Vestec watched, at first amused, as the dragons waged war against his creations and the creations of Arguis. As they continued attacking, and attacking, and attacking, the deaths of the Dyun and Cimex rising, especially with the onset of the eternal winter, he grew steadily less amused. By the time he watched the latest attack, Stellerax leading his brethren on yet another tribe of Dyun, the God of Chaos was decidedly annoyed. "It is time, I think, that these dragons meet Chaos." As Vestec prepared to deliver violence upon the third primal dragon and his warband, the itching came back again. Well, itching was a nice way of putting it. Pain wracked the Chaotic one's body, clawing and tearing at him. He screamed but it was not with his own voice. A rougher, deeper, angrier sounding one came out and echoed across the heavens. While most sentient creatures looked up in either fear, or curiosity, the wildlife (understanding on some instinctual level that something very bad was happening) and the Dyun (always closely connected to their creator) panicked and looked for some place to hide.
Vestec's rapidly shifting colors stopped, and turned a bright blood red. "Lets show the dragons what death feels like." Violence spoke, and appeared in the middle of the slaughter of the Dyun and the hands of the dragons. For one, single, moment all the combatants stopped to stare at the God that had landed among them. Stellerax was shielded from Vestec's true essence, but the rest were not so fortunate. "Look at my power, and go insane!" Violence roared, as the chaos of battle around him degenerated into the chaos of madness. The Dyun clacked and clicked and squealed, relying on their base nature of hatred and throwing themselves at each other and the dragons seeking to kill or be killed. Dragons reacted differently, according to their type. Some plummeted to the ground, howling and scratching at their skulls. Others attacked each other, tearing and snarling. Still others just flew as fast as possible away from the God of Chaos, with the only plan to fly until their wings gave out and they plummeted to the ground (or as was more likely the case, the ocean.)
Violence stepped onto the neck of a young dragon that had survived his headlong dive into the frozen earth. Vestec looked at Stellerax, ignoring the blubbering and gibbering of the once proud and mighty beast beneath him. "I don't care what you see when you look at me, shielded from my true essence as you are. I only want you to understand one vital thing. Your creator, your god, has abandoned you. You are at the mercy of the other Gods. I am one of them. And I have grown tired of you thinking you can eradicate whatever is in your path without punishment. So consider this me putting you in your place, and your only warning on the subject: Remember your place, or I shall make you remember."
Crack. With a twist of his foot, Vestec snapped young dragon's neck.
"Have a nice day." With that, Vestec left.
He was not finished with Dragons though. Leaving the gibbering madness of that battlefield behind him, Vestec went to a place where the dragons gathered in relatively large numbers. He found roughly a hundred of them, of all different types. He was colored a solid black again, and his voice was filled with contempt. "These will have to do." He used his powers to corrupt each of them, binding them to his will. Critically, Corruption looked upon his knew servants. "Most of you are suitable. The rest, I will make you better. Perfection will always be out of your individual reach, but within a few generations I will achieve it." Those that didn't meet his standards began roaring and howling in pain, as their bodies were rearranged, stripped down, and made better. Corruption didn't bother giving them a relief from the pain. It would make them stronger, give them something to cling to when they felt pain later on.
Viscardi, Chieftain of the village of Garakai.
Viscardi looked down from his crude wooden throne at the large crackling fire warming his crude wooden hut, yet another winter storm raged outside. His two brothers, Cassios and Aztoc, on either side of him. Here he was, chieftain of Garakai. Power over all of Garakai. And I don't know what to do with it. Viscardi stared into the fire, remembering the path that had brought him here. When he had been returned home by the two voices he could feel but couldn't see, Viscardi had immediately set about gaining more power. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch, a thirst he couldn't quench, a hunger he couldn't sate. To gain power he needed a base of loyal followers, people he could trust. His brothers were the first that came to mind. As they hadn't been shown the truth of the world, it took some convincing for them to agree to his plans. At first they were resistant to the idea of ruling over their fellow humans, wielding power as they pleased. But day by day, bit by bit, Viscardi convinced them of the merits of it. Fortunately, the disgusting, weak, way of living known as 'The Way' had not yet made it to Garakai, far in the north as it was.
Unfortunately, by the time he had convinced Cassios and Aztoc, Garakai had already chosen a chieftain. The chieftain was chosen, and that was that. There would be no challenges, as the rest of the village viewed them as foolish. Why challenge when they all obviously agreed that the chieftain was obviously the best for the job? Challenging his rule would have only made enemies of the others, Viscardi knew, so he waited and worked from the shadows. He and his brothers used things that were never even considered by their fellow man. Murder, blackmail, thievery, and violence were all employed to make sure that when the opportunity arose, Viscardi could smoothly step up and claim the title of Chieftain.
The opportunity presented itself far sooner than any of them had expected. Leading a hunt, the Chieftain and his followers ran into the Dyun. Garakai had oddly been spared from the invasions of both the Cimex and the Dyun. Thus, Viscardi's unknowing rival was unprepared for the savagery that fell upon him and his followers. They never had a chance, their inherent magic having largely been ignored as knowledge of 'Wi' had yet to reach them. The search party, lead by the obviously selfless Viscardi, found only the remains of both the Dyun and the humans.
Viscardi wasted little time when they returned to Garkai. He and his brothers called on all the favors they had garnered, and he was soon established as Chieftain. Things were changed. A focus was placed more on weaponry and strength, lest the monsters ever come back. Their inherent magical talents were no longer ignored. Directed by a force that felt oddly familiar, Viscardi and Aztoc explored their abilities Astarte had unlocked. While the followers of the Way and Wi could use telekinesis, users of Vistoc (As they called their magic) bent the elements to their will. It was rudimentary. Fireballs, small bolts of lightning, minor water and minor ice manipulation, flashes of light, gathering darkness around you, etc. But it did it's job, giving them an edge over the monsters that appeared at their doorstep(unbeknownst to them, in a far less amount than the rest of humanity). For a while, Garakai thrived.
Then the eternal winter came.
Garakai, being the farthest northern settlement, was better suited than most for the harsh winter. But not by much. The only thing that saved them was their magic. With Vistoc, they managed to keep flames going at all times, draw fish from their frozen shore, and kill off those Cimex who had adapted quickly (who they then ate.).
Viscardi was yanked from his reminiscing by two things. The sudden end of the storm with the sun shining again and everything the people of Garakai had forgotten, and the sound of leathery wings approaching...
Vestec, God of Chaos
Vestec guided the dragons he had corrupted to Garakai, the village where his first corrupted human had settled down. As he drew closer, he used his power to beat back the winter storm and bring warmth back to the land. After all, he couldn't have his new servants be frozen solid, could he? As the humans below scattered about and began preparing to defend themselves against this perceived threat, he spoke. "Fear not. I am Vestec, your God. These dragons are your allies, here to help you in creating what I have planned. But first. I must teach you of what I have planned."
Reaching down he touched the minds of the humans below him, corrupting those who weren't already corrupted by his follower, their leader, and depositing knowledge upon them. Knowledge of slavery and cruelty. Fortifications and war. In one move, the simple village's focus was turned from self survival, to conquest. There was a village nearby, one that would serve as a good starting ground for the kingdom. Under Viscardi, Aztoc, and Cassios' command, the villagers shook off their surprise at the voice in the sky, the arrival of the dragons, and prepared themselves for war. Those who could fight armed themselves, while those who could not worked busily on making more weapons, and tools for fortifications. One dragon would go with the war party, the rest would stay and help build the defenses. Eventually, someone would strike back. If only to recover their lost loved ones. Vestec nodded once, then left them to their kingdom building.
He couldn't just let his chosen have all the gifts, now could he?
Vestec floated above a prosperous village. Distant from the eternal war with the Cimex and the Dyun, it's Wi users strong enough to deal with any that slipped by, it had only known peace and harmony. Time to change that. Giggling, Vestec touched the minds of the humans below and taught them the other side of the coin. Whereas Vowzra had taught them 'The Way', what to aspire to, Vestec taught them that being the opposite of those things could be just as powerful, and was often easier. Murder. Lust. Greed. Suspicion. Crime. Rage. The list goes on. Vestec taught humanity to give in to it's darker urges, to be evil.
As he looked down upon it all, the eternal winter, the wars with the Dyun and the Cimex, and soon to be the war against themselves, Vestec decided to add one more tiny little thing to their problems. Reaching into his power once more Vestec gave their nightmares life. Humanity, the Cimex, the dragons, and even the Dyun have always had an imagination. It was how they adapted on their own, how they invented. Of course, emotions came fear and with fear came imagining what horrors there were in the unknown. Typically the darkness. Fortunately, most of those fears were unfounded, not even real. Until now. Every time darkness descended upon the land, and the intelligent races found themselves having nightmares and fearing the night, they would create their own monsters.
"One...final...touch." Vestec giggled, and the world was plunged into darkness. Much as Svieland had cursed the world with eternal winter, Vestec cursed the world with eternal night. Monsters would constantly be spawning in the night, attacking anything and everything they could. "Oh dear." Vestec said as screams of terror and pain drifted up from the city below him. "It seems humanity might not make it after all."
He returned to Garakai, to see how his chosen were dealing with these new threats. Moderate well, given that they had Vistoc and dragons to aid them. To them, it only made the villages more easily conquered. As Vestec prepared to leave once more, he felt two odd presences in Garakai. Something not quite human. Zeroing in on them, he made them appear in front of him, shielding whatever they were from his true essence. "My, my. Aren't you interesting?" Vestec told the struggling Outsiders, as he felt the touch of the Warden on it. "I think I'll make sure you can't escape, and then we'll have fun."
In an instant, Vestec and his new toys were in a black and barren land, clearly not Galbar anymore. "Not homey, I know, but it will have to do. Now lets see just what you were doing in my village." The outsiders screamed, as Vestec began to pillage their minds.
3 might spent on incorporating Violence into Vestec's portfolio
2 might spent cursing the world with eternal darkness
1 might spent on creating personal plane
1 might spent teaching humanity:
Slavery Fortifications(walls, towers, gates, locks, etc.) The other side of the coin(all the evil things humanity is capable of, were just unlocked) War
1 Freepoint spent giving any intelligent species' monster nightmares life(only in darkness unfortunately, and every monster is restricted to one human. For example, two humans might be afraid of intelligent Dyun, and their nightmares will create two intelligent dyun, but they cannot breed, are usually different on a fundamental level, unless the humans think the exact same thing, and their existence depends on someone fearing them. If things stop fearing lava monsters, lava monsters stop appearing.)
Chaos dragon faction created(100 of them currently)
Two outsiders captured and currently being essentially tortured in Vestec's personal plane.
Decisions, decisions, I can support the God of Life (right before I get to where I can create sentience, no less), or I can support the God of Winter- who can freeze parts of the ocean if I make him mad.
Sorry about that, I realized and then edited too late.
It's fine.
On the flip side, what Vestec is going to do will undoubtedly piss Escre off, so he can go get Vowzra and maybe a few other gods to go smack vestec around a little.
Never hurts to hit the God of Chaos once or twice. :p
There was only one outsider in that village, and he died. Plus, there's a problem with the word 'notice'. One does not simply glance down at the planet and see an outsider gamboling out in the open. Nobody except Vowzra and Svieand even know they exist at this point, I don't think. One'd have to stumble into Vestec's 'omniscience range' to be able to realize that it's something special, which you could very well do in your next post, however.
While I did admit that the Dyun have probably killed a few outsiders, they're 'violently stupid' as you said, and probably wouldn't report to Vestec like the Liaison did.
You said they're attracted to large populations of humans right? Vestec's is one of the largest, simply because he has given his protection to it. No Dyun, only a few Cimex, =Very little population loss due to them, the only real threats so far. It's been a tad bit isolationist so far due to A) It being in the far north, and B) Remember Vestec's little human he corrupted from that post with Astarte? Well, he's the leader and he is (surprise, surprise :p) a power hungry asshole.
Vestec is going to visit his village soon, and there'll probably be at least one Outsider in or near it. He'll notice (humans and Outsiders having different Essences, souls, whatever you want to call it), and go 'Oh! Something new to play with!'.
@Lugubrious Fair warning, Vestec will notice the Outsiders in his chosen village(s) (the ones he watches over and doesn't let the Dyun ravage and generally uses his inherent godly powers to stop the Cimex, thus it more or less thrived until THE NEVER ENDING WINTER). He will capture one or two(because Gods are always faster than anything mortal) and he will take them to his personal plane (which he will make in my next post that I'm working on) to corrupt and change.
On the bright side, Vestec isn't leveling up this post!
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Konan375