Kevin's Watch

And so it was that, on the dawn of the First Age, mighty deities arose from mere mortals, and cast their shadow upon the land. And all rejoiced, for a guide had been provided; and the darkness of the godless would be lit by the flame of faith.

PANTHEON STATISTICS:

Deity, Rank and Worshipers

Amplarx, God of Honour, The Protector
Divine Rank 3
Total Worshipers: 3.834
Important Worshipers: Emryel, Nathaniel.
Dogma: Conduct yourself always with honour, a fine reputation will be its own protection.

Argothoth, Lord of the Undead, Master of Time, King of the Dead, Father of Darkness
Divine Rank 4
Total Worshipers: 21.971
Important Worshipers: Odal Manhur.
Dogma: Undeath is the very goal of existence, the best way to rule over eternity. Time is a friend for us all, rather than for those who are still alive, and it grants true, infinite knowledge. Time is only comprehension, only experience, but not pain.

Atharidan, Mighty God of Strength, Herald of Earth
Divine Rank 1
Total Worshipers: 76
Important Worshipers: Jannon Walydur
Dogma: Strength lets us Smite the Oppressor. Through Strength we Crack the Chains of Unjustice. Strength Frees us from the burdens of Weakness and Disease, and clears Our way to Health and Clarity of Thought. The Earth feeds us, strengthens us; it is our duty to feed Her, tilling Her, so to strengthen Her. Strength shalth be our Mean, our End, and our Purpose.

Avatar, God of Knowledge
Divine Rank 3
Total Worshipers: 4.103
Dogma: The God of Knowledge encompasses all spheres of learning and understanding. His followers are enjoined to seek out, acquire and share knowledge of all types from and with all other creatures, races and cultures.

Bhakti, Almighty of Adulation, Creator of Crushes, Lord of Love
Divine Rank 4
Total Worshipers: 7.097
Dogma: 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.

Elauradaneth, Goddess of Beauty, Nature and Magic
Divine Rank 2
Total Worshipers: 1.202
Important Worshipers: Rydnick.
Dogma: Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder, and those beholden to their Goddess shall have unlimited beer. Find healing at the bottom of a pint glass and let the Magic within give you the power to be everything you’ve imagined.

Maeror, God of Healing, Lord of Tears, Lord of Tragedy
Divine Rank 3
Total Worshipers: 6.891
Important Worshipers: Farpath, Vann.
Dogma: Pain and healing. Loss and restoration. Maeror, Lord of Tears, offers succour to all those who suffer. The Lord of Tragedy weeps for our pain, and his tears heal all wounds. After injury comes healing, and after great loss we learn to live again. Through suffering comes growth, and from growth, fulfillment. We must embrace grief while it lasts, knowing that it will come to an end. Those who can feel no pain find no contentment.

Morgath, The Dark Prince, Lord of Fiends, God of Suffering
Divine Rank 4
Total Worshipers: 15.972
Important Worshipers: Ramath.
Dogma: Demonhood is the highest state of existence, beyond life and death as mere mortals acknowledge, just one step removed from godhood; revel in your higher stature, rule over the lesser beings who are as wise as to bow in front of you, crush those who oppose you. Be as kings and emperors in the mortal world, and bring Morgath dominion over their deities.

Movahl, The Guardian, Lord of Vengeance, Father of Outcasts
Divine Rank 3
Total Worshipers: 3.761
Dogma: The most powerful force in this age will be the combined retribution of those whom society has abandoned. Rejected by their peers, they shall be accepted by The Guardian, for while humanity believes them worthless, divinity knows that there is worth in all life. Thus those who have been forgotten will be remembered again, and one by one they will see the world as they know it shaped anew.

Nephirthos, God of Chaos, Lord of Malice, Harbinger of Destruction
Divine Rank 5
Total Worshipers: 29.896
Important Worshipers: Scorching Flame.
Dogma: The followers live in a state of disorder, rage and pain. The followers spread malice throughout the lands, bringing chaos to any city or village they invade.

Ordine Naturale, Master of Thieves, High Steward of the Night
Divine Rank 1
Total Worshipers: 511
Important Worshipers: Potenza, Potere.
Dogma: Find your own paths and govern your lives by your own rules. Equality is a fallacy and should be dismissed. Justice is there for all to take for themselves.

Solus, God of Luck, Lord of the Seas
Divine Rank 3
Total Worshipers: 6.775
Dogma: Vigilantly await opportunity, take what you can and keep what you take. The God of gamblers, sailors, duelists, entrepreneurs, con-men, and politicians.

Thyddian, God of Illusions, Master of the Air
Divine Rank 2
Total Worshipers: 2.183
Dogma: Everything is illusion and ephemera. There is no truth. Look to the air, the inconstancy of the clouds, the chaos of the wind and weather. Obey not the laws of the world, but follow the Word of Thyddian to accept the true way to understand everything. Disrupt the orders of others as there can be no truth other than the way of Thyddian.

Toringian, Lord of Battle, God of Adventure
ON HOLD
Divine Rank 4
Total Worshipers: 6.945
Dogma: There is no greater glory than that found in battle. Strength of arm and tactial wit are most prized. Conquest brings fortune and fame. There is no greater power than an army marching for one goal.


DEAD DEITIES

Arrai, Lord of Fate, God of Life
Dogma: Life is the greatest gift of all, a gift no one asks for, yet everyone receives; experience life, enjoy the time you have been given, and use it as you should, so as not to waste it. Everyone has a fate in store for him or her, and Arrai alone sings these fates in the great song of the world; look at him for guidance, and do not despair.[/color]

Solina, Lady of Madness, Mad Queen, Goddess of the Moon, Mistress of Dreams
Dogma: There is power in madness, and a clarity of vision undreamt of by lesser beings and gods. Only through Solina you may reach comprehension, and see beyond the lies of the world. But madness can manifest itself in many ways, and the most common way is in dreams. Revere the Mad Queen and her silvery eye in the skies, for she watches over you as you sleep, and lends you a portion of her sight.


THE WORLD

CURRENT EVENTS

What Has Gone Before: kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9819

The Shattering of the World

It was in this time of peace, when all seemed to be quiet, and the approaching storm had been seen by no one - in this time of bliss, when even Nephirthos's armies stood still, and the Lord of Malice had declared a truce - that the Harbinger of Destruction struck. Nephirthos poured his malice and his power deep into the earth, cloaking his actions in darkness, hiding them from the eyes of his fellow gods: for months, he laboured in secret, weakening the earth itself with the power of pure malice. And eventually, the earth gave way: no longer could it endure such scorn and despite.

That day, the ground shook and groaned, and the sky grew clouded and dark; even the sun hid its eye from the cataclysm about to take place. All over the world, mortals fell the shadow of dread around their hearts, the fist of fear gripping their souls, and evil radiating from the ground. But none, not even the wisest, no, would have imagined that the Lord of Malice would go so far, that in his fury and lust for power, he would violate the world itself; and none could foresee what came after. The ground shook with such violence as to make whole cities crumble, and thousands died, screaming, buried under the rubble of once-majestic towns; and the rumblings, the earthquakes, grew stronger and stronger, till all those who had survived had fled their ruined cities, and feared what would come. Then a terrible sound, as if the very rock at the heart of the world had cracked, echoed across the world - and all was changed, forever. Shattered by the power of Nephirthos, the land groaned and broke, its fragments shook and shot away from the site where the God of Chaos had brought his power to bear: the sea, angry at the violation of his sister, surged with the fury of a thousand tsunamis, and swallowed large portions of the land, killing many tens of thousands in its rage. Chunks of what had once been a single, lovely land were brought apart, or forced together, and terrible earthquakes created new mountain ranges, further wreaking havoc on all mortals and gods had built: only in the north, Nephirthos's cities had remained almost untouched by the catastrophe, as the god had laboured deviously well, and had protected them from the cataclysm he would unleash. But elsewhere, Ai-War and Ai-Toring were sunk under the sea, and all those who lived there died, weakening the God of War severely: Ai-Solin and the surrounding lands also were swallowed by the sea, and Solina's worshipers followed their deity into oblivion; even Drakkan, Nephirthos's farthest town, could not be protected and was devoured by the sea. Cities once deep into the land, such as Ai-Lamentum and Ai-Thyddian found themselves facing the sea; Ai-Maeror found itself suddenly in land, and its ships marooned. Ai-Amplus, Ai-Sanguine and Ai-Arx were destroyed when mountains rose where once the cities stood.
For days, weeks, the ground shook and groaned, and the lands shifted, and the people died, screaming at the skies, cursing the gods who had forsaken them, or begging them for help. Looting and pillaging became commonplace, and many died or were wounded, raped, mutilated by the worst that is in mankind. And all the while, in his dark fortress, the Lord of Malice laughed, and fed off the chaos and mayhem he had unleashed upon the unsuspecting world...

Nephirthos has cracked the world!

Ai-Amplus, Ai-Sanguine, Ai-Arx, Ai-Solin, Ai-War, Ai-Toring and Drakkan were destroyed during the Shattering of the World.

Nephirthos's army besieges Hope.

Sanctuary, Ai-Lamentum, Ai-Thyddian, Rhy, Ai-Maeror, Hope, Joium, Zamoro, Ai-Amore, Lybal, Ai-Skull and Ai-Bone are severely damaged by the Shattering of the World.

The floating city of Drifton is founded by Solus's followers.

The underwater city of Mer Solus is founded by Solus's followers.


CENTERS OF WORSHIP

Amplarx
Ai-Amplarx
Ai-Amplus DESTROYED
Ai-Arx DESTROYED

Argothoth
Ai-Argoth
Ai-Bone DAMAGED
Ai-Mortis
Ai-Skull DAMAGED

Avatar
Ai-Avatar
Sanctuary DAMAGED

Bhakti
Ai-Amore DAMAGED
Ai-Bhakti

Elauradaneth
Eryn Alfirin DAMAGED
Eryn Sîdh DAMAGED

Maeror
Ai-Lamentum DAMAGED
Ai-Maeror DAMAGED
Hope DAMAGED
Medela

Morgath
Mag-Granth DAMAGED
Mag-Morgath
Mag-Uronth DAMAGED

Movahl
Ahl Destrian DAMAGED
Hall of Retribution

Nephirthos
Darkmoon
Devil's Keep
Drakkan DESTROYED
Fort Flux
Joium DAMAGED
Krypta
Lybal DAMAGED
Nephirthos
Nevazal
Ramos DESTROYED
Rhy DAMAGED
Thorden
Zamoro

Ordine Naturale
The Pit DAMAGED

Solina
Ai-Solin DESTROYED

Solus
Drifton
L’im Verthackas
Mer Solus
Port Solus

Thyddian
Ai-Aeyre
Ai-Thyddian DAMAGED

Toringian
Ai-Sanguine DESTROYED
Ai-Toring DESTROYED
Ai-War DESTROYED


Being a Deity

Being a deity isn't all fun and games; there are rules that must be followed, especially in the case of young, naive deities such as yourselves. To all intents and purposes, you are a group of recently ascended deities who are coalescing into a pantheon. None of you had any significant dealings with the other as mortals, but recent cosmological upheavals caused you all to grasp the chance and arise to divinity. Undoubtly other deities might arise later, either by your intercession or through their own power, but nonetheless, you are the seed of what could become a powerful pantheon - or a monotheism.

Ok, so every deity worth his (or her, or its) salt is the deity of something. After all, there's always need for a patron deity of winter, or a goddess of abundance, and so on. So, as a new player, the first thing you need to do is to decide who your deity will be. Choose a name, and areas of influence from the list placed here:

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=344843#344843

You can choose 1 or 2 areas, but remember you must combine them together. You also need to make up a dogma - a statement that describes how your ideal worshipers should behave. It's something akin to a commandment, or a sacred teaching: worshipers will strive to adhere to it as closely as possible.

The next order of business for you all is to reveal your divinity to mortals. An unspoken agreement prevents you from meddling too much with the affairs of mortals, and therefore you are unable to appear in all your glory to all mortals in the world to proclaim your magnificence. You can choose whether to appear to a single mortal (your "prophet") or a specific group of people (such as "the poor" or "the warriors"). Appearing to a large group of people could provide you with a large worshiper base, but with more tepid worshipers and possibly some dangers. Appearing to a single mortal will create a fanatic follower who, however, is susceptible of death.

After this decision, each turn will roughly be the same as a season of the world. During each turn, each of you will be presented with situations that require your divine attention: these can be new problems, or the consequences of problems you already faced before. You may react to these problems by focusing your divine attention on them. Each of you has a divine rank, that goes from 1 (the lowest) to 20 (the highest). This rank signifies your power: each turn, you can divide these points as you see fit among the various situations, and the more points you put in each one, the more you are actively trying to influence its outcome. The pool of divine rank points is replenished each turn. You will, of course, also need to describe how you try to do so and what outcome you desire.

Example: Naeros, deity of war, is suffering a schism: many of his worshipers have changed their belief about him and interpret his dogma in another, radically different way. He decides to do something about it. He has divine rank 4: given the importance of this problem, he decides to give all his attention to the schism, and uses all 4 points to try and influence the outcome so that the worshipers who have caused the schism are hunted down and executed.

You may also use your divine rank points to actively try to proselytize (whether via intimidation, terror, gentleness, or whatever). The more points you use to proselytize, the greater the chance you will get more worshipers, but of course every point you use to proselytize means one less point you can use to care about the other problems of your church. Also, you can use your divine rank points to spy on another deity, trying to learn what's happening in his church - and possibly, to influence it.

Finally, you may use your divine rank points to start a particular event yourself, even if it is not among those that happened to you that turn (send a comet as an omen, order your followers to found a city, and so on).

POSSIBLE ALLOCATIONS FOR DIVINE RANK POINTS

-Internal affairs.
-General events in the world.
-Proselytism.
-Spying on another deity.
-Attempting to influence another deity's events (only if they are known via spying or otherwise).
-Attempting to start custom events.

Remember: the more points you allocate on a given situation, the more you're trying to influence its outcome; you will need to describe how, and what is the outcome you desire. Attempting to start an event is also demanding, and may not always yield the desired results. Also, remember that spying on another deity has a chance of getting caught, and attempting to influence another deity's events is much tougher than influencing your own!

By default, I will list all problems for each deity in this post; if you desire, however, I can prepare private messages for each of you regarding problems the other deities could not know about, and list here only those you cannot hide.

Each situation will affect the number of worshipers you have; the higher the number, the greater your divine rank and your power. If you lose all worshipers, your divine power extinguishes itself and you are cast out of the pantheon. This rule does not apply for the first four turns (one year of game time), to give you a chance to establish worshipers.

Tip: Being a nihilistic god can lead to unpleasant results if your followers are required to kill themselves or do not proselytize. Remember: your survival depends on that of your cult and your worshipers!

Your worshipers also affect your areas of influence. If your worshipers start believing you rule over something else, in addition or in exchange for what you rule now, and you do not succeed in stamping the thing out, you will find that your areas of influence change to match your worshipers' expectations of you.

Finally, as for areas of influence: if an event you hold dominion over actually happens among the deities of your pantheon, you may gain additional power from it. If, for example, two deities fall in love with each other, the deity of love will receive additional power. Watch out for the traps laid by other deities!

Just a couple of additional clarifications. I've been asked whether you, as deities, are indestructible and immortal in regards to whatever mortals can do. Yes, you are. For the intents and purposes of the game, usually not even a direct attack from other deities can kill you (but see Deicide, below); normally, the only way for you to die is to lose so many worshipers that your Divine Rank goes down to 0. This means having less than about 200 worshipers in total; this rule starts from the fifth turn, so hurry up with your worshipers For additional rules about death and return from the dead, see below.

DEICIDE

As soon as you are reduced to less than 500 worshipers (after the fifth turn since you entered the game), you become vulnerable to the direct attacks of other deities. Deities who might desire to destroy you can then declare an attack against you, assigning divine rank points to this attack; similarly, you may use your divine rank point to defend yourself, and other deities may lend you their points to strengthen your defence. If the attacking deity breaks through, though, you are killed, and the attacking deity immediately absorbs your portfolio (areas of influence) and remaining worshipers.

RESURRECTION

Just as deities can die, deities can also return from the netherworld. Upon death, deities do not enter the afterlife ruled by the King of the Dead, like mortals do, but they exist in a state of eternal slumber. Any deity who died due to lack of worshipers can return to waking life if his or her cult rises again; this can be an event inspired by other deities, or due to pure chance. If enough worshipers gather for the deity to return to Divine Rank 1, the deity returns from the dead and rejoins the pantheon. If the deity's spheres of influence had been claimed by someone else, the deity immediately recovers them, stripping them from the usurper. The deity will likely have to rebuild his clergy, religion and holy sites from scratch, although he could always try to restore the old ones.
Deities killed by other deities (see Deicide, above) cannot return from the dead.

Also, I've decided to give each turn a deadline. This is so that eager players who react first will not then have to wait one week or so before they can act again; and it also will help if any player has to unexpectedly leave for an extended period of time, and has no chance to warn us. I propose that each turn lasts three real-life days from the moment I post the events of the turn.

A comments thread has been started, and you can find it here:

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=344843#344843[/b][/b]

I'd like to be the first to request that my affairs be conducted by private message. I'll be back later to deal with the revealing myself bit.

Oooh, can I join in?

Nathan wrote:Oooh, can I join in?

Sure! Visit this thread for more info about what to do to join.

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9267&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I agree to have private messages for personal business

I'm not sure what kinds of situations Love should need to hide, so my first thought is that I don't need pm's. However, if there are situations that the others couldn't know about, I guess they will have to wait for me to inform them. So yeah, I'll take pm's.

Do we post the manner in which we're revealing ourselves? Or is that something for only you (Xar)? I wouldn't think other deities would be aware of what any other deity is doing unless they were specifically keeping an eye on that deity. Who would be spying as I talk to, say, a village of farmers in the middle of nowhere? Of course, after a while, the results of a deity's contacts might become obvious.

You may choose, of course: it is likely that, if you choose to reveal yourself to a single person, or to a small group of people, the other deities won't know exactly who you revealed yourself to until the effects of that revelation show themselves (that is, until your converts start going around, preaching your word). But if you plan on revealing yourself to a large or prominent group of people, it's likely the other deities will take notice.

So, feel free to pm me your revelation

i'll go for PM's aswell.

(our revealing should take the form of a speach then? and who its aimed at? can we be as specific as giving a name to our chief follower if we reveal ourselves to just one peerson?)

Your revealing can be as specific or as vague as possible. Yes, if you want you can even name the chief follower, in case you choose to reveal yourselves to a single person.

More detailed and creative ways to reveal yourselves will grant you more chances to get worshipers: there is a component of roleplaying in this game, for those who enjoy this aspect, and it can grant some advantages in the long run. After all, which of the two is more interesting:

"I reveal myself to Mr. X"

or

"As thunder and lightning scorch the ground, and rain beats at Mr. X furiously, I appear in all my glory and majesty from a coruscation in the air, and bid Mr. X to heed my words, for I am the god of storms, and I shall not be denied!"

Are we limited to doing one thing at a time right now, or can we make our opening moves on multiple fronts?

The rain slahed the ground in front of the two miners as they made there way home from a day of toil. The brothers scowled at each other in rememberance of the veritable slavery they had endured for years at the hands of poverty. Their hands worn and their faces scarred they turned the final corner on the road. Little did they know this to be both a prophetic and literal statement.

Before the brothers stood a tall, thin man with a scowl on his lean, crooked mouth. clothes battered and freyed he maintained an air of ancient nobility. Hat pulled down obscuring his eyes he told them their futures.......
He told of a time when the brothers would rule the world with their wits, strength and opportunism.He named them Potenza and Potere and promised them aid beyond their wildest dreams in their pursuit of this endevour, in return unswerving loyalty and allegiance must be sworn to Him and Him alone.

Raising His hat the brothers became dazzled by the intoxicating mix of the strangers propostion and emerald green eyes. They could only nod in response.

and finally he leaned in close to the brothers and whispered his name and though it was but a whisper the impression of power and dreams fulfilled seemed to be carried within it...... "Ordine Naturale".............

Murrin wrote:Are we limited to doing one thing at a time right now, or can we make our opening moves on multiple fronts?

As you can see from the listing, each of you has Divine Rank 1, so you can only use one point per turn - which in the opening turn must necessarily be used to reveal yourself. Keep an eye on the number of worshipers and on the Divine Rank ratings: those who reveal themselves to large numbers of people will boost their worshiper base in the short run, but they risk more in the long run...

A note regarding the listings. A turn ends when every player has acted; until then, any update to the listings only reflects the immediate results (in this case, the number of "instant converts"), but the full results of the turn will only be posted at the end of the turn. This means that if you reveal yourself to a single person, for now the listings will read "worshipers: 1", but at the beginning of the next turn, three months will have passed in the game world and your single prophet will (hopefully!) have converted more people!

Very well. Guess I'll go with plan A for now. I'll PM it.

New gods are joining us every day! This is going to be a fun pantheon to play in

Hmm... Some interesting things going on here, and it's barely even started.
Question: will privately submitted actions be revealed at all at a later date, or will they remain a mystery for everyone?

Murrin wrote:Hmm... Some interesting things going on here, and it's barely even started.
Question: will privately submitted actions be revealed at all at a later date, or will they remain a mystery for everyone?

They will be only revealed in two cases:

1) The consequences become visible to everyone;

or

2) A deity has the chance to poke around your private affairs and successfully does so.

In the back of a smoke-filled tavern, a man scrutinizes the marks etched onto one side of two wooden cards. Filtering out the dancing chiaroscuro from the dim lamps overhead, the smell of stale sweat and ale, and the laughs and mutters from the other men around the table, he comes to his decision.

Casually, he tosses his last coin onto the table. What he expected was the coin would join the others piled in the center. What he expected did not happen.

He saw the coin glance off the table's edge, causing it to spin rapidly, continuously dancing toward and away from the edge. As it spun, the lamp light flahsed in an oscillating pattern, and from that light came the image of a man in a large hat and flowing cloak. Other than his colorless but piercing eyes, his features were obscured by shadow. And between flahses of the coin, a voice spoke in his head.

Mortal, I am Solus, God of Luck, Lord of Secrets. I will bestow upon you a unique gift, an enduring opportunity so long as you are patient and watchful enough to take advantage of it. I ask little in return. Merely two things:

First, you must worship me. This is not so onerous a burden. Ask for luck when you need it. You may make talismans or devise routines to help you with this. Thank me when you receive it.

And last, keep my existence secret. Reveal not what you know of me or learn through me. It will be of mutual benefit, I assure you.

Follow me, and you will find more within your grasp and less slipping from it. As a simple demonstration of my powers and a gesture of my good will, I will help you in your current endeavor.

The coin came to rest at the center of the table. Scowls of impatience met the man as he looked up to the players against him. Those scowls only deepened as the man revealed his cards.

And throughout the world, similar events unfolded in gambling halls, alleys, markets, and shadowed courtyards. Each man or woman, usually only one in any given place, sometimes at both sides of a deal, silently mouthing the name 'Solus', their loyalty following their need and desire to where their words could not.

I think it would be good if we all sat on a hotel bed, and sang, All You Need is Love. Come on, you know you want to. Who's with me!!

Solina closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift away, trusting her body to react to the man lying atop her just as she had trained it to. She smiled inwardly, knowing that he would think the same thing that her master and all the others thought – that she closed her eyes out of enjoyment, that he inflicted her with such pleasure that she could not keep them open. Fool. That was what had made her the best bed slave on the estate ever since the day her master took her virginity nine years ago.

Nine long years. She had only been a girl of twelve back then, but she had learned quickly that once a girl was considered “used up” by her master, she was then good for only the most distasteful of tasks. A bed slave was well treated, most of the time, and so a bed slave she had resolved to remain. And she had, teaching her body to behave in a way that drove men wild while her mind went…somewhere else. To protect her sanity. And it was this absence of consciousness that men mistook for ecstasy.

Yet lately it had become more difficult. More pain was seeping through her barriers, and after the act that pain took longer to fade away. Solina realized as the man roughly holding her down on the bed climaxed that after nine years of holding hell itself at bay, she was loosing. Maybe she had always been loosing, just so slowly that she didn’t even notice until now. Now, when it may be too late.

* * *

Later that evening Solina finally surrendered to the fact that she would probably never feel clean again. She had already scrubbed her skin raw, which had done little more than add physical pain to the dull ache that throbbed in her soul. She now sat on her pallet, looking out between the bars of the room’s only window, cursing her life and those who had shaped it.

She cursed the son of the blacksmith on the next estate for raping her when she was only ten, making her unfit for marriage. She cursed her father for refusing to see the boy punished, and instead selling her to her master. For seeing her as nothing more than another mouth to feed, a mouth that he could no longer afford to feed. She cursed her mother for letting him do it. And she cursed her master for being who he was – cruel and uncouth. A man who liked to deflower young girls just because he could.

Finally, Solina cursed herself because, after fighting for so long, she knew that she had given up. Her soul was dying – there was no hope left. Only hate.

Even now however she refused to cry. Instead she flung her hatred like a silent scream into the night. There were no words – only angry and fear and sorrow. A tornado of emotion rising into the air. Then, as her strength failed her, her head fell to her chest and she slumped against the bars.

“And will you simply surrender to despair? I must admit that I am disappointed.”

Ah, it looks like my mind is finally failing.

“What else can I do?” asked Solina without looking up. “I have neither the will nor the strength to do anything other than surrender. And if I did, still I would lack the power to remove myself from this place which drove me to despair in the first place. No, it would appear that all I have left is you – my insanity given voice – to mock me in my loss.”

Rich laughter surrounded Solina, but unlike the laughter of her master, which she heard often, it was not malefic but warm and gentle and caring.

“Ah my dearest daughter. I am not here to mock you.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I came in answer to your call?”

“Call?”

“A cry of such pain that it could not be ignored?”

“And do you answer all those who cry out in pain?” Her reply was bitter. “Or only when you have a spare moment? Or when you can be bothered?”

I must be truly mad to create such a delusion. Or maybe I hate myself more than I realized.

“I have not long had the ability to answer any call. Yet now that I can, I have chosen to answer yours.”

“Then you are nothing more than a figment of my dying imagination, aren’t you?”

“I believe it is my turn to ask a question?” It was definitely a command for her to be quiet, yet Solina heard no anger in the voice, only concern.

“Go ahead.”

“You say that you lack the will and the strength do anything but surrender, and the power to prevent a return to such despair. Tell me my daughter, if you had the will, and the strength, and the power, what would you do?”

“Hmph! If life was that easy I certainly wouldn’t be here in the slave quarters of some two-bit back-water estate talking to a voice invented by my own sick mind.”

“That wasn’t what I meant, as you know full well.”

Solina raised her head and looked out the window and the clear, star-filled sky and finally allowed a single tear to run down her cheek. “I would make sure that he suffered just as I have.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look up into the eyes of her delusion. They were grey, like storm clouds, yet as they regarded her with a compassion that she had never before experienced a piercing blue light seemed to flicker across their surface.

“And so he shall my beloved daughter, for I am Movahl, the Lord of Vengeance, and I have heard your cry.”

* * *

There weren’t too many male bed slaves over the age of 40 because there wasn’t much demand for male bed slaves over the age of 40. However, those few that were looking to make such purchases were regular customers because they tended to use the merchandise rather harshly. Every month or so another unmarked grave would be filled and another request for a man of mature years would arrive at Garp’s office.

So when the lush young woman had demanded to see him earlier that morning and offered to sell him a 43 year old man who was clearly of high birth for next to nothing he had jumped at the chance. The type of customers who bought male bed slaves of this age were aroused by the act of breaking a man, so the tougher the nut was to crack the more money it brought him. And what tougher nut to crack than an arrogant, self-important noble?

He could have made even more from the girl, but the look in her eyes told her that she would die rather than submit, and that would hurt business. Garp’s wares might take a while to break, but break it did. That was what he was paid to provide after all. Besides, her manservant had given him the creeps – he’d never seen a man with eyes so dark. But no time to think about that now. Garp had a new bed slave to deliver, and a lot of money to collect.