The universe had it rigged against optimistic outlooks, when she was finally making terms with her life as a hero, the world turned around and decided it was time to go mad. How did even find the will to mess up other people's lives? She understood the egoist who didn't care if inaction caused evil, but villains and politicians had this very bothersome habit of spending their time and energy in causing trouble. A civil war? Who the hell had time for that!?
Nevertheless, here she was, stuck in this meeting, having to have left with her most basic clothing and hairdo to avoid being late. Sasuke was taking the lead, and, of course, he had to go and make the situation tense with 2A. "Ah, always the diplomat" she said to herself upon seeing the mess that ensued, at least it seemed it was one that was quickly defused, or so she thought, soon they were talking about politics, presidents, who would get what position. "Geez, can you believe these nerds?" Shiroko stretched her paper limbs and sighed.
Thinking of it, this could easily be her chance to leave the school, right? Mass murder ought to make her parents change their mind, surely, plus she was not looking forward to having to pick an internship at all, not only it was work, but most of the options were terrible to her, water and fire were the bane of her body, even though she didn't have to interact with that, she didn't want to risk the pranks, that left what? Matsushima, the overly stoic? Emerald, led by the overly murdery Snake-Eyes? Ah, it was terrible, she should just go home already...
But she also knew if she left and heard bad news later, she would feel guilty with thoughts such as "what if I was there to hold a villain back" "what if I could snatch them away from danger with my power". Her classmates could be a bunch of tryhard nerds, but they were her tryhard nerds.
Alright, some considerations on Class B chemistry between paper girl Shiroko (sketch) and her colleagues. These are of course just my personal notes, not statements.
Aoi (Venus) - Of all the characters, I feel like she is the most likely to be friends with. Shiroko's laziness ought to make her less draining to an introvert, someone you can just chill with.
Kaguya - Uh. Right, this is a bit complicated. On one side, Papergirl is a big comic, anime and trivia nerd, so there is that, on the other, she is ulta-lazy and weak which would be conflicting, however, she has a lot of experience in dealing with people who expect her to do better, plus Kaguya might be so energetic she just overpowers Sketch's ability to complain.
Anna - Probably neutral, maybe not the best opinion of each other. Shiroko is a bit of a smug brat so Anna calling her off for that or being lazy might just set up a wrong foot.
Tropica - I am torn, there are elements for them to not like each other, on the other side, Shiroko not fawning over heroes might also make her more bearable for casual conversation
Kira - Probably on good terms? Friendly? Shiroko wouldn't judge her for being irrational at all, just tease a bit.
Sasuke - Absolutely no prejudice over the lack of quirk from Shiroko, but she might tease him over the logical mindset and sometimes be a bit more emphatic and tell him to take care of himself and not study too hard.
@Lord Indra As far as meeting location, one likely location would be in the library, on one side a boy overworking and studying into the night, a dumbass paper girl who slept on a pile of papers in the afternoon and nobody noticed she was there by the time the library was closing. Before that Shiroko probably had a completely different view of him, but after getting the chance to talk she noticed she was being a bit unfair to him.
Hasaki - It's like they are opposites, his powers are the worst type for her, his prideful personality goes against her vibe, just feels like a bad time.
Kouseki - Shiroko is very likely to not care about some delinquent fame, she is also the most likely to accidentally stumble upon him caring for a cat as she sneaks around in paper form. I do think it would be neat if she was very casual to him, but that is up to you.
Sketch's body is paper-like, in fact, it actually takes an effort for her to keep her form "3D" and if exhausted or sleeping she tends to revert to a paper-thin "2D" shape. This comes with the expected powers of extending her arms into paper-like tentacles as well as folding herself like origami if it's necessary to hide or go through narrow spaces.
Compared to the similar Foldabody, the greatest difference is that this is a mutation, hence she doesn't switch it on and off, she is always paper, meaning she is extremely weak to things that are effective against the paper, such as fire, staples, and especially water (even a quick splash can keep her damp and ineffective for hours) plus her paper limbs even when launched at high speeds have no cutting or piercing power and have to rely on grappling and wrapping enemies. On the other side, making up for her paper-thin strength and resilience, er she can recover from wounds quite easily given a surplus of paper for her to absorb.
Therefore her position in missions and combat is scout-like, reconnaissance and support relying on stronger heroes, mobile but quickly in trouble if she is ever caught in a disadvantageous situation.
Her outfits are made of special printer nanites who follow and repair around the girl's paper-folding shapes.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Shiroko Sekkei is not an ambitious girl, her dreams are of an easy and carefree life where she can just sit in her room, eat snacks (typically colored and special paper) and read manga, being a hero is far too intense and tiresome for the lazy, work-hating girl. That said, deep down there is a good heart and she will try to help others if it isn't too much effort, she is sociable (though rarely the one to start conversations) and tries not to create trouble, despite often being a snarky brat.
𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝
As far as it goes, she is a normal girl with a very normal life for someone who had a mutation quirk. She was a bit lazy before her quirk manifested, but there is no doubt a mix of some kids bullying by writing on her, folding her, and the weakness and vulnerability of her paper-thin body made her be more of a shut-in who preferred to browse the internet and play games over going outside and meeting new people. Her parents pretty much forced her into a hero training school when it became clear she didn't have much of a direction in life once school was over and in their belief she would have an easier time making IRL friends among quirk users, however, even they had not expected Shiro to get through the Eirei entrance exam of all places, who knew years of playing puzzle games would have paid off.
Sketch's body is paper-like, in fact, it actually takes an effort for her to keep her form "3D" and if exhausted or sleeping she tends to revert to a paper-thin "2D" shape. This comes with the expected powers of extending her arms into paper-like tentacles as well as folding herself like origami if it's necessary to hide or go through narrow spaces.
Compared to the similar Foldabody, the greatest difference is that this is a mutation, hence she doesn't switch it on and off, she is always paper, meaning she is extremely weak to things that are effective against the paper, such as fire, staples, and especially water (even a quick splash can keep her damp and ineffective for hours) plus her paper limbs even when launched at high speeds have no cutting or piercing power and have to rely on grappling and wrapping enemies. On the other side, making up for her paper-thin strength and resilience, er she can recover from wounds quite easily given a surplus of paper for her to absorb.
Therefore her position in missions and combat is scout-like, reconnaissance and support relying on stronger heroes, mobile but quickly in trouble if she is ever caught in a disadvantageous situation.
Her outfits are made of special printer nanites who follow and repair around the girl's paper-folding shapes.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Shiroko Sekkei is not an ambitious girl, her dreams are of an easy and carefree life where she can just sit in her room, eat snacks (typically colored and special paper) and read manga, being a hero is far too intense and tiresome for the lazy, work-hating girl. That said, deep down there is a good heart and she will try to help others if it isn't too much effort, she is sociable (though rarely the one to start conversations) and tries not to create trouble, despite often being a snarky brat.
𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝
As far as it goes, she is a normal girl with a very normal life for someone who had a mutation quirk. She was a bit lazy before her quirk manifested, but there is no doubt a mix of some kids bullying by writing on her, folding her, and the weakness and vulnerability of her paper-thin body made her be more of a shut-in who preferred to browse the internet and play games over going outside and meeting new people. Her parents pretty much forced her into a hero training school when it became clear she didn't have much of a direction in life once school was over and in their belief she would have an easier time making IRL friends among quirk users, however, even they had not expected Shiro to get through the Eirei entrance exam of all places, who knew years of playing puzzle games would have paid off.
A simple tale, one that is known to all across the land, is that beyond the desolated seas of sand, where Ze’Kelia’s gentle embrace turned into a suffocating overpowering hold, there lies an oasis where the winds of winter come to life and push back the desert, leaving behind fertile lands that last all year.
The elders however will soon warn that this land of plenty is no paradise, for its wealth lies with a price. The lands, and all of its people, were slaves to a great sorceress, it is said many travelers, their mouths dry from long trips through the desert, arrived at the icy oasis and were offered their water, food and hospitality, unknown to them, the cost of these gifts would be their eternal servitude to the sorceress and they would never be allowed to leave her realm ever again.
The young will soon question their elders, why, if all travellers have been caught and eternally bound, how is it possible that the tale was spread? The answer is simple, not all young travellers forget the wisdom of the older and seasoned. Some knew an oasis flanked by icy mansions was no place to lurk into, so they merely observed, and saw the beautiful young enchantress in her tower of ice, her many content subjects, but also those who sang homesick songs when working in the farms or carving the ice.
Yet not all were wise enough to heed the elders’ warnings - some were even too brave to do so. One such brave soul was none other than the young Emperor who had come to claim this land. It was Ossurman the First, hardly sixteen years old and sporting only the first few twists of a coming beard. The young man had heard tales from local villages of the ice queen and showed up with his warriors to seize her lands for his growing realm.
At the door of her mansion a day when the Su’une stood at its peak, he waited in his golden armour and linen dressings, backed by a horde of soldiers and villagers. She would give him her lands if he so had to force her.
The villagers gasped as the door to the mansion started to move, they had never seen the sorceress leave her home, much less at the request of a stranger. Still, the ice crystal door slowly opened up, and waiting at the other side was a young woman, a teen, her white hair contrasting with her dark skin, a cold chill filling the air as soon as she appeared. She took a few steps forward, her face not hiding her annoyance.
“Who are you, who comes to my home, to my lands? Who are you whose shadow takes the form of a horde of ruffians?”
The young golden-armoured man at the head of the force stepped forth and cast his arms out to the sides in a diplomatic, yet assertive stance. The scales of his armour rung with movement and behind a thick throat guard that reached him to underneath the nose, he spoke, “Be calm and be at peace - I am Ossurman, and I have come to bargain.”
“I have seen merchants before, but none that bargained with soldiers. An odd good to sell, but I am unsure if I need those, as by irony of fate the heavy armor is easily outmatched by the soft snow.” as she spoke her words the shadow of a cloud would creep across the land, dimming the light for just a brief moment. It was not a lone cloud, the horizon that was once clear now had a sea of white and gray slowly creeping forward.
The young lady looked smug yet she did not smile, she shook her head. “But still. What example would I give to my people were I to be this rude? Please, be welcomed to my palace so we may talk. But ah… I only have two cups, two chairs and two plates, I am afraid I cannot serve your friends and as such it is best if they do not come in.”
The Emperor bowed as low as his armour allowed him to. “Oh, that is quite already. I just had a drink in my tent.” He snapped his fingers and two servants came over with a small yet comfortable stool, upon which he sat down, just before her door. “How about we talk on your porch instead?”
The enchantress stared down at the emperor for a long moment, her icy blue eyes not revealing what emotions she felt. But she nodded, bowing back only so slightly despite her flowing black silk dress not hindering her movement in any way. “That too is fine. So, Ossurman, what brings you to the porch of Thea, she who brings the snowfall? What is this bargain that sent you across the dry deserts in search of my oasis?”
The young man gestured outwards. “A thousand leagues from here, people spoke of a jewel in the drylands - a gem without equal. I have come and I have seen her lands and her house.” He looked up at her with a glint in his eyes and unhooked the throat guard to reveal a broad, boyish smile. He lifted off his helmet, unleashing a bushy mess of short, sweaty hair and handed it to his servants. “And I would like to ask for her hand.”
With wide eyes the sorceress gasped. It was like seeing an icy mirror break as all of the sudden she truly looked just like a young girl, not the feared magician. Covering her mouth she looked away from the young emperor, trying to hide a dark blush in her cheeks. She had heard of the emperor, she was no fool, but she had expected threats and claims of her land, not of her hand.
"How presumptions! Do not take me for a foolish woman." She said without facing Ossurman, quickly and somewhat clumsily stepping back as the door started to close. "Now begone. The ice storm will soon be here, and if you insist I will make it a full blizzard by nightfall!"
The Emperor blinked briefly, but then nodded with the same smile. “Very well. I will leave for today.” He bowed again. “But I will come back tomorrow.” He then turned on his heel and walked away, his servants following faithfully.
The snow would continue to fall throughout the rest of that day and into the next one, the morning mist lasting almost into the peak of Su’une, many soldiers shivering as it was clear the ice enchantress was trying to make them leave. Nevertheless, the next day, the Emperor showed up at her door again, dressed in his armour fed thick with unam fur, though his servants still wore their desert attires and tried to move as much as they could when their Emperor wasn’t looking. The young man knocked on the door and sat down on his stool.
He was made to wait for a long time, but eventually the icy hinges made a cracking noise as the door opened ever so slightly. “You are awfully persistent. You might lose your army and your life here if you insist on this courtship.” the sorceress whispered as she peeked through the door.
The young Emperor snickered. “My men and women would die for me if I asked them to, just as I would die for them and for my empire.” He tugged the fur around his neck a little tighter around his body. One of his servants glared with envy for a brief second. “Before I came here, snow was unfamiliar to me: The lands which I rule have much to see, but nowhere does it snow; nowhere except here.” He clicked his tongue flirtingly. “You have shown me a great deal of beauty, my fair lady. Won’t you continue to do so by my side?”
Her hold on the door became tight enough for her nails to carve a trail into the ice. “Beauty? That is… I have never seen it like that. But perhaps that is because since I was born I was always followed by the snowfall, one may find the winter gorgeous at first, but given time they will learn to dislike it. It's cold, it's treacherous, and it has an icy heart. You say you want me to be your bride, but how long until you tire of a woman that cannot smile? Of a woman that when embraced does not bring warmth but instead chills.”
The young emperor smiled and reached out his mittened hand. “What man cannot help but reach out to a woman in such suffering? What groom can stand on the side as an angel of ice lives alone and abandoned in the middle of the desert? You say you cannot smile, but I say that is a challenge.” He grinned. “You will smile for me.”
Her lips stayed firmly pressed into a line, yet her eyes for a moment showed a sign of hope, and then a hint of doubt, they darted to the side again, unsurely moving by the empty porch, yet outside, a few rays of light started to shine, the cold breaking just a bit. Her grip on the door loosened and Thea opened it a bit more with a shy step forward. “You truly are a fool.” she scolded. “But for some reason I want to hear more of those words of yours…”
The Emperor smiled and flexed his hand again. “Then take my hand and be mine for eternity. Together, we will be the rulers of this world - my crystalline angel, my winter lotus.”
The sorceress rose her own hand but kept it reluctantly close to herself. “I never… For all my life my only company was this ice palace, it is a beautiful place. In the morning I tended to my garden of crystalline roses and at night I played my harp. I did not want to step outside, into the sun, but, maybe…” she stepped closer towards the young emperor, small steps, but little by little she descended the stairs.
As she walked into the sun her body gained a gorgeous light, her icy white hair sparkling like strands of diamond, her eyes deep and showing a sense of trust towards Ossurman. The young emperor had set off in this journey merely desiring her lands, but up this close, the sight of Thea, the ice sorceress, was as mesmerizing as the stars high above, and there was something about someone so powerful being so vulnerable as well that simply invoked a desire to protect and cherish. Still, the flames of ambition did not burn any less bright, with the powers she had showcased in these two days, the ability to control the weather, there was no doubt having her as a consort would bring great prosperity to the empire, which always had to be alert against droughts and dry spells.
She was now in front of the emperor, looking up into his brown eyes. She extended her hand back to him, allowing her cold skin to touch his. “Ah… it's so warm.”
The emperor had removed his mitten for the moment, and his eyes flinched briefly at the painful cold. He forced his charming smile to remain unchanged and snickered kindly. “And yours is like a welcome breeze in the blazing sun.” He removed his other mitten and, with a bracing swallow, he cupped her hand between his own. “Come out into the sunlight, will you not? Feel it on your skin.”
She did as he had asked, stepping into the sun so she could be closer to him, her body scintillating like the light rain that comes when the sun is still unhidden by clouds. Feeling a turmoil of emotions she had never thought to be possible, she felt light-headed and tumbled forward, into his warm embrace, her hands going to his shoulder for support. “Ah… I never thought I could feel such warmth within my heart. I thought all that was left for me was an eternity locked away in the palace, hiding from the world in my icy cage with my heart growing ever so colder. But now, I feel like I am free…” she still did not smile, but her delicate lips did relax, as if she was ready to.
“You are, my snowbird, my sweet empress - you are free to join me. Leave me not alone with this burning emotions - come with me, marry me.” The emperor discreetly switched the hand touching the icy hand and gestured southwards where in the distance, the snow looked to fade. “You are no longer a prisoner - you are a free woman.”
She nodded at those words. “Free… indeed.” her cold hands rose up from his shoulders and touched Ossurman’s cheeks, guiding his head to not look at the distant lands but at her. She then delivered a soft kiss to his lips. The closeness of her skin and hair forced the emperor to close his eyes, it was then that he would notice something very strange happening. As he held her, he could feel her weight becoming lighter, her hold on him weaker, the air was quickly warming up and the soldiers said something to him but in that moment of love he could not listen to them.
The sound of massive walls of ice crashing upon one another, however, was impossible not to listen. The emperor’s attention was stolen from his wife-to-be and forced upon the mansion, or what was left of it, as everything, from the pillars to the roof to the garden, lost its form and shape under the light of the desert sun.
Realization would strike the emperor only when it was too late, when he returned his gaze upon Thea he was no longer holding the sorceress, instead, he would see snow quickly melting within his embrace, fleeing in between his fingers, falling to the ground and sand, before rising upwards towards the heavens.
Thea, now free of the weight of a solid ice heart, would have smiled brightly at the emperor, but clouds of vapor could do no such thing. And she traveled the land, falling and rising again, she would say “I am glad to have met you. Thank you for sharing your warmth with me” if only rain could speak.
It was strange how fast the heart could jump aflutter with emotions of love, and the emperor had genuinely fallen in love at first sight with this angel of ice. So it was that when all of her disappeared, he lost all the charm in his face and smile and instead collapsed to his knees. Lost for words, he could hardly even weep. Instead, he lifted his naked hands and face to the heavens to feel the warming rain. It would be his tears.
The young emperor Ossurman goes out in the desert seeking an ice witch who lives in an oasis, it is his plan to gain her hand and along with it her lands and power over the weather so he can bring more rainfall to the empire. Upon meeting her, however, a feeling of genuine love starts to form between the two of them, and, with great effort, he manages to break through the ice witch's cold heart. The warmth of love, however, makes it so the ice witch melts away, leaving the emperor behind as she raises to the sky as a cloud, which later brings down rain upon the empire.
Ita and Eco were young siblings full of energy. With the world returning to normal quite quickly they found themselves growing alienated from their village's ways. While they wanted adventure, fights and inventions, to go out and tame the restored lands, their parents and elders were more than happy to just stay in the little village among ruins. Why bother building a new home when you can just live inside a far larger one? Sure given many years people who didn't rely on the leftovers of the past world would have an advantage but at this moment the old people were too shortsighted to see the benefits of straying from their traditions and comfort.
The situation became so bothersome that the sister would add a plea for the gods to help them with that among the other prayers the two made when leaving to fish or hunt. It was such a prayer that reached Paratiri's ears, the winged goddess immediately sympathized with the young duo over the old order and decided that she would be the deity to help the two of them.
"We should really just go exploring up the river one of these days. We know there are other villages, so it would make trading so much easier." Ita complained as she finished setting up the net.
"Don't push it Ita, you know how hard it was for father to allow us to use this boat. With the elder, you know the drill at this point, he will just think we are trying to hoard things for ourselves and would not allow anyone to trade." Her brother answered, not bothering with optimism anymore.
They continued to prepare their supplies for the day until a great wind came forth and great shadow spread from the other side of the lake as something large blocked the sun. Looking up the siblings saw a massive half-woman half-avian creature, could that be the god they had heard about?
"Hello mortals! It is I, Paratiri, the living storm! I have heard your prayers and am here to bring you a blessing! To see youth shackled by the fears of the old breaks my heart, and I will bring forth a great blessing that will guarantee they will need to rely on your quick minds and healthy bodies."
The two mortals looked to each other for a long moment. "A god!?" "Indeed. A goddess!" "I did not expect someone to come answer our prayers!" "Oh great Paratiri, please, bring forth your blessing to us!"
The great harpy smile, rays of light escaping between the heavy clouds in the sky. "Alright! That is what I like to hear. Behold! The great blessing of Paratiri!"
She opened her wings and started flapping them, the clouds came down in the form of a misty storm and quickly assaulted both the siblings at the river's shore and the village behind them. The ruins which stood since time immeasurable was quickly disintegrated, along with all the leftover structures the mortals relied so much on. Nature started to take over where mortal acts had shaped the land, great trees springing forth and even animals seemed to appear from nothing.
And then the storm was lifted, and the siblings found themselves looking up startled at the goddess. Their village... it was all gone, the people's voice could still be heard, very annoyed and shocked, but all the structures had vanished. But not only that, the tools they were carrying, the fishing net, the lumber they had collected, the baskets they had weaved, the boat they were intending on using and even the very clothes that covered their bodies had been disintegrated.
"Ah... what the hell?" Eco gasped covering himself. "Yo! What the fuck did you just do?" Ita questioned raising her fist in anger.
"Oh? Ah. Perhaps I went a bit overboard. The logic is that, you know, if all these old things are keeping you down, then I would just make them go away. I guess I shouldn't have gone as far as leaving you and your people naked in the wilds, but hey, here is a chance to prove your worth! Forest is fresh, full of food, start over, it will be great fun! Also a lovable excuse to cuddle to some pretty boy or girl once the night falls and it gets cold"
The siblings did not seem to agree with Paratiri on that definition of fun. The harpy goddess clicked her tongue, mortals really were a rude bunch. With a shrug, the storm goddess simply left the barking humans to deal with their forced re-start of civilization.
Harapi
Storms were not discreet, so it was no surprise that Paratiri became known to mortals relatively quickly. Unfortunately for the goddess, it was mostly bad press, mortals associated her with trouble and savagery, man eating beasts and floods, which yeah, valid, but there was plenty of cool and useful in her style and it felt bad that it was basically being ignored. She needed to work on her PR, but more often than not she found mortals to be too unreasonable and nitpicky.
Paratiri was tired and she decided she needed a nice, quiet place to perch. Making islands or any sort of land was not her forte, thankfully her fellow gods had made many types of land that she could just steal borrow, so for a while the storm simply traveled from land to land, swooping down, clawing at the ground and then nabbing chunks of land from the continent to throw into the northern sea.
And in this way the Harapi islands were made.
She picked up the northernmost island and rose it up with a storm, giving a nice overview of the shard when she perched in the highest tree of this island. First issue she noticed, is that even with her two daughters back the whole place was awfully empty of cool, winged life. So she got to work, like she had made the first two, Paratiri laid eggs which would hatch into harpies, sphinxes and all sorts of feathered divine spawnlings. Some were sweet, others were twisted, all of them were loud.
These hundred or so harpies, while unable to create spawns of their own, would act, intentionally or not, to integrate more the Harapi ecosystem, over the centuries this, and the different environment compared to where these lands were originally fro, would make the archipelago into more integrated, even if extremely diverse, lands.
The mark of thunder
In the dry lands, where banditry was more profitable than honest work, a man was making a name for himself. Thin scars in a vein or root-like pattern spread out throughout his right arm and chest, he had gained them when thunder struck him when he was a mere boy. As he grew older and a capable combatant, people started associating him with the lightning, as a blessing of the tumultuous goddess or even that he was her son. He always denied that, it felt annoying that people would worship the very thing that almost killed him.
Today he was enjoying the spoils of being a paid guard, banditry was nice, but being a mercenary you got to ripoff people and nobody questioned your looting, it was the best of both worlds. He also, for many reasons, did not enjoy being a bandit, the world was crap and he felt like he needed to do something to help it be less crap, even if his main worry as far as civilization was the production and commerce of his beer.
As he was drinking, people started to whisper, and he just knew what it had to be, some newcomer had showed up in the trade town with a big iron sword and was seeking to duel with the famous fighter. Sighing he turned, but what he saw was not some scrappy teenager boy trying to make his name but a woman, a beautiful one at that, she had long grey hair, the color of storm clouds, and vivid yellow eyes. He dreamed for a moment that maybe she was there to flirt with him but the armor and the sword made it clear she was not.
"Who the hell are you." Arth questioned.
"Arth the thunder kissed, you have offended my honor." the woman said with a stern tone.
The mercenary sighed. "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" he quickly finished his beer. "But let me guess, you came here for vengeance, you want to fight me or some shit? Yeah fine. Let's dance pretty face."
The silver haired woman rose her hand to stop him from taking out his sword. "Not in here. Let's come outside, away from the rabble."
"That is an agreeable sentiment." he smirked, and did as the woman had asked, leaving not only the tavern but the city altogether, stopping by an open field outside. "So, here is good enough?"
"Yes. Today I will make you pay your dues. You have said regrettable things, thunder kissed."
He rolled his eyes. "Stop with that bullshit. I am not strong because I got hit by lightning when I was a kid. You people are too superstitious."
The female warrior answered equally, also rolling her eyes, then she drew her sword. Arth did the same and not wanting to be on the defensive, rushed the woman. Yet no matter how much and how quickly he swung his sabre, every single attack seemed to miss her, the few that did connect were easily stopped by her own blade. With a smirk, the woman decided to end the battle, not with a swing of the sword but with a kick to the stomach, Arth taking a few steps back before collapsing to the ground and coughing.
"What... the fuck was that!? What are you? How are you so fast?"
"I gave you a gift, a gift you keep denying you received. Did my lightning fast movements impress you? You are lucky I am not that angry, I am a merciful goddess after all."
Arth quickly raised his head hearing that. "Goddess!? You couldn't be..." his words were stopped by a quick and soft kiss, a burning feeling brewing within him before he was forced to scream to the sky, light emanating from his mouth and eyes. When he came back to himself, the goddess was nowhere to be seen. He looked upward to the sky with a contemplative expression, opening and closing his hand and feeling like something within him had changed.
Behind some bushes not too far from him, Paratiri was spying on her work, this human form she had shapeshifted into was truly useful when it came to being discreet. The man truly hadn't been blessed by her before, but with humans always thinking she was bad news the tale of some warrior BLESSED by her was too good not to get involved. Now she had granted him an actual blessing, more stamina and faster movement and reflexes, if this worked out she would surely start hitting people with lightning at random to create some more thunder kissed warriors to spread her name.
1: Some siblings whine about how the elders rely too much on leftover things from the old world and live in ruined buildings. Paratiri shows up and takes all the civilization away, leaving them naked and afraid in the middle of a forest. 2: Paratiri decides she wants islands so she goes all over the continent grabbing bits of land and throwing them in the north sea. Also she hatches some more of her harpy-daugthers. 3: Arth is a famous warrior who was hit by lightining when he was a kid. He hates that people think that gave him power. Paratiri loves that idea and beats him until he is convinced that indeed he had been blessed by the goddess all along.
Since the incident at Lililia, Paratiri had decided that it was not worth interacting with mortals on such a personal level yet, at least not until they became less foolish, or her guardians learned to better focus on the objective. In her immense wisdom, she decided that the best way to help them to learn was to let them explore the world by themselves, Zephyra flying to the west and Azibu to the east. Paratiri, meanwhile, went to the north, and along with her, came the winds and rains of her storm.
”Hmm. Seems like a lot of my fellow gods are hard at work. This place is starting to look half-decent even. Maybe I should build something for myself later. Perhaps a nice island off the coast. Though the eternal bottomless pitch black void does take away a bit of the charm of the beaches. Sigh."
It was then, as she crossed the stratosphere, that she noticed something down below, standing at the tallest of the many rock outcrops within the plains below. She immediately knew it was a god, the first one she had ever seen. Quite excited, the goddess dove down at a high speed, crashing from heaven to earth like lightning. Roosting in the rock right behind Chakravarti, she merely stared at first, eyes shining with curiosity, feeling a bit shy about what words to use, meanwhile the skies darkened, thunder roared and the wind started to pick up speed. ”H- Hello. I am Paratiri the Storm."
The family god kicked into motion, spun around and summoned forth six swords, their last two hands protecting their baby boy. ”Why do you other gods always sneak up on me like this?! What do you want?!” They looked overhead and grimaced. ”And what did you do to the sunlight?! My Ossy is going to catch a cold!” They turned one of the swords to smoke and proceeded to wipe their eyes of rain water.
”Oh. I had not noticed the infant. A moment, I just have the habit of bringing up a storm whenever I flap my wings.” the goddess answered very awkwardly as she opened up her wings and raised them high, a ring of clear weather started to open up, only round the rocks where the gods sat. ”Sorry for that. I did not mean offense. You are just the first of my divine equals who I have met. So I wanted to… say Hi I guess."
Chakravarti deflated slightly and dispelled the swords, returning to a reserved stance. They eyed her up and down and looked almost guilty for a second, turning away briefly. ”Right… Of course. Forgive my brash and uncouth behaviour.” They folded six hands and bowed. ”I am Chakravarti - I speak for and rule the clans and dynasties of this world. A blessing to meet you, lady Paratiri.” They looked up at the thundering clouds around their eye of the storm and blinked. ”What extraordinary power… I have met none like you who commands the storms with such ease. Is it instinctive?”
The goddess nodded at that, quite proud of her storms. ”Yes. I know and feel the storm like I feel the feathers of my wing. But I just forget that I cannot just bring the rains to every meeting I have, I was just a bit nervous as of late, given some problems I had with some creations of mine. Anyway. Nice to meet you, Chak." Paratiri smiled and the rains became softer and more gracious, a rainbow forming near them.
”No, no, please do not be humble. I do not mind the rain.” With a swift movement of the hands, they conjured forth a tower and a small umbrella for the little boy. The umbrella was a nice shade of pink silk, which Ossurman seemed to appreciate quite a bit with a clap of his chubby little hands. ”In fact, I would say the rain is most welcome here. I made this land in hopes that it would be green for miles, but I walked its length the other day and found that much of the green disappears, well, much too soon. The soil is without water, and no rivers pass through here…” They shook their head disapprovingly. ”Your contribution is appreciated, do not misunderstand. A land like this, though, needs quite a bit more than a dribble.” They then waved a hand dismissively and put on a smile. ”But enough about me - what about you? What brings you here to my son’s soon-to-be empire?”
”Your son? I guess that makes senses. And empire? That is curious. But a bit of ambition never hurt anyone. He is quite cute too, I bet he will be a handsome emperor when he grows up." the harpy laughed. ”And well, when I came here I did not know it was any soon-to-be-empire. I just had a bit of a disagreement with my two, how should I call then? I don’t want to use daughters but it's something close. So I needed some time alone, searching for a good plain land, ravaging it with storms. It’s very relaxing, and while some may complain while the storm is happening, I bet they would complain too if I just stopped and no rains came anymore."
Chakravarti feigned politeness over what seemed to be a rather stern frown. ”Well, you -are- family, so I expect it will all pass over and return to normal soon. That is what family does, after all - they take care of one another.” Then they turned to the endless yellow plains, which were now growing muddy with rain. ”... But I certainly hope you do not mean ‘ravage’ as in ‘destroy’, right? I would rather my son has -something- to rule after you have had your fun.” They gave their son another gentle frotté with the towel and the boy gave a little sneeze. ”There, there, you’ll be alright…”
”I am the storm not the apocalypse incarnate. I may be rough at times but it is no different than the other faces of nature, opposite in all forms to the unnatural destruction our world almost faced." the storm pondered, looking into the baby, remembering the words. ”On the other side, I am still a goddess, a sentient being, I can be appeased or perhaps find common ground in the form of a deal. The bending of natural law cannot be done freely after all."
The family god peeked up with a studying frown. ”And what sort of deal would you be referring to? I thought you had come to have your own fu-...” Their eyes then spied outwards across the plains, which after the incessant shower from the skies looked almost eerily verdant - the dry and uninviting grassland, which likely would have turned into a desert with time, had sprouted small, green shoots in the blink of an eye. Chakravarti rubbed some rain water out of their eyes. ”By Creation, what speed! Is this the true power of water?” They rose up and went over to the edge of the eye of the storm, sticking out their hand to catch some droplets. ”What magic; what miracles! This is much better than I had thought! Yes, to have rain like this all year - my son’s empire would be a basket of sustenance for the whole world!” They spun back around and conjured forth gold, silver, jewels and spices for the Storm Goddess. ”You said you wanted a deal, yes? Will this suffice to keep the rain here for eternity?”
The other goddess looked at Chakravarti’s gift and smiled, however, she did not move to accept it. ”There is such a thing as excess. A land of constant rain all year around would not breed the hardened people to protect such a fertile empire. And it would also make landslides very common. ending in a more casual tone than she wished, Paratiri puffed up her chest to try to look more noble. ”Rather, I believe I will make the following promise. I will come to this land every year, and bring with me the rains that will last for a whole season, the citizens will have time to prepare for it and as such stay safe, and, if wise, they will be able to use the verdant season to bring prosperity all year around.
The winged goddess then took a more serious tone, her face moving down as her focus turned to the baby. "This comes at the promise, however, that the young emperor will not be greedy, that he will not seek more blessings in search of perpetual rainfall. If he does so, there will be a cost, his body will be unhurt, his empire might even prosper, but something of value will be lost." she warned in a soft but stern tone. "If you find this deal acceptable, then take this as the symbol of our bond." the goddess raised her wings again, towards one of the rainbows that had formed after the rain, it darted across the sky and concentrated between her open wings, crystalizing into a regalia, a ring of colorful gemstones.
The family god was reluctant, their eyes slinking back and forth with timeful thinking. However, as they studied their conversation partner’s expression, they recognised those familiar lines in her face - the same sort everyone displays in that serious and earnest moment when the deal has been offered and compromises or alterations out of the question. Chakravarti pursed their lips - rain half the year?
”Well, then, Paratiri… You have got yourself a deal,” they said with feigned warmth and extended their hand to take the ring to study it closer. With the crystaline artifact turning and moving between their fingers, they said, ”Is this an artifact of sorts? Does it have a purpose or is it, as you said, a symbol of our agreement?”
Paratiri shook her head. ”No, the item itself doesn’t hold any power. It is more of a contract? A symbol of my promise to always bring the rains to this land."
”I see,” responded Chakravarti curtly. They looked down at Ossurman and gave it a small shake. ”Look, Oss! Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it shiny?” The little baby boy gave a small squeal and grabbed playfully for the crystal ring. The Eight-Armed God surveyed the grasslands again for a brief moment. ”Oh, I cannot wait, I cannot delay… As soon as I find some way to quell these incessant earthquakes, the work can finally begin at last. These lands will, by the grace of Creation, be--!” Their eyes shifted back to the avian goddess and their demeanour deflated somewhat. ”You’re still here.”
The goddess who was still there laughed. ”Was just resting my wings a bit. I will be going now, and if I do find some god able to bring stability to the lands, I will send them your way. Stay safe and see you again, hmm, next year?" with that said, the storm rose up to the skies again, much slower than her fast arrival. And slowly, the skies cleared again as she left for new lands.
After a while, Ossurman cooed something to Chakravarti and the family god gasped. ”Oh, misfortune, you are right! I forgot to propose!”
Paratiri, after having a bit of a disagreement with her daughters, flew to the north plains seeking a place to just unleash a storm. There she meets Chakravarti, while the start is rough due to the storm goddess bringing the storm along with her, they soon start to talk about how rain could really help Ossy’s future empire. Chakravarti offers treasures in exchange of perpetual rains, but Paratiri denies it, saying it would just lead to weak and spoiled people, instead, she offers to come once a year in the form of a monsoon season. All she asks in exchange is for Ossurman to not seek out more rains in a moment of greed.
Paratiri: 1MA (reduced to 0) - Create the Northern Monsoon, a weather phenomenon where great rains will pour down over the northern quarter of the continent for half the year (mostly affecting the Osshur Plain, but can affect other parts of the region for those who would like). Paratiri: 1MA (reduced to 0) - Create “The Promise”, in that Ossurman is not to seek more rains beyond the monsoon granted to his empire, otherwise he will be cursed to lose something important to him. (The geas explicitly says, however, it will not bring bodily harm to him or harm his realm)
"Boss... are you sure it was a smart idea to come to this world? Sure it isn't a collapsing magical rift like the one we have been stuck in for generations, but, hmm... it's a bit, well you know... Trash." Eimhir Pure-Voice complained, sighing as they still hadn't found a proper untouched forest to properly settle in this world, it had been two days since they had left behind the goddess and ventured out on their own in search of a new home in this new world.
"I will admit that the lack of a sun is discouraging, but look at the bright side, if everyone is dead, that is fewer people to come bother us." the elected boss of the group said. While initially, they were a group of 30, they decided to split into three to maximize their survivability in these wastes. "Furthermore Saraid Longtail has created some of the best endless bottles we have ever seen, each of these holds four times the water, so we are well supplied in that at least."
"Yeah, but Longtail went with Farseeing's gang, all we have is good old Gormal Black-Hair here, whose hammerspace ability is a pitiful two times bigger, and even then half of the bottles he enchants implode." a forager called Cailin said in a snarky tone.
"Why that is quite rude, do you have to stab at me like that? Isn't this land being painful enough to us." Gormal complained.
Another bickering session was about to start but was quickly interrupted by the whistle of Roswita Fastswinger, who was the only "monkey-legged" of the group of 30 arrivals. She was invited to the "elite" group formed by Farseeing when the 30 divided into gangs of 10, but had denied such a proposal by the fact she was a close friend of Cailin.
"Oh dear berry bushes, please tell me you found a forest," Eimhir begged the scout.
Roswita shrugged. "Not exactly a forest you see, but I saw humans, they are going, um, towards that direction, past those buildings. They didn't seem too dry ya know? So probably have a lot of food, it's not a proper forest but it's our best shot."
The group gulped at that, it was their best shot, but it was also worrisome that they were betting their little lives on that.
The folding brush
"ROSWITA! ROSWITA! ROSWITA!" the goat-legged cheered as they threw their scout up and down in commemoration. Her plan had worked and they had found a somewhat decent forest to settle in by following the human group. The issue was that they were right by a human village, this could be big trouble. But there was no time to think about that right now, they had to prepare their new home first.
Elder Adelinde did not share their excitement, however. "I fear this forest while better than the wastes is worryingly lacking. There are no bees to work with for their wax, no berries, no flowers, not even spiders. What a terrible world this is."
Eimhir Pure-Voice stopped her happy moment to smile at the elder. "Don't worry Elder, I will prove today that I am the best Biomancer in a generation! I will turn even the hardest roots into succulent trees."
Adelinde nodded but then shook her head. "I appreciate your hope Eimhir, but there is a bigger issue, the human village, I worry that they will do something to us if we are found out."
"Aw come on, we have not even done anything bad to them! No child stealing or eating, no cattle raiding, no making weird symbols in their crops."
"But people in this world are desperate. And desperate people are often violent."
"I feel like we are acting in prejudice, let's try an amicable approach." a younger Coilbrywen said, that same fluffy one that had dealt with the goddess.
There was an air of doubt in the makeshift camp of the newly arrived species, but they agreed that perhaps they were being a tad too paranoid.
"Eimhir, could you change this dandelion flower for me? Make it so the puffs are more durable. I have a device in mind which I want to trade with the humans." the fluffy one proposed, Eimhir nodding and getting to work. She placed both hands around the flower, a green glow and sparks started to form around it.
"I will have it ready by the arrival of the next morning." the biomancer declared.
The next morning, a human family of foragers started their daily routine of going to the forest to grab branches, roots, and herbs. It was a mother, a daughter, and a father. Exactly the sort of public the fluffy one had expected! She looked down at the little brush in her hand and smiled.
She waited in a grove, calmly brushing her fluffy hair and humming, needless to say, the family was quite shocked when she saw the Coilbrywen. "What in the gods' name is that!?" the father said in shock at the weird humanoid.
"Oh me? I am just a child of the forest," she said with a giggle.
"Your hair is so fluffy miss." the little girl said.
"Why that is because I brush it every day with a very special brush made of forest flowers." she showed a little box to the girl, and the child was kid confused at that. It was some sort of box, not a brush. "Oh, I see you are confused, let me show you." the Coilbrywen continued, she took away the lid of the box revealing the folded hair within, then by placing the lid of the box back into the box but upside down, the hairs of the brush would go up as the lid moved against them.
"Whoa! That is kinda cool!"
The fluffy one nodded and giggled. "Yes! I could be willing to trade it if... eh!?" her attempt to initiate a trade with the humans was interrupted when the father suddenly grabbed his axe, the towering figure looking menacingly towards the Coilbrywen.
"Husband what are you...?" the wife questioned.
"Silence woman. You, forest beast, didn't you hear my daughter? She wants the brush. Give it to her, and maybe I will be nice enough not to chop your head away."
The Coilbrywen gulped in shock at the man, soon engaging in her pitiful teary-eyed mode to see if she could convince him. "B-but... I built this device with great effort, I spent days searching for the flower and nights preparing the brush. You can't steal it..."
"Are ya calling be a thief goat-legged freak? Give me the brush. Now. And don't ever come near my family or the village ever again."
The fluffy one became too bothered and simply threw the brush at the man who was hit in the head before he could catch it. "Why you little...!" this time it was his turn to be interrupted as more of the Coilbrywen showed up, slinging stones at the man, forcing him to retreat in pain along with his concerned family.
"Are you okay young one?" Elder Adelinde said. "I knew we would need to keep a watch on you. I hope you are not too bothered by the brush. You did spend the night crafting it after all. Let's us go back to the camp and leave these humans alone, hopefully, this is the last time we interact with them..."
"No." the fluffy young one said. "This is just too much, I managed to talk down a bloody god from smiting us, who in all of the existence does that BRUTE think he is to threaten me like that? HUH?" the fake tears were gone, now there was just a very angry scowl. "He is going to pay."
"Don't threaten violence child, it is not our ways."
"Oh no, that man has to suffer, but I want something more," she smirked.
Singing cow
Things hadn't been going well for the village.
In the ruined wastes, water having just returned not too long ago, they still hadn't established a stable source of food to feed themselves, the area was mostly grasslands, too poor for crops but decent enough for grass, cows had once been domesticated in this region and after the worst of the apocalypse was gone they had managed to recover a few. They were the backbone of the village, the meat and milk provided were not only useful for the diet, it was a key source of trade with other more fortunate villages.
So anything happening to the cows was always a sign of great trouble, and that was exactly what had started to happen in the last few days. Right after her husband stole the comb from that goat girl and came to the village crying about how he was attacked without reason by the "forest demons". The village had made some halfhearted efforts to look into the forest, but most just took it as yet another tall story from a man who always spoke of slaying lion-dragons with his dad in his childhood.
Since then, things started to change. People, herself included, started to see spirits when resting time arrived, shining green, going all over their fields and vanishing before anyone could go near them. Then, the cows... became weird. Their milk turned sour and sticky, and their breath, by gods their breath became insupportable. It was a foul smell that forced the village to make them graze far away from their homes. Even their meat became hard to chew and gained a bitter flavor. Traders went from regulars to the village to outright avoiding it.
When she slept, she heard whispers in her head, coming from the roof, from the windows, "return it" "thief" "sinner". Her husband was having the worst of it, it seemed nature started to conspire against him, just the other day he was assaulted by a very angry squirrel, and it seemed birds gained particular aim when it came to hitting his head with their droppings.
"Husband, you should... return that haircomb. We shouldn't have stolen it from that girl..."
"Oh you really believed that little goat-legged thing didn't ya? Typical really, the monsters always aim for the weak-minded. Listen woman, I used to hunt things in the wilds with my da. Demons, fiends, aberrations. But I guess you are right, I thought about our girl and the brush and decided to just take that and not cause a scene in front of her, I should instead have beheaded that little bastard I should. End the trouble right there. In fact... Yeah. It's no secret. They must be behind all of this."
Without further thought, the man ran towards the center of the little village. "Brothers, listen, I have figured out the source of this curse. It's those damned forest fiends who attacked us! They must be poisoning our cattle and plan on killing us all when the darkness comes!" he declared. The villagers didn't have much of an option but to listen to the yelling man, and as desperate as they were, maybe, just maybe, this once he was telling the truth.
Then they heard the weirdest sound of their life. The mooing of a cow, but it had tone, it had a purpose.
"A liiiiaaarrr is amooooooong you! A thieeeeef of what is nooooooot his"
"His foooooouuulll aaacts bring the laaaaaannnddd foooouuuulllneeesss"
The villagers were in shock to find a cow not only singing, but also doing something somewhat close to a dance. It was surreal, to say the least. And the lyrics, of course, they started to think about what could it mean, someone stole something?
"Hey, Tark, when you found those fiends, you didn't... take anything right?"
"Hey... didn't you daughter, show up with a fancy comb these days? The one that is all shiny and new."
Questions started pilling up and soon the wife broke under the weight.
"Yes it is true. My husband did this to us. The forest children didn't attack us for no reason. No, Tark threatened them to not come near us ever again and outright stole that hairbrush my daughter has been using!"
From away, on a rooftop, Roswita giggled. "Well would you look at that, the plan has worked. Guess I should prepare the folks back home for the humans coming to say they are sorry.
The humans didn't lose any moment, as soon as they pieced the scene together they banded against the man, and after beating him, they forced him to march along with them to the forest.
"I... I am sorry." the man said, tears rolling after the beating he was given. "I shouldn't have stolen your brush. But... you shouldn't have brought forth this curse... OUCH!" he was punched in the head for speaking up to the "forest folk"
The fluffy one simply shook his head. "We didn't bring any curse, you brought it with you, stealing is wrong, especially from us, who are connected with this forest. When you stole from us, the land enacted its revenge upon you."
She then smiled as she got the brush back. "Thanks for returning it, but wouldn't you like to keep it? I have a trade pro..."
"No way ma." the little girl said. "That thing is bad luck and made the land mad with us!"
"Yeah, we won't bother you ever again forest folk, we will always ask and pray before taking anything from the forest and we will never take anything from you ever again." a villager said before they all hurried away from the Coilbrywen.
At this, the fluffy one sighed. "Oh damn it all. These humans sure aren't bright. There goes my trade opportunity."
"Well, at least they won't bother us and leave us in the forest, we can focus on making food for ourselves now."
"Yeah but I still feel bad, once I come of age, my title is going to be Fails-at-Deals at this rate."
"Oh? We were thinking God-Appeaser but if you prefer that~" one of the older Coilbrywen teased.
1: The Coibrywen have divided into groups of 3 for survivability, using a special ability to make containers big on the inside, they are well supplied to explore the wastes in search of a proper forest for them to live in. They find humans and sneakily follow them into a forested area.
2: Settled in the forest, they don't find any of the typical targets of biomancer magic in it, before they can start thinking out of the box on how to mutate plants and animals, a young one among them proposes trading with the nearby humans and creates a fancy hair brush as a potential trade item. When she tries, however, the brush is stolen by a human who threatens her with an ax.
3: Out on revenge, the Coilbrywen start to mutate the local cows to make them increasingly terrible, they breathe smells putrid, their milk is horrible and their meat is bitter. The man who stole the brush tries to rally the rest of the village against the Coilbrywen but when he gets their attention a cow starts to dance and sing about his foul deeds. Scared, the villagers simply beat the man up and give the comb back, however they are so scared now that trade becomes impossible.
At some point or another Paratiri became very bored of simply creating storms. While she enjoyed the sight she wanted to see more people reacting to it. That is when she noticed how the world was filled with the presence of other gods, which was good as it would be very boring if she was the only god that existed.
The great storm bird set flight towards were many such gods were gathering but at some point became distracted as she in the sky she saw the sight of a very interesting village. It was a big one, bigger than any other she had seen in the wasteland so far, at least thirty people and even some animals. She couldn't help but dive down towards it to see if the mortals here would be more friendly than the last weirdo she had met. The mortals of the village of Lililia in turn were terrorized by the sight of the huge harpy going straight for their homes, many screaming or fleeing, windows and doors shutting while others prayed for the gods to save them from the creature.
"Aww how cute they are praying! And look, so many of them are so shy they hide from me. Calm down little mortals, I mean no harm! I am Paratiri the Storm! Worship me and I will help you, as I am a generous goddess!"
The mortals needed more than a little while to fully understand what was happening. There was little to give credence to what Paratiri was saying but the fact she was not trying to destroy them was enough for them to start to believe that at least she meant no harm. Probably. Goddess or not, she was big and mean-looking enough to be of some use for them.
"Oh, great storm goddess. We of the proud village of Paratiri welcome you into our homes! We have been praying for a solution to our problems, our village is being raided by many dark creatures coming from magical portals in the nearby caves and forests! Many of us have been killed or kidnaped by such fiends. If you could vanquish them, we would be eternally grateful! We would offer you anything you desire in sacrifice, our wealth, our food..." the leader of the village approached the goddess to whisper. "Even human sacrifices if you wish, just saying, the daughter of the Rosery family is looking ripe for a blood ritual."
"Dude what the hell..." the goddess shook her head. "Cough. I meant to say. No need for sacrifices puny, weak, ugly little mortals! I will destroy these fiends for you and I wish in return is that you remember my act of great, and might I say, badass heroism, and forever cherish my goodwill. Also maybe a few statues! A few statues would be definitely nice!"
Paratiri looked around searching around for all the anomalies in the region, noticing there were many. As much as she enjoyed a good fight, it would be boring to have to go in each and every single one of them, and there was the danger one would raid and destroy the village while she was dealing with another one. "So! In my great generosity, I will give you protector guardians who will keep your village safe." she blushed before continuing her announcement. "Just give me a moment, I can't do it right here you know? And no peeking, I WILL smite you, okay?"
The villagers were left confused as the goddess walked away into the nearby forest and vanished from their sight. After a little while, she returned carrying two eggs, which she placed at the center of the village.
"Soooooo, ahem." she sighed, still blushing. "I call forth two guardians to secure the humans of this village!"
One of the eggs hatched, revealing a half woman half bird of athletic body, looking almost like a child of the goddess but with a smaller and more mobile build.
"This is uh... Zephiris! Yeah. Ain't she cute?
The other egg broke too, from it rose a less humanoid creature, a great human-faced winged lion.
"Ahhh? the goddess said in confusion, she wasn't a pro at creating spawns but that was a bit different from what she had in mind. "aaa....zibu. Azibu. The ssss...sphinx. Yeah. Hey there! Good to see you!
"I will serve you with all my wisdom, brood mother." the sphinx said. Zephiris didn't introduce herself as she became distracted with a shiny metal tool a farmer was carrying.
"Don't call me mom like that you are making me feel old and I am not even a day old yet." the goddess whispered. "Anyway! I will be going now, off to fight otherwordly devils. Look after the villagers okay?"
Coilbrywen
The goddess yawned as she called forth another fearsome wave of thunder to fry anything that dared to move in the half-dead forest she was raiding. "Humans had trouble with this stuff? Geez. We will need to set a training program or something, it's just shameful. the goddess complained as a dragon-shaped insect tried to for her, only to be ripped to pieces by a simple blow of wind from the goddess's mouth. This caused more trees to fall, making a weird rip in space-time become visible, in it the goddess saw the glimpse of a strange otherwordly place on the other side.
"Mmm! This should be fun!" she declared as she used her wings to increase the rip size and slip through.
But as she arrived, she felt heavy, very heavy, for once she felt the massive size of her body. The wind in this misshaped otherwordly jungle was also far more rebellious, much of it not kowtowing to the goddess or respecting her authority. "Whoa... A handicap huh? Should make it fun!" and as she said that, she was pounced by another of the dragon-shaped insects, this time it was a real fight, in which Paratiri had to use the full extent of the power remaining in her, wind, thunder, and her talons, to fully bring down the beast. At the end of it... she felt alive, a true battle was finally had! Even in this world, she could still beat the other creatures into submission, the storm was inescapable.
As she fought more great creatures, small shadows started to scutter through the treetops and among the bushes, whispers in words unknown to her. The goddess barely noticed it and didn't care at all after all what could those small shadows do to a divine bird of her size?
The response came soon, as all of the sudden, they, in unison, pounced her. From her hair to her wings, to her legs, and even her shoulders, small furred humanoids blitzed her. Some merely held to her, others outright tried to bite her. "Owie, ouch! You little bastards, I will... ARGH!" as she tried to shake them off, she stepped backward, tripping, and falling over the portal she had come through initially, crash landing back onto her own dimension.
With her powers restored, the goddess called forth winds strong enough to force the creatures off her, down to the ground or crashing against the trees and rocks. "Now... Let me see these little bastards!"
The small creatures were humanoid in nature but clearly not human. All of them had long furred ears and even longer tails. Some were fully covered in fuzzy fur, others merely had it in their limbs and other areas, most had goat-like legs but some had hand-like feet. None of them had died in the crash landing or when being beaten off by the goddess, showing their great durability. Sensing their situation, they soon started to gather in front of the deity, kneeling and kowtowing to her.
Hands for feet is closer to monkey-people like
"Please! Do not harm us! O great deity! We just wanted to escape that terrible world!" the cutest, fluffiest one among them said, black dotty eyes shining with small tears forming. "We are sorry! We are very sorry! We didn't think this through! We were just desperate... that was such a horrible world we the Coilbrywen were stuck in for so long... and you looked like a ray of hope!"
The goddess winced at those soft tearful words, then she remembered the biting "Aw... Wait. No! You bit me! Many of you did! How would that help you leave huh?"
The small one cringed at that, having to take a minute to think how she would explain that. "Ohhh.... that. Uh. It's a bit shameful to say. It is just that the goddess was so beautiful, posing such a magnificent, shapely body... we lost ourselves a bit. Ehehe. Something so pretty had to also be tasty right? And hungry like we were, some of us lost our mind and bit your delicate, smooth, skin. We are very sorry o great fearsome awesome and majestic goddess. We promise to never bite you again!"
Paratiri closed one eye and focused on them "So... no more attacking me? Will you also worship me from here onward. she asked.
"Sure! Sure we will! You saved us after all!" they all nodded in unison at that.
"Mmm. Fine. Can't blame you, little mortals, for being so desperate. It also seems all this fighting was enough to close down this portal, so that is at least one to go! So we are set. You can stay in MY world if you want. Don't pounce me ever again."
With that warning Paratiri left the forest, going towards the village to tell them of her victory.
"So... what was the name of that goddess again?" one of the Coilbrywen
"Meh who cares." another one answered, smirking.
Setbacks
The goddess sighed deeply "You Did WHAT?"
The sphinx Azibu stared back at her unmoving. "Brood mother. I decided that looking after a creature as unwise as humans were too much of a struggle. I devised a plan to prune all but the wisest of them. I created a little riddle and a test, the ones who failed would be, well, devoured."
"You ATE everyone"
"Well, that isn't really my fault, is it?" she yawned, quite sleepy after such a generous meal.
"Zephyra! Why did you allow this? And Azibu, don't go to sleep! Did you chew on them? Is anyone alive? Gods be damned I was set up to set my shrine here and you do that to me you little uncivil cat thing"
"Me?" the winged woman said. "Oh me! Did something happen? I was collecting these shiny things."
Using the tip of her wing bones to massage her temples the goddess sighed in pure annoyance. "It's fine Paratiri, breath deeply, you can fix this. We will call some storms later to deal with this stress." she whispered to herself.
1: Paratiri arrives in a village called Lililia, offers to help them with their dimensional rift problem in exchange for worship. She lays two eggs from which two guardians hatch, Azibu the sphinx and Zephyra the harpy.
2: Paratiri fights many things and eventually goes into a rift, there she fights, but is ambushed by little creatures. She retreats back to her own world and is ready to fry the creatures but they beg for mercy. She lets them go, as such introducing the Coilbrywen species to Galbar
3: Paratiri returns to Lililia just to find all of its citizens have been devoured by Azibu. She is stressed.
