Before dealing with the matters of other gods, Nefertem approaches his people, the Andilauss.
Beauty and suffering have long been intertwined. If you wish me to smite this murderer instantly, reduce him to ash, I will. However, I ask you to recall that you already have the means of punishing him yourselves, and I will grant you more at your request. You may deal as harshly as you desire with this Deik, for he has destroyed beauty, and therefore must suffer for it. Take the sharp blades of the Deahweed, if you like, weave them together into long ropes, and bind him in their prickly embrace. Deny him earth on which to feed, cover him even from the stars above, let him see no beauty. Even the stardrops can aid you here: if you take their fruit and break it open, you will find two things: that its flesh is nourishing and delicious as the earth it grew from, and that it contains many spiky seeds that prick and stab and would cause Deik great trouble to lie in or be fed. Once you have regarded these sharp things, know this too: even rocks can be made sharp, if you break them against one another.
However, with this new knowledge of suffering I must leave you also with a law. Do not go to war amongst yourselves. Do not harm another Andilauss, or indeed any of my creations, unless he should first break this law, in which case deal as harshly with him as you will. And too, the time will come when you shall meet other thinking creatures, and, while you are to defend yourself as needed, do not act aggressively toward them unless they are my enemies - which you will know them to be if they come to bring harm upon you, or if I personally tell you so.
There are other things than suffering, though. There is still beauty. The fruit of the stardrops and the spent flowers of the deahweed both contain seeds, as you have been told and as you have doubtless seen. You could put those seeds into the ground, I should let you know, and care for the plants that grow from them, and you will have bounty beyond what careless nature provides alone.
With this message dispatched and a minor localised blessing to foster peace and growth of all life bestowed, Nefertem travels to the point of Lu's and Limikarrat's conversation, and flies in circles around them.
Limikarrat! Honoured servant of our honoured ally! I regret to know that my own creation no doubt contributed to your mistrust. I made Auðrauga a harsh thing because we were dealt harshly with, and because we knew that more problems would surely arise afterward, like these upstart gods, for which we would need to replenish our power as soon as possible. You were ensnared within its harshness, and for this I apologise again. Yet now you are free, and it is the time for the gods, as far as we can, to work as equals. Though we have all made mistakes – I myself failed to realise how badly the Andilauss would be affected by the battle above even though they were protected from it physically, and we've all seen what happened to poor Shal – we also, I believe all hope the best for our creations. Here, take this gift, spare though it is, and please spread it to the Fanelians that they may see beauty and have hope in their worship.
As another minor act, a rain of intricately-carven stone flowers falls around Limikarrat.
Name: Flowers of Holy Names
Description: Intricate stone flowers of various shapes, all somewhat clasped; on each outer petal is carved a symbol containing the names "Nefertem", "Lu", and "Limikarrat" in a triangle, with "Erin Quill" and "Shal" written in a wider V-shape directly underneath, "Akrathh" vertically downward on the right side, and, a bit farther from the rest, "Cerediron" also vertically downward on the left.
Range: Mundane
Nefertem continues: As for Cerediron, I have nothing in particular to say about him. He seems benevolent enough, but keeps his own counsel and is not much for sharing. Say of him what you will.
After all this, Nefertem expends one Power on a Major Blessing upon the monster growing under the sea, Umlor. Umlor will be able to resist Mavnon's attempt to put him into a coma, and he will grow bigger, stronger, and most importantly, stealthier, with a new veil of shadow and light twisting around him at all times and the newly-discovered ability to produce ink.
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Topic: The Eternal Saga - Act 2: The First Era (Epilogue) (Read 24247 times)