Part 5
Meeting Prelude
Neptis felt Vordea's presence immediately, but the threatening aura of the Primordial Goddess no longer felt dangerous, it felt like that of an equal. Neptis could only smile when she saw the dimunitive Goddess striding up to her through the rain.
"Vordea, we meet again. How many years has it been now?" Neptis asked.
“Neptis, you look lovely.” Vordea replied with a genuine smile on her face. “You’ve grown so much.” Vordea's face looked like that of a proud parent, seeing their child grown up.
“You never told me it would take so long.” Neptis said, in a mocking pout.
"All in the past, dear. Shall we go? The others are waiting for you up north.” Vordea asked, extending a hand in offering. "You're kind of a big deal now, you know."
“Others?” Neptis asked, slightly puzzled. “What others?”
“The other Gods, girl! I’ve called an emergency meeting, so we really need to get going. Come on!” Vordea grabbed Neptis and they both left in a surge of power as Vordea cracked open the skin of reality and pulled them across the continent instantaneously.
“Where are we?” Neptis asked as they reappeared inside The Hissing Lobster, coming face to face with the other Gods. Eigengrau and Sargon had managed to stop arguing by this point, and were instead looking at Neptis, albeit from opposite sides of the inn.
“Welcome to The Hissing Lobster.” Vaust responded with a bow. "We strive to please. Though, I have to say I've never had to clean up this much blood before."
It was at that point Neptis looked down and realized she was dripping blood everywhere, as well as being completely drenched in it. Neptis gestured at her body as if to say 'what do I do?' and Agbus replied by clapping his hands, which caused the blood to immediately vanish, leaving behind the dried blood on her clothes.
"The Inn in the mountains? Really? This is the meeting place?" Neptis asked, now that the blood had been dealt with. "Isn't this a bit on the nose?"
“Not just an Inn, Neptis. It’s my domain. My name is Vaust, and I’m the God of Luck.”
“A pleasure to meet you.” Neptis replied, bowing.
“Well, you achieved it. Looks like I owe myself a drink.” Eigengrau replied with a smirk. “Though, something quite unexpected has happened.”
“So you felt it too?” Vordea asked. “I wasn’t sure at first, not even when I saw her out there in the rain, but now I’m certain.”
“Let’s finish introductions first.” Neptis cut in. “I’m already well acquainted with Lady Vordea and Lady Eigengrau, so let’s move on.”
“I am Lord Sargon, God of Justice. You would be wise to not get on my bad side, little girl.” Sargon thundered, scowling at Neptis. "You've made your decision, so make sure it was a wise one."
“Come now Sargon, quit being so dour.” Zalas called out from the lounge chairs. “Pleased to meet you, Neptis. You may call me Zalas, I’m the God of Love, and all that entails. We can get to know each other better later on.” Zalas said with a wink.
“And that leaves me. Welcome, I am Lord Agbus.” Agbus bowed, hands in his sleeves.
As Agbus finished speaking, there was a knock on the door, which surprised Eigengrau.
"No..." she said quietly. "He could not have."
The door creaked open slightly, and a very large raven flew in and landed on the largest table. It didn’t speak a word, but every God present knew exactly who it was.
"It cannot be..." Eigengrau said, frustrated.
“The Raven King.” Vordea said, narrowing her eyes. “Where have you been all these years?”
The raven merely cawed in response, flapping its wings but staying in place. Vordea shook her head and sighed. Neptis however was curious about the giant raven, and approached it.
“So, you’re the Raven King? The missing God himself?” she asked, as if expecting a response. The raven cawed and hopped up onto her shoulder, and looked decidedly content.
“Introductions are over, it is time to introduce yourself.” Eigengrau flatly said to Neptis.
“What about the raven?” Neptis asked, gesturing to the large raven perched on her shoulder. Vordea shrugged in response. Neptis chuckled and began her introduction. “Hello, I am Neptis, Goddess of War, Revolutions, Violence, and Blood.” Neptis spoke her full title, and bowed.
“See, this is the unexpected I mentioned.” Eigengrau said to Vordea. “It was only supposed to be one purview.”
“Yes, I see the problem. The kalpa has changed more than we intended.” Vordea replied, stroking her chin.
“What are you two blathering about?” Vaust asked.
“Neptis has inadvertently done four things during her apotheosis,” Eigengrau said, holding up 4 fingers. “First,” she said, holding up just her index finger, “She took an extra purview from Vordea, violence.”
“Second, she created a new one, blood.” Vordea said, holding up two fingers. “Thirdly,” Vordea continued, holding up three fingers, “She created a new school of magic, Blood magic. This part is interesting as it wasn’t retroactive. It only just began to exist a few hours ago. The University’s going to have fun once they discover it.”
"The fourth one is the most interesting to me, however.” Eigengrau continued. “She has become the patron God of vampires. The curse is still intact, and yet it has shifted.”
“All of these combined has made Neptis far more powerful than myself, Vordea, and Eigengrau planned for.” Agbus finished, walking up to Neptis. He rummaged around in his sleeve before pulling out a metal necklace with Neptis’s sigil hanging from it. “A gift, if you will. Consider it a... welcome gift from the primal Gods to a new Inner God.”
“There’s that phrase again. What’s an ‘Inner God’?” Neptis asked as she took the necklace from Agbus.
“Ah, forgive me, as it’s not a phrase known to mortals.” Agbus said, bowing. “There are 3 levels of Divinity. There are the 3 Primal Gods. That’s Vordea, Eigengrau, and myself. We are nearly limitless in power and represent universal truths. I am order, Vordea is chaos, and Eigengrau is death and time. Then there’s the Inner Gods. You are concepts, ideas, abstractions. Sargon is justice, Vaust is luck, Zalas is emotions, The Raven King is nature and creation, and you are war and blood. Do you follow so far?”
“Yes, I believe so. You mentioned three categories, though?”
“Of course. The outer Gods. The innumerable lesser Gods for things such as good harvests, commerce, fishing, murder, and so on. Not very powerful, but they exist.”
“There’s one other benefit you get.” Vaust added, sitting atop the bar. “As an Inner God, you now have a permanent invitation to the regular meetings that take place here in my domain. You don’t have to attend, but you’re always welcome to.”
“Now, let us begin this emergency meeting.” Eigengrau finished. “As eldest God, Agbus has the floor.”
"Wait, one more thing." Neptis said, putting her hand up. "Is this really The Raven King?" She asked, gesturing at the large raven which refused to move from her shoulder.
"Not quite. That's an aspect of him." Agbus answered. "Your apotheosis was enough to wake him up, to make a guess."
"Please, we really must begin." Eigengrau monotoned. "We have a lot to go over."
The Meeting
"...so with respect to linear interpretations of time, your ascension actually happened..."
Eigengrau droned on and on without even pausing for breath. Zalas was fully asleep and snoring loudly. Vaust was holding his head with both hands, propping his eyelids open.
"...at the beginning of the current kalpa, the purviews were as follows..."
Sargon looked down on the table, and etched another mark. By his count, they were on hour 500 of the meeting, and Eigengrau still hadn't stopped talking. Who was even listening anymore?
"...if you claim a soul before its time the metaphysical properties..."
Agbus was asleep by the time hour 900 came around. Eigengrau still showed no signs of slowing down, and even Neptis was struggling to stay awake by this point. Did Eigengrau even need to breathe?
"...and that brings us to the Raven King's disappearance and purview, which is..."
Neptis stared bleary eyed at Vordea. Would this nightmare ever end? Vordea kept staring at her hands, as if trying to will herself out of the meeting, but Eigengrau had blocked the way out at the start.