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With the expert help of Pygmy hands, it had not taken long to fill the storage houses of the Dreamer city. Like machines, the dutiful simians had dug clay out of the ground and brought it up to the Industrial Square atop the great turtle beast. In return for their services, as promised, the Dreamers had revealed to the Pygmies the art of claycraft, showing them how to build and work the draft furnaces that had been constructed atop Chuanwang’s shell. The Pygmy apprentices diligently absorbed the knowledge of their Dreamer teachers and began work on similar projects in Tal Eren as soon as the Dreamers had left. It took a number of determined attempts, but after a number of weeks, draft furnaces were filling up the western part of the city, and thick, black smoke oozed out of the tall furnace chimneys. The pottery was scrappy at first, but experiment after experiment yielded better and better ceramics. Soon, the water from Beihe could be trapped in clay pots and stored in houses so that the workers could focus on their tasks for longer periods of time instead of having to run down to the river all the time to drink. More furnaces were built, more effort put into the work. Different types of clay were brought into the projects with varying and differing results. The ceaseless furnaces of Tal Eren burned day and night, sending columns of gray rising over the plains and jungle as if the Fire Giants had returned.

And, one day, it seemed that greater forces had conspired to complete the impression. The tremors of immense footsteps coursed through the soil before even anything more than a large blot had appeared on the southward horizon. They grew stronger as it advanced, gripping the very walls of houses and workshops. Tools rattled on their shelves, water spilled from basins, the swine in the fields sniffed the air restlessly and squealed their welcome to the air.

In mere minutes, the distant blot had become a gigantic shadow like a walking mountain. Little more passed before its outlines became clearer - the masses of enormous jagged iron plates, the titanic limbs, the blank-faced head with four flaming eyes. On the metallic enormity’s shoulder, maybe sprawled, maybe coiled, was a colossal, outlandish monstrosity. Its contours stayed blurry even as those of its master were clearly in sight, with one limb appearing to be a clawed paw one moment and a writhing tentacle another. The monster reached into gaps in the preternatural armour with what were either tongues or proboscises, draining something out of them.

When Narzhak stopped before the last rows of new, still incomplete furnaces, he loomed over the city in its entirety. His shoulders darkened the Heliopolis, casting a spell of untimely dusk on roofs and fields, only broken by the prying light of his eyes. He clapped his hands, and the crash was that of a hundred thunders striking at once.

The great ape was there, bearing the brunt of the roar without flinching. He bowed, his locks kissing the earth. [color=MistyRose]”Father, a thousand greetings.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”Good to see you,”[/b][/color] the god nodded, his voice rolling far around. [color=#CD2626][b]”Even better, you haven’t been wasting time.”[/b][/color] He gestured towards the city’s core. The creature on his shoulder shifted and oozed as the motion pushed it up.

[color=MistyRose]”It would be unbecoming of a godspawn to wallow about, father. I work to bring life the words I uttered in the plains of my birth.”[/color] 

[color=#CD2626][b]”And drive them to build the body, I see,”[/b][/color] a row of houses were thrown into shadow by a pointing finger far larger than the sum of them, [color=#CD2626][b]”Good thought, that. Don’t let a body lie around unused. Is this place of yours any good yet?”[/b][/color]

Anu nodded. [color=MistyRose]”Nearly. It is growing rapidly and with time its full might will be brought to bare, all things go well.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”Full might? It’s early to talk about that yet.”[/b][/color] Narzhak raised an arm to lay an open hand on the beast’s back. [color=#CD2626][b]”Tell me this. How wide does your vision go?”[/b][/color]

[color=MistyRose]”Beyond the horizons, father.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”That’s vague, but I couldn’t tell you what’s over half of them myself,”[/b][/color] iron fingers tapped together like bells tolling, [color=#CD2626][b]”What’s more, width alone won’t do it. You’ll need control. How deep will you go with that?”[/b][/color]

[color=MistyRose]”An empire unhindered by landmasses or oceans, a world order, to be specific.”[/color] he breathed. [color=MistyRose]”As for how deep I will go, I will go as deep as is warranted. I empathize towards sentiant-kind and wish to raise them from the mud and I will have nothing less than pristine.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”Hrm. You’ve got the right idea.”[/b][/color] The tolling grew more distant as Narzhak tapped the side of his head. [color=#CD2626][b]”Show me how strongly you hold them now.”[/b][/color]

A nod and a small hand-gesture called the warriors nearest to him. They assembled immediately, kowtowing before both divines. As one voice, they greeted, “A thousand blessings to the War-Father and His Majesty!” and awaited their commands.

[color=MistyRose]”Rise and take up arms.”[/color] he ordered smoothly.

They rose as one, too, spun on their heels and jogged for the palace barracks. Before the two gods truly had time to wait, they returned with wooden spears and stood at attention.

[color=MistyRose]”Turn your blades upon my father, and impale him.”[/color] he deadpanned.

The warriors seemed momentarily hesitant, whether from the blasphemy or the logistics of such a task. However, the one in the back swiftly let out a wild, guttural howl and charged forward towards the giant’s boot. The others followed swiftly, insane discipline overtaking their senses.

The great ape intoned above the symphony of ringing iron and warcries. [color=MistyRose]”If their king commands it, they fight a god.”[/color]

Narzhak’s eyes widened curiously as they looked straight down at the swarming figures. A grumbling rose from deep in his throat, soon growing into a low chuckle that made the ground quiver and shook the ranks of his assailants. His finger turned down on the pygmies, and he rumbled [color=#CD2626][b]”At ease!”[/b][/color] in a voice that was, it seemed, more command than sound.

Amidst a nod, his gaze slid back along the ground to Anu. [color=#CD2626][b]”You know how to handle them. My son.”[/b][/color] His laugh surged back up, not without pride. [color=#CD2626][b]”There is, still, one thing that’s trouble for chains of command like yours. You’re one, and they? Hundreds now, and if you go as far as you say, thousands of times that. Only a handful can hear you at once.”[/b][/color]

The pygmies returned to their kings side, shaken yet determined. [color=MistyRose]”Yes, distance has a habit of making the King feel less like a king. But we intend to set up a chain of command and bureaucracy, they will hear their king.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”That’ll help, but it won’t be absolute.”[/b][/color] Iron fingers grit together again. [color=#CD2626][b]”It will be just mortals driving each other, and leave them without safeguards-”[/b][/color] the gigantic hand straightened itself and cut a line in the air, [color=#CD2626][b]”-there’ll be rough spots on the way. More when you start getting ones without your mark, and you’re going to. You’ll need something else.”[/b][/color] Two eyes of the four jumped around the roofs and fields. [color=#CD2626][b]”Have them clear us a good place.”[/b][/color]

The ape nodded, glancing at his guard. [color=MistyRose]” Section off some land nearby.”[/color] 

”At once, your Majesty!” they barked in unison, melting into the city. Little time passed before a single pygmy returned to kotow before the gods again. ”His Majesty, War-Father, a plot just south had been made available.”

[color=MistyRose]”Good. Father?”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”Let’s.”[/b][/color] Narzhak stepped southward - or, rather, did a partial about-face, keeping his feet close together to avoid stepping on the fringe buildings. His gaze sought and swept appraisingly over the stretch of bare land the messenger had spoken of, then he lifted a hand in a grasping motion towards the sky.

Mirroring his gesture, the earth at the center of the plot trembled and rose, pushed up by a shape forcing its way to the surface. A sharp ridge of dark grey rock, veined with spiked iron bands, broke the soil, gaining in height and width by the moment. Soon it was the top of an enormous arch, stretching to both sides until it almost filled the entirety of the field’s breadth, before swerving down in lateral pillars that grew and grew.

When the tremors finally stopped, an imposing, not to say menacing structure towered over the southern quarters of the city. A vast archway of stone inlaid with metal, many times as tall as the largest of the simple houses surrounding it and broader yet, cast a long shadow beside Narzhak’s own. Its sides rose in a smooth stretched semicircle and met seamlessly in an even rounded apex. It was as if a single pillar, so thick and sturdy that Anu himself could not have encompassed it in an embrace if even he had been a dozen times his size, had been bent with the flexibility of a fine steel blade and planted with its ends in the ground.

What was most singular about the structure, however, was its inner side. All along the interior of its span, large spines of rock and iron jutted out like centuries-old stalactites. Each of them was perfectly aligned towards the centerpoint of the arch. Together, they gave it an uncanny semblance of a gigantic disembodied mouth full of pointed teeth, a similitude that immediately leapt into one’s eye and was impossible to shake off. 

[color=#CD2626][b]”Something like this.”[/b][/color] The god concluded his thought, and pointed at the ground near one of the archway’s feet. [color=#CD2626][b]”Take that.”[/b][/color] Indeed, lying on the ground near the pillar’s base was a fragment of stone, similar to the tooth-like formations, but only about as large as a spear and ringed with a spiralling design of metal bands. It was uncertain whether it had been there before Narzhak had spoken.

Visibly awed the demigod marched quickly to retrieve the thing, taking it up in his hands to eye it's design with rivers of fire. [color=MistyRose]”Father, what is this?”[/color] he breathed.

[color=#CD2626][b]”That’s what I was talking about.”[/b][/color] Narzhak’s hand hovered over the top of the structure. [color=#CD2626][b]”It eats the spirit of disobedience. Some other things come off with it, too, so be careful about going through here.”[/b][/color] A hook sprouted from an iron fingertip and slid under the gateway. [color=#CD2626][b]”Anything that does will think of nothing but following orders, as long as it breathes. Hold that piece, and you’ll be the one giving them. It can’t follow the borders of your reign anywhere,”[/b][/color] he gestured towards the horizon, [color=#CD2626][b]”but maybe it’ll be a reminder that this place is the first in it.”[/b][/color]

For a moment the ape was silent, glued to the superstructure that now dominated his city. The ramifications of his father's words where quicker to take hold. [color=MistyRose]”Father, a thousand blessings. To receive such a gift, I'm unable to fathom the amount of thanks.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”You don’t have to.”[/b][/color] The god’s massive head swayed sideways. The creature on his shoulder pushed what looked vaguely like a molluscoid eye on a stalk and dangled it towards the ground. [color=#CD2626][b]”All you need to do to show them is use it, well and often. Feed it timely, or it will hunger and speak too loud for our good.”[/b][/color]

[color=MistyRose]”Yes, Father.”[/color] the ape huffed, laying a hand on the cold metal structure. [color=MistyRose]”This one will wield it effectively.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”That’s all it will need.”[/b][/color] Narzhak turned an eye sidewards, gazing towards the buckling eastern horizon. [color=#CD2626][b]”You won’t be lacking heads on which to try it. Someone left things a throw that way some years ago, elaborate, but they know how to kill. You will find them, sooner or later.”[/b][/color] 

The ape followed his father's gaze but only found the city dominating his field of vision, nevertheless the titian’s words remained with him. [color=MistyRose]”An enemy to the east.”[/color] he murmured. [color=MistyRose]”If they attack Talemon they will know no mercy.”[/color]

[color=#CD2626][b]”No use for that, but there’s more to such things."[/b][/color] Iron fingertips tapped against each other with the sound of hills collapsing onto enormous gongs. [color=#CD2626][b]”A conflict is always an opportunity, more than anything else. Don’t waste this one."[/b][/color]

[color=MistyRose]”Word of wisdom this one will not forget.”[/color]





[hider=Summary]
The Pygmy help the Dreamers fill their storehouses and as promised they teach them claycraft in return. The Pygmies take this and run with it, immediately setting forth to master the craft. Industrial mode activated. Narz pulls up and is proud of his son and his work so far. He questions Anu’s vision and it is clear that it’s still an idea and not yet a solid doctrine. Concerned about his son's ability to manage an empire on a global scale, he tests his control on a small scale, which he readily passes. In order to help his son when things scale up, he creates the Mouth of Broken Will, a giant ark that does the zombification of the living thing. Anu is more than appreciative. Narzhak is sure to tell his some of one last thing, a threat to the east that will come for his people in due time. Anu is confident they’ll be ready. 
[/hider]

[hider=Might Summary]

[b][u]Narzhak[/u][/b]

[u]Starting:[/u] 8 MP, 4 FP

3 FP spent on the Mouth of Broken Will, a monument within Talemon. Any living being that passes under its arch has its mind stunted and shattered, losing all ability for higher thought if it ever had any. Victims of the Mouth retain basic instincts of self-sustenance and the ability to understand, or learn to, simple speech. Most importantly, they are filled with the urge to obey the dictates of the bearer of the Mouth’s keystone and those invested with authority by them. (5/5 MP total spent towards Subjugation portfolio.)

[u]End:[/u] 8 MP, 1 FP

[/hider]