Bruukar the alpha of the tall crags pack walked at the head of his battered pack as they followed the trail through the wood. Raakehel his mate followed three paces behind him keeping a wary eye on their remaining two children. The two boys trudged with a worrying lack of energy. Behind her came her sister with her mate and his sister. Jaavator was the only uncursed among them and he only remained because of his love of Bitseena. Jaavator trailed them by several meters as he led the group’s two donkeys.
The poor creatures could smell the monsters that were trekking ahead of them.
That night Jaavator sat by the bonfire as he kept a desultory watch as he occasionally stirred the pot simmering over the fire. The two young cousins were sleeping the sleep of the exhausted. They didn’t even wake to the clash of the chains that bound their family or the savage growls and snarls that the frustrated monsters were issuing under the light of the full moon.
They followed the edge of the woods steering clear of the prosperous looking fields with their fortified villages and hamlets. Finally after waiting another full moon the scruffy band struck out across the fields and headed for the sea. Their target was mid sized port city perched at the mouth of a small river.
They walked down a badly maintained road that was little more than a farm track. Luckily it was not much used so they didn’t have to deal with many beasts of burden. When they got to the town’s walls Bruukar advanced to talk with the two slovenly looking town guards manning the open gate.
“Watcha want.”
“We wish to visit the temple of Ocidon. It’s been a long time.”
“Daan by da harbour. Toll’s a bit a’ed, kids that size s’free. Asses two bits a’ed.”
Bruukar grumbled but passed over ten bits. The other guard produced a piece of string and tied off ten knots before returning it to his pocket. Bruukar led his band into the town his nose trying to close down in protest at the stench.
Jaavator waved as he turned into one of the nicer inns they passed, where he waited by the door as his wife and her family made their way down to the harbour. Then he turned and stabled his beasts before locating the innkeeper. He was able to hire two rooms. Then he sat in the common room with a mug of ale and some surprisingly good bread. The cheese however was hard and not particularly tasty.
Bruukar had no trouble finding the temple. After hesitating for a moment he squared his shoulders and headed into the temple trailed by his pack. He located a priest and approached him.
“Honoured sir, we would like to worship in the Consort’s shrine.”
The priest inspected them briefly, “please follow me. It’s not much but it’s over here. You realize the Consort will hear you even if you pray in the main temple.”
Bruukar bowed politely to the priest, “I wasn’t sure but that’s good to know. But now that we’re here we’ll use her shrine. Where can we leave offerings?”
The priest smiled, “In the main temple. The Consort hasn’t set up anything separate above the waves as yet. If you need a priest, anyone of us can help.” With that he left and left the pack to it’s own devices.
The Pack filed into the shrine and they all kneeled, even the children. They bowed their heads and Bruukar prayed for them.
* * *
Mary’s attention was jerked to Ocidon’s temple in Focaton. The prayer reached her driven with true desperation and the despairing hope of a close knit family. And it was being sent to her as Mother of Monsters.
Her interest piqued Mary allowed her attention to slip into the godsrealm. The despairing desperate faith fed her and she couldn’t resist. She manifested her attention in her shrine. The dolphin idol shimmered as she temporarily replaced it.
She examined her worshipers. They were open to her and she knew them. They had an interesting challenge for her. She grinned to herself. She studied them minutely then she spoke to them.
« Bruukar I will accept you and yours. Fetch the missing one for though he doesn’t need my help he is truly one of you and part of this. I believe I can help you and your pack. I can’t make you normal but I can remove the bloodlust and rage, the madness. Will that suffice? »
Bruukar’s pack looked to him and he looked at the ghostly dolphin that seemed to swimming over the altar. He tuned and looked at his pack, reading their desperate acceptance. He faced the altar again. “Yes Mother of Monsters. Fix us and we are yours for life.”
The pack murmured agreement.
« Good. Fetch Bitseena’s man. I will need you all together for this. »
= = O = =
In her office the temple’s high priestess Zuultiira Featherwise jerked upright from where she had been relaxing in her favourite overstuffed couch. Was that— no it wasn’t lord Ocidon. The Consort was manifest in her temple. She straightened her robes and hurried to the main temple. She passed several of her priests and priestesses. They fell in behind her and followed her to the temple.
The Inner temple was full, worshipers and priests were gazing at the shrine to the Consort. It appeared to be sealed by a wavering shining blue-green shield.
Zuultiira noticed that some of the locals were filtering into her temple, the word of the presence must be spreading. Then she noticed two worried strangers arrive and run straight to the shrine where they passed through the shield as if it wasn’t there. This seemed to encourage her most turbulent priest Gaifort Thunderfist who stepped forward and vanished into the shrine.
= = O = =
Mary watched as the missing piece of this small family arrived, she noted almost absently that one of the temple’s priests had followed them. She reached out and the pack sank to the floor and slept.
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Mary scanned their bodies, the actual dna fix needed was minor and easily sorted. The real problem were the links that chained them to something. Something that filled them with its unreasoning rage and homicidal fury during the time of the full moon. Then there were the links that allowed whatever it was to feed on their despair and guilt. It, whatever it was, seemed to feed on strong negative emotions.
Mary gathered the offending links and carefully uprooted them from the pack’s minds before using her DNA manipulation abilities to rebuild their physical brains while using her manna to soothe their minds.
Then she spun to face the intruder that appeared almost instantly after she had freed the pack. The huge foaming bestial looking werewolf was charging her in the godsrealm. Mary pulled her favoured seascape up around her stopping the werewolf in his tracks. Then after flailing wildly for a second it changed with the sound of breaking bones and tearing muscles into a twisted sharklike being that just looked wrong.
Mary danced around in her dolphin aspect but found it almost impossible to get a blow in. The wereshark minor god for its part was more successful and Mary was soon trailing blood.
Then Mary felt her other self merge with her. Then she could feel Pete and Shirley, their friends and kids. And from Earth she was joined Terry and his friends.
‘I figured it was time to take our next Avatar. I went size and poison. Shall we throw the dice and see how a giant modified Blue Ringed Octopus does me? She has all the mods I we gave Pete, Shirley and Terry plus size.’ ‘Yes!’
The wereshark didn’t pause when the bleeding dolphin was replaced by a huge octopus that jetted mostly out of its way. Mary shuddered as the thing that was relentlessly attacking her severed about half of one her tentacle, swinging her out of her intended path. She made use of this accidental course change to get a couple of her tentacles around the body of the not shark.
She gritted her beak as the thing managed to grab another of her tentacles but now she had the rest of tentacles wrapped the thing and she stated to bite searching for whatever passed for the thing’s spine all the time pumping in poison.
The ocean in the godsrealm was swirling with blood. Now the fight moved to the realm of thought. In this Mary found herself with a massive advantage. The thing operated on Hate, Rage, and other strong primal emotions and its thrusts just slipped through Mary’s mind without engaging, not finding a home.
Finally the minor god of the werewolves and weresharks started to fear for its life and changing its tactics. It lost its wild mindless fury and tried to think, it tried to flee but Mary wasn’t having any of that. This had been the worst fight of her life. She had lost two tentacles and a half besides taking a few other wounds. She just squeezed harder and chewed away grimly.
Finally her opponent stopped struggling and started pleading for mercy and promising eternal allegiance. Somehow Mary sensed she was being observed by many of the world’s gods. And somehow she knew they were here to observe and most were willing her to show mercy. Gods on the whole did not like change.
Mary shrugged their suggestions of mercy aside, she savoured her opponent’s desperation as he finally came to an end and died. She felt a rush of power and her tentacles regenerated. Her wounds closed and she gathered all she had shed during the fight as she absorbed it again. She refused to leave anything of herself for any other being to use.
She was bombarded with all the powers the dead god had manifested and with all he had held. Most she flat out didn’t understand so she offered them to Ocidon and the Spider Queen. They also reject most of what was on offer so Mary dumped them into the vault where she had found the shadow mage career and abilities.
All those she found at the end of the mad god’s links she freed with a flick of her will leaving knowledge of this fight and its result in her wake. Then and only then did she turn her attention to her audience of Old Gods, New Gods and the greater number of the unaligned. She also sensed a remote presence that seemed mostly ignoring things. She sneered at him and proceeded to ignore him in disdain.
The swirling orphaned god energy that was all that was left from her opponent swirled round her and she was absently absorbing the majority. The parts she was rejecting kept trying to rejoin the rest until she lost her patience and scattered it to the winds of the world.
The gods slowly faded out, some managing to scavenge some of the rejected powers and energy. As they went they saluted the new minor goddess in their midst.
* * * INTERLUDES * * *
* * * PARTHIA – CREEVAR’S KILLERS * * *
Harrassan nibbled on the meat skewer doubtfully. I seemed to taste alright and his brother had eaten his with gusto. However Avor and Essa had refused to select anything the street seller had been peddling and that was worrying him.
They had been waiting for well over two hours now. Honestly what could those women find to do for more than two hours in a simple bathhouse?
Finally Harrassan saw the trio emerge. He approached the priestess and bowed. “Lady, I and my brother have been tasked by Creevar and his sister Azurea with an important task. May I ask for your help as this task requires the presence of a priest or priestess of Azurea. That or a Paladin.”
« Teeheehee, sorry Falreena but I truly need you to do this. Teeheehee. »
Falreena froze in shock, there was no imitating that irritating titter. She gazed at the burly looking man standing in front of her awaiting her reply. Given his company she took him for an adventurer. And considering the twins and the mention of Creevar she assumed that they were Creevar’s Killers. Behind her she could hear her daughter and her best friend whispering and giggling.
“As my lady wishes, so be it. Can I fetch my daughter and her friend or do we have time to divert by my lady’s temple to drop them off?”
“I regret that Creevar ordered me to avoid allowing anyone in your temple to know what our gods intend until after the ceremony has been performed.”
Falreena heard the sudden silence behind her with a certain grim amusement. Thankfully she didn’t sense any threat from the adventurers to her front. And anyway Creevar’s Killers had a good reputation. “Very well then, I suppose we should be going.”
= = O = =
Azurea looked down at the ceremony. She was being represented by Falreena, hardly one oh her more ambitious priestesses. And two very young acolytes, it would be a good experience for the girls.
She returned her attention to Deepsix. « Well Deepsix, Teeheehee, anyone can be reborn as a human. I can allow you to choose any dungeon creature which surprisingly enough includes sea humans, Teeheehee, and you can also be reborn as one the traditional dungeon companion species. Teeheehee. I would prefer you to choose human or sea human. »
Deepsix pulsed with nervousness. « Will you allow me to be reborn as a Wisp after this life Azurea? »
Azurea smiled sadly. « If I’m still around. Yes dear. Teeheehee. »
« Let it be human then my goddess. »
Then Deepsix opened his eyes and swung his legs from the special altar and stood a trifle unsteadily.
“Welcome to Parthia Deepsix Twiceborn,” Said Sreecator and Falreena as one.
* * * EARTH – MARY * * *
Mary was sitting next to the saltwater pool in her mother’s garden. Terry was relaxing and keeping her company as were a couple of the pixies she had rescued from Tarifax. They seemed much improved.
Mary gathered her domain in her mind and acknowledged the scattered small gods and goddesses lurking around her island home and in the islands around. Like them she kept a low profile having no wish to attract the attention of one of the dominant gods of her world.
Then, almost reluctantly she infiltrated her attention to Tarifax. She had to see if the mad god had infested that world too. She flexed her tentacles and looked round carefully. Knowing what to look for she found the mad god, a version of him at any rate, and as evil as the one on Parthia. And he was greatly weakened.
Gathering herself Mary struck without warning. This time it was fast as she knew just where to strike. She didn’t gain much, just some energy but she was able to release the mad god’s victims before withdrawing back to Earth.