Carmina collected what needed to be collected and followed Svarok. Quitely looking at him as they walk, her mind kept telling her something is off about how he asked about "God". It wasn't the usual "God" one would refer to in this world but more like God-God. The human one or so. But as she pondered on it, the campsite appeared and stopped.
The two of them started carving up the two goblins they killed, collecting many parts from them. Starting the fire from there wasn't too hard, some of the charcoal was still hot enough to light up a few branches.
Carmina stared at Svarok as they asked, once more a religious related question.
“Rogyam”
“I’ve heard it too. No idea who or what that is. Food? A warrior? Some kind of divine being? Maybe his favourite animal. I don’t particularly care. If there’s a way to profit out of it, I will but ‘till then, survival comes first. Regarding the question from before, what do you believe in? A god? A creature from beyond?” asked Carmina, carefully, trying to determine Svarok’s disposition and thoughts.
While she was talking, the goblin ears, the eyes and their tongues finally cooked enough to look edible. She took a deep breath and then another and then a few more, before eating them one by one.
GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! C’MON! GET ITTTT! ONE LAST DROP!
Shout after shout as two barrels of dwarven ale lay upside down above Galaxor’s mouth, pouring their highly alcoholic liquid down his throat. It seemed that Galaxor would almost drown at one point as the liquid in his mouth was slowly spilling out of it. This was one of his favourite activities in the caravan and one that made him money from his fellow travellers. A giant can drink way more than most of the other races without getting drunk and their liver recovered fast from alcohol, a fact which most people don’t know. A fact which Galaxor always enjoyed showing.
As the barrels let out their last drop, a loud cheer was let out by the crowd. It was maybe one of the few activities that still brought joy to the caravaneers since they arrived in the forest. But even those that showed up to the drinking bouts or contests, were considerably less than they were before. The crowd was thinning. Less familiar faces. Less enthusiasm in their voices. People chose to stay closer to their families rather than go out drinking with a giant.
Come on! One MORE! the crowd shouted but then…Galaxor heard something else. A voice.
To Galaxor Stoneclaw, the great giant explorer, he says:
"Stoneclaw, O giant wanderer of our Caravan, there is word of ancient barrows nearby. Was it not your purpose to see the world, so that you may bring stories of it back to your tribesmen? Well, while we are stopped for some time, perhaps you'd like to venture out and explore these forsaken old ruins. Some others may wish to go with you. I hear of tales of undead- and I admit, I do not like having such a threat so close to our Caravan. Take your axe and your fists with you, should you go. I do not think any skeletons will withstand you."
Words. Words from Althuwin. Danger. Adventure. Perfect! While Galaxor wasn’t a fighter nor from a fighting clan, he always loved fighting, especially as he chose to embark on this potentially very dangerous mission. In fact, this was one of the many reasons he was even allowed to go. The Stone King himself declared him to be fit for the task.
As such, he put down the barrel he grabbed earlier on and lifted a hand in the air.
“Sorry guys, the big boss man is calling me. But don’t worry, I’ll be back! HA! HA! HA! ” he said with a loud laugh that slightly shook the barrel. His voice was like the stone itself, hard, strong, unbreakable.
Galaxor took two steps forward, making the ground shake a bit as he walked and grabbed his massive battle-axe with one hand and lifted it up, putting it on his shoulder and let out a shout towards where he thought Althuwin was.
The woman stood still as her tattoos seemed to glow stronger, her face was in pure ecstasy as her mutter grew faster and faster. Not that anyone but Ashe noticed it in time.
Eventually, it became obvious to everyone that a spell was being cast.
"Everyone DOWN NOW!" shouted Ashe as she threw herself on the floor, hoping the others would follow her lead.
A bright light followed before a deafening sound of a magical explosion rocked the tavern. Griff, his crew and a good part of the patrons were caught in the blast which acted as a scythe which cut them in half.
As the smoke cleared, the carnage was revealed. Blood, body parts and dead bodies and broken furniture everywhere.
From the back of the bar, the part where the damage was the least, 5 figures stood up. All dressed up in the same robes as the woman.
Two of them had long sharp blades and a small crossbow attached to their arms and they straight away made a bee-line towards the group.
The other two, followed closely behind before stopping a few metres away from the group. They disrobed and revealed the same tattoos as the woman before and started muttering their spell as the tattoos would start to glow.
And finally, the leader. Stood in the back, waiting for two to engage before jumping in themselves.
Time passed and Galaxor’s cosmic energy returned to him. He watched in silence what the other divines had done, the blood rain, the astral realm, the dream realm and of course, the massive tree that grew where the Khodex fell on Galbar. What made Galaxor laugh, was the creation of the goblin states. It was impossible for him not to notice it and of course, have the Smilegma use all that information to evolve Maxima’s tribe.
He also watched with interest what heroes might rise and from where, he noticed the great Jaxx as the love survivor of his spark and his friend…Jaxxx. A thing he laughed out loud enough to shatter the ground and make craters everywhere in the near vicinity of his location at the time, the desert. Overall he had fun but it was time to get back to work.
Galaxor long proposed to himself to learn more, be more knowledgeable and it was time for him to work on that. He teleported himself inside Goblin Underground and watched, amazed at how it evolved since he left it.
The 50m cave expanded in all directions and in certain places of the tunnels the goblins have built, one could see extremely thick roots of the life tree. Buildings appeared in the cave, nothing too sophisticated but it was enough to give a decent living. The goblins themselves seemed more muscled up than the ones he saw on the outside, probably because of all the mining they’ve been doing but maybe a bit thin, even with all the muscles but not all of them. Some were round and fat while the rest…just thin. Galaxor looked a bit confused, the Cornucopia should’ve made sure they’ve all been fed.
And that’s when he saw her, Maxima. A litter of 40 baby goblins around her and many guards, strong looking soldiers armed with different tools and keeping all goblins away from her. Maxima was seated upon something resembling a throne and watched with interest all that’s going around. With a loud laugh that startled all the goblins in the cave, Galaxor approached Maxima who quickly stood up from her throne.
A simple look from her, all the goblins went on their knees.
“ha! Ha! HA! HA! HA! Look at you tiny mortal. I see you’re using the power I gave you to take control of your tribe, put them to work and all. ” said Galaxor with a big smile on his face. In truth, Galaxor didn’t care who’s taking control of the tribe or what they’d do. If they were evil, a hero would rise up to take care of them, if they were good, an evil hero would rise up to take control. In the end, both outcomes satisfied him.
“My creator. Welcome! Welcome! You haven’t graced us with your presence in a long time. I have done what I’ve been given, reproduction and command. Our tribe has over 800 members currently, most on the small size and we’ve expanded our territory as much as we could. Let me know if something is not to your liking and I’ll make it happen. The Goblin Underground is yours to do as you wish. ” said Maxima, while looking Galaxor straight into the eyes. Galaxor chose her exactly for this behaviour. Fearlessness in front of anything. Now that was the sign of a hero.
“If there were things not to my liking, Maxima, I would’ve fixed them myself. A hero never waits for handouts from their betters. They strive to BE better than their betters until they become their betters…and then, there will still be better than them even at that point and they’ll have to become even better until there won’t be anymore better for a while and then there will be someone better and better. It’s an endless cycle of bettering. With that said, there are some changes I’ll make to this place. First of all…GOBLINS COME OVER HERE! ” said Galaxor, putting on his thinking cap as he explained the theory of heroism and then shouted a command to all goblins in the vicinity which if they could’ve, they would’ve teleported to him but it was pretty close, speed wise.
As soon as the goblins gathered around him, Galaxor clapped his palms and a wave of cosmic power started to spread away from him into a wall, carving into it a room. The cave’s floor transformed into something akin to gold and statues of Galaxor rose from the ground in different heroic poses. Maybe it was a coincidence but the temple was raised exactly underneath the other temples from the tree. With an additional “umph” from Galaxor, anyone who was a hero would find themselves thinking more clearly and in depth while inside, thanks to the heroic ability of Calm Minds.
The goblins, initially on their knees out of fear, now were on their knees out of reverence for the power of their creature.
“PPPHHHEEEW! Now, this place is a holy temple dedicated to yours truly. Keep it clean, keep it safe. I will always know if something is happening to it and if it’s dirty. So…MAKE SURE IT AIN’T! ” said Galaxor with an exaggerated phew and tone.
“You heard him! We’ve been honoured to become the holy guardians of the temple! Oh’ Great One! We thank you for your faith in us. ”
“No faith, just a gamble. Now, onto the next order of business. I shall be teaching you some VERY important things. Look at me. ”
As the goblins lifted their heads to gaze upon their creator, Galaxor’s aura flared with divine power and the knowledge of writing, drawing and other forms of knowledge storage were suddenly in the minds of the goblins. The goblins looked at one another as the knowledge settled into their brains.
“You! You and you! Quickly act upon this. Get me those black stones we’ve found in the fire!” immediately shouted Maxima while pointing at a few goblins. While the knowledge was new to her too, her boost as a hero made it faster for her to understand it and make the necessary connections to figure out how to use it efficiently. A rock they found with a black coating around it inside a burnt fire. The first type of “ink” to be used to write.
“Anyways. I’m off. Make sure to keep this place clean and use the knowledge I taught you…OR ELSE! ” said Galaxor with a laugh and teleported away, leaving the goblins to their business. A library will soon be built by them, Galaxor was certain of that. Not that they needed it since the Smilegma would do that for them but maybe the goblins had different plans in their minds.
Galaxor watched with interest what happened around the world of Galbar. Eventually he decides to continue his path towards knowledge and goes to check on the Goblin Underground where he notices that they’ve expanded very much and Maxima ruled the goblins with an iron fist.
Galaxor transforms a part of the cave into his holy temple and then teaches the goblins how to write and store information.
Start MP: 5
-1 MP to make a holy temple + -1 domain boosted MP to clear the minds of any hero who’d go inside the temple, allowing them to think more clearly and in depth. -1 MP to teach the Goblin Underground about writing and information storage.
Galaxor left to make the Underground. Galaxor left to be heroic. Galaxor…is able to do anything. Galax…no, this is not a story about me. This is a story of my first creation, the Goblins. The specks of divine energy fell all around the world of Galbar, making hundreds of thousands of goblins appear everywhere which meant that some…wouldn’t survive. This is the story of one such speck and its lone survivor. As the speck landed on Galbar, twenty goblins materialised in the unforgiving heart of the desert on Galbar. These small, newly formed beings found themselves in a world of relentless sandstorms, with the parched and harsh landscape stretching in all directions. Among this diverse group of goblins, one stood out as the largest, a towering figure at 2 metres in height. His name was Jaxx, and his deep, black skin contrasted starkly with the sun-bleached sands. Jaxx's commanding presence made him a natural leader, even in this hostile environment. The desert offered no reprieve. The ceaseless sandstorms stripped moisture from their bodies and obscured the sky. With limited resources and no shelter, the smaller Goblins struggled to survive. As the days passed, one by one, they succumbed to the relentless conditions, their frail bodies unable to withstand the harshness of the desert. Only Jaxx, the lone survivor and the largest of them all, seemed to fare better. He ate his own kind to avoid starvation, he drank their blood and anything else he could find. He did whatever he had to in order to survive. Unfortunately for Jaxx, as he was about to reach more hospitable lands, he almost ran out of food and water supplies. He barely had one piece of meat left and some blood. That is, until he saw something shining in the distance, something very shiny.
It had been born in an endless dune, nothing but the sandstorm and the dim light of the sun for company. There was no stimuli to be found but the movements of the wind and the formation and collapse of the dunes. At night, the sky was shrouded in the endless sand, and by day it studied the movements of the wind. It had gotten quite good at it; it could not imagine the concept of a name, but it could reliably guess the direction the wind would turn.
Nonetheless, while it survived, it did not thrive. In silence it trudged the endless, lifeless sands, near starvation as it grasped at whatever it could find, at multiple points reduced to sucking the smallest morsels of meaning from grains of sand. It stood at an imposing twelve feet tall, and at first noticed not the creature that had found it. Its body reflected the sun in a breathtaking rainbow kaleidoscope, lighting up the sands in colours that perhaps were the first the goblin had ever seen. Jaxx was…amazed. He didn’t have the words to express what colours he saw but he knew that it was shiny and intriguing but Jaxx’s survival instinct took over his curiosity. Clutching the bone he took from a goblin, he approached slowly. Bone “weapon” not raised high above his head but near his body, he didn’t want to show that he’s a threat but still have enough time to club the thing if it proves dangerous.
“A! A! A! OOOO!” said Jaxx, not having the words to say what he meant but he smiled gently, as gentle as the face of a goblin allowed. The crystal being jerked their head around to bring all their glowing eyes to bear. Here, there was something new, and that meant something to ponder for sustenance. It harmonised, suddenly, each syllable from another portion of its body, “Wow,” and then it devolved into a similar gibberish. It sounded otherworldly, like an ethereal choir whose words could not be understood.
The kaleidoscope flitted rapidly as instinct struggled to respond to such a diminutive and odd-looking creature as a goblin, and it began to approach slowly, still harmonising.
Looking a bit confused at the sound the creature made, Jaxx was about to point his weapon at it before thinking better of it. The creature looked small at first but as it approached…Jaxx realised how big it actually was. Bigger than anything he saw. He was bigger than the rest of the goblins but this was bigger than the biggest goblin.
He threw the piece of meat he held in his hand towards the creature and nodded at it. Either it would’ve been dangerous and ate the meat then tried to attack him to eat him, at which Jaxx would defend himself or he’d run away, hoping his legs would be fast enough to carry him far from this shiny creature. The creature startled a moment, and then curiosity took over. It reached out with one crystal hand and prodded the meat. It picked it up and brought it close, looking it over. It studied how the meat flexed, how it desiccated in the sand.
And then it dropped the meat, and leaned down to take a closer look at the goblin, its first ever sight of such a thing. It harmonised again, mimicking the goblin’s original sounds in a lilting sing-song as it reached out, intent on poking the thing and seeing if it resembled the meat.
The goblin was…perplexed. He didn’t understand this creature. It didn’t want to eat. Meat. There’s nothing else to eat, why would it refuse meat? At that moment, the creature made the same sounds, albeit a bit like music, to him. He lifted his bone “weapon” and pointed it at the crystal creature and said, in the most “do not approach more, I don’t want to hurt you” tone:
“Ooo! OO!” while with the other hand, Jaxx made a pushing sign by having an open palm and approaching it to his body and then away from it. The strider suddenly straightened out, taking a defensive posture, spikes on the back of their arms presented as they backed away. The kaleidoscope of colours first darkened, and then, to the goblin, violently brightened; an instinctive reaction, all the reflected light pointed towards Jaxx.
Jaxx’s eyes burned from the sudden light and he put his hand up to cover them while also moving to the side, trying to avoid the creature’s light “attack”.
“A! A! A!” he shouted as ran around trying to circle the creature and then it clicked in his mind. The creature mimicked his sounds. Friendly. No danger.
He then stopped and did something that made his self-preservation instinct shout at him. Jaxx dropped his bone “weapon” and approached the creature slowly, one hand covering half covering his eyes while the other hand was open and pointed towards the creature. Though he could not see it, the creature remained ready to strike, warily watching as the goblin approached. It did not move away, but it remained dead silent and tense.
When Jaxx made contact, it was nothing like him. It was hard and unyielding, like solid rock; likely the first the goblin had ever felt of such material. The strider still stood there, silent and tense as it waited to see what the goblin would do.
Jaxx was, once more, very amazed at the material the creature was made of. Whatever it was, it felt durable and strong. Stronger than the bones of his people, stronger than the rocks and definitely stronger than his meat. It was amazing. Unknowingly, Jaxx was in tears, tears of joy of finding something so…perfect. He didn’t understand the feeling but he knew he met a creature truly wonderful.
“Ooo, Jaaaxxx!” he shouted while pointing at himself with a hand, while the other one was gently petting the creature. The creature, slowly and hesitantly, stretched one of its arms out and responded, “Jaaxxx,” in its songlike voice. It then repeated it several times for good measure. Then, it pointed the arm back at itself, and tilted its head as it stood there, towering over the goblin.
Jaxx nodded at the creature with a big smile on his face and while pointing at it, said “Jaxxx”, letting the x’s longer than when he said his name. He petted the creature gently on its crystalline body and motioned it to smell him. He didn’t know what the creature was or if it couldn’t even smell but that’s how it was in his tribe, they smell each other, smell nice, friend if not…not friend. Not that they have found any friends since they were created.
The strider’s head suddenly snapped away, to some distant point. The winds were changing; it had studied the sandstorm enough to recognize when it was due to whip up. It further recognized the frailty of the meat the goblin was made of, and how sand at such speed could strip it. There were seconds left to spare before the front came. The strider acted, and it acted quickly.
It grabbed the goblin with both of its manipulator hands, and held him in place as it wrapped its tail around the diminutive creature. Just as it did so, the front came and any noise was overwhelmed by the whipping of sand as the sun darkened. As the light left, so too did the reflection, and it was replaced by the dim glow of fibre optic veins. The light shimmered through the body, a criss-cross of veins like a dense symphony scattered across the goblin’s sight.
Jaxx was initially defensive when he got grabbed before realising what was happening. A sandstorm. Bigger than the one he encountered before. Stronger. Jaxxx was saving his life and not attacking him. Jaxx stopped trying to fight Jaxxx and let himself be covered up by Jaxxx…that is until the sandstorm was upon them. The wind and the sand slowly started to cut into his skin even as he was mostly covered up by Jaxxx and he let out a shout of pain. His vision started to dim and he felt his lifeforce being drained away but before he could close his eyes…he appeared somewhere else and saw goblins. Many, many goblins and someone else. Just a glimpse of a divine being.
Galaxor starts telling a story about himself before realising it ain’t about him. Anyways, one of Galaxor’s divine sparks falls in an uninhabitable desert and the group of goblins dies. All but one 2 metre tall goblin with gray skin called “Jaxx”. He ends up eating and drinking his tribe in order to survive. As he was just about to get out of the desert, he meets a crystal creature and while initially gets flashbanged by it, they befriend one another and he calls it Jaxxx.
A very strong sandstorm appears out of nowhere and Jaxx dies or would’ve if not for Asheel’s cycle saving him right before falling unconscious.
Also known as : Ashevelendar/Ashevelen/AsheTheReborn
Best compliment so far from [@Tortoise]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/qdK70br/image.png[/img]
On the brilliant roleplay : [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185726-through-the-gateways-humanity/ooc] Through The Gateways [/url]
Playing as the Goddess of Trade in Divinus 7
[img]https://i.ibb.co/QjWNXR4/Ashevelen-Token.png[/img]
Playing as the Goddess of Shadowy-Trades in Divinus 7
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Thank you!
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Also known as : Ashevelendar/Ashevelen/AsheTheReborn <br><br>Best compliment so far from <a class="bb-mention" href="/users/tortoise">@Tortoise</a><br><img src="https://i.ibb.co/qdK70br/image.png" /><br>On the brilliant roleplay : <a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185726-through-the-gateways-humanity/ooc">Through The Gateways</a><br><br>Playing as the Goddess of Trade in Divinus 7<br><br><img src="https://i.ibb.co/QjWNXR4/Ashevelen-Token.png" /><br><br>Playing as the Goddess of Shadowy-Trades in Divinus 7<br><br><img src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1006946263599677521/1014229630783340544/ShadowsAspectToken.png" /><br><br>Thank you!</div>
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