In the deepest parts of the ravenous jungle, built atop the largest of the kilometer tall hungry elder Trees, was an encampment. Over thousands of years, the uppermost branches of the massive tree had been shaped into a plateau a few hundred meters across.
On top of said plateau, also shaped from the interwoven branches of the old tree, was a tiny house. Most would call it a “shack” but only if the owner was not in earshot.
Lounging around the topmost layer of the Tree were three different animals. A massive Gorilla with moss growing on its back and vines snaking along its arm, was chewing on one of the massive tree leaves.
A Similarly massive tiger was lounging right next to the gorilla, bathing in the hot midday sun.
Next to the tiger, sharing the prime sun spot, was a coiled up snake. Depending on the angle at which you looked at the reptile, different colors would be reflected back at the observer.
This tranquil scene was interrupted by an unseen ripple through the immaterial. For a moment the omnipresent sounds of the jungle below ceased and total silence set in. The gorilla stopped chewing, the tiger raised its head, looking in the direction the ripple had originated from, and the snake opened its eyes for the first time today.
The total silence was shattered as the forest below erupted into a cacophony of screams and howls. Predators and prey alike, momentarily gave up any thoughts of stealth and screamed at the heavens.
Just as quickly as the cacophony had started, it was interrupted as another ripple went out, and then another, until the immaterium was trembling.
Now alert, the tiger sat up completely, its gaze still fixed on the direction the ripples had originated from.
Before the forest below could break out into noise once more, another ripple went out. Only this time, it originated from the tiny little shack on top of the tree.
A wave of visible mana exploded outwards from inside the shack, blanketing the surrounding forest in an oppressive aura. Every being that belonged to the forest could feel a gentle reassurance through the aura, that everything was alright. The few beings that had wandered into the forest and were disrupting its finely tuned ecosystem, experienced a feeling of imminent doom. Most began to flee immediately, being powerful and careful enough to notice a warning when they felt one. Those that were either too mindless to notice, or too arrogant to care, were without warning speared by sharp wooden roots from below. No matter how they struggled, more and more roots would rise from beneath the ground and slowly constrict around them, until they were completely immobile. Then the roots, together with their catch would return below the ground to absorb their divinely ordained meals.
Up above, from inside the shack, strode a form composed of roots, branches, soil and fungi. The form was Humanoid and unclothed, though they had nothing to cover up in the first place.
Tekhat, God of Nature and balance, reigned in their aura and stood before their apostles.
“Uuuurhhhhghgh” they groaned, in a decidedly ungodly fashion, earning them an eye roll and a severe side eye from the tiger.
“Don't look at me like that Zahav, we both know that it was too early for a cleansing. Now we are going to have to micromanage the forest for (italicized)at least() the next five years.”
From the tigers throat came a low rumble, that slowly morphed into an annoyed voice
“Tekhat. YOU decided to ascend to the mantle of balance. You could have just let me have the Nature mantle and been done with it. Stop trying to shirk your duties. And it's not like you manage the entire world, there are hundreds of nature gods to do the heavy lifting.”
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The mass of soil and mycelia that constituted Tekhat’s head shifted, giving the distinct feeling of a raised eyebrow.
Before they could respond, another voice interrupted them.
“Please stop. You two have this argument every time the cleansing season comes around.”
The snake that had until now barely moved, raised its head and spoke with a surprisingly sophisticated voice.
“Zahav, we both know that you would have made a terrible god of nature. You are just annoyed that you are “below” Tekhat.”
“Thank y-”
“And you!” the snake whirled its head around to face Tekhat. “You need to take your duties more seriously. Those tremors over the ether could become a problem. I don't know what they signified, but now more than ever, you need to keep the balance of the forest.”
The clump of soil making up Tekhats head, fell apart and slowly morphed into their torso, in a gesture similar to a human lowering their head while being scolded.
“Silly Sadrat. Forgetful Sadrat.” Came the voice of the last inhabitant of the massive tree. Spoken with a surprisingly high pitched voice.
Three heads turned simultaneously to the last occupant of the treetop. It was always a surprise to remember the Gorilla as she so easily slipped from one's mind and senses. Between bites of leaves she spoke up again.
“Kenhira remember. Angel cried. Cried a lot. Feeling familiar. Felt before. Thousands of years. Long time”
At the gorilla's reminder, the three others could finally place the familiar feeling of the disturbed immaterium.
“Oh wow. If that really was an angel, they must have been incredibly sad.” Tekhat spoke.
Just as the others were about to start discussing, another feeling rose in all of them.
Similar to the earlier ripple, only this time it disturbed neither the forest itself, nor the resident fauna. Only those with powerful immortal souls coil feel it. The feeling intensified for a moment, only to abruptly climax with the feeling of strings being cut.
The gathered beings reeled for a moment, the feeling of the cut too intense, before they all looked back at the gorilla, stuffing her mouth with more leaves.
“Kenhira don't know. Never felt. Don't ask.”
Speechless for a moment, Tekhat began to laugh, the mix of vines and mycelium wiggling along their upper body.
“Guess you are right Sadrat. We’re going to have our hands full in the foreseeable future.”
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Tiamat was happy. Ever since she had decided to spend her time with the goddess of the hunt, she had been able to eat more and more good food.
Currently she was in the process of gorging herself on the carcass of a massive spiked mammoth. The beast had been over 12 meters tall and was defended by countless bony plates along it's body.
In her true form, the mammoth would have been barely a snack, but since she followed the huntress, she had spent considerable time in a humanoid form. And eating such a meal while being as small as a human was another experience she was thankful for.
Since she could not just throw the entire thing back and swallow it like a snake, she had to rip it apart and eat it piece by piece.
"You know?" She said between bites.
"Dragons love mammoths. That's just a fact. The only thing that's as tasty as eating a mammoth is dragon meat, but that's so hard to come by."
Blood and viscera streamed down her chin as her sharp teeth ripped off pieces from the dead mammoths flank.
"But eating mammoth while being this small? Divine! I can just eat all the tasty parts and leave the rest for the scavengers."
Tiamat continued to ramble between bites of still warm mammoth flesh.
"By the way, I already ate the heart, but do you need the brain? I know you wanted the tusks as a trophy, but that doesn't mean the entire head right?" She asked.
At the head of the mammoth stood another figure, handling the massive ivory tusks. Both had already been removed from their sockets and the figure was observing them.
The woman currently observing the tusks looked like an ordinary, if exceptionally attractive woman. She was about 1.8 meters tall, and her head was full of curly red hair. Her eyes were a piercing green color and currently locked on the gore caked form of Tiamat.
"Yes you may eat the brain." She spoke in a voice more powerful than would be expected of such a woman.
"Don't touch my stuff until you've cleaned yourself" she warned, causing a violent shiver to run down tiamats back.
"Yes! I bet it tastes even better than the meat!" Tiamat exclaimed.
She made her way from the flank to the head, out of which stuck a single large arrow. Tiamat climbed up the trunk, and with a yank, pulled the arrow free, throwing it backwards towards the huntress.
Then, forgoing any form of proper butchery technique, she thrust both her hands into the hole the arrow had left behind. With a violent yank and a sharp echoing crack, followed by a wet squelching sound, tiamat ripped the mammoths skull open, exposing it's brain.
Now exposed to the open air, the brain began to steam as it met the fresh fall air.
With a hand tipped with sharp claws, tiamat grabbed a handful of surprisingly firm gray matter and unceremoniously thrust it into her mouth.
While she was occupied with the exceptionally tasty brain, she suddenly felt a ripple across the ether. Speaking with a full mouth, she said absentmindedly "Wow it's been centuries since I last felt an angel cry. And this one is really sobbing."
Just then, she felt something being severed quite violently, causing the few scales dotting her humanoid frame to tingle. Before she could comment on the strange sensation, she heard a pained grunt from behind her. Turning backwards, she beheld the huntress, kneeling on the ground, grasping at her chest as if I pain.
"Are you alright?" Tiamat shouted, rushing to the prone goddess.
Kneeling beside the goddess, she laid a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
"I said don't touch me while you're dirty!" The goddess forced out between gritted teeth. Her eyes promising such violence that tiamat got excited for a moment. Backing off she sheepishly answered.
"Yes Lilith."