Duetrogenesis, The Age of Myth [IC: Open]

[Toaslandia]

Dryadalis, satisfied with the suffering he had caused among the demons, decided to see how the gods at the site of the battle would react to them. "They'll probably slaughter them, the savages." So he stayed where he was and watched his creatures of plague shamble over to the talking gods. The shrieks of the Vexillifers pierced the air, and their hideous bodies and limbs moved towards the gods, a single thought in mind: to spread the plague. Dryadalis was tempted to give them a little help, but he stopped himself by saying, This is their chance to prove themselves able to fight the strongest beings in the universe! If they somehow win, they could act as my bodyguards." So he stayed where he was and watched the Vexillifers.

[Ralioskener]

DIVINE JUDGE OF ALL PLANES
DIEMUS AURIKAN
KNOWN TO THOSE IN GEHENNA AS PAIN LORD

---

Elysium

As he drew near, it became clear that he was witnessing the end of a massive battle. Gazing from above the site of the chaos, Aurikan could see Tyspater, Uion, and what seemed to be a previously unknown deity. It was absolute chaos, and the judge of heaven gave a sigh at the bloody mess. Not wanting to make too surprising an entrance, Aurikan's body crackled with flame and lightning as he shifted into his more humanoid form. Six massive black wings emerged under the beating light of Elysium, and all could see as a being of divine flame and sword spiralled down towards Tyspater's position.

"Hail," he said, planting his feet on the ship and folding his wings. "Looks like you've gotten into a bit of a mess again eh?"

He didn't wait for a response however, as he quickly caught sight of the Vexillifers shuffling towards them.

"What in the fuck are those things?"

He raised his sword towards the creatures, firing off a series of explosive incindiary "bolts".

[Arasi Luvasa]

Illiya, a silver fox with great feathered wings and three tails flew down to stand before Aurikan. Her eyes were balls of blue fire; similar flames seeped out of the jewels at each shoulder and hip as well as the diamond on her forehead. Eyes more like that of a mortal, only two-dimensional, blinked from each feather on her wings and two more fire-bathed gems could be seen at each joint of the extra appendages. The creature stared at the god before opening her mouth, a golden tongue within spread into many silver tendrils tipped in inky black.

“I can tell you what those creatures are, god of dreams, if you agree to a trade. This information now and sometime in the future my mistress may come to you for knowledge; at that time you cannot deny her request should she invoke my name.” the eyes blinking on her wings with each flap were strangely mesmerizing. Occasionally the vixen-like creature would seem to vanish, only to reappear a second later continuing to stare intently at the deity.

---

“Hail sister Mima!” The goddess heard another voice call unto her, at once Minastauriel turned on her heels to be faced by what seemed a blonde mortal. Minastauriel however was no fool, this was merely the guise usually worn by Kyokai, goddess of boundaries. “What is needed?”

Minastauriel looked down, being tall by most standards she had to physically train her head towards the shorter deity but she was also showing signs of having been brought low emotionally. “I have been talking with Humanus, he has denied that there is something wrong with the planes, but looking at my favorite jewel deep within these caverns I saw it was no doubt very different from what it should be. The depths, the colour has all faded from the vibrant beauty of Charmaine’s realm.” The goddess touched her face sighing “Do you think this is a direct effect of Anansi’s poison, or is this perhaps just because many of the realms cannot sustain themselves? Were they flawed in their very creation, or was it an intentional design by their makers that the realm should fall without them?”

---

On the fields where Anansi was last seen, a small cage of earth stood pulsating with energy. Divine flesh was strewn around it and altogether the cage was rather unnoticeable amongst the great bloodshed that tainted the land. Within the prison stood a lonely spider, scratching and clawing as it tried to get out. This was what happened to Anansi following his betrayal, many thought he had managed to escape but in truth Ranna (then a goddess of sleep, gifts and nurture) had spotted him as she began to feel the destructive poison she had unleashed upon her. In anger, both because she was suffering and because Orannis, her friend, was convinced to visit Gehenna and keep watch that peace was kept by the traitor she lashed out and sealed him away.

Now the trickster god was hearing the voice of his ‘ally’. The thought that he would want to help the imimoya ephukile any more than he would aid his fellow imimoya yokuqala made Anansi laugh. No Anasi wanted creation for himself, his own personal playground. [I am trapped friend Yxarus, sealed by Orannis beautiful friend. Send our ally to free me if you can spare him.] At that time, some talking could be heard. A few humans who survived outside the cove had dared to enter the blood-stained field. [But wait a while, I have a new trick to turn the humans into weapons against the gods.]

Soon the foolish mortals, arguing about whether to harvest the meat of the fallen imimoya yokuqala for food, somehow managed to spot the cage. “A spider” one of the men said.

“Why is it trapped” another asked.

“It could be used as food” suggested a woman “If we don’t get something we will die of starvation, and you refuse to harvest any of this good food.” The woman was named Irina, a young maiden with child but traveled with her brothers and barren sisters as well as their families. Secretly she had already harvested some of the flesh, concealing it below her dress and in her bag.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

Kyokai
The taller deity looked down upon her, not in an insulting way, no, but in a necessary way, as the deity was, very tall, way taller than her current form, that was for sure, she then began speaking to her after craning her neck downwards, “I have been talking with Humanus, he has denied that there is something wrong with the planes," she began, "But looking at my favorite jewel deep within these caverns I saw it was no doubt very different from what it should be. The depths, the color has all faded from the vibrant beauty of Charmaine’s realm.” The goddess touched her face, akin to placing a palm upon the face, a facepalm, yes, this was a thing she invented, original content, do not steal. “Do you think this is a direct effect of Anansi’s poison, or is this perhaps just because many of the realms cannot sustain themselves?" she inquired, but the shorter deity beckoned her to proceed, "Were they flawed in their very creation, or was it an intentional design by their makers that the realm should fall without them?”.

"I prefer that the realms, made by the primordials, cannot sustain themselves without a primordial within them," Kyokai responded, "An unforeseen side-effect, methinks.". "Of course, this is a lie. Or is it?" she then went on a tangent about the validity of her statements. A lot of "Yes. No. Maybe."s were thrown about, ending with a "But I digress.". She then resumed, "I think you should begin supporting one of the realms," she suggested to Minastauriel, "Make a haven of sorts for us morally gray ones.". She was about to go on another tangent about the validity of this so-called heaven when suddenly, the sounds of distant battle floated into her ear like a gentle breeze in the air. "Hear that?" she inquired.

"It appears that there is some sort of battle occurring somewhere," she informed Minastauriel, then she floated upwards into the air, "I suggest you come and see, or if you wish to, join." She was above the head of Mima by now, "Until then, I must see what this is.". Then she sped off into the direction of the battle, and stayed on the sidelines as she beheld the fighting. "WOO! GO ASTARTES!" she cheered... Astartes? Did she mean Ishtarte?

[Of the Quendi]

Woe to he who would provoke the ire of the Goddess, for she is quick to anger and slow to forgive.

~ Ruminations of the Philosophers ~

---

The Gardens of Pairidaeza lay quiet. Above the gardens flew a great multitude of celestial spirits whose luminescent ethereal bodies cast a pale light on the otherwise dark and still gardens. But these celestial spirits, the angels of Ishtarte, formerly of Maladi, was flying away from the gardens and their light grew dimmer as they removed themselves from the abode of the Dancer. Had there been people scaling the heights of Mount Pertho and looking upon the mighty decorated walls of the gardens they might have thought the place empty, or even in ruin. Along the walls few sentries was arrayed, all was motionless and silent. Yet it was the silence before the storm.

Standing atop the gatehouse of the main gate of the great walls Lungorthin the Baalarauko, suddenly let his whip dance through the air with causing a firestorm above the gate. Slowly, the gate started to open, pulled no doubt by a myriad of hands, and from within the gardens a light many times brighter than that caused by the great multitude of departing celestials, appeared and took form and shape. With a thunderous roar a lizard like firedemon, like a wingless dragon, galloped out of the gate. It pulled a mighty chariot of war, made of the finest materials and bedecked with fearsome weaponry. Atop the chariot her head held pridefully high stood Ishtarte the Destroyer, Queen of Queens of Demonkind, her body clad in steel and iron. On her back hang a great shield with the markings of Pertho the Destroyer and in her right hand the Chaosborn held his mighty mace, which she had thieved from him in his sleep during the war. Ishtarte the Destroyer swung this mighty mace, the Hammer of Hell, thrice above her head in triumph and suddenly the walls of her Pairidaeza was covered with all manner of demon and spirits cheering their illustrious mistress with each swing of her weapon.

The demonic queen laughed pridefully at her multitude of servants, delighted to have donned the uniform of war once more. "Dryadalis the diseased, dare assault my servants as they engage the forces of Elysium in worthy struggle for the honor of Gehenna." The Chaosborn howled. The crowds on the walls booed and hissed. Ishtarte shook her hammer threateningly. "A treacherous coward." She imperiously declared. "Who in Elysium, Gehenna or Aether could begrudge me if I should have my vengeance upon this god of filth? But I am Ishtarte the ever-merciful. I go no to Pandemonium, to Bedlam, to bring my grievances against the disease-addled degenerate, to Yxarus and have of him my satisfaction." Ishtarte roared.

And with that, to the thunderous applause of her faithful myriads, she prodded her fire breathing lizard demon onward. The demon pulled her mighty chariot and in a wild ride they chased down the sloped of Mount Pertho, crushing all under the wheels of the chariot. The Queen of Queens was unstoppable in her wild rage and in her eyes the very void that was the chaos of whence she came could be perceived, threatening to devour the whole of existence. Thus Ishtarte the Destroyer came, alone and unbidden, to the abode of Yxarus, charging straight towards the deity itself.

"Might Yxarus." She roared at the god as she came upon him. "You who are called Paramount Lord of Gehenna. I come to you to seek satisfaction. Dryadalis, a god of little consequence or worth who nevertheless calls Gehenna home, has attacked my followers, demonic spirits that are, as you and I, spawned of chaos, and slain many of their number even as they fight against your foe Tyspater and all of Elysium. Mighty Yxarus, I have come to demand justice." Ishtarte pridefully, yet politely, declared. She cared not much for Yxarus to say the least, yet still she was ready to respect the hierarchy of Gehenna. "What, mighty Yxarus, will you do about this transgression by the god of disease?" The Chaosborn demanded, eyeing Yxarus with suspicion, unsure of whether she could expect any sort of justice from a the malevolent deity.

[Cainesland]

Charnysus pushed off from the pier. The paddle dipped into the water launching the boat and creating a wake as the paddle swept. The river opened into a “T” shape up ahead. An option to go forward was present, as was an option to go left towards the rock wall. The rock wall is similiar to the cavern he care from and had another whirling black portal swirling in place. The paddle was brought from the right side of the craft to the left and pushed hard upon to sail towards the mountain.

[Triassica]

Yxarus, The Great Anarch

Yxarus sat on his throne, his mid arms folded, his lower arms holding glass of wine, while the upper arms rubbed his neck. He was alone now, waiting for the message of his new servant. When Anansi answered, his smile grew into a smirk, finding amusement in his capture. Of course, Yxarus never truly trusted the Trickster God, knowing what he was and most likely nodded.

"I still have need of yet, Anansi. he spoke back to the traitor, "Your release shall be soon and you shall receive your reward....

Yxarus's eyes suddenly narrowed as someone came before his throne. It Ishtarte, so-called child of Chaos and Queen of Darkness. She had been a thorn in his side for eons, seeking to overthrow him, and yet she come to him for aid? Yxarus bent down towards her, his three glowing eyes glaring at her with maleficent intent, and towering as a giant compared to giants, darkening Ishtarte in his shadow.

I would most love to help you, young child of chaos. Never do I abandon the followers of discord and mayhem, but, pray tell, why should I help you... rival? Yxarus asked with absolute venom in his voice, You seek my aid and yet at the same time you have been plotting to take over my realm, seeing me as unfit to rule. Tell me why I shouldn't have you banished from Gehenna forever? Or cast you into the Valley of Madness for Torment? There cannot a power struggle for the Throne of Gehenna! I, Lord Yxarus, the Great Anarch, forbids it!

Answer me, young child.

[Of the Quendi]

You shall bear false witness against your neighbor.

~ Apocryphal commandment excluded from the Lilithine Canon ~

---

Though alone in the lair of a deity she did not call friend Ishtarte held her head high in pride as she stood before the throne of Yxarus and under the shadow of its its towering brutish occupant. Her two eyes, empty as a void, met the malice-filled gaze of his three without fear. The demoness even rolled them mockingly as Yxarus patronized her, her the first of imimoya, the begetter of all things, by calling her young. Yet but for this impertinence Ishtarte maintained the appearance of politeness as the master of Gehenna berated her for her supposed disloyalty and ambition.

As the enemy of creation demanded she answer for her supposed crimes Ishtarte waved her hand, the one that did not wield her hammer, dismissively. "Here is your answer lord of Gehenna." Ishtarte declared. "You charge me with seeking to usurp your throne and claim this realm for mine own? That is a lie." Ishtarte lied. She did so effortlessly, seeming even to be genuinely insulted at the implication. Thus could only those lie, who, at least in the moment, believed their own lie. "I care not for Gehenna, for Pandemonium even less. My abode is splendorous as none else in this realm or any other realm. With it I am content." Ishtarte proclaimed. "Whoever told you that I plot for your crown lied, and I shall have their head, mounting them on the battlements of my home that the world may know that one does not slander the honor or deny the might of Ishtarte the Destroyer." The demon queen raged.

She looked up on the enthroned monster before her and, in a moment of uncharacteristic introspection she pondered his charge against her. Ishtarte, Empress of Gehenna? It had a ring to it. So the goddess spoke again. "Have I ever thought you unfit to rule Lord?" Was her words. "Never!" She lied once more. "Never till this moment, when I come before you and report the vilest of treacheries committed by Dryadalis against me, and you have not a word of rebuke against him but many against me. Is this how Gehenna is run? Shall each being that here abide be free to do as they please absent leadership from you anarch? Had I known it so, I would not have come to Pandemonium but to Malleus Maleficarum and laid waste to it and Gehenna should be at war, had you preferred that Lord, for it may yet be if I am denied justice from your hand?" Ishtarte pridefully declared.

"You say you never abandon the followers of discord and mayhem lord, yet as we speak my troops engage with your foe Tyspater who, absent the efforts of my myriads, would soon enough beset this very seat of yours. As bravely my troops engage the greatest of your foes Dryadalis betrays them to Elysium and prove himself a foe of chaos and demonkin and Gehenna." Ishtarte declared waving her hand around in admonishment as she delivered what she perceived to be a rousing speech. "If to this outrage you have nothing to say Lord Yxarus, perhaps it was better that you cast me out into this valley of yours. From thence I could then watch Gehenna fall to Tyspater's hordes knowing that I at least did my part to prevent such a fate." The demoness said.

"But." She then declared, reaching the conclusion of her speech. "If your hue is to fight your enemies and not your friends, if you will pay no heed to malicious slander and lies and if you will not suffer your serfs to attack your allies, I ask once more for justice for my people and punishment for my attacker." Ishtarte said, slamming her mace down onto the floor of Bedlam for dramatic effect. She gazed up upon the throned sovereign of Gehenna, pondering how he would respond. Despite her words Ishtarte had no intention of willingly being confined to some sordid valley in Pandemonium. If she was to be cast out of Gehenna, well she could bear that, but confinement to some prison in Yxarus's abode she would not suffer. Then she was rather more inclined to fight her way out of Gehenna and find allies more worthy of her friendship than a deity that could not be relied upon to keep his own people from fighting among themselves as his enemies gathered. Perhaps Tyspater could become an ally? The God obviously had some power and if he ever conquered Gehenna he would presumably need a governor or viceroy to rule in his place?

[Cainesland]

The wall of whirling black swirled around. Charnysus pushed his way through the portal, soon appearing on the other side in his realm. <Dorthomir> he thought to himself. In front of him was an island. A towering mountain sat on his right, surrounded by oak trees at its base and cloaked in a curtain of clouds near the top. Fishing boats patrolled the island current looking for fish or other types of seafoods.

A warm breeze blew through the air as Charnysus approached. "Hello" A voice called out. Looking down it was a merman. His tail glistened in a variety of greens and blues in the daylight. "Hello, sir". Charnysus replied in acknowledgement, giving a wave as he did so. Charnysus made his way closer to the island. As he approached, an opening seemed to present itself near the center of the island. A bay developed, no longer concealed by the trees. On either side of the bays opening a statue looked on. The left statue appeared as a man with goat legs and goat horns dressed like a legionnaire, and on the right a merman dressed as a hoplite.

On the shores of the bay, a town sprawled out. Numerous docks enclosed the shoreline. Sailing ships remained docked. Each ship had the symbol of Dorthomir on their sail, as well as a smaller flag that showed their guild or tribe or family allegiance.

As Charnysus sailed down river past the town, the image of a thousand people milling about buying, selling or trading their goods or services stood out. A large statue of his aspect that assisted Charnysus with being the patron of sailors and fishers was erected in the marketplace.

The river was calm and even keeled, taking Charnysus past woodlands, farmlands, herds of cattle and goats, orchards of olives and grapes, and a few towns and villages. The towns had something in common. They usually had a statue of the aspect that assisted with being patron of merchants. Steam from the bathhouses flew upwards, and the sounds of ringing bells filled the air as the hour marks passed in some of the towns.

Sturgeon swam around the bottom of his craft, and birds flew overhead occasionally. Wind ruffled the trees on the riverbank, and deer drank from the waters or villagers took turns fishing its banks.

The appearance of sheep and goats on the shorelines as well as orchards continued to increase more as Charnysus made his way inland. Soon a log cabin like structure appeared on the horizon. Large walls of timber logs crisscrossed on the land at the corner of where 2 main rivers met. The river he was sailing on, and the river that came down from mountain. Walkways adorned the top of the walls.

Charnyus soon tied up his craft at a pier and set off for his home. A cobblestone path led from the pier to the front entrance, surrounded by gardens. Greens, blues, yellows, and oranges all appeared in the garden. Inside the walls the garden continued. Here, on either side of the path, watermelon, pears, apples, oranges and mangos grew. The path wrapped around the outer edges of the courtyard, and Columns followed them. Tile roofs provided shade for the pathways in this area. A fountain greeted Charnysus near the front and a gazebo inhabited the central courtyard.

As Charnysus approached the gazebo two Ravens flew down to inform him of some of the goings on that have occurred in his realm and outside of his realm while he was away. He took a seat in the Gazebo as he was informed by the two birds. Occasionally the sight of the garden, or the fountain, or his Cabin like home would peer into his view while he listened.

[Ralioskener]

Aurikan sheathed his sword as Illiya descended before him, his expression crunching into that of confusion. His head and legs continued to burn with heavenly fire, as did his eyes, which stared curiously at the fox creature as the deity listened to her offer. His metallic crown rotated above his head as he spoke.

"It is strange for me to receive spontaneous offers from strangers. I request to know you and your mistress's names before I can consider your offer, and also why she comes to me for knowledge. My work comes with trust and price." The transition from casual to formal speech was quite jarring for those surrounding.

[Arasi Luvasa]

Anansi spoke to the humans, a thin raspy voice issuing from his mouth parts now. Each word was slow and unsteady matching his legs which appeared to quiver under his weight. “Help me please, mortals.”

“It speaks” One of them exclaimed.

“Yes, and I can offer you salvation. A chance at an easier life. An immortal life” it rasped “doing so should be of aid to me, will you help me?”

There was some argument between the members of the group, finally, a man spoke up. “Who are you? what are you?”

“I am the first, the original.” Anansi said “I am the originator of the imimoya yokoquala and the imimoya ephukile, the father of all creation who was trapped here by his children at the dawn of creation. I was imprisoned because they lusted after my power, greater than their own but not greater than their combined strength. Smite the usurpers and I will gain my freedom, making this a perfect garden without pain or suffering.”

He then spoke to each individually, invoking their secret desires so as to pull them to his whims. “With these blades, slay my children and you shall gain immortality”
“Slay my children, cut them with this blade and you can claim for yourself a soul to bequeath a child unto your union.”
“Slay my children, take Humanus life and from his power you shall be elevated unto godhood.”

Again he spoke to all, though they perceived his words to have always been to them all. “My children could only ever unite on one goal, to bind me here. I watched as many died here, felt the binds lessening on me then. As you go and seek out the traitors,send more of your kind unto me and I shall equip them to aid you in this task.”

Finished the god spun out a number of thin blades, silvery-white and vaguely like a web. Each radiated a strange power,at once both nauseating and irresistible to mortals. Only Irina did not take the blade, a man beside her holding on to it presumably for her instead. The group headed out to obtain their varied goals.

---

“I am Iliya, and that is as much as I can say without an agreement. All other information belongs to my mistress at this moment.” The creature responded. “My name is my own to share, but if you wish to know my mistresses name before agreeing then you shall need to agree to another sharing of information. Even letting you know my mistresses gender may be grounds for punishment. Should you agree, I will obviously need to divulge her name so that you do not rebuke her when she comes calling.

[Ralioskener]

He gazed at Illiya as he picked his next words.

"So, if you tell me what those creatures are, I will grant your mistress a single question, yes? And if I have her name, she will have one more question?" It was a simple deal, but Aurikan still felt the doubt and insecurity seeping inside him. This could be a trick by some daemon or mortal to gain knowledge in order to attempt a rebellion or slaying against the gods.

"An answer for an answer are the terms I will accept. Also understand that there are some secrets that I do not, or cannot reveal in the interest of the safety of the universe. If you accept these terms, tell me your mistress's name and what those creatures are."

[Arasi Luvasa]

"The terms are acceptable," Illiya answered with a curt nod. "The creatures are called Vexilifers, recent creations of the god Drydalis whose domains include plague and war. As I have witnessed: they were created briefly before this became a battle, when Typaster and his fleet were chasing demons. They are plague demons and behaving very much like demons but propagating like a disease, bursting from their dead victims so as to infect new beings."

"When my mistress, Minastauriel goddess of beauty and queen of Tir na Nog, comes calling know that you have agreed to share your information with her. Do not be so foolish as to break your agreement, nothing good will come of it." As she spoke the last sentence, Iliya was already back in flight with the flames now level to Aurikan's eyes. "We may meet again, only time will tell." With the last word spoken, Iliya disappeared from view though flapping could still be heard as she moved away from the Divine Eye to continue her duties.

[Arasi Luvasa]

Many gods had gathered at Minastauriel's call, all sorts of deities came to discuss the unfolding problems following Anansi's betrayal. Most of these were wazee roho who remembered their past life, others were simply wazee roho who desired to maintain reality or felt angered that they (or their “forefather”) was betrayed. Luckily many of the imimoya yokuqala also attended, though Minastauriel's feared that some may in fact be from the destroyers faction.

If one were to look at the gathering, it would probably be considered a rather peculiar sight with God's appearing as deer, bears, reptiles, birds, eldritch things and humans all gathered together in relative peace. There was, of course, some conflict and some disagreements but that had little effect on the meeting as a whole.

The gathering was moved to a distant field, far from both Anansi's massacre and Maria's resting place, which Humanus aided Minastauriel's in restoring so that she could hold her meeting. In recognition of his assistance in setting up this meeting, he was seated beside the holder to the right and Kyokai offered a seat to the left. Minastauriel sat upon a lofty throne, grown from a silver-leaf tree bearing all sorts of fruit which it could not naturally produce. Her hood was up as she slept, not a sound escaping from her, and more guests arrived. While Anamara would usually take advantage of such a time, Humanus presence, as well as that of the other gods, created a problem. Anamara did not wish to make it known that she was but a part of Minastauriel, she did not wish to be thought of as but a fragment of a greater goddess and so she maintained the goddess of beauty sleeping upon the tree.

Though neither time nor sun yet existed, at least not in a way modern man could fathom for the prior, the mistress of divine law awoke at the appointed moment. “Be still everyone.” she said, her quiet voice projected throughout the crowd “You all know why we have gathered here, we have noticed something is off with our world. Some of you may only be aware of the effects radiating from the epicentre of this issue, specifically that the world is lacking in some of the detail and depth it once had…” Minastauriel sighed as she removed her hood, her sparkling eyes staring through those gathered before her. She had never imagined that she would be doing this, speaking before the gods or acting as their de facto leader nevermind both at once. “... The truth is unfortunately far more dire. As some of you may have noticed; before realms seemed to maintain themselves through their own energy. That is no longer true, I don't know how but whatever it is that Anansi did has left us with profound issues that I believe were unintentional. The communal realm itself is not fading, we are all still passively keeping it in existence but it's characteristics are tied to our individual planes. Trees have lost definition because Yavvana is no longer with us as one of the imimoya yokuqala to maintain it. Yes certainly she could maintain it as a wazee roho but that would require most of her power, reducing her to a difficult to kill immortal. The same is true of many planes, an entire plane seems difficult for a wazee roho to maintain so Kyokai has suggested a wise alternative. There are a few of us left who are still imimoya yokuqala, who can still maintain an entire plane of existence and still maintain divine levels of power. Sister Kyokai has suggested that we host their planes, or a fragment of their planes as a smaller realm, within our own plane. At times it seems Typaster the master of Elysium and one of the destroyers already do this. I am offering a plane of my own to do the same, a plane called the Aether with Tir na Nog as my realm within the centre. All will be welcome for from my plane shall your realm maintain its influence on Awiase.”

“Can’t force Anansi to fix this?” a diety from the crowds shouted out “I mean he started all of this, he'll know how to fix it.”

“Then we can punish him for his betrayal. He is as bad, no worse than the imimoya yokuqala.” one of the wazee roho shouted out in agreement. Suddenly the audience burst out in shouts and arguments as to what should be done.

Sheepish, Minastauriel looked to the side. Her old friend had stood up now from his throne. “AND DO YOU KNOW WHERE ANANSI IS NOW?” he bellowed “without that knowledge nothing we plan including him has any meaning. For all we know the imimoya ephukile have broken him already, he has not been seen since then. Let Minastauriel speak, she has looked into this situation and has formulated an idea of how to combat the issues at hand.”

“Thank you Humanus. As I was saying, I doubt Anansi intentionally altered the functionality of the realms, thus I don't believe he will be of any aid in repairing the damage. The solution I gave before is only part of the plan, however. We need to take out the imimoya ephukile after we stabilize Awiases environment. So all the planes ruled by a wazee roho must be constricted into a smaller realm and hosted within the plane of one of us imimoya yokuqala. Any others willing to host planes should make this known as well, wazee roho begin moving your realms to the planes opened up to you. I shall deal with any unowned planes that remain.”

Unknown to the gods, the time Minastauriel used to research the damage done to the realms allowed roughly three-hundred mortals to gather weapons from Anansi. The knowledge seekers had avoided the ichor-soaked fields, so the goddess of knowledge knew nothing of what occurred there over and over again. The gods appearing in drips and trickles allowed the theocidal mortals to gather ready to ambush the gods at their weakest. The meditative state which was used to downsize and transfer realms proved the perfect opportunity to the mortals.

Once they were certain of their opportunity, the god-slayers rushed their victims. Thin web-blades slashed at wazee roho, imimoya yokuqala and imimoya ephukile alike. A similar attack accompanied another gathering of imimoya ephukile, destroyer gods who were planning to hasten the destruction of Awiase and the rest of creation.

A mortal managed to take a blade to both gods at Minastauriel's sides, the mortal meant to attack her being stunned by her beauty and unable to strike. Kyokai, as one of the wazee roho was unaffected by the blade which was made specifically to harm primordial beings. Humanus was not so lucky, falling prey to the greed of his own children the gods flesh collapsed on itself into the form of a glowing sphere. He screamed in agony and golden flames seared the air around his broken body.

Humanus’ screams of agony jolted Minastauriel back into focus, instantly she released a wave of power knocking back the mortals attacking the gods seated above the rest. “NO!” she screamed as she looked upon what had happened to the last of her mentor figures. The goddess of beauty sank to her knees sobbing, her tiny pet dragon Lindiwe the black fluttered to protect its mistress. Minastauriel cried deep sobs as she grieved her latest loss. Another foolish human decided to use this opportunity to harm her, to ‘kill’ her. Lindiwe was about to take action when the mortal began to scream as ghostly blue flames erupted from his skin and lungs. Fire engulfed the man and went to leap from man to woman to child indiscriminately.

In their lust for power, the mortals had created a new being to fear. The once innocent Minastauriel flew from deep sorrow to a terrible still anger. Not one word escaped her lips, her cold eyes looked dead into the void as mortals now began to scream in utter agony, their bodies burning in a fire that would never consume them nor die. The goddess of law drew herself up to her full height, sapphire flames licking her calves as is burned the ground beneath. Minastauriel raised an arm, tearing it upwards and the burning mortals moved with her gesture.

Like their poor victims, the mortals were contorted into orbs alight but for them, the process was utter agony as bones broke and cracked. Flesh ripped and sewed itself together with sickening sloshing sounds as the mush of tissue swam about in their rounded bodies. Each moment their flesh still sizzle and healed as an unending punishment for their sins. As their bodies were mutilated they began to float into the sky, now darkened with the rest of the world without the five gods of light to be near. Never again would the light illuminate all things as it once had, instead it must reach them from the skies. Galatea, Hyperion, Apollo, Ra and Amaterasu were converted into spheres producing incredible amounts of lights and heat. The other gods became softer glows, save Humanus and several others (Selena, Tsyukiyomi, Artemis, Khonsu, Shu, Celestia and Telperion) who became like silent spherical mirrors once the flames died away.

“minastauriel” the goddess heard whispered, “minastauriel can you hear me”.

“What,” she replied, there was no more gentleness in her voice, only frigid ice. “Who are you!”

“i am humanus, your old friend. i cannot change, my ability to exert force on this world has been greatly restricted.” the orb lamented “we need you to take our planes into your aether, all of us imimoya yokuqala need you to take our realms into your realm for we can do very as we are now. those blades, there is something wrong with them, they seem to specifically harm imimoya yokuqala.”

“No, there must be something I can do.” Minastauriel sobbed as she hugged to silver orb closest to her. “I don't want to lose you as well. Please Humanus, there must be something.”

“no time for that my dear, awiase needs you right now. you and typaster are all that is left. we can serve in other ways, the lights of the world. we can serve as soul-forges and guardians to cower the imimoya yokuqala but we cannot sustain awiase nor can we create anything material.” Humanus responded, his voice was forlorn “we have resigned ourselves to this my friend, but you must act quickly. only three planes can remain, including gehenna, with only you three primordial remaining. awiase must be smaller and exist within the void. we will protect it.”

“Humanus…”

“do not cry child, this is not goodbye. i will not be gone like maria, thandiswa or sumaiya. I will be in the skies, where you can always come to speak with me.” The imimoya yokuqala raised themselves with that, the eight placing themselves opposite to gods of light in the night sky. The mirroring gods stayed closer to the world, like the gods of Light and they would become the moons and suns respectively. Those who were further became the other planets, glow less hidden guardians. The moons, merely reflecting their kind light, also took the primary role of constantly creating souls to birth mortal life. Barreness would now be a curse, not merely an oversight by the gods. The thousand mortals were bound in the sky as a lesson against angering Minastauriel, eternally suffering stars cast against the darkness.

Minastauriel continued to cry, even with her friend's last words she could not shake the loneliness and loss she now felt. Still, she forced herself to do what needed to be done. All the realms that were left were turned into smaller realms and scattered throughout the Aether. Many wazee roho had already transferred their realm, formerly whole planes, into the Aether while some would seek out the hospitality of either Elysium or Gehenna.

Then Minastauriel began to do something similar to Awiase. Mortals would, of course, need to be preserved, so would the places of great significance. Anansi's Treachery, Maria's Cove and the Azure Plains (as Minastauriel named the field) amongst many other places. The seas were also kept, along with many lakes and rivers. The process of turning the infinite plane of Awiase into a finite planet was a difficult and long task, it took much out of Minastauriel luckily some of the knowledge seekers were present. The vixen creatures would guard their mistress until five dragons arrived to relieve them (sent from the cove). With the round world, Minastauriel transformed the plane of Awiase into, night and day had come into being with five suns in the day sky and eight moons in the night.

Scared in the trees, the mortals who did not participate waited. They feared that more terrible things would befall them if they fled, deciding that it would be better to own up to their near mistake rather than have it discovered later and face Minastauriel’s wrath then. Irina, the god-eater and sole member to have never desired to attack the gods, lay in wait with them and counsled them. She dispaired when some chose to flee into the night for fear knowing that it was pointless to attempt to hide from the goddess. In her womb grew the source of her newfound great wisdom, a child born of a mortal soul but with the flesh of the gods. The meat consumed by Irina transformed her child into the first of it’s kind, the roho mdogo or younger gods. Soon afterwards more would come into action, rarely did the souls of dead mortals inhabit the discarded divine flesh but many of the excess souls, created by the moons and suns in their early days of the new task, found refuge in this flesh when they could find no fetus to bring to life.

[Endem]

The Freak God Hyztlet
The procession of holy beasts went onward, it was made of all insects the size of a man's chest and at the start, there were the four blessed ants, on top of them stood their leader and savior Hyztlet if any of the blessed fails it will be tore into shreds the procession approached the palace of Yxarus...

( say what you want but mine god knows how to make an entrance in style )

No God or Mortal knew it was coming, maybe except Yxarus himself, but the gates opened wide as the procession rolled inside every wall and ceiling every being in their way was submerged in the wave finally the procession approached Yxarus himself and Hyztlet spoke to the Imimoya Yokuqala that sent messengers to its realm

" I have received the messengers you sent and complied with them and in doing so my realm joined Gehenna as a next scale on the serpent but even if I made a poor decision I wish to have freedom over your orders if you say yes the scale that is now my realm will be made of material as strong as a diamond but if you say no the scale shall be a pain and my armies of insects the size you see here will attack and the force shall purge all because of my subjects being more than a man could count in his lifetime if he counted from the second he was born to the very second he dies, and so the great anarch what is your choice"

With these words Hyztlet stood before the god and stand there he will with insects that participating in his procession willing to give their live for him and a million was there at least being only a fraction of a fraction of Hyztlet armies.

[Ralioskener]

HOW THEY SLEW GODS

---

Aurikan was one of those who actually attended to Ministauriel's call, since he was quite bored and interested in the divine matters at hand. He had arrived in his beast form, but took on his usual winged and fiery appearance as the meeting started. He was not very active early on, sipping on a drink and having a chat with a few of the gods that joined the meeting as well.

He listened curiously to Ministauriel's speech, and indeed, what she had said had been true. The color and joy he felt radiating in the planes had started to dull, though he had not been able to put a finger on it until now. The personal planes of many gods had also seemed to weaken, as Aurikan saw during his travels. He had already taken the wise measure of placing his personal realm directly in Elysium, though it had been a very troublesome process to fit it in naturally with the terrain of Tyspater's domain. He was content with his personal situation, and did agree with Ministauriel's suggested course of action. In addition to this, the Divine Architect did not join in with the vengeful cries of the others, though he loathed Anansi just as much as them, and certainly he would allow himself to perform his duties as the deity of revenge against the traitor if given the chance.

Suddenly, the thundering of feet, and the cries of mortals. The humans armed with the blades of Anansi rushed at the gathering of gods, and as Aurikan realized the situation, he drew his sword and unleashed terror upon those that attempted to kill him. He slashed quickly through the assassins, valuing efficiency and speed in his style of combat, moving from one godslayer to another in hopes of assisting the other deities as well. Aurikan was completely immune to the blades, as they were not meant to kill wazee roho.

Then the chaos of battle, or rather a disorganized massacre, faded away, and Aurikan was left to sit in utter shock with his brethren. It was a terrible loss, thirteen primordials sealed away as suns and moons, and the great Humanus among them. Aurikan gave out a single, solemn profanity as he realized the devastating loss, staring at the five suns and eight moons that were once gods.

With the loss taken, and with no time to mourn, Aurikan assisted Ministauriel with the transformation of Awiase into a planet, making sure that there were no errors or accidents during the process, preserving important areas that the mortals needed. And as the ends of the sphere finally forged together, the deity stared solemnly at the universe that had been created. He felt it, a new age dawning on all the beings in existence. Heaven and earth, and all planes were reborn.

Thus Aurikan called upon a small group of his followers, and he went across the high skies of Awiase, so all could see, and cried out;
"Sacrificed, and staked up to the heavens they were! Their names are now carved in sky, and kept alive! Holy holy holy, Godheads forever!"

And with the blowing of trumpets, and beating of divine drums, he and the procession faded back to Elysium.

[Ruskland-Preuben]

At The World's Birth

She had been summoned.

Kyokai had been called by her sibling Minastauriel for a meeting about the issues that plagued the communal realm, and what to do in order to fix it. She payed no attention, the sound waves simply floated into her ear and soaked up by her brain, to be archived in the depths of the great library that was her mind. Her ego was appealed to once her alternative solution was called wise, and she listened slightly more attentively. Well, for a few moments, a sibling had spoken out of the crowds, and someone had replied. Before she knew it, the place had devolved into loud shouting and arguing. Then it was ended as quickly as it came with Humanus' shouting quite loudly. Now that was something that piqued her interest in the talks again. It seemed to be interesting, something about taking out the imimoya yokuqala, now that, was something that she would have to partake in if ever it occurs.

She was about to begin speaking when suddenly, surprise! Theocidal mortals swarming the congregation like ants. Ants, no, that wouldn't be hers to invent, unfortunately. Then, as the fighting grew heavier, disaster struck, Humanus was absorbed into some sort of orb, and that made the thing that she saw festering within her sister's soul break free. The mortals slain were killed in an instant, then revived, then killed once more in a more painful fashion. She saw gods turn into suns and moons. It had extreme contrast, the horror of Anamara's birth and the beauty of creation. And between contrast, was boundaries, and so she reveled in it, slaying mortal after mortal with their own weapons.

Something must've changed within her sister, and she could hear what was causing it, well, faintly anyway, but it was definitely Humanus' voice, whispering to Minastauriel/Anamara. Her sibling began weeping, and the slain mortals, more specifically their souls, flew upwards into the air and complemented the suns and moons, they were undying stars, an eternal reminder of what occurred on this fateful day. Her sibling was also working upon the world, and she assisted her. The formerly infinite plane of Awiase was turned into a finite world, and she shifted the boundary of the infinite and finite to help Minastauriel out. And the boundary of night and day was established. Then the younger gods were born, the roho mdogo.

She was doing something else amongst all this creation, gathering the weapons of those slain mortals. And forging them into a new weapon of unparalleled killing potency, something she would bring out in the most desperate of times. Then she hunted down the remaining mortals that dared strike against the gods, and she captured twenty-one men. Bringing them to her realm, what she would do about them, only she knew. But it would be glorious, the end result to all of this, she told herself mentally.

[Toaslandia]

Dryadalis held the mortal with his hand, smiling at it. A Vexillifer had brought the poor thing to Malleus Maleficarum, and it died instantly upon inhaling the Plague. Dryadalis stood, still holding the limp body of the mortal and pulled some of the Plague to his hand, and then pushed the Plague into the dead human's body. The human then started to convulse horribly, it's limbs distorting and creaking, until it began to move. It was not alive in the technical sense, since it's soul had moved on, but its body was the vessel of the Plague, and it acted similarly to the Vexillifers, except it was slightly more intelligent and could learn. Dryadalis smiled under his helm and said to it, "I think I will call you Inmortuae. Not one of you will be alike, as to instill fear in the mortals. But you, as my first Inmortuae, will lead them. Go, and spread your infection upon the mortals, until not one of them remains!" He then dropped the Inmortuae down to the mortal plane, and laughed ominously.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Austris
The Skies of Elysium
(post-timeskip)

Austris skims Elysium’s azure air, winds holding her and thrusting her forward at immense speed, all at her own command. Flight isn’t something that she’s fully used to, misty hair and cloak billowing forwards as the current slightly outpaces her, pulling at her side, but it is swift. That, for the moment, is what she needs.

Besides, not being used to this is hardly exceptional. The great shifts that so many amongst the Golden Fleet had been talking of even at her departure had had little effect on her; there wasn't much that she had truly understood beforehand, after all.

She scans the land below once again as it fades into view, searching. Tyspater had been kind enough – boisterous, commanding, but kind enough – but though the archives of his ships had been of some help, it was clear that they were no grand repository of knowledge as she needed. For that, she would need to go elsewhere, she had been informed.

I am ‘wazee roho’, ‘titan’, ‘shattered one’ – ‘elder’. So I am told. She shakes her head. Labels, collective ones at that. They are not I. Nor is she simply some instantiation of the Storm, as she had briefly considered might be true; though she keenly feels its absence even as she still has a sensation of its continued existence deep within her being, it has not followed her, the mighty tempest fading back into what she had come to understand was the Aether as she had searched. No, she is something else, something more complex, something that she must find out.

Her memory does not serve her, of course, locked away as it is by chaos that she will not enter. But then, perhaps the former need not remain that way. She still knows little as of yet and it would be rash to make assumptions.

Austris’ gaze returns to the horizon – and spots something, blips, tiny mounds upon the line between sky and ground. She senses a certain shape to them, a hard squareness and orderliness of unnatural sort, even as she angles her flight. As her hope rises that she has found her destination – Only a target as of now, she reminds herself – an idle part of her wonders how she did so.

That part is easily overwhelmed as she closes and the hope rises further, some giving way to relief and confidence. Great ziggurats jut towards the sky, seemingly hewn from mountains, for their size is super-monumental. The land seems drawn towards these stone monoliths as if they are some great nexus – and Austris is pleased, for a nexus is just what she requires.

The air, of course, is not drawn to these structures; Austris nonetheless looses her carrying gust, the currents dissipating as she falls towards the buildings.

Perhaps a signal, to let him know that I am here.

And so she raises her arm and a great jagged crack of lightning rends the sky as Austris lands in a pulse of wind, cloak of grey spilling and flickering across the polished floor atop the highest peak of the Hetnu Reian, domain of the one called ‘Aurikan’.

[Cainesland]

A few things had occurred in the period before the meeting. In his realm, Charnysus has been informed about current events and purchased a duck. After that he, and some Satyrs, escorted the fallen of the realms of Typatsr and the dark realm back to their deities realms. Third, Charnysus met with Humanus to create the next batch of humans. This last activity is what would lead up to the meeting.

The meeting

Charnysus was one of the first to be at the meeting, together with Humanus and Minastaurial. He had brought food, drinks and welcome letters that contained greetings and an agenda for the meeting. He placed the letters at the entrance for each deity to pick up.

Charnysus came to the meeting in his Human form, wearing a brown robe. Charnysus spent some time mingling with the primordials as they came in, and the other elder deities, discussing current events and how they were doing. Overall, the meeting seemed to be going well. One notice that could be brought about could be the attire of the crowd, some were human some were animals. Minastaurial seemed to have started the evening by taking a nap, but shortly before the beginning of the event taking a seat. The seat was a throne Charnysus had fashioned for her out of a tree years before.

“Be still everyone” Charnysus heard Minastaurial say, and the meeting began. The first order of Business was addressing the effects of the poison and the resulting fading realms. There was a small chatter around Anansi before Humanus put it down. It seemed the indication was that people should start moving their planes to those of the primordials. Charnysus had already moved his plane to the plane overseen by Minastaurial, however her laws were pretty strict. There was consideration about moving to the realm to the plane of Typeter.

It wasn’t long before a wave of humans carrying spears rushed the crowd of deities.

Charnysus raised his arms, causing a wall of ice to form around the middle square on three sides. The wall helped insulate those in the middle from further waves of humans, and channel them to the primordials who could make an easier time of the humans.

He stomped his foot causing vines to sprout from the floor and ice wall, attaching themselves to the intruders. The vines began pulling some of the humans on either side of the ice wall up into the air, helping to thin the group for the primordials. Inside the ice wall the vines helped to hinder the movement of the attackers.

Charnysus summoned a suit of Armour and a Cohort of 80 Satyrs in armour from his realm. The Satyrs covered the unoccupied part of the ice wall. The Satyrs threw their javelins at the enemy, and then moved forward, defending the deities from the invaders and forcing the invaders into a smaller and smaller space. The fighting with the invading humans was not a good sight. Satyrs defending deities were falling, humans lay on the ground and even some of the elder deities had lost consciousness or been lost to the battle.

At first Charnysus fought beside the Satyrs as well. He froze enemies, flooded their ground, fought them with a gladius, and turned some to plants. However, midway through the battle he noticed that behind him the primordials were losing ground. It appeared that the enemies weapons were not meant to harm him or the Satyrs or the other elder deities. The weapons were probably designed to harm fully powered elder deities aka primordials. Charnysus summoned 1 hydra to each channel to assist the primordials with the waves of humans.

Soon the battle turned and the humans on the inside of the ice wall were defeated and the forces inside the ice wall pushed out to take on the forces outside the ice wall. Together the deities pushed out the humans, but the cost could be seen. Humanus was morphing into a sphere and 12 others followed suit. Charnysus let the hydras return to the mortal realm and the Satyrs return to the realm of Dorthomir.

Surveying the scene it was regretful that the battle had the cost that it did. Many of the good primordials had been restricted. However, many of the bad ones had also been restricted. Those mortals that were not frozen or turned into plants might have had the worst fate of the 3. Minastaurial put them on fire and began turning them into orbs as well.

As Minastaurial began to try and reform the mortal realm into a finite area, Charnysus tried to help. He assisted with the waters, both in the seas and inland, to try and preserve them and preserve his creations, both sentient and non-sentient. Charnysus also helped with the plant life so that his plant creations of vegetation, and the agricultural food of humans would be preserved. Ecosystems would thus be maintained hopefully.

[Ralioskener]

Aurikan
Hetnu Reian, Elysium

Among the hills, lavafalls and giant cliffs, the Divine Architecht was out travelling his domain. The diverse ecosystem of the area buzzed with natural energy, and Aurikan was pleased with his creation. He had created his realm as a paradise, and was seeking to expand the borders outwards to Elysium, in hopes of forming the lands outside as well.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky of the realm. Strange, as there was no storm. Aurikan looked up to the highest top of his mountain "staircase", spotting a humanoid figure standing atop it. Curious about this being, Aurikan took flight, his six black wings soaring through the skies towards where the being stood.

He landed before whom he now recognized as Austris, goddess of the Storm and winds. He had encountered her before, Tyspater's battle coming into mind, though they did not speak to eachother, so it was surprisingly she would enter his realm.

"Welcome to Hetnu Reian," Aurikan said, folding his wings. "You're Austris, right?"

[Triassica]

[quote="Triassica";p="35335829"]Yxarus, The Great Anarch

Yxarus's great central eye stared down at Ishtarte, boring into her as she defiantly defended herself against his accusations against her. The future was always in flux, with his won victory only assured by it, yet the chaosborn was still a loose cannon at this point. His smile grew and curved like a crescent moon with sharp teeth and sat up prostrate on his throne, but his eyes left her not. "Then you would be wise to remember your words till the end, Child." Yxarus boomed, "A new era may be upon us where I regin supreme over everything, yet I foresee a time where you must decide where your loyalties truly lie.

"That being said, as long as you follow my ways, I shall bring you as much aid as you desire" The Great Anarch continued, folding his six hands, "I shall provide you a Great and Terrible army for you to lead, and Dryadalis... shall be delt with. You may go now..."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Austris
Hetnu Reian

Austris raises her eyebrows, smiling in pleasant surprise. “I am. And you are Aurikan. We’ve fought together, I remember.” The great wings of black are hardly unrecognisable. The mess that is his similarly black hair isn’t either. The latter’s quite nice-looking, actually.

She blinks. What?

Focussing again, she speaks: “I’m here because I heard that Hetnu Reian was a place of knowledge.” Austris looks down to her hand. “There is so little of myself that I can say I understand…” She glances back up. “My intention is that I learn more; here, I can do it.”

She feels distinctly uncomfortable with the next part, but she pushes through regardless: “Moreover… I was also told that you weave dreams. There are parts of my mind that… That seem unstable. It is unpleasant.” Her eyes shine with determination. “Your help there will be invaluable. I will be grateful for it, I am sure.”

[Ralioskener]

Aurikan
Hetnu Reian

The god was surprised, and indeed intrigued by Austris' request, his eyes subtly becoming more active. He stared off for no more than a few moments as he processed the information.

"So you've come to me in order to find out more about yourself?" he gave a small sigh that seemed to indicate uncertainty. "Well, I'm not sure how exactly I can help you, but I'd be up to try. Hetnu Reian itself I created to express my creativity and thoughts, but I can look through my records in my Labyrinth if you want. Maybe there's, like, an origin for you there or something."

Aurikan shrugged, as such was the nature of the informal and sometimes absurd deity. His eyebrows perked up with a curious interest at the mention of dreams however, and the deity listened attentively as Austris poured out about her confusion and fear.

"...I can help you with this. Its a little.. strange that I'm doing this for someone I'm not really close to, but I'm more than glad to help with emotional issues. It won't be a burden on me at all, ey." Aurikan gave a small smirk, which was the god's way of showing reassurance.

"So, where'dya wanna start?"

[Of the Quendi]

Wicked is she, deceptive and full of guile; Ishtarte the Quarreler, full of trickery and taunts, and in her wake discord and strife shall thrive.

~ The Song of Ishtarte the Quarreler ~

---

Having delivered her speech to Yxarus Ishtarte, marveling at the sheer awesomeness of her own eloquence, had not expected the primordial god to be reasonable. The first words of his reply confirmed her suspicions and the Chaosborn rolled her eyes rather demonstratively as the Anarch, with paternalistic condescension, proclaimed his coming reign over all things as a certainty, and warned Ishtarte to remain loyal. She just about interrupted the other god and proclaimed her undying loyalty to herself. But then Yxarus changed his tone.

Ishtarte gazed up at the three-eyed god, who seemed rather transfixed on her features in turn, staring intently at her as he spoke, with a suspicious look as the god offered her an army she hadn't asked for but wasn't about to refuse and promised to "deal" with Dryadalis. As the Anarch stared at her as if she was the most beautiful thing he had ever beheld, which regardless of what the cunt Minastauriel might think was of course exactly what Ishtarte was, Ishtarte pondered his words trying to find hidden meaning, prevarication or treachery in them. Or failing that just something over which to take offense. The vagueness of the promise to "deal" with Dryadalis aside Ishtarte could not discern much to object to.

The goddess bit her lip ponderously. She had just gotten warmed up to a major argument with Yxarus and now he more or less just gave her what she wanted. It felt rather anti-climactic. For a moment it seemed the mercurial Empress of Hell was about to not take yes for an answer. But then she broke out in a warm laughter, her combative attitude dissipating almost instantaneously replaced by a far more charming and congenial demeanor. "Wonderful, wonderful oh great anarchic one." Ishtarte giggled. "A great and terrible army; and punishment for Dryadalis, you sure know how to spoil a girl, lord." Ishtarte declared. "Very well, I shall trouble you no more Anarch. I look forward to hear of how Dryadalis is made to suffer." Ishtarte declared, perhaps a tinge of venom in her sugary tone at her last words. If there was any help-meassure in punishment meted out to Dryadalis Ishtarte had no compunctions about personally attacking the god in his abode. Perhaps with this brand new army in tow?

Happy, Ishtarte took a few sensuous dancing steps before Yxarus's throne, before prancing towards the exit of the throne room to head home. Then she led out a defining scream the like of which ten thousand harpies could have not matched for intensity or pitch. She gave a mighty jump landing atop the backrest of Yxarus's throne, still shrieking and clawing to get away from the floor. "Eww, get them away from me, they are icky." She shrieked, waving the Hammer of Hell around maniacally, doing a not insignificant amount of damage to the interior of the Bedlam throne room. The cause of her melodramatic behavior was clear for all to see. Into Bedlam had come Hyztlet and his legions of bugs and insects. Paying the god himself no mind, Ishtarte swung her hammer menacingly against any of the creatures that came near her. "Gross." She once more shrieked.