Daeros had decided to steer clear of Krona for the time being; he had no desire to immediately jump into conflict with the other members of the Pantheon, and he knew that many of his fellow immortals would be all too quick to move to violence; after all, they were childish, selfish beings - and most of them, self-deluded as they were, knew it.
As he often counseled those politicians who prayed to him to do, the God decided to take a path of caution; he’d avoid other deities until the initial shock of Aroseus’ death had blown over, and then he would show himself in the Dead King’s Palace; and set his plans into motion to claim the fallen God’s throne.
In the meantime, there was still plenty to do on the mortal plane - surely even the humans had felt the death of the King of the Gods in their bones; with Aroseus dead, law and order would have vanished, and chaos would reign supreme. Caesilinus would be ripe for the taking; with the devout followers of Aroseus suddenly left leaderless, without divine guidance - they’d be distraught. And Daeros planned to take advantage of that; after all, if he had Caesilinus, and all the powerful artifacts it contained, would he not have a stronger claim to the throne of the Gods? As much as some of the Gods would disagree with him, Daeros knew that whoever had the most power and influence on the mortal plane would have a great deal more leverage in the Kingdom of the Divines.
Now, the question came to him - how was he to take the fallen King’s great city? After all, he was no God of War; conflict was a mystery to him, something he usually strove to avoid participating in directly at all cost. He had no supernatural servants of his own, save for his serpents - and he had no desire to put them at risk; besides, they were busy with a more important task - watching over Daeros’ concubines.
No, while he did not have any great deal of warlike capacity himself, the Patron of Corruption had a different means to conquer the Great City; his influence. Many Politicians were his devout followers, whether they admitted it or not - and they would be all too pleased to put their armies to the task of sacking Caesilinus, if it would improve their standing with him.
He took one last look around the dense jungle that surrounded his temple, a smile forming on his pale lips.
-
The throne room of King Oruous was magnificent in its splendour; it was positively massive, the walls huge blocks of smooth sandstone, held together perfectly by thin, almost invisible layers of mortar. The tiles of the throne room were made from smooth marble, and the King’s throne was massive and plated with gold.
The King himself was a short, fat and indulgent man - nearing his sixtieth year, he’d let himself go completely; he had a positively massive stomach, and an even bigger beard. The fat little monarch lay sprawled sideways upon his throne, head resting upon a large pillow; his court near empty, save for a few nobles conferring quietly amongst themselves, and the guards who stood silent watch at every entrance and exit to the massive room. As the King lay there, gobbling down grapes fed to him by a half-naked thirteen year old boy, he had no idea he was in for the biggest shock of his life; the God Daeros was coming to collect his payment.
With a sound so loud it mimicked a thunderclap, the God appeared; there was no forewarning, there was simply nothing - and then there was him. Daeros looked exactly as he always did, except that he was.. bigger, somehow - drawn up tall and straight, a look of Godlike superiority painted upon his beautiful features. He was surrounded by a thick grey haze, but there was no mistaking that he was not a God; nor that he was not Daeros, by the massive bust of his head, carved from white marble, that sat behind and above the King Oruous’ throne.
As Daeros had appeared, the King leapt with fright into a seated position; his guardsmen and the few nobles who were conferring quietly in corners of the massive throneroom stunned into silence. Oruous opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by the thundering, commanding voice of an Immortal on a mission. “King Oruous,” Daeros rumbled, the King white as a sheet and shaking, “I have come to collect my payment; you owe me a great debt, for the blessings I have showered you with throughout your reign. You are corrupt, a vile man - under deserving of the wealth you now possess. You know it as well as I; and you would be a fool to lie to yourself.”
The God paused - a soft whimper coming from the King’s fat, bearded face before Daeros began speaking again. “I require a favour of you, mortal - and not only will you be fulfilling your obligations to me, but you will be earning my gratitude. Aroseus, King of the Divines, has been slain - and his city left unguarded. You will march on the Great City of Caesilinus, and smite down the army that guards it; and the armies of any of those who plan to take the prize first. You will do this in my name, and with my blessing - and if you succeed, you will be the richest man in all Lymaeus.”
Oruous simply.. stared, for a few moments; stunned by the words that had just come from Daeros’ mouth. Not only had a God just appeared in his throneroom, but he was sending him on a mission - a mission from a Divine! He nodded his head weakly, before opening his motuh to reply, “U-uh.. y-yes, Lord; it will be done. I w-will send out emissaries to my allies, and rally my own armies.” Weakly, the King rose to his feet - standing on shaky legs; smitten by the God who stood before him - drawn in by his addictive nature.
Daeros smiled, nodding his head in thanks. “Do not fail me, Oruous,” He warned - a dark note to his words, before he vanished; gone as quickly as he had come.
-
The Divine watched from above Oruous’ Palace, shrouded in cloud, as the King’s men rushed to rally his men and send word to his allies; Daerps happy to wait, for now, as armies rallied in his name. And if those in Hevas were listening, they would surely hear the dull drums of war as they started to beat from below.