[center] [h1][b][u]Carn[/u][/b][/h1] [/center] [hr] Carn stepped into Antiquity for the first time. He wore the black armour of one of Cadien’s hussars, with his sword sheathed at his hip, cloak on his shoulders, and lute slung across his back. As he marveled at the vast, white arena, and the shining image of Galbar in the sky above, two more figures emerged from the portal, clad in their own sets of Black Hussar armour as well. Liamas and Nekara. The Songman and the Neiyari had asked to accompany him in his travels. They too were curious about the outside world, it seemed, and Carn had not objected to some extra company. They, too, were taken in by the sights. “My word,” Liamas whispered. “Nothing has happened yet, and already I could write a song about this place.” The Songman looked odd in the Black Hussar, mostly because he had never worn it before this day. The arena was slightly overgrown, with vegetation sprouting in the unlikeliest places. One particularly large bush was happily taking in the strange sunlight of Antiquity, a few paces from the trio. The bush seemed completely normal… At least, until it rustled, followed by an almost inaudible hiss. Deep within the thick foliage of yellowing leaves, a small flash of white could be seen whizzing past back and forth. “And what’s that?” Nekara asked. Liamas shrugged, but Carn stepped forward. “Who’s in there?” he asked. There was another hiss, louder this time, followed by a quiet pained gasp. The rustling came back in force, and suddenly a trio of pristine, white, long, fluffy tails popped out of the bush, wagging back and forth hard enough to make whooshing sounds. [b][i]”Ugh, I told you to be quiet, Yllis!”[/i][/b] One voice whispered. High-pitched and somewhat jarring yet somehow still attractive to the ears, kind of like listening to a trainwreck from a safe distance. [b][i]”I-I can’t be quiet, Yllis! Your elbow’s all the way in there, you know~”[/i][/b] The same voice replied, yet this one came from a slightly different location within the bush. The original voice groaned, and then a third one whispered. [b][i]”Did you hear something, Yllis? I dunno, kinda like an over glorified monkey asking someone who’s clearly out of their league their name?”[/i][/b] The first one spoke again after a small gasp. [b][i]”I think so, Yllis. Maybe it wants a banana?”[/i][/b] She said, snickering quietly. [b][i]”Ow!”[/i][/b] The second one hissed, [b][i]”W-Watch what you do with those nails, you bitch!”[/i][/b] [b][i]”I’m not a bitch, you bitch! Unless that one tall soldier in Snowhair’s realm asked me to be....”[/i][/b] [b][i]”You’re hopeless, Yllis.”[/i][/b] The trio glanced at the bush with puzzled expressions. “It seems they do not know we are here,” whispered Liamas. “If they don’t, they ought to be more alert,” Nekara commented bluntly. “If any of us had magic, a single spark of fire could be their end.” “Enough of that talk,” Carn said. “We didn’t come here for a fight.” He took a step forward. “Hello there!” he called out. “You in the bush. Could you please come out so we can speak?” The bush rustled a bit, and out of it popped a single face. Ghostly pale, with shining golden eyes and white hair. It was a woman’s face, with carefully, delicately sculpted features all around betrayed by the sharp fangs that glinted in the light when she smirked. There was something unsettling about the face, but Carn couldn’t exactly pin that feeling onto any of the features he could see. After a mere moment a second face, completely identical to the first with the only difference being that this one was sweating and blushing, popped out next to the first. Then a third. And finally, after some more rustling, three dog-like, pristine, white tails popped out the other end of the bush and started to wag chaotically, sometimes slapping each other. The three women quickly wiped the smirks off their faces and replaced them with more subdued, yet still smug enough, smiles. They all looked at each of the 3 travelers from head to toe. [b]”That was a bold joke just now, the one where the group’s stress relief implied a little mortal could make fire strong enough to kill me.”[/b] One of the three women said, her gaze settling on Nekara as she snickered quietly. [b]”Yllis, none less than the cutest, most adorable, most lovable, most unexpectedly outgoing Goddess!”[/b] The middle one declared proudly, closing her eyes in the process for a moment. Then, she deflated somewhat and opened them again, unamused. [b]”So? What do two mortals and one half-mortal want with me?”[/b] Carn opened his mouth to speak, but then Liamas stepped forward as well. “The man who stands beside me is Carn the Unblemished. Prince of Meliorem, Champion of-” “Enough,” Carn cut him off sharply. “I am Carn.” He gestured to his companions. “This is Liamas, and that is Nekara. We are just passing through the area.” [b]”Huh, is that so.”[/b] Yllis asked in monotone, then awkwardly stood up and out of the bush, followed by the other two. They helped each other in quickly patting down their clothing and fixing their hair. While they were doing that, she continued. [b]”There isn’t much to see, I’m warning you now. Most of the Gods are freaky hermits so you most likely won’t see them out and about.”[/b] “Are there any examples in particular that stand out?” Carn asked. [b]”All of them. I’ve been waiting here for a long time and no one has appeared... Only a bunch of mortals.”[/b] One said and sighed. [b]”Yep. Biggest disappointment ever. There isn’t even any point to messing with you as it is.”[/b] Another shrugged. “Just how long have you been waiting here?” Nekara questioned. The women merely gave another shrug. Hm. So according to this goddess, the supposed central meeting ground of the gods, the crossroads between realms… was almost never used. That was… disappointing, to say the least. “Have you visited the realms of the other gods?” Carn asked. They rolled their eyes. [b]”You think I’m some kind of freak that barges into people’s homes uninvited? Only realm I’ve seen other than mine is Meliorem.”[/b] “Do the other gods take issue with mortals walking into their realms uninvited?” Liamas asked. “We wouldn’t want to offend any of them.” Yllis took a deep breath and the three sat down on a somewhat clean part of the auditorium. They grabbed their tails and started stroking them absentmindedly. [b]”I’m new here. I only know two Gods, so no I don’t know whether they’ll kill you or turn you into toys upon entering their realms, or even if they’d let you enter their realms...”[/b] [b]”... The true question is why you’d want to get involved with a bunch of immortal children who can’t help but to get involved in a tiny mortal war and to blow things out of proportion. Just go back down to Galbar, you’ll find actually interesting stuff down there I’m sure.”[/b] Carn frowned. “You seem to know a lot about the gods, for someone who claims to have only met two. How is that?” Yllis huffed and shook her head, leaning back. [b]”You talk a lot like Snowhair, you know? You pretend to be the fairest of all, but you fall short and just come off as a man who fears taking action. Your little lapdog here,”[/b] She pointed lazily at the Songman, who let out a gasp of indignation, [b]”Said your title was “the Unblemished”, right? That is incredibly lame, so go get a few scars on your baby-face before pretending to be high and mighty with me.”[/b] [b]”Know that I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty, so if you keep giving me lip I might just be the one to give you those scars.”[/b] The sudden aggression left Carn puzzled. “It was just a question,” he said. “And no, that’s not my title.” “Carn,” Nekara began, a warning note in her voice, but she said nothing more. Yllis stared at Carn, letting her tails go. [b]”You’ve got problems. There’s nothing else to talk about, is there? So why don’t you continue with your little expedition?”[/b] “Gladly,” Carn said, eager to be away from her. He hoped the other gods weren’t like this. If they were ,that would ironically prove her point. A self-fulfilling prophecy, in a way. He turned away, and his companions followed. [hr] [hider=Post Summary] Carn, Nekara, and Liamas step into Antiquity. They encounter Yllis and two copies of herself. They have a brief conversation, during which Yllis acts her usual self. She also warns them that the gods are weird hermits and there’s no point in exploring the realms. Carn asks her some questions about how she knows all this, which she is offended by. Yllis starts threatening them, so eventually Carn decides to leave her. [/hider] [hider=Might Summary] Yllis 5/5 Created a Hero who’s essentially a physical copy of herself, much like her Avatar. It has the following titles: Aura of Unrest II(2 free titles): Mortals around this Hero find themselves becoming more extreme in their words and actions towards parts of their society that they dislike. The effect takes time to make itself present, with negative thoughts related to their society becoming more common as days pass. Eventually, long enough exposure to the Hero can cause civilizations to splinter into factions and cause civil wars or large scale paradigm shifts. Good Girl I(1MP): The Hero has an unnaturally expressive, soft, warm and fluffy dog-like tail. 4MP 5DP remaining. [/hider] [hider=Prestige Summary] [u]Carn[/u] [b]Beginning:[/b] 58 +4 for 7,500+ characters [b]Ending:[/b] 62 [/hider]