[center][h2]Astella, Ze’Kelia & Orynn Kaseyk[/h2] In… [h1]One Humanity and Three Divines[/h1][/center] [hr] [hr] 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 [i]not[/i] 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 [i]could[/i] 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, [color=#f4743c]”They’ve been busy.”[/color] [hr] 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, [color=Gold]"Excuse me, do anything of you happen to know who unleashed the northern River?"[/color] 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, [color=#f4743c]“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.”[/color] [color=salmon]”WHAT ABOUT ME?”[/color] 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. [color=salmon]”I WAS THE FIRST TO FIND THE WELLSPRING, YOU KNOW!”[/color] 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, [color=#f4743c]“And that’s about all she did do.”[/color] 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, [color=Gold]"Thank you for your supreme unhelpfulness!"[/color] 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. [color=Gold]"Now!"[/color] A broad smile that quickly devolved as she continued, [color=Gold]"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?!"[/color] After an apparently unprepared outburst she composed herself also whispering, [color=Gold]"And what is a wellspring if I may add?"[/color] [color=#f4743c]“No.”[/color] 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, [color=#f4743c]“But you did!”[/color] Orynn lapsed into a fit of barely repressed laughter as he added, helpfully, [color=#f4743c]“When it hit you!”[/color] 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, [color=#f4743c]“And [i]The[/i] Wellspring, unless you find another, is where all the water on this fragment comes from.”[/color] [color=#f4743c]“Y’know,”[/color] he went on soberly, [color=#f4743c]“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.”[/color] Ze'kelia replied as she fell back onto a helpfully newly made bed of furs, [color=Gold]"Ugh, I just wanted to hit some jerk for hitting me and you had to go and make all this morality things, totally ruined."[/color] She laid there a moment, taking a look over at the small group before her eyes shifted back to Orynn once more, [color=Gold]"I'm Ze'kelia by the way, Goddess of Light and maker of the Su'une."[/color] Finishing with a vague wave towards the solar disk in the sky. [color=Gold]"Who are you?[/color] [color=#f4743c]“Orynn Kaskye, God of Defiance. Friend of Humanity, maker of assorted plants, and a popper of the worlds cork,”[/color] The God introduced himself with a grin and a wink, [color=#f4743c]“But you can just call me Orynn.[/color] [color=Gold]"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..."[/color] After speaking Ze'kelia, leaned in close whispering, [color=Gold]"Are those ones you brought a humanity by the way?"[/color] [color=salmon]”YES!”[/color] 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. [color=salmon]”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.”[/color] 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. [color=salmon]”Astella’s the name, by the way.”[/color] [color=Gold]"Well, hello Lady Astella! Or just Astella perhaps?"[/color] Ze'kelia said with a grin, [color=Gold]"A humanity huh? Also... ...Zekee?"[/color] Ze'kelia laid back on her bed of furs saying further. [color=Gold]"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."[/color] [color=#f4743c]”She started building up,”[/color] Orynn directed a perfunctory gesture towards Astella, [color=#f4743c]“I just brought them to the place they were least likely to die, and hey what’s a city without people anyway?”[/color] [color=salmon]”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...”[/color] Astella ran her hands through her hair and wiped the sweat off her brow before sighing, [color=salmon]”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-”[/color] 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. [color=salmon]”Not again… These little crabspider bots are impressive, but they can be so dumb sometimes... ”[/color] 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. [color=salmon]”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.”[/color] She half-shouted just before she turned and disappeared at a bend in the main street. [color=#f4743c]"And she's gone again. I wonder if it's me?"[/color] Orynn watched Astella vanish behind the bend as he spoke. With his eyes lingering on the wall he remarked, [color=#f4743c]"Eh, probably not."[/color] [color=Gold]”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.”[/color] having evident lounged on her furs long enough, Ze’kelia hopped up and lazily meandered around continuing off her brief quip, [color=Gold]”So what do you do being a God of Defiance. Do you just like being contrarian or...”[/color] [color=#f4743c]“I couldn’t honestly say I [i]don’t[/i]!”[/color] The God laughed, [color=#f4743c]“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.”[/color] [color=Gold]“That’s fair enough, I wanted to light the place up a tad and well I did at that!”[/color] Ze’kelia walked around and peered after the group of humans who had gone back further into the city. [color=Gold]“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.”[/color] [color=#f4743c]“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.”[/color] Orynn was still smiling as he spoke, but his tone was humorless, [color=#f4743c]“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.[/color] She snorted at his words replying dryly, [color=Gold]"You have a real talent you know."[/color] [color=Gold]"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."[/color] She turned back to face him. [color=Gold]"So what now?"[/color] [color=#f4743c]“I thought so, but you never know.”[/color] He punctuated his sentence with a pleased little shrug, [color=#f4743c]“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?[/color] [color=Gold]"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."[/color] She looked around, flying up to get a better view, she pointed somewhere to the north east, [color=Gold]"That would be a good direction right?"[/color] [color=#f4743c]“Might be,”[/color] Orynn hedged, [color=#f4743c]“I’ve been around. Nowhere north of here though.”[/color] [color=Gold]"You know its a bit greener than I remember it but...[/color] A sudden blast from her spear vasporized some rock and a huge gush of water spilled forth on the north-eastern side. [color=Gold]...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."[/color] 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, [color=#f4743c]“While you’re at it!”[/color] 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 [i]conversation[/i] 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, [color=#f4743c]“Good to meet you Ze'kelia! And if you wouldn’t mind, don’t tell Astella this was me![/color] And thereafter dove into the river he’d unleashed with a wave, letting it sweep him down the mountainside. In a low voice, [color=Gold]"I'm not sticking around that long..."[/color] and a quick flight eastward over the lip and down the mountain to travel along the eastern peaks. [hider=summary] 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. [/hider] [hider=MA Summary] -Big River to the NorthEast through the Chaklands -River heading west threading the needle -Nobody hit Orynn for his bad sense of humor [/hider]