Knariss

A gong rang out across Knariss. Unheard by mortals but audible to its gods. Its sound meant one thing. It is time for the pantheon to meet in its entirety. A rare event that had not happened in centuries. For the most part certain members would meet together in private but now a full meeting has been called and all must answer.

Within the deepest reaches of Mt.Pekos a chime rang out. Caused by metal hitting metal, a dwarf woman decked out in heavy armor worked tirelessly at her forge, her face obscured by a thick plate. Blow after blow she brought her hammer down on the molten ingot that was clamped to an anvil. Repetitive and calming, too bad it was not to last much longer as a somber sound joined her hammering and broke her out of her trance.

She threw her hammer against the wall and screamed into the depths. On the surface, however a volcano erupted and sent the few villages in the area into a panic, “Why now?! I was almost finished with this project too! After all these years, why do we all need to meet? Can’t Langston just come tell us like he always does?”

From the surrounding caverns the clank of dozens of armor-clad feet could be heard approaching. Then around from one of the corners they arrived twelve heavily armed men of varying races, from mundane humans to exotic nagas that slithered. When they arrived, they sorted themselves into three rows and fell to one knee.

“Lady Gyro, what's wrong, the volcano is erupting, are we under attack? How can we be of service?” The leader said, with a nervous look on his face.

Gyro turned and took in the sight of her faithful, calmed herself, and spoke. “Nothing that any of you can help me with. It just seems that now of all times someone has called a full meeting of the pantheon and unfortunately as much as I would like to ignore it, I am bound to answer the call. However, I do need all of you to go to the surrounding villages and reassure the people that everything will be alright. I will return as soon as I can.” And with that she turned and picked up her hammer then disappeared in a flash of fire.

This sight repeated itself across the varied bases and homes of the gods. Some gave their followers an explanation, others simply up and left for the meeting. All were headed towards the same location but not all were happy about it.

In the dank recesses of the Forest of Twilight Faun Sway was catching up with her elder sister Solaris, The Summer Queen, it was only fun for one of them. The once regal Summer Queen had been reduced to a wailing mess strung up in the branches of a midnight elm. Her crimson dress in tatters as her royal blood pooled at the tree's roots. A choir of orphans of black sang songs poking fun at the stupidity of the Summer Queen and the glorious trick that their Twilight Queen pulled that captured her.

Faun Sway sat on her throne sipping a drink, taking dark pleasure at her sister's predicament. “You know you were stupid to come here, right? I mean what did you think was going to happen?” A wheeze escaped from Solaris, but Faun Sway interrupted her. “No, don't talk. I can guess what you thought was going to happen. You walk in here and make a scene proclaiming how much better you are than me and I surrender to your rule. Haha, you have to have known or at least been told that since I’m a goddess I’m stronger than any normal fae queen, I’m even stronger than mother now. So that got me thinking she can’t be this dense surely she knows she can’t win, so why come here? Then it hit me this was mother’s idea, wasn’t it? She put you up to this, but I don’t really care what she thinks she can get out of this, she won’t win. So that leaves you at my mercy, don’t worry I plan on letting you go with what's left of your servants. All of you may leave as soon as the spores fully take root in them. When that happens, I’ll personally return you to the Feywilds and sit back, laugh, and enjoy the chaos my little creations bring.”

After explaining her plan Faun Sway relaxed on her throne and started to doze off right as the bwong of a gong echoed through the Twilight Forest. She knew what it meant, and she knew who activated it. Today had been good but now the excitement was only starting. As she stood from her throne, she snapped her fingers and three shadows spread from its base. They rose into the air taking on the shapes of monstrous old women Matron Helena Scourge, Aunty Celene Misery, and Granny Agatha Apathy.

They fell to their knees and spoke as one. “How can we be of service Twilight Queen?”

Faun Sway didn’t waste any words and gave out orders to her most loyal hags. “Matron make sure the forest is secured, Aunty make sure our guests are properly cared for, and Granny you're coming with me to the meeting.”