As His other self died in another realm at the hands of another god, this Paradox of Chalybis halted for a moment, remaining motionless as the light within His gaze flickered erratically in a frantic - yet successful - attempt to stay present within this realm. He was not intent on allowing the humans here to get the mistaken idea that they could harm Him, lest they gain some kind of motivation from this. He was a God, and He would not have it said that mere mortals had struck Him down. And so, even though He was momentarily weakened, He persisted, denying Paradox its prize and continuing to exist in the City of Dreams despite dying elsewhere.

Still, the human resistance was being remarkably bothersome, something which Chalybis did not appreciate. They possessed an item which He desired - possibly even two of them - and He would not be denied His prize by these worthless mortals. The death of the infected ones would make the process somewhat less painful, but no less efficient in the end - life was not a requirement to become one of His minions. A more direct solution was required for the current guards though, as their attacks seemed to be remarkably harmful and disturbing to His form.

As His physical form was seriously threatened by their weaponry, He turned towards His untouchable metaphysical abilities to dispose of them instead. Above each of the offending mortals, a tiny point of green formed in the air, rapidly swelling up into an orb of some strange green fluid that fumed with an unhealthy-looking vapour as it formed. When the orbs had reached a satisfying size several moments later, He ceased His concentration, allowing the newly formed blobs of acid to drop down upon the humanoids that opposed Him, almost taking delight in the deadly suffering that was about to follow...

Chalybis felt his mind throb in pain as the acidic globs were conjured..

And the soldiers screamed in pain as their flesh disintegrated into nothing. Soon, all that remained was a sort of pinkish goop. A siren wailed from within the Casino, and Chalybis saw the doors shut suddenly - locked.

His head hurt, and his body was screaming in pain.. he'd taken a lot of damage. He wheezed and clanked and puffed..

Chalybis was somewhat amused as He saw the casino closing down before Him. Apparently the occupants had finally realised that they did not have any chance of defeating Him despite their - admittedly superior - technology. This moment of calm would merely allow Him to restore the damage dealt by them, whilst they could do nothing but wait for His wrath or flee away, unable as they were to regenerate their lost ones. This battle had become one of attrition, a type of combat in which the God of Industry could not possibly be matched by mere mortals.

Almost immediately, the remainder of His tendrils 'reached' out to the sliver of Telluratus that had been gated here along with Him, disjointing it from the surface of the City of Dreams and tearing it apart into usable chunks which were then swallowed by the tendrils to become part of His body and replace that which had been destroyed. Chalybis would have preferred to use other materials - those not belonging to Himself - for this, but with Tyche around it was probably not a good idea to go about wrecking more of the realm for no apparent reason.

It was not long before the process had been completed to His satisfaction, and He returned His attention to the concrete 'fortress' inhabited by the mortal resistance. The building was remarkably resilient for a mortal design, perhaps suspiciously so considering the qualities of mundane materials. It was likely to be magically reinforced, something which He could remedy with ease. His gaze turned into a deep blue once more and sought out the casino, tearing away at whatever magic caused it to withstand His silver tide...

"Tyche really thinks you should, um, maybe stop or slow down a little.."

The blue rippled across the casino, ripping to shreds every trace of magic held within the place. Coloured lights swarmed the Point and then collapsed upon itself.

The casino itself was silent, locked-down, fortified.

Ignoring Tyche for now - as He had no intention whatsoever of stopping before the human resistance had been silenced and the Knowledge Keeper had been recovered - Chalybis gazed over the building before Him. Although its magical wards and seals had now been removed completely, the structure itself appeared to be a remarkably sturdy one, one which He could not destroy as easily as the shoddy buildings that filled Niborkerese. Even His silver lances had failed at penetrating the thick walls, something which was bothering - although this might have been connected to the presence of magical wards which were now gone.

Fortunately, there was something within Chalybis possession which could take down the casino - as well as any other structure that could possibly exist within this realm - with relative ease. Whilst the Harvesters might have failed at combating His adversaries directly, they had been undeniably effective at the destruction of any structures, terrain, and non-resisting matter in general. One of them would be perfect for this situation and as they could create their own portals He only needed to order one to come here. A swirling red orb, not unlike the gates He used to travel, appeared in front of Chalybis, solidifying into a small portal-like entity that showed images of Telluratus on the other side.

IX: Chalybis Demands That A Harvester Is Sent To His Current Location This Very Instant He decreed into the swirling mass, the message sounding remarkably soft in this realm but echoing loudly throughout His own. It would not be long before one of the Commanders there would act upon it, ordering one of the dormant Harvesters to travel to the City of Dreams to serve Him so that it might consume this building and its occupants...

Three gleaming beasts - made of rust and rage, steel and silence whirled out of the shifting portals, their mouths caught within a permanent, twisted smile - a smirk that did not adequately express their hunger. As they shifted through, they started to inhale, but they did not take breath - they took concrete, bricks, mortar, metal..

They were there to serve their Lord.

Chalybis was somewhat surprised - in a rather pleasant manner - by the arrival of not one, but three of the Harvesters before Him. Three mechanical monstrosities that were now tearing apart the fabric of the world around them and drawing it into their gaping tooth-filled maws so that it might be drawn into His realm. Tyche was unlikely to approve of this, but Chalybis had stopped worrying about such a minor setback by now. A single one of the Harvesters would presumably have been sufficient to devastate a large portion of the city, so three of them could probably take out the entire realm if they were given enough time, with or without Tyche's approval.

Or could they? The Harvesters that He had employed before had all been woefully inadequate at their given tasks and had been rather easily disposed of by both the Gods and Systemarchs that had been their adversaries. The untimely destruction of His Harvesters was something He could not allow to happen again and therefore He would not do so. The current state of the Harvester design was not good enough to destroy entire worlds in the way He had intended, and because of that He would now be forced to make a number of 'alterations' to rectify this unfortunate situation.

X: The Results Of Previous Experiments Have Indicated That The Harvester Prototypes Are Currently Insufficient To Adequately Perform Their Intended Purpose... He began to decree, reaching out with His hands in such a way that He became able to touch all three of His Harvesters. A certain mechanical shiver went through the three of them as even their non-existent minds were becoming aware of the agonizing yet immeasurably great blessing that was about to be bestowed upon them.

...And Therefore The Currently Present Harvesters Shall Be Removed From Existence So That They Might Become The First Of The Next Generation... He continued upon touching them, instantly causing the machinery within the Harvesters to break apart, the rotating rows of teeth tearing their steel forms apart from the inside. Within moments, the Harvesters had been reduced to dense clouds of divine steel that swirled around the horrible vortices they had contained, warping and growing with each passing instant. They were already being rebuilt now, upgrading themselves under His will into creations that would make their previous incarnations pale in comparison.

...Devourer Extractor And Reaper He concluded as He witnessed the process with a sense of satisfaction. Three identical Harvesters had been removed, but soon the randomness of advancement would grant Him three new - better - mechanical monstrosities to serve His will...

There was a change.

It was subtle, but noticeable to any who could speak the language of machines, know the patterns behind steel and gears. The three were given gifts from their Lord, and the gifts would manifest in a variety of ways.. but which ways? There was a mystery here..

The first, perhaps to be named the Devourer, was gifted with the invisible void. The void was powerful and indiscriminate. It could not be switched on and off. Chalybis felt it's pull, and knew that his powers wouldn't function within it's field.. they were being taken by the field.

The second, perhaps to be named Reaper, was given a Personality and access to the language of Men. As barbs and spikes and hooks and slicers burst from it's carapace, it knew of it's own existence, and knew - knew - that it would be forced to kill. It was not scared of that fact. It rather enjoyed the fact, and was sure that it would enjoy the killing.

The third, perhaps to be named Extractor, was gifted to be limitless. It would not transport the minerals taken back to Telluratus, but instead would feed on them, and grow. It would develop - perhaps one could say evolve, though a certain Dutch supercomputer would probably debate this fact with the Fates - into something greater as it fed. It would be a vampire of rust.

We have come. The voice of the Reaper was raspy and savage.

Chalybis was pleased to see what had come to be in front of Him, three advanced Harvesters that possessed capabilities far beyond those which mortal technology could provide. Although the improvement was not without its flaws - Devourer's effect upon Himself could prove to be troublesome as well as disturbingly uncomfortable, and the fact that yet another lesser machine had been granted sentience as a result of its enhancement was extremely inconvenient - the change as a whole would make them more than worthy additions to His dominion. All that remained now was a simple test of their qualities to prove this...

XI: Now That The Three Have Been Enhanced In Their Existence Reaper Shall Proceed By Destroying The Building That Harbours The  Resistance Against Chalybis And Exterminating All Organic Lifeforms That Are Found Within It He decreed as He stared at the casino ahead, His gaze quivering and bending slightly as if the light itself was being drawn towards Devourer. Reaper seemed to be the most appropriate one to vanquish a group of mortals, possessing a large array of vicious appendages and an equally violent and sadistic sentience with which to use them effectively.

Of course, Reaper alone would be sufficient to deal with the mortal opposition, which meant that a different trial would be required for the others. Devourer's ability to utterly nullify - and possibly destroy - all of the metaphysical powers around it was an impressive weapon, and Extractor's ability to assimilate the powers of all that it devoured would rapidly make it the most fearsome of all His servants, continuously improving itself by harvesting the matter and beings in the worlds that opposed Him. The only thing He required for their test was for a suitably powerful being to manifest itself somewhere in this realm, so that Extractor might absorb its powers without risk as Devourer nullified them...


At that moment, Chalybis suddenly realized that Tyche was still present and had been remarkably lacking in the furthering of His will, almost as if he was no longer intent on serving Him. Furthermore, it did not appear that Tyche was of any immediate or future purpose in his current state, having failed to repel even mortal invaders from his realm and dying at the claws of a single supernatural being. Chalybis' gaze - still quivering under the influence of Devourer's aura, slowly turned towards Tyche, the featureless cone still managing to convey a very threatening intent.

XII: Although Chalybis Declares That This Is An Extremely Unfortunate Situation It Currently Appears That Recent Developments Have Caused Tyche To Become Utterly Obsolete And Therefore Devourer And Extractor Are Hereby Ordered To Remove Tyche From Existence Permanently He spoke, making it utterly clear that their 'partnership' had ended here. He would find it extremely interesting to see what effect Devourer would have on Tyche's abilities to avoid attackers, and even more-so to see what happened when Extractor consumed him...

"Chalybis! But -"

As the Extractor moved upon Chalybis, the Devourer whirring behind him, Tyche (with obvious hurt on his face), disappeared.

The two Harvesters stopped.

You made a mistake there, Lord. Didn't you know he could flash in and out? Why try something so stupid if you knew?

The Reaper's voice was disdainful.

Chalybis gaze flashed back onto Reaper, a heavy overtone of anger emanating from the red light. If it were not for the fact that Reaper was an extremely valuable servant - the fact that without His powers, Reaper was effectively stronger than Him had nothing to do with this - He would have destroyed it at the spot for this insolence. I appeared that the blessing of speech was always accompanied by the curse of free will and, in this case, a personality that did not quite understand how it was supposed to address its God and Creator.

XIII: This Was A Valuable Experiment In The Sense That It Has Shown That The Void Utilized By The Devourer Was Not Capable Of Completely Nullifying The Teleportation Powers Used By Tyche He eventually declared, somewhat disappointed by this discovery. He knew full well that the Psionic abilities possessed by Himself, Tyche, and numerous other gods were amongst the more powerful abilities present, and the inability to nullify these was a major setback to His 'plans'. Tyche's ability was relatively harmless, but this could not be said for the many other possibilities, so He would have to come up with a suitable solution eventually.

XIV: The Most Important Aspect Of The Order Has Also Been Completed Successfully As Tyche Is No Longer Present Within The Direct Area And Therefore The Consumption Of This Entire Realm Shall Now Commence Meaning That The Three Of You Shall Now Destroy Exterminate And Harvest Every Last Molecule Of Non-Mechanical Matter Within It Beginning With The Casino And Its Occupants Who Continue To Insult Chalybis By Their Mere Existence He continued, gazing over the city around Him with contempt as He did so. Even in the time during which He had considered Tyche himself a useful ally, this realm had been a massive insult to divinity - a place full of pitiful organic beings that refused to give the Gods their due respect.

Although He had at first been intent to simply let the Harvesters perform their duty and depart, Chalybis realized that He had come here to acquire the information stored within the petrified Knowledge Keeper, a task which He had still failed to complete and was not suitable for either the Harvesters or the other two Servants that were standing around some distance behind Him. No, He would have to remain here until at least the casino had been removed, at which point He could easily find the Knowledge Keeper - provided it had actually been present inside the casino, otherwise He would have to comb through the entire city personally which was an unpleasant foresight.

The Devourer remained still, seething, content to feed on the supernatural powers of Chalybis.

Lord, you are an interesting creature. I cannot believe that you let him go. He could destroy you. You are, compared to someone with abilities such as those, nothing.

The Reaper began his slow work - the reinforced walls of the casino were reinforced with concrete and steel as well as brick and plaster - and the Extractor followed diligently, the minerals slowly being  added to itself.

Chalybis felt as if something was wrong. There was something within him - suddenly - some alien corruption that he hadn't felt before. He felt heavier, somehow, but not immediately noticeably so.

XV: Chalybis Feels That Reaper Is Severely Underestimating The Power Of His Master Chalybis - or it was Chalybis who was underestimating Tyche, but such a heretical thought would not cross His mind and live - And Is Not To Question Them Any Further Until Any Evidence Suggesting Their Lack Of Power Is Observed Which Shall Never Happen In This Universe Chalybis declared, not intent on being mocked or otherwise offended by the very beings He had brought into existence.

Of course, there was a small issue here in the sense that Devourer appeared to be notoriously persistent in its defiance of Chalybis orders and remained far closer than could be considered 'comfortable' or indeed 'healthy' for Chalybis. He could feel that His strength was gradually being tapped away by Devourer, something which was less than desirable - especially after what He had just declared to Reaper. It appears that Devourer too was 'gifted' with some kind of flawed personality, one which did not consider Chalybis as its master but instead as merely another meal. That would have to be altered rather quickly before something went horribly wrong for Him...

XVI: Devourer Your Actions Against Your Lord Are Extremely Undesirable And Unacceptable And You Are Therefore Ordered To Cease Them At Once And Continue with The Removal Of All Other Power Spikes Found Within The Premises Of This Realm So That They Shall Not Disturb Reaper And Extractor While They Eradicate All The Material Remains Thereof He spoke, attempting to make it clear that He was not to be consumed in any sense. Although it made sense that Devourer went after the highest concentration of power first, He did not approve of this being Him, and if it were to resist, He would be forced to send it into another realm where it could eat the Gods that resided there...

((Umm Reaper is the with the attitude problem and can talk, Devourer is just being a gluttonus leech on your divine power without saying anything.))

The Devourer moved away dutifully.

Lord I don't think you should - began the Reaper, as the Extractor continued.

Chalybis felt a huge explosion form within him, as the corruption within him hit it's climax. The thirty sticks of Earthborn lidynamite caught within him - psychoported, perhaps, by Tyche - wracked his entire being, and Chalybis went up in a curling flame of green and red. Smoke rose. Chalybis fought, but the damage was too severe - most of his internal 'organs', as they might be termed, were ruined beyond normal repair, and a moment later Chalybis was dead.

Gnotan phased into existence and felt a mighty explosion rock the earth. It caught him off guard and he stumbled, catching himself on a nearby pole. He looked around and saw a plume of smoke off to the west. He headed off in that general direction, keeping his wits about him.

Gnotan was soon stopped by two patrolling soldiers, diamond rifles in hand.

"Sir," said the soldiers, thinking Gnotan looked a little suspicious. "What is your business? Identification papers?"

"Why hello good gentlemen. I am looking for a man by the name of Tyche. Any chance you would know him?"

"Papers," said the soldier. "I don't care who you're looking for." He pointed the gun into Gnotan's face. "Where are your papers?"

"Sorry, I don't have any. Shall I just head back the way I came then?"

"No," said the soldier, laughing a little. "No - you'll be coming with us until we figure out who you are."

Gnotan sighed. He had hoped this would be unnecessary...

Not really

He cast Acid Burn on both of them and The Binding on their fingers to stop them pulling the triggers. He then withdrew a long, sinister looking dagger, part of his torture implements, and walked up to the first man, stabbing him in the eye, only enough to peirce through the eye, no further, he then yanked it out and spun around, shaving a layer of skin off the other man's cheek. He chuckled, enjoying himself immensely. He grabbed the guns, both with one hand, by the barrel and threw them away and cast a Cube of Imprisonment around one of the men while he slowly dissected the other one, making sure not to kill him. After a while he said, "So where is Tyche?"

(Gnotan, just a warning, but god-moding is strictly punished. Keep it fair.)

Before Gnotan could complete his plan, the soldiers started to scream - acid hitting their eyes - and they pressed the triggers. Perhaps he should bind them before casting them in acid. They fired, and Gnotan felt the bullets hit his gut - once, twice, thrice - before they were thrown back. Gnotan was bleeding, and the soldiers were screaming.

(Sorry, wont happen again.)

"SHIT!" Gnotan screamed. "This isn't fucking worth it..."

Gnotan grabbed one of the diamond rifles and began to run back towards his gate, ready to shoot anyone who was going to stop him.

There were a few who tried to stop him, but Gnotan easily shot them down. Luckily, he was injured, but not badly hurt..

There was a light - a steel box - an endless waste -

And he was back home, back in the Dungeon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:01, Mon 16 Nov 2009.