Syvlands - High Jynkz
Everything belonged to Syv.
It could hear its followers laugh at Archon's pitiful attempts to subjugate its power, desperately calling forth a light that quickly dimmed within the tiny god's shadow. There Archon would remain, forever paling in comparison to his own people. They now followed the Divine Trickster and its chaotic ways. Their sheppard had doomed his flock to lives of depravity over a single life. So much fun would be had once everything was said and done.
Yet there were others. Syv had sensed their presence trying to overcome its own power during the last turning. They had nearly done just that too. But who was the prankster god kidding? Nothing could overthrow his absolute dominance over these pitiful divines. They were simply toys in the same playbox as the mortals. Yet they had chosen to misbehave and that was something the midget god could not abide by. It would need to straighten these matters out.
In fact, it would need to straighten many matters out. From the tip of what had been Archon's tower, Syv slithered its shadowy self down to witness the tinkerer's sour departure. A sense of pride and contentment swelled within, glad that it had ruined something the rival god held so dear to him. It relished upon the resentment it felt within the skein of the Aether. Yes, this felt right. Archon had wronged it, so the divine had felt the prankster's retribution. The god had even made an effort to whine to the other divines about his loss and to try and place Syv in a bad light. The mischievous divine would need to add that to its list of things it would have to resolve but its importance was minor at best. It even recalled the mask that was now chattering away with insults, wanting to save the artifact for more useful purposes than to distract an already pitiful adversary. For now, it would let Archon retreat and lick his wounds, for there were much greater threats that loomed upon the borders of its newly acquired territory.
"Smythe!" the god yelled, its voice ringing through the entire tower as it reformed from the umber to its most familiar shape. "I need you here now!"
As Syv began to search the various levels of the tower, a small boy made himself apparent to the god with a cackling laugh. He pointed towards the steps where two figured were bumbling up the flight with great speed. Smythe and his mare were racing upwards, trying to find what little room there was as they bounded forwards together. It almost made Syv groan at their incompetence. How had Archon ever put up with these buffoons? Better yet, why had he tried to save them?!
"Smythe, you idiot!" the god cried out, trying to keep its temper to the minimum level of a natural disaster. "I need you to travel to the Frostcliffs as fast as your stupid self can go. Take that dumb horse of yours if it'll actually help. Find Dartek in the Iron Burrows and tell him to send..." the god paused for a moment to think, rubbing its supposed chin in a thoughtful manner, "...ten score dwarves down here for forging and to have as much iron with them as they can get. Then I need ya to tell 'em to double their efforts in spreading my name and to have guards along the borders. I ain't got time for other gods muckin' about and I ain't got time for failure, so hurry it up!"
Syv didn't have to tell its messenger twice. Like a flash, Smythe was mounted and galloping down the stairs and out the front entrance of the tower faster than the tiny divine had ever seen him move. It was a miracle the dimwit hadn't broken his neck and killed his horse while doing it, yet there was the proof that he could manage some competence.
As for its assistance in the matter of finding its lackey, Syv now turned back to the child that had guided it. The boy was dressed in a peculiar fashion, as though he too were an artificer of some sort. Maybe he had been Archon's apprentice? He seemed eager to please and far more resourceful than Smythe had proven. Maybe it was time to reward the child with a gift. Grasping the young man by the shoulders, Syv let its cloak unravel before his newly acquired follower. It was the same void that the courier had been subjected to, but Syv was not as forceful this time. The boy was cautious, curious about the utter lack of anything underneath yet aware that this could be a test or, even worse, a trap. The divine trickster could only smile its toothy grin at the boy's reactions, pleased with the results.
"Don't be afraid," Syv whispered into the boy's mind, "I won't bite..."
With the encouragement of his new god, Rickon gladly stepped forwards into the void, disappearing inside the shadows within.
"...much!"
[hr]
The god's voice cackled as an echo within this shadow realm, soon fading away as the world began assaulting Rickon with every stimuli he could possibly have imagined. Images and voices, so quick that he could barely make sense of them. He saw many wondrous thing, many horrifying things and many answers to mysteries he hadn't even contemplated. Before him was the universe itself, a cornucopia of understanding that was now forced upon him. Yet the boy gladly drank it in, like a glass of water after a long drought, he was thirsty for every drop of insight Syv could afford. He had been promised this same knowledge and progress by his former idol, yet this god was the one who had provided him access to that knowledge without preamble. His head began to pulse, a pain far beyond anything he had experienced swelling within, yet even if this killed him he would die knowing everything there was to know and that made him continue through the suffering. There would be nothing Rickon wouldn't learn.
[hr]
Several minutes passed before Rickon emerged from his god's cloak. Syv was grinning like a madman, expecting some sort of hilarious reaction like Smythe's when he had been subjected to the same treatment. Yet the boy seemed calm, almost comatose despite having bee moving just a few seconds earlier. Then the young man turned, slowly, to face his master. Tears of blood were streaming down his cheeks and a saddened smile was permanently etched onto his visage. It was priceless and Syv could only grin even wider, a sinister tone taking over his toothy smirk. He wasn't erratic like the courier, he had embraced everything that had been within and now he knew the terrible truths that no mortal should ever know. This one would be its.
"Well, boyo, we've got work to do. I want every mortal that can lift a hoe to be at this tower right now. Order guards to be posted at the borders and an escort arranged for my most esteemed worshipers from the north. Tell them to stock up on resources 'cause we're not gonna have a bunch a farmers in a couple weeks. Got it?"
The boy simply nodded in response, rushing off to do the god's bidding to the high standards it would expect.
With its orders given and plans underway, Syv would need one last stone to be cast into motion. Focusing its will within the Aether, Syv constructed a message to the little birdy god that had threatened it earlier. It showed the fate it had dealt to the Heartlands, the image that Mhioden had sent earlier and then conjured a fabrication of her child king being stricken with the same fate that had befallen Archon's followers. It wished to sew the seeds of chaos and doubt, to show her that even her pitiful order could crumble before her into total discord. The pitiful divine wouldn't get away with simply threatening Syv. It would show her what it meant to battle a true god and seek her out.
The divines of Oriscos had bared their fangs to Syv. Now it was time to show them just how many teeth it had.
Everything belonged to Syv.
It could hear its followers laugh at Archon's pitiful attempts to subjugate its power, desperately calling forth a light that quickly dimmed within the tiny god's shadow. There Archon would remain, forever paling in comparison to his own people. They now followed the Divine Trickster and its chaotic ways. Their sheppard had doomed his flock to lives of depravity over a single life. So much fun would be had once everything was said and done.
Yet there were others. Syv had sensed their presence trying to overcome its own power during the last turning. They had nearly done just that too. But who was the prankster god kidding? Nothing could overthrow his absolute dominance over these pitiful divines. They were simply toys in the same playbox as the mortals. Yet they had chosen to misbehave and that was something the midget god could not abide by. It would need to straighten these matters out.
In fact, it would need to straighten many matters out. From the tip of what had been Archon's tower, Syv slithered its shadowy self down to witness the tinkerer's sour departure. A sense of pride and contentment swelled within, glad that it had ruined something the rival god held so dear to him. It relished upon the resentment it felt within the skein of the Aether. Yes, this felt right. Archon had wronged it, so the divine had felt the prankster's retribution. The god had even made an effort to whine to the other divines about his loss and to try and place Syv in a bad light. The mischievous divine would need to add that to its list of things it would have to resolve but its importance was minor at best. It even recalled the mask that was now chattering away with insults, wanting to save the artifact for more useful purposes than to distract an already pitiful adversary. For now, it would let Archon retreat and lick his wounds, for there were much greater threats that loomed upon the borders of its newly acquired territory.
"Smythe!" the god yelled, its voice ringing through the entire tower as it reformed from the umber to its most familiar shape. "I need you here now!"
As Syv began to search the various levels of the tower, a small boy made himself apparent to the god with a cackling laugh. He pointed towards the steps where two figured were bumbling up the flight with great speed. Smythe and his mare were racing upwards, trying to find what little room there was as they bounded forwards together. It almost made Syv groan at their incompetence. How had Archon ever put up with these buffoons? Better yet, why had he tried to save them?!
"Smythe, you idiot!" the god cried out, trying to keep its temper to the minimum level of a natural disaster. "I need you to travel to the Frostcliffs as fast as your stupid self can go. Take that dumb horse of yours if it'll actually help. Find Dartek in the Iron Burrows and tell him to send..." the god paused for a moment to think, rubbing its supposed chin in a thoughtful manner, "...ten score dwarves down here for forging and to have as much iron with them as they can get. Then I need ya to tell 'em to double their efforts in spreading my name and to have guards along the borders. I ain't got time for other gods muckin' about and I ain't got time for failure, so hurry it up!"
Syv didn't have to tell its messenger twice. Like a flash, Smythe was mounted and galloping down the stairs and out the front entrance of the tower faster than the tiny divine had ever seen him move. It was a miracle the dimwit hadn't broken his neck and killed his horse while doing it, yet there was the proof that he could manage some competence.
As for its assistance in the matter of finding its lackey, Syv now turned back to the child that had guided it. The boy was dressed in a peculiar fashion, as though he too were an artificer of some sort. Maybe he had been Archon's apprentice? He seemed eager to please and far more resourceful than Smythe had proven. Maybe it was time to reward the child with a gift. Grasping the young man by the shoulders, Syv let its cloak unravel before his newly acquired follower. It was the same void that the courier had been subjected to, but Syv was not as forceful this time. The boy was cautious, curious about the utter lack of anything underneath yet aware that this could be a test or, even worse, a trap. The divine trickster could only smile its toothy grin at the boy's reactions, pleased with the results.
"Don't be afraid," Syv whispered into the boy's mind, "I won't bite..."
With the encouragement of his new god, Rickon gladly stepped forwards into the void, disappearing inside the shadows within.
"...much!"
[hr]
The god's voice cackled as an echo within this shadow realm, soon fading away as the world began assaulting Rickon with every stimuli he could possibly have imagined. Images and voices, so quick that he could barely make sense of them. He saw many wondrous thing, many horrifying things and many answers to mysteries he hadn't even contemplated. Before him was the universe itself, a cornucopia of understanding that was now forced upon him. Yet the boy gladly drank it in, like a glass of water after a long drought, he was thirsty for every drop of insight Syv could afford. He had been promised this same knowledge and progress by his former idol, yet this god was the one who had provided him access to that knowledge without preamble. His head began to pulse, a pain far beyond anything he had experienced swelling within, yet even if this killed him he would die knowing everything there was to know and that made him continue through the suffering. There would be nothing Rickon wouldn't learn.
[hr]
Several minutes passed before Rickon emerged from his god's cloak. Syv was grinning like a madman, expecting some sort of hilarious reaction like Smythe's when he had been subjected to the same treatment. Yet the boy seemed calm, almost comatose despite having bee moving just a few seconds earlier. Then the young man turned, slowly, to face his master. Tears of blood were streaming down his cheeks and a saddened smile was permanently etched onto his visage. It was priceless and Syv could only grin even wider, a sinister tone taking over his toothy smirk. He wasn't erratic like the courier, he had embraced everything that had been within and now he knew the terrible truths that no mortal should ever know. This one would be its.
"Well, boyo, we've got work to do. I want every mortal that can lift a hoe to be at this tower right now. Order guards to be posted at the borders and an escort arranged for my most esteemed worshipers from the north. Tell them to stock up on resources 'cause we're not gonna have a bunch a farmers in a couple weeks. Got it?"
The boy simply nodded in response, rushing off to do the god's bidding to the high standards it would expect.
With its orders given and plans underway, Syv would need one last stone to be cast into motion. Focusing its will within the Aether, Syv constructed a message to the little birdy god that had threatened it earlier. It showed the fate it had dealt to the Heartlands, the image that Mhioden had sent earlier and then conjured a fabrication of her child king being stricken with the same fate that had befallen Archon's followers. It wished to sew the seeds of chaos and doubt, to show her that even her pitiful order could crumble before her into total discord. The pitiful divine wouldn't get away with simply threatening Syv. It would show her what it meant to battle a true god and seek her out.
The divines of Oriscos had bared their fangs to Syv. Now it was time to show them just how many teeth it had.
Order followers to do its bidding: Effortless
Recall the Casuistrious Chatterer: Effortless
Find a powerful NPC entity which is capable of hiding from you (Mhioden): DC 11 [+6 Anarchy]
Recall the Casuistrious Chatterer: Effortless
Find a powerful NPC entity which is capable of hiding from you (Mhioden): DC 11 [+6 Anarchy]
