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[Digital Hellhound]

'Hmph! I could, I suppose, go to these pirates and try to convince them, but I have little they'd be interested in. No, even if we would proceed with this plan, I would send Pyrite in my place, or one of you mortals. I can forge weapons or ships, general, and fight. If you have need of those, I may be able to help, but that is all,' Tulwor said. He grimaced. This business was getting on his nerves. So many restrictions, problems... politics! He entertained the idea of simply going to the Bellians and rallying them to attack, damn their generals, but he had a feeling they might prove as cowardly as the man leading them.

---

After their conversation was finished, he got to work on his promises to both of his sisters. Ketari had need of a spear, though the goddess hadn't bothered him about the dragon again, while he had no intention of giving up on Chell. The girl had asked to learn weapons, and he would not let her body's cowardice keep her from that. There was a warrior's trick, that of acceptance, of the void or the fire, where even the blades swinging for your throat were as much part of you as your right hand. Her fear was shameful, and born of body rather than will. He could overcome that.

---

1 Miracle: Forge the Black-Feathered Lance, a hunting spear crafted to be deadly against all things winged - harpies, birds... dragons.

1 Miracle: Train Chell, mk. II. Try to make her let go of her body's inhibitions and nervousness, to embrace pain and the fury of combat. Alternatively, train her with a bow and arrows instead.

[Weirdsound]

'Hmph! I could, I suppose, go to these pirates and try to convince them, but I have little they'd be interested in. No, even if we would proceed with this plan, I would send Pyrite in my place, or one of you mortals. I can forge weapons or ships, general, and fight. If you have need of those, I may be able to help, but that is all,' Tulwor said. He grimaced. This business was getting on his nerves. So many restrictions, problems... politics! He entertained the idea of simply going to the Bellians and rallying them to attack, damn their generals, but he had a feeling they might prove as cowardly as the man leading them.

General Nightcharm offers a grim smile. "If we want the army to actually stand up to the Orcs, we may have to... take you up on at least the weapons offer. The present commander-in-chief is too cowardly to give his men any metal weapon large enough to be of use should they fall into Orcish Hands, so all we have to fight the brutes are shortswords, shortbows, bucklers, and wooden spears."

He pauses, before speaking again, "as for your offer to fight, I'm sure many of my kinsmen would object out of fear of drawing involvement from the Orcish Pantheon, but I am of the mind that since our gods are now present, the eventual presence of the Orc Gods is inevitable, and we may as well strike while the Iron is hot."

The General scratches his head, "In the end, I trust my gods and will stand behind whatever plan they come up with, but I do warn you that our Commander-In-Chief may be a thorn in your side if that plan is anything more aggressive than waiting on the Orcs to make a mistake..."

Somewhat amused, Ketemos replied to the naturalist."Tell about the rivers, scholar...As for your expedition, I might be able to arrange something but you need to tell me first about these Little Folk and their 'gods'. It would not be prudent to allow your journey if its more trouble than its worth after all."

The Scholar offers you a grim smirk. "They do a good job of avoiding detection, but the Upper White River, which splits into The Lower White and Peninsular Rivers, which run through Kiatown and Selma's gate respectively, is teeming with Horizon Beings. I suspect... that they must keep some sort of breeding site either at the river-bottom or under the glaciers that feed the streams."

You find this revelation to be more than a bit shocking. Horizon Being is a catch-all term for the creatures that flourished before the time of the Dragons, and they are something that the Bellian Gods, even your mother, knows relatively little about. Many of them exist in dimensions or colors that Bellians cannot even precieve, and that even their gods need to focus divine energy to detect. You vaguely recall that a tribe called the Endoqpoth appeared without warning, and fought alongside Rexxis' host during the 2nd Battle of the Ice Realm, and that Cultisvisoqom, a sea-urchin like Horizon Being, serves as a wicked barbarian god in a far off land, but beyond that sightings of Horizon Beings are rare, and confirmed sightings are almost unheard of.

"If you want proof," the scholar offers, "I keep a corpse locked in my basement vaults. It dosn't rot, which is good because I apparently freaked out while trying to mount it, and my servants had to bind me with chains for two months until I returned to my senses. I don't remember any of that though." 

He pauses when you request information about the little people, before describing them in purely biological terms. "From what I have seen, their skeletal structure is stout and hardy like that of a pure blooded giant. I would wager that they share a common ancestor with our Hill Giant predecessors, but became smaller through magical means or natural selection, as opposed to interbreeding with elves. Their frontal lobe is bigger in relation to the rest of their brain than that of the average Bellian, and their brain stem is smaller, leading me to hypothesize that they are more rational and less emotional than our lot, and my limited interactions with them support this hypothesis."

Panther shrugs when asked about their Pantheon. "They claim to have one god who takes the form of a sea-serpent. He is supposedly the insecure sort who doesn't like the idea of other dieties, which prevents the little people from becoming aligned with us more closely. Before the siege went up, they would sometimes try to send missionaries. Can't say I know much more than that, though. I dislike talking about a creature before I have had a chance to examine it."

"Hmm, I see...well would you at least see to it that my mother hears of my request? Surely her followers using my Gates wouldn't cause too many problems."

Mortus shrugs. "If ye think it wise boy, I will let yer mother know, but be warned, many of ta more nasty deities keep partisans who also casually worship the rest of the Pantheon, and would have no qualms sincerely praying ta yer mother so as ta come over here an' start something. If I were ya, I would avoid instantaneous transport ta the mainland at all costs, at least until yer ready ta deal with the Bullshit of us more established gods."

[Digital Hellhound]

'I'll get you weapons to use against that fort,' Tulwor said. 'And see about this commander of yours. I suppose you would like the job, yourself? Or do these incessant politics of yours prevent that?'

[GiglameshDespair]

Ketari cocked a head at the weak appearance of the vampire, lucidity and rationality returned.
"A glorious feast, though you look more corpse than the Harpy, Dennis. Eat. Eat a harpy if you must, though if you do, get as many secrets as you can." She hesititated, having forgotten what she had called him in for. "Ah, yes. If I leave to wage war on harpy-kind, look after my pachyderm. Beware it's poison, though. I don't know how it would effect a creature such as you."

She looked around, and saw Ketemos had slipped away during her eating. "A more squeamish one, Ketemos, yes?" She made a noise halfway between a laugh and a growl.

----

Cleaned, she wandered down to her brother's chamber, wishing for conversation. She arrived in time to hear the end of the General's speech, and knocked politely to announce herself before she interjected.
"You talk of the war agaisnt the green-skins, yes? I am the Bird Eater, and am strong, and I have learned the Harpies war against a Chimeric race, with their own gods. Very crowded, this Isle of Plenty, it seems. I have decided to aid the Chimeras against the Harpies, and I would expect them to assist us agaisnt the green-skins once their war is concluded or concluding. So we have a ally in them, I would expect, though it may be delayed, yes?

Oh course, blood of my blood, I asked of you a favour, and so if you would want my assistance elsewhere, I would fulfil my obligation to my sibling as a return. You care more of this war against the orcs than I."

[Weirdsound]

Ketari cocked a head at the weak appearance of the vampire, lucidity and rationality returned.
"A glorious feast, though you look more corpse than the Harpy, Dennis. Eat. Eat a harpy if you must, though if you do, get as many secrets as you can." She hesititated, having forgotten what she had called him in for. "Ah, yes. If I leave to wage war on harpy-kind, look after my pachyderm. Beware it's poison, though. I don't know how it would effect a creature such as you."

She looked around, and saw Ketemos had slipped away during her eating. "A more squeamish one, Ketemos, yes?" She made a noise halfway between a laugh and a growl.

Dennis leans forward on his walking stick and gives a weak smile. "You are right of course, m'lady; I am rapidly approaching the point where it would be unwise for me to starve myself any further..."

He shoots his gaze to the young pachyderm and studies it intensely for a few minutes. "Fascinating... Yes I should be able to look after it. I've tamed common elephants before, and trained them for a variety of purposes as well... do you have anything in mind for this little fellow Ketari?"

The vampire takes a few steps towards the elephant, loses his balance, and promptly face-plants. "...Perhaps it would be prudent of me to take you up on the Harpy Offer," he mutters, "either send one restrained to my chambers, or be ready to restrain me. There is a fair chance that if I drink here and now that I might lose control and suck dry every creature in this room save for my goddess."

[GiglameshDespair]

Ketari laughed. "Those sparrows are mine to eat, Dennis, not yours. Take a harpy to your chambers, or have one of the servants do it on my orders.

The pachyderm... I do not know. It would make a grand mount when it is fully grown, I imagine, to carry me when I rest my wings. Though I suppose that would be a long time, yes? And it's poison seems too potent to waste, so a war-beast it should be. Maybe when it reaches adulthood, I'll have blood of my blood to forge a set of armour for it."

She hummed in thought.

"Or maybe I'll be queen by then and grow it some armour. The Barker's bones are hard as iron, so that type of wood could do, especially as it would not live like they do. But this is an isle when strength is king, and this strange beast has potential."

[Weirdsound]

(Oops, hit post instead of preview on that last post)

'I'll get you weapons to use against that fort,' Tulwor said. 'And see about this commander of yours. I suppose you would like the job, yourself? Or do these incessant politics of yours prevent that?'

The General looks you square in the eye. "I wouldn't mind that job, but the politics required to assume power would be tiring and perhaps even dangerous. However... that Herald of yours, Hialarth, actually excels at and enjoys playing them, and she would be on my side in the matter. If you were to give her a heads up as to what you plan to do with the Commander-in-Chief, she should be able to act quickly and clean up the mess. Else, if such scheming is a bit too dirty for you, just deal with the commander last, after all other preparations have been made. If I can get the troops moving within hours or days of assuming command, there is a good chance I can... stifle... all the backroom bullshit resulting from the change of command with a hot war and a great victory."

He then averts his gaze, and considers you offer of weapons in a deeper fashion. "We'd want good polearms primarily; The Orcs are several heads taller than us. They like to get up real close, and smash down on Bellian heads with Greatclubs of wood or stone. If we allow them to start doing that, our losses will be heavy and our odds of victory poor. They are almost large enough that... that... I'd consider giving my front lines some pikes if I had em, and experimenting with anti-Calvary tactics against em."

Cleaned, she wandered down to her brother's chamber, wishing for conversation. She arrived in time to hear the end of the General's speech, and knocked politely to announce herself before she interjected.
"You talk of the war agaisnt the green-skins, yes? I am the Bird Eater, and am strong, and I have learned the Harpies war against a Chimeric race, with their own gods. Very crowded, this Isle of Plenty, it seems. I have decided to aid the Chimeras against the Harpies, and I would expect them to assist us agaisnt the green-skins once their war is concluded or concluding. So we have a ally in them, I would expect, though it may be delayed, yes?

Oh course, blood of my blood, I asked of you a favour, and so if you would want my assistance elsewhere, I would fulfil my obligation to my sibling as a return. You care more of this war against the orcs than I."

The General ponders the bird eater's words briefly. "Allies would help, but I'm not sure if waiting around would be a good idea. The longer we put this off, the more we risk the Orc Gods showing up, and I think I speak for most mortals when I say that I'd rather that the inevitable meeting between our gods and theirs happens somewhere far away from Kiatown. That said, I am going to trust the judgement of the divine, if you all think it is worth waiting for."

Ketari laughed. "Those sparrows are mine to eat, Dennis, not yours. Take a harpy to your chambers, or have one of the servants do it on my orders.

The pachyderm... I do not know. It would make a grand mount when it is fully grown, I imagine, to carry me when I rest my wings. Though I suppose that would be a long time, yes? And it's poison seems too potent to waste, so a war-beast it should be. Maybe when it reaches adulthood, I'll have blood of my blood to forge a set of armour for it."

She hummed in thought.

"Or maybe I'll be queen by then and grow it some armour. The Barker's bones are hard as iron, so that type of wood could do, especially as it would not live like they do. But this is an isle when strength is king, and this strange beast has potential."

Dennis nods, and points to one of your tree cages containing a Harpy Chick. The construct begins to glow green, before rising from its dormant position, and lumbering out of the room. "I'll have it back, sans harpy, when I'm finished m'lady," He states, "and I'll see if I can teach our little friend some ferocity. You might want to either use divine power to age it a bit, or find it a wetnurse in the meantime; It seems emaciated, so I doubt it is taking whatever solid food you are offering."

The vampire takes some time to work is way back to his feet before speaking again. "What sort of queen would an eater of birds aspire to be, m'lady? I will gladly serve, drive, test, and challenge you until you obtain whatever your heart desires, but I first must know your desires and goals, no?"

[Digital Hellhound]

'I will forge you your pikes, General. How about siege engines? That would break down their walls well enough, and if they're taller, you may as well fire them straight over your lines,' Tulwor said. 'I will deal with this commander last, then. Regardless, I'll come with you to the camp, I think, and go among your troops. The Storm-Breaker should get the fire into their hearts again, hah! They'll be clamoring to be let out and taste the enemy's blood soon enough.'

---

1, last, Miracle: Forge excellent spears, pikes and other polearms for the Army at Tulwor's forge.

Interaction (regardless of it that succeeds): Go to the camp and rally the soldiers with Tulwor's awe-inspiring presence and tales of glorious combat. Lots of tales.

[IronyOwl]

Mortus shrugs, "There is honestly no clear difference between a Bellian Soul, and the soul of ta common Red-Headed race, but I can usually tell 'em apart by mannerisms and behavior. Beyond that, however, I can easily tell ta original race of a disembodied soul based on size, shape, color, and texture; I was a trained Necromancer before I was a god, and since then have made souls my business anyway, so I can examine and interact with them without expending any large amount o' divine energy."

The Ferryman offers you a grim laugh, "Her Iciness sets ta definition of 'damaged' not me. Usually when performing experiments or building something elaborate, she wants large quantities of nearly identical souls, so anything that isn't perfectly Bellian is useless to her. For the last decade or so, she has been rearing another kid, and hasn't been doing too many o' the large scale soul projects. I can more o' less take whatever souls I want now, but that bastard will be o' age soon, so I suspect she will become demanding an' picky again soon."

He looks you in the eye, and lets his beak hang open briefly before speaking again, "If ye wanna mess with souls lad, I wont stop ya. Just make sure to clean up your messes when yer experiments kick the bucket. Sorcerer souls can make nasty ghosts, and may take decades to fade away ta the point where they are harmless, and I might not always be permitted to take em off yer hands."

Pyrite nodded. "If I do tamper with souls, I'll be careful. My primary interest lies in bodies, but I couldn't ignore a potential avenue of improvement.

One final question, then: You said you could tell a soul's origin by its qualities. Do major alterations to a living thing's body necessarily alter its soul, or can you tell what a being once was by what its soul looks like?"

'Hmph! I could, I suppose, go to these pirates and try to convince them, but I have little they'd be interested in. No, even if we would proceed with this plan, I would send Pyrite in my place, or one of you mortals. I can forge weapons or ships, general, and fight. If you have need of those, I may be able to help, but that is all,' Tulwor said. He grimaced. This business was getting on his nerves. So many restrictions, problems... politics! He entertained the idea of simply going to the Bellians and rallying them to attack, damn their generals, but he had a feeling they might prove as cowardly as the man leading them.

"I have little doubt I could hire some pirates, if not with boons of the flesh then with more mundane pay. If you wish to move quickly, that will be much faster than waiting on me to build up a siege beast. Is that your wish, and if so, when do we intend to strike?"

He couldn't help but laugh at Tulwor's grimace. "Yes, irritating, isn't it? Every time you think you're solving a problem, it multiplies and complicates itself."

[GiglameshDespair]

"Why, to sit on a throne of skulls, fat with secrets and birdmeat, of course." She joked, before she answered more seriously to the vampire.
"Everything that eats follows the one rule, yes? The strong eat the weak. I am strong. I am the strongest of all my fellow young gods here, and despite my hungers - or because of them - I speak honestly when I say I have both cunning and knowledge to go with it. The secrets of birds, you see?

Power is strength. Knowledge is strength. Cunning is strength. I will be the strongest, and the strongest rule. Tulwor? Honour bound. Ketemos? Weak in stomach. Pyrite? Meddling. The dragon? A half bird, and I imagine, an enemy in the days coming. All would enforce their ideals on the others, but I care not what they do, beyond what interests me. And I want to eat. The Harpies, the Harpy Gods! Everything that flies should fear me, and for that to become reality I need to be strong. Maybe the strongest of all." She raised her slim hands, the nails sharp points. "My mother made me to catch that she could not, and I'll rise higher than her. I'll rise past the taint of the feathers in my blood.

Maybe I'll find the gods here worthy of my hunger, yes?"

Obviously, she thought, she hadn't steadied her emotions from earlier as well as she'd thought. No matter.

"Though as you mentioned, I'll age the pachyderm with my powers. It starving would be no good."

[Weirdsound]

Pyrite nodded. "If I do tamper with souls, I'll be careful. My primary interest lies in bodies, but I couldn't ignore a potential avenue of improvement.

One final question, then: You said you could tell a soul's origin by its qualities. Do major alterations to a living thing's body necessarily alter its soul, or can you tell what a being once was by what its soul looks like?"

Mortus speaks slowly, doing his best to explain the complex issue at hand. "I've cleaned up some of yer earlier creations boy, and I wouldn't have known it if they had not told me. The soul carries an almost perfect memory of the mortal body and mind, that is how we can bring back Heralds; I actually restored that slobbering hound-man ya made 'bout a decade ago, and 'ave him working ta docks at ta Ice Realm. These soul memories, however, do not alter the form of a soul any more than a livin' man's memories alter the form of his body."

'I will forge you your pikes, General. How about siege engines? That would break down their walls well enough, and if they're taller, you may as well fire them straight over your lines,' Tulwor said. 'I will deal with this commander last, then. Regardless, I'll come with you to the camp, I think, and go among your troops. The Storm-Breaker should get the fire into their hearts again, hah! They'll be clamoring to be let out and taste the enemy's blood soon enough.'

Tobbin Nightcharm pauses briefly in thought, "Seige Engines could be of use. We may already have some in the city; I'm not sure. I havn't been in a position to request a supply report for sometime. Either way, I'd temper your expectations about taking out the army and the fort at once; Unless the fight against the former foe is completely one sided in our favor, I may not have enough men left to mount a legitimate challenge against the later right away."

He shakes his head, "Unless somebody comes up with something clever... and I may be able to come up with something clever if we are not moving tomorrow... 'Do we advance on the fort' will have to be a judgement call made after dealing with their standing army."

"Why, to sit on a throne of skulls, fat with secrets and birdmeat, of course." She joked, before she answered more seriously to the vampire.
"Everything that eats follows the one rule, yes? The strong eat the weak. I am strong. I am the strongest of all my fellow young gods here, and despite my hungers - or because of them - I speak honestly when I say I have both cunning and knowledge to go with it. The secrets of birds, you see?

Power is strength. Knowledge is strength. Cunning is strength. I will be the strongest, and the strongest rule. Tulwor? Honour bound. Ketemos? Weak in stomach. Pyrite? Meddling. The dragon? A half bird, and I imagine, an enemy in the days coming. All would enforce their ideals on the others, but I care not what they do, beyond what interests me. And I want to eat. The Harpies, the Harpy Gods! Everything that flies should fear me, and for that to become reality I need to be strong. Maybe the strongest of all." She raised her slim hands, the nails sharp points. "My mother made me to catch that she could not, and I'll rise higher than her. I'll rise past the taint of the feathers in my blood.

Maybe I'll find the gods here worthy of my hunger, yes?"

Obviously, she thought, she hadn't steadied her emotions from earlier as well as she'd thought. No matter.

"Though as you mentioned, I'll age the pachyderm with my powers. It starving would be no good."

Dennis nods, "I like your goal. The world would be a better place with a nature deity as the strongest. That said, I must warn you about oversimplifying nature; The Horsefly, Tapeworn, Flea, and Leech are all weak and tiny, but the feed on lions, bears, bellians, and other might creatures."

The Vampire smiles as he hobbles to the door, "You raise an interesting point when you say Cunning is strength; I am not sure if that is true or not. I'll have to think on it. The mocking bird was perhaps more cunning than your mother, but could you honestly call it stronger? And if so, does killing what she could not already make you stronger than Lady Fletchina? I suspect cunning could exist as some sort of equalizer somewhat independent of strength... Ketemos, Pyrite, Auratus, or Yourself could all easily use cunning to defeat any being or solve any conundrum in spite of the opposition's strength."

He turns around to look at you once more before departing. "But I hope you are right. And I hope you are victorious. Thank you for sharing your scraps, even though I am too weak to dine at your table m'lady. May we all someday kneel before you, fat and happy on your throne of skulls."

[IronyOwl]

Mortus speaks slowly, doing his best to explain the complex issue at hand. "I've cleaned up some of yer earlier creations boy, and I wouldn't have known it if they had not told me. The soul carries an almost perfect memory of the mortal body and mind, that is how we can bring back Heralds; I actually restored that slobbering hound-man ya made 'bout a decade ago, and 'ave him working ta docks at ta Ice Realm. These soul memories, however, do not alter the form of a soul any more than a livin' man's memories alter the form of his body."

Pyrite was silent for several minutes as he processed this information... and its connotations.

"Where do the differences between souls come from, then?" he finally asked.

[micelus]

Ketemos could not resist being shocked at the mention of the Horizon Beings. "How could you possibly have found them in the first place?! I don't dispute your findings but even us gods have problem finding them."

After receiving an explanation about the expedition, Ketemos simply said that he would advise others to help the scholar.

---
Ketemos sighed. "I suppose you are right Mortus, better wait for a better time. May your trip be fair and without predicament." Ketemos left the god and returned to his studies.

[Weirdsound]

Ketemos could not resist being shocked at the mention of the Horizon Beings. "How could you possibly have found them in the first place?! I don't dispute your findings but even us gods have problem finding them."

After receiving an explanation about the expedition, Ketemos simply said that he would advise others to help the scholar.

---

The scholar shrugs. "Most of em are tough to find. Most. I've seen at least two distinctly visible species on several occasions. This leads me to believe that there are likely many more around that we cannot see. If the only two species of Horizon Beings present just happened to be species that Bellians could see, that would be quite a coincidence indeed. I've heard plenty of fishermen report catching or at least hooking 'nothings' that fought as if they were monster fish as well."

[micelus]

"Interesting...I'll have to investigate this matter further. But about this corpse you found...would you perhaps mind relocating it to a location away from Kiatown? If certain entities got a hand on that thing's corpse we'd all be in a great deal of trouble."