King of Rats

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

Alzria, Goddess of Nightmares

&

I’Iro - Goddess of Dreams

With the winter project finished, the cold in the south tamed and gifted to Arira, I’Iro had dedicated her time to travel back towards Mons Divinus, taking many detours along the way to further her understanding of the mortals that inhabited this world. As she finally approached the colossal mountain she noticed a biome she had not seen when she first left. A fungi based forest was a curious sight, she wondered if this was related to the micellean network that connected the world yet the design of this location felt different in philosophy.

The goddess would surely have been spotted already had she been flying her dragon, the turquoise trail of light impossible to miss in the night sky, but for the sake of better mortal interactions she had been on foot, exploring the land in a slow pace. This allowed her to outright, accidentally, stumble upon a mortal settlement, or at least the origins of one. She observed the creatures there with stark curiosity, non-humans, they were unlike anything she had met through her travels.

Not exactly knowing how to approach mortals still, she merely stood there, observing them in the outskirts of the settlement, just waiting for something to notice her and initiate contact. For a moment, the mortals didn’t notice, the skeleton looking things more focused on constructing buildings of stone and fungal covered wood. Eventually though one of them, their head like that of a boar’s skull, noticed, quickly alerting the others to the strange person near the outskirts. They stared for a good while, equally as unsure as how to react to newcomer, before finally, the boar headed one stepped forward, speaking.

“Who goes there?” They asked, their voice nearly monotone and gruff in its nature.

What a scene that was, the goddess and the mortals' eyes had met and yet they had just stared for a long time. Ah. Greetings. I am I’Iro. The Goddess of Dreams. Please do not mind me for I was just observing your species to satiate my curiosity. I have no intent to interfere with your daily life. Yet. I must notice that I have never seen other creatures like your kind before. If it is not bothersome could you please identify yourself?

The skeletal mortal looked back towards their compatriots, before returning their gaze back towards the goddess. “We are Azrath,” they replied “It is no surprise that you haven’t met us before, we are not native to these lands and are relative newcomers.”

The mechanical goddess placed a finger in her chin, taking in the words. Newcomers? I heard whispers of such a species. One that came from beyond a portal. Though… the descriptions were a bit off. definitely not fluffy in the slightest, she wondered if the person who described them was blind. Well. Be welcome to these lands. It is very interesting to have newcomers. she stopped herself from asking them direct questions about their mind. It would not do well to the first impression, as she had learned with some of her mortal interactions.

Please tell me. Do your species sleep? When you do. Do you have dreams? this she felt was a more natural approach, it was expected that a goddess of dreams would be curious about such things.

The Azrath gave her a strange look before quickly remembering she was a goddess of dreams, “Well, we do sleep yes, and we do dream, though i'm not sure our definition of dream is the same of yours, ours are more akin to a song, we experience visions of symbols of our language and the tunes of our people, sometimes we experience visions of places from our old lands, but those are rare.”

“And should be reported to the King” added another Azrath, their head looking like that tiger.

“That too”

Well, wasn’t that interesting? Humans in contrast tended to have most of their usual dreams be heavily based on spatial memory, it was such a prevailing theme in their minds that it wasn’t uncommon for them to simplify abstract concepts like time into location based words. Meanwhile this species’ mind seemed to be more focused on fully conceptual things like dreams and song, she would need to peek into a few of their dreams later to fully understand this.

Thank you. It is good for me to better understand how dreams work in different species. Do not worry about the definition of dreams. Though you mentioned an ancient home. Have any of you seen such a place or is it just a shared memory of your species? while she was interested in that aspect, she was also winning some time to better analyse the species architecture and how they occupied the space given to them, to see if it differentiated in some way due to the nature of their dreams.

The species's buildings seemed normal at first sight, but as she looked at them, she began to notice carvings and symbols within the stones and wood, seemingly akin to a decorative artwork. Sadly it seemed they were not far in the building to get anymore, though it certainly seemed like the stone was rougher than usual for a building.

“Well,” The Boar Azrath began “For some of our older members they have seen these homes, but for some of us,” They looked back towards another of their members, another boar headed one, who avoided their gaze “They see places they could’ve never seen, so, I’d guess it’d be a shared memory then.”

It seemed like she would not be able to make enough research this early on, but, there were already many hints for her to speculate on the species. She could see hints of minds that did not visualize in height, width and depth, but in word, tone and melody, how that interacted with these supposed shared memories was not clear however. Collective imagination leading to a rare spatial based dreams was a grounded, acceptable assumption, without needing any extraordinary aspect to explain such dreams, but it would be foolish to deny other possibilities such as their language, therefore code, based memory somehow better interacting with genetic memory, or that somehow the tunes of these people could be translated into spatial-visual memory not merely by association but outright singing the geometry and shape of a location.

Well. That is one possibility. I cannot say I am not intrigued about how such dreams could come to be. Though I cannot give my opinion on them as your recent arrival makes information scarce. Speaking of that. Was this fungi forest brought by your people? I do not seem to recall it in this region before.

"Not from us no, I believe Alzria created it as it was here when we met her." They paused for a brief moment, before realizing the goddess had no idea who they were talking about "Alzria is the one who took us in, helped us settle down, she is another goddess, so, one of your kind."

I’Iro gently tilted her head. Ah. Is that so? I have not met an entity of that name yet. But it's good that she helped your kind. Not all gods are this cordial to mortals.

The Azrath chuckled "She tends to keep to her sanctuary so I am not surprised you have not heard of her,” They looked towards the mountains “In exchange though, she asked that we help serve as guardians of this land, which we are not opposed to.”

A sanctuary in the mountain? she too looked towards the mountain with building curiosity. I wonder if I should pay her a visit. It would be rude to have interacted with her land without a proper introduction. Would it not?

“Aye, I'm sure she’d like to know you’re around here, she can get very protective of her children.” They raised their hand, pointing towards the tallest mountain in the area “You’ll find the sanctuary up there, if you can fly it'll be easy, but if you can’t well, you’ll have to take the steps, you’ll come across some more of our kin there who can help you out with that.”

The goddess nodded. I cannot fly myself. I tend to simply ride my servant-dragon Nalmepror. However. I think the idea of walking by foot and meeting more of your kind is preferable. she explained with a simple half-smile to try to make herself more casual.

---

After a short hike, for a god that is, I’Iro found herself reaching the highest points of the mountain, the fungal forest had changed completely as she climbed, adapting to the drier and cold of the location while remaining recognizable. She finally found the shape of the entrance to some sort of cave, though by now the presence of divinity alone was enough to guide her.

The entrance also was easily noticeable even amongst the growing mist amongst the area, a grand metal door that easily surpassed her size, a near black in its colouration. All across it were inscribed the silver images and depictions of countless beasts and monsters, many unrecognizable to the goddess, each image seemed to interact with the others, making a grand scene of monsters. Right in front of her were two large door knockers, each one looking like a monster’s head, with a circled snake within their mouth.

I’Iro blinked a few moments, the scene was surprising to say the least but the act of knocking on the door was what really impressed her. Still, she moved forward and used the metallic snake against the equally metallic door, a loud bell-like sound being made from this peculiar combination.

For a moment, all that she could hear within were the distant sounds of creatures within. But eventually, the sound of metal creaking upon metal erupted from the door, and a smaller door within the massive one, just next to the knockers, opened up. From within a figure popped out, covered in a tattered black and purple robe, with purple skin covered in scars and blisters, chitin and fungi covered arms, bloody cloth upon their legs and eyes, a large bladed tail, and a pair of twisted wings. The divine presence was clear enough to her, this was clearly the goddess she was searching for.

”Well hello there!” the other goddess spoke in an ill fitting jovial tone. ”Who might you be?”

I’Iro was a contrasting sight to that goddess, a tall, neatly dressed human, even dirt did not seem to cling to her boots. Yet she wasn’t judgemental either, as she was far too data focused to get bothered by the state of her clothes or blisters. Greetings. I was traveling back to Mons Divinus and by accident discovered this location. I am I’Iro. Goddess of Dreams.

The other goddess smiled, her mouth full of wicked teeth "Oh! welcome to Varati then!" she gave a bow in greeting "I am Alzria, the goddess of Nightmares, welcome to my sanctuary!"

Oh. Greetings. she nodded politely, if not awkwardly. Uhm. Nightmares? That is curious to say the least. I had never met a god whose domain is so close to my own. she stepped forward looking at the area that had opened up, though now she was too focused on theory crafting within her own head.

Inside she could see a dark passage leading deeper into the mountain, a bit beyond she could see the glow of a pale blue light. Alzria gestured towards the door "Would you like a look inside? I am very curious to learn more about the other side of sleep so It'd be a nice time to talk."

I’Iro nodded politely and started to move ahead into the lair. The curiosity is mutual. it felt like this talk was really inevitable no matter what, to not know each other would just breed trouble and potential for misunderstandings, she was sure all gods could reach an amicable agreement nevertheless. She followed Alzira deeper into the sanctuary without worry, the whole realm of fear was somewhat alien to the goddess of dreams, it was a deeply mortal and organic behaviour after all.

The cave path led deep into the mountains, eventually depositing the two into a massive cavern, within sat a large lake, and various other tunnels led deeper into the caverns. High above the cavern stretched upward, with various perches and ledges for what seemed to be nests. All around, there were monsters and beasts of a variety of flavours, a vast amount of slimes by the lake, Griffins and fliers sitting by their nests, some creatures sat in spots, others milled about. Alongside them there were several Azrath, seemingly caring for the beasts of the sanctuary.

"So!" Alzria spoke, clapping her hands together then gesturing out towards the sanctuary "Welcome to the sanctuary! home of my children and me, and some of my Azrath helpers. Since you're my guest, I guess you can ask some questions first." She smiled once more, eager to talk.

I’Iro nodded slowly as she took a position and turned to Alzria. The most essential question in this is simple. Please define nightmares. As it is clear to me that word has a meaning to you that is notably different to my own.

Alzria thought for a moment, giving a small humm ”Well, Nightmares are, a, manifestation of the fears of mortals, all that terror locked away in their minds given a form. They are, in a way, alive, feeding off of the mind of the mortal, rarely do they do much beyond give a scare, but sometimes there are mortals who, either of their own free volition or not, give in to fear, that can cause more, serious, mental problems and they can even manifest themselves in the waking world.” She licked her lips, seemingly starring off for a moment, before snapping back to attention ”Apologies, I tend not to be able to help myself at the thought, mortals being brought low by nightmares and their own fear is a tasty treat to me.”

The mechanical goddess nodded along what was being said, slowly raising an eyebrow at the reply. I see… The first things you have said are similar to my definition with perhaps an added level of romanticism. However clearly there are some elements to fear that act in a way unlike anything I work with when it comes to dreams. All the gods I had met so far were neutral or positive towards the mortal species so it is a bit surprising to meet one who has more… utilitarian views. this was all said without strong facial expressions, just I’Iro’s typical distant tone.

A chuckle came from Alzria in response ”I suppose you could call it that, it stems from the nature of nightmares in some regards I suppose, we feed on mortals, simple as that, don’t get me wrong, I hold no desire to destroy or kill them.” She gestured towards the Azrath within the sanctuary to further her own point, ”In fact, their growth means even more for me and my nightmares to consume, so, you would be right, I do suppose I hold some, utilitarian views. Anyway, I am curious about Dreams some, I don’t know much about them and would love some enlightenment about them.”

Oh. Dreams are not that different from the way you described nightmares at first. I’Iro rose a hand and a playback of Alzria’s voice played ”Well, Nightmares are, a, manifestation of the fears of mortals, all that terror locked away in their minds given a form. the goddess rested her hand and continued. See. Here you describe emotions and thoughts locked away within the mind that are manifested during sleep. Dreams are not that different to the point that before meeting you I considered what mortals described as nightmares to just be indistinguishable from dreams. They are the free flow of thoughts typically hidden away by distractions and busyness of life. The mind working at its full potential. One thing that distinguishes us… perhaps… is that I do not see an end product of Dreams the same way your value the production of Fear from Nightmares. My concern is to analyse and understand dreams and the mind and to an extant help mortals control their own minds.

I’Iro adjusted her turquoise hair with one hand, breaking eye contact for a moment. That last part is perhaps a bit anathema to your desires. As among the things that come with a better self-control is the ability to contain and suppress fears. That said. I hope this does not breed animosity between us. That would be a wasteful endeavour.

”Well I surely wouldn’t want to fight someone like yourself.” The nightmare goddess gave a big toothy smile, if it weren’t for the cloth covering her eyes, she would’ve surely winked. ”But they do sound similar in some regards, I suppose that comes from our shared space amongst the sleep of mortals, and don’t worry, I won’t feel any animosity for your work, we each have our jobs, no faulting someone for doing it.”

I’Iro nodded at the reasonable words of Alzria. Ah. That is good to hear. I am not fond of conflict at all. And indeed. Perhaps one viewpoint could even be that our conflicting works help to keep each side trying their hardest. Nevertheless. I thank you for your hospitality.

”Of course! My sanctuary is open to all, of course as long as you play nice and don’t care about all the monsters,” The sounds of monsters reminded the pair of the vast amount of creatures that sat and laid a short distance away from them. ”I do look forward to working with, or well, against you in the future, anything else you’d like to ask?”

The robotic goddess rubbed her chin for a long moment, her eyes focusing on the many creatures around them. With some struggle she nodded, asking a question that had been on her mind for a good while May I pet the griffon?

Summary

We catch up with I’lro right after finishing her winter project down south and heading back up towards Mons Divinus, taking a few detours here and there to get a better understanding of the world. While there she comes across the fungal biomes of Vartai and with curiosity, travels further in.
There she encounters some Azrath! Building up a small settlement a bit of distance away from the central mountains, having never seen these creatures before, she decides to continue watching them. This leads to a beginning awkward convo which quickly becomes I’lro asking questions about their dreams and tries to gauge more about their people where she learns there’s another goddess nearby, Alzria!
She heads up to the sanctuary gates and quickly comes face to face with the nightmare gal herself. They have a nice introduction to each other, learning they hold close domains, and Alzria invites I’lro inside the sanctuary to have a nice chat. They talk about their respective domains, Alzria “attempts” some minor flirting and overall the two agree not to fight even with their conflicting domains, instead holding some mutual respect. Ending their interaction on pretty good terms.

MA Summary

Ha! Made you look!

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

The False Moon

Fear, that sweet, delicious, emotion. Flesh of mortals made sweet by its touch, a bountiful music to the goddess’ ears. A delicious feast that could fill her gullet with its delectable taste. Yet, the world was healing, the terror and fear brought on by that great chaos had begun to die down, it wasn’t a lot, and it was slow, but Alzria could still feel it within her. This would not do, the mortals needed to feel that fear in their hearts, that unending terror that keeps them awake and plagued by nightmares, a perfect feast for Alzria and her cohorts. As such, she needed to create something to counter this loss, and as she gazed around high in her mountain home, she got an idea.

High above the surface, Alzria could see that strange moon flying over head, her nature as a goddess allowing her to see the magic flowing into it. Seeing the object pass its orbit above the world formed an idea in the back of Alzria’s mind, why not create her own moon? Something that could sit within the sky, a reminder of fear and nightmares, or better yet, one that those mortals would never be certain where it would be, yes, that would work.

She unfurled her wings, the broken bones creaking and cracking as they formed into shape. And with the sound of rushing air below, she rocketed up into the air, high above the broken shard of the world, beyond the remnant sky and the disk of light, she entered into that empty void. It was quite serene in a way, just vastness all around, pure and utter blackness. But, she could not just sit and rest here, she had work to do.

She went further, beyond the immediate void, towards the great belt of asteroids beyond, these would be perfect specimens. Landing upon a cluster of them, she began her work, fusing together the space rocks together into a round rocky orb about slightly bigger than the already existing moon. This would be the perfect host for her plan.

She slammed her foot upon the moon, a small crack forming upon the surface, from it emerged countless flesh-like vines, rapidly crawling across the surface of the rock. Wherever they touched, the rock transformed into a strange fleshy mass, which only grew throughout the entire moon. Within the craters, the vines took root and from them grew growths of flesh and bone, twisted knots, beating thumps, and rotting bone. From the flesh came a purple glow, giving the moon its own light within the sky.

With the form down, She just needed the effects. A moon of flesh, plant, and bone was good and all, but it needed more. She filled the host with her power, within its light, her children, the Nightmares and Monsters of the world, would gain strength and those who would worship her could call upon more power to bring about fear and terror. Of course, those delicious mortals could not just look up and see her lovely work, she would disguise it, to just look like a normal moon, and to many others it would remain as such, but, to those who starred upon the moon and let fear overtake them, they would get to see the true form of their moon, oh how beautiful that will be, when their minds shatter and break, such delicious minds they will be. Lastly, she would not give it some normal orbit, no, that would be no fun, instead, why not just have it randomly appear at points in the sky? Yes, now that would be fun.

With her work done, she sent the moon towards the shard with a snap of her fingers, vanishing in an instant, teleporting towards the shard to take up its first position within the sky. Content in the knowledge there was more to keep fear within the hearts of mortals, Alzria flew back towards the shard and her home of the sanctuary.

---

Upon arriving back, Alzria came upon the Azrath leader: Valix, leading some of his people in constructing a few buildings nearby the sanctuary’s mountain. He looked upwards to see Alzria descend and waved up towards her.

”Ah! Alzria! A pleasure to see you again!”

The goddess slowly descended, coming to a soft stop upon the valley floor. ”And it is a pleasure to see you again Valix, I see you and you people are building something.”

He nodded ”Why yes, just a few basic living quarters for the time being, sleeping next to the residents of the Sanctuary can be tough.”

”Oh really?” she cooed, coming close to the skeletal leader, ”I'm sure not all of its residents are that bad.”

”Hmmm” he mused, staring off towards his workers before turning back to Alzria ”I suppose not all of them are bad.”

Alzria nodded ”Good answer,” she began to turn to leave, before adding one last comment, ”I'm sure you won’t mind staying inside just a bit longer.” she unfurled her wings and took off towards the sanctuary. Valix turned, just in time to see his workers knocked off their feet by the force of the blast, sendings stones and wood tumbling. He sighed and shook his head, though, she was right, a few more nights wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

summary

We come back upon Alzria, concerned about the loss of fear as the world heals itself once more(something which she admittingly has helped with) and so, she gets the idea to create an object in the sky to keep fear going, inspired by the Siphon that Exo made. She heads off into space, grabs some asteroids together and smooshes them into a single moon, which she then turns into the False Moon a horrifying mass of flesh, bone, and plant meant to cause all sorts of problem on the shard.
She then returns home and flirts with Valix some more, even going so far as to slightly sabotage his effort to build some houses for his people to live in to keep him living in the sanctuary for a time. Valix is annoyed but doesn’t mind too much.

MA Summary

1 MA: Create the False Moon description is as follows.
A moon like object, made up of a former asteroid that's transformed into a nightmarish creation by Alzria herself, seemingly made up of a strange flesh-plant fusion material, crisscrossed by vein like branches, craters dot its surface filled with fleshy growths and bone-like constructions. The moon itself gives off a pale purple glow which can reach the surface of the shard when it appears close to it, bathing certain areas in its glows. It also does not have a standard orbit, instead the moon teleports around the void surrounding the shard, appearing at random places, though it will never appear in the path of something or extremely close to the Shard, going no farther than the Siphon’s closest orbit, it shifts location every few weeks(or the equal time IC).
To mortals the False Moon at first looks like a normal moon, but as one stares at it they begin to feel a sense of unease about it, sitting at the back of their mind. It is here where the experiences for mortals will be different: for most, those who have managed to steel themselves to fear and the unease of the moon and look away or who bear it no mind will continue to see it as such, a moon sitting within the sky, though oddly moving around. Those who have not steeled their mind, who have suffered the fear and terror brought upon by the Nightmares and find themselves unable to look away, will witness the moon transform into its fleshy-plant like true form, that person is now cursed, their sanity shall slip from them more and more, and nightmares will follow them forever follow them, sensing the mark of the False Moon upon them.
On the other hand, those of Alzria’s flock, such as nightmares or monsters created by her, will find their power amplified and enhanced by the Moon’s light. Nightmares appear more frequently and can manifest easier, monsters grow stronger, and her followers can perform stronger magics associated with Alzria. These effects are not massive though but are still considerable enough to give these beings an edge over others, though boons from other gods could easily level the playing field, and these effects are temporary, only appearing where the moon is shining its light.

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

Nightmare’s Lands

The wind swept through the once barren mountains, legions of spongy thread had become to cover the dirt wherever they could grow, the rivers from the great heights to the west were slowly but surely flowing into the valleys and fields, and far beyond, that great ball of light had begun its travels. Alzria overlooked it all through her perch, just outside her great sanctuary, she had gathered more and more of her children there, saving them from those delicious mortals who would see them dead and the still deadly wastelands beyond. It was constant work, but it had paid off, even beyond its walls she could sense her children living within the sanctuary, content in their safety. But, she knew this hellish land could not sustain them for long, they would soon need to leave the sanctuary to feed upon what little animals and morals lived throughout the blasted landscapes.

She needed to do something, and as she stared at the grass and rivers in the distance, a thought began to form in her mind. She had her own powers, so why not accelerate the healing some? Sure, it wasn’t really her department, and it could mean there would be a lot less of that sweet, sweet, fear, but, it would be worth it for her children. She tossed away the fragmented bone she had been gnawing on. It was time to get to work.

First, came the mountains she stood within, they would require the least amount of work due to their nature, but the bases and valleys still needed help. That soft spongy thread had been some help in keeping things together, but there needed to be more, but, of what exactly? That's when she spotted them, they looked like little eyestalks growing up in some of the darker spots of the thread, her mind told her it was a fungus. While it was a small thing, she found herself so enraptured with it. This, this is what she would use.

She moved between the great fields of thread, spreading wherever she could the great spores and pockets of fungi, their great mycelium intertwining with that of the thread’s roots, their budding fruit popping through the threads, forming their caps and stalks, a variety of colours: from purple, to brown, to red, to blue, and others, popping through the green matts upon the ground. Next, she created great trees to cover the valleys and sides of the mountains: pines, larchs, beechs, spruces, and firs, all intermingled together in great forests. And she made sure their saps ran red and purple, and their leaves shifted their colours as they aged, ensuring the forest was a multi-coloured dazzle. The fungi would follow, lichens, broad mushrooms, and others crawling up the trunks and branches, soon followed by another creation: moss, which began to spread throughout the mountainous lands both upon the floor amongst the thread, or upon the trunks of the trees, adding yet another life to its system.

With the mountains done, Alzria turned her attention to the great highlands surrounding the great range, for reasons the goddess could never know, there were many ruins and lost buildings within the hills, hidden away for eternity, signs of former life, now, they would be home to another form of life entirely. The fungi quickly found themselves at home within the confine and halls of the great ruins, creating large clusters all packed tightly together, some even softly glowing in the darkness they had chosen as home. The moss and thread would soon follow, both growing up the walls and towers of the old world, the thread shifting itself and becoming dark green vines curling everywhere, while the moss clumped up into large splotches. The trees came as well, mostly the spruces and firs, clumped together in spots across the highlands, equally as colourful as their siblings within the mountains, though not as covering.

Next, she went westward, crossing the mighty river that sat just beyond the tattered hills, while these lands were beyond the reach of the mountains and its hills they seemed in the need of some regrowth of her variety. But here she would change things up some. Here, the trees would reach towering heights, their large purple, white, and red trunks ascending into the heavens, their wide canopies and branches nearly blotting out the light of the great disk onto the lands below, their colours brighter and more consistently changing then the trees to the east. Here the fungi would grow unchecked, the darkness and moisture allowing them to grow with abundance, growing not only to cover vast amounts of the forest floor, but some would grow to staggering heights once unknown to the species, though they were still smaller than the trees of the forest. Here the fungi had a dazzling array of colours, and quite a few even softly glowed, providing light in the forest as it was near eternally draped in twilight due to the great unending canopy up above. Bushes, Moss, and that ever present thread filled in what gaps there were, though it was obvious to any observer that this region was the land of the fungi, their existence ever present in their mind.

Finally, to the north of the great forest, Azlria could see a great biome forming off in the distance, mighty grasslands that stretched vast, it inspired her final creation. Here too she would create a grassland, dominated predominantly by that thread, but of course Alzria would impart her own personal thoughts within the biome. Here, the mushroom would dominate instead of the tree, taking inspiration from their forest siblings, the mushrooms would grow to towering heights, becoming trees and bushes in their own right, scattered throughout the entire grasslands. They would also be adapted to survive with the near constant light from the great disk, becoming more and more like the trees they were replacing, even taking on bark-like trunks. While barren, Alzria felt satisfied with the grasslands, sufficiently unique amongst her fungal lands.

With the biomes done, Alzria knew she had to populate it with something beyond just plants and fungal life, and so, she set about filling the various regions with a variety of small and medium mammals, reptiles, amphibians near the rivers, birds, and countless insects all a variety of herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Within the hills and forests she placed large deers and reindeer, their furs purple and red to better fit within their environments, their horns and hooves adapted to better be able to dig and tear through the hardy thread and fungi to gain their food. Within the grasslands she would place large hooved bison, their horns and strength mighty and a large bone shield upon their forehead for protection, able to feed upon the great giant mushrooms that grow within their homeland and the hardy thread upon the ground. In the mountains there were great wooly goats-sheep like creatures, large spiraling horns and tusks that allowed them to root through the thread to find the mushrooms that their diet mostly contained, they also produced a great tasting milk, making them perfect domestication animals, or prey for her more, predatory children. Finally, she created small cat-owl griffins, egg layers who lived amongst the higher parts of the trees, despite their size they were fierce, yet ample hunters, making them a perfect companion for both intelligent monsters and sapient mortals.

With it all done, Alzria took in her work, across the region she could see the land returning to its former state, it was a fitting land for her children to claim as their home and stomping grounds, a wider sanctuary against those flesh bags. Oh yes! Her children! She had left them alone for quite some time now, she had to return to check on them, ensure everything was fine.

---

As the goddess soared her way through the mountain passes towards her great sanctuary, she came upon a peculiar sight. Deep within the fungal valleys, she could see a great magical rift, torn through the fabric of realities, pouring out seemed to be a group of people, and they intrigued Alzria a lot. They were tall beings, while at first Alzria thought they were wearing plate armor made entirely out of bones, she soon realized they were made of the bone that interlocked into plate-like forms. Their heads each looked like the skulls of various animals, commonly jaguars, deers, and bulls, though there were several others Alzria could spot amongst the gathering group. She also saw smaller beings, seemingly children, clinging to what must be their parents. A vast amount of items were scattered around them, what appeared to be supplies and weapons of all kind, most of them being set down by the beings as they exit the portal, beyond Alzria could see that only a few remained, quickly getting themselves through.

Knowing it’d be best to reveal herself and speak to these beings, she slowly set herself down a good distance away from them. Immediately they looked shocked, many starting to reach for the weapons they had, but, one of them, a larger being with the head of a deer, raised their hand, settling them somewhat. They stepped forward towards Alzria, speaking.

”Who are you? What business do you have?” Their voice was grating, almost monotone in its nature, devoid of any emotion to distinguish.

Alzria glanced at the right behind them, she could see it start to grow unstable, just as the last of the beings got through. ”I could ask you the same thing,” she retorted, before continuing ”But as I have intruded upon you all, I shall answer it first, I, am Alzria, a Goddess,” she performed a brief bow, ”You find yourself in my domain, which is why I sought to check upon you.”

The being nodded ”I see, then I apologize on behalf of my people for intruding, I, am Valix, Ruler of my people, the Azraths.” they gestured to the crow behind him, Alzria could see it numbered close to a hundred, and while being made entirely of bone, she could see the tiredness within them.

”What brings you to our world?” She asked, nodding towards the now collapsing rift

”We had to flee…” Their voice seemed to waver ”In our home...we are hunted...slaughtered, we, had to find a new one.”

Alzria nodded ”I see...in that case…” her mind formulated an idea, as a goddess, she had to leave her children often, but, if she were to aid these people, then perhaps, they might aid her in return? ”I think I can offer my help, in exchange for your people aiding me.”

”I see...and what do you propose?”

”I have a sanctuary nearby, home to my children, they are monsters, that I will not hide, but I care for them, but, in my duties, I must leave them often. So, I shall aid you in setting up here, and in exchange, you shall become the custodians of my sanctuary. How does that sound?”

Valix thought for a moment, glancing at their people for a brief moment. ”I believe we can agree to that, show us the way.” They gestured for Alzria to lead the way, before getting their people to gather their stuff, continuing their march.

The march was not long, leading them up the paths of the mountains, until they arrived at the base of the sanctuary’s mountain, far above Alzria could see the entrance to her children’s home, she told herself to remember to make a path leading up there soon.

She pointed upwards, showing off the spot to Valix. ”You see that? That is the spot.”

They nodded ”Aye, so just attend to your children inside and protect it?”

”Yes that is all, I need to make an easier path for you and your people, but, if you’d like, I can give you a personal tour.”

Alzria could swear Valix smiled, despite having no lips ”Aye, I think that’ll be a good time.”

Summary

We open up with Alzria having filled up the sanctuary some, looking upon the world slowly healing. Knowing that her children will need a healed world to survive, she opts to aid in the restoration, despite it reducing the fear of mortals. So she sets off to making various fungal biomes in the areas. First, Fungal Mountains in her mountain range. Then, the Tattered Hills surrounding the mountain range: filled with ruins. To the west, she makes a fungal forest, with massive trees and absolutely massive amounts of fungi. Finally, fungal grasslands to the north. After this she populates them with various animals, inducing the special: Chelva Deer in the forests and hills, the Oshun Bison in the grasslands, the Unam Goats in the mountains, and finally the Veela Cat-Griffins.
After this she returns to the mountains, coming upon the Azrath fleeing through a great magical rift, she talks to the leader of the exiles: Valix, who informs her that they are fleeing from their world to here. Alzria decides to offer them home, in exchange for them taking care of the Sanctuary, which they agree to, with Alzria and Valix opting to have a personal tour together of the Sanctuary ;).

MA Summary

-Create the four regions of Vartai: Fungal Mountains, Tattered Hills, Fungal Forests, and Fungal Grasslands.
-Create various animals within the regions, including Four Special animals, the Chelva, the Oshun, the Unam, and the Veela.
-Create the Azrath, a race of bone based creatures.

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

The Mother of Monsters

Azlria stared at the corpse that lay in front of her, a human, one of quite a few. All around her lay corpses, remnants of some sort of transport caravan, those trying to flee the nightmare they lived in. No matter now, they were all dead, large claw marks were across their wagons, and many of their bodies had been torn asunder. But in truth, Alzria did not care about them, it was what had left those corpses and their ruined caravan that she was more concerned about, one of her children no doubt, if the utter destruction was anything to go by.

She searched the area, looking for any signs of where the creature must’ve gone, her gaze soon came upon two small cages, torn asunder by viscous claws, next to them she spotted tracks, both bird-like and cat-like in features. Strange, Alzria would not help but wonder what sort of creature this was, and whatever had brought it to tear these cages open, while everything else seemed, relatively, together. Yet, she could not dwell on it, she had to follow these tracks, there was no telling how long she had, this hellish world was no place for her children.

With her wings unfurled, Alzria took off, following the tracks throughout the blasted landscape. Soon, she came upon what she was searching for, a creature, half covered in feathers, with a mighty beak, wings, and bird-like claws, and the back of a lion with the tail and paws to match. It looked up at her with both fear and hostility, just behind it sat two smaller versions of it, huddled up against the back legs of the larger creature. Her mind confirmed the being’s name: a Griffin, a parent at that, no wonder it had torn apart the cages, it was trying to get back its children.

She softly put herself down in front of the creature, it was then she was the reason she could follow the tracks, the griffin’s right wing was broken, clung close to the body, unable to move. She raised her hands, slowly kneeling down,trying to make herself less scary towards the being.

”Come now, i'm not a threat, i'm here to help you.”

The griffin seemed to calm down some, lowering its stance towards her, slowly drawing closer to the goddess. Alzria in turn kept still, letting them take stock of her, before letting their two children come forward too. She gently petted the majestic creature’s golden head feathers, slowly bringing her hand towards the broken wing. The griffin was apprehensive, but when they felt the soft healing glow emanating from Alzria’s hand, slowly healing their wing, they quickly returned to their softer tune.

The crunch of dirt behind them drew both of their attentions, the griffin swiftly backed up, feathers rising in anger. Alzria meanwhile quickly stood up, turning around to see what had arrived. In front of her, barely three steps away, where three humans, all emancipated and haggard looking, wearing tattered robes and cloth. They held broken and rusted weapons in their hands, and their faces were filled with horror and fear as they stared at the goddess. Fear, that sweet sweet fear.

The head of the humans stared at her, speaking, his voice wavering “Who...who are you?”

Alzria stood fully up, her twisted wings unfurling and her tail snapping forward, staring at the humans. ”I am Alzria,” she thought for a moment, before a devilish idea formed in her mind ”Savior of mortals.”

“Sa..savior?” The humans looked at one another, clearly unsure of how to respond. “You, you don’t look like much of a savior.”

She made a ‘tsk’ noise ’Come now, weren’t you taught not to judge based upon appearance? Just because I appear like this, doesn’t mean I'm not here to save you.”

“But…” He paused once more, taking a quick peek behind her, towards the griffins, before turning his attention back to her once more. “Then, why don’t you show us? Show us how you intend to save us!”

”Oh, I will.”

She Smiled

They screamed

---

Alzria adjusted the robes on her once more, they were tattered things, but they fit her enough, the bloody cloth over her face and legs helped her appearance somewhat, at least she didn’t have to worry about her lack of eyes scaring off anymore mortals, the rest of her could do that just fine.

She left her thoughts and turned her attention back to the griffin family she had saved, they sat next to the slimes and their pool, the children lovingly playing with the slimes, who seemed to enjoy the friendship. The parent Griffin looked at her once more, bowing their head in thanks. She smiled, now this felt good.

Yet, her mind pressed her once more, she knew the cavern couldn’t fit all of her children, and it was doubtful all of them would get as long as the griffins and slimes did. She needed to fix the cavern, make it more livable, expand it, make it fit for her children to live in, and ensure they could have their own spaces.

So, she set out to work, she expanded the roof some, creating alcoves and landings for flying creatures, particularly the griffins she had just saved. She carved out more of the walls, creating tunnels that led to other caverns, areas for more creatures to live in, able to be changed to fit their preferences, she also created small pipes like tunnels, feeding air in and out of the caverns. She stopped by the small pond, picking up the slimes and letting the griffins head to their new nest, before cracking more of the ground, expanding the pond into a sizable area of water, then gently setting the slimes back down. Finally, she filled the caverns with bioluminescent fungi for light, and various types of fungi, insects, and smaller creatures for food, though she knew some of the large monsters would need to leave to hunt, so she ensured the entrance was accessible, though still hard to spot from the outside, which was helped by its already mountainous and out there location.

With the preparations complete, Alzria looked at her new creation, her sanctuary, a place for her children to live and endure. And she felt a sense of pride and joy, but, she couldn’t focus on that for too long, she had more children to save. And so, she left the caverns once more, eager to find more and more of her children, and lead them back to this home, a place where even nightmares could feel safe.

And where she could gorge upon all that fear.

summary

We pick up with Alzria looking at a destroyed caravan, trying to hunt after one of her children that she’s come across. She soon finds some tracks and comes upon the creature, a Griffin and two of its children, she tends to them, mending the Griffin’s wing and showing off her compassion. Quickly after, three mortals arrive and are absolutely afraid of Alzria, which just makes her hungry, so she claims to be a savior of mortals, but they’re very obviously suspicious, but that doesn’t matter, Alzria shows them her brand of saving regardless.
With some new digs, she leads the griffins back to the caverns, but quickly realizes it won’t be enough to fit even a good amount of her children, so she expands it, making it the The Sanctuary of Vartai. Though she can’t stay for long, having to go save more of her children, and y’know, feed on some more fear.

MA Summary

Create The Sanctuary of Vartai a large series of caverns and tunnels within the mountain range east of the main mountain of Mons Divinus fit for a large variety of creatures and monsters to live in, with water and enough food for smaller monsters provided, though larger creatures(like Griffins) will still have to leave the Sanctuary to still hunt, though they will have a place to live that is relatively hidden.

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

The Nightmare is Born

Terror, unending horror, the cries of those damned, the sounds of the end times, of suffering, of an absolute nightmare. To a long forgotten thing, long stuck deep within the now shattering earth, it was a wake up call that was true music to its ears. Its fragmented consciousness began to search and think, it was stuck, somewhere, they in truth didn’t know, they had no memories before.

Yet, it could not help but bring its mind away from where it was, and to what they could sense high above them, that fear and terror, the nightmare above, it made them so, so, hungry. It needed to get out of here, no matter what it was, it needed to get to those sweet feelings that pounded throughout their shattered thoughts.

But, it found its body unresponsive, or well, what it assumed its body was, the broken fragments it could sense all around it must be its body, right? Surely. No matter, it needed it all back together, and so it willed the fragments to move, to fuse, to fix themselves. Bones snapped back into place, fusing themselves with bits of metal when there were not enough, welding themselves together. Flesh, some fused with ancient metal, wretched itself around, covering the bones and metal, twisting wires and veins into one unit, stitching together with intense scars and wounds, though whether they were old or new was a different matter. Chitin, covered in ancient fungus and moss, wormed itself upon the incomplete hands, forming vicious claws, and worked itself into a long, bladed tail. Wings, broken and bent in the small confinement, attached themselves to metallic-boney ports.

It was still incomplete, but it would do.

The being began to dig, its claws working quickly against the dirt that surrounded them, they began to ascend, following the sounds that fueled its now unending hunger. The earth tore away in front of it, climbing, climbing, hunger increased, it had to feed, it had to feed. It had to make them suffer.

---

Alzria broke free from the earth, her chitin covered arms bringing up her corpse-like form, her wings could finally outstretch, her tail swished around behind her, though her legs nearly gave out beneath her, not used to the sensation of walking. She took in her surroundings, a cavern stood in front of her, stretching off into the distance, most likely towards its entrance, and rising high above her towards the ceiling.

Just a small distance in front of her, stood a small pool, in its center she could see water from below coming up to the surface, likely some aquifer keeping it supplied, though for how long she didn’t know. What more concerned her were the beings that shifted about just at its edge, they were nothing like she had seen before, though, they were in truth the first thing she had seen. They were nearly small, nearly transparent, and seemed to have forms that held no real shape as they moved slowly around the edge of the pool. In the back of her mind, Alzria felt a name emerge for them: Slimes.

She slowly drew towards them, they were clearly afraid, she could feel that, even with their admittingly simple minds, but yet, they did not seek to run, seemingly content to merely notice her presence. When she reached them, she sat herself down next to them, bringing her arm to the closest one, slowly petting its strange form carefully. Deep within her mind, another sensation came to her, a desire to protect, a desire to guide, these were, her children. She continued to pet the slime, its kin slowly coming close upon seeing that she was not a threat, gaining themselves pets and comfort, Alzria could tell they had come here for safety, to avoid the fear and terror she could sense above.

She did wish she could stay, but, once more the back of her mind told her she had a job to do. Slowly she rose, setting down the slimes and giving them a few pats, promising them she would be back. Directing herself towards the entrance, she continued to walk, her bones and flesh continuing to creak and groan at the strain, yet never giving out. Soon, she began to ascend once more, rising through the cavern entrance, drawing closer to the noise and terror.

Finally, she reached the surface, a shattered, broken, surface, its landscape broken. Alzria herself stood at the side of a mountain, not high up, but still a good distance from the horrid lands below. All around her she felt the terror and fear, the nightmares, the feast. Yet, she could not gorge upon them just yet, she had another job to do. The slimes down there were not the only ones she had to protect, no, there were others.

She had children to save.

summary

The noises of terror and fear wake up something hidden deep within the earth, it seeks to feast itself upon the nightmare it senses above, but finds its body not functioning, so it forces it all back together in, less than accurate ways, and starts to dig out of its confinement.
Alzria breaks through the dirt, finding herself in a cavern, where she comes across a small group of slimes who she immediately becomes protective of, thinking of them as her children. Despite wanting to stay, she knows there are other of her children to save, and she still desires to feast upon the suffering outside, so she leaves the cavern, heading out on her mission.

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

Nightmare’s Joy

Alzria, The Waking Terror, The Queen of Nightmares, The Mother of Monsters

Domain:

Nightmares-Within the reaches of any being’s mind, sits that great unending corrupting darkness, fear. And much like how dreams become a mirror for the thoughts and memories of a being, so too do nightmares become a horrific reflection of that fear and darkness, becoming even more so twisted and hideous, akin to a mirror shattered into a thousand shards reflecting one’s face.
Yet, unlike Dreams, Nightmares are something far more than warped reflections of the truth, they are a virus, a parasitic blight upon the mind, feasting off of the fear and dread they induce from their own visions, born from the corruption of magic upon the sanctity of dreams.
The more fear one has, the more the nightmares will be drawn, hellbent on driving their victims into an unending madness, even at times able to follow into the waking world, both in hallucinations and even, with the will of Alzria, manifested as horrific beasts and monsters, born from the darkest reaches of the mortal mind, ensuring none are free of their grip.

Myth:

A Monk’s Warning

A warning given by Monks to young children experiencing nightmares for the first time
Beware young ones, the reach of the Waking Terror, beware those dreams turned nightmares.
Yet, let not that fear consume you, steal your souls and your minds to that darkness within.
Let not the Queen of Nightmares sense your fear and terror, for she shall pounce upon it.
Let your mind and dreams drive away the darkness, let not the consuming dread take you.
For you may then find those nightmares following you into the waking world.
And they will then soon become something far more than a mere part of your mind.
Your fears will become all too real.

Personality:

The Queen of Nightmares is a strange figure of contradicting personalities: to many mortals and those who seek to uphold such ideas like law, order, and “good”, she is often cruel and callous, creating the very beasts and terrors that they seek to destroy and very much fitting into her role as the Queen of Nightmares, a terror upon the world hellbent on making the lives of mortals eternal suffering. Yet, to others, mostly her fellow gods, she is a less a sadistic terror and more an outgoing being, eager to talk and interact with the other gods of the world, though if she learns they seek to remove her children and kill them, then she becomes the cruel and callous goddess most mortals know her for. Finally, to her children: the monsters of the world and those few, often insane, mortals who worship her, she is a kind and loving figure, even being extremely motherly, willing to protect and guide them as much as she can, befitting her title as “Mother of Monsters”.

Base Form:

Alzria appears as a vaguely humanoid figure, boney and lanky, almost corpse-like. Their head is covered by a large black hood, but one can see their gaunt, light purplish face, covered in scars, her eyes covered by a bloody, ragged, cloth and her mouth filled with jagged, horrific, teeth. The rest of her skin is a similar light purple and similarly covered in horrendous scars and wounds.
Upon her back sit two haggard black vulture-like wings, the feathers constantly falling off by the handful. She has a long, black and purple, chitin covered tail that ends in a blade-like point that is always covered in poison and venom. Her arms are entirely covered in a black, sick looking, chitin that has small fungi growing between its plates, ending with clawed hands. Her legs are covered from the knees down with the same ragged cloth that her eyes are covered with, and they similarly have various blood splotches at various points.
They wear a loose ragged flowing black and purple checkered robe that barely covers their form at times due to the tattered holes and their bone thin body.
(referred to by She/They pronouns btw)

True Form:

Alzria’s true form is a horrific amalgamation of all that has been feared and all that will be feared, ever shifting parts that will look different to anyone who looks at them, playing into every last fear they have. The form is never the same even within the same minute, it can be a formless mass at one point, and a twisted mockery of a human or animal the next, and it will absolutely drive anyone unlucky enough to gaze upon the form into a deep state of madness and unrelenting terror.

Musical Theme:

The Sleeping Nightmares

The Waking Terror

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

certainly interested in joining up once more

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. IV

Act Three, Scene Four: The Hunt Begins

The air was cold, wind roared as it whipped across the blasted landscape, there was no comfort here, there wasn’t even snow, only pure ice and frost. Up here, at the edge of the known world, so far north, ten people had gathered, they were fanatics, the most zealous of those of the North God, they had been summoned here by the voices of the wind and had journeyed through the vast and deadly wastes, all in the name of their god.

Now, amidst the blasted ice and fierce winds, they stood, gathered around in a circle. In the center they had etched a large circle and strange runes as best they could with their bone and stone tools. There, layed in the circle, was a woman, a weike woman, they knew not her name, only that Sikká, their leader, had brought her after capturing her some time ago. They had no need to know her anyway, she would not last long, even if she escaped.

The woman was bound, her legs and arms tied together and to each other by ropes, her mouth and eyes covered by a sack. She was unconscious, to make sure she wouldn’t cause any problems, if she struggled it would take too long, and the North God was never patient.

Sikká stepped forward, she let the darkened hood fall back, revealing her face. It was adorned with choppy, self cut black hair, she was in all instances beautiful with her features and her eyes were a loving blue, but the right side of her face was adorned with a massive burn scar, ensuring only one eye worked, and her old beauty had vanished. No one knew how Sikká obtained this scar, and none of them had dared to ask, for fear of her wrath.

She raised her hand, enforcing the silence that had washed over the gathered cultits, and she slowly spoke.

“Brothers, and sisters,” She began, her voice determined and loud over the sweeping winds, as if almost being carried by it. “Our god, has summoned us here, and today, we shall show our devotion, to the wilds.”

She reached into her outfit, pulling forth a stone dagger, sharpened to a harsh point. She stepped forward, beginning to sing a chant to the North God. The others soon joined, their voices merging with the rushing wind, forming a chorus only the far north would love.

The woman, bound in the circle, began to stir, the noise awakening her. She began to trash around, trying desperately to escape her bindings, but Sikká immediately was upon her, pinning her unto the ground with her own body and weight. Raising the dagger and bringing it down over and over again, blood flying and bones snapping, the chorus only grew as the sacrifice was made, with Sikká singing the loudest.

Soon, the woman fell silent, the life leaving her, the cultists continued to chant as the winds roared and roared and roared. Then suddenly stopped. The cultists, like clockwork, fell silent, their movements stopping almost immediately, even Sikká froze, the dagger raised in the air. They stood there, waiting, and waiting.

Then the voice came.

”While I personally would have prefered, more theatrics, I must say Sikká.” The voice drew close, as if that who bore it was right up against her ears. ”Killing one who you love, is always a way to get my attention.”

The other cultists stood there, silent, daring not to speak up, knowing they would take this to their grave. Sikká merely knelt there, her arms falling to her sides, dagger still in hand.

”To think, they trusted you with everything, even their love, guess that was misplaced, you really, broke their heart.”

Sikká sat there as the wind began to pick up once more, the snow began to collect, forming together into a tall, thin figure, with gangly arms and a faceless head and twisted antlers. Their arm slowly took Sikká’s head in its hand, turning it upwards to look at the figure that now stood behind them.

”Tell me Sikká, are you loyal to me?”

“Yes...yes my lord” she sputtered out, the others could see the formation of tears upon her face. But the figure took its other hand, and wiped them away.

”Come now my dear, there’s no reason to cry,” Their face drew closer to hers, stopping mere inches away from it. ”Afterall, you are such a devoted servant of mine are you not?”

“Of...of course, i’ve gathered them all here, for you my lord.” She stared up at the being with her eyes wide open, the dagger falling from her hand as she brought her arms up towards it. Slowly trying to clasp them upon the being’s own face, but her fingers failed to grasp solid ground. Merely falling through the swirl of snow that made it up. Falling limp through the whirling horror and landing at her sides once more.

A chuckle came from the horned god, echoing throughout the vast northern wilds that surrounded them. Their hands left the sides of Sikká’s head, their lanky body standing up straight as they let the woman fall forward to face the body that lay in front of her. Their head turned to the others gathered there, and they slowly walked the ring of cultists, their hollow and formless head gazing deep into each one of their souls. The cultists stood stone still, fearing what their god would do.

”And tell me,” They spoke. ”Are they all loyal to me as well? I would, hate to have someone not as devoted as you amongst these ranks.” They stopped and stared at one of the cultists, the empty face matching his eyes, he stood still though, not wavering, and soon the god continued.

“Of course my lord!” Sikká spoke up, her head raising once more to look upon her savior. “They have followed me to the ends of the world for you! They are devoted to the path of the North!” She slowly rose, her eyes were wild, this was her dream, her life's work, as it was for many of the cultists gathered.

The god stopped upon the last cultist within the circle, slowly, their hand extended outward, a single finger touching the cultist’s chin, bringing it upward, staring at the man’s face hidden beneath the cloak. For a while they stood there, the other cultists holding their breath as Sikká slowly drew forward, her legs shaking as she did.

Finally, they spoke ”Are, you sure my dear?” In a flash, they had grabbed the lone cultist by the throat, tossing them towards the center of the circle where the dead woman laid. He landed with a thud, the sound of cracking bones sounded out amongst the howling wind. The god glided back towards the center, soon towering over the collapsed form of the cultist, who now clutched his side in pain. The other cultists had looks of fear upon their faces, some falling to their knees muttering prayers. Sikká stood silent, her face fallen into a mixture of fear and sadness, her life’s work now hung on a precipice, she knew the North God hated false devotion, this could ruin her.

For a moment, the god merely stood there, watching the cultist writhe in pain upon the cold stone ground. Then, they slowly lifted their left arm, palm up, towards Sikká. ”Come here my dear Sikká, I have something for you.”

A part of her mind told her not to, to run, to leave this all behind, but she knew she was in too deep. And so, she stepped forward, taking the gods hand with her own. The North God guided her forward, soon she too was standing above the cultist. Then, they guided her to kneel, soon both of their arms taking hers, one by her hand, another by her elbow. Its face was mere inches from hers, both now kneeling closer to the broken man. Those cultists who were not begging forgiveness watched on, hoping this would be the redemption they now sought.

”Sikká...do you trust me?”The god asked, its voice harsh and cold, its jauntyness gone, Sikká knew she only had one answer.

“Yes”

A burning pain soared through her arm, no, not burning, freezing. Its pain was not hot, but cold, it emitted from the God’s hands upon her arm, and crept rapidly up her arms into the rest of her body, she couldn’t help but utter a scream.

The Frozen God kept their hands upon her arm, slowly guiding it forward, clasping it upon the throat of the cultist, his body too broken to fight back. She felt an otherworldly force tighten her fingers around his neck, he gasped and sputtered, fighting back the inevitable.

Then, more screams began, she turned her head upwards, towards the other cultists, who too writhed in pain, some throwing off their cloaks or just fallen to the ground. Then, their forms began to change. Their skin began to turn an icy blue, starting up from their arms and slowly creeping throughout their body, the men sprouted antlers from their heads, and shaggy white hair grew across their body as their faces grew elongated, reindeer like but full of teeth. The women had their hair turn a light blue, their eyes glowed with a bluish energy as spikes of ice began to sprout and grow upon their skin. All had their legs twist and bend, becoming deer like. Covered in white or light blue fur.

As she choked the life out of the cultist, Sikká too began to change, like the others her skin turned blue from where the North God held onto her arm, but she gained her own special changes. Her black hair turned pure white, her one good eye twisted into that of a predator’s with that same bluish glow. Antlers too broke from her head, but they were twisted and malformed, akin to that that stood upon the North God’s head, her mouth filled with sharp teeth. Her legs too twisted into that of a deers, but adorned with a mixture of white and blue fur. And finally, the burnt side of her face erupted with a freezing blue fire, twisting and clinging to her skin, it did not burn her, instead, it felt almost comforting in its cold form.

As Sikká took in her new form as it crept across her, she heard the sudden snapping of bones and gurgling screams. Her gaze shot downward towards the cultist. Her hand had kept its grip upon him, but now, his form was changing as well, spreading outward from his neck, his skin began to become a sickly pale, his eyes had turned black and his hair fell by the clumps out of his hair, his arms and torso twisted and contorted into strange ways, only held down by her knee that had been placed upon his chest. He gurgled and spat, trying desperately to free his neck of her grip.

“What...what is happening?” She asked, her voice wavering in the face of the changes.

”For your loyalty,” The god whispered into her ear ”you and the others are gaining my gifts, new more, appropriate forms, and some lovely powers...as for the traitor, he is, seeing the fruits of your loyalty.”

The man continued to twist and corrupt, eventually, his form twisted to that beyond of any human, his arms now separated into two at the elbow, his legs had scattered, becoming spider like of multiple flailing limbs, his skin flaked off, showing a hard chitin underneath, and his force twisted into a horrifying amalgamation of flesh, chitin, and bones.

Sikká could handle this no longer, mustering up all her strength she twisted her hand and the neck underneath, hearing the cracking of bone and flesh as she snapped it. The creature flailed one last time, before falling limp. She took heavy breaths, her fellow cultists gathering their strength after their own transformations. She looked up towards the North God, readying to ask more questions, but, she saw nothing, the form of ice and snow had vanished, leaving only the howling winds.

She stood, taking a moment to understand her new form, her legs wobbled for a bit and she felt as if the energy had been sucked out of her, but one of the female cultists quickly came and aided her, helping her keep her balance. Sikká took stock of the others, they all seemed fine, beyond the two corpses that now sat in the center. They all stood in shock, soon enough they gathered together in a closer circle, the two female cultists aiding their leader in keeping herself upright. They looked at her, awaiting her instructions.

Before she could speak, they heard another howl, not of the wind, but of beasts. They turned behind them, seeing beyond the cliff they stood upon three chariots, adorned in a light blue paint scheme, with ice scattered around their hulls, looking as if they had been stored in the frozen north for ages. Pulling them were four massive white wolves each, one of them the source of the howl that had drawn them. They could also see piles of weapons with a brown like colouring to them alongside the chariots.

Sikká stood, her two companions aiding her towards the chariots, the wolves merely sat, staring up at her with their icey blue eyes, within the central chariot, adorned with the antlers of an elk at the front, she saw a pale white horn, an icey covering to it. She slowly picked it up, taking it in her hands.

“What...do we do now?” One of her cultists asked, taking stock of the other chariots, with others testing the weapons they had been gifted.

She thought for a moment, feeling a deep calling within her, the North God had gifted them their boon, and now, they must play their tune.

“Simple, we begin our hunt.”

The wind howled as the sounds of chariots sent off into the night. The Hunt had begun.

Summary

We open apon a group of cultists to the North God in the far north of Toraan, they’ve gathered today to make a sacrifice to their god. Their leader Sikká shows herself and commits the sacrifice, stabbing the woman she brought till she stops struggling. Quickly afterward the North God(Yamat) appears, taking an icey form. They question Sikká a bit, soon finding a Cultist who is apparently less than devoted to them, they toss them over and get Sikká to start choking them. As she does so, both her and the cultists become twisted creatures, the men(6 in total) become like the Hunter before them, the woman(two beyond Sikká) become more akin to ice wraiths with deer lower legs. Sikká herself gets some special modifications, including the burnt side of her face gaining a cold blue fire ghost rider style. The traitor cultist also becomes corrupted, but Sikká stops that quickly, snapping their neck. The North God leaves right afterwards suddenly, and the cultists now have to deal with their new forms, though they get some sick chariots, copper weapons, and sick ice wolves. The Wild Hunt is born.

MP/Prestige

The Grand Hunt-Holy Order
DP-5 Total
**The Corrupted Path III**
This holy order has been given the power of corruption at their fingertips. Members of this order can, with a touch of their bare hand upon bare flesh for a good solid 10 seconds, gift the plague of corruption to another mortal being, transforming them into a corrupted version of their previous form, with each result being random. The transformation occurs faster the longer the order member has their hand touching the bare flesh and can be prevented by removing the afflicted area or magical healing before the corruption takes full hold. Those corrupted still have free will and thought.
2 free points+DP
**Decay’s Hounds IV**
Wherever this holy order gathers, they can bring forth the might of decay. The very presence of this holy order causes the surrounding area to rot and wither away into a fungal ridden near-wasteland depending on the climate. The land does not become entirely useless, but it instead becomes extremely difficult to live within and the holy order must be gathered fully for the process to begin to take effect. The speed of the process depends on how close to being a near-wasteland the region already is and the climate and biome itself, with most normal grasslands talking about half a week to fully transform. The order leaving the area halts the process and from there the process can be reverted, either from natural processes or magical means.
MP-5 total
The Hunter’s Call-Artifact
MP
**Frost’s Mirth II**-2mp
When this horn is sounded for a solid 30 seconds, it summons forth a storm of snow a brief while afterwards, over the course of the next few hours the storm picks up with intensity but it will not last more than an entire day, but during it much of the area becomes covered in ice and snow and it becomes difficult to see. The storm itself also does not cover more than a basic village area and those who sound the horn are not immune to its effects.
1 MP-Gift three thematically aligned chariots to the Wild Hunt
1 MP-Create 12 big white wolves to pull the chariots, the wolves are just normal wolves but bigger.
1 MP-Gift the Wild Hunt some copper weapons: arrows+bows, spears, and axes, enough to arm the 9 members.
Prestige:
The Wild Hunt: 0-->5

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. IV

These lands were no good, thought the great beast as he slowly lumbered through the forests and hills. He had come for feast, yet instead he had come across two types of winged flesh and nothing but armed soldiers who had no desire to become his next meal. Whatever reason the North God had for sending him down here was obviously a fluke.

His stomach grumbled, it had been long since he had had a good taste of flesh, having to sustain himself on elk and other animals, and he could see the sun lower in the sky, he would have to set camp, and find himself more meat to consume.

He found a nice clearing, hidden behind a mighty hill, this would do. He let his pack fall off his shoulders and crumble to the ground, gathering rocks and twigs to start a fire once he returned. With it all set, he grabbed his scythe, and set off, following the distant scent of meat.

Normally, a hunter would try to find tracks to hunt their prey, but he did not require it, all he had to do was follow the scent, and it would lead him to it soon enough. His cloven hooves softly passed through the underbrush as his head lay low, his mighty antlers looking almost like branches of a tree, providing him some slight camouflage. He had done this so many times before, it had become natural.

Yet this time, as he drew closer, he picked up upon other scents, different this time, that...of flesh, it nearly drove him into a frenzy, the sweet and mouth watering scent that only grew stronger as he came closer, this could be the feast he was hoping for. He came upon them soon enough, humans, five of them, gathered around a deer, it would’ve been perfect, yet, the Hunter only grew disappointed.

These humans were armed well, even worse, they were thin, starved looking, like those back in that accursed city. Why could he only find the flesh that was bad? They weren’t that good when they were thin, too stringy and they got caught in his teeth too much. As he knelt in the brush, staring at the humans, he soon realized, he recognized them, their armor and faces were familiar. They were those, boar things, whatever they were called, he had seen them flee when those bright winged flesh arrived in the city. Perhaps, this was a far better calling.

He rose, coming to his full height that easily towered over the humans, and walked forward, he didn’t bother trying not to appear threatening, his form made that impossible.

”I...am pleasantly surprised to see...some of you...survived.” He spoke, his voice harsh and deep as always, echoing off the trees and reaching deep into the forest itself.

The roamers turned to face the monster and immediately hunkered down to their knees in pleading. They looked weak and frostbitten, the winter having eaten away at them like an omnipresent vulture. “Great… Great hunter… We had to run… Forgive us - we had to run to avoid the axe.” The speaker gasped for breath. “Please,” he whispered weakly. “Please - do you have anything we can eat? We, we are starving.”

“Dying,” someone added weakly.

The beast sighed ”I fault you not for running away...a true hunter knows when to fight...i did the same...as for food” He raised his head, sniffing the air, he could smell other deer off in the distance. ”I do not have any with me...but I smell others in the distance.” He lowered his head, staring at the starving men ”Are you all who...escaped?”

The strongest among the survivors looked at his four companions and nodded slowly. “Ragnar died in the snow… Parix remained in Ha-Dûna and, to our knowledge, probably got the axe.”

“Aye, got the axe…”

“This is all of us, then,” the man confessed sadly. “But you said there was food?”

The hunter nodded ”Yes...to our north,” He bent down and grabbed the dead deer in front of them, despite its size, it wouldn’t be enough ”Let us
go get some more, then, we can return to my camp, so i may gather my pack”

The men salivated at the deer. “Can we eat this first?”

A low rumble emitted from the Hunter ”You...wish to eat it….now?”

“Please! We haven’t eaten for days! Just a small bite - that’s all we need! C-Coner here’s barely moving anymore!” The man known as Coner was lying on the lap of one of the other men, his cheeks red hot with fever and his breath weak and ragged.

The hunter nodded ”Very well.” He slowly put the deer back down, before raising his scythe, and cutting off chunks of flesh from the deer and handing the pieces to the men, with the weakest members getting flesh first, with the hunter himself taking the smallest pieces just to sate him over. The men ate the flesh with desperate haste, barely even gagging at its raw and untreated texture. Blood caked their faces and they showed only increased appetite as they consumed more and more. When they had finished, the colour had returned to their faces, though it was hard to tell whether that was the blood or themselves.

“Thank you, great hunter.” The men all bowed and knelt in respect. “Please, let us repay you how we may. You said you had a pack, yes? Let us join you - we will follow you gladly.”

The hunter thought for some time, allowing the men to eat from the flesh first, before finally speaking. ”I see...no reason to deny you that...I will welcome followers...we can survive longer if we stick together.”

“Then take us to more food, great hunter!”

The Hunter nodded ”Follow me, keep your heads and bodies low, follow my lead, and do not strike until I command.” With that, the hunter led the merry band northward, his massive form once more vanishing amongst the underbrush. The Boars followed suit, their weapons kept close to their chests and forms, trying their best to emulate the great beast in front of them, though it was still clear the frost and hunger had limited their capabilities.

They crept for some time, the Hunter often stopping to check the scent and allow the others to catch up. Soon enough, they finally came upon some more deer, grazing over some frosted grass, it was a herd, far more than they could ever kill, but, if their luck was enough, they could get enough to sustain them longer.

He gazed back upon the boars, and gestured to one of them with a spear, before whispering softly ”Your spear is the most adept at range...on my command...chuck it at that one.” He pointed towards one of the outer deer ”Then...you and the others shall focus on that one with your other weapons...if you kill it, try your best to kill another one, but stick together...I will focus myself on those...and kill as many as I can before they run...do not try to follow them once they do...that will only lose you energy.” He waited a moment for confirmation from the Boars, before motioning for them to get ready.

For a brief moment they knelt amongst the brush, waiting for the right moment, the boar with the spear had it readied, gazing at the hunter with the side of his eye to ensure he would hit the target when the time came. There was a brief silence, then, the Hunter raised his hand, and quickly closed it into a fist. The boar chucked the spear, landing it straight into the chest of the deer, causing it to collapse rapidly, now they had to act fast.

The Boars rushed forward, one quickly planting his axe into the deer’s skull to ensure the kill, the Hunter meanwhile almost leaped from his spot, his massive scythe whirling in a fury of death, slashing a deer across the chest before implanting itself into them. Letting go of his grip upon his weapon, he then pounced upon another one, his maw of teeth ripping into its throat as he grabbed a hold of its head.

By the time the blood had stopped flowing and gushing, the other deer were gone, rapidly vanishing into the distance. The hunter held the mangled corpse of one in his hands, another had his scythe embedded into its rips, and the Boars gathered around another, their willpower just barely keeping them from digging in immediately.

”I must say” The hunter spoke, his mouth caked in blood ”You did well...for yourself.”

“Hunting is nothing new to a Dûnan!” boasted one of them bravely while one of the others ran to collect a misthrown spear.

The hunter chuckled ”Good, that is something that will keep us alive longer, now, let us head back to my camp” He retrieved his scythe, before lifting the two deer to carry, aided by one of them missing most of anything above its neck. ”Tell me,” He spoke as he let them gather their deer ”I am unversed with these lands...is there a land we could...find refuge within? Not held by those, heretics...as you call them.”

The Boars exchanged frowns and began surveying the area. The snow made it hard to distinguish rise from rise, cliff from cliff. Green, colourful meadows and distant fields were now hidden underneath endless sheets of white, intermittently broken by piercing rocks or frozen woods. Suddenly, though, one of the paladins whooped in realisation and pointed southwards. “We raided a village close by - I recognise those woods over there. There should still be some buildings intact where we can shelter ourselves.”

The hunter nodded “That...is better than nothing...let us head there...once we have reached my camp.”[/color] He motioned for the paladin to march alongside him, so he could keep track of where they were. The snows proved challenging to traverse, cliffs often being hidden underneath misleadingly broad edges, and heads hiding great shrubs that proved all too easy to trip over.

“Bah! By Vanda, curse this cold!” had Coner shouted.

“Shut up, Coner - your whining only makes it worse.”

“Oh, you’re having a bad time? Why don’t you give those mittens to me, Mack, and we’ll see how cold it is!”

“My wife gave me these!”

“Oh, yeah, we know - you only brag about her every night.”

“You two - be quiet!” said the Boar at the front and knelt down, dusting the snow off a boulder peeking out of the snow. The boulder was inscribed with the now-outdated Ketrefan script employed by the druids of the Long Stride until very recently. Behind him, Mack and Coner were being pulled apart by the other two Boars. The man by the stone, Sedrick, stood back up. “‘Ha-Leothe’…” he mumbled. “I remember this place.”

“Aye - we had a good few runs here before that whore Boudicca showed up,” muttered Coner and spat at the snow. The village down in the valley ahead of them was little more than frosted ruins still untouched since they had been abandoned. Sedrick rose and turned to the Hunter.

“We have arrived, great one.”

He nodded ”Let us find the most intact house...we can hole up here for a time.” He let the one called Sedrick take point, while he continued to speak to the others ”So you two...are Mack and Coner...who are the others?” He motioned at the two boars he had not heard the names of yet.

“Knut,” said one with an unshaven chin and a thick, bushy mustache.

“Vegard, great hunter,” said the other, barely old enough to grow any form of facial hair - at least, he carried such an appearance about him. He seemed as rugged as the others, however.

The hunter nodded ”A...pleasure to meet...you all, and you need not refer to me as...great hunter.”

“Then what shall we call you?” asked Sedrick.

The hunter thought for a brief moment, his mind delving back into old thoughts "You...may call me...Azen...that is...was...my name...long before I became what...I am"

The Boars exchanged concerned glances. Around them, the skeletons and corpses of buildings and homes formed a gravelike backdrop to their conversation. “What were you before, Azen?” Vegard whispered warily.

Azen chuckled "I was...much like you...then...I met the North God...They...gifted me with what I am today...They are also the reason I am here.”

“What’s ‘the North God’?” asked Coner.

“You mean -who’s- the North God, boar-brains! Be respectful!” retorted Mack.

“I’ll respect your face!” snapped Coner back, his fists tightening.

“Shut up, you two!” Sedrick suddenly burst out as he stopped and looked around. The other men did the same, trying to pinpoint exactly what Sedrick had stopped them for.

“What--”

“Ssh! Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

There was nothing - at least, nothing that shouldn’t be there. The silence around them was almost too perfect, as though something was doing its best to hide the true nature of the ruins from the party. Azen’s gaze quickly began to scan the village, trying to discern any scent or notice anything that may suggest trouble was afoot. Something was definitely off, he could sense it.

”There is something here,” he whispered ”Keep...your guard up...form a circle.” The Boars did as they were told and flanked Azen on each side in two crescents.

“Oh, my, my! Guests, at last!” came a voice like satin and out from behind a broken barn came a black-winged man. From other corners of the hamlet around them, several more like him appeared. The man ushered forth a deep, mocking laughter before he choked on it. “No…”

Coner squinted. “Hey, wait a bit… Isn’t that--”

“I thought we had finally left you behind for good,” groaned Annihilari upon seeing the Hunter. The other Neiyari lowered their weapons in a moping manner.

Azen couldn’t help but laugh, his deep voice ringing out through the village, ”Winged flesh!” He proclaimed, his arm wielding the scythe extended in some jubilation ”It is good to see you again!...I thought for sure...your golden cousins would’ve...gotten you by now.”

“Alright, keep your distance, bone man,” hissed the angel and shoved the air before him. “That was a close call - too close. It was only by the grace of Neiya that we managed to escape. I thought for a moment that, that I wouldn’t ever be able to see my precious Aveira again!” Around him, the Neiyari gathered to touch him supportively. “BUT THEN!” snapped the angel leader, “we meet you again - you! Of all things in this land! And you’ve brought the meat sacks with you!”

“Hey!” snapped Coner back.

“Ugh, perfect! A butchered and his slaughter. Why did we even come this way.” Annihilari collapsed into a seat on a broken beam, his face dropping into his hands. The other Neiyari formed a supportive circle around him.

"They are...not my slaughter...they are...my pack." He planted his scythe into the frozen ground "You may...dislike me...but...We are...far better...to meet than your...cousins"

“Anyone’s better than our cousins…” he conceded. “Even you… What’re you doing here?”

"Find shelter...after hunt" he gestured to the deer he carried and the one settled next to the boars "And to...hopefully avoid...being found by enemies.

“Enemies, huh,” Annihilari mused as he looked between himself and his own and them. He then gave a lazy shrug. “Well, none to find here. We’ve settled in in hopes that someone foolish enough would stop by and, well, conveniently carry supplies with them - like people do.” He groaned, joined by some of his companions. “The locals must be itching to resettle their lands.”

Azen shrugged ”They may...be consolidating...hoping to track...each of us down...to ensure their safety.” He pulled out his scythe from the ground, and looked back at the men behind him, then to the Neiyari ”It....may be...beneficial…for all of us...to work together.

“Would you believe me if I said that was -exactly- what I hoped you wouldn’t suggest,” muttered the angel before covering his face with his palm. “Fine. We will… Tag along, I suppose - as long as you can take us to where there is food. We’ll have to wait out the winter, anyway.”

“Why’s that?” asked Coner suspiciously. Annihilari flexed one of his wings and rolled his eyes.

“Ever tried flying through snow storms and icy winds, hmm? Didn’t think so, cretin.”

“Who you callin’ a--?!”

“Coner, don’t. He’ll kill you in a single swing,” warned Sedrick.

“I’d like to see him try.” Before Coner could pull out his small axe, Annihilari had already whipped the snow beside him.

“Wow, I thought you were slow, but this is simply pitiful. I doubt you’d even make a good servant…” The angel retracted his whip and curled it together. “So, we have a deal, bone man?”

He growled softly ”I...would advise...not insulting my men...but...yes...we have a deal.” He motioned for the others to pick up the deer again ”Lets get inside...warm ourselves up...I shall tell you...more of the...North God.” He directed that last portion to the paladins, but made no effort to actually quiet his voice.

The group gathered their stuff and chose one of the more intact houses to stay the night in, ignoring the gaze of their now allies, though it was clear even the Hunter was sceptical of this. They laid their catches down upon the floor of the house, the roof and walls were still intact which was all they needed to keep them safe from the outside. They gathered around the firepit, the Hunter reached into his backpack, pulling out a fire starting rock and metal and, after a few tries, starting up the fire. Both him and the paladins began to slice pieces of the deer off, sticking them onto sticks or their weapons to cook them over the fire.

”Tell me,” The hunter finally spoke after a long period of silence. ”What do you know of the lands to the north?”

“Cold,” said Coner.

“Barren,” voiced Vegard.

“Weird people, I’ve heard,” muttered Knut with a scowl. The Neiyari tucked themselves closer together in the small space, their wings taking up quite a lot of space.

Azen nodded ”All...correct notions...it is a...harsh land...and it is here...that I was born.” He set the scythe down, tearing into a piece of deer before continuing. ”Up there...the winters are harsh….harsher than the lands you know...I doubt even our winged friends could...survive.” He flashed a smile towards Annihilari, as much as a smile as he could form. The Neiyari sneered back in disgust.

”I was...hungry...hoping to find...food...that was...when I met...them...The North God.” He paused for a brief moment, allowing the words to settle in ”Their voice was...harsh and fierce...they...blessed me with what I am now...the ability to survive...and a form...more befitting what I had...become after their....machinations...they sent me here...for reasons I am unsure of...all I know...is that they seek destruction...and chaos...to bring nations to heel...and remind mortals...of their own hubris…” He feel silent, staring at the piece of deer within his claws, seemingly contemplating it.

“Huh. So your master seeks to show mortality its hubristic weaknesses, and so they send a bloodthirsty mutt to, what, kill their game and give them scary stories to tell their children? Colour me unimpressed,” muttered Annihilari.

“What sorta destruction, Azen? Like… Total ruination?” asked Sedrick.

He shrugged ”I am...unsure...they...do no wish to destroy....all of mortality...but...I believe they would...not be opposed...to many dead…” He seemingly paid no mind to the comment of the angel, instead focused on the paladins in front of him.

The Boars looked at one another. “Did, did the god name itself Sigeran, by chance?”

Azen thought for a long time, delving into his mind ”They have...never given me...a name...even the North God is...a name of my own creation...who is this...Sigeran?”

The faces of the Boars got dark. They hardly looked anywhere but the ground, and when they did look elsewhere, it was to stare pleadingly at Sedrick for him to take the fall and explain. He caught the signal and sighed. “Sigeran is our god, for better or worse. His divine grace was all that saved the great conquest of Ha-Dûna some years ago now - our loyalty to him has been paid in blood.” He took a deep breath. “Sigeran is not a kind god, by any stretch - but unlike the Sunmother, the stars and any of those small gods our former kinsmen worship, Sigeran understands strength - what it means to be a killer.” He looked at his companions, who nodded in dedicated agreement. “His blessing is still with us. Even now, we have survived winter weather for longer than any other man has. Ragnar was already wounded when the snows came - Sigeran’s strength never truly faded for us. One day, I pray, the others will come to their senses and realise that our people shouldn’t be slaves to the rules of Hir’s masters. We are the masters of the Highlands, and only Sigeran ever understood this.”

“Preach,” Knut pitched in and bumped him brotherly on the shoulder.

”I see...while...I doubt that this...Sigeran is...the same...I have no doubts...that the North God...would see eye to eye...with this Sigeran…perhaps that...is why i was called...” He paused, before finally turning to the angels ”And what of you?...There is...surely a reason you...still hunker down here...for your...god”

“Oh, we stay because of the exquisite cuisine and beautiful view.”

“Really?” asked Coner.

“No, of course we don’t, you pink ape! The winter’s too cold. We can’t fly back until spring. Trust me - if we could leave, we would. Coming here was a mistake. Of course, those goodie-goodie sunnies would show up. They always do whenever something’s ‘amiss’.” His voice could have soured milk.

Azen chuckled ”Those...of light tend to have...that sort of...timing…” He looked around the gathered assembly ”And...we are all enemies of that light...a semblance...of unity will ensure...we are stronger...against them...but...for now...let us eat...it is getting late…” He let the deer flesh fall into his mouth, chewing, before carving off another piece, and handing it over to Annihilari. The angel sneered, but accepted it, sharing with his kin.

“... A tentative alliance then…” he remarked before biting down.

Summary

We open our scene back upon the Hunter post Ha-Dûna retaking, he took the opportunity to book it but now he’s hungry again, so he decides to go hunting for some deer. It's not human, but it’ll do. But as he’s hunting the scent of a deer, he ends up coming across some humans, but this isn’t any normal humans, it's the Stone Boars! Well, five of them, its quickly shown they’re the last of their group and after some talking, they decide to throw their lot in with the Hunter, since he can get them food .They go a hunting again and manage to kill some deer, before one of the Paladins reveals he knows a place they can hunker down in. They travel there, with both sides learning the others' names and whatnot, but the village isn’t as abandoned as it seems, as wuh-oh! It's the Neiyari! Who also managed to escape, they are, not happy to see the Hunter again, but after some tense discussion, the two sides decide to agree to a tentative alliance. They all hunker down in a house and talk about gods and other things, while eating some deer. The remnants now united, at least for now.

MP/Prestige

Stone Boars: 10-->15
First Hunter: 10-->15
No mp spent

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. IV

The Rising Sun

Solkra, 28 A.A

”Cut the Flesh and Snap the Bones!” Voices rang out over the sound of construction. ”Yasho! Yasho! Crack the Skulls and Eat the Lungs! Yasho! Yasho!” Wood and stone were shaped into buildings. ”Break the Legs and Batter the Eyes! Yasho! Yasho!” A chorus formed, fusing voice and work into a steady rhythm. "Fry for a minute and cake in syrup!" A cheer erupted from the workers. Solkra was busy at work.

Skopti watched over the assembled Iskrill as they went about their work, wood and stone was shaped and carved to replace and rebuild the ruins of Solkra, the brutalist ideas of the Iskrill combined with the majestic architecture of the old Solkrans to form a strange mixture that now began to grow amongst the city.

As soon as the Triumvirate took hold of the city, they immediately began to go about reconstructing the city with what little knowledge they had gathered from the old Solkran sources. Skopti, as a Flame, didn’t quite understand the words and ideas conveyed to him by the priesthood and chosen, but, he didn’t need to, he was one of the best warriors of the city, and his only job as to defend it, deal with those who resisted, and go raid the surrounding unmarked realms.

Currently, he just stood watching, keeping an eye on the brood workers going about constructing houses, it was boring work, the workers rarely disobeyed the triumvirate or brood mother’s commands, raiding was far more fun, then he could crack some unmarked skulls and feast upon the rewards, literally and figuratively.

His thoughts were interrupted though by the sound of someone approaching, he turned his gaze towards the noise and saw a messenger Iskrill, clearly detonated by both the insignia of the Triumvirate, three suns overlapping one another, and his long gazelle like legs, from what Skopti recalled these made the Iskrill fast, perfect for carrying messages throughout the city.

“Message from the Triumvirate sir!” The messenger spoke as he bowed. “You have a new assignment, they wish you to take command of a scouting force and go investigate recent rumors of unmarked activity close by the city.”

Skopti chuckled, now this was more like it, though the last bit confused him some “unmarked activity? This close to our lands? Do they not realize where they are?”

The messenger shrugged “We are unsure, whatever it is, the Triumvirate wants you to deal with it”

He gestured to the still singing workers “What of them?”

“Another flame has already been called, he should arrive shortly.”

Skopti nodded, gesturing to the messenger “Lead the way then”

He nodded, and turned back from where he came, taking a slow pace to ensure the bulkking hunter flame could keep up. Leading him through the winding city streets.

The city was alive in some sense, various Iskrill went about their day, they were still getting used to the rigours of the new life brought upon by the Triumvirate. Houses were rebuilt with the wood and stone gathered from beyond the city, flesh supplies were kept up with raids and hunting parties, yet, there were still problems, even Skopti knew that. Flesh was hard to get, always was, but now the Triumvirate wanted more of it, that, that was starting the strain even the Iskrill. Then, there was the problem of metal, the Iskrill have come to understand it, ever since the unmarked had utilized it even, yet, they had little in the way of understanding of how to work it, as the Old Solkran texts stated.

But, none of this was Skopti’s problem, all that was at this moment was this supposed unmarked activity, it wasn’t entirely surprising, those most heinous of the unmarked to the far north had long sought to fight the Iskrill, but, activity this close to the holy city? Now that proved interesting.

Eventually, he was brought to the southern portions of the city walls, one of the first things to have been rebuilt, now manned and guarded by either Flames or normal warriors. In front of Skopti stood his scouting party for the mission, two large hunters akin to him, but, with less advanced equipment than him, mostly armed with just some scraps of cloth and some old metal blades. Then, there were three rather normal Iskrill, they were equipped with more uniform cloth but held only scrap spears, which just tended to be long sticks with random pieces of metal strapped to them, basic, but it worked. Skopti himself wore some old metal armor that actually fit him, and wielded a battered shield and finer metal ax, befitting his rank as a Flame.

The messenger gestured beyond the walls “A hunting party reported the activity to the south, they said they had followed the great river for about a day when they saw the signs, your party already has the supplies for five days, but we recommend go no longer than two days beyond the city walls.”

Skopti nodded, taking in the information, he was sure they could find these Unmarked without using up all those rations, which was good, the less used the better.

Bowing, the fast Iskrill took his leave, bounding off to deliver messages to some other portion of the city. Skopti turned back to the small group in front of him, their faces rather eager to go off hunting the Unmarked, though, it was more likely they were eager to gather some extra rations.

“Well then, let's get going.” He motioned for the party to ready up and set out, they had a long trek ahead of them.

---

The days travel had been fairly boring, the only true danger this close to the city were those damn serpents that appeared every now and then, they were big yes, but they were often no more than a nuisance to the Iskrill and their hunting parties. But hey, at least their flesh was rather tasty.

Skopti sat at the campfire, chewing upon some of their recently acquired snake flesh. In front of him sat those three common Iskrill, their spears laid against them as they ate, from what Skopti had gathered, they were rather new, recruited into that growing “army” the Triumvirate was gathering, they seemed dedicated though, and he would put a good word for them once this was over.

Meanwhile, the two hunters had been posted as watch, they were naturally adapted to this type of work, and much like Skopti it was likely they were excited to be able to spend some days beyond the city walls. They were brood kin, Skopti could tell that much, most likely of the same batch as they seemed drawn to one another and seemingly were close, a rare sight to see two hunters from the same batch, which Skopti would admit he was glad to have them on this mission.

As if almost called by his thoughts, one of those hunters appeared at the edge of the campfire, having come rather quickly by the slight huffing that emitted from him.

“Flame, we’ve spotted a fire in the distance.” He spoke, gesturing beyond. Craning his head Skopti could indeed see the markings of a fire, it was small, a torch at best, but a fire nonetheless, it seems they had spotted the unmarked.

“Gather your things,” Skopti ordered the others “Keep the fire going but bring the rations, we must have them think we are still at camp.”

The gathered Iskrill nodded, and quickly set to work gathering the supplies, while the two hunters kept their eyes upon the torch, to ensure it did not vanish. Soon enough Skopti led them through the brush, their bodies low to ensure they could not be spotted easily. The fire flickered as they drew closer, yet, not once did it seem to move, Skopti began to grow silently worried, perhaps it was a trap? He motioned for the others to keep their eyes open and weapons at the ready.

But, as they drew closer, the sight of what was carrying the torch shocked Skopti. Far more than a trap or even just a stick planted into the ground.

There, holding the torch aloft, stood, an unmarked? But, they were different, it was a male that Skopti knew and a young one at that, but upon their head were twisted horns akin to that that were upon his own head, portions of their exposed skin were grey and almost scalelike, a common sight amongst some Iskrill broods, and his eyes were yellowish and Iskrill like. It was an unmarked, yet, they held Iskrill traits, what in the name of the All-Father was going on?

For a while, Skopti and his group just knelt there, staring at the being, Skopti had to look back at the others and motion towards them to confirm what he saw was not some kind of fluke. They all saw him, and that being was just, standing there, seemingly staring off towards where their camp had been, holding the torch aloft.

Finally, Skopti reasoned he needed to figure out what was going on, and so he motioned for the others to stay amongst the brush, just in case it was still a trap. Meanwhile Skopti stood, walking towards the strange unmarked at a slow pace, to ensure they were not too frightened at his sudden appearance.

The unmarked jumped at his sudden appearance, but they quickly gathered themselves together, a smile? Almost forming upon their face.

“Finally! One of you showed up.” They spoke, their eyes seemingly glittering as they stared upon the large form of the Iskrill.

“What are you? Why are you here?” Skopti asked, he was still wary of some trap, and hoped to solve this issue quickly.

“Me?” The being fell silent for a moment, staring at one of their arms which was covered in Iskrill like skin “Im, not sure what i am, but, I can tell you why i, and the others are here.”

“Others?” So there were more, like him?

“Yes, others, like me, we all kinda, found each other,” The being began to explain “We were born like this, nobody is quite sure why, but what was certain was that our old villages wanted to kill us, but somehow we survived, and we’ve been traveling for quite some time, until we heard, of Solkra.” His voice was wavy, almost unsure of his own explanation, it was clear he had suffered much. “We...we wish to join the Holy City.”

This took Skopti by surprise, join? The city? As Unmarked? No, they were not Unmarked, they were, Iskrill, or, Iskrill like. Yet, Skopti couldn’t just accept this, he needed to see these others. “How far away are these others?”

“Not far, they’re just beyond the ridge.” He pointed to the west.

“Very well,” Skopti motioned for the others to rise and appear into the light “Lead us there.”

The Iskrill-like only nodded, moving quickly to the west, towards the supposed camp.

---

There were definitely others.

The group had camped for the night shortly after heading out, and light had begun to filter in as they arrived at the camp, it was a haphazard situation, an assembly of scrapped together tents and wagons carrying what supplies they had. As Skopti and his band entered into the camp, almost instantly the residents emerged from their squalid living conditions to gaze upon them and their forms, cheers and cries of joy began to erupt from amongst them, and the Iskrill had to shake off some of them who rushed forward and grovelled at their feet, begging to save them. From what Skopti could see, there was a large array of ages, some seemed older, some couldn’t have been older than five suns, having to be carried or guided by the older beings. All were adorned with some sort of Iskrill markings, a large spectrum and sometimes he had to really look to see any signs of this strange phenomenon, but they were there.

The first being, who Skopti had learnt was named Brethen and was barely 16 suns of age, walked them up to the center of the camp, there, sitting upon a small log, was a rather old looking man, his white beard and hair marked by twisting antlers, and his feet were grotesque and wolf-like, he was Iskrill marked alright.

“Greetings, oh holy ones.” The man spoke, his voice was gravely, it was clear he had been doing this for a while. “Have...have you come to deliver us to the Holy City?”

Skopti thought for a brief moment “Perhaps, but, we must know what you can offer us, our situation is already dire, and accepting your camp would be dangerous.”

The elder nodded “Of course, Brethen, bring them in.” The elder motioned to the young boy, who quickly ran off one of the larger tents.

“He seems a good boy” Skopti spoke, motioning towards the tent Brethen had entered.

“He is,” The elder nodded, “One of my own blood, he is ever eager to see the city.”

“How...how long have you been living like this?”

The old man thought for quite some time “More than 10 suns I can tell you that, we were small at first, but, it appears the regions around here are prone to this, issue, sometimes entire villages would join us out of fear of other villages destroying them, we are, unsure of why this happens.”

“Perhaps the Hierophant could tell you?” Skopti thought out loud

“Perhaps” The elder nodded.

Soon enough Brethen returned, behind him were two fairly burly half-beings, who wore long leather aprons and held in their hands metal tools, and another half-being who held a rope, which led to and was attached to a large cow. The sight of which made Skopti and his man hungry, but he motioned for them to not move.

“These are some of what we can offer you,” The elder spoke, motioning at the two burly ones “These men are trained in the art of blacksmithing, they can work and improve the metal that adorns you,” He then turned to the one with the cow “Alius and many amongst us here understand farming and ranching, with their skills we could supply a steady stream of flesh for the holy city.”

Flesh and Metal? This was getting too good to be true “And there is nothing you wish in return?”

The elder shook his head “Nothing.”

Skopti nodded “Very well, I shall bring you to the city, inform your people, we should head out very soon.”

Those half-beings who had gathered around the convo began to cheer once more, with a renewed vigor they began to gather their assembled items and belongings, readying for the trek ahead of them. The elder merely smiled.

---

Soklra was abuzz with activity.

Another two days of travel, and now the large procession of the half-beings, roughly 400 in number if Skopti recalled correctly, walked through the city, at its head Skopti and the Elder walked, the beings safety was ensured by the gathering Flames and warriors Skopti had ordered in case the hunger for flesh overcame the Iskrills bafflement at the new sight.

They marched towards the city center, Skopti could already tell the half-beings were struck with awe by the sight of the city, to finally be in the place they had desired must’ve been a grand sight. Within the center, at the grand statue of the All-Mother, stood the Triumvirate, the Queen, Jarl, and Hierophant all stood, Skopti had made sure to inform them before his grand display, but they still seemed quite shocked at what stood before them.

The Queen motioned for Skopti and the Elder to step forward. And with a bow they did.

“So,” She spoke, “You are these beings we have been told about?”

The elder nodded “Yes your majesty, we have come long distances to the Holy City, hoping to aid it all we can.”

“I see, and Skopti here has already told me of your abilities, your people would most certainly be a boon upon the city.” She paused for a brief moment, looking back at the Jarl and Hierophant, who both nodded their heads.

“Which is why we have decided to allow you to settle within the city, in exchange for teaching us all that you know.”

The elder bowed as a cheer erupted from the half-beings, “Thank you my Majesty, we shall do all we can to aid the Holy City.” With that, he returned to his people, with the aid of a gathering number of the Triumvirates workers to direct them to portions of the city they could settle into.

Meanwhile the Queen turned back to Skopti “I must admit, you have done well our Flame, which is why we have another task for you.”

Skopti bowed “Anything for the glory of Solkra.”

This time, the Queen spoke in hushed tones as she brought Skopti closer “Word has reached us that war engulfs the south, the Unmarked are getting feisty and fighting amongst themselves, yet those heinous ones to the north are still prevalent, as such, we want you to lead more expeditions beyond the walls, yet, this time you are not to raid, instead, you are to conquer, force the lands of the Unmarked under our boot, make them work for us, get the broods beyond the walls to work alongside us, anything to spread the glory of the sun, you will have our forces at your command for this of course, and we expect great results.”

Skopti bowed once more “Of course my queen, I shall see it done.”

The sun was rising, and soon, its heat would burn those who had shown it hatred.

Summary

We come upon Solkra at work rebuilding itself at the new Triumvirate’s command, Skopti, a Flame of Dusk is given the order to investigate unmarked(human) activity beyond the city walls, which he is eager to do.
After a bit of travel Skopti and his group come upon a lone unmarked wielding a torch, yet he is adorned with Iskrill traits, this intrigues the Iskrill who learn there are more of them, and they wish to join Solkra, Skopti is sceptical and wants to see these others.
Sure enough, there are others, and they have skills like blacksmithing and ranching, which are useful to the ever growing Solkrans, as such, Skopti promises to lead them to the Holy City of Solkra.
There the Triumvirate allows the half-bloods to settle and aid Solkra, but they also give Skopti a new task, he is to take the armies of Solkra and march beyond the city walls, bringing both Iskrill and Human under its banner. The Sun is beginning to rise.

MP usage

Ha! Made you look!