Nascent Goddess Quest

Winning Votes:
[w] Eshani, She Who Soars Above
[w] Ambition

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"Eshani, huh," you murmur as you are lead out of the chamber. The rest of the church isn't in much better shape than the room you were held in, broken columns, walls covered in ivy and...is that a hole in the roof? It seemed keeping the place in shape wasn't at the top of the old man's priority list.

You were taken to a room that was much more well kept than the rest of the church, it was fairly simple; not much more than a bed, a window and desk with some candles scattered around.

"Well, I'll leave you to settle in for today, tomorrow we can begin your training," the man says as he turns to leave.

"Wait," you call out, he turns around, "what do I call you?"

"Ah, how foolish of me, I am Tobias Emilie," the now named Tobias replies.

"Well, thank you for your assistance Tobias," you give him a kind smile as he leaves. Even if he was a crazed man, it would be better to stay on his good side.

You lie back on your bed, rubbing at your face and considering your options. Asking to leave probably wouldn't be taken well, especially considering you know next to nothing about where you are, maybe you should ask for some maps later.

Sticking around wouldn't be too bad, he's giving you shelter and probably food, and if he was going to sell you into slavery or something he could have done it while you slept, plus Tobias could teach you about the world you've forgotten about.The only other option you can think of would be leaving with someone who has it together more than Tobias, but you don't know anyone else so that's risky. It seemed that the safest option was to stick around for now.

Future plans decided on, you turn to the window, it's now completely dark outside, seems like night falls quickly around here. Well, the dark outside allowed the window to be used as a makeshift mirror at the very least. Looking at your face you notice that your expression defaults into one of determination, not the cold type, your face elicits a feeling of reliability. The next thing you notice is your fiery orange hair, having been kept in a short ponytail while you slept, the tip of it had the appearance of an arrow. The final thing about your appearance that caught your attention was your deep emerald coloured eyes.
With little else to do and the outside clouded by darkness, drowsiness began to be felt, despite the fact that you'd just recently awoken. You change into some cotton pyjamas that Tobias had likely set up for you and slip into bed. As soon as you slip under the covers a thought runs through your mind: 'I forgot to extinguish the candles', yet, no sooner does this cross your mind that the candlelight vanishes and you are plunged into darkness. Blaming it on magic candles, you go to sleep.

oOo

The warmth of sunlight on your face wakes you from your dreamless slumber. Rising from the bed you change back into your robes and head out of the room. Tobias is in the main room, waiting for you.

"Good morning My Lady," he greets you, "once you have eaten I thought it would be prudent to teach you of the world before we move on." Tobias gestures over to a table that has been set up behind him. Despite the worn supplies and lack of resources, Tobias has done his best to make it look fancy, the table is covered with a red curtain, acting as a tablecloth, and the small amount of meat and vegetables on the plates has been arranged in a surprisingly nice looking way. As if sensing your question he answers, "I've taken up cooking and gardening to pass the time while you slumbered." You quickly eat the meal, speeding up after the first bite proves to be more delicious than you'd anticipated.

Seeing that you've finished your breakfast Tobias waves you over to where he is sitting on the ground and pulls out a book. As soon as you sit he begins his lecture.

"The first thing you should know is the lay of the land." Tobias pulls out a centerfold from the book and opens it on the floor. "Now, in the center we have the central temples, one for each god," he points to the middle of the map, where a cluster of small circles lie. "This area also acts as a neutral zone between the kingdoms, so most negotiations take place in this area."

He moves his finger to the bottom left, "Now here we have the Rutopian Empire, they're usually seen as the 'good guys' of the territories, they started the adventurers' guilds and have a reputation for helping the other kingdoms."

The digit travels upwards, to about halfway up the map, "Next we have the Atruonan territories, lots of little areas each owned by different nobles, Atruona was blessed with plentiful lands, so they've never needed supplies, unlike the Rutopians though, they don't share, they're happy to live in their isolated bubble of decadence." His tone shifts, becoming more harsh, "They also have a rule that if you kill a noble you get their territory, but no one really bothers because that just puts a target on your back."

The next area is the one on the right, "This is Asoa, they've got all this land," With a sweeping gesture, he motions to the entire right side of the map, "but it's worth nothing, they've got something along the lines of a permanent winter over their land so almost nothing grows there. They've turned to fishing to survive, it's basically their only export."

"Now one last territory before we move on to the worst. All these islands around the map that aren't part of the continent? They've formed a coalition and become their own territory: Kolania. They're smaller than the others, but they have easy access to every part of the continent." Tobias pulls out a flask and takes a sip before sighing,

"And now we get to the Valcians, 'purists' who have rejected worshiping the gods to 'better focus on progress' ignoring Pyjor the God of Progress himself!" He slams a fist down onto the ground, causing you to jump, "And of course they get put at the top of the map." His jaw clenched and a scowl on his face, he takes another sip from his flask to cool his sudden anger. "My apologies, I let my passion overwhelm me," he takes a short break to calm down.

"Now then, there are also bandits that roam around, but you should watch out for the Elder Cults, they worship the Abominations that oppose the creations of the Gods and seek to destroy everything, I know not why anyone would worship them. The Blackfire Assassins I must especially warn you against, they have managed to kill two reincarnating Gods thus far and have somehow evaded the wrath of the others, worse still, they have members in every territory." He pauses for one more sip of the liquid in his flask. "I know I've given you a lot of information, is there anything you need clarification on?"

Up to 3 subvotes
[] Yes, I'd like to ask about
-[] The Ruptorians
-[] The Atruonans
-[] The Asoans
-[] The Kolanians
-[] The Valcians
-[] The Elder Cultists
-[] The Blackfire Assassins
-[] Other Gods
[] No questions

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