Shadows and Silence
Elice is the Goddess of Shadows. She is depicted surrounded by Ravens, with skin like that of the night sky, filled with dull stars.
Eliza is the Goddess of (Un)death. She is commonly depicted with a skeletal arm and leg, but her face is beautiful as can be, and the rest of her is lithe and lovely.
Long ago, Eliza wanted to test the guile and skill of mere mortals, to see if rogues were truly as sly as they said, or the warriors as tough, or the mages as intelligent. So, the Goddess put a massive, scarlet gem within a deep labyrinth, and filled the labyrinth to the brim with dangerous monsters under her control.
She then returned to the heavens, watching mortal after mortal fail to get through her gauntlet from above. This angered the Goddess, there seemed to be no one mortal that was skilled enough to pass her gauntlet. This seemed to ring true, even some of the mightiest heroes had fallen or fled before reaching the end, so Eliza reached a new test. One truly worth her time as a goddess.
The Goddess of Undeath approached her sister, Elice, and grinned, proposing the challenge to her sibling. Elice barely took a moment to consider before happily accepting. A goddess should far exceed the merit of man.
Elice descended from the heavens that day, silent as night, and entered the tomb. The challenges proved to be merely trivial to the Goddess. She weaved around and under every obstacle that presented itself. Eliza watched with both distaste and true interest. Her labyrinth and monsters were no match for a sister such as Elice, who could avoid every trap, dead end, and beast, simply by bounding through her own domain of Lurk, but to see them put to such shame was almost embarrassing for her.
After three days and three nights of seemingly ceaseless bounding, Elice (now dubbed the sleepless Goddess) arrived at her prize. The ruby red gem, as large around as an elephant. She stepped forward greedily, eagerly accepting the gift from her sister for besting what the labyrinth had presented.
She placed a single hand on it, with deliberate slowness, and she grinned as she felt the surface stir beneath her finger. She almost threw her head back in ecstasy at the pleasure of stealing her sister's artifact. As Elice went to pull her hand away, something was wrong. She was stuck.
Her eyes widened slightly as she struggled to get away, trying to sink into her shadow, then its shadow, anything she could touch with her feet. However, it was no use, she could only stare in horror as the gem began changing. She yanked away from its horrid grip, now unable to escape her sister's cruel joke. Just as suddenly as she yanked, Eliza's voice bounced throughout the Shadow Goddess' head.
Her words were that of mocking praise, and how soon, how very soon, that they would be closer than ever.
Elice didn't want to find out what that meant, so she struggled against the hopeless strength of the gem's pull, only succeeding in dragging it into the labyrinth in a painful attempt at escape.
Soon, the gem was completely changed, now Eliza, human hand upturned, holding her sister's wrist so she couldn't get away. Eliza beckoned Elice to become a part of the ceaseless void that was the death goddess, to join Lurk, at the time her realm. Elice refused, she had the shadows to nurture! But Eliza was persistent, and the sisters stood for years in a display of both brevity and stubbornness. Shadows across the world vanished, and the dead all remained in their peaceful rests, without any kind of undeath to stir them.
Eventually, Elice gave in; she had nothing to lose now that the world's shadows were gone. She begrudgingly accepted her sister's proposal.
Eliza could only cackle, her plan had worked, and she was on the edge of giving up herself. She had finally found a champion to complete her body; Elice would replace the dusty old bones that made up Eliza's left side. What she didn't count on, however, was that Elice had a massive desire to continue being her own goddess, to keep the shadows pure. The merge went horribly wrong, with the sister's constantly switching between one another's broken bodies but soon they settled into a rhythm.
When the moon is full, until it becomes new, Eliza is the body and Elice is the mind, letting shadows cascade freely across the world.
When the moon is new and stretches until becoming full, Elice is the body, and Eliza is the mind. Bones across the world stir, but neither of the Goddesses hold the power they once did.
They both exist at once, two separate entities, but neither has the strength they once did, nor their own personal bodies. Until one fully surrenders to the other, they will both remain in their weakened states.
Eliza is the Goddess of (Un)death. She is commonly depicted with a skeletal arm and leg, but her face is beautiful as can be, and the rest of her is lithe and lovely.
Long ago, Eliza wanted to test the guile and skill of mere mortals, to see if rogues were truly as sly as they said, or the warriors as tough, or the mages as intelligent. So, the Goddess put a massive, scarlet gem within a deep labyrinth, and filled the labyrinth to the brim with dangerous monsters under her control.
She then returned to the heavens, watching mortal after mortal fail to get through her gauntlet from above. This angered the Goddess, there seemed to be no one mortal that was skilled enough to pass her gauntlet. This seemed to ring true, even some of the mightiest heroes had fallen or fled before reaching the end, so Eliza reached a new test. One truly worth her time as a goddess.
The Goddess of Undeath approached her sister, Elice, and grinned, proposing the challenge to her sibling. Elice barely took a moment to consider before happily accepting. A goddess should far exceed the merit of man.
Elice descended from the heavens that day, silent as night, and entered the tomb. The challenges proved to be merely trivial to the Goddess. She weaved around and under every obstacle that presented itself. Eliza watched with both distaste and true interest. Her labyrinth and monsters were no match for a sister such as Elice, who could avoid every trap, dead end, and beast, simply by bounding through her own domain of Lurk, but to see them put to such shame was almost embarrassing for her.
After three days and three nights of seemingly ceaseless bounding, Elice (now dubbed the sleepless Goddess) arrived at her prize. The ruby red gem, as large around as an elephant. She stepped forward greedily, eagerly accepting the gift from her sister for besting what the labyrinth had presented.
She placed a single hand on it, with deliberate slowness, and she grinned as she felt the surface stir beneath her finger. She almost threw her head back in ecstasy at the pleasure of stealing her sister's artifact. As Elice went to pull her hand away, something was wrong. She was stuck.
Her eyes widened slightly as she struggled to get away, trying to sink into her shadow, then its shadow, anything she could touch with her feet. However, it was no use, she could only stare in horror as the gem began changing. She yanked away from its horrid grip, now unable to escape her sister's cruel joke. Just as suddenly as she yanked, Eliza's voice bounced throughout the Shadow Goddess' head.
Her words were that of mocking praise, and how soon, how very soon, that they would be closer than ever.
Elice didn't want to find out what that meant, so she struggled against the hopeless strength of the gem's pull, only succeeding in dragging it into the labyrinth in a painful attempt at escape.
Soon, the gem was completely changed, now Eliza, human hand upturned, holding her sister's wrist so she couldn't get away. Eliza beckoned Elice to become a part of the ceaseless void that was the death goddess, to join Lurk, at the time her realm. Elice refused, she had the shadows to nurture! But Eliza was persistent, and the sisters stood for years in a display of both brevity and stubbornness. Shadows across the world vanished, and the dead all remained in their peaceful rests, without any kind of undeath to stir them.
Eventually, Elice gave in; she had nothing to lose now that the world's shadows were gone. She begrudgingly accepted her sister's proposal.
Eliza could only cackle, her plan had worked, and she was on the edge of giving up herself. She had finally found a champion to complete her body; Elice would replace the dusty old bones that made up Eliza's left side. What she didn't count on, however, was that Elice had a massive desire to continue being her own goddess, to keep the shadows pure. The merge went horribly wrong, with the sister's constantly switching between one another's broken bodies but soon they settled into a rhythm.
When the moon is full, until it becomes new, Eliza is the body and Elice is the mind, letting shadows cascade freely across the world.
When the moon is new and stretches until becoming full, Elice is the body, and Eliza is the mind. Bones across the world stir, but neither of the Goddesses hold the power they once did.
They both exist at once, two separate entities, but neither has the strength they once did, nor their own personal bodies. Until one fully surrenders to the other, they will both remain in their weakened states.
Silence of the Lamb
All of the gods have their respected followers, the warriors that represent them, and the priests that spread their name. And, naturally, gods that lose all of their followers fall victim to becoming completely unknown.
A very long time ago, Ylph, Zhou, Sekri, and Prothmere had many followers flocking to them, seeking some kind of power in the bleak time known as the War of Ages by more modern historians. Yet, it seemed like the numbers of followers that each god had in total was flat-lining, never rising even with all the new additions.
Ylph quickly volunteered to go study what was happening, yet Zhou simply waved it off, claiming that the followers that already claimed power would just go off to war and get themselves killed. It was a logical claim, so the gods simply sat back and continued watching.
Even with almost an entire year passing, and more people coming to represent the gods for the power of the deities, something was still amiss... The temples still remained low in population, the battle-grounds had just as many devout, and the blood that was spilled was untouched by godly fingers. What could be happening?
On a small trip to Bennick, which Ylph frequented so often, he discovered a temple to his brother, Fotex. It remained completely untouched by war, even though his own temples were being ransacked, or the mages yanked from within to go battle in the war. This was grounds for investigation.
He sought the allegiance of his sister, Elice, and the two stole into the temple in the night, watching from the shadows. Ylph was shocked by what he saw... Yet he also intrigued.
Fotex sat on an elegant throne, staring into his mirror as always, forever watching the sands of time swirl about within, yet he did not make marks upon his parchment, nor whisper to his owl secrets of the ages. He spoke aloud.
He told his followers and devout where to go and when to do things to give them an edge in the war, avoiding armies, sieging entire cities, the like. Fotex's small following was quickly dominating the globe, killing followers that had strayed from the other god's watch.
Ylph knew his brother was intelligent, yet Elice thought otherwise. After their trip, she lurked to find her brother, Prothmere, and told him of the sibling-god's wrong-doings. Prothmere was outraged, his own brother manipulating mortals in such a manner, upsetting the natural order of things.
He fell to Bennick with all the might of a fiery asteroid, quickly seeking out his brother's temple. The two engaged in fierce combat, Fotex with his manipulative magics, contorting reality and time itself around Prothmere, yet he struck out just as viciously, hammer in hand, shield in tow.
With vicious attacks and ruthless tactics, neither god got anywhere in this new, fierce battle. Soon, Zhou joined into the warfare, striking Fotex down with the nimbleness of a preemptive strike. The nineteen other gods were quickly on the scene, and they all gathered around their brother, debating what to do with him.
Zhou and Prothmere demanded he be eradicated, for he could easily do something as sinister as this again.
Elice and Eliza thought he should be sent back to the heavens, locked there for several thousand years to teach him a lesson.
It wasn't until Kesi's suggestion they knew what to do.
While time was needed, and a flow to it and keeper of event was equally important; but having someone able to divulge the secrets of the timeflow at any given moment was a horrible thought, Kesi had a suggestion. The gods could simply silence Fotex, forcing his speech into an incoherent mess, so he could no longer divulge the secrets of time.
Kesi, Kirim, Elice, and Ylph all sealed away Fotex, his speech to time now bound through shadows, nature, spirits, and knowledge itself, lost forever into the nether that was existence.
The war settled back into normality, devout to the gods surging again, and blood being spilled as it should be.
Even to this day, Fotex's speech is nothing but a screech, his followers only blindly following non-existent orders. Mankind only continues to acknowledge Fotex as a god from his presence on Bennick, warping the entirety of the timeflow, but that story is for another time.
A very long time ago, Ylph, Zhou, Sekri, and Prothmere had many followers flocking to them, seeking some kind of power in the bleak time known as the War of Ages by more modern historians. Yet, it seemed like the numbers of followers that each god had in total was flat-lining, never rising even with all the new additions.
Ylph quickly volunteered to go study what was happening, yet Zhou simply waved it off, claiming that the followers that already claimed power would just go off to war and get themselves killed. It was a logical claim, so the gods simply sat back and continued watching.
Even with almost an entire year passing, and more people coming to represent the gods for the power of the deities, something was still amiss... The temples still remained low in population, the battle-grounds had just as many devout, and the blood that was spilled was untouched by godly fingers. What could be happening?
On a small trip to Bennick, which Ylph frequented so often, he discovered a temple to his brother, Fotex. It remained completely untouched by war, even though his own temples were being ransacked, or the mages yanked from within to go battle in the war. This was grounds for investigation.
He sought the allegiance of his sister, Elice, and the two stole into the temple in the night, watching from the shadows. Ylph was shocked by what he saw... Yet he also intrigued.
Fotex sat on an elegant throne, staring into his mirror as always, forever watching the sands of time swirl about within, yet he did not make marks upon his parchment, nor whisper to his owl secrets of the ages. He spoke aloud.
He told his followers and devout where to go and when to do things to give them an edge in the war, avoiding armies, sieging entire cities, the like. Fotex's small following was quickly dominating the globe, killing followers that had strayed from the other god's watch.
Ylph knew his brother was intelligent, yet Elice thought otherwise. After their trip, she lurked to find her brother, Prothmere, and told him of the sibling-god's wrong-doings. Prothmere was outraged, his own brother manipulating mortals in such a manner, upsetting the natural order of things.
He fell to Bennick with all the might of a fiery asteroid, quickly seeking out his brother's temple. The two engaged in fierce combat, Fotex with his manipulative magics, contorting reality and time itself around Prothmere, yet he struck out just as viciously, hammer in hand, shield in tow.
With vicious attacks and ruthless tactics, neither god got anywhere in this new, fierce battle. Soon, Zhou joined into the warfare, striking Fotex down with the nimbleness of a preemptive strike. The nineteen other gods were quickly on the scene, and they all gathered around their brother, debating what to do with him.
Zhou and Prothmere demanded he be eradicated, for he could easily do something as sinister as this again.
Elice and Eliza thought he should be sent back to the heavens, locked there for several thousand years to teach him a lesson.
It wasn't until Kesi's suggestion they knew what to do.
While time was needed, and a flow to it and keeper of event was equally important; but having someone able to divulge the secrets of the timeflow at any given moment was a horrible thought, Kesi had a suggestion. The gods could simply silence Fotex, forcing his speech into an incoherent mess, so he could no longer divulge the secrets of time.
Kesi, Kirim, Elice, and Ylph all sealed away Fotex, his speech to time now bound through shadows, nature, spirits, and knowledge itself, lost forever into the nether that was existence.
The war settled back into normality, devout to the gods surging again, and blood being spilled as it should be.
Even to this day, Fotex's speech is nothing but a screech, his followers only blindly following non-existent orders. Mankind only continues to acknowledge Fotex as a god from his presence on Bennick, warping the entirety of the timeflow, but that story is for another time.