Pan-aeons: a God Game

[Batcathat]

Somewhere

A tribe was dying.

Desha heard a weapon break against her shield and spun around, running the attacker through with her spear before he could back away. Two others immediately took his place. Her spear twisted to knock one thrusted blade out of the way and her shield flew into the path of another. Desha stepped backwards, lowering her spear again and...

Before she could feel the hit, she saw the enemy spear sticking out through her chest, ruby red with blood. She tried turning around but her body didn't obey and scarier still her spear fell useless to the ground when she tried to raise it. Next to it was her shield, no longer guided through the air by her mind.

"I..." she started before falling face first to the ground, feeling her enemy tear their spear free from her body.

Somehow she got up on her knees, no longer feeling the pain or the blood leaving her body. "I won't die that easily! I am Desha of the Masatil, traveler on the Path of Power and I..."

"They can't hear you, you know", someone interrupted. Desha turned around and saw a woman standing right behind her, seemingly ignorant of the chaotic battle still going on. "Look at yourself."

Desha jumped to her feet and thrust her spear at the woman — who knocked it aside with inhuman speed and little care. "Look at yourself", she repeated.

A kick to the woman's head somehow ended with Desha on her ass, ashamed in a way she hadn't been since training as a warrior years earlier. A punch to the woman's face was just ignored. Trying to tackle her to the ground was like running into a stone wall.

"Look at yourself, Desha of the Masatil", the woman said again as Desha was panting on the ground. "You stubborn girl. Count yourself lucky that it's part of what he is looking for."

Too tired to do much else, Desha looked down at herself. Everything looked as it should. In fact... it looked better than it should, there was no trace of the spear that had run her through.

"What...? What is...?" Desha fell quiet, the obvious dawning on her. "I died. I'm dead."

"Yes." The woman took Desha's hand and pulled her to her feet. "I am Thal-Verys, Demigoddess of Souls and Shepherd of the Passing."

She paused but Desha had nothing to say, her eyes wandering between her own chest and Thal-Verys' face.

"I was sent to find you, someone like you, by Ymon-Thal, the First Beginning and Final End, God of Life and Death."

Desha still didn't say anything but Thal-Verys could see her eyes widen and her tanned skin turning a little pale.

At some point during the one-sided fight and almost as one-sided conversation the dusty battle field around them had disappeared, replaced by a meadow at the edge of a forrest and Desha found her words at last. "Where are we?"

"This is the Passing, the land between death and life. All souls come here when the die, I just... sped things up a little, so you wouldn't have to find a portal."

"Hello!" The cheerful voice scared Desha more than any battle cry ever had, and she reached for the spear she no longer carried.

Suddenly two identical, very different seeming men stood in front of her. Desha had never been much of a believer in the gods but it didn't take much to figure out who they were. In the corner of her eye she saw Thal-Verys bow and did the same.

"So this is her?"

"Ooh, she looks so... interesting!"

"Yes. She is all the things you asked for, but I am unsure if she is a... wise choice. It don't think she's very clever."

"There must be balance, Thal-Verys. Always balance", Thal said and walked up to the women. "Just as you represent the calm, spiritual side of Death, we need someone to represent the violent, emotional side of Life."

"What do you mean?"

Ymon pointed at Thal. "He got one, so now I get one! It's great!"

Thal sighed. "Never mind him. Long ago, Thal-Verys was a mortal, like you. We choose her so that she could help us watch over the dead and the not yet born. Now we choose you — to watch over the living."

"I..." Desha considered her options — fade away into the Passing, eventually being born anew with no memory of anything she had been or to accept and charge into the unknown. She had never retreated in life — why start in death? "I accept."

Thal almost smiled. "Excellent." He took her hand and Ymon stepped forward and took the other as Ymon-Thal gathered his power and let it flow into Desha.

"Desha of the Masatil be gone. Be reborn as Ymon-Desha, Spear and Shield of the Living, chosen by Ymon-Thal."

Spoiler: Action!

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Create Ymon-Desha, Demigoddess of Bodies* (+ 2) (Create a +2 domain/-2 weakness demigod, 18 AP/14 DC)
(* I don't like the word "bodies" but I can't think of anything else that means the same. I'm very open to suggestions)

Ymon-Thal and Thal-Verys attempt to remake Desha into the demigoddess Ymon-Desha, a counterweight to balance (+ 1 Balance) Thal-Verys. She is to serve both as a guardian of the living (+ 2 Life), able to keep mortals alive through will alone (similar to using necromancy to keep someone from dying for a limited time) and a bringer of death (+ 2 Death) when there is need. Thal-Verys ties Ymon-Desha's soul (+ 2 Souls) to her own, sharing all knowledge — but not thoughts — between them.

In case anyone's curious, Desha has reached Second Threshold on the Path of Power, specialising in the use of spear and shield.