Helios
Unlucky0013
Lord Zee
DracoLunaris
Frettzo
Vec
Eviledd1984
Kalmar
ButtsnBallsMaxima Magna Mirificus
The Hero Chronicles
Maxima and Tummi, the River God
A collab between @Timemaster & @Goldeagle1221
Days went by fast in the Goblin Underground. Well, day or night was a hard thing to determine when one lives deep underground with no access to the surface but it was day for Maxima’s people. Not that the GU ever slept. There was always more work to be done, more tablets to be written, more knowledge to be amassed.
If they weren’t mining and expanding their territory to sustain their ever increasing numbers. If they weren’t mining, they were mating, if they weren’t mating, they’d write on the tables. That’s how they spent their time. All of their time. Life was not dull for the GU.
It was a quiet day in the GU and the miners were working on a new corridor where they heard running water or something liquid at least. Water was scarce underground and most of what they drank came from the Cornucopia but that wasn’t sustainable for too long. The numbers would soon outweigh the usage of it. After all, it was never meant to be a permanent solution.
As the miners were breaking into the wall with their tools, an earthquake started and panic quickly spread between the miners. Each ran in a different direction as they saw the wall they were digging into cracking and with a loud “WHOOOFF” it crashed down, inundating the whole corridor with dust.
Soon after, warriors were sent in, just in case there was anything dangerous and they saw it. The river. A big underground cavern with a large river in the middle. Mirth could be seen on the faces of the goblins as they saw it and a few of the warriors dropped their weapons and quickly jumped into the river. Only to feel something in there. A sense of danger. A godly sense and they ran, they ran as fast as their legs allowed down.
A few hours later they returned with Maxima in tow. She was a hero blessed by Galaxor, surely she would’ve been the perfect candidate to communicate with a potential divine. Maxima approached the river cautiously, Rajesh a few steps behind her. With a bow to the river, she said, in the most friendly voice she could:
“Greetings O’ Great being! We are the Goblin Underground as decreed by our creator, Galaxor, the God of Heroes. I am Maxima Magna Mirificus, the leader of the Goblin Underground. Please accept my deepest apologies if this river is yours and my warriors defiled it. We’ve captured them and brought them to you to do as you wish but please, spare their lives as they didn’t know what they were doing. ”
"What's that now?" A small voice piped up. Floating lazily on a ring of woven branches was a small gnomish god. He laid in the center of the floating ring, his small sandled feet poking out from under his beard. He held a drink in one hand and a curled staff in the other. Dark eyes sparkled under bushy brow. "Why, hello there! No worries, come on in!"
Almost immediately, the goblins went on their knees to show reverence to the small divine. Even the four goblins that were over 1.9 metres tall. All the goblins, but Maxima who, as instructed by Tummi, approached him, walking into the water a few steps.
“O’ Great One! My warriors are terribly sorry for what they’ve done. Please spare them your wrath. I’ll gladly accept any punishment that you may have for them, but please, understand that rivers such as this are rare underground and our water supplies have run low. They merely sought to cool themselves down and drink their fill. With your permission, I’d like my people to bring some of this water back home. Our children are…suffering from the lack of it. Sure, us adults can survive on fruits alone but the children…” said Maxima before realising what she’s done, she directly asked a divine something, with no fear.
“I apologise for my insolence of speaking so bluntly, O’ Great One with long beautiful beard which us goblins cannot grow. ” quickly added Maxima, hoping this smoothed things over and it wouldn’t end in her death.
"Hm." Tuuni tugged at his beard in an almost exaggerated way, a clear blush on his cheeks. "You provide an excellent case." He paused and twirled his beard between his fingers. "Oh I got it! I'll let you have as much water as you'll ever need, in exchange for a promise!"
Maxima was flabbergasted to say the least. She wasn’t killed on the spot and the divine seemed…very calm, chill. Most divines would’ve surely killed her by now…twice.
“Of course, O’ Great One. As long as it isn’t something that goes against our Creator, we will be doing anything you may need. ”
"Oh, good!" Tuuni squirmed to stand up on his floating tube and leapt to shore. He landed right in front of Maxima with a puff of dust and rose up to her shins as he stood. "Please," he continued, "let us speak eye to eye."
Maxima nodded and went on one knee, looking at the divine, right in the eyes…an experience she’ll tell everyone about in the next coming days.
“Yes, great one? Also, may your greatness, tell us your name? We wish to write it down in our annals. ” said Maxima. Her plan was simple, if they’d die here, hopefully someone will find a tablet and pass it to Galaxor.
"My name is Tuuni," the gnomish imp of a god answered, "and I have a simple set of promises for us to consider together. Firstly, I will allow you and all else to drink and be happy by my river so long as you allow any and all to do the same, no matter the creature or person. Second, I would hope to see that no debris or destruction or taint comes to see this water, keep the land from desecration. Lastly, perhaps, maybe…" He gave her a blushing twinkle. "Maybe you guys could make a little statue of me here, a small one. Cup my hands so that you can put water in them, and I'll bless the statue as holy — so anyone may fill the palms with water and speak their prayer unto me." He seemed giddy at the idea.
As Tunni introduced himself and told Maxima what was required, she quickly turned to Rajesh to make sure he was writing everything down. Just to make sure that nothing is missed out from the deal.
“I can promise you, in the name of the GU, that none shall be persecuted at this spot. All shall drink their fill if so they wish. As for the second part, I’ll make sure to place guards around this cavern. No one shall taint this river with their foulness. As for the statue…That will definitely not be a problem. My crafters will have it created shortly. Rajesh, my advisor, has already sketched a liking of you for our library. It’ll be hard to match your greatness but we will do our best. ” replied Maxima.
The Cornucopia was brought over and food made for the divine and goblins while the crafting was done and in less than 2 hours, it was there. A statue made out of copper and a shiny crystal for eyes was brought from the GU.
“There. Great One Tunni. Our best crafters worked on it and this is the result. ”
Tuuni folded his arms behind his back and gave the statue a walk around. A smile grew behind his beard and with a happy squint, he looked up at Maxima. “Keep this place sacred and your promises clear, and this river will never dry. Should you need me once again, just pray at my likeness.” He gave Maxina a friendly pat on the back, which equated to more of a tap on the knee.
“As long as I live, our promise will be kept and I’ll do my best to teach the new leader to keep the promise too. But, one more thing, great one, if I may. A request. If it is within your power or you wish to help, is there a chance you could make our great artefact, Cornucopia capable of making water too? This way we will be able to spread water everywhere in the underground, rivers galore. Our Creator blessed it with the power to create food but water…” said Maxima, knowing full well what she asked and who she asked. It would be a favour from a divine being, a dangerous thing.
“Hm…” Tuuni once again fell into thought. He paced around Maxima, as if pondering the request with great sincerity. “It seems almost redundant to do such a thing, when there is such a wonderful spring of water here at this river… so instead, I’ll bless it with the flow of another drink, one which fulfils the ideals of your cornucopia to a higher degree. As if reaching out of nowhere, Tuuni lifted the drink he was sipping earlier. “I shall bless the Cornucopia to create this very drink which I sip, it is high in vitamins and calcium as well as proteins. It’s not milk, but it is indeed something which I call Ralk.”
“Ralk. It must be a truly divine drink if you’re offering it, are you sure we are worthy of such a treat? If so, that would work too. Our younglings require everything they can get to grow up strong and it will solve one issue with only water to drink, diversity. So, if you wish to, please do so and I’ll make sure all that we meet, shall know of RALK!” said Maxima as she bowed her head low, very low.
“Yes, I think so,” Tuuni answered simply. “Just remember fairness and generosity, for that is the way of the flow.” With little else, he tipped his drink, a stark white liquid spilling out over the cornucopia. “And with that, new friends, I must be off.” He backed up to the river and gave the GU a big grin. “Content?”
The Cornucopia shook as the powers of two divines combined to make something new. Another hole appeared on it, one that will allow Ralk to come out and the other would keep its original purpose.
“Yes, great one. We thank you greatly. Please visit the GU any time you want and if you haven’t met our Creator, you should. I’m sure he’ll be pleased to meet you. ” replied Maxima as she sent the Cornucopia back to the GU.
“Oh I’m sure I will, I’m a little bit of everywhere.” Tuuni winked before sinking into the flowing water.
