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[Xantalos]

I would suggest a brain, but you are not a flesh god.
Perhaps a flock of smaller crows that speak in unison?

[IamanElfCollaborator]

The crows on Corvus' shoulders respond.

"More of us?

"That could work."

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Vanida listened the conversation with sad face digging deep inside herself and fighting her own temperament, finally she did got up, looked at Corvus with a clear disgust, exhaled deeply and started her rather long and passionate speech

"Az-Sho, we have never been at war, as I never attacked neither you, nor your slaves. And I will not give you anything back, not because I spent my power for that or like fire but because I don't want to give you more power to abuse poor beings that you call children. If you want peace, then don't attack me, and I'll  have no need to defend myself

As for the rules for the Gods. No one, no one said anything about interests of mortals. For you all they are just toys and sources of power. You mutate them, you change their land, you order them around, you encourage  them to sacrifice each other without even considering asking what they want... Now a new overgod himself offers to use them as soldiers in wars between us! And claims people of the north as his servants! "
With tears of despair on her beautiful face Vanida went straight to Thaneos
  "I hope that you are different. I believe that you are different. I never witnessed your disrespect to mortals, you and your sons always try to help them.
 I offer myself to you. If you need me as a friend as an ally and as a lover, I'll be one. If that's not enough and you want more. If you want me as your loyal and caring wife and mother for your sons, I'll be the one, even if that means giving you what I value so much - freedom. "  Vanida gave a short but lustful kiss to the Father of Giants and then stood on her knees before him
"If you don't desire that either, if you like that set of rules. Like that  Avarian want to force you to give birth for another son that he'll use as his tool like Murate did. Then just strike me with your mighty hammer here and now. I will  follow none of those tyrannical rules, will soon get killed by someone stronger and rather give my power to you, not to that earthworm or the new overgod that looks awfully similar to the old one. Just promise me, that you'll care about my daughter being raised in a coral tower and I'll do nothing to stop your strike "

[Xantalos]

I had a feeling you would say something like that, so allow me to give you a comparison: what if I took away your ability to fornicate? Would you desire it again? It is who you are, after all. Just as you treasure sex, I treasure fire. It and I are one. We rejoice in each other's proximity. Or I did. But now I cannot, because you have stolen it from me.

Looking at him, Az-Sho looks far more ... earthy than he used to. He's all shades of brown now.

You have stolen half of my soul, Vanida. If you do not return it to me, the you are truly as tyrannical as you make me out to be. Without my inner fire, I am incomplete. There can be no peace between us. Your temples will burn. You will die.

I would not have bloodshed on the prepice of the beginning of this conference, however. Return my fire to me, and there can be peace between us. I would not take away your ability to have children or whatever it is you do; you should not steal that which is mine.

[Firelordsky]

I'm not forcing anyone here to agree to my terms. There is such thing as negotiation. We can only make decisions if there is negotiation. We can't make decisions with blatant denial of others' ideas. I view The North as a neutral home for all the beings on this planet, whether they be mortal or not, if The North would belong to multiple beings I could not ensure that The North would be entirely neutral. Why do you think I built the Winter Palace in The North? To have gods fight amongst themselves in a neutral area? The reason was that I wanted a place where gods could talk in peace.
Avarian was furious because of Vanida's speech.
My followers chose to change themselves! I gave them a choice. I have never ordered them to sacrifice to me! Yes, I changed their land, but it was not to damage them or harm them it was to let me better protect them! I believed that some of us would actually work together. I never took anyone's Sphere away from them, nor have I ever tried to take worshippers away from others. I have focused on my own people for the whole time that I have been on this world! What do I get? One of my elder's accusing me of things I've never done.
Avarian calms himself down and takes on a more cold and serious voice.
If you believe I am incapable of being compassionate, then so be it. Either state your counter-terms or leave peacefully. I will not allow The North to turn into a battlefield.

[Digital Hellhound]

Sabt Golgo, the Great Spider, watched the arguing gods with a hint of amusement. She 'spoke' to Udil in his mind, hiding it from the others.

These are the gods, then, little one. Such petty arguments. Such illusions of power. What do you think of them, dwarf? Does your hate only grow?

[Xantalos]

You know my terms. No amount of pointless bickering will change that.

[Ardas]

The King of Dwarves, old and wizened, with his grey beard and blind eyes, lost leg and grim face, was a physical manifestation of all that gods threw at mortals. His body was a  record of a lifetime spent on battling supernatural, protecting his people and living amongst them in toil. What gods have given to him, they took back double, never sparing their punches, even if inadvertently.

He hated them all. All but one, who was pleading pathetically at the feet of godslayer. He felt disgusted, but took note of her words. They rang true and her care for mortals was visible, if she was willing to sacrifice herself to another one. Udil saw it and knew, that gods were not only cruel, but also caring. Yet the latter was so much rarer among them.

The King of Dwarves however, had his own mission, and he was yet to complete it.

"I see them. but I care only for the one I am to slay, for his power and his being are mine, by the right of blood and revenge that I was promised. I lived longer than any mortal ever did and yet, my hate has not died down by iota."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Vanida, what do you have against a crow god? Hm?

My quarrel is with nobody. If it is because I have allied with him, remember this; knowledge does not favour anyone.

As for stealing the Serpent's fire? I do not approve. It is a terrible thing to steal anyone's soul, and you call him a tyrant? His logic is sounder than yours. You may be a lust goddess, but you should have thought better than to steal his fire."

The Crow God stood up, his face neutral as he looked at Vanida.

"You claim that we are unable to feel compassion, to feel as you do. We are merely defending our own. I have no quarrel with you; the world's knowledge is impartial. In better times, indeed, I would ally with you. Knowledge and lust need not be enemies."

He turned to Avarian.

"As for you, Avarian, I have stayed out of the godly conflicts. As I stated, knowledge is impartial. I will not take sides in this conflict, as I didn't in the last one, even if I am the Serpent's ally. I will aid his children in surviving, but I will not help a war."

Then he turned to Az-Sho.

"Punishing her by taking her children away is cruelty beyond end for such a goddess, as taking your fire is to you. It would end in a cycle of revenge, upon which the strongest and cruelest would prey. I say we simply imprison her, if she needs to punished. I do not believe in such cruelty to anyone."

Corvus coughed croakily. He was tired of having his siblings fight.

"And if she were to steal your fire again, well....you may do what you wish to her. I merely wish to see an end to this argument."

[Xantalos]

I would not take more away from her than what I have. That I would return if I could, but I cannot reverse the past. I desire peace above this bickering.

Corvus, I would ask something of you beyond this. Know ye of any way to replace a severed limb without divine power? I know someone I owe a debt.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"I shall search my pool of knowledge. I am sure that if they know how to, then I therefore must."

[Shootandrun]

Thaneos remained silent for a long time. He remained silent when the would-be Overgod spoke, and he remained silent when the others raged between themselves. He remained silent when Vanida pleaded for him to intervene, but all the while, he started to grow impatient. Impatient at these petty beings, so proud in their strength, yet so meaningless in truth. At last, however, his patience ran out. He got up, and he hit the ground - softly - with his Hammer.

The Earth trembled. The Palace shook from the highest peak to the lowest foundation. A terrible sound echoed throughout its halls, out shadowing the voices of the Gods. When it faded, only silence remained - and it that silence he spoke.

"Enough. I care not for all this. You babble and babble, brandy empty words and even emptier threats, you plead and you plot, yet you do nothing. I am not so. I will not be used.

Not by you, Vanida, who seeks my protection when your followers threaten war in Eversummer, a land that has already suffered enough pain, and when an alliance with you would earn me nothing but enemies. You and Az-Sho may fight out your quarrels, but you will not do it within the lands of the humans - not within the greatest bastion of humanity on this world. If your hatred causes pain to the men of my land, you may have started your war, but I shall be the one to end it.

And I will not be used by you, Avarian. You pretend to power, yet you cannot prevent squabbling within your own hall. And you want us to trust you with an army of these so called phoenixes, so that you can turn upon us as soon as we realize you are but a tyrant amongst many? I am no sheep to be corralled like these other fools. You wish to take a power I am allowing you to hold, and use it to carve out your little kingdom in the north and make your own personal army. If these other gods have no problem with putting their souls within your hands, then so be it. I am not of that sort."

He turned once again towards Vanida. This time, he spoke more softly.

"However, I am not without mercy. I will build a Hall of my own over the Eversummer. It shall be a place for the hunted to hide, and the fearful to regain courage. There will be no battles in those halls. Those who wish to take refuge there, may. If any God goes after them, seeking vengeance, I will put an end to that. This does not mean I will leave those I protect free to wage war behind my protection. If they take any action against another god during their time behind my walls, my wrath will be severe... And, since I do not wish Eversummer to become the battleground it once was, the Gods will also have to renounce to any influence on this land while they remain as my guests, despite how tempting it may be to act upon it while they are so near, and despite the possibility that they may already have followers there.

I understand that this means, Vanida, that if you are truly desperate to escape Az-Sho'S wrath, you shall have to give up most of your power and your followers. My Fortress will not be a hidden castle from which to wage war and gain influence under my defense; it will merely be a place of rest for those who are truly desperate."

He lifted up the hammer, and started to move towards the exit. Just before leaving, he turned one last time towards the would-be Overgod.

"The previous Overgod left a... Stain upon Eversummer. It kills any who walk upon it, and it can only be affected by a new Overgod. I will be expecting you to remove it. I think it is the merest of things to ask - I did, after all, make this power available to you in the first place. Do as I ask, and I will bother you no more, as long as you do not bother me."

And with those words, he left.


-----------

Thaneos creates the Father's Halls, a fortress flying over the skies of Eversummer, using two Mighty Acts. It is to be warded against any outside influence - whether it is a magical or physical assault, done by Gods or mortals or those in between. His armor is linked to that place, and can teleport him there if he so desires. Nothing may enter, unless it is invited by him. He is always aware of what is happening within his Halls.

He also grants knowledge of Fortifications to his followers in Eversummer, to protect themselves against outside threats, and Steel, to dissuade further any opponents.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Corvus' judgement was dulled from the lack of power, but,when he heard the words of Thaneos, and several thoughts mulling in his mind clinched, he realized something that the Giant had come to.

He turned to Avarian.

"Why should we create phoenixes? I am already myself a flying creature. Az-Sho would not require one, and Vanida is an embodiment of something impossible to turn into such a thing.

And the North, at least, should not be made into all your own land, Overgod. This is the world of Mortals, and I see it is the God's roles to watch over it, not to claim it for their own."

[Xantalos]

Az-Sho hissed.

He seeks to make it a neutral ground, enforced by his will. I do not agree with the idea of these guardians, mainly because if I were to ever go rouge, it would not impede me in the slightest.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"If it were truly neutral, all gods would have control over it, not a single god. Especially one in the position of Mutare, who nearly destroyed the world."