Once upon a time, in the days when the green and red moons shone far brighter in the sky then they do now, the Gods of Light and Order and Destiny, vied with the Gods of Darkness and Chaos and Chance to see who would reign supreme.
To this end, they created the World, and myriad of Game Pieces that would be their means of settling this struggle. The Pieces on the board would go on Adventures, achieve Victory, suffer Defeat, find Treasure, Happiness or Love, and care out great stories that fascinated the Gods to no end. In time, the Gods came to loves these Pieces, and their many Adventures.
Before the Gods realized it, these Games of Divinity had becomes less of a means to decide who would control the world, but something far greater than any of the Gods had intended.
Two such gods, Truth and Illusion, were finishing up one of their Games, an Adventure fearing two of their favorite Pawns, Spearman and Witch. The Adventure had been a fun one, if successful and a little light on the action, that had involved Spearman and Witch trying to stop a mad bomber form destroying a city while preventing the jailbreak of an old foe.
Unfortunately, the Adventure ended after a poor dice roll resulted in Spearman tripping at the last moment, failing to prevent the jailbreak… but the Dice falling against these Adventurers sometimes was how things went. Spearman and Witch may have saved the city, but their old enemy had escaped and now was at large. Although the two Adventurers were most certainly not happy with how this had ended, the two Gods could not have been more excited by the outcome, and the promise of more Adventures. What fun!
Even so, the Adventure had been fun while it lasted, however as the pair watched the Spearman and Witch begin their journey back to the Frontier Town it was clear the two Gods had their mind on something else. Namely, the next game they were going to attending.
"Oh, I cannot wait to see what happens next in the Supreme God's campaign," Illusion chirped brightly once she and Truth were sure there was nothing left to see with Spearman and Truth, "The last Adventure was so funny, I could not stop laughing!"
"I told you it was hilarious," Truth agreed, the Cheshire grin he was known for breaming on his face, "Are you not glad we asked you and Earth Mother to join us?"
"Very much so! I had not thought a Campaign about killing nothing but Goblins would have been so hilarious!" Illusion agreed heartily. "Thank you so much for inviting us, for we would never have thought to join otherwise!"
There were many Gods, and among them many Games. Gods who loved nothing but challenge and combat between heroes and Villains. Gods who set the stage of epic battles of conquest spanning continents. Gods who prized intrigue, puzzles and mystery taking place in the shadows with keen eyes. The Games of Life were as many as there were gains of sand on a beach. However, even among these Games there were a few that stood above the rest in uniqueness and fun.
The Campaign run by the Supreme God was one such game.
"I never thought you were to be into this sort of Game, though," Illusion admitted, "You were always about the challenge. This one had so little of it, I thought you would have been annoyed!"
"Oh, there was challenge in case you didn't notice," Truth replied, , "That Goblin infested Elven Fort was a death trap that proved too much for that other Adventuring party. Granted it was a bad dice roll that finally did them in, but there wasn't a lack of challenge there, I will tell you that much."
"But the way His party defeated the Goblins made it look so easy. We also didn't touch the dice once after the fighting had actually started," Illusion recalled with no small amount of Amazement, "He even brought back the party who were wiped out the first run and allowed them to have new Adventurers. I have never seen an outcome from an Advanture that before!"
"And that is the beauty of the Adventurers we are watching," Truth said his grin growing wider, "The Adventurer that Supreme God found isn't like the other Adventurers, isn't he?"
Indeed, the God of Truth was correct.
In this world of Adventure, which the Gods played their Games of Divinity, there appeared one particular Adventurer. He had begun life as an un-exceptional child. He was not highborn, nor had he been especially capable. He had not even had cheating powers, nor great luck. He would not save the world, nor was he expected to change anything.
He had been just another pawn.
Then the Supreme God had the idea to give this unexceptional child a crash course in Necromancy at a time when aforesaid child had picked up an obsession with killing Goblins. It was fairly obvious that 'unexceptional' would not be a word that could describe Him any longer after that.
There was that bit about him not letting the Gods roll his dice too, and them not knowing how his Adventures would end, but honestly His defining traits about Necromancy and Goblin Slaying were very important.
"When faced with a Goblin infested death trap, what did he do? He revives the leader of the deceased Adventuring party as a Revenant to place the odds in his favor, and then lures the Goblins out of the fortress where he had the advantage to the point luck was not even a factor," Truth explained with genuine praise, "Any challenge we pose, He overcomes. Any danger, He avoids or mitigates. Never have I seen such a fascinating Adventurer in all my time playing these games."
"I see." Illusion marveled as she understood where her fellow God was coming from.
"Well that, and He has been abusing the Art of Necromancy in ways not even the God of Wisdom has thought of," Truth laughed heartily, "And, do you not find it refreshing to see and Adventure that is fun and humorous for a change? Even throwing Adventurers into extremely hard challenges over and over again can get a little monotonous sometimes. Watching His antices is honestly a breath of fresh air from the usual fare."
"Is that why the Supreme God acts so different whenever he is running the Adventures? He even dresses differently from how he normally is." Illusion asked, this lingering question having gnawed on her mind ever since she and Earth Mother had attended the first Session. The Supreme God had always been serious and disciplined, as befitting of the head God of Order.
"I suppose so. I think this is how he relieves the stress of being one of the few Gods whose church is overflowing with bureaucracy," Truth reasoned with a shudder, "I told him that Bureaucracy didn't HAVE to be an essential party of Law and Order, but he had to go and be the textbook God of Order and put those in his own Scriptures."
Illusion mentally made a note to go away after the Session to review the teachings of her own church in more detail after heading that. If the stress from dealing with overly bureaucratic clergy could drive the Supreme God in acting THAT way as a way to unload, then perhaps it was time Illusion should start taking her own precautions to avoid ending up in that same situation.
"But it is pretty fun watching him though. Really sets the mood for the whole thing," Truth continued, "Really, Illusion, the whole point of what the Supreme God is doing is for everyone to try something different. You. Me. Wisdom. Even the Earth Mother is having a good time despite the fact he entire church is now having an uproar at having a Zombie as a Priestess."
"I would say she is having fun because of it" Illusion giggled.
An Adventure about a Necromancer and his Undead Adventurers trying to hunt the Goblin race into extinction. With an outlandish concept like that, how could the Adventure be anything but different from anything else that existed in the World they had created?
With that final exchange, the two Gods arrived over at the Frontier Town where the other Gods had gathered. There were more Gods today, more curious Gods drawn to the commotion that the Supreme God had started. Although only Illusion, Truth, Wisdom and the Earth Mother would have their favored Adventurers this day, that did not stop other Gods like Death and Fate from spectating.
Such was the nature of the Games, that any God who wished to watch could do so.
And holding his dominant position, was the Supreme God himself, the Game Master of this current Adventure. He was the most powerful of their number, the wisest and most fair of the Gods of Order, to whom the people of the World looked to when times were darkest. It was he, who first declared that the arguments between the Gods would be settled by dice, and it was he who first suggested those dice games be replaced by the World and its' many Pawns.
Of all the Gods, none were as respected and beloved as he.
As the sun broke over the horizon over the Frontier Town the Supreme God turned to the other Gods before him and spoke.
"Good Morning~!" The Supreme God bellowed at the top of his powerful lungs, the blazer on his back billowing like a cape, the light of the sun glinting off his sunglasses, and a cocky exited smirk playing on his lips, "How is everyone doing today~?"
"Good Morning!" Illusion, Truth, Wisdom and the Earth Mother quickly replied back, remembering what happened the last time any of the players did not respond to his greeting.
The Supreme God was very intimidating when he was screaming 'Good Morning!' in someone's face.
"I must say, everyone is looking very energetic today," The Supreme God declared brightly, as he confidently placed his hands on his hips, "What kind of Adventure-"
With that, he reached behind him and gave the air behind him a loud open handed slap, causing a large display featuring diagrams and pictures to materialize behind him for his fellow gods to see.
"Today, I have a stimulating Adventure for our great heroes for you all to-"
"Uh, Supreme God?" Wisdom said with a raised hand, "Your diagram is upside down."
There was a moment of shocked quiet as Illusion stared at Wisdom, completely aghast that he had the temerity to question the Wisdom of the Supreme… no, wait, it really was upside down. Without even changing the expression on his face, the Supreme God gave another open handed slap, and the display righted itself.
"Today, I have a stimulating Adventure for our great heroes for you all!" The Supreme God declared brightly, "In this Session, the evil Goblin hordes have decided to go after Undead Master's beloved farmstead home, where his childhood friend and future wife-"
"Nope. His future wife is the Banshee," Truth crossed his arms petulantly as he cut the Supreme God off, "Their chemistry is fantastic, and I don't think he sees that farmhand as more than a sister."
"You just like the Elf because her instance on that List makes it more difficult for Him," Wisdom groused angrily, "Now, that receptionist at the Guild, there's a Girl who actually has some brains…"
"Uh, is it wrong that I think my Priestess is a good match for him? She's still a little young but in a few years, I think she will be quite-"
"SSSSSHHHHHUUUUUTTTTT UUUUUPPPPP," The Supreme God screamed aloud, slamming both his hands on a phantasmal desk he had simply willed into existance for this very purpose, "DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A DATING SIM TO YOU? THIS IS AN ADVENTURE ABOUT ZOMBIES AND GOBLINS! WHAT DOES LOVE GOT TO DO WITH ZOMBIES OR GOBLINS? IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT ADVENTURE, STAY QUIET UNTIL I FINISH THE OUTLINE YOU TALKATIVE, LOVE OBSESSED GODS!"
That put the bickering of other Gods to a stop in an instant.
"There," The Supreme God cleared his throat, "Now, as I was saying, the evil Goblin hordes have decided to go after Undead Master's beloved farmstead home. Classical Adventure in the lines of The Siege of Krusty's Freehold, right? Oh, Illusion, you raised you hand. Shoot."
"Uh, I may be very new to this group, but isn't Cow Girl's farm protected by Undead Master's army? Won't that make any Goblin invasion very… uh, short lived?" Illusion pointed out cautiously, slightly intimidated from his shouting earlier.
"Yep, it is," Supreme God nodded, happy that one of his fellow Gods was asking all the sensible questions at least, "And that is why the Adventure is going to be about Undead Master and his party members having Sword Maiden over for a surprise family dinner while trying to keep her oblivious to the fact the Goblins that scare her are fighting his Zombie army outside."
The other Gods all looked at their leader, varying expressions of astonishment on their face.
"What kind of Adventure-" Death began.
He never got to finish.
"AND THAT'S THE ADVENTURE!" Supreme God declared, clapping his hands together rather enthusiastically, "IT'S A GO! GO! GO! GO! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And with that, the Gods began their Games again, the Adventures of Undead Master and his Goblin Slayers continued…
A/N – Well, it is a Zombieland Saga crossover, so I had to fit Kotaro Tatsumi in here somewhere. Thanks for reading!