Hedra Iren wrote:I call upon all of you. Lend your strength and your power. I desire to write a Law in the Book: that all gods be prevented from bringing about a new Divine War, unless they wish to pay dearly for it through the breaking of this Law.
I will provide the foundation, brethren, but I shall have need of your power. The greater the will of the gods of Eiran, the stronger the punishment that shall befall those who break this Law.
Hail Sister. *bows*
I will be willing to pledge my vote and 1 DRP to this, and I do so provisionally, pending an explanation of the details.
From what I understand, this would not prevent any individual gods from contesting matters between themselves, but will prevent all-out war between everybody? Am I correct in my thinking?
Share with us the form and constraints of this proposed law, and I will be better able to make my descision, but in principle, I will support it, pending as I said a clear explanation. *bows*
My Lord Adomorn, though it would behoove us to work together for the upholding of Law and Justice, you would do better to realize that without Law, there can be no Justice, only Revenge. You need only look to the different races and cultures of Eiran to see that it is so; Law is not simply a construct of society, but a byproduct of culture, and Justice is the daughter of Law. If there is no Law, how can there be Justice? How can a Judge decide the penalty for a criminal, if there are no Laws to guide him?
Be careful, my Lord Adomorn, not to discard Law in your quest for Justice, lest you are turned into what you now despise.
I see both points from equal sides, and only wanted to make it clear that we each needed each other. Without Law, Justice becomes a monster. Without Justice, Law becomes a swampland, which no man or god can hope to navigate.
We will work together to keep both sides from their worst possibilities.
Allfather wrote:Shortly afterwards, Admar - Maeror's Prophet - appears on Fort Hope's bastions, holding a gleaming blade high in the dusklight: the weapon Hope, which Danir recognizes, despite the sheer impossibility of such an event.
Murrin wrote:Ah! My prophet has seen clearly when I could not.
I have called my persecutors fools; but how close I have come to being what they named me! A monster in truth, and in deed. I have brought suffering and pain; I, who have suffered, who knows what it is to feel pain. Can I ever be forgiven?
Hear me, mortal souls of Eiran: I have sinned against you. I will never be able to reverse the harm I have done. But never again will I cast you aside so easily. I extend my promise to all of the living: every soul that enters my realm will receive the choice I gave to my own: You shall be granted peace, or rebirth.
Maeror,
This war against your darker half was, as I said before, for the good of yourself and the Pantheon as a whole. It seems as if Vann has accepted you back into his graces.
If your statements are to be believed, then you have returned to the light and there is no Justice in this war, only Conquest. In my eyes no war worth fighting can be one-sided. It is both or neither.
I believe a meeting is in order. At dawn, Grathgor and Danir, my leaders of this army, will go to the front gates of Fort Hope. I would wish that the Lord-General arrieves to discuss your transformation.
They will be unarmed, as I would ask that the Lord-General be. My men will wait a respectfull distance, but know that betrayal will be met with the Justice it deserves.
Sister Jove, while I acknowledge and respect your role as the goddess of Trade and Commerce, my opinion is the same as Norn's; thus, I see no reason to use the Book of Law to bind any trade agreement to your will.
Nevertheless, the proposal of a neutral Trades Guild will go a long way towards allaying the fears of many gods. Perhaps in such a proposal lies the seed to escape the lure of the Divine Wars that all gods seem so eager to enter.
Brethren! Are you so eager to break the world again? Look upon your people! Maeror, Adomorn, look upon those who die in your name for no fault of their own, other than faith in a god. Can these disputes really be solved only by bloodshed? Are the gods of Eiran so little that they use their followers as pawns in their disagreements, respecting so little those from whom your very life springs forth? War echoes in all three major continents of Eiran; how long before these three wars transform into the Divine War?
Hear me! I am the Goddess of Law. I do not desire to see the Divine Wars again; I remember the carnage all too well, as others among you should as well. I shall not sit idly by and wait for another Nephirthos, another Foul One, to rise to power and decimate the mortal people of Eiran.
I call upon all of you. Lend your strength and your power. I desire to write a Law in the Book: that all gods be prevented from bringing about a new Divine War, unless they wish to pay dearly for it through the breaking of this Law.
I will provide the foundation, brethren, but I shall have need of your power. The greater the will of the gods of Eiran, the stronger the punishment that shall befall those who break this Law.
I will not sign such a Law.
However, I see your thinking. War is a terrible act, and only to be used when all other paths are closed. But to make War impossible for those who need it, will be taking some of the Pantheon's members last defense away from them. Many are not as strong as you or I and need protection.
I will always War, but only when Justice is on my side.
On a side note: Lord Adamorn, care to explain why one of my followers was hanged in your lands?
"Oh of course," the Navigator said with faint mocking in his voice, "you have probably heard of House Praetus. We have a palace on Holy Terra. Like all powerful groups, we also have our enemies. Do you honestly think someone like you matters?" - A dissolute noble.
A faithful worshiper of yours is martyred in Adomorn's lands due to his faith. He is hung after being skinned alive, and a wooden sign is placed on his neck, reading "So end the worshipers of the Unholy Worm".
"Oh of course," the Navigator said with faint mocking in his voice, "you have probably heard of House Praetus. We have a palace on Holy Terra. Like all powerful groups, we also have our enemies. Do you honestly think someone like you matters?" - A dissolute noble.
Lord Adomorn wrote:Sadly I was not made aware of such an action by some of my followers. I will attend to this problem as soon as I have the time.
Unless you press a solution as soon as possible?
Simply return the body to me. I will martyr him as a saint.
However, it worries me one of my followers was in your lands without my permission. You have my apologies for this.
"Oh of course," the Navigator said with faint mocking in his voice, "you have probably heard of House Praetus. We have a palace on Holy Terra. Like all powerful groups, we also have our enemies. Do you honestly think someone like you matters?" - A dissolute noble.
Hedra Iren wrote:
I call upon all of you. Lend your strength and your power. I desire to write a Law in the Book: that all gods be prevented from bringing about a new Divine War, unless they wish to pay dearly for it through the breaking of this Law.
I will provide the foundation, brethren, but I shall have need of your power. The greater the will of the gods of Eiran, the stronger the punishment that shall befall those who break this Law.
Hail Sister. *bows*
I will be willing to pledge my vote and 1 DRP to this, and I do so provisionally, pending an explanation of the details.
From what I understand, this would not prevent any individual gods from contesting matters between themselves, but will prevent all-out war between everybody? Am I correct in my thinking?
Share with us the form and constraints of this proposed law, and I will be better able to make my descision, but in principle, I will support it, pending as I said a clear explanation. *bows*
I hope that Vadhaka's reasoning on this is not correct. If it is, then I will not support this law.
This would give the strongest gods' a free hand to pick off the weaker gods one by one. The weaker gods would risk breaking the law if they banded together to defend themselves.
Aglithophile and conniptionist and spectacular moonbow beholder 16Jul11
Agreed. I am issuing an order to recall my armies once this war is over, and any of my followers who refuse the command to return to Nor Pupae, or who are there without my permission, will be trialed for heresy.
"Oh of course," the Navigator said with faint mocking in his voice, "you have probably heard of House Praetus. We have a palace on Holy Terra. Like all powerful groups, we also have our enemies. Do you honestly think someone like you matters?" - A dissolute noble.
Should we be concerned where this army will be traveling to next? Assuming that you win against the God of War?
Consolidating the fruits of victory - that is, the cities, towns, people and food supplies. Most of the army will then be recalled, leaving an occupying force to help me annexe the country. I do not wish for the armies to march against other lands.
"Oh of course," the Navigator said with faint mocking in his voice, "you have probably heard of House Praetus. We have a palace on Holy Terra. Like all powerful groups, we also have our enemies. Do you honestly think someone like you matters?" - A dissolute noble.
Lord Adomorn wrote:You're...creatures...still eat food? I should hope these supplies aren't inhabiting these towns you're consolidating?
Yes, but the crops and the dead are taken to womb-pits that birth more of my creations or provide food. I do not kill organisms - death is an abhorrence. I prefer to mould the flesh and improve the inhabitants.
"Oh of course," the Navigator said with faint mocking in his voice, "you have probably heard of House Praetus. We have a palace on Holy Terra. Like all powerful groups, we also have our enemies. Do you honestly think someone like you matters?" - A dissolute noble.
Norn smiled sadly to herself as she felt the soul of her beloved prophet fade beyond her ability to perceive it. She would from time to time encounter him again she knew, as he journeyed along the varied threads of the fabric of reality, but those meetings would be both brief and infrequent. Trolin was gone.
His joy had warmed her heart, and after his gruesome death at the hands of a thousand soulless forms, he deserved the reward she had given him. This warmth did nothing to ease her loneliness however.
It wasn’t as though she was unaccustomed to loss, for Trolin certainly wasn’t the first person dear to her heart to die while she lived. It was scarcely more than a year ago when his brother prophet Rilu had been murdered by an unknown assassin. And then of course there were her friends of old. Those with whom she had shared her life, and the Tower of Airfen. Klayn, Lita, Delsus, Arlin and Marietta.
Thinking of them brought back memories of her old life in the Tower of Airfen. If she closed her eyes, Norn could still vividly remember her study, cluttered with books and scrolls and obscure devices. A far cry from her tower room here at Avenberry, she thought as she took in her surroundings. Where the Tower of Airfen had been full of furniture - the walls lined with shelves full of books and the tables piled high with all ink pots and feather quills and hastily sketched diagrams, the divine chamber at the pinnacle of the shining tower of Avenberry was almost severe in its emptiness. This room that was at once in both mortal Eiran and the immortal plain held very little. A gift from a brother. A memento of times long past. A copy of the codex that Emirath the Historian had complied. That was all. Except, of course, for the crib.
Norn walked over to it as she heard the baby begin to stir and looked down on her beautiful daughter, the child of a goddess and the Weave itself. The baby stretched and yawned, and then looked up at her mother and smiled. As she did so, the late afternoon sun broke through the clouds, bathing Henmil’s Forest in golden light. With a spontaneous laugh Norn scooped up her child and held her close.
“Ah, my beautiful Zeldalia. I may have failed wise Trolin and brave Rilu, and I may have failed my dear friends of the Tower of Airfen, but I will not fail you. That much I promise.”
My people are in need of attentions. I have sent the woman Murah back to the warrior who seeks her. She carries the seeds of my dreams within her. My brother Bhakti has ceded land and Seura has built my temple. Now all that remains is the consecration and yet I am pulled away from this urgent study to deal with brigands and blights.
Will this law bring us peace to enjoy our labors on this world Hedra my sister? I would support that.
Yet I share my sister Chisi's concerns.
Each of you have dreams for this world else you would not be here. In my study I seek a deck of Dreaming. If each of you will give me one of your dreams, I might gain the power to seek my brother Simjen's help in forging a new deck, a card for each of you.
A stone table stands ready in the Hall of Dreams. Would a deck not protect, in conjunction with the law, the interests of even our Warhound brothers?
I stand ready to do my part for your dreams for this world. I ask only for a moments peace for Murah and Seura so they may make my temple ready for the deck.
What more can I offer you of my service to peace?
my dreams for you all
MV
...and on the last day we feasted, like carrion, on her dreams.
~Irvea - from The Death of Mithyaat Vam
The scouting parties returned as the sun was sinking below the western horizon; stained a deep purple by the energies of Nor Yekith. They rushed through the vast camp the army had built following its incredible successes against Queeaqueg's armies and cities. Now, it waited for a signal to march or to retreat to Nor Pupae.
Eventually, they reached the central command tent that was surrounded by hundreds of heavily armed Hrutka. Inside they found the King seated atop of a throne of pure gold and silver, his impressive robe wrapped around his body, clutching the sword of warping - a gift from his god. Beside him, a large, mottled grey worm was coiled around the remains of one Queeaqueg's assassins. It was the Yekith priest, Yek Thaash, also known as the 'Devourer of Limbs'. The Houka scouts kneeled before the King and handed him a gelatinous, fleshy sphere - a Seeing Eye. When he held it in is hands he shivered and closed his eyes; the organic talisman was feeding him all that it had seen and recorded.
Minutes passed silently, and then the King handed the eye to one of the Yekith generals and stood up wearily. "We are to march against the God of War's cities. Prepare the armies now. Generals; divide the forces into two main armies and we will strike to the north and east - to Queeaqueg and Aldastrian."
"I think that may be the incorrect strategy, my king," Yek Thaash whispered. "Our god has other plans, now."
The King whirled around to face the large priest-worm, surprise in his features. "The Eye is truth, for it saw that the way is clear; we have an easy march to the cities."
"Nor Yekith spoke to me - he speaks to me now. He requests we march back into Nor Pupae; the war is over."
"Retreat?" the King spat as though the words were poisonous to him. "And let the god of war re-arm and march against us? Now is the time to strike!"
"Things have changed. We cannot possibly fight Queeaqueg this way, for he is only strengthened. He should be destroyed now, but the very success of our armies only prevented that undead fiend from fading away.
"Go outside, my king and look to the west. For you will see the answer you seek. My words cannot explain why."
The King marched out of the command tent with a retinue of Yekiths and Houka. Heading back towards the distant mountains were great herdes of hermit crab-like monstrosities, carrying the dead on their backs to feed the eternally hungry womb-pits. Above the mountains, he could see that the Star of Yekith was pulsing strangely and strange colours were flickering around it like an aura. From behind the mountains, purple-crimson lightning was striking upwards at the star - like great veins reaching into the heavens from some monstrous heart underneath the world.
"What is happening to the Star?" The King moaned. "Is Nor Yekith abolishing the aura that prevents other gods from seeing my lands?"
"Correct," Yek Thaash whispered. "The Era of Abomination is over. Now begins the Era of Purification."
"Oh of course," the Navigator said with faint mocking in his voice, "you have probably heard of House Praetus. We have a palace on Holy Terra. Like all powerful groups, we also have our enemies. Do you honestly think someone like you matters?" - A dissolute noble.
Norn, you are extraordinarily brave! I am amazed that you revealed Zeldalia's existence to all. If I ever have a child, I will do all I can to conceal the fact and make it impossible for all others to find him/her, even accidentally. Of course, you don't have a god who has sworn your destruction to worry about, eh? (The thoughts of what Yek would do to any child of mine to harm me, or what he could force me to do to keep a child of mine safe, are too horrifying to bear.) Still, I can only assume your divine chamber is a place of staggering might. You must have weaved well.
And now I know why, although I felt your Love for Zeldalia when she was born, I never felt your Love for her father. You are truly a goddess of wonders!
I am the self-fulfilling prophecy. Give love, and you WILL receive love. Let your every answer, your every action and reaction, your every desire, be rooted in love.
You are truly a goddess of wonders! 