Emissary of God: A Hero's Belief

[White Masquerade]

A City In Distress​

Thebes. A city sprouted from the hands of Cadmus, son of King Agenor, it has seen its share of rise and fall, from the death of Pentheus, Cadmus's son, to the mistaken return and crowning of Laius' disowned child, Oedipus. From there, the city's history extends long across bloody pages, with each new ruler seeing their rules come to tragic ends. It is hard to believe that a place hailed from such humble beginnings, being built on the weary of a tired cow. However, not all was bad. For a time its people were blessed by a man with great ability; a seer at the Oracle of Delphi who went by the name of Teiresias. A man dedicated to his post, he did what he could to prevent loss for the people of Thebes...yet, even with his foresight, they would eventually fall, leaving the once-great town, a ransacked mess razed by those of the After-Born.


It was in his last best act of greatness, the seer Teiresias warned those of Thebes to flee before the day of destruction. They heeded his call and ran the night before, leaving all that they knew behind to keep safe their own lives.


Now. After the passing of many years, after the death of Theseus in Athens and of the venge-filled kids of the After-Born...they come back to once again reclaim what was lost.


Thebes, Greece: their home. At least..it was to their parents and those before them. This new generation, the descendants of old, have cultivated the area, raised the tattered buildings, and repaired the infrastructure, even going so far as to restore Thebe's fabled 7 Gates. These children would truly be proud to bring their city back from the ashes, filled with awe, but as always, with the rising crescendos of fate, there will continually be the shadows of nadir that threaten to drag it all down. The people were proud, indeed proud of what they had accomplished, and it would be that very same pride that'd bring their fall. Coming to rely on themselves, soon, they forgot about the Gods, and the Gods forgot about them. Inexplicable things began to happen. Citizens died in their sleep as their death was accompanied by a ghastly wail then scream. Men and women suddenly woke to find marks on their skin with eerie numbers arranged them. Madness struck others, dragging them to the floor in fits of inconsolable despair...verily it felt like the whole of Tartarus was descended upon the city itself. Cyclops stand at the wall, pillars of fire gush up from the ground, and warriors that should be long dead walking in through the city gates; the people of Thebes had incurred the wrath from the heart of a jealous God.

Who Will You Be?

This is where your story begins. Guard to the Cadmea, the fortress citadel of Thebes, you have fought all you could to stem the rows of dead pouring into its halls, but you fall to your back tired, having fulfilled your role as diversion to the king. Looking up to a half-eaten man re-animated in a state of undead, you grip the chain laid across your neck, praying for a safe trip to gate of Hades. Smiling, the gesture comes off as funny. It makes you pause; according to the scholars, your masters, siblings, and parents, it was all just nonsense anyway.

​

Still.

​

"I will believe on anyway."

​

Male Trooper (Name?)

Female Troopera (Zeta)

[dice]25051[/dice]

 

[White Masquerade]

A City In Distress

Zeta

"Aughct!"


So as you expect, it is your time to die; to join the countless others bloodied and strewn about the Cadmus temple floors. In one slow motion, you are lifted high to stand by the neck, a hand patched of bone and rotted flesh steady robbing your gift of breath. Smiling small at the act, your eyes begin to close, but stop midway upon feeling a loosening of the grip. Confused, your eyes open fully wide not understanding why it was deciding to let you live.


Am I being...spared?

Clink.

​

The soldier released his weapon to crash into the floor and in that moment, you feel some making way into your stomach. The armor. There was something trying to push it...off. The movement gets frantic and your brain begins to realize what is going on. Prickling, you slowly lower chin to look it straight in the eyes. Mouth open and breathing heavy, you know the look and immediately fidget, tremble, demand, your energy to return.


"NO!" You scream, driving a knee aside as far as you possibly could. Barely pushing to flesh, a blow like a sledgehammer rips into your stomach as response. Legs buckling, a gurgle is heard through the reverb of tightness and pain trickling down through your core.


"Hr...egh, hr...egh. A wooman of Thebes. What a treat foor the A-Argive army."


The Argive army...? What...what were they doing there? Hadn't they been defeated at the battle of The Seven Gates? In stories told, they were utterly destroyed, leaving only Adrastus, King of Argos, as the sole survivor of the Seven. No, no, no...were the souls still seeking revenge? Could they not move on with such hate in their heads? The people of Thebes...had they...had they...somehow offended the gods? This destruction. The nights of wailing death. The resurrection of their enemies. Was this now the price they had to pay for transgressions of the past?


Hand grabbing your chin, the soldier leans forward to lock lips with you, slipping his tongue deep into your open mouth. The tenderness. The flesh. The flakes. The rance. The grooves. Control being taken away from you. The contents of your dinner from one day before races out your throat as you fall to the ground, powerless, wondering, Why..? Why is this still happening? Isn't this why I became strong? To avoid being forced? To avoid being treated like a tool? Avoid being taken advantage of...? I am not a resource to be used and tossed to the ground! I am...A PERSON!


Yet, there Zeta lay, on the floor of the temple, listless with tears in her eyes as pieces of bronze were ripped from her skin. It can't. It couldn't end like this...

But it was.

​

"Gods. Please, have mercy."


And by the nerves your navel, you feel the same glossing of rotted flesh twirl its way around the exposed rim and plunge into the center.


"Gods...please. Have mercy."


The cold stone of the temple's floor sends chills through your backside as it meets beating skin. Your armor; it is no longer there.


"Yoou will be tainted foor the rest of life knowing it was a man of A-Argive who completed you. Wooman...this is for my broothers your kings s-slaughtered."

Gods...Please...

​

"They faced n-nightmare. Futures w-were taken...and n-now, I will take yoours."

Have mercy.

A Hero's Belief
​

So in the darkest hour, the Goddess of Hearth hears your call.

So in the darkest hour, the Goddess of Love hears your call.

So in the darkest hour, the Goddess of the Hunt hears your call.

So in the darkest hour, the Goddess of Wisdom hears your call.

So in the darkest hour, the Goddess of Fertility hears your call.

So in the darkest hour, the Goddess of Marriage hears your call.