Tree of Aeons-335. Divine Councils

Year 310

Gaya Periphery World

It wasn’t hard for us to figure out that these were peripheral worlds, because though Gaya was the dominant religion of these worlds, there were still some believers of the other gods. Hawa, Aiva, and Neira worshippers are still featured in small, minority numbers. Gaya itself also splintered into two main faiths, the Doctrinate Gayan and the Spiritual Gayans, and interestingly, they fought with each other more than they did against the other minority faiths.

I believed this sort of schism in the faith would not be permitted on any of the Core worlds.

It was, unsurprisingly, very much a normal magical medieval world, and it was the two great faiths of the world that controlled the world. The strength of those on Gaya’s periphery was relatively weak, and they were also invaded by demons fairly regularly, around every 40 to 50 years.

But we were not here to help, and they were not looking for help.

We were here to look for a god.

So their domestic affairs mattered little to us. If anything, it is for Gaya to solve.

“I do not know whether it is possible to summon Gaya for an audience!” The high priest of the Spiritual Gayans swore in his audience room, but Lumoof’s aura was enough to convince him of the seriousness of the message for Gara. “Gaya communicates with us whenever it wants to.”

“[Pray] to him. Tell them that there are other gods looking to speak to him about the demons.” Lumoof said firmly. “Say that we will move further in to look for him.”

“I- I will try.”

But nothing happened.

We decided to move further in.

***

Gaya Inner Periphery World

The inner peripheral world of Gaya resembled quite like any other, and here, Gaya was dominant. On the other hand, worship of Gaya itself was again splintered into two. The Northern Gaya and the Southern Gaya faiths both worshipped the same god and both had their own council of priests.

Lumoof figured that any god that allowed such schism must be located quite distant from their main god, and so we didn’t dwell too long. Maybe, it was just easier that way.

Still, we noticed that the demon’s invasions were getting rare, only about once every 50 to 70 years, and when that happened, Gaya would usually summon about five to ten heroes. These human heroes would then follow the usual path, though in most cases, the heroes died and things went back to normal.

Even when they lived, most heroes don’t live very long, usually another ten or twenty years to go.

There was something rather suspicious about their deaths. The heroes supposedly ‘died’ in their sleep. It should have been impossible for heroes to die in their sleep, given their exceptional physical health and all that. So, we knew something was up.

But alas, we didn’t linger to check.

We moved further and closer to the Gaya world.

***

We dropped by six more Gaya Peripheral Worlds, each stretching Stella’s abilities as far as we could.

Gayan presence in these worlds were all fairly similar, as the dominant religion it seemed Gaya’s priests were strongest in these worlds, but also, they were all fragmented. In one of the worlds, Gaya was split into three sub-factions, even though they were still nominally a single faith. In others, it was outright civil war between splintered religions.

We also noticed that Stella’s range of teleports began to shrink. There was a ‘wave’ pushing back at us. A divine ‘current’ that meant we had to spend more void mana just to travel the same distance.

It was an interesting mechanism to restrict demonic travel in this manner.

Of course, this wave wasn’t really targeted against us, but against all forms of void-based travel. “There’s a comet that’s headed somewhere.” Stella observed. It was still moving, very very slowly, but the waves of the divine ‘current’ in the void sea were pushing against the comet.

Lumoof found the mechanism of pushing against the void sea in this manner fascinating. “I suppose this is one of Gaya’s countermeasures against a comet-like event.”

“Can we hop to the next world?”

“Yeah. I think we can still go for another one.”

***

Gaya Middle World I

Middle world. The signs were obvious once we remembered what we felt when we were through Hawa’s lands. The subtle, permeating sense that there was a god watching us, and our presence was like a rock that disturbed the once endless calm.

Gaya’s priests were in high alarm, and the first encounter was not at all friendly. There were small platoons of relatively powerful Gaya warriors who departed in search of us.

These were Gayan-blessed, with weapons that were enchanted by priests. Not enough to be relics, but enough that they were strong enough to deal with monsters around the level of demon champions.

They couldn’t see us, and we snuck through these defenses easily.

“Should we just pop up?” Stella smiled. “Maybe they’ll just take us to Gaya.”

“Do you think it’s so easy?”

“Yes.” Stella said. “I’ll send us to a different Gaya world if it doesn’t work out. It’s not as if they could hurt you.”

Lumoof thought on her suggestion for a bit, and realized Stella had a point. “Gaya does appear to appreciate some honesty.”

And so, Lumoof appeared before the Gaya champions. They attacked immediately, only to find that none of their attacks harmed my avatar. Just on stats alone he was so strong that he shrugged off all the attacks, and his sheer presence made them stagger.

“Hello, and thanks for the warm, passionate greeting.” Lumoof said as their champions gathered their blessed weapons and lunged once more. The attacks all did nothing, and they stared in disbelief. “Take me to your most blessed place, and I wish to speak to your god.”

They attacked once more. Lumoof stood as if he was the mountain, and they were the wailing winds. They attacked repeatedly, each of their strikes bouncing off his flesh and protective shields.

“Impossible.” They declared. “You! You must not be real! This is an illusion!”

“Oh?” Lumoof grabbed one of them with his vines, and then he gripped one of their shoulders with his arm. “This is an illusion?”

Stella and Edna were just amused and teased. “Stop bullying them already. They’re just not used to this.”

Lumoof focused on them. “I want to speak to Gaya. Where do I go?”

The man that Lumoof grabbed wailed and tried to escape. “I- The Temple of the Highest Spire!”

“Where is this temple?” Lumoof’s arm was like the vicegrip of god, and no matter how hard the man tried he couldn’t free himself. His teammates tried attacking some more, but all that did was slam into more shields.

“The Temple is on the Heaven’s Bay, it’s- it’s to the direction of the rising sun, past twenty, twenty-two distance markers!”

“What does this temple look like?”

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“It’s the tallest tower along the bay! You can’t miss it!” The man still struggled as he answered.

“Good. Who do I find to speak to Gaya?” Lumoof said, as he weaved his priestly powers into his words. The man could speak no lie in his presence! It was said that some priests had power to compel the truth. [Confession]. [Speak No Lie Before Divinity]. Some domain holders learned how to use their sheer presence to do so, without need for any skill.

“On the tower there- there’s a statue of Gaya! You- you need a priest! A high priest and a ceremony to summon Gaya!” The man flailed, but there was nothing he could do.

“Great. Which high priest, and what’s the name of this ceremony?” Lumoof said. His teammates screamed at him.

“Stop talking! We can’t reveal such secrets to outsiders!” His teammates attacked, but they all just bounced off Lumoof’s shields. “

The man looked like his head was in intense pain, but then he was helpless. “Find... Find the Great Circle Priests! The ceremony is called the heavenly communion!”

“Great. Thank you!” Lumoof smiled and let the man go. The man looked so horrified at what he did that he wanted to kill himself there and then. “Now, don’t go killing yourself. If you do that I’ll have to-”

The man clearly was so upset that he had somehow betrayed his own faith that he attempted to stab himself. Lumoof frowned.

“There’s really no need to go to such extremes, is there? Patreeck, can you work your magic?”

“Yes.” At that moment, Lumoof’s avatar form extended my Titan’s range temporarily, and through him, the Titan’s mind altering abilities smashed into all of them. All of them fell asleep there and then.

They would remember that something altered their minds, but whatever happened would not be remembered. A shame.

***

“Yes. yes.” The Great Circle Priests looked horrified, but they were willing to accept the instruction. They were fairly strong priests, and their divine presence protected them from the effects of Lumoof’s domain a little. “Heavenly communion is a sacred art that requires a great deal of sacrifice.”

It wasn’t hard for Lumoof to just pop up in their room and talk to them. The Great Circle Priests were pretty much similar to the Hawan high priests and even had fairly similar markings. It was amusing how similar priests were, even though they had different gods. “Make it happen.” Lumoof declared.

The great circle priests, like Hawa’s Olivia, seemed to have a greater understanding that there were powers beyond theirs. I wondered whether this was part and parcel of a priest’s education. Or maybe, indirectly, through their connection to the gods, they obtained a certain type of instinct to react?

The other Great Circle Priests tried to intervene, at first, then when they saw and felt Lumoof, they realized they were in no position to oppose.

And so, the Great Circle Priests of Gaya stood around a statue of a woman holding a stick and called on their god. They sacrificed three animals and began to sing. The holy energies of the great priests gathered around the statue, and the statue began to glow gold.

Then, the statue itself came to life, as a form shrouded in gold, holding a golden stick with an orb at its tip, and wore a mask that resembled the endless swirling water.

“I am summoned.” Gaya spoke. “Speak your request, my faithful.”

“This one wishes to speak to you. He claims to be from another world and has something to say about the demons.” The priest said.

I felt the strength of divinity, and it felt similar to Aiva and Hawa. So, Lumoof returned it with a full reveal of our own divine presence. Our powers met in the statue itself, as the air was charged with the conflicting energies. The priests all paled, and Lumoof spoke. “It’s best if the rest of you leave.”

Gaya stared back at Lumoof, and then, my avatar formed. “An avatar of one who reached the 3rd step. Where are you from and what do you want?”

I quickly introduced ourselves, spoke of our goals to attack the demon lands, and that we had come to seek assistance.

Gaya said nothing, and then. “These matters should be spoken elsewhere. Come.”

The golden form of Gaya transformed once more, this time, a golden portal appeared right in the chambers. “Well, let’s go?”

The three domain holders stepped through the portal.

***

Gaya Inner Core World - The True Gayaworld

We had never used divine portals up until now, but it seemed that Stella had done so in the past. “This felt like the portals the heroes used when we first came to the world.”

The portal allowed the three to travel through a tunnel filled with golden light, and it was very, very different from the void portals. When we landed, we arrived at a beautiful golden chamber located amongst the clouds.

A city on the clouds itself, and we could feel the intense divine laws of the world attempt to exert its control over us. It didn’t. They merely bounced off our domains, but once more, it was a reminder we were in a land that would fight against us,if Gaya so willed it.

We saw around us flying warriors riding on golden colored creatures. The world was filled with power.

Gaya itself, transformed. Here, a stronger version of Gaya appeared before us.

“This is one of my core worlds, where my strength is at its peak.” Gaya spoke, the small stick transformed into a long, ornate battlestaff. Gaya took the form of a woman here. She wore a golden robe, made of a chainmail like material, a golden wolf-mask, and golden pauldrons filled with wolf-like motifs.

“I’d always wanted to see what a core world is like.” I answered and did not feel cowered. The world never stopped trying to impose its will, and I could see and feel how it drained us, even if indirectly. It was harder on Stella, than Edna or Lumoof. “But it is a beautiful place. Looked quite like a fairytale world.”

From what we know, the Gayan myths were fairly typical. Gaya proclaimed himself, in some worlds where it took the form of a man, to be the creature of the world, and the god of all things. Closer to the peripheral worlds, Gayan myths were slightly different. Gaya was shown as the dual gods, both reflecting a male and female form. A beastly and a spirit form.

Gayan myth claimed that it was Gaya that made beasts into men, it was the bridge of wisdom and intelligence. The god of transformation, of beast and men. Beasts prayed to Gaya to hopefully one day transcend their beastly forms, while the men prayed to Gaya for the ancient strengths of the beasts.

Even gods that were on the World Faith System had a ‘focus’. A field of mastery where it cost them less faith points to do things and to act. Perhaps, they could even do so for free.

“Does it impress you?” Gaya asked.

Lumoof nodded. I agreed and answered, my voice echoed here, the divine energies of the world seemed to recognize mine as a divine presence as well. “It does. Fairytales are rare. Perhaps, these types of city views are impossible outside of the Core worlds of the old gods.”

So I turned to Gaya.

“Hawa claims you are the oldest of us all, and so you may know of the origins of the demons and the god that is within the Black Sun.”

“Oh. You spoke to the one who still pretends to be the God of the Divine Flames?” Gaya said with a strange chuckle. “I am often amused that he survived these demons.”

“The demons are no match for the gods in their core worlds.” I said. “But we’ve reached close to the demon’s barrier, and so we are now considering how to destroy it. But first, what are we dealing with?”

“Hawa doesn’t know?”

“Yes.”

“The demons that you see now are not the original demons of the world. They are mutants. A divine plague, created by the one who suffered the most from the changing mechanisms of Faith.”

“Oh?” I wondered whether it would be Eras, or the new god we’ve learned about on the Sun-Rings, Wadra. “Who might this be?”

“The details are lost.” Gaya answered. “I suspect there was a traitor amongst us when we, the old gods, made the World Faith System, because all of us could not remember who created the current version of the demons. A binding that made us forget, hidden somewhere in the great new system.”

I didn’t know whether Gaya had a reason to lie. But I decided I wasn’t going to have it. “Perhaps it is Wadra? Or Eras?”

“Eras? No. That nut job is too busy building things to destroy us.” Gaya laughed. “But I suppose he is the type of nut job that made things just because he could, not because he should. So, mayhaps. Maybe he had a hand in meddling the demon’s ways.”

“Oh. Tell us then, what do you know of the demons? What is it that we fight?”

“I remember that the original demons did not possess the ability to traverse the world. Instead, they were created by the system and were meant to be an existence within it. There used to be a time when the world had classes like [Demonologist], and [Demon Summoners], because the old mortals could form pacts with the ancient demons. These ‘images’ of demons are written into the system as a false counterpart to our divinity.”

“Ah. Much like the magical summons.”

“Very much so.” Gaya said. “Its current form is a corrupted mutant. A hivemind ruled by nothing, with no desire beyond the annihilation of all mortal worlds, to supplant the system and remake it in its will. Which god contributed to this transformation, I do not recall. Mayhaps, I am not supposed to recall, as a traitor amongst us wanted it so.”

“Then, do you know of Wadra?”

“The nomadic shapeshifters? Are they not dead yet? I faintly remember from eons ago, that the first mutant demons chased after these nomadic shapeshifters through the stars, and consumed all of them.”

“Eras and Wadra worked together to build the Sun-Rings. Do you know why, and what it is for?” I pushed.

“No. I do not look into what that nutjob builds. He builds new things every time someone mentions him. Did you meet him?”

“No. But I wonder whether either Eras or Wadra is the one trapped within the Black Sun.”

There was a long, long silence. Gaya walked around the room as if thinking, and yet I did not think gods had a physical form. If anything, this was just an anchor, the one we saw and spoke to before us an apparition, a ‘spiritual incarnation’ of Gaya. Gaya, as a god, existed as a spiritual mass between worlds.

Hawa claimed all World Faith gods were the same. Their physical form was nothing more than a tool to deal with mortals. So, Gaya pacing around was thoroughly unnecessary.

“I fear it is more likely Eras is within the Black Sun.”

“I see. Is he a friend?”

“Me and Eras? No.”

“Will you aid us to attack the black sun?”

“Aid? Perhaps. If the situation improves and I have men to spare.” Gaya answered. “Perhaps more likely, that you will find my assistance only when you really need it.”

“In this game of gods and demons, I would prefer more concrete statements of support.” I countered. “If you won’t, then let us know. We will seek out the others for help.”

“There are many demon worlds, many invading all of my worlds.” Gaya answered.

“I will help lighten the load on my way there.” I answered. I made no clear commitments, but if there were demons on our way out of the Gaya territory, we'd just destroy them.

“Very well.” Gaya reached into her armor, and took out a golden ticket. “A ticket for assistance. Should you need my best warriors, this will be it.”

“This is a battle against demons with potentially godlike powers. The creatures capable of capturing gods. What will this ticket be?” I clarified.

“Myself, if the situation calls for it.”

“Good.” I answered. “Thank you.”

But before we could leave, Gaya had questions of her own. “Why did you turn down the World Faith System?”

“I liked the level system.” I answered. “The World Faith System benefits were not relevant to me.”