Yeah, gods. They're a thing.
Don't know if capital 'G' is a thing, but the way that crucifixes make me itch I wouldn't be surprised. Of course, ankhs do that to. Depending on who holds it.
Round these parts we seem to be attracting gods. Can't really understand it, personally. Doesn't seem like there's all that much to interest them here.
Then again, I can't quite wrap my brain around what a god would be interested in.
So, Hank Cupid is the son of a god. If you think you've worked out which god from his name then good job; you've completely missed the point.
I am not going to even hint at pantheon here, but the gods round here do seem to share one.
Yesterday was a long day.
A very long day.
An exceedingly cruel, tumultuous, and long day.
The gods had a lot to do with it.
It started with the dragon giving Mark and me orders. We were supposed to go back down to the ghouls and apologize for our spot of bloodshed and make things right. Somehow. Again, the dragon is terrible at actually expressing anything approaching a coherent methodology. He'd probably tell us to breathe fire and waggle our eyebrows suggestively. Would have worked for him.
Obviously, we're not him.
So, we headed down, once again, into the sewers, with no idea what was coming.
I...
The night before last, when I posted about ghouls... I'm not sure I feel the same anymore. We were taken by some ghoulish guides who knew the dragon's power through the warrens. Its one thing to see a monstrous, slavering beast and kill them dead... but to see their children. Their old. Their sick.
It changes things.
Maybe they could be shown another way...
Ghouls have leadership fights. Trial by combat. Instead of any suitable negotiation, I decided to go for that. Their leader ran, and I found myself declared Queen.
Yeah.
That turned out not to be the other way.
My Queenship was a mess, largely concerned with trying and failing to feed mouths. It had two glorious moments, though. Both involved gods.
Firstly, Hank came down to lay waste to my realm.
Apparently Hank's dad had decided that this giant colony of death serving monsters didn't fit in with his plans. I decided to stand up to Hank and speak on my people's behalf. In managed to talk him down from genocide, but only because he didn't want to fight me, not because he gave even a gerbil-pellet shit about the innocent children he was setting out to kill. It's not like they chose to be monsters.
This ended badly for Hank. Next time I saw him, he'd had his powers stripped away and his dad had opened a hole in his chest. He survived, but it wasn't pleasant.
He hasn't forgiven me. I don't blame him.
The other godly incident...
I went hunting with my ghouls. I lead them to something that was eating humans. Something I thought I understood. I thought we were dealing with a troll. Big, powerful, strong, but just another animal in the food chain.
It wasn't a troll.
It was a god.
We backed down just in time to not get slaughtered. Then it offered me power if I served it.
I said no. It may be a god, but it's not my God.
She offered the ghouls the same, though.
I wanted to tell them not to say yes, not to make this power grab. I wanted them to stay with me, let me show them a better way. Pity the better way involves letting them make up their own mind. I told them they had a choice, between myself, a Queen trying her best to make them more than what they are, but one who was still stumbling through this, and a god who could give them power up front.
I'm not Queen anymore.
I honestly don't get it.
If I were immortal, properly immortal not this eternal half-life full of hate and hunger, I wouldn't waste all my time fighting my family and squabbling over mortal power. I mean, why not just be nice? Why not just lay back and enjoy the marvels of the modern world?
The gods are so petty, so set against each other, and so horribly, horribly wrathful that I just cannot comprehend them.
Maybe it's because they kill each other, in the end. Maybe it's a defense mechanism from the death only they represent.
But... if they kill each other, than why are the old pantheons still around?
No... I think they're just bored.
I wish they'd buy some Xboxes and move the fuck on.
So, in short, I don't get gods. Their power is off the charts, but they seem to love giving it to people and monsters instead of using it themselves. They focus so much on what people do, but never think to just pop in and explain themselves. They're all unnecessary mystery and shadow games.
At least, this pantheon is.
I hope my God is better.
I like to think I believe my God is better, but I'm not sure about that. I'd like to believe... but my God is so quiet and feels so far.
If gods get involved near you, run. Their power isn't worth the pain and suffering they will bring with them. Hell, the power will just make that suffering last longer.
