The scene in the clearing was one that clerics may have found inspiring but that others would be horrified by. Assorted humanoids stood in front of a creature that was clearly not a humanoid, and was freely radiating an aura of potent magic. The non-humanoid was silent and gazed out at its followers.

Despite the group's size and the presence of orcs in it, the group in the clearing was eerily silent. Many moments passed where only the sounds of nature around them intruded on the silence as Althos considered what to say next. It was a sight that would have disturbed many humans had they seen it because they associated orcs with loud assaults and with brutality, not the sort of quiet piety the orcs in front of the young god were demonstrating at that moment.

The group gathered in the clearing looked like a strange and nightmarish cult. Before the massive monster in front of them, the deity responsible for gathering them there in the first place stood the small number of worshippers the strange creature had gathered over the course of his short life.

The two orcs who easily converted to his worship stood beside one of the creature's pets. Althos could see Silander in front of him, as well as see a symbol in the shape of her frog-like face tucked away in a small corner of the creature's vision. This was due to him having, mere moments ago, gaining knowledge about the conjuration school of magic and thereby receiving an update to his H.U.D. that gave him information about any and all of his familiars.

The icon, when mentally selected by the deity, revealed her health and her emotional state. Though Althos had yet to test it he had been informed when he first selected the icon and revealed the icons of his other familiars, all of whom were extraplanar beings, that by making use of the icons he could summon forth his familiars wherever he happened to be. Althos wordlessly decided to test this out, shortly after messaging his servitors who would be remaining with the goblins Althos had saved to inform them that their allies would be vanishing.

Without so much as a single word as an explanation or a warning to the worshipers he had assembled, Althos conjured forth his familiars, and the strange monsters who served him were suddenly called to his side. Raverangos, a hulking and bestial demon, Salifinos, a clever imp, and two unremarkable looking, ethereal soul orbs, suddenly appeared beside their master.

Though they were suddenly summoned to a location that was different from where they had been, none of the creatures Althos had suddenly conjured had shocked expressions on their faces. They actually seemed quite content to be where they were, after taking a look around and seeing the elves, the orcs, and Silander. And unlike the orc who had been summoned to the extraplanars all immediately recognized Althos as their master.

The elves quickly realized that Althos must have been mentally communicating with them, as they quietly spread out next to him, Raverangos walking to his left, and the orbs and Salifinos silently floating to his right. Althos stood at the center of the strange formation, and he silently activated one of his more powerful skills: the power of the faith domain.

The dark elves, orcs, and Silander unconsciously closed their eyes and inhaled at once and felt a strange buzz settle in the pit of their stomaches, as Althos' insidious power washed over them. When they opened their eyes and looked again they found the sight of their master and his familiars quite inspiring.

The sight of Althos, flanked by his familiars signified a future wherein the forces of darkness were not divided by petty devotions to traditions or chaos but stood united as a solid bulwark against the light. The orcs and the dark elves may not have considered themselves evil, but their societies for innumerable years had ingrained in them principles that pushed them towards violence and acts that were considered by weaker creatures to be acts of evil and darkness.

They understood where they fell in terms of how the world viewed them, and both groups valued power and influence within their own societies if nowhere else quite intensely. Orcs and dark-elves may not have seen eye to eye on many things, but in the eyes of Althos both of the groups he was bringing together had great potential to be mighty servants, and Althos wanted them to feel similarly small in his presence and to be united in that regard.

What he was doing was to make them feel small and to show them his power, as opposed to continuing to look like a human. He knew that he had been underestimated when he met both groups because of his human appearance, and now the deity was doing away with that in one fell swoop.

For perhaps the first time Althos felt the power of their devotion and felt the awe his actions inspired in them. It came to him lazily, infusing him with confidence and a slight euphoric buzz.

As he felt that buzz surge through his enlarged body he realized that his plan was working. That made the odd creature grin at his servants, which in turn increased the endorphins his actions were releasing in his servants. Then the deity finally realized how to begin the conversation, a conversation that by the time it was over would most likely have amounted to the most important conversation he has had to date.

A confident smirk emerged on his asymmetrical face as he once again called out to his inner wellspring of divine energy and waited for it to soak his lungs and vocal cords.

Moments after Althos mentally began the strange process of allowing divine energy to coat a part of his body, something he did for the first time unconsciously while trapped in Paimon's tower earlier in his life, he spoke.

"Here's the bare basics. I am nonjudgemental. I don't and I won't discriminate against people, animals, the undead, extraplanars, or anything else that can worship something, on the basis of their species, their intelligence or their lack thereof, of alignment, or of social status. I want people who want things. Whether they want power, or they want hope, or they want help of some sort. I want them if they want something. And if all they want is a master or a god to worship that's fine with me."

He stopped for a moment to think.

"I desire knowledge. And I have the power to aid those who give it to me. I recently acquired a... copy of an entire lifetime's worth of knowledge, memories, thoughts, and secrets and it was positively transformative. I spent mere minutes today going over those memories in my mind. And the experiences I got to see a mere shadow of, were transformative." The god's voice was eerily overjoyed as he said this.

The creatures in front of him felt odd as he talked so highly of living vicariously through another creature, but they repressed those feelings so as to not endanger themselves. Self-preservation was powerful after all. He quickly continued speaking, after having taken a second to think about how "transformative" it was to get snippets of someone else's life, in their own eyes.

"And that was of a young creature, someone who was just 21 years old! If I think about the sort of sensations I'd experience if I had access to the memories, secrets, thoughts, and knowledge of an older creature... I shiver in delight." He said, grinning.

When Althos spoke, his voice was filled with divine power and echoed across the clearing. His was a low voice, the sort of voice that echoed in the mind and gave listeners the same sort of deep emotions they might have felt after listening to the skilled singing of a rich baritone.

The mortals in Althos' presence had to try and suppress the shivers they themselves felt, and the goosebumps that broke out on their exposed skin in the presence of Althos now that he wasn't hiding his power or his true nature.

He opened his mouth to speak again, grinning all the while at the creatures who were still adjusting to the true might of their master. He freely radiated that same might into the air around them, confident in his divine form and in the drama of being his true, divine self in the presence of his worshipers.

"For now I will allow creatures who wish to worship me, to worship me in their own ways. I will mandate relatively few things, in these early stages. What I wish for from any worshipper is their knowledge, their memories, their thoughts, and their secrets, say once a month. What I wish for, and expect from you all is the same. In return I am more than happy to aid you, to give you power and to use my own might to bolster you."

After uttering more words in that soulful voice, Althos closed his eyes and thought. The creatures recognized that his form should have been seen as uncharismatic but in the eyes of the creatures gathered there before him, his appearance was weirdly comforting.

He spoke once more after thinking for a few moments.

"If a sacrifice is to be made to me, if that sacrifice is a living creature whose soul someone wants sent to me, be sure to get them to reveal a secret first. We can discuss more specifics later, but I know you,"

He said, in particular to the elves.

"I know you enjoy sacrifice. I've never had anything sacrificed to me. I don't know if I want that. But if it is to happen, contact me so we can discuss the specifics, but first, make sure that the sacrifice has revealed a secret. That will always be the first step."

The creatures before him gazed at his form. Under the effects of the faith domain, they were putty in his hands, and he gazed out at them. They starred at him in dark awe, their minds susceptible to his power and to the odd influence of his magical aura, which continued to affect them but it didn't actually harm them. It may have caused them pain and discomfort but at no point were they actually endangered by it.

Perhaps to them, unconsciously at least, his form represented an acceptance of creatures who may not have found acceptance elsewhere, because of their personalities, their monstrous natures, or any innate darkness. In his appearance as a creature whose form actually symbolized neutrality, or perhaps something more than mere neutrality, his worshippers saw his form as physical evidence that the deity was all accepting.

More evidence of that, or at least what his worshippers took as evidence of that, was the fact that one of his worshippers and familiars was an awakened animal, and the other familiars were extraplanars who as far as the worshippers knew were normally in opposition to each other. His worshippers, under the effects of the faith domain, gave way more importance to this than they ought to have.

To Althos, his familiars were just that. They were useful, magical pets. As a deity, he could have as many familiars as he wished, and he planned to do just that. He wouldn't have minded armies of familiars if he could obtain them, and he felt they were sufficiently powerful. He was very interested in acquiring more demonic familiars, and there was a part of him that wanted to sit down and look through the various things he could conjure, even if all he brought forth were phantom copies.

But he quickly regained his focus and began to speak again.

"I have a solid knowledge of various schools of magic,"

Althos said as he silently cast a necromantic spell that he decided would be solidly dramatic, and felt the darkness and chilliness of the air around him intensify. Much to his surprise, before the spell he had successfully cast took effect he heard a voice ring out in his mind.

[What is this? A new magician... reaches out into the void, the land of shadows, and the domain of nightmares? So young, so powerful, and already communing with death. Who are you young-one, to be casting such dark magic at such a young age?]

The voice that rang out in Althos' mind was a low one. It spoke, in so much as these mental voices spoke, slowly and carefully. Even someone as powerful as Althos could feel the power the voice radiated, and Althos felt curious towards the strange voice.

Althos kept his expression neutral as he carefully considered how to respond to the voice that had suddenly rung out in his mind. When he felt adequately prepared to answer such a question he expelled his thoughts forth, in a manner similar to how he did when chatting with Samyaza, or with M.A.

[I am Althos. I am a new, young, god. I seek all knowledge. I gained knowledge of necromancy earlier tonight, and I wanted to test it out. Who are you?]

There was silence in Althos' mind as he waited for the odd voice to respond. Within a matter of moments, it did.

[I see. And I sense no lies, or wrongness from your words. Then it's true... A god walks the multiverse, yet again... and a secret-seeker at that. How interesting. Do you plan to venture into the void, the land of shadows, and the domain of nightmares one day? What I call the void, you might call the "land of death" or something similar.]

Althos smiled as he heard this message. The voice contained abject curiosity and seemed truly delighted to hear that at least one god, existed yet again.

[I do. I plan to explore every corner of the... multiverse.]

He was unsure of that word, but after he said it, "multiverse" he realized it felt right. It seemed to roll off of the mental version of a "tongue". He felt his confidence increase after telling the strange entity that. That was when he heard a deep laughter boom deep within his mind.

[For now, little one, I will leave you be. If you ever gain mastery over undeath, and the magic of necromancy, nightmares, and darkness, I shall come to you again. And perhaps if you ever explore the uncharted depths of the realms of nightmares, the void, and the land of shadows, you may find me instead. Just know that I am watching you, with a macabre smile. I sense that your journey will bring me much delight and amusement. Farewell little one.]

The voice was low, grim, and enigmatic. Althos wasn't a fan of it. But he also sensed no real hostility from it either and he wasn't sure what he could do against it anyway. So Althos sat there, and waited. He was silent, and patient.

After making that declaration, the "voice" felt close-by for a few more moments. Then Althos felt the dark voice "retreat", but the young deity could sense without words and without conscious acknowledgment that he had gained a new, eldritch observer. When he checked himself out before feeling the spell's effects take hold, he realized with a start that he felt goosebumps break out on his oddly colored arms.

Althos shivered and shook it off. Then he refocused. His spell had still worked, and it was beginning to leave a mark on the world around him in the form of the undead creature slowly digging its way out of the meadow.

The first time Althos ever saw a variety of undead in one place was in that grassy meadow. In front of both him and his familiars as well as his worshippers, the grass at their feet began to shake and stir as something underneath it began to dig its way out. Within a matter of moments, an assortment of undead creatures began to emerge from the grass and soil at Althos' feet, creating small holes as they exited the place of their rebirth.

The first of Althos' undead that the deity manifested was clawed its way out of the grassy meadow's grass and soil. It was a skeleton, a naked pile of bones that slowly and dramatically rose from the earth. It had a generic, humanoid skeleton, something the group noticed as the creature slowly dug its way out of the dirt.

When its upper body was nearly out of the dirt but its lower body remained trapped, Althos extended a long and thick limb and grabbed the creature's skull. The entity passively allowed this to happen, and was almost inert when Althos effortlessly yanked it out of the dirt. The deity then gently placed the creature on some undisturbed grass in front of him.

The creature was a mobile bunch of bones, so perfectly put together and pristine that it was like someone had gotten a perfectly healthy living creature and removed its skin. It stood about the height of a human, and its bones were perfectly unmarked by predation or by injury in life. It was a genuine skeleton, not a lesser copy of one put together by shadow-stuff and animated by death-energy.

The creature looked at Althos' followers and worshippers, turning so that it could gain a shallow facsimile of understanding and pretend to be truly aware of its surroundings, though that action was actually commanded by Althos, who ordered it to move without uttering a single word. The skeleton's skull had empty eye-sockets and from within those eye-sockets, there was a mysterious and eerie light that was a dark red instead of the hollow darkness that should have been there.

The creature was unarmed, but Althos felt like correcting that. He willed a dagger into existence in the creature's left hand and commanded the being to grab hold of it through force of will more than through actual mental commands. He also willed a suit of ethereal armor into being which he wrapped around the skeleton, creating perhaps his first true custom spell in the process.

Althos then cast another necromantic spell, this time willing a ghoul into existence. He deliberately created it from shadow-stuff, just to watch the process with his own eyes.

Next to the skeleton appeared a pillar of purple energy. It stood there, still, for a few moments as if preparing to do something. Then the pillar shrunk in height and width and began to take on a more definite shape in front of Althos and his companions.

The purple mass continued to shrink and reshape itself until it had achieved a form that was clearly modeled after a humanoid. Seconds after that there was a burst of energy that caused everyone but Althos to turn away from the mass.

Althos watched as the roughly humanoid in shape mass began to define itself and take on distinct features. Its face grew a mouth consisting of endless rows of sharp fangs and a thick nose. Its hands gained thin and long fingers, fingers that ended in dark and razor-sharp claws. Its chest became defined by clear and thick muscles. Unlike most ghouls the creature didn't have skin that was rotting or a particularly horrifying appearance, but perhaps because of that there was something deeply unsetting about it.

It didn't help that the creature didn't have a fully defined face since it lacked ears or eyes, and its feet were fairly short. The undead beast was a bit shorter than the human warriors Althos had seen be defeated during the first day of his life. The creature's form stopped changing and shifting, and Althos' worshippers and familiars turned their gaze back upon it just to see the completed entity facing their direction, but without eyes or ears.

The creature was still, almost inanimate, and seemed weirdly patient to the elves and orcs who had both fought against ghouls in the past. The ghouls they had fought against were vicious creatures, murderous and speedy, who attacked them without a thought devoted to tactics, commanded by necromancers to be a pest and to inflict carnage on enemies.

Althos looked at his followers, his mismatched eyes gazing upon them with pride. Not in them, but in himself. With each spell, he felt himself growing stronger and more aware of his own magical abilities. He knew that he alone had the power of armies, but he wanted that to inspire his worshipers, to drive them to greater feats, not to make them complacent.

"I possess great power. These two may not look like much,"

And with that Althos undid the spells animating the creatures, and the skeleton fell apart in front of them, while the ghoul fell down and vanished as soon as it would have hit the floor.

"But they are just the beginning. You are just the beginning. And if after all of this, you still want to worship me, here's how you can formally enter this new faith I, and we, are creating. Allow me to make a copy of your thoughts, secrets, knowledge, and memories, and want to worship me. Hide no secrets from me, let me see the sum of who you are. If you do... I'll empower you, here and now."

That was the moment. That moment quietly began Althos' true life as a deity, his real existence as a god. The moment he established the perimeters of entering into the faith devoted to him.

And with that, his worshippers complied. They fell to their knees and allowed their divine master access to the summation of who they were their thoughts, memories, secrets, and knowledge. And at that moment, each of them who hadn't yet had their vestigial traits resurrected, aside from the elves, were suddenly wrapped in pillars of darkness, as Althos quietly resurrected a handful of their vestigial traits, and felt power, in the form of knowledge and secrets surge into him.

The traits he chose were the less direct ones. The ones they could hide. But still, Althos felt a few of his creatures, particularly Silander jump in power and combat ability. He knew he'd come to appreciate this decision in the days to come.

Althos spent the next few minutes greedily beginning the absorption process, not actually harming them but instead focusing on ensuring the copies they had willed into existence were inside of him so that he may begin the process needed to learn what his worshippers knew. And then the deity sat still, silent, as his mind began the work needed to make sense of other creatures' lives and lived experiences.