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[h1]Atmav[/h1]

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There had been a long silence as Atmav set in for a lonely night under the stars, nestled in a small hole in the side of a hill. She could not sleep, however, the battle between Yimbo and herself were as fresh on her mind as it had been when she was with the Selka. The images of the Selka crushed under the weight of the great beast lingered, bringing a great sadness with them. Atmav had not meant to cause such death, she had merely been defending herself and those Selka were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At least, that was what she told herself as the sadness of her deeds washed over her. She curled in a ball, still clutching the wing she had ripped out of her back, and began to sob. Her feelings and anger had blinded her rational thought at the time and it had caught up with her. After all, Atmav was new to these strange lands, scared and alone as the unknown of Galbar bore down into her very being. 

She could not think. She could not see what was right nor wrong. Most importantly, she had been abandoned by perhaps the only being she was familiar with. Her enemy seemed to have known that she would suffer being away from all that she knew, and she knew that he would relish in that fact. It was this hopelessness and paranoia that had driven her thoughts, scared that Vakk would come for her and a fear that he was still around her, merely toying with her.

A foreign presence could be felt in her mind, with a ‘pop’. It was neither strong nor pervasive- but simply [i]there[/i], lurking. Then a layered voice spoke, smokey and baritone came honeyed words, [color=black]’What troubles your mind?’[/color]

Atmav’s head instantly snapped up, her hand moving to use the wing as a weapon against whoever was there. Yet, she saw no one. No living soul was around her, as far as she could tell and the fact disturbed her more than anything else. After a few moments of observing her surroundings, she let out a sigh before shrinking back down into her ball.

“I truly am going mad, aren’t I?” she asked herself, leaning against the wall of her natural shelter.

[color=black]’I wouldn’t say so, [i]Atmav.[/i]’[/color] The voice came again, lingering on her own name before silence returned. 

Her head moved up to observe her surroundings once more to find nothing directly speaking to her, resigning herself to her paranoia and fear. “You are a voice in my head, nothing more. That is the true definition of someone starting to become mad,” Atmav spoke, focusing her gaze upon the dirt in front of her. At least the voice she had come up with was something mildly comforting, if not the comfort mainly came from finally being able to speak again. 

[color=black]’Madness? Was it madness that compelled you to pray? To plunge yourself into the unknown asking for help with but a whimper? Mortal, this is not a figment of your imagination, but an answer to your cry. So tell me, how do you answer?’[/color] came the voice’s honeyed words in but a whisper.

Atmav’s gaze shifted towards the night sky, looking for someone watching her and not seeing one but knowing that she was. She swallowed a dried mouth, as the mixed feeling of relief and shock flowing over her as she slowly got to her feet, sliding against the wall. “An answer to my cry...,” she repeated as she continued to scan the stars. “I thought the other gods had left me to my fate.” she admitted.

[color=black]’Now we come to the question.’[/color] the voice said, [color=black]’What is it that you desire? Tell me, so that I might know.’[/color]

“I want to be rid of the debt that I owe to Vakk,” Atmav answered, her words flowing out more quickly and desperately than she might have wanted. Her heartbeat was quickened, her breathe picking up as some semblance of hope filled her now.

[color=black]’A debt to Vakk? The Kinslayer?’[/color] the voice said, intrigued. [color=black]’What do you owe the God of Speech?’[/color]

“I owe him any task he may ask of me in exchange for my freedom from the prison he calls a home,” she said before her head cocked to the side. “The Kinslayer?” Atmav asked, confused of the title that Orvus had used while referencing her enemy.

[color=black]’Vakk has murdered the Goddess Li’Kalla. Though she persists now in different forms, the crime has still been committed. I do not know the answer as to why, however.’[/color] the voice said pausing for a moment before continuing, [color=black]’A task in exchange for freedom? A difficult choice to make, but you made the one you thought wisest. An admirable quality. Still, your heart is weighed down by what that task might be, is it not?’[/color]

“Yes, I am,” she started, her gaze moving back to the dirt as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I have already done so much wrong that I am afraid Vakk will make me do something else,” she began to let out a sobbing sound once more, “I already cannot forgive myself for what I have done.”

There was a long silence, the small presence in her mind abruptly vanishing as if it never was. This caused a light panic within Atmav. Then, from up above, there came a voice in the night. [color=black]”Look at me.”[/color] it said softly. 

Her head snapped up to see the form of Orvus and for a moment she merely stood in awe at the figure, her sadness was still ever growing in her heart but the sight of a deity caused her to have a moment of reflection. She was silent before she slid back down the wall, the grip of her severed wing loosening before it dropped to the ground. 

[color=black]”You carry in your heart much remorse, for what has happened, and what will happen. Your rage and paranoia have blinded you from seeking the truth. I know this, for I have seen it. It was me. It [i]is[/i] me. And it shall be me until this world fades to dust.”[/color] Orvus said, floating closer to Atmav with unwavering eyes. He spoke again, his tone kinder, [color=black]”Your freedom, has become your prison, and you don’t even know it. To forgive oneself of guilt, can be achieved by those willing to sacrifice. Yet even I can tell you it won’t be easy. To remove your debt, is to remove your choice. Vakk will come for you, either way. What would you do, knowing what you know, if you refuse?”[/color] the God asked, now but a few feet away from her face.

Atmav looked at the ground, thinking of the words that the god had said and in what she would do if she would encounter Vakk again. Vakk had become a being far more powerful than she could possibly fathom and to defy him alone seemed like a call of the embrace of death itself. She began to doubt herself as she shook her head away from any feeling of triumph that she may get out of this encounter. “You ask that I defy someone who has become a god. I-,” her voice began to waver before she covered her mouth with a hand caked in blood, “I don’t think I would have the strength to resist him alone.”

[color=black]”To defy a god is to court death most certainly. Yet, we defy death anyways. It is in your nature to survive and to live, this I have seen. Whether death claims you now, or later, it will claim you. Perhaps it will even claim me and the others.”[/color] Orvus said, floating back but still gazing upon Atmav with glowing orbs. [color=black]”You have strength, Atmav, more than you think. It comes in many forms. From the mind to the body, even to those we might call friends. You must learn to shed your paranoia and fear, lest it consume you entirely and you become the very thing Vakk wants you to be- a weak toy. I cannot take your debt from you, but I can help you face it.”[/color] Orvus said.

“I don’t know if I want to face it… I don’t know if I can admit to myself that Vakk will win no matter what I try… I wish he had never brought me back from the dead,” Atmav said, her sobs growing louder as she leaned forwards, holding herself up with her hands. “I can’t bare to think of facing him,” she continued.

Two feet landed before the figure of Atmav, hardly making a noise as the God spoke, [color=black]”Perhaps we were all better dead, but we are here aren’t we? You might not have a choice to face Vakk, whether you want to or not. You simply need to be ready for it when he comes, and he will come.”[/color] Orvus said emotionlessly, as he paced back and forth infront of Atmav’s body. After a moment of disapproving silence, Orvus spoke again, [color=black]”It is not your place to cower or to hide Atmav. You are a warrior are you not? Why don’t you fight? Will you really let that worm dictate your future? Will you really let him control you like this? Crippled and broken and afraid? Powerless…”[/color] he whispered.

His words rang true within Atmav’s mind and slowly did her gaze turn back to Orvus, the sniffling and sobbing coming to a light halt. “You are right. My old master would have flayed me for thinking this way. I am a warrior,” she said, forcing herself to her feet before she stared back at the blackened being in front of her, “My future is my own and Vakk, nor anybody else will dictate it.” Her voice was still shaky and her emotions were still out of her control, but her statement had made it clear that she knew what would need to happen when Vakk came for her.

“I will try and fight my mortal enemy as much as possible. Vakk will have no sway over my actions.”

Orvus slapped his hands together in one quick motion, then as he pulled them apart, something formed within his hands, long edged weapon, crackling with red energy. In the blink of an eye, he slammed it into the ground before her. In the starlight before Atmav, there stood a greatsword almost as tall as Orvus. The handle and hilt were dotted with starlight, reminiscent of the night sky up above. While the blade was crude, and cracked with several lines of scarlet energy emanating from a central line running vertically along the length. The sharpness of the orvium glinted off the light of the Lustrous garden, revealing its sinister nature. Orvus moved to the side, and beckoned to the blade, saying, [color=black]”Then claim it.”[/color]

Atmav looked at the blade, merely marveling in what had just been created in front her very being. She gave Orvus one last look before her hands grasped the great hilt of the blade. With a heave, she pulled the Greatsword from the ground and held it above her for a few moments as she continued to gaze upon its glory. A great feeling of power washed over her as she looked at the god, a light smile coming across her face.

She leaned the ballads again her shoulder, allowing it touch the top of her upper wing before she bowed to Orvus. A genuflection to someone she thought to be truly worthy of her respect and admiration.

“I will prove myself worthy of being the wielder of such a blade,” she said, not looking up from her bow.

[color=black]”I would expect nothing less from one so talented as yourself.”[/color] the god said eyeing Atmav. His gaze fell upon her back, to where a wing should have been. He moved closer, inspecting the wound with a god’s eye. After a moment, there came an icy touch upon her back, then a tingling sensation. [color=black]”Your wings are easily broken. No more.”[/color] and with his words, Atmav’s wings shrivelled and fell off, only to be replaced by an explosion of ethereal starlight as new wings sprouted from her back. Long, and elegant as they were powerful, the wings shimmered with pale, translucent light, twinkling with a million tiny dots of silver. 

[color=black]”Rise Atmav. Rise to claim your own future.”[/color] Orvus finally said.

Atmav looked up at Orvus before she got to her feet, moving the new wings with delight as she looked upon the wings with pure joy. “You are too kind,” she finally said, looking at the god with what had turned into a very wide smile. There was very little sadness left in her, having been replaced by the mixed feelings of pride and happiness, now knowing that she would not allow any other to own her.

[color=black]”Kind? Perhaps or perhaps I simply saw a soul that reminded me of myself. You are not the only one with struggles, Atmav. Even Gods have their own challenges they must face and overcome. Remember this, maybe it will prove useful. Now, I must leave. Your path is your own, pray to me if you like but do not expect me to always answer.”[/color] the god said, beginning to float up into the air. 

“Before you leave, what is your name?”

[color=black]”Orvus, the God of Desolation.”[/color] he uttered, before vanishing in the night sky. 

“Orvus…” she repeated as the smile slowly faded from her face, though the happiness very well persisted. Atmav sat back down, looking into the night sky, now content with her situation and no longer worrying about Vakk’s tyrannical hold over her. For once, she settled in for a sound sleep, the first good sleep she would have since arriving on Galbar.

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[hider=summary]
Atmav sulks after her battle with Yimbo and allows herself to cry over her situation once more, dreading what Vakk has planned for her. As she cries to herself, she feels a presence that begins to talk to her.

Turns out it’s Good Guy Orvus who asks why she is so sad, Atmav promptly believes she is going crazy though Orvus says that he is answering her prayer. Atmav then answers his question, by stating to be free of Vakk.

Orvustries to comfort Atmav, who is still feeling terrible from the deaths she caused. But it doesn’t do much until Orvus actually appears before her.

Orvus continues to comfort her, guiding her to stand against Vakk when he eventually comes. However, Atmav doubts herself and sinks back into her sadness. It is then that Orvus points out that Atmav is becoming what Vakk wants, a broken toy, and that her nature is not befitting a warrior.

This makes Atmav realize that he is right and she stands to meet him. Orvus then makes the Desolate Greatsword (outlined below) and when she bows in thanks, he gives her wings made of starlight. When Atmav says that he is doing too much, he states that he sees himself in her and wants to fix that. After that, he leaves, allowing Atmav to comfortably rest for the first time since she has gotten to Galbar.


[b]Prestige[/b]
8 Prestige + 3 = 11 Total.

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[hider=Might Usage]

Orvus

Started with 5MP & 5FP

-1MP (Discounted to Zero through the Desolation Port) For a Desolate Greatsword. A lengthy blade of black orvium. It’s handle and hilt are dotted with starlight, reminiscent of a night sky. The blade itself is crude, and cracked with several lines of scarlet energy emanating from a central line running along the blade. This sharp weapon hungers for destruction and is able to shoot a beam of scarlet energy. (The sword blade is around 6.5ft/2m in length, while the handle and hilt are around 12in/30cm in length. The blade is heavier than a blade comprised of copper, iron, or even steel.)

-1FP to praise Atmav with wings made of Starlight. 

Ended with 5MP & 4FP
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