Oh boy time to write something. I hope it doesn't turn out to be complete trash like most of the time I decide to write something!
Epilogue.
Lūk's Abode was a seldom visited place, even after Ieb had stepped down and declared it a site of worship for the god of inspiration. Maybe there just were not many devoted worshippers, she often thought to herself, or maybe the dwarves in HellCannon just did not feel that their gods were there with them, in the desolate frigid lands that they called home. And who could blame them, with the herds of skeletal creatures stalking about, their snow-covered remains shambling and charging at anything lived.
As such, it was a surprise to her when the one of the doors opened. And of all the people that could have entered, it was Tholtig. She was the weaponsmith who had created the magnificent war hammer last year, the one who Ieb had praised whenever she got the chance, that it was the will of Lūk to provide instructions how to create such a powerful weapon. Tholtig however, was not a worshipper of Lūk, she always had believed and even said that if a god had part in her work, it was Kadōl, the dwarven god of fire and metals. An apt connection, even Ieb had to admit, but she had remained adamant that it was Lūk who had helped Tholtig.
"Peculiar, isn't it?"
Ieb began pondering out loud, watching at the rose gold statue in front of the electrum sacrificial table, the statue a rather well done piece of art of a dwarf.
"In a temple for Lūk, there's not a single statue of Lūk himself."
It was an accurate observation, besides the rose gold statue the subject of the other statues were that of dwarves, as well as a platinum statue of a spotted wobbegong. One piece of religious art had managed to find it's way to the temple however, but even that was a dwarf prostrating to worship the god Lorbam Patterneddragon, the god of order and duty.
"Perhaps you should commission someone else to make a statue of them then?"
Tholtig rarely had spoken to Ieb personally, only whenever they were with a group of dwarves and even then most of the discussion was Ieb praising Lūk for whatever it was that was happening. Now that her reign was over however, she had stopped parading for her god and spent a lot of time in the Abode.
"No, I think this is fitting. Lūk is not a selfish god, and I think they get along well with Lorbam anyway."
For a self-appointed High Priestess, Tholtig had to note the heavy armor Ieb had equipped herself with. The silver war hammer on her side was a masterwork that Tholtig herself had made, not as great as the one she had created and named herself, but a formidable weapon anyway.
"I heard you're looking for recruits for this 'Vanguard of Lūk' of yours. Is that what Lūk told you to do as well?"
Suddenly and out of nowhere, Ieb laughed.
"You're asking me if Lūk told me to do that in a dream? You really want to know?"
As she turned around, there was a mischievous look on her face, something that Tholtig had not seen during her reign. But there was still that strange look in her eyes, like she was still under some fey mood.
"Hey Tholtig, can you keep a secret?"
The question was said in the same amused tone that she had laughed with. Tholtig did not know what to answer to the question, but it was curiousity that had brought her to the Abode. If she did not know better, Ieb somehow knew that it was what Lūk had told her that had made Tholtig find Ieb. The weaponsmith nodded silently, stories of gods meddling with the lives of dwarves and giving them instruction were something she had heard during drunken storytelling when she was a child, from soldiers to craftsmen, and now she was about to hear another story like that from Ieb herself.
The High Priestess looked at the doors as if she was expecting someone else to walk in on their conversation, or if she was trying to see through the doors and into the corridor as if there might be someone eavesdropping on them.
"It's a lie."
For a moment, Tholtig was not quite able to understand what she meant.
"I never had any dreams with Lūk, saw signs or heard voices."
Tholtig did not know what to say, what to think about what Ieb had just told her so bluntly. As such, she did not think twice before stating the obvious.
"So you lied to us?"
Ieb seemed quite nonchalant about the matter, shrugging off the accusation.
"You could say that. It's not like I said all the things I did just to make some profit for myself, although I have to admit, I like my new bedroom."
The High Priestess laughed again. The weaponsmith did not look pleased at all, in fact even Ieb could tell that she was getting angry and fast.
"We're all just doing our part here, you know? You as the weaponsmith, Urist as the Captain of the Guard and me? Well, I'm just a High Priestess now, but before that? I just did what seemed the best."
"Lying to everyone just so you could be the Overlord?"
"Claiming that you work under a god is such a powerful statement, isn't it? I don't know if anyone really believed it though, maybe they did. But you know, I did that just so people would have something, someone to believe in. This place isn't really somewhere you'd want to raise your kids at, hell, somewhere you would want to visit even if the alternative was death. But what can we do, it's the King's will."
From there on, Tholtig only listened, angry as she was, to Ieb's little story of deception.
"It's not even our business really, why Battlefailed and Failcannon were destroyed, you know? I guess the King just wants to know what that old crone of a Queen was up to, sending dwarves to distant lands where they just disappeared. I would have used scouts myself rather than sending dozens of dwarves here to die, but I'm not the King. And so, here we are."
"I'd heard the rumors already when I decided to join the migrants traveling here, that if it wasn't the undead that would be the death of you it would be the goblins of Abras. But like the humans say, curiosity is a dangerous thing that kills cats. Or how did that saying go again? Anyway, this is a horrible place to live in. Our rooms were dug in soil, moss grew on furniture where it could and everyone had been hardpressed to fight the goblins with whatever we could get our hands on, and really, wooden armor from elves? That was no way for a dwarf to live."
"So I took a chance, threw Lūk's name into the air and I was the Overlord. All the plans I did, sealing the cavern flood? Nothing but good old dwarven ingenuity rather than godly guidance. I made everyone work hard so we could be dwarves again."
Tholtig finally cut in on Ieb's monologue.
"I could just leave and tell everyone that you lied to them."
Ieb did not seem to mind at all even if Tholtig really meant it, just laughing it off again.
"Maybe. But what's a little white lie in a place like this? Which do you think people would prefer to hear, that their Overlord pushed them to improve the way of life around here by orders of a god that had decided to grace them with their help and guidance, or that she lied and did everything by herself? What I tried to do was give them hope. That even in here we dwarves could do something with our own strength rather than huddle in rooms of moss and soil, wondering when the goblins would break the entrance or undead would storm in and kill us all. I'm not the one who writes history though, when my time comes I'll leave it up to whomever is left to write all about how I led dwarves through godly guidance, or how I led them thanks to a lie."
"You are a horrible person."
Ieb laughed even harder now.
"I am, aren't I? I think you've heard more than you'd like now and we both have work ahead of us. I need to go looking for some recruits for my Vanguard, you know?"
The High Priestess walked out of the room looking like she was confident that no matter what, the weaponsmith would not tell anyone what Ieb had told her. Tholtig stayed in the room for a while after Ieb had walked out, before looking at the statue of Lorbam, as if looking for guidance. She did not worship him, but she could not help but wonder what should she do in the name of order and duty.
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Topic: Hellcannon (Succession: Battlefailed 3) (0.31.25) (DEAD) (Read 836902 times)