As I phased into the dream my flesh changed. It transformed into the form I had taken to speak with Alma. It was a pleasant, almost instantaneous transformation.
The dream I had phased into was not what I expecting. Based on my last experience diving into a dream, and the fact that goblins lived in a forest, I was anticipating that I would exit my mind-space and phase into a forest. Instead, I found myself starring into the depths of a dark cave. And that was only one of the differences between this dream and the last dream I entered.
One other key difference is that I could see Mawby, and the moment she raised her head from the floor she'd be able to see me. The goblin's head was touching the floor in what was obviously an act of prostration and she was muttering something reverential eerily quietly under her breath.
I grinned, knowing that I'd need to reward Troik once more. It seemed that my goblin friend had successfully told his fellow goblins to expect me.
I quietly activated one of my newest powers: the faith domain's power entitled "Religious fervor". My power took effect immediately, and the air around Mawby and myself took on a subdued blue hue as if to signify that it was suddenly part of an incomplete painting. A small part of me wondered if my friend here could see this hue, but I somehow suspected, instinctually anyway, that she couldn't.
I opened my mouth to greet the pious-seeming goblin.
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"Hello there. It seems that you were expecting me." I said to the tiny creature.
At that moment the goblin fell silent. She began to shake, either from excitement or from fear, before hesitantly lifting her head off of the cave floor. She gasped when she said laid eyes on me, which to be fair was a reasonable reaction when someone saw an entity that could be described as omnielemental.
"Good evening Mawby." I said to the trembling goblin, my airy eyes centered on her face and studied it leisurely.
This goblin had yellow skin. She had eyes that matched the skin color of Troik, and interestingly his eyes were the same color as her skin. She stood around a meter and two tenths tall, and her dream-form was clad in lightly colored fur armor.
"Hello... are you Cosecha?" She asked. Fear, awe, and curiosity were equally audible in her voice. She spoke in the language of goblins, which was fitting since she was a goblin. She had a soft, feminine voice, for a goblin anyway.
I nodded at her. "I am indeed. It is nice to meet you little one." I said to her, speaking regally. She began to smile, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
"So you are real..." She said, speaking to me in a hushed, awed tone. I smiled serenely at her.
"Yes I am. I am... not as strong as I'd like to be, at the moment anyway, so manifesting outside of dreams is challenging, but I can do other things." I told the tiny goblin, speaking intentionally vaguely. My smile remained planted on my face.
"What else can you do?" She asked, curiosity coloring her tone.
"I can do many things little one. And I intend to reveal them to you and your friends in time." I told her, a grin both visible on my face and audible in my radiant voice.
"Why not just tell us now?" She asked, slowly losing her fear as if curiosity were making her bold. I studied her for a moment, patience radiating out of me.
"Because I want to get to know you." I said, truthfully. She considered this response for a moment, bringing her hand to her chin and looking rather thoughtful.
"Well, in that case, I'm Mawby." She eventually said, reaching out a hand as if for a handshake. I chuckled and rose my tendrils. One of them was made of fire, and the other was made of water.
If I were to shake her hand as hand-shaking was meant to be done, with my opposing limb, then I'd either burn her or soak her hand. After considering it for a second, I opted to wet her hand and wrapped my fluid tendril around her hand. She winched in response to that but clearly appreciated the gesture.
"And I am Cosecha." I told her, responding to her self-introduction with my own rather than reminding her that I knew who she was and that I had said her name earlier. She curtsied, a curiously polite gesture and I nodded at her, recognizing her manners with respect.
"Well Cosecha... how may I get to know you?" She asked me, curiosity and awe coloring her voice as she looked at me with an inquisitive gaze. I met her gaze with my own and considered her question for a few moments.
"Mawby that is a really good question." I eventually said, after thinking about her question for a few moments. It took me a few moments to come up with an adequate answer, and before I could utter it I needed to ask the system something.
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"So I have an idea, but for it to work I'm gonna need you to partially unlock my ability to hear prayers." I told the system, speaking solely in my mind.
"I want to be able to hear prayers that are uttered to me, in my various forms, and respond to them. But as I am now, I know that I am alerted when prayers to me are uttered, but I can't actually hear the contents of the prayers." I told my companion, hoping to get an affirmative response.
[Hmm... You know what? That's a reasonable enough request. We'll allow it. From now if someone is praying to you, you'll be able to hear the actual words of the prayer and respond to it. If you wish too, you can respond without words but through omens and little physical phenomena, but if you want to respond with words you can. Your servants will hear your words in your divine voice.] The system answered, giving me an exciting answer.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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"If you wish to get to know me, engage in regular prayer. I wasn't able to make out the contents of your prayers earlier, but I feed off of faith and belief. Because of that, if you pray to me I will now be able to hear your specific words." I told her, speaking softly and slowly. I was also telling her the truth, in a manner speaking.
"I wish to know you, and I will converse with you and your fellow goblins if you pray to me." I told her, once again telling the youthful creature the truth.
She looked at me happily before she began to speak again. As she opened her mouth to speak, there was a look of joy in her face. "We really liked the fruits you gave us! When we ate them they filled up our stomachs for whole hours despite their really small sizes." She said, energetically.
I smiled at her and reached out to touch the small creature's cheek with my watery tendril. She shivered at the touch, but didn't recoil from it. "That's good little one. I want to feed you all. To protect you all." I said, speaking somewhat truthfully.
I did want to feed the goblins, but not out of some sense of altruism. I enjoyed feeding them because it kept them open to my influence, even if I couldn't do much with that right now. The fact that my powers would, theoretically anyway, keep them healthy and enable them to live life safely was just a bonus.
"You do? Why?" She asked, looking up at me in awe and with deep emotion in her gaze. I spent a second putting together a magnanimous sounding response before beginning to reply.
"Because starvation is terrible and I wish to combat it. I will do what I can, and protect those who I can, to create societies wherein no one starves, from the mightiest chief to the poorest infants. And not just can I create food, but I can also heal people. But to create a new world, a better world, I need your help." I told the tiny goblin, hoping to make her feel powerful.
"You need my help? How can I help? Assuming I want too, of course..." She said, sounding excited, before trying to control her excitement.
"I am strong compared to mortals, but weak compared to the spirits of the past. To gain more power I need worshipers. I need followers who pray to me. But more than that I need allies who keep me abreast of the situation in places where my first servant can't be. I need you to be my eyes and ears." I whispered, telling her of the role she could play in my faith, not merely as a worshiper but as an ally.
"I can't see all. Not yet. I can create as much food as I'd like, and believe me, I want to create a lot of food. But my first servant is human. He fears he cannot enter your encampment safely. I need you. I need you to bring others of your kind to me as Troik has done. Together we can create a world where no goblin starves." I told her, a confident grin on my face as I subtly revealed her potential importance in my schemes.
"A world where no goblin starves..." She said, her voice quiet and in awe of my declaration. There was a small light in her eyes, a light of hope.
I wondered for a second if I had unintentionally touched on a soft-spot for her, and a part of me hoped that I had. It would make her a more fervent worshiper of mine. While she looked at me in awe, still seeming enraptured by what I told her my goal was, I decided to make her an offer I doubted she'd refuse.
"I possess incredible powers Mawby. Powers no mortal possesses. If you serve me, I can allow you to experience some of them. I can give you magic. All it takes is you agreeing to serve me, and aid me in ensuring that none of your tribespeople ever starve again." I said to the youthful goblin.
"And if you agree, you'll be able to heal your fellow goblins." I told her, dangling an offer for her to experience my own powers in front of her.
Her face slackened for a second as my words washed over her. I could tell that this blindsided her. After a few moments of silence, the goblin opened her mouth to speak.
"What does serving you entail exactly?" She asked, and there was a trembling in her voice that hinted to me that she wanted to accept but she also wanted to know more before she could throw herself into this new thing I was proposing to her.
"I don't ask for much little one but I can appreciate your skepticism. That said, for now... accept this as me proving my goodwill and that I am excited to get to know you." I said to the goblin, before quietly bestowing a blessing of healing on her, and bestowing upon her a single usage of the "Numb Pain" and the "Restore Health" spells from the healing school.
"I don't want to explain all of this to you in one sitting. I think that would be too much. So instead I will grant you this magic, and make your attempts to heal people that much stronger. I can heal those who are in pain, and now you can too." I said to the diminutive creature. As I said that I received a new notification. I smiled as I read it.
[Alert: Please write the notification you'd like for Mawby to see.]
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"Please show Mawby this message." I told the system, before envisioning an empty set of brackets in my mind and making an effort to fill it in with words.
[Alert: The god named Cosecha has decided to reward your caution. Cosecha is a god, a type of singularly powerful spirit, of healing and of the harvest. It seeks to end starvation and suffering and is acting in ways that enable it to reduce those things.
Cosecha has opted to grant you a blessing of healing, and daily usages of the following spells: 'Numb Pain' and 'Restore Health'. Both of these spells are mighty spells that alleviate pain. If you decide to serve Cosecha it will give you more magic, but this is a gift that is freely given to show good faith. Use it to heal your tribespeople and alleviate suffering.
Cosecha wishes to patiently earn your love and service. For now, use the gifts you've been given, and pray to Cosecha until you feel comfortable serving it, or decide to ultimately reject its offer. Either way, Cosecha will accept your decision and will continue to work towards aiding your people. It hopes to have your help though, that would make it a lot easier.]
When I finished the message it vanished from my mind. I grinned as it went from my mind and into hers.
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Tears began to stream from the goblin's eyes. Tears of joy. Seeing them made me feel satisfied with the work I had done here, and I felt certain that I had properly laid the foundations for a meaningful deity-worshiper relationship with Mawby that was conducive to the sort of cult I wanted to build. A cult I'd soon begin to more aggressively take steps to establish.
"That's enough for one night. I will be back soon Mawby. You will wake up soon, and I promise you will remember this dream. When you do, take it with you and remember that you have a friend who is always with you. Mull over my offer, and pray to me. I will listen to you." I told her, speaking vaguely but dynamically and energetically.
And then I vanished, exiting from the goblin's dream as swiftly as I entered it.
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I spent the next few hours idly observing dreams. I didn't interact with the creatures whose dreams I had entered, Troik, and another of the prayees who had prayed to me yesterday: a novice alchemist named Hagitha. I used their dreams to learn about them, and formulate future plots. It was also an easy way for me to learn about the creatures who I sought to make into my worshipers.
It was a productive usage of time, and before I knew it, I began the third day of my life. When Hagitha awoke I was booted from the dream and I opted to return to my body. I was ready for another new day.
It didn't take me long to hear the first prayer of the day that would be uttered to me.