techalaniani. [cw: dr...ugs...]

[fursuit]

[ It’s about two weeks after the chaos that’s hit Highstorm and Springstar both. The dust has had time to settle and people have started to pick themselves back up. And in that busy time, the Shard-Bearers of Kenos are touched by someone new. It’s a mind that gives the impression of vastness in the way that other gods and similarly supernatural creatures have. There’s dark, fragrant smoke of copal, and the humid heat of a rainforest. It probably feels faintly familiar to some, since there’s just a hint of that warmth that feels similar to a certain sun god(dess)…

But as it focuses, that warmth seems to be coming from a campfire, perhaps oddly. The logs around it offer you a “seat”, whether proverbial or not, and it’s only if you take one that the speak themselves will come into more focus. But the introduction that comes with it is much cooler (in both senses of the word) than the bubbly Quetzalcoatl. ]

Yo.

[ …Is that how the newest god is greeting the masses? Yep. Apparently so. ]

I talked to enough people when Kenos was jerking me around [ no, that was me, the player, ] that Communion is just more efficient. So, for those I’ve met and for those I haven’t, consider this a more formal greeting. You’ve removed my brother Quetzalcoatl and allowed me to descend in his stead.

[ And even though he’s identified Quetzalcoatl as his brother… The smirk in that statement is unmistakable. He’s pleased that Quetzalcoatl is dead. For those that know the mythology of the Aztec pantheon even faintly, this wouldn’t be a surprise at all, since Quetzalcoatl only has one enemy that would be glad to see the feathered serpent fall. ]

Name’s Tezcatlipoca. Tloque nahuaque. [ The Nahuatl is spoken with a sense of power that’s subtle, but still raw, even though there’s no one that would understand it. Still, it conveys the idea well enough—this is no minor god of that pantheon. ] If you know me, great, and if you don’t, well. Met your god Set one of the times I was stoppin’ by, and our whole deal is similar enough. I am conflict, so in the spirit of fairness, I’ve thrown my lot in with Zenith. Can’t have two gods that oversee war and conflict on the same side, yeah?

[ There’s humor in his tone that makes it seem like it’s a joke, but… No. It’s not. That’s a pretty significant part of his rationale for picking Zenith. Thanks Set!/Don’t worry about. ]

Anyways. All that formal shit aside, easy one to follow it all up. Ain’t often that I got a human body to enjoy getting fucked up. So, if you’ve got a preference for weed, hit me up. Workin’ on somethin’ artisanal there, but I wanna know the poisons of preference for the locals. Let me know what you get fucked up on, and I might even make it worth your while.

[ …So. You know. That’s one way to introduce yourself. ]

Comments

[fursuit]

Yeah, I get your vibe, killer. I'll say don't worry about that. If I've got anything to say for it, we'll be makin' sure that happens. Ain't proper otherwise.

[ ...And technically. They already have, but Set totally cheated, at least so far as Tezcatlipoca is concerned. Barreling into him full speed before he could don the armor that protects this mortal body is unfair! ]

So, yeah, me and Set will have a mostly serious go of it eventually. Not fully, since we got the respect to not go crushing each others' Shards, but that's less mercy and more... Professional understanding. But it's good enough, so far as a fight to the death goes.

[eightfoldfiend]

A professional understanding?

[He thinks.]

...Wouldn't it make more sense to eliminate an enemy god completely?

[His tone is more curious than accusatory. While he loves crushing his enemies he can think of a few reasons he'd want to preserve their souls, not all of which involve black magic.]

[fursuit]

For all of you? Sure. Go to town on crushing him if you feel like it, but I'd prefer you didn't. It's a better conflict if you've got someone equally qualified to instigate it on the other side, right? It'd be like takin' away the best part of the show and then having to deal with all the leftovers after.

[ It'd be boring to kill the best one! Then, what, he's left with just mortals? That has an appeal, but it's not nearly as good. God logic at work. ]

...Besides, there's a decent chance I wouldn't be able to. Kinda sworn to look after souls, so crushin' 'em is pretty solidly against that whole idea.

[eightfoldfiend]

Why would a war god be tasked with protecting souls?

[Another curl of curiosity.]

I have never heard of such a thing.

[fursuit]

Well, ain't a war god, for one. Conflict god. War is my little brother's domain. But there's a big overlap for sure, so pretty common misconception.

[ Why, though... He's not sure he can answer that. It's a philosophical question on the level of "what's the purpose of life?" because for him, it simply is and always has been. It's a compulsion, or a decree from the World itself. ]

Ain't like I oversee all souls, but enough of 'em. Those that struggle, those that fight, they're the souls under my dominion. So, when their life comes to an end, I give 'em a little resting place so that they can unburden the troubles of their life. They don't need 'em in the afterlife. So, it's important to shed 'em.

[eightfoldfiend]

You walk among the souls of the dead?

Hah...

So do I. They can be noisy, can't they?

What is this afterlife you give them?

[fursuit]

Oi.

[ Calling them "noisy" does get Tezcatlipoca to get serious, since now the vibe isn't something he appreciates. It's the duty he takes most seriously. Or did, technically speaking. ]

These aren't just souls of the dead. They're people that died while fighting. Warriors. I won't tolerate disrespect of them.

[ That casual air dropped from his words quickly, and it shows that he means it. But as easily as putting a cigarette back in his mouth, he continues more casually again. ]

...It's a journey. The souls gotta figure out where they're goin' themselves. There are many paradises and many torments in Mictlán. They have to find their own way to where they belong.

[eightfoldfiend]

That so?

I've always wondered about that.

They drift by my world, you know. The one I rest in.

[Sometimes he pounces upon them and torments them, sometimes he'll find the odd interesting soul and engage in conversation. It always ends the same way, with the soul moving on to a final resting place.

Where that is, Yuber couldn't say. It's a place he cannot see, a place far beyond his reach.

Something almost like loneliness drifts across the Communion then quickly disappears.]

I never know where they end up.

I wonder if every world has its own system for the dead?

[fursuit]

[ Ah. That gives him a better idea of what Yuber is, at least vaguely. His pantheon and afterlife has their own creatures that line the difficult journey that the dead take, but he knows of others too. All answers are decidedly negative, but he doesn’t miss that pang of loneliness. He doesn’t feel sympathy for it, exactly. But he can understand it. ]

Yep, probably. Where I’m from, there’s multiple afterlives. Different pantheons created different resting places for souls. So which one you go to is mostly belief, but if you ain’t got a preference there, just becomes a geographical issue.

[ And then, simply: ]

So, what’re you, then?

[eightfoldfiend]

Hmm...

[A thoughtful silence. What is he? He's not certain. He's never been certain.]

Well, I can't figure it out myself. All I know is I could never be as coarse and shallow as a human.

Who knows?

[With a note of humor:]

Maybe I'm a god too.

[fursuit]

Ha. [ It's a laugh that's short and flat. ] Good try, but no. If you were a god, I'd know. Hard to explain, but it just is a different feelin'. Big is the only word that suits it, but it's not right either.

[ Though that's also a bummer for his curiosity. Ah, well. ]

Probably lots of names for what you are, then. Plenty of tales about things that torment souls of the dead. I always figured dyin' was hard enough, but seems like the universe really wants to put people through the gauntlet.

[eightfoldfiend]

Humans call me a devil.

[A low, derisive snort.]

I don't know if that's the right word either. I'm not some creature who exists to torment the dead or the living. How dull would that be!?

What I care about is the balance of order and chaos. Humans just don't understand that.

[fursuit]

[ That makes a bit more sense to him, though he also wouldn’t have a name for such a creature. Yuber’s desires are definitely adjacent to Tezcatlipoca’s though, as is some of the “fun” of earning a certain reputation. ]

Well, of course not. That’s not shit they have to care about, so why would they? And order’s boring, so they latch onto the chaos part of things. Shit luck for you.

[ It’s blunt, but there’s not sarcasm or even rudeness behind it. It’s just factually stated. ]

Though considerin’ you clearly dig the chaotic parts, gotta ask. You do stuff to restore order, or you just addin’ chaos where there’s too much of the former?

[eightfoldfiend]

[There is a shifting and darkening in Yuber's presence. Chaos is something he takes very seriously.]

Tsk! Order? Me? Never!

Where I'm from the Balance was eroded. Order took over the world and the world was ending....

As Chaos I couldn't just sit around and let that happen, now could I?

Not that it matters anymore, I suppose. Thanks to Oblivion my world ended early. Can't say I'll miss it.

[fursuit]

[ Interesting. And fair enough, he guesses. In theory, his role is to do something similar, but he wouldn’t quite describe it this way. It’s much more enigmatic than that. His dominion is conflict, and so he balances the scales of order and chaos by favoring them both equally. Conflict tips towards chaos, of course, but just from their temperaments alone, he can see the difference. ]

Ah, yeah. Kinda same deal with my place. Oblivion just sped up what was comin’ anyways, so makes things easier, in a sense.

[ He’s disappointed by it, sure, but not for reasons that most would understand. ]

So, this all just survival for you, or are you wantin’ a new world?

[eightfoldfiend]

Can't it be both?

[He'd like to make a new world where he will survive.]

What about you, hm? Do you want something or are you really just here to "balance" things out against the other war god?