion shifted a bit. It was however a pleasant experience overall.”
Soon after she finished, Celestine was reminded of something that she had thought of at the time and figured that it would be a wise decision to ask it now that she was face to face with the one who could provide the answer. ”Speaking of those tournaments, I had a proposal for an idea as to what to reward the victor of such a tournament, seeing as they would want for nothing in the paradises that Cadien and I offer: Would you be willing to allow a soul to reincarnate unto Galbar? Provided that they choose to do so, of course. I would not want to force reincarnation upon those who simply wish to compete for eternity.”
Thaa spoke in a low voice, almost a murmur, ”That would explain the oddity of those souls, Àicheil...”
He returned to a normal voice, ”I have allowed a race reincarnation before, at a nigh divine request, equal time in life and death. Paradise and... ...Galbar. In exchange for a service provided to me.”
“I will allow these champions of yours to reincarnate among their chosen race, for a price.”
Celestine nodded, but was quick to offer up a counter-proposal seeing as a critical party was missing. ”I understand your wish for a price and I have little qualms about paying it myself, but I think such a discussion would be best had with Cadien present. These tournaments are something that we have both equally contributed to in discussion thus far, and I would not want a decision like this to be made without Cadien being able to provide his own input. Perhaps in some time we may both go to visit him in his realm and resume such a discussion then and there?”
”I see.” a long pause.
He resumed in quick order and tone, ”I suppose we shall have to make a time to talk in some suitable locale.”
”If I may make a comment, you may when you have the time, wish to take a tour of some other notable places on Galbar besides the Westfold. The Kyslar Isles, dead east of the highlands, perhaps a little south. They have an interest warrior culture, as well interesting things happen all over that you might wish to take a look at. Keeping informed is valuable in more than just usefulness to a cause...”
Celestine gave a nod towards the suggestion put forward by Thaa before speaking. ”I have considered doing so once my involvement with the Westfold is finished. In truth I don’t know if I will send my first avatar around Galbar, as it will be needed to manage The Crystal Spire and serve as an extension of my guidance for the Virtus Elves and dragons that I send forth onto Galbar in order to serve as peacekeepers on Toraan. My fondness for the dragons that have rallied themselves to my cause has been an influence upon the next avatar that I have been considering: One made in their image, though most likely not possessing nearly as many abilities as they do, and possibly not quite so large in order to avoid provoking too much panic. But the wings that such a form would provide would be quite useful in traversing the land. Though I do feel as if I should ask: Would you be alright with me emulating the form of something that is so closely tied to you? I would not want to cause confusion and panic.”
Several arms from the mass waved dismissively, he spoke, ”Worry not of it, feel free to do as you will. They are not servants of mine and I make no slaves of my creations.”
Celestine gave a few nods as she made note of Thaa’s answer. Following this, she would pose another question to him in order to clarify what Thaa wished to do next. ”I see. You have my thanks. Beyond this, did you have anything else that you wished to speak about or see? Or do you perhaps feel that you will be departing soon?”
”We both have work to do, I am sure you will be interested in investigating many matters in mortal affairs. I shall depart, we will have further matters to discuss once we have taken our necessary actions and we confer with other such divines, your tournaments and such.”
Thaa’s form began to move from its position before pausing, speaking again, ”Please keep me informed as time permits on your concerns of course. And any developments like you moving forward with your plans for these Elves of yours...”
He began to move away to leave without waiting for a reply to begin such as his large form gradually and carefully shifted down the halls.
Celestine nodded silently as Thaa excused himself. As he began to move Celestine spoke simply, not expecting a reply. ”Farewell, Thaa.”
None spent.
Thaa comes to visit Celestine, who offers him a tour around her realm. He inspects the Virtus Elves a bit and checks out what Celestine is working on with the smithies that have been placed within the city. They talk about a great number of things, and Celestine illustrates her plans about The Crystal Spire. Celestine also asks after the souls of Boudicca’s family, as she promised. Thaa agrees, but sets two conditions: Such a thing cannot be compulsory, and Boudicca must change her ways to be less tyrannical. Celestine agrees to these and is shown the memories of Ciara. These memories displease her, and she’s quite grumpy for a few moments. Following this she shows Thaa the vast amount of homes that the Death Dragons enjoy under her care and assures Thaa that she is keeping her promises. Thaa also tells Celestine of Aen’drannan The Curious One, and Celestine ponders over the idea of asking her to aid her idea with The Crystal Spire. They also speak on tournaments and allowing the victor to reincarnate, which Thaa agrees to before beginning to state a price. Celestine stops him before informing him that the discussion is best carried out with Cadien present since the tournaments are equally his idea. Thaa agrees to hold the discussion later, and after some more conversations Thaa departs from the realm on good terms.
Helios
Lord Zee
DX3214
Vec
