Creep's Story

Creep

Sleep. Something almost all beings can relate to each other in having. Mortals use it to relieve the growing strain on their thoughts and gods use it to relay messages to mortals as well as a means to regenerate. Often times when a god or goddess uses up too much of their power or is damaged bad enough they need to rest until they have rejuvenated themselves.

Creep just used it to occasionally feel human.

He laid in the dusty old bedroom of a long abandoned inn. The threads that the sheets were woven from had frayed apart at the ends and for the most part had fallen to pieces from the damages the insects have inflicted over the years. Sixty long years he's spent sleeping in this room. It was a surprise the floor hadn't collapsed into the level below given how many termites now inhabited the walls of this old building.

The dim dismal sunlight crept along his oddly clean shaven face just as it had for numerous days before, only changing with the rotations of the sun. This was an auspicious day however. After sixty years who could tell just how long he planned on staying asleep. As the rays of light met his shut eyelids however he started to stir, much to his occupants surprise.


After what must of felt like hours he finally yawned, reaching a hand up to rub the tiredness from his eyes. Pulling his hat down to block out the light he rolled away from the window and shut his eyes again. He was a determined sleeper, that much was certain.

"Masteerr... The bell hassz been rung." The insectoid voice informed him inside his head. There was a slight grumble deep down in his throat. I wanna sleep... He complained in thought, a slight pang of annoying registering due to the mild disturbance. "Undeerrzstood. Our zsinceerrezst apologieezs masteerr."

Brain symbiotes were annoying like that. Always hearing everything he thinks and knowing everything he feels. They've always been careful enough to give the illusion of privacy to his thoughts so as to not raise his ire which was already pretty high as they were privy to something he had previously considered personal. He's never raised enough of a fuss to get rid of them, he's never truly understood the extent to which they know him. All he knows is that they are loyal beyond what most humans understand of loyalty. The queens would tolerate no less from company in this body they call their temple.


It was too late for him. Now that he heard of the news his mind was active, busy with thought. There was no way he was going to squeeze in some more sleep while he was distracted like this. Frustrated with himself more than anyone for this he slowly sat up, groaning before stretching his arms wide out. His back made a loud series of pops as he worked out the kinks. The bugs inside had long ago come to understand that their god occasionally does stuff like that, it's not something to be worried about.

But the motion and the results of said motion caused a stir within him. The entire population was active now that he was up. Before they were quite careful not to wake him but now that he was up they were free to wiggle about wherever they went. He could feel them inside him, always.

How long have I been asleep for? This place looks way older than it looked when I came in. He pondered in thought, knowing his thoughts were heard and a reply was in the making from his excessively close advisers. "Ourr anceezstorrzs have grrown up, grrown old and dieed many timeezs beeforre uzs" The head advisers answered back. So... Longer than a couple weeks then.


He couldn't expect them to keep a very precise track of the time. It was quite exemplary that they were as knowledgeable as they were, speaking to him as another human would though with a heavy accent as they struggled to duplicate all the same sounds. Vocal communication was not a large component of how insects communicated with each other. They had to learn how speaking actually conveyed information before they could even understand how to learn how to speak their god's language. Luckily for insects once a few insects learned the secrets of mammalian communication the queens only needed to eat their brains to receive the knowledge so they could pass it onto their offspring.

Not that Creep knew how they went about their business. He didn't really care to learn about it either. He wasn't much concerned with the affairs of insects unless it was a big problem. All he wanted to worry about was himself. He picked up each of his boots and tipped them upside-down, shaking out some stray bugs which were loitering inside before putting the boots on. Finally he stood up from the bed he had slept on for all these years. Miraculously it had never collapsed despite it's age, though it wasn't all that miraculous when taking into consideration the fact that the insects were more than a little encouraged to make sure their god was not roused from his sleep too early.

Out through the window he stared, gazing out into the rolling fields of golden wild grass littered with yellow and red leaves dropped from the nearby forest. Autumn, the transitory season marking the end of summer and the beginning of winter. To be put in more flowery terms, the end of life and the beginning of death.


He went over to the door, grasping the handle gingerly. Having spent a while around insects he's honed his already gentle approach to a fine art, able to move around without disrupting anything. It helped him get around unseen which was quite valuable given how often trouble sought him. Stepping into the old hallway the first thing he noted was that while old and absolutely covered in dust it was relatively intact. If the dust hadn't built up quite so much he might of believed he had only slept a couple days.

He stepped towards the wall opposite from his room, careful with his feet as to not step on any of his followers. While he was no larger than the common man unlike the other deities he was similarly large to the insects, capable of crushing them if he misstepped. He approached the old rusted dark iron torch holder, looking at it with an expression deep in contemplation. He could only wonder, drawing the tip of his right index finger down the side of the torch's metal frame, dust gathering under his finger. I wonder what became of that old innkeeper and that lovely daughter of his...


As he began down the stairs into the main room he could see that no one's been through there in a long time either. This place truly was abandoned, left to the wages of time. It was a strange feeling to Creep, trying to piece together the fate of a building which he had gone to sleep in in what felt like it was just yesterday. He could see the personal items which belonged to the owners were gone. The chairs and tables were all put away too. All signs seemed to point to similar fates. The old man and his daughter had closed the inn, taking everything and moving away. Obviously the young lady had kept her word about not disrupting his slumber.

At this point there was little to no reason for him to stay in this old empty building. He was at a crossroads, figuratively speaking. He knew he had received a summoning to attend a meeting at Raelenea however he wasn't sure he wanted to go. He leaned back against a wall, looking up as he debated with himself.

I don't want to go. I know they probably expect me to go but who would notice if I was gone? They hardly notice if I show up so I don't see why I should be obligated to appear. Any issues they might be discussing are matters I've little to nothing to say about anyways. Chances are they're just talking internal politics, stuff I couldn't care less about. Unless they're planning to off me I've little care whether they all kill each other or make friends. I don't think I've got anything important to say even it was something that mattered. I'm not qualified to make big world changing decisions, why should they hear from me?... Is it normal to talk to myself if it's just in my thoughts?


Ultimately he decided against going after a long obtuse period of internal dialogue. Instead he settled on going elsewhere in the shattered lands of Aettean and just doing what he usually did. With a goal in mind, no real direction but a goal, he stepped through the door out into the great outdoors. In front of him all along the trees he saw thousands of hives along the trees, all brimming with bees and wasps. No doubt the ground was no less populated with insects of every variety. So this's where they all stayed while I was asleep.

With an upward motion of his hand the earth in front of him opened up, revealing a massive hole leading downwards diagonally. Given his affinities to the elements of earth, air and water he was able to exert some command over them. He stepped in and began his long trek down into the winding tunnels below. He had little trouble finding his way in such darkness, his senses many and quite capable of leading him through most if not all environments day or night. Through these tunnels all sorts of insects traveled. Most of them were small. A number of them were as big as him and there were some that were larger than him by far. The remains of the world beneath the surface was an active one, a busy highway for those who dwelt beneath the dirt. A large population of those entities were insects of course.


Some time later...



He eventually emerged from the earthen tunnels, coming out from an old abandoned mine shaft. He squinted and held one hand out to keep the sun from his eyes as he exited the mouth of the mountain. A couple minutes later his eyes were adjusted enough to see just fine.

He continued walking down from the mountain and through the forest below until he came upon a river. He followed the river until he eventually came upon a lovely sight. A tall flowing waterfall, showers of water running down the rocky face into a small pond which emptied into another river. All of this was of course surrounded by an environment of pure natural beauty. He took a deep breath of the fresh air which of course went into his lungs and escaped through the holes out from his body, not leaving the way it came in. It was hard to capture that comforting sensation of being human when he didn't even need to breath as even if he did his body was quite different than it used to be so long ago.

He gave a sigh of disappointment but nonetheless drank in the smooth sensation of the cool wind on his skin. Leaning back in the crook of a tree trunk he rested. He closed his eyes and just listened to the calming sounds of nature. The rushing of the waterfall, the singing of the birds, the buzzing of the bees, the buzzing of the flies, the buzzing of the wasps. It was difficult to listen to anything without the sound of insect wings beating all around. Just another fact of his godhood he had to adapt to. There was no power in this universe so great that it would come without any drawbacks.

As Creep stood there near the waterfall, the scene's vibe began to shift. Mists darkened, sounds blurred, and all the colours around him dimmed. Instead of the gentle sounds of nature a voice reverberated on the wind. The god Xyr was on the move nearby. Shortly the source of his activity would become known. A billowing cloud of smoke would be visable for miles around coming out of the lower forests, being cast to one side by the wind. A small hunting cabin was burning.

Screams echoed out from the nearby woods, as a dark cloaked banshee unleashes its torment onto those around it. Xyr was in spectral form, standing within the burning cabin taking in the scene before him. Two human bodies were burning in front of him, one with a long slash across their torso. Xyr had watched the entire Scene unfold.

It was a father and daughter who lived alone in their cabin. But mistrust between them grew over the last few months. An addiction to her fathers tobacco led to theft and eventually escalated to verbal and physical violence. In a streak of bad luck, the father struck his daughter with his sword across the chest, knocking her into the lit lamp and starting the fire. The father, in a last attempt to take back what he had done, tried saving his girl but she was already dead and he only set himself ablaze to end up dead in his bed.

It was a simple yet satisfying tragedy for Xyr, but it was never enough for the God of Horror and tragedies. He left the banshee made from the girls soul to wander the world in her eternal torture, and drifted along the wind up the mountain. It wasn't long before he had found Creep. He was dust on the wind, drifting around Creep and whispering into his ear.

"Hoffngard has plenty of food for locasts. Why let the humans waste it?" The voice was barely audible, almost like a subliminal message. Creep might mistake it for another of the voices in his head, or he might sense the deity influencing him. To Xyr it was all the same, gods and mortals alike were means to an end. More tragedy.

"Hoffngard has plenty of food for locasts. Why let the humans waste it?"

Creep was lazing about, his eyes closed as he had tried to squeeze in some more shuteye but it seemed fated not to be. The calming sound of the waterfall was faded out so that a voice might make itself heard, if only slightly.


Hm... I really haven't checked up on those lately. I suppose they've probably got their situation on food handled. I wonder when the last time I ate was?... Wait, why am I thinking about food? His train of thought inevitably ran to a stop as he started to question the strange subliminal messaging which really didn't seem native to his frame of mind.

While Creep was not really all too certain if there was even anything going on the ear wigs knew better. They too heard the voice and it was definitely a foreign entity, not originating from the neurons they protected so dutifully. Naturally within less than a second this info was passed down to the queens who had symbiotes monitoring the nervous network for signals sent down by the ear wigs.


Without Creep's knowing a chain had been set in motion, the insects readying for any threat posed to their god. While the immediate area was quite clear all around the forest a storm started to build. Not a storm of wind nor rain nor lightning but of insects. Naturally those that were able to travel faster were quicker to answer the call, clouds of airborne bugs soon filling the area. Things that hopped were not long after and shortly after even those that crawled or dug through the earth came. There was probably not a single insect in the area that was not made aware of the danger to their cherished god.

Not all were simply mere bugs either. Much of Creep's entourage were blessed with the taste of his white honey. They were physically and intellectually superior to other insects and possessed more developed capabilities. Some of the more ascended insects were even capable of magic, able to call upon and command arcane forces through practiced motion and verbal command.


While they issued no threat to the disruptor nearby their potential was building. Alone they were weak but together their power was as considerable as it was unconventional.

Creep might not of noticed the presence of a fellow god nearby but he knew something was up when the bugs started to gather like so.


"Ah heck, somebody's gone and worked 'em up."

A thick fog rolled in with the wind following close behind the last of the insects. It became nigh impossible for conventional senses to get through the fog as voices and color came from the white mass. Whispers from the voices of multiple gods and goddesses came through, a word hear and a sentence there. Enough information about Bashemath and her ichor was trasnfered to Creep this way, and its apparent life evolving properties.

Xyr had already gotten all this from his spy at the council and wished Creep to know as his voice whispers around the insect god, mixed in with the other whispers.

"Consume... grow...!" His words were sent in their most primal sense, easier for both Creep and his bugs to understand.

As the mist surrounded the area around his subjects and him a strange slew of messy colors and voices started emerging within this fog. He struggled to make sense of it as it was in bits and pieces. It seemed somebody wanted to relay information to him and was not very good at being direct.

"Consume... grow...!"


The voice urged strongly, sending a message not just to him but to his subjects. Creep himself just frowned, not at all pleased with being babbled at about some subject the gods were likely discussing.

"Enough! I'm sick of being talked to all strange-like. I'm outta here."


With that proclamation Creep started on his way, just picking a direction and walking towards it. He didn't care if the fog blocked his view, he was just going to walk until whatever god that was picking on him decided to leave him alone. Whatever issue it might of been trying to convey could go rot for all he cared.

Some time would pass, lest something tried to stop him of course. Where he ended up even he did not know. All he knew was that he was far from alone, like usual.

After much time he wandered into what seemed to be farm lands. How he really ended up here was a mystery to him. All he really knew was that he was somewhere, a place he was sure to find out, at least he hoped to. He just kept walking in a singular direction until a large city started coming into view.

He approached the large stone walls with two massive doors set in the middle where the road joined to the city. As he approached he could see some wagons carrying produce inside. The sun lit up the sky with a rather orange glow as it was starting to near twilight. He stepped up to the gate, the guards standing by to keep watch of those entering the city.


Just as he was about to enter the city a guard stepped up, stopping him from going any further. Creep eyed the halberdier up and down before the man spoke.

"Sir, have you payed the entry fee?" He asked him, clearly barring his passage into the city. Creep cocked an eyebrow, clearly in some confusion.

"There's an entry fee?"

"Yeah." The guard spoke brusquely, by no means pleasant in his demeanor. The man looked him up and down, clearly evaluating him. His upper lip contorted with disgust as he estimated Creep's worth.

"The fee is fifteen silver."

"Huh? I'm not sure if I have that much on me."

"That's not my problem. Pay up."


Creep's expression sank into a frown. He looked over, seeing peasants with wagons passing into the city regularly.
"What about those people? Don't they have to pay?"

"They've paid already. Now's your turn."

He couldn't tell if the guard was telling the truth or not but he didn't feel all too happy nonetheless. Regardless he started fishing in his pockets to see what he had to pay with. Within his jacket he fished up a couple silver pieces that were minted quite a while ago as well as a handful of bugs that happened to be in the way. When he reached out to hand the man his change the guard recoiled in revulsion.

"Eugh! What the-!?" The thuggish guard exclaimed after retracting his hand from Creep.


Just then three black carriages approached the gates, the other guards making way for them to pass through.
"Bloody hell! Look, just go and don't let me see your ugly mug again, got it? The guard told Creep after having seen the carriages coming up. The man did not wait for him to answer, hurrying over to do his duty instead of trying to extort money from passersby.

With a shrug he stuffed his silver coins back into his pockets and continued on, shuffling through until he was lost in the crowd, a face among faces. As he went along he noted seeing someone who looked almost earthen. He couldn't get a very good look however and he didn't bother to stop and check.

---

A bit of time later

---

The town was much different than he remembered it. It had grown and changed since he last visited this place. One old establishment that he recognized however was The Old Dog, a tavern down in the run-down side of the city. While everything else seemed to have grown up and gained a polished gleam to it this place still looked as sub-par as it did the last time he was here.

Stepping in through the door it was pretty much what he expected to see. The tables were somewhat rearranged, there were some new waitresses and the surly old bartender had been replaced with his son, the surly now middle aged bartender. Still much of it was still the same. The floors were still dirty, the lighting was still dreary and everything still smelled of vomit and alcohol. The customers were the usual fare, alcoholics and poor folk who couldn't afford to drink at nicer establishments.

Long has it been since a time where Creep could enjoy getting drunk and forgetting his problems. Nowadays he couldn't even get the satisfaction of filling his stomach thanks to the holes which lingered even still. Still he couldn't help but come and reminisce of a time when he could.


He went over and sat at a far table in the darkened corner of the room. Not long after sitting down a waitress came up to take his order. The young woman in her somewhat scant attire, the standard work uniform for all the waitress's there, would of looked attractive were it not for her constant scowling expression. Not that her looks mattered to Creep, not anymore. It was just something he noticed.

"Can I take your order?" She sounded a mixture of both bored and annoyed. None of the waitresses looked at all happy to be working here and for good reason as they regularly had to deal with undesirable sorts as a common routine. He couldn't blame them for that, nor did he feel it particularly unjust to be lumped in with the pathetic masses which this tavern called it's customers.

Creep just sorta looked down at his shoes, trying to be as discrete as he could so he didn't draw any unnecessary attention.


"What can I get for two silver?" He humbly asked, his voice somewhat retiring as though he were shy. He wasn't particularly extroverted but his main goal was to not draw any attention to his wounds or the bugs which sometimes crawled in and out of them.

"cup a' ale's all that'll afford 'ya."

Without another word he quietly reached into his pockets and produced his change, taking the time to make sure his hands weren't full of bugs this time. As he handed her the money she just took the money from his hands, not really giving a damn as she turned and strode off towards the bar without so much as spending a moment longer looking at him.


"'Ey Burt, we got an order for one cup a' ale for the creep in the back corner." The waitress passed off his order to the bartender who went ahead and filled up a cup. Handing the cup over to the woman she brought his order up to his table. Without so much as even a glance at him she passed his table, setting the cup down at the opposite end of the table before striding off to wait on another table.

With a melancholy sigh he took his cup and set it back down on the table in front of him, just staring down at the bottom of the drink as he dwelt on where the good ole' days went.

Alieth

As Alieth walked on, she realised she didn't really have a plan- Which was unlike her, but she shrugged and mumbled to herself "not like those plans work out anyways". Her thoughts were cut off by the the words of two men who were walking in front of her;
"They say The Black Ichor changes animals, as if they are mutants or far worse" he said in a hushed tone, his clothes looked as if he were a noble- But she guessed he wasn't that high in ranking. The other man looked alike, brothers perhaps, but his stature stood taller- more affirmative. "I see, I've heard that myself- even rumours that it might be spreading across the Ertse'gart, but they may just be rumours- People practically feed off gossip these days". Alieth slightly frowned, unsure if to believe this information. The men turned down a busy street, and she realised that she had been following them all the way back to the main gates. "Bleeding skies, I'm back where I beg-" she began to mutter to herself, but she was interrupted by a small, middle-aged woman slamming into her. She looked up, dazed. The person who slammed into her had her back to Alieth, and Alieth then saw that it wasn't the woman's fault. The large crowd of mortals had parted for three worn down, black carriages. She could practically feel the buzz of gossip that was brewing. Alieth moved through the crowd, muttering a "sorry" and a "excuse me" to all the people she bumped into. Her eyes stayed glued on the carriages, and she could faintly see a head popping out of one of the openings of the carriage. Managing to zig-zag her way through the crowd, she set off to find out where the carriages would lead her.

==
After some fast paced walking, she had figured out where the carriage would be going, the upper class sector of Hoffngard. She decided not to journey in there, for she knew that she would earn some unwanted looks- Everyone in that sector knew everyone, and gossip thrived as if it were light itself. She couldn't help but wonder what the new-comer wanted, and if it would affect her in any way- For all she knew, they would be discussing what tea is best. But she had a feeling, and it didn't go away easily.

Kana Na-Ahn
__________________________
Kana managed to find someone who would hire her. It was hard! Have you ever been discriminated against because of your race? Well, being discriminated against because of your species is even harder. Add on top of that that Kana is a woman, and most hard labor places simply would not even consider. More than once she was threatened to have the guard called if she didn't make herself absent. Finally, after about eight or nine attempts, one contractor was willing to take her after she moved a cart out of her way single-handed. In was an expression of annoyance, but apparently her raw strength was enough to get a job for the day.

This particular job was fun. Her fellow workers were scared of her, especially when she removed her cloak, but they were willing to work near her. The job only lasted for a few hours, and was of the type that each worker was compensated seven silver for basic work, and ten for specialized. When Kana was in line for pay, they tried to hand her seven.

"Am I just a standard worker," she asked. "Could any of your others lift two bundles by themselves?" And there she stood, with her earthen hand outstretched, while the contractor considered the situation.

"Fair enough. Take yer ten. We could use someone of yer....abilities later in the week. If yer interested, check back 'ere later."

Giving a grateful nod, Kana took her day's wages and followed the group of workers to a nearby tavern. They weren't scared of her anymore after working with her, but they still were wary. What better way to ease the tension of what could be future workmates than to drink with them? Kana couldn't get drunk, of course, but she knew she had a better chance at better pay if her work force actually trusted her. So with that, she led off to some dusty, dimly-lit tavern.
--------------------------------
Inside the tavern was about as bad as she expected. Dirty, dimly-lit indeed, and vomit, alcohol, and B.O. permeated the air. The smell didn't bother Kana, but each worker recoiled only slightly as they came in. They were used to it, sure, but no one could truly be used to it.

The group ordered the house grog with their wages. Kana got the same, even though it was more money than she wanted to spend. No one received a full day's wages, as they only worked almost half a day, but they were pretending that they were nobles with the way they spoke to the obviously unhappy waitress. More than a couple suggestive comments were made about her as she left with the order, and Kana decided that staying inside her cloak would be the best option. She looked conspicuous, sure, but it was better to be the strange one with a full cloak than the female earth elemental who would garner far too much attention from others.

((Please disregard.))

He watched as customers came. Nothing was much unusual about that. Not until the cloaked woman came.

He vaguely remembered seeing her as he entered the city. She seemed to have an earthen face but it might of been a trick of his imagination. What did it matter, anyway? She was just another patron in the bar, just looking to drink her sorrows away no doubt. He turned his own attention back to his drink. That's right, he had his own sorrows to drink away.


A toast. To life poorly spent.

With that thought in his mind he took the cup and drank what two silver could afford him. The fluid burned his throat and ran into his stomach. Sure it might of been unwelcome by some of his guests but it felt somewhat nice to feel something in his stomach that wasn't writhing about. The stuff's just gonna run out the hole in my guts anyways, they can shoulder a little rain.


With a deep sigh he stood, finally too dreary to keep on feeling bad for himself. He had indulged his desire to wallow in regret but more work laid ahead for him. Not that his work was strictly necessary, at least to his mind. The cockroaches have always had holes to crawl into well before he became what he is. Still, they wanted someone to look out for them. He knew well that life was no good just looking after one's self, never trusting a fellow not to take your coin and slit your throat while you slept. Not even insects were below a little grace, even if he was what little they were afforded.

With a lurch he lifted himself from his seat. He had paid and drank, now it was time to go. Casting one last wayward glance to the hooded woman, a sight which stood out among the local clientele, he turned and left the bar.


Stepping out into the dark alleyway, little else lighting it but the dim light of the tavern itself, he saw ahead into the darkened alleyway ahead. Though the shadows consumed the light not too far off leaving the entire alley ahead nearly pitch black his eyes could see much better in the dark but even sight such as his could catch a clear look at who was a head. All he could make out was a cloaked figure hunched over something. The moment he took a step forward the figure fled, clutching something to it's chest as it ran.

He was not about to give chase but he could now see what it was the figure was over. A body, struck dead.


Approaching he could see it was an old man, bald with a bushy grey beard. He was dressed reasonably well and not too far off he could see his spectacles, the item likely having fallen off during the struggle. He had been stabbed, once through the rib cage and another right above it in the middle of his throat. A violent but quick end.

Looking on at the scene he could only ponder what must of gone down and why. It was so recent too, the old man must of not been able to cry for help. It was not the average criminal's work, especially since the pouch of coin at his hip was untouched it seemed. No, this was the work of an assassin most likely. What the figure took however was still a mystery.


"What shall become of the body, sir? The ear wig asked. It used to speak to him using honorifics like Master and God but he insisted they don't.

Well... He considered his answer, struggling with the ethical ramifications his choice might hold.

Let the cockroaches eat what remains. If they bury him the worms are just gonna eat him anyways.


With his decision made all he needed to do was cast out a thought. He contacted as many cockroaches within the radius as he saw fit with a single beckoning thought and they all came, swarming out over walls and through gutters. Thousands upon thousands of cockroaches swarmed over the body, biting at the rotting flesh, and this was only just the roaches from this block. He almost never summoned all the insects in the area to one location all at once just in case in some freaky scenario something were to blow up somehow and demolish everything around. He always wanted to make sure that even if he were to somehow croak his subjects would live on.

Thus was the end of another life in the gutters of Hoffngard.

Bashemath
------------------

"I see it more upon each passing year," a woman's voice echoes mournfully through the alley. A figure shuffles quietly from a corner, dressed in what could only be described as rags. The lighting gave away only a glimmer of eyes and a few sets of smaller ones upon her shoulders. She kneels looking down at what remains, eaten away by the roaches, then sighs and looks towards the ground, crossing her arms against her chest. One of the animals on her back look up at Creep and stares. "They call this just life, how it is, but in reality it is just a slow yet painful death. Only a few can truly say they are happy, only few can say they are secure. And here, I am born into this sad and twisted world. The Creator has abandoned them, the old gods withdrawn by their squabble... this world... its people... were forsaken by no fault of their own. I cannot accept that this is life."

The woman spoke without filter, sad yet hopeful, compassionate, yet hints of a bitterness when speaking of the gods. Finally she turns her head to look over to Creep, shimmering streams of fluid running down her cheeks now visible. She was crying? She reaches out to him, tilting her head ever so slightly. "What ails you, bug keeper?"
------------------

Rey Jihara
------------------

"It... is not r...really a party with just us, no," she says, trying to pace herself with her pronunciations looking down at the ground. She shuffles her feet slightly, this had not been exactly what she expected her first duty to be like. She had expected something more grand, more glorious and honor worthy.

She was shaken once more, the human woman, Carissa, the only other to arrive so far wanted to talk. As she was, Rey was never too good at... communicating.

"Y-yes, I like music," she responds, fidgets with her fingers. "I hear music q... quite often, and would find it... strange, maybe bad, if I did not. Where I was from... music was more... function, but here it is... function, but also recreation. I find comfort in that. What is your music?"

She notices she is fidgeting with her hands and shoves them behind her back. She could not believe she was so nervous after thinking she was prepared for this.

"I love string instruments but the one I love the most and use is the harp. My harp here, Uhopsibri can change sizes making it easier to carry and perform with. When playing music on the street or just traveling I keep it in this hand held form, when at a concert I return it to its original size. I just find a certain charm with a harp, but of course a few backup instruments are always good. I find that trumpets and violins go really great with a harp while performing certain songs." Carissa energetically spoke as she showed Jihara the golden harp in her hands. Of course other than that she had no other items on her self.

Of course she noticed Jihara fumbling with her hands a bit, but she did not pay it too much attention. "So from where you came from music was for function? Was it to call upon enchantments or cast spells? Well, my harp can do the same thing but I primarily use it as recreational purposes so everyone can enjoy a bit of music. You see I don't fight at all, as you already know Edna dislikes violence, I dislike the same thing. As her disciple I want to do what I can, even though I may only have music people can become friendly with each other...Oh dear! I went off topic, my apologies! Um...So...anything cool you want to say?" Carissa chuckled a bit as she just realized she went way off track in their conversation.

(Never mind me, just posting in the wrong area again.)

Creep

"What ails you, bug keeper?"

Creep looked up, drawn out of thought by the sudden voice of the figure that had approached him. Immediately his cockroaches senses danger, something they were quick to retreat from as all the bugs scurried from the corpse, leaving the alley much the same way they came only with the addition of circumnavigating the stranger. Creep himself took a couple steps back, purchasing some distance between him and the strange figure before him. He did not know why she approached him like so but a lot of things about this were definitely not normal to his sensibilities.

"Well for one thing this is the second time today that somebody's gone off at me with cryptic nonsense. I swear it's like people just get their kicks by trying to puzzle me."


He tried not to sound too defensive but it was hard with a pair of little eyes looking on at him. At this point he mostly just wanted out of this conversation as he mostly just found the whole conversation off-putting. Well, that and he was really suspicious of the figure being another deity trying to play mind games with him again.

"As much as I'd love to er, stay and chat I'll probably be on my way, My way being outta here more specifically."

As he had been backing up while talking with that said he slipped past the corner, vanishing from view. That is to say he didn't literally vanish but rather took off down the alley, hoping quite well he wasn't being pursued by something quite awful.


Just as he emerged from the alley way, coming to a slow he saw three women. Two were concealed in cloaks, one in a mask and the third was dressed in a colorful dress, likely expensive stuff given the vibrancy of the colors. He recognized the one person from the bar. It wasn't that strange to see this person again given how close the locations were but given the events just prior it was starting to get rather strange how often he was running into strange out of place people in Hoffngard.

"Hey, you bunch wouldn't happen to know that doomsday sayer over by the dead body now would 'ya?" He asked, wondering if there was some connection between these people and the other one. It wasn't much of an unusual question in itself but there was little involved in the topic that was usual for a place like Hoffngard. Even dead bodies weren't THAT usual though they were unpleasantly frequent in the river that ran down the middle of the city.

The avatar of Bashemath sighs and looks over at her... companions.

"Was I unclear? Perhaps I should try better next time," she says to essentially herself. "That one is special... and I will not let Xyr or the other gods use him."

"It is scouting for now, we intend to check Ertse'gart and see how far the Black Ichorr has spread and... if necessary... make contact," she responds as well as she could muster. "Hoffngarrrd sits on the edge, so from here, not long. I am shocked there arre no signs of it here."

With this said another person emerges, this one in a seeming hurry to get away from... something. It was a young man, tattered clothes and hat. A vagabond perhaps? She was not going to judge, but his scent was strange. In any case, it was clear immediately that he was likely not another sent to join them. She was also taken aback by this abruptness, not sure what to say in response to his mention of a doomsday sayer.

"I know nothing of such, I am Sublimatio Carro, um... under Ha-zar-mav-eth, nothing to do with... doomsday," she explains, trying to be as forthright to place herself away from such dark practices. It wouldn't be the first time members were mistaken as a dark cult, given their dress code and the whole... being associated with a god of the afterlife. She inspects him, shifting concerns. "But tell me... you spoke of a body... were you attacked? Are you okay? Do you requirre help?"

Tir'Ish Na-Ahn
___________________________

Tir'Ish watched as Kana quickly made contact with what seemed to be the scouting group. He (for he was still in the form of a man-monk) smiled, and kept hidden on the rooftop where he was perched. All was going well, and hopefully they would have some answers soon. The smile quickly faded, however, when the boy infested with insects suddenly made an appearance. Creep, thought Tir'Ish with just a hint of contempt. Creep was certainly no enemy of the Na-Ahns, but he was difficult to deal with sometimes. What is he panicking about, I wonder.

Tir'Ish decided to get in closer. Jumping from the roof and using a small amount of energy to keep his physical form intact, he took off running towards the group. He slowed down just in time to not be immediately noticed as an abnormality, and walked closer to be ready just in case Kana would be in danger. Keeping his eyes on them, Tir'Ish read their words by the intents given off. Dead bodies were bothersome, so-called "doomsday sayers" were often trouble, and Creep was usually a little rash.

Unless something threatening happened, Tir'Ish planned to stay his distance and watch. It has been a very long time since he fought, and he certainly wasn't eager to start back up.

Carrissa had no idea what the fine details were for this mission so she did not respond, of course it seemed that Rey knew where they were going. The strange person had not disclosed their name, but all she knew was that she served Tir'Ish Na-Ahn.

What got her attention however was a strange young man with tattered clothing who said something about...a dead body! "Doomsday sayer! Dead body! Oh my gosh..." Carissa covered her mouth as she broke away from the group to head to the alleyway. Of course this took precedence but there was no way she would just leave a dead person rotting in an alleyway, everyone deserved to be properly buried.

She was not going to just ignore this, and a doomsday sayer? Was that strange person the killer? She had to find out.

Creep

"I know nothing of such, I am Sublimatio Carro, um... under Ha-zar-mav-eth, nothing to do with... doomsday, But tell me... you spoke of a body... were you attacked? Are you okay? Do you requirre help?"

Hazarmaveth, he could of sworn he recognized that name. Eh. I'll remember that later. He cast the thought from his mind. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Oh, I'm fine. Not sure I can say the same of the poor guy down in the alley. He was dead by the time I came upon him. Probably a mugging from the look of it though I couldn't tell you for sure since I wasn't there long." He informed them of the situation.


"Zzsir, we are being watchzed." The ear wig informed him telepathically. He hadn't noticed this but bugs were far more canny when it came to spotting metaphorical flies on the wall. It was hard for someone to go anywhere in a place as dirty as this side of the city and not draw the attention of a mosquito or a flea.

He just took their word for it rather than ponder about the fact that they might see anyone looking at him as a potential stalker. Given that possibility he paid the potential danger little mind, keeping his focus on the group for the current time.


"Doomsday sayer! Dead body! Oh my gosh..." The pretty young blonde exclaimed. She certainly was a good looking lady. Creep definitely noted her pale unblemished skin and cute yet innocent looking face. She was the type of girl that was severely out of his league, both before and after his transcendence to godhood.

And just like that she was off, running down the alleyway he had just exited. "Whoa, hold on there!" He beckoned, deciding to follow after her. She looked rather inexperienced, naive even. He could only wonder if she had ever seen a body before, let alone one that had been partially eaten by roaches. The doomsday sayer was no good news either, this problem was only going to get worse before it was going to get better this way. Since he had a partial hand in how this was going down he felt the need to at least see it to as much of a conclusion as he's willing to follow up on.

Plus she was cute too. Cuties shouldn't be hanging around dead bodies and creeps like him.

---

Goddess of Love, Lust, and Sexuality
Fairy Glade

---

The Goddess of Love, lay back, watching her guests, indulged themselves her power. Some danced, most coupled up. Soft moans, and whimpers of euphoria floated about the room, along with incenses and and scented oils permated the air adding to her already potent power. She smiled softly, playing the hair of her avatar, Ashika, whole lay back against her chest, having already indulged with the Goddess herself was still reeling.

Ai, however, while a smile touched her lips, was elsewhere. She was supposed to have gone to the meeting with her Brother's and Sister's but was much too wrapped up in what she had been doing with the avatar, the thought of the meeting bored her. Ai did not like to be bored, in fact, she abhored it. She chuckled to herself causing Ashika -still breathless- to look up at her.

Ai merely shook her head and Ashkia lay back, losing her eyes, a pleasant satisfied smile on her face. Ai went back to her musing.
She was rarely ever alled upon for such matters, surely her brothers and sisters cared little for her. After all, she was what distracted most of the mortals from the things they wanted them to do. Some where driven until love was involved, or lust in most cases. Some where smart but love made them stupid, some where dark but love made them kind. Love had many gifts but it was much like a virus, she knew, and and distracting one at that.

This always caused Ai to keep from these meetings, she did not want to sit there and be loathed, and the fear of such a thing, kept her distance, which was strange for such a sociable being.
She felt bad though now that the lust she'd placed on herself warn of.

She should go. She knew she should go, and so she would.

She walked passed her resting avatar, pressed a gentle kiss to the woman's lips before making her departure, Ashika just sighed, too love drunk to move.


It didn't take long for Ai to arrive in to where they all gathered, and decided to hide her apprehension in the only way she knew how.
Grandly.

She stepped through the great doors, her arms up, her hips cocked, the belt at them and the matching silks that cascaded down and around her legs in the deep blues of a twilight night sky, teased the bounties beneath them.It would have been considered a skirt what she wore, had it not been for the splits that rose to the belt. She smiled.

"Brothers! Sisters! Do forgive my tardiness." She said, "But have no fear, Love is here." She said with a light flirty giggle. She cared little for the so called blood ties that forced her to call them siblings. She flirted with anyone.

She dropped her arms and approached, her hips swaying teasingly, her hair, dark this day to match the dark blue she was wearing, flowing behind her, wisping like a spider's web in a soft breeze, she found herself a seat atop a table, she crossed her legs, with the split the rose up the sides of her silks being so high, it was that motion that kept her modest...somewhat.

"What did I miss?" She asked, her tone sing song. "Tell me everything." She said as if this was idle gossip and not something important. It must have been if she had been invited.

[Another accidental location post. Let's delete these.]