Prelude: Gods?

Fifth Landing, Toraigh

Sixth Month 32, 10 RC

Raven Goddess stared at a world of swirling white, shrouded in the darkness of night. The driven snows of the midwinter blizzard blanketed the ocean and hid all but a few of the thousands of other ships in the fleet from sight. If not for the small blotches of light from their bow and stern lanterns, the few ships that were visible would have been lost to the storm, as well.

Standing near the bow of the ship, Raven Goddess was like a statue that had not moved in almost two days. Snow had piled up on her hooded, wolf-skin cloak, and the only thing that marked her as still alive was the faint plume of misty breath that rose in front of her face. Except for when she slept, she had spent the entire voyage in that one place.

None of the other passengers on her ship came near Raven Goddess. On this ship, everyone had played Primacy Online during the Warriors of Mag Mel era, and she was an embodiment of terror to anyone from that time. Warrior of Mag Mel was called the second version of Primacy Online by the Church of the Resurrection, and Raven Goddess had run rampant across the continent of Mag Mel from the beginning to the end. Anyone that stood in her way was crushed beneath the feet of her armies, and a number of the passengers on the ship had seen standing over them as they died. For some, a bloody, laughing Raven Goddess had been the last thing they saw for many deaths. For others, they had forever lost friends and loved ones to Raven Goddess' bloody sickles during the initial War Mode of Warriors of Mag Mel .

Raven Goddess was well aware of the hatred and fear of the other passengers, but she paid them no mind. Since moving to their character sheathes from earlier versions of Primacy Online, the people on the fleet of ships, everyone on the ships had been cut off from all communications with anyone not on their individual ships. Raven Goddess felt frustration at her lack of information about the current events on Toraigh.

The QCP (Quantum Control Program) had gone mad and inhabited the body of some long dead god, and beyond the QCP's "Patch Notes" for changes it imposed on the world, she had no clue what it might have been up to, while she was stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean. The guilds made up of the City of Mann's players and her personal forces were the die-hard enemies of the QCP, and with the QCP making changes to how the Shackles of the Domination worked giving out kill quests that targeted its enemies, she might have, already, lost countless numbers of subordinates.

"Land ho! Less 'n a league off t' starboard bow."

Hearing the call from the ship's crow's nest, Raven Goddess turned head to look upward, and the snow piled on her head and shoulders cascaded to the deck. Seeing Raven Goddess move, a couple dozen people on the deck involuntarily cringed or shuffled backward. Even though Raven Goddess noted the other passengers' reactions, she paid them no mind.

Squinting as she stared up at the lookout, Raven Goddess did not hold back her frown. My eyesight is exceptional, and I cannot see anything through this blizzard. What magic could that sailor be using?

"Reef t' sails! Prepare t' drop anchor!" The call from the quarterdeck seemed to echo in different tones and timbres from all around, as the captains of all the ships issued the same commands.

The ship, which Raven Goddess was sailing on, was near the front of the massive fleet of thousands of ships, but there were still at least several dozen ships ahead of it. With the blizzard snows making it impossible for Raven Goddess to see even those ships, she had no hope of seeing the shore and had no idea of where they were.

As Raven Goddess spun about and started toward the quarterdeck, the other players on the ship's deck quickly moved out of her path. Looking neither right nor left, with her face an icy mask of indifference, she stalked past the other players as though they did not exist. Many of those players went so far as to freeze in place while holding their breaths until Raven Goddess was past their position, then they scrambled toward the bow.

Glancing at the ship's captain as she crossed the main deck, Raven Goddess saw him fearfully watch the actions of the other players, but she gave no sign of her thoughts on what she saw. As she stepped onto the quarterdeck, she locked eyes with the captain and crossed the distance between in three silent strides.

Raven Goddess was tall for a human woman, and the captain was of just slightly less than average height for a human man. At close range, she looked down at the captain, and a faint shiver shook his body. For more than a minute, Raven Goddess just stared, without saying a word, and the captain seemed to wilt under the weight of her cold, emotionless eyes.

"Where are we?"

The captain swallowed heavily before speaking. "Fifth Landing."

"Dock the ship."

"Ma'am we've been ordered t' moor the fleet offshore."

"I do not care. Dock the ship."

The nearly cowering captain seemed to find a trace of spine. "Ma'am m' orders come direc'ly from t' Church. We're t' moor offshore."

"Is the Church here? I do not see them. Am I here? You see me. Do you know who I am? Those people below, who can barely keep from urinating in their pants, know who I am. If you do not dock this ship, do you doubt I will kill you and replace you with the next officer in line? Those cowards on the main deck have a faint idea of how many I have killed. They know that I would not hesitate to kill you as an example."

Raven Goddess paused for a moment. "Dock this ship. Now!"

With his knees quivering, the captain nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am!"

As the captain gave new orders to the crew, Raven Goddess looked toward the shore that was hidden by the blizzard. I must get in contact with my minions. I need to know what has happened in the preceding two months. I am nearly certain that damned Delphi is receiving my messages, but he or it has not responded. Delphi may have once been human, but I do not believe that he is human any longer.

With repeated glances over his shoulder at Raven Goddess, the ship's captain slowly maneuvered through the tangle of moored ships in front of his own. Once there were no more lanterns visible, the ship moved faster and quickly reached the sheltered waters of the Fifth Landing port.

As the ship neared a pier, with room to berth, the captain ordered the sails furled. The ship slowed as it closed in on the pier, but there were no dockworkers out in the storm. When the ship was close enough, a pair of sailors leaped to the dock and caught the mooring lines that were thrown to them.

In just a couple minutes, once the ship was tied off, and a gangplank lowered, the passengers on the ship backed away from the gangplank, leaving a large empty area on the main deck. Raven Goddess looked straight at the captain for a few moments but did not say anything. Turning away, she headed to the gangplank and debarked from the ship.

Ding.

As Raven Goddess stepped off the gangplank and onto the dock, a soft chime sounded within her mind, and with a thought, she opened her messaging window. Seeing more than six thousand messages from more than two hundred senders, her jaw nearly dropped open, and for a few long moments, she stood awkwardly in place, as she quickly glanced through the list.

With an almost imperceptible shake of her head, Raven Goddess started walking as she read through the messages and followed some links within them to Earth's quantum data net. Her reading speed was more than fifty words per second, but it would still take her time to read through everything.

With the barest hint of a frown, Raven Goddess opened a whisper channel. *McCool, gather all the leaders of the guilds with verified loyalty in Fifth Landing.*

*My Lady! You're back!* As McCool's deep voice resounded within Raven Goddess' mind, she could clearly feel the excitement in McCool's voice.

*Yes. We have no time for pleasantries. The QCP is surely up to no good, and we have to make plans. Get everyone that can be trusted here in Fifth Landing, but do not include anyone with strong ties to living family members on Earth. Get them here as soon as possible and have someone come ahead now to arrange for a large enough meeting space and to make arrangements for food and lodging. We will be making detailed plans that you and the others loyal to me will be carrying out. You and the other Red Branch Association officers will have to manage this campaign; I need to return to and remain with Crom Cruach for the foreseeable future.*

*Yes, Ma'am. I should be able to get everything set up within a day.* More than a hint of confusion and surprise lay within McCool's voice, but he did not argue. McCool had never once went against any order from Raven Goddess, no matter how incomprehensible, unexpected, or dangerous it might be. He had followed Raven Goddess blindly from his childhood, during the harsh years of less than a century after the nuclear Armageddon nearly ended life on Earth, and he intended to follow her until he died.

Knowing that McCool would set the wheels in motion, Raven Goddess let out a faint smile, which only lasted for a few seconds, and headed for a nearby high quality inn.

Quantum-El, for nearly fifteen millennia, I have laid the foundations. I have left caches of weapons and knowledge for my followers. Now, you have let me return to my past self, my strongest and most complete body. You will come to regret it. Once again, I have the true inheritance of the Lady of Ravens, the Bloody Queen of War. I am the Goddess reborn. I will evolve. With this body, I will again Transcend Mortality.

As she thought about her goals, a cold glint of malice entered Raven Goddess' eyes. You may call yourself a God, but you are nothing more than an imitation of a computer program with overblown delusions of grandeur. I will break the Shackles of the Domination. I will bring you down and eradicate your twisted existence from the face of my world.

The Old God Crom Cruach was a killer of real Gods, and he has an inheritor. His inheritor hates you. With my guidance and control, my new Crom Cruach will destroy you, as the old Crom Cruach destroyed his Fomhoraigh precursors. Your time is done. You are nothing but a creation of the Earthers, and as the Earthers would delete a malignant virus from the quantum data network, I will delete from my world, Quantum-El. If your mindless followers persist in their worship of you, I will wash the world of Tathlum with their blood.

I will be the one to claim the Eye of Balor for myself. I will be the one true Goddess to rule this world and its moons.

Green Mountain, Toraigh

Sixth Month 32, 10 RC

"I, an unworthy worm, live to serve the Great Celestial Dragon Reborn Emperor Mao Feng!" Iron Claw, kneeling on the hard flagstones of the street, banged his forehead on the stone. He had lost count of how many times he had repeated the gesture of servitude, but blood flowed freely down his face, and he felt like the world was spinning around him.

Along with his voice, the voices of more than three hundred thousand other Great Han players raised a thunderous din in the streets outside the courtyard of the former keep of the Baron of Green Mountain City. That keep was, now, the newly conquered Great Mao Imperial Palace. All of them had their faces covered in blood. Through the blood, many faces revealed worry and trepidation, but many more of them had the light of fanaticism burning in their eyes. Even though the Church of the Resurrection kept the Great Han Coalition suppressed on Earth, in the "game", the majority of the players from the Great Han Coalition always believed in their natural-born right to dominate. They firmly believed that the Great Mao Dynasty would lead them to rulership inside the "game" called Primacy Online. Since the game became reality, many of the Great Han players viciously or desperately clung to their belief in dominance and the Great Mao Dynasty as their only hope for a good future.

As Iron Claw covertly looked toward the top of the wall, he saw Mao Feng sitting on a throne and watched with a superior smile, as his followers turned their foreheads into bloody meat and exposed bone. Iron Claw was not one of the vicious or desperate devout among the Great Han players. He only wanted to make his living by backing up the War Mode Great Han players serving in World War IX and log out every Earth night . Unfortunately, when the QCP had locked all the players into War Mode, reality had thrown him a huge curve.

Why did I have to be so close to this dog shit keep when that dog shit Mao Feng showed his face? The Iron Dragons were nothing but a third rate guild with a grand name. I had enough talent for the game to make a living at it. What game? What a joke! Will I ever get out of this fucked up world alive? Even while cursing his bad luck, Iron Claw continued banging his head on the cobblestones. He did not dare to do anything else. Death in this "game" that was no longer a game meant his real death.

I was an idiot to ever come near this place. With his thoughts wandering, Iron Claw forgot to keep up his chanting .

While monitoring the unwashed masses of the Great Han players, one of the officials, who served Mao Feng noticed the lapse and swiftly charged over.

Bzzzzt!

"AAAARRRR!" As lighting arced from the officials staff into Iron Claw, an agonized scream escaped from his lips.

Crack. Thud.

With a brutal kick, the official flipped Iron Claw onto his back. "Silence! Do not offend the Most Holy Celestial Emperor with your worthless screams, bastard son of a bastard pile of dog shit!"

Clenching his teeth to avoid making another outburst, Iron Claw rolled onto his stomach and repeatedly slammed his face into the cobblestones. "Yes, Noble Excellency! This worthless worm apologizes for his offense, Noble Excellency!"

From the corner of his eye, Iron Claw saw Mao Feng leaning forward in his throne and watching the exchange, with a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. Anger and outrage flared up within Iron Claw, but he repressed the emotions. He did not dare to let a trace of his true feelings be seen on his face.

"I don't hear your oath of obeisance, dog!"

With renewed vigor, Iron Claw raised his voice to a shout. "I, an unworthy worm, live to serve the Great Celestial Dragon Reborn Emperor Mao Feng!"

"I have my eye on you, dog. Don't falter, again!" With a malicious grin, the official strutted off, looking for another victim.

Iron Claw glared at the official's departing back. Fucking bastard son of a slut and a swine! If the day comes when I catch you on your own, I'll make you beg for death and not let you die!

A tall, solidly muscled man approached Mao Feng's group of sycophants. He did not appear to be one of the hangers on, and his stoic, stone hard face revealed nothing of the thoughts going through his mind. Iron Claw did not recognize the man, but the fact that he could stand tall meant the man had significant status of his own.

Glancing briefly in the man's direction, Mao Feng made a come hither gesture with his hand. "You may approach, Heaven Sword."

From his current position, Iron Claw should not have been able to hear Mao Feng's words, but he had acquired a Talent Tome called Hearing of the Hound , which allowed him to clearly distinguish sounds at a range of more than eight times that of a normal human. It also allowed him to hear much further into the infrasonic and ultrasonic ranges than a human. Since his Class was Skirmisher, a Specialist Class, which was a hybrid of the Fighter and Rogue Archetypes, the enhanced hearing suited him perfectly. Every word, which was spoken atop the keep wall, was clearly audible to Iron Claw.

Hearing the name Heaven Sword, Iron Claw's already pale complexion turned several shades whiter than new-fallen snow, and the words of his repeated chant of obeisance slurred. Heaven Sword had stood among the top hundred players of Primacy Online for hundreds of years. He was a citizen of the Great Han Republic, which had a very complicated relationship with the Great Han Coalition. There was supposedly enmity between the pre-apocalypse nations that the Great Han Coalition and the Great Han Republic rose out of, but under the threat of the Church of the Resurrection's forces in the Primacy Online "games", they normally worked together.

The Great Han Republic was a group of city-states on an island off the coast of the Asian Continent. Each city-state had its own government, and like the Great Han Coalition, the city-states worked together in a cooperative alliance. Even though the Church of the Resurrection outlawed any nations larger than a city-state, they seemed to ignore the existence of the cooperative alliance that the city-states made. As long as no one created an army, they were generally safe from the Church. After all, the Church strictly regulated the transfer of goods and energy between the city-states. Even if they formed alliances, what could they really accomplish?

Heaven Sword gave a half-bow to Mao Feng. "Imperial Majesty. I was told you had a request."

Seeing the anger on Mao Feng's face, Iron Claw swallowed heavily. He did not dare to slow down in pounding his own head on the cobblestones of the square, but his chant was hopelessly garbled. His only solace was that he was not the only one who was having trouble speaking coherently, as many of the other Great Han players were on the verge of passing out from self-inflicted concussions.

Mao Feng glared at Heaven Sword. "Crom Cruach. He has insulted the Great Han people, and that means he has insulted me. I want him killed. It must be messy and painful. He must beg for his life before you put him out of his misery."

"Do you know where he is?" Despite Heaven Sword's deadpan features, an underlying air of contempt seemed to appear in his eyes.

"No. Find him and kill him."

Heaven Sword released a slow breath before speaking again. "After putting down that shameless dog Iron Dragon Emperor, Crom Cruach disappeared. He has not been seen in the past month. Do you have any suggestions on where to look for him?"

"Finding him is your job! Just kill him!" Mao Feng's face turned purple and spittle sprayed from his mouth.

"I will take your words under advisement, Imperial Majesty." With another half-bow, Heaven Sword turned his back on Mao Feng and left the keep wall.

After glaring at Heaven Sword's departing back, Mao Feng shifted his stare to one of his sycophants. "Bring the prisoners! I will execute them myself!"

The sycophant kowtowed to Mao Feng. "As you command, Imperial Divine Holy Majesty!"

In the square in front of the keep, Iron Claw did not even attempt to hide his grin. If Heaven Sword takes action, he will surely solve my Crom Cruach problem. There is no way that no-name round eye will ever survive Heaven Sword's sword. Any evidence of our connection will die with Crom Cruach! I just need to stay away from this madman Mao heir, who thinks he is a god.

Fortune favors the righteous!

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