A misplaced goddess

[the_fires_deep]

Tisvetaia sends one of her manifested forms to go investigating a town that's just skirting the definition of 'near' to her domain. She's heard something about a sickness in the area, she'd like to see if there's any stock to that claim, and if there is, how best to act upon this. They're not her people, but they are people. They matter, even if they don't worship her.

And then the ground ceases to be under her.

She notes, with an air of calm, that this manifestation is plummeting out of the sky. Well. Can't turn the body into a bird at a rate that will actually save it. Can't spontaneously grow wings at a speed that will be at all helpful to not splattering all over the ground in a messy fashion. She sighs. At this distance it's not guaranteed to splatter her all over the ground in a messy fashion. That's something.

The goddess's manifestation hits the ground with a crunch and a distinct lack of pain. She could feel pain, if she wanted to, but she declines. So instead she sits back up immediately with an annoyed huff, and gets to checking her body for injuries. Her leg is broken badly enough that a bit of lava oozes out, singing the grass below her. She has other injuries, but they're minor and less debilitating than the leg.

"Well, damn," she says, in a tone that sounds like she forgot her keys. "That's annoying."

Comments

[pythbox]

She appears to be on an island.

It's...

It's not exactly another god's domain, in the same sort of way that a pine tree is not exactly an oak. There is some similarity, but whatever force or entity loosely claims this land, it's as different from the kind of god she's used to as coniferous trees are from deciduous. She could make an overlapping claim without any direct difficulty at all.

Whether or not that would be wise is a harder question.

[the_fires_deep]

How odd.

She will consider it unwise to claim anything present until further notice. It seems less blatantly suicidal to not piss random foreign gods off.

"Hello?" she calls, in her godvoice. "Can you hear me, or, uh, reply? I apologize for this, I did not mean to be dropped out of the sky."

[pythbox]

Assorted wild animal noises; the distant rustling of wind in leaves; no answer from the local not-exactly-god.

Her manifestation hit a beach. There's a forest not too far away, and an enormous brightly coloured lizard over there sunning itself on a large flat rock, and an equally enormous turtle farther down the beach in the opposite direction, ambling over the sand.

[the_fires_deep]

Hm.

Well, she has options.

She can do a patch job on her leg and try to shamble elsewhere, or she can put this manifestation to sleep to do a proper repair job, or she can just destroy the manifestation entirely, move the pieces of herself back to the rest of her, and remake her manifestation there, much as that would be annoying.

But, no. She's curious. She's not going to do something so drastic as destroying her body just because she was dropped out of the sky onto an unfamiliar island with a weird foreign not-exactly-god that's silent and everywhere. That's just silly. She doesn't even know if they're friendly yet or not.

She decides that she is vulnerable already in her injured state, and her manifestation promptly falls asleep. Well. It's more like falling over dead, really, but the body is still intact. It's just the life that's missing. She gets to repair work.

Even while her manifestation's asleep, she can still see a bit of the area around it. It still counts as hers. She is not so vulnerable as she appears, but she is, admittedly, rather vulnerable. But at least she won't be caught off guard if the turtle shambles over and attempts to eat her.

[pythbox]

The turtle does not attempt to eat her. Neither does the lizard! The creatures of the island generally leave her alone, except for a small crab that crawls over her hand on its way from one place to another.

[the_fires_deep]

She will tolerate the crab.

Eventually her body is completely repaired, and she breathes life back into her manifestation and opens her eyes and sits up. Experimentally, she moves her leg. Yep, that works just fine. Up she gets.

If she were mortal and had to worry about food and water and sleep and shelter, she might be intimidated. But she is not mortal, and she doesn't have to worry about any of those things. She notes the landscape and where she, er, landed, and how she can locate it again if she particularly needs to. And then she goes wandering.

"I don't actually know what you are," she says, to the not-exactly-god. "Or if you can hear me, or if you care, but, I think you might be as confused as I am if you can and do. Hello. I'm Tisvetaia, I'm a goddess of preservation. Well, I'm a piece of a goddess of preservation, the rest of me is elsewhere. The ground disappeared beneath this manifestation's feet and I was dropped out of the sky here. It was somewhat alarming. I can actually get this part of me home, if my presence is bothersome, I just think I should look around before I go and permanently remove myself from wherever this is."

Walk walk walk. She looks at scenery. Walk walk. Anything interesting?

[pythbox]

Beach. Forest. Forest. More forest. A lovely stone statue of a unicorn.

[the_fires_deep]

She doesn't actually know what a unicorn is, but it is a very pretty.

"I kind of would like to preserve that," says Tisvetaia, motioning to the unicorn statue, "but I don't know if that would offend you or not. Mm. If I figure out a way to be able to hear you and it turns out you're fine with me wandering about poking nice things to make them last longer, I'll come back and get it."

She notes its location, and she keeps walking. Walk walk walk.

[endragoned]

More forest. More unicorn statues.



A cozy little clearing filled with tall grass and wildlfowers, and some sort of winged person with bright red skin curled up sleeping in the grass.

[the_fires_deep]

"I preserve things, by the way. Things I purposefully touch in my manifested forms last longer, mortals included. I can keep mortals alive indefinitely if I touch them regularly and keep them away from sharp things that want to separate them from their fluids. I'll likely preserve whoever you like, barring the person isn't, for example, a terrible unrepentant mass murderer or something. Or if you're trying to kill me and I'd be poking the people who're helping, I have some self preservation instinct."

She runs out of things to say. She walks some more. She looks at statues.

...

Huh.

She does not want to frighten the winged person. She briefly entertains the idea of changing her manifestation to look like she's from the same species to freak the winged person out less, but dismisses that idea. More confusion, some possibly cultural missteps, and generally quite a lot of trouble for something that wouldn't gain her much.

Wake the winged person up, or not? Hmm. Yes, but gently, she thinks.

She kneels next to them and says softly, "Excuse me?"

[endragoned]

He wakes up.

He looks at her with an expression of deep confusion.

[the_fires_deep]

"Hello," she says, sounding friendly and generally soothing. "I apologize for waking and then startling you, but I have no idea where I am."

[endragoned]

"You are on my island," he says. "How did you get here? Who are you?"

[the_fires_deep]

"I randomly fell out of the sky and landed on a beach here," she says. "It was alarming. I'm Tisvetaia, nice to meet you."

[endragoned]

"I don't remember my name. But it is nice to meet you too, since you don't seem to be trying to kill me."

[the_fires_deep]

"... Why would I be trying to kill you? Is that the standard greeting here, or something?"

[endragoned]

He sits up and stretches his wings.

"I am an outcast of the Endarkened. The Endarkened want to kill me because I am not like them, and everyone else wants to kill me because I am still Endarkened. But I have done very well for myself alone on this island for thousands of years."

[the_fires_deep]

Blink. "I'm sorry people want to kill you, but I'm glad you've done all right here. What are the Endarkened?"

[endragoned]

"They look mostly like me, except that some are in different colours, and some do not have horns, and some do not have tails, and most do not have wings. They are at war with everyone."

[the_fires_deep]

"What purpose could it possibly serve to be at war with everyone?"

[endragoned]

"It serves their purposes very well. At least when they are winning. And they were when last I heard of them, although that may have changed."

[the_fires_deep]

"When did you last hear of them? And - what purposes are those? There's no reason to randomly kill everyone in the world."

[endragoned]

"Many thousands of years ago. Why do you say there is not? Killing or enslaving all who are not his own creatures is what our creator wanted us to do. I do not agree with it, but it is a reason."

[the_fires_deep]

"Fine, logical reason, then. I say it because - it's - everyone in the world is talented in a different sort of way. Killing or enslaving them all because they're different and that is inconvenient is, is shortsighted, at best. And, sure it's easier if everyone alive happens to agree with you, but things won't stay that way, because people aren't static, and I guarantee that new groups will form and find whole new reasons to disagree with you, and then congratulations! You are back where you started, except a whole lot more people are dead and everyone knows you're a mass murderer, yay. Who is this creator, I have arguments to present."

[endragoned]

"I do not think you should try to argue with He Who Is. As entertaining as that would no doubt be."

[the_fires_deep]

"Is he a god?" wonders Tisvetaia, hint of a dangerous smile on her lips.

[endragoned]

"You could call him that, I suppose. Some do. He is said to be as old as the world itself, and he was banished from it with great difficulty by the forces of light before I was born, and should he ever return he will destroy everything that is not to his liking and rule what is left."

[the_fires_deep]

"I see," she says. "Then I suppose I'll help with keeping him very banished, he sounds like an asshole. Worse, a shortsighted asshole. Ugh. Reminds me of some of my neighbors."

[endragoned]

"You have neighbours who want to take over the world and destroy all that does not please them?"

[the_fires_deep]

"Actually, yes. Yes I do."

[endragoned]

"I imagine they do not make very good neighbours."

[the_fires_deep]

"Not really, no. I have been getting by by being very friendly, generally noncombative, not the biggest, easiest, or most tempting target, and being a sneaky follower thief who tempts people away from their gods with a nice place to live and immortality. Bwuahaha, my evil plan."

[endragoned]

"Not especially evil, as plans go."

[the_fires_deep]

"Damn, I'll have to start over, won't I," she says, not at all serious.

[endragoned]

He laughs.

[the_fires_deep]

She smiles.

"My acolyte would be very confused if I suddenly went evil," she says, more seriously. Also likely he'd be trying to kill her. As is right and proper.

[endragoned]

"No doubt."

[the_fires_deep]

Nod.

"... Did you carve the statues?"

[endragoned]

"Yes. That is Tialle. She is a unicorn. I am sure she is dead now; unicorns do not live for many thousands of years."

[the_fires_deep]

"Ah. I'm sorry. You carved her beautifully."

[endragoned]

"Thank you."