Cracks In The Firmament

[Coci Heavenshield]

Nágrindr-heim

Not unlike cracks in the pavement.

It had been, how long since the battle against the hag? I don't know, several months maybe. Which matters little to me, months in the life of a glorious god like I, is but a mere drop in the ocean of life, and it has been a long life, my 16,079th birthday is coming up soon, so don't forget to leave tributes at the shrines, I particularly like green gems and gold whatever form it takes is fine with me.

I have not been idol since the battle, it is hard work being the sole ruler of a realm, in this case, Nágrindr-heim, yes I have changed the name, because I can. Although the gateway of the dead is still very much open for business, all those people that my beloved father would turn away simply because they did not loose their heads in battle are welcomed into my realm. With open arms!

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Of course this means that Grima, you remember her, the Goddess of Death and Destruction, is not getting any more people to populate her realm, well that is not strictly true, she gets the nasty types. I get the sick (those that have died from illness), the clumsy (those that have died from accidents), the sad souls with a death wish and self realise it, and of course the mutants, like you see in the picture above although that three headed guy is actually very loyal to me. His name is, from left to right, Konk, and Kirk, and Kell. Kell does all the talking.

Or is it Kirk, Konk and Kell? .. never mind.

Where was I? Oh yes, what I have been doing all this time. After countless council meetings and committee meetings, and making sure Nágrindr-Heim was safe and secure, prosperous and thriving, all mouths are fed, pavements paved with gold and flowing white curtains fluttered in the halls in the soft breezes of the realm of the unsavoury dead, that it was time to do a little investigation. Besides there was only so much throne sitting my rather spectacular rump would take. So I informed Konk, Kir.. Kell, my three headed vassal that I would be taking a leave of adsence.

And where, pray tell, was I going?

You will find out in the next installment.

Oh btw [member="Dawnbringer"]! If you fancy a trip with yourself truly, you would be more than .. welcome.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

It was time to get to the bottom of things, the very bottom of thing and by that I mean the underbelly of the realms. There is always an underbelly, where the darkness lives and breeds upon its discontent. We all have it, festering away deep, stewing in our juices and kept controlled because of social requirement, and of course public law and a strong sense of moral purpose, ethics etc, etc.

Grima has been around for as long as the rest of the godly entourage, but no one truly understood her motives, apart from the obvious that is. Death and destruction in their own right are high motivators, just like Fire and Mischief, but what is her ambition? Is she simply misunderstood and needed a friendly shoulder to lean on? To rule all the realms?, I suspect this is the motivator, but I needed to know she was aware of mine. So it was time to pay her a visit.

My father would not approve of this course of action of course, but the days in which I seek my father’s approval have long gone and quite frankly I don’t trust the old man. I love him, but I don’t trust him. And I have a feeling that there is more to this Grima than meets the eye, after all history is told to us by those that have the victory and father was the author of all that. His story and I wanted to know her’s. No one ever sort to find mine when I was exiled, yes it looks bad from the pages of the tomes that tell the tale, but there was a motive, method in the madness as they say, which I may or may not have taken a little too far, but look at the results!?

If I had not tricked my father into plunging Midvinter into an age of ice, where would the Valkyri be now? Still snivelling in the dirt as weak as lambs but now they are a formidable race of warriors held together with a strong sense of honour and pride and only the strongest survived that age. Everything is far stronger for it. You’re welcome.

Speaking of underbellies, it is my destination today deep below the foundations of my glorious palace to my secret place where I keep my ship. Where there is a will there is a way, and I have the knowledge of it, I am the only one that does because I am me. There is more to being mischievous than simply tricking people, that is for the dull of mind and those that lack a purpose behind it all, no there needs to be an endgame to it, an agenda that benefits you and you alone. A twist in the tale if you like.

But I will keep my agenda to myself just for now.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

The greatest secrets are hidden in the most unlikely places, and those that do not believe in magic will never find them. This ball of fire, this green light of magic that you see in the palm of my hand comes from the very firmament, the ether that surrounds us all, the power of it innate in my mother, in me and my son. This ability taught to me by her hands since I was a child, and has been a part of me from that Age. Life was so different then, so simple and enjoyed by the mind of a child wondrous with delight at what was within me. And now it lights my way down this stone carved into the rock of the cavern.

Fire, it is so beautiful. Life giving life taking. Renewal death reborn. How they marvel at it, need it but fear it, these mortals. They scorn me for giving it to them, as a gift to survive the harshness of the planet. I suppose one could argue that my method of giving may have been harsh but it was effective, you can’t deny that. I have been called monster, others call me a god, but the difference between the two is only a matter of one’s perspective. Oh but look how beautiful the green light dancing on the gold of my ship!

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Let’s set sail along the blue waters of the river, shall we. This is no ordinary river I shall have you know, nothing in this place is ordinary, it is a river of swirling blue magic, it mouth opening into the edge of this realm and cascading into that place in between. The void betwixt realms. And it is upon this that my ship will take me to the realm of the dead, Liflátinheim. It is quite an adrenalin rush, I assure you, one false turn on the tiller and who knows where I will end up. But one must always look to the bright side, and if there is no bright side, turn your gaze away.

The golden oars cut through the waters, powering my ship onward to the mouth of the cave, and into streams of light do I sail, no eyes will see my departure I do not desire it for no one must know I venture to parley with the hag. I am not really expecting a large welcoming committee, in fact I expect to be set upon by her demons, but they are dull oafs and will be reckoned with swiftly. You see, I have been a bit of a crafty devil, my true powers have not been realised by my family, as I have chosen to keep that to myself, after all there is no surprise in knowing everything about a person. How boring that would be. But with the mere flick of a finger I can cause mayhem on a catastrophic level.

Ah! I approach the Great Void. Now, some music. ​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk6VaWgyYAk​

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This ones for you [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] ​

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

The edge of the realm is in sight, beyond the waters is the void and my stomach lurches, odd feeling really, this sense of uncertainty. There are a few things to be enjoyed in a corporeal form, they are a good part of the reason which I choose to take on this solid matter. Food and drink, there is nothing like a good mead to wash down a hearty piece of roasted ruminant. And don’t be fooled by their big doe-ing dark eyes, ruminants can’t be trusted, all they can be trusted to do is fill your empty stomach.

Anyone that has spoken to me, or has spent time in my company will probably come to the conclusion that I have trust issues. And is there any surprise? Speak to my father or spend time in his company and you would soon understand the reason for it. But then again, I can’t be trusted either.

Setting things on fire is another, nothing more delightful than to watch things burn. And sex, although this subject is taboo for some reason, we all do it, granted some more than others and the rules which surround it make the mind boggle. No animals, no family members, no demons and/or monsters, no men, no married women, the list goes on and on and I am amazed that anyone has sex with all these rules to contend with. Honestly, have you seen some of the Valkyri women? Sometimes it is difficult to tell if they are a woman or an Álk, and there is the same confusion with the men.

But I digress and it is time to take a firm grip of the tiller. The bow peaks over the edge and before you know it, tips to plunge into the void. Through the eyes of a god you would see the void so very differently to that which you would witness. For me, it is magnificence beyond description this swirling space of nothingness, and on the edges of it sits the countless nebulas of life itself, life beginning and ending ever changing and renewing. I can’t tell you that the wind fills my sail or dances through my long black hair in a poetic fashion making me wind swept and interesting because there is none. The silences are heavy, the stillness suffocating and the success of my journeys end, is all up to me.

It is to one of these countless nebulas that I turn my tiller toward, a black mass of blackness, bleakness beyond the veil and I can sense the desolation seeping into my skin even from this distance. Not exactly a holiday destination one would spend a life time saving up for, although so many do. A place you can never leave .. unless you are me of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2LIEQsZQew​

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

The netting of darkness fell over my ship as the bow rode up upon the black marbled shore of the underworld. What lay before me was a landscape so desolate and dark that it would take the very soul from you, there was nothing soft about this place, no glory in being here at all, there was nothing to look for apart from despair and sorrow eternal. By the Gods who would want it? Although I have been accused of not being in my right mind, I would never want for this.

Nothing stirred for as far as I could see, save for the swirling of some black mist that seemed to rise up out of the very stone that this place was built upon, unnatural in its stance. There was a web of magic that pulled the fabric together, the ethereal fabric, I could see it knitting together and constantly changing. It was powerful magic.

A heavy hand of caution was needed to navigate through this place, a soft touch of cunning to counter any possible attack. And it would come, there was nothing surer but that is what I was here for, to find the wretched hag. Maybe they are right, maybe I am not in my right mind, to place my life in danger for the good will and wellbeing of others and mortals at that. It was not that long ago I would not have, my god he will be my undoing, I do this for my son.

While laden with my own thoughts, the sound of foot falls eluded me until it was too late and beside stood another, chest heaving and filled to the brim with intestinal fortitude and outpouring of justice. Helm, my ever brave brother. “Did you think I would let you come alone little brother?” he spoke in a low baritone voice. I did not bother asking him how he got here or how he knew of my intentions, he is a god too and has the propensity to do godly acts as well much to my annoyance.

“Does father know we are here?”, I really did not want him turning up soiling my fun. “No”, Helm steadfast in reply shot a look toward me to which I grin at his act of defiance, which it would have been if father knew. “You do realise that we can’t kill her, she is the goddess of death after all, and she is death”.

It was an obvious question that Helm asked next, and reasonable as well, “So why are we here?”.

“To cheat death”. Helm knew me well enough to know I had a plan, he also knew not to trust it and no doubt came on this ‘quest’ with his own purpose, I knew him well enough to know that too. A fly in the ointment but hey, he is here and there is more than a good part of me that is pleased he is. And so our respective heavenly boots crushed into the black rocky waste land as we jumped off my ship.

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I lead lighting the way forward as Helm follows eyes darting into the darkness reveling in the sense of the fight to come, and if I am honest .. so am I.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Nature is a funny thing. By this I mean your predisposition to behave a certain way, not that the trees crack jokes or such. Beside me is a man predisposed to war and justice which he dishes out with such power and abject bloody single mindedness which of course is all subjective to his point of view. What Helm deems just or in need of a good seeing to, to someone else his ‘sentence’ could be considered unreasonable. Once he gets it into his thick head that it is time for a good old fashion smoting no amount of reasoning will stay him. I should know, I have been on the receiving end of his wrath on more than one occasion.

The nature of the beast that is me, well I think you all know by now and if not it would be my pleasure to meet you. For all my foibles and inconsistencies, I am the fun one and life is never dull. Your life may end, but hey would have had a great time. So here we are, plodding along in the dark, dank and scuttling noises which has my brother on edge. It never bodes well when there are things scuttling in the dark, and as yet neither of us has seen what is scuttling. Elusive little blighters.

Liflátinheim was living up to its name. Not at all what one would expect from hell but then I don’t know what you expect. Some perceive hell as a place of fire and brimstone, torment and endless sorrow, which I can see why that is not so appealing although fire is rather nice. Others believe hell is the life they are leading in the present, somewhat pessimistic for my taste and when they find out it isn’t and die and end up in a place like this, boy are they going to be ticked off.

Let me paint you a picture of this place apart from the dark, dank and blighters. There is no sense of foreboding or sorrow or the like, there is a sense of nothing in fact. Which I think is probably far worse. At least if you have sorrow or foreboding or terror and fear you have something to make your existence in a place like a hell meaningful, it might not be fun but you would have something to look forward to. This place is empty.

Helm shoots me a look, he like me senses we are approaching and I extinguish the blue ball of light and suddenly the scuttling blighters become more active as if the light had been keeping them at bay but they approached with a caution and remain within the darkness. They are everywhere, their feet scratching upon the black rock that makes up the walls around us all jiggered and clawing at the air. There is thousands of them by my reckoning.

And a reckoning is about to start ...

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Time for a little mood music​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR28G204z5k​