AN: Apologies if there are errors. Merry Christmas and Sanguinala.
Apologies for the lateness of this chapter, essays, finals, and writer's block.
I have decided to not do more pantheons, thank you for the opinions and arguments they really helped me make my decision.
Btw I only informed y'all of my faith, not because I was offended, but because I personally see the parallels with the Omnissiah and Christianity, and how messy it is to bring in any of the Abrahamic religions to this fic. Plus I feel more people might be offended compared to religions where all of the original traditional worshippers are dead, such as the Greek. The only people who worship the Greek pantheon now are Neo-pagans, they don't have a direct link to the old traditions. At least, from my understanding. And I aim not to be a prick when it is not needed.
Also, sorry if this chapter felt fast or brief I just figured you guys would want me to flesh out conversations only if there was something to change or add.
It took roughly a similar amount of time to get to the coastal town of Tritia as it took to find the underworld from Dimitis. Landing on the edge of the settlement out of sight allowed the deity to enter. His robes drew attention from a few though most brushed it off after he was past them, either too busy, or apathetic to question anything about him.
It was now the sixth day since he has arrived, and he had visited this town on the fourth day, once he approached the temple it was clear his presence was noticed by those who knew of him. Instead of entering the place of worship, he walked towards the shrine he had created. It had a small amount of faith and prayer in it, reaching out a connection was formed. It was rather simply the voice seemed feminine and was asking for a blessing, 'Perhaps since I do not have established routes for faith to travel when distance is large enough I do not receive it without creating a connection. This was the case for the Rustroot and Praxis.' the implications were annoying but manageable. 'The ability to hear the prayers of Clio was enhanced by the amulet and shrine, much the same for Mairus. Though this is a shrine blessed much the same as the others.'
After some thought, the prayer in this shrine was likely made by someone who had not directly met him, and recently. 'When I was not only a distance away but in the underworld. And thus the prayer simply stayed here.' His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps from behind.
Turning around was several people in the group he had met on his last visit including the priestess Matea. "Lord, I, uh. I had not expected you to return so soon." the others behind the woman nodded.
"I was simply checking in, tell me do you have any new questions for me?" the change in speech did not go unnoticed by the group, "No?"
"Ah, you are speaking, with 'I' and not 'we' is that significant?" a chuckle, "Apologies if that offends you, my lord."
"No no, the answer is just complicated. It would be easier if I simply showed you." removing the hood he looked down at the group. "Essentially, I've incarnated. So I felt it was more fitting to speak like this."
The reveal of his face was quite startling to the group, and it made them realize how comparatively tall the red-robed figure was. "Ah, I, wha-" Matea's surprise was either from the sudden change or the disbelief in seeing the face of what was for them in all intents and purposes a god.
"Apologies if this is shocking to you," he attempted to give a comforting smile, small and simple.
"Ah, no-no. I mean, it is but it isn't a problem." the priestess looked to those beside her for confirming support. She received nods before she turned back to the Omnissiah.
"Tell me has anyone prayed at this shrine yet?" the priestess of Aphrodite shook her head, " that is interesting because I received a single prayer from it. Though I do not think they knew anything about me, actually, you and a few others would be the only ones to know of me." while the small group was processing what he said the deity gathered surrounding organic material and began to create paper.
Different materials formed a kind of ink, and the pages were put into an almost cloth-like cover. That cover was emblazoned with the Cog Mechanicum, once more void of the skull. The black and white halves, with a graphite grey cogwheel all within the cover's overall light grey. After a few minutes, the group that had fixed their vision on the creation saw it completed. A book, though they wouldn't know that, to them, it was an odd scroll. "You can read, correct?"
Matea nodded, "I can, I am one of the few people in Tritia who can read." the priestess continued in her thoughts, 'my literacy had been much to the displeasure of some I have met. Thankfully none were here, none openly at least, I can't be sure of everyone's thoughts.'
"This book contains answers to what I have been commonly asked in Dimitis and elsewhere. You know many of the answers, but should you not know or be uncertain when confronted with questions about this shrine or myself consult this book." he grabbed the book and handed it to the priestess. He made quick gestures of opening it and following lines with his finger to instruct her on how to read it.
As she watched this she responded, "Ah, thank you," she may be a priestess of another god but you don't reject the gift of a god, that was never wise. Besides, that it was reasonable, it was just some reference material for mutual benefit. She can give more answers should she need to without a lot of uncertainty, and the Omnissiah is better understood.
"No, thank you, I am grateful to you since I can not be here very often. I greatly appreciate you allowing my shrine's presence. I would not ask you to spread information about me, but if anyone asks about that shrine or anything related to me, please answer their questions. If you give me any assistance in this regard, I thank you." as he spoke he placed his right hand on the left side of his chest as a gesture of thankfulness.
The gesture seemed odd, but not enough to warrant more than a glance. "Ah, ah, of course, it is no issue."
"Thank you regardless. Now unless you had anything else to talk to me about, I think I'll end my brief visit and be on my way back to Dimitis." a moment of silence.
"Umm, how often do you plan on visiting?" a man in the group asked, "Just so that we can welcome you better." that last bit seemed almost a defensive afterthought, though an understandable one.
"I have no plan in mind for visits, though I would not expect myself to come often. Anything else?" receiving no questions he smiled before putting his hood back on his head and moving away, "Very well, thank you for answering my questions."
The small group watched him move to the edge of the town, though that put him out of sight and they did not see him begin to fly back to Dimitis.
The return to Dimitis did not take very long, upon arrival the primordial deity saw there were a couple of people praying by the tree. Praxis flew down from the branches in greeting, seemingly posing a question. "You need not follow me," the Aquilla then flew off. After nodding to them he entered the chapel to find it empty of his acolytes, 'It has been several hours, perhaps the lessons have ceased.' With that in mind, he quickly went to Korban's home before finding he wasn't there. 'I shall have to look more then'
A bit further and people soon saw the Omnissiah and respectfully greeted him, it wasn't until he saw Jace seeing a patient out of his home that realized, 'Just because my acolytes have dedicated themselves to me does not mean I can yet provide for them all easily so they may only do tasks I have set for them. Jace being a healer is needed, and the others have tasks outside of learning to read.' A thought occurred when he saw Jace was not wearing his acolyte robes, 'but that doesn't mean he should not wear the article of his faith, hmm, perhaps there is a reason.'
"Ah, Omnissiah, you are back, it is good to see you, have you talked to Korban, I think he has been doing a good job in teaching us, even if it has only been a day. It is a bit hard to learn but I feel Alexandria and I will get it, Clio on the other hand is taking to it like a bird in the skies. I feel having something to do early in the mornings will be good, I don't usually have anyone to tend to until midday or later." the pride in the man's voice didn't go unnoticed.
"I am glad to hear it, especially since I have just returned and not yet seen Korban, but tell me, why are you not wearing your robes?" the Machine God attempted to keep a neutral tone in his question. Jace frowned in confusion before speaking.
"Ah, well. They are gifts of quality, and if not sacred then at least special, myself, Alexandria, and Clio do jobs that are dirty. Some more than others for each of us. I felt it would be best to only wear them in lessons or ceremonies. I would be surprised if Walenty and Adga do not do something similar." his face took on a semi worried expression.
The trinity moved into the house before removing his hood, "Ah, that does make sense, apologies if I worried you, that will be fine." Jace smiled at that, 'respect for one of my gifts, their own robes, this is acceptable for now, though in future I would rather they wear them more than not. For now, perhaps we should give a reward.' "Jace," the man nodded, "perhaps you would appreciate if I gave you some lessons on the human form and how to heal it. Though I do not know everything about medicine or practice between patient and healer, I certainly know the mechanics, and structures of the human body better than any man or god."
Jace was shocked for a moment before bowing his head deeply and speaking, "Thank you, my lord, I would greatly appreciate learning from you, not only to help my family but to be a better healer for the people here."
"I am sure in time you shall help more than just the people of this place or your fellow cult members. Now then, I'll greet your wife and child before I head back to the chapel to perform some tasks. If possible I should like to teach your family in the evenings as well, do tell Adga and Walenty should they cross your path." the man nodded and called to his two family members to come to see their lord.
"Omnissiah, you are back" Clio spoke with happiness. After a brief visit, he returned to the house he had built, moving inside he saw the pistol he was working on. Refining the beam and power was not easy but it was far from an unpassable wall in terms of progress. A couple of hours made the complete pistol, understanding it was not complete but the Lord of Mars felt he could scale up both the power pack and the pistol.
For now, he worked on making the form of the pistol into a rifle. Only a couple of memories came to the surface when he did this, they offered little in terms of how they were manufactured, but they did familiarize him with the outer workings and components of the rifle as well as a few differences between it and the pistol. It was more powerful and had a longer range, but a thought occurred.
'Who will use these, these are far more powerful than any other weapons that are present at this time.' He regarded his prototypes, 'An edge they would certainly give, but military domination is not yet needed. Creating too many could cause problems for both mortals and myself should the Olympians find out. We may need to limit them to a select few acolytes, as well as ensure we do not have any fall into the hands of those outside our cult.' as he thought another thing came to mind.
The Lord of Rusted Soil set to work making and gathering new materials before creating several iterations of armour, some light some heavier, each used steal. These would serve as possible templates should he need to give protective measures. There were a few visions that shaped the forms of the armour, but not much. Though the true challenge came when he thought about integrating machines and electronics into armour. At this thought there were flashes.
Skitarii marched on legs that did not tire, with arms that held more than any normal man, and had armour that shielded just as much from the enemy as their own weapon emissions. A few moments pass as the visions fade 'As of right now I have no need for such shields on armour, the Las weaponry I have is not so harmful to anything they aren't pointed at where shielding is needed. Augmented limbs, on the other hand, can be used by those who have lost them, or seek unification with the machine.' a pause.
'And I can create armour that enhances strength without loss of limb. For now, the creation of augmented limbs, even as simple non-enhanced replacements for human limbs is needed.' With the armour templates modified then remembered utterly, the One of Invisible Works went about experimenting with mechanical limbs. It took over an hour to create prototypes that could act just as strong and dexterous as human limbs. Part of the difficulty was making these limbs in a way that requires as little maintenance as possible, only once a month to stay at peak function, exempting damage outside of regular use.
One of the easy parts was that once an arm and a leg were made they could simply have their design flipped for the other side. It didn't take too long to create the mechanics of the appendages, the circuitry was the most difficult though thankfully illuminated partially in a short vision. Even the power source was simply a modified power pack. And while the limbs were humanoid it was clearly metal, with little in the way of smooth or rounded edges.
The true majesty of these pieces came when he bestowed machine spirits on them. The Las guns practically sang a song from their spirits, a song of reliability and destruction. The armours' spirits hummed out feelings of security and strength, this strength was mirrored in the limbs to a lesser extent. But the appendages also spoke with words of complex nature, of creation.
With the machine spirits in place, the functions of the items, especially the devices soared in their effectiveness. Unsurprisingly, yet still good to note, at The Life Sparker's urging all of the spirits and their vessels gained yet greater power and effectiveness. The One of Gold Feathers put down and depowered his creations before he moved them to secure storage.
It was now the early evening and the One of Crimson Robes looked up to see Praxis had just returned. The Aquila flew down and onto his shoulder, "Welcome back, did you have a nice flight?" a caw answered him leading to a chuckle and response, "Hmm, not a flight, a hunt you say, interesting." Walking from his courtyard through the house he exited through the front door before locking the door in place from inside with the wooden board.
Materials flew to him and within a minute a book identical to the one he had given to Matea was in his possession. 'There is no reason not to have a book containing answers here. Even with my acolytes here and the lack of literacy, there is no reason to not also have it present here while it is in another shrine.' He placed the book on the table in the chapel in front of the shrine.
There was at least more than an hour or two before his acolytes came to receive their evening lessons. Since he had already spent a lot of time working on experiments the Omnissiah decided to interact with the people of Dimitis, especially those who he saw coming past the altars of the Olympians to his tree and church. After about an hour of answering questions, and even giving advice and minor aid to a few prayers The Granter of Directed Motion made his way to Korban's home once more.
This time the priest of Athena was there, "Ah, Omnissiah you are back. Where ever you went and did must have taken a while for you to return now." a chuckle.
"Actually I returned a few hours ago in the afternoon, when I found no one in my chapel I came to see you but you were not here. I then sought out Jace and his family, I had a short visit with them. I asked them to pass on that I would be teaching this evening, speaking of, thank you for teaching this morning. Would you mind telling me what you taught everyone today?" Korban cleared his throat as he processed all he had been told.
"Ah, that makes sense, sorry for not being here. And you are welcome, I hardly have enough to do around here this time of year. I find I am most busy when assisting with the harvest and planting, but the planting has already been done for most crops here so I am currently facing a fall off in terms of work." upon realizing he was rambling Korban readjusted and spoke, "As for what I taught, it was very, very basic, not easy, but the lowest base."
The old man began to go into depth about the choice of introductions given on the alphabet. The Hellenistic symbols were gone over overall, after that the lesson had focused on a few letters. After all, the priest did not expect them to remember more than a few letters given it was the first day. "Ah, I see, thank you Korban. Should you ever need anything, do not hesitate to ask. Don't let price or impossibility deter you from at least asking. I would like to give to my friend just you have done a favour for me. Especially since you may fill in for me again in the future."
"Well, I am not sure you need to do something so grand." the One of Crimson Robes took off his hood and shook his head. "No, really. It isn't as if you are asking me to teach all day every day. I don't need such an open favour."
"It does not have to be grander than simply giving you a few commodities you ask for. Besides your time is not worthless, I would see I do not take advantage of my friends without paying them back as best fits." Korban met the primordial deity's eyes.
"Well, I would appreciate some company and maybe a bit of wine every now and then, maybe some fresh food." Korban's tone was neutral, though the assurances were appreciated by the former Athenian.
The deity and the man talked for about an hour more, including his business the day after the next. He did not say the business was a party, simply he had to do something. And after all of this, he left Korban's home and the Lord of Mars returned to his grounds, 'Hmm, when Hermes came to me, he found it amusing that I offered gifts. Perhaps I should do so again, and properly. Though what I should bring is a question that needs answers.' as the trinity thought on this it was nearing the middle of the evening.
The Lord of All Knowledge began to gather materials since they did not know what they would need, they collected various things and then transmuted some of the remainders into materials that were not in his immediate reach, things such as metals like gold and silver. With these all together he placed them near his projects before exiting the house.
It turned out to be good timing since he saw Walenty and Adga in their robes walk into the chapel. The couple seemed confused before they exited, only to see the Omnissiah and lose some tension, "It is good to see you both. Where are the others?"
Adga answered, "Well, they passed along the message for us to meet for a lesson tonight, when we went by their home they said they would meet us here after they cleaned themselves from the day's work," the primordial nodded with a hum, "are we to assume we should meet nightly?"
Another nod, "For now consistent lessons are needed, mornings and evenings for now unless otherwise stated, or some greater need pulls you or one of your fellow acolytes away." the two followed their lord back into the chapel, where he asked them about their robes. They had actually worn them for most of the day but always took care to not damage or dirty them. After relaying Jace's strategy he told them to use whichever they felt was best.
After this, he quizzed them on what they retained from their lessons with Korban. He then asked them about the universal laws. They both had an easier and harder time answering there than they did with Korban's lessons, the ideas had clear stuck from their previous night's lesson, but the wording would need to be better memorized in order to not create confusion in translation or varying interpretations.
The last three acolytes joined not too many minutes later in their robes. After he quizzed them on what he had just asked the couple he found it was much the same. Though it was heartening to see that Clio had gotten everything mostly correct. And she was quite happy when praised by both her parents and the Omnissiah. Though he was hardly showering her, simple use of "excellent" and "well done" meant a lot coming from him.
After review of their reading and writing lessons, which took over an hour. He allowed them to practice and memorize, all the while going between them all to both see how they were doing and give attention. Though it was vigilant, the attention was not overwhelming especially given the tone taken by the tri-part deity when speaking, slightly reassuring and rather calm. As things got darker lights appeared, willed by their teacher so they could continue.
It was a couple of hours into the lesson that things became sedated, the Omnissiah pulled down his hood, "Before I sent you all home and the last light of the day is truly gone. I shall take you through your oaths and explain each line in-depth." This seemed odd but no one verbally responded, "Now, line by line I asked you, 'Do you each promise to lay down before me all other loyalties to both gods and mortal leaders' This is simple, I shall expect your loyalties to be to no leader other than those of you fellow cult members, and certainly no other gods."
The group nodded, "What this also means, is that I expect you not to pray to any other, even in appropriate circumstances." the group of acolytes seemed confused, "For example, I expect you not to do something like pray to Poseidon before going to sea, or to pray to any goddesses for aid in childbirth. Myself, the machine spirits, and most of all, your own knowledge should give you the ability to do what you need to do." the group looked concerned, but nodded, they had already taken the oaths, and it wasn't as if they were without any support. And the support was direct and clear, after all they had not seen other gods.
After a moment the Lord of All Knowledge continued, "The next line: 'Do all of you promise to learn knowledge, to understand it, and bring it to comprehension under my banner' is self-explanatory, you learn, you find the meaning in what you learn, and then apply it mentally. To transcend, and then use that comprehension in life." a slow set of nods came from his acolytes.
Clio spoke up after a moment, "Transcend?" a smile came from the primordial.
"You will know, understand, then comprehend, and through that comprehension, transcend. Because comprehension i-" she interrupted excitedly, much to the feared displeasure of Jace and Alexandria.
"-is the key to all things! The seventh law." she smiled before looking at her parents' expression and getting a bit worried.
Those worries were relieved after a moment, "Correct." the Omnissiah smiled wide, "It appears you are already well in on the path of knowledge for the Mysteries of the cult. Now the next line, 'Do you let your hands on this altar act as a sacrifice, that they will do my will.'" a pause, "This is figurative, your hands are tools that are pledged to me," another pause, "but in some sense it is literal."
Walenty spoke, "But, we still have our hands, how are they sacrificed? Or do you mean that they have been made sacred instead of giving them up?"
A hum, "Both, they shall do sacred things, but you shall also almost certainly give them up. Literally in the sense that, they shall become feeble in time, and you will need replacements." he met the eyes of each acolyte, they were either confused or slightly unnerved, the Lord of Invisible Works extended his senses and telekinetically grabbed hold of his arm augment prosthetic, "The next line: 'Will you have your limbs carry you to the perfection of the Machine' is figurative in the sense that it means to walk my path. But it is literal in that you shall have your limbs bring you closer to the machine, by having machine replacements."
The metal arm entered and landed in the grasp of the Lord of Mars, "Loss of any limb, is crippling, leaving little for a survivor. You shall not fear this. Even when you live long past the age of elders, you shall not fear. Old age and the weakness from flesh shall not impede you." the air felt cold before a smile of comfort accompanied his next words, "but all of that is a long, long way off. Do not worry, now, I believe there is one last line."
The group was not completely comforted, but at the same time, the prospect of never having to be a cripple, while not a common thought, was one of security. The last line is 'Do you promise yourselves to my service and the betterment of humanity until you are unable, or I release you from your service?' and as you may have guessed there is no time limit, this is an immense commitment." he looked at the robed men, women, and child before him. They were a little uneasy but at the same time had hints of determination.
"I would not force you, of course, if you still wish to leave now, I would allow it. But know that there will soon come a time when there is no such option when you know too much about the world and the cult to be allowed to leave its ranks." he looked at them, before he smiled, "Though I would endeavour to ensure you would not wish to leave, and that even if you did eventually wish to, you would at least find yourself less burdened by my will and orders."
There was a round of thankfulness from the group, "Well then, I think that is enough I shall see you all tomorrow, oh, and just so you all know, the day after tomorrow I shall not be here."
They all made to leave before Alexandria spoke, "Omnissiah," he looked to her, "Clio noticed something on the other side, on the empty wall. It has something there now. What is it?" she pointed to the second half of the universal laws.
"If you recall from last night, what I have taught you are the 'Mysteries of the Cult Mechanicus,' the first eight of the sixteen Universal Laws." he pointed to the near-blank section near the doorway, "That is the list of the 'The Warnings of the Cult Mechanicus,' I will teach you them in time, but for now I have only recovered one from my memory, it was actually that law which made me leave today to check something. But again, do not worry, you shall know them soon enough." this information was not a shock but certainly a surprise. The group nodded before leaving to return to the village, the Omnissiah moved to the house, 'before I sleep, I should probably finalize my gift plans.'
When the primordial deity did lay down to rest their visions were of dark skies, dust storms, red sands, and towering structures.
AN: I am thinking of editing some previous chapters to make the gods have a limited amount of power gain and loss based on faith. I previously made it so that they didn't gain or lose power, but I now think that doesn't make any sense. Especially since the Machine God does. I've decided I'll just make it so it is diminishing returns in both directions instead. It starts to take a lot of faith to grow stronger, and eventually, loss of faith has no effect power-wise.
Also, I could use suggestions for a gift for each of the Olympians, I have something in mind for Hermes, but feel free to suggest something for him as well. Ideally, the gifts would be machines and not weapons. That not only sends a different message but also is literally giving weapons to potential enemies.
This is a note for me, the time and day is the end of the 6th day. The party is on the 8th day.