Prologue: Of Bread and Circuses
The gods gambled prestige, or at least what mortals would call prestige, on a game board littered with broken pieces that seemed to melt into the table before them. No walls could be defined in the space they occupied for their game.
Laughter from one of the gods, raucous and piercing in its nature, echoed from something defining a boundary around them.
“Face defeat, Jeph. Most of your pieces have been broken, and the few remaining don’t portray the strength you would need in them to recover.”
The calm face of a simple baker looked back upon his opponent with a smirk. As the god of baking leaned forward to view the board more closely, he responded,
“The game’s just started, Dennis. A few broken pieces of chocolate in the dough can make for some good cookies. You never pay enough attention to your ingredients.”
Dennis shoved his hands in the pockets of his overalls and conceded the point with a nod, and replied,
“Cookies crumble, milk spoils, cheese, unfortunately, goes bad, and soon your goose will be cooked. What’s your move? We may have eternity, but I don’t want to be stuck here on Thursday. My cheese of the millennia club package is due in.”
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Jeph replied quickly,
“Is it already that time? I didn’t get the message. Did you waylay the poor fellow’s delivery so you could steal everyone’s divine cheese when it arrived? Hmmm?
“You should be nicer to Duncan. As the pantheon’s messenger, he is under quite a strain already. You know how Melissa gets about her boys.”
Dennis looked around with a nervous expression,
“Listen, how about I send some of my boys around and let everybody know the delivery update came…just in case.”
Jeph, God of Baking, frowned at Dennis, God of Menace. Jeph‘s frown deepened, and he squinted at his opponent in a divinely suspicious way before he replied,
“Okay, and I’ll just let Melissa know there was a mix-up in the notices getting delivered…So that she doesn’t get mad at Duncan…Or anyone…Or start an apocalypse…About the mistake. You know how what happens if anyone interferes with her messengers.”
Dennis looked stupendously sweaty and panicked as he stated,
“Right! Of Course! I propose a short recess of the game as I take care of that and, uh, water my plants! Yes, I completely forgot! Don’t want them trying to eat Jeremiah’s dog again. Ahahahaha.”
Dennis chuckled in a sweaty mess as he shuffled quickly away from the table into the darkness surrounding the game table. Jeph smirked at his fellow gods dissembling and reached out to the game board, tapping lightly on one of the smaller pieces and murmuring,
“Stay strong little one. The heat is uncomfortable, but the bread can’t be made without it.”
Jeph got up from the table and wandered into the dark as well. He had to check on his muffins anyway.