Animus Ex Nihilo - A God Quest

When you returned to the waters to focus your blessings on the fishers once more, you made up for lost time. The sea was eerily calm when the peoples boats moved out, only the gentle tug of the currents steering them right to best fishing spots, and they always returned with nets and boats fill to the bursting. The sudden plenty made some question the explorers yet again as they saw it as a sign that they should stay where the sea would provide for them. Others claimed the opposite, that the sea approved of their plans and that this was the way it showed the people.

Trade flourished too, as smoked fish was carried over the land by the nomads. With goats having spread all over the land, the mountain village had begun to sell other things and now art made from carved stones and baked mud were exchanged against the artful woodcarvings, sea shells and pearls of the people. And in between the two, many small homesteads had begun to spring up. They lived from hunting, goat herding and foraging the sparser regions of the forests. Some of them seemed to be former hunters of the people, others were nomads that had tired of living on the move, but they did not seem to feel as part of either.


You did not overly concern yourself with the matters on land though, instead tinkering beneath the waves with the creatures of the sea. The first time you did this, you did not spent much thought on the details. All you wanted to do was to make a rich fish ground for the people after all. This time you were much more careful. Instead of merely using your power on them, you instead tried to give it to them and see how they would react. The smaller, simpler creatures like sprats and shrimps merely grew, though much more than the last time. Oddly enough, they seemed to have much less trouble to hold on the power than you did and even managed to pass on some of it to their offspring. Entire seasons passed without them losing much of it and when you touched them, you could just as easily draw the power out of them again, though they withered and died if you took it all.

On larger fish, the effects were even more pronounced. A few cod that you imbued grew twice their size and developed markings that reminded you of the carvings of the peoples boats on their flanks. Even more surprising was that they could use the power on their own. When a shark tried to take a bite out of one of them, the cod drew on it's might and summoned a current to carry itself away. You trailed that one to see if the event had been a fluke, but it did so again whenever it felt threatened enough. It even managed to replenish the power it had drawn for these acts in some way, though when you took part of it back into yourself, it seemed unable to replenish that loss in the same fashion.

The more time you spent with them, the more you felt the lingering connection to what was once yours. Finding every last shrimp you had imbued was taxing, but you could tell where the cod had travelled even when they had left the range you could comfortably move in. When you called them, they readily came to whatever place you bade them to and when told where to go, they followed that order too. Sadly, your control went only so far as the cod understood the orders you gave. They had trouble to tell a boat from driftwood and their attempts to herd fish into nets ended more often than not with them swimming at the net themselves and tearing it to ribbons with their bulk.

Still, there was potential in the idea of having servitors to aid your efforts. Maybe you could try and teach the cod what you wanted them to do? Or would it be better to try another animal? There were seals and porpoises in the sea, though they rarely came near the village, and the few times you had travelled far from the coast, you had seen other, greater creatures. Though it was a question for another time, as you had no doubt that it would take more power than you could spare right then.

Learned to store Power in sealife.

Unlocked creation of Divine Servants.


While you spent your days in the depths of your waters, the preparations for the expeditions had been completed in the village. One group wanted to take their canoes along the coast to the south, the other to the north. There had been a few who originally wanted to brave the open sea, hoping for your protection on the journey, but there were not enough willing to follow on this most dangerous path. When they departed, you followed them as far as you could and sent the cods imbued with your power along as they travelled too far for you to follow. Part of you had hoped that you could have come along all the way, but it seemed the few people in their canoes was not enough for whatever force kept you close to the village.

Before they fully left your reach, you pushed as much of your power into them as you could and willed that it should keep the waters calms and boats upright. How much it would aid them, you could not tell, and so you returned to the village and your shrine to wait for their return. A season passed and the fate of the northern expedition became apparent first. One day, you felt an icy chill through your very being. For a brief moment, you panicked and thought yourself hurt, something that seemed not so preposterous and idea anymore, but it receded after a short while. When you had calmed down again, you noticed that you could no longer feel the cod that had travelled north and you knew immediately that they and the boats would never return.

Another season later, the southern group returned and though they had lost half their boats and a third of their number, they still deemed their journey a success. They had travelled the coast and the rivers they had found on their way, making camp in the most promising locales and exploring further on foot. Weather, wolves and sickness had taken their toll on them, but they had found a place that would be well suited to a village. A small island at the mouth of a major river where the fish were plenty and the water would keep dangers at bay. The village was overjoyed to have the explorers back and a feast was arranged in the honour of those who had returned and those who had been lost, including a large sacrifice to you for your aid. There was no rush by the people to settle the new place, but a few families expressed interest in the following days and began to gather provisions to claim it.


Leaving the living to their business, you returned once more to the matter of the dead, observing the sinking dead, and trying to discern what could be done to draw more power from the rite. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. No matter how often you prodded and poked the bodies, they stubbornly refused to yield more than the trickle you obtained from them. You even went on land and observed the old burial rites and tried to draw power from the bodies there before the scavengers of the forests could get to them, yet you only gained a feeling of cold emptiness whenever you tried. Whatever secret lay beneath this, it kept eluding your efforts.


It was at the end of one of these investigations that he approached you. That other spirit you had noticed so long ago. It was careful when it approached keeping its distance just like you did on your last encounter and he too threw a gust of wind as if it was a greeting. You caught it, dispersing it among the trees and rustling their leaves.

'You seem much more approachable than the Mountain', came a voice that sounded much like the breeze moving through the trees.

It took a moment for you to answer, as you briefly had to ponder how to do so. Your own voice sounded quite unlike his and reminded you of the gentle waves on the beaches near the village. 'I am afraid I know neither you, nor the mountains.'

'No, no. Not the mountains. The Harsh Mountain. So they call him at least.' The spirit moved around you restlessly, his power calling more wind through the crowns of the oaks and beeches. 'As for me, I would rather call it The Wroth One for how unpleasant it is to be around. Throwing rocks at me every time I visit and such.'

'Why do you keep visiting if it attacks you?' Being hurt by something as mundane as a rock seemed odd to you, but maybe it made a difference if a spirit was throwing it. Slowly you rose from the ground and floated upward to get away from the trees. Just in case.

'To annoy it, of course,' came the answer as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'If it had not wanted me to annoy it, it should not have greeted me by throwing rocks the first time I visited.'

That made some sense to you, but you still felt rather glad that you had not gotten this spirits ire too. 'The people call me Proud Waters, and you would be?'

'The nomads call me Sky Child. Though we will see for how much longer.' As it spoke, it threw a gust down into the forest below, starling a herd of goats and their herder. 'I reckon there won't be that many nomads left in a few lifetimes and as they settle between the two of you, it seems I have to do the same.'

'You want to offer an agreement between us.'

'Ah, you make it sound so formal…' The Sky Child whirled through the air and began to circle you. 'You have the sea and the other one has the mountains, but all that I have is the wind. Not as impressive to most, especially when you are not the only spirit using it.'

It moved again, drawing your attention along until you noticed the bay and the village in the distance. 'Have I not done good by your people for you? It was me who kept the storms away from your village while you were in the sea. All I ask is that you let me have the sky. Maybe a small shrine in your village once I have the followers for such a thing.'

'What do you say?'

[] Agree to the proposal. Leave the sky to the Sky Child.

[] Reject the proposal. The Sky Child will have to find another niche for itself.