When they finish building the factories that are meant to ease our burdens, we will still be growing the grapes and they will still be drinking the wine.
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3 yrs ago
It's been far too long.
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3 yrs ago
They had a contest for the scariest mask / and I was the wild an daring one / who won the contest for the scariest mask / and I'm not even wearing one!
@Restalaan How would you like to handle this? Cambiel could go wild with his bow, or he could put barriers up to trip the riders over. He could even put a shield up around himself and Skarsneek together, if you wanted a reason for the two to be close together.
Cambiel was no stranger to war. He had seen it countless times on his missions to snuff out the Demon Lord’s influence. Whether it was against a raid against a coven of Sabbath witches or a full-scale siege against an Orc slaving party, he had fought, and killed, for his God and he would fight and kill for her many times more if he had a choice in the matter. But he had never seen war from the perspective he was seeing it now.
Innocents had never been involved in his previous battles. Those he fought against, and those he fought alongside, had always got involved by their own volition, knowing full well the consequences of their involvement. Here? Innocents were all he could see. Little boys. Old women. Peasants desperately fending off raiders with farming tools, not hoping to kill their enemies, but to buy enough time for their families to escape. It made him feel sick to his very soul. What did the Varjans hope to achieve from this but a mountain of corpses?
That sickness turned to fury as they encountered the group he knew had to be leading the chaos. Cambiel cursed his fortunes. If he was on his own, perhaps he could invoke the name of the Chief God. Instead, he had to make sure Skarsneek didn’t catch on to the ruse.
“Be afraid, recusant. I have not come in peace, but with a sword; not to parley, but to punish. What evil drives a Man to kill other Men?” Cambiel’s voice was unlike Skarsneek had heard it before. He did not whisper. He did not stammer. He spoke loudly and clearly and with the practised authority of someone who had been in this exact situation a thousand times before. Was this really the same shy, frightened, meek little angel he had been on the journey over?
“Kneel. Beg for her forgiveness, and I will make your punishment quick.” He was not expecting them to obey. Heretics never did. The Chief God herself could descend from the heavens to tell them they were wrong, and they would still delude themselves into thinking they were right. Regardless, he wanted to give them a chance to repent before they died. His hands were already nocking an arrow, and if any of them made a move for him or Skarsneek, he would put it right between their eyes.
What I usually do is I write my post in a Word document first, then copy and paste it to the site. That way I don't accidentally lose it if there is an error with the site.
I'm temped to have Sam throw a snowball at Cam "I'm here too silly." for not saying hello. How can Cam simply ignore the sheer emptiness of Sam's mind, also a second no third male mamano? lol
Edit: How icy would you like your snowball-I mean snow cone.
Hey, Sam didn't say hello to Cam either! He was too busy cuddling up to Lady Shows-Her-Pants and Little Miss "I Can't Believe It's Not Cannibalism!"
<Snipped quote by Noblebandit> My guy, 'no' isn't in this shoggoth's vocabulary. She's gonna make us eat it at some point; but she did ignore Cam's presence initially so you'll have a running start.
Speaking of which, Nya won't take offence if Cam doesn't eat her cake, right? I mean, angel biology probably doesn't react well to Shoggoth cooking (or at least that's his excuse)
Cambiel's arrival had caused a commotion, but he had been expecting that. In fact, he'd been rehearsing in his head what answers he would give to the questions he most anticipated. What he hadn't anticipated was one of the monsters, a humanoid covered in intricate scars, storming off in a huff, though not before threatening to sew his mouth shut. What a charming woman, he thought bitterly, making a mental note to stay away from her. He didn't know if she was going to make good on her threat, and he was in no rush to find out.
“Hey, this angel is part of our group too? Are you sure that’s wise?” Another of the monsters, a were-rabbit, spoke out. “No, in fact, why would an angel take interest in our mission in the first place? Is there something you’re not telling us here?”
Cambiel opened his mouth to give her one of his rehearsed lines when he heard someone else speak for him. "...Are you blind? He's an angel of Eros, the Goddess of Love. You know, THE most revered known Goddess and also the only Goddess that even anti-mamono humans allow worship? Also the one that openly gives blessing to Mamono couples?"
Well, that made everything a lot easier. Lying wasn't strictly a sin, especially when you were lying to further the Chief God's goals, but it still made him uncomfortable whenever he did it. He turned to see who his saviour was and was greeted by a Goblin.
"Okay, him being a male is also a weird question but he's still a representative of Eros."
Speak for yourself, Cambiel thought. A male goblin questioning the existence of a male angel was really throwing stones in a glass house.
"Now, if he's a representative of the Chief God instead..." the goblin drew a thumb across his neck. Slightly concerning, but from Cambiel's perspective, death was the least of his worries when it came to monsters. It was what they did to you while you were alive that was the real concern.
"But good to have an angel for this mission will be great! We'll leave all the diplomacy to you then."
Well, that went better than expected. The goblin was strange and he had technically threatened him, but he had stood up for him, and for that he was grateful. At least he wasn't getting mad at him just for being an angel.
"By the way, why were you late? Your kind rarely does-" The Goblin stopped itself and smiled. Cambiel decided he didn't like his smile one bit.
"Ah~, I know, the choirs were hesitant to let you go?"
Oh no.
"So they wanted you to make them sing and praise Eros first, hmm, yeah, I totally get it then. It's all good!"
Oh, please, no.
"By the way, did you do Goddess Eros as well? How was it?"
By instinct, Cambiel flinched away from the Goblin's over-friendly touch. He wanted to say something, to tell the Goblin he had everything all mixed up, that it wasn't like that, but his tongue completely betrayed him, and the only sound to escape him was a mortified "Huh?". Barely five minutes he had known this beast, and it was already accusing him of... doing that to his fellow angels!? They were his sisters! Or... well, if they came from Eros, would they be his half-sisters? Cousins? Whatever! They were related to him somehow, and the very thought that they would even imagine each other in that way was disgusting!
Almost as disgusting as that smell. Cambiel broke focus with the Goblin as a vicious cloud of pheromones assaulted him, and he looked up to see, of all creatures, an Orc standing before him. Not just an Orc. If that stench was any indication, then the group was to be accompanied by a High Orc. Oh, how wonderful. Trapped in a wooden box for goodness-knows-how-long with that pungent odour occupying his nostrils. He'd endure it for now, but if he found one single Devil Bug on board, he would be holding that brute responsible. Thankfully, the Orc seemed more interested in the Goblin than himself, and Cambiel took the opportunity to quietly excuse himself. The less attention he drew, the better, and if those two were occupied with fighting each other, they wouldn't think about him. Besides, he needed to find something to plug his nose with.
Unsurprisingly, it was the human who greeted him with the most kindness. Shizuka, he called himself. Cambiel returned his kindness with a quick bow and a quiet ”Thank you, sir knight.”. But despite his kind words, he noticed the suspicious look in the knight’s eyes. He suspected something. Most of them did. It was going to take more than a uniform to earn their trust. But earn their trust, he must. Whatever possessed them to help humans, the Valkyries needed to be informed.
With the introductions over and done with, it was time to make his way aboard. He didn’t have much hope on it being a pleasant journey, but with a but of luck and some favour from the Gods, he wouldn’t have to put up with it long.
Two days doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but when you’re a spy trapped in an enclosed space surrounded by enemies who may or may not have figured out your true identity, two days may as well be an eternity. It was almost a relief when he saw the Varjan Fleet. At least now he could focus on the enemy in front of him, rather than the one behind him.
It still didn’t make any sense to him. Why turn against your fellow man like this? There were plenty of monstrous realms to attack instead. Did the Varjo not realise that all they were doing was creating the perfect environment for monsters to come back in, or worse, driving the locals into the arms of the Demon Lord? Bearing that in mind, Cambiel had no problems cutting down the invaders. As of this moment, they were schismatics, traitors to the holy cause, ignoring their duties and aiding the enemies of the Chief God for the sake of their own personal gain. They had strayed from the path, and Cambiel would correct them.
His hand found its way to his bow. How ironic, for a soldier of the Order to be slain by such a divine weapon.
But Skarsneek apparently had a different plan. He wanted to hit them himself, while the rest of the group ran off to warn the villagers. He didn’t doubt the Goblin’s bravery, or his fighting skill, but it felt like too much of a risk to send him off on his own.
”And leave you to face them alone? Not likely!” the angel scoffed. ”I’m coming with you. We can slow them down more if there are two of us. And besides, maybe seeing me might show them they’re on the wrong side”
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