Deities were Aligning, politicking, forming grunges, partnerships and plots but Deone, the God of Contracts, Curses and Gambling, was wondering at the faintly glowing parchments in his weathered leather satchel and what power he may have in those simple pages. There were three Deities, currently unformed, who had yet to choose the Domains that would be the sources of their power and the channels through which they would influence the world; Deone pulled up the remaining Domains, only half-heartedly scanning them as he continued to tease out the meaning of those parchments, those Contracts it seemed, that seemed the core of his entire path to winning the God’s Game.

Available Domains

Contracts (Deone)

Wine

War (Timely)

Fire (Zuzu)

Art

Oceans (Wes)

Invention (Wen)

Chaos (Ze)

Death (Gary)

Pleasure

Animals

The Sun (Khadijah)

Light

Magic (Ayaan)

Electricity

Order

Crime

Forests

Reptiles (Petra)

Metal

Wind

Already, Zuzu, Goddess of Fire, had Aligned with Wes, God of Oceans, while Timely the impatient, overbearing War God had, as unlikely as their temperaments made it seem, Aligned with the phlegmatic and thoughtful Wen, God of Invention. Ze seemed to Align with Ayaan yet, unlike the other two pairs, Deone had felt nothing as the tiny mustacho’d man and the strange, lanky Ze whispered and giggled to one another.

The calm and omnipresent voice of the guide had called out for the Eleventh of the Pantheon to choose and this unformed Deity, an average sized, thin but masculine form that, even in this group, seem to hold to themself, was taking up every second of the two minutes allotted to make their choice.

There was plenty of power left here. Elemental power, like the God of Wind or Forests. Perhaps, Deone pondered, they would choose Order... with a God of Chaos already in the mix and Deone himself naturally Aligned, perhaps this world needed a Deity to shape and control it....

In the end, the God choose none of these.

The omnipresent voice rang out once more.

“Tenth of the Pantheon… Young-So, God of Crime. Subdomain, God of Travelers. Subdomain, God of Children. Godly Perk, Thief of Divinity.”

As the voice sang Young-So’s titles, the unformed being burst with golden light that dulled into a pulse on their skin. He did not grow taller or fill out in the body but, abruptly, sprouted a great black hooded cape that shrouded him from head to boot sole. It was only when he was fully formed and pulled back his great hood that a dandelion puff of red-orange hair was revealed… along with long, pointed ears that seemed to curve halfway up that huge… afro, was the only word… ending in furred tufts. The face beneath all that hair had tanned skin and sharp cheeks, dotted with dark freckles. His eyes were similarly sharp and considering. But he had an easy smile, a kind of lazy grace, as he looked about at the rest of the Pantheon.

“God of Children. Don’t mind it. Didn’t expect it,” he said with a shrug.

Timely’s eyes seemed to light up with possibilities but Young-So gave them all a wave and turned his back to the group. “Don’t bother, I’m not Aligning with anyone. I solo. Good luck.” With that, he plucked a knife… how was he the only with weapons?... from a heavy, hip-drapped belt he wore beneath the cloud and began picked at his finger nails.

Deone rolled his eyes at the affect. They were Gods. If his nails were dirty, it’s because he Willed it so.

“Lottery,” the guiding voice called, “has determined that the Eleventh pick of the Domains is… Filipa. Filipa, you have 2 minutes.”

If it were possible for an all white, bald, glowing feminine form to radiate hate at a voice, that is what Filipa did before folding their arms and quickly pressing one of the options that floated in mid-air before them.

“That,” the feminine form said, “was easy.”

“Eleventh of the Pantheon, Filipa… “

As the glow resolved into long, delicate fingers and pale skin, the Deity flicked up a hand and glanced sharply at the nothingness above them.

“Eleventh of the Pantheon,” the voice amended, “Cortez…. Goddess of Pleasure. Subdomain, Goddess of Feasts. Godly Perk, Holy Ecstasy.”

The golden glow continued to pulse, then fade into clarity, revealing a pale, muscular woman with deep crimson hair, bowl cut in a slopping diagonal that fell to her chin while the sides were dark, buzzed close to her scalp. She wore a black, velvet body suit with deep cleavage, drooping from clavicle to her belly button; her wrists and back collar were white and ruffled, her pants legs flaired at the calves. Beneath them, toeless red pumps with sharp heels. Cortez took a moment to admire herself, then gazed from one Deity to the next, her eyes lingering a long moment on Petra. Her eyes were an arresting emerald green.

“Alright, don’t all gape at once.”

The other Deities of the Pantheon watched her, considered her, seemed to weigh or, in the case of Timely, dismiss her… except for the God of Death, Gary, who was, indeed, gapping ghoulishly.

“I’d Align with you if you’re up for it,” Gary said, approaching the Goddess as he stroked his stringy black hair back.

“Pass,” Cortez said with a seductive smirk, hand on hip. “Hard pass.”

Petra, Goddess of Reptiles, slithered towards Gary and Cortez and Cortez almost seemed to perk in anticipation until the half-snake Goddess passed both by, joining Wes and Zuzu.

Wes, God of the Oceans, whose liquid toga swam with agitated schools of tropical fish, took a step towards her but it was Zuzu, the Goddess of Fire and Volcanos, that Petra addressed.

“What was it that he said to you? We are… aligned in interests?”

“I believe the phrase was,” Zuzu said in her lilting accent, the flames of her eyes flickering as she spoke, “Your interests are Our interests, Our people will respect you and yours… and we will make no war on one another.”

“Yes,” Petra said, this time hissing for effect. “Your interests are mine and we will make no war. We are Aligned.”

“We are Aligned,” Zuzu repeated, offering a hand which Petra then took.

“We are Aligned,” Wes’ thunderous voice rumbled but Petra only spared him a glance.

“The game continues,” Young-So said, his back still turned on the rest of the Pantheon though he had slightly turned bak with a smirk, but Deone was not listening. All he could hear was the thrum of the gong that resounded in his skull, sending vibrations up his spine. Quickly, Deone pulled out one of the parchments, one he knew had been previously blank, and read the words now etched. He muttered to himself, smiling, as the voice called out once more.

“The Last of the Pantheon now chooses…. Songbird, you have two minutes.”

Songbird, who had been previously doing yoga before taking a resting pose on her stomach, face down, raised up once more, hips on the ground, hands pushing up from the waist and upper body raising as she leaned her head back.

“Thank you,” the feminine form said. “I choose Art.”

And with those words, the golden glow bloomed for the last time and, more quickly than every other change, Songbird resolved into a woman with dirty blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, wearing… a pink sports bra and matching yoga pants. Her face was round, beautiful but in a soft way, with blue eyes that seemed wholly suited to her blonde hair. She moved from her hips down pose quickly into a squat, then rose to standing.

“Last of the Pantheon, Songbird… Goddess of Art. Subdomain, Goddess of Song. Godly Perk, Profane Worship.”

Songbird had a small, tight smile that she offered to the group. Most nodded welcome or watched her cautiously but Timely covered his mouth, suppressing a laugh.

“Art?” Timely said, shaking his head softly. “Art? Are you even playing the game, right now? This is too easy.”

“Songbird,” Wes said, casting a scowl at Timely, “You can join us and grow strong. Art and nature. It makes sense.” Wes paused. “Kind of.”

“No, thank you,” Songbird said. She looked up at the nothingness above. “I’d like to take a break, please. Can we have 5 minutes?”

“A rest?” Timely asked, dropping his hand and no longer feeling so jocular. “We’re Gods, we don’t need rest.”

Deone stroked his long, thin white beard and spoke. “I wouldn’t mind time to think….”

Timely waved at Deone dismissively, “There’s not a lot to think about, God of Contracts and Lawyer shit. I want to move on, we still have to pick Free Perks.”

Wen nodded, folding his arms. “He’s right, we do not need to rest. But if we’re going to break, why not see our Free perks beforehand?”

“We don’t need any me-damned break, period,” Timely snapped.

“I’d like to collect my thoughts, thank you,” Songbird said once again, her high voice a calm that was almost bored. “Can we take five?”

The voice called out, “a 5 minute break has been requested before the choosing of Free Perks. Is the Pantheon in agreement?”

The various Deities looked about to one another but, before any could answer, the voice called again. “A majority of the Pantheon would like 5 minutes to collect their thoughts. You have 5 minutes before the choice of Free Perks begins.”

The voice did not need the Pantheon to speak Deone knew, then, for it to know their thoughts. That is also, he knew, how their manifestions knew what form to take without a descriptive word spoken.

“Fuck,” Timely said, softly. He stalked over to Songbird and stood over her, pushing his chest out and he looked down on her.

“What exactly do you need to think about? You’ve been doing yoga this entire time, you asked to choose last and for fuck sake when you got to choose, you decided to be the Goddess of Doodles. I was going to Aligned with you out of pity but now you’re just pissing me way off.”

Songbird looked up at Timely and cocked her head.

“Please explain,” she said to the void surrounding them, “Godly Perk, Profane Worship.”

“Profane Worship,” the voice intoned deeply, “the Deity receives passive Faith bonus from all works of Art that depict their aspects. The Deity has a chance of adding +2 Awe to all works created by the Deity’s followers to any non-believers with an additional chance to Convert non-believers. Increased chance of +2 Awe to any mortal who has no Faith Loyalty to any other Deity.”

Timely listened to this droning a moment, glanced about, then looked at Songbird once more. “Was that supposed to impress me?”

Wes, Zuzu and Petra, clustered together, glanced at one another. Ze paused in their constant chatter with Ayaan, narrowing their white-in-black eyes. Wen’s eyes widened for a moment, coming to some understanding. Khadijah just seemed bored.

Deone continued to stroke his chin and nodded to himself, seeing how Songbird was playing the game. She’d shown her hand, deliberately, to give an idea to the group of exactly what they were dealing with and, sadly, most of them didn’t see the potential in a Divine power that could convert any of their followers with a single painting. Songbird didn’t look or sound like she belonged in the God’s Game but Deone was seeing that, beneath the uncreative image her aspect had manifested as, was a subtle mind.

And two could play at that game.

“Tell me,” Deone called out, now watching Songbird. “What is my Godly Perk again… please?”

The voice called out, “Deone, God of Contracts. Godly Perk, Word is Bond. All Oaths made in the Presence of the Deity, God of Contracts, becomes a Contract, whether Mortal or Godly. Contracts made before the Deity may not be broken. Promises made in this Deity’s name by Mortals becomes a Compulsion. Promises or Oaths made by a mortal in any Deity’s name is subject to reprisal, or Curse, chosen by the Deity, God of Contracts.”

The Pantheon looked to one another, confused, except for Ze, Wen and Young-So; Ze smiled to themselves, Young-So looked to Deone with a raised brow while Wen abruptly laughed.

Timely cast a sharp glance at Wen, but it was Wes, God of Oceans and Storms, whose rumbling voice spoke first. “Am I missing something?”

Wen continued laughing a moment, shaking his head, before nodding towards Deone.

“I see you have papers in that bag of yours, God of Contracts. Perhaps you could show Wes his?”

Deone returned Wen’s knowing smile, reached blindly into his satchel and plucked the exact contract he was thinking of. Their glowing, etched words facing away from him, Deone unfurled the parchment and read without needing to see the words. “Wes, Aligned with Zuzu and Petra, will not conflict with their interests. Wes’ followers will not make war with the followers of Zuzu and Petra. Followers of Wes will not come into conflict with the followers of other Deities in this Alignment. This is a Contract,” Deone said, his golden eyes alight and his voice taking on a deeper manner that echoed in finality. “You have Aligned. This oath can not be broken.”

Wes’ eyes went wide; Petra and Zuzu cast eachother sharp glances.

“What do you mean,” Wes said, hesitantly. “this Oath can’t be broken? I wouldn’t break an Oath but….”

“I don’t know,” said Deone, packing the contract away in his satchel once more. “I’m kind of curious what happens when a God breaks their oath, too. Or if a God can break their Oath.

“But, to me, the better question is,” Deone said, arching a brow, “what happens if your faithful followers... break their God’s Oath?”