Spirit Quest

[Oshha]

[X] [Wyrn] Allow it.
[X] [Blawain] Exercise limited influence to introduce some Avawyrish influence.

***​

While the overprotectiveness is starting to get a bit worrying, you know that Wyrn is only trying to do her best to look out for you. Especially after what happened with Orcante. You or somebody else ought to talk to her about that as your wife seems to have not taken the experiences of that battle well.

Nonetheless, you agree to her request and Wyrn quickly decides that she can serve as your clothing for full-time protection. While it pushes the interpretation of what you agreed to the limits, you do not reject it like you originally considered doing once you hear or wife's reasoning.

When pressed on the matter, Wyrn admits that she does not view her avatar as her body anymore as due to controlling with her metal magic and spiritual aspects, your wife finds it too different from the body she had in life to consider her avatar to just be the same as her body.

Between her spiritual form and abilities, which you struggle to understand as mere mortal, Wyrn is fine as using her avatar as something other than her body, especially with her and Myrlin looking into the possibility her being able to make a second avatar from spare iron.

Now that you think about, her shrine in Blawain could be considered Wyrn's body, perhaps even her main one as a spirit can exist without an avatar if they have a shrine, but not the other way around.

As the Growth Season grows to a close and the Sun Season begins, you are becoming increasingly used to and comfortable with Wyrn being on your body at all times. It was a lovingly closeness that was very different to when you fornicated with each other. No, it was closer to the trust and ties of sisterhood forged on the battlefield, where bonds between warriors got forged in the blood and fury of battle.

Having Wyrn there to always protect you, always having her there to talk to and having extra mind and mage to wield supernatural power as needed was something you had become perfectly okay with. You like how Wyrn could change her iron form in shape, softness and make up to mostly fit whatever you needed.

Hmm, looking back at things, you do not think that you have actually worn anything other than Wyrn since you first put your wife on.

Put your wife on. Never did you think those words would be uttered. But your relationship with Wyrn is a highly unconventional one. Oh, it might have been normal before, but Orcante killed any chance at normality when he destroyed Wyrn's normal person body, leaving her with only spiritual existent and supernatural controlled metal for an avatar.

Your relationship with Wyrn is never going to be normal again and you quickly grasped that trying to force a conventional relationship with your wife would only cause strife between the two of you. You will not let that happen.

Urg, how are you going to explain all this to the kids? At least it is not as bad as it could have been. You cannot imagine what it would be like if Wyrn had actually died at Orcante's hands like all of the others, having to go back to Avawyr and explaining to your children that their mum would not be coming home to them…

Avawyr. How you would like to go home and see your children again. It would be nice to be with our family once again, where you all either live as mortals in Avawyr or have a shrine located there. Even Wyrn will be able to place a shrine in Avawyr in the family shrine as she got a shrine when you ascended her by accident after the battle and a second one from when Orcante was killed and consumed for spiritual power.

But before you can go home to Avawyr and your family and your children, you need to finish your conquests and seize Belarsa to secure the region from hostile and unaligned powers.

***​

It started off badly and only got worse. Even with Arwyn leading you, the trip down West River went poorly. The first time that any of you had been down that route, a good many of you got lost and your force was delayed as you kept trying to stop in order to regroup with your missing boats and warriors.

Nonetheless, your army made the journey even if took twice as a long as you originally hoped. The delays also had unfortunate effect of alerting the Belarish to the fact that you were coming as when you arrived in the hills along the eastern coastline of the West River, the Belarish were already ready for you.

Still, there was only so much that the Belarish could do. They could only muster a few hundred warriors at most and only half of them and most likely less would be actually experienced and skilled. Meanwhile, you had over a thousand Cath Wyrs along with two spirits, the Goddess of War herself and Myrlin, mortal who magical prowess outstripped that of any spirit as Orcante learned before he died.

And while the Belarish had two spirits, never of them were martial-oriented unlike Seryn and Wyrn.

As your force made its way to Belarsa via land, going through the hills and then unto the grasslands, you were harassed by Belarish forces. Cath Wyr archers faced off against Belarish hunters. Despite your side having lightning magic in addition to bows and arrows, the Belarish were able to match your Cath Wyrs and inflict a good many injuries, some of which would have been fatal. Fortunately, you had three spirits and two chosen on hand to heal any wounds and none of your force suffered any deaths.

When you get closer to Belarsa itself, the Belarish attempt to face you in the field. You doubt that they expect to win against your force, but that does not stop them form engaging you in open battle twice. You cannot help, but respect their willingness to die for their village even when they have no chance of victory.

The first battle is a crushing defeat for the Belarish defenders as they lose a full third of their force while you and Wyrn fight Nascien off the battlefield Arwyn and Myrlin manage to drive back Astorine.

The second goes even worse for the Belarish as half the survivors are slain or captured whilst you and Wyrn managed to slay Nascien's avatar with most of the credit going to Wyrn as you allowed her to control the movements of your body during the battle while you just provided some magical support.

With only a handful of Cath Wyrs dying, all three of the spirits with you have gained increases in power from the residue power from all of the spiritual combat. While Seryn has strengthen her main Divinities, Arwyn has gained Aspect of Exploration has greatly increased, bordering on becoming a goddess. Wyrn has gained two new Aspects relating to Forests and Hills whilst also gaining light magic from an Aspect of Light and her Aspects of Loyalty and Man are strengthened.

The third and final battle is the assault on village of Belarsa itself with the Belarish putting up a furious final fight. While ragged survivors put a ferocious fight, taking down an unexpectedly high number of Cath Wyrs with them, the outcome has already been decided.

Nascien and Astorine are slain as they lose both their avatars and their shrines while the Belarish defenders are either killed or taken prisoner with the village being secured. As it is closer to her other villages than anyone else and Arwyn has no desire to claim the village.

While Belarsa has been secured and your conquests are done, that fact feels almost secondary to what has happened to your wife and sisters. While Seryn has improved her Aspects in general, mainly focusing on her more warlike Aspects, both Arwyn and Wyrn have Ascended.

Arwyn has become the Goddess of Exploration alongside gaining Aspects relating to most terrains, enough that she is less tied down to one or two, but gaining a general boost in all of them. Your sister has also gained an Aspect of Air, unlocking the ability to use Air Magic and make Ayrymar.

Wyrn however has gained the lion share of the spiritual energy and has become a Goddess of multiple things. Your wife is now the Goddess of Man and Metal, of Love and Loyalty, of Warlords and Warriors. Stepping on the domains of others, she does not claim them solely for herself, she walks in the wake of others or leads their charge.

You can feel the changes via the connection to Seryn and Wyrn as their chosen. Greater strength and martial prowess, strengthen interaction with your warriors and fellow humans along with making your metal magic both stronger and easier to use.

All of that power, but it comes at the price of being female. You do not mind that nor do you consider much of a cost, but your kids, the oldest of them at least, are used to having a father. You are also smart enough to realise the implications of you being the first mortal sovereign and choosing to rule as a female on top of everything else.

Another factor to consider is that while being a Chosen of Seryn would grant you a lot of power, Dad's is tied to leadership and chiefdom and his blessing benefits you best if you remain as a father to your kids.

Plus if you rule as a male, you can always become female for a bit here and there as you please, something that you cannot do in versa if you keep Seryn's blessing due to the nature of your sister's Divinities.

Wyrn personally prefers you to remain female, but agrees with you that the choice is yours and yours alone and will support you in whichever choice you make. The same applies to Dad apart from him preferring you to remain male.

While you will have other issues to worry about, such as organising your new rule, dealing with the Belarish and sorting out the nature of your future relationship with Wyrn, the issue of what your gender you will rule as is surprisingly difficult to decide.

Will the first mortal leader of the Kingdom of Arth be a King or Queen?
[] Rule as King. Remain a father to your kids and reinforce your father's leadership.
[] Rule as Queen. Continue to be a Chosen of the Mighty One with all the power that comes with that, becoming Queen and a second mother to your children.
[] Write-in

 

[Oshha]

Cardyn was a loyal man. A villager from Avawyr and a follower of the Great One, he was happy with his lot in life. He had his wife, three kids to call his own, steady work and no want for necessities of life.

Each cycle, the spirits would provide them with enough harvest to feed them for two to three cycles to the point that they are now overflowing with food to the point that the lower quality food is being left to rot or fed to animals as the villagers are literally unable to consume all of the food.

And whenever anyone is injured or ill, all they to do is go the spirits for healing. Done whenever requested and without requiring payment or reward, the spirits were willing to cure or heal any villager in need, even ones who did not worship them.

They even provide magic, protection and friendship. The greater spirits of the Great One, the Noble One, the Mighty One and the Peaceful One can all grant magic to some of their followers. While he has none of his own, he has greatly benefitted from the actions of those who have as the cave-home of his family has been shaped by Prydymar while he has been fortunate enough to acquire a couple of iron tools made by Myrymar.

As for protection, the Mighty One and her Cath Wyrs guard every village and go off into battle to face any threats that the Arthish people face. Cardyn is fortunate to have his wife as one of Cath Wyrs. A fine warrior, she proved herself in the conquest of the Belarsa, taking the westernmost village under the leadership of King Cadyl the Great.

While it is a bit odd to have his wife only be slightly older than their eldest child, Cardyn is rather appreciative of how good looking his wife is. The weirdness of his lover having a younger body than his own is easily outweighed by how easy she is on the eyes.

Oh, how he loves his dearest Fyrwyn.

And it is not just Fyrwyn that has great beauty in their family. Their daughter and eldest child Tyrwyn has recently come of age and will all women within the kingdom, she has received the blessing of the Mighty One. While her blessing is not as potent as one her mother has, Tyrwyn has still become stronger, taller and more curvy than she was before with a muscular build and full figure.

Musing on the matter, Cardyn cannot help, but think that the generation of his grandchild will not experience there being male warriors and hunters or the possibility of having to marry an ugly woman or even one that is not beautiful.

Nonetheless, it is not a change that Cardyn finds unwelcome. In fact, he is looking forward to a bright future. With the coming of the spirits, things have gotten much better than when he was young. Sure it took some bloodshed and deaths and plenty of trouble, but the rewards have been more than worth it.

Perhaps some might disagree with him as Avawyr has been mostly isolated from the violence and death like some of the other villages, but his opinion is shared by many, including villagers from the more troubled villages like Sangere or Blawain.

But that does not matter to Cardyn. For the Avawyrish man, he will look after his family as a father and husband should, he will dutifully tend his crops as farmer like himself should and he will remain loyal to the Great One and the family of the Great One.

 

[Oshha]

[X] Rule as King. Remain a father to your kids and reinforce your father's leadership.

***​

The cycles have been good to your people. Cadyl rules as a king, leading the Kingdom of Arth as he consolidates his leaderships and strengthens the ties between the eight villages. Bedygan once again has people living there and every village has boats pens and walls which are either fully built or halfway built.

The Ymar were becoming increasingly common as more mortals are granted magic easier year and it becomes tentatively confirmed that children inherit the magic of their parents. At least, every child check has the same magic that their parents had before they were born. It will take a generation or two to confirm it for certain, but the current beliefs on the matter seem to be the truth.

You also had more grandkids. Seryn and Edryd have both had a daughter and Wyrn had yet to end her desire for more children. Even as her eldest offspring reached their first great cycle, Wyrn was still taking Cadyl to bed for more kids and the two of them currently have eleven children to call their own.

Despite their various duties, Cadyl and Wyrn have still been able to make enough time for their kids. That said Cadyl has privately mentioned to you that he is getting close to his limits and there is an unofficial agreement in place between Wyrn and Cadyl that their twelfth child will be their last.

Your family has also grown stronger as time goes on. All of your daughters should ascend into goddesshood within the next greater cycle while Bronwyn grows stronger and your brother is close to becoming a god.

As for yourself, you became the God of Spirits last cycle and have spent the time between now and then setting up a shrine in each village.

Life is good.

[] Whispers
[] Dreams

***​

So another short update, but I figured that I would let you chose on what happened next as I wasn't sure on which one I should go with.​

 

[Oshha]

[X] Dreams

***​

You walk down the path to the boat pens. You are almost of age and time to receive Seryn's Blessing. While she grants her blessing to all women who come of age, your cousin has offered to make an extra special effort for you and has even offered to make you one of her Chosen if you are willingly.

You are still undecided about that. On the one hand, the power that comes with such a blessing is nice. On the other hand, you are not planning to get into any fights and you do not need such power. Plus you are already a Chosen of Dad and you are unsure of taking anymore unearned power.

You also do not need any extra power. While still young, you are easily lining up to be the second greatest mage after Myrlin himself. Oh sure, you are no where near his level quite yet, but he is twice your age. Sort. His body is twice your age, but he was only born a few years before you.

Either way, Myrlin is easily your superior when it comes to wielding magic. You are not bothered by that as Myrlin is everyone's superior when it comes to magic. Even Dad cannot match his skill and knowledge. Honestly, the only part of magic that Myrlin is not the best at is when it comes to his spiritual energy reserves and how much he can channel at once.

That is actually one of the few areas where you have Myrlin beat. While Myrlin has the spiritual energy reserves and channelling ability of an average human, your own are closer to those of a spirit.

Coming to a stop, you look around, surprised at how foggy it is. It does not usually get foggy just like this.

Nonetheless, it is not a problem. You can still see well enough and you know Eva Isle like the back of your hand so getting to the boat pens will not be a problem. And if things get too bad, you can just wield a bit of magic to light up the world around you.

You continue to make your way down to the boat pens so you can…what were you doing again? You think that you are planning to go to Avawyr. Or were you going to seek power.

Unsure of what exactly you are planning to do, you cannot help, but give a quick shiver. As it has become rather foggy all of a sudden, it has also become chilly as the air has dropped in temperature. Something itches at the back of your mind, but you cannot place what it is trying to tell you.

Deciding to ignore the cold and the fog, you continue to make your way down the path to the boat pens. You need to find more power…no, you are going to Avawyr right? But Avawyr is not cold enough for you. Yet if you desire power, you can just return to the village and go to the shrine of the Mighty One to accept your cousin's offer of becoming one of her Chosen.

Now confused at what exactly you are doing, you come to a halt. Trying to clear your mind of conflicting thoughts, you idly note that the fog has increased. You can barely see anything in any direction with only the dirt path and the vague shape of trees beyond the path. Maybe now you should light things up with your light magic, clearly away the lack of vision caused by the fog.

But something stays your hand even through you really ought to call upon your light magic. It is cold, but you do not feel cold even as your body shivers. The cold feels enticing as if it holds the power that you seek.

But you do not seek power?

You shake your head of such silly thoughts. Of course you seek power. Why would you not seek power? Everybody knows that more strength is better.

Struggling to think as the fog begins to seep into your mind, you barely notice that you cannot see anything beyond the path in front and behind you. Yet some sections of your mind remain untouched as the fog does not approach your connection to Dad nor your ability to access magic.

You hear something, a sound that you cannot identify and you look to your side to see a figure off of the path. You stand there, gazing as the man barely visible in the fog approaches you.

"R̸̛̦̖̞̰̩͚̙͔͉̒̈̅́̉͛̐͌̎̀e̸͇̫̮͈̞͓̒͛̽̑̽̏͛̿̐ț̸͕͉͔̌̆̈́̋̄̏̍͌̄̚͠u̶̢͍͓͓͕͇̻͖͊͛̈̈̅̓̊̑̋̌͆̕͘͝͠r̷͓̹̼̤̟͒̔̍n̷̨̛̰̰͕͙̙͉͗ ̵̛̜͎̗̞̤̤̎̃̀̓̿̄̚͘ẗ̶̟̩̮́̚o̶̢̨̖͚̟̟̘̹̠͇͔̳͉̙̅̀͌̌̈́̋ͅ ̴̨̬͋̅̉̂m̸̥̤̭̦̳̮̪͚͚͓͕͚͎̺͑͆̄ȩ̴̛̟̜̼̟̿̀͠ ̶̨͎̗̟͚̪̳͕͕̣̲̮̗͛̊̃̎̋͗͂́͗̐̕͝ċ̶̨̺̳̗͍͐̑̉̀͛̍͗̋̆͑͋͂͘ȟ̴̛̺̞̦̘̝̜̣̻̫͑͂̍̽̆̋͐̇̕̚͜͝ỉ̸̟̱͚̤̥̟̰̺͑̈́̊͗̀͐̄́͗̚l̶͖̭̳̥̤̞̋d̷̢̡͙͎͇̤̭͙̣̪́̅̇̿̓̈́̏̔̂̚͠," whispers the man in a baritone voice that vibrates with raw power, "Ğ̸̜̀͛͂̈́͊́̋̐̉̚r̴̢̨͎͖͉͇͎̮̟̪̗̦͋͌̒͛̽̍̈͊͂̊̈́̈́͠͠ͅa̵̛̘̜̤̻͍̖̾͊̎͒̿́͗̈̀̾̿̎͠͝n̵̪̜̜͙̏̏͒ͅt̴̲͍͍̭́̓͐͌ ̵̧̤̮͉̱̈̇͊̄̌̌́̀̉̇̍́̚͘͝ṁ̴̟̰͙̺̟̣͖͖̾͋͒̂́͗͂̀͘ȩ̴̗̲͙͓͕̮͓͎̦͒͂͘͝ ̸̨̗̗̺̠̗̺̈́̒̈̌̐̔̓̉̎̄͊̾̕͝ý̷̨̗̪̥̓͒̉̌̑̑̈́͜͠ō̵̡͉̹̘̣̱͙̻͎̩͊̌̊̊̃̈́̽̒͘̚͜ư̵̡̡̝͚̘͚̱̓̆̃̈́́́̀̅͆͜r̶̟͎̺̘̾ ̶̡̱̯̠̦͕̫͊͌͒́̂̑̔͂̏̂̏̋̕̕͝s̷̢͇͕̤̦̺̞̪̹̭̹͆͌t̵̹̞̐͜r̵͕̫̻̈́͑̀̿͐̄͘͠e̵̫̺̠͈̱̣̥̎́̐̀̈́̽̃̈́̈̓̕͠͝ņ̸̩͚͇̗̫̯̱͓̻̹̘̓̑̓̉̊͋̊͂͘͝ģ̵̗̣̜̻͓͓͌͜t̷̝̪̲͕̗͎̜̤̯̠̘̻̮̂͑̏̃̒̀h̵̨̢̰̱͎̱̺̹͕̱̯̎̏̓̈́̀͂͛̒́́́͂͐͜͜͝ͅ.̶͉͎̣͕̞̒͗̆͐̒̐̽͠͠ ̶̧̛̠͙̯͈̬̞̞͖͕̰̼̗͕̉̔̈́̋̂̽͐͒̐͌̏̚͘J̵̡̮͕̮̣͎̻͍͕̣̈͂̒̊ǫ̶̱͍̤̠̱̤̠̩̰͈̬̪̭̫̀̎̈̏͂͊͋̊̑͊̋͘į̶͙̰̘͎̹̗̏̋̔ͅñ̶̢̧̛͓̼̤͔͉̺̭͗̈̀ ̴̛͙̻̣̟̜̰̮̲̑͐͛́͌̑̓̈́̇̋̓̈́͘ͅm̴̨̢̧͚͖̺̗̖̫̺͖̩̥̯͈͛̆̅̐̊̆̉͐̚e̷̺̦͔͖̟͉͉̞̮̣̫͔͆͋͊̿̄́̌͑̄̓͠͠.̷̢̧̡̛͇͔̼͕̘̭̯͖̜͕͍̈̈́̈́̄̐͋͊̊͜ ̸̟̈́̈́̌L̶̨̡͎͕̔̃̂̌̎͌̉͑̊ę̶̱̥͕̖̲̣͉̭̱̪̉̂͐ͅȃ̷̢͉̝̘̤̮͚̭̬̊͆̏̋̋̉̈́͘v̷̨̨̧̧̳̣̳͈͖͎̖͈̟̺̹͊͂̓͑̃̑̾̆ȇ̵̘̜̟̈́̔̐͌͠ ̴̡͚̞̩͎̐̔̈̈́͋̐̈́̆́̽̚̕͠t̵̨̡͎̣̰̩̬̞̯͎̙͉͕̝́̊̇̄̌̊̆́̂̕͝ḩ̵͉̲̰̞̮͍̲̬͍̽̒̇̓̉̀̂̃̎̌̀́͠i̶̢̻͚͉̣̟̓͗̏̅͌́̈͒͗̉̊̾̒̂̒s̸̛̛̝͓̊̄̈̍̋̽̾̚ ̶̧̛͚̳̤̝͎͔͉͇̤͉̘͕̮͇̅̏̿̏̌́p̶̪̏̊͐̈́̈̔̋͐͐͐̏̚̕͠͝ą̵͖̫͎̦̤̭͎̘̱͈͔̤͈̈́́̐̅̅́̒́̎̐͘ţ̶̛̝̺̬͚͕̿͆̉̄̋̈́̿͆͘͘͠͝h̵̺̪̘̬̪͙̼͓̩̗͔͚̱̣́͊͑̐̃͠͝ ̶̡̧̧̲͉̯̤̬̟͖̖̳̬͑̀͐͌̔̂̿͊́̈́̏̊͘̚͜͝ͅa̴̜̻̰̭̝̙̓n̴̛̛͈̭̏͒͑͗́d̶̬̮͖̿͗̊ ̴̧̡͇̙͕̣͎̬͔̰̪̗͖͗̔̅̀̓̆́͆͒̾̕é̵̬̘̯͍̯̻̰̩̣̿̇̀̓͒̊̍̏͠ͅͅm̷̢̼̙̻̤̖̫̅͜ͅͅb̶͇͆̄̈r̷̨̩̱͕̩̯͓͓̻̅̇̈͋̇̋͘̚ạ̶̢̜̩͉̹̈́̆̓̓͑̇̀̋̐͒̈́̈́̎̚͘ç̶̣̱̹̒̈͋̒̽͘ę̶̞̠̟̰̟͓̪̙̽́̓͋̎̀͐͐̚̚͝ ̸̛͇͍̰͗̽̓̿̐́̽́̑̆̓̽m̷̫̌̕͜y̴̳͙̫͇̮̞͉̭̜͚̖͉͈̒͛̈́̽̈́̇̈́̉͆ ̷̡̡͓̼̲̥̰̲͔̻͌s̷͓̹̮͔͈̝̱͇͚̦̓͒͐ͅt̷̲̮̘͍̗̝̥̾͋͒́̇̊̏̋̈́͜͜͝͠ͅr̵̛͚̖̦͕̳̖̈ę̶̡̡̹̙͉̯͎̳̜̰̲͙͔͌̈̀̄̎̿̄̎̓̀̆͝ṇ̴́̆̍̂̾́͊̐͊̾́̽g̴̡̗͇͉̱̘̥͈̥̱̙̹̠͂ţ̶̦̦̣̹̰̈́͛̈́̒̈̒̇͛̋̍͜͝h̸̭̱͈͈̲̭̲͙̟̑̌̔͘̚͜.̷̡̡̜͇̲̪̠̞̺̦̈́̓͗̆̚͜͝"

He holds out a hand, a limb wreathed in fog and you almost accept it, your own limb moving to embrace his almost of its own accord as you absentmindedly make a step forwards to leave the path.

You freeze as your connection to Dad flares up as Dad sends a ton of power into you. Light of Man and Civilisation fills your mind, driving back the fog and cold as Unyielding Walls of Forged Metal spring up in your mind.

Regaining control of your senses and will, you quick a hold of your light magic as quickly as possible, you flare up with as much light as you can as you remain on the crude dirt path, a vein of civilisation. The light drives back the fog that has almost fully consume you and removes the coldness in the air that somehow has not frozen you to death.

Getting a proper look at the figure which you almost embrace, you wake screaming.

[] Evatine the Noble One
[] Gwarlon the Great One

 

[Oshha]

[X] Gwarlon the Great One

***​

You pace back and forth at the news you receive from your brother. Something or someone or a combination of the two tried to claim Ymaryn. Putting her into a slumber as she made her way to the boat pens on her own, your niece was almost subdued and stolen in her dreams. The only reason whatever it was failed is because Evatine interfered and even that was only because the entity made the mistake of going to close to Ymaryn's connection to him at the last moment.

The whole experience as shaken both Evatine and Ymaryn and your brother has made sure that Ymaryn will also be accompanied by at least two Cath Wyrs at all times.

You cannot help, but worry if it had been one of your own children, but you brush that worry aside. With the exception of Cadyl, they are all either spirits or goddesses themselves and even then, your son always as Wyrn on him or by him and more often than not, both on and by him. No, your children are safe as they can reasonably be. Your grandkids on the other hand....

All of Cadyl's and Wyrn's kids stay in Avawyr as do Bryn and Aeryn Terwynsdaughter. Aeryn Edrydsdaughter and Gwaryn are the most vulnerable, but each of them are guarded by at least a dozen Cath Wyrs at once and often have either one of their mothers nearby. As for Myrlin, well, Myrlin is Myrlin and the greatest wielder of magic is more than capable of looking after himself.

Your family is safe, but Ymaryn was also supposed to be safe and yet she was not.

Gah! You have to protect your family, but not at the cost of excessive discomfort and nor trampling over their freedom to act and live. Your grandchildren deserve to have childhoods that do not include having to worry about danger and threats.

If you remain on the defensive, it is only a matter of time until there is a slip up or your foes get lucky and one of your family is harmed by your unknown opponents. That simply will not do. You will need to go onto the offensive and while you are lacking what you can do with so little knowledge, you still have options.

Myrlin is a master of magic and while he has already determined that the entity which went after Ymaryn is some kind of spirit with Aspects of Cold, Strength and Ice. Unfortunately, he is limited in what he has found out so far as he could not track down the hostile spirit nor could he determine the strength of those Aspects or if your opponent has any additional Aspects. However, your grandson does believe that the enemy spirit is still just a spirit and has yet to reach the level of a god or goddess like yourself or some of the others.

And the master mage is not out of ideas yet.

Myrlin has suggested that he can study Ymaryn further in greater detail in order to find something he missed before such as how the enemy infiltrated her mind or something to trace back to it. Another suggestion is further study of the spiritual signature that the entity left behind. While it has faded, Myrlin has gotten a good feel for it and is confident in his abilities to get more information with some additional time and effort.

You also have another option beyond Myrlin as Arwyn is the Goddess of Exploration and your daughter has faith in her ability to track down the enemy spirit if giving a lead to go on. And Arwyn feels that the spiritual signature that Myrlin has identified is enough of a lead.

What do you have Myrlin do?
[] [Myrlin] Study Ymaryn further and any connection to the enemy spirit.
[] [Myrlin] Study the enemy spiritual signature further to get more information.
[] [Myrlin] Study the enemy spiritual signature further to track down the enemy spirit.
[] [Myrlin] Write-in.

What do you have Arwyn do?
[] [Arwyn] Track down the enemy spirit on her own without any mortal followers to slow her down.
[] [Arwyn] Track down the enemy spirit with a small expedition as while they will slow her down somewhat, it is safer than going alone.
[] [Arwyn] Tack down the enemy spirit with a large expedition as while the large group will definitely slow her down, there is safety in numbers.
[] [Arwyn] Write-in.

 

[Oshha]

[X][Myrlin] Study Ymaryn further and any connection to the enemy spirit.
[X][Arwyn] Track down the enemy spirit with a small expedition as while they will slow her down somewhat, it is safer than going alone.

***​

"So what did you find?" you asks Myrlin.

"A lot," answers your grandson with a grim smile, "The first thing I want to speak to you about is that I figured out what sort of connection the spirit had to Ymaryn."

"What did you find?" you inquire.

"Remember how you originally found her as a baby in the middle of nowhere?" asks Myrlin and you give him a nod, "Well, I found out where she came from. She had some back entrance connections into her mind and soul which were used by the spirit. From what I could tell, they were variant of the connection that a spirit or goddess or god has to their Chosen. The main difference is that whereas the connection that Chosen has is added in with consent, Ymaryn's connections have been buried there from the beginning. They were part of very existence."

"Were?" you repeat, raising an eyebrow at Myrlin, noting his use of the word.

"I could not just leave something like that open," replies Myrlin, "It would have been too dangerous so shut them down. Unfortunately, their existence has unfortunate implications."

"Such as how long our foe has been making plans against us," you say with a grimace, "Ymaryn has been with us for fourteen cycles and our enemy must have been acting against us for at least that long. Most likely longer if they waited before giving Ymaryn to us."

"I figured as much," agrees Myrlin, "Nonetheless, Ymaryn no longer has such vulnerabilities. I was also able to identify what Aspects the enemy spirit has. They also have three and while they are not Divinities, they are close to being such in power. They are Cold, Strength and Ice."

And with that last word, Myrlin uses his magic to form an ice spike in his hand.

"Did you-?" you start to ask as you stare the physical proof of Myrlin's ability to use Ice Magic.

"Steal the ability to use Ice Magic from our foe," finishes Myrlin with a proud grin, "I certainly did. While I was removing the pathways, I got the attention of the enemy spirit as my interactions with its connections got its attention just as interfering with a spirit's connection with their Chosen gets the attention of the spirit. We tangled and I came out triumph and managed to force it to grant me the ability to use Ice Magic during the fighting.

That beyond getting knowledge of its Aspects and the ability to wield Ice Magic, I discovered a couple of important things. One is that the enemy spirit isn't like you or the others when its comes to its spiritual nature. It is also not an animal spirit either. Instead, it felt more like the Shadow Monster Spirit. Not a person or animal spirit, but some kind of monster spirit. Only unlike the Shadow Monster Spirit, this one is intelligent."

That is not good news.

"I was also able to track down the location of the shadow spirit monster," continues Myrlin, "I will admit that doing so pushed me to my limits and I almost failed, but I was able to get the magical ah, well for lack of a better, 'scent' of the enemy spirit. I should be able to track down the enemy spirit, at least its general area and once I am in the same general area, I will be to find it via normal means."

"Good work Myrlin," you tell your grandson even as you

What do you do next?
[] Rally your forces and hunt down the enemy spirit.
[] Wait until Arwyn returns even if it means risking the trail going cold.
[] Write-in.

 

[Oshha]

The end of the monster spirits was swift and quite frankly, incredible easy. You outnumbered them five to one in spirits and had more deities than they had spirits. You or Seryn alone could have crushed them and with the aid of Merlin, you banished them from this plane of existence.

The cycles after that were good ones. Strife and trouble were minimal and nothing beyond what mortals normally got up. One by one, the rest of your family took their places as gods or goddess over their own concepts while under your leadership, their places in the lives of your people were set out.

Some became patrons over certain jobs such as Seryn becoming the benefactor of warriors while Arwyn became the benefactor of explorers and settlers while Gwyn became the benefactor of crafters and artisans. As the influence and power of your divine members grew and Cadyl centralised the rule of the Arthish villages, worship of each deity became commonplace in all of the villages. Rather than worship the local spirits, a mortal follower would follow pray and follow whichever deities best suited their lot in life with almost every Arthish villager worship multiple gods or goddesses at once.

Another thing that happened was the continuing of the trend of mortal followers taking over the lesser responsibilities of the spirits just as Bronwyn took over the day to day ruling of Avawyr and then Terwyn took it from her.

Withdrawing to the Galvance or Land of the Dead or Land of the Fallen, the otherworldly realm that you created with your divine power to live in and act as an afterlife for the dead Arthish, you became less and less involved in the affairs of the mortals, rarely using your avatar and your main interactions with your powers soon became blessings, healing and advising alongside shepherding dead souls to Galvance.

As greater cycles passed and your grandchildren had their own grandchildren, the rest of your spiritual family members did the same with some like Isorine and Evatine creating their own spiritual realms while most withdrew to Gwarvance, the spiritual realm that acted as divine realm for your family. By the time Cadyl reached a hundred cycles, only Wyrn remained as the only Arthish divine remaining amongst the mortal Arthish and even then, it was only as her avatars acting as armour-clothing for Cadyl and her children and some others who Wyrn cared about.

The rest of Cadyl's reign went unopposed by trouble. With the backing of you and the other spirits and the loyalty and respect of all the villages, Cadyl spend most of his reign forming a proper system of leadership so he could rule all of the region and the people living within it, avoiding the situation where villages would be ruled by individual rulers who did their own thing whilst answering to you when the situation called to it.

Instead, Cadyl set up a series of rules and codes that everyone had to live by and follow and whilst villages retained their own culture, their governance became unified. Even then, it is only due to the divine legitimancy of his rule, his own skill at leadership and the logistical genius of his wife that Cadyl was able to rule such a vast amount of land.

Realising that he required a single location to rule from, Cadyl set up a capital to rule from in:
[] [Capital] Avawyr. Just as you once did, Cadyl decided to rule from the mountain-village of Avawyr and using the power of his home villager and your original worshippers as his power base.
[] [Capital] Evalon. The island-village, Cadyl set up his permanent rule from Evalon. The most advanced and civilised of places, Cadyl has the metal-workers and knowledge seekers of the Noble One as his power base.
[] [Capital] Bedywn. The heart of Seryn's old rule, Cadyl had his rule operate from Bedywn, using the Cath Wyrs and Seryn's other followers as the heart of his power base.

The long term effects of earlier decisions by you and the other spirits became apparent over Cadyl's rule. The Gift of the Mighty Body moved away from its martial origins as people realised that it could be used to expand their own lifespans as an elderly person could use it to return to youth again with a stronger body and longer lifespan. While a blessing from the Mighty One was still required to be a Cath Wyr and by extend, a warrior, the Gift of the Mighty Body soon became the Second Youth where one had a second chance to grow up again live a second life.

Metal and magic would become commonplace. When it proved true that a baby would inherit the ability to use magic from their parents, it was mere generations before every Arthish had the ability to wield at least one kind of magic and it would be only a few more until the Arthish could wield every element of magic. Meanwhile iron tools and weapons became prevalent in every village as the increased number of Myrymar made forged iron ore into something useful.

It also became apparent that the majority of your people would be female. Between mostly even birth rates of boys and girls, Second Youth would soon make it so that there was four or five women for every man with two thirds of the populations being those who had undergone Second Youth.

Yet such things were beyond Cadyl's ability to control and instead, your son focused on:
[] [Cadyl] Expansion. While he nominal controls the region due to that being no one to oppose him most of the land lay unexplored and uninhabited. Cadyl changed this by founding a great many villages.
[] [Cadyl] Construction. With plenty of villages still requiring walls, boat pens and places for leaders to rule from along with paths to connect them to other villages, Cady built up these things before having additional villages settled.

***​

Please note that with the Capital vote, the location of the village may be important when it comes to getting there or if it is attacked. With the Cadyl vote, it isn't one or the other. Cadyl will do both, but you are picking which one he focuses on more.