Reviews:
TheIncredibleCommentMachine: Yeah... It's unfortunate because there are some really cool triple A table top and video games. But you're right, indie games seem to be the best future for gaming in general at the moment.
patrickregalado: Yeah they did. And I'm glad you like the change!
Guest: It depends. I currently have the story planned for up to a certain specific point. After that I'm not quite sure what will happen. I think it will diverge from the original light novel by quite a bit, but we'll all have to wait and see. Myself included.
xVx-k1r1t0-xVx-killme: It's good to be back, and I hope you enjoy it this time around as well!
A little over a decade had passed since the Chaos Gods appeared in Orario. In that time all four of their Familias had grown at a very rapid pace. Each of them already had at least a few dozen to a hundred members in their familias and their fame and reputations were spreading rapidly.
Khorne very quickly gained a reputation for being quite possibly the most honest and honorable of all the gods and always telling the truth and keeping his promises no matter what or how detrimental doing so was for him. Some thought him a fool because of this, though that could not have been further from the truth. This reputation had actually allowed him to speak with Ouranos himself and make a contract with the Guild to be allowed to personally lead his Familia into the dungeon under two conditions. The first was that he did not make use of any form of arcanum under any circumstances while inside, including updating statuses. The second was that he signed a waiver acknowledging the fact that he could die within the dungeon and be sent back to heaven for the rest of eternity and absolving the guild of any and all responsibility should that happen.
Of course that was only half of the reason he was allowed to go into the dungeon. The other half was the fact that he had provably gone into the dungeon on multiple occasions in the past and absolutely nothing had happened. So he had already displayed that he was capable of going into the dungeon without causing any issues multiple times before ever gaining official permission from the Guild. It was almost as if he had come to an understanding or held some form of kinship with the dungeon itself so that it would allow him to enter and fight the monsters within while it would reject any other god who attempted to do so, and Ouranos recognized this.
Thus Khorne became the only god to ever actually be allowed to enter the dungeon and he was perhaps the only god in the world to consistently fight alongside his Familia, even if he had to have an honor guard of higher ranking adventurers to help defend him as a result of this due to the rules limiting his abilities. His familia didn't mind this and actually viewed it as the highest honor to be allowed to act as his honor guard. The only honor higher was to be his champion, the single most powerful member of his Familia and second only to Khorne himself in terms of rank and influence within the Familia.
His familia was known for producing very powerful warriors very fast. However it was also known for its high mortality rates. Even so many individuals are attracted to his familia for a variety of reasons ranging from a desire to be a powerful warrior, a desire for fame, to a desire for fortune and even more humble reasons such as a desire to ensure the safety of one's family, a desire to feed one's family, a desire for a home, and a desire for a place to belong. Then there are less than wholesome desires such as using joining his familia as a means of suicide, though individuals such as this are almost universally rejected.
As for Tzeentch, he rapidly became known for what he truly is. A scheming, manipulative, and highly temperamental puppet master that is just as likely to hurt you as he is to help you, depending upon his mood at any given moment in time. And he was not at all afraid to let individuals with less power and influence than him be aware that they were little more than puppets on his strings as they could rarely do anything about it and he thoroughly enjoyed toying with them. However, he actively avoided angering those with more power or influence than him as he was aware that even with the high concentration of powerful mages in his familia he could very easily be killed and his familia could very easily be wiped out by a more powerful familia if he wasn't careful.
Tzeentch's familia was particularly notorious for its sorcerers and his sorcerers were notorious for their power, for knowing far more spells than was normal for magic users who had only just started learning the craft, and for being extremely secretive. He also had a hand in almost everything in the city from small businesses to politics and even criminal activity and he was trying his best to extend his influence far beyond the bounds of the city to the rest of the world. He quickly became known as one of if not the best businessman in all of Orario if not the entire world and was given the nickname "the Blue Devil" as making deals with him outside of normal business was seen as akin to making a deal with a devil.
Slaanesh had very rapidly gained a very large following. Her ultimate goal was to rip the Redlight District from Ishtar's grasp and claim it for herself, but she was well aware that her familia was not nearly powerful enough for such a thing as of yet. As such, her familia's primary focus at this time was delving deep into the Dungeon to make stronger adventurers and earn mass amounts of wealth. Her familia was notorious for their depravity and sadomasochism, gratuitous over indulgence in drugs, alcohol, and sex, and hosting large parties pretty much every night in which gods and mortals alike were always invited to join. They were also famous for their music, art, black smiths, and pretty much everything that could be brought to a state of excess and/or perfection. Most of her followers were Amazonians but there were also a few other races as well. Her favorite were the Elves as they reminded her so much of the Eldar, thus she would often keep what few Elves that joined her familia as her personal attendants and concubines.
Nurgle's familia was by far the most humble of the four. They weren't particularly rich but they lived in a small lovingly tended mansion surrounded by a beautiful garden. Almost all of the members of his familia either were orphans or used to be homeless. In fact Nurgle actually owned and managed both an orphanage and a homeless shelter and would always offer to let anyone staying there join his familia, as long as he knew they weren't bad people. Like all gods he could see into the souls of mortals and thus he never allowed anyone with any sort of darkness, malevolence, or cruelty to join his familia regardless of if they were homeless or not. He would still let them stay in the homeless shelters but that was it. He had actually rapidly become very good friends with a lot of the gods of the smaller familias and would always offer to help them out however he could and would give them gifts in the form of plants such as beautiful flowers since he wasn't allowed to spread his normal gifts in the form of disease.
In fact, for the very first time since he grew powerful enough to gain consciousness in the Warp, he was beginning to question his love for disease as for the first time since arriving in this world one of his children had finally gotten sick. At first he had been elated by this. Then he realized how much his child was suffering and the fact that he wasn't allowed to use Arcanum to ease their pain or ensure their survival as he had done for his children previously.
[Nurgle]
Nurgle wiped Lucian's forehead with a wet wash rag. "I'm so sorry, my child… I… I wish there was something I could do to ease your suffering…"
Lucian coughed and wheezed for a moment before shaking his head. "No… You gave me a home… You gave me a family… And you haven't left my side even for a moment since I got sick… And you never once asked me for anything in return… I couldn't possibly ask you for anything more."
"I never asked you for anything in return because you already did more than enough. You would help me care for the children while Julia, Arthur, and Mark were in the dungeon. You would help me cook dinner for the familia. Despite your age you would help me with whatever chores you could do. And you would always play us the most lovely music with your violin. I would have been happy with even one of those things… If only I was allowed to use arcanum I would at the very least take the pain away. You deserve nothing less." Nurgle told him.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door just before Elizabeth came in, holding a glass full of medicine. "Papa Nurgle, here's uncle Lucian's medicine…" She said in a dejected tone.
"Ah, thank you dear…" Nurgle said, taking the glass from her.
After another coughing fit Lucian said, "Ah… Elizabeth… If it isn't too much to ask, would you mind playing a song for me…? I would love to see how your violin skills have improved one last time before I go…"
"Of course, uncle…" Elizabeth said with tears welling up in her eyes. Picking up Lucian's violin and the accompanying bow she began playing the same song Lucian would play for her and the other children to lull them to sleep at night when they were still young.
As she played the song, Nurgle helped Lucian sit up a bit and drink the medicine. Previously Nurgle had been giving Lucian medicine in an attempt to ease his symptoms but as his condition continued to deteriorate Lucian had apparently come to terms with his fate and asked for something different. Something to ease his passing. Nurgle had granted that wish without hesitation. It was the least he could do, as far as he was concerned. This medicine would not ease Lucian's symptoms but it would make his death much less painful. As soon as the glass was empty, Nurgle lowered Lucian back down onto the bed.
Elizabeth continued playing until after Lucian's eyes had closed and his chest had stopped rising and falling. At that point Nurgle placed two fingers on Lucian's throat and checked his pulse. He then sighed and stood up.
Realizing what this meant, Elizabeth was incapable of holding back her tears and finally began sobbing. One of if not the only father figure she had ever known, she viewed Nurgle as more of a grandfather, had just passed away.
Nurgle walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace. "It's okay… Feeling despair in a situation like this is perfectly natural. Just know that I have already claimed his soul and he is now resting in my afterlife, awaiting reincarnation. Death is not the end. You will meet him again one day…"
Elizabeth returned Nurgle's embrace and cried into his shoulder.
Nurgle patted her on the back and continued to comfort her for some time until she calmed down a bit. Once she did he released her and said, "He wants you to keep that, you know. His violin. It was one of the last things he told me before he died. He knew how much you enjoy playing it and wanted to leave you with something after he was gone… Don't tell the others but I think you were always his favorite."
Elizabeth looked at the violin in her lap before standing up. "We… We should go tell the others… I think Arthur already has a coffin ready and Mark already dug a grave in the garden…"
"Alright, dear…" Nurgle said before removing the blanket from Lucian's corpse and gently picking him up. Nurgle then followed Elizabeth out of the room towards the garden where most of the rest of the Familia were already waiting for them.
Seeing the coffin that Arthur had made, Nurgle walked over and gently laid Lucian's body inside. He then turned to the rest of the Familia and said, "Today is a day of loss and despair… We have lost one of the first seven members of the Familia to disease… And… I can't help but blame myself… Before this I lacked a mortal perspective of disease… You see, before my siblings and I came to this reality we had our own version of the game the gods native to this realm played, we called it 'the Great Game'… Unlike the game the gods of this world play, ours had no true rules so I was allowed to use my powers to bless my children with an immunity to pain, to suffering, and to death… And as the god of nature, stagnation, death, decay, destruction, despair, and disease I saw my plagues as gifts as disease is but another form of life, albeit much smaller than the eye can see… At first I saw this as a gift as well, something to be happy about… That was until I realized how much he was suffering and that he was dying and there was nothing I could do about it…"
Nurgle paused for a moment to look at Lucian before looking back at the rest of his familia. "I was a fool… I never understood what disease was truly like from a mortal perspective, but now I do… And I'm sorry… I… If I had done more to ensure hygiene then perhaps he would never have gotten sick and he would not have had to suffer like this… I regret my actions dearly… I… I don't know what to do… I am a god of disease yet I find myself losing the love I once held for it… I can no longer find joy in the spreading of disease… It's like a part of myself has died with Lucian… A part of my very nature… So… For as long as I play this game and am bound by its rules to not use arcanum, I will reject disease. All of you and your happiness are far more important to me than my… my gifts… no… Seeing what Lucian went through, I can no longer consider them gifts… my curses… In their place I will have a much greater focus on plants, animals, and the like… I just hope you can all forgive me…"
Arthur stepped forwards and asked. "Were you the one who infected Lucian with the disease?"
"Well, no but—" Nurgle started only for Arthur to cut him off with an embrace.
"Then there's nothing to forgive. It's not your fault he caught this disease… So you were happy he caught it at first, so what? You weren't happy for any malicious reasons, you genuinely thought it was a good thing because you didn't understand it like us mortals do. You clearly aren't happy about it now after finally having experienced it from a mortal perspective. That means you've learned and that's not a bad thing. Not to mention the fact you didn't leave Lucian's side the entire time he was sick. You did more for him than any of us and we all know you would do the same for us if we were in the same situation. So it's fine. I'm sure he would say the exact same thing as well." Arthur said. When he was finished speaking several other members of the familia walked over and joined the embrace as well.
Nurgle was silent for a moment before saying, "Thank you all… Truly… Well, I believe that's more than enough about me. Today is about Lucian and we should honor him by giving him the funeral he deserves."
[Khorne]
Khorne watched as his Familia's current champion, the Deathrender, battled a member of Kali's familia in Kali's colosseum. As Kali knew he would not cheat under any circumstances they had actually discussed the statuses of their respective members of their familias and determined a match that was as evenly matched as possible.
The Deathrender was pushing Kali's warrior back with a berserker assault. From the perspective of someone less familiar with combat it may have seemed as though the deathrender was winning but Khorne could already tell he was doomed. He was falling into a cleverly laid trap. And after a moment Khorne was proven correct as Kali's warrior rapidly circled around the Skulltaker and forced him back against the wall. He tried to retaliate but Kali's warrior proceeded to behead him with a quick swing of her sword.
"A well fought match, wouldn't you agree?" Kali inquired.
"No. My 'champion' proved to be nothing short of incompetent from beginning to end! In the end it could hardly be called a battle, rather it was merely a drawn out execution! Pathetic… He may have been effective against monsters in the dungeon and unskilled opponents but against a true warrior he was nothing. After this abysmal display I am embarrassed to have ever called him my champion! I will have to ensure my next champion is better trained." Khorne growled, gripping the hilt of the End of All Things in a relaxed grip, just as satisfied by the outcome of the battle as he would have been if Deathrender had won. As always he cared not from where the blood flowed so long as it flowed.
"Hm… Well I enjoyed watching the battle either way. We should do this again at some point." Kali stated.
"Indeed. I guarantee it shall not be so one sided the next time! Or perhaps it shall but in favor of my champion instead." Khorne snarled, standing up.
"I look forward to it. You are not staying to watch the rest of the fights? Even with your champion dead my familia will be continuing." Kali stated.
"Tempting, but no. I will be leading my own familia into the Dungeon. I have to begin training my next champion." Khorne growled, clutching the hilt of the End of All Things.
"Ah. Fair enough… Don't die down there. We can't compete again if you are stuck in Heaven for the rest of eternity." Kali stated.
"I will not." Khorne snarled confidently before stomping away, followed by his honor guard.
"Should we collect his corpse, my lord?" One of his honor guards asked as they were walking away.
"Others of our familia are already taking care of it. Though Kali shall be keeping his skull." Khorne growled.
"Understood. Will you be taking the eight of us into the dungeon alone or should we gather others in our familia?" Another honor guard inquired.
"My intention is to train my next champion and with Deathrender dead the eight of you are currently the strongest members of the Familia. You are all that is required for this. Or do you believe yourselves too weak to face the monsters of the thirty second floor without others to assist you?!" Khorne sneered in disdain under his helmet.
"We are more than strong enough, my lord… I shall claim many skulls in your name." Growled one member of his honor guard.
"I shall claim more! I fully intend on becoming the next champion!" Snarled another.
"Fools, I will be the next champion!" Shouted another.
This continued to devolve further and further to the point where all eight of them had their weapons drawn and were about to start killing each other. Khorne would have approved, but this was neither the time nor the place. "Silence, all of you! Duels within our familia will be fought in the dungeon or within our sparring ring! Remember that before you decide to draw weapons upon each other again or I shall add all eight of your skulls to my throne! Your first test is to bring me back the most skulls and or magic stones of the highest possible quality. Only then will a duel be had between the four who bring back the most or highest quality to determine which of you will earn the right to be my next champion!"
All eight of them remained silent after that but they all continued to hold their weapons at the ready and watch each other as if just waiting for the others to make a move.
[Slaanesh]
Slaanesh sipped from her wine glass as she watched several members of her familia dance for her entertainment while others played music. Meanwhile there was a drug fueled orgy happening all around her.
That was until the door to the room opened and another member of her familia came walking over to her. "Lady Slaanesh, I'm sorry to interrupt but Tzeentch is here to see you."
This got Slaanesh's attention. "He is? Now this is a surprise… None of my brothers have come here to visit me even once since our arrival here." She then stood up and began walking towards the entrance hall of her mansion where she knew Tzeentch would be waiting for her.
As soon as she arrived she saw him standing there, waiting patiently. "Tzeentch, darling! Have you come to take me up on my offers?"
Tzeentch scoffed in disgust. "Ugh… No. I will never sleep with you. I would rather have been destroyed or consumed by the Anathema after his ascension. I'm actually here for a very different reason. You know the Drukhari, yes? Some of your most fervent followers back in the other realm… Well, I have something I believe you might enjoy very much. I have perfectly replicated several of their poisons and have created weapons and armor based upon theirs. They aren't perfect replicas as the technology isn't quite so advanced, however I believe they shall still serve you well." He then looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Bring them in!"
Suddenly six members of his familia came walking in, dragging levitating display racks behind them. The fact that there were six of them did not go unnoticed by Slaanesh and she fully realized it was an attempt to get on her good side. And it was working. Stepping around Tzeentch she began examining the Drukhari based equipment very intently. There were six suits of armor, twelve melee weapons, six ranged weapons, and twelve separate vials of poison.
"As you can see, I have designed them to look like their Drukhari counterparts and they have several similar functions. The one based upon Drukhari Ghostplate, for example, while it may be made of metal rather than resins, is enchanted to project an arcane barrier to deflect blows. This barrier isn't quite as strong as the actual shielding technology used by the Drukhari but it doesn't need to be considering the fact this world is significantly more primitive than the Anathema's galaxy. It is equivalently potent for how comparatively primitive this world is. The Incubus War Suit, Kabalite Armor, Wraithbone Woven Battle Suit, Armored Carapace, and Wychsuit are all also equivalently powerful for the level of technology this world has. So they will keep your familia alive quite well." Tzeentch said, motioning to the armor.
He then walked over to the display rack containing the melee weapons. "And as you can see, these are based on an Agonizer, an Archite Glaive, a Klaive, a set of Demiklaives, a Hellglaive, a Glimmersteel Blade, Hekatarii Blades, an Impaler, a Djin Blade, a Venom Blade, a Razorflail, and a Punisher. Granted, none of them are actual power weapons but the ones based on power weapons are enchanted to have an easier time cutting through armor and inflicting even greater pain upon their victims. Others, like the Venom Blade, are designed to have poisons coursing through them to cause hellish agony on whomever is cut by them."
Finally he walked over to the display rack containing the ranged weapons and poisons. "Unfortunately I was unable to replicate the guns. However, I have designed several bows and crossbows to fit the Drukhari aesthetic. And all of the bolts and arrows contain internal reservoirs in which vials of poison can be slotted into them and internal capillary systems to deliver the poisons to the heads. The hardest and most expensive to produce was the Glass Plague Virus so you won't be able to use that particular concoction very frequently. So try to save that for… special circumstances."
"Ooh Tzeentch, for me? I love them! So what will it cost me? Don't think me a fool, brother. I know you wouldn't give this to me unless you stood to gain something." Slaanesh said, picking up the Venom Blade and examining it.
"These ones are completely free. Though you will have to pay currency for any more and for any extra ammunition. It's a simple business deal." Tzeentch said with a slightly mocking smile.
"Hmph… As if I would believe that. But fine, I will gladly take these off your hands if you wish to give them to me."
"Very well. Good day, Slaanesh. Do enjoy your new toys." Tzeentch said before turning and starting to leave.
Before he could walk all the way out the door, however, Slaanesh asked, "Before you go, do you think it may be possible for you to produce chemicals and bacterias or viruses to inflict pleasure as well? The Drukhari poisons are nice but they are quite limited in that they only cause pain, which is a bit boring."
Tzeentch chuckled and without turning he said, "But of course! Come by my familia's shop next week and I shall have your pleasure chemicals ready. We can discuss prices then." With that said he and the members of his familia left, closing the door behind them.
Looking back Slaanesh saw a few members of her Familia watching her. Smiling, she said, "Oh my dear children, I have some new toys for you." She then chuckled malevolently.
[Tzeentch]
"Ishtar already has the weapons, armor, antidotes and vaccines we made to counter the poisons and the equipment we gave to Slaanesh, correct?" One of Tzeentch's sorcerers inquired as they walked away from Slaanesh's rather small mansion. As they were walking away, three more sorcerers who had been hiding outside rejoined the group.
"Obviously. Do you take me for a fool? I would not have given that wargear to Slaanesh if that were not the case. Our familia can benefit from their conflict by selling to both sides, so we cannot allow either side to ever gain the advantage over the other. Especially once Ishtar learns that Slaanesh plans to take over the Red Light District." Tzeentch explained.
"I see. My apologies, Lord Tzeentch, I meant no disrespect." The sorcerer apologized.
Tzeentch waved a hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter… It's all leading up to my ultimate plan of turning this game into a smaller scale version of the Great Game."
"To do that you will have to convince the other gods to change the rules a bit to allow for more freedom in terms of the use of Arcanum. That will not be an easy task." Said another of Tzeentch's sorcerers.
Tzeentch scoffed. "I will turn this into a repeat of the Great Game eventually. It may take many hundreds if not thousands of years before we get to that stage, but I will do it. So, one step at a time."
"Yes, well for the next steps, the wargear you wanted us to produce for Khorne and Nurgle have already been fully developed and are ready to be given to them. And the non-magical technology you're having us develop to counter Khorne once his familia develops a resistance to magic is nearing the final stages of development." Said another of Tzeentch's sorcerers.
"Good, good. I expect it to be completed by the day after tomorrow." Tzeentch stated.
"Understood. I personally look forward to using some of the equipment you are developing for our familia. I am eager to see how they can improve our magical capabilities." Another sorcerer stated.
"Hmph… Just wait. I believe you will be impressed." Tzeentch stated. He then sighed and said, "If only I were able to use Arcanum, it would be so much easier and they would be so much more powerful… Regardless, conventional sorcery will just have to work."
"Well, what's next on today's todo list or is protecting you while you went into Slaanesh's mansion all you needed us for?" Yet another sorcerer asked.
"That's all. You are all dismissed. Except for you, Autumn. I still need to speak with you." Tzeentch said.
The other sorcerers dispersed leaving Autumn the only one continuing to walk alongside Tzeentch. "Yes, Lord Tzeentch? What is it you require of me?"
"I wished to discuss something with you. You out of all members of our Familia have served me particularly well, are perhaps the most faithful, are currently the most powerful member aside from myself, and are very important to my future plans. So I would like to reward you with an offer. Immortality and eternal youth." Tzeentch stated.
"And the price of this immortality would be…?" Autumn inquired.
"Absolutely nothing. It's a spell I will cast upon you… Well, technically it does have a relatively high chance to make you infertile but that hardly matters." Tzeentch explained.
"Actually, I'm afraid that's a deal breaker for me. If it makes me infertile, I don't want it… At least not yet. Perhaps in the future, but not now." Autumn told him.
This caught Tzeentch completely off guard. "You want children? That's surprising… You haven't seemed to be looking for a husband."
"You're right. I don't want one yet but I do want one at some point. So perhaps after I have a child I may be fine with the idea. But not right now." Autumn stated.
Tzeentch nodded, slightly taken aback by this. He had not been expecting this in the least. "Very well… In that case, your ovaries could be removed and kept in stasis via magic until you wish to have a child. At that point one or two of your eggs could be artificially inseminated and placed back inside you. The spell would kill your eggs, not render you incapable of carrying a child so with that method you could still reproduce whenever you desired. And you wouldn't have a time limit on it as you do currently. You could have a child next week, three years from now, three centuries from now, or even three hundred centillion years from now or more."
"Hm… Alright. In that case, I have no reason to refuse. Very well then. I suppose I will welcome the change." Autumn said.
"Excellent! Then follow me back to the mansion and we will begin the procedure immediately. You will have to take painkillers for several days afterwards as removing your ovaries will require surgery but you will recover quickly enough." Tzeentch told her.
End Notes: So, I tried to take some advice I read in the reviews the first time around and tried give a little insight into what life is like in their respective familias. It didn't end up quite how I wanted but I suppose it will have to do.
Edit: This chapter was originally written so Tzeentch would introduce advanced technology from W40k to the world. I changed it so he made more primitive equipment equivalent to what they actually have in Danmachi. So no power weapons or guns or the like will be included in this story.