Woolhaven spoilers. Don’t watch if you haven’t played the dlc. Also Hi! I’m still alive!
The free pack started off small. A group of deserting soldiers and followers came to live under Marchosias to be free from the tyrants of the old faith and to be free. Who would have guessed that a man without a crown could be worshiped like a god by many?
Abas
Name: Abas Justila
Gender: Female
Age: 144
Species: Arabian wolf
Birthplace: Darkwood
Height: 3’6
Accent: Dutch
Body count: 245
Bio: Abas was a known slacker both in Darkwood and the free pack, constantly shirking work and sneaking off to sleep on her hammock.
Unsurprisingly she was really unpopular with the rest of the free pack and her laziness got to the point where she was thrown in jail and left to starve for weeks.
Hopefully that would make her more active in the community…but unfortunately some fool thought it was a good idea to give her ichor and there just happened to be a lamb intruding onto the mountain to get tested on.
Fighting style: Abas is a pretty lazy fighter when she doesn’t want to fight, mainly just shooting people who are problems, but if trapped in a corner she can use a sword quite well. There’s also the transformation many denizens like her got access to.
Thoas
Name: Thoas Dranks
Age: 199
Gender: Male
Species: Siberian wolf
Birthplace: Anura
Height: 6’4
Accent: Slavic
Body count: 155
Bio: Once one of the many cheerful Anurians turned into a hateful husk of a man.
Thoas did everything in Heket’s name, even putting himself on a near indefinite fast to show his devotion to the goddess of famine…only for him to be made the butt of her jokes and the jokes of many of his fellow soldiers.
He lost his mind, killing everyone in his old unit and retreated to Ewefall to start a new life as a member of the free pack. During his fight, the skin on his face was ripped off.
Fighting style: With his greatsword, spear and shield, Thoas is able to rip and puncture his enemies apart from a distance. He isn’t a smart fighter, but his strength is more than enough to take down the enemies of the free pack.
The Estor brothers.
Names: Fester Lloyd, Nester Lloyd, Mester Lloyd.
Ages: Fester: 290, Nester: 250, Mester: 190
Gender: Male
Birthplace: Anchordeep
Species: Tundra wolves
Height: Fester: 7’4, Nester: 7’2, Mester: 6’11
Accents: French
Body count: Combined, 600
Bio: The loss of Mestor’s voice was purely driven by Kallamar’s entitlement. The Estor brothers never had any interest with fighting, and simply wanted to make music for others to enjoy. Their singing was heavenly…too heavenly. Heavenly enough that if left to their own devices, they could be rivals to Haborym. Kallamar couldn’t have this, so when Mestor was still young, he casted a plague on the brothers in hope that it would let them pass due to…”natural causes.” But against all odds, they survived long enough to go to Ewefall to get treated. Unfortunately Mestor’s voice could not be saved…this made the 3 of them convert to the free pack.
Fighting style: Due to the wings they were given, the brothers can take to the skys and grew to use halberds in close combat scenarios.
Gorgo
Name: Grogo Ursula
Gender: Female
Age: 621
Birthplace: Silk Cradle
Species: Arctic wolf
Height: 9’1
Accent: Austrian
Body count: 984
Bio: One of the first free pack members, Gorgo was a mage for Shamura’s war efforts. At first, she did everything Shamura asked her to do without thinking…but the order that made her dissent is when she was ordered to burn down an orphanage with children still inside. She refused, and was arrested awaiting execution…but a younger Marchosias helped her escape. She owned Marchosias her life, and she served under a different cult leader for decades.
Fighting style: Gorgo can fight with anything magic and curse related. From conjured weapons, to summoned minions and an array of spells and curses. There isn’t much Gorgo isn’t experienced in anymore.
Lambert didn’t just have Goliath to keep them company during their 100 year crusade against the old faith.
During a few of Lambert’s crusades, they saved many followers, including some who were originally with the old faith. Some of them were more attached to them more than others.
Balphagor
Full name: Balphagor braxx
Place of birth: Darkwood
Age: 125
Gender: Male
Height: 3’2
Species: Arigali ram
Accent: Polish
Bio: Balphagor is the second youngest of the polycule and was met during a visit to darkwood for well…wood. Balphagor initially planned to rob Lambert blind and escape with the goodies, but unfortunately the plan went sour.
He was caught by the old faith heretics, and Lambert had to save him from sacrifice. After that, Balphagor was indebted to them for saving his life, and eventually the two of them got close…real close.
Occupation: Now, he works as a manager for the farms, and with him being able to dig underneath the crops, with Balphagor harvests have been great for years. When he is not doing that, he leans more on reading books in his free time.
Fighting style: Due to his size, Balphagor has to adapt with his speed rather than power, so he uses dual daggers and handguns in combat. The ichor I’m his blood also allows him to transform into a 11ft tall monster, with razer sharp claws, like the disciples of chaos. Unlike them however, he can stay like that for days.
Paimon
Full name: Paimon Kalligra
Place of birth: Anura
Age: 137
Height: 6’8
Species: Alaska-Yukon Moose
Gender: Transgender Male (originally female)
Accent: Spanish.
Bio: Paimon used to be in the old faith army, and ranked pretty high among his peers. He was even able to lead his own platoon to many victories…but he never really enjoyed it.
Paimon had to do terrible things the people of Anura, dishing out harsh punishments for seemingly no reason and starving villages while he got to eat all he wanted.
He wanted to stop, he wanted to get away from his violent life and start over, but he knew that his betrayal would just get him and the platoon he cared for killed. Like his original gender, he just wanted an escape from it all.
Thankfully, during one of the many searches for Lambert’s cult, Paimon and his platoon were ambushed and all slaughtered by Lambert themself. Was this divine intervention? Punishment? Whatever the case may be, Paimon accepted his fate and was ready to die…but Lambert felt that he could serve a greater purpose. He could repent for his sins…so they spared and indoctrinated him.
At first, Paimon kept to himself, but a few years later he and Lambert began to fill the void between each other, both having their own old faith related regrets. Then they got closer and closer, all the way up to marriage.
Occupation: Paimon is the cult enforcer, keeping everyone from breaking the law and making the punishments harsh, but fair in case someone breaks the law anyway. When he is not doing that, he is out on missionaries, since he no longer feels remorse for his old fellow soldiers since they revive anyway at the end of the day.
Fighting style: Paimon is mainly a brawler, using his fists to take down enemies with ease, but unlike Valefar who specializes with fire, Paimon uses a variety of elements to strengthen his punches thanks to the ichor in his blood.
Jasmine
Full name: Jasmine Victoria
Place of birth: Anchordeep
Age: 155
Height: 7’1
Species: Roosevelt Elk
Gender: Female
Accent: Australian
Bio: Jasmine has known Lambert for years, as they were childhood friends. She, like Lambert was one of Kallamar’s many disciples who gave everything she could spare to Kallamar and did horrible things to the people of Anchordeep with little to no remorse.
Jasmine’s family, like many in Anchordeep, were rich and prosperous, so mixed in with her high ranking in Anchordeep, she really didn’t have many problems and of course, Lambert was her best friend, and soon love interest.
Life seemed so much better when Lambert was around and it felt like nothing could separate them…except for the prophecy of a lamb breaking out a old heretic, aka the one who waits.
Lambert had to flee for their own safety, and when Jasmine became aware of this, she dropped everything she had and ran away with them. To hell with Anchordeep and the old faith, nobody was going to separate them. Ever.
They became closer than ever because of this, staying at every refugee camp around the lands until they were finally caught and arrested, both sentenced to execution.
Jasmine was heartbroken to know that Lambert was already executed and just wanted to join them in the afterlife…but once Lambert was resurrected, they slaughtered every person in their way to save her from her execution, and made her their very first follower, and shortly after spouse.
Occupation: Jasmine is Lambert’s second in command, so any decision that Lambert is soon to make, Jasmine is the first person to either contest or affirm it.
If Lambert is gone on their many cycles she takes full control of the cult while they are gone. If they are not doing that, they help repair Lambert’s fleece and make other clothes for the followers, or is out assassinating disciples of the old faith so Lambert doesn’t have to deal with them during each cycle.
Fighting style: Jasmine has a multitude of weapons that she uses on multiple occasions for multiple different reasons. She has a sword which she uses for direct encounters, daggers she uses for assassination and a staff she uses for magic. She’s more of a jack of all trades, master of all fighter.
Mayleen
Full name: Mayleen ??? (Nickname “Experiment 2130”)
Place of birth: Silk Cradle
Age: 121
Height: 8’10
Species: Columbian black tailed deer
Gender: Intersex
Accent: Eldritch. Can’t speak regular English
Bio: Not very much is known of Mayleen’s past, except for one thing…they are cursed. Well partly cursed, but still cursed. Mayleen is a part of one of Shamura’s many morbid experiments on the poor people of Silk Cradle.
This one was a result of what would happen if a regular person and a cursed person made an egg and the result was well…Mayleen. A deer with purple eyes, floats constantly, stares and occasionally eats people.
Understandably, Mayleen was kept in a lab away from the general public to sate Shamura’s curiosity. While in the lab, Mayleen was constantly experimented on to see just what they could do.
These experiments ranged from simple questions and medical check ups, to borderline torture. Mayleen never spoke a word about it, or in a way that would make sense.
Mayleen felt extremely isolated in the lab, only being visited by people who wanted to experiment on them, never even speaking to them once, unless asked a question. Why were these people so mean? Mayleen just couldn’t understand them and decided one day, when they turned 21 they escaped from containment, and Silk Cradle altogether.
Now that they were free, they searched all over the island to find someone to care for them, but was met with the same response of fear…and Mayleen never understood why. They may have eaten a few people, stared for hours and were generally creepy, but that doesn’t make them bad!
This search went on for months until in Anura, they saw someone from a distance with red clothes and wool as white as the clouds. Could this person be a friend? They had to find out, so they stalked Lambert for a while until they found Mayleen staring at them from the trees.
Af first, Lambert was terrified. Just what was this…thing? How long did it follow them, and what did they want from Lambert? These questions were not answered and needed to be put on hold as the old faith has found them and Lambert had to defend themself.
It was going well…until a cultist started to choke Lambert! This should’ve been the end of them, but suddenly Mayleen pounced on the cultist and ate them alive. Not only did this creature save them, Mayleen even helped them stand back up! For once Mayleen heard something other than an order…a simple thank you. For that, Mayleen stayed by Lambert’s side until they eventually indoctrinated Mayleen.
It was tough trying to teach Mayleen how to be a person, but eventually they learned enough to not just be a staring weirdo. They’re a staring weirdo, who can learn sign language, walk without arching their back and use magic! Oh and Lambert married them too, since they also learned love too.
Occupation: Mayleen doesn’t have a specific job in the cult, so they just do well…everything. From burying bodies to bartending they do just a little of everything!
Fighting style: Mayleen does not in any fashion know how to use weapons…but they do know a variety of curses and magic they use to defend themselves! They don’t need a staff to cast them, but they carry one anyway since Jasmine does.
You would think that a witness would be respected by the bishops of the old faith, but uh…not really.
While Shamura and Kallamar were the primary caregivers of Narinder, Heket and Leshy, they couldn’t always be around to raise them during the war of the gods.
So Astaroth and Allocer (despite Kallamar’s many complaints) were babysitters when they were away. This shouldn’t have been an issue…but oh it was such a issue.
Narinder
Raising a Ancordeepian is annoying enough, but raising one who has a godly manipulator on his head is even worse.
Narinder constantly threw tantrums when he didn’t get exactly what he wanted, and faced little repercussions when he refused to listen to his teachers and babysitters.
It was even worse when Astaroth had to become a babysitter as well, because there was a set of rules that were made for Narinder to follow, and he refused to follow any of them specifically because Astaroth told him to. He was a mortal, who was he to tell him what to do?
Not to mention the many portals to the underworld he opened and weapons he ran around with, supervised or not. When Astaroth would reprimand him for this, he would cry and accuse the poor witness that he assaulted Narinder! Astaroth obviously didn’t get in trouble for this, but that just meant he kept doing it.
But that’s ok! Narinder was around 8 years old when things like this happened, so he would obviously grow out of it…unfortunately he would not. Instead of growing up and getting some humility, his ego just got worse and since good ol Astaroth didn’t kneel down and do exactly what Narinder wanted, he was constantly bullied by the god of death.
Eventually Astaroth just got used to the insults and names he would be called on a daily basis, but it was never not annoying. The worst part about all of this? The red crown barely had any influence on Narinder’s behavior. He CHOSE to act like this towards the poor general.
Heket
Astaroth believes that Heket has every reason to not like him or Allocer. Moments before being adopted by the bishops, he had tried to kill Bathin, who was her mother at the time and they wouldn’t see each other for 15 years.
But he did attempt to apologize and make amends to the little frog! Maybe he could have a fresh start and help raise Heket with Bathin gone…he was then mercilessly beaten and then sent to the hospital. Astaroth then learned just how difficult it was going to be raising a child that has the strength of a god, thanks to the yellow crown.
If she wasn’t destroying the temple and assaulting followers during tantrums, she was mainly annoying Astaroth and constantly threatened him if she didn’t do anything she asked for.
Not to mention that attempting to get the girl any kind of education was s nightmare, as she constantly cried if Astaroth was trying to teach her a single thing. He always knew that Anurians were hardheaded, but Heket was petty AND hardheaded.
It doesn’t help that Narinder fed Heket’s head with nonsense about how much of a terrible person Astaroth was. Just about none of them were true, but Heket’s a moron and it was her older brother, So it must’ve been true!
Even with Bathin and Heket reunited, Heket continued to bully Astaroth into her teenage and adult years. She has called him “Nerdstaroth” since she was six years old and Astaroth is convinced that she doesn’t actually remember his actual name.
Even though Astaroth is smaller than Heket, dodging her many attacks became child’s play, especially those metal chanclas. He suffered a concussion many times with those things…
Leshy
Denizens are mischievous bunches, but they don’t regularly hold grudges against people, especially kind ones, so Astaroth has no fucking clue why the worm hates him so much, but he does!
He firstly blamed it on his chaotic behavior, so he could at least teach him SOME level of order. That…went about as well as one would expect, and the room they were in had to go under many repairs due to Leshy’s claw marks on the walls and ceiling.
Leshy barely listens to Shamura, so Astaroth had no chance in raising the little chaos god when they were away. Bathin and Allocer did try and help keep the child in line, but he bit scratched and laughed at them for even trying.
But there was something about Astaroth that made him want to just bully him for being such a sorry old man. He read books, commanded around troops, followed laws and rules…all of these made Leshy sick to his stomach. He had to be bullied eternally for such a sin! Plus his older siblings were doing it, so why not join them?
It didn’t help that Leshy was FAST. Even when he grew in size, he was still faster than Astaroth so escaping from him would be impossible. At least with Leshy, the bullying didn’t come from malice, but it still didn’t make it any less frustrating.
Hey guys, guess who’s back? Time for some random crown lore!
The lands of the old faith were not meant to last as long as they did. Starting off, the island was limited of natural resources, sea monsters surrounded the seas to anyone brave enough to make the journey, and if they did survive, they would not last too long without food or water.
All hope seemed lost for the residents of the island…but there is one woman who would change the island’s fate single handedly. Chemach, one of the three sibling gods created the crowns via just the ichor in her body, and she made a lot of crowns. So many that she had to sacrifice her legs to create them all.
With these crowns, the lands started to flourish. Conditions were improved and for a time…the island was peaceful. However there was one thing Chemach could never have predicted…the crowns gained sentience.
The crowns did not enjoy being used as tools for mortals who proclaimed themselves as “Gods” while they are using THEIR power. It felt insulting and disrespectful…but this was their purpose, Their design, their destiny. How does one escape from that?
Simple. You manipulate the people you serve. The crowns were expert at manipulating the mortal mind, seeming if they are friends to their bearers and that everyone else was out to get them. This caused many fights between the old “gods” and ultimately their deaths, granting the crowns their freedom. But it just was too slow for some…and there needed to be a culling.
It took quite a few years of planning and manipulation, but eventually the war of the gods began as the infighting between the gods became too severe for them to ignore.
During the war, gods were dropping left and right and crowns were able to explore the island however they wished. Unfortunately, some crowns died during this time but their sacrifice was not in vain, as by the time the war was over, only 5 gods remained.
Where are the remaining crowns that survived the war? Nobody knows. The old faith declared them destroyed, but it is likely that they are disguised as mortals, enjoying their lives how they see fit.
What of the unlucky 5 crowns? They continue to serve the old faith, but are able to escape from their duties to enjoy life during the night. For them, they most likely won’t ever be free of being servants…not until they die at least.
But even they would not predict that a Lamb would gift them that freedom…one day.
🥚 - poached, but I don’t know how to make it at home, so it’s like a treat when I have that done, and it makes it special 💙
🥩 - NO meat for me, thank you!
🥛 - Oat or soy!
🍷 - I don’t drink much, but when I do, it’s fine bubbles for me. Prosecco, very dry, and Champagne. In slower days, some Vermentino would do too. Cheers!
☕ - Coffee, wonderful coffee, 75% of my blood composition. But I enjoy some infusion after dinner when the cold comes.
Imma tag @giglio-nero-e-bianco @deqdlyowl @sw124 @gagegravemark
Day 31!!! Happy Halloween people, now let’s end this month off with some brotherly love.
Hades’ laughter continued to ring in Narinder’s ears. Why wouldn’t it just stop? They won…they beat them with their lies and manipulation. But they wanted more. Hades always wanted more…
Narinder couldn’t let them win. So they climbed to the highest point of the temple and got to the edge of the roof. There was only one way to stop this torture…and that was to die by his own means. Nobody would miss Narinder anyway…
“Aw what’s wrong, gonna cry? Please do. Give me more GIVE ME MORE-“
Suddenly, Hades was silenced! They weren’t laughing, or demanding more sin…what happened?
“Thank gods I got to you before the red crown took over! Narinder, are you ok?”
As if this night couldn’t get any worse, kallamar was here. Was he going to mock him too? It wouldn’t be surprising…he made a mistake trusting the red crown…
“Laugh.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean-“
“I fucked up. I trusted someone I thought was my best friend…so go ahead. Fucking laugh at me.”
Narinder turned around with tears in his eyes. But what he didn’t see what Kallamar squeezing the red crown in one of his many hands. That explains why it went silent.
“No. Not tonight. I always told you that there was much more you needed to learn, and I was correct. Our crowns do not care about us brother!”
“AND YOU DO?! You never ever believed in me for a second of your fucking life! You, Shamura, my parents, NOBODY BELIEVES IN ME! The only person who even cared…just wanted to get their rocks off.”
Narinder got on his knees and started crying harder. Was this just more mockery?! Why wouldn’t Kallamar just laugh already?! Just do it…it’s not like he cared about him anyway.
“SO DO IT! LAUGH AT ME! JUST FUCKING DO IT! I’M ALL ALONE, SO WHATS STOPPING YOU-“
Before Narinder could finish his rant…he was hugged. Hugged by his biggest enemy, who similarly was crying. As much as the two hated each other, as much as they wanted to embarrass and ridicule each other…they were still family.
“No. I won’t let you destroy yourself. I have always believed in you, despite what you think about me…I know I don’t show it as often as I need to…but I love you Nari! I’ll love you forever!”
Similarly to Hades, Narinder began laughing. This had to be some kind of cruel joke, or a punishment his dead dad was giving him. No way his brother would do anything like this…but this was too good to pass up.
So, Narinder returned the hug as the two brothers cried on the roof of the temple of war. At least, while they fought and fought and fought…Nari would know that he would never be alone, not in this family.
Narinder eventually learned how to control Hades, as to not have another incident like this from happening again, and of course the two anchordeepians fought more and more…but at least he could say that someone cares about him.
Day 30! Did you think the binding was Narinder’s first taste of betrayal? Nope.
It’s been eons since Narinder had this talk with Hades, where he exposed the awful management of his home region, Anchordeep. Shamura has visited a handful of times, but outside of scoldings, they haven’t ever relinquished Kallamar of his duties!
He tried to talk to them about this, did look concerned, not for anchordeep but in Narinder? Why would they be concerned about him, he’s doing fantastic! They did take a few glances at the red crown though…
This wasn’t making any sense, so he returns to his room and pondered. Maybe there were things that Shamura wasn’t seeing? Maybe his best friend could give a hand.
“Hades, I need your wisdom again!”
The red crown slithered down his neck with a smile on its serpent face. It’s like they’ve been waiting for this for a long time.
“Hellooo!~ How may I be of assistance, friend?”
“This must not be true…Shamura has been to Anchordeep a multitude of times, and not once have they ever discussed about the horrible state its in!”
“Not to mention, when I wanted to discuss with them about it, they looked concerned yes, but not for Anchordeep…but me. I just don’t understand why this is happening, I’m starting to believe you lied to me and-“
“So you finally learned, friend.”
This stopped Nari’s rant in an instant. What did they mean by learned? Hades would never lie to him…right?
“There was no mismanagement in Anchordeep you fool. Your brother is a splendid leader, and it is still intact to this day. I was simply…twisting the truth, as you mortals call it.”
“What?! What do you mean, that can’t be right! Please as much as I enjoy your jokes, I need you to be serious right now.”
“Little kitten…I am serious. You caught me. I lied to you, and you believed every little word I said.~”
The red crown starts to slither around his neck, as if it was a noose. Their giggles and that damn smile was almost as painful as being stabbed…but why? Why would he do this?
“Did you truly believe I thought you would be successful? That you were special? HA! You are just like all the other mortals who believed their own hype.”
“But…why? WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME?!”
“…There is no greater feeling than to break the hearts of the prideful. It’s almost like I am a anurian on mushrooms! You are not the only one who has worn me, and the feeling of bringing up prideful dumbasses such as yourself only to shatter their hopes and dreams is EXHILARATING!”
Narinder couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t believe…anything anymore. All that time they talked, played and fought together…was it all for nothing?
“If I could feel ecstasy, this would be my greatest pleasure! I love feeding off your greed, your pride, your sins! It fills me so deeply with joy I can barely describe it!”
“Stop…”
“You know the best part…I have a feeling that you will give me MORE. You will never change Narinder. EVER.”
“Stop!”
“I’ve played this game with your entire family, and I am having so much fun feeding off you idiots! Your father believed we were allies until he was injured and begged me to save him…his last thoughts were of me. Leaving him to die.”
“STOP!”
“I wonder…how will our time end…friend? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!”
“FUCKING STOOOOOOP!!!”
Narinder couldn’t take it anymore and ran out of his room, with Hades laughing at him all the time. His followers saw him run out of the temple, tears pouring down from his face. He had to make it stop…he had to…
During his escape, Kallamar seems to have noticed what was going on with his little brother…as much as he hated him, he followed behind him.
Day 29. Nari had a lot of time to think while he was trapped in purgatory, including about the witnesses.
The chains dug into Narinder’s skin, and the wound where his left arm used to be. The pain and humiliation of being trapped in his own realm was almost unbearable, both physically and mentally.
Narinder fought his chains for almost 300 years, hoping that they would eventually snap, but they never did. He felt as if nobody had to endure the struggle of fighting against chains…but then he remembered something…didn’t a witness do something similar?
The bondage of the chains, their constant rattling, it reminded him of Allocer, the witness of silk cradle. They attacked their blades to chains, but he just figured that they did it to increase their range, but it had much deeper meaning.
The blades had the names of their dead wife and daughter, and the chains represented grief they could not get rid of. The grief of losing family members became you weren’t strong enough to protect them.
What would these chains mean for narinder? The grief of failing to reach expectations? The grief of permanently ruining a family? The grief of being easily manipulated..?
This question burned Narinder for eons as he sent vessel after vessel to the old faith to retain his freedom, but he could never come up with an answer…until he and Lambert met one day.
Lambert’s the only person who didn’t give into insanity, and kept trying and trying to get their lord’s freedom that was stolen so long ago. But everytime he sees them die, they get even worse. At first, Narinder shrugged it off as them slacking, but after 50 years, he saw them get closer and closer to ending Shamura.
Maybe his grief was the grief of failing to see people he care about falling apart. Maybe his grief…was that maybe he wasn’t a good person?
Day 28. Time to teach someone how sacrifice works!
Let’s go back a few years to when Narinder was still a child and the red crown was gifted to him. Someone had been gifted to him, but not in the way of toys or clothes…he was gifted a person to be sacrificed by followers.
The person had their throat slit so they didn’t die with suffering but…why? What did this person do to deserve this, and what good would it do for him? Narinder wanted answers, and who else had more answers than the god of war?
So the little panther shuffled down to Shamura’s office and asked a simple question…why do people sacrifice themselves for him, Kallamar and Shamura?
Turns out it’s a lot more simple than he thought! Mortals need good food in order to stay fit and healthy for the trials that life throws their way, and in a way devotion acts like food for the gods.
Devotion is necessary for gods to get stronger and stay healthy. Without it, they wither away and are easy targets to other gods. But they also must not take too much devotion at a time.
Devotion, like food can also be addictive and can make someone constantly chase their next high and eventually, they will become a junkie until all of the devotion is gone.
So that begs the question…how do you gain devotion? That’s where the followers come in. They can generate devotion in 1 way…believing in their god.
Praying at shrines, preaching at sermons, giving gifts, hell even sacrificing themselves for their gods and all extremely effective ways to generate devotion, hence why someone was sacrificed to young death…it just turns out that sacrifices are the best way to generate devotion.
Narinder needed devotion to survive, even if he didn’t understand it. He soon grew to love the offerings mortals left for him, but it took time. You could almost say…he was a good kid for a while. It’s unfortunate that didn’t last forever…
Day 27 baby! Last week too, so why don’t we watch Nari gets some words of encouragement from his friend?
Another argument with Kallamar ended with them both getting in trouble for destroying the house and effectively grounded for the rest of the week. That fight was completely Kallamar’s fault, because he brought over Saleos to sleep with him, instead of letting that freak sleep by himself!
While yes, he did destroy a table in the middle of their argument, Kallamar never should have brought him here to begin with! But of course Shamura never saw it his way, they always believed that Narinder would never be right about anything…
So Narinder just pouts in his room, still believing that he’s in the right, despite causing the argument to begin with, where he easily could’ve just ignored it. He needed someone to talk to, and who else could understand his frustration than his very own crown?
“Hades…do you mind if we talk?”
The crown slithered down Narinder’s neck and in between his fingers to face they’re vessel. It seemed genuinely happy to see Narinder, even if all this thing does is manipulate people.
“Is there something troubling you, friend?”
“My damned brother annoys me to no end! He thinks he’s better than me because he can bring concubines into our home, but I know that bastard wants to pick on me.”
“Oh that’s terrible! I’m surprised that a god such as himself would stoop that low just to insult you.”
Hades slides off of Narinder and starts to take the form of a lamb from Anchordeep. One of Narinder’s favorite forms for him to take during one of his tantrums.
“I know right?! That bastard thinks he’s a big shot because he “owns” Anchordeep! Tch, makes me sick to my stomach.”
“Hmm…but do you see my take on this Nari? He isn’t really running your home region that well.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”
Hades snapped their fingers and clay figurines of Kallamar, Astaroth, Saleos, Baalzebub and Haborym appeared on his bed.
“Let us go down the line shall we, starting with your brother.” The Kallamar figurine was put under a spotlight, where other clay figurines throw roses and give offerings to him. “Your brother is the main talk of the town there, and the residents there are obsessed with him.”
“They believe him to be a perfect child, who does not make any mistakes…but that is untrue. Be it he refuses to listen to his witness, or doesn’t allow his medicine to flourish around the island, it doesn’t matter. He has made mistakes, and doesn’t tell Shamura about them.”
Narinder looks intrigued by this little puppet show, almost like he was forgetting why he was even mad to begin with, or why he was arguing with Kallamar.
“But he is not the only problem…” The stage changed again, this time of all of Anchordeep being on fire, with the baalzebub figurine standing in the middle. “The Anurian’s rage, destroying everything in her path…”
Another stage was set, this time it was the Saleos figurine, hiding behind multiple other figurines. “The denizen snake wanting to take all he sees and give back nothing…”
2 more stages were set. One with the Haborym figurine in a bedroom, one of her eyes was red to imitate a dissenter. Another one was the Astaroth Figurine, wrapped around in chains. “Then there are the Anchordeepians…Haborym’s pacifistic nature and refusal to participate in some cult activities makes me believe that she is a dissenter…
“then there is the only tolerable person there, Astaroth. I do believe he tries to make his home region organized…but he is still Shamura’s lapdog, with no leash.”
Suddenly both figurines and their stages were destroyed, and smashed into pieces.
“That will always and forever lead to ruin.”
“By the gods…I never thought that Kallamar was this self destructive in his rule! I should-“
“Don’t bother, Nari. They of war will not believe us…but eventually they’ll become wise to the mismanagement of the cult of pestilence and do you know what that means…it means you will be next in line to control Anchordeep.”
Narinder’s eyes lit up once they said that. Shamura never believed that he was ready to lead with Kallamar…but if he could prove all of this that Kallamar is willingly ignoring…he could finally prove that he is better.
“I cannot predict the future, Narinder. But I believe in someone. Believe in you. Maybe your siblings do not see it, but I do. You will achieve greatness. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day.”
Narinder wrapped his arms around Hades and gave him the biggest hug he could give to a old artifact. Narindee truly believed that Hades was the only person who cared, the only person who loved him…but this wasn’t true.
Hades didn’t truly CARE about Narinder but they did love mortals obsessing over them. Narinder did this many times a day, and it was almost as addictive as mushrooms…and all Hades did was get his fix of their next drug.
Maybe one day Narinder will learn that he’s just being used to milk his ego and emotions, but that day is not today.
Day 26. We end this day off with learning how Allocer disciplines Astaroth when he was young.
It was a nice day to read a book and relax, for a war general at least. A battle was one, a cult nearly destroyed and a god was backed into a corner with very little way to escape. Now the witness needs to simply rest for the battle tomorrow…right next to their son, who was in a web cocoon.
“Daaaad let me ouuuut!”
“No.”
“But why?!”
“This is punishment for your actions on the battlefield, my son.”
The little jellyfish wiggled around in his cocoon prison, with the fakest pouty face he could muster. He knew that he could easily break out of the webs, but he wants for his father’s approval before he escapes to cause more mischief.
“But dad, those guys were heretics! So what if I blew them up? They deserved it!”
“You also injured 5 soldiers around the blast site. You always need to lookout for collateral damage, child.”
“…That was an accident.”
“There are no accidents. Just bad choices.”
Asty continued to wiggle around in his silk prison, while Allocer continued to read his book and slightly giggle at their son’s multiple attempts to escape. They were also aware that Astaroth could easily escape, but at least he has discipline to stay put.
It unfortunately did not stop him from continuing to complain about how he didn’t mean to hurt anyone besides the heretics, or how the explosion technically wasn’t his fault. Allocer listen to none of these.
“You can save your voice Astaroth. There is nothing you can say or do that will possibly…” Allocer’s eyes diverted from their book to look at their child, who has taken a new strategy of pulling at Allocer’s heartstrings with his best begging face.
Even the great warlord of silk cradle couldn’t resist those eyes, no matter how hard they tried. “…Oh I can’t stay mad at you forever. I’ll get you down, but this better not happen again.”
“I promise! I won’t hurt anyone unless they are not good to the old faith!”
“That’s my boy!”
Allocer finally cuts Astaroth free, and the two of them share a great hug. It wouldn’t be long until Allocer has another nap and Astaroth could plan his revenge against his father. >:)
With the help of uncle Focalor, and a good amount of blankets, Allocer woke up to find themself in the same position as Astaroth was a few hours ago! There was a knife next to them, but it would be a struggle to use it with Astaroth and Focalor’s laughter ringing out from the dining room.
Day 25. The binding of Narinder was hard on everyone, most of all Leshy.
Leshy was missing. He wasn’t in his room, and Agares hasn’t seen him since the morning. Did something happen to him?
The bishops went on a search themselves to find their youngest brother, looking all over the island for him and eventually…they found something at the place where they all dreaded returning to.
The site of Narinder’s binding was far from the reaches of the old faith…but there was suspicions amounts of alcohol bottles, missing leaves that led towards the site. Not to mention, Heket could hear someone talking in Japanese.
Kallamar couldn’t force himself to walk to the site where he essentially killed his brother and Shamura nearly passed out before making the trip, so it was up to Heket to get Leshy back home…
The walk wasn’t too far, but knowing what had happened here made the walk feel like an eternity…but eventually Heket found Leshy. He was kneeling in front of the statue in front of the binding site and even left flowers, as if it was Narinder’s grave.
There was also bottles of sake and ambrosia everywhere. Leshy was drunk, so so drunk…it must have been so he could deal with the regret and shame of what he did to his brother.
“Hey Nari…can you….can you even hear me? I just…I just wanna say I’m sorry. I didn’t wanna send you away like this…I just…I just wanted us to be a family.”
Leshy started crawling towards the statue, a mix of tears, blood and ichor pour out from where his eyes used to be.
“I didn’t wanna do it…I never wanted to do it I swear…I’m sorry! I’m so fucking sorry! I don’t care if you’d kill me, I don’t care if you burned down the island just please! JUST COME BACK!”
Leshy started ugly crying and pounding his fits on the ground until they started to bleed. It was hard for Heket to watch him do this to himself, let alone harder for her to not feel guilt of sealing away her big brother.
It got to a point where Leshy simply repeats “Just come back” over and over again under his breath. Heket finally moved in and gave her little brother a long needed hug and he did not hesitate to wrap his arms around her.
The two of them cried on each other’s shoulders for a moment before Leshy finally spoke.
“Heket…I miss him…I miss him so fucking badly…I don’t want this anymore…I want nari back.”
“Miss…him…too.”
“…Do you think he even hears me? Hears us?”
Heket shook her head, hell she didn’t even know herself…but Narinder heard EVERYTHING and in his prison down below, he also began to cry. Narinder always told himself that he never did anything wrong and he was a victim…but after hearing all of this, he couldn’t delude himself any longer.
“Is this another punishment on your behalf, Shamura…?”
Day 24! War is for the warriors, but there is one disciple who is not made for war…
Haborym’s birthday was a day ago, and for her gift she got a taste of what her fellow disciples got…ichor. She was able to wield and control the ichor however she wanted to, and communicate with her fellow disciples!
This gift was only reserved for those who proved themselves to the gods, and fight in their name. Haborym however, was a pacifist and constantly refused to participate in it, so she never earned it. Kallamar however found this unfair, so he gave her some of the ichor into his body.
While Haborym did not understand how to process it, someone did. It was…not a good response to say the least. Hours later, Kallamar had to explain why he gave godly power to someone who did not deserve it to the only person older than him during dinner.
“Have you lost your mind?! That women is untrained and yet you give her a weapon only fit for our greatest soldiers!”
“She is NOT going to war, Shamura! I wanted her to have the same powers as our other disciples, but she may use them at her own discretion!”
The other 3 younger bishops went to their rooms to work with their followers or relax, but Narinder stayed behind to hear his brother and biggest rival get chewed out for his idiotic decision.
“If she is not going to war, she does not deserve ichor. You make our blood seem like wine that anyone can drink from if they are popular enough, when it’s supposed to be a reward for being the best of the best!”
“Is war all you think about Shamura?! People in Anchordeep can become disciples in many other ways than bathing themselves in the blood of heretics-“
“THAT IS NOT A EXCUSE!…*sigh* you are lucky that we have slain a god tonight. I will allow this to slide for tonight, but if this happens again, I will take action, do you understand me?”
Kallamar simply sighs and nods. There was no use arguing with them over what he believed was best for his follower so it was simply better to keep quiet. Shamura left the room to most likely go back to knitting or reading.
Kallamar’s face hit the table like a sack of bricks. Why is it when Kallamar makes decisions, he has to go through Shamura before going through with them?! It was his region to do what he wanted to do, but he still felt shackled to his sibling’s orders…
“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”
As if things couldn’t get any worse, Narinder was right behind him. He poured himself a glass of wine before at the table, next to his pathetically sulking brother. If only the cat could hold his tongue just for one moment…
“Narinder please, not tonight. Just go to bed.”
“Why? So you can fuck up our homeland with your idiocy again? Please, you act as if you can just do whatever pleases you and those whores you call spouses.”
“Do not DARE speak of my loves like that again!”
This was enough to get Kallamar’s attention, as he pulled his face from the table and glared daggers at his brother, with a shit eating grin on his face.
“You know I just don’t believe you’re qualified to be the god of OUR homeregion brother. You’ve been making more and more mistakes with your sluts as of late, and we have been picking up the pieces to keep Shamura pleased.”
“You act as if I am doing nothing to fix it! I understand that some of my loves are…unstable-“
“Unstable my ass! Just give it up, old man. You work with your emotions too much, and you always find a way to fuck up. Maybe it’s about time for you to retire, and allow me to take over. Then you can fuck your whores are much as you-“
Narinder’s grin was met with Kallamar’s knuckles, as he was punched across the room. This caused a all out brawl between the cat and squid, which ended with the table breaking and multiple chairs suffering the same fate.
The fighting was so damn loud, that Leshy got woken up and walked into the kitchen for a beer…only to see that the kitchen was a mess.
“ITS ABOUT TIME I SHOW YOU SOME DISCIPLINE!”
“OH WE HAVE A MODEL ADULT ON OUR HANDS!”
“Oh for fuck sake…THE NEXT ONE THAT MOVES LIKES ANURIANS!”
This caused the two anchordeepians to stop dead in their tracks and stand motionlessly still. If there was one thing that they hated more than each other, it was Anura. Now leshy was able to kick back wait for one of them to inevitably move while drinking a few beers.
This didn’t SOLVE the problem, but at least they’re going to have someone else to be mad at.
Day 23. The witnesses dared to sleep after a long day of work. Agares is going to fix that problem. >:)
This day was longer than usual for the witnesses, as they had to aid the bishops in setting up a fighting tournament for the followers of the old faith and those who participate and survive and immediately promoted to becoming a disciple.
Unfortunately, the witnesses could not participate in this event and had to help set it up. It took hours and once they were done, it was well into the night…so now everyone was in their beds sleeping the night away…except for one.
Agares for some unknown reason was staring out her window, unable to sleep. It was like she figured that someone was watching her sleep…waiting for her to drop her guard so they could come in and kill her.
So she watched the window for a while and before she gave up and went to bed…something moved in the dark! Agares caught onto this immediately and began barking at it as loud as she could.
The figure stayed there in the dark, so Agares kept barking and barking until it decided to leave. Unsurprisingly, this woke up the entire house, and Agares’s battle buddies were not happy about the loud barking.
The three of them stormed into her room, knocking be damned. There Agares was, barking at seemingly nothing in the dark.
“AGARES, ITS THREE IN THE MORNING!”
“Guys, you gotta believe me! There’s SOMETHING out here! I know it!”
“And your first thought was to annoy us all instead of dealing with it yourself?!”
The 4 of them began arguing, debating on why in gods name Agares was trying to make it so nobody sleeps tonight. While they were arguing, the figure moves again!
"Look! there it is! HEY, ASSHOLE, I SAW THAT!"
The witnesses finally notieced the mysterious figure moving in the darkness. It didn’t seem too big, but it still poses a serious risk if it’s an enemy. Astaroth was the brave one that turned the lights on outside.
…It was a twig. There was nothing there, but a twig, moving in the wind. Looks like Agares was wrong, again…and she would quickly learn the price of her failure.
The 4 witnesses didn’t get any sleep last night as they spent all night chasing Agares around the house to punish her for the false alarm. They couldn’t catch her and by the time they did they were exhausted anyway and all fell asleep in the living…then their alarm clocks went off.
Day 22. Omg, more lamb content?! It’s been so long :D This one’s a bit rushed though.
Year 80…Lambert has finally arrived to Silk Cradle, after beating the anchordeep disciples and their god…but barely. Their body was broken, but their mind was more shattered still, having to slay the god of their home region.
It doesn’t matter. They must push forward…they must end this madness and free the one who waits…even if they lose all of their sanity. But as they pass through the forest of Silk Cradle something starts to slow them down…
How long has it been since they’ve slept..? How long had it been since they’ve eaten or drank anything or even SPOKE to anyone besides their god? Lambert knew that they didn’t need sleep or food but…they missed needing those things, specifically sleep.
Their eyelids began to slowly close in on themselves, and they began to slow down…maybe they could rest, if not for at least 5 minutes.
So they set down their bloody sword and slept next to a tree…a very costing mistake. The next moment they wake up, they are stuck in a web! Hades was destroyed and one of Lambert’s legs was missing!
The confusion was more sharp than the pain of missing a leg. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all…
After 10 minutes of struggle and wincing in pain, someone could be heard walking towards the room Lambert was trapped in, 2 people at least…who were they?!
“Damn it, LET ME GO! LET ME OUT OF HERE-“
“Be silent, little lamb.”
Finally, someone spoke in the darkness. Two figures came out of the shadows, one of them being the witness of silk cradle, Allocer who seems angry, but calm. Next to him was their brother, Focalor, who seemed to be crying.
Lambert was always aware that the witnesses were close to each other, but to personally kidnap them and bring them to their death due to them slaying Astaroth in anchordeep made them truly understand the rage seething off them.
Lambert didn’t say much to the spiders…instead they screamed. At first they screamed in fear of being helpless in the face of the old faith’s most ruthless disciples and then screamed for hours on end as they ruthlessly tortured them.
The screams of Narinder’s vessel could be heard all over silk cradle, and only went silent until Focalr finally killed them and gave them the rest they so desperately needed.
This was a wake up call for Lambert to learn that they don’t need sleep, no matter how much they miss it….they can’t be caught off guard. Ever.
Day 21! How would you all like to see how Shamura interacts with their witness?
Allocer was at the silk cradle library, trying to find more materials to read in their free time. They have read these books hundreds of times over their thousands of years of life. Now all of these books were able to be read and memorized in mere minutes.
Once they left the library due to the relentless boredom, they were approached by one of their soldiers with a message…Shamura wanted to see them? While Allocer was 100% faithful to the old faith, they haven’t spoken to the purple crown as individuals in decades.
How odd it was didn’t matter. A god demanded Allocer’s presence, so they went straight to the temple and into Shamura’s throne room, which was oddly empty and Shamura sat at a table in front of Allocer.
Allocer kneeled the moment they were in Shamura’s presence.
“I came the moment you called, my lord. How may I-“
“Please Allocer, sit. No need for the formalities this time around.”
Well…this is new. But orders were orders and Allocer sat down in the chair in front of their bishop. It didn’t seem like they were in any trouble and Shamura looked…happy?
“I sure hope I am not interrupting any duties you may have been doing before this.”
“No my lord, I have done my duties for the day.”
“Good good…”
This was weird, even for Allocer. Shamura never bothered to ask about topics like this, or to Allocer aside from orders…did something change? They did look a bit more…upset?
“Look, I’m going to be clear with you…I am worried about your mental health. I have had…reports, that your paranoia episodes are getting worse.”
“I…I apologize for those outbursts my lord…I have no excuses, but I promise to you that I will make sure these will never-“
“Are you ok, Allocer?”
The room was silent again. This time Shamura’s leg bounced up and down, which was a common occurrence when people were stressed out. Allocer simply stopped stopped responding, since they were not helping their god calm themselves.
“You remind me too much of myself for you to not even remember your name most days. I cannot, and will not allow you to continue work like this. You have a child you are continuing to support, and a team of witnesses that rely on you.”
“So, after work every day, you will come to me and we will talk. What the topic will be is my decision to make. Is that clear, Allocer?”
“…Yes my lord.”
“Good. You are dismissed.”
With that, Allocer left the throne room and stood next to a wall…even their god was starting to notice that they were losing their mind more and more as the days passed…but how? How could they fix themselves before they destroy everything they worked so hard to create…?
YEAH DAY 20! Now we get into the story of everyone’s favorite war criminal.
Shamura grew up in a slave camp, and their parents were beaten mercilessly if they were too tired to continue working, with their child being subjected to the same harsh conditions, with barely any food to eat.
Shamura was a kind soul at this time, and despite injuries going unhealed, and their stomach constantly rumbling, they still fought to protect others and their family as much as they could.
But one day Shamura had to escape. One day they had to be free from the shackles of the oppressive lamb god that owned the slave camp…but it would be in a way that would make their stance of peace slowly slip away.
On their 16th birthday, Shamura returned to find that their parents were missing, in fact EVERYONE they knew were missing. After almost an hour of searching, they found them…everyone was being sacrificed to the lamb god. Their parents…friends…everyone Shamura knew was being murdered to generate more devotion for them.
This was Shamura’s breaking point, and decided that enough was enough. So Shamura killed everyone in their path, guards, followers, hell even crops were burned in their wrath.
The lamb god tried to eliminate them as well, but Shamura was filled with adrenaline so they clashed together and Shamura won their duel, but barely.
This is where their story should have ended, with Shamura dying from their wounds…but the purple crown, that now needed a new vessel dedicated that this would not be their end. The strength they showed in killing a god despite being a starving teenager impressed them…so the god of war was born, and the camp was burnt to the ground.
Shamura had a bounty put on them, but they decided to not be weak anymore. So they learned to fight with every weapon they could get access to, including the ones the purple crown could come up with. Nobody would take advantage of them…ever.
