Politics of the Divine - IC

[Aden Protectorate]

The Politics of the Divine

OOC

After the Great War in Heaven, all was good, and all was peaceful in the world of the divine. Long before all was good, and all was peaceful, their were only four gods, indestructible and primeval, their power being vast and great. We know them as the Divine Quadruplets. Their names having not been recorded, we only know them as the Earth-Mother, the Sun-Father, the Moon-Mother and the Hell-Father.

The origin of the Quadruplets is shrouded in the mists of eternity, for we know not how our world was created, all we know is that is the Nameless One who did it. This creature of horror who created the great beauty of out world is an ancient, dark, and terrifying being. We do know that when creating the world this monster also inadvertently formed the Quadruplets, who seeing the unsatisfactory qualities of their paterfamilias struck and cast him far into the darkness.

Using the powers stolen by them from the Nameless One, they filled in what the Nameless One had left unfinished before his departure from our world. They created animals, fish, birds, plants, insects and finally man, for every new aspect of their world that they created, a new god was born to rule that aspect, these were the New Gods. These Gods were subservient to the Quadruplets. They all agreed that man was exceptional. This bipedal creature was blessed with knowledge, and the skill to conquer his surroundings. Naturally to keep the natural order the Quadruplets had to suppress the instincts of man. Man was kept without knowledge, huddling in caves.

And so all was peaceful. However the New Gods soon grew discontent with the Divine Quadruplets and the rule that they imposed upon them. These primordial gods of nature ruled strictly and with great authority, they kept the natural order. Soon however the New Gods came to loathe the Divine Quadruplets, and they plotted to destroy their masters.

So the New Gods revolted against the Divine Quadruplets, the World of the Divine and the Natural World will were both thrown into chaos. They did this by creating the God of Wisdom, who gave man what he needed to throw off the oppressive yoke of his primitive rulers in the name of the New Gods.

Brothers fought against brothers, fathers against sons, sovereigns against subjects, nature against man. The world has been divided along the lines of their particular faith. Those who followed the Cult of the Moon-Mother fought in the name of the Quadruplets, and those who followed one of the various Cults of the New Gods, fought in the name of the New Gods. The natural order was destroyed, and man began to progress within days further than the caveman societies they had been limited too, creating kingdoms, crowning kings, minting coins and building armies.

Those men who aligned themselves under New Gods advanced into the Classical Era, achieving the technology of 50 B.C. within a matter of days. These new advanced men defeated and slaughtered the primitive savages who followed the Quadruplets, the remaining being banished to the farthest isles beyond the ocean. However, when the God of Wisdom was slaughtered and his essence cast into the darkness man stopped his rapid progression, and no longer could he advance - henceforth being stuck in the same technological era.

The war raged on for one-thousand-and-a-quarter years, soon however the Quadruplets became weary without any prominent following. They swore vengeance against the rebels and then divided their souls into ten pieces each, placing in them in indestructible vessels in the darkness beyond the sway of the Gods. The Most powerful of the New Gods would take up the domains of the defeated titans. The domains of the Earth-Mother, being to vast and numerous for one to manage, where subdivided infinitely. The Quadruplets are no longer an issue, as the Gods have long forgotten of their prophecy. And time has passed significantly since they foretold their return, and yet the Gods still stand empowered in Heaven.

You see the Quadruplets dealt in the reality, they did not revel in abstract concepts, for it was not the natural order of things, so only Hell existed, as the destination of all the dead. But as a reward for their followers who brought them to victory, the New Gods, now known as just the Gods, built Heaven. This lush and golden place is where the most pious warriors of the Gods could sit at the feet of their thrones. A place where there was not pain, or displeasure. This place was meant to be good, however, it has become as bureaucratic as Purgatory, with the massive population demanding an immense judgement system.

They bestowed many rewards upon their followers, like Magic, Writing, Metallurgy, Stone-masonry. Soon all these gifts became difficult to manage, and Heaven has become a decaying and decrepit mess.

The Gods are weak from there constant drama. In Heaven, there is a wedding almost everyday, and all are a huge incestuous family. There is also a divorce almost every day, from another marriage that is. It has been ten-thousand-years since the Quadruplets cast their curse, and opulence and greed has taken control - we can compare Heaven these days to the final days of Rome.

First the Nameless One gave way to the Quadruplets, and they gave way to the Gods. Who will the New Gods give way to? Will this eternal cycle be broken, or will you be cast into the outer darkness and be devoured by the Nameless One in his eternal loneliness and hunger. The stage is set for a dramatic battle of divine proportions.

---

---

Ava'eshthan was weary, he had been weary for thousands of years now. The Lion of Heaven, the Bringer of the Fires,
He Who Brings Light, the Eternal Inferno, the Divine and Holy Ava'eshthan had sat on the Sun-Throne on the highest peak of heaven for ten-thousand-years since he was elected at the last Heavensmoot, yet the Lion was saddened by guilt and the fire was dying. For you see, in the last war Ava'eshthan had slaughtered the Goddess of Truth and Knowledge, to prevent the extreme progress into an era of atheism which would see the rule of the Gods jeopardized.

Ever since the Rebellion that murder had haunted him, for the past seven-thousand years he had put at the back of his mind, devoting his tie to his own cult while Heaven crumbled under the corruption and decadence. He had seen Inzi recently, Order was weak, and the Lion of Heaven was sickened by the bilious and putrid opulence which he and the others swam in. He wanted to return to the Golden Age of Heaven, just after the Rebellion, when the idealism and optimism flourished and at the helm of this Era were victors.

Ava'esthan had ulterior motives to his actions. He would have to break the back of the current order to restore the Golden Era of stability. For you see, our world goes through many cycles of destruction and rebirth, you can see this pattern repeated with the Quadruplets and their master, the Nameless One, and then with the Rebellion Against the Quadruplets. Ava'esthan unceremoniously called in all the Gods, as the hundreds of them assembled before him he sighed - he was nervous, for the events to follow would throw Heaven out of balance, and the world would be thrown into a war not seen for ten-thousand years.

Ava'esthan mounted the Golden Sun-Throne, which when he sat on the throne it formed into a platform, so he could still sit on it in his divine-lion form. When Ava'esthan spoke his voice boomed across Heaven, it was deep as a roaring fire, yet as crisp and glorious as a white holy blaze. He was calm for even though the nature of the address he was about to give was, well...not very calming.

Ava'eshthan began to speak.

"Brethren! I have called you to Heaven to deliver an announcement which will change the course of Heaven and Peragon!"

Silence echoed throughout Heaven.

"Ten-thousand years ago we revolted against the Quadruplets, and you elected me as your King and the Steward of your home - since three-thousand years ago I have failed you, and Heaven is a mess.

Before I make my announcement, let it be know that to Rhonos, my most loyal companion I assign him to watch over the dominion of fire.

So it is such that I hereby resign the Kingdom of Heaven - and ascend unto the Sun."

With that, the longest King in history, with a reign of ten-thousand rose up in a beam of golden luminiscent light - he returned to the Sun. The sun was his own personal realm, where no other divine could go unto him. As he left the fires of heaven seemed to burn less brighter, and on Peragon the world entered winter. In the taiga and boreal forests frost came and mountains it began to snow more (there was already snow there). The deserts, while still scorching began to receive unusual amounts of rain. Peragon begins to feel colder than before, as the winter temperatures finally begin to set in after a ten-thousand year hiatus.

[Lunas Legion]

Theria woke up in much the same manner as she usually did, or had been doing so for... Many millennia. She couldn't remember how long she'd been doing this, and she really didn't care. It never got old, waking up with a view of constantly shifting colours as whatever she'd taken last night or any of the days before still ran through her system, a pounding headache that she ignored with years of practice barely even noticed.

Another beautiful day in Heaven.

Some roaring loud voice called out through Heaven. She paid no attention, and ignored it. It was loud and it hurt her ears. Probably someone complaining about running out of something, again. Nothing of any significance or importance. No, most certianly not. Nothing important ever happened these days, and that was good.

Just day after day of drink, drugs, and whatever else she wanted at the time. It was a pretty good life. The drugs and drink made the weather do whatever it was supposed to do, which was... Doing something. Whatever weather did. But it did it. Unfortunately, it seemed she'd done something extremely stupid last night.

For some reason, there was snow. Or, rather, more than usual. She never made snow in this quantity, even while drunk. It was a stupid cold thing that, for some strange reason, never seemed to agree with her and often resulted in feeling pretty terrible. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but the only way to stop that feeling was by... Not drinking for a bit. And that was not an option. More rain... Not really a problem. Uh... Why was everything getting colder? That wind wasn't supposed to be that cold, and that wind was also her heating. Or supposed to be. Now it was more like a self-freezer.

But fixing it would take effort. Besides, someone else would sort the temperature out eventually. The Sun-King or whoever he was would fix it. She was never any good with temperatures.

And so, while the rest of Heaven went into crisis, probably, Theria drifted back to sleep again.

[The Assorted Saharan Outposts]

Irekily was not happy with the summon. Not in the slightest. Do you think people would wait for him to be prepared before he died? No! Absolutely not! He needed to get this done and he needed to get this done quickly. So, when he appeared in heaven, he had stood there and listened to what Ava'eshthan had to say. Yeah, ten thousand years. It had been ten thousand long years, and he barely remembered taking much part in that fight. He was too busy taking care of the dead, which was what he should be doing now.

And yes, he had to agree that Heaven was turning into...well, he could resort to vulgarity, but he'll decide not to. He tapped his foot, and impatient move that was rather unlike him, as he waited for him to finish his speech. Return to the sun? What on earth did he mean?

Well, he didn't have to wait long for an answer. The God was taken slightly aback when he noticed that the king god had retreated back into the sun. Oh no, that could not be good. Everything got darker. Granted, he was used to the dark, but this just didn't feel right. He looked down upon Peragon and noticed the snow. That was not good, not at all. Wait, wait, he still had a job to do! Be quiet and do your job. With a small nod to acknowledge that the Sun-King may be gone for good, Irekily snapped his bony fingers together and he disappeared to go back to the mortal world. He still had people to take to hell, and he was planning to continue that.

[Second Helghan Empire]

Eradus

Eradus strode through the woods in southern Paragorn. He kicked at the snow building up and stooped to scoop some up. He had returned to Paragorn immediately upon Ava'eshthan's decree of abdication. His first reaction had been that the big chair was now open and he nearly salivated at the game of lies that would fill heaven as the gods would clamor for rank and power.

However he then realized he had a far more interesting path. He copied himself and each copy shifted in appearance taking the shape of loved ones to Human leadership across the continent. He didn't strain his power too much and focused on the southern cities of Telmun and Inus, and the northern cities of Ordin, Araskos, and Echeloi.

He came to the more beloved of the cities' leadership. The ones who led by the hearts of the people as well as their minds. He slipped in and whispered his brew of slander and untruths to the people.

"Ava'eshthan is discontented." He began. "He is disgusted by your repugnant corruption and decrees your punishment. Your people will die a slow and painful death and you will be replaced by proper pious followers."

He grinned as the mortals in their sleep fidgeted and squirmed. They sweated heavily and jerked violently as he fed them images of their peoples destruction at the hand of the freezing cold. Famine, war, simply freezing to death.

Changing shape once more he warped their perception of Ava'eshthan, He first appeared sad then enraged and hateful eventually appearing as nothing more than an evil deity wishing the destruction of his creation.

However he then changed to his true from. and appeared to them in their minds.

"Yet fear not for I will ensure my chosen weather the coming winter. I Eradus, god of you future and your safety will guide you through the hard times. Go now and tell your people of the wrath of Ava'eshthan. However do not tell them of my blessing for the followers of your destroyer hide amongst them. Walk not into the temple of Ava'eshthan nor any other god, but once you have told of the great curse cast upon the people of Paragorn you are to venture out of the cities. Once you have done so I will appear to you again and guide you to your fellows and to me."

He left them knowing the small group of high profile people he had chosen were perfect. Not sworn to one deity or another he would convert them into his prophets and they would bring him great power. For now however he returned to Heaven to ensure his fellow gods would overlook the 5 individuals speaking of the end times among the mass amounts of worried people across the mortal plane.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

Balance was a strong force in the world. It was no fickle scale that a slight murmur or wave could disrupt. Causing Unbalance required true effort, a tragedy of unknown proportions. Inzi had always thought that the sheer inertia of the Universe would prevent Unbalance from ever occuring. Yet this past millenium had shown that Unbalance was a real threat. The sheer decadence and hedonism of the younger Gods quite literally poioned Inzi. Each God's fragment in Inzi was a cancer on it, no longer part of the Balance but causing the Unbalance. Here and there a God Fragment maintained its Balance but far too many were falling to Unbalance. Hedonism, Decadence, and Lack of Responisibility were ruining the Heavens. Thorugh sheer exhaustive willpower, the efforts and prayers of his many adherents, and the cooperation of a few Balanced Gods Inzi had kept the Balance. Even that had taken a toll, requiring Inzi to enter several periods of hibernation to calm the Balance. Inzi was the oldest, most powerful God. Yet it was perpetually tired, ill, and suffering. Of Inzi's three subpersonas, Equilibrium Inzi had entered a long sleep, as she was most poisoned by the Unbalance. Balance Inzi was weak as a minor godling. Only Order Inzi stood strong, taking over the burden within Inzi for the other subpersonas. Inzi knew that the inbalance within only fed the Unbalance, yet without it the Balance never would have stood as long.

When the Ava'eshthan summoned the Gods, Inzi complied. As it listened to Ava'eshthan talk, it went cold, if a God could go cold. His sphere swelled, in anticipation of the Unbalance. When Ava'eshthan ascended into the Sun, Inzi felt his results. They were catastrophic. A worldwide change, endless waves and mumurs in the Balance, hundreds of Unbalance events occured as the Heavens suffered a major shock to the Balance. In moments, not even five human heartbeats after Ava'eshthan's announcement, Balance Inzi fell catanonic, leaving Order Inzi as the sole subpersona left concious in Inzi. It was too much for Inzi. The massive shocks to the Balance consumed all his attention. The God Fragments were thrown into Chaos. The Realms of Man and Divine were on the verge of Unbalance. Inzi of old would have been able to absorb these blows, albeit with some difficulty. Today's Inzi was far too weakened by the excesses of the Divine.

Deep within the recesses of the Inzi, in the heart of his sphere, the God Fragment of Ava'eshthan, the third God Fragment in Inzi(after its own and Chaos) burned with the fire of a thousand suns. What had once been an anchor of Balance was turning into a vortex of Unbalance. Order Inzi tried desperately to counteract this rising Unbalance, but it had nothing to Balance the God Fragment with. The God Fragment was overwhemling what little Balance there was left in Inzi, corrupting what few Balance Fragments stood in its way. Order Inzi knew what it had to do. It had no choice. The God Fragment must be expelled. This all occurred within twelve human heartbeats. Within twenty heartbeats of the Sun King's resignation, Inzi warped away to empty space in the Mortal Realm. It was far from Luna and far from Human Lands, thousands of miles away. With great effort, Order Inzi wrested the God Fragment, using Balance's unconcious form as a Divine Club and expelled it from Inzi. There was a great explosion and a massive release of energy. It is said that humans could see the fire in the skies for days, a ringlet of flame the size of a quarter in the sky, far past Luna. Unknowingly to Order Inzi, Balance Inzi had subconcoiously acted to counteract the falling temperatures.

Inzi's form shuddered and burned. Expelling Ava'eshthan's Fragment had prevented a cataclysmic demise of Inzi, but it had upset the Balance. The sheer explosive nature had created Unbalance all around Inzi. It was wreaked with pain and torn apart by the very fabric of realty. Inzi desperately struggled to keep Balance, to stall the Unbalance but it was too great. The loss of Ava'eshthan's God Fragment and his centuries of weakening had taken their toll. Inzi could no longer keep the Balance. With a celestial scream, the Balance within Inzi broke. A shockwave ran out from him, felt in the Mortal Realms and Divine Realms alike. The Balance was gone. Unbalance stood in it's place. Inzi retreated withing itself, a battered shell. It fled the Divine Realms, were Unbalance was strongest, and latched itself onto the Mortal Realms to recover. Order Inzi knew the Divine Realms were the source of the Unbalance. But the Balance could be restored in the Mortal Realms. It planned to use the Order Empire, Legalum, and Equesta to restore Balance in this Realm. But for now, it needed to heal Equilibrium Inzi. Balance Inzi was long gone, Order Inzi suspected a rebirth would be needed for that subpersona. But Equilibrium Inzi was stirring. She must awake.

---

Hierarchi was the largest city that worshipped Inzi. It was the capital of the Order Empire, a powerful Empire-Theocracy in northern delta. It's sister-cities were Echeloi, Regimenta, and Ordin. In the far south were the twin cities of Legalum, an ally of the Order. In the deep mountains stood Temple-City, another Inzi ally. The Coordinators of the City were deep in planning when a Oracle entered the room, naked and disoriented. The Coordinators called the Guards, imagining that the Oracle was drunked and disgraceful when one Guard called upon them to listen. In a raspy thin voice, the Oracle muttered the same phrase over and over again. "The Sun King is gone. Balance has fallen and Unbalance rules. Preserve the Order. Preserve the Order. Pray fro Inzi. Preserve the Order. Stay True to Balance." Over and over again it went. This man was no drunk. He had been possessed by the weakened Inzi. The Coordinators sent riders to the sister-cities and birds to the ones farther south. Purge those who do not abide by Inzi. The heavens are in chaos, stand with Inzi and form a united front. Do not fall to the temptations of the Unbalance. Inzi needs our prayers to heal and restore Balance. Orders to lay in stores and prepare for military caimpaigns were also sent. The Order were devoted to Inzi. They would move mountains and burn cities to help their God.

[The 7th Order]

Tor'Baalos didn't know what to think about what just happened. That was the most interesting thing to happen in heaven since well... come to think of it.. ever really. The mountainous amorphous mass of tentacles, suckers, and orifices that was Tor'Baalos lurched in the direction of his own little corner of heaven - Basically a dark slimy bubble filled with his "creations" - to think on what just happened. That was until he was distracted by something another god had. A shiny something. Jiggling his mass he thought back to the dilemma at hand. How to take advantage of the situation. He was always known as a minor entity followed only by those crazy enough to believe in him. With heaven out of an executive officer per say he could "nudge" his cult in the right direction. Maybe even make an ally or two. Who knows? As long as he turned this to his advantage he was pleased. Until he saw another shiny. It will be his.

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Nerileth

---

The summons had come unexpected, and Nerileth would not have attended had she not been forced to. Just when the Goddess of the Hunt had been indulging herself in her favorite pastime with some of her most favored followers, in her own little corner of heaven, she was rudely taken from her activities, all to listen to their so-called "king". As Ava'esthan spoke, however, a grin slowly started spreading across her face, a maniacal glee in her eyes. Yes! Yes! Yes! This was excellent indeed. The King was gone, and no doubt someone would take his place! Would it be her? Probably not. But oh, the plotting, the violence, all that would follow - truly it would be a magnificent hunt indeed! And then to think of the mortal realms, oh how great it would be! Winter had come, gone would be the crops! Indeed, it would be hunting where the future lay! She was the future!

Laughing loudly, almost cackling, Nerileth went back to her own - her time would soon come. The future was bright, if a bit colder, and more importantly it could very well be hers. As the storages would get more and more empty, with no crops to grow, who else could the mortals turn to but the Goddess of the Hunt for their food? Yes, this was certainly a very interesting development, and a very good one at that. So excited and lost in thought was she that she hardly noticed the shockwave that blew through heaven and mortal realm alike, instead thinking about what would come.

[The Assorted Saharan Outposts]

Back to business, have to be back to business.

That was the only thought in Irekily's mind as he appeared back in the mortal world, possessing the human he had before being summoned to heaven. The funeral he was at had been interrupted by the cold, and everyone was still paying their respects. Okay, good, this was fine, this was perfect. Slowly, hands in his pockets, he walked over to the coffin and stared at it. Everyone had their heads down in prayer by now, praying to whichever god or goddess they preferred.

The god ran his hand across the wooden coffin before he quickly withdrew his hand. He put his palm up and a glowing bone appeared in his hand, and odd rune etched into it. He put the bone on top of the coffin and the glowing intensified. Soon after, the spirit of the deceased had appeared. The God wasted no time in grabbing them and walked away from the funeral. "Alright buddy, let's get going." He said.

"Wait, where're you taking me? What's going on?" The spirit had protested, looking back towards the funeral.

Irekily sighed. He did not want to explain this right now. "Look, buddy, I'll put this in the nicest way I can," he said, moving his head to look back at them. "You're no longer living; you're dead; deceased; never coming back to life. I'm here to take you to the afterlife and help you move on along the way." He explained.

"Wait...I'm dead?" The spirit asked. They shook their head rapidly. "No, no, there must be some mistake!"

"Could you save it for later?" Irekily asked. "I get that a lot. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Of course, this was more said to calm down the spirit, and it seemed to work, as no other words were said as the spirit was dragged along by the Irekily, the God of Bones and Memories of the Lost, Guide of the Dead.

[The Jonathanian States]

Ratius Magenadam

---

As he usually was, Ratius arrived in the hall of the sun throne in the for resembling a human. As he often chose, when around other gods, his form was a young man, wearing a toga, scrolls though seemed redundant for this summoning.
Entering through the doorway, Ratius looked around. The shining room was filled with gods, though quickly he also noticed that some forms and faces were lacking in this crowd. He did notice Irekily, Eradus, Nerileth, Tor'Baalos and of course ancient Inzi.
His thoughts faded onto a pleasant discussion of nature he had with a human recently, as his consciousness worked on forming a response. Mayhaps he should ask Aelva on that matter.
As the gears of a mind continued turning, churning out ideas, discarding them as quickly as they formed, the Magenadam focused on what was happening around him.
Ava'esthan, elected King of the God, was abdicating. It was at this point that Ratius looked towards the great old one whom, one might say, had him in his patronage. And as his view swept into the corner in which Inzi had been, he noticed the suffering god vanishing, appearing somewhere else. Mayhaps, Ratius thought himself. He was a young one, after all, who better to initiate change. The Quadruplets had to topple the Nameless one, and the New Gods had to topple the Quadruplets. But mayhaps now could come a timer for the next generation to ascend, not by war - the God of Wisdom had paid the cost that could demand - but by election. Was he not, so argued the god to himself, Knowledge, son of Wisdom. But no, a "mere youngling" ascending so far would surely not appease the many. The wait can be crucial in the quest of knowledge and politics both. And so, Ratius waited so more. Slowly more gods started leaving, and yet Ratius remained waiting, eager to see if something worth knowing would happen.
And then, to his surprise, he saw a trail of fire in the skies, far beyond. And he knew. He knew and did not like it at all. Just as Inzi has once released a fragment of knowledge, allowing for himself to be formed, Inzi had released a fragment of the sun. But this time there was no lifeless part to absorb it. As realization came upon him Ratius' mood declined within moments. A weakened sun... Inzi a husk of his former self...

[Woodstovia]

"You know who it is." A voice came cheerfully through the human's head. He was the leader of Ocassus and he was having another blessed dream. The deceptively infantile form of Cultro appeared in his head. Grinning. "I know I should have contacted you sooner. But well, you understand I'm sure. I'm really proud of what you've achieved! Ocassus is so strong now. And really shouldn't the weak fear the strong? I know the followers of other gods will likely have told you that murder is wrong but if they're so much better than you why didn't they protect themselves?" Cultro's grin became larger. "And no other god truly likes humanity as much as I do. Without you humans deciding you were superior to the other creations on this planet and deciding that killing them was only natural. Well I wouldn't have been born! So I'll always protect humans, unlike the other gods. They'd dispose of their followers on a whim you know. Speaking of the other gods. The temple of life is only a little ways downstream. Those fools spend all day prancing around, worshipping flowers." Cultro laughed and his voice got deeper. "I bet they spend so long protecting life they won't even protect themselves." he grinned before his voice resumed it's previous tone. "You don't need to kill all of them, just try and get rid of a couple one night. Make the others understand how futile their worship is. How little life means."

And with that Cultro snapped back into heaven, smiling just a little too widely. He was pleased with his handiwork. If the temple of life ever learned the truth and tried to retaliate, well they were only causing more murders. And he'd make an entire temple betray their values of protecting and cherishing all living things. They angered him the most out of any god's followers. Even that fool prancing around for justice. He was the one who told the humans murder was unjust. Maybe Cultro actually hated him more...

Cultro looked up for just a second to see Ava'eshthan go up into the sun and disappear. Cultro's eyes widened. Had the sun just murdered? Did a... God just die? Cultro hoped it was the case. Then he could kill all the stupid gods. He expected chaos but honestly the other gods seemed calm and relaxed. Some even just left, uninterested. Well, he supposed there needed to be a new king so Cultro stepped forwards. "Now my brethren we shouldn't panic." Cultro said as nobody panicked "For you see I will graciously take up the mantle of king of the gods. Murder of course is the most natural of all domains. It happens to every creature, everything needs to kill to survive. And half of you wouldn't even have power f murders didn't happen. Imagine if there were no murderers to go to hell!" Cultro pointed out. "And I'm sure many of you know how kind and valuable of a friend I am." he grinned.

[Second Helghan Empire]

Edarus

Edarus returned to heaven and witnessed the reactions of his fellow gods. He was surprised by Cultro.

"Now my brethren we shouldn't panic." Cultro said as nobody panicked "For you see I will graciously take up the mantle of king of the gods. Murder of course is the most natural of all domains. It happens to every creature, everything needs to kill to survive. And half of you wouldn't even have power f murders didn't happen. Imagine if there were no murderers to go to hell!" Cultro pointed out. "And I'm sure many of you know how kind and valuable of a friend I am." he grinned.

Edarus shape-shifted into Cultor and putting an arm around him smiled like a long lost brother.

"Yes you are right I should be king! How could I deny such an honorable and fitting title for me."

Edarus changed again now into a pale imitation of Ava'eshthan.

"Then again maybe the king will return and simply cast you into the darkness for claiming his throne!"

He formed back into himself and kneeled bringing himself to eyelevel with cultro.

The children can play while daddy is away but they can't touch his chair unless they are strong enough to beat him in a fight.

He chuckled and turned invisible, disappearing entirely.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

Alone. Quiet. There were not phenomena that Order Inzi was used to. Normally he shared the collective mind of Inzi with Equilibrium and Balance. But they were quiet and unmoving. He was alone, one mind occupying a space meant for three. Balance Inzi was gone. Order Inzi instinctively knew that this subpersona of Inzi was beyond the point of repair. Only rebirth would come to it. Order Inzi also knew Equilibrium was still alive, still connecting Inzi to what few fragments still remained in Balance. Inzi itself was wracked with pain. Normally the subpersonas functioned flawlessy as one being, Inzi. But the loss of Balance Inzi and the weakening of Equilibrium had more or less split the subpersonas, as only Order Inzi was still more or less functioning.

Order Inzi's first order of business was healing Equilibrium. Order derived power from the strength of his followers. They were many and still strong, though some seeds of darkness were growing. Balance drew power from the Universal Balance. Its replacement with Unbalance had felled it. Equilibrium drew power from the internal balance of Inzi. She had entered a long sleep because the internal balance had been off for so many years in an attempt to maintain the Universal Balance. Now that Unbalance reigned, Order Inzi saw no harm in restoring the internal balance. To do so would require ejecting fragments of the Unbalanced Gods till only Balanced Gods remained. The process was long and painful. Order Inzi was not meant for this. This was Balance Inzi's domain. Nonetheless, he reached into the recesses of Inzi and grasped the first Unbalanced Fragment he found. It burned and tore at his very essense. He reaved it from the Fragment Sphere and cast it from its being. A surge of energy followed, scarring the ground around Inzi. Fragment after Fragment were torn asunder, being cast into the nether with a massive burst of energy. Inzi's form, a massive revolving sphere with many spheres within would have fascinated the minds of a mortal artist. As it was, no mortals would have survived the process. Inzi lay half in the Divine Realms, half in the Mortal Realms. In the unihabted mountains near Temple-City the Fragments were released. The explosive force ruined the land. None were as powerful as that of Ava, but the combined energies leveled several mountains. Other release points were deep in the ocean and in space. Order Inzi tried to keep the explosive fragments far from populated areas, but his powers in this regard were limited. Several villages were wiped off the map by waves, quakes, or the explosions themselves. No major cities were hit.

The Mortals would call this the Heavensfall, when the fragments Inzi released caused the night sky to remain lit, as the energies from both Ava's fragment and the fragments from the other Unbalanced burned brightly in the skies and on the land. Though the actual losses to life were minimal, mass panic began to set in.

Order Inzi was exhausted. He had nearly burned through his essense and his own powers were weakening as panic set it. But his job was complete. For the first time in 800 years Equilibrium Inzi was conscious. Weak, yes. But awake. Order Inzi gladly rejoined into the composite Inzi. Inzi was still weak. It was not whole, but it was better. It was hurt and its domain was in Unbalance. Inzi had to expel over half its fragments in order to right itself. That was not good. Nor were the Divine Realms in in Balance. Ava was gone. Inzi abandoned those Realms to their own devices. For now, it would focus on restoring Balance in the Mortal Realms. Allies were needed for this. Raitus, the God of Knowledge was akin to a son to Inzi. And Eramys, the Lady of Chaos, would be willing to help. For while Inzi and Eramys dueled, it was a professional fight that served the Balance. The Unbalance would not serve her. More importantly there would be no mercy. Those who caused Unbalance would be eliminated. Gods who spread this Chaos with no regards for the Balance would be eliminated. Inzi knew this. But Inzi was still recovering. So it entered the mind of a Coordinator. They were already on edge from the recent catastrophes and from the message Order Inzi had managed to get through. Heaven had fallen. It was up to the Mortals to correct the wrongs of the Divine.

One such offender was Cultro. He was Unbalanced, striving to spread his domain and sow seeds of Unbalance. His cult needed to be eliminated. Another was Theria, Queen of the Skies. She was a major source of Unbalance. Her debauchery had shook the Balance for eons and her fragment had been second only to Ava. She would be a challenge. Yet another Unbalance was Edarus. While he served his role well, his role was that of Unbalance in this world. The old Balance may have tolerated him, the new Balance would not. It was too fragile. Perhaps one day a rebirthed Eradus would be allowed back in the Balance, but until this Unbalance was solved he would only deter the Balance. There were many more Gods that were Unbalanced. Restoring the Balance would be a long and arduos task. Many will suffer, millions will die. But it must be done.

OOC: Inzi is an it, but the subpersonas have genders

[Woodstovia]

"See this is why I need to be king! Otherwise we'd have someone like him ruling you!" Cultro laughed "Someone who led the Quadruplets against us. Ava'eshthan let him remain. Shouldn't we fix that mistake?" Cultro was undisturbed by Edarus and his attempt to scare Cultro. A copy of Cultro wasn't the worst thing he'd ever seen. More gods should try and emulate him really. Even if it was ironic they would still be able to learn a thing or two, Cultro reflected.

[Aden Protectorate]

Ava'eshthan could sense that unbalance had been achieved - he hated to hurt Inzi, they had co-operated to keep what little balance was left. However Unbalance needed to be achieve in order to remove the great corruption. Ava'eshthan would cleanse the world of its corruption, he would purge Peragon of its many unnecessary imbalances and obsolete gods who just added to the strain of Unbalance - the greatest offenders would be cast unto the Darkness beyond the reach of the Gods. The darkness was a fate similar to death, where the Nameless One awaited and the Quadruplets lingered.

Ava'eshthan rested in the Sun, where he would truly be restored in his energies. Even as he rested there now, for the short time had been there, he felt stronger and more alive - the millennia of putrid misconduct peeling off him like snake-skin. The Lion of Heaven rested upon the soft embrace of the fires of the sun, basking in the glow of the his true home - for he never felt at home in Heaven.

He could sense great panic in the cities devoted to his following. For they would be hardest hit by the news of his departure - for they knew their privileged position was at risk. There would be panic throughout the world of course, but Ava'eshthan needed to safeguard his cities - his cult needed to maintain their dominance. He possess the leaders of his cities so that they could send a message to his beloved followers. The leaders of the Cult of Ava'eshthan, known as the Sh'than are the moral and spiritual leaders of his people as well.

That night, while the Sh'than slept Ava'eshthan appeared to them in his sleep. In his divine form he walked beside them, slowly, calmly, explaining his actions and motivation to his prophets.

"My children of Fire - you must by now know of the chaos that is consuming Heaven. I have retreated to the Sun, and resigned the Kingdom of Heaven, for I must take time to rest my tired and ancient before Order can be restored. Know that I have not forsaken you, the sacred white fires will still burn forever in your temples, but you must be strong, fight of all attackers, protect your interests, be a strong and united community, know that the Fires will always be bright and that Peragon will be restored to it's Golden Age under the Sun."

Next the sun god needed to offer his allegiance to the concept of Balance - lest Inzi see need to eliminate him. He tried to send a message, for he could not leave the sun, but he could still communicate with other deities.

"Inzi - my brethren, I am deeply grieved by the pain I have caused you, but I must ask that you forgive me, for the only way we can purge this world of its debauchery and corruption is to collapse the system which has allowed it to survive and to rebuild it from the bottom. I want you to know that I am always committed to Balance."

[Kisinger]

Dærs

Dærs, the Goddess of Death and Hell, was bored with the screaming Souls that dotted her home, in fact she rarely left her home anymore, seeking solitude after her former Husband left her. Standing she walked over to a balcony which had a view that she could see all across her realm. What she saw was nothing new... There was no flames stretching up high to the ceiling that never ended, nor was there brimstone or great lakes of lava, in fact, there was nothing except Darkness... However, every person saw Hell differently than the last, it preyed on their fears, their greatest secrets and most importantly, their imagination. Hell, was designed for those who truly needed to be punished... Though their was one place safe from the madness, chaos, and insanity of that souls were so terrified of, this place was reserved for the Cult of Death, the worshipers of Dærs and former protectors of her greatest temples and sanctuaries.

Dærs saw all of this, and yet she still felt bored but then the summons happened.... She could sparsely remember any time a summons happened since they elected the Sun-King... However, she went regardless and as the King of the Gods spoke she felt resentment, for she felt as though she had been cheated long ago, overlooking the dreary place that hell is, yet she never neglected it for the damned have no need for rest. Though as he finally left for the sun, she heard the God of Murder and another god who she had forgot entirely talking... His name alluded her, however he spoke as if he could conquer all the gods, instead she walked up to him very slightly and slid one hand around the back of his neck and the other arm around the other side, and whispered softly in his ear, "We'd follow you yet you lack everything a great ruler of Gods needs... Everything..." She chuckled softly in his ear as she lightly nipped him on his ear and let go turning to the other gods smiling walking slowly away...

[Second Helghan Empire]

"See this is why I need to be king! Otherwise we'd have someone like him ruling you!" Cultro laughed "Someone who led the Quadruplets against us. Ava'eshthan let him remain. Shouldn't we fix that mistake?"

Edarus was at Cultro's throat in an instant.

"Do not dare god of murder. DO NOT DARE to attempt to use my domain against me! You and I and all the others know what purpose I served during the war. Do not attempt my game again you will lose."

A half dozen copies of Eradus appeared around Cultro then each morphed into a different god. They all glared with anger and malice at the god before turning invisible then collapsing back to the original Eradus.

He released and disappeared.

(OOC sorry for length)

[The Assorted Saharan Outposts]

"Well, here we are." Irekily muttered as he reached the land known as Hell. He had seen some strange stuff on the way here, and this kind of madness was getting him upset. Not only was it just confusing, but it would no doubt lead to more deaths than normal. He was one God, and he was expected to take care of thousands of souls and take them to hell. How could they expect him to do this?

Those thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of his head though when the spirit gasped Due to what they saw. The God of bones chuckled. "Care to tell me what you see?" He asked, finding a bit to amusement in the spirits reaction. "Or is it too terrifying for you?"

"I-I can't put this into words!" The spirit exclaimed, seeing his own version of hell. "No words cam describe this!"

Irekily nods. "Yep, that's hell for you." He said with a grin. "Now if you don't mind I'd prefer to leave as fast as possible. I have a former wife who lives here and I don't really feel like talking to her right now." Surprisingly, him and the goddess of Hell weren't necessarily on good terms. He'd talk to her, but only if he really had to.

[Woodstovia]

Cultro felt a long shiver travel down his spine as Dærs touched him. So many of his followers were in hell, trapped by her. So many were being hurt. He wasn't scared of Edarus. he had himself tried to murder gods before, and if the god of murder couldn't murder other gods he was sure that nobody could. But Dærs... She was completely different. And one of the problems of having a human form was that he was more emotive than many other gods. Everyone saw him shaking in fear.

He just didn't understand. Everything killed. Everything. From the greatest down to the smallest, for food or for fun everything on that stupid planet killed. So why were they all stronger than him? Why did nobody worship him? Cultro's jaw snapped shut and he left, pushing through the crowd of gods and being sure to keep up a steady pace even though he wanted to run away. He would do more research, he would discover more, he would learn more, he would learn how to kill them. Cultro vowed to himself as he effectively ran away from the goddess of hell.

[Kisinger]

As she left the hall, she went back to hell, and as she arrived she felt another god... Irekily... For he was the one to escort the Souls to Hell... She quickly went to the entrance of Hell, she was untouchable here... She didn't need to worry about flaunting her powers to someone who knew her oh so well... Seeing him she called out, "Irekily!"
She approached madly towards him, swaying her hips, her eyes glowing a red as bright as the hottest fires, and a small slender smile across her face.

"What Brings you here? Other than your so called "Duties" that seem to mock me then benefit the damned...."

[Valaran]

A voice in the Depths

---

"So, why do you care who I am?" Aulian asked his mysterious companion. He gripped his drinking mug, the beer foam still encrusted on its clay rim. It wasn't a good beer. But the man had a better distraction, in the hooded figure across from him.

The hood turned, and Aulian was faced with two large brown eyes, softly staring. Human. And yet... look closely, and one detected flickers of grey in them. The stare had depth. "Perhaps I should clarify," His companion smiled, the same depth apparent in a simple gesture. The smile was predictably,infuriatingly, intriguingly, wry "I don't care who you are. Not in the slightest."

"And yet you appear to know me well."

"Say, is that the imprint of a ring on your finger?" The soft brown eyes didn't shift downwards, but Aulian's did, instinctively turning to his index finger of his left hand. The smiling lips opened again. "Its odd, you see, because the Duke of Kavrai wears a ring their, his seal of office. Yet the Duke was recently deposed, resumed missing." The brown eyes focused their intensity on Aulian. The stares were impassive. But Aulian was stunned, his mind gasping. This stranger, he knew. "Tell me," the exiled Duke began, using a lifetime's training of courtly dagger-talk not to stammer "what did you say your name was?"

"I should be asking you that same question. Aulian." The stranger shifted. "But as I said, I don't care. Your lineage, that bounty on your head, the loyalty so many of your former subjects feel, they mean nothing to me. I have come for a much simpler reason. Because you're an outcast." The stranger's head tiled, and the wry smile became sad. The voice was plangent. "And I know the feeling."

And something in that face shifted. It wasn't a blink-and-you-miss it moment, but a sensation, a momentary distortion that was only visible if you were concentrating intently at its origin. Oddly, Aulian felt it as much as he saw it. But those brown eyes on the most knowledgable stranger had turned a deep grey, and they had looked less like human eyes at all, and more like orbs of shifting storm clouds.

"Tell me," the voice began again, for Aulian was silent, truly shocked by his personal vision. "How much does it hurt to be alone?"

* * * * *

A summons.

Skyr felt the disturbance, the echo of a booming disembodied voice reverberate through the aether. A shockwave of divine sound passed around him, the ripple of a call only the King of the Gods could give.

He ignored it.

He didn't like being summoned. It was not pleasant, and Skyr did not consider himself at the beck and call of others, least of all a failing sun. Besides, this sounded ominous. And wide ranging. A conclave of the divine was an appealing prospect, but an unusual one. It heralded dark portents. Maybe there was another reason why he didn't want to go. He was here, playing with mortals, for a reason. They felt things, in their mutable states that intrigued him. The rush of fear, in Aulian, the shock of surprise, and that little spar of hope all in the face before him were intoxicating. This wasn't the time to be distracted.

Then his breath gave off steam. The ethereal white matter curled outwards from his mouth, dissipating tendrils extending into the void. The air had turned cold. Condensation suddenly misted on the windows, and his other eyes could pick out the sudden formation of frost crystals on the plants outside. Winter was an old sensation, bringing back forgotten memories to Skyr's mind. One of ancient battles in the storms, of love, hardship, fear.

But most of all, of the gods.

[The Assorted Saharan Outposts]

Well speak of the devil, there was that wife he mentioned earlier.

Irekily turned to look at her, that grin still on his face. "Yes, hello Dærs." He greeted, giving her a wave with his pale white hand. "Well, I am telling the truth when I say that I am here to guide the dead, as you know." He gestured towards the spirit he had been the guide for, which seemed to be thinking about running away.

"Although I must say that it is a pleasure to see you." One could not deny that Irekily was a charmer, which was surprising giving his domain. "You are looking as fine as ever. I would stay a while to chat, but I have an odd feeling that my job is going to get a lot harder soon."

[Kisinger]

Smiling, she walked over to the soul and reached into it and envisioned what it saw... They weren't as horrible as some she had seen but, she didn't need to worry it for too long, as she let her vision slip back in. "You were always a charmer..." She said chuckling as she approached him further.

"However, your job doesn't get any harder, you simply bring them here, I have to take care of them, do you have any idea what's it like to watch over the damned? Of course not... Regardless, as much as we have grown apart, I do find it in the best interest for the both of us if we don't get involved in the politics of above." Her smile had vanished as looked him in the eye.

"Of course if you do, I find it in the best interest of Hell that if you choose not to ignore the politics... That we at least work together to preserve each other. We both need each other, our jobs depend on each other, you give transport t the Souls I watch over, and I give them a orderly place for you to transport to, well orderly in the fact Souls aren't escaping regularly. So what do you say?"

[The Assorted Saharan Outposts]

Irekily nods, the grin turning more into a smile. "I know I was, and I believe that was what got us together, correct?" He asked. He knew full well what had got them together, but he just wanted to refresh the goddesses memory just a bit. He had to admit, at times it was nice to chat, it really was, especially with someone so close to his domain.

"And by harder I meant that more death might happen." He said, already not liking the idea of extra, more frequent work. "With the Sun-King gone, things might get a bit more deadly up on the surface, and that means more work for me. It's a tough job, but I guess I'm the one that has to do it."

With the mention of the surface politics, Irekily made a face. He didn't have many connections with the gods and goddesses, but he knew that Heaven was falling apart, and he'd rather it get involved in that collapse. "Yes, the politics of the above world are very disorganized now." He said. "I must admit I am a bit envious of how you managed to remain isolated from these events."

[Naymor]

Snow fell across the ancient Academy which served as the heart of all wizardry on Paragorn, as well as the High Temple for the worship of the deity known as Midian. Midian himself was walking through the halls of the school, completely undetected by the many professors, students, priests, worshipers and other assorted folk who were meandering the great halls of the school which was as old as sorcery itself. Midian appeared to be one of the older students, though anyone who looked closely at his eyes would be able to tell there was something different about him, something mystical, something divine.

Midian walked to a nearby window, staring out at the falling snow. The school was high in the mountains, so snow wasn't exactly a rare sight. This snow, however, was different. That's when he heard the summons, the message that their chief was leaving his throne. Midian sighed, knowing that the power struggles would soon be erupting from all over. He cared little for the power, preferring to distance himself from the gods and focusing on magic and sorcery with the humans, slowly allowing more and more to have access to the skill. Midian planned on allowing all humans to become Mage's by the end of the millennium, but there was still plenty of time between now and then.

Midian looked up towards the heavens, wondering who all would try to claim the throne. He would help those in need, but he was going to attempt to stay out of the imminent power struggle that was surely just over the horizon.

[Kisinger]

"Yes, the politics of the above world are very disorganized now." He said. "I must admit I am a bit envious of how you managed to remain isolated from these events."

"We all have a purpose in the end... One that must be fulfilled..." She looked down at him as her eyes grew dim in colour. "Sadly ours is too escort and watch over the Damned... It feels more curse than reward every day." She looked back at him, she embraced him for the first time in a while. "It's hard being alone, the screams really get to you when there's no one around.." A single tear rolled down her face as she held him tight.

She didn't let go as she spoke again, "Hell does have it's benefits... But I'm not entirely isolated... If I could I'd rather be here with you again... Not alone..." The tears began to flow as she let go. "I just need to ask one thing of you... Join me, and we can show the Gods above the suffering we go through... The things we see, the madness that strives here... Please... Do it for whatever respect you have left for me." She wiped away the tears but still looked at him waiting for the inevitable no that she had expected.