OMNIA: Chapter 8: Three Unwise Men

[thetoastking]

Ah, mister Flynn. A... pleasure to meet you. Yes, Ark, what is it?
Some whispering takes place. Sol's expression changes, though it's hard to notice, what with the lack of eyes. She nods, taking occasional glances at rick.
Interesting... Are you sure? It matches my suspicions however... Alright.
Mister Flynn. You are welcome to help yourself to our camp here, taking a needed rest if you require it. When you are able, I suggest you and your friends head west across the sea to the Shootan capital, Bolet. It's not politically stable, mind you, but I'd say it's the least dangerous of the two. Also, upon your time, I'd like a small word aside with you...

[thetoastking]

After a few minutes of catching up, Sol dismisses all except rick. He is seen sitting down before the rest of the group is ushered down a long winding path. The sky begins to darken as the evening goes by. They are shown their rooms, and assigned to Grey Ward, the largest living tent in this section of the district.

You hear some chattering about, as people come and go. It seems that, even in the midst of tragedy, people can be resilient. A large replica of what can only be a giant red clock stands in the commons area of this section. The guard who had accompanied you explains.

It was a gift from The One, a long time ago. Sol brought it here, just in case. They say at the end of time, it'll ring 10 times, giving people fair warning. Of course, it rings all the time, so people just regard it as a giant clock. In any case, you've been assigned to Grey Ward. The gates are sealed at night, to keep beasts out, and there is no set bed time. The gates re-open at sunrise. Enjoy! The Shootan guard trots away, leaving our 3 adventurers to choose their own fate. What would they do?

[Askia]

> Sitrah takes a spot around the fire

[Adept]

Man that doomsday clock thing... probably could have been better designed. Will it ring 10 times in a row or something if the world is going to end? Anyway, it might be good to catch up on some rest, it's probably quite a journey to the Shootan capital.

[Xander]

"Right. So, what exactly is the plan here? I mean, what are we gonna do when we get to Bolet? I doubt they'd give us the crystal if we asked nicely and I'd rather avoid getting shot at..."

[Sinjin]

"Rick is a diplomatic man though. He could convince them. Anyway."

Cassius sits by the fire. Stories are fun!

[thetoastking]

> Sitrah takes a spot around the fire

Cassius sits by the fire. Stories are fun!

Our group takes a spot by the fire. A group has congregated around to hear the storytelling from a being that appears to be bread and a coat.

...And after the ensuing explosion, the two parties realize their differences and resolve never to use nuclear weapons ever again. They also find that the leader of both parties are dead, though the details I cannot reveal. But anywho, that's how the brave and courageous Catalyst stopped the Critical Event. The End.
A resounding cheer rises from the crowd. The breaded king looks around, and eventually notices our group.

Ah! Our special guests, everyone. They're very brave adventurers, don'tcha know. We've been waiting for you ever since The First. You're supposed to be the ones to fix all this mess, but that doesn't mean we can't keep our spirits up, eh?
A general sound of agreement pipes through the crowd, before a Forger Child pipes up, it's voice rather high pitched due to it not quite reaching adolescence yet.

"Excuse me, mister... King, sir?"

Yes, young one? What is it?

"I was just wandering... Before I have to go to bed... Just what are you the king of, anyways? Some foreign kingdom? A big army? Are you the king of all pastries?"

Well, I can't really go into detail, as it's a bit secretive, but I am the king of this and that. And certainly a little of some other things. But anyways, I've lost track of where we left off before that long story. Anyone remember?
Two people on the opposite side chime in.

You were... Uh... Teaching us how to recognize someone's god without asking them... Uh, so we can impress people at parties...
Yes! I believe it was just after the "How to properly get insurance for your home" bit!
Ah. Yes. How to get a rough estimate of who serves what god. Now, nine out of ten times, this will work. Sometimes, it might not. It's all about observation. You see...

Entities upon this earth all serve a god in one way or another, even if they don't realize it. If they haven't quite found religion yet, then they usually serve the allfather, despite not knowing it. These people are referred to as 'Parsons', after the words 'pariah' and 'person'. Being a Parson isn't a bad thing, mind you, but it might get you yelled at by a lot of people trying to convert you to their religion. You see, the more followers, or, people who believe in a god, the more powerful it gets. This is probably why the AllFather stays at the top of the godly food chain for now. Anyways, upon the subject of individual gods. You can get a general idea of who serves what god by taking a good firm look at them. Take a look at their colorings. If someone's wearing a lot of light blue, they might serve Yuggut, the ice god. If someone wears a lot of dark purple or black, they may serve the gods of the night. What a lot of people don't know is that gods are actually grouped into several larger groups, to save people time. Sure, there's individual religions, and, for the most part, they are followed, but the god caste system works as follows. There's The AllFather, or, the one who controls the gods, the Vanguard gods, or those deities which specialize in destruction, such as the fire god TIM, or the gods of energy. Next, come the Sentinel gods. These ones deal more in controlling elements, such as time, darkness, and ice. Sentinel gods are sometimes included in the Vanguard category, mostly because they're balanced evenly between the two. After the Sentinels come the Miracle gods, beings which specialize entirely in support, such as the gods of life, death, flora and food. After these sections of gods comes the last caste, The Enlightened Ones. These aren't technically gods. They're people who have been so pious in their studies of a god that they've been elevated to a deity-like status. They're usually monks, guarding ancient treasures or preaching to the people. Anyways, another way to check someone's deity is to see how they act. People generally take on the personalities of their deities in one form or another. The acolytes of fire, for example, believe in purity through destruction and brotherhood. An acolyte of Inventory however, might believe in cleanliness and being orderly. Finally, there is one foolproof method to checking what god a person serves: Their auras. To those of us who are lucky enough to be able to see an aura around a person, the deity someone follows will leave what's called an Enlightened Trail. These are distinct ribbons of power tying the person's soul to the deity of their choice, muffling the other gods. In the allfather's case, it simply stops miracles from occurring. But, to those of us who can't see auras, your best bet is to measure someone's personality, colorings, and overall disposition. You can also slip in some casual questions or statements about certain things to gauge their reactions. I've found several acolytes of inventory becoming visibly sick when I talk of the city dump that kathmandu owned.

So! There's that. Does anyone have any questions so far? That's pretty much the gist of things, but I'll answer questions about other stuff too. And no, for the last time, I'm not going to tell you who the next person you're going to screw is. I don't want to disrupt the space-time continuum anymore then I already have.

[Xander]

"Is there a way for someone to see auras, even if one normally can't?"

[Travosh]

Darn AllFather. Always trying to tell people not to listen to me! I'm a perfectly reasonable deity to listen to, if you listen hard enough! Rick knows!

You should all get some butter. That moustachioed bread looks delicious.

[Adept]

That's fairly surprising that the god of death is a simple Miracle God, like me, sounds like that could have a lot to do with destruction. Also I wonder if the AllFather's nullification of miracles can extend over more than just those who follow him, that'd be an interesting effect.

[thetoastking]

"Is there a way for someone to see auras, even if one normally can't?"

Well, usually, no. Aura spotting is a very special skill, usually used by elementals to identify their bretheren. However, if you could find an Enlightened One, I've heard stories of them bestowing powers such as aura spotting upon dedicated travelers who can best them.

That's fairly surprising that the god of death is a simple Miracle God, like me, sounds like that could have a lot to do with destruction. Also I wonder if the AllFather's nullification of miracles can extend over more than just those who follow him, that'd be an interesting effect.

Death isn't always about destruction, it's more about the lack of life. It's about finding those with life and simply removing it to bring their times to a natural end, or to find those without life and attempt to bring them back. Of course, the god of life is much better at this, and can essentially do just the opposite, but I wouldn't be surprised if the god of death was both a Vanguard and a Miracle class deity.

[Askia]

what happens to the followers if a god "dies"?

[Saint Game]

Got any tales on notable people?

[Xander]

"How can you tell if you've found an Enlightened One?"

[thetoastking]

what happens to the followers if a god "dies"?

Death for gods is a tricky thing. You see, being entities that exist out of sheer belief, they only die when people stop truly believing in them. This is why they often use miracles and paladins to keep the faith burning, so to speak. The funny thing is, nothing happens to the acolytes at all if a god dies. They simply stop hearing him. Although, they'll already be deaf when they stop keeping their belief true. When the god dies and the faith ends, then usually the religion for that deity dies out over time, becoming some words in a book or a nice statue in a park. Sad, I know, but it's just how it works, m'lady.

"How can you tell if you've found an Enlightened One?"

Got any tales on notable people?

Good questions! good good. Someone's been paying attention in class. You see, the enlightened ones are usually secluded, deep in the wilderness. I've seen some sitting under waterfalls, and even up on the top of mount Gigantia. But the thing is, Enlightened Ones have what's called a "Visaura", or Visible Aura. Their faith to the deity is so unfaltering that it becomes visible on the light spectrum. This also means Enlightened Ones have some special abilities too, usually to guard a gift their god left them or some holy site from outsiders. Faith is a very powerful weapon, believe me. But, in the event that you don't, just ask William. He saved the entire world AND turned back time by sheer faith alone. Please, allow me to iterate upon an example.

In the harsh northern wastes, deep deep in a castle invisible to the common eye except, perhaps, to those who follow Yuggut, the God of Ice, lives an Enlightened One; Perhaps, one of the few that actually make public appearances. Now, this One follows Yuggut. Yuggut is technically a Sentinel class deity, but i've seen acolytes use his power in ways only a Vanguard class could. Anywho, the name assigned to this enlghtened one by his deity is "Krim Sol Yoth". These are words of creation, you see. Most enlightened ones have names like this. Other gods, perhaps, are more graceful, giving a title instead, but most will simply change their servant's name outright.

Krim is seriously dedicated to Yuggut. His faithful act that enlightened him involved him sitting in the bottom of a lake frozen solid for over 3 weeks. In exchange, Yuggut enlightened him, giving him control over the dominion of ice. His body is said to naturally ice over anything near it, lower temperature past absolute zero, and, for some reason, they say he's never been attacked. although there are some very lovely ice sculptures in his castle's entryway...

[Adept]

That's... quite awhile to sit at the bottom of a frozen lake. Any other important Enlightened Ones we should know about?

[Xander]

"Do you have any idea what the AllFather looks like?"

[thetoastking]

MEANWHILE, 5 MINUTES INTO THE PAST...

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Monseur Flynn... A... Word aside, if you will...

I have heard some... news, that you've done something rather peculiar to end the corrupted that ambushed you. I'd like to know the details on that. Would you care to elaborate?

It would be my pleasure, milady. Firstly, as I'm sure you're already aware, we were ambushed by a small group of corrupted. Although we had the numerical advantage, these corrupted were too powerful, and even though we could probably win, we weren't getting out of there without casualties. That was when the voice spoke to me. It told me that it could give me power. You see, milady, these years on the road made this old tradesman somewhat cynic, but I was never one for looking a gift horse in the mouth, so even though it was a suspicious disembodied voice, I considered its proposal. I asked its price. It assured me it only wanted to be accepted, whatever the hell that means. Quickly I became hopeless and accepted its proposal. I don't regret it, since you can see all five of us got out alive, but it still was far from being my best business decision. The voice took over me, but I could still see and think clearly. I, or it, or we defeated all four corrupted in a matter of seconds. We used some strange sort of magic, I think it had something to do with my Vo or whatever it's called. Such big power. Still, I felt something using it. It wasn't exactly evil nor good, but I felt... Resentment. I assure you that I'll think hard before using it again. Though I am not going to lie to you, madam, if my life or that of my companions depend on it, I'll do it without regret. So, yeah, I guess that's all. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this entity, would you?

... Voice? You said, A disembodied voice offered you power at no cost other then to be "accepted?" ... This is heavily concerning. You said you felt resentment? Was it a hatred towards your enemy? Do you remember any kind of defining characteristics about what happened when the voice took your form over? I'll be honest. You might be turning into an acolyte of the corrupted one, except... Why would he give his enemies power? ... Ugh. This is all incredibly wearing down on my mind. ... Color. Tone. Any phrases? Something I can work with. Anything.

But of course. Now that you mention, the voice was somewhat emphatic that it wanted me to follow its words, even though it never said which words exactly. But then, when I accepted it... There was a flash of purple, I don't know. And the way this being spoke... I could feel anger in its voice. Anger for the corrupted, I think. It also said something about being a harbinger of death. Look madam, I can regognize when I've made a bad deal, and I'm afraid I've bitten more than I can chew.

Sol scrunches her eyebrows, barely visible as they are.
This is very very interesting news, monseur Flynn. But I have kept you long enough. There is a special guest entertaining my guests at your site. Just ask for the Grey Ward. Now go. I have to consider some things... And... If you can, be very careful. I don't know what exactly this is, but it can't be good.

With that, Rick heads off out of the tent, eventually arriving at the site where his fellow friends are enjoying a good tale...

That's... quite awhile to sit at the bottom of a frozen lake. Any other important Enlightened Ones we should know about?

I know only of those who have made themselves public. When an Enlightened One is created, it has the option of remaining in secrecy, serving it's Deity in the shadows, or emerging out in public to spread it's will. As far as I know, the only ones who have made themselves public are Krim Sol Yoth, Fo of the Everlasting Flame, Manos Bren Azul of the Perpetual Night, and Sen Ka Krodan. There may be others out there, equally as powerful as the other, but unique in their own regards.

"Do you have any idea what the AllFather looks like?"

The Allfather? Hah! The Allfather is a special case, in that he's a deity that was Born from faith rather then fueled by it. You see, people are naturally indecisive, and as such, needed a way to be able to talk to all the deities before making their choice. Somewhere along the line, enough people believed in a deity calling itself "Father", and as such, the AllFather was created. After his creation and converts, it found it's specialty wasn't in making miracles, it was preventing the other deities from causing too much harm with theirs. As such, it garnered a lot of power after The Second, in which it stopped Elek Tran, god of electricity, from destroying a series of floating corrupted at the cost of destroying the whole town. As such, the townspeople prevailed, although at a pretty high casualty, but their town was saved, and they'd be alright from it. In truth, people have represented The AllFather in many different ways. An old man with a beard, a great big muscled being, and even a divine light, but in truth, his form is as shapeless as the possibilities of the gods that he watches over. Does that help?

[Xander]

"You could've just said no..."

[flyingBrick]

Rick sits down around the fire near the others.

*Whispering* - "Hey guys, did I miss anything important?"

[Askia]

"i guess you have"

"..."

"why ice? wouldnt water be more.. popular?"

[Adept]

There's just been a lot of information about the gods and our followers from this kind fellow of toast.

[Fengar]

"If only the Allfather was born of faith, how are other gods born?"

[Sinjin]

Cassius thinks to communicate with the gods. "Shouldn't we be asking you guys?"

[The Idea Master]

"The god of memory is asleep at the moment, so our is volatile at best."