morning light

[Talon]

A R C A S

As each deific power made their way into the halls of this throne room, Talon studied and observed each of them. He studied the forms they chose to take. He studied how they interacted with each other. He had to guess that the vast majority of the Ranseran pantheon was in attendance. Staring at the monstrous form of Thultu, a memory was stirred. He recalled one of the lives he had lived previously. Standing tall, with Vhexur resting a hand upon his soul in friendship, a Moratallen sailor who fought against a mighty leviathan to prevent it from swallowing the world. As each of those eyes bored into him, he had no doubt that Thultu remembered that encounter as well. To this day, he did not know if he had fought against Thultu himself or against one of his children.

His eyes drifted to the other gods who arrived. He recognized Suion. The Goddess of Love had been kind to him in this, and every life. Perhaps not directly, but she had always made sure he found love in the lives he had lived. Loves that he cherished. He suspected that one of the reasons he had not seen any of his mortal lovers souls was because they had likely been reborn into the people he loved in the present day. Regardless, he was grateful for the benevolence she seemed to show to him. He recognized the pragmatic and resourceful Avenna, she who drove the world’s economy ever forward. From one disaster to the next, she ensured that the mortals of Ransera somehow always managed to find a way to rebuild their wealth and prosperity. The appearance of Lyren, the Crooked Man, made a shiver travel up his spine. It was through the machinations of one of Lyren’s creations that he had been imprisoned and manipulated against his will. Whether that had been something Lyren himself had wanted, he did not know. He had to wonder whether this meeting was something that the Mistlord of Knowledge and Undeath had wanted to occur.

Talon stepped aside as the Solunarian Twins took the floor following Thultu’s ravenous demand. He was as interested to hear the thoughts and opinions of the rest of the pantheon as his father seemed to be by even allowing this meeting to take place. He was surprised to find that Avaerys and Varvara were in agreement that the Veil needed to be fixed. He was pleased when Galetira confirmed that the Orkhan demigods were mostly in agreement, albeit, with a few stipulations. To the quiet thought sent to him by Raxen, Talon stared at his erstwhile lover. He could not quite unwind the emotions that stirred in him as he beheld Raxen in his full glory. Uncertainty. Yearning. Fear. Hope. Desire. Affection. Many were the myriad of emotions that passed through him but he resolved to explore them at another time. For the moment, he simply nodded.

Who was She? He did not know. But Raxen would reveal the truth in his own way and in his own time, as he always did.

He did not agree with the complete removal of Suffering from the Veil. Malgar might be many things but if there was one thing that was true about him, it was that he was necessary. Suffering was as necessary as Hope, terrible as it might be. It was simply time to balance that Suffering with the other powers that were intended to guide Ransera and not slant it so heavily in Malgar’s favor.

Then Eikaen was speaking and he was making his declaration clear. The announcement caused a buzz of conversation among the gathered gods. Across the thousands of years in Ransera’s history, the assembly of gods had been left mostly to their own devices. Perhaps for better or worse, it had fostered a considerable amount of autonomy in how each deity approached their guidance. He did not expect that autonomously presiding over their portfolios would change but the manner in which they approach them certainly would with the creation of the Pantheon.

He sincerely doubted any of the gods would ignore this. The Dragon King may not had made this assembly a Cosmic Law…but only a fool would have treated it otherwise.

“Dreams?” A voice that was equal parts masculine and equal parts feminine rose above the chatter of the gods. The vaulted ceiling of the palatial chamber became clouded with a thunderstorm that soon passed to become a starlit sky.

“We know Dreams.” They stepped forward. A figure draped in silks of spun gold and glittering amethyst. Crowned by a halo that shone brightly, radiating equal parts fear and wonder, their eyes settled upon Talon and as soon as he looked into those reptilian eyes, Talon knew that this deity knew every Dream, every Nightmare, every Desire, every Hope and every Hardship that he had ever faced.

Thiovan. The enigmatic Dreamlord. The Dragon God of Dreams…and Nightmares. Among other things. If there was to be a third to the duality between Eikaen, the Dragon King and Naori, the Masked Queen, it was The Dreamer—the original architect of the very Veil that was now in need of repair.

“We agree with our King. Perhaps we have too long been left to confer in courts too secluded. Losing sight of the Dream we set out to weave together.” Thiovan looked to Galetira and gave her a smile that was as warming as it was unsettling.

“We agree with our granddaughter. Too long has our Veil been out of balance. Long have we allowed our brethren to establish their courts in our Land of Nod, to weave into reality their dreams and the dreams of the mortals in their care. We believe that this Pantheon shall bring needed change.”

Talon did not know what to make of that statement. Thiovan was the god who embodied dreams and nightmares, and he suspected other things as well. The Land of Nod was where the gods built their divine realms. Even the Mistlords, who dwelt beyond the Land of Nod, had to cross through it in order to reach the material realm and even their realms had to touch upon it in order for mortals to access them. Thiovan’s support for this endeavor was powerful, to say the least. Even if he had no idea what form that support would take. Talon stepped forward again. He looked to Galetira.

“We must not remove Suffering from our weaving. Suffering is as necessary as Hope. It is as necessary as Light is to Darkness. But what we can do, is to work together to bring balance back to what has been so out of balance for so long. I agree that Ransera needs a period of peace and prosperity, the chance to rebuild and an opportunity for those of us who have been absent from this pantheon to rise again. But there will come a time when the scales must be tipped once more.”

[Kala Leukos]

.

To those Who acknowledged her, the Lady of Stars bowed. The only god younger than her in apotheosis was Rickter, and he had ascended already a more powerful mage than she was.

To those Who did not acknowledge her, she took no umbrage. The Dragon King and the Crystal Lady sat opposite each Other at this cosmic summit and merely witnessing it was an education in and of itself. Many were the opinions. Many were the stances that stood up against disagreement, while others folded like laundry. If anything, she was surprised to find that the arbiters of Ransera were so terribly mortal in their comportment. She wondered if that was why Mother Naori had brought her here, to see what was and to consider what could be.

The Dreamlord seemed at once familiar and entirely alien. They were that Presence behind the scenes of every dream since she and her twin had swum in the dark sea of their mother's belly, perhaps even those that came before. She wondered if the Gods would raise Kaus up as well, the better to balance her as Naori balanced Eikaen, as Varvara balanced Aværys. Starlit eyes gazed upon the Kalzasern prince suing before the Allfather. His dark brother ought to balance him, or perhaps Rickter would—or Aoren. Dragons were powerful progeny of the King of the Gods.

For her part, Kala decided to make use of the Pantheon. Ioniri knew her; it was likely Avenna did too, her chosen working under Kala's watchful eye. Perhaps she ought to reveal herself to Talon after all. They would both have to figure out how to balance their mortal concerns with the duties of divinity. She could feel the prayers from Starfall, and from this, Eikaen's Pantheon, she could feel the stars that the Eclipse had blotted from the sky. She longed for them. And perhaps the realm of dead Nazam would open itself to her. She was going to have to learn how to come here on her own, or seek the Rune of Traversion.

She would have to work on her omnipresence.

.

[Mirage]

The two Mistlords present were silent as the words of their counterparts were cast about. The large one, Thultu, Mistlord of Monsters, shifted a dozen of its eyes to look at Aværys and Varvara. It did not seem displeased, but it shifted its mass to scratch its scaled underbelly as it continued to look around the grand hall.

Lyren, Mistlord of the Undead turned his head with twisting motion, uncanny as its every movement were somewhat twitchy. It's large eye focused on Talon as he spoke, but shifted to stare at Kala and Rickter as they appeared before rising to gaze a Naori. He inclined his head ever so slightly to the embodiment of Chaos.

Off in his corner Vhexur fiddled with the pot in his lap, only occasionally looking up to the god currently speaking before returning to his fiddling. His body language was relaxed, unconcerned, though those who knew him well would recognize the intense focus in his gaze as he was listening more closely than his outward appearance would suggest.

When his eyes fell on her Suion would smile at Talon, her wings fluttering slightly before she gave the young demigod a small wave and a wink.

The sounds of beads clacking together abruptly stopped. Avenna, Draegir of Commerce, Trade and Wealth looked up from her ledgers , inclining her head respectfully toward Eikaen, Naori and Thiovan in turn before she turned her cold eyes on the Triumvirate.

"There is nothing given without cost, and nothing received without payment. The Veil is placed to protect the mortals from the greater threats that lie beyond, and the price for that protection is suffering. It is not kindness to offer benefit without reward, as both parties are cheated what they are due." The words were spoken pointedly as she looked between the three demigods of Triumvirate, without malice or ill content.

"But isn't a mother's love offered without price? Without need for compensation?" The sultry voice of Suion responded, her serpentine body coiling on itself as the petals became a bed on which she rested, "We speak of the good of mortals, and thus the balance we seek should begin with love and compassion."

Suion smiled sympathetically at Galetira, "I believe there has been enough suffering in the world. Let them rest. If you must ask a price for what should be given freely, then make it a price not in flesh but in proper compensation."

Avenna's lips thinned, but she did not rebuke the other Goddess. She was not unsympathetic to the plights that faced the mortal world, but she looked at things from a different perspective.

"The problem with tipping scales," Vhexur was looking at Talon now, the pot forgotten, "Is that you never know how far they will go, or how violently they will tip back. Are we gambling with mortal lives now?"

In the brief moment of silence after Vhexur's words, another voice would be heard. It spoke an unintelligible string of nonsense, the syllables seeming to overlap each other and wring in odd tones. Lyren turned his large eye on Talon, but then looked to Eikan, Naori and finally Thiovan as he spoke the twisted words. Those below the 2nd rank would find it discomforting, and even Thultu grimaced like he had eaten something rotten, but the full intent would be felt, and understood by the highest powers.

Ŕ̶̢̹̠̺͔̆̈͌̽é̷̡͕̭̩͖͍̒̿͜m̶̟̾͑͋̐̏̈́̂̓o̴͇͊̅̃̎̑̀v̴͈̯̱̇́ȩ̸̩͓̍̏̑͂̄̅͒͆.̶̨͉̣͔́̃͐͠.̸̧̡̘̩̈́̃ͅ.̷̨̘̝̖̥͉̊͂̽̈́ ̴̳̝̲̳̀̀̌̓̕͘͝Ṽ̶͇̮̻̤̪̔͜ë̶̮́̾̈́ȉ̷͉̣̻̮̠̩̿͗̃̀̔͝l̸̮̫͌̃.̷̧̢̈́͂̀͑̽̌̀.̶̨̢̞͓̟̥̦̰̉̈́̔̀.̴̡̺̳̍̍̆͑̈́͜

"Remove...Veil..."

Two words were comprehensible to everyone present, but in those two words was contained the vastness of all they represented, meaning struggling to be known above all the rest. Remove... Detach, undo, do away with, stop, extract, put an end to, withdaw, abolish. Veil... Cover, conceal, hide, blur, haze, cloak, shroud, suppressed.

The intent found purchase as knowledge of what the Mistlord asked for became clear. Remove the Veil, and let what may happen happen. Abolish the restrictions placed on mortal kind, and let their souls wander where they will, to live, to die, but most importantly to obtain knowledge and experience they could never have before.

Vhexur grimaced, rubbing his suddenly aching head as he muttered, "Now thats an awful idea."

.

[Pharaoh]

Pantheon. At Eikæn's proclamation Aværys pursed his lips and glanced sidelong to Varvara, who nodding knowingly albeit ever so slightly. Over the centuries of Their imprisonment, They had often discussed the foundation of a divine consilium. It seemed a foregone conclusion and, in point of fact, it seemed that it was. Still, it felt like being undercut or beaten to the punch, even if it was executed by the most powerful, omniscient being in the universe. The disappointment was momentary, as Thiovan's appearance drew His attention. They were a rare, but welcome sight and Aværys did not squander the opportunity to let His gaze take in every atom of Their exquisite form whilst He had the chance...

Varvara's attention remained centred on the action. With the Dragon King excusing himself, the council seemed to convene in earnest. Unsurprisingly, Arcas stood forth as de facto consul... as if his holy father's declaration had included some provision to name him thus. Or perhaps he considered it his birthright... She smiled faintly to Herself as he spoke, then Her gaze trailed to Avenna, to Suion and to Vhexur. Her teeth clenched at Lyren's utterance, but She nodded to Vhexur in the aftermath.

"Agreed." She sighed, before raising Her voice to address the chamber, focusing first upon Avenna.

"Suffering is a mortal inevitability." She contended, "We have all of us treated with mortals. They will find ways to be melancholy e'en in the most bounteous of times. To remove or mitigate misery's infusion within the Veil would not excise it entirely from the world when it is withal infused to every individual soul. That said, there are sundry ways to pay a debt... sundry resources with which one might barter. Is it not sound economy to adapt to a shifting market?" Then to Vhexur,

"The scale hath already been tipped. To use thy parlance: The dice are weighted... imbalanced. The cards stacked against equilibrium. You speak as if We stand at Pantheon to play the role of the feckless huckster, when We should speak in the unwavering voice of the arbiter. We should not play at tipping scales, but at mending them."

[Kala Leukos]

.

When the Dragon King rose to depart, the Masked Queen did the same. She bent down to whisper in Kala's ear; the words twisted much like Lyren's, but She implanted the knowledge in Her handmaiden's mind to come to this Pantheon at will. A warmth emanated from Her as Her gaze took in the parliament of gods, though one could only imagine the smile behind Her mask. Then She followed Eikaen to places only They could go, likely to discuss things only They could comprehend.

Kala felt even smaller without Mother Naori's presence, but she gave no indication thus.

The Supreme Beings were balanced, and it seemed as though They had set up Creation to have an equilibrium, if not a perfect balance. Arcas and Shaeoth. Raella and Wraedan. There were many dead gods, as well, but the seasons marched on all the same.

She still lived largely as a mortal, and there were certainly enough problems for mortals to deal with. While she didn't think it appropriate for the gods to solve every problem for them, she didn't think they should heap more trouble upon them either. It was curious but to be expected that these deities would see things through their specific lenses. For her part, she felt the urge to work toward a consensus, toward Unity, but for now, she observed like a distant star rather than burning with the nearness of Ransera's star, the sun.

Kala found herself wishing Kaus was here. He was the one the gods had seen fit to send onto the mortal coil with for balance.

.

[Rickter]

Everything that transpired within this meeting admittedly felt overwhelming to behold, for Rickter had never been one who often placed himself in such grandstanding affairs. A meeting between the higher beings had literally taken place, a summit of Draegir, Moritasi, and even their greater counterparts literally took place before him. The way the wolf felt now was far more out of place than he ever been, still, he understood the value of attending such a gathering as this; therefore would not squander the opportunity to cast support where he felt most needed.

Eikean made his stance on this quite clear, and with the King of All Gods leaving the floor to those assembled, it became apparent to Rickter what this was all the more about. The Veil had been irreparably damaged where he'd seen events unfold in Zaichaer, and of course, there was no mistaking the shift felt in the balance throughout the world. To this day, those events still haunted the wolf, sometimes in his memories and others within his dreams. Being recognized by the Triumvirate as they were, Rickter's expression widened before resting into a look of humility, the wolf giving the three a respectful bow to them in turn before he focused on the rest of the flock.

There were entities here he'd only heard or dared to dream about, figures in his life that used to hold little or no meaning before... until now. Now he stood amongst them as a Draegir himself, albeit a fledgling who still had a long way to go with his own powers. Not without cost either. It had often led him to wonder since his awakening, and subtle realizations, whether or not this new power shouldn't belong to him to begin with. The harm he'd inflicted on even his friends, as well as the lingering cold that clung to his homeland... There had been a lot on his mind in the past couple seasons, overall though, it led him to think considerably a lot more than what he was accustomed to.

There were quite a number of deific powers at play now, each with their own moral codes and ambitions to consider. The few who were Mistlords unsettled him to the point his skin crawled, as Rickter had not forgotten the overwhelming immensity he felt the first time he encountered Akrivar. Then, of course, there was the profound majesty of Thiovan himself, once he graced the meeting to share his perspective on the matter. It seemed most were in favor of restoring the Veil, but to what degree, is where the line began to blur to the wolf. Suffering had been something intricately part of the world now, but the prices that had been paid even his lifetime had been steep.

He'd known losses that shouldn't have happened and endured hardships that put him on a path he'd never expected to traverse. He had known sorrow and pain, just as well as anybody else present in the room. Bearing the weight of responsibility he felt, he listened intently to what Avenna and Suion had to say on the subject. Yet when Vhexur and then Lyren chimed in, there came a gripping fear that stemmed from deep in his gut once he finally processed the words he'd heard. Lifting the Veil? Doing something like that would undoubtedly have inescapably world-altering events afterward, and there was no telling what the cascading repercussions of such an act would do once done.

It unsettled him greatly. Leading Rickter to aimlessly imagine a world where entropy would simply rule all. That wasn't the world he wanted to create for his family, nor the rest of the denizens that inhabited the world. And if he wanted to live up to his own ideals, to preserve and protect those that dwelt in the world, then perhaps he needed to look toward the resolution of repairing the Veil altogether. Yet it would not come without cost, as the lady Draegir of Wealth described earlier. What that cost would be, to him or those around him, he couldn't even start to guess at. But Rickter knew...

Something had to be done.

"Agreed." He immediately, if not quietly, shared after Vhexur's comment of the awful idea. Chaos was already rampant throughout Ransera, and it seemed like the Mistlords here present wanted to invite more of it. Then the Lady of Chains spoke in turn regarding the matter, garnering a bit of a confused look from Rickter, but a subtle nod in turn once he finally wrapped his thoughts around her meaning. "As one who saw the damage to the Veil when it happened," even so much as crossed through it in an attempt to repair the tear in the sky that day, "I already know it goes beyond one single entity to fix what has been damaged. In a sense it... literally killed me just for trying to fix it."

He looked among those gathered here, still feeling a bit out of place, but certain of his disposition among those gathered within this Pantheon. "Mending what's broken will not be without cost, but I already believe it's cost us enough as is. Despite what others here may feel, I still feel resolute in sharing my power in that attempt to close it." Where he'd failed once before he had merely been mortal, hardly as powerful as he was now even as a young Draegir. Though he certainly hadn't the slightest clue the best way to go about it, the wolf would gladly place himself at the forefront if it meant preserving the ideals of his and his fellow Pantheon; and sealing the Rift to restore what order they had left in the world.

Thus the wolf looked respectively among his peers, then among the Gods and Goddesses gathered here. He knew now more than ever, that he was not alone, and that with those present to guide him; he'd carry out the shared wishes of those who held the same beliefs he did.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter"

[Talon]

D A E M O N

“Father…” His eyes fell upon Eikaen, watching as the Dragon King excused himself from the council that his decree had formed. His hand reflexively rose up as though to reach out to his divine father but he stilled himself. He had much that he wanted to discuss with the Dragon King in private but his father seemed disinclined to grant such a conversation at that time. As the Dragon King departed with the Masked Queen, he let his hand fall back to his side. He quelled the emotions that rose up inside of him, drew in a deep breath and turned his attention back to the conclave that had been convened.

He listened to Avenna. She spoke from a transactional stance, as was her nature but he did not think less of her for it. Avenna was a cornerstone of the mortal world. Of the many powers that were assembled in Pantheon, she was perhaps one of the most enduring. She understood mortals and the need to pursue their ambitions of wealth and prosperity. At the same time he agreed that there was nuance to the nature of mortals as posed by Suion. Not all mortals viewed things in such a stark manner. In fact, some lived with the belief that good-will and charity should be hallmarks of mortal living. He flinched at the utterances of Lyren.

“I must agree. The removal of the Veil is of no benefit to mortals.” To Vhexur, “I do not play with mortal lives. I strive only to be an example that they might choose to follow. But what this world has suffered in the past few centuries alone? It is enough for so many lifetimes. The Sundering. The Chaos Storms. The Devastation of Zaichaer. The Ecplise. Now the voidspawn that are steadily draining away magic from the very fabric of Ransera.”

He shook his head. Enough was enough. There had to be some sort of intervention to bring things back to something close to an equilibrium.

“Mortals need something resembling a balance among the cosmic powers. Time enough for them to face matters that are not so blindingly catastrophic. That is why I would push for a Veil that has all of us woven into it, not a patchwork built from a bargain struck under duress.” He found himself agreeing with Varvara. It was a strange turn of events that after having battled them both so many thousands of years ago, he was more likely to agree with them on some basic principles. His gaze turned to Rickter, softening as it did. Though Rickter was new to the realm of the divine, he could already see the mantle of Winter rested well upon his shoulders. What that would mean going forward, he did not know but he saw it as a good thing.

“If a path is to be opened for you,” He looked to Thultu’s disturbing, bloated form. “I shall not be the one to open it. However, let there be room for you to influence mortals to open it for you.”

He looked to Lyren.

“If you wish the Veil to be gone, let this be the avenue through which you can persuade mortals to accomplish that for you.” He held up a hand. “By that same hand, in reworking the Veil to include all of us, that gives the rest of us room to push just as many mortals to stop you.”

“This is an opportunity. A chance to shuffle the deck, so to speak. A chance to build and confer in a way we have not before.” There were murmurings among the assembled gods. He could hear notions of assent but also murmurings of dissent as well. He did not expect these ideas to be settled on this particular day. He fully expected that it would take much persuading, bargaining and collaboration to get as many gods on board as possible. Whether through the art of deal-making or through pressure from their peers.

[Pharaoh]

It was a subtle thing, at first, which began whilst Talon spoke. Even amongst this assemblage of mighty gods with their sundry powers, only those who were focused with intent upon the throne Eikaen had vacated would note that it was shifting. Not that any of their number might be fool enough to sit the Godking's throne in his absence, but even if they unwisely sought to, they would soon be unable. Soundlessly and gradually the platinum warped and shifted until the daïs was no longer occupied by a throne at all. Where it had lain, now stood what appeared to be a statue. Motionless it stood sentry until Talon completed his oratory.

Tipping up its chin and regarding the congregated divine entities with neutral metallic eyes that bore neither iris nor pupil, the entity spoke in a soft, soothing tone that permeated the room in spite of its scant volume.

"I am Avatar, Steward of Pantheon." It intoned. "In his infinite wisdom The King of All Creation has conjured me to serve as his internuncio. I stand before you all in this temporal plane at this interplanar crossroad- A fragment of sovereignty forged instead to serve you. I am his ear when you would be heard by him. I am his voice when you would hear from him. I am his eye when you would be seen. I am his face when you would regard him. What I am not? Is his hand. The decisions to be rendered here are yours and yours alone. You must learn to wield this autonomy. I will aid you in this endeavour. I am Avatar, Shepherd of Pantheon.

"It is natural to bear witness to greatness and then to seek its favour. I favour none and am accessible by all. This is his will. Greet me at your leisure, or not at all. I am Knowledge. I am Guidance. I am Neutrality. I..." The figure bowed at the waist,

"...am Avatar, Emissary of Eikaen."

[Finn]

Review

Experience: 15 xp, not available for magic. (Talon, Rickter, Kala)

Injuries: N/A

Loot: N/A

Note: Thanks for Avatar, Pharaoh! (Pharaoh, Mirage, and Aegis can claim their moderator XP.)