Fikre awakens to a comfortable sensation under his chin and tail. He lifts his head to see large tufts of grass have been placed underneath him. Did the humans do this? He looks around to see that the massive cave has been decorated all around him. This place looks like a palace! He looks in front of him and notices they carved a doorway with a wooden door, complete with a carpet that leads up to a platform resting about fifteen feet in front of Fikre. What's all this for?
"Hello, Fikre," a man says as he enters the main chamber from the extra rooms he made for the humans. "It's about time you woke up."
"About time?" Asks Fikre. "How long was I asleep for?"
"About four weeks."
"WHAT!?"
[WEEK 4: ANCALIAN REFUGE ESTABLISHED]
"Why does it look so different in here?" Asks Fikre.
"Survivors from the Ancalian collapse have made refuge near your cave. The Atheocrats are too scared to come near you. Look outside." Fikre stands up and walks through the stone wall to find a decently-sized hamlet has been built just outside of his cave.
"Oh... so... my main goal is complete, then..." Fikre says. I did the only thing I set out to do while I was asleep... if this were a book, this would be a real shit ending.
Fikre walks back into his cave to sit and think on his new bed. That's when a large congregation of people enter through the doorway and bow to his feet, chanting some kind of prayer.
"Uh... what are you doing?" Asks Fikre. One of them looks up.
"Praying to you. You are a god, are you not?" She says.
"I am, but it just feels kind of weird. I was a human, like, a few weeks ago," Fikre says. They all glance at each other.
"If you don't want us to..."
"No, it's fine. I actually think you should. That weird Lich guy said something about powers relating to mortal worshippers. Keep on doing what you're doing." They shrug and continue praying.
This is so weird. It's like I've created a whole religion overnight without even knowing it.
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Fikre spends the rest of his day walking around the small settlement that has developed around his cave. People on the streets kneel to him as he passes. This is making me uncomfortable, but I imagine if I told them not to do it, they'd feel like I'm hostile towards them. As he strolls the streets and passes by the ramshackle huts, someone on the other end of the town screams, followed by a whole cacophony of screaming. Fikre rushes over and gets there in about 30 steps, being careful not to trample anyone. He sees that the source of the terror is some sort of dark hole that's opened in the ground. Fikre doesn't see the issue until the most horrifying creatures he's even seen in his life start to crawl out. What are those!? They're so horrible I can't even describe them!
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They start to move to attack Fikre, so he unleashes a spew of fire upon them. The creatures all burn up and die, but the hole does not vanish. If I don't do something, more of those creatures will come out! However, before Fikre decides what to do, The Lich appears behind him and pats his leg to get his attention.
"Don't worry, Fikre," says The Lich. "The Word of Knowledge told me you were in danger. These are creatures of the Uncreated Night, and what you have on your hands is a Night Road. I have to seal this before it gets out of control." He must have gotten here with that teleport ability he taught us. "Ahnnn N'ghft Bugnah!" He shouts. The hole in the ground makes a crackling sound and dissipates from view. "More powerful creatures from the Uncreated Night have the ability to suppress our divine powers. I strongly urge you to call upon me in the future if you find one." Fikre nods. "You owe me one for this, by the way." The Lich once again vanishes without a trace.
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A few days of this back-and-forth schedule of Fikre walking around the town to make sure everyone is safe and receiving worship bores him. There must be more I could be doing. I'm a gigantic monster! Fikre looks at the wings on his back. Oh yeah. For the first time, he stretches them out and flaps them. It is hard work, but he is capable of lifting himself off of the ground. This is so cool! He flies around the perimeter of the town before deciding to go out further and explore the area. I never went far outside of the Ancalian capital for anything. This is all new to me.
After a while of flying around, Fikre decides to land on a mountain peak. He perches at the very top and looks around him. Every single village I've passed by so far has been destroyed. The people worshipping me also don't seem to know what happened. Does anyone know what cataclysm caused this?
Tired from morbid thoughts, Fikre decides to fly back to his cave. On the way back, however, he sees something he did not expect.
Look at all those soldiers! There must be at least ten thousand of them... are they marching towards the refuge?
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The Lich sits in his war room, moving his small red pieces from place to place.
"A small urge to Barbatus to overthrow Emperor Claudius XI, who he already does not like... assassinate the remaining family of Inge so she completely submits her will to the only remaining authority figure in her life, me... make Minah hated in the Kasirutan Archipelago so she is blamed for the warships I will inevitably steal... a small boost of military support to Nitocris Merchant's rebellion... trick Caterina into creating an artifact of the Word of Health so I can use it to fuel my theurgies... and finally, Fikre. The Atheocracy forces should be on their way now, after receiving an anonymous tip that almost all of the remaining survivors of the Ancalian collapse have relocated to his cave over the last four weeks. Once his little settlement is wiped out, he will turn to me for help, which is when I will trick him into a totally binding theurgical agreement which he cannot ever break. With the power of Time on my side, I will become invincible."
The Lich scratches his bony chin for a moment. "There is still the matter of Mengu... that old fool won't join us. He could be troublesome... his Word of Bow could potentially attack me at any distance. And there is the matter of the armor, which, although certainly powerful, the countries fight far too hard for. They can never access the Toban plains..." The Lich thinks for a moment. "Perhaps the armor could be used to trick Fikre into thinking the informant was in fact Mengu..."