The Muck Pond

[Fleegle]

(This one for 3shyof30rats)

Urdast did not look at Erake as he spoke, but rather stared distantly at the scene below.
"He is certainly not the first, and will not be the last. Garob has always been a troublemaker, and he tends to get violent when he doesn't get his own way. He is really like a child... a very dangerous child. I do not think Beelzebub realizes what he has gotten himself into."
Urdast glanced over at Erake and clicked his beak. "Remember, Garob's element is fire, and wherever there is fire, he is listening. Keep that in mind. And I would stay up here for the time being, unless you're up for flying to the Old Temple. The Tagus cannot climb trees, but he is positively lethal on the ground."

[Debsy]

She looked at the creature. He didn't think she could handle herself...Ah..He was probably right. She certainly didn't want to upset the Tagus...that's for sure. She nodded. "I think I'll stay up here. I like it...I can watch everyone and study them. Don't want any unexpected attacks." She grinned. In all actuality, she welcomed danger. It's what she loved the most. Putting herself in dangerous situations...

[Snake_byte]

"Now might have been a good time to test my wings" I thought. Then another thought, the opportunity to test something else. There is no way this creature can be a god.
I take one step and and raise my arm pointing at Tagus as he charges "You will tear yourself up untill dead!" I feel the now almost familiar feeling of paralysis take over my body as it turns to stone. The color of my skin doesn't change too much but there is obviously somthing taking control.
As the stone moves up my chest and takes over my face I take in a last breath and my vision blurs till I'm blind.

[Schme]

MushBall had not expected to be hopped upon, and staggered for a moment from the surprise more than the weight. “Well, I had never at all thought something like this would happen.” He said to himself. He was not at all angry, but this devolopement was most unexpected. He pondered a moment. Kitty was surprisingly light. Not a trouble to carry at all. And what a fashionable thing, to have a person on one’s shoulder! Why, it just screamed power and authority! And not just any person, at that. A person with so smart as to revere him, and understand his natural greatness. And yet more, so a very fine looking person atop him. The feather on her tail, the thought, looked very fine. Yes, a very fine thing indeed that Kitty had jumped upon his shoulders.

And so, the stout little mushman walked on, proudly carrying Kitty on his shoulders like the greatest trophy too be found.

The dark was also very new too him, and his increasingly worse vision as the night went on concerned him greatly. He increasingly relied on Kitty to guide him, and without her telling him where to go, he surely would have become lost in the dark.

Seeing the blue glowing light and the outline of the temple in the night made MushBall mad with curiosity, and nearly dizzy with amazement. What a thing to behold! “I never could have imagined it would be this grand!” said MushBall as he walked towards it, enchanted by the beautiful blue light.

He continued to walking, heading for the temple entrance.

[Fleegle]

(This one for Snake_byte and 3shyof30rats)

Indeed, the Tagus was not a god. As Beelzebub petrified, the Tagus halted in his gait and stumbled backwards as if in a stupor. He made a noise that could only be described as indicating surprise. The Tagus drew one arm backwards and attempted to slash his own chest. He roared in pain as the claw drew across. It fell on all fours and began to set about tearing itself apart. Though the Tagus was accustomed to ripping apart other creatures, he found doing it to himself to be a very trying and troublesome process. The beast scratched and tore at his flesh, howling in pain with every slash. It seemed a very inefficient process, and it was clear that it would take the Tagus a while to finish its task. He rolled about in the dust outside the cave, tearing at his flesh and howling. The Tagus was single-mindedly focussed on the task Beelzebub settled upon, paying no attention whatsoever to the stone Beelzebub or the creatures in the trees.
Urdast clicked his beak. "If I didn't know better I'd feel sorry for that creature. What a most horrid way to die... These events of late have profoundly saddened me."
He turned to Erake. "I hope that beast doesn't take too long to die, for its own sake. But at the very least it puts Beelzebub out for a bit." He paused, glanced back at the scene and then again to Erake. "Well, I must be off Erake, things to do. When you are finished here, go to the Old Temple and talk to Ilosep. He must assign you your fate."

(This one for Schme and Varrius)

The pale blue light spilled out of the archway, beckoning to MushBall and Kitty. As they entered the Old Temple, they saw the old man come out of his little room, parchments in hand, and shuffle towards the companions.
"Welcome, welcome!" Ilosep said in a loud, cracking voice, smiling widely. "I am Ilosep, god of Justice." He paused, then continued at a normal speaking voice. "I've been looking forward to meeting you both. Anesek has told me a lot about you. No, I know you haven't met her, her avatar was killed by that awful Beelzebub and she hasn't taken a new form yet. But she's been watching over you, and she says you are both of good hearts. I've been expecting you... I presume you came here without anyone having to tell you? Good, good. Well I have been assigned to hand you out your fates. These are magical powers that will help to guide your destiny. I am positive you will use your fates in the service of what is Right and Good, I just have an intuition about you both. Well then, let's get on with this."
Ilosep took his place behind the podium and the ghost audience reconvened. "I shall be handing out two fates for this session." Ilosep thundered, apparently for the benefit of the ghost crowd. "MushBall, since you were born earliest, you shall receive the first fate. Your fate is... Teleport! You will be able to send yourself or anyone else to anywhere you have previously visitted. You can only perform it on mortal beings, and only 3 times within each being's lifetime, including yourself."
Ilosep looked down at the podium and rearranged the bits of parchment. "Kitty, your fate is... SoulShield. You are now protected against any kind of psychic influence by any fate or god, until you pass from this life. Mushball, Kitty, may you use these fates wisely in the service of Justice!"
Ilosep blew the bone whistle and the ghost crowd vanished. He stepped down from the podium and came to speak to the pair personally. "Good, good, I am pleased with these fates. I think you will make good use of them, they are most fitting for your essences."
Ilosep put his hands together and puffed his cheeks. "Well... that's everything. I expect another of your brethren will be along soon. If you come across any other child of the Muck that hasn't seen me yet, by all means, send them to me!"
Ilosep did not return to his room as he had the time before, but returned to the podium and rearranged the parchment. He then took a seat on a stone bench under a statue of some kind of knight, and tilted his head back. It appeared he was performing some kind of meditation.

Twilight had now given way to early dawn. The sun had not yet peeked over the horizon, but the sky was significantly brighter than when the pair had entered the Temple. The pale blue orb that hung over them faded into nothingness.

(NEW GAME DAY)

[Debsy]

Erake watched the beast, frowning a bit. She had really been looking forward to watching it devour Beelzebub. She shrugged, No matter...This is all to interesting anyways. She turned to the creature beside her when he started talking and when he finished she looked at him a little annoyed. She didn't like being told what to do, and this Illosep didn't sound too nice. Assigning her a fate..Who is this creature that thinks he has the power to do that?

[Fleegle]

(This one for 3shyof30rats)

Urdast picked up on Erake's annoyed look. "Oh, it's not an order, child. I suppose you don't have to, but it would be in your best interest to go there. That power that Beelzebub has... that was given to him by Ilosep. Every being that comes from the sacred pond has a latent fate that must be drawn out by an appointed god. You will be unable to use your power until you see Ilosep. But I really must get going. Take care, child."
Urdast flapped his great wings and launched from the tree, shaking it in the process. He headed off in the direction of the ocean.

[Debsy]

Erake watched the creature fly away. A power eh? She grinned. This power could prove to be useful in the future. She decided to go see what he was talking about and she leapt into the air and flew to the Temple. Once she was at the entrance, she landed and walked inside, and looked around.

[Varrius]

Thinking to herself Kitty wonders how the Soulsheild would be of use. She Immediatly thinks of how it could help her and the MushBall on the many grand adventures they were sure to have agaisnt Violent and Deadly foes, which the Mushball could destroy with a wave of his Hand.

After thinkign of all the fun she and MushBall were soon to be having Kitty thanks the kind God who gave her these powers and headed out of the Temple towards the pond area where she had been Born. Hoping that her best friend MushBall would follow her.

[Schme]

MushBall maintained a dignified silence throughout the entire ordeal, but he found that he had a great deal of respect for Ilosep. Someone who lived in such a great place as this must certainly be a great man, although, thinking more, he thought one could not really call Ilosep a man, as he was a god. And he quite liked the idea of the god of justice handing out such wonderful things to the children of The Muck. A very kind thing to do, a very respectable pastime.

He took in the whole happening silently, choosing to observe everything as carefully as he could.

Reiceiving the gift, he felt a surge of power. "What command of the elements, to be able to shift posistion so! This must be one of the greatest gifts he has handed out in all eternity! And a very fitting receipient, he's chosen, if you ask me. I am one of the most powerful people ever to walk this earth!"

As the host of ghosts left, he pressed his hands together and gave a bow in thanks to the God of Justice. He tried, through indecipherable gurgling punctuated by sharp muffled sounds, to ask weather he could someday return to visit the god, and ask questions of him, if it were at all convenient.

He then turned around after his friend, wondering where she was going off too.

[Snake_byte]

Post removed

[Fleegle]

Post removed

[Varrius]

Heading towards the muck Pool where she was born, Kitty sees the Tagus ripping itself up "how strange" she thinks to herself, then she sees the Winged creature who was arguing with the monkey turned to stone "Good Riddance" She thinks to herself, "I didnt like him anyway".

Turning around she waits for the MushBall so he can decide on their next Destination.

[Schme]

MushBall ran to try and catch up too Kitty, and was most confused at what he saw upon returning too the Muck Pond. For one, he’d never seen Tagus before, and to see such a great creature tearing itself to bits was infinitely baffling. He was not afraid, as he’d never been given much reason to be, of the beast, but did not particularly want to meet a person so eccentric that they would rip themselves apart. It was surly very unfashionable to be seen with such company. All the same, it was a most confusing seen which he could not explain to himself, and furthermore, he distinctly remembered the clawed creature having not been a statue. “I suppose that is what you get for fighting a god.” He thought.

The walk had made him hungry, and seeing as the fruit no longer seemed a safe source of nourishment, he decided he would go and eat some grass before going on his way. He’d not really searched the patch of grass when he’d gone earlier, and so he decided that he would do this while he ate, as there was just as good a chance as not that there was something interesting there. Seeing as the moment he’d been born, he’d found a box on a tree, he saw no reason why there was not something be something here aswell, and so off he went, with intent to munch grass until he was quite full.

But where had Kitty gotten too? He continued to look around, and seeing her, beckoned her over. Knowing she wanted to travel, he thought she would not object too him eating a small bit first.

[Fleegle]

(Snake_byte first)

The sun had begun to peek over the horizon at this point, forming a beautiful sunrise in the direction of the Groff-fields and ocean.
The Tagus panted and puffed, growing ever weaker from his self-inflicted injuries. His face was horribly disfigured, making it even uglier than before, and it had blinded itself. It groaned in agony, but continued to stab at its chest. Its claws finally reached the heart, slicing the organ open and causing it to fountain blood. The beast collapsed on all fours, splayed out like a rug. A pool of blood seeped from under the massive body. A final puff of breath surged from its bloody nostrils, and it went completely still.
The statue of Beelzebub began to soften, the grey rock dissolving first from the face, and slowly making its way down to the feet.

(This one for Schme and Varrius)

As Mushball rummaged through the long grass, a little grass snake squirmed out and shot off in the direction of the groff-fields, disappearing into the crops (OOC note: I think only Vex/Xev knows it is called groff so far).

(Now for 3shyof30rats)

Ilosep arose from the stone bench as Erake passed through the archway. He walked over to Erake at his usual, slow pace. "Ah, Erake! Friend of Urdast! I can see why he has taken a liking to you, given your form." He gestured towards her large red wings. "Let's hope his judgement is based on more than just physical appearance!"
He looked her up and down cautiously. "I'm sure he told you why you were to come here. Very well, let's get on with it."
He shuffled up behind the podium once again. The ghosts did not appear, but a whole series of displaced voices seemed to emanate from all around the hall.
"Silence, silence, please." He hushed the crowd with a patting motion of his hand. "Erake, your fate is... Invisibility! You will be able to make yourself invisible from sunrise to sunset. You will only become visible during this period if you perform or attempt to perform a violent act. Also, only you shall be invisible. Nothing you carry with you will be invisible unless it is inside you. While invisible, no mortal being shall be able to detect you. Use your fate with wisdom, in the service of Justice!" The voices rose up again at the end of his speech.
Ilosep concluded, stepping down and approaching Erake. The voices stopped. "Hmm, I hope you will use this with the best of intentions. I would be lying if I said I completely trusted you with this fate. I hope Urdast is right about you." Ilosep looked at Erake suspiciously with his slit eyes, as if he didn't want to let her out of his sight. Without saying another word, he turned and gathered up his parchments and returned to his dark room.