[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/1bbdeb6c-71c0-4853-a9f2-6fc469a5041d.png[/img][/center] These plains were not so bad, Narzhak had to admit. They were quiet, mostly empty save for a few rock worm stragglers, and, it had to be said, perfectly dull, but that was not the good part. The good part, he thought to himself, was not what they were, but what they could be. That slope there would make an excellent spot to stage a downhill charge, and the shallow vale below it could be reinforced to bog it down into a grueling carnage. That lone hill? A prime place for a sentry. Even better if someone put something taller to stand on there. Not everyone, after all, had as grandiose a countenance as him! The only preoccupation that came to trouble him time and again as he followed the great river downstream was that those marvellous visions were, for now and the nearest future, just that. There was no assaillant force to bear down the slope, no grim defender to hunker in the valley, nor even any sentry to lay claim to the hill. All that surrounded him were worms and fish, and those would make for poor opponents indeed. He considered bringing up some of his rambunctious scions from the Pit, but, with what wisdom he had, decided against it. Without a proper foe to point them at, they would not think of anything better than to start tearing each other to pieces again. What then? Now that the fancy of battle had taken him, Narzhak felt the gnawing of impatience. Sitting and waiting for something new to wander by would not do, but nor was he quite sure he could go and conjure something alien to this grassy landscape on the spot. [color=#CD2626][i]Unless I…[/i][/color] His eye fell on a handful of scattered boulders by the riverbank which had evidently eluded the worms’ appetite. There it was. Making warriors specially for a battlefield took time and effort, but making them out of the field itself? That was sure to be faster. He picked up one of the rocks and ran the tip of a leviathan finger around it. Where it passed, stone cracked and fell away, as if to reveal something that had always been there. Fury flowed into the boulder, and with it life. Its hard surface melted into a bristly earthen flank, pulsing with ragged breaths and a primal savagery its crumbling prison struggled to keep enclosed. More of it fell to reveal a stamping hoof, then a flaring, tusked snout, then a pair of dim porcine eyes. Soon, nothing remained of the smooth grey block the god had first lifted, and he set the huffing beast down at its feet. A slight prod was all it took to send it charging. The animal threw itself headfirst against a second boulder, shattering it like a mouldy log. Even as it turned to rush at a third one, the shards and splinters grew prodigiously, sprouting fur and teeth, tails and legs. By the time the exhausted firstborn, having finished the last of its stony nemeses, trotted towards the river to refresh itself, the vast herd of dire boars had scattered out of sight, leaving trails of stamped, uprooted grass and echoes of angry squeals in its wake. [color=#CD2626][b]”That’s a start.”[/b][/color] Narzhak nodded satisfiedly as his gaze followed his new, destructive gifts to Galbar. The large hog seemed to grunt in agreement and dipped its snout into the water, which quickly turned from clean to torbid and muddy. Suddenly the clouds to the west parted as a blurry being shot through them. The meteoric figure blasted downward and into the river, but strangely enough there was no splash upon entry, and nigh a sprinkle on exit. The figure stopped instantaneously, the blur turning into a monochromic woman bearing both a wide smile and a fish topped spear. God and boar turned as one to face the newcomer. [color=#CD2626][b]”What’s this?”[/b][/color] Narzhak rumbled, raising a finger that dwarfed the nearby hills, [color=#CD2626][b]”I’m quite sure I haven’t seen you before. And”[/b][/color] one of his eyes narrowed as it glanced at her weapon, [color=#CD2626][b]”why is that made with a [i]bone[/i]?”[/b][/color] Hermes looked up at Narzhak, half the fish between her teeth. Slowly the woman unclenched the fish from her toothy grasp and looked the God up and down, “I don’t know, but I like it.” The Iron God shrugged, slightly shaking the ground under his feet. [color=#CD2626][b]”If it works, it works. But stabbing fish isn’t all there is to do with something like that.”[/b][/color] Without so much as a warning, the gigantic finger snapped down, raising an abrupt gust of wind that pushed the woman towards the ground. At once, the boar raised its tusks from the river and rushed towards her as an avalanche of hair and foul temper. [color=#CD2626][b]”Catch.”[/b][/color] The surprised Hermes suddenly drew an eager face. With a boom the woman suddenly turned into a flash of white, a puff of cloud barely hanging onto her hair as she curved widely around the boar and suddenly slammed into its side. Her arms wrapped around the pig in an embrace, with her fists holding the spear in such a way as to lock the hug, “I caught-” Her voice was drowned out by the irate hog’s grunting as it thrashed and spun in circles, futilely trying to dislodge the persistent clasp. It finally could think of no better way than dropping to a side, propelling its considerable bulk into a roll and soliciting a yelp from Hermes, the woman quickly letting go. The mortal zipped back to where she had accidentally lost her fish and scooped it up. An anxious Poppler circling her with concerned pops and crackles. “I don’t think he liked it,” Hermes brushed some dirt off her half eaten fish and began to pick at its shredded pink flesh, clearly doing her best to ignore the purple bruise marks that were starting to appear on her arms. [color=#CD2626][b]”On the contrary, he’s not done yet.”[/b][/color] Narzhak replied, holding back the angrily huffing boar with a pillar-like fingertip. Odd way to use a spear, he thought, but it did work for a moment. He growled something inarticulate, and the hog stopped pushing, trotting back to the river with an annoyed shake of its head. [color=#CD2626][b]”That wasn’t stabbing fish, it’s true, but I think you get it was a bad idea. Chokeholds don’t work with those heavier than you.”[/b][/color] The sloppiness of his siblings was almost comical. Who gave someone a decent spear without teaching her to use it? And who was “someone”, anyway? [color=#CD2626][b]”Who are you, anyway?”[/b][/color] The path between mind and mouth could use a shortcut now and then. Having worked the fish down to the spine, the nauseated Hermes finally looked up at the Iron God and gave a fishy grin, her cloudling companion resting on top of her head “I’m Hermes.” [color=#CD2626][b]”And what’s that?”[/b][/color] Hermes looked up without moving her head, “Poppler?” She pointed at the cloudling, the small puff of cloud popping in response. Narzhak considered letting the boar loose again, but curiosity won out over irritation. [color=#CD2626][b]”No, you. What’s a Hermes?”[/b][/color] “Oh!” Hermes paused in thought, “well it's my name, I'm a Dreamer.” [color=#CD2626][b]”Dreamer, ghrm? It shows.”[/b][/color] Dreams, sleep… Wasn’t that K’nell? The Iron God did not recall much of him, but if this was a sign of his grasp on the waking world, he was worse off than he had thought. [color=#CD2626][b]”If you’re going to stay awake much longer, you’d better learn how to handle that bonestick. When something’s too big to choke, you stab. Go for the eye, or if you’d rather the leg, that works too. The best thing is still to have something heavier to hit with, but lacking that…”[/b][/color] He cast a glance about himself, only to remember that all the heavier things that had been there were now rooting for edible plants some miles away. [color=#CD2626][b]”Don’t turn your back on things, either. Most of them will be just waiting for that.”[/b][/color] Hermes furrowed her brow, “but why?” Narzhak swayed his head, surprised that she even asked such a question. [color=#CD2626][b]”That’s how things work. You’re out for yourself, and it’s the same for everyone. You’re fortunate no one had got you yet, probably just because there’s not a lot of us about.”[/b][/color] He gestured to the still mostly empty fields. [color=#CD2626][b]”It won’t be that way forever, so you’d better learn to be sharp. Hit first when you can, avoid and hit back when you can’t. You’ve got speed and something to strike with, all you need”[/b][/color] he tapped one finger against another - [color=#CD2626][b]”is the attitude.”[/b][/color] “But,” Hermes seemed confused, “how do I know when to hit?” [color=#CD2626][b]”Easy. You always hit.”[/b][/color] The god motioned at the boar, who had clearly had enough of the day’s exertions and was lazily sprawled on the grass. [color=#CD2626][b]”Like him. That way, you’ll never be wrong.”[/b][/color] He paused, then added, [color=#CD2626][b]”Unless the other one is plenty bigger than you. Then you wait for an opening.”[/b][/color] “What if they want to be friends?” Hermes pushed, “I’ve only met friends and I don’t want to hit my friends.” [color=#CD2626][b]”Friends?”[/b][/color] Narzhak scratched his head. She might not have been entirely wrong, but he couldn’t be sure. [color=#CD2626][b]”Friends are the ones who hit other people with you. Do your friends and you strike together?”[/b][/color] “I think,” Hermes slowly sat herself down on the ground, waving her hands through the grass, “we have fished together, and we ate food together, and you and I are talking together.” She paused, “are we friends?” The scraping stopped for an instant, then resumed. [color=#CD2626][b]”Maybe. Eating and talking isn’t enough. Drinking is something else, but the really important part is the hitting one.”[/b][/color] He reached a hand down to the earth, and a glistening metallic stream surged up from the soil. It twisted, ribbonlike, into the colossal palm, which disappeared back up high. When it moved down again, something heavy thumped down before Hermes causing the relatively small human to jump backwards, her hair letting out a stream of concerned pops. At her feet lay an iron club of simple, though intimidating design. A light haft abruptly widened into a hefty cylindrical head, studded with small, sharp spikes. Unseen by any, but dimly guessed as an unplaceable sense of wrongness, a spirit of joyous slaughter had been forged into it. [color=#CD2626][b]”Now we are, or we’ll be when you smash something with this. Then you can be sure of it.”[/b][/color] Hermes finagled a loop in the back of her shirt and slid her spear through safely before leaning down for the club. She hefted it over her shoulder, and despite her stance, her face betrayed nervousness, “Will- uh- will you smash with me?” The god nodded heavily. [color=#CD2626][b]”Anytime.”[/b][/color] He shifted a foot, almost imperceptibly to himself, but enough to prod the resting boar’s flank. [color=#CD2626][b]”Find us something.”[/b][/color] The hog stood up with almost visible reluctance and trotted off, sniffing the ground. Soon, it had disappeared behind a hill, and not long after that its loud squealing rang out. With a brief [color=#CD2626][b]”Over there”[/b][/color] and a single step, Narzhak was over the elevation, where the beast, content with the role it had played, had settled down again. Not far below it, the ground was trembling slightly, betraying a subterranean presence. The Iron God thrust a finger into the soil, heedless of the clumps of soil sent flying by the considerable impact. For some moments, he seemed to be searching for something with slight movements, only to finally withdraw it with a growl. Stubbornly clinging to its tip by its fearsome jaws was the bulky head of a rock-worm. “What is that!” Hermes looked on with saucer wide eyes. [color=#CD2626][b]”A worm,”[/b][/color] Narzhak answered almost nonchalantly, [color=#CD2626][b]”Now smash it!”[/b][/color] “I don't think I can eat all of it,” She said while raising her new mace in hesitation. [color=#CD2626][b]”What's that about eating?”[/b][/color] The god stopped riling the worm for a moment as he glanced at her, [color=#CD2626][b]”Leftovers always take care of themselves. What matters is making them stop moving.”[/b][/color] “I guess I did only promise about the fish and if you say it's okay,” She took a few steps forward. Sucking in a breath there was a loud sonic boom as she suddenly turned into a blur, zipping past Narzhak and the worm, a loud ribble of power clapping off the worm as the unseen mace connected. Tatters of pallid flesh and tubular entrails scattered from the blow like a flock of startled birds, raining onto the grass well beyond the hilltop. A faint, foul smell of burning spread through the air. The creature writhed, its spasms only driving it to clench its teeth further around the iron finger as its underside began to twitch and flail as though animated with a life of its own. As it flailed, shreds of quivering wormflesh breaking loose to expose the gaping wound in its body, what had been its head snapped loose, hideously clinging to the bait as the rest of it spasmed blindly on the ground. [color=#CD2626][b]”Good going!”[/b][/color] Narzhak rumbled enthusiastically, slamming the still-living worm head into the ground. [color=#CD2626][b]”Finish it!”[/b][/color] The blur returned and quickly laid the rest of the worm to rest with a craterous smash. Hermes paused, her shoulders heaving as she sucked in a few breaths, all around her flesh and gravel rained down. She let the mace clutter to the ground before looking up at Narzhak, “does this mean we are friends, now?” The Iron God flicked the remains of the worm away from his finger. [color=#CD2626][b]”Yes.”[/b][/color] If there was a mouth behind his helmet, it broke into a savage grin. [color=#CD2626][b]”It’s nice, isn’t it?”[/b][/color] Hermes nodded, a slight grin on her face, “I think I like it.” “Just-” She started, “-what if that worm wanted to be my friend?” A dismissive wave from an immense hand made the grass quiver under a sudden breeze. [color=#CD2626][b]”You didn’t know that, but you did know I wanted to. Always mind which way is the safest.”[/b][/color] “I think I get it,” Hermes nodded before zipping up to Narzhak’s enormous helmeted head. She looked at his cheek -- if it could be so called -- sternly before pressing a finger on the surprisingly warm metal, “and now we are friends.” The metallic surface quivered, as though it were abruptly melting, and a thin, dull spike drew up and extended from it. It prodded Hermes’ cheek in turn before fusing back into the blank plate. [color=#CD2626][b]”We are. Don’t forget the mace.”[/b][/color] Poppler zipped off from a pool that had collected in a crevice in the ground and straight into Hermes’ hair as she hefted the mace back over her shoulder. She gave a wide cheshire smile to her new friend, and Poppler gave a low pop crackle, and then all at once they were gone into a blur. [hider=Of Swine and Savagery] Narzhak is surveying the grasslands in southern Kirronland. He thinks they’re dull and creates wild boars to mess them up a bit; the first one to come into being tags along with him. Hermes comes across them, has a scuffle with the boar, then she and Narzhak chat about violence, friendship and other cheerful matters. He tells her that to really be friends with someone she needs to kill something with them, and gives her a mace that - unbeknownst to her - makes its wielder enjoy bloodshed a little too much. Straight away, they seal their friendship by beating the stuffing out of an innocent worm. After the obligatory poking ritual, they go their separate ways. [/hider] [hider=Might Summary] [b][u]Narzhak[/u] Starting: 3 MP 15 FP 2 FP to create a sizeable population of wild boars 0 MP (discounted from 1 by War portfolio) to forge a mace of murderous exultation End: 3 MP 13 FP[/b] [i]5/5 Might towards Earthquakes Portfolio[/i] [/hider]