Even the scream sounded alien to Cordelia, as though it was coming from another’s throat. Nor were her limbs within her sane control, for they swung madly to ward off the incredible monster. “Don’t come here! Don’t eat me!” her voice blared.
“You? What conceit!” the serpent hissed, lowering its enormous head, “My hunting field is the hearts of man! My quarry the downfalls of nations! My sustenance the tragedies of worlds! What are you? but a puny creature from some forgettable plane of Midgard! Fool! Your life may serve a small delight fitting for my dark purpose, no doubt. But even a thousand of your kind’s deepest despair would not furnish my fast-breaking plate!”
“Then why?” she whimpered, “Why me? Why did you bring me here, if not to eat?”
“Why you? Shishishi!” the serpent loosed a laugh like a sizzling mountain of flesh. “You are nothing, of course. A talentless, useless, gutless rat whose only admirable deed was untimely ridding the world of your miserable self!”
“Then wh--”
“Even now!” the serpent cut her off, “Thousands of minor gods and godlings attended to similar creations of no consequence as yourself, those who were untimely plucked from the World Tree’s most insignificant branches to serve the Dark Master’s ambition! You are not special! You are not unique! Nay. Not yet. Not till I’m done with you! But--” Gently it rested the enormous wedged-shaped head on the ground a few feet away from Cordelia, and expressed something in resemblance to a smile on the ugly face. Its tone turned sharply to sweetness, “For that reason, I am your ally - your greatest ally from now on. So fear not, hm? Let us discuss your prospects, shishishi! Snake got your tongue?”
Cordelia swallowed. Not before arranging the words in her head multiple times did she dare to speak out, not until the words did come out that she was sure she could still speak. “You have not answered. What are you? Why did you bring me here?”
“Well,” the serpent drew away and raised its head to the stars. “I have many names. But in this form and by your crude tongue, I am sometimes known as the World Serpent. And you stand now in my domain - the darkness abounds at the edge of worlds. Here is where mortal and immortal concerns end, and here the seas fall to nothingness and continents give way to the void. Beyond this realm lurk things even the gods dare not utter, for the faintest suggestion of which could drive the most pious souls to madness beyond comprehension. I am the sentinel, and so long as you serve me, nothing shall touch your feeble soul, not from within, nor from without. For I am a stalwart as well as a tyrant!”
As the monster spoke, Cordelia noticed that the stars were glittering and growing in size, and began to move. And as the serpent swayed so did the celestial beings whirled to the invisible circles its body was drawing in the air.
“As for your purpose: you, and many others like you, are to serve in the vanguard of a long struggle. The details you will learn in time, but at the moment, you may know only that factions have been warring for generations in my world. And in this world of mine you shall be rebuilt anew in flesh and soul. And you will infiltrate the society of our enemy, forge their trust and earn a place among them. And then,” the serpent grinned terribly, “when the time comes and my lord gives the signal, sink the long hidden dagger in their unguarded backs. Chaos shall become the new order, darkness the new light! And all the glory of the earth that we need not, you may inherit in full! Any questions?”
Cordelia swallowed again, her throat and lips were exceedingly dry. “I will live again?” She could scarce believe her own words.
“As my agent, aye. As for the manner of your new life, let us see...” The stars were now as large as the serpent’s eyes. Then suddenly they leaped from the sky and circled the serpents as orbiting blazing orbs. The gigantic neck turned to each shining light, peering deep within and searching. “Hmmm, where is it, where is it...”
For a moment it appeared to be bent on the task but, once, its volcanic eyes glimmered, glancing at Cordelia, and became talkative again, “Are you curious? I suppose you must. The next few moments shall determine your new life, after all. What babe has so witnessed its ordained fate in unbirth infancy? But this is a curious process indeed, and not by choice. Though aye, sometimes, but only very rarely, some gifted candidates in possession of many aptitudes would be allowed choices - but not you, servant! You shall walk the one only path available: mine! For I have a plan for you, my own! The like of which even the greatest shall tremble within their heart of hearts to face! Shishishi! Let’s see. Where is it? Berserker? Barbarian? How come these base things lurk in my collection? Mayhap long ago... ah, Songstress, Alchemyst, Sun Knight... how so much rubbish flounder about, even as life, hm? So few are the great things, yet mediocrity one may find in unlooked-for abundance... Aha! There it is! There’s your fate that I have plotted!”
The serpent flung its head, and with it a star shot for Cordelia, bringing with it a searing heat. She screamed as it entered her chest, enwrapping on her heart.
“Rejoice!” cried the Serpent to echo her scream, “ ‘Tis but a splinter of my master’s might, the great treachery of my design! Your veritable fate! Your utter ruination!”
Cordelia was melting away. She felt it intensively as her skin fell apart, her bones rotting to dust, her thoughts seized upon. All that was hers, all still remained after her mortal death, was condensed at a tiny core. A fleeting light incorruptible, or so it was supposed to be. This the blazing star absorbed, devoured. The world itself had become hollow in the process.
Somewhere overhead, if space could still be conceptualized as such, the serpent hovered. “Is this not the irony? For all that the ancient gods prized their creation of the soul, that which they touted as immortal and impenetrable, my master had made a farce of it all! With but a splinter of his might, the mystical construction of life had been undone, unraveled! Now all that’s left is but a toy to his scheming! What a coup! What a disgrace to the most beautifully graced! How feel you now?”
Cordelia gasped. There was flesh upon her bones now, and a heart that beat within. And yet it was different. Much more different than just a clearer mind. She stumbled, crawled on the earth and found her head blank.
“You are adapting,” the beast said sagely, “But it is nothing evil, not yet. Come, I shall give you a taste of joy.” Somewhere far away a tail thumped the earth. Suddenly between Cordelia and the Serpent a bowl of clay broke from the soft soil. A dark sort of liquid filled it to the brim.
“Look within,” the serpent commanded.
Having no mind to gainsay a gigantic beast, Cordelia crawled to the bowl. With some apprehension she peered in, and gasped aloud.
It was still her face, somewhat, but much had changed. Gone were the scars thrice scored, and the finer features had been morphed. What she saw therein was strikingly and unmistakably from the very first glance the reflection of a great beauty.
“This... is me?” The hoarseness of fear and shock could not mask the unfamiliarity of her new voice, its strange soothing quality of trickling water.
Instantly, a dread lurched in the pit of her stomach. For it was no simple beauty that she beheld. For the eyes staring back was an unfathomable black. Yet upon a longer gaze, one saw therein an amaranthine enchantment; a dark red and violet tint of many sweetly whispered promises, of irresistible undertakings to dare the brave, of terrible secrets to tempt the wise, and unbridled infatuation beckoning to the doomed lover. So did all the prospects and allures gathered and enticed, converging towards the maelstrom of darkness at the irises’ center. Then there were the sensual lips and soft features which were all lovely in idyll, yet once the subtlest emotion stirred underneath, they treacherously turned sharply to keen edges and lined cruelty, as startling as a serpent’s leap from the dark.
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She feared it. She feared her own visage of a creature at once pretty and cruel.
“Are you displeased?” The beast hovered still overhead, coiling around her and the clay bowl of terrible revelations. It said softly like a sweet grandma giving her child wholesome counsels, “When you passed from death to my domain, I saw into your heart, dear. I learned how you had scarred your own faces, how you had cut with cold razors deliberately deep to flee from an evil. But ‘tis you who shall play the devil now! And no more shall you flee from men, sweetheart. No more Cordelia the victim, no more the hapless prey! But you will frighten men and women into submission! And by the gifts in my power to bestow, lesser mortals will grovel and beg hoarsely to serve your purposes! So consecrate your faith and hark! Etch in your brain the unholy chant: ‘O the great fallen, show unto your servant the machination of her corrupted heart and unnatural soul!’ ”
Cordelia listened as the serpent intoned, and suddenly her mind reeled, her sight flickered. What at first looked naught more than a lingered shape of some blinding light began to form a transparent and distinct shape of darkness before her eyes. It organized itself into the coherent shape of a large floating tablet. Thereupon letters and symbols were writ. But though she understood the language, their deeper meaning eluded her.
image [https://i.ibb.co/8zSL2CD/CS-1-3.png]
CORDELIA VON JORMUNGANDR
PATRON: Lord of Serpents and Deception
Blessing: Shed Skin
Patron Quest: Find the Maiden of God
RACE: Snakeling
Alignment: True Neutral
Racial Ability: Snakeling Poison
Power Capacity: 5/5
Attributes:
Might - F
Masteries - F
Endurance - F
Spirit - F
Perception - E
Charisma - C
Leadership - F
CLASS: Temptress
Title: -
Power: Silver Tongue, Forked Tongue, Ethereal Beauty, Detect Holy, The Favored (Privilege)
PATRON BLESSING:
Shed Skin: Upon gaining a new race tier, change your race accordingly.
RACIAL ABILITY:
Snakeling Poison: Once a day, command your viper familiar to inflict a poison with a small chance of causing instant death to a mortal.
POWERS:
Silver Tongue: Your words convince. Your threats subdue. Your praises flatter. Your curses despair. Effectiveness governed by Charisma.
Forked Tongue: Conceptualize your surroundings with a special sense organ. Effectiveness governed by Perception.
Ethereal Beauty: all mortals see in your appearance their favored aspects. Humans are more yielding to your attempts at physical attractions. Effectiveness governed by Charisma.
Detect Holy: Special sense to detect creatures of the Holy element. Effectiveness governed by Perception.
Privilege of The Favored: Invoke to be pardoned from all transgressions done to a mortal. (Each Privilege power can only be used once)
The monster relished her bewilderment some more before resuming its laudatory speech. “Marvel at the aspect of my master, servant! You behold his system to replace the mortal and inferior laws of the good gods. Comprehensible and to the point, unflattering and blasphemous. Long ago my master divided himself to allow the worthy a morsel of his power... but that lore is long and needn’t be told at the moment. Mark! These letters denote your every attribute and masteries that shall matter in your quest. And do you serve my master well, many ancient powers exceeding even that of the gods shall be yours to wield! But look not at me in confusion. Already the answers are in your heart, ingrained in your soul when it was reconstructed just now.”
It was true. When Cordelia focused her mind on each word and letter, their meanings were revealed to her yieldingly. But these and what they augured for her future read still as strange and impossible fiction. And among the implications she found one particularly loathsome. For the first time since the girl passed to this immortal plane, a bitter taste of frustration poisoned her tongue, overriding even fear and awe and timidness.
She spat the words, “What the hell? So the devil proposes to make me its toy?” She looked up and met the amused eyes of fire. “Another lifetime of confinement but dressed with frilly thrills! Am I to dance with joy for being made pawn in your game? I care not to be anyone’s plaything! But you are going to make me do this regardless, aren’t you?” And as soon as she said the words, she felt them foreign to her usual speech and temper, as though some new and unfamiliar aspect had been injected into her veins.
The serpent went quiet for the longest time yet. “You are quite discernible, eh?” But the solemnity of its tone belied a humor. It laughed suddenly. “To the heart of the matter you did strike! Shishishi! Little choice have you but to obey my design, nor did I ever pretend it was not so. Even so, my desire for your free cooperation is earnest. That you choose to serve my purposes, without being compelled to, is vital. For you see...”
Again the enormous head lowered, till it was resting and denting the soil before her. “This modification I had conferred upon your soul is powerful indeed. But someone else might be able to employ it better, hm? Another mortal of vaster intelligence, perhaps; or one in possession of dominating confidence, of some compelling charisma. Shrewder, so to speak. But nay, this is no simple game that I play, servant.” Its fiery eyes glinted and sparkled. “Nor may my ambitions be achieved with but the clever applications of these unfathomable powers. I needn’t a shrewd or canning servant, nay. It may be so with the many of my brethren, who sow chaos and strife in the world of men by the hands of mighty warlords, wise sages, and sometimes even powerful monarchs. But I am not so simple as that. Nor is it conventional chaos that I seek, but loftier is my goal to strike at mankind’s most vulnerable part, to pull at the tantalizing strings which bind nations and peoples, to work deeds that shall etch into the subconsciousness of man for eternity. And to that end, greater might than violence or even intellect is required. Such a might I see in you, or the potential to which. I see things that are the ultimate downfalls of men and women, Cordelia, I see within you cowardice, envy and deep-seated hatred. I see a future of self-destruction, an unmatched ability to destroy for love, an inherent darkness to ultimately betray that very love! These loathsome but passionate traits will fester in bounds and chains of obedience! They must be left to prosper on their own accord to grow deadly!
“It takes a special kind of coward, Cordelia, to mar her own face and end her own life for pride! You know better than I how to best serve my purpose, and I love you for it. And for my adoration I shall give you the freedom of choices. I do not err. Look for it in your heart. You are not wise, not even close, but you know what you are, and you know it better than anything in this world.”
Even as Cordelia stared back in hatred and misgivings, and wanted very much to admonish the gigantic monster for its gross presumption, she could not. For one single thing stood out among its accusations as the undeniable truth. She knew what she was. A coward, a weakling. Someone who hates and envies, a poisonous existence in daily life. That she would be better off not existing was true. That it would be a great service to everyone in the world if she could just live with a bit more backbone was also painfully true.
As she then sat back on the soft soil with the bowl of a tantalizing image before her, the great serpent eyed her with mounting delight. It saw the approaching realization and the resignation. And distant stars glimmered over that supernatural plane as the two at length confronted in silence each other’s beliefs.
After a while, she stirred. “Free will,” she said, “you claim to grant me freedom of choices. But what of your mission? What if I simply take your power for granted to live again, then ignore your purpose, or whatever?”
“Then you may,” the monster answered at once, “By the dark binding river! You may even use these powers to noble ends. They call such things in your age, anti-heroes, do they not? Curious title that. And yet ‘tis a course as possible as any.”
Cordelia’s eyes narrowed, “You don’t believe it. Someone like you, a god-like demon, would never waste your time on uncertain chances. You already predicted my actions.”
“Quite perceptive! And yet, indeed, would you deny the temptation, knowing what your heart truly desires? I offer all that I have and omit none. What will have you?”
She was quiet again. Then gathering herself, the girl rose to her feet, dusting off the dirty soil, and stared deeply into the serpent’s fiery eyes.
“I want to live again,” she said. “I want to live differently.”
“Then you shall.”
And the serpent lifted its wedge-shaped head, and all the stars glimmered.
“Only one question,” she said, her eyes following the head.
“What fear you?”
“Not fear... not quite. Only, tell me, who weeped back there?” For the thought of that formless woman under the gray shawl and the unceasing lamenting was haunting her still.
The volcanic face regarded her with cruelty, and yet its words chilled her for a different reason than it mayhap intended. “Naught. Not your uncle who was wroth but did not lament your death. Your ‘friends’ were somewhat affrighted, indeed though in the end, I suppose they were amused also. It was a stir in the local paper, to be sure. But no one wept. None!”