Dirka was smiling. "I have only one thing..." She snapped her fingers and a scroll appeared. She grabbed it and offered it to Anu. "This scroll contains the knowledge of the school of blood magic. This should make any demons of yours strong enough to fight those dragons on their own, and empower any human followers you may gain." She left it floating in front of Anu'Varr and grabbed the dragon with magic. It floated to her, and she shrunk to her normal size. She opened a portal and waved. "See you later, sister. I hope all goes well. And you have something very odd about the taste of your lips." And she and the dragon disappeared.
When Dirka and the dragon fully entered her work-space within the rift, the dragon was dropped on the ground with a thud. Dirka got in front of it with her arms crossed. "Have you thought about my offer?" The dragon looked at her hesitantly, thinking she would kill him if he said no. "I have...Mi'lady" he said with hoarse. Dirka smiled smugly, then snapped her fingers. Her harp, some drums and wisps appeared. She cleared her voice and the music began. The Dragon felt pain whilst she sang and played her harp with magic.
Slip the knots, break the bones, make blood clot, skin of stones. Make this beast, metal and chief, bringing grief, and newly deceased. Make this beast, thunderous duplicity, poisonous toxicity, forever ever hating east. Make it bronze, make it steel, make it gold, to shining silver. It's hide titanium, it's claws osmium, it's eyes uranium.
Now let the it rise.
When the song ended, the dragon was no longer how it once was. In it's place was a large black dragon, that glistened like metal, it's claws sharp as swords, it's teeth knives, and eyes pupil-less orbs that glowed with power. Then, in the dragon tongue, it spoke. "I...am...the black dragon...TERZOTZ!!!"
Dirka gave Anu access to a special school of magic that relies on blood for power. She took the dragon and left. Once back in the rift, Dirka changed the beast with a ritual, into a abomination of several elements, mostly using metal as inspiration from Ferron's metals. The new beast named itself after the ritual was complete.
"Corpses? You want my corpses? but then whoever would I invite to my tea parties?" Iva replied with a mildly displeased sounding whine. "I suppose I'll have to invite Anu." As they walked, Iva didn't seem to care too much for Gammaton's words. Or at least, he wasn't thinking too deeply about them. He certainly talked like there was some sort of world-ending threat going around, but Iva certainly didn't care too much for such a thing. Trying to get all the gods to cooperate would be like trying to get Hayim to attempt stabbing something.
"Inside." Carefully reading over the terms of the contract. Nothing seemed off about it, and it likely wasn't in Gammaton's nature to lie or deceive. But for now, he had other business to attend too. "Hurry, hurry, the moon shall rise soon." By now they had reached the wall, and Iva led the insect god into the labyrinthine interior. Taking a few turns, he had arrived at the same entrance he used before. A direct connection with the Library. Opening the rift, Iva walked back into the comforting halls of the building, and assuming Gammaton followed the portal closed behind him.
"Now that we're out of that dull cold forest, take a seat anywhere! But only in this room." The room Iva had led Gammaton too was a long hallway. A large dining table, at least with enough seats for a dozen people were out. Several dishes seemed to have already been prepared. At the end of the hallway was a large grey throne made of some sort of stone. With each step, the mortal guise he had taken slipped off, melting into the air as he retook his natural form, and soon he was sitting upon the throne.
"And don't be shy! The food is wonderfully divine." Zhavitri, the small ball of slime it was seemed to take interest in the happenings, rolling into the room to get a good look at the newcomer. "Now...as for what I want from you." The small creature slithered over to Iva, resting at his throne and seemingly trying to nuzzle his leg much like a feline would. The god gave it a brief pat on the head before continuing. "Laws. Rules. A week from today they should one of their own on a Pilgrimage to the wall. Laughably humorous! They've decided that to get my attention they instead should sacrifice one of their own! How wastefully destructive. I should take the entire village and use it as an experiment." Pausing, Iva stood up, unable to remain sitting for long as he walked over to a large object covered with a white sheet.
"But...little La-Zha has changed my mind, hee!" He pulled of the sheet, revealing a painting beneath. It was immaculately done, and seemed to be of a human girl of some sort. A blue and gold dress, embellished brightly. The top part of it had yet to be completed, and for some reason it gave the impression of a meticulous effort. Surprising for the meticulous god. "I will reinforce my divine presence over these humans...and I would like laws to do it. Centered around the pursuit of knowledge and education, without letting pride, greet, or lust for their own power quashing their creativity and drive for it." He picked up a few brushes and a tray full of brightly colored liquid and began applying a few light strokes to the canvas. "Left on their own, they will repeat this incident. I have no desire to redo a dull already complete experiment. So you will make me a set of laws to follow within seven days. Present it to me, and once I set these mortals straight, I will see to helping you in your little endeavor."
Ral A dragon of Ragnagedon? Ral was at a desert right outside his own domain. Short-tempered like its creator, the sand around him turned into fresh shimmering glass, as the dragonfire singled a part of his cloak. He pondered on what to do with that Verzakian Dragon. It wasn't a good idea to get into any gods' bad side, not especially a god like Ragnagedon, but anyhow, he would just mold some wisdom into that dragon. It was better for a creation of Ragnagedon to be a little more... talkative...?
A flash of light surrounded the Verzakian dragon, the skin of the dragon turned into scales of white crystal. The sky seemed to flicker between images of the White Dragon and the cloudless sky, as Ral finds himself under a wave of invisible dragonfire. He let out a long line of curses, as he vanished again. Another damned failure... Somewhere not far from the spire, the air shimmered for a moment, before the God of Treasures emerged in scorched clothings. Where in the hell am I...? For a moment he was glad that he didn't send himself into another god's domain, but the spire that stretched far away from the horizons was as omnious as it looked. The strange flocks of birds are getting to him, not to mention the lingering sense of fear even at this distance.
Ral sat cross-legged against the snowy cliffs, observing the massive structure from afar. The experience with the spawn of an ill-tempered god was enough for his day, he wouldn't want to be so careless anymore. Now that a dragon that he've strengthened will be running wild in this world, but that would be a concern he would have to put aside for later.
The birds were many, those that fled the spire. Some flew east, some flew west, some flew south and then some flew much too close to North Crown.
The trees churned with activity as beasts of both land and air, touched by the essence of fear, fled without stop. It was more than enough to garner her attention.
A black smog spilled forth from the mouths of the mountain caves, sweeping down the face of the mountain like rivers of grounded smoke. All the while the shadows beneath the trees started to rise from the forest floor, flowing like water but up the hills instead of down. They traveled up the mountain until the smoke met the waters. The pooling darkness surged up as the smoke coalesced into a fluid state, joining into the rising body. Both masses merged and took the shape of her avatar, tall and imposing yet slender and smooth.
"You dare trespass upon my realm...?" The voice which resounded from the faceless dark was both perturbed and confused. This was unusual behavior for these creatures, especially on such a scale. It was rare for even a bird to try and brave the lands near her sprawling home, let alone flocks of them.
_ With a pitiful snarl of annoyance the great darkness raised it's long hand up high. Thin films of shadow closed the gaps inbetween her fingers creating large webbed claws for her left hand. She brought her hand across with a massive sweep of her hand, the webbing between her claws helping it to serve like a giant fan. The wind was blown forth by this motion, creating a powerful gust which traveled wide and far. All the birds caught in this wind were scattered, thrown into disarray as they were buffeted across the trees.
She had succeeded in driving back all the avians trying to trespass into her lands in this section of the crown but she could see in the darkness all across the treelines that many more flocks and other such creatures were still making their way up into the mountains.
"Rrrrr... What is the meaning of this?" She asked herself, her voice barely able to muster no more than what came out to be a petulant whimper of a growl. Scanning the horizon she almost immediately spotted the cause of this great disturbance. A great seam of light cutting the night sky in twain. She could see little of it from there but it would not take long to investigate. In the depths of the night much was incased in darkness which she could use to look closer.
_ A cursory sweep of the area yielded some very disturbing information. Aside from the anomalous tower itself it seemed it had drawn many a god to it's audience. Depressingly among those to show up was Hyperion, a violent lout who served as an ever constant reminder that she is hated and unwelcome by most all, at least to her understanding.
The tower itself was fascinating despite the wretched light it emitted. She was thankful that the light was minimal and not at all hard on her eyes as most of it's luminescence was contained to illuminating itself alone. When she conjured a small body to hide in the bushes nearby she could feel that very sensation roiling off the twin strands which seemed to constantly weave towards one another like a dance of two snakes.
She could feel the darkness forming below. The earth above was continuing to be repelled like all else, the edges of the crater rising as earth is forced upwards by the dirt making room behind it as it's driven back. Deep into the crater at the base of the spire she could feel the hole which had formed around it, a hole which extended far deeper than any knew... Except for her that is.
This brought upon a revelation to her, one regarding the very nature of the spire itself as well as the essence which rose from it. She could feel the very base of the spire through her darkness and it was joined directly to the Core. Between that and the fact that the spire was the same color as the Core's surface led her to believe that whatever those beams were came directly from the core.
With time all the dirt, stone and metal that surrounded the spire was retreating from it. From the surface all the way down to the hard stone crust which rested atop the Core itself everything was moving away from the spire. As the minutes rolled on the sides of the crater rose higher and higher, the landscape surrounding it now at a forty five degree slant. All the earth which was stuck close to the aura, unable to move itself away fast enough, had taken on a faded grey color. The essence of terror was frightening enough to desaturate anything it touched for long enough. Even the moonlight that shone down past it was anemic and strange. Enigmatic shadows flitted around the beam as it was starting to take it's toll on all light and air, pockets of pitch black voids whipping around the twin strands in unstable states.
She simply watched from the shadows of the flora which perched perilously at the edges of a deepening crater. She could feel the fear even though the darkness. It was clear to her that if she tried to cast her senses into the darkness within the spire she would not come away from it unchanged.
She listened to her fear. She erred on the side of caution.
Anu grabbed the scroll as Dirka left. Blood magic, how very thoughtful and how useful it would be. She consumed the knowledge of the scroll, adding it to her vast powers in an instant. Who knew blood could be so useful, but Dirka was mistaken in one aspect, for Anu would have no human followers willingly. If any did pop up, if any began to worship her, they would become demons. Regardless of that fact, she would pass on this knowledge soon, but first, she had other matters to attend to. If Elaria was right, then this disturbance was of great importance. Anu also imagined her siblings would also be in attendance, if this object was anything special.
Next Anu spoke aloud, ”Elaria, you will stay here for the time being. My Succubi, do not harm her, but perhaps show her something new…?” Anu smiled wickedly, before standing up and opening a tear in the space before her. It was a portal, dark and chaotic in nature. She had found it be experimenting, she found humans to be good test subjects, but those who returned were anything but. As she walked into the shimmering mass of red and black, she heard her Succubi giggling, and Elaria’s whining, then nothing as she was engulfed.
She arrived in the night, her portal a red light in the darkness. It would be highly visible by all present, but Anu did not care. She walked through the portal with her head held high, her body clad with nothing but her scars. Her amber eyes glowed softly in the dark as the portal winked out of existence. Before her stood two strands of light, dancing in a rhythm that perplexed her. It was beautiful to behold, but the power they exerted did not go unnoticed by the Goddess. For she now stood before an area of inexplicable change. The very earth was running away from the spire, forming a black crater into nothingness around its base. The fear in the air was palpable, thick and changing everything it washed over.
Anu walked closer, noticing the grey plants that grew dread from them. There was no mistake about the potency of such power, Anu could feel it. She walked closer, taking her first step into the dwindling crater.
The Goddess of Devilry was assaulted by a wave of fear, a feeling so strange she thought for a moment she was but a mortal entering a God’s gaze. This thought melted away as she reclaimed her divine sense of self. Anu, ever determined, moved closer to the spire. She liked fear, it had so many uses, so much purpose in its uniform precision. It could drive the proud to little more than shivering wretches. It could bolster darker emotions to come forth and be preyed upon. It could cause a god to doubt…
Doubt?
Anu paused, she was very close to the edge of darkness now, but it stopped her. This fear, this overwhelming terror was perplexing. For the first time in her existence, Anu felt doubt in her ability to obtain her goals. Visions flashed before her eyes, she saw humanity growing like ants, always multiplying twice for every single one she killed. She saw the pit inside herself, always hungering for satisfaction and pleasure, never being filled. She saw herself in ways she had not thought possible, this doubt slowly turning to fear. Fear of never fulfilling any of her own purposes in life, always failing time and time again. The Great Game had been lost to her the moment of entry, she would never amount to anything but being the Lesser Sister to Greater Gods.
Anu looked down at her hands, her skin had become the same grey as the ground she walked upon. Anu began to laugh, softly at first, then louder and more crazed. Such fear, it was so intoxicating. To be able to drive her to doubt, a feat she once thought unthinkable. She loved the feeling, of being afraid, it made her sharper, more focused in her goals. She walked closer to the edge, her rational mind fighting the fear that seemed to cover her.
She would not let it consume her, she couldn’t.
Subtle features began to change on Anu as she stepped closer, her hair began to streak with grey as it grew longer, while her horns twisted and sharpened. Her once amber eyes, turned a dark shade of crimson, glowing with renewed intensity. Large wings seemingly made from grey smoke erupted from her back, outstretching to twice her height.
If Anu had noticed any of these changes, she paid no attention, for her eyes were fixated upon a greater prize. So was close to the dark crater now, a couple of steps and she would enter it.
"Only one corpse would be required to start the process, and it needn't be human either," Gammaton explained, "Solid waste will also suffice if you have any laying around."
Gammaton followed Iva into the library, sat down at the table, and began eating as a sign of trust and respect for his host, listening to the Illuminator's request. Thinking on it for a moment, Gammaton began, "Well, it is easy enough to deter undesired behavior after the fact with a punishment, for example, you could smite whoever commits an unwanted sacrifice. But since I understand that you want your followers to seek you rather than reveal yourself to them in an obvious manner, I can see how this would be problematic. Also, since the first sacrifice would be little Lahzria, who you wish to keep alive, it won't do to punish after the deed has been done. Of course, there are ways to prevent Lahzria's sacrifice through divine intervention without revealing yourself too openly. You could give her pieces of knowledge that would otherwise be impossible for her to know personally, and have her say them. Those among the White Dawn who truly believe and understand your domain would know that she is your chosen prophetess, after which her words, inspired by you, will become law. Of course, that is only a method to convey the laws, not the laws themselves. I must stress though, that I am a maker of laws, not ideals. Laws can control behavior, but not intention. So long as people's actions are legal, they will continue to follow their lust, their greed, and their pride. You wish to create an intellectual meritocracy. The inherent flaw in any meritocracy is that desired behavior is promoted through reward, while undesired behavior is deterred through punishment, the issue being that some people lose perspective and only seek to maximize reward and minimize punishment, losing focus on the intended intellectual merit. Reward also tends to beget more reward, and punishment also tends to beget punishment, creating inherently unequal systems over time. How do we promote education without enshrining and giving undue authority to teachers? How is authority determined? You have presented me with quite the conundrum, as I should have expected from the god of knowledge. I am loathe to tarry for seven days due to the urgency of my mission, since I am traveling by foot, conserving my magical power for the Assembly itself. However, I could be convinced to stay and draft up these laws if you would, free of personal commitment, begin initiating contact with the others on my behalf."
“Please. Please I beg of you.” The poor man crawled away through the mud. His legs were broken. A trail of blood followed him wherever he crawled. Following it was the Ember Huntress. Esif. In the past months, she had grown in zeal and power. From a distance the ever wizened Fir witnessed the spectacle. The raid had been carried out swift but with the proper amount of blood. Soon the sacrificial pyres would be stacked and the dead and living would be burned.
For the last few weeks he had kept his eye on Esif. She was no longer the girl he had found and handed a knife. Under his own care, she had grown into a vicious weapon. A hound he just had to point at anything and she’d chase it with a mad need for its death. Except she was nothing like a hound. She was the grace of flames. The swiftness of spreading fire. When the times were calm she carefully drew lines on her body, though kept the space just below her neck free and unmarked. When asked why she drew the lines, she just said she wanted to leave behind a pretty corpse for the flames. When at war, she let someone make small cuts on her back. Each scar became a memory of the kill and Esif was very good at remembering her kills. The girl had grown into a warrior and cared for herself in that way too. Her hair on the side of her head was shaven clean. Giving no opponent grip of it. The hair on top of it she kept in a tight braid.
“You want trinkets! I can give you many! Beautiful baubles! I know a place! I can show you!” The man kept begging. Esif didn’t flinch. Like a cat she carefully approached her prey. Ready to pounce. “Or people! I can give you people! I know of a village. Far north!” This stopped Esif for a moment. She looked up towards Fir. Who had heard the man as well. They’ve been marching north for a while now. Searching for a village with a rather odd name. Those who shared a close connection to a certain Goddess they called Iva’Krorh. But Fir shook his head. The man had seen it too. “No please! I can tell you about magic! I can-“ But it was too late.
Esif jumped into the air. The torches on her back moved the fire with her. Before the man fully understood what happened a spear pierced his belly. As quickly as she struck, Esif pulled her weapon out of him again. Know fully well she hit him perfectly. Blood poured out of the wound. Muddying the ground beneath him.
“A ruthless kill. Very good.” Fir noted as he walked up beside Esif. He crouched next to the man. Then looked into Esif’s eyes. Despite the moon hanging high in the heavens he saw only the reflection of burning fire. “You’re ready.” Esif sat kneeling before a large pyre. Another village was burning around them but this time the raiders had made sure to take as many captives as possible. Sobbing mothers and wailing children encircled the ever more twitching raiders. Only the hands stood in cold discipline. Esif kneeled before the great fire in the center and absorbed the cries, wails and the occasional brave insult. She heard how much she was hated. How much she was despised. The bravest of the men were rounded up. With no punishment following these desperate fools kept hurling their insults. Then Fir appeared behind him. The hands forced the men away again to let the priest pass. Fir threw a stone knife at Esif’s feet. “Embrace your fate.”
She picked up the blade and rose from her knees. For a minute she observed it. Thinking, for just a second, that it was the same blade she had used for her first kill. No, that was ridiculous. She had thrown away that knife. It meant nothing to her. Nothing could ever really matter to her. With cold hate in her eyes she marched up to those hurling their abuse. “You’re right. I am a monster.” She said with a chilling calm voice as she slit the first man’s throat. “I want you to despise me. Hate me.” She slit a second throat. “It just means that I’m right.” A third throat began to bleed. “Right in wanting power.” A fourth. “And knowing that you want it.” A fifth. “Tell me. What would you do if you had seen me alone. In the forest? Near a stream?” She asked the biggest, strongest man of them all. The chieftain no doubt. He just spat in her face. Esif smiled a devious, vicious smile. “I’ll take this one.” She uttered right before she jumped the man.
Around her fury broke loose. Hands descended on the captives. Who weren’t even bound. Panic gripped the villagers. They tried to rush away but the raiders, frenzied, were close upon their heels. Esif had seen many raids. But now, on top of this big brute of a man and dominating him whole through her power, she knew this was very different. There had been an unusual viciousness building within the raiders. A twitch that nobody could quite satisfy. Yet here and know she felt that vicious hunger and she fed it. Again and again. Her brothers and sisters did so too. Those greedy for baubles and trinkets were raiding and looting. Those filled with lust dragged the most voluptuous women by their hair. Wrath, hate, and envy all descended into a bacchanal of murder. It was chaos in the truest sense of the word. For the raiders it felt like a moment in a twisted version of their own heaven. For the villagers and victims, this was their personal hell. As the night carried on the flames fanned high and the very based desires were given in to.
At dawn the raiders were asleep amid broken people still breathing and those fortunate enough to die during the night. When they slowly rose from their slumber, all felt the same thing: the twitch was gone. For now. Fed to excess. Esif rose with a new mark, just below her neck. A hand and no memory of how she got it. She felt nothing but pride for it though. It was a slow dawn for the raiders. Some had to gather their clothes which were spread quite literally everywhere. By the afternoon they were gone. Leaving nothing but the dead and the broken behind. In a strange way there had never been so many survivors of a raid. Ragnagedon was pacing restlessly back and forth in his own hall. The corpses of three Verzakian Dragons adorned it. The God of Fire was disgusted with his own creations weakness but even more disgusted by his supposed siblings. First Anu’Varr has the gal to torture one of his slaves with his own gift. Then Dirka turned it into an abomination altogether. Even Rai, the foolish hoarder, thought a slave was better off with a voice. All this stopped the dragons in question of fulfilling its purpose: to hunt down and destroy all life. Still, as he had watched the world through the slit eyes of his slaves he saw it was not enough. No, he needed more than mere villages to burn. His visions needed entire forests to burn. The entire world! Sadly none of his siblings would allow it apparently. Even those who’d let him raze in peace seemed to have a need to meddle. Well, Ragnagedon had a long memory and his human servants were doing quite well. It wouldn’t be long now before they were ready. He could feel the fate of the supposed prophet near its end.
But the God of Fire had little patience left. He stepped out of his cave. Blue fire engulfed his body and from it the blue dragon crawled. Screaming with hatred for all existence he took flight. His wings quickly carried out of Verzak. A thick trail of smoke followed him. Verzakian Dragons within Verzak remained there. Chained to the defenses. Those roaming the desert felt a strong, irritable urge to go north towards the pass. They began to converge towards the black trail formed in the clear, desert sky. Ragnagedon was calling his slaves. Ruin flew once more into the world.
Well, Gammaton seemed to know exactly what he was doing.
"Your domain precedes you, hee!" Iva laughed jovially, making a dramatic stroke with the paintbrush. Gammaton already covered most everything he had already thought about himself. How could he motivated the humans not to do something as such? Reward them for discovery and the pursuit of knowledge, without letting those in charge greed get the best of them? Ah, if only sister Anu didn't curse humans so with sin. Perhaps more manageable then, but that was also part of the fun, hee! How long could they resist, before they gave in to corruption?
"I see, I see, we have a deal then!" Hopping away from the painting, Iva grabbed the contract Gammaton had previously gave to him. "I will contact the other gods, and you will do this for me." Quickly signing his name in the runes the god loved to use to write with. "Of course, I can't guarantee they'l listen, and I will not contact that childish tantrum throwing one. Hahah," Iva laughed darkly. "If I am in the same room as him, I'll tear out his cords and use them to make socks for little La-Zha." Shoving the paper back into Gammaton's hands, Iva turned and began to leave. "Take it, take it! Now I have work to do. Must create. Work. Experiment. Have just the idea. A little human flesh...tar from the pit. A little of the mind. You have access to this floor...but don't go anywhere else! We might get...nervous."
Unless stopped, Iva would make his way to the Experiment halls. He had plenty of subjects, and already knew what they were going to do. First, create a messenger...now which order? Who should be first? Hm, He needed to speak with Anu anyways so this would be a good time. He'll send a missive to Anu, Hayim, Naswaru, and Oao first. They would be the...easiest ones to deal with.
"I'm gonna be honest with you... I dunno if we should be doing this, Develius."
Amongst the dispatched forces, two young scouts flew to the east as they scanned the surrounding area. They were new recruits, armed only with a sword, a dagger, light armor, and the pair of wings on their back. The one speaking was a lanky individual, with short brown hair ending with a tip above his forehead, who had just finished boot camp and was on his first assignment in battle. The other angel, a similarly shaped angel but slightly more muscular and had longer blonde hair, was also another rookie recruit, but seemed more calm regarding the situation.
"Relax, Aeneas. We're simply here to check the perimeters for any sign of activity and report what we find to Lord Hyperion." Develius responded as he flew ahead, "Just precautionary measures, nothing more."
The short haired angel timidly looked at the ominous spire in the far distance, emitting the black hue as it laid on top of a dead wasteland of a crater. He's getting all the wrong messanges from it.
"I don't know, man." Aeneas replied unsurely, "I have a reaaaal bad feeling about this. It's giving me the willies."
"Dude, man up a little, yeah?" Develius responded assuringly, "With that attitude, you'll never rise to the ranks of the High Guard. I'm surprised that the others hadn't bullied you already for this timidness."
Soon enough, the duo then perched themselves over a cliffside rock as they both overlooked the spire and everything around the nearby valley.
"Although," the blonde angel blurts hesitantly, "I too would be lying if I didn't sense anything suspiciously ominous about it either. Like, it's not everyday that a gigantic black spire erupts from the bloody ground and causes everything to repel from it."
"What do you think is in it?" Aeneas asked curiously.
Develius paused as he began to wonder himself.
"I don't know..." he admits dryly, "All I know is that it's almost certainly heretical in nature. Everything within it's radius is... well, dead, or is staying the hell away. Whatever it is, it must be working for chaos, or more probably, for darkness."
Aeneas shifted his weight slightly as his wings rustled softly in the cold breeze.
"I-I mean," he states quietly, "My body wants to finish the mission. Like it wants to really see this to the end and to make our Primarch proud... but... my mind is just... screaming at me."
Develius' eyebrow perked up curiously as he lended a careful ear to his partner.
"What do you mean?" he simply asked.
The smaller scout remained silent for a long minute before responding.
"There's this... this..." he stammers initially, "This... uh... fear you know? This utter sense of dread. It's like my mind is stuck behind a great unbreakable wall of doubt and darkness and all kinds of insecurities. It refuses to let me go in too close. I-I don't know what will happen if I - I mean, we, - enter within it's radius."
Develius sighed as he placed his hand on his partner's shoulder.
"Listen Aeneas... I have my doubts as well." he says sympathetically, "Who knows what we may find or encounter in there. However, we must remember what Hyperion has told us. To be an Angel of Light, one must overcome the manifestations that our obstacles emit. The enemy represents our doubts, our fears, our despair, and our insecurities. Some amplify them more so than others, but only if we let them control us from the inside. Once you conquer the fears within you, the enemy simply disappears like the simple illusion he is. The light always reveals the truth, remember?"
Aeneas simply nodded with a light smile.
"Yeah..." he answers calmly, "You're right. He's right. I'll try my best to do that."
He then proceeds to stand up and stretch his arms.
"So, I suppose we'll continue going yeah?" he poses, "Let's not keep him waiting, so let's~"
Suddenly, the two angels would hear a low animalistic growl behind them, making Aeneas jump in surprise as he whips out his blade to engage whoever approached them.
"GAH! WHO'S THERE?! SHOW YOURSELF!" the angel cries in an utter panic.
Yet the only thing they could see is the vague outline of a green reptilian body dropping down from a tree as it scurried down to the crater below. By the time the angels looked to see where it went, he was gone from view. Aeneas whimpered as he squats down and puts his hands over his head.
"Oh gods, let's go back please! I can't take this!" he whimpers cowardly in a standing-fetal position.
Develius sighs as he simply facepalms in embarrassment. But before anything else can happen, they quickly notice activity arising from the spire...
As Hyperion stares into the Spire's void-like essence, movement began to become prominent within the nearby caves as darkness bellowed into the forest floor below. It became obvious to the God of Light regarding who he was dealing with, sending an onslaught of memories regarding the battles of old during the Holy Crusades. He tightly grips his holy spear of light, Longinus, as it itself attempts to create a bubble of light around him to counteract the darkness if it gets near. The rivers of darkness congealed into one massive pool of void and up from the depths rose a giant gloaming feminine figure of bleak twilight. Despite being several miles away, the golden knight can still see her just barely peaking over the horizon. He knows exactly who she is all too well and was prepared for nearly whatever is to be thrown at him.
Upon her creation, Hyperion's aura of light began to expand significantly to make his presence known. The angels behind him hid in the bask of his golden glow as even they drew their weapons in the attempt that they would have to do battle against her.
"Oao." boomed Hyperion with a voice that megaphoned throughout the entire valley for miles, "Goddess of Darkness. I have no need to introduce myself. You already know who I am and why I am here. I have nought any reason why you've erected your darkness at this time and place, but your gloaming darkness is not wanted here. Recall your darkness immediately and there shall be no conflict. It is only for your own good."
As soon as he finished, the crater began to expand higher at a rapid pace, slanting the surrounding ground at a forty-five degree angle. The aura loomed over him as it got closer and closer to his position. Hyperion's bubble of light was able to keep most of the fear-aura from affecting he and his angelic forces as he stood his ground as an immovable object. Yet the unstable swirling of this heretical body did occasionally seep through his pure bubble. He would find himself fading in and out of reality and fiction, seeing his gleaming golden armor turn jet-black for only a moment before reverting back, and even noting the tips of his angelic feathery wings corrupt into wings like those of a bat or dragon's. Even the eyes behind his helmet would turn in an out from being white to red and back to white again. Yet Hyperion stood his ground, with the angels behind him stood in both awe and utter terror at what divine intervention is going on around them, not daring to move out of their leader's protection bubble.
And soon, the God of Light began to walk towards the crater, struggling against the intense power of this dark spell. With his divine light casting a beacon for his men to follow, they slowly began to approach the thick of it, as the darkness howled and swirled around them in such a chaotic fashion.
"Cease this vile, childish, behavior!" the God of Light boomed through the howling of the darkness, "Or I will have no choice but to purge this darkness by force!"
Sveiand smirked as the will of Dra and Rós overcame their obnoxious third head. He really enjoyed the novelty of the hydra-god’s unique physiology and accompanying psychology. Combined with the fatally beautiful winters they created together, the Cold One really did admire his reptilian brother. Even in spite of that gobby third head. However, he was dismayed at the lack of Naswaru’s contribution, but nodded at his sage conclusion. Like both himself and Oao, the hunter had always kept to himself, preferring the wilderness and company of his beasts in contrast to the pettiness of humankind and the other divine. He wasn’t primeval though and always spoke with disarming clarity and precision for the fear evoking beast he presented as.
As one set of gigantic leathery wings retreated into the distance he turned to the owner of a far large pair along with three heads. “Shall we go catch a dragon?” he growled before launching himself upwards, the enormous bear disintegrating first into a flurry of snow and then a myriad of colored lights as he soared as an aurora towards Ystra’s lair.
With Naswaru declining the offer, much to the displeasure of Dra and Rós, the weather god would have to go along with Sveiand alone. Regardless, they had their fun with the Hunting God already and now they shall place themselves into a new hunting duo. With the giant bear hithering them to come alone, the three heads nodded in unison, cackling in glee, as their massive wings launched them straight into the thunderous heavens above. They begin to follow the brilliant lights of the aurora as the winds began to shift once more. The storm began to disperse from the forest, as the rains stopped and the lightning ceasing to cast its divine shock. The fauna below would slowly emerge from the depths of the woods, burrows, and trees, as they go back to their daily lives. Yet it wouldn't be without a small parting gift left by Drakaiós' departure - a brief spine-chilling breeze.
Within seconds of their arrival the temperature had plummeted, the warmth emanating from the mountainous cavern extinguished. He knew this would draw out the beast in puzzlement whilst also empowering his trusted ally.
Winter had arrived early and, upon reaching their destination, a harsh blizzard covered the surrounding area with a cold embrace. The winds were incredibly fierce here, yet it wouldn't affect Drakairós as they sped up towards the dragon in the far distance. It was Rós' turn to tamper with the weather and he was already beginning to enjoy himself.
"Finally." the right head sighed with a guttural purr of content, "The cold should allow it to sap the dragon's full potential considerably. It won't know what hit him."
Yet as the head reveled in this approaching cold front, the opposite head wasn't as thrilled to be in this situation.
"I-I HATE T-TH-THIS!" Kai roars through his chattering teeth, "WHY MUST IT BE COLD? WHY CAN'T WE SET THIS PLACE AFLAME???"
"Because that would empower the dragon even further, you dolt." hisses Rós with a snarl.
"BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SAYING "BEAT FIRE WITH FIRE"?!"
"Not in a literal sense you uneducated fool..."
"YOU'RE UNEDUCATED! I WANT TO GO HOME!"
Kai then attempts to knock his head on Dra's long neck.
"UNMERGE US! I WANT TO GO TAKE A LAVA BATH!"
"Enough clamoring - we're here." Dra announces as they get closer and closer to the giant creature in the distance.
By that time, the Verzakian dragon had caught sight of their scent and had turned around to bellow at the invading duo through the thick storm. It was up to the giant three-headed dragon to do most of the brunt work and make an opening for the God of Ice to do his damage. As the opposing dragon began to charge his fiery breath, it was time for the battle to commence.
"Brace yourselves!" the middle head roared hastily, "Prepare to unmerge! We'll restrain the beast long enough for our Ice God to do as he pleases"
"THAT'S WHAT I JUST SUGGES~!"
Too late to finish, the plasma breath fires as its burning beam of orange and yellow fly straight towards the Weather God.
"Now!"
Before the beam could hit them, the hydra's body flashed in a body of light as the heads separated into three long glowing golden bodies. These serpents easily avoided the blast and were already separating into the blizzard for cover. With each head in attack formation the dragons remained virtually unseen as they made their way closer and closer to their opponent. Once in position, they made a sudden beeline towards the fiery mass and began to coil around him. Once they coiled once, each head clamped down on a certain part of their prey -Kai bit its right shoulder, Rós it's left thigh, and Dra went straight for it's neck. The long serpants began constricting around the Verzakian dragon, like golden tinsels surrounding a Christmas tree, bearing the intense heat as they began restraining it. Only Kai was able to suck the intense heat into his body, utilizing the magma to fuel his gut, whilst Dra and Rós inject the "anti-freeze" into the creature's body in an attempt to freeze it.
A pale figure emerged from the flurries of snow, floating gently down to step in front of the foaming jaws. The handsome figure was dwarfed by the gargantuan beasts before him and yet showed only calm on his clean cut visage - a slightly raised eyebrow the only hint of the intrigue that simmered beneath. His head cocked to one side and the storm abruptly stopped. The snowflakes seemingly frozen in mid air. The temperature had plummeted, far below anything even the god of winter had summoned before. His eyes narrowed as the settled snow coating the ground animated itself into two large claws of ice. The claws slowly prized the jaws of the beast open, Drakairós lessening his grip slightly. The fiery blast that ensued from the reptilian maw merely petered out as the flames died in the sub-zero atmosphere. Only then did the Cold One grant himself a wry grin that played along his lips.
He reached into the dragon with his powers and felt the source of her endless fury and unprompted rage. He grasped at the inner fire and twisted it with his own majesty. The flames within, whilst forged from Ragnagedon’s magma themselves, were no match for the raw unbridled power of their creator’s true anthesis. She was hurting in every way and he was to be her saviour. The beast writhed in turmoil before closing its eyes, seemingly at peace. The scales shimmered into a pale white while a blessing from Rós led to a second pair of wings budding and bursting forth from her back. The internal changes were no less impressive, the god of winter creating a clutch of primed eggs within her ovaries, ready to lay. If his brother was the father of dragons then he could be the mother no?
When Sveiand removed his torso from the monstrous maw the eyes flicked open once more. Yet they were no longer a burning orange, dulled with animalistic rage. No. They were now bright, piercing blue and sparkling with a new-found intelligence.
A portal appeared eight in front of Ragnagedon. Maniacal laughter was heard from it. The portal released a large black dragon, which laughed with insanity, but not that of the first laughter. Dirka was on his back, standing without issue. "Hello, brother! Long time, no see!"
Dirka stood in her normal height, but she obviously wasn't happy with this meeting. "Before you try to kill my new fried here, I have the proposition you need to hear! So don't be a flame brain, be instead the listening rain! Ha he he ha hoo!" The beast underneath her laughed at her mocking rhymes. "Good one Mi'lady! You humble even the most egotistical fools. I, Terzotz, love this! BwaHa ha ha haa!"
@Leotamer (interacting with your dwarf that's outside)
Deruga and the mimics were now in a mountain chain not that of the Teeth of Madness. The alien place invigorated him, for few travel outside the high peaks. He, like any caster, loved something unknown, the domain of Sommler. Then he heard humming. His First native! Whipsering he told the mimics, in their animal guises,"Okay, first native. Be quiet and let me handle it."
He approached the source of the humming, only to find...a little hairy man?
Deruga was adamant in findig the warlock non-the-less. He called a common greeting and yelled "Could you spare a fellow a moment of your time?"
Cob, the Wandering Dwarf @Dealdric - Deruga ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The dwarf was standing in front of a rock around his own size, when he turned around as he heard someone call out to him, and he then instinctively reach for the hammer that he had brought from the village. However, as he turned around, he saw that it was just an unarmed human, and so he placed his weapon back on the ground. He had never seen a human before, but he had the stories about them. Despite this being his first encounter with a human, he didn't let it show.
The dwarf just turned around, and returned to what he was tending to, shouting back, "What do you want." He was trying to grow some of the moss that he brought from the village, but for some reason it was not growing as fast as it should.
The emergence of this fear spiral had deeply concerned Ferron. As far as he could remember, he had never encountered anything of the sort. However, memory was not very reliable within this realm. As he was considering how to proceed, Crom entered through the door of the temple with a few other dwarves following behind him.
Crom approached first and asked, "We would like you to train us how to defend our home from attack."
Ferron paused for a moment, this was sudden and he had barely any time to see how the aura has changed Crom, however it was a sensible idea. He answered, "I have considered this possibility, and I do believe it would be a reasonable idea. However I can not train you yet, as there are preparations I need to attend to. I will gather you once again when they are completed."
Crom looked back the other dwarves, and nodded, "As you wish, Lord Ferron."
Ferron had more than enough power to very quickly complete the preparations instantly, however he believe it would be better if the dwarves attended to the needs of their own village. In addition, he wanted additional time to see how the aura has changed Crom.
Had Anu been expecting an easy time of it, to claim the prize without being dubiously assaulted, she was amiss to find another wave of fear hit her. This time it struck deep into her heart of hearts. From any who were watching on the outside, Anu had stopped walking and now stood motionless like a statue.
The Goddess of Devilry no longer held any inclination of what was before her, the spire was gone. An eerie quiet blanketed the space she found herself in, it was dark at first but then a million little lights erupted across her vision, quickly becoming streaks that stretched on forever without end in a multitude of colors. A lesser creature would have succumbed to insanity or worse, and Anu felt herself wanting it to stop, to end. It was so very bright!
The second her thoughts registered, there was a loud snap, and the streaking lights vanished, replaced with one star, a moon, and Tabrasa. The planet was green and blue, and unspoiled. Strangely beautiful to a God who sought nothing but her own twisted version of it. There had been only one other time she had seen the world like that… It had been the day of her… birth.
A sudden panic overtook the Goddess, and she tried to look away, down at herself, or at anything else. But her sight was fixed, almost as if she was being forced to bear witness to what was to come. Anu knew what was coming, a memory so dark even she had buried it deep down inside. Somethings were better left forgotten, yet it was her foolishness in trying to reach the spire that found herself here, now. The fear she felt was crippling, she wanted to scream or close her eyes, but she could not, and then it began.
A brighter, purer white light, one she would never witness again, emerged from the nothingness that surrounded it. It hummed the perfect note as it took form and expanded, growing into the form of a woman made of ethereal light. Anu could see her own face reflected in the woman’s, as it should have been. Then tragedy struck.
The growing woman’s light, flashed a deep crimson, pain contorted upon her face. Anu tried to scream once again, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing.
She watched in horror, as her birth became an abomination, as her body twisted and broke repeatedly. The once beautiful hum became distorted into nothing but nightmarish screams. When it was finally over, she saw herself curled in the fetal position, her eyes shut tight and a tortured expression painted on her face. She was Anu, Goddess of Devilry. Stripped of everything she was going to be, for reasons that alluded her. It was the single greatest fear she had, having to watch herself be born again, having to see what could have been, and then watch it become nothing. The lights began to streak again…
She awoke from her nightmare, about to enter the Spire’s abyss- but Anu shook her head. Using her new wings, she propelled herself backwards at great speed, exiting the area of influence and then crashing down on her knees at the edge. She wrapped her arms around her body, while dipping her head low. She could not take fear if she herself was afraid of what it brought. There was no conquering that memory, no great satisfaction to be had.
She no longer had any desire to be there but found herself unable to really move. Her mind was caught up in the memory, the very fear she had from it. She could not process it then, but now it came in waves of anguish. So Anu, the Goddess of Devilry, would sit there for a while, thinking of nothing and yet, everything.
"Well, The General Assembly of the Gods will require you to be in the same room as Ragnagedon, but accommodations can be made," Gammaton replied, "And anyone you do not contact, I can make an attempt to contact once I have finished writing up these laws. Conversely, you can request anyone you contact to reach out to those you do not, but I won't tell you how to go about this business."
As Iva'Krorh left, Gammaton looked around the room in contemplation for a moment before his rear appendages began weaving out a scroll.
Written upon my silk, Scribed with my spines, Inked in my blood, Thus are created: The laws of Gods and mortals.
Plucking a spine tipped in black blood from his back, Gammaton proceeded to draw a blank. Sitting down at the table, staring at the empty, golden, silk parchment, Gammaton rubbed the dry end of the spine against his temple, trying to come up with a governmental system that would promote creativity. For the next few days, he would write, then devour the parchment and start over, unsatisfied with his work. He ate whatever food was prepared, often snacking in between to stimulate his mind. At times he climbed up the walls and columns, spinning silk hammocks upon which to recline so as to contemplate in comfort. Sometimes he wrapped himself up completely for a few hours out of sheer frustration. Soon the room was filled with cobwebs, idle artistic weavings, dried-out spines scattered about, rotting fruit cores, bones, and overturned furniture as Gammaton made himself at home. He only allowed himself to be interrupted from this maddening cycle to help Iva'Krorh co-prepare the breed of sentinel flies.
The ground crumbled and fell away beneath him. It was soft and jagged. Everything weather being sentient or inanimate seemed to flee before the spire. It was a strange sensation for sure. All he could feel was an overwhelming feeling of being watched, as if the very spire its self was a monster superior to him. Like an alpha.
Everything seemed to change as he stepped into the void. He seemed weightless and free. Black wisps of some sort of energy seemed to absorb into him and peel off of him. What a strange feeling. He had barely taken a step but every moment felt like eternity. A burning feeling began to pulse in his chest, the divine energy that gave him his power throbbed and burned. He could feel the energy of this spire permeate his very being to its core.
The god wasn’t sure what this meant, but he didn’t really enjoy this feeling. Through his sight he could see a flicker of darkness just on the other side of the energy. It was blurry but he could definitely still see. Perhaps it was another god. His instincts held true as he saw almost tangible darkness move freely on its own.
So he tried to speak towards the darkness, “Sister? Is that you? Oao, come sister step into the void. I do not believe I can stand this feeling for much longer. I fear it will envelop me and consume me.” He wasn’t lying. Even while in the influence of this spire he could feel and recognize his fears. His fear to be consumed, his fear to stagnate and get stuck. Unable to adapt, unable to evolve and grow. What was this thing doing to him? He was unsure.
Even his very being begun to change. Sure he could change his form to better adapt to the situation but not like this. His skin and form began to contort ever so slightly making him look more and more like a monster that could strike fear into the hearts of others. He could feel his form be torn from him and replaced with something new and strange.
Yet slowly, the god could feel his fear fading and turning to bliss. The throbbing in his chest continued to grow stronger the pain was closing in on being too much. With a decision Naswaru commanded himself to step back and out of the influence of the spire. Once free from its grip it almost seemed to be pulling him back in, back towards the spire.
He fell upon a few trees and stood there breathing heavily. The burning in his chest subsided. His legs and muscles felt weak, and he knew it would take him a moment to regain his senses before deciding if going back in is a wise decision or not.
@Dealdric Ragnagedon could see the lush green world just beyond the pass. It wouldn’t take long now. He’d reach Anu’Varr's castle in a few days flight. Behind him a handful of dragons had already caught up with him. On the horizon black dots were trying desperately to followed the black smoke trail in the sky. Trying to catch up with their god and slave master with blind faith. Then, a portal opened up before Ragnagedon. The fire god, expecting an attack, veered off to the right but was quick to circle around. Dirka, riding her black abomination flew out from the portal. Much to the surprise of the blue dragon. Had his supposed sister truly gone so insane that she’d dare challenge him? She wasn’t challenging him though. In her own wicked way she tried to make him listen.
Which was an even greater mistake. Ragnagedon did not care for words or peace. Her words fell on deaf ears as Ragnagedon swiftly flew towards the black dragon. His own need to kill it was fueling the dragons behind him. The Verzakian Dragons around him were filled with a ravenous hunger. A desperate need to kill and eat the black dragon. They came at it from all sides. With the giant blue dragon close behind them. In the distance, the skirmish in the air would give the many Verzakian dragons time to catch up. Ragnagedon did not appear to even understand Dirka. In fact the only audible answers she got were the roars more akin to a massive beast than a conscious god. The sky would soon be filled with the fiery breathes of the Verzakian Dragons and their god.
Iva walked, swift steps carrying him through the library. Walked a circle once, twice, thrice. Stop. The white being held his hands together, the library rumbling as its layout shifted before him, a wall rising to the ceiling and revealing the grand spiral staircase that led upwards. Quickly he climbed, the wall slamming down behind him to prevent any potential intruders. Up, past the second, third, and fourth to the cold roof above. Iva stopped but only a moment, faceless gaze lingering on the horizon, towards the Expanse that his Library sat upon.
Soon. Very soon.
The Third Bridge to the Third tower soon built itself, the divine mechanisms which allowed him access quickly sliding into place, before vanishing once more as he opened the inconspicuous metal doors to the experiment halls. Down, he descended this time, a final rumble of the library ensuring that none could follow. This place was both warded against interference from other gods, by all means. Even if Dirka wanted to just teleport in, she'd find it more than a little difficult too. Such was the labs - no one was allowed entry, except Iva and those who already inhabited it, such as the Warden and the soon to be guards.
Soon, he reached the fifth floor. Or would calling it the ground floor be more appropriate? The large ornate doors creaked open, and Iva stepped inside the dimly lit corridors as the doors once more closed behind them. After that, it was a short walk to the prison block, where he had kept all of his current subjects. The large dimly lit hallways were silent, utterly silent. Soon, he reached his destination, paying no mind to the muted cries of the various prisoners.
A man, was strung up to a table. Pinned. Arms bound, ankles tied to the metal slab.
"Hello again! How's your day been!" Iva jovially greeted the human, swiftly and silently moving about the room.
"Oh you know...I love being tied up, Lord Iva."
"Ah, Sarcasm! The lowest form of wit! Hahaha, enough to almost make me pluck out your eyes and eat them." Iva laughed manically, gathering a few metal implements from a nearby table. "Perhaps I'll even do it anyways!" Moving back over to the table, Iva pressed his face against the human males, seemingly studying him intently. "Tell me little human! Do you remember why you're here?" Iva began cleaning the tools, pirouetting away from him in a comical manner.
"...You saved me instead of my Latriza."
"Tee-hee! By her request, you know! Ah, I still remember it like it was yesterday. Seeing you both splash around, that rickety tub of yours sinking, hee!" The Illuminator moved to a nearby table. "Oh...where did I put those bat wings?" Upon receiving no reply from the human, Iva paused, slowly walking over to him, tilting his head curiously to the side. "Oh, ignoring me are we! How rude! I am almost beginning to think you don't like me."
"Was it that obvious?" He replied dryly.
"...oh! Oooh! that's no good! What about all those tea-parties we shared? What about your little favor you asked of me?" Iva pressed one of the metal cutting implements to the humans neck. "Perhaps It'll slip my mind to do something, hee! I am a busy god after all. Disciplining disobedient little mortals like you, takes quite a lot of time." Once again, the human didn't reply. Merely stared at the god in a defiant manner. "...Ah. How droll. Has little Zhianka grown up? No more time to play with little Iva? Too bad, too bad." Having finished his preparations, Iva turned back to the human.
"I'll just have to make you fun to play with again." Without warning, Iva reached for the humans face. The human screamed as the blunt object made contact with his eye, digging and pulling out the sensory organ. Iva, didn't seem to care, laughing the entire time as the human males screams filled the room until they were silenced by Iva sewing his mouth shut. Last - was his nose. Couldn't have that, could he!
"Now now, see, was that so bad?" Iva laughed, wiping the blood off of his hands. "You wanted to discover things, did you not? Enjoy it! You'll be getting what you wanted. Knowledge beyond human understanding." Laughing maniacally, Iva untied the man from his bonds, letting him fall to the ground, dragging him into another room. "Do you hear it?" Iva knelt next to him, prodding him on the cheek. "The voice? The quiet whispers? The vast intelligence?" No response, for the man was effectively mute now. "Ah, ah, how droll! I suppose I'll need to do one more thing. A little gift from me! Lets see what happens...when I do this!" Iva placed his hand on the mans forehead, and reached inside of it for his mind.
The effects were almost instantaneous. The man screamed, but not with his mouth - with his mind, it seemed. Iva poured more and more divine essence into this human, his skin becoming blackened and rubbery, hunching over as pain erupted along his back. His body began growing, larger to match a similar build and size of Iva's. Horns erupted form his forehead as what remained of his face sunk into his own flesh. Iva pulled back, watching the transformation curiously. Studying its effects. Cataloging, and within seconds, it was done.
"Ah, wonderful, wonderful!" The former human looked at its hands, seemingly studying his new body before focusing back on Iva. Whatever the old human had been feeling, was completely gone. Nothing but obedience remained. "Go grab the others - we have more to do make!"
For the remainder of the evening and some time after, Iva would remain in the experiment halls, making more of these with the human prisoners he had gathered over the years. He'd be dipping into his supply quite a bit, but that was fine. These creatures...the Aho'Nohg, shall become the guards of the Library. His messengers. His envoys. The ones he employed to do most of the grunt work in the mortal world so he didn't have to be bothered. Soon, over a dozen had been made, standing silently in room.
"Oh how wonderful indeed! Now now, I have a task for you all." Iva handed some of them a scroll. Upon it was a written letter from him, to each of the gods he had previously mentioned. "You, take this to Sister Anu. You will take this one to Hayim, but do try not to startle him, even if he makes the most delightful screams! You will carry this one to Oao, and you will take this one to Naswaru. The rest of you...go find me more test subjects! But be quiet and subtle about it!"
Their tasks given, the creatures left the experiment halls, the Library opening short and easy paths for them to exit.
"Hmm...now what to do next..."
Over the course of the next few days, some human villages would report large, winged humanoids appearing near villages before someone went missing.
Lahzria sat quietly, leaning against a tree as the fire crackled in front of her. Next to her was a satchel full of things she had thought she'd needed for the journey. An extra change of furs, flint and some dry wood, paper and a pen, water skins, thick length of ropes and other survival supplies. A quick rest to eat something and a small nap. She had to reach the Library by the next day, but she had been up awhile and it wouldn't do to completely tire herself out.
"...thanks for coming with me, Bryyre." She sighed.
"Think nothing of it, iw'an." He replied, passing the young human a well cooked rabbit haunch. "I couldn't sit idly by and wait for them to do something like they're planned. Cowards, afraid that they're falling out of favor with Iva. It will be humorous to see their faces when they realize how right they are."
"Heh," Lahzria laughed lightly. "Yeah, it will be."
"...are you alright, Lahzria? You're usually more talkative than this."
"Tired, I guess. And a little nervous." She replied, quickly devouring the meat he had given her. "I've never actually been inside the wall before, so it's uncharted territory for me. Of course i'd be nervous. I just can't let it get to me. As Lord Iva said, 'fear is the mind killer'." She pointed the leg at Bryyre. "Just need a bit of a rest before we go on is all-" Suddenly a shrill, high pitched screech echoed through the night air. Large, black, winged humanoids rose into the air, before flying off in random directions. Lahzria stood, watching them leave with rapt attention, somewhat mesmerized by their appearance.
"...The Illuminator is busy, it seems." Bryyre quietly said.
"We should get moving." Lahzria put out the fire, grabbing her satchel.
The one tasked with giving Anu a message was the swiftest, and the first. The black winged creature soared through the air, ignoring all else in favor of the task he had been given. Across the sea, over the mountains to the domain of the Curse Giver it tirelessly flew. For it knew that's where Anu's castle was, the majestic dark spire Osarion, the Ebony Castle. Swift as the night itself, the Aho'Nohg reached its destination within hours, landing in front of Anu's castle with a heavy thud, its wings kicking up dust as it landed.
A shrill, high pitched mind-rending cry echoed from its faceless visage as it announced its presence. And so it would wait. A scroll clutched in one hand, silently watching and waiting for its presence to be acknowledged. However, it would only wait so long. It had been given a directive - give the letter to Anu, and it would not let itself be hindered in its task.
Another Aho'Nohg didn't go so far. It found itself in a forest, surrounded by all sorts of greenery, but it paid no mind to such things. It's objective was to find Hayim for lord Iva. It released a similar high pitched cry, announcing its presence, a scroll held firmly in its claws as it walked slowly through the forest, doing its best to appear as non threatening as possible. Hayim was easily startled, and it wouldn't do to scare the other god if it was to deliver its message.
So it attempted to appear friendly. It saw a little squirrel, its faceless visage curiously studying it. Hopefully it could find the god of healing and health soon, for it had other tasks at hand that it needed to complete for its master, but for now, it was content to simply watch the forest and wait. It had made its presence known. If it needed too, it could get the gods attention in some other way.
Two more flew, towards the spire. They had been given a task to find Lady Oao and Naswaru. Normally they'd have split some time ago, but both felt a certain need to head to this location. They saw the spire some distance away, and both deemed it necessary to put a hold on their tasks and investigate, but they did not get too close, circling just outside the fear Spire's edge as to not be affected, at least until they both found the ones they were to give the message too.
One landed not far from where Naswaru was resting, the silent flight carrying it to its destination. Once it landed with a heavy thud, it produced a scroll, holding it out for Naswaru to read, should he so desire. The letter read simply as thus.
"Hello brother! How goes your hunts! Care for a tea-party? Or a grand rousing hunt? I am busy as ever, as you might imagine! Just look at the beast in front of you! I have a small deal with lord Gammaton. He seeks to call an assembly of gods or some such in return for helping me with a small personal matter. He has tasked me with contacting the other gods for this. I shall not try to hard to convince you to come, as little Gammy is a spoilsport and would ruin my fun - but if you should join such a thing, do reply! If you would like, this scroll can also act as a key for the Library if you'd rather come in person."
PS. Feel free to hunt this creature regardless of your answer. I am curious of its capabilities.
If the god of hunts read the letter, the creature hunched low, spreading its wings as if it knew what was written at the end.
Oao was more difficult to find, no thanks to those who were interfering. The spire made it difficult, but eventually it found what it thought to be Lady Oao. Landing not far from the edge of the crater where the shadows seemed to deepen, the creature silently looked over the spire, curious as its purpose and cataloging the entire sight into its mind. It silently watched, attempting to appear as non threatening as possible for the timid Goddess of Darkness. For the most part, it ignored Hyperion. It wasn't part of its objective, and if need be, it would fight the god of light to complete its objective. It just had to find Oao and deliver the letter.
Dirka laughed at Ragnagedon's attack. "Is that what you truly think? That I came unprepared? Well, then attack, I dare you. Watch how quickly Terzotz and I can put you in check, especially with this!" She pulled out a whistle. It was blue and it glowed bright. She quickly blew it. A cone of freeze enveloped past Ragnagedon, but didn't effect him. His army, however, got the full blast of it's power. They froze in place, not moving, and not falling. She put the whistle away and crossed her arms. "Also, did you forget I learned many beast languages, including that of the Draconic kind?" She layed down on Terzotz head, and looked at her hand. "Plus, fire no longer affects Terzotz, for I made him better than quartz! Not that piss-poor job, you head-strong sob." Terzotz laughed at this. [color=#808080]"You need to learn, or you'll burn! He ha ha hah!" Dirka laughed at that. "In any case, it's not permenant, maybe last thirty minutes, thirty-one at most, but plenty of time to pitch an idea!" She sat cross legged on Terzotz head. She smiled. "Now, will you listen, because, it will be worth your destructive time."
Deruga stopped a good distance between him and the dwarf. "I come searching for a magician, an evil warlock in fact! He stole from my village, and now I hunt him. Have you seen any other men cross the parts, in particular ones wearing dark robes?" He said. The mimics crawled on him in various shapes, but none overly disturbing.
Some time had passed - whether it was a day or a year mattered not to Hayim. His perceptions of time were focused on the now, so gauging the past and future were difficult for him to accomplish. His best source for knowing the passage of time was what village he visited that day and, if he had been in a mood like the last few days, if he felt happy again. Luckily, the death of the tribe had not placed great strain on the childish God's psyche. Death was a difficult concept for one so connected with life - all he knew about it was that the dead would go to Azhriel, never to be seen again. He had tried on several occasions to convince the god to release his souls back to the living, allow the dead to regain a second chance. Of course, like all Divine attempts to claim the souls he reigns dominion over, all of Hayim's attempts had turned sour.
Today was the last day of Hayim's self-imposed silence. The passage of time had been unknown to Hayim, but two days had gone by while he dwelled within his meadows. Surrounding him were at least three dozen of his seedlings, who had already gone onto reproducing on their own. Hayim awoke from his stupor just in time to see one of them shove itself into the ever-fertile soil of the meadows. In a day, three more seedlings would sprout from the hole created by the first, the only thing remaining being an empty shell. Hayim, after producing at least half of the seedlings present, was noticeably tired.
Still, even at a reduced power, he'd surely be able to get rid of all the Mortals Hurties!
Wait- no time for that now! Hayim focused on what had awoken him from his slumber. Hundreds of animals, and at least a few thousand plants had all called out for help, running from some central point. Hayim was close to entering one of the nearby trees, only to realize that the other end of the portal had moved at least 500 feet from it's original position - the land was shifting, moving to run away from some force.
Once he noticed the force, Hayim immediately ceased his efforts to investigate and help the animal and plant-friends. While his siblings may have needed to get close to feel it, Hayim was a natural coward, and could feel the aura of fear simply from focusing on the location it was in. The last thing that he would do would be to investigate something so scary! The last time he had been that scared was when he tried to hang out with Oao, and that was nothing compared to the sensation crawling down his petals.
Instead of focusing on that, he looked to another entity - some black thing, clearly unnatural. It drew Hayim's gaze like a moth to a flame, almost as if it was trying to get the young God's attention. Hayim, unable to discern the specifics from within his realm, exited through one of the nearby trees - a small pod of Seedlings followed behind him. They clung to the branches he stood on with robotic bluntness, the six of them creating a truly loud racket.
Eventually giving up on stealth, Hayim approached the large, humanoid figure. It was hard to detect, but Hayim could tell - whatever it was, it wasn't always that way. Warped, perhaps? Unfortunately, Hayim lacked the intelligence needed to try and make some connection between the creature and any of his siblings - instead, he merely resigned to believing that it was horribly deformed. In it's claws, it clutched some small, paper object vaguely reminiscent to items from the more developed villages. The five seedlings stood unmoving behind their progenitor as he spoke.
"H...Hello Animal-Friend! Do you want to play?"
It was of little interest to the god - he would instead wait for the creature to act and, if it proved non hostile, attempt to cure it of it's deformities.
’Fear is simply the uneducated response to deception.’
-Musings of Iarus
TIME: Present - Moments After the Anomaly | LOCATION: Val'dun the False Mirror | INTERACTION:None
Dealing with someone as volatile as his elder sister is always a handful, so the unexpected teleportation had been almost expected oddly enough. Reading over the scroll of illusion given to him had provided some excellent ideas and suggestions on wielding this powerful art and it seemed as if he would get to use them. Out in the realm of mortals a great shift in the fabric of reality had occurred and despite the distance between it Iarus couldn't help but be curious to see what had caused such a fuss. Teleporting himself as close as he could to what he thought was the anomaly he discovered the castle of his shadowed sister within view. It was strange, why here? What possibly could be such a great disturbance all the way out here? Then he saw the spires.
For a moment his curiosity got the better of him as he teleported closer to the towering monstrosities but the sudden sensation of another god in mid teleport flying with great speed away from the towers but other gods still surrounding it. Appearing cloaked invisibily Iarus masked his presence so none would disturb his studies of the thing. Fear... overwhelming fear was a new sensation for the Father of Lies and it was not something that he enjoyed either. He would have left that very moment content to work on his creations until a slight humming caught his ear
'Think of the power fear could give you
That one phrase repeated itself over and over again in his head, even hearing all of his fears of being caught in all his lies all his work ruined if he continued forward, but the possibility of power was too much to withstand. And with his mind made up and his heart racing Iarus stepped out into the light of the spires. He could feel his very essence rip and pull away down to the very Chord that made him. Unraveling and fraying at every end the sensation of coming apart at the seams filled him with fear unlike anything ever imagined. But then something changed, a rewriting. The renewal of mind, body and soul an understanding of the the very foundation of fear...the look on mortals face when faced with terror the knowledge that even the gods have something to fear...this was power and he reveled in every minute of it.
