Beneath a broody blanket of clouds lay the fields and forests of Reket. This Realm was much like many others, composed of dirt and water, filled with plants that were leafy and green and animals of fur and blood. It was not the wild abstraction of some realms. That creativity would not have properly reflected its god. For this was the domain of Graug and she was the god of war. Signs of her influence and domain were not found in the natural landscape, but rather what had been added to it.

Standing in a field, it was mostly churned mud. Some stubborn grass struggled to grow there, but most of it had been crushed and pounded into the earth. Broken detritus littered the field. Broken spears, shattered stone axe heads and thick clubs were scattered about, some of them jutting up from the earth, as though mocking the plants that struggled to grow. Further out at the edges of the old battlefield one was greeted by an imposing sight. Bodies on stakes were set at even intervals. Carrions birds casually sat atop the victims of violence and pecked and plucked leisurely at the decomposing flesh. The bodies were at varying states of decay. The bodies themselves, most of them anyways, possessed two arms and two legs topped by a head, one of the more common forms mortals took. Even in death these were imposing mortals, by mortal standards, large and muscled with great meaty hands well suited for violence.

The sky overhead rumbled and a few heavy drops of rain fell, but the storm had not yet broken.

Traits of Reket
-Divine Realm - This is the home of Graug, the God of War.

Serek arrived through a portal to this realm. He had come with a challenge extended, and accepted, by Graug. Coming through the portal he had half expected to be assailed immediately on the other side, but the god of war was nowhere to be seen. It appeared Serek had a few moments to gain his bearings.

Coming through the portal, Serek's feathers were rustled all over as he keenly took in his surroundings. It seemed at least for the moment he was not under attack, however there was no telling how long that would last or if he was under observation. Taking in the realm of Reket, it didn't show many signs of being tied to Graug, at least not in its natural state. Yet it was the display across the littered field of war's remnants that spoke truly. The dead bodies of Graug's mortals were set on spikes as their decaying bodies were plucked for their nourishments. A brutual scene in some regards. Showing their capability for a lack of mercy and strength.

Serek had the honors of not being immediately assaulted. Which gave him the opportunity to work. Walking to Graug's decaying mortals, Serek made his way to the freshest and toughest looking display. Slicing cleanly off the arms of the dead body. Plundering their them for their strength and possible usefulness, the God of Blood then retreated to what he felt was the safety of the forests.

Scouting carefully through the woods, Serek's current goal was simply to observe and avoid detection. Finding a spot relatively safe, Serek pulled at the sutures by his shoulder and arm. Carefully placing the muscular arms of the mortals slightly below his. Working the sutures through it to attach it and mend any damages upon it from prior.

Serek knew however that Graug could tell he was here most likely, if they didn't witness it themselves. Using what advantage he could have, Serek tried to stay alert and unseen as he yet would traverse the realm around. If he stumbledd across anyone firsthand, Serek would rather kill them than risk being exposed further. Draining them of their blood as a tool to use if needed. Among his list were to gain proper barings across Reket, understand the land some and the citizens of this rather brooding realm.

Establishing their strengths and weaknesses and moving solo provided the best chances for stealth and future attacks at the time. More like a jungle cat stalking and studying his prey before pouncing to attack. There was a goal to find a setting off point for his mortals eventually to begin this endeavor further. A constant reminder though for now, was to be aware what attention his movements might provide.

Seeing what other avenues he had, Serek extended his divine power over his legacy. Pulling at the energies, Serek called for the Night of the Hunt to pass sooner than before and to charge it's intensity.

OOC: not sure how much the souls cost for these actions are.

Visiting the realm of another god for a second time, this experience was quite different. Only death was there to welcome the God of Blood. Here he was not a welcome guest, but an enemy who had been invited across the threshold willingly. Serek had accepted that invitation, but he proceeded cautiously.

Grafting on two new arms from one of the bodies, they attached to Serek and came to life with twitches and convulsions. When those subsided they moved as naturally as his own limbs. Serek tasted the vitality of the mortals, but mortals had little to offer to a god. It could have healed him of some minor wounds, but Serek was currently fully restored.

With his new limbs, Serek set off like a thief in the night to explore the Realm of Graug.

Stalking through the forests and climbing hills, Serek soon came across rough dirt paths. Following these he came to spy a settlement. Here he found living versions of those mortals he'd found staked along the battlefield. They wore furs and carried primitive stone weapons, they had crude houses which were little more than piles of rocks with animal hides stretched across them to block the worst of the elements. The mortals themselves seemed to subsist mostly from foraging and hunting based on what Serek could observe. He did not spy any attempts at higher crafts. Mostly these mortals occupied themselves with physical activity during their downtime. Some wrestled, or engaged in fist fights, one juggled a pair of stone axes, others still threw rocks at birds. (And when they brought them down they would go over and begin eating them raw.) There was little differentiation between man or woman with these mortals. All of them were solidly muscled and seemed as inclined to engage in the same activities.

Traveling some distance, Serek found another tribe a few dozen miles away. Their settlement was very similar to the other tribes. They wore different ceremonial tattoos and painted their bodies with some substance that left streaks of color on them, but other than these superficial differences they were largely the same. These villages were small, only a little over a hundred mortals in each one. Traveling across Reket, Serek found that the settlements were all within a few square miles of each other. Judging by all the scars, recent wound and missing limbs across the various mortals, perhaps this proximity was in order to make it easier to inflict violence upon one another.

Drawing away some distance, Serek focused his attention on the Night of the Hunt. It was here too just as it was across all of the tree. But here it was more difficult to control than in Shezmu.

Rules for Manipulating the Night of the Hunt Added to Realm Info

OOC: Rolled to see how far away the next Night of the Hunt was and you got lucky!

Serek could sense the next Night of the Hunt was two years away. That was fortunate, much further and he wouldn't have had the strength to draw it to him.

The vitality and power a mortal offered to Serek was wanting in comparison to other avenues and more than likely divine ichor of a divinity. However it opened options for the God of Blood if needed. Stalking through the realm of Reket, Serek gathered his barings well through the roaming forests and rolling hills. Stumbling across paths of the mortal children of Graug, Serek followed them to their homes and settlements. Tribes that held foundations similar to his own ancestral ways, but during their more primitive states. Their crafts left much to be desired compared to that of the Guise. Rather than destroying any of the tribes of mortals, Serek moved on from one to the next. Seeing their natural states and how they differed. Their scares and wounds spoke of their warring between eachother, even the distance and places of their villages seemed to hint at the ease for fighting eachother. This is probably why they probably seemed under developed to the God of Blood.

War seemed to be more of a disease within this land than a blessing, Serek surmised to himself. Yet there was a sense that the Lord of Blood was missing something for now. Shaking that thought for the time being. Serek retreated into the woods to focus on the Night of the Hunt. It seemed that it was a few years time away, a lucky happening within the folds of fate. Pulling the Night of the Realm to as close as he could, he then pumped the rest of his power and souls to increase the potetency of the Night of the Hunt.

OOC: -200 souls to subtract 2 years time, -300 souls for +3 potency to Night of the Hunt

From there, Serek decided it best to see what layed in the center of Reket, was this where the bulk of Graug's mortals and efforts layed in wait? Did they really possess the strength to break his weapons, the capabilities to burn his forests? Graug's confidence was true, but there was a doubt to their boasts and words. Should he even bother with the slaughter of these outering tribes of mortals? There was a sense that if he won maybe he should take over responsibility for seeing to their development, but shook it off as for now they were an obstacle and enemy, a prey to fall upon.

Tugging at the Night of the Hunt, Serek pulled it close and stoked the fires at its heart. It would be a notable night. Not at the same level of danger and devastation that struck his own realm so long ago, but certainly one in which dangers would be lurking, and striking, from out of sight.

500 souls spent

Unimpressed by the state of the mortals he found, Serek pushed deeper into the realm. There he found his nemesis.

In the middle of all those villages a large clearing had been hacked out of the landscape as marked by tree stumps and boulders that had been smashed to rubble. In the center of this great clearing the God of War sat on a throne of cleanly picked bones. On this ivory throne of violence she reclined in his great armor. It was regal trappings that were in the center of an arena, for that's clearly what this clearing was. It was much like the battlefield where Serek had entered the realm. Broken weapons littered the grounds, staked bodies marked the boundaries and the ground was stained by the spilling of untold amounts of blood.

Standing at the edges of the clearing and hidden by foliage, it did not appear that Graug had spotted her foe hidden as he was. There was no clearing to reach her throne and little chance Serek could approach unseen. Graug seemed entirely at ease upon her throne, if she had concerns about the god she'd invited into her realm, there was no sign of it in her slouch and the way she picked at the silver spear in her hands.

This Night of the Hunt would not be the strongest as compared to what his realm faced all those many decades ago. However, he felt it might be enough to help tire out the muscular mortals. As unimpressed as Serek Eztli was, he still would not underestimate them and leverage Guise lives on his assumptions due to his observations.

What Serek hoped to find in the center of the realm was not the field of devastation that laid out infront him. A field clearly in view of all its death and battles, at its center was Graug on a throne of ivory from what he assumed were the bones of their dead. Seemingly unnoticed in the foliage of the treeline, Serek assessed himself and his options. Pulling back, Serek retreated off the beaten paths but between at least two tribes' villages. Decided to not wait for the dawn of the Night of the Hunt to be over, but instead that they would use it to blanket and cover their movements and attacks. Once the night came, Serek opened a portal for his realm and Guise to pour into Reket.

Once all of those who answered the God of Blood's call to the hunt, finished setting foot onto the realm. Serek Eztli gave detailed explanation of each tribe location as well the pathways they used. They were to fall upon the tribes like strikes of lightning, their clashes to be the echoes of thunder across the God of War's realm. Giving orders for multiple small units to work in cohesion to attack their small villages in different places at different times as they collapsed upon them. However, they should hold some units of Guise in reserve to stalk the forests and protect our back lines from any beasts within the Night of the Hunt. Lastly, should they hold victory and vastly out number or out class their prey, they were to be spared. Taken as prisoners of war, there was no need to slaughter those without a will to fight or those who did not hold a challenge to their blood-steel talons.

With everything else in motion, the Lord of Blood made his way into the clearing without heed. Striding towards the center as his furred legs stepped through the numerous littered corpses and untold battles. The goal was before him lazing on a throne, without whim to their demise or their mortals. It brought a simmering boil to Serek's blood as hooves mushed the desperately growing grass as steps broke wood and bone alike as he closed the distance. Speaking with a voice of presence, one that demanded respect and voiced command. "Lady Graug... You said that you could kill any of us divine, with no fear that you had your fill for the time. I asked to learn the ways of War from you, however I doubt that you have what I seek. You wage war with a thirst for blood that now stains your very essence, and so now Blood has answered your challenge as you have answered my own." Serek Eztli stood tall with his chest out and feathers flared, circling the God of War slowly as his hooves imprinted in the dirt and mud, his blood dripping readily into the field of battle. "Blood is more than what you think it is. It's the very energy and essence that binds us to life, as it is life given form. It comes to us in many shapes, colors, and forms; one that is equal to all that exists within the world tree. It is more than what you are or could ever hope to fully attain. Our ichor is what connects us as siblings and lifeforms, our blood is what connects us to our mortal children, the plants, and wildlife."

Truging through the battlefield, the God of Blood paused after getting close enough to Graug, ratherinf to keep his distance for the moment. The tone in his voice was one that held concern, but spoke with a virtue of a part of his beliefs after seeing Reket in full. "Do not let yourself be caught up and waste away having submitted to the violent turmoil within you. Is it the wounds of guilt and uncertainty that lie within you which caused you to murder your twin aspect and sister, to defile your other half, Lenacles? Is that what leads your charge into destruction and desolation, to get drunk on blood and forget what more War could be in the coming ages? If we should raise the flags of War, let it be within the battlefields of our hearts before our fists. Know that I would take all of the bleeding wounds and scars, take them and their pain as my own to wear as a badge of honor for all of eternity. I will fill your cup overflowing from my own bleeding heart and body, if you would have it, so lay down your spear to stand beside me, not against." Serek tried to empathize and connect with the God of War as he spoke before the storm of battle.

The God of Blood lowered his knees and body, spreading his winged arms outward as their talons stretched liquid tendrils of blood like outreaching chains. The other pair of arms hung low, tightly gripping Ryūketsu backwards into position, ready to strike at the blink of an eye. "If you would wage war for only blood and fun, then War is wasted in you, dear sister. I shall wage war for the love that beats in our hearts and blood. Not the hate, but the growth and development that only the imaginations of the gods could bring onto existence. Not the destruction it could wrought, but a brighter future that we can all reach for together. The alternative is the abyss and dull grey void of death. If bloodshed is the only language you understand; then I will gladly return it in full and drown you in it until my dripping ichor is all that fills your veins, while I drain you of what causes your heart to drum for War as it is now." With that, Serek Eztli's circling slowed to a firm halt. He stands ready for the first move to signal the brutal battle of the two soon-to-be clashing divines.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:05, Sat 06 Aug 2022.

Night fell and Serek set his plans into motion.

Opening a portal, eager guise flowed through into this new world. With them they carried weapons from their homeland and casks of blood to tend to those who would be wounded in the upcoming fighting. In their many varied forms they gathered in excited units. Then the sun fully set and the sounds of the Hunt started. Great roars and stamping feet could be heard in the darkness. The monsters of the Night had arrived.

Serek had explained where the different villages could be found and now his guise set out to find those settlements and set upon them. Serek himself had other plans. He made his way back towards the center of the villages and his rival.

Graug now stood beside her throne and was pulling free the silver spear from the body of a hulking giant. It must have been one of the monsters of the hunt. When Serek arrived and announced himself she turned. Her helmet stared back at Serek as he gave his speech, her posture turned into a slouch, then clear bored. When the God of Blood finally finished she called back, "You talk too much," then she bolted towards him.

Given her stature, the speed of the god was shocking. She crossed the span of the bloody arena in only a couple of heartbeats. During that sprint she pulled free a huge iron blade strapped across her back and brought it down on the God of Blood as she reached him. A shower of red sparks sprayed out from where the edge of the blade met the haft of Ryūketsu. The force of the blow pushed Serek back a half dozen paces and left two deep gouges in the mud. The power behind Graug's blows was astounding. The God of War also moved that blade faster than it had any business moving, it made Serek look sluggish in comparison. He struggled to block the blows. All that saved him from being cut down in those first few moments was his own hardiness. The blade met his flesh and only opened up minor wounds, but those were more than he managed to inflict upon Graug. (-1 HP from Serek.)

Battle was truly joined now. With the Night of the Hunt surrounding them and the cries of beast and battle in the distance this clash of gods played out.

With no words left to say, Serek was taken back by Graug's speed and power with their blade. Only able to bring Ryūketsu's haft up to block the overwhelming blows. His own speed was lacking in comparison. The echoes of the hunt and battles of war reached through the night resonating with their clash.

Serek doubted that as things were, he would be able to hold ground to win the fight. Yet as it went on with blood is where Serek was strong. The God of Blood needed to play to his advantages to overcome Graug before getting overwhelmed. Pulling the spilt out blood to flow with his talons, Serek pulled it from the sword and wound then splattered it at Graug's hands and eyes while hardening the blood. Aiming to slow their efforts in the fight. They were impressive, definitely to be expected for a God of War.

Twirling the other blood as it dripped from him, Serek prepared to cast a net of blood around Graug to allow the chance to return strikes at the hulking deity.

The battle stretched on for some time before Serek found an opportunity to cast his net. That moment came when Graug took a mighty swing at the God of Bloods head. He narrowly ducked and the passing of the weapon bent the trees on the far side of the arena and kicked up a wall of dust. While Graug was returning to her offensive stance, Serek threw the net. It briefly entangled the god of war and would allow Serek to land a blow. (Note: You may describe landing the hit.)

Serek had barely finished landing his strike when Graug grunted and flexed and the blood-net shattered. Their deadly game of strike, feint, counterstrike continued.

Hours passed and the arena was transforming into a pitted and pockmarked field of craters and chasms. Graug was stronger and faster than Serek, the God of Bloods only saving grace was that he took a hit very, very well. He was putting that ability to the test now. His hands had gone entirely numb from the shock of absorbing blows with Ryūketsu. It was difficult to see, as the god was perpetually leaking blood anyways, but several new cuts and gouges had been opened up across his body. (-2 HP)

The night was more than halfway over and the divine conflict showed no sign of ending anytime soon. The few beasts of the Hunt that made the folly of interrupting the feud were quickly reduced to a paste. They were inconsequential to this cataclysmic battle.

As time passed, Graug held the offensive among the battle. What counterstrikes Serek did make were put aside as Graug held the advantage. The God of Blood's saving grace was his blessed body, able to take much of what was thrown at him with an ease that others would fall to. Proof of this were the splattered interloping beasts of the night.

As Graug went for a definite impactful strike on Serek, his body flung back and under as he narrowly dodged the massive blade. Entangling Graug for but a brief moment as they returned to their stance as they had several times through the conflict. The God of Blood acted before hesitation was even a parting thought in his mind. Closing the little distance between the two, Ryūketsu came low and quick. The elongated sanguine blade curved around Graug as it brought all of Serek's strength and skill straight through to its point. Finding home as he brought it towards the opening in Graug's armor over her heart. Whether the blow landed or was fatal, was not was a mistake Serek was not willing to lean on. Removing the blade quickly as Serek's hooves kicked off of the God of War, Bloodletting the wound for all he could before Ryūketsu refused it from stopping.

There was little time to react and strike again as Serek landed and Graug broke through his blood netting with a flex. Serek would be in awe of their divine strength and speed if it were under other circumstances. Returning the fight to its original nature quickly.

Hours seemed to pass through the night easily as they flowed against eachother in a deadly dance of clashes. The entire landscape buckled around them as their fight transformed it brutally.

Lucky was the God of Blood to stand up to this test of endurance, one that seemed intent on continuing through the rest of the Night of the Hunt. Serek's hands were numb at the echoing blocks of Graug's strikes. Unrecognizable wounds bleeding alongside the rest of his intimately known body. Serek's body would not buckle though underneath Graug's might. Even if he were to be tattered and broken throughly, Serek would command his flesh to stand in opposition to Graug with all of his divine might and powers until every inch was a bloody pulp torn asunder.

Serek opted for a change in tactics now, remaining on the defensive as he fought and pulled for counter attacks against Graug. Manipulating his blood, Serek untethered sutures holding their body together. Releasing from his body were the winged arms, falling to the ground underneath them. Quickly falling behind as their battle moved. Pulling the winged arms away as their talons began to manipulate blood and flesh to flank the God of War. Gathering tightly the spilt ichor of the clashing deities. The blood formed a thick ball as he slammed it into the back of Graug's head then immediately pooled it around it in an attempt to suffocate or momentarily distract them. Enough so that Serek could bring his blade down to try parting the God of War's flesh once again, aiming for a hand or arm off the hulking divinity to limit their options of attack against him.