“See… why did you go and tell the wee lass? She’s taken a fright now!” My prospective ‘employer’ grumbled and I slumped to the floor and rubbed my hands across the bridge of my nose.

“look… girl… er what is you name again?” The woman looked at me and I perked looked up to see a bit of pensive pleading in her gaze.

I thought for a second, thought of using my real name, but it didn’t really seem like it was appropriate. I was a new person here and needed a new name. Mentally paging though fantasy characters I grinned.

“How does Nimue sound? I can use Nim for short, I suppose.” I happened to remember one of the names for the lady of the lake from Arthurian legend. I was a big fan of that stuff and somehow it fit, considering I was on an island in the middle of a lake.

“Nimue! I like it!” The woman grinned at me and seemed to get a bit of wistful simile on her face before she gave a deep sigh and crossed her arms while staring disconcertingly into the distance at something I couldn’t see. I shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny once it shifted back to me before she snapped her fingers as her train of thought seemed to come back to her.

“Ah we should mention to you that Aegaeon’s little bargain with you while, risky is also rewarding. As his champion your powers will be enhanced… substantially. Oh! I heard you travelers seem to like adventure. It will certainly liven your path up a bit!” She piped up and flashed me her bubbly smile as I saw Aegaeon groan and give a facepalm.

I gave it an actual serious thought, which did seem to shock me back to the present situation. I had been told in no uncertain terms by a veteran player that I had to push the boundaries of this game. Being this… champion class or whatever it was sounded like fun too.

“Ok… well, er anything else I can get as a champion? Er some gear or something would be a good start.” I bargained and I saw all three gods crack wide smiles.

“So… you’re going to do it lass?” Aegaeon’s doubtful voice echoed through the shrine and I took a deep breath and finally gave a nod.

My mind made up edged forward, crouching down to grin at the statuette of Aegaeon. “So… er can I get something to wear?” I asked and he burst out laughing.

Aegaeon nodded. “Essentially that’s how it works, when you accept on a token of my power, that is when you undertake the role of champion. It’s the way of things that as patron I help you survive. The actual object can differ between gods. For instance, Iris’s champion, the Pathfinder has a magic bag. I may not be on the same level as one of the great gods, but I do have one powerful token to bestow as the god of the tempest.”

He seemed to slid something off both of his arms. The bracelets he withdrew had seemed carved into his statuette, but when he tossed them to me there was a flash of light and I caught a set of glowing blue bracelets that turned from stone into a silvery-gold metal, expanding to normal size when they landed. They made my hands tingle slightly and they felt… somehow alive.

Taking a deep breath and still harboring deep misgivings I slid them onto my wrists. I felt a fiery pain, as the bracelets contracted and burned into my skin. Before I could properly shriek, they had sunk into my flesh and became two sets of curling tattoos. My arms bore a faint pair of roaring sea serpents with their open jaws across the tops of my hands. As I watched I saw them move and flex. Glittering blue inky scales flashed as they turned to regard me with interest.

I tried shaking out my hands as I shuddered at what I had just accepted. The two inked serpents didn’t seem to mind and I saw them turn and seemed to settled down across my wrists and the tops of my palms.

“That… is really freaky token… seriously messed up.” I grumbled, but secretly I did think they looked wickedly awesome.

Aegaeon beamed at me. “Well, they grow on you. If they decide they like you it may be possible to for you to learn their names.” He chuckled and then he fished around in the pockets of his shorts before he pulled out a tiny bundle that expanded suddenly to form a pile of clothes at the foot of the altar.

I looked at the garments. They were strange, iridescent blue robes, and a pair of soft slippers that seemed to lace up, there were also a set of leggings. If I stared closely at the fabric some sort of wavy pattern seemed to churn and shift at a minute level. When I put the leggings on after removing my sodden loincloth, they shrank to the size of short yoga shorts. Sorting through the pile of clothing I found a tight sports band that was apparently supposed to cover my flat chest and acted like some sort of sports top. When I pulled the robe over myself, my entire body suddenly started to warm up and I felt more comfortable. The robe shifted and became like tight body wraps around me when I stood and flexed.

“The robe can change depending on need, it can become heavy like a winter cloak or can shift to become tight like a bodysuit for swimming. It also is difficult to damage or penetrate and acts like light armor.” Aegaeon explained and as I thought about it, the robe changed and shifted with my desires. It was indeed a useful fashion accessory. I put on the slippers, and they felt very comfortable. The laces also gave my ankle a bit of support. On a hunch, I gave it a thought and grinned as they transformed into divers’ flippers. “Neat!” I giggled and there seemed to be a pained silence from my statuette audience.

“Your new champion is, easily amused Aegaeon.” Shango said dryly and I swear I heard something disparaging about teenagers. Narrowing my eyes at him he busied his gaze elsewhere. I looked at the goddesses in the wavy dress and there was a twinge of envy at her beauty. Briefly, I wondered what her name was, so far none of the other gods had called her by her name.

“SO… a few ground rules lass, things you ought to know. First is that if you kill a champion of an enemy god, I will be quite pleased with you, and will grant you a boon! How does that sound?!” I frowned at him.

“So… now other champions will want to off me as well as the delightful wildlife around me?” I grumbled and I swear he smirked.

“Most of them, probably not. Ah but, I am a destructive weather god, so there are a ton of enemies, or do-gooders trying to reduce my power. Every time you die, I get weaker by the way… so it’s in my best interest to… help you along”

“And if I die the final death?” I shuddered.

“Well I’m banished for a while, and won’t have contact with the mortal realms until my power recovers. So please don’t die.” He groused.

“And this is why he doesn’t like having champions, and also why he is still, after thousands a years a minor, obscure deity.” The goddess to his left cackled.

“Better than being the goddess of gentle breezes Aurelias.” She crossed her arms in mock indignation and stamped a little stone foot.

“Hey, no one ever tries to mess with me, because I don’t go around sinking ships, with rogue waves, or summoning storms just because I’m bored!” She shrieked and I raised my hands. “Hey… uh sorry to interrupt but… what are the rest of… the rules?” I asked, and my stomach took that moment to give a rumble.

Aegaeon grumbled and turned back to me. “Yea you’re going to have to get me followers if you can, and you have to pray to me. Praying to me will replenish your power, and it also gives me a boost, though it only works at full power once per day, with each successive prayer after that each day you get less of a boost.” He ticked off digits on his fingers as he spoke.

“The more altars you consecrate to me, the more my influence… also if you are in my domain, for example, you are inside a storm on near an altar dedicated to an allied god or me, or multiple allied gods you are stronger. This works in reverse if you are in a hostile domain, you will be weaker like in a desert with no water or near an enemy god’s altar, temple, or stuff like that.” I nodded. Made sense.

“I’m a god of rainstorms, and violent seas and the like, not of natural disasters. Don’t go around making a massive mess if you can help it. I already got a bad enough reputation.” He grumbled and both of the other gods cracked up laughing.

“Well, off you go then, oh and don’t forget my statuette, you need a focal point to pray to me and this one I’ll bind to you.” Aegaeon’s pained grumbles faded along with Shango’s. The light went out of their statuettes, and suddenly it was back to the forms I had first seen them.

“Oh wanted to toss you a suggestion, before I go Nim.” Aurelias piped up and I turned to study the god of soft breezes.

“I tend to pick up news… and gossip being the god of breeze I do get around a bit.” She gave a self-satisfied and smug grin before she cocked her head.

“Find other champions… a dark change is coming and you will need help to survive.” She said as her voice faded suddenly there were just three stone statuettes on the altar.

“Hey! That is like… the most cliché warning ever!” I yelled, but was a moment too late.

Reaching over, I picked up Aegaeon’s likeness and wondered where I would put the statuette. It flashed and I felt a tingle in my hand for a moment before the light faded. Is that what he meant it binding to me? I could actually feel a connection to the statuette now.

I felt the robe I was wearing shift slightly and a small pocket appeared. I pushed the statuette into it, and felt that the pocket was much bigger on the inside than it appeared. The pocket vanished, morphing into the sleek garment as if it had never been there.

“So… magic pockets… what’s next a bag of holding?” I chuckled and then thought about it for a second before I realized that the pocket was probably the Endarian version of a bag of holding. I found my firestarter and tossed it into the pocket next to my statuette, trying to suppress my grin.

Now… just how was I supposed to get past the giant monster?

First, I decided that I would like to find food, only now realizing with frustration that I literally just became a champion of a god and hadn’t bothered to ask my new boss for noms.

I wondered just what powers I had acquired. I didn’t really feel any different, just had some wicked looking tattoos on my wrists, and a new wardrobe.

There really wasn’t anything on the island at all, not even hostile creatures, which surprised me as almost every step I’d taken in Endaria so far had mostly been running from something trying to make a meal of me.

I gathered up some courage and decided to stalk the shoreline of the island, there was no sign of the massive lake monster, so I took a chance and gave a running leap and dove into the water. I could see quite far in the crystal-clear lake, and the new shoes I had received earned their keep as I use the transformed flippers to quickly make a break for the shoreline.

As it would turn out, the monster had not forgotten me. I looked behind me when something caught my eye and nearly peed myself when I saw the creature following me, keeping a respectful distance almost as if it was escorting me. There was no way I could outrun it, but it didn’t seem inclined to give me any grief so I relaxed.

Stumbling onto the far shore I looked down the rest of the valley as I heard a noise behind me and saw the gigantic snout of the lake monster blow a plume of water out of its nostrils, then turn in one motion and dive back down into the lake. It took me a few moments before I could get my heart to beat normally, and for my hands to stop shaking.

In the meantime, I discovered that my clothes seemed to completely repel the water, drying rapidly like hydrophobic fabric. It was truly a wonder.