He commanded the fumes to repeat themselves. Over and over they rolled and spoke in thier rasy voices untill the god had seen enough. These siblings of his, they were indeed treacherous. And even a god had fallen to thier machinations.
"But Why?" he whispered. As he spoke aloud, the fumes drifted gently apart, floating into the sallow skies of the Godcrater. Rivers of toxins poured out from the bubbling, hissing pools and fountains. Sweeping dust and gravel, the wide rivers formed a lake of swirling grays and suflurous yellows. Azazel/Go'El walked down to its edge, staring at his distorted reflection.
"Power, of course, but...something else?" There was a long silence, only broken by the crashing of the rivers on the rocks. And then, he understood.
"Jealousy."
His working eyes lit up with rage. The pool in front of him boiled and frothed at its bank.
"They were jealous of my place!! Of my power!! They hated me and together sought me DEAD!!"
The Godcrater shook, and the skies darkened with the billowing fume-clouds. The hatred within him froze. An icy sensation, heavy as stone, clawed its way across his body, conquering and subduing with no resistance. The rumblings of the ground quieted, and the quakes became trembles. The pool now only bubbled.
He knew what to do. And how to do it...
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. -Revelation 21:6
A Hand and a hammer fell from the skies. The Hand grasped as it sought blindly for what would make it whole. The world seemed to shake as the Hand found what it had sought and so the forging began. An anvil was made out of thin air and a substance most particular appeared upon it. The Essence of a newly born God. A white fire that shone brighter then the very sun! The air around it seemed to live as it moved back and forth upon the dark iron that was its cradle.
And so the Hand raised the Hammer and here under the light of the lifegiving sun the Smith made himself. The hammer fell time and time again as the essence was hammered in to Substance, Substance was made it to matter and matter was made in to glorious life!
It was so that within an hour, The Smith arose from his Anvil. Shook his head and sparks flew in all directions from his long, curly hair. He had the form of a giant of a man. Skin the colour of sot, eyes burning with the very fire of his Father and a long, gray beard. He wore nothing, for there was nothing there to hide.
The Smith stood there beside his anvil and breathed. His eyes were closed..and a thin smile rested upon his lips. It was..good to be alive...and there he remained. His father could wait after all.
Agni had watched, entranced, by the sight of the Hand and Hammer as it worked on its own body, crafting it from a lump of proto-God-stuff to the form that stood below.
You have worthily created yourself, my Son. Have you a name?
The Smith turned his face upwards to see his Father. His grip around his weapon tightend as he saw the burning face in the sky.
" My name is, Thereus, My lord Father. I am the first Smith. Lord of Magma, future architect of hidden places...and your son as well."
He stomped on the ground and the earth broke apart as a sudden stream of magma broke through and threw the Smith up in the sky so he could meet his father's gaze.
" You...are different from me, father. Why did you make me like this? Why are you fire..and I this? "
He clenched his free hand and slammed it against his chest.
Clang.
" Why did you made me? What is my purpose? "
The Smith looked at him, puzzled, young..and clearly quite confused.
Thereus, SmithLord, I did not create you, you did. The only answer to why your form appears the way it does lies within you, for I merely told you CREATE, and you fashioned yourself like this.
As for your purpose, my son, it is twofold. The first is to Create, for that is your primary command. What you create is for you to choose, but we are to be the Lords of your creation.
The second purpose is to be my son. To by my ally and bodyguard as I am your lord and protector. We are not the only Gods, Thereus. There are others, the ColdMother who may choose to destroy us if we grow complacent against her icy self and the TeaLord, whose thirst for power knows no end, and who has already slain one of the other of our number. There is also the StoneLord, Onus, yet he is the child of the ColdMother as well, and your half-brother. I am unsure as to whether or not he can be trusted.
These are your purposes, and these are the conditions for your divinity. And so now I ask you, Thereus, Smithlord, my Son. Do you swear to uphold both of these commands of your Father?
Leaf hesitated. Onus had been slow to word and action in the little time he had known him. Yet as time stretched on, Leaf became unsure if he would move again, or if perhaps his mind was elsewhere, in some deep and otherworldly thoughts. Hesitant and cautious, Leaf nodded respectfully to the stone god and then backed away.
The others had all left. Even the angels had gone their way. Leaf was alone.
He put his arms around himself. He didn't like being alone. He walked over to Zebus' burial mound and watched the deathblooms grow. Being where another god had been, even if that god was dead, made him feel a little better. Not so forsaken.
Had he done right?
He certainly hadn't wanted Zebus to die, or even for them to be at odd. He'd asked Zebus to join with him, for death to be an honored part of life. Why couldn't he have just accepted?
When Zebus refused, he'd been angry. But he had tried to remove himself. Agni had kept him there.
Agni.
Leaf turned and looked at the fading sun. He worried that Agni didn't like him. Was it just fire's way, to be uncaring? Or had he offended him? He gave him a title, he gave him a place in Life, he gave him his power, he gave him command of his angels. Did it not matter? Would fire just take everything it was given and still want more?
Alone on Zebus' grave, Leaf shivered. It wasn't because of the cold. It wasn't cold. Pruinus had left.
Pruinus. Did she understand? He didn't want to be in charge. He was just meant to be a leaf tumbling in the wind. But when he had seen the gods talking and nothing getting done... well, the world needed order. It needed to be built up. Someone has to lead.
Leaf didn't think that should be him, but no one else had stepped forward. He had even asked them all if they wanted to lead. He didn't blame them for not wanting to. It's easy being just a group of equals: you don't have to worry about the welfare of everyone else. You can be free to be selfish.
"No," Leaf said out loud. "I can't doubt myself. They can't believe that I'm capable if I don't believe it."
The god sighed. He might not be the best leader possible, but he was the best that the world had at the moment.
As he exhaled, the deathblooms moved in the breeze and let out their warning scream. Among them Leaf saw something. Zebus' sword.
"I am sorry we couldn't be friends in life," he said to the grave. "I would have made you part of life. I would honored you above everyone else. Everything I am, I'd have given to you. Why couldn't you admit that death follows life?"
Leaf picked up the fallen god's weapon. He closed his eyes and whispered to the universe. "I rescind my laws."
All life paused for the briefest of moments. "Death follows life." Leaf opened his eyes, and his original intent was put into place.
"You didn't allow me to honor you in life, brother," Leaf said, "But I will honor you in death. I will make your memory what it should have been." Something in the essence of the sword repaired itself.
Leaf drew the sword and spun in a circle. Shadows across the world moved and absorbed into the blade. Control over death.
He contemplated leaving it on Zebus's grave, but that could be dangerous. The imbalance that the end of the ancient progenitor had caused meant new gods were arising in the world. This weapon was too potent to leave unguarded.
Pruinus, perhaps. She might like that. A challenge the power to overcome life. What better way to motivate life to improve?
But she might still be mourning. This wasn't a time to disturb her. Leaf hefted the blade, dozens of times larger than himself as it was, and put it over his shoulder. He turned away for the sun and began to walk away. He'd call this direction west, he thought.
As he walked, he began to sign a tune.
"Here it's safe, here it's warm Here the daisies guard you from harm Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you."
And as he sang and walked away, the universe was stretched.
Non-AP: Since Zebus isn't there to object, Leaf rescinds his laws that made death an unnatural end to life, and instead enacts what he had wanted from the start: for death to follow life and be the honored end to it. The angels retain their uniqueness, however, since AP was spent on that and I'd assume Ap would be needed to change it. Non-AP: Unwilling to leave the death domain just free floating, Leaf puts it into Zebus's sword and carries it with him, with the intent of giving it to Pruinus when next they meet. Since Zebus is pretending to be dead, I'm assuming he doesn't prevent this from happening. Since AP isn't being spent, I'm assuming also that he can recall it whenever he wants.
Onus finishes his Sketching in silence as Leaf watches. Pondering his response to Leaf's question. Even as the lightning played overhead, and a new entity arose, Onus remained intent on his project. The image had two legs and two arms. It's body was both stout and long, showing a powerful build. The faces were crude, but Onus thought it was a nice touch by Zebus, he wanted to share this too. Finally, he was finished and he looked at Leaf for a moment. This is creation... As I am given to do. Turning back to the image he pondered further in silence before naming the creature. Laying his hands to either side of the image, he poured forth his power, causing the earth to raise up through the little frame of dust, again and again, filling the valley with the creatures.
These shall be Galeb Duhr... and they shall be blessed of the Stone-Steeped. The earth shall be theirs to command. And Onus smiled. Hmmm, this place has too many... Others. The Galeb Duhr must have a place of their own. Rising up to his full height, he turned around and examined the valley, noticing the changes that had occured to his landing spot. And in turn noticing the newcomer.
Welcome to you, Bringer... I am Onus. One among Many. His eyes briefly return to the spot where one of the Others had fallen before returning to the new one. I hope you find peace. Then he stepped over the mountain ring and with a mighty stomp, the earth cracked and shuddered, sending up a string of mountains that lead away from the world crown as far as could be seen.
Turning to his creations he spoke, Come, and find a home for yourselves among my footsteps. He took to the sky and with his sword of magma, he struck the mountain chain repeatedly as he flew down the line. The result was a land of high peaks and deep gorges. Rivers of lava flowed through the deepest reaches. Occasionally a volcano was found in the stretch. Upon reaching the end, Onus returned the the world crown and grasping one of the glaciers, he tore it from it perch and flew back over his new creation, crumbling the ice as he went, dusting the tall peaks with ice.
Having reached the end again, he sat and rested. He called out his blessing upon the creatures that followed after him, seeking to cross the great chasm with the stone powers he had imbued into them, just to find their maker at the end. Some may fall, but they shall remain as stone... The ones who continue shall honor the ones who came before... The ones who come after shall be blessed by their predecessors and shall be plentyful. His wings curled about his form, enfolding him and leaving his form to look much like the rest of the chain of mountains.
AP 3: Populate Populace - Galeb Duhr AP 2: Command Land - Create a treacherous chain of mountains for the Galeb Duhr to call home AP 1: Nourish Populace - Galeb Duhr shall become plentiful
I am both selfish and chaotic. I value self-gratification and control; I want to have things my way, preferably now. At best, I'm entertaining and surprising; at worst, I'm hedonistic and violent.
"You didn't allow me to honor you in life, brother," Leaf said, "But I will honor you in death. I will make your memory what it should have been."
It was a potent promise. But more than that, it was an invitation. As Leaf's voice faded into silence, the Deathblooms shook and quivered, then, one by one, began to burst, small, silent explosions of bleak petals and black seeds, sowing the fallow garden with the promise of life-to-be. Reaped from their flowers, the Deathbloom petals danced lazily through the air.
The invitation was a subtle one. There was no earth-shaking maelstrom, no raging impact of stone and godflesh, no glorious confirmation. One moment, the Garden of Twilight was empty, and the next, it was not. What petals remained found their tumblings suddenly altered, swept up into a lazy cyclone around the garden.
A divine wind took hold of the grasses and barren stalks, raising their many voices into a single, susurrus of a word:
Movement in the corner of the eye. A rounded hat. A sloshing cup of tea.
The figure appeared on the outskirts of the angels, just within the sight but always obstructed and indistinct. The curious ones strained thier eyes. Could it be? they wondered. It was probably nothing more than a glimmer off of the glaciers or the movement of a shrub in the breeze...
...but what if it wasn't?
There were four of them, four scouts in different mountain passes. They would see the smallest sliver of a kimono and rush to the bend along the hillsides, only to find nothing. And when they were ready to turn around, the faintest whisper of a familiar voice begged them to look one last time. The farther they went, the sharper the figure appeared. But they also became more and more uncomfortable with their loneliness. Every rustle drew a double-take, every cloud of dust was suspect, and every turn along the mountain was almost there. A pair of eyes were always watching.
The angels, wracked with paranoia and an intolerance of the unknown, finally came to the summit of the mountain. One by one they encountered the others. They shared stories of the elusive figure, and in doing so became dreadfully certain of their fears. Leaf must know at once.
They were about to take off when they heard the Deathlord call out to them, "And they are a faceless army...Do you enjoy the faces that i carved into you?" Zebus stood before them, swordless and still blood-stained, but more confidant than he did before. The angels drew thier weapons and charged their quarry. A malevolent gleam flashed in the eyes of the god.
As the angels crahed into the god, he disapated into a thick, noxious haze that surrounded them. They struggled and slashed at the haze, but one by one they were restrained by a deathgrip about thier throats. A sudden wave of pain washed over them, as if some inborn link had been severed. All of them were drawn close together, close enough to see the fear in each others' eyes.
The haze condensed, then vanished. Only the cool glacial air and the scent of rugged wildflowers remained.
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. -Revelation 21:6
