[center] [color=plum][h1]Laurien[/h1][/color] [/center] [hr] She arrived upon the continent to the south, weary of flight and full of thought. Always so full of thoughts, most gnawing at her since she left Silver. As her feet settled down into the sandy beaches, she let out a sigh as she began to walk into the forest. Over and over again their conversation played out in her head. And each and every time she was disappointed. For decades she had placed Silver on a pinnacle, and in one day, it was all over. She should’ve felt angry, or upset, or even sad, but she only felt numb. It was over. But it had barely ever begun. That was the simplest truth. She had only known Silver for what felt like, weeks before she died, and though their love had been young, blossoming even, it was bittersweet. Never meant to be, not really. If only she had realized that. Then perhaps… No. She couldn’t think like that. What happened, had happened and there was no changing that now. Her only regret was that she had done it differently. Secretly. Then again… It would never have been secret. Not with Gods like Abanoc and Arae, who knew everything. What power that would be... To have the knowledge of the world, and the knowledge of its people, at her fingertips. It would be delicious. “Ichor would be delicious.” Came Aaldir’s angry voice, interrupting her train of thought. The black blade floated beside her, weaving in and out of the trees as they walked aimlessly on. [color=plum]”Must you interrupt? You know ichor is out of the question and yet, you still persist. Why is that?”[/color] she chided. “You have ichor.” The sword whispered hungrily. [color=plum]”Yes and you will not taste it.”[/color] she huffed. The sword remained silent after that, before humming a dark tune. Laurien went back to her thoughts. She had to become a ghost, no one could no where she was at any given moment. If Arae had deemed to punish her as a mortal, then there was no telling what the other gods would do to her, knowing that she had become divine. They would hate her, and despise her for what she was, and then they would most likely kill her. She couldn’t have that, now could she? And if the Gods could not, or would not love her, then their creations would. It was a surefire way to incur even more wrath, which was why she had to start small. Let a few love her unconditionally, give them gifts and powers, and they would spread her influence. This she knew. For she had been a mortal, after all. And the one thing she knew, was that power came in many forms and that mortals loved power. It gave them an edge, made them feel special and capable. In a world with living gods, what more could one ask for? Besides divinity itself… A sudden screech stopped her. Aaldir found her hand as she looked around for the source. With her new senses, she could tell whatever screamed was coming in her direction. So the Goddess flew up into a tree and waited with bated breath. It did not take long for it to arrive. A creature she had never seen before. It looked like a small humanoid, bit it’s flesh was the wrong color and it wore no clothes. It’s eyes, there were too many of them, and the only desire in it’s heart, was to devour. But instead of doing that, it ran on past her tree and into the undergrowth. Laurien narrowed her eyes, and wondered what she had seen. She flew up into the sky until she could see in the distance… And there was merely the green of the forests. Slightly disappointed and vexed, she flew on, now closer to the tree line. As her survey continued, she began to feel or sense, something rather odd. Instinctively, she wanted to fly away from that feeling, but her curiosity drove her forward. Until she arrived at the source of her trepidation. Surrounded by flora that was sickly purple in color and had too many eyes and gnashing teeth, was a man-high portal, oozing with a miasma so thick it made breathing a chore even for a goddess. She was bewildered by the site, to say the least. The last time she had journeyed through this area, nothing like it had appeared. Tentatively, she reached out to touch the portal and as soon as her hand grazed the darkness, she was sucked in. The first thing she knew, was pain. Terrible, biting pain that never subsided. It felt as if she was being eaten alive, slowly and alive for that matter. Next, what was left of her eyes feel upon the horror that was the portals destination. Suspended in a sea of magenta loomed a sphere the size of Veradax, its rock faces black yet oddly sinewy and its oceans a screaming purple. Yet it wasn’t the celestial body that warranted her pain-fueled attention, but what was on it. A million billion entities swarmed the planet, screaming war cries as they slaughtered one another with weapons without form. Giants slaughtered imps while flying serpents met foul ends by many armed beasts. She should have felt afraid, perhaps even terrified but she felt none of those things. She felt pain yes, but also perplexed. What was this sphere? And who controlled it? Yet her questions would have to wait as she realized any more exposure would surely kill her outright. So, Laurien retreated back through the portal, or gateway as it might be and came out sputtering and coughing as her body began to heal. Aaldir hovered over her body like some protective beast as she began to laugh. Neither of them noticed the film of thick purple liquid begin to glow with energy. As if a child were drawing in the mud with a stick, glyphs began to appear in the ooze, from her hands to her shoulders and all the way down to her feet. Her laughter was cut short by the glyphs, and she looked at them with a wide stare. “Laurien, you are glowing.” Said Aaldir, but Laurien ignored him. Her silence was met with a high pitched warble as the glyphs began to sear themselves into her skin and the purple liquid absorb itself into her body. She could feel every pore become choked with the unholy substance, its magical energies whispering to her in speech beyond her comprehension. Then she saw it all. The form of the ABHORRENT. It’s will. The creation of his servants. The betrayal of the Program. Her own directive, and the weapon, the authority to make unclean what was clean. The disgusting energies of SHEOL bonded with the goddess. And just like that, it was over and reality set back in. She breathed heavily as her body shook with pervasive knowledge. She looked upon her skin to see the glyphs now apart of her form, but it was no matter. She changed her form back to what her original body had looked like and stood up. It was abundantly clear what the ABHORRENT wanted her to do, and now she had a back up plan in case any god sought to kill her. Though she would have to make some alterations… Laurien looked upon her hands to see a spark of black wrap around her fingers before disappearing. She smiled, it was time to find some mortals. [hider=Summary] Laurien arrives on Atok, thinking about how things went with Silver and she comes to some conclusions and what not, then starts to think of future plans. She stumbles across the SHEOL gateway after seeing a demon wandering about. Curiosity overcomes her and she steps through, and is instantly in pain. She sees a moon like Veradax, yet crawling in billions of demons. She leaves the Sphere, and the demonic energies bond in her as she learns about ANZILLU and his plans. She gets up and walks off, ready to find some mortals for fun. [/hider]