Fantasy Godslayer: Blood and Salt

[demytra]

A dark tempest brews across the world, bringing an ill wind to all who feel its brush across their faces. The days have grown colder, the nights harsher, and the hearths fail to warm homes. Crops have taken to failing, wars rage across many realms, and even the holy space of a temple now takes a still air, absent of any esoteric life within the currents. Now is an Era of Strife whose beginning no one can remember. And yet, for many, life continues within the turbulent world of Adrisia. The same tales spin upon the wheel of fate: the peasantry with their meagre lives toil on their soils as their lordships live lavishly. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The terrors of the world feast upon the innocent.

But some have taken to calling it the End - doomsayers flock cities and towns to herald the coming destruction of the world, claiming of a new and terrible power that has arisen. For this is the only explanation for why everything has gone awry as it has, and for good reason; the Kondavyan Empire has conquered many in its wake, leaving an ocean of blood and chains in its warmongering path across continents. Whispers claim they have placed their allegiance to a new, dark god that had blessed them with the boons necessary to continue their rampage across the mortal world. And now, they have their sights elsewhere...

Your home.

The North is a land of many names and filled with hardy folk of all kinds, taken by outsiders to be a land of backwards savages and terrorizing superstition. And to many of those who live within its embrace, it is a harsh and unforgiving realm in comparison to the rest of the world. Despite all the differing peoples that share the land, they all have a hatred for would-be conquerors in common. It is here - in the battles waged, and paths taken - that three lives bound together by fate will come to shape the future of the North and, to a greater extent, the whole of the world.

---

Chapter 1 - The Land of Many Rivers
Rekko​

Your eyes fall upon the familiar vista of a nameless marsh draped in a silver morning cloak; Insects buzz in the air, giving contrast to the windless sky that has settled to an everlasting tranquility. You don't know how you arrived here, but recent nights have always taken you back to the same place here. And even though you know nothing of this place - as familiar as you are with all the wetlands of Jarvimaata - it still feels all too familiar as one fails to reach for a word on their tongue. Unlike what a stranger would feel in an unfamiliar place, you feel safe... comforted for reasons beyond your understand. Your eyes trail, as they normally do, to your surroundings only to be greeted with a limitless vista of arbour, mosses, reeds, and waters. The marsh trees alternate for reeds, and the woods all look ancient beyond knowledge. Beneath every skin of bark is a thousand lifetimes grown and forgotten.

You take your first steps through the vista and find that your feet, small and furred little things, do not breach the water. Rather, you step along its surface so as to not disturb the waters below. Even if you could break the mirror below, you do not dare conceive the notion of doing so as you advance forward. Your surroundings seem endless, as you brush aside cattails and reeds for your path forward. You remain mindful not to disturb anything too much, trying to follow a path. The waters themselves snake out between the trees, creating an intricate web that all intersect with one another as they travel through the beating heart of this realm. As you walk, you eventually find way to a crude boardwalk of petrified wood that allows you distance from the water and provides a definitive guide for you.

Your eyes follow this new trail to something in the distance; and when you squint, you see a shack, and a small pier. A hunched, cloaked figure sits at its very edge with their body hidden from you. Something familiar about their presence alone beckons you forward, calling out wordlessly as you muster onwards almost automatically. As you pass the shack, you see a thousand charms and effigies hanging from the rafters and the roof, each made in their own unique manner and material. And as you observe closer, you can see that within every chisel and carved edge is a story for those who have departed.

"Come now, child, don't be shy." the figure's voice croaks outwards with an elderly friendliness, though they remain obscure and paying your presence no mind. Instead, they seem more preoccupied with the waters below as they stir it gently with the end of a great feathered staff.

---

1. Approach the figure - Feeling no reason to distrust this person, you inch closer until you are by their side at the pier's edge.

2. Question - "Who are you?" you ask, trying to get some answers that you have failed to get in your previous appearances here.

3. Investigate the shack - The charms and effigies are striking, and you find yourself ever more curious of what other things lay in store inside those walls.

4. Back away - You still can't help but hesitate, especially when face with the unfamiliar, despite the welcome you've received thus far.

 

[Breadman]

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[AriAriAbabwa]

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[dikdik]

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[Infab]

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[Damian0358]

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[turtwigwins]

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[simj26]

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[LoriMahe]

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[demytra]

1. Approach the figure - Feeling no reason to distrust this person, you inch closer until you are by their side at the pier's edge.

You approach closer with a slow pace, the boards underneath your paws creaking as you shift your weight around. The crone pays you no mind as it keeps its attention fixated on the ripples it has created and, as you observe at the pier's edge, can see something stirring within the movements. You squint your eyes, trying to discern what exactly would be within each small wave, but find your vision lacking the capacity to differentiate between the lines. "Tell me, what do you see?" the stranger asks, keeping their gaze fixated still upon the disturbances of their own doing. You blink, trying to clear your vision, and grow slightly frustrated that you can't see beyond the obvious.

"I... I don't know. It's too hard to tell." you mutter.

"Hmm, and why do you think that is?" the stranger asks without any judgment, as a teacher would a pupil.

You ponder for a moment, though without much to go off of your answers all seem remarkably dull. As the waters continue to ripple from the figure's disturbances, a simple revelation hits. You look up, turning to the figure shrouded in their cloak still: "...I have to look beyond the waves."

A pleased caw emerges from the stranger as they pull their staff out from the water. "Indeed."

"I'm not sure I understand, though... why tell me this?"

Your question gets the stranger to turn to you - for the first time - ever so slightly, revealing a large orange-black beak underneath their garments as they vocally muse upon your question with a soft trill. "Does a teacher need a reason to teach?" they ask, before their beak clicks together. When this fails to elicit a proper response from you, as you find yourself slightly frustrated by the enigmatic approach, they shake their head. "Not everything has an answer. At least, not apparently evident. Some truths are for you to discover on your own. And some truths are bound solely to you." The more they speak, the more familiar you grow with their presence, and more pieces fall into your mind as they tilt their head. "Starting to see it now, are you?"

"...Akko?" The question almost seems ridiculous, how... why would one of the gods of your people be speaking to you?

"Kakaka... perhaps I'm simply a delusion conjured by your mind to give you comfort through your illness." the bird jests to you, "You have been in a feverish stupor for three nights, after all." You can hardly remember it, save for the pain in your joints and the sickly incoherence that made the world around your bed seem nightmarish at times, save for the memory of your mother sitting by your side; armed with a wet rag in hand, patting your head to provide a modicum of comfort.

---

1. "...this is a dream." you state, recognizing how ridiculous the notion is of a deity speaking to you, rather than a seer or anyone else more worthy in your eyes.

2. "Why wouldn't it be real?" you ask, challenging Akko's proposition. Gods are not beyond helping their followers, you think, and so this must be a case of that.

3. The question, a horrifying question, crosses your mind as a distinct possibility. "Am I dead?" you ask nervously.

 

[Infab]

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[AriAriAbabwa]

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[turtwigwins]

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[bat_hacker]

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[LoriMahe]

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[K0mori]

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[Damian0358]

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[demytra]

2. "Why wouldn't it be real?" you ask, challenging Akko's proposition. Gods are not beyond helping their followers, you think, and so this must be a case of that.

The bird is quiet for a moment as you stand your ground with your own conclusion, and lets out another happy trill as if excited that you didn't take him at his word. "What is reality, then, if this can also be 'real'?" he muses, both to you and himself, as the end of his staff taps the planks beneath your feet. "Or are we simply self-perpetuating delusions in a sea of imagery that we collectively conjure up?" These questions all start to make your head spin a little, considering you are only a child with little experience in such philosophical dealings. More frustratingly is how nonchalant Akko seems to be in twisting you around like a spool of yarn and yielding little in the form of answers. And so you grow determined to try to shake some out from the crone.

"Why am I here?" you ask, with a stern tone.

"I told you already. You are quite ill." Akko replies with another tilt of his head.

"Fine. What do you want?"

Your frustration almost seems amusing to the deity as his beak clicks together again a few times. "Others would show more respect." he comments, growing more serious for a moment. You still, thinking that you had actually managed to offend a god and your mind races of the consequences of such an action. But Akko seems more content than anything as he lets out another click of his beak. "I'm not like Ukko, don't worry. Wrath is more his practice." the elder explains, noticing your sudden apprehension. "I'll explain myself... so come."

He motions with one of his talons as he hobbles towards his shack, and you follow dutifully to get your answers. As you follow through the open door, you find that the inside is nothing compared to its humble exterior. Not only is it more lavish, but its space is much larger than one would expect - contradicting the very construction that it seemingly takes in favor of a large, circular room adorned with tens of thousands of hanging effigies. And all manner of charms and talismans sit along the walls, held aloft by invisible forces for display, some of which you recognize as trinkets that your people carry around whether it be for good health or for safe travels or a myriad of other reasons.

It is he who provides for his people, as you recall stories of talismans being delivered in the night into one's hands as they slept. Having prayed for some boon or aid, it is sometimes Akko who responds with something material. As your eyes return from observing your surroundings in awe, Akko points to one of the numerous effigies hanging from the ceiling. "Do you know what this is?" he asks, though the question does not linger long when you shake your head in confusion. "These are messages. From times long past, and some from times still to come. As the forebearer of your seers, it is one of my many gifts to them."

He invites you to look closer, and unlike before where you could see only the broader picture your eyes focus on the finer details. You read into someone's life: a Saukkonen sailor by the name of Nirra, who seems to die within a few years in a great shipwreck.

"But if this has yet to come, then..."

"Then it is an omen for her fate, yes." Akko finishes your thought, "And with this, one of your waterspeakers can perhaps view this and warn them of a danger on the seas. But, now, look here... this one just manifested not so long ago."

Akko leads your gaze to another, which he pulls down from its cord and hands to you. But here, unlike the other one you just witnessed, it was entirely blank. You blink in confusion, looking up to the deity who only sighs. "Something is amiss, I only have a vague understanding but I know something terrible is to come. Many more are like this in recent times."

You look around again, and see what the deity means by this as you spot plenty more effigies that are without any life written upon their carved edges. It is somewhat haunting, but you shake your head as you ask the obvious: "Why are you showing me all this?"

"I can't say much, child." Akko states, crouching down to your level to provide some comfort. "Little has been made obvious, but all I know is that I saw you. I need you to trust me." He gently places the tip of one of his talons atop your forehead and lets out a hum. "You will return home well and good. And I hope I should not have to call upon you again like this." Your vision starts to go dark as you feel a great tiredeness wrap around you. You want to ask more, but you find yourself unable to speak as sleep consumes you once more into a comforting darkness.

...

Then, you awake - as if nothing had happened. A soft ray of sun warms your face as you stir in your bed, draped in a large amount of bedding to keep you warm. Your room, small and familiar as it is, comes clear in your vision as your body adjusts back to reality. You can hear the outside world and the commotion of Laketown, your home, as people go about their daily lives. There is also your mother, who had been watching vigilantly as you slept, who quickly rushes to you from where she sat and pats you on the head. "My dear pup, how are you feeling?" she asks, looking you up and down. Her deep brown fur is streaked with slivers of silver along her sides and chin, which is starkly contrasted by your reddish-brown upper and pale white undercoat.

"Better..." you manage to get out, though your throat dry as though a drought had scorched it and your voice shows it. Just as quickly, your mother gives you a small flask and helps tilt it up for you to drink out of. The water refreshes you almost immediately as you let out an audible gasp of relief. Unlike those moments of lucidity from before, where you felt as though you could barely raise your head, you feel mostly rejuvinated as you are able to sit up on your own.

"Oh, don't try to rush things..." your mother says, though you push yourself up to the corner of your bed and sit. Her worries alleviate when she sees how well you're doing, and she lets out a sigh of relief. "Akko be praised," she says with a smile, "He heard my prayers!"

You can tell the past few days had been especially taxing on her, but to know that she was behind your... experience, is of some comfort to you.

---

1. Tell Her Everything - It seems she had done more than just pray for your health, unbeknownst to her. "When I was asleep, I saw Akko." you say to your mother, "I... spoke with him."

2. Don't Tell Her - You don't need to worry your mother with the ominous warning you had received. She has been through enough already. You nod to her quietly, as you move to stand up on your own feet finally.

 

[simj26]

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[turtwigwins]

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[Damian0358]

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[Breadman]

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[LoriMahe]

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[Infab]

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[AriAriAbabwa]

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