Godhood IC

[Creed]

Diplomatic Solutions

"Only barbarians believe that <mercy> is a virtue... but we are supposed to be diplomats, are we not? Let us act in that fashion, then." Yjiko reaches up and pulls her goggles away from her face, then pulls down the cloth mask that covers her lower face, exposing the intricate paint-work. Such an act is an act of trust in the Raposa society, trust and leisure. "I am Yjiko a'Hawke, cousin of Sial a'Hawke, Storm Lord of the Raposa Dominion; appointed diplomat to the native catfolk of Maxim. As she speaks, her men bare their own faces.

She waves a hand airily. "Though I am sure you are comfortable in this forest environ, we would prefer a more urban environment. As official diplomat of the catfolk tribes, would you care to come to one of our metropoli to continue our discussions? It can be done with but the work of a moment..."

As an act of trust, I will come. I heavily doubt there is much else to discuss, however, that can't be said in a moment.

[Raz_Fox]

Temper, Temper!

The Elegant Nova is quiet and patient through Hodari's rant, finally speaking after he mentions the possibility of rolling up a Hodran into a sphere. "Are we done throwing around accusations and threats? Hormones returning to normal levels? Good. Now, to address your issues point by point:

First, I do expect you to believe me when I tell you that it is not of Maximite origin, it was not created in any way or form by me, and I do not control it. As far as I can ascertain, it is a creation of pure chaos. I do not work in chaos. Had I made it, it would be mechanical in nature, precise in its abductions from remote locations - not this messy business with the destruction of entire cities - and capable of cloaking its presence. Whoever made it was sloppy and uninspired, and those are things I do not work in, either.

And secondly, since you have no proof that I am, in any way, connected to these outrageous attacks, you would in fact be the aggressor in any assault you made on this facility and its personnel. Just because you believe your cause is right does not mean you have full license to do whatever you please.

Thirdly. No individual, of your creation or otherwise, will be leaving this facility in any way or form until the changes and after-affects of the Chaos Structure are fully determined and explored. Furthermore, I have no intention of being intimidated, bullied, forced or coerced into giving up those individuals of your creation - your request, as currently stands, is to have them returned to you before you wantonly destroy my own creations. I do not find these terms acceptable, and believe that you either have a greatly overstated opinion of your own capabilities as a divinity or a horrendous underestimation concerning my own capabilities to defend my interests.

To summarize: you will leave this facility immediately on threat of retribution, and any action taken against Maxim and its inhabitants will be taken up with both myself and Moarzed, as well as the entirety of the Divine Council, under articles two and five of the Divine Charter. Any attempt to breach the security of Cold House will be dealt with as would any other intrusion, and dealt with lethal force. Any malicious slander given to the other divinities will be directly opposed by my own veracity.

Now, as instructed, you will leave this planetary zone. Allow me to bid you a good day." The Elegant Nova Of Innovation bows, and turns to leave.


Diplomatic Relations:

Yjiko turns to her men, singling one out. "Private, call up a Gate to Chronos City." She then turns back to Yorin. "On the contrary! There are matters of cartography, politics and legislation to attend to!"

A hole in space opens before Yorin and Yjiko, crackling with galvanic energy. She makes a motion that clearly says, "After you."

((If the carriage is to fetch The Resplendent Blossom, she'll come. Her mom told her to do that. ))

[Kumo]

Temper, Temper!

The Elegant Nova is quiet and patient through Hodari's rant, finally speaking after he mentions the possibility of rolling up a Hodran into a sphere. "Are we done throwing around accusations and threats? Hormones returning to normal levels? Good. Now, to address your issues point by point:

First, I do expect you to believe me when I tell you that it is not of Maximite origin, it was not created in any way or form by me, and I do not control it. As far as I can ascertain, it is a creation of pure chaos. I do not work in chaos. Had I made it, it would be mechanical in nature, precise in its abductions from remote locations - not this messy business with the destruction of entire cities - and capable of cloaking its presence. Whoever made it was sloppy and uninspired, and those are things I do not work in, either.

And secondly, since you have no proof that I am, in any way, connected to these outrageous attacks, you would in fact be the aggressor in any assault you made on this facility and its personnel. Just because you believe your cause is right does not mean you have full license to do whatever you please.

Thirdly. No individual, of your creation or otherwise, will be leaving this facility in any way or form until the changes and after-affects of the Chaos Structure are fully determined and explored. Furthermore, I have no intention of being intimidated, bullied, forced or coerced into giving up those individuals of your creation - your request, as currently stands, is to have them returned to you before you wantonly destroy my own creations. I do not find these terms acceptable, and believe that you either have a greatly overstated opinion of your own capabilities as a divinity or a horrendous underestimation concerning my own capabilities to defend my interests.

To summarize: you will leave this facility immediately on threat of retribution, and any action taken against Maxim and its inhabitants will be taken up with both myself and Moarzed, as well as the entirety of the Divine Council, under articles two and five of the Divine Charter. Any attempt to breach the security of Cold House will be dealt with as would any other intrusion, and dealt with lethal force. Any malicious slander given to the other divinities will be directly opposed by my own veracity.

Now, as instructed, you will leave this planetary zone. Allow me to bid you a good day." The Elegant Nova Of Innovation bows, and turns to leave.


Diplomatic Relations:

Yjiko turns to her men, singling one out. "Private, call up a Gate to Chronos City." She then turns back to Yorin. "On the contrary! There are matters of cartography, politics and legislation to attend to!"

A hole in space opens before Yorin and Yjiko, crackling with galvanic energy. She makes a motion that clearly says, "After you."

((If the carriage is to fetch The Resplendent Blossom, she'll come. Her mom told her to do that. ))

Hodari raised an eyebrow. "Do gods even HAVE hormones?" He grabbed her by the back of her head as she turned to leave, his hand fading from sight. "And do you honestly think you can frighten a god who hates the law with the laws he's never agreed to? Since I've never signed the charter you have every right to use whatever force you wish against me. As i can against you."

"Whether or not you created it personally I see no reason for that thing to drop off all these creatures at your doorstep if it is not connected to you in some way. Until that tentacle thing came i was perfectly content to grow and nurture my world. If you wish to negotiate a trade for things you have no right to, it is... extortion, i believe it is called. If the creatures are living, it is kidnap or blackmail. You and I both know you have no right to my creatures."

"There are only three powers in this system capable of killing a god: one is the arbiter, one is impossible to move from Hodra, and the other is another god."

"My creatures mean more to me than you probably care to know. I have given them everything they need to defend themselves against the likes of you and Moarzed."

"My demand is thus: Your experiments on anything i have created will cease. You will return the Hodrans and kobolds to me. I only want what's mine is this wretched place."

[Creed]

Temper, Temper!

The Elegant Nova is quiet and patient through Hodari's rant, finally speaking after he mentions the possibility of rolling up a Hodran into a sphere. "Are we done throwing around accusations and threats? Hormones returning to normal levels? Good. Now, to address your issues point by point:

First, I do expect you to believe me when I tell you that it is not of Maximite origin, it was not created in any way or form by me, and I do not control it. As far as I can ascertain, it is a creation of pure chaos. I do not work in chaos. Had I made it, it would be mechanical in nature, precise in its abductions from remote locations - not this messy business with the destruction of entire cities - and capable of cloaking its presence. Whoever made it was sloppy and uninspired, and those are things I do not work in, either.

And secondly, since you have no proof that I am, in any way, connected to these outrageous attacks, you would in fact be the aggressor in any assault you made on this facility and its personnel. Just because you believe your cause is right does not mean you have full license to do whatever you please.

Thirdly. No individual, of your creation or otherwise, will be leaving this facility in any way or form until the changes and after-affects of the Chaos Structure are fully determined and explored. Furthermore, I have no intention of being intimidated, bullied, forced or coerced into giving up those individuals of your creation - your request, as currently stands, is to have them returned to you before you wantonly destroy my own creations. I do not find these terms acceptable, and believe that you either have a greatly overstated opinion of your own capabilities as a divinity or a horrendous underestimation concerning my own capabilities to defend my interests.

To summarize: you will leave this facility immediately on threat of retribution, and any action taken against Maxim and its inhabitants will be taken up with both myself and Moarzed, as well as the entirety of the Divine Council, under articles two and five of the Divine Charter. Any attempt to breach the security of Cold House will be dealt with as would any other intrusion, and dealt with lethal force. Any malicious slander given to the other divinities will be directly opposed by my own veracity.

Now, as instructed, you will leave this planetary zone. Allow me to bid you a good day." The Elegant Nova Of Innovation bows, and turns to leave.


Diplomatic Relations:

Yjiko turns to her men, singling one out. "Private, call up a Gate to Chronos City." She then turns back to Yorin. "On the contrary! There are matters of cartography, politics and legislation to attend to!"

A hole in space opens before Yorin and Yjiko, crackling with galvanic energy. She makes a motion that clearly says, "After you."

((If the carriage is to fetch The Resplendent Blossom, she'll come. Her mom told her to do that. ))

(It wasn't. It was if the diplomats wanted to come into ncatfolk territory.)

Yorin shrugs and goes through the portal. Magiks of this kind are rare, but not unheard of.

[Raz_Fox]

Temper, Temper!

"You may flaunt the law, but I will not. Laws provide stability, something that is greatly lacking in your temperament. And I will act within their constraints, so that stability is kept. And the laws state clearly that anything that falls within my dominion is mine. I have every right to keep them - the right of law, the right of strength, and the right of possession.

So I am afraid my response to your demand must be: no. And I would advise you to move carefully, prince of darkness. Very carefully indeed. Threats, excessive displays of power and emotions acted upon without thought are all things that will not assist you in the divine sphere. They may, in fact, leave you marked as a loose cannon, or worse a raving paranoid lunatic. If you wish to begin a war against half the universe, then you may make the first stroke at your own leisure.

But unless you wish to make your declaration of war now, I must insist that you leave immediately. I have experiments to work on."

If Hodari does not release Nova immediately, there will be a backlash of power running up his arm. It may, in fact, cripple said arm permanently. Nova does not play nice.


Chronos City

The Gate opens up into a plaza in Chronos City. Looking up, the catfolk ambassador would see a bronze semi-circle set into the stone of the plaza, which seems to be the creator of the space-time anomaly he just walked through. More importantly, he would see massive structures of orange and white stone rising up to touch the sky above him, taller than mountains.

Looking around him, he would see a statue of one or another of the great Raposa heroes, and a multitude of Raposa rushing about, not to mention a group waiting to use the gate. Also, he would see catfolk slaves, sweeping the cobbles, following their masters, carrying burdens, and not a one of them looking upwards.

"This way, ambassador. We have many matters to attend to at the Citadel."


At Payidevimyht

A messenger brings news to Leonix that The Resplendent Blossom has taken his offer to return to her own lands, along with a note that reads:

My apologies, master. But my mother needs me, my people need me. I will return to my prison once I am no longer under my mother's orders. Please, do not judge me too harshly. - The Resplendent Blossom Of Divine Artifice

[Kumo]

Hodari held on for a moment, then released her. He blinked twice, then shrugged. "War it is, then. Excuse me while i go retrieve my property."

He turned and a shadow lept up. He stepped inside, vanishing. He reappeared in a room with his creatures being experimented on.

One of the scientists whirled around. "Hey, how did you-"

Hodari held out his hand and the guard started to choke. His face was bored. "Nova hasn't told you what i look like, then. Good, it makes things easier."

((How are the Hodrans and Kobolds strung up?))

[Raz_Fox]

Nova

Once Hodari vanishes, Nova laughs. A real mad scientist's laugh, crazy-mad and triumphant. Then Twitter flies away, shooting away into space towards the House of the Gods.

"You made the wrong choice, prince of shadows. I have already won."


House of the Gods

Twitter flies up to the Arbiter, who regards him with indifference until he begins to play clips of Hodari's conversation with Nova.

"I am operating outside the law to carry out my threat... i'm going to smash her experiments - and then her WORLD... War it is, then.

"The Elegant Nova Of Innovation wishes to make it known that Hodari has assaulted her without cause, violated her holy grounds with full foreknowledge of what he was doing, has acted against the second law of the charter, and has declared war against Her.

Under these grounds, she requests that the Divine Council blacklist him, and take action to discipline him for his grievous transgressions. Furthermore, she declares that she is forced to take military action against Hodari, and requests that the Divine Council assist her in said military action. Lastly, she requests that you relay this information to every member of the Divine Council immediately." Tweet, tweet.


Hodari

Hodari finds that a full-body examination has begun on one Kobold and Hodran. They have been cut open, while still alive and conscious, and their bodies are being explored fully, every organ, piece by piece. To facilitate this, their limbs have been strapped down to operating tables completely, in an "X."

However, there are probably more scattered across the vaults of Cold House. What, did you think they were all in one place?

Also, the Cold House Defense System has been brought on-line. The humming sound he heard earlier is coming back up, and the suits of armor on one end of the room have stepped off their pedestals.

Also, the entire Cold House has been brought to full alert with the activation of the CHDS. While it will take a bit of time for the guardians of the house to bring their full power to bear, Hodari has officially kicked over the anthill. Oh, and Nova is roughly a minute away from finding him and shoving operating tools up his arse.

[Creed]

The ambassador follows the Raposa through the square, glaring in disgust at the captured catfolk.

[Kumo]

Hodari slammed his fists into each of the examiners in quick succesion. Each one was left alive, but they wouldn't wake up for a few days. Or years.

Hodari quickly placed his hands against the kobold and Hodran and closed them up. He released them and whispered something in the language of the gods.

The two were shrouded in black spheres. The spheres shrunk and flew into Hodari's pupils. He smirked.

"Two down. 58 to go."

He walked out of the room, slamming the door open. Since the facility was well lit, it was a simple matter for him to sneak around and repeat the process from room to room. He managed to get eight more of his creatures before nova arrived.

"Hello there, In Bitchy Clad." He said cheerfully, smiling as if he wasn't running through the facility destroying everyone and everything that tried to stop him. "Wanna give back what's mine? Or have you already called the Arbiter to come and kick my ass?"

[Raz_Fox]

Temper!

There are some gods who would directly answer Hodari, and then shoot them in the chest with a bolt of pure divine essence shot from their arm. The Elegant Nova has a name for them: idiots.

So she answers him, quite calmly and coldly, once Hodari's chest is nice and smoking. "It seems there is more going on in your head than meets the eye. Yes, I have called down the Arbiter to deal with you. But since my laboratory might be ruined by the time she arrives - well, it seems that I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands." As if to emphasize her words, she clenches her fists, which crackle with galvanic essence.

She then proceeds to apply said galvanic essence liberally to Hodari's face, as the hum hits a screaming pitch and a thousand daggers stab into Hodari's mind. Not literally, but that's what it feels like. Also, the very walls have started to crackle with power. "Did you think I was defenseless? Did you think that I was not a goddess??"

[Kumo]

Hodari snarled as the essence hit him in the chest and face and he laughed as the daggers stabbed his mind (( He's insane, stabbing his mind feels good to him )) "No, that's -hisss- not it... i just know... one thing about ARGH... creatures that... hehehehehe OW... live in the light..."

He looked up at the ceiling. "Tell me... If i am only visible in the shadow... why am i appearing fully visible in a room bathed with light?"

'Hodari' began to scream even louder as shadowy tendrils flew from his body. In his place was a raposa doctor, with a hole in his chest and head.

Hodari's voice came from behind her as the door crashed shut. "I don't think there's a single god in the universe truly 'stupid'."

[TheDarkDM]

Hodari's rampage through the Cold House had not gone unnoticed. Though Kaal'ex had paid the appearance of a foreign divine presence little mind, when he felt the mid of one touched by the Basilica enter the Dreamscape, he was surprised. Reaching a tendril of thought deep into Rinamn's dreaming consciousness, Kaal'ex saw the arrival of Hodari, and only then understood the extent of the threat. Poor Rinamn was left irrevocably mad by the experience (it seems he would forever perceive himself as being in daylight, even in the darkest room), but Kaal'ex paid him no mind, manifesting in the material plane in the shadow of Nova's divine essence. He watched Hodari make his threats, confident that his sister could turn them to her advantage, and smiled when Hodari fell into the trap. Tagging along in her wake, Kaal'ex watched Nova's first attack with interest, though he felt something wrong about her target. When the Raposa scientist was revealed rather than Hodari, he knew what was amiss. But a god of madness does not perceive things the same way as mortals, and could feel the mad Hodari close at hand. Slipping out of Nova's divine shadow, Kaal'ex sent a single tendril flying across the room, slipping through the door like butter and grabbing the invisible Hodari by the throat. The lights in this section of the cold house seemed to dim, revealing the Night God, but Kaal'ex was not finished.

Small things work to disrupt the moves
Of those infinitely their betters
But punishment severe disproves
Those who deny their fetters

And with that, Hodari felt pain. Not the pain that fed his battle rage, nor even pain to his own body. His mind was flooded by the pain of the thousands of kobolds and hodrans imprisoned forever in the Basilica of Flesh, every burned away limb, every stolen memory, every clinical incision assaulted Hodari's mind, drowning out all other sounds in the screams of his children. As this happened, Nova felt Kaal'ex touch her mind as well. But rather than an assault, this was simply a complex wave of images, smells, sensations, a wave that any other god would have found indecipherable, and would have driven any mortal mad, but Nova's mind and soul was a twin to her, and so she recognized it as Kaal'ex's communicating without the need for primitive sound.

"I am sorry my gift brought him here. Had I known the brute was as tenacious as this, I would have acted with more secrecy."

[Kumo]

((Maybe i didn't make this clear enough. Hodari is insane. He LIKES pain.))

Hodari gasped and laughed as the pain of minds he did not recognize assaulted him. The lights were dimmer and so he was now visibile, but that did not help the mortals after him. Hodari snarled and let loose a blast of divine energy, tearing apart the tentacle like rice paper. (in the sense that there were a lot of pieces) He shivered with both delight and agony as he made his way into the next room.

This one had four specimens, three kobolds and one hodran. He quickly sent them into his eyes as he had done with the others and moved out.

"I guess that's the one who controls that... whatever it is." He looked up as he walked through the facility. "Nova alone i can handle, but... whoever this is he's got power over my mind." He snarled. "Twenty left. I need to hurry."

((Nova should be either getting out [if she didn't find a way to get out without opening the front door] or arriving on the scene right about now))

[TheDarkDM]

Kaal'ex hissed as Hodari escaped from his grasp, but the alacrity of the god's departure spoke volumes to his mission. Floating back to stand beside his sister, it was almost imperceptible that Kal'ex sent a bank of tendrils shooting into the ground. In the rooms of the Cold House still occupied by Hodari's children, tendrils burst from the walls, shooting into the brain stems of the captive mortals. With a thought, Kaal'ex crippled them, driving the hodrans mad as he had Rinamn, and leaving the kobolds in a never ending nightmare of their magnetism having exploded in potency, and slowly drowning under the crushing, cutting weight of tons of metal. Turning his silver mask to Nova, Kaal'ex touched her mind again.

"This one certainly is single minded. I can provide you with many more test subjects once he has gone, though they will be of...lesser quality."

[Kumo]

Hodari's sorrow knew no bounds when he found what had happened to his creations. He had no power over the mind, he could not help them. He gulped and ripped out the tentacles, quickly healing their bodies. The Hodrans and Kobolds were all gibbering, afraid and incoherent. He brought them into his eyes as well and cried as he continued through the facility. When he had the last, he fell to his knees.

Then he threw his head back and roared.

As his roar spread through the cold house, peculiar things happened to the shadows. They took shape. He didn't direct the shapes, so they could have come out as anything. However, the vast majority were serpentine, and massive.

"Shadows." He snarled, and thought. The shadows all echoed his words from their bodies. "This place has stolen, harmed and tampered with my children. You may have no minds of your own with which to understand my pain, but i will make absolutely sure Nova and her sun-damned ally do. Destroy the data on Hodrans, Kobolds and anything else you find. LEAVE NOTHING INTACT!!!"

He fell silent as the shadows rampaged through the facility, smashing everything they came into contact with. Nova and Kaal can easily destroy them, but it would take time. enough time for the shadows to smash the data on Kobolds and Hodrans.

"This, and no less," He said coldly, knowing nova would hear it from one shadow or another. "Is the price for harming my children. You will learn nothing from your actions... but if you hurry, only the data on Kobolds and Hodrans will be lost. Next time," Hodari smashed through the roof as he blasted into space, "I won't be so nice."

[Creed]

The Bored Chaos

Moarzed sat above Maxim, watching the confrontation with Hodari with passive intrest.
Nova, who is this other god? he called down

[Raz_Fox]

Hodari's Punishment

Unfortunately, as Hodari ripped through the roof of Cold House, he found The Elegant Nova Of Innovation waiting for him on wings of fire. She smiled, wide-crazy-malicious, and spoke three sentences.

"This is just a game.

"You lost.

"And Hodra will pay your price."

Below them, the self-defense systems of the House ripped through the shadows, ripping them to shreds, banishing them from the material plane, or simply disintegrating them. Cold House is not some random building, it is the laboratory of Nova! Most unfortunate.

Nova blew Hodari a kiss - quite bipolar, Our Lady Of Science - and blew him away. No, literally. The wings of fire extended out, lashing Hodari out of the atmosphere.

It wasn't quite an end. More like the end of the beginning.


Nova and Kaal'ex

Nova descended, retracting the wings of fire into her normal form. She quickly found Kaal'ex. "Ah, my brother. I must apologize for the mess - some playthings simply do not know how to control themselves!" She's still smiling.

Twitter flies back to her shoulder, and she strokes its head softly. "My dear Twitter, record the damage done to my sanctum sanctorum by the rogue god Hodari and relay it to the Arbiter, if you would~" Twitter flies off, eagerly recording pictures of the damage caused by the shadows and Hodari himself.


Nova and Moarzed

Nova motions for Moarzed to follow her back down after she blows Hodari away. She's still smiling about it.

[Creed]

Moarzed descends after Nova, calm as expected by a god of chaos in his position.
Enjoying yourself, aren't you?

[Kumo]

Hodari grinned as he rushed through space. He had what he wanted. Being hit by the metal bitch was enough for him. She'd claimed he'd lost - but in this game, victory for him was the return of his creatures and the retribution thereafter.

He smiled. He had, indeed, won...

For now.

Hodari chuckled as he landed lightly on his home. "Neither of us has truly won, Nova." He looked up to the sky, towards where he knew Gade was. "The game of darkness... has only just... begun."

He clapped his hands together. "Now to drop these guys off at therapists... and to see how far little Rala has gone." Hodari turned and marched into the forest. "Hodra needs an Aratian. Guess i have to step up my plans..."

[Sir]

The Magnificent Hall of Gods of the Great

When twitter flies in, all he sees is Seln (? I am assuming he is still there..) sitting at the table, eating some fungus. Strange.

The Cold House

When Nova sends off twitter again, the arbiter appears. She walks out of a nearby house of powerful merchants, as they waved goodbye to her as if they were stunned, and she grows back to the size of gods as she walks forward.

"Tsk tsk tsk. I find this quite sad, yet a little entertaining. I was so lucky to able witness this... madness. Found a very good seat though." She smiles to the merchants, and waves her hand too wipe them of all memories of her and the other gods (If you don't want to be seen by mortals, you can make it so without any acts, unless they are looking for you...) She turns to Ka'lexx, and makes to extend her hand, but thinks better of it. "We haven't seem to have met. I am The Arbiter, and am responsible for the law in this seemingly warlike place. I welcome you to this universe. Now that formalities are over, we must get on to this gruesome, yet quite interesting, task. First, I must compile a list of charges:

Hodari:
Break of Sacred Rule 2, for damaging your palace (It looks looked quite wonderful by the way), for killing one of your creations, and trying to wipe your data on certain subjects.
Break of Sacred Rule 5, for he refused to leave.

Nova and Tentacled Thing, if you are involved with this:
Break of Sacred Rule 2, for you are harboring (or were in the kobolds and Hodrans case), fugitives even though they and their divine leaders wished them back.
And maybe Breaking the Sacred Rule 1, for damaging Hodari. This was not a break though, more of a scrape against the law, for he was breaking laws himself, and that is why you shot at him.

As I can not attack you outright for breaking the law, although it would be befitting for one such as myself, I must ask why you have broken these laws. Although, if it is long, I suggest you save it for the trial at the Great Hall, as there will be one, once I find and catch Hodari. Oh, and you shouldn't have to ask how I knew about this, for I have my sources."
As she says that, her hand in her mechanical pocket clutches the Headband of Mortal Senses, and thanks Heretic silently. Wonders were he went...

She stands before the gods, fiddling with a stray gear.

[Ra_Va]

Fydan is among the troops accompanying the diplomats. S o far he had nothing to say though that will change. He left his armies in the command of a capable replacement and left a note telling King Leonix of his plans which at the moment were purely to look around and speak only when it was needed.

[I apologize for not asking permission but I'm interesting in fleshing out Fydan as a character.]

[Ultimarr]

Earlier:

"Sorry, but I do not have need for that at the moment. Thank you much for offering it though, it looks quite useful to say the least." Seln went into his lab for a moment to tinker for a little while, and comes back out to eat a nice meal of fungus with a side of bonemilk.

Currently:

Seln looks up after his meal, and glares at the empty seat of the arbiter. How did she do that? "No matter, for I have business to attend too." As he gets up, he stops suddenly. He senses a great disturbance in the... f..f...Fiddlesticks of the universe. Most likely that thing that heretic had talked about had struck again! Annoying... "I must be ready to strike soon, for this thing can not get to dangerous. He walks out of the fortress, and is surprised by the abundance of life. "Quite impressive" He thinks to himself, as he flies back and over the fortress, passing over the main area where the boneborn live. He smiles at their technological achievements, for they already have crossbows and some sort packet they throw which explodes. Very nice, but not nice enough. He wishes he could help them further, but that might break the "Charter" and he doesn't have the power. He keeps flying, shooting up into the stars, leaving behind trails of darkness.

Limbo:

He lands on Limbo, and looks around. (Shadowleaf, if you are still playing, I can take all of this back. I am assuming you don't want to play, as you haven't posted in a month.) He observes the inhabitants, looking on their wonders. He found what seemed to be their capital, and flitted through the city as a dark cloud. He shoots up into the dark, creepy, central palace, and forms in front of the leader on some sort of evil throne, who was talking to some courtiers

"Hello. I am your friend, and I come to help you, and I hope you will let me. My name is Kern, and I am from a secret organization that goes by the name of 'The Masters of the Undeath'." As the guards started to point mortal weapons at him, he conjures a black slate, and shows it to the people in the room. Images spring to life on it, showing Limbo, mostly its dark and barbaric side "Look upon our world. It is advanced, but your people are still in the dark ages compared to what we could give them! We could give your people the power to create explosions at will, to re-use the dead, and to even fly! Endless possibilities, endless... Any questions?"

He had quite a few appearently, and Seln ended up spending a week in mortal time there, talking and conversing with the king. After that, they came to an agreement. In exchange for leading the civilization (which ruled a good 30% of the population of the planet), and being able to animate the dead, he would teach his people new technologies and wonders.

At the final deal, Seln spoke to the populace;

"Hello, I am your new main advisor to the king! I know that through our powerful leaders and my efforts, we will advance our interests ten fold, and we will prosper." There was very little cheering, as these people were very calm. "As a joint decision, we will no longer be known as humans, but as the Dark Elves, for this shows our superiority over others! All hail King Teluk, lord of the Dark Elves!" This a good amount of cheering, which wasallot for Dark Elves.

Over the next few mortal years, Seln watches over the nation, only occasionally checking back in on the Great Hall. He shaped their growth, granting some bursts of great knowledge, all the while keeping a facade of dusty advisor. He also raised a church under another name, un-beknownsgt among everyone, even the king. The church taught the Ideals of Seln, and raised many followers, although 80+% most still followed Azrathar.

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Act 1: Grant the dark elves of Limbo the ability to create and manipulate dark energy, giving birth to more distructive branches of the necromancy school of magic.

Act 2: Grant the knowledge to the Dark Elves how to streamline everything, making poverty non-existant, crime rare (for punishment reasons only in most cases). Also, grant them spurts of divine intelligence here and there, so they get the concept of gears, and make some interesting yet overly non-effective items (I.e. Automatic Mill, simple conveyer belts, stuff like that). This will take another act to really get off the ground.

Its 2:00 AM, so I most likely got something huge wrong.

[TheDarkDM]

Kaal'ex's smiling face had begun chuckling at Nova's words, and it was a terrible sound. However, when the Arbiter stepped from the mortal dwelling, his laughter fell silent as he regarded the construct with interest. There had been echoes in the Dreamscape, hopes for peace provided by this...thing. Reaching out a stray thought, Kaal'ex touched the Arbiter's mind, and was assaulted by the words of the Carta, deafeningly loud within the Arbiter's thoughts. The laughing face, now a mirror of the Arbiter, smiled slyly.

Our divinity has not caused the breach
Of laws that guide your purpose
To these creatures' freedom we do naught but teach
And leave to their own auspice

As he spoke, Kaal'ex linked telepathically with Nova.
"What is this crude construct? It bears the scent of your craft, but corrupted by the failings of other deities."

[Raz_Fox]

Cold House

Nova's mechanical face grows wide with shock when the Arbiter blames her of breaching the second law, but then she shakes her head with a chuckle to try and make up for her moment of weakness. "Madame Arbiter, if I might interject, I believe myself to be innocent of all charges. On the first count - they had been abducted by an unknown structure, and fundamental changes seemed to have occurred to their bodies. Am I not the goddess of Science? They fell within my domain, then.

Furthermore, I refused the prince of shadows on his request to have his creations returned to him, for he threatened me and mine and roared with rage, accusing me of obscenities and acting without restraint or reason. Am I to simply crumble before him, then, and teach him that such behavior is acceptable within the divine sphere? If so, Madame Arbiter, then I will admit that perhaps I was to blame, for wishing to teach the prince of shadows a lesson.

But he has declared war on me for this, recklessly rampaged through my laboratory, and even ordered his creations to destroy everything I had within. Though I would love to come to the Great Hall and explain everything to the Divine Council, I am afraid - afraid for my people, afraid for the very planet that they dwell upon. Hodari is not merely a trespasser in the law - he is a danger to everything that irks him, a loose cannon that fires wherever it will! It is for this reason that I called you here, in hopes that you would be able to restrain him - but alas, I was forced to take matters into my own hands, seeing as you were... elsewhere."


Nova's mind is a morass of brilliant ideas and evil schemes, but Nova, after a few tries, figures out how to broadcast to Kaal'ex without ideas for new weaponry or pin-ups of Moarzed getting in the way. "She is the Arbiter. I - and the Divine Council - created her to keep the other gods in line. Unfortunately, she seems to have seen more of this than I wished for her to. Would you assist me in claiming that the Hodrans were twisted by the chaos-structure and needed to be examined and experimented upon?"

[TheDarkDM]

Nova sensed a small amount of surprise at the pin-ups of Moarzed, but that soon dissipated. Kaal'ex apparently decided there was no accounting for taste.

"The Basilica of Flesh is my creation, tasked with harvesting biological specimens from throughout the solar system so that I may create a perfect mortal being. Traces of my influence will eventually be felt, I am sure, but we may be able to claim it as a natural phenomenon."

As their silent conversation continued, Kaal'ex followed Nova's statements.

These creatures' essence is unmade
Their very natures twisted
Experiments were needed to have fears allayed
And thus these few were tested

[Creed]

Cold House
Nova's mind is a morass of brilliant ideas and evil schemes, but Nova, after a few tries, figures out how to broadcast to Kaal'ex without ideas for new weaponry or pin-ups of Moarzed getting in the way. COLOR]

Excuse me?!

Through this exchange, Moarzed hovers in the air absently, twirling his staff.

[Kumo]

She's a little runaway

Rala stumbled through the woods, gasping for breath. Her hands were covered in Rijak's blood, and were she not so panicked she would have been able to jokingly say she had finally found her center of rage. But what did it matter now? Her would-be mate was gone, his killer killed, and now she had to run from her own people, into Hodari-knows-where. Rala's anger at Rijak was gone, replaced by overwhelming sorrow as she stumbled through the trees, sobbing. What could she do now?

As if someone had decided to make the answer appear just as she asked the question (perish the thought) she stumbled and found herself in a glade. But the glade was... different, from the others. She couldn't place her finger on what exactly it was, but she felt as if some unseen force hung over everything (( describing red light without actually saying light is hard )) with the center being the pool in the center. She gazed upon it and smiled sadly. It was both alien and... comforting, at the same time. Like a long lost cousin or fr

Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and spun around. She was slammed into the ground, gasping. A kobold with a long, notched sword was right over her! Quickly combat training kicked in. She stabbed her claws straight at the kobold's ribcage. It snarled and dropped it's blade as she rolled to the side as quickly as she could. She didn't have a weapon, so she sunk into a hand-to-hand combat stance and grinned.

"Come on!" She growled.

The kobold brought up it's blade and waited. "You are far from home, she-hodran."

"I got no home." She shot back as they began to circle each other, looking for an opening. "All but banished."

The kobold raised an eyebrow and opened it's mouth to speak, but gasped as it realized something. "By the dark one, you..."

Rala blinked. "What?"

It looked up at her, bewildered. "They banished you while you were pregnant?"

Rala held completely still as the sentence processed.

"... What?"

((DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN...))

[Mashimoto]

On Gade...
The Swamps of Bajhira-Ruhne...

On the southern part of the easternmost continent, the heat of the jungle is the supreme power of the land, above even the Dahn in his far-away underground fortress of stone. Even at Dusk, the palpable rays of a fiery-red sun make Constable Higgins' face and exposed chest glisten with sweat.

He was from the heartland--Palandril Province, even, and just outside Unity City, where the temperate clime allows four beautiful seasons a year. Bajhira-Ruhne, however, only let in the humid, wet, barely-human seasons that even after months, still sculpted his gentle pale flesh into a red glaze.

He tried to force the sweat from his brow as he climbed into the police-carriage with a shotgun in hand. A few armed men clamored into the back of the carriage, and Constable Higgins thrashed his two horses. They were dark, lean, and muscular. They were Bajhira-horses, swamp horses.

Six horses in all trotted down the road, pulling three armed carriages. Higgins never knew what to expect when they received a wire from the Swamplands. The city of Bajhira was an oasis in it's self-named province. The only locale for miles with proper cobbled roads, the only electric lights against he dark, jungle nights. Beyond it's fickle borders were just shanty towns and shacks, with the occasional alligator or other swamp-beast resting on the pathways.

With every trod of the horse, it seemed to grow darker, so Higgins lit his oil lantern and let it rest on the seat beside him, knowing full well that it's feeble light would not fight the darkness for long.

The swamp-people followed their ancient ways, largely untouched by the rule of Unity Law which Higgans had prided himself in. Top ten in his graduating class in the Unity City Watchmen-Academy, and here he was assigned to the backwater barbarians of Bajhira-Ruhne... With the savages living by ancient standards. Rumors of cannibalism and worse occasionally crept into the city of Bajhira, and police raids into the lawless wilderness were military affairs, with the arsenal of the small city dispatched to the constables and their deputies.

As the carriages rode away from the city the jungle consumed more of the road, and the lantern, more and more, was the only glimmering light in the jungle darkness, the sun having disappeared behind the swaths of trees and wild brush that were like giants on the side of the path. Constable Higgins felt a cold flutter across him, a cold which held contrary to the still burning sun, even if it was shrouded by a veil of trees. The cold and his hair stand on edge--it wasn't the cold of a tepid Unity-City autumn, where a sweatshirt could serve you as well as a hearth, nor was it the frigid assault of deep winter, where a bundle of blankets and, if you were lucky, a buxom young woman could keep you warm deep into the night.

The chill that swept the Constable seemed to creep from the inside-out, such a startlingly queer sensation he was driven at first to call out to his men, but he eventually suppressed the urge. It was a chill that made him feel there was no protection against, that one young girl or even two giggling on his arms in sleek dresses would offer no protection.

Higgins drew a metal flask from the inside of his flimsy shirt (flimsy clothing was simple the only way to survive a summer-season in Bajhira-Rhune) and drank a few shots. The fiery liquid burned his throat, but offered him nothing to fight the cold. At this time, Higgins also started to note the unease of the Arabian beasts pulling the car.

It was subtle, at first, an occasional misstep or whinny that escalated into a mild frenzy--a seeming unwillingness to proceed along the road, which had grown wet and unweildy. The insects had descended from the jungle night, ruling it like tyrants as they swarmed in thick balls around Higgins and his men. He swatted them away idly, as he whipped his beasts into proceeding.

They rode on.

Time always seemed to slow down in the jungle. The liberal passage of hours in the cities--even ones so quaint and sleepy as Bajhira--passed in the swamplands like days. And, at night, before long, Higgins mind would retract into itself to hide from the subtly evil ways of darkness just beyond the dim sphere of the lantern. Only Higgins body was left to face the night for what it was; hands mechanically thrashing horses, swatting some gnats away as the rest of the swarm leeched away his life without hindrance. His dull, glazed eyes seeing only the edges of darkness and the swaths of black shimmering around the lantern. His idle ears hearing only the splashing of hooves across muddy drifts from yesterdays rain, unknowing what diseases lurked in the water and the mosquitoes. What creatures held red eyes fixed upon the warm flesh of passing beasts and men. What unknown horrors lurked in the darkness, with sharp claws and plotting minds and, perhaps, slithering tentacles like the alien-monster Sthuthi...

The carriages passed through a ramshackle village of huts with tin-roofs. A shirtless night-watchman with a flat, emotionless face and bright eyes held a torch to them as the passed, his dark skin--nearly black--glimmered bronze in the red firelight and Constable Higgins looked like a ghost in comparison. The watchman nodded to the Constable, who waved back, and rode along. For all Higgins new, this man was the patrolman who had telegraphed the disturbance to the Constable's precinct in Bajhira city. In either case, he felt the cold growing on him, and the horses were increasingly unwilling to proceed. He thrashed his horses and let his shotgun rest on his lap, a box of shells at his side.

Minutes later, (or perhaps hours, for it was impossible to tell in the jungle) Higgins spotted a light glimmering through the foliage in the distance, and above the clattering of hooves and the buzzing of insects he thought he could hear something like voices, and a low, methodical pounding of unknown origin. He extinguished his lamp immediately, and the carriages behind him followed suit. there was much hushed whispering within the carriages themselves, and the mechanical sounds of men readying weapons.

Higgins approached the glimmer of light as quietly as he could, and thankfully the horses held their whinnies to themselves. When he felt he could go no further unnoticed, Higgins let his horses rest and clambored onto the jungle road. His boots splashed in a small pool of murky, thick water as he crashed down. He took his shotgun a moment later.

The sounds were clear now, an animalistic chanting above a guttural drum. The firelight flickered through the trees, casting queer shadows of every design upon the ground and carriage-canvas. Shapes that seemed to move and dance with the chanting. It was in another language, perhaps a local dialect of Gade standard. The sounds battered at the sensibilities of Higgins which he had prided himself in, and despite the shotgun he held before him, he was swept with the overwhelming urge to turn back, to run back west and not stop until he had reached the electrically-lit safety of Unity City, even if it meant swimming across the intermiddling oceans.

The men behind him were the only reason he progressed. They drew machetes from their belts, and began to hack and slash through the thick, hell-lit plants and branches as they waded into the jungle. Most of his men were locals, as black as the night with serious faces and wide noses, but there were three white men, including Higgins. There were no Dwarves in this climate. Less than a few thousand in the whole province.

Any normal person would have heard their approach, for it wasn't exactly a gracious thing, but there was no sign of notice in the chant, which grew more crisp and clear in the buggy, wet night as the men cut through the jungle. The coldness crept entirely through Higgins' spine now, and it was only on forceful command that his legs moved forward, that his machete cut through the devil-jungle even as his other hand gripped tightly the reassuring metal of a Dwarven-made shotgun.

The chanting rose and fell, Higgins now noted, with the progression of the drum. He couldnt be sure if it was the work of his ears tricking him, but he could swear the words were accelerating. He assumed they must have been an ancient tribal speech, but the very nature of the words themselves felt alien upon his shivering spine, they were assembled from combinations of sounds which had no business in Gadespeech of any kind, at least none which the Constable had ever had the misfortune of hearing. The chant the muttered, so best as Higgins would ever be able to compose, went as this:

Ngathf lgan’hagw Heyl’r Sthulthi hfan’wlgm iulgn’hp

And each time the alien sounds fell upon his ears, Higgins felt an increased urge to turn and run. It was as if, in not making notice of the approach, they were somehow giving me a chance, one last chance, to turn and run and to leave the jungle-spirits to themselves. Higgins, against every cry of his senses both rational and irrational, made no such move backwards, and was among some of the first men to cut through into the clearing, and gaze upon the figures around the fire.

They formed a circle around the fire which cast a flickering, orange light onto the figures. Most were shadowed, although Higgins could see man were entirely naked, their black skin and hardened muscles glimmering in the firelight. Others were clad in thick robes of queer designs, marked with golden symbols and gesticulating every syllable of the alien chant with grand, choreographed motions.

At once Higgins got the impression of foul dark magick, some unseen ancient ritual in the darkness, and that put him at edge. Such things were not uncommon in the distant corners of the world, and even the restrictions by the Unity Council would not imprison all magick of the world within it's groping hands.

Furnishings of the ritual were sparse, a line of logs offering a primitive table on which the rotting remains of an albino alligator lay face up, stewing in the darkness and covered in maggots and flies. Flesh had been torn from its luminescant belly, and its scales had fallen off. It looked like the rotting carcass of a dragon. Bones surrounded it, casually and haphazardly tossed towards it and landing in loose piles around it. Other beasts of the jungle, or something...else?

The Drummer was at a distance, pounding onto a wooden drum with a fleshy skin stretched at the top. He smashed into the skin with his hands, brutalizing it as if to murder the drum. And this, Higgins knew for some unknowable reason, was very possible, for he felt a vibrating energy in the rhythm and the chanting, a cold, dark force which crept across his spine and his eyelids and blinded him to all. There were spirits in that drum, of that Higgins was sure.

The men raised their guns and shouted, but the cult made no notice and continued escalating the rhythm and tempo of their chant, now shouting those alien words into the chirping, black night. Every recitation of the phrase seemed to burn itself into Higgins' mind, and he could feel the slithering presence of foreign monsters at his feet, inside his chest, crawling amongst his organs and gnawing on his flesh. Eating himself from the inside out.

They targeted the drummer, shouting at him to stop, claiming power in the name of the Unity Judicial Congress and the Province of Bajhira-Ruhne, but the words left no lasting impact on the drummer, who pounded his drum and stared ahead with a glazed, dead look in his white eyes.

Higgins pointed his shotgun to the sky, and fired. The crack broke through the drumline, which quickly fell apart as the drummer readjusted himself towards the armed men. One by one, they managed to arrest the cultists with binding rope and load them into the carriages, although not one would utter a syllable in anything but the alien-tongue. Higgins ordered them gagged, which his men eagerly obliged.

When the men were tied up and in the carriages, Higgins had expected the cold feeling of uneasy to creep away from him. It didn't, it remained within him, gnawing away like dragon-worm, an incestuous parasite which would bore holes through lungs and strangle kidneys. The chants still rang in his ears, of course, but he knew they would fade in time. Whether the cold would leave, he knew not. He started to paw through the campsite a little more, finding nothing of interest until he blindly grasped his hand around a cold piece of stone within a hollow spot in the log table.

Pulling it out, his eyes fell upon a statue of obviously modern craft, although with form and design so clearly ancient it defied his reasoned explanation. A slight, sea-green bas-relief flecked with darker spots, he found the statue holding to a form of inconceivable design. A monstrous depiction of a creature that inspired a groping sense of terror at the fringes of his mind, which were the borders of his sanity. A thousand cries rang out in his primitive mind as his eyes flickered up and down that bas-relief to drop it and run, but his shaking hands refused to release the cold stone.

It would not be so far beyond Higgins imagination to describe the form as an inhuman mockery of life. A form so far removed from any on Gade as to be truly alien. The entire thing was wrapped in a robe which glittered to the ground, opening in some spots along the forms figure as to allow groping, scaled tentacles room to pass, extending themselves towards Higgins as if they knew he were there. The figure's head was hooded, although enough was visable of what might have been the face to reveal it as a cruel mockery of human features. Facial characteristics twisted and bent in animal fashion which was somehow batlike, although the sloping of the forehead and unnatural length hinted at something from the sea. Certainly, the statue was cursed, although with what ancient magicks, Constable Higgins wouldn't dare guess.

Resigning himself to the fact that he had absolutely no other option, he wrapped the statue in thick cloth and tucked it into his sack as he approached his carriage and prepared to return home.

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This sort of evolved from a simple in-game post to a short story of sorts, I hope you guys don't mind. Oh, and for future reference, I've given TheDarkDM permission to control the actions of these Gade cults which seem to worship him, if he so chooses. Yes, this was HEAVILY (I can't stress that enough) stolen from H.P. Lovecraft, but I'm okay with that. Kaal'ex (sp?) on Gade is known as Sthulthi, which is also the name given to the Basilica of Flesh.

[Sir]

Cold House

Nova's mechanical face grows wide with shock when the Arbiter blames her of breaching the second law, but then she shakes her head with a chuckle to try and make up for her moment of weakness. "Madame Arbiter, if I might interject, I believe myself to be innocent of all charges. On the first count - they had been abducted by an unknown structure, and fundamental changes seemed to have occurred to their bodies. Am I not the goddess of Science? They fell within my domain, then.

Furthermore, I refused the prince of shadows on his request to have his creations returned to him, for he threatened me and mine and roared with rage, accusing me of obscenities and acting without restraint or reason. Am I to simply crumble before him, then, and teach him that such behavior is acceptable within the divine sphere? If so, Madame Arbiter, then I will admit that perhaps I was to blame, for wishing to teach the prince of shadows a lesson.

But he has declared war on me for this, recklessly rampaged through my laboratory, and even ordered his creations to destroy everything I had within. Though I would love to come to the Great Hall and explain everything to the Divine Council, I am afraid - afraid for my people, afraid for the very planet that they dwell upon. Hodari is not merely a trespasser in the law - he is a danger to everything that irks him, a loose cannon that fires wherever it will! It is for this reason that I called you here, in hopes that you would be able to restrain him - but alas, I was forced to take matters into my own hands, seeing as you were... elsewhere."

"I am sorry that I didn't interject earlier, but I wished to know just how far you and Hodari would go, otherwise two possible law-breakers may have gotten off with a warning. And you should know, Hodari is in quite allot of trouble at the moment, maybe more than you. Still, when he asked for his creations back, you clearly refused him. It matters not how they came to you or how they were altered, they are still his creatures. It is not your place to teach gods lessons, for you are all equal in this universe. I will sympathize with you though, since you have suffered casualties and he got his creations back in the end. I will not harm your creations or you, but know that I am watching you. If you see this.. foul creation again, notify me! That goes for you too-" Once Ka'Lexx interjects, the Arbiters small frown turns into a glare, and she glares at him for about five seconds, mulling it over. "I shall not intervene unless another god complains. But if another god does, force of nature or not, I will be forced to remove their creations from it if you won't, causing as little damage as possible. Violations of the charter will not be tolerated. And Nova, I will install this to make sure I can be here to intervene quicker, if he comes back. " With that, she pulls a small ball of flame out from her chest, and places it far above the coldhouse. It will report to the arbiter whenever a divine touched being comes across its view, which is pretty much the entire city, and maybe other times. It will not go inside the Cold House unless to follow a angry hostile god.

"If you have any objections, say them now, for I have to go catch Hodari."

[TheDarkDM]

Kaal'ex slithered behind Nova as the Arbiter passed its judgement and placed its drone in the air above Chronos City. His face impassive, he contacts Nova.

"Would it not be better to simply dispose of this nuisance now, while it is in the heart of our power? If you could convince your plaything to aid us, it would be a simple thing to dismember this construct and deal with Hodari at our leisure."