Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The pack strode quietly through the halls, following Lorag's scent. Along the way, Janius asked why they were following Vera first and what exactly had happened. Once filled in, he and Fendros took on the same thought process as Meesei, wondering who could have done this and how. Of course, Meesei had the additional burden of working out how to handle the situation when the lieutenants were informed, but their minds were all put to work. They approached a room amongst several empty rooms, outside the archway of one was a fur jacket that had been thrown to the ground. Everyone was confused as to what had happened. Did Lorag need to transform for some reason? As they approached closer, the smell of Harriet aired just as strongly as Lorag. They didn't smell blood, but Fendros and Janius quickened their pace, worried for the worst. --- Harriet had one hand propping up her head and another running her fingers around Lorag's pectoral while she was laid down beside him. Her eyes were tired from their activity and the time of night, but her face wore a small smile. She chuckled as Lorag did after he spoke. "I feel...good. Glad. Like everything is going my way today." She pinched up a part of Lorag's skin momentarily, "Except losing that fight to you." She loosened her grip, "Still, I like a guy who exceeds expectations." Their talk was interrupted by footsteps jogging down the corridor outside. It made Harriet's smile disappear and she looked up to see who it was or whether they would come in. Leaving her jacket outside of the door may not have been the best idea in hindsight if they wanted to remain alone. The dim light revealed the silhouette of a Dunmer's head leaning to peer through the doorway towards them. Harriet leaned up and supported herself on her shoulders. "Hey! Leave us alone! This ain't some stage show!" Harriet shouted. "Lorag! There you are...oh," the sight Fendros saw was not something he had fully expected, but at least it didn't seem like Lorag was in danger. Janius wheeled around the corner and pulled his head back, in surprise and amusement. He stifled any laughter before it surfaced, but still managed to speak. "Well, at least we have a head start on finding the lieutenants." He raised a hand in greeting, "Sorry to disturb you two."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine's tests started with common poisons. Ones that normally acted very swiftly were easy to find and may not have taken as long as she said. This was an uncommon poison, however. She raised a hand to Meesei when she asked about results, but didn't face her. It took another five minutes of carefully placing drop after drop of a testing solution into her mortar, which had a pool of the water within. With her other hand, she gently stirred the mix with a stick. The test ended when one more drop suddenly caused the liquid to turn into a deep, viscous green. "Poison. A slow poison." Sabine said finally. She faced Meesei, "I need to test more." Now Fendros was fully armed and standing quietly. With that conclusion, he bit his lip and looked out onto the main chamber. "Very well. Kaleeth, are you fine here with Rhazii as well?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vera continued to sleep soundly, oblivious to both her husband's death and the one rummaging through her belongings. "No, he wasn't," Janius confirmed, following suit and equipping himself as well, "I assumed he was training or eating, I thought he would be back by now." Once Rhazii was calmed enough, Fendros placed him down so he could follow suit with Kaleeth and Janius. "Is there anything we can do while Sabine is testing the water? How long will you need, Sabine?" Sabine was focussed enough that she didn't face Fendros when she replied. "Not long. Twenty minutes to see if there is poison at all. Longer to see what poison it is."

Godhood - A Tale of Deities

Oh yeah, that's true.

Godhood - A Tale of Deities

I think that would just leave Agimar, as far as non-GM characters are concerned.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The strongest source of Vera's scent, beyond Vera herself, was her clothing. A rough spun dress neatly folded next to where she laid sleeping had no pockets, let alone any evidence. The next source of her scent seemed to be amongst the parchment piles. A quick flit through them would reveal nought but what they looked like on the surface, school work. She had obviously looked through and done some marking before going to bed. Fainter scents were amongst her personal effects, but apart from a bottle of what appeared to be perfume, there was nothing indicating any poison or intent to murder. Everyone was made silent and looked astonished when Meesei explained further. Sabine got the message swiftly, taking the waterskin from Meesei's hand and moving to where she had set up her alchemical equipment to begin testing. Janius began to shake Kaleeth-Rei awake if she hadn't already heard. This was serious. "Is Ahnasha okay?" Fendros asked.

Godhood - A Tale of Deities

Those not completely distracted by the prominent portal to a realm they do not often tread within may have noticed a certain detail on the horizon of the desert out from the balcony. A feature not likely seen in dead imperial city of Roma since the year of calm waters following the Golden One's death. It was a smell in the air. A refreshing humidity. It came in with an unexpected breeze. Sharp ears could hear sand whisking across the sides of the tower in the strange change in weather. Then a shape came into view in the sky. It flagged from side to side, depositing a trail of clouds behind it that faded to nothing a kilometre further back. It was a serpent, and as it came closer, it showed its scale. Shoshar had not shaped himself to be nearly as big as the tower, but in the final turn on his approach to the tower, he swept close enough to the balcony that it momentarily blocked out the light. Aun was replaced with a rushing wall of shimmering blue-green scales. Shoshar's body seemed to contract and shrink as he circled the tower over and over, until finally he was the width of most beings within and the length of about three of them, swimming through the air in a large bubble of water. Once small enough, he twisted upwards to slow down, then gently floated his way into the room, yellow eyes warily inspecting all present. Some were old acquaintances, familiar faces. Some were completely new to him. Some made him hiss as he met their gaze, old enemies reunited. He had greetings owed to some, but he preferred to get to the main point of order. Shoshar found an place to coil his body and lowered the water around him until his standing head emerged from its surface. His scales emitted a cold, lowering steam as he was exposed to the desert air. His noble posture was interrupted only for his mouth to open, turn to one side, and blow out a gust of perfectly dry desert sand picked up from the journey. "Where is Thirianna?" Shoshar's deep, disdainful voice addressed the archangel as if she had done him a great wrong, "This place, I have forsaken. She insults me by summoning me here, but I will listen if what she claims is true." Shoshar's eyes inspected the portal to what was unmistakably Aett, with Thirianna on the other side. His upper lip lifted in a slight snarl, but lowered just as quickly. "You would have us gather there after all?" He seemed incredulous, as far as a dragon could be. It made no sense while the leaders of mortals, Ceyr at large, and even Hades were present. "What is the meaning of this?" As the others stepped in through the portal, Shoshar waited for the leaders of the main factions to go first. He liked the idea of being around snow rather than above this hot and dry wasteland, but he distrusted the immediate situation. If there was going to be a trap, he didn't want to fall into it head first.

Godhood - A Tale of Deities

Name: Shoshar, the Water Dragon Age: Ancient Appearance:

Pics within

Shoshar's body is that of a finned serpent, always wet with a layer of water. He changes his size if he needs to fit into a compact space, but prefers the spectacle of a monstrous size to crush ships and intimidate mortals.

Nature: God

Personality

Ever since he was created, Shoshar's heart has been encrusted with a painful frost. He is proud, petty, bitter, jealous, quick to anger, and holds eon-spanning grudges. Unfortunately for him, his pride makes him vulnerable to flattery and temptation as much as insult, leaving him manipulable, even for an ancient being. Despite his emotional and reactive nature, Shoshar is also committed to what he sets his mind to, no matter how angry it makes him. This can make Shoshar's retribution slow in some cases, but no less devastating. Where Shoshar's personality is redeeming is his commitment to his sphere of influence; water. He is dutiful in nurturing the kingdoms of the deep and tossing vapour into the air to feed the rivers and wetlands of the world as if bound by an ultimate contract. Even the gravest of insults cannot stray him from such tasks.

Skills and Abilities

As his name suggests, Shoshar holds a degree of power over all water, whether it be in the ground or the air, but is fearful to separate from it at all due to the heat of Aun thawing and killing him. In this, he can control the way water flows to affect tides, current, as well as temperature and physical state. In the local sense, he can control water to the point of making liquid water flow in flying eddies and streams through the air and to use it as a means of transport. If he is out of the water, he is fond of getting around by flying through the air encased in a layer of water to keep his icy body cool. It is said that the clouds in the sky are created in the wake of Shoshar meandering through the skies either as part of his duties to toss water over Ceyr. His scope of power makes him a force to be reckoned with if one is near the ocean, a large lake or a river, though his emotional nature limits his potential for conquest. The only territory he claims fully is that of the seas. Even though he commands rainfall, he cannot preside over the sky or the land.

Backstory

It is said that Shoshar was born of the coldest parts of Ceyr's oceans. His body was initially wrought of ice, but changed to flesh as he consumed the creatures of the seas and rivers. The ice lives on as part of his being, however, keeping him from leaving the water for fear of melting. The Golden One gave him company in the form of more sea creatures, complimented by a reclusive underwater sentient race of cephalopods, the Reods. Most of these creatures are scarcely seen by other races unless they are fished. With the power bestowed upon him, Shoshar nurtured all of these creatures as his only friends. Few if any other spirits would suffer the cold, crushing depths that made up his home, so a loneliness hangs about him, perpetuated by his insufferable personality. When the Golden One suddenly cut itself off from all the spirits, Shoshar feared that he could not protect his realm of the sea any longer. He was thrown into a fit of paranoia and took to the War in Heaven as a wildcard, viciously defending his holdings. His madness grew to the point where destruction would be wrought upon the lands in the form of floods, massive tides, cyclones, and tsunamis. This was partly out of fear for the safety of his own domain and partly out of jealousy for those who could walk freely upon land without the gaze of Aun threatening their existence. He fought for both sides at different times, a victim of trickery and manipulation. However, his ideals remained with protecting his realm, not to allegiance to the Golden One or ambition to harvest what was left of its power. All that is known of what became of Shoshar after the Golden One's death is that the seas suddenly calmed. There were no more storms, no rain, even. A worldwide drought stood for a full year. Shoshar had frozen himself to the bottom of the ocean, having expended his rage and shut down. He took the time to ponder, he perhaps spoke to spirits who sought him out. Whatever conclusions he came to while slumbering for a year have been kept a closely guarded secret, one of many that he keeps. As he returned gradually, his madness had been levelled. He was balanced in his approach to those on land, no longer terrorising them out of his own fear. The ice around Shoshar's heart has mostly remained intact up until this point, retaining his personality and perpetuating loneliness. He has connections to other spirits, but right now he is mostly concerned with his duties and has little patience for anyone. News of the Golden One returning is something that he has deemed as being in his interests to hear about, but he is wary of trickery after being manipulated in the war for so long. Not that there is much he has done about his flaws that allowed such manipulations.

Connections:

Ancients

ANCIENTS:

Hiraga: Being that nature and water are spheres intertwined and overlapping in many ways, so too are Hiraga and Shoshar. Of all the ancients, Hiraga is perhaps the only one who can placate Shoshar with a stern word. Hiraga holds some kind of control over Shoshar that keeps him from acting against her. The exact nature of this control is yet another secret that Shoshar keeps to himself, but it has halted Shoshar's retribution on many occasions. Shoshar's reaction to Hiraga's presence and influence appears to be begrudging, bound by an agreement signed ages ago. Danives: (If Vilhelm changes his mind) As the depths of the ocean are a realm steeped in shadows, Danives is sometimes seen slinking through in the presence of Shoshar, shaping various creatures without permission. The shadow god's tricks and games rapidly grate on Shoshar's patience, no doubt providing Danives with no end to fun. After at least a century of being the butt of Danives' jokes for the sake of goading a reaction, Shoshar has taken to the habit of merely grumbling and trying to ignore the ancient. Voana: Shoshar and Voana have the same understanding as any general and the sea. Shoshar's realm is often used as a platform to defend and attack, but it is not a territory that can be held. She has not been miserly in her offerings to him for permission for safe passage on ships, and has thus not invoked his wrath. Such is the extent of Shoshar's interests in mortal conflicts. Sohena: Sohena and Shoshar have barely even been introduced. Her presence always garners anxiety in Shoshar, her natural serenity unnerving. No doubt Sohena herself is not the kind to socialise with a wrathful god of water. Agimar: Agimar was responsible for manipulating Shoshar to unwittingly carry out his agenda on a couple of occasions. Shoshar himself is uninterested in his work and tends not to socialise with him. Agimar himself has never directly offended Shoshar, as his scheming was never revealed where Shoshar was involved. Yakushi: If there was ever a more annoying, relentless, and never ending torment for Shoshar's patience, it is the incessant inquiries of Yakushi. Being proud of his realm, Shoshar initially satisfied much of Yakushi's curiosity about the oceans, wary to keep important secrets to himself. Unfortunately, her hunger for knowledge was insatiable and Shoshar began to cast her away in impatience. Yakushi's questions did not stop, however. She kept coming back and attempting to pick Shoshar's brains further. Thankfully her mercurial attention cuts her questions short after a while. Despite the annoyance of her presence, Shoshar secretly regards Yakushi with an odd fondness, perhaps for relieving his loneliness at times. It is probably why he does not feel justified in attacking her for her insolence. Neveras: Shoshar and Neveras are not on good terms. In protection of mortals during various conflicts, Shoshar and Neveras did battle in an attempt to turn Shoshar's wrath aside. Neveras generally won, making their relationship adversarial. Shoshar had a say in detaining Neveras during the War in Heaven, but at a point during the following years, knowledge of the seal enchantment was taken from him by Hiraga under circumstances that Shoshar, again, keeps a secret. Myra: Shoshar is jealous of the joy spread by Myra's open and warm heart. This makes interactions with her curt on Shoshar's part. Shoshar can barely stand her presence. Vyra: While Myra would barely have the opportunity to interact with Shoshar due to his view of her, Vyra, her twin, actively seeks Shoshar out when it suits her to have an the Water Dragon on his side. Shoshar may or may not be aware of how hollow her interactions with him are, but she is deceitful enough to charm the sea serpent until he is wrapped around her little finger like a ring. In that sense, Shoshar is a victim of Vyra's machinations when others are not there to talk some sense into him. Praeth Some spirits may have forgotten Praeth and his machinations amongst mortals, but Shoshar's memory falters not. Back before he was banished, Shoshar regarded Praeth with some disdain for giving up the power bestowed to him, all to live amongst the mortals as if pretending to be one of them. Shoshar is not aware that he had returned, however.

Upstarts

UPSTARTS:

Varavana: Some mortal legend. They have never personally met. Shoshar has little interest in changing that himself. Dust: Dust's influence is barely apparent wherever Shoshar is present. The water dragon is not even aware of his existence. Itone: Shoshar is actually unaware that Voana is even married, much less that this Itone, an upstart, is her partner. Having never known true love or marriage beyond watching mortals making cold plans and arrangements to continue bloodlines, Shoshar is bound to be confused by their unorthodox pairing of sexes. Gaon Latze: Shoshar has never shared his version of the story of Gaon Latze's ascent to power, even to Gaon Latze himself. The encounter with the now upstart obviously had a profound impact on Shoshar's view of mortals, enough to make him spare the child's life. However, after the fact, he has had little interaction with the upstart. The most popular legend for the reason of Shoshar's gift to Gaon Latze is that the fisherman's conviction resonated with Shoshar's own, causing the god's heart to partially thaw for a moment.

Religion

Many seafaring nations have temples to Shoshar in each of their cities. He is seen as the true sovereign of the sea and the storms, and they pay their respects to him. In order to secure a save voyage across a body of water, Shoshar must be appeased by a fruit of the land that he cannot reach himself. This can be an animal or a plant sacrifice. Failure to make a sacrifice puts a ship or a coastal or river city at risk of facing Shoshar's anger.

Nation

Shoshar's influence is widespread enough, but his true nation is made up of hidden kingdoms under the sea that few enough mortals are aware of. A community of intelligent, cephalopod-like humanoids known as the Reods tend to their underwater agriculture in peace and harmony under Shoshar's watchful eye. The only connection, if any, which they have with the land is the occasional Reod druid of Hiraga among them to aid in nurturing nature in seas. They are a reclusive and secretive people, avoiding conflict and contact with surface dwellers, but their generosity and kindness far surpasses their patron's in most cases.

Godhood - A Tale of Deities

Accepted with loving arms by the GM; a very interesting and well-developed character. I hope you have the patience to read the plot thus far. These posts are quite long.

@SillyGoy

Thank you! It's no problem, I've been keeping up.

hi again! We've met in the Hallows in if i recall, good to see you again ;P That said I ahve no problems with the characters' connection, save for maybe the fact that Hiraga would be more benevolent. She wouldn'T exercice any 'control', more seek him out as ally that could keep part of the world intact for her so she can focus on the rest. I suppose if it was done before the war when all of them were more powerful forces she might have agreed to it, and is so ancient she forgot though. nevertheless, she would more often approach him asking for aid rather than demanding it.

@Forsythe

I thought that coffee cup looked familiar. Hello again! Hiraga's connection with Shoshar is open ended enough that it doesn't have to be based on direct control. With Hiraga's personality, I was actually leaning more towards Shoshar owing her a massive debt of some kind. It could be developed more if it becomes more relevant.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha had no trouble sneaking through to track Vera's scent. She didn't even have to go very far. The trail ended at Vera and Jerrick's room. There were no lights on and Vera was merely sleeping soundly on her side of their bedroll. There were a few bags strewn about around the bedroll that had Vera's scent on them. Personal effects, probably. Other things were made up of piles of children's school work set for being looked over and Jerrick's own weapons and armour. Funnily enough, Jerrick had two sets of armour. One conventional steel mail and helmet, and another set of various strange large pieces on leather armour laid out on a stone bench. Upon closer inspection, the strange leather appeared to be fitted for a lycan. Over in Meesei's pack's sleeping chamber, Sabine woke up quickly, understanding the seriousness in Meesei's voice. She sat up and rubbed her eyes as everyone else breathed in slowly and held themselves up curiously. Fendros was clearly still tired, but did not express any disrespect. "What is it? Have we found a spy?" Fendros asked. Rhazii began to whine uncomfortably from all the sudden movement, but Fendros was able to pick him up and hush him before he started crying.