Althos didn't have to wait long before Drow's parents, or rather Drow's mother once again surprised the strange god. Moments after he moved to the side of the spell-singer, the dark elf turned and looked at him. So she can see me... He thought, momentarily. She kept smiling at him, unflappable, unsurprised, and yet pleased that he hadn't attacked immediately.

Althos, annoyed by her ability to stay calm when faced with a god who has identified her as an enemy, decided to investigate her. He started off by concentrating on her, activating an unusual ability he had once used on Drow. In a matter of seconds, a textbox appeared over her head that revealed some information about her.

[Name: Hagitha Banethal

Class: Spell-Singer/Oracle

Species: Dark Elf

Faction: The Banethal Family]

Althos chuckled when he reached the final part of the information. The Banethal Family? Her loyalty is most certainly not to her family. He thought, his eyes narrowing immediately after reading that. He turned the same power on her mate, whose face paled the minute the dark-elf unconsciously realized that for the first time since Althos entered the room, he was focusing on the berserker.

[Name: Qiloth Darklight

Class: Berserker/Oracle

Species: Dark Elf

Faction: The Revered Brotherhood.]

That's... interesting. Althos thought, recalling when he first learned about Dark Elves, hearing that as a species they tended to be strongly dominated by women. He spent a second wondering what that "faction" was about, and imagined that it wouldn't be something matriarchs would like. His thoughts momentarily distracted him for just a second before he received a notification.

[Multi-Part Notification:

Divine Power Explanation: Identify

This power activates at will and reveals limited information about the target. It's a consequence of Althos' emphasis on memories and thoughts, and it can undergo multiple upgrades and level-ups and has been useable for many days. The first level-up occurs after Althos has used it on five people, which just occurred. Once this occurs the power reveals new information. Given that this occurred just now, the new information will be made immediately available to Althos.

Creatures that don't often name themselves will show up as "nameless" unless they've been given a name but everything else will be revealed. Most beasts name themselves, but insects and some types of creatures known as "vermin" don't. This power won't reveal a demon, devil, or other sorts of extraplanars true names. Not at its current level anyway.

The first level-up to this power reveals a creature's alignment.

There are no cooldowns or limits on this power.

Alignment explanation:

Alignment refers to a creature's code of morality and ethics. These things might not seem important, and many mortals don't know their true importance, but these things are of cosmic relevance.

For mortals, alignment is one of the deciding factors that determine which dimension they go to when they die, barring any potent interruptions to natural processes. Alignment also determines the sort of magic that can affect them in life.

For the purposes of the system that enforces the rules set by the greatest gods, and could theoretically be changed by them, alignment has been broken down into nine basic categories.

Each alignment takes views along two spectrums into account: the good-evil spectrum and the chaos-law spectrum. Both spectrums have three points. In the case of the good-evil spectrum, the points are good, evil, and neutral. And in the case of the chaos-law spectrum, the points are chaos, law, and neutral.

Every creature fits somewhere along this spectrum, and there are good examples of every type of creature to have ever existed aside from the Great Old Ones, and there are evil examples of every type of creature to have ever existed aside from Archon Queens.

Both of those types of creatures are extinct now. They were among the kinds of creatures that were utterly destroyed during a mysterious cataclysm that occurred eons ago. The same cataclysm which wiped out the gods and the arch-devils. Until the day Althos sprung to life.

More specific information on each alignment becomes known once Althos gains 1,000 worshipers whose alignment matches it.

Hagitha's alignment is chaotic evil. Qiloth's alignment is neutral-evil.]

Althos willed away the notification the second he received it. He learned a lot from it, finding the strong language contained within it to be of particular interest. It took him seconds to process what he learned, seconds during which he was distracted, silent, and his mind trailed off in a few different directions, all of which were important.

I'll definitely be investigating this later. He thought, making a mental note to use some of his resources in the next few days to begin to research those terms, Archon Queens and Great Old Ones, when he was done with dealing with Hagitha, Qiloth, and finished with the quest his other will was temporarily doing in Infernius.

A small part of him considered whether or not he should pursue information about his alignment. But then he waved that concern away. I'll have time to do that later. I don't need to waste time on such small things, right this second.

For the time being, in the heat of the moment of pursuing vengeance the deity didn't quite remember an odd instance in the past: a time when he talked about alignment, without having a clear understanding of what it was. It happened deep in the forest, the hour he first truthfully spoke to the original dark elves who worshiped him.

It was one of those odd bits of instinctive, almost biological basic understanding of a profound topic that had plagued the deity when he first sprung to life, knowledge that was somehow in his mind when he was first brought to life. He may not have consciously remembered that event, but something about the word "alignment" spoke to him.

But not all of his thoughts were so small-scale or personal or even so forgetful. Some of them were cosmic in scope.

He reflected on a new bit of information, something the system revealed just now. So it wasn't just gods and arch-devils that have vanished... He thought. And if the system says they are extinct... as far as I can tell that means that they are gone. Unless I can somehow also become one of them. The deity wondered if that was a possibility.

And that made him wonder what his own true nature was, if he was doing things all of the gods of the past could do or if this was like his memory powers: something odd and distinct, possibly even totally unique.

In time though he realized that all of that distracted him from the task at hand, and so after a few moments he shook his head, in the depths of his mind, and refocused on the task at hand rather than messy questions he had very little ability to independently investigate.

Althos' physical body flew for several kilometers before it descended back to the desert floor. By the time it had done so, the desert-dwellers who accompanied were far enough from the rotting corpse of the mighty titan, and the mysterious insects who had crawled on top of it, to no longer be bothered by the smell of the moldering body. They weren't incredibly far from the odd city that gleamed in the distance.

As it was descending on the desert, its mind was hard at work. Namira is close. How can we most safely enter there? The thing wondered.

The city is home to countless giants. I should be... logical. Disguised even! The thing thought, feeling a flicker of excitement as it powerfully visualized the faces of the countless desert giants Mahmud met during his first twenty-five years of life and beginning a careful process of creating an original face using the sultan's memories as a base.

As he began to plan his disguise, the second will did a rudimentary and brief scan of Mahmud's last memories, not enough to hear things but just enough to see things. To see the modern city of Namira, to familiarize itself with a bit of the knowledge that the city's now deceased ruler had of the place.

The eerie god deposited his followers on the sandy floor and did something that surprised them. He began to change his form in front of them. At first, it was just his lower body. Before their very eyes, Althos' body expanded and grew wider, starting from the bottom-up. His legs stretched, increasing his height.

As they stretched they lost their asymmetrical-nature. Instead of each leg being two wildly different colors, both became thick bronze-toned things. The rest of Althos' body joined them in bronzing, immediately taking on a sunkissed look. His torso widened and stretched out. The creature had grown an impressive amount in a comically short amount of time.

His arms grew the most, becoming thick weapons that the odd entity could masterfully use thanks to his long-term, relative to his short-life anyway, passion, and skill in martial arts. He noticed this and grinned slyly at it, well aware that the primary will would be delighted at this turn of events since he seemed to enjoy using his limbs in battle.

He looked out at the rest of his party, right as his eyes changed color. They went from being two different colors, white and black, to becoming humanoid-like white orbs with deep brown irises. His smirk was evidently contagious, as the shape-shifting party members instinctively knew that the deity had some mischevious scheme that was beginning to sprout.

And then it heard a question from an unexpected source. A domain.

The main will of the eerie entity took a second to refocus. He froze for a second and thought long and hard. What is my goal here? He asked himself, conducting the same exercise he had done when thinking of how to convince Drow to willingly go to Milene's workshop.

While he was thinking about this, he looked at the two dark elves again. At Hagitha and Qiloth. It helped center him. My goal is to punish them. And to ensure that they and that others don't antagonize my servants when those servants are trying to persuade them that I exist and that I should be worshiped. He thought, carefully considering how to achieve that goal.

In pursuit of that, the dark being once again examined their emotional states. And he found that they hadn't changed their minds, nor how they were feeling. Hagitha was confident and self-assured, and Qiloth was doing his best, which wasn't good enough, to hide how scared he felt.

Hagitha's head was still aimed square at Althos' incorporeal form and her eyes remained closed. She didn't seem tense at all. Is she... happy? Althos asked himself after watching her for several moments. There was something unsettling about her body language, something the young god unconsciously detected but couldn't articulate, due to a lack of experience dealing with people who both believe in themselves and know what he is.

In time he turned to gaze at the berserker. The berserker was visibly scared. Before Althos' unseen but detectable gaze, the dark elf paled. That was impressive given the dark tone of his skin. Althos turned on his first, unsure of how to handle the resolute and even eager Hagitha. Althos spoke, uttering just a single word. "Qiloth."

Qiloth Darklight was a man of two thought-processes. A consequence of his multiclassing when the first class gave him the ability to rage. And because of that, at that moment, he was a man divided between an instinctual, overwhelming fear and a coldly rational analysis of his current predicament, the moment he heard the god of magic utter his name. One of those thought-processes contained a train of thought that reflected that he was a man terrified.

Qiloth was terrified, visibly shaken even. He was terrified of death. Of pain. Of suffering. And above all else, of gods. Or rather of one god: Althos. Those thoughts were the ones that were visible to his lover, and to the mysterious, probably wrathful deity her scheming had successfully lured out.

Qiloth's other thought-process was a more rational one. A colder, reptilian stream of consciousness. It did the sort of thinking that could plan even in the face of death. Those thoughts were quieter than the thoughts that were in control of his body, but it was no less active.

Those thoughts took in everything about the situation Qiloth was in and pushed him to try to make it out of this situation. The moment Qiloth heard Althos utter his name the second thought-process went to work to glean anything useful from Althos' singular remark.

So it's real. And it can speak. That second, far more useful and cool under-pressure, thought-process assessed. And it knows my name. I shouldn't assume the worst because of that, because it probably knows my name through Drow, but it's not good that it knows my name. He thought, carefully trying to suss out anything useful.

The moment the god spoke his other thought-process, the one influenced by his berserker abilities and traits also had concise, carefully considered thoughts. They were smart thoughts too. I'm fucked. I'm just... I've been used and I'm fucked. And that wench probably is too, and she might not even know it. If you're gonna die, can't you at least be scared, you trollop! He thought, angrily. He was scared and was lashing out at the one he blamed for all of this: Hagitha.

Althos carefully examined Qiloth's reaction to him. The deity felt the dark elf's fear and for a second he felt something the berserker feel something else as well, something dark aimed at Hagitha. Althos almost enjoyed it.

The guy is clearly terrified. But he was the one who beat Drow. How should I handle him? I won't leave here without punishing him but how...? Should his punishment fit his crime? Be physical? He thought, carefully and slowly.

He felt dark impulses well up within him and recalled the strange, dark force that sometimes spoke to him. All he knew about it, and even that was a guess, was that it was most likely a domain, or possibly the eerie voice of some dark dimension that somehow ties itself to any creature practicing necromancy. And he felt inspired, upon remembering his encounters with the thing. Inspired to reach out.

The deity, struggling with how to punish the creatures who had harmed, physically and mentally, one of his servants intentioned reached out to the "place" from which he sometimes heard the voice speak to him. He sent a message in the voice's general "direction", which felt like him shouting in his own mind.

[I don't know if you can hear me but... if you're feeling kind, or at least feel up to inspiring darkness, I could use some words of wisdom right now.] The deity confessed, hoping to glean some useful sort of knowledge from the thing.

A few seconds passed before he got two replies. The first of which was a peal of cruel-sounding and humorless laughter. The second reply, from the same source, came a few moments after the peal of laughter.

[Why hello there my little friend... why are you in need of inspiration?] It asked, its otherworldly voice booming throughout Althos' mind.

Althos took a second to explain that the creatures in front of him were enemies who needed to be punished. He explained that one of them inflicted physical wounds on a servant of his, and the other had ordered his servant to be subjected to psychological distress. After doing that he explained why he reached out and sought help.

[I'm a simple god. My idea of punishment has historically been just killing things. At most, I have killed things and I have taken their souls.] The god explained.

[But one of these creatures is smart and powerful, and there's a hesitation in my servant that suggests that he'd either rather not see his parents dead or might regret it later.] Althos told the mysterious strange voice in his mind. He himself realized this while reliving Drow's memories.

[He is quietly conflicted about whether or not to want them dead, that, mixed with me trying to improve as a god puts me in a bit of a bind. So I'd rather exploit these two while they are alive, and avoid killing them, for now anyway. But they need to be punished for what they did. Which is why I could use some advice. Can you help me out here? I want to send a message, but I just don't know how to do that effectively and dark-magic would match the mood so maybe you're the thing to ask.] He communicated.

The voice considered all that Althos had told it. It was quiet while it did this. Althos could sense it nearby, eerie and unnerving, but also present and thoughtful in its careful consideration. It did speak after a considerable number of moments passed.

[First of all, you're approaching this in the wrong order. You see you're missing information. Before anything else happens you need to ask them, or just forcefully extract their reasoning for the odd codex and for all of this. The codex you talked about is a big factor in all of this. Is it meant to be an apology or an offering? If its an apology you can and should up your cruelty to send a message to anyone and everyone. If its an offering and all of this was a ploy to get your attention... well, it's up to you.] The dark voice told the invisible deity. But it's response wasn't done with just that.

[It's good that you're focused on self-improvement and you are trying to care about and for your followers. Now that you've focused on that, assuming you stick with it, you will most likely become a better god, in the context of aiding worshipers anyway, over time. But you need to remember that if you're reacting to something you need to know what you're reacting too. You need knowledge of their motives. Once you have that, we'll talk about what comes next.] The voice said, confident and intrigued by the god.

Althos nodded at that and turned to Hagitha. She maintained a positive, at-ease expression as he did so but detected him and moved her head slightly so as to make what would have been eye-contact, had she opened her eyes and had Althos been there in person.

"I've been debating what to do about you, and I just realized I don't have enough information about all of this. So you're going to talk. What is in that codex that you think would assuage my wrath? And why did you and your mate attack Drow?" He asked, curiosity evident in his voice. At the same time as he asked that, he touched the edge of her mind and waited to see if anything she said differed from her thoughts, via a simple mind-reading spell.

And what he learned from that was that Hagitha was every bit as cocky internally as she was externally.

Hagitha's tilted her head ever so slightly as she considered the question she had just been asked by the deity. And then she spoke.

"I got your attention this way, with my two-part offering, because I know what you are, and I accept it. Because you are a god of demons, of evil, and I know that this is what would please you. Violence and suffering. That is what demons feed on." She told the deity, speaking firmly, matter of factly. She finally opened her eyes as she said this, revealing that they weren't eyes like those of humanoids, but eerier things. Her eyes were solid orbs the color of a flawless ruby.

So this actually was a sort of offering. He realized, understanding even without reading her mind that every part of this was planned. A way to get my attention, and then to indicate that she wanted to serve. He thought, quietly. And then she opened her mouth to speak again.

"You are not a god of... 'non-discrimination', or of 'empowerment'. You are a god of demons. I see it in you. I feel it in you. You are like me." She said, reverentially.

"You feel this... urge to commit violence, deep in the depths of your soul. I do too. I bet it's something you are presently mulling over. And this is my way of making it clear that I would do any violence you demanded. We are kindred spirits. And one day, through your power... I'll be able to become my true self. A demon." She said, speaking quieter now.

There was an almost sexual emphasis in her voice, not just on the word "violence" but on the word "any" that didn't escape Althos' detection.

Althos' mind-reading let him know that she genuinely believed what she said. Althos considered her statement for a moment. But not before she said one more thing. Before she bared her soul to him.

"I was so jealous when Drow told me he had met you! When he told me that he met a god with a demon I realized immediately what you were... and that my son was blinded to your glorious truth. That he was too... weak to see what you are. But I am not. I see your truth. I want to bask in it. Even from so far away I can feel your powers. I can feel how easily you could reach out and flay my skin. How easily you could tear my soul from me and make it ascend."

As she said this she was nearly in tears. Her facial expression was painfully contorted as if her emotions were themselves causing her pain. It took her a few seconds to return to her usual, confident self.

He thought about what she said. And he realized that he wasn't a fan of being told what he was and what he wasn't, by anyone but especially by someone who hadn't met him.

"It is the height of hubris for you to tell a god what he isn't a god of. Even more so when you're hearing tales of me, and you haven't met me yourself." He told her, simply. And with that simple statement, he saw her shell of confidence crack ever so slightly, into something that wasn't the weird, lurid display she put on when saying her final piece. Just for a moment though.

For a fraction of a second, there was a flicker of an emotion that wasn't self-confidence on her beautiful face. Something more sensible than her utter self-belief. But as quickly as that flicker appeared, it was gone.

"And it is also incredibly hubristic to say that a god is 'like you', mortal." He said, allowing pride to seep into his voice at that moment. He mentally reached out, like he was going to gently grab her hand and pull it into his, to touch her mind. Not to make a connection, but to share something. An image. An image he experimented to try and make even as he reached out to her.

Althos' experiment came in the form of him creating a brand new image in his mind. An image that pulled from all of the memories and thoughts he had swirling around the mess that was his mind, be they his, his allies, or from enemies he had deprived of their memories and thoughts in the last few weeks.

He came up with an intimidating image. One of a bear-like monster with an open maw filled with ferocious fangs that looked like bloody shards of broken glass.

This monster had impressive-looking claws with dagger-like talons and was clutching her in one of them, dragging her to its monstrous maw. In Althos' mind, she was crying tears of blood as this monster's fangs pulled her to her doom.

This should scare her. It should show me her true self. He thought, wanting to test her. He fully expected the image to frighten her, to reveal that this thing about being a fan of violence was a conditional part of herself. That she liked to commit violence on others, not endure it herself. And he transmitted it to her mind with but a touch. And he was surprised by her reaction.

Is that what he wants? To devour me? I like that. She thought simplistically. Her reaction floored Althos with its simplicity and with its sincerity. His reaction to it was flat, direct, and accurate.

I'm dealing with a sadomasochist. Who wants to be a demon. This person is wildly insane. He thought, accepting that she was being honest with him, that she was a lunatic who really and truly worshiped demons and felt a kinship to them.

How can I punish someone who WANTS TO DIE? He wondered, for just a moment before seeing the simple answer.

If I want to punish someone who enjoys pain, who wants to die... I can just keep her alive. Keep her from what she wants. He thought to himself, beginning to grin.