Arrival

[letsplayamod]

The moment is a bit different for everyone. Perhaps you were just minding your own business somewhere, others may have been in more... dire circumstances. Regardless, you were approached by a figure you can't quite picture, and they offered you an accord; in exchange for aiding them in the healing of a world lost to chaos, you would be granted something almost unheard of. Godhood.

And each of you said yes, more or less.

A blurry hand, shifting and rippling, reaches out to you. You feel a glow of warmth, unlike anything you've known before. As soon as you think you can describe it, you wake up.

The room you're in is plainly furnished, but it's about the size of a small flat. Plenty of room to stretch your legs. Don't get too comfortable, however. On the bedside table each room has is a letter; handwritten, it's wrapped around a bronze key. The lettering could only be described as the platonic ideal of 'neat and precise'.

If you are reading this, than our deal has been made. You've awoken in a place that will surely feel strange, so I want you to take some time to acclimate. Meet with the others. Breathe. I shall be along shortly.

-A

Whatever that means becomes more apparent as you step out of your housing and behold the world around you. The building you were in, and every piece of architecture you happen across, is blatantly pre-modern. Yet, something about it is otherworldly. Stone and iron and glass as far as the eye can see.

But above you was where the real questions were. It wouldn't be right to say the sun was shining on you now, nor would it be right to say it's the dead of night. Instead, the sky is a hazy mixture of both, wrapped in suffocating storm clouds that are threatening rain. Everywhere you look, into the horizon, it's the same.

Welcome home. Take your time and explore. Nobody ever said godhood was easy.

Comments

[literarybehemoth]

Insects, crustaceans, non-intelligent mollusks... those sorts of things.

[...what else would you eat, he wonders...]

I could certainly go for a grub sausage right about now...

[pariunt]

I'm not certain those will be easy to find here.

[There's a distinct lack of crustaceans in cold storage.]

I remember crab being quite expensive.

[Something about how he says it makes it clear this is a distant memory.]

[literarybehemoth]

We are right next to the sea.

[...]

But apparently things are not going particularly well out there, so no crab for us.

[pariunt]

Evidently not. It makes me wonder what happened to this world.

[If there was an explanation, he doesn't recall. Not that it would have mattered; Astarion isn't here for this world. He's here for the promise to help people of his own.]

[literarybehemoth]

Nothing good, obviously. I wonder if we will get any more details later...?

[he can't really say he isn't curious.]

[pariunt]

I would certainly hope so. Our host keeping us in the dark about it would raise more questions.

[Like how maybe he agreed to this under a false promise.]

[literarybehemoth]

It certainly would. It might answer a few, of course... namely, what sort of person we are actually dealing with here.

ironic conversation given the reveal

[pariunt]

Somebody extremely powerful. There are all sorts of beings in my world who could do something like this. Even gods have been known to interfere with the mortal world, if it suits them.

[literarybehemoth]

Hmmm... well, it would be surprising if a god wasn't the one who contacted us for this. Would a mortal be able to summon a bunch of people to become the gods of their world?

[...]

But ah, thinking about it, if A is a god... why would they need any of us? I suppose they must not be an omnipotent deity.

[pariunt]

Gods aren't all-powerful over everything. They have very specific portfolios. They're also short-sighted and petty.

[literarybehemoth]

Ahhh, I see. Gods are only theoretical where I am from, you see; some believe in one god who is all-powerful, and others believe in a whole pantheon that are perhaps more like the ones you are familiar with.

They may exist, they may not. I suppose the certainty makes some existential questions easier.

[pariunt]

I wish they were theoretical. Though most of them tend to stay out of mortal affairs, most of the time. That doesn't stop them from trying to find ways to enslave the world on occasion.

[This is far too specific for him to be speaking theoretically.]

What I can say is that they are gods of one thing. Umberlee is the goddess of the sea. Mystra is the goddess of all magic. Tyr, the god of justice.

[literarybehemoth]

Somehow that does not surprise me. Even when people try to paint a picture of a benevolent god, they still come across as either domineering or neglectful.

[pariunt]

Indeed.

They're not exactly good for anything, anyway. Besides occasionally deciding to shower a worshiper with favor.

[And yet Astarion had been willing to become one anyway. Hmm. Oh well, he doesn't want to think too hard about that one.]

[literarybehemoth]

It is interesting that these powers were given to mortals, then. Will we be able to use them better than the gods we are familiar with? Or are we more likely to abuse them?

I suppose that is worth considering going forward.

[pariunt]

Who can say. There are mortals who have become gods to less than stellar results. But then, I don't think any amongst us have become the god of murder or tyranny.

[literarybehemoth]

There are a few concerning titles that we have, but you are right. None of these are quite as concerning as those.

[...like, uh, retribution....]

[pariunt]

...Indeed.

Well. I suppose it's not surprising; gods are nothing if not capricious. Though I suppose the same could be said of mortals.

[literarybehemoth]

Is there any group that is not largely capricious? There are individuals who are not, surely, but they are not representative of the larger whole.

[pariunt]

Perhaps not.

[That response, at least, is not him being flippant.]

Still, I'd prefer to steer clear of gods.

[literarybehemoth]

Well, unfortunately, you will be surrounded by them for the near future. What a shame.