I took a second to mull over the contents of the billions of prayers I had received. My mind felt... faster than before, something which made it easier for me to take a second and read over the prayers I had received. Physically I hadn"t left my tower and I was currently in it, alone. The angels I had recruited earlier had introduced themselves to me, and I ordered them to settle into homes I had constructed using civilization-domain abilities over an hour ago.
The chamber I was in was silent and I liked that. I appreciated my island home gaining more settlers, especially living settlers, but I also liked parts of it being mine and thus being empty. This gave me a s.p.a.ce to sit in solitude, which I figured was a dramatic sight, but also something that was necessary for G.o.ds.
In the process of spreading my religion across the solar system, I had gained s.e.xtillions of worshipers. I didn"t doubt that I had enough followers that I could now focus on gaining the second tier of influence over an a.s.sortment of domains and subdomains.
The problem, and what I was thinking about, was that many of my new worshipers worshiped me as a G.o.d of healing and little, if anything, else. This was of course my fault and something I accepted as ultimately logical on the part of my worshipers, but I was more than that.
What I hoped to gain from pondering how to advance forward were some ideas on how to gain more power. "I suppose what I could do is become a darker G.o.d on other worlds... I could easily use the world of Salifinos as a way to gain power over the apocalypse domains, and the other, less friendly domains and subdomains." I told myself, feeling the temptation of using these distant worlds as ways to gain power over the darker domains I had influence over.
As I thought about that I heard distant cheers in the back of my mind. I could tell some domains were applauding what I was considering doing. I ignored them, aside from huffing quietly in annoyance. That said, it was tempting to tailor my actions to the worlds I was influencing.
"This way I can become more than a G.o.d of healing. Since Salifinos is already at war and has been for eons, I can use that to my advantage. I don"t really like the idea of experimenting freely with my darker powers on Torus, but in Salifinos?" I muttered, beginning to truly consider it.
I intended to become omniscient and omnipotent. And the way the acquisition of powers had worked to date that would necessitate me performing countless atrocities across the cosmos. At various points in my life, I had thought about this simple fact and inched closer and closer to fully accepting it.
"If powers are earned and not given, then the only possible way I can gain every power is by becoming a balanced G.o.d. For every act of benevolence, an equally cruel act must be performed. And I"ve performed many acts of benevolence..." I whispered, mulling over the strange ways morality and power meshed and clashed for G.o.ds.
This frustrated me, as it meant that focus on any particular morality ultimately punished G.o.ds, which didn"t make sense. That said, I didn"t have the power to change that at my current level of strength. So instead, I decided to adapt to the realities I lived in.
"I suppose I must do my best with the cards I have been given..." I whispered, accepting what I"d have to do to acquire more power. I wondered, for a second, if this was an aspect of my neutrality rearing its head and aiding me so that I could acquire more power. I mulled that over, while beginning to move towards enacting change in the world of Salifinos.
I idly reached out to the world of Salifinos with my mind and targeted the world"s mortals. As powerful as I had become with regards to every domain and subdomain I possessed influence over, I still had some annoying restrictions on my powers.
I quietly and remotely manipulated the air, as I now possessed the power to do that remotely, to target about 4 in every ten mortals on the planet. I willed the air itself to forcefully smack these mortals, hard enough to inflict a single point of damage on them. I grinned when I heard the chuckle of the subdomain of pain. That said, I had a greater purpose for doing this.
The damage was felt by my foes instantly and opened them up to one of my powers: my ability to inflict diseases on distant targets. This was still a restriction I suffered from, and it greatly annoyed me, but now that I had met it I could begin to have some fun.
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Perhaps the best part of gaining powers over diseases before I went on worldwide healing-sprees was that I gained power over every disease I healed. This led to me possessing a formidable a.r.s.enal of disease-based weaponry that I could unleash on my foes. And that fact was a fun one, for me at least. I suspected it wouldn"t be for my enemies: the mortals of Salifinos.
I spent a few moments selecting a range of diseases, most of which weren"t that deadly but would force those who contracted them to be placed on bed rest. As I did so, I considered forcing every mortal to be put on bed rest, but then I realized that I liked the idea of my warriors clashing with the mortals of Salifinos.
The world presented me with an opportunity to satiate the bloodl.u.s.t my undead felt, and for me to gain greater powers over the subdomain of necromancy. I figured if I was gonna go full apocalypse, and frankly, I had little reason not to do so, I might as well fully embrace it.
I inflicted the diseases I had selected on the mortals I had hurt and felt the sicknesses take hold almost immediately. I chuckled as my domain-sense lit up, and as I received notifications alerting me to the millions of mortals now suffering from the sicknesses I had handpicked.
I reached out across the cosmos with my mind and targeted every abomination on Salifonos. As I did so I prepared a pair of notifications. I spent a few moments working on them to get to really stress how powerful I was, how apocalyptic my powers were, and the darker domains I had power over. If I was going to be seen as evil, I might as well attempt to be seen as evilly as I could be.
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[Alert: Althos has chosen a side
A war has raged on Salifinos for eons. Althos" coming represents the beginning of a new phase in that war: its end. And he has decided on the war"s winner.
Althos has chosen to side with the abominations. He will guide them to victory over their foes. The victory will be absolute and will not be complete until every single mortal on Salifinos is undead and in service to Althos, become Althonian monsters infected with vile spores that twist and corrupt their minds, or are Althonian abominations themselves.
The war"s end will be swift and will be b.l.o.o.d.y. Make no mistake Althos turning his gaze to this world is the beginning of an apocalypse and heralds the end of the old age.
Althos is a G.o.d of healing, but he is also a G.o.d of nightmares, disease, war, famine, death, undeath, evil, and pain. He intends to bathe this world in cruelty and evil, and he will reward servants of his who enact his vile agenda on Salifinos.]
[Alert: New rules of engagement
All over the world, there are abominations being blessed with the necromancer cla.s.s. Those selected for this honor are to be given positions of honor in their communities. They are some of Althos" newest direct servants and they are to be the direct leaders of the newest faction to enter the war: Althonian undead.
Althos is the G.o.d of the grave, and many of his servants are undead monsters who hate life. Their master is equally s.a.d.i.s.tic but often hides that from his living worshipers. The undead who serve the G.o.d of the grave wish to enact violence on mortals as much as you do. That said before you use them there are some rules to consider.
The first rule is that if the undead are used against a community of mortals than they are to kill every mortal in that community. None shall be spared. Use them against communities you seek to utterly annihilate. If an abomination attempts to stop them from enacting their violence on a mortal community, for any reason, then the undead will turn on that abomination. These are your allies, but they serve only the G.o.d of the grave. Do not make the mistake of thinking you command them.
The second rule is that when the undead are used against a community, the dead who are not eaten by the undead will be reanimated as undead monsters themselves. They are not to be eaten by the abominations. That said, Althos provides for his worshipers. No community of abominations shall starve so long as they serve Althos.
The third rule really only applies when the undead first appear. Portals will appear across the lands controlled by abominations and undead shall step through them. If these undead stop in your communities it is because they have no other mission. Some undead will instead step through the portals that first appear and continue to move. Those undead have missions and will stop at nothing to fulfill them. They will come back in a few hours or days. Do not attempt to distract them.
Althos is now the commander of all abominations on Salifinos. As such he has specific rules to follow. The first is that his followers must break their prisoners. Your G.o.d has the power to transform mortals into abominations, but first they must be driven mad. If you inflict pain on them, and make them lose their minds, then he can bolster your numbers. Cruelty to your foes grants you greater numbers and powers. Remember that.
The second rule is that to displease Althos will result in community-wide punishments. Althos can inflict famine, and starvation on communities that displease him, as well as pain and disease. And if he is displeased than he will do so. To avoid that, he is bestowing the cleric cla.s.s to at least one member of each community. This is a cla.s.s that serves to enforce his will and they will do their best to use the powers he grants them to ensure none of his people displease him. Respect and listen to clerics.
Worship Althos. Feast on his foes, and bathe in their blood. Praise the G.o.d of nightmares, evil, and abominations. He is your eternal king.]
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Darkness was steadily making its way across the territory controlled by the gug tribe that Luthor led. They lived in an open plain, one that was devoid of trees or even much life other than the gugs themselves.
Althos was swift, and mere moments after the tribe and the other abominations throughout the planet received the pair of notifications he had handcrafted for them, black portals appeared not far outside of the camps, towns, or rarely the cities that the abominations called home throughout the planet. The black portals were enormous, stretching ominously into the sky.
The terrifying portal that appeared not far from Luthor"s tribe"s camp was still for a few moments, and it was also quiet aside from the gentle, humming sounds of ambient magical energy. It was still just long enough for scouts to appear and prepare themselves for what they suspected it would do. Almost as immediately as it had appeared, it began to spew out nightmarish undead monsters.
Monsters began to step through the portal, skeletons, ghouls, zombies, as well as creatures that were altogether more frightening. The creatures that stepped out of the portal and into their new home were clearly undead monsters but unlike when Althos launched his nearly mindless horde at the reptilefolk encampment this legion was armed and armored.
Each corporeal undead that Althos had ordered through the portal near Luthor"s tribe wore light armor and held some sort of weapon. Most held swords made of solidified darkness, but some held spears made of solidified light, or even maces that were little more than clumps of metals attached to wooden shafts.
Incorporeal undead, terrifying things like shadows, wraiths, and ghosts, flew out of the portal. They screamed, wailed, or just moaned as they did so and filled the area with terrifying noises.
The undead that stepped through the portal had a range of body types. Some of them were small, and had clearly been dwarves or gnomes in life. Others were medium in size, and had probably come from orcs, humans, or elves. The largest were horrifying things like driders, giants, and even gugs.
Luthor"s scouts saw this and gasped in shock and awe. They stared at the sight of their alien kinsmen and the undead states the ma.s.sive beast-like creatures were in.
The undead, for their role in all of this, ignored the scouts and instead marched silently towards their mission: to destroy a community of mortals, and thus secure the second tier of influence over the necromancy subdomain for their wicked master.
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Luthor himself was squatting over a firepit inside the tribal encampment. His multi-armed limbs were near the blazing fire and he was eagerly soaking in the ambient warmth the fire radiated. The ma.s.sive monster was the biggest member of the tribe he led, and he was lost in thought.
The beast-like abomination"s thoughts were centered on his new G.o.d. Luthor, as a reward for his humility, had been bestowed with the cleric cla.s.s and he was currently mentally praising his new master.
All Luthor wished for was to exterminate the mortals that lived throughout Salifinos, and the ma.s.sive monster was happy that his divine master felt the same way. The abomination was so overwhelmed by joy that he hadn"t even given much thought to the fact that Althos had initially healed all life on Salifinos, including the monster"s hated foes.
His fellow tribespeople were equally overjoyed but they were demonstrating that in a different way. The gugs were celebrating their new, cruel master by beating their human prisoners. All around Luthor the sounds of violence could be heard. Pained screams, the sounds of gigantic fists pummeling small bodies, and b.e.s.t.i.a.l roars from the gug"s kin, filled the air.
Luthor, barely aware of the actions of his kin, was in a trance-like state as he communed with his G.o.d and profusely thanked Althos for choosing to aid the abominations. Althos was not interested in replying, and instead, what little attention he paid to Salifinos was fully focused on a single task: directing his undead legions across the planet to successfully attack and destroy communities of mortals, especially humanoid ones.
The G.o.d was mentally aware of the actions of his followers, as they surged across the planet and marched towards countless communities on the frontlines of the war.