The Council [Invites/Gods of Elim]

[Elandriel]

It was time.

The silence between the gods of Elim was about to be shattered once more with the arrival of new threats upon their lands. From their previous meeting, they decided it would be best to meet at one of the oldest Creator shrines that had remained standing for thousands of years. Nature had taken its toll; moss and other forms of plant life had overrun the abandoned structure. For the goddess, it was a comfort to see this. Elandriel would have loved nothing more than to add to the environment but that would have to be at another time.

The elven goddess waved her hand in a circular motion at a bed of fallen stone. In the same manner she had created Deedlit's current weaponry and magic horn, a smooth table appeared, forged from some of the shrine ruins. There were chairs circling around it should any of the gods wish to sit, but it often didn't happen. It was still courteous to let the offer stand.

They will be arriving shortly.

[Gabrielle]

A white and gold chariot rolled up in front of the temple of the Creator and came to a stop. Lord Phalis stepped off and then turned bringing up his hand to his wife Hekate to help her down. If any of the other gods protested to Hekate being here he would simply boom his voice, bang his chest and throw lightning at the walls to get his point across. He kissed the back of the Death Witch's hand and smiled at her. She was as elegant as always. The five foot soldiers and two black knights stood on guard at the chariot while the pair climbed up the stone steps of the temple and stepped inside. Finding their way to Lady Elandriel and standing across the table she had made. Phalis smiled.

"Lady Elandriel. Always a pleasure. One of these days we will have to arrange a meet under better circumstances."

[Sparda]

Across the overgrown clearing from the ever ostentatious Phalis, the very shadows stirred. It was not only the gods of Elim who would be heard at this gathering; the five ancient stewards of Zorteth, the forsaken prison created by this very council, had sent a delegate.

In spite of the apparent bulk of her vaguely arachnid lower body, Dalgar the Detainer, chief warden of Zorteth, moved noiselessly. With a natural deftness and grace, the demigod came into view.

"My lords." Her voice was subdued - sultry, even - but tinged with a hollow rasping. She inclined her head in respectful greeting. "It has been so very long since last we met."

[Elandriel]

Elandriel smiled at Phalis, crossed her arms over her chest, and bowed respectfully at the fellow god. If the others had quarrel with him bringing his wife, she wasn't one of them, and would have assisted in her own way to stop any argument. Such things were futile at an important meeting. "I agree," the goddess lifted her head, the smile long gone from her visage. "Such plans will have to wait. There is a great evil invading our lands." The goddess looked grim. With both hands clasped in front of her, she walked slowly around the table, almost appearing to glide due to the nature of her gown. Out of all the gods at a meeting, Elandriel could never sit still. "You may have seen it already, I imagine."

With Dalgar's arrival, Elandriel greeted her in the same manner, "Indeed it has. I expect the others to arrive shortly, and we will begin."

[Hekate]

Hekate was silent during the chariot ride to the Creator's temple. She was often silent but this time her silence grew deeper. The Death Witch had gone through a lot of trouble to set up a relationship with her old home and this new Death God had destroyed all that hard work in one fair swoop of his blade. Not only that but Hekate had grown to fear the former Death God in her life using it as inspiration to invoke fear in others. To think something could have bested the thing she feared the most. It made her uneasy. Winter was her least favorite time of the year.

Hekate moved down from the chariot with Phalis' help giving him a knowing glance as he kissed the back of her hand. It would take more than that for the god of light to get back in the Death Witch's good graces. Side by side they entered the temple and Hekate stood quietly to Phalis' right. Watching as a representative of Zorteth appeared and began to speak. Her eyes returning to Phalis, sending a dark glare to him and the elf goddess for his flirts. Jealous apparent.

"Aren't you going to pull out my chair?" she said to Phalis.

[Red Queen]

The old double stone doors of the temple would open up again and the High Priestess of the Fire Goddess headed for the others inside. The Fire Goddess of Ignis never showed her face, not even to the other gods of Elim. Instead she worked through her followers allowing only her presence to be felt as people like the blonde High Priestess spoke for her. Only The Creator had ever gazed upon her face. There were many theories to what the goddess may look like. All of them were wrong but at the same time right as the god could take any form she found fitting if she did ever choose to appear before her followers. She was accompanied by two other fire mages each standing to the left and right behind her to her sides as the three stopped near the others. The High Priestess examining the room, that included exits and areas she could use to her advantage if worse came to worst, before eyes set back to the one who had called this meeting.

“We are here.”

[Legion]

All of the expected delegates of the major nations to Elim had gathered here. All but one. A child with long brown hair and blue eyes clad in a deep violet appears before the gods and representatives to have gathered at the Creator's temple. The child in a bubble and the plague of the Republic.

Las Plagas

Those who took the time to observe her would notice that the ground all around her five feet away were starting to crack open and turn to ash. Soon it would all just be one big pile which was why she remained a safe distance away from the others. Had she came through the front door she would have killed the Elysios guards, wrecked the entrance and dust the halls by the time she got to the group. For once Las Plagas didn't look like a terrible abomination and more of an innocent looking child. But she was far from innocent.

“How do you do?”

[Azrail]

Winter was coming...

There was no reason for him not to arrive after feeling the calling. He arrived at the temple walkway with nearly thirty Elite Undead Knights at his heels. With one motion of his hand they simply crumbled to the ground and he walked past the guards and up the stairs into the temple.

Hard boots hit stone floor each step he took thundered loudly under the weight of his entire body. His armor was thick and cold to the touch, his eyes burned a icy blue energy the same energy that left the fingertips of his left hand. Every step he took left behind frost while the plant life close to him began to wilt under the extreme temperatures that surrounded his body. White hair flowed from beneath the spiked helmet, the skulls on his armor began to glow as well each of them breathing frost into the air everything about his appearance seemed to be alive from the swords on his hips to the very skulls on his armor. The aura around him was simply majestic and bone chilling as he simply stood there.

This would be the first time Azrail had set foot inside this place, but it wasn't the first time the soul of the death god had entered even if it was being lost in a three way struggle. The chill spread slowly from his body naturally and out of his control, he remained silent and waited for someone to speak.

[Elandriel]

Everyone had arrived, and it was time to begin.

The elven goddess opened her mind, allowing the other gods and ambassadors to take a glimpse into what she had seen that prompted the meeting. Undead were swarming and multiplying. They were invading the lands the gods controlled, spreading disease, and adding more to their unholy ranks. They would not only see her first hand account, but also those of whom had survived the onset thus far. Key witnesses saw them coming into their towns, watched their people fall, and there seemed to be no end to this horror. The accounts lasted only less than a minute, but felt like their tales had gone on for hours. The images dissipated. The silence in the room was deafening.

How do you do? Elandriel raised her eyebrows at the form the demon had decided to take. The elf merely nodded at her, but her features were blank of emotion. Had she entered the room, the gods would have taken action, but she was wise enough to remain outside. The "child"'s reason for her arrival was puzzling, and she was beginning to find it...

...until she sensed death. Elandriel's widened eyes remained fixed at the entrance. The other gods would sense her brief unease at the presence, and without a doubt, they felt him coming. Frost crawled along the stone, destroying the plant life, and a chill settled into the air. Each breath would have left a sting in a mortal's lungs. The source arrived, armor clad, and very imposing in his demeanor.

"Behold, the threat of our lands."

[Gabrielle]

Phalis let out a nervous laugh to ease the tension coming from Hekate. The only woman in Genesis who could make him react in such a way. He pulled out a chair so she could sit down and make herself comfortable as the others delegates arrived giving each a glance until the demon child appeared out of thin air.

"They sent her?"

Phalis and Hekate were the most familiar with Las Plagas as she was the trump card of Xanarnis, a nation they had been at war with for a while now. The god only scoffed at her appearance as it showed Ashley was too much of a coward to come here herself. Then he would sense the same as Elandriel. Death. It was soon followed by rage from him as he turned to face Azrail.

"You dare show? Here!? After declaring war on our lands? SPEAK DEATH GOD!"

His voice boomed across the halls causing the walls tremble at the sound of voice as he met the ice-cold glare of Azrail with eyes of fire; trying his best to conceal the hairs that were already standing up on the back of his neck.

[Hekate]

Hekate sat down in the chair. It looked like she would be the only to do it too. Her mind's eye seeing the visions of the dead claiming the souls of the living and adding to their number. It was all too familiar for Hekate who were born and raised surviving in the Dead City. Elim was experiencing first hand what would have happened centuries ago had it not been for the alliances forged under the old rule. How quickly the tides change. The Death Witch gave a side-way glance to Las Plagas. Interesting choice of delegate. Las Plagas could kill them all by simply making her barrier the same size as the temple. Was it Xanarnis intent to butcher them all? No. She would have done so by now if that was the case.

A chill shot down her spine and her hair stood up. So did she. Her eyes falling upon the new god of the Dead City. The cold going straight down to her bones as she took her place by her husband's side. What was his intention? Hekate could feel the presence of the undead outside. In perfect contrast to her husband Hekate remained silent as the grave.

[Red Queen]

The High Priestess' eyes turned to the door not at all surprised to see Azrail had made an appearance. Why wouldn't he? The call to the gods were strong and it put everyone in one place. He couldn't ask for a better audience. The High Priestess manipulated the heat of her own body to combat the cold radiating off of the god. But the message had already been sent. Winter was here. Phalis already got the obvious questions out of the way so she would ask her own.

“Have you come to offer us position as a Death Knight?”

[Legion]

The reaction from the others were to be expected. It wasn't everyday a highly dangerous demon came to your doorstep, even if that demon was the property of a nation that had just as much to lose from the hoard of undead attacking the continent. Las Plagas stood perfectly still from inside her bubble knowing that moving so much as an inch would be declared an act of war. It was a nuisance to not be able to lift up so much as a finger without it being taken as an act of hostility but it was the sacrifice one made in her position. Eyes on Azrail waiting to hear him speak. A small smile on her face as she watched the proceedings.

It was exciting.

[Azrail]

After Phalis finished his shouting and everyone silenced themselves with questions they would all hear the echo of his voice. It was deep and raspy, dark and eerie not like it had once been in life. No, instead his voice was the voice of death itself. The jailer of the damned's words would echo off every surface and dig deep within their minds.

"I have nothing to say, I am answering the calling. Now, unless you wish to plead for mercy before the chill of death washes over your land, please be silent so the one who called us here can tell you all about me," there was a sense of pride in those words, he seemed to want someone to make an action against him yet he didn't outwardly say it, he only awaited the word of Elandriel.

[Elandriel]

"Peace, Phalis," Elandriel replied to his yelling in a calm tone. The goddess had resumed her pace around the table and when she came to him, she rested her hand on his shoulder. Her ability to help bring emotional calm was radiating off her. If everyone could think clearly something could be resolved. Hopefully. "Yelling will get us no where." She gave him a reassuring nod and slid her hand off him.

"Azrail," the goddess addressed him in a tone that would command his attention, "You were once Mhoar Palu, a man who grew tired of the price that came with war. You wished to forge alliances and live in peace. Then he came and made you what you are now. You seek death and destruction." Elandriel's icy blue eyes bore into his with determination as she stepped closer to the death god. The frost that had chilled the room had rapidly melted away. There was still some distance between her and Azrail, but she made her point very clear: she nor the other gods were going to back down.

"We will not plead for mercy, Azrail, because this path you are on will lead to your undoing. In bringing so much death, you are shifting the balance, and the balance will find the means to destroy what has tilted the scales. For your own sake, and for the sake of Elim, you must stop." Elandriel narrowed her eyes.