@Trevor1001@Ace of Flames01@Rechonq@BlackPanther@Zelosse@Otomosthecrazy

Cia was in a bit of shock still from everything happening at once. "Oh my, this is truly terrible." Cia said with a worried look on her face. She stood up, trying to ignore Sheogorath like the others.

"PAH! You lot are useless. Fine! Don't listen to my warnings! Just know that you will regret not staying to hear me out." Sheogorath said to the others. What he meant to warn about could have been anyone's guess, but ignoring Sheogorath was making little sense anyways. Oh if only the knew of what Sheogorath had tried to warn them of.

After ripping whatever was on his mouth off Sheogorath held out his hand summoning the Wabbajack. He tapped it on the ground and in that moment a fiery pit appeared below him making him disappear, back to earth to make fun of the young human's it seemed. It was fun to watch the Wifi go out and then all those on their phones struggle to find something to do.

Cia gave a sigh before looking at the others. "I do hope it was just a warning about earth's cheese becoming extinct or something." Cia said with a sigh. "Anyways, back to the matter at hand, we should consider upping whatever defenses we have for now. I'll go and check on the state of the underworld as soon as I am able." Cia said.

Every time Cia looked at Rhona however a small gleam of jealousy could be seen in Cia's eyes. The girl got far more attention than was needed. All because she was weak. This itched at Cia as she believed that the world shouldn't work like that. Despite Cia acting innocent her mind was not so. She had a torrent of emotions that rarely ever showed. The only one to ever have seen these emotions out were Flemmings, her brother.



During all of this Cythlla had been doing something else on earth. She had taken to a small island where she had many of her followers gathered. Some of them were offering up sacrifices, currently it was a poor old woman. Cythlla believed that an aged soul was the best kind of soul. Much like her father, she loved to twist souls and play with them. Old souls were harder to break and far more fun. After Cythlla had her fun she turned the soul loose sending it into the underworld. There had been a large amount of souls entering as of late with her mark of madness on them.

@Cuccoruler@BlackPanther@Trevor1001@rechonq

Rhona sat there in shock as the mad man from the videos had appeared before her very eyes. "H-how is this-" She was cut off when the bread had turned into... Rabbits?! Rhona gasped as her sandwich had turned had turned into a pair of rabbits. The rabbits squirmed; scratching her with their hindlegs and biting her hands in order to escape. Startled, Rhona flinched and dropped the rabbits, squeezing her hands as the rabbits scurried away. However, Leo didn't let them get far before he killed them as he roared loudly. He continued to swat at and kill any rabbit that dared approach Rhona.

Little beams of light shot out of the bite marks and scratches on Rhona's hands and arms. It stung terribly but it wasn't enough to faze her much.

@Zelosse

Rhona just sat there in shock and confusion. That was... Until he appeared. A creature of pure darkness and terror that took the form of a skeleton... No... A demon covered in bones and tar. A heavy aura surrounded it, making it feel as if the very air was poison.

Rhona froze in fear and held a look of true terror as she stared wide eyed at the creature as it approached the gods. It's raspy, hissing voice spoke of the gods of old. Yet Rhona heard nothing but the sound of her racing, beating heart. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream. But her body would not move and no sound came. She could only sit and tremble violently, utterly helpless.

Leo sensed Rhona's distress and took a few steps back, backing towards her. He would not let anyone lay a finger on her without severely paying the price for it.

@Slendy

Scott Rutherford
Lysakr, Alfheimr
Month One

Scott managed to convince Belle to hang around long enough for him to properly read the ancient book, instead of just skimming for a quick glance as he thought he'd have to do. In return Scott offered himself as a conversationalist besides Belle's usual companions, who were evil demons and that simply couldn't be healthy! As that was kind of an unfair trade he allowed Belle to study the few tomes of magic the Warlock had collected, though most were on Conjuration, Demonology, and Destruction magics, not the safest or most useful fields... but modern magic all the same.

Scott was nearing the end of the Mistakes Chapter when he discovered the enchantments on the book, ancient, powerful, enormous enchantments. The power needed to power such things did not exist in mortal Earth any longer. He asked Belle about the purpose of the book beyond it's stored knowledge and immediately became interested in finding a source strong enough to make it's powers active again. Of course the first place he looked was at mundane electricity, but even their largest, most efficient machines could not power the book even if he had the capacity to directly turn the energy into magic. Next he appealed to a Seer in western Russia, and her answer had simply been 'Elves'. Used to the vague hints and riddles his kind so delighted in, Scott quickly set to work researching Elves, and then he met one. A bitter man forced from his home after it's sacking by the Merged in the War of Immortals.

Scott managed to get him to share the secrets of his homeland with him, and though he never mentioned how he convinced the elf, he did say it had been quite costly information. Now they knew what they needed; an Alfsteinn, Elf-Stone. For uncountable years the Elves of Alfheimr channeled a bit of their magic every day into a stone so they could tap into the power to defend their home if attacked. Eventually the cause was forgotten, and the daily ritual simply became a cultural tradition, after all it was not often they were attacked and when they were they could handle themselves.

Until the Merged went to war with the Pantheons.

By the time the Elves knew how to use the stones again they feared them, even to use them in defense of their cities, the power of an Alfsteinn was fathomless and opening even a tiny crack could allow a storm of immense magic to destroy their entire realm. The fact that there was one in every city was a dangerous prospect. So they hid the stones deep within their temples, and layered them with defensive and obscuring spells so they would not be discovered and accidentally set off during the attacks of the Gods.

Scott believed they could create a device to regulate the amount of power released from the Alfsteinn to minuscule amounts, and so convinced Belle to go with him to Alfheimr in search of one of these stones. Hundreds of cities were destroyed in the battles upon Alfheimr, some completely wiped away to nothingness or sunk deep into the dirt. Others were crawling with summoned beasts and monsters left over from the invasion.

Belle and Scott would find Lysakr first, a city of burnt out husks and crumbling ruins. Vitovlad and several other of the more fiery inclined Merged had formed a formidable team during the War of Immortals. Lysakr was one of their victims. Crazed elementals of fire and constructs of pure flame still wandered the city aimlessly, forgotten by their creators and left to their own simple tasks; kill the enemy, and since everything on this world had been an enemy during the war... trespassers would not be tolerated. To make matters worse, many of the fires were magical in nature, and still burned all this time latter. Many of the Elves who had perished in the inferno had become spirits and shades, ghosts imbued with the magic surrounding their deaths and becoming mindless demons of rage and flame.

Scott stood on the edge of a ridge just outside the city. Lysakr had been built in a crater-like valley, surrounded on all sides by inclines to make a bowl shape. This gave the two adventurers, as well as Belle's unwanted tag-a-longs, a great vantage point over the massive city. It had probably once boasted a population near 30.000 people, and it was a sprawling thing with more than the expected longhouses, several multistory buildings lined the lake at the city's center, the body of water was fed by two rivers from either side, both of them covered by bridges and what looked to be wreckage of canoe-like ships.

Scott whistled appreciatively, "Impressive, but I'm thankful I only fought the dead in the war. Imagine having something like this on your conscious? What a mess." He frowned down at the city, looking for anything that stuck out to him, but it was all scorched stone and crumbling charcoal. Just black, and black, and more black. Occasionally a spot of unscorched gray stone could be seen, or the winding of the transparent river reflecting the slightly less black sky, but for the most part smoke and same-y tones made it hard to determine what had been what. "See anything temple-like?" He asked Belle, giving up and turning back to their camp on the ridge. It was a simple thing, a few tents and a couple water-proof trunks for their things, all of which had been shoved through a portal on a cart, which rested nearby, looking slightly beat up from where Scott had accidentally rolled it down the ridge and had needed to summon it back to him with his magic. Needless to say, his accident had been embarassing, but his recovery was rather impressive, showing off his fast reflexes and talent for spellcraft.

Landon wasn't sure what to think of these warnings. As evil as Thalios may have appeared, he must care about the well-being of the gods to come warn them. The thing about the dead gods made it a little more scary. Their are plenty of stories and methods of raising gods from the dead. Some are known for having died multiple times. But they took care of them before, if another war broke out it may be bloody, but the merged should succeed again. Then there's the rabbit loon. He may seem crazy, but there's the off chance he is right that danger is coming. And what worried Landon most was if they spoke of the same thing.

He wanted to begin asking the rabbit loon what his warning was, but with the speed and reason of his entrance, he again disappeared. Landon thought of following him, but a pit of fire was the last place he wanted to go. He thought of just handling one problem at a time. And besides something was still off about the surroundings. Landon took great care to notice everything about him. The feeling came after both the rabbit loon and Thalios arrived. It would make sense that it was one or both of them, but now rabbit loon was gone and the feeling lingered. It didn't seem right, but he would just pass it off as Thalios for now.

Landon also noticced the light coming from Rhonas bite. It confused him even more how a being of light was sick. Some gods such as himself had mortal features and if terribly weak could get normal sicknesses as he had when he was young, but how does a being of light get sick? That would have to wait until later though.

@cuccoruler
"So are the old gods in the underworld? I guess I thought they were really destroyed. How effective is the Gatekeeper at keeping people out of the underworld? Can he stop portals from opening there or does he really just block the gate? I really have a lot of questions. Can you take me with you to the underworld?"

Lysakr, Alfheimr

It seems Scott was persuasive enough to get Belle to form some sort of partnership with him. He wouldn't mention it but he did enjoy the company that wasn't evil spirits repeatedly attempting to steal your soul. Awhile into his study of the tomes he recieved from Scott it seems his new companion stumbled across the books secret. Something Belle didn't want to worry about until at least one chapter was nearly complete. Scott has came this far and Belle wasn't gonna just leave him in the dark on the true intentions of the book. He briefly explained the books true purpose and promised him that he'd go into more detail when the time calls for him to.

Unable to get Scott's mind off the power source that could active the hidden abilities of the book Belle decided to help him. Assisting for finding an Earhtly power source and accompanying him on an expedition to find another way. Surprisingly the search lead them to Russia which was the most questionable moment between the two. After they left Russia and began packing for Lysakr, Alfheimr. Belle couldn't stop thinking about how in the hell did he get information about a realm related to The Yggdrasil Tree in Russia. He decided to hold off on the questions and be grateful to Scott. For he was about to venture into one of the cities that was rumored to taken one of the most devastating attacks of the War.

Belle was legit excited. His book about the Merged verses the Patheons would be more complete. Soon they arrived in Lysakr to find the Alfsteinn. The view was beautiful, the destruction, wondering constructs, the warn out and abandoned city was a breathe taking site in Belle's eyes. He over heard Scott speaking of the war and he blankly stared at the city before them. "I believe the screams and defeat of the weak that was once here would be pleasurable." Belle said emotionlessly searching for any signs of a temple or something resembling sacred ground. "They where afraid weren't they, so to avoid someone like an army to rush in and break it on mistake would only be possible if it wasn't hidden. So maybe the temple in under ground." Belle replied to Scott. Oddly he let out a small laugh and a smile to compliment it when Scott cause their things to roll down the ridge and him having to recover it with magic.
@PerseusArchean

@Slendy

Scott Rutherford
Lysakr, Alfheimr
Month One

"Heh, I know a Hexblood* you'd like." Scott commented, "She always loved it when her victims screamed, connected her to The Heart she said. I don't know about that, but they are called Hexbloods for a reason." He wouldn't be surprised if the more mad species of the Fae all turned out to have frequent conversations with the mysterious artifact. Scott finished putting the fire of their campsite out, the last thing they needed to do was alert the Elves they were poking about their ruins.

"Come on then," he said, standing and brushing off his hands. "We won't find any underground entrances from here." He strode back over to the edge of the ridge and scanned the side of the slope. "There, it's a path down. Probably used to reach Harkelda, that's the one up that mountain there." He gestured past the path to a high peak in the distance, lights dotted it's southern face. "That city was largely untouched, probably because it's so small in comparison to this, but that's the most active Elven settlement in this region so we'll need to watch our backs that way."

He began making his way down the slope towards the path that would take them into the city. It was a simple dirt path, and it was slightly damp though it had yet to rain the entire time they'd been here. "Be careful what you touch, we don't want something to collapse on you, or worse, curse you. The Elves were magicians, curses and blessings were their specialty, so if it's still shiny it'll probably turn your blood to dust if you touch it." He warned, he doubted such a spell existed in this place, but he'd dealt with enough demons to know the curse did in fact exist.

He felt a niggling feeling in the back of his mind, he was forgetting something, but what was it? He narrowed his eyes at the city, catching a glimpse of a shapeless flame horror in a collapsed tower near the entrance. This was unlikely to go well.

Still, he could just fill one of them with fel energy if they got overwhelmed. The corrupted being would turn to attack it's fellows as surely as it'd attack them, so it'd be distracting enough for an escape. There did seem to be an unusally few number of firey evils within, not that he was complaining, there were still plenty, but he couldn't help but wonder where the rest were if they weren't wandering the streets?

Well, they'd find out soon...

* - Hexblood: Crazy vampires. Think Malkavians.

Amgarrack, Amgetoll Forces
Sha-Brytol Mobile Space Center, Earth
Month Two

A new star joined the night sky, a large, green star, coming closer and closer. Urgent messages were sent down to the surface from space stations and satellites, overnight every Earth government sprung to life like a startled herd of gazelle. Anyone with half a brain could tell something was up, and that something happened to be aliens. Or what they thought were aliens. A giant UFO had suddenly appeared very close to Earth.

For several hours nothing happened, at least not with the object in space, but on Earth missiles, bunkers, live broadcasts, and a lot of other hyperaware activities flared in to action. Then a single shuttle, unnoticed until it appeared over the UN building, touched down. Out stepped two aliens, abruptly silencing the skeptical disbelievers, unarmed as far as could be told, but weighed down in what appeared to be carapace-like armor and armfuls of technology, not the least important of which was a screen that said 'Hello', switching the language every few seconds. Aliens had come to Earth, and they had made peaceful first contact.

@rechonq@Ace of flames01@Cuccoruler@BlackPanther@OtomostheCrazy@Zelosse

Yato swung his katana at any rabbits that got close to him. As he glanced around he saw the others had their own way of dealing, or not dealing, with the rabbits. The light Rhonas was emitting was a strange sight to the somewhat sheltered god. With Sheogorath gone with and most of the rabbits dealt with he decided that he would like to help. "I would also like to go to the underworld." He turned towards Cia to see if his offer to join would be denied.

@Ace of Flames01@Rechonq@BlackPanther@Zelosse@Otomosthecrazy

Cia nodded to both Landon and Yato. "Help may not be such a bad thing. I must admit." Cia said smiling at them both. Cia opened up a portal that would send her to the underworld with the others.

As Cia left the others would once again see Ratatoskr appear. "U-Urgent message!" Rata said while catching his breath. He took a moment to catch his breath before speaking to the others. "We have the first reports of Alien contact on earth. Beings from another planet!" Ratatoskr said excited. It was certainly rare to see beings from another dimension show up, though that wasn't unheard of. But another planet entirely is a completely new thing, even to the gods. This had never happened the history of the earth. "A meeting is being held back at olympus about what to do. Any who have suggestions please make your way to Olympus immediately." Ratatoskr finished delivering his message then continued on to contact any other god who was not in the area.

Back at Olyumpus many of the gods were argueing about what to do with the new visitors. Some wanted to kill them for fear that they were a threat. Others wanted it to be left alone. Some even wanted to go and embrace their new visitors. Flemmings was presiding over the meeting as he was at the head of the council due to judgement being one of his domains.


@Trevor1001@Rechonq
Cia, Landon, and Yato all appeared at the gates of the Underworld. The Gatekeeper was there tending to his normal duties of guarding the gate. It was the only entrance into the underworld. There were several spells placed by Flemmings actually to prevent anyone from entering except for Cia and himself. Everything seemed well at the gate though, as there had been no intrusions against the gate. "How is everything?" Cia asked the Gatekeeper as she approached him with the others behind her. The Gatekeeper turned to look at them with emotionless eyes. "All is well, no one has come here in the past year except for you." The Gatekeeper answered in a rather dark tone of voice. He was a very intimidating figure.

Alec snorts and stands shaking his fur out. He seems to be safe to touch now as he walks toward the portal. He hesitates for a moment then goes through to mount Olympus. He figures in this form he can listen to what the others have to say and think on it without being totally pressure. That and not many know about this form so it was an advantage. He sits near the gods who are talking with his ears pricked forward.
His black fur seems deeper then black and the gold on him seems to glimmer. He seems extremly attentive especially since this is a new situation and this is the longest amount of time he has spent in God realms compared to the Egyptian underworld and earth.

Amgarrack, Amgetoll Forces
Sha-Brytol Mobile Space Center, Earth
Month Two

Amgarrack floated in a sphere near the bottom of the ship, looking down on the stunning green planet in awe. It could see the divine power radiating from the planet. There were gods here! Amgarrack wasn't alone anymore, and neither were the Urtoks. For the many centuries they had been exploring space, they had only found three other planets with life already on them, and Earth was the fourth, but the first one with a sentient species on it. The first one with gods.

Realms beyond the mortal world seemed to hover around the planet like invisible bubbles, containing a whole other world inside. It was ingenious, breathtaking. Amgarrack wondered why it had never thought of that before! And looking down on the world divinity seemed to touch everything! The gods were active, creators and participators in this world's life! What wonders awaited him down there? ...he could only imagine, and wait. The Urtoks would set up a meeting with their gods in time.

---

Jakob Frisk
Jortunheimen, Norway
Month Two

Well... He had found the place, a tower in the middle of a national forest of all things, exactly where the fortune teller had said it would be. It was well lit, and it was warm, but it was empty. Of people that is, spell books and small artifacts lined shelves and desks in a disorganized fashion. Hesitantly he picked up the first book he could find in English, which he was fortunately rather good at. Destruction, the study of offensive and elemental magics. He sat down for a long read.

---

Occus, Boreas
Olympus
Month Two

Occus approached the portal with a conflicted expression marring his face. He'd just received news from Kani, the visions were true. Hecate was going to return, and Occus was going to be attacked, possibly killed if he wasn't prepared. On top of this troubling news he had just been informed of another meeting of the Merged, this time to discuss the aliens. He had received countless reports from Fae around the world; the Humans were dazzled and anxious, and the aliens were certainly real.

He had mixed feelings on the extraterrestrial mortals. He wondered about their gods, or if they had magic. He wondered how they would change the world, but he didn't think they needed to have a meeting about it... Especially given that the last meeting had been so useless, only ending in more arguing and restating of the same opinions over and over.

He sighed and looked to see if he could discern anything from Boreas' face. This would be the former Greek's first time back in Olympus since switching sides and Ox wondered how he would manage seeing the empty seats of his former peers. Boreas seemed only excited though, about the aliens no doubt. They walked in silence now, but when he'd first found out he had continued on an inquisition of the Fae, bombarding them with random questions, and of course none of them had answers.

Boreas shot an easy smile at Ox's curious frown. The action put him at ease, they would find a way to deal with the upcoming turmoil, and this meeting would be an ideal place to take a position and rally allies. For a while they could sate Boreas' curiosity about these aliens, but they needed to focus on what was coming instead of the mortal's affairs with outsiders. Seeing something in Ox's face, Boreas went a step further and threw an arm over the younger immortal's shoulders. Boreas' could still see the disturbed, frightened emotions hidden deep within him, obviously the visions of his own death was still affecting Occus.

They stepped through the portal into a garden on Olympus in sync, pausing near a fountain and observing the surrounding area. "They're late." Occus observed unnecessarily, "and it looks like Khione has gone ahead."

Boreas shrugged, "Did you want to wait for them?" He asked curiously. These days Occus seemed more interested in his children than their own father. Zethes and Calais had handled themselves well enough for thousands of years before Occus had even been born, wherever Occus' worry came from it was misplaced.

Ox surprised him though, "No, we should go. I don't want to miss anything important, and I know you want to hear all about these aliens." Zethes and Calais would probably not come anyway, they almost never attended anything official.

They started walking again, towards where the council took place in the hall where the former seats of the Olympians still acted as decoration. Boreas snickered, "Yeah, I do." He agreed readily. "Do you think the aliens use magic?"

"I've wondered the same," Occus shrugged, "I don't see why they wouldn't."

"Thinking about recruiting them into the Fae, aren't you?" Boreas asked with an amused grin. Ox only gave him a look that said, 'what do you think? of course I am!' Boreas was still laughed when they entered the meeting.

"...we already have enough mortals on this planet! We don't need them learning to travel the stars and making friends with who knows what kind of gods!" A woman yelled intensely, "What if they drag us into a war with whatever they encounter out there?! I say we get rid of these... things, before they cause us any trouble."

Well, she's certainly passionate... Ox observed to himself with interest.

"Wipe them out?" Boreas asked, surprised, "Do we even know anything about them? We could learn so much, why would we destroy them before we have learned all we can?"

@PerseusArchean



Lysakr, Alfheimr
"I guess you can introduce me to this Hexblood after we complete this quest." Belle replied with a wide smile across his face. Scott putting out the campfire was a sign as its time to go again. He stood dusting himself off and awaited for Scoot to leave the way. Belle followed him having a full on conversation with Arai who decied to show himself after a close week of silence. "So this is a city within Alfheimr. I believed this place to be a wondrous site to behold." Belle looked at Arai and then back forward in the direction he was looking before. "It is, this is the beautiful cause of a war against the Merged and a reason why humans should remain on their good side.

Soon Scott led him to a path leading to a small settlement unscathed by the harsh effects of war. Belle nodded to Scott's warnings being more meticulous with his actions as they moved on. Not to shortly after his warnings Scotts movements became more slower and cautious. Belle couldn't see what he was seeing do to him being a few feet behind him. He walked closer to Scott trying his best to keep his movements silent. Seeing the unidentified object decorated with flames stumped Belle. He never seen something like that in his life. "What is it...?" Belle questioned Scott in a tone of a whisper. Even without a answer Belle could still tell that the creature would be some type of threat. Just in case escape wasn't possible Belle readied himself for a fight.

@PerseusArchean@Cuccoruler

Rhona had entered the portal with Alec and had arrived. She was nervous and held a lingering ill feeling. She had seen the bitterness in Cia's eyes and she knew that it was directed at her and Rhona knew all too well of the reasons. She was weak. She knew that... And she hated it. Rhona clentched her fists. "I'll show her! I'll show her I'm not weak!" That thought surged through her mind as she passed through the portal.

@PerseusArchean

On the other side lied Olympus. Rhona had arrived in front of the door that lead to the meeting room. She opened the heavy doors. The gods present were already in argument over the aliens. However, one voice in particular had caught her attention. A goddess stating that the aliens should be exterminated.

Exterminate. The word sent a shiver down Rhona's spine. Rage boiled inside her, yet she managed to keep her composure. Rhona took a deep breath and summoned as much of her courage as she could. "NO!" She screamed at the top of her lungs in protest. The room fell silent and all eyes shifted to her. Rhona felt the tension in the air, weighing her down heavily. Her heart raced but she did not stop. "While it's true that the Earth has plenty of mortals already, they have not harmed anyone! They have clearly stated that the wish to coexist peacefully! So why but give them a chance?! We have nothing to lose and everything to gain from taking them in! I know that the past month has been a hard one for all of us... We have all been hard at work to stabilize the mortals. But that does not mean that we should let this cloud our decision! I only ask that give the aliens a chance. Let us meet their gods. Let us learn from them and their reasons for coming! And should anything go wrong, I promise I will take full responsibility!"

Rhona was breathing heavily and her heart was racing. Her vision blurred and she felt dizzy, yet she stood tall. She knew that she was not the child of a well known god and that the pantheon she was part of was no longer worshiped but she hoped that they would at least consider the idea.

@Ace of Flames01

Flemmings turned to look upon the goddess who had spoke up. She offered to take full responsibility should the aliens turn hostile. "If they turn out to be out to harm the human's or the earth itself, your head will be taken and you will be locked in the underworld." Flemmings stated while sitting in his seat among various other council members. "Are you still willing to take full responsibility for this?" Flemmings asked once more. He was harsh judge but if Rhona truly did mean to take full responsibility and this failed she would be killed and sent to the underworld. They barely knew anything of these creatures, for all they knew the aliens could be planning to betray them later.

Thalios fumed at the response of his warning by the picnicing gods, save those who had left to find the gatekeeper and investigate his claim. Thalios dared to hope that they found some clue about the madness that had overtaken him so effectively.
News spread quickly as a meeting of the gods was swiftly organized. The idea that it was about space creatures only stoked the bitter flames of his rage as he heard these fools complain about whether the aliens should be accepted or annihilated. Did none of them understand the true threat? The young goddess Rhona, whom had been at the picnic, spoke up and gave Thalios an idea.

Creatures like himself were not uncommon in Olympus but rarely bothered with the politics of the gods. Maybe speaking up now would yield some better results. Thalios flowed behind young Rhona, his tar-like body staining the ground with a dull shriek as it bubbled briefly before laying quiet. His hand rested upon her shoulder as he spoke. "I side with the younger. The aliens are of no concern, nor are their gods. We must unite against a new threat. I have seen vision of the old gods rising from their prison in the depths of Tartarus, from the very place Zeus once threw the titans and his father all those years ago. A nightmare plagued me, and I was helpless against it. If Rhona is wrong, I offer to take responsibility instead." He let go of Rhonas shoulder and moved forward to be closer to the speaker. "I ask that we put aside this alien problem for later and unite as Merged once more to prepare for what is to come."

@Slendy

Scott Rutherford
Lysakr, Alfheimr
Month One

Scott had alternated between forgetting the demons, and in turn forgetting to focus his magic so he could listen to them, and prodding them with various enchanted items to see what effect it would have. Most just passed through them, but sometimes they would briefly be cursed or receive some kind of blessing. Scott was still convinced the Crown of Sight's powers, allowing the wearer to see through things, were active even now after all this time on Arai. Every time he remembered the demon was around he'd look anywhere but at the creature and steadfastly not think about it. If he blushed a little he could always blame it on the heat. Or something. Even if it wasn't hot... Now wasn't the time to think of excuses!

Ignoring the side conversation going on behind him and forcing himself not to acknowledge the demon even existed, Scott continued to search for an easy way in.

"What is it...?" Belle questioned Scott in a tone of a whisper.

"Think it's a ghost, murdered by flame and doused in fire magics. There was enough ambient energy in the air to allow many powerful spirits to manifest." Scott answered, "They're dangerous, their very existence is tied to their emotions, so the angrier they are the more volatile they become. Eventually they'll calm down and fade into nothing, but it won't be for another few centuries..." He paused thoughtfully, considering what exactly happened here... "or, you know, a few thousand years."

"Look there," he pointed to a mostly intact piece of a bridge that had been ripped from it's original place and now served as a sort of ramp over the remains of a piece of the wall. The end led to a mostly untouched two story house. Much of the outer edges of the city wasn't terribly damaged, the brunt of the Merged's attacks had been focused on the inner city. "We can use that to get in. Most of that area seems okay, it should let us get in deeper without too much conflict, but we've still got a lot of city to cross if we want to reach the religious sectors."

Scott picked a path off of the trail that would take them through the towering evergreens to get closer to the edge of the city without being seen. It was unlikely they'd be attacked if they were seen, but it wasn't worth the risk if he turned out to be wrong. He shuddered at the mental image of a fireball being thrown from a tower and setting the forest ablaze. That would not be good. "Come on." He whispered, "Last one there has to buy the werewolf claws." He challenged, grinning conspiratorially. Werewolf claws were expensive, but valuable in that they were excellent rune carving tools.

---

@Ace of flames01
@Cuccoruler
@Zelosse

Occus, Boreas
Olympus
Month Two

Occus frowned, stepping forward and out from under Boreas' arm. "You have seen it to?" Occus asked of the immortal. "There have been countless reports from the Fae. They have seen deaths among the Merged, and gods we know to be dead active once more." He explained, "These aliens should be investigated, but the threat has been here for some time and they are not it. We must prepare ourselves for war once more." He said strongly, and if a hint of his apprehension showed in his eyes... well these gods did not know him well enough to see it.

"Let us not go so far as to bet an immortal's life over something so trivial as the whims of mortals." Boreas broke in. "We have plenty of time yet," he pointed out. "We need to gather facts and pay more attention to the mortals for now. Then we can decide what to do with the aliens. Until then we have bigger worries," he said seriously. "These visions have been persistent, and now we have yet another who has seen the future outside of Ox's mortal servants. We cannot ignore these warnings."

@Cuccoruler@PerseusArchean@Zelosse

Rhona grit her teeth. Her rage started to seep out. Her red hair turned into a brilliant flame, small plumes of fire erupted from her body, and her eyes glowed a bright yellowish orange and spewed out bright flames. "I said it before, did I not? We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I will take full responsibility! None shall take my place! I, and I alone, shall be the one to atone for mistakes, should there end up being any! You have my word as a goddess! I'll even do you one better; I'll even give you a stick to mount my head on!" She yelled over the others.

Rhona was done having others protect her. She wanted to protect herself and fight her own battles for a change!

It appeared that the underworld wasn't going to offer many clues, but the dream was still enough for Landon. His hearing of the aliens seemed like another clue as well. "So Cia you know most of the gods of Earth right? Is this rabbit loon one of them? Because if he is from another planet, Thalios and his warnings may be of different things. I don't think the old gods are going to be around anytime soon. It doesn't matter much anyways, I don't think we'd be able to handle them now. But I suspect there are more alien gods, and I suspect we need to kill them. Our powers grow with worshipers and what if their realm of divinity needs their people. They need their worshipers for power. We may not need to kill the alien mortals, but I really hope the council is at least considering the threat more alien gods would be." Landon continued with Cia and Yato to investigate the underworld, but he was very distracted with this new threat looming in his mind.
@Trevor1001@Cuccoruler

Alec watches the chaos unfolding with rhona. These aliens are already causing problems and they didn't even know it. His jackal self snorts and he becomes his human form. "Why not prepare for the worst hope for the best? We can watch the aliens and any underworld the dead gods may come from..make sure nothing goes wrong. If something does then we do something about it." He shrugs. "This way we can make sure our mortals and these new mortals both are safe from both threats" he shrugs again then takes a seat away from the rest. Generally he normally doesn't interact as much at meetings, but when it comes to the humans he feels an odd need to protect them.
@Ace of flames01@PerseusArchean@Zelosse@Cuccoruler

@BlackPanther
@Ace of flames01
@Zelosse
@Cuccoruler

Occus, Boreas
Olympus
Month Two

Occus' eyes narrowed at the woman, he was sure he'd never seen her before, not even in in passing, where had she come from exactly? And why was she demanding their attention so fiercely? Couldn't she see the mortals were not their biggest problem? If the old gods returned it would be even worse than the first war they'd had with them! Then they'd had the element of surprise and the skill to isolate them and utilize their unknown powers on them. Now the old gods knew their powers, knew their tactics, and knew the battle was coming. Or so could be assumed at least, who knew what state a god would be in after resurrection?

It was frustrating that this girl was derailing the conversation from the more important matter, but if Boreas' muffled chuckles were anything to go by at least she was providing the winter god with amusement. "Bet your life then, Rhona." He allowed, using a bit of magic to pluck her name from thin air.

He forced himself not to sneer at the gathered gods in disgust. This again. Every voice loud and arrogant, believing themselves the most important in the room and thus everyone should pay attention to them. This Rhona was an excellent example, she was not content to focus on the problems they were here to discuss, she was far more interested in making herself heard than actually solving any of their problems.

Boreas sighed, pulling Ox close once more and allowing his cool grip to bleed the agitation from the younger immortal. For reasons Boreas didn't think even Occus himself knew, the god of magic hated being surrounded by his peers like this. A few at a time were alright, but a large gathering such as this always brought a dark look to his face.

He looked about to say more, but then Ox hesitated and Boreas thought he might storm out as he'd done the last time. Occus did neither though, simply falling into the background and allowing the other gods to have their words. He wanted desperately to stop what was coming, but he knew it was impossible, they could only prepare... but if they wanted to go play with aliens Ox would leave them to die and attempt to save his own skin, it would be their own fault for ignoring the warnings, for ignoring him, again.