Not exactly sure how that would work out but ok
Apotheosis- A Deity Quest
- Thread starter nwish425
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
Egos
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
*claps hands* Excellent!
Soft music played within the home of the Oldest Fear, light smoke dancing through the air illuminated by light seeping through blinds covering the windows hiding an alien cityscape. If a mortal were to stand within, they would never see the dancing tendrils of darkness playing barely within the edges of their eyes; too diffusive and shy were these dancers as to be seen directly. They would, however, see the Oldest Fear himself, sitting within his chair and frowning down at a clean desk unburdened by any paperwork, free to be worked upon and yearning for use. Well, they wouldn't see see Xenos frown, but the visitor would feel the frown as much as they would feel the creeping tendrils of unease as the rigid pole, which they knew to be a coatrack, swayed behind their backs, marveling and desiring the garments they wore. But no visitor had appeared since the rude magical girl, who never even entered the Oldest's Room, and so, we return to a frowning face.
"Now, where is my paperwork?" Xenos lightly asked the room, looking at his Informants one by one, making the dancers cease, the rack stand still, as dozens of others deny having taken the work anywhere. "Well then," Xenos replied, leaning back with steepled hands, "that means a mystery is afoot." Then, with speed and grace, the Oldest Fear stood up, slipping into the jacket provided by his rack-disguised-informant, hat quickly placed upon his head, and out the door, he went, fixing his tie with two tugs.
"Now then," Xenos asked the air, making several nearby nightmares stop and listen, "if I were paperwork, where would I have gone? To the court or the nest?" He hummed in indecision, taking in the air of the Black Field, listening to the swaying crops who broke through decay and began to burst with vitality and life, spring heralding new life and a coming harvest. "TheErrrr," a voice slurred from behind Xenos, making him turn to see a black blob pointing a deformed dripping finger towards a copse of trees on the outside of the Black Field. "Thank you kindly," Xenos replied while tipped his hat towards the growing nightmare and made his way towards the indicated copse.
Not even a single minute in his walk, Xenos had to stop. "Really?" He asked, bending low to pick up the discarded page bearing his Informants sigil, the name Maira Miller displayed proudly and undaunted. "Why would they throw it away like that?" Turning the page, the Oldest Fear quickly skimmed the page with long experience, noting the missing pieces of information with mounting surprise. Names and dates were missing or replaced with estimates; dozens of memories vanished or returned from the ones he had read. Then, walking again, he started to look through the growing dossier; Xenos began to ask himself what had taken the pages from him and why they had taken the pains to enchant a single page to become more as he read on, only to stop as he came upon the last page. Right in the middle of the page, a single word occupied all space and attention.
TAKEN
However, when Xenos turned the dossier again, he came upon a perfectly finished form, one he hadn't had worked on, all boxes ticked, all lines filled, with neatly spaced letters filling them all. "Curious," he hummed, tilting his head in contemplation as he came upon another single page turned dossier. 'Jeremiah Kirsch, 46, married to...' it read, with another life playing out on the pages within, information false and shifting, yet soon replaced by another. Repeat; Kalen Gert stood on this, soon replaced by a different dossier, and again the lost pages kept coming to Xenos on his walk. "Like breadcrumbs," he said, mildly amused. "Then let us see which duckling is missing lunch." The copse turned out to be larger than expected, expected really, turning a short walk into a long hike, as page after page joined those already found. They all became dossiers on people, though returned to the filled paperwork Xenos had found missing not so long ago, adding to the mystery and allure of the unknown. Until finally, he came upon a small clearing, pages strewn around everywhere, and a nightmare sitting upon a rock in the middle, pencil in hand.
"Taken," it murmured, scratching its head, making a little humanoid fall out and bumble away from the strange nightmare only to crumble a few feet away. The rustling of paper followed as a page was thrown into the air, joining others within the clearing, though that was not the thing Xenos focused on, but the changing nightmare itself. Its white cracked skin slowly turned into a healthy pink, muscles and fat filling out the skeleton as long blond hair grew from the empty head, falling below the nightmare-turned-woman's shoulders. "Oh, is this it?" A feminine voice asked the air, a hand lifted, allowing the nightmare to marvel. Xenos could see the healthy skin turn pale, then white, cracking flakes burning off and floating away in an unseen and unfelt wind; the long blond hair fell out one strand after another as the skeleton returned, flesh once more unmade. "Taken," the nightmare murmured, shaking its head as another humanoid clambered out of its head, dissolving and dying before Xeno's advancing feet.
"Now then," he asked loudly, making the nightmare crane their head backward without moving their torso. "I believe introductions are in order as we haven't met each other. I," the Oldest Fear spoke, politely tipping his hat, "am Xenos. Who do you might be? And what do you search for within my papers?"
Only silence was his answer as the nightmare turned their head this way and that, turning a wait into a contest of will. "This is Nothing," returned the nightmare, focusing once more upon the pages in their hands. "Taken," it intoned without inflection, holding up the page for Xenos to take. This one, too, was filled out perfectly, without any mistakes. The being once more began to read through a dossier, its form changing to that of the person within. "Identity," it suddenly spoke after another pause, as if only remembering that Xenos had asked a second question.
"Well then," the Oldest Fear spoke with amusement, making the nightmares head lift to meet his face, "why don't you do that where my things don't get thrown into the dirt. You have a knack for this, so? So what do you say about a job? And to a name?"
The nightmare gawked for seconds, then minutes, and then an hour, no calcified muscle moving, no flake of skin falling off its form, before a single word left its mouth: "Identity." The changes were as swift as they were instantaneous. Pink skin shot up its body, short-cropped white hair appeared on its head, as the form of a female human appeared, body dressed in black clothing, red tie around her neck, glasses on her face, one raised eyebrow turning a serious face sarcastic and aloof. "Egos is my name," the woman replied, "and with all honesty? Your filing system needed help. When will I start?" She asked with calm.
"Tomorrow," Xenos replied, grinning at Egos, delighting at the strange thing he had come across, noting the fraying suit and breaking skin, rebound by unknown efforts and force.
Interesting idea for ego
HeroCooky
Unverified Monstergirl
That works perfectly!
- Location
- Washington
Maybe trying to play off Samhain's symbol as definitely a magical protection ward for pest, goblins, and maybe demons?, and any offerings to Samhain is actually to some other god (if prompted which god, lie and say one of the overdeities that would be relevant). In addition, maybe very kindly ask the Inquisition to help with the festival by providing legit anti-demon protection wards?
Lurking_Badger
Cheese Enjoyer
- Location
- Wisconsin
From what we have heard of the Inquisition, I think that they would still kill the village just to be sure. Jack stated that one of their tactics is to burn everything down and be done with it. I expect anything strange to be labeled as demon stuff and anything helpful as deceptive demon stuff.
I would really like if they didn't visit us at all, but they probably will anyways. Having them consider our village as a bunch of country bumpkins by use of trickery would be best to me.
- Location
- Washington
Alternatively we can just murder them, chop up their bodies into mince meat, then scatter it across the forest. If more show up looking for their friends we can play it off and say they were here, gave the town the okay, then left.
- Location
- The Netherlands
so random thought. so far all our nightmares have had royalty themes with the exception of Xenos and now Egos. i think it would be quite fun for any nightmare in Xenos' court to not be named after royalty as it makes them very different from the rest.
also is anyone going to write that Beurophobia nightmare becouse that will be very weird and fun
also is anyone going to write that Beurophobia nightmare becouse that will be very weird and fun
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
So far it looks like we've got three themes going on in each of the Great Nightmares' factions. The Office has the whole Greek thing. The Court is playing at nobility. Not sure what The Nest is doing but they seem to be free right now if anyone wants to come up with something fun.
No story of the crow father tho which is sad.
DragonUnitOmega
Akechi/Fem!Akira gives me life
- Location
- Inaba
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Etc
The old helmet and the tiara on a cushion. I'm actually tempted to combine/use the tiara with that other god idea I mentioned in "Lead by Horns".
I'm for this idea!
I'm not for this idea. Unless the inquisition starts hurting people, which admittedly is very likely...but still! The empire might get suspicious even if we tell them they were here.
How about "Xenos and his Knickknacks Staff/Class"? EDIT: or Xenos, Xenos & Xenos. Or Xenos, Knickknacks and Oddities.
i'm very tempted and have vague ideas. does that count? More seriously, what would be the "reward" for overcoming Beuro Nightmare though if they overcame it? The ability to quickly go through paperwork? Or maybe wisdom on how to better rule/govern/manage things... Hmm... -ideas now stirring and coalescing to a more tangible idea-
I was actually planning on writing something for Father Crow! Especially since I'm a suckee for crows. XP Only an idea at the moment but hopefully I'll write the omake soon enough.
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- Location
- The Netherlands
well the nightmare is basically the place that drives you mad from Asterix and Obelix so i would say the knowledge on how to cut through Beurocratic nonesense quickly
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
@nwish425: I have an idea for a Goddess of Creation, basically make her Galatea. Mostly I just really think the creation/transformation of life is weirdly rare in magic using settings. I was figuring she would be a subordinate god to the God of Life, since being bio/chlorokinetic would infringe massively on his domain. Basically the core idea is that she started out as a statue of someone loyal to the God of Life, with Galatea basically being created so the Life God would have someone actively going around to create otherwise impossible life and all that.
DragonUnitOmega
Akechi/Fem!Akira gives me life
- Location
- Inaba
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Etc
-looks it up; remembers that it was the vid nwish showed; watches it-
Oh. Why does this remind me of some twisted/particularly bad trading sidequest (ie "i'll give you X if you give me Y" "i'll give you Y if you give me Z" ect)?
Tho that kinda, IDK, makes me feel like my idea's too narrow? IDK. atm my idea is a guy who either is wrapped in red tape like a mummy or seemingly blind guy, but in both cases naps a lot, seemingly uncaring when actually is aware of what's going around him and either puts people through the "Place that drives you mad" or observes people dream their version of a nightmare of bureaucracy...and if they keep pushing through, he "wakes up" and gives them directions on how to cut through all the red tape.
Idk how well that would be as a "Nightmare" compared to, say, the Duchess of Decay.
But...the God of Life, as in the Overdeity of Life, is literally life itself, as overdeities are the concept itself in this world. So several gods and goddesses can exist under their domain without counting as "infringing", as nwish mentioned here:
So she doesn't need to be a subordinate nor does the Overdeity of Life really "need" one.
Basically I'm just saying she can just exist without needing to work under the concept of life itself since you could argue Semhain is under the "God of Life" what with his domain being "Harvest", aka "making and taking life that will be consumed by other life".
Though the idea of her being "goddess of creation" makes me wonder what she would do to have people think of the statue she inhabits as a goddess and pray to her as such. Would she help women be more fertile and thus they would thank her and thus eventually lead to praying for her?
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
Basically very encouraging of life, so simple fertility would be a thing. But my main goal was to basically make her the ideal goddess for the LGBT community, as I find it weird that doesn't happen more in stories. Through science we can make children genetically related to same-sex parents, yet for some reason that doesn't really show up in fantasy stories. I was basically going to make her the "Lifebringer" from an old quest I can't remember, beyond the Lifebringer having been my suggestion and that she was suppose to be in charge of a school. Back to her appearance, I figured she'd look like a normal person given her biokinetic powers.
Elijah and the Crow
Eisenhelm
gran dutch of douchery
- Location
- Colombia
Elijah was not a happy farmer.
Admittedly there were a lot of things he should be happy about. For starters the goblin menace have been dealt whit, best of all not a single adventurer was involve in the ordeal; rude lot that they were, always trying to skimp on work and charge extra for their troubles (not that he had ever deal whit them personally, but people talked), in their stead a fellow named jack sold the means of ward off the green pest permanently to the entire town; as an unintended consequence but equally important in his opinion the answers to the winged kind of pest. Crows have been the bane of his crops for decades, but the disgusting feathered rats have stopped raiding ever since he installed the (admittedly terrifying) straw man in the far border of his farm, next to a canopy of dead trees. Crows just ceased all attempts to eat his harvest
But the reason for Elijah's unhappiness was that they didn't go away to bother some other unfortunate soul, in fact, the opposite was true.
While before you could see them only occasionally, as the things were smart and stayed out of sight lest one of his farmhands decided to pelt them, making their presence known only in the form of half-eaten corn left behind and the rare caws to those that got too close to their hidden nests. but for some unknown reason and to his immense displeasure they have only grown bolder, flying where and where they pleased like they own the damn place; oddly enough even though the things haven't eaten a single one of his crops for weeks, they all appeared well-fed and somehow have seemingly multiplied to several times what his own field could sustain.
Their unnatural behavior, the looming feeling of being watched shared by several inhabitants of the state (among which was himself), and increasing wariness that followed somehow led to a half-awake Elijah leading a militia of ten of his charges at the crack of dawn, all of them armed whit net and slings like they were once again kids Planning to catch the fairies that made the dew; His wife must have tough the same when she chuckled under her hand and bid them farewell.
The original plan called for them to stay in the state proper, split into small groups, catch or kill them before they have time to fly away and then repeat as many times as necessary all the while searching for their nest. no one even suggested going to the field, proving to him that his impromptu soldiers were wise enough to not waste their time trying to surprise birds of all things through the tall greenery. But as the old saying goes no plan survives first encounter whit the enemy, or in this case, lack of encounter; six ours were gone whit no even a single catch to show for their troubles. They were discussing calling it a day when a blood-chilling scream was heard coming from the far of the field, followed by the sound of a body rushing through the corn and curses so foul to make a sailor grimace, it could only be Jim.
The poor lad was almost stoned by his peers after he busted out of the plantation screaming like a man possessed. some slaps and a baker's dozen mugs of ale later he finally managed to spit a somewhat coherent answer to their inquiries.
"I was …hum…relieving myself next to the dry trees and then they attacked me, boss. They came from nowhere but there must have been at least 50 and I was surrounded! I don't know why, but all of them are there, they must have known what we were doing and decided to hunker down! … err, huddle up? whatever they do they are all over the branches".
After some confused prodding, Jim revealed that he was not talking about goblins as they all feared, but rather the crows they have almost forgotten about and was laughed down by the other farmhands. Eliah was less amused; sure, he was relieved it was not a goblin rising; after all, if half the things people said about them were true, then his wife would be in great peril of being taken captive and his farm burned down (people talk), but Crows and their ilk where every bit as bad; even now he could feel their black, beady eyes judging him from across his property, just waiting for him to be injured or paralyzed so they could feast on his inners like a mundane animal. He felt a cold chill run down his spine but shock it off and bellowed a new order. They would advance towards the death canopy, ambush, and kill as many as they could, then set it on fire to ensure it would not be taken again.
The Intrepid but unimpressive Army marched through the crops whit the courage that only men on a righteous mission against an evil foe could muster, or So Eliah thought, until he found himself alone in a sea of green; His soldiers must have either stood behind or be swallowed by the earth as no one answered his shouts, he hoped for their sake it was the former, leaving him on his lonesome after such a speech merited a harsh punishment (such as taking away their beer) so mentally preparing a chew out he spun on his heels and walked away.
the sun must have been blocked by a rain cloud all of a sudden, as the noon light gave way to almost nightly darkness; not being one to be afraid of such a small inconvenience he just scoffed under his breath and continue his retreat only slightly faster than his previous leisure stroll (after all, it wouldn't do to get soaked, no sir), when the faint sound of flapping wings and menacing caws made itself heard behind him, he absolutely did not trot, he merely hurried up to safet… home, yes home; a brave man like himself would not be frightened by something so harmless as birds, no matter how much they scared him as a child; and he will prove it as soon as this damn meadow stopped being pitch black and let him return.
But it was not to be, he paced for what felt like days, then ran for some more but the field would not let him go, it toyed whit him as more and more birds joined in the hunt; his mind told him it was impossible, he had known this plantation since the day he was born and could sprint the entire length in under five minutes when he but a kid; but somewhere in his bones, he felt that this was no longer his home, nor the empire he was born in but rather someone else's domain
At last, he ran into a clearing and let out a cry of joy at having escaped the nightmare. Only to be frozen in terror at the sight before him; hundreds of crows watched him whit malicious interest, so still and silent he almost believed them statues, until they all caw an eery melody and bowed, the sight they were paying reverence to was far away in the middle of the clearing; Eliah saw a lonely bird (way smaller than the others) perched at the shoulder of a scarecrow not dissimilar to the one he bought, when it took flight the others extended their wing in a gesture uncanny resembling worship at the approaching figure; he was confused at the display until it got close enough to take in the details, It was a crow in the way a lion is a cat; not smaller than the others but farther away and resting in what must be a truly massive scarecrow; The farmer's pulse quickened and the remains of courage falter when the abomination landed not ten meters in front of him; all blind heads and massive beaks, wings as wide as houses.
The thing nailed him whit its gaze and the farmer felt himself freeze; tiredness caught up whit him, so exhausted that the mere thought of putting a foot in front of the other was inconceivable to him, paralyzed as he was, he knew it was only a matter of time before the beast would gauge him whit all its head and fed itself and its spawn whit fresh innards.
Yet when the thing lounge at him, The terrified Landlord lost no time in throwing himself out of the way, only surviving the assault by a hair's breadth.
Eliah stood up as fast as humanly possible and broke into a sprint for the crops, and only to stop in his tracks, trying to run was futile, a thing so massive could catch up whit him easily and only panicked reflexes and luck have saved him the first time, he would not go far on those. Hiding was out of the question, that thing had thousands of subjects that would hunt him down in a heartbeat. Only one option left.
Whit shaking fingers he pulled the slingshot out of his pocket and took aim for its eyes, the thing made no movement to dodge or attack, only glared at him, and opened its massive wings in a motion that flattened corn stalks all around them whit gust of searing wind. Hyperventilating to the point of nearly fainting Eliah loaded the pebble in his feeble weapon.
Yet, for a single moment his desire to go back to his wife, the responsibility to his changes, and the biological imperative to survive flooded every nook and cranny of his mind, until all gave way to a single emotion so simple yet so powerful that encompassed the entirety of who Eliah was, COURAGE.
Hands as firm as iron released the rock whit expert aim and it plunged into the monstrous parody of a bird.
The thing didn't even appear to notice. After a second of bewildered silence, Eliah led a stream of curses that only Jim could hope to match and readied his fist, completely prepared to go out whit a fight.
"Well done hatchling" The thing spoke for the first time, in a voice like a whole murder chipping simultaneously "your courage pleases our lord and makes you deserving of his reward, rejoice for few ever come into SAMHAIN'S black field and leave whit such an honor" Saying that Elijah was surprised would be missing the point, rather, just as he has plunged to the depths of fear all at once and came out from the other side braver after facing nightmares no mortal should face, so too was he beyond being able to feel the smallest modicum of shock this very moment. his mind latching to the hope that the crow's words were true and he could go back to his wife.
"you may leave now, brave one, my child will show you the way" when it was done talking, the giant bird took to the skies, followed by all the smaller crows, save one. The remaining one took a long look into Eliah's eye and without ceremony flew into the green wall of the plantation. Ruining at cursing all the way, a tired farmer followed the vaguest hint of a blurry black spot moving over the blurry black background until he was once again out of the field.
Dodging the net thrown his way by a scared farmhand he made his way back to his home. Deflecting all questions about where had he gone to and why did he have a crown perch on his shoulder whit tired noncommittal sounds; a door was hurriedly close on his charges faces as his wife only raised an eyebrow in non-verbal inquiry, he pointedly ignored it, kiss her in the way only those not entirely convinced they were alive could kiss and promptly went to sleep, not even acknowledging his new familiar's existence.
The harvest god and the crow father watched amusedly from their perch in the black field, religion could wait until tomorrow, for now, a restful night would be their given boon.
Admittedly there were a lot of things he should be happy about. For starters the goblin menace have been dealt whit, best of all not a single adventurer was involve in the ordeal; rude lot that they were, always trying to skimp on work and charge extra for their troubles (not that he had ever deal whit them personally, but people talked), in their stead a fellow named jack sold the means of ward off the green pest permanently to the entire town; as an unintended consequence but equally important in his opinion the answers to the winged kind of pest. Crows have been the bane of his crops for decades, but the disgusting feathered rats have stopped raiding ever since he installed the (admittedly terrifying) straw man in the far border of his farm, next to a canopy of dead trees. Crows just ceased all attempts to eat his harvest
But the reason for Elijah's unhappiness was that they didn't go away to bother some other unfortunate soul, in fact, the opposite was true.
While before you could see them only occasionally, as the things were smart and stayed out of sight lest one of his farmhands decided to pelt them, making their presence known only in the form of half-eaten corn left behind and the rare caws to those that got too close to their hidden nests. but for some unknown reason and to his immense displeasure they have only grown bolder, flying where and where they pleased like they own the damn place; oddly enough even though the things haven't eaten a single one of his crops for weeks, they all appeared well-fed and somehow have seemingly multiplied to several times what his own field could sustain.
Their unnatural behavior, the looming feeling of being watched shared by several inhabitants of the state (among which was himself), and increasing wariness that followed somehow led to a half-awake Elijah leading a militia of ten of his charges at the crack of dawn, all of them armed whit net and slings like they were once again kids Planning to catch the fairies that made the dew; His wife must have tough the same when she chuckled under her hand and bid them farewell.
The original plan called for them to stay in the state proper, split into small groups, catch or kill them before they have time to fly away and then repeat as many times as necessary all the while searching for their nest. no one even suggested going to the field, proving to him that his impromptu soldiers were wise enough to not waste their time trying to surprise birds of all things through the tall greenery. But as the old saying goes no plan survives first encounter whit the enemy, or in this case, lack of encounter; six ours were gone whit no even a single catch to show for their troubles. They were discussing calling it a day when a blood-chilling scream was heard coming from the far of the field, followed by the sound of a body rushing through the corn and curses so foul to make a sailor grimace, it could only be Jim.
The poor lad was almost stoned by his peers after he busted out of the plantation screaming like a man possessed. some slaps and a baker's dozen mugs of ale later he finally managed to spit a somewhat coherent answer to their inquiries.
"I was …hum…relieving myself next to the dry trees and then they attacked me, boss. They came from nowhere but there must have been at least 50 and I was surrounded! I don't know why, but all of them are there, they must have known what we were doing and decided to hunker down! … err, huddle up? whatever they do they are all over the branches".
After some confused prodding, Jim revealed that he was not talking about goblins as they all feared, but rather the crows they have almost forgotten about and was laughed down by the other farmhands. Eliah was less amused; sure, he was relieved it was not a goblin rising; after all, if half the things people said about them were true, then his wife would be in great peril of being taken captive and his farm burned down (people talk), but Crows and their ilk where every bit as bad; even now he could feel their black, beady eyes judging him from across his property, just waiting for him to be injured or paralyzed so they could feast on his inners like a mundane animal. He felt a cold chill run down his spine but shock it off and bellowed a new order. They would advance towards the death canopy, ambush, and kill as many as they could, then set it on fire to ensure it would not be taken again.
The Intrepid but unimpressive Army marched through the crops whit the courage that only men on a righteous mission against an evil foe could muster, or So Eliah thought, until he found himself alone in a sea of green; His soldiers must have either stood behind or be swallowed by the earth as no one answered his shouts, he hoped for their sake it was the former, leaving him on his lonesome after such a speech merited a harsh punishment (such as taking away their beer) so mentally preparing a chew out he spun on his heels and walked away.
the sun must have been blocked by a rain cloud all of a sudden, as the noon light gave way to almost nightly darkness; not being one to be afraid of such a small inconvenience he just scoffed under his breath and continue his retreat only slightly faster than his previous leisure stroll (after all, it wouldn't do to get soaked, no sir), when the faint sound of flapping wings and menacing caws made itself heard behind him, he absolutely did not trot, he merely hurried up to safet… home, yes home; a brave man like himself would not be frightened by something so harmless as birds, no matter how much they scared him as a child; and he will prove it as soon as this damn meadow stopped being pitch black and let him return.
But it was not to be, he paced for what felt like days, then ran for some more but the field would not let him go, it toyed whit him as more and more birds joined in the hunt; his mind told him it was impossible, he had known this plantation since the day he was born and could sprint the entire length in under five minutes when he but a kid; but somewhere in his bones, he felt that this was no longer his home, nor the empire he was born in but rather someone else's domain
At last, he ran into a clearing and let out a cry of joy at having escaped the nightmare. Only to be frozen in terror at the sight before him; hundreds of crows watched him whit malicious interest, so still and silent he almost believed them statues, until they all caw an eery melody and bowed, the sight they were paying reverence to was far away in the middle of the clearing; Eliah saw a lonely bird (way smaller than the others) perched at the shoulder of a scarecrow not dissimilar to the one he bought, when it took flight the others extended their wing in a gesture uncanny resembling worship at the approaching figure; he was confused at the display until it got close enough to take in the details, It was a crow in the way a lion is a cat; not smaller than the others but farther away and resting in what must be a truly massive scarecrow; The farmer's pulse quickened and the remains of courage falter when the abomination landed not ten meters in front of him; all blind heads and massive beaks, wings as wide as houses.
The thing nailed him whit its gaze and the farmer felt himself freeze; tiredness caught up whit him, so exhausted that the mere thought of putting a foot in front of the other was inconceivable to him, paralyzed as he was, he knew it was only a matter of time before the beast would gauge him whit all its head and fed itself and its spawn whit fresh innards.
Yet when the thing lounge at him, The terrified Landlord lost no time in throwing himself out of the way, only surviving the assault by a hair's breadth.
Eliah stood up as fast as humanly possible and broke into a sprint for the crops, and only to stop in his tracks, trying to run was futile, a thing so massive could catch up whit him easily and only panicked reflexes and luck have saved him the first time, he would not go far on those. Hiding was out of the question, that thing had thousands of subjects that would hunt him down in a heartbeat. Only one option left.
Whit shaking fingers he pulled the slingshot out of his pocket and took aim for its eyes, the thing made no movement to dodge or attack, only glared at him, and opened its massive wings in a motion that flattened corn stalks all around them whit gust of searing wind. Hyperventilating to the point of nearly fainting Eliah loaded the pebble in his feeble weapon.
Yet, for a single moment his desire to go back to his wife, the responsibility to his changes, and the biological imperative to survive flooded every nook and cranny of his mind, until all gave way to a single emotion so simple yet so powerful that encompassed the entirety of who Eliah was, COURAGE.
Hands as firm as iron released the rock whit expert aim and it plunged into the monstrous parody of a bird.
The thing didn't even appear to notice. After a second of bewildered silence, Eliah led a stream of curses that only Jim could hope to match and readied his fist, completely prepared to go out whit a fight.
"Well done hatchling" The thing spoke for the first time, in a voice like a whole murder chipping simultaneously "your courage pleases our lord and makes you deserving of his reward, rejoice for few ever come into SAMHAIN'S black field and leave whit such an honor" Saying that Elijah was surprised would be missing the point, rather, just as he has plunged to the depths of fear all at once and came out from the other side braver after facing nightmares no mortal should face, so too was he beyond being able to feel the smallest modicum of shock this very moment. his mind latching to the hope that the crow's words were true and he could go back to his wife.
"you may leave now, brave one, my child will show you the way" when it was done talking, the giant bird took to the skies, followed by all the smaller crows, save one. The remaining one took a long look into Eliah's eye and without ceremony flew into the green wall of the plantation. Ruining at cursing all the way, a tired farmer followed the vaguest hint of a blurry black spot moving over the blurry black background until he was once again out of the field.
Dodging the net thrown his way by a scared farmhand he made his way back to his home. Deflecting all questions about where had he gone to and why did he have a crown perch on his shoulder whit tired noncommittal sounds; a door was hurriedly close on his charges faces as his wife only raised an eyebrow in non-verbal inquiry, he pointedly ignored it, kiss her in the way only those not entirely convinced they were alive could kiss and promptly went to sleep, not even acknowledging his new familiar's existence.
The harvest god and the crow father watched amusedly from their perch in the black field, religion could wait until tomorrow, for now, a restful night would be their given boon.
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- Location
- Somewhere nearby.
Nice, it certainly paints the Crow Father as the most physically imposing of the Nightmares by far. I'll slot this as provisionally canon, and make it properly canon if you expand to Mapplehall. Although I will point out there are some spelling and grammar mistakes that could be cleaned up.
Eisenhelm
gran dutch of douchery
- Location
- Colombia
yep, not a native English speaker so it's hard to catch those.
- Location
- Somewhere nearby.
In that case why don't you have someone proofread for you, I'm sure one of the others making omakes for this quest could help. I would but I'm busy writing about a... development of sorts.
Enemy of my Enemy
- Location
- Somewhere nearby.
It was a familiar scene to the Faceless, more of the easily forgotten and abducted tied up in a small room awaiting their gift. One of their bodies approached the room and readied the masks, entering to find those that would be freed from the self... and another that they had no memory of. He was chained to a chair same as the others, but he was in the center of the room with the light shining directly on him, he had no gag to keep him quiet and something seemed... off about him.
"About time you showed up," He said, no even seeming to be worried about his situation. "Rude to keep someone waiting you know?"
"We have no memory of you."
"We is it?" He seems amused by something, they don't know what to make of it. "Well you shouldn't, I came on my own after all."
"And why did you do that?" They argued with themselves over what could be happening, how did this man find them? "Do you seek our gift?"
"Afraid not, merely curious." He said with a shake of his head. "Someone told me all about your so called gift, and I just wanted to see for myself."
He looks around the room, as if he can see more than he lets on.
"Got to say, he was spot on." His face seems to harden. "Normally I test someone before I start causing them trouble, but for you, I'll make an exception."
Many of them began to panic, realizing this was no ordinary man just before a sort of power began to exude from his ragged form. This was another god, come to stand in the way of unity. The body produced a knife and began to run forward to engage the chained god. However as the charge happened it seemed to trip over its own feet once it got close, the god suddenly leapt up as the chains seemed to simply flow off of him, moving to wrap it around their body's neck and pulled it tight until a sickening crack filled the air and they fell limp.
The Old Beggar smirked as he rose to his full height and looked at the poor souls these Faceless abducted, to think this group had been preying on the poor and the homeless of the neighboring kingdom this whole time and he had no idea. With a snap of his fingers the chains fell off of the captives and they began to ungag themselves when more of the Faceless showed up. Looks like they aren't happy to see their new recruits go free.
But before they could attack there was a slight rumbling, cracks began to form in the floor as something seemed to attempt to break through to reach them. But what could- no! It followed them here, how long did it know?
"Sorry guys," The Beggar yells over the sounds of crumbling stone. "Cavalry's here!"
Hundreds of centipedes began to pour out from the cracks and swarm the bodies of the Faceless, others began to gather near the captives in order to prevent any of them from getting close. The Beggar rose his hand to reveal one of the centipedes had been hiding in his coat the entire time.
"You know what to do little buddy." He says before he turns to the captives. "Follow the bugs, they'll get you out safe!"
That taken care of he turned to the Faceless piling into the room, might even be all of the ones in this base. They don't exactly need to someone to send the news out after all, works for him. He cracked his knuckles and let his power flow from him freely. Quickly enough misfortune began to befall the Faceless who got close to him and he looked to the centipede still riding on him.
"Tell your daddy he's got a deal, I'll set em up."
He began to charge.
"About time you showed up," He said, no even seeming to be worried about his situation. "Rude to keep someone waiting you know?"
"We have no memory of you."
"We is it?" He seems amused by something, they don't know what to make of it. "Well you shouldn't, I came on my own after all."
"And why did you do that?" They argued with themselves over what could be happening, how did this man find them? "Do you seek our gift?"
"Afraid not, merely curious." He said with a shake of his head. "Someone told me all about your so called gift, and I just wanted to see for myself."
He looks around the room, as if he can see more than he lets on.
"Got to say, he was spot on." His face seems to harden. "Normally I test someone before I start causing them trouble, but for you, I'll make an exception."
Many of them began to panic, realizing this was no ordinary man just before a sort of power began to exude from his ragged form. This was another god, come to stand in the way of unity. The body produced a knife and began to run forward to engage the chained god. However as the charge happened it seemed to trip over its own feet once it got close, the god suddenly leapt up as the chains seemed to simply flow off of him, moving to wrap it around their body's neck and pulled it tight until a sickening crack filled the air and they fell limp.
The Old Beggar smirked as he rose to his full height and looked at the poor souls these Faceless abducted, to think this group had been preying on the poor and the homeless of the neighboring kingdom this whole time and he had no idea. With a snap of his fingers the chains fell off of the captives and they began to ungag themselves when more of the Faceless showed up. Looks like they aren't happy to see their new recruits go free.
But before they could attack there was a slight rumbling, cracks began to form in the floor as something seemed to attempt to break through to reach them. But what could- no! It followed them here, how long did it know?
"Sorry guys," The Beggar yells over the sounds of crumbling stone. "Cavalry's here!"
Hundreds of centipedes began to pour out from the cracks and swarm the bodies of the Faceless, others began to gather near the captives in order to prevent any of them from getting close. The Beggar rose his hand to reveal one of the centipedes had been hiding in his coat the entire time.
"You know what to do little buddy." He says before he turns to the captives. "Follow the bugs, they'll get you out safe!"
That taken care of he turned to the Faceless piling into the room, might even be all of the ones in this base. They don't exactly need to someone to send the news out after all, works for him. He cracked his knuckles and let his power flow from him freely. Quickly enough misfortune began to befall the Faceless who got close to him and he looked to the centipede still riding on him.
"Tell your daddy he's got a deal, I'll set em up."
He began to charge.
"And he knocks em down!"
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