Done distributing my belongings, the System retreated. This Universe was not governed by the rules of the System, and unlike Earth, the System didn’t seem interested in invading. The bubble of isolation it had gifted me for privacy faded as well with its retreat.
“You will have to claim the Elves, Beastkin, Vampires, and Dwarves as Sidhe if you want them to be able to activate the Sithern seeds you gifted them,” Danu said as soon as sound was restored.
That she knew what I had done, even surrounded by privacy so complete that not even [Justice], [Order], or [Chaos] could permeate those defenses, spoke to her position as leader for our Pantheon.
I doubted she had received a System message detailing what I had done. She just knew. All Gods were omnipotent and omniscient when events affected their [Domain]. Those Gods that ruled as Supreme within their Pantheon were gifted with extended abilities. Those moments of foresight and prescience that included anything that affected their Pantheon as a whole.
Danu’s ability to see past, present, and future events that revolved around the Tuatha de Danann was on a higher level than any other being in the multi-verse. With my new understanding of what omniscient and omnipotence actually meant for a God, I realized that Danu had known the Tuatha de Danann would fall to the tricks of Odin and Zeus before it had happened.
She knew that Tuatha de Danann would be bound by [Sleep] and had made no moves to circumvent that knowledge. I wasn’t sure she knew that I was the specific person who would be the one to wake them from [Sleep]. Of if she had known that I existed because of the intervention of the System and my reincarnation, but she had known that someone would succeed and free the Pantheon.
“I am speaking to the leaders of each of the four races now,” she continued. “Because these races will be uplifted and made Sidhe, no God can claim them as theirs; they must choose a Patron God if they wish to accept the Sithern Seed you have offered.”
“Is adding their numbers to the Sidhe really necessary?” I asked. “Morgan would be willing to plant the Sithern. The magic races could then take advantage of the location to enter and live within reach of each Sithern.”
“It may not be necessary,” Danu replied, “but this moment in time is a chance. A chance to swell the Sidhe ranks with individuals that are gifted with magic, share some of the characteristics of our people, and are not affected by a deadly aversion to iron.”
“It has been decided,” Danu replied. It had barely been a second, but a second was subjective. [Time] was transient when dealing with the Divine, it flowed, but like a river, there were offshoots, tributaries, and eddies that could be navigated.
It was no surprise that Danu had held multiple different conversations at the same time she was speaking with me. She was a God, and the ability to focus on divergent universes, realities, and planar activity was within her purview. Holding a conversation with four other groups at the same time was a negligible use of her abilities.
Danu was adept at traversing those eddies and tributaries the river of time created. A facile use of a skill that allowed her to complete negotiations in the blink of an eye. And she was skilled enough to navigate those turbulent waters without creating [Paradox].
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“The Vampires and Beastkin have selected you to serve as their Patron God, by doing so enhancing or gifting them with the ability to enhance glamour and claim illusion. The Elves chose Arianrhod, hoping to be blessed by her with her aspect of fertility. The Dwarves have selected me, their connection to the Earth and those places hidden within resonating with my [Domain].
“They have been reforged as Sidhe.
“The Vampires will join the ranks of Unseelie, and the Elves, Beastkin, and Dwarves will join the Seelie ranks. The Sitherns will be planted. The Sidhe races grow. And the Tuatha de Danann will expand, even beyond the addition of the Yeti and new species of Demi-fey that have been born.”
Beastkin and Vampires. [Order] and [Chaos]. Each race resonated with an aspect in determining my own alignment. My [Domain] leaned toward [Chaos], but the alignment of the Beastkin and Yeti resonated enough with me to allow me to modify the scope of that alignment.
I would evolve as more of a God of neutrality, claiming both the advantages and disadvantages of [Order] and [Chaos]. I would stand as a bridge between a place where [Order] and [Chaos] could complement each other.
A place for change, transition, growth, and evolution.
This change had nothing to do with good or evil. The concept of good and evil could be found on both sides. What it did was allow me to call on the forces of each without worrying about the ramifications or if I might be forced to endure censure or constraint.
There were very few Gods of Neutrality, Coyote being the strongest that I knew of. The trickster often came across as chaotic, but he was just as invested in creating order out of disorder. He was a God of Creation, one that reveled in swimming in the pools of [Chaos].
I felt the connection form with the Vampires and Beastkin and responded with that connection by offering my blessings. The Vampires became immune to attacks from holy items or priest spells from other Pantheons, while their powers to mesmerize their victims reached a new level.
Beastkin gained the ability to form illusions, to hide behind glamour as an animal or person. The change was only an illusion, but an illusion powerful enough that even the most gifted seer would be hard-pressed to unravel what the Beastkin could craft.
The changes came with some drawbacks. Both races were now as susceptible to wounds and death from silver and oak as every Sidhe was. But the gains outweighed any drawbacks.
They had access to the Summerlands. The Vampires’ weakness to sunlight, wooden stakes other than oak, and running water were removed. The Beastkin were stronger, faster, and more in tune with their wild nature without losing themselves to their bestial nature. That connection allowed them to connect with [Wild Magic] in a way no other Sidhe could.
The room remained quiet as I reached out and claimed those aspects of [Domain] that were mine and Danu had acted. Part of that was disbelief that the Tuatha de Danann were awake. Most of the silence was acknowledgment due to the rarity that came from a new God claiming their Divinity.
It was a rare thing for a God to be born, even rarer for a God to ascend from the mortal plane. That they had been able to witness this event was enough to allow a moment of reverence from even the most jaded of beings.
They had watched as my presence within the multi-verse spun webs of [Authority] and tied that [Authority] to my will.
They had watched as I had been the instrument and driving force to uplift not one but four races, to see those races reach out and grasp the changes that made them Sidhe.
They had watched as the forces that had kept the Tuatha de Danann in [Sleep] were scattered, ephemeral chains that could no longer constrain our Pantheon.
They had watched in silence as the multi-verse was reshaped.
A change had come, and in answer to that change, the echo of the Heavenly Host began echoing and reverberating across every Pantheon. The change had arrived, and with it came Gwyn ap Nudd, Leader of the Hunt, Divine ruler of the Huntsman. Scourge and bogeyman for every Sidhe.
A change had come, and Gwyn ap Nudd rode his nightmare stead into the chamber set aside for this Conclave of Gods, forcing a rift in space to part so that he could enter and serve as honor guard to the first newly created God of the Tuatha de Danann since the moment of creation.