!the harmony to your melodious sin~

[Holly]

Ymber 22, 1593, who knows what time it is?
Faerym's Melodious Sin, Planes of the Santach


Go to sleep. Get up. Travel around. Hope Cethin showed up. Follow the less intelligent ghosts. Hope once again that Cethin would come. Terrorize some random wanderers. Sulk. Zera found a very repetitive pattern with her life at the moment. Nothing was showing up different except maybe more or less wanderers came to the santach planes each passing day. And, of course, with each day, she did not change either. She did not have to worry about dying, for she was already gone.

Wait, do I even sleep anymore? Have I ever slept? Zera narrowed her eyes as the pointless questions formed in her mind. Who cared anymore if she slept? There was no one there but the other stupid ghosts and wraiths. There was Faerym, but she hadn't seen him in a while, which left her lonely.

The ghost was floating in the air, arms around her legs and chin resting on her knees. Boredly, she stayed in that spot and looked around using peripheral vision. After a few minutes, she sighed and stepped lightly onto the ground. "Boooorrrriiiinggg," Zera drew out the word as long as she could, trying to make her voice fit into the background as a diminished, nasty chord. It just made it sound more haunting if anything.

"Wonder if Faerym's around finally..." She muttered to herself, already moving in the direction of where the god was typically.

[The Santach]

Amidst the eerie harmony of a delicate harp, a slow piano, and a somber flute, Faerym's voice exploded inside of Zera's mind but nowhere else within His realm.

"Boring?!" he shouted into her thoughts. "Haven't you played with the ghosts yet?" This time he was whispering; however, it was still only audible to Zera.

His ghostly figure appeared before the condemned woman, revealing His Unholiness to her. Faerym generally took the form of a tall man in his forties with silver-blonde hair, silver eyes, and delicate features, at least for a male's body. He was also known to frequently take the form of a mourning dove, a faceless wraith, and royal griffin with gold feathers, gold fur, a gold beak, and black eyes. As he appeared to Zera, however, Faerym was in his man form.

"Why, I could take away your voice for saying such blasphemous things in my domain," he threatened in a less-than-serious way. The god wasn't inclined to do such things to people, but it wasn't too harmful to remind the girl he had such power. Besides, his expression was clear: he had no intent or desire to capture the voice of Zera.

[Holly]

"Holy shit!" Zera plugged her ears as if that would help the sudden yelling in her head. She barely caught what the god whispered after he yelled because her cry was so loud. Who the hell cared about the other ghosts? They were boring here. She heard from Cethin that the ghosts on Osoa were more interesting and that even the ones in Meprise were fascinating as well. "And why would I 'play' with them? They're no fun anymore," She muttered.

She rolled her eyes at Faerym's treat, but dipped her head in respect anyhow. Might as well not get her voice taken away. She actually liked it most of the time. "And why would you get rid of my voice? I'm the most interesting ghost here and you know that," She smiled in a charming manner.

"Hey, you should do something interesting here. How about inviting some other gods here? That would be interesting. Oooh! Or getting some mortals here!" She beamed.

[The Santach]

Faerym scoffed. "You think I'll allow those other goons within my perfect domain? They wouldn't even want to come here anyway! We're all a bit obsessed with what we've created, so much so that we're not even remotely interested in the creations of each other. You think I find those never-ending, cubical rooms of random colors or that world of literal pitch blackness or a boundless maze to be slightly arousing to me? Absolutely not."

The Prince of Resonance stepped forward and put his arm around Zera's shoulders. "So why in the world would they find all of this –" he gestured toward his barren wasteland of aimless wraiths, wandering souls, somber ghosts, boulders, gaseous geysers, and floating music notes, "– to be enthralling? They simply wouldn't visit me. Perhaps if I were better-acquainted with, say, Syndethite, but I fear she'd try to restore life to this beautiful world."

He withdrew his arm from Zera's being and turned to face her again. "And mortals? Why, the only mortals worthy of setting foot in my kingdom are those of impeccable musical talent. It's a wonder how you ended up here in the first place, and you know, now that I think about it..."

Faerym paused for a moment, tapping his ghostly hand on his chin while looking up in thought. "It's a wonder why I've allowed you to stay here at all."

The Selfish God simply shrugged and looked at Zera with expressionless eyes. He honestly could care less about who walked within his Plane and did a terrible job at selling himself as an all-powerful deity who would not be defied, though he was much more inclined to enjoy the presence of those with incredible audio talent and much more inclined to provoke those without. For the most part, however, he simply didn't care.

[Holly]

"'Cause even if you didn't want me here, I can't be moved. I've tried countless times to leave. I don't even care if the leaving is just for a little while. I just..." Zera slumped down on a rock, nearly going all the way through it before reminding herself to float so at least she looked like she was sitting on the rock. "I just want a little change of pace, Faerym. Give me some sort of instrument so I can learn to make music. Or bring in a band of some kind."

She jumped up again and spun so she wasn't exactly facing away from him, just looking off. "Or you can tell me how you made this place. What was your inspiration? If I wanted to, could I make a realm of my own if I learned enough magic?" Zera sighed. "Even with Cethin trying to tell me as much as he can, I still get more questions..."

With that being said, Zera turned back to Faerym. "I know you love your plane and all, but have you ever wondered what it was like elsewhere? If you weren't a god, what would you do?" She further inquired.

[The Santach]

Faerym conjured a simple chair out of thin air and sat upon it, changing his appearance from his standard male body to that of a large serpent with six eyes, coiling around the wooden instrument.

"I'm afraid that even immortal mortalss ssuch asz yoursself will never harnessss the power that the Ssantach and the Hexsssssadussss do." He was careful to hiss nastily the name of the Holy. "We are the children of Time and Ssspacce. Do you feel them around you? Alwayss there, unavoidable, alwaysss watching."

The Prince of Sound shifted forms to an owl, perched carefully on the back of the chair.

"Always listening, feeling your heartbeat reverberate, a ripple within the sea of their existence. You disrupt my Mother by possessing a physical entity and disrupt my Father by thinking forward and backward within His being. They have given you the ability to exist within them, simply because you are the offspring of their children."

As an owl, he spoke very much with only his left wing, making gestures here and there in an almost unnecessary manner. He then changed to mimic the form of a dark brown tabby she-cat, sitting gracefully on his chair with her tail curled around her front paws very neatly.

"You see, Zera, I do not wonder what is it like elsewhere," Faerym continued. "If I have ever wondered in the past, why I'm sure I would've simply created this 'elsewhere' and decided it wasn't for me. That is why you see what you see around you. Because I chose it. And on the matter of not being a child of Time and Space... Well, that's an absurd thought in the first place. If I were not their child, I would not be Faerym at all, and you and the entire rest of the Void would be without sound for all of eternity. Now, imagine that!"

His explosive exclamation at the end of his speech was accompanied by a popping transformation back into his standard male form, sitting with his ankle on his knee.

"If I weren't a god, you wouldn't have heard a word I just said! That would be dreadful. I love talking."

[Holly]

This guy's dynamics were all over the place, much unlike his whole freakin' realm which seemed to be merely background music to his melody. It made sense to her finally, even if it wasn't the right thinking. Faerym was the Melodious Sin, not the realm itself. It was harmony. As was she. Anything that wasn't Faerym was faced with the fact that they were harmony. Well, that was stupid and she didn't like that. She'd rather it be a duet.

Time wills me to stay this age. It always has. For an odd reason, I've always been 21 and, according to Cethin, I am to forever look like this girl named... Good grief, what was her name again? It was something odd and dumb. Either way, she still looked like her, save for a couple features. "Yes, they are always here, aren't they? Interesting if you ask me. Also interesting how they could create children who are all so different."

Zera realized that she was never told how anyone of them were besides Faerym. Gazing up at him, she smiled, "Talk some more then. Could you tell me how your siblings act? Please?"

[Roxilicious]

Faerym raised an eyebrow. "My siblings? Hmph. Some of them I'm sure we could do without... But... If you so insist, then your wish is my ... Granted request. Not command. You do not command me."

He changed forms to another owl, but this one looked different. His back and the back of his wings were black with intricate, cream-colored markings, and his belly and the underside of his wings were cream with eerie black markings that resembled eyes. His chest, too, had a few tufts of black, creating an arrow that pointed down. His eyes were electric yellow.

"I will not speak of the Hexadus, for they are my idiotic, foolish siblings," he warned, looking Zera right in the eye. "Apeiros the Omniscient, somewhat of a father to the rest of us. He was created first from the first contact of Time with Space and he knows all. He's kind of quiet and hardly ever makes contact with the rest of us, but he holds no enmities."

The music-loving deity then changed into a red fox with black eyes and a creepy, cunning smile.

"Nivema the Deceitful..." he said, his black eyes narrowing. "I prefer to not talk to her. She's untrustworthy, that one. I advise you to avoid her."

Faerym then changed into a massive crow the size of a raven. A gold crown sat upon his head.

"Nivema's lover, Coracinus Rex, is selfish and bored," he explained. "He finds amusement in mental torture. He enjoys scaring the living hell out of ... Well, anyone really."

His next form was a uri.

"Syndethite is perhaps one of the sweetest of the Selfish," Faerym stated confidently. "She cares more about nature than mortals, though, so she's much more inclined to save a dying animal than a dying you."

The next form he took was a little more interesting. It was a giant. He stood about fourteen feet tall with bulging muscles and a dumb, primitive face.

"Tyras is a monster," Faerym said. "He's a brutal monster who loves brutality and good, old-fashioned fighting to the death."

Faerym shifted again, this time taking on the shape of a cloaked human-form. The anatomy was evidently different, however, but it was still similar. Legs and arms, though they were thin, skinny, and pale green without hands or feet. The cloak and hood seemed to be a part of the anatomy rather than clothing, too, and the face was indistinguishable. This form emitted a glow, and bright green eyes could be seem from the shadows of his hood. The cloak was grey with web-like patterns on it and a red jewel was in the center.

"Raemar is most unusual. He's entirely insane and lacks a stable mind, though he's a fantastic fortuneteller. Don't believe his fortunes, however. Chances are good they'll be a distortion of the real future."

As Mandath was next, Faerym shifted into a female with a haughty look about her. She had a white cat in her arms, too.

"Mandath is very clever and mysterious," he offered. "She speaks in riddles and is indescribably difficult to communicate with."

A minotaur now stood before Zera, speaking as Faerym.

"Polemos Dasi is the worst offender when it comes to power abuse," he explained. "He wiped out an entire civilization of mortals with his hatred and anger. He's a barbarian and governs war and obsolete bloodshed. Stay away from him, unless you wish to be fed to his monstrous wolves and bears."

The abrupt change from a large, bull-faced man to a small, simple chameleon was disorienting.

"Erzes is impossible to describe. As he governs emotions, his personality is constantly changing. Sometimes I wonder if he is even one entity or just a whole bunch of minds in one body."

A swirling pool of water next appeared underneath Faerym, swallowing the chair. Not to fear, however, for he had shifted into a serpent!

"Kairos is the mother of meteorology. She is responsible for weather, and she's for the most part a wrathful goddess, even if she might not seem like it. As with Coracinus Rex, she is easily bored and tends to enjoy ruining the lives of mortals with inconvenient weather. Wedding day outside? Tornado."

The whirlpool was sucked into the ground and vanished completely as Faerym again changed. This time he was a beautiful woman, complete with a curvy body to kill for and a perfect face.

"Siyanie is a whore. She hates other women but will do essentially anything for any man, ever." His voice was bleak and dry, and he quickly moved on, shifting into the same serpent with six eyes.

"Lastly, we have Thylica Tryptite. We're not the best of friends, as we frequently argue over whose patronage is more important. I personally believe it is sound. She governs light and is the reason you can see me right now. She's fairly nice to you mortals, actually, but she's also responsible for dreams and nightmares and nostalgia and futuresight."

Faerym then returned to his typical form, sitting down at the same moment he made the wooden chair reappear. He was exhausted!

[Holly]

xx

Command I do not, but you still listened anywho, Zera smirked, but didn't dare say it aloud. She wanted to know as much as she could. Knowledge was power and she wanted to gather as much of it as she could. That's what Cethin said she should do. The more she knew when she got the heck out of there, the easier the transition would be from santach realm to osoa.

Faerym's shifting awed her because, truth be told, she didn't know most of the animals that he turned into. Being in a santach realm like Faerym's didn't allow for much animal life. She saw her occassional umbra and an volok here and there, but nothing more than that really.

And as he went through the gods, she quickly devoloped who she wanted to meet, who she didn't, and what she thought of everyone.

Well, Faerym, for starters, was dynamic and was just... in love with his barren wasteland of a realm. If she hadn't been in realm, however, she would still want to meet him just because he was an interesting person. Clever with coming up with what to shift into and everything else of the sort. She hoped he would teach her a musical instrument soon too.

Apeiros seemed like someone she would want to go to for more information. Just perfect. She wished he could come there and tell her more about stuff. And Nivema she could do without. She just sounded like a god version of herself. Pfft, Zera the Deceitful sounded much better.

Coracinus Rex was interesting to hear about. If he wasn't Nivema's lover or whatever, she would have been much more inclined to learn more about him. Scaring people was a favorite activity of hers and maybe he could give her some more ideas for her to freak more people out.

Syndethite, Tyras, and Mandath she could all pass on. Boring, brute, and she hated things that made her head want to explode. Riddles included.

Raemar, on the other hand, sounded fascinating. Fortune tellers were cool. Even if he was crazy. Along with Raemar, Ezres, Kaires, and Thylica Tryptite all sounded like fun. Siyanie and Polemos dasi were... just not wanted.

She was about to say something when a portal opened and a bottle flew out. This was a classic Cethin thing. Popping the cork out, she fished out the letter and skimmed over it.

Sorry for not being there. Working on a cure. Very close. Getting help. Don't worry, just have to deal with Elijah.
-Cethin.

It was a short enough note, but she got the message... Sort of. "What the heck is an Elijah?" The question was directed at Faerym, hoping he knew what or who it was. She tilted her head before burning the note. No need for anyone reading it.

[The Santach]

The sounds inside of Zera's head were loud and clear to the Monarch of Music and Overseer of Sound. He rolled his eyes, just one step ahead of the mortal, allowing her to have her moment of self-satisfied glory. Oh, how cute her personality was! So fierce and headstrong. Faerym admired that, as well as her inclination to look for the advantage. She would make an excellent military strategist if she weren't enslaved in his sphere.

As Zera read the letter in her head, the internal voices were collected by Faerym. A cure? What could the cure be for? Zera wasn't sick.

In any case, he pretend to be unfamiliar with Zera's letter and just answer her question.

"'Elijah' is a given name for males in the mortal world," he said. "It's mostly a religious name pertaining to the Hexadus. Not the most common, so it's possible I could bring up a list of Elijahs who live on Orbis. It'd be easier if you could narrow down which continent to search, though Elijah sounds more consistent with civilized humans or elves. My best guess would be Asteria or Resmir in Osoa, or perhaps the elven islands of Tasi Braeth, or maybe even Verrassing region of Aryos. Osoa is probably the most appropriate, considering the Hexadus are worshiped much more scarcely in other nations, or at least with other names associated with them. Even I am known as Fraagyn to the old elf people of Aarsteng, Tasi Braeth's mother continent."