Assembled now, this plane's Mightiest heroes. Well perhaps not all were heroes, some good, some less good, and others simply follow their own sense of what is good. Certainly an interesting array of beings, all demigods, numbering six, and one uninvited guest. In these barren lands, where hardly any vegetation grows, the trees which appear here are naught but frozen over in the eternal frost. It was not as much as the driving snowstorms or biting windchill which made it a place for only the brave or foolish, but rather the guardian of this place which made it difficult to breach. Or perhaps a place for the damned, as they enter into the cave, their spirits being caught in the current beneath the river of ice. There were five of them once, forces of reality which manifested themselves long before the first Ascension. The Gods themselves were mortals once, but with their dealings with these elder entities, became what they are today. So too perhaps will history repeat itself, or perhaps not.
"You are all late, well, everything is late for me. Nothing is early, but everything is certainly late." The man in blue greeted the gang of would-be gods. He was dressed in rather strange attire, something of an anachronism for the setting, as he wore a navy blue suit, a business suit which belonged on some sort of gameshow-host, along with a light blue bowtie and white shirt, certainly something unseen in the current fashions of this reality. But alas, a being such as Eternity was not bound by the standard conventions of Time was it now? After all, it is Time itself.
But enough rambling on, there was an interruption which needed to be dealt with, a rather pesky ice elemental had followed Calico, one of the six chosen emissaries of their gods. With six half-divines here, this twisted work of sentient elemental magic, would be more of kicking down a snowman with a wrecking ball. Laughably easy, although Eternity preferred not to waste time on dealing with such trivial affairs, it seems that the Golden Calvary had vanquished the creature without even breaking a sweat, nor batting an eye, merely threatening the assumed perpetrator of the monstrosity.
"So let's try that again, Welcome! Welcome Champions of the Gods!" A moment of deja vu, as if time unwove itself and rewove itself to the point just before all of them arrived and the man in blue greeted them. Yet, nothing happened to the timeline itself, despite the strange sensation all six would feel in their perception and sensations of reality. "You are all late, well, everything is late for me. Nothing is early, but everything is certainly late."
"So what menagerie they have sent us this time, The Northern Avenger, The Stone, The White Knight, The Golden Cavalier, The Wind Demon, and The Collector. I do hope you will all get to know each other better through this, for fortune or worse." The man in blue flashed a smile, one worthy of a televised presidential candidate. He seemed to talk quiet a bit, but then again he did have all the time in the world. "But enough idle chatter, toss your coins into the river as your fee and the Barriers will allow you to pass, once payment is given. Simple right?"
The frozen river had a rather thick layer of ice upon it, which must be breached in order to do such a task. Beneath the ice, the coins of other champions long forgotten from times past lay submerged beneath the flow of souls. They were clearly not the first to attempt this, nor perhaps would they be the last. Yet as perilous as it was to become a god, the reward was far greater than anything one could imagine. Only five entities could surpass the might of a God. Here was one of them, set like a blue charmer as it walked upon the frozen pathway towards the mouth of the cave.
"But to answer your question Collector, simply look at those gone before you, and you are free to return those souls to me at any time, who are you after all, to judge where you have no right to? I am certain a friend of mine would have a vendetta against you, but he will enjoy watching you squander your souls before claiming your own should you fall like the others." An ominous warning? or perhaps just something to frighten them? What would unnerve a demigod? Certainly not death, or was it death? And for that reason they chose to become a god?
"Just follow the river, and it will guide you through each layer, I used to do a whole schtick about what to expect, but I'm sure you six can manage it. Oh and did I forget to mention? I no longer actually ferry the champions anymore, but my Boat lies in the frozen river, not on it like a floating boat would, but in it. Just at the mouth of the cave once you enter, I suggest you unsink it, it is the only thing which will allow you to pass through the invisible walls between the layers which segregate the damned. I'll be waiting for you back here, once you succeed in fetching the prize. Well, assuming there is at least one of you left to bring it back. If not I suppose you will be damned to the particular layer when you die.
And with that, the man in blue melted into the frozen river, becoming one with the waters as the champions were given their last good piece of advice before they were to venture into hell. One step at a time, across the icy path, to find the boat waiting for them below. The cave was inviting as the grave, cold and dark, lit by nothing as this was only the foyer of Hell, deeper still was the first true layer, Limbo, a place for souls, a quiet forest of the dead, where the somber spirits wisp about speaking of their miseries in death. Yet to get there, they would need to raise the boat up from the river, and once again break the ice. But to bear the load of the old Grecian ship would be difficult, let alone one sitting in the torrent of flowing slows. The first puzzle was clear, a team-building exercise that it may be.
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