The New Age

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Arnthor feels his injuries flare up again, and he instinctively feels Gethane fall upon the land. He concentrates and Gethane sees plants and rocks rise and shuffle nearby until they form Arnthor's familiar shape, and soon the Great Bear is beside him.

"What has happened to you, Son of Earth?"

[slithas]

Vordia felt the strange shift in power, her eyes looking sharply in the direction of where Gethane had been when she last sensed him. "What's going on?.." she muttered, stating to the horizon. She looked back to Aldarin, knowing he’d felt it too, her eyes now filled with a mix of curiosity and worry. "I'm going to check it out; I think something may have happened to Gethane. Coming?" She asked, offering him a hand to travel with her.

--

Upon reaching the location of Gethane on the wind, she saw another deity had already arrived. However, her sense of Gethane wasn't there. It wasn't a divine presence, but instead merely a mortal's. "What happened to you?" She asked, her voice sounding somewhere between amusement and concern. "Does it have something to do with what you were looking for? What did you do?"

[oddysen]

Aldarin felt the strange shift in power and looked to Vordia, who seemed distressed. When she asked if he too was coming to check on the earthen one, he accepted her hand as he answered "Yes, it seems we have to finish our tea some time later.".

When they arrived by the earthen one, it felt like they didn't, he could see him in the flesh, but he could not feel his presence. After Vordia had finished speaking, Aldarin toughed his hand upon Vordia's shoulder "It seems I may have a use for your powers after all Vordia. Between us we should at least be able to mend some of the damage done."

[Madara]

"Um... hello?" Maia called up at the walls, her Myckets clustered around her and looked up, trying to find who she was talking to.

One of the Stonelords peeks from on top of the wall. "Hello. Who goes there? What is your business in Kirin?"

Meanwhile, Gethane lays on the ground overwhelmed with the situation. "I..I don't know. I feel weak, and hot. I feel..tired. I fought the other one, he refused to tell me anything."

[blazinvire]

Kirin... well at least she could put a name to a face now -face being a city, in some weird perspective...
It was as good a place as any to settle down for a little while, and the bonus of having walls made it extra secure against mundane attempts by other gods. She'd just have to hope they wouldn't try divine attempts on a mere city; most gods would see that as a waste hopefully, and stick to methods less power-consuming.

"My name is Maia, a traveling shepherd looking for some shelter and rest," Maia called up to the person on the wall, "My flock may look strange but I assure you I can keep them in line."

She couldn't determine the reason why she felt so anxious to find shelter, almost like she was tired and vulnerable when she really wasn't. Maybe those two gods that were fighting did something? Maia didn't know all the possible repercussions and the things gods would create in pursuit of victory, so she was left in the dark in that regard. Part of her wanted to start in the dark...

[Madara]

"A shepherd..odd. We don't get much of those. Fine, we'll send someone down."
With that, a man wearing a Brown cloak jumps down, sliding along the wall. He arrives, and gives you a contract to sign that goes through the basic laws of the city, and you have to register some basic information about yourself. Then he gives you an I.D. and opens the wall to the city, sending a guide with you. "You have one week to conduct your business, if you'd like long term residence, you'll have to take it up with the priests."

[blazinvire]

The interactions went fine right up until a man slid down the wall like it was nothing, startling Maia somewhat and his landing caused the Myckets to skitter away behind her.
Mere mortals were gaining such curious prowess, but considering a god was involved, maybe it wasn't so surprising after all. Such impressiveness and minor miracles would no doubt become commonplace after the gods had become sufficiently established.

Maia obediently signed the contract with little regard as to what it said, figuring their laws would have to be remarkably obscure for her usual behaviour to break them. The ID was likewise curious, but Maia simply pocketed it and followed the guide, a tight stream of thirty Myckets hurriedly following her through the new gap in the wall.
The goddess shepherd had to pause for a moment, as the full realization dawned on her that these people had to have a kind of magic at their command. It should have occurred to her earlier that the walls surrounding the town probably weren't the patron god's doing.

However, the current topic she needed to think about was the priests and a permanent residence here. Whether she should find a place for herself here or just spend a week and go build something more suited for her purposes like some observatory tower or something.
Then again, a permanent residence didn't mean she'd have to stay here right? A mortal's concept of 'permanent' was substantially different to that of a god's.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Meanwhile, Gethane lays on the ground overwhelmed with the situation. "I..I don't know. I feel weak, and hot. I feel..tired. I fought the other one, he refused to tell me anything."

"Tell you anything about what?"

[Zarae]

Zilvtree had remained hidden in the darkness, her defensive strike ___(whatever it did)____, to watch and wait. When Gethane awoke there was something she sensed different about him. Diminished. The Scorpion was more dangerous than she had predicted, knew something the others did not. She was slightly saddened the fight had ended when it did.
Soon, she stepped from her stealth and into visual sight suddenly appearing near the gathered group.
Zilvtree pretended to dust herself off, her eyes now their original maroon.
"provoking others already?" her tone slightly jesting as she looked the direction the Scorpion had gone, "here," reaching out a half gloved hand to her alliance partner as he answered the questions.

--
The servant shuffled power around, dispersed groups of the Shadowdancer's people to a live of adventuring or nomadic life-styles. these groups went in multiple directions, many to larger established cities all around. Life for these strange people was rough, but soon learned how to survive, even prosper with their natural talents and connection with the shadow weave. Those most skilled would find residence among the shadows of the city's laws, form rift-raff groups, and eventually rogue or shady type guilds.

[Madara]

He grabs her hand to get up, glad to receive the gesture. He turns to the Land King, "I believed that he knew what came before us. He has been around far longer than we have, so I sought him out to learn what I could. I am no longer an Earth god, I am not a god at all. You must call me Fractus, for I have been broken."

He stays with the others for some time, to discuss matters. But, he feels out of place among the gods, he is going to return to his villages and seek refuge there.

[slithas]

Vordia nodded in agreeance to Aldarin before turning back to Gethane and listening. "So what, you've been stripped of your powers? Permanently?" She looked at the other gods gathered there. "Aldarin's right, we have the ability to infuse power in another. Pulling together we could easily make you a Demi-god, if not restore you to nearly your original power. What say you? I'm more than happy to empower you as my own at least."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"I will aid our fallen brother as well. When a king suffers, so too does the land...when a god suffers...a lot more is at stake. We need at least a temporary solution to the problem."

Spoiler

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If Vordia's willing, Arnthor will use one of his Ceremonies.

[Zarae]

"yes, I am here to help. But I cant help but wander if maybe we knock the Scorpion around a bit and make him undo this...whatever he did. He'd have to be substantially more powerful to take on all of us at once."

[oddysen]

Aldarin sighed "Of those gathered here, I know only Gethane and Vodria. This scorpion you speak of, is at least much more powerful than I. While I might have been able to best another god, I can not understand what this beast did. It'd be easier to make a human onto a god than to make a god onto a human. If we are able to restore Gethane, no real harm has come from this and there is no reason to fight. If we can not, the scorpion is clearly more powerful than us together, so there is no hope to be had from fighting it."

[Zarae]

"perhaps, but you get fewer answers. and this seams less fun anyway."
Not yet mentioning she had already slightly contended with him just earlier.

[blazinvire]

Walking down the main street with a flock of Myckets was an obscure sight to be sure, but fortunately considering the entire town was constructed through the will of a god, its strangeness paled in comparison. The stares she received were more because she was 'different' rather than 'strange', so Maia passed through relatively smoothly.
In fact, she even got the chance to be a bit of a tourist; looking at all the buildings raised by a god's hand and seeing what mortal hands had done to them. Almost like the god had provided the bones and some of the muscles, and the people just fleshed it out.
The general theme seemed highly reverent of the stone, considering it was the most sturdy building material, nearly everything was built out of it, even decorations. The way they warped the stone into unnatural yet complimentary or convenient shapes, it was very curious indeed.

When she finally reached a convenient spare patch of land closest to what one would call the 'inn', Maia took a moment to she her staff a little, letting a gentle rain of pollen fall from its leaves. She paced a large circle the size of your average animal pen before stabbing her staff's roots into the center where it took hold. With some concentration, vast shoots of grass sprouted up where the pollen had fallen, weaving about each other until a veritable grass-woven fence stood in a circle around the Treestaff.
She left the Myckets there in the pen and the staff to drop fruit every so often, before heading back into the center of town.

Unfortunately she had no idea what this town used as a currency and nor did she possess any kind of currency, and as much as she could probably create currency out of thin air, it'd be hardly useful to the people here.
So she'd have to figure out what to create to trade for currency, with which she could use to pay to stay here; at least that was her plan anyways.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Halendis sighed "Of those gathered here, I know only Gethane and Vodria. This scorpion you speak of, is at least much more powerful than I. While I might have been able to best another god, I can not understand what this beast did. It'd be easier to make a human onto a god than to make a god onto a human. If we are able to restore Gethane, no real harm has come from this and there is no reason to fight. If we can not, the scorpion is clearly more powerful than us together, so there is no hope to be had from fighting it."

"I am Arnthor, a god of kings and the lands they rule. As you can see from my injuries, the land is not in a good state."

[oddysen]

Aldarin bowed "I am Aldarin and I am fire. My people is doing ok, their art is nothing compared to mine, but for having once been human they are doing well for themselves. You should visit my sanctuary sometime, I am currently putting the final touches to the topiary bushes. I have this idea for carp pond I think will work brilliantly but it will be a few days before it is done, so if you want to see it you should make your visit then. Or come twice if you want. Which reminds me." Aldarin turns to Vordia and touches his hand to her, "When will you visit to finish your tea?"

[slithas]

Vordia grasped Aldarin's hand in return. "Don't you worry," She said with a smile and a wink, "I'll be over sometime in the near future for it, of that I'm certain."

Looking back at the group, Vorida nodded a greeting to Zilvtree, and then looked at Arnthor. "I am Vorida, Goddess of Desire, Mask of Beauty, Lady Fury. I rule the heavens and the very air you breathe as you rule the lands the people live on. A pleasure." She said with a nod of greeting to him too. "So, shall we get this started?" She asked the group, stepping forward still holding Aldarin's hand and taking Zilvtree's in her other. "Hold hands so we can commence this ritual to restore Gethane."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Arnthor does not hesitate, taking the other gods' hands.

[Zarae]

Zilvtree had waited for the intro's to finish then followed suit in the task, "Zilvtree Shadowdancer, Lady Chaos, Mistress of Mischief," a quick intro of herself. Her presence enough to tell what domains she ruled. those who held her hands found her skin slightly cool to the touch, her temperature lower than most.
Zilvtree was less sure about this than the others. She still thought her idea might have been the better route.

[ArlEammon]

Zilvtree had waited for the intro's to finish then followed suit in the task, "Zilvtree Shadowdancer, Lady Chaos, Mistress of Misheif," a quick intro of herself. Her presence enough to tell what domains she ruled. those who held her hands found her skin slightly cool to the touch, her temperature lower than most.
Zilvtree was less sure about this than the others. She still thought her idea might have been the better route.

((Post coming soon))

[Madara]

Their god had fallen some time ago, but the new day had come. His people felt a great loss, as if part of them was gone. Many wore black, and there was an eerie silence that came upon them.

Deep down, something stirred within his people. We Endure. We are Patient. We will Wait.

Gethane, now called Fractus, felt them. Despite the severed connection, he could tell they were waiting for him. My people..wait for me.

[ArlEammon]

As Gethane, now known Fractus, went back to his people, he could feel as if the Scorpion god was speaking to him. The Scorpion god was known as a powerful, ancient being in this part of the world, and in the surrounding regions of the new Earth. But Fractus could here the Scorpion god calling out to him. "Come to me. Now that you are no danger, I will speak with you and teach you my secrets."

[Madara]

Fractus waits for the others. He doesn't want to leave until they finish whatever discussion they are doing.

[Zarae]

Spoiler

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((midterms this week, just a small heads up))

When the ceremony was finished ((and whatever happened, so this is afterward)) and all that she was needed for done, Zilvtree dispersed into darkness and was back in Olath Z'hin, her created realm. She stepped into the castle, and headed straight for what was serving as her personal quarters. It was time she make a more physical symbol, an artifact of her own. So many possibilities as she looked around. Randomly, without thought, she picked up a metal ring 1 ft in diameter of adamantine and mithirl and tossed it as she paced through the changing floors, catching it as it reflected back. in the fifth random absent-minded toss, a smirk formed and she settled on her idea.

Drawing onto her magic she concentrated it into the object. A round outer edge grew sharp, geometric designs appeared, including a design that was her symbol among the mortals. It began to glow with a dark maroon energy. She spun it on her finger, it turning faster as more power infused into it. Tossing it upwards, the finalization of the artifact was done. when she caught it, she spun it on her finger like a hula hoop then gracefully caught it. To test it, she used all her strength to throw it, watching it reflect off walls or other objects and bounce around before returning to her, Zilvtree catching it with easy. marks were left on the stone where the metal connected, and the rope it cut dropped a curtain. the dummy in the corner, last to be struck held a wide gash across the would be neck, nearly decapitated.
With it done, she hung it on her belt. Now she had a physical weapon should wars or retaliation be forthcoming.

Spoiler

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((use major act: 1 create artifact- Disk of Night [+5 returning chakram of adamantine/mithril alloy]))

[blazinvire]

Things were getting a little unnerving as Maia continued to traverse Kirin, as people had started some strange kind of mourning period as though they had lost someone, yet nearly the entire town was doing it so it seemed very strange. How could they all have lost someone important to them? Or maybe it was something? At any rate for an entire town, it was still off-putting.
Then there was the fact that it seemed to follow very quickly after that odd feeling Maia had gotten not too long ago, like she too had felt something was missing somehow, or different at least.

She could still sense some of the other gods, though the presence that had screamed out before was nowhere to be found now, but as suspicious as that was, it probably meant the god was hiding now. Then again, why would a god intentionally draw attention to themselves before attempting to hide? Some kind of trap? Or did something happen?

Maia was starting to notice it wasn't just the atmosphere of the town that was feeling funny, but even the earth under her feet felt off, uncomfortable or something, and it was starting to bug her the more she walked upon it.
The fact that the entire town consisted of earth materials didn't make it any easier.
Eventually she got fed up with it and moved off in search of an abandoned alleyway where she could work.
When she had found one, Maia took a moment to concentrate, raising her right hand and curling her ring, little finger and thumb in and pressing the remain two digits together as her hand shook with the energy. There was something wrong with the earth here and she was sure going to fix it.
Her hand trembled violently as she brought the two fingers all the way down and finally touched the ground emitting a soft white nova of energy as she attempted to concentrate blessings on the town of Kirin, hoping the overload would fix this anomaly.

Spoiler

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2 Minor Acts: Overload Blessing the population of Kirin
Lifegiver...?

The light show would probably drawn attention so Maia made sure to get the hell out of the area before anyone would find her, transforming into anything she had to.

Unfortunately she didn't feel all that confident, as it wasn't like the place was cursed -she would have felt as much after walking its surface for that long, but it would let her understand it a bit better. But how was she really supposed to know what the earth was missing to figure out how to fix it? She didn't understand the earth well enough, but it didn't stop her from wanting to heal it.

Maia eventually found herself back in her pen of Myckets leaning against her embedded Treestaff, quite lost for answers.
She loosened the reigns on her power and tried to freely stream her energy into this problem, letting her subconscious do most of the work. And little by little she started to feel the earth, and her senses stretched out and touched the wealth of earthen materials Kirin had to offer
Earth's relationship with nature and life gave Maia a lot to think about, and as her energy poured to try and fill this gap, she was starting to see how things could be fixed.

Spoiler

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1 Major Act: Gain Ability: Sorcery: Healing
1 Major Act: Gain Domain: Earth
1 Major Act: Up a Domain: Life Rank 3

[slithas]

The ritual began, and the four participating gods felt the energy circle within and between them, flowing around like a vortex of light as the sky itself seemed to grow dark, and shadow crossed the entire land. There was a flash of lightning followed by a rumble of thunder in the distance, a murmur from the earth beneath them, and an odd warmth in the air.
The energy, spiralling around into the air, was a visible sight from beyond the horizon to all the creatures of the land, flowing into Fractus. As it was all absorbed into his body he began to glow, before a bolt of lightning struck him, causing a wave of flame to blast from him and the earth at his feet to erupt into the air, before it quickly receded back into him in a returning wave of shadow, sealing all of those powers into his new body.

Slowly the light returned to normal and the four gods looked down upon their work, a reformed Gethane.

"Interesting... how well did it work, Gethane?"

[Madara]

"I feel, better, but not whole. I am sorry, but I must go, and I can't have you following me."

With that, he slams the ground, causing a large cloud of dust. When the dust settles, he is gone.

Gethane reaches the scorpion, ready to talk.

[ArlEammon]

Paverius
The Scorpion finds Fractus.
"Ah, if it is not Fractus. Or Gethane? I cannot tell. My previous murder was not intended. However, before I could feast on your body, your friends stopped me. I apologize. I struggle with my inner nature. It is within my nature to kill, the hunt and slay. You came for knowledge and I wished to bring it to you in death. It is a good thing you are living."

"I have forgotten, what is this knowledge you seek?"