The Muck Pond

[Fleegle]

(For AoM and Razorlance)

A squealing noise erupted from beneath them, and the tram lurched forward. It gathered speed, rocking back and forth along its rusty track. The sudden movement caused the figure in the corner to start.
"Bah!" an old man's voice exclaimed. The hat fell off the figure, revealing an emaciated elderly man. He had a long grey beard and jaundiced eyes, and was missing several teeth.
The old man looked around, disoriented. Having gained his composure, he looked upon the new arrivals. "Oh, bother. More riders." he said with absence of expression. He picked up his hat and placed it atop his head, leaving the face uncovered. The rags fell away, revealing an old, soiled shirt torn in places. Out of the sleeves hung two bony, speckled arms. He looked upon his guests with a sour and somewhat depressed expression.

[AoM]

"Hello. I am Ao. Who are you?" Ao mind-spoke to the man. His tone was neutral. It's not that he didn't want to be friendly, but the last person they had met had put him in a cautious mood.

[Fleegle]

(For AoM and Razorlance)

"Oh, what does it matter..." the old man trailed off. "Jerm Varga was my name once upon a time. I am nobody now."

[AoM]

"What are you doing down here, Jerm?"

[Fleegle]

(For AoM and Razorlance)

"Waiting for this infernal tram to fall apart so that I may find peace." Jerm replied in a depressed tone.

Kikkik chimed in at this point. "His fate has been tied into that of the machine. He cannot leave the tram, and is doomed to remain alive until the tram falls into disrepair."

"It is my own personal hell-world." Jerm replied. "Oh, I want only to die!"

[AoM]

Ao mindspeaks directly to Kikkik.

"Why has he been given such a fate? Has he done some great wrong?"

[Fleegle]

(For AoM and Razorlance)

"I believe his crime was greed and hubris. He demanded immortality, so he was granted an extremely long life, but not eternal youth. I suppose it is a bit of a joke on the part of the gods, but if you ask me it is a bit cruel. Eriadina does not play games like that, I am happy to report." Kikkik said.

[AngelSpice]

Audira follows Losom into his cave, eager to find out what the artifacts are.

[AoM]

"What god has placed this cruel fate upon you, Jerm?" Ao mindspoke this out loud, and then once again hushed his mindspeak so that only Kikkik could perceive him.

"Is it within Eriadina's power to undo the works of another god?"

[Schme]

MushBall spent a good long time drinking and laughing with the gods, aswell as making full use of his servants. He was beginning to grow quite accustomed to this lifestyle (seeing as he’d lived it for a very large part of his short life) and was soon absolutely convinced that this was what someone of his greatness and stature (1.25 meters) deserved. He also got it into his head that everyone else present must understand that aswell. He was sure that the other three visitors were having a good deal of fun too, and laughed and joked with them almost as much as he did with the god.

[Fleegle]

(For AngelSpice)

Losom placed the two halves of the artefact on the table, and examined them carefully.
"Now, this other half says... 'moon press button'. So, the whole thing says, 'under the light of moon press button'. Well that's simple enough, though a little disappointing... I was expecting some great prophetic words or something. Oh well, it would still be interesting to see what it does. Let me see here..." Losom trailed off, looking for something to afix the two halves together. He tried to click them together, but the interlocking pieces had been worn down by time and would not hold together. He found half of a seashell, which he placed on the table. He grabbed some sand, and some strange substance that Audirda had never seen before, and mixed it together in the shell. He then applied the paste to the interlocking bits and stuck the halves together.

"Here you go, my dear." Losom said, handing the complete artefact over to Audirda. "Now, that has to dry, so go quickly to the surface and let it sit on the beach for a little while. Shouldn't take very long, but you must hurry before the paste loses its consistency. Once it has dried you can try using it."

[Fleegle]

(For AoM and Razorlance)

The tram continued along the track, jostling about as it careened through the dark tunnel. The lights flickered intermittently as the journey progressed, lending a haunting quality to the trip.

"Why does it matter?" the old man asked dejectedly. "If you must know, it was Ilosep. Ohhhh Ilosep, I repent! Let me die..."

"Yes, the gods can, to some extent, undo the work of another god. But they have to pick their battles. Can't have a war of the heavens everytime there's a disagreement. Fact is, Eriadina would not risk sparring with Ilosep just to give a single man peace. Furthermore, this man is the only original Old One still around, they having died off millenia ago. So you could say he's a historical artefact, in a sense. At any rate, Eriadina does not have a lot of sympathy for this man or his kind, though she thinks the punishment is a bit harsh." Kikkik answered Ao.

(For Schme. God(s)? There's only one here...)

A large bird swooped down from the sky and landed on a nearby tree stump. It was none other than Urdast, the sky god.
"Oooooh!" Bassus announced. "Urdashht... how nice of you to shtop by... wonshoo havva drinkshh!"
"Hello, Bassus. Up to the usual I see. MushBall, I must say I am a little dismayed to see you spending so much of your time here. I thought you were destined for great things, but I see you've taken after this fellow." He indicated Bassus with his beak. "Ah, Vex and Xev, and Briker too. I must thank you for rescuing Audirda from the Pink Ones. My consort, Dietris, was most dismayed when she found out that Audirda had been kidnapped. Now, you would be best not to stay here very long, in the never-ending debauchery of the forest."
"Aww come now! Havva drink! Forget abowsh yer trubbles..." Bassus said to Urdast. Urdast glared at the pig-man. Jilly brought a cup over to him and filled it up with wine.
"Get that poison out of my face!" Exclaimed Urdast. "Pitiful nymph, why do you waste your time with this god, if you can call him that? This is not the time for parties. Don't you know your precious forest is in danger, along with the rest of this world?"
Jilly looked back at the magnificent bird, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, she dropped the cup and decanter, wine staining the earth at her feet. She held her hands up to her eyes and ran off to the edge of the clearing, sobbing.
"Whassa... whyssh you do thassh, Urdashht? Das my Jilly-lily..." Bassus protested.
"Oh, why don't you go do something useful, Bassus!" Urdast retorted.

[Schme]

(Thought I wrote that. That’s what I meant, though.)

MushBall was somewhat hurt that Urdast thought him to be wasting his time. “Why, I’m not wasting time at all!” he thought “I’m collecting my dues after a long life of struggle, and associating myself with the powerful and divine nobility.”

But Urdast’s words brought some thoughts he’d been harboring at the back of his mind. The Sky God was quite right. Bassus, although having always been very kind to MushBall, was not the grand emperor that the mush man had been pretending he was. He may be lord of a small principality, and the wealthiest person MushBall knew, but he was no great king. In fact, he thought, I see no power in him. Where were his army? Where was his discipline? His authority showed no where. It seemed he derived his status simply out of social stagnation, and weakness by his subjects. Bassus was and idle and insignificant God. There were more those more powerful than he by many thousands of times, MushBall had seen it. Garob with his command of fire, Ilosep with his great abode, and who knew what else.

And to hear that Bassus was losing control of the little dominion that he had, well, that was the straw that broke the camels back. To be under the protection of a leader that was about to be overthrown was worse than having no protection at all. He knew now why Bassus was called The Lesser God of the Forest.

“This is it.” He thought. “Urdast is right, in all his wisdom. I shall no longer attach myself to such petty and weak kings. I do feel for poor old Bassus, but by no means can I let myself be dragged down with him. I’m destined for much more than that. The world needs me.”

“Come now Urdast, let’s not be gruff and rude. We all know you’re upset, but you really mustn’t express yourself like that. See here, you’ve made poor Jill cry…” He wanted to be diplomatic as he advanced. He did not, by any means, want to offend the Sky God, or challenge his wisdom, but neither did he want to hurt the feelings of his old friend. But he did, in any event, have to carry on, and so he continued nervously “What’s this about the forest being in danger? Why’ve you not told me, Bassus? You know I’d help, don’t you my friend?”

[El_Skwidd]

Vex turns to listen to Urdast, and Xev picks his face out of the wine, half-blushing, half covered in the juice.

"Trouble?" Vex says. "Do tell."

[AngelSpice]

Audirda takes the artifact and swiftly swims to the nearby beach where she lays the artifact down to dry........as it does so, she lounges on the beach and plays in the surf.