[h1][color=8dc73f]Paratiri (Storms)[/color][/h1]

[b]The Blessings of Paratiri[/b]

Ita and Eco were young siblings full of energy. With the world returning to normal quite quickly they found themselves growing alienated from their village's ways. While they wanted adventure, fights and inventions, to go out and tame the restored lands, their parents and elders were more than happy to just stay in the little village among ruins. Why bother building a new home when you can just live inside a far larger one? Sure given many years people who didn't rely on the leftovers of the past world would have an advantage but at this moment the old people were too shortsighted to see the benefits of straying from their traditions and comfort.

The situation became so bothersome that the sister would add a plea for the gods to help them with that among the other prayers the two made when leaving to fish or hunt. It was such a prayer that reached Paratiri's ears, the winged goddess immediately sympathized with the young duo over the old order and decided that she would be the deity to help the two of them.

"We should really just go exploring up the river one of these days. We know there are other villages, so it would make trading so much easier." Ita complained as she finished setting up the net. 

"Don't push it Ita, you know how hard it was for father to allow us to use this boat. With the elder, you know the drill at this point, he will just think we are trying to hoard things for ourselves and would not allow anyone to trade." Her brother answered, not bothering with optimism anymore.

They continued to prepare their supplies for the day until a great wind came forth and great shadow spread from the other side of the lake as something large blocked the sun. Looking up the siblings saw a massive half-woman half-avian creature, could that be the god they had heard about?

[color=8dc73f]"Hello mortals! It is I, Paratiri, the living storm! I have heard your prayers and am here to bring you a blessing! To see youth shackled by the fears of the old breaks my heart, and I will bring forth a great blessing that will guarantee they will need to rely on your quick minds and healthy bodies."[/color]

The two mortals looked to each other for a long moment. 
"A god!?" 
"Indeed. A goddess!" 
"I did not expect someone to come answer our prayers!" 
"Oh great Paratiri, please, bring forth your blessing to us!"

The great harpy smile, rays of light escaping between the heavy clouds in the sky. [color=8dc73f]"Alright! That is what I like to hear. Behold! The great blessing of Paratiri!"[/color]

She opened her wings and started flapping them, the clouds came down in the form of a misty storm and quickly assaulted both the siblings at the river's shore and the village behind them. The ruins which stood since time immeasurable was quickly disintegrated, along with all the leftover structures the mortals relied so much on. Nature started to take over where mortal acts had shaped the land, great trees springing forth and even animals seemed to appear from nothing.

And then the storm was lifted, and the siblings found themselves looking up startled at the goddess. Their village... it was all gone, the people's voice could still be heard, very annoyed and shocked, but all the structures had vanished. But not only that, the tools they were carrying, the fishing net, the lumber they had collected, the baskets they had weaved, the boat they were intending on using and even the very clothes that covered their bodies had been disintegrated. 

"Ah... what the hell?" Eco gasped covering himself. "Yo! What the fuck did you just do?" Ita questioned raising her fist in anger.

[color=8dc73f]"Oh? Ah. Perhaps I went a bit overboard. The logic is that, you know, if all these old things are keeping you down, then I would just make them go away. I guess I shouldn't have gone as far as leaving you and your people naked in the wilds, but hey, here is a chance to prove your worth! Forest is fresh, full of food, start over, it will be great fun! Also a lovable excuse to cuddle to some pretty boy or girl once the night falls and it gets cold"[/color]

The siblings did not seem to agree with Paratiri on that definition of fun. The harpy goddess clicked her tongue, mortals really were a rude bunch. With a shrug, the storm goddess simply left the barking humans to deal with their forced re-start of civilization. 

[b]Harapi[/b]

Storms were not discreet, so it was no surprise that Paratiri became known to mortals relatively quickly. Unfortunately for the goddess, it was mostly bad press, mortals associated her with trouble and savagery, man eating beasts and floods, which yeah, valid, but there was plenty of cool and useful in her style and it felt bad that it was basically being ignored. She needed to work on her PR, but more often than not she found mortals to be too unreasonable and nitpicky.

Paratiri was tired and she decided she needed a nice, quiet place to perch. Making islands or any sort of land was not her forte, thankfully her fellow gods had made many types of land that she could just [s]steal[/s] borrow, so for a while the storm simply traveled from land to land, swooping down, clawing at the ground and then nabbing chunks of land from the continent to throw into the northern sea. 

And in this way the Harapi islands were made.

She picked up the northernmost island and rose it up with a storm, giving a nice overview of the shard when she perched in the highest tree of this island. First issue she noticed, is that even with her two daughters back the whole place was awfully empty of cool, winged life. So she got to work, like she had made the first two, Paratiri laid eggs which would hatch into harpies, sphinxes and all sorts of feathered divine spawnlings. Some were sweet, others were twisted, all of them were loud. 

These hundred or so harpies, while unable to create spawns of their own, would act, intentionally or not, to integrate more the Harapi ecosystem, over the centuries this, and the different environment compared to where these lands were originally fro, would make the archipelago into more integrated, even if extremely diverse, lands. 

[b]The mark of thunder[/b]

In the dry lands, where banditry was more profitable than honest work, a man was making a name for himself. Thin scars in a vein or root-like pattern spread out throughout his right arm and chest, he had gained them when thunder struck him when he was a mere boy. As he grew older and a capable combatant, people started associating him with the lightning, as a blessing of the tumultuous goddess or even that he was her son. He always denied that, it felt annoying that people would worship the very thing that almost killed him.

Today he was enjoying the spoils of being a paid guard, banditry was nice, but being a mercenary you got to ripoff people and nobody questioned your looting, it was the best of both worlds. He also, for many reasons, did not enjoy being a bandit, the world was crap and he felt like he needed to do something to help it be less crap, even if his main worry as far as civilization was the production and commerce of his beer.

As he was drinking, people started to whisper, and he just knew what it had to be, some newcomer had showed up in the trade town with a big iron sword and was seeking to duel with the famous fighter. Sighing he turned, but what he saw was not some scrappy teenager boy trying to make his name but a woman, a beautiful one at that, she had long grey hair, the color of storm clouds, and vivid yellow eyes. He dreamed for a moment that maybe she was there to flirt with him but the armor and the sword made it clear she was not.

"Who the hell are you." Arth questioned.

[color=8dc73f]"Arth the thunder kissed, you have offended my honor."[/color] the woman said with a stern tone.

The mercenary sighed. "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" he quickly finished his beer. "But let me guess, you came here for vengeance, you want to fight me or some shit? Yeah fine. Let's dance pretty face."

The silver haired woman rose her hand to stop him from taking out his sword. [color=8dc73f]"Not in here. Let's come outside, away from the rabble."[/color]

"That is an agreeable sentiment." he smirked, and did as the woman had asked, leaving not only the tavern but the city altogether, stopping by an open field outside. "So, here is good enough?"

[color=8dc73f]"Yes. Today I will make you pay your dues. You have said regrettable things, thunder kissed."[/color]

He rolled his eyes. "Stop with that bullshit. I am not strong because I got hit by lightning when I was a kid. You people are too superstitious."

The female warrior answered equally, also rolling her eyes, then she drew her sword. Arth did the same and not wanting to be on the defensive, rushed the woman. Yet no matter how much and how quickly he swung his sabre, every single attack seemed to miss her, the few that did connect were easily stopped by her own blade. With a smirk, the woman decided to end the battle, not with a swing of the sword but with a kick to the stomach, Arth taking a few steps back before collapsing to the ground and coughing.

"What... the fuck was that!? What are you? How are you so fast?"

[color=8dc73f]"I gave you a gift, a gift you keep denying you received. Did my lightning fast movements impress you? You are lucky I am not that angry, I am a merciful goddess after all."[/color]

Arth quickly raised his head hearing that. "Goddess!? You couldn't be..." his words were stopped by a quick and soft kiss, a burning feeling brewing within him before he was forced to scream to the sky, light emanating from his mouth and eyes. When he came back to himself, the goddess was nowhere to be seen. He looked upward to the sky with a contemplative expression, opening and closing his hand and feeling like something within him had changed.

Behind some bushes not too far from him, Paratiri was spying on her work, this human form she had shapeshifted into was truly useful when it came to being discreet. The man truly hadn't been blessed by her before, but with humans always thinking she was bad news the tale of some warrior BLESSED by her was too good not to get involved. Now she had granted him an actual blessing, more stamina and faster movement and reflexes, if this worked out she would surely start hitting people with lightning at random to create some more thunder kissed warriors to spread her name.


[hider=Summary]
1: Some siblings whine about how the elders rely too much on leftover things from the old world and live in ruined buildings. Paratiri shows up and takes all the civilization away, leaving them naked and afraid in the middle of a forest.
2: Paratiri decides she wants islands so she goes all over the continent grabbing bits of land and throwing them in the north sea. Also she hatches some more of her harpy-daugthers.
3: Arth is a famous warrior who was hit by lightining when he was a kid. He hates that people think that gave him power. Paratiri loves that idea and beats him until he is convinced that indeed he had been blessed by the goddess all along.
[/hider]