Well, in for a Minor, in for a Major.
You bring your focus and attention onto this mysterious thing extending from your being and channel yourself and your power into it. It grows and expands, until you become very alarmed as you realize that A, this thing seems to be divine in nature and B, most importantly, it is becoming self aware!
Did you just make another Godling?!
You become completely still and silent, in all ways, as the entity....hatches, in a sense. It is....strange. One moment it is like an ethereal Kirin, then a vaguely equine mass of fire, now a great beast, and something....mortals have no proper adjective for the final shape. Something unearthly, almost eldritch. Almost like Chaos in some sense, but more....consistent in its strangeness.
You set aside your thoughts on that as this creation of yours, still ever shifting in form, looks around slowly before looking up at you.
And you see perfect obedience reflected in them.
"Master," it greets in a voice of reverence, bowing to you submissively.
You stare, your shock compounding itself as you come to understand. Forcing this being into existence had forced your mind to unlock the knowledge of what it is: A Servant. YOUR Servant.
Often called Angels or Demons, they are semi-divine creatures that exist solely to serve their gods in any and all fashions. Which wasn't unexpected as they are literally made from a god's essence. Luckily, they would regenerate even if they were killed, so you didn't have to worry about losing a piece of yourself entirely. Even better, they could use lesser versions of your powers and miracles! Their existence allowed them to move between the spiritual and physical world much easier than a god could. Which meant you could manifest them here. Or this one, at least. He...she...it was all you could make for now. Thankfully, that number would grow some over time, and eventually cap around the triple digit mark.
"How may I serve, Master?" it asked with a head tilt.
Okay, you'd deal with the finer details of WHO this Servant was later. Right now, you had to keep track of Shaded Gold. Servant wordlessly followed behind you as you came to the Hunter's location once more. He had only just entered the swamp proper, observing everything even when he didn't appear to be.
You were both relieved and uneasy about the lack of activity, but that gave you a moment to try and....process what you needed to do, to know.
Every God or Pantheon only had one type of servants, who could be customized to do anything:
The Elementals, and you could only pick one element, who were defined by their given nature....almost assuredly fire at this point. For some reason, Elementals were naturally talented at crafting, better than a mortal could do without a divine blessing. Interesting, powerful and potent, but probably a bit of a risk summoning one in a swamp.
The Akins, those that resembled a god's favored race, albeit a more idealized version of them. While not the physically mightiest, they had above average powers over magic and could interact with mortals the easiest. Which would make this revealing thing a lot easier, especially since the Akin were natural leaders, even more so in war time.
The Ferals who took on more monstrous appearances of a wild creature or monster, giving them incredible physical might without sacrificing mana. Their natural ability was more of a feature, being much larger than a creature of that type would normally be. The only downsides were the large size delaying their transit between the aether and the mortal realm, albeit briefly, and....their animalistic nature made them poor servants for non-violent tasks.
Then there were the Eldritch, who you were unbelievably and frustratingly tempted by despite them reminding you of Chaos: Yes, they were otherworldly. Yes, they were physically weak. And yes, they were probably the ones that had the hardest time interacting with mortals. BUT.....they slipped between planes easily, they were the best in terms of magical power, and, by You, their natural talent! They were the guardians, the Guiders! Those that sought out the souls of your dead followers if they were unable to find their way to whatever afterlife you granted them: often the chance result of dying in far off lands or the potential intentional outcome of being slayed by another god's servant.
Note to self, don't be an unintentional flankhole by accidentally blocking another god's faithful passing on. Unless you really want to or have to be a flankhole.
You calm down, reminding yourself that you CAN grant that ability to any of the other three servants in time, just that Eldritch had it as part of their very being, like how the Eldritch could be great leaders like the Akin inherently were.
You glance at Your Servant, who is staring at you ever patiently. You direct It, still genderless in its unfinished state, towards Shaded. "You wish me to protect him as he searches, Master? With respect, I can aid him in locating your lost faithful if you complete me," It suggested, and you can sense its pure desire to be of use to you.
You conceded that point, but you aren't certain what Shaded may or may not be facing. Because whatever, if anything, that he has to fight here is something your followers will likely being dealing with long term. The servile entity falls silent, focusing your shared attention on Shaded's quest.
Just from the Hunter's surface thoughts and feelings, you knew he believed this was about the place where the party should have been. Something you confirmed if only to yourself, feeling that Kirin had passed here and never returned. It looked like the rest of the swamp so far. Plenty of plants and giant trees, patches of mud, and a large overturned trunk nearby.
Shaded stopped at the base of the over-sized stump, and bowed his head low to the ground, sniffing before shaking his head. "Poison, but not deadly," he murmured to himself as he used his magic to pull something off the floor. It looked like the skin of some large, berry-like plant that had popped like a balloon. You liked it even less than Shaded. It wasn't divine, but there was some trace of magic about it. Life magic, nature magic. Which, ironically, meant it wasn't natural. Magically enhanced and engineered to be some kind of gas bomb.
Not a god, but skilled none the less.
"No blood," Shaded continued as he scanned the area. None of you perceived any clues of a fight. "Ambush," he concluded grimly.
"Master," Servant called, floating up on the stump, at least three times the height of a Kirin. You glance to Shaded, who is already following drag marks up the stump's slope, before heading up to your servant. The broken trunk has a hollow path within in, making a convenient and hidden bridge. But in the ring of the stump were pudgy berries, half the size of an apple, clearly filled with something unpleasant. There were also more normal plants, mainly bananas. But the real give away was the foliage used as make shift camouflage.
You felt Shaded reach the last of the marks and knew he was coming to the same conclusion you had. Something intelligent had setup an outpost here.
He promptly sat down, leaned on his spear, and feigned a long, tired sigh. You knew it was an act, for whoever was watching. If they hadn't been observing him before, Shaded and you had no doubt they were now.
Unlike Shaded, you knew something he didn't. It was the only reason you hadn't rushed into making Servant into one type of another: Whatever was watching them wasn't a sapient creature. It was smarter than most animals, but it was still just an animal.
Shaded sprang to the side as a creature leapt down, trying to attack him. Shaded responded in kind by using the pole of the spear to knock the foe back, the tip leaving a a small wound.
You and Shaded both pause only briefly to take this creature in. It is primate based, but small, just below Shaded's haunches. Its head was rather large on its body, and it had hands and feet both suited for gripping and grabbing, along with a rather sturdy tail. But the most catching detail was that this creature seemed to be made out of wood and plants. Bark for skin, moss for fur, and little plants about its back and head. From the wound on its chest dripped tree sap.
It left out a rather large, howling screech as it lashed out at Shaded, its arms extending and enlarging as masses of vines.
You dub this creature a Vineky, and plant that thought in the back of Shaded's mind for when he tells this story. The hunter, in turn, merely scowled and lit himself ablaze. The Vineky screamed in animalistic pain even as the flames died out before they could spread. The beast backed away fearfully, sprouting vines from its tail to fling itself back into the trees and run off.
"That thing might have caught them, but it wasn't the one who planned this or took them away," Shaded concluded as he watched the faint shadow of the Vineky scurrying through the trees. "And it'll probably be back soon with backup..."
As the hunter debated what to do, exactly, so did you as you turned towards Servant, who was standing next to the contemplative Shaded. You had to make a decision, and it was one that you wouldn't be making yet if you had a choice. Because these wouldn't just be your servants, but the servants of the Kirin Trinity. While there could be some variance on abilities, your fellow gods would be stuck with whichever type you picked here and now.
Did you take Feral Servants, who would be right at home in the Grand Swamp and fight the battles your Kirin couldn't on their own?
Did you take the Akin Servants, who could mingle and connect with your followers the easiest, spreading your word directly at times?
Did you take the Elemental Servants, who would act as living forces of nature under your command, and craft wonders?
Did you take the Eldritch Servants, who could wield magic like the greatest of mages, could slip between realms with ease, and gather the lost fallen?
You look towards Shaded, who was already making his way down the path within the tree trunk. You didn't have long to figure out what to do, you knew that much. Because your Hunter would find his quarry soon if they didn't find him first.
D. I'm also coming around to us being the God of Life and Death.
D. Eldritch
If we were to become god of life and death then retrying fallen feitfull no matter where they are should be in our resume.
A metal elemental
A
I was going to choose Eldritch but then I thought of Elemental of Metal would be good for holy weapons, etc
But It's an emergency right now and I don't know what Elemental powers for fighting are so let's go with
D
D. Eldritch
I'm voting D as well.
I'm gonna go for
B. Akin
Since we can give them additional traits later, I think leadership would be a good base trait for them all to have. For future we can have giant leaders that can be a formidable force on the battlefield by themselves but also be able to rally troops behind them, or guiding leaders that can both put the souls at ease and bring them to whatever afterlife we choose later.
SQ1: I think having serpentine dragons (or eastern dragons) would be cool and represent the Kirin well; being majestic, agile, and calm normally, but can be tough, strong, and ferocious when the need arises.
Honestly I kind of want a lightning elemental, however if I can’t choose lightning I will choose a metal one.
Akin elementals are like the traditional angels, they come down and bestow blessings and guide people right. If akin is chosen I think a kind of monkey would work, nimble, and flexible it would be able to guide followers and in combat they would be very hard to handle being able to use weapons to fight easier then most species in this world.
I think I'll chose D. While they may be Eldritch, I'm sure that there are some that can shapeshift as to blend in at least a little easier. Plus, if going against an opposing army, having a bunch of Eldritch just pop in out of nowhere to assist would scare the heck out of the enemies and lower their morale.
Just got an idea for a metal elemental, the elemental is commonly seen as a tornado with large metal strips in it, flashing between the strips is lightning. Whenever the elemental is communicating with others it’s body Comes out of the cyclone. This helps it not rust from the swamp waters.
[B.] Akins
[SQ1:] A more Stylized Kirin~
40.media.tumblr.com/5feed25fec8db6e6aab05049391e96b3/tumblr_n3mfx563Y01r4gturo3_1280.png
A bridge between the Kirin and their God~
pm1.narvii.com/6484/cc533bee460d189daacbc4845def2086c123cf1b_hq.jpg
[SQ2:]
The Chosen Xcom 2 reference~
The Chosen of The Cycle
The Chosen of The Link
The Chosen of The Flow
you get the idea~
Extra thoughts:
God's Elite?
Divine Judges? I am the LAW
The Heralds?
lets evaluate them
A.
B.
C.
D.
all in all, i think D.
using their magic and/or their innate abilities:
they can drop in on a fight and turn the tide in our favor.
collect any straggling souls(something that the one who controls the realm of life/death will appreciate).
D.Eldritch
Ah, we figured out heralds eh? How fortuitous. Well then, four choices to examine.
The Feral is right out, after putting so much focus on kirin self-control, representing ourselves with half-wild berserkers would be quite hypocritical.
The Akin, for some reason I just don't like them. I smell some kind of potential for problems with that lot. I don't know why, but I feel like they'd be more trouble than they're worth, and I always listen to my hunches.
The Elementals, ooh that's tempting. I do quite like elementals, and fire elementals would go very well with sorcerous kirin. But since we've decided to hide out in a swamp instead of a nice cave system with waterfalls in, we're limited in how much fire we can safely fling around. Earth elementals probably wouldn't do so well here, 'tis difficult to find good strong earth and stone in a swamp, all the water in the area wears at them. Water would be rather potent here, but I don't quite see how it would be on "theme", as it were. (They'd douse the nirik too.) Ditto the metal elementals. Wood elementals would be interesting in such heavy foliage, but they'd be severely hampered if they ever had to work in concert with flaming nirik.
As a final option, the Eldrich have no issue existing in environments beyond mortal ken, a little swamp muck won't faze them in the least. Magic is always useful, and they'd make for great teachers of this external magic we're groping for. The certainty they provide for our mortal followers is a fine extra, a people that knows what the future holds is one that can withstand immense hardship. And as a final note, they'd exemplify the supremacy of the metaphysical, inspiring the kirin to ever greater levels of arcane understanding as they plumb the subtle mysteries of the Eldritch.
Yes, I think the Eldrich will do very well for us, they can do a little of what each of the others can, and they match our previous choices perfectly. Best of all, Shaded won't mistake the thing for local flora or fauna and try to stab it.
D
Another thing on the topic of personally picking up mastery of life/death. I really don't think it's a good idea, for three specific reasons.
Firstly, as the head/lead/primarius/progenitor god of this nascent triumvirate, our aspect will have a significant influence on our civilization's culture. Just look at what happens with Sun's ponies, if they put any more zeal into following her lead they'd all be bleaching their coats. With that in mind, what effect would placing a death god at the apex focus of kirin civilization have? life and death are very important aspects of the world, but I don't think they're good things to found a culture on.
Secondly, just being a responsible death god is a full time job. You've got to manage the afterlife, you've got to shepherd the deceased, you've got to judge the wicked if that's a thing that happens, you've got to protect your realm from interlopers, you've got to quiet or quell the restless dead, and a million other things. That's not even counting whatever the life half of the aspect has to deal with, who knows what that entails! There's a good reason you never hear any stories about Hades, he's too busy to get up to any shenanigans. So unless we're going to hand off the duty of actually guiding the kirin civilization, the job of life and death ought to be entrusted to some one/thing else.
And for a final thought, when is the last time anyone ever heard of a death/life god heading a pantheon or any size or scale? We're supposed to be the "face" of our faction, and we'll be one of the centerpoints of the kirin's interactions with other nations. There are certain assumptions made about cultures that put the altar with skulls on in front, assumptions that are generally well-earned. I'd rather not have those assumptions made about us.
Honestly, as someone who loves world building and thinking about all the little idiosyncrasies that go into building a culture from scratch, I'm a little worried/irritated/disappointed by some of the apparent munchkinry going around. I don't want to build a Frankenstein mishmash of the *best* options, I want to help make something that works and looks awesome because all of the bits suit each other, y'know?
D. Eldritch
D: Eldritch Servants
It's hecking Halloween, how could I say no to a pet cthulhu? Furthermore, their monstrous appearance will likely be of benefit to us. If a super pretty person tells you God exists, and a creature with no eyes and 6 arms tell you God exists, who do you believe? Though, I guess that isn't helpful if seeing an eldritch servant makes our people go insane... But still. Eldritch servants are powerful and have nice synergy with the God of Death trait.
SQ1: If we pick an elemental, I'm hoping we get a legit draconequus. Not Discord style, but an actual dragon-pony, perhaps a more draconic version of our Kirins. Long and serpentine, with sharp claws in the front, and strong hooves in the back.
SQ2: I think we should hold out on naming our servants for now, at least until we've named our Gods.
D.
From what we know it is the most useful right away and the most magically powerful, which would make sense with what we chose for our Kirin's. They are going to be magically strong with their external magic focus and a focus on the metaphysical.
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Depending on how you looked at it, Osiris and Odin. Egyptian is hard to qualify, as Ra and Amun are essentially the highest ones, but Osiris and Horus are the heads of the more...down-to-earth part of the pantheon, I suppose. Its one of the most complicated mythologies, lets just leave it at that. Main point, the Egyptian religion put a LOT of attention on the afterlife.
And most of the Aesir can technically double death gods in Norse mythology.
I vote D.
Another wonderful chapter, my vote goes to D this time around.
Of course D.
D: Eldritch ! wiggly wiggly, twitch and spasm!
if we wind up with elemental anyways, I'd choose Metal, but eh.
Eldritch don’t necessarily have to be ugly Cthulhu things right. If not I would like our eldritch to be like a wisp, a ball of burning mana, whenever they feel threatened they are able to take rocks, dirt, wood and material from their surroundings to build armor around themselves with the most powerful being able to take control of buildings.
What do you guys think about this?
9917457
Something with such an apparent command of magic can look like anything it wishes, it's amazing what you can do with illusions these days.
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You know, I'm enjoying this, but I'm surprised nobody is discussing/contemplating what kind of creatures actually took the missing party, or if it was the Vinekies after all.
9919061
Well that's "tomorrows" problem so to speak. The downside of this CYOA format is that we're all quite focused on the choices up for consideration. Don't want to miss the bus y'know?
9919061
I will say Deer, it seems like a place deer would go, their druid-ness would be a boon here
Druid
Drow
Treants
Boggarts
9919061
Honestly, I don't remember the swamp too well from the show, so I can't really guess what caught our guys. My money is on a chimera though. Or maybe there's changlings in the swamp?
9919117
While true, I kind of figured that was today's problem since this choice is ultimately how your servant can/will help with the current issue with the natives.
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I won't spoil what they are, but I will admit to a scrapped plan: They were originally going to be Lizards/Lizardmen(like how the bird pirates and the cat from the movie are upright/anthro). But that plan got scrapped for multiple reasons, mostly from there being a more fitting option.
9919061
Hmm I don’t think the Kirin were taken by vinekies, if they were they would have needed an entire troop to take down a squad of Kirin and that suggests that the one Vinekie would have done some kind of call to attract others because it was hurt.
I really don’t know what they were taken by It could have been many things. I do think it could be changelings, they would kidnap a squad and then later try and replace it, basic infiltration, however they didn’t account for the Golding and shaded gold coming in so early.
D Eldritch
My reasoning for this is that Shaded is a skilled fighter so it will be good to have magic support.
A metal elemental C and then sub choice B
Think of the future.
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Hence why in the context of this story, cautious trust.
9919061
I more interested to See If we can turn these New creatures into allies because we definitely don’t want them to be enemies that would be really bad considering the Swamp is there home and they know more About it than us.
I mean look at the evidence they made that fruit into some kind of gas bomb to knock out the Scouting party imagine if are followers had something like that.
Argh, those are some thought choices!
I'm really in doubt between Akin and Eldritch...
But in the end I guess a good first impression and leadership trumps initial magical might.
B. Akin
Honestly, I'm divided between Feral and Eldritch.
But, ultimately, my vote goes for Eldritch. Shaded already has physical skills, experience in fighting and fire at his disposition: an eldritch could be a good magical support for this occasion.
SQ1: Small dragons with phoenix attributes (feathers, mainly), as to symbolize both the destructive and cleansing/resurrective nature of fire.
SQ2: I0m fine with any naming, to be honest. Though the name 'Alpharon' keeps appearing in my head for this particular Servant.
D. Eldritch
So does Chaos have a servant.
He seems like someone who may have one but I’m at quite sure.
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I think Chaos and Harmony are not directly worshipped, at least not by many. What they do have is the ability to gain power from the forces they represent. It would be like if the Godling completely ignores god of life or death and completely focused on chaos, they would be so intuned toward it that they wouldn’t even need followers as they would get power just from chaos.
To answer your question I don’t think chaos has servents, they probably wouldn’t last long as he would get bored of them, having one kind of servant certainty isn’t chaotic of course.
Harmony on the other hand may have their servants in the form of Celestia, Luna and other alicorms, however because it spends so much energy holding back chaos and powering the elements of harmony it doesn’t really have the power to make more for a very very long time until the time of Cadence and Twilight with Flurry heart being just luck.
I have a feeling that we are about to see the first major usage of external magic.
Our servant will be made into an eldrich per our vote and it will lend its power to our charge's magic.
Why don't we get a wind elemental option?
you know, today I thought on the Eldritch choice, I thought "hey, if they don't look Rylah Molluscoid"
maybe they'll be like a 10 yr kirin that never ages
or a Breezie "hey listen~"
and then thought about those fairy girls that sing to wake up mothra.. but as breezies
I should try to sleep more
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I personally want eldritch to look like wil’ o wisps. Little flames of pure magic. In a situation where they require a physical body they would mood the material around them forming a golem of sorts temporarily, they would even be able to take over statues and the most powerful of them could haunt entire cities or chunks of land and move them to their will
9934198
I think They may take some pieces from our followers because we have a mixed bag you know like Griffin talons Pegasus wings Buffalo horns Mostly Kirin body obviously maybe a dragon tail because you know
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https://m.I think wind was available as an option but
Sorry Couldn’t resist