crossroads.
This is the in-universe nickname for Ultramund, as Earth's twin is exactly that: a crossroads between different planes of existence. Heaven, Hell, the Elemental Plane...each has at least one door to that world, hidden somewhere.
Since the Twelve Gods agreed not to wage war directly against Overmund, they each created a planet of their own and retreated there. Sometimes, they even shared one, as in the case of Mithras and Leone's heavenly abode.
The most feared gods of Offremund are the Terror Triad, the holy trinity of death, crime, and war. As the collective nemesis of Mithras the Shining, who opposed Mithras as mortals, the three rose together and remained friends even after divinity. As they gathered together, blood was shed, wars began, and plagues broke out...
"Strike! This is a strike!"
But more often than not, they just play games.
Camilla, the god of death, vermin, darkness, and plague, teleports to the playroom to find the other gods entertaining themselves without her. "Traitors, you set off without waiting for me?"
Under the starry night sky, the "ground" is made of clouds, and the gods can shape the clouds at will. The playroom is a place for the spooky trio to play together or with guests. Her teammates didn’t wait for her and started playing Shooti
gSta
》,《Moo
Ma
” and “Dice”.
The rules are simple: throw the comet into the sky and try to hit something. Planets count as more points than the sun because they are harder to hit.
"First Strike!" A humanoid raven, the clown god of death never leaves his crimson clown costume - it helps hide the blood. Countless souls wailed in his scythe. "What world did I hit?"
"Carcosa," Wayland said. This dwarf goddess of fire, war, and machines conceals herself beneath heavy tank-like battle armor of her own design. The stilts allowed her to stand shoulder to shoulder with her comrades. "Justy, don't expect too much. We're playing on an uninhabited planet."
"Oh, bah!" said the Fool of Death in disappointment, and turned to greet Camilla, while the Moon Man narrowly missed a sun. "Hey Cam! You're finally here!"
The goddess crossed her arms and glared at her old teammate. Camilla is a dark elf vampire with skin as dark as night, crimson eyes and wavy white hair. Camila wore a form-fitting black dress with a low hem that accentuated her sexy figure. As a mortal, she always had fashionista tendencies that made up for Deathstroke and Wayland's lack of style, and as a god, that trend continues.
"Come on, don't give me that look, we're just getting started," Deathclown replied before getting back into the game. "Why did you come so late? Did you finally introduce AIDS to Overmond?"
"I've said it a thousand times, I won't." Camilla rolled her eyes. She is so fond of her mortal lovers that she prefers supernatural maladies, such as vampires. "That's a private matter."
"I've been thinking about it all day." Death Jester continued to bother her. "If a vampire is with a living person, does that count as necrophilia?"
"Justy, you are so bad-tempered today." Weyland replied, forming a meteor in his palm and throwing it towards a certain solar system. Her comet was so far away from the star that it made Death's jester laugh. "Fuck you, kid!"
"Of course I'm happy," replied the clown. “Not since the War of the Century has there been so much chaos in Overmond! So much laughter!”
"Indeed." The last guest was the goddess Sasha, who teleported around the room to make herself known. “So many new opportunities.”
Everyone already knows what's going to happen and who's going to be the talk of the night.
"Sasha, it's great to meet you. Have you finally considered sponsoring the undead labor trade?" asked Camilla, a politician eager to advance the cause of undead rights. "Under the new policies of the V&V Empire, the undead revolution can no longer be stopped."
"Considering the long-term side effects of witchcraft, I'm still on the fence," replied the greedy reptile. "I have decided to neither support nor condemn this deal. I leave it to my admirers to make their own choice."
"So each of your churches has to make its own decision?" Camila knew she could convince some people to cooperate with her, so she pressed on.
"I'm not going to micromanage." "It reduces productivity."
"Work, work, work," grumbled Deathclown as the game ended with his decisive victory. None of the other gods have a damn goal. Especially Dice, he has no arms. "Relax, it's game night!"
"Are we waiting for someone else?" Shesha asked.
"No," Deathclown replied. "I sent Mithras an invitation saying 'Land of Night'. He didn't answer."
Camila smiled beside her friend. As the sun god, Mithras never accepted a vampire nation bordering his cherished garden. It didn't help at all that the monarch, Orlok, had a special belief in the sun god.
"It will take about seven chapters," the Moon Man said, turning his eyes to him. "Huh? What did I say?"
Deathclown shrugged and made a table and chairs out of clouds. As the game master for the night, he invited the gods to sit down.
As usual, only half of the Pantheon participated. The more self-righteous gods, Mithras, Leon, Isengrim, and Cybele, preferred to play among themselves; Mithras and the Dreadful Three could not bear to be in the same room. Goddess of the Sea, Liberty, Dreams, and Drunkenness, often getting drunk with mortals without anyone noticing.
No one in their right mind would invite the destructive Sabra to that kind of game.
Camila sits between Wayland and Death Clown, while Sheisha sits between Wayland and Moon Man. At the same height, the gods looked like giants to any mortal who walked into the room, and the hills surrounded the plateau. Only Dice chose to ignore the chair and jump onto the table.
Camilla relishes these opportunities to meet her fellow spirits. As the Immortal Goddess, she does everything in her power to ensure that her followers never die, allowing them to become ghosts, ghouls, or vampires. As such, she has few companions in her realm, usually hanging out with disguised mortals.
"Okay," Death Jester began, conjuring a very precise animated map of Ortmund on the table. The designs on the blackboard took on a life of their own; mountains of stone rose from the paper, oceans of ink began to flow, and the names of cities around the world shimmered at key points. "Friends, tonight we are playing "Out
emo
de Civilizatio
》. "
"Wartime version?" Ve
a
push. "I haven't had a good time since the Century War, and I arrived too late in the conflict between Memulin and Ishfania. I wanted to test my new war puppet on the battlefield."
"This is for the next game." Moon Man said and started gibbering. "When four people become one."
"No prophecy!" cried Weyland, but the ancient hateful planet could not help itself.
"Steel boots will trample the marble floor like purple roses revealing their thorns. Blades of night, shields of darkness, and roots stained with blood."
"Great, great." Weilan sighed. "I guess in another year or so I'll see what you mean."
"Well, my friend, trying to figure it out is half the fun," replied Deathclown, ever the optimist. "The other half makes a mess of fate."
"There is no war," Shesha said. "War is bad for global trade."
A true warmonger, Wayland further insisted. "But there are still people like them all over the world. Just a crusade to take them out. Or a border conflict. I could pick one."
"Waylan, don't be greedy," Camila said to her teammate. "You introduced gunpowder and artillery through your professed warriors in the last campaign."
"I want to try something new!" said Dice.
"You dominated the Battle of the Century War," Deathclown added. "Learn to share, Smalley."
"Well, you say that because you had a good time with bandits and political assassinations after the war."
"Like Shesha always says," chuckled Deathclown, "business is booming."
"You see, the orcs are bent on destroying humans. They have no soul to feel sorry for." Weyland stubbornly insisted on his position. As a warlike god, she wanted her worshipers to rule over a populous world rather than a silent tomb. "I say we will never be safe until we wipe them all out. Mel Odius is the new King of Bara'ur with nipples. The best way to control a crowd is death."
"She was protected by Sabra," Shesha noted. "None of these countries will be able to attempt anything big for at least a century, and the world's nations are exhausted. Mortals would be better off using this downtime to build."
"Yes, it's very possible that Knight Baine will face off against her," Death Rigoletto added, "and my gut tells me it's going to be a really interesting conflict."
"Who supports a more peaceful campaign this time?" Camilla raised her hand, and everyone except Whelan followed suit. The little dice jumped, which was considered agreement. "I'm sorry, my friend, you were outvoted."
The dwarf pouted and crossed his arms.
"Out
emo
de Civilizatio
》The rules are simple. Each god can influence the world in three ways: by guiding their followers, from priests to inquisitors; by summoning self-proclaimed warriors or through their spheres of influence. Although gods can visit the human world, after the final war between them, they adhere to a strict non-interference policy... although each cheats when they can get away with it.
In the war version, they usually pit their admirers against others. When the evil Sabra supported the orcs in their destructive rampage across Mistral, the War of the Ages became a war, forcing the gods to decide to summon and guide warriors to turn the tide. Wayland used the war as an excuse to introduce new technology to the Mistral Continent and had a great time.
Overall, though, it was a tense and brutal campaign. The humans of Mistral had a real chance of being wiped out, and only the torrent of summoned Zoyd turned the tide against King Bara'ul.
"First, before we get started, I want to talk about the flying elephant in the room," said the Jester of Death. "Dragon. As you know, thanks to Vai
queue
K
ightsba
e, long live him, the dragon has started to take levels, which is great and adds spice to the game, but also opens up a whole can of worms. I think I know how everyone feels about this, but I have to ask: Are we going to lift the ban on dragon reincarnation this session?”
"No!" almost everyone said in unison.
"Dragons are forbidden—" Little Dice added.
"Yes, until the end of the world." Death Jester trembled along with the other gods. Camilla knew that the God of Crime had broken every sacred rule except this one.
"Thank God, raw strength alone is not enough to reach the Hall of Valor." "No one wants to have another... accident..."
"Justy laughed it off," Wayland said.
"Yeah, like a bad, unfunny joke, it comes back to the good side," replied the criminal Raven Prince. "Then agree. Calling dragons is not allowed. However, in addition to the usual sacred professions, dragon priests are also allowed."
"Are there dragon priests?" Camilla asked, jealous that she didn't have one yet.
"Yes, there is a dragon, I think it's Bing Feng, who wants to beg me to join the class. Obviously, this won't work, but I don't rule out the possibility of a dragon knight appearing." Death Clown closed his eyes and imagined. "I wish someone would come. Mithras would be very angry."
"I suggest we play an Age of Discovery campaign," Shesha proposed an idea, and the gods listened, "Sea monsters have made it impossible for mortals to cross the ocean...until now. Some civilizations, such as the Empire, Bahrain, and the Ten Empire, have Ancient flight developed; Moore created a fully functional airplane; and dragons. If the focus of the last campaign was a world-wide war, I would suggest that the next one should be an age of adventure and exploration."
"Great idea!"Deathjeste
Nod. "I've had enough of the Middle Ages!"
"I thought we had moved away after the War of the Century," Wayland noted. "With the artillery, undead labor was introduced, and the new professions the system created in their wake."
"Yes, but now we can move into a renaissance of magical technology," Sheisha said. "I've trademarked the name. A new era of entrepreneurship, treasure hunting, and global trade!"
"Then culture clash leads to more conflict," Weiland nodded. "I sell."
"How much?" Shesha asked.
The Moon Man, who usually agreed to everything when he wasn't ranting, nodded happily at the suggestion. "I want to play the discovery game."
"I think so," Camilla said with a sly smile. Thanks Thaote
An undead empire that worshiped her, she and her church had a considerable advantage in this battle. She can spread her cult and undead joy across the globe in a short time.
"I'll get out!" Dice insisted. "Roll me up so I can add something new!"
"Well, well, democracy has spoken, and the theme of this century will be the Age of Discovery," Deathclown said. "We'll start with the Mistral Continent, and Dice will take the first turn."
Dice jumped with joy while the other gods exchanged glances. The embodiment of magic and luck, Dice's scrolling speed has always revolutionized Out
emo
de. Death Jester had asked him to go first so that the other gods could plan around the time Fall fell rather than before.
"This is the state of the world..." Death Rigoletto cleared his throat and said in a deep voice. He always had a flair for acting. "The Century War has ended, and the continent of Mistral has been changed forever. Under Sabra's protection, the Dreadlords retreated to Prydain and the Dark Forest to plot further destruction. The Harmonious Alliance and the Republic of Midgard fell, and were Absorbed by the powerful Kingdom of Gadmani, the Merchant Empire of Bahrain, or the vampire theocracy of the Nightlands. In the north, the warlords of the Winter Kingdom fight for dominance and fight the dragons. The Maggot Emperor Vai
queue
K
ightsba
e conquered Ishfa
ia, and renamed it the V&V Empire. Although the war is over, confusion and chaos still prevail. How do you do it?"
"Rolling for new magical weather conditions!"
"Every country?" Camilla shrank in fear, as did Shesha. Both had a preference for a particular country, the Land of Night and Bahrain respectively.
"Moon Man, since you don't have a favorite country, roll the dice." Death's jester asked. The ancient moon beast grabs the dice with its tentacles and throws it across the map.
Then the slaughter began.
"b
ai
'A! Global warming! Dry weather and blazing wind! Winter in Shikoku, cool weather and strong hail!"
Every time you roll the dice, Dice introduces new effects to the map. A fiery red Si
Occo moved towards Bahrain's territory to the south, much to Shesha's dismay, while the northern part of the map was torn apart by ice shards.
"Garden Garden, ten and seventeen! It's wonderful summer in the south, acid rain in the north!" Death Clown chuckled at the result; soon, the clouds began to release green ink over some areas of Mithraic Kingdom.
"Land of Dark Night." Camilla winced, and the little dice revealed its fifteenth face. "Fifteen, rain of blood!"
The Vampire Goddess sighed in relief as crimson rain soaked her beloved vampire realm. Luck smiled upon her.
This leaves only one country...
"V&V Empire, number 20!" Dice sounded overjoyed with the result and told Out
emo
de introduces an unknown weather pattern. "Slime rain!"
Small green clouds form over the former Ishfanian territory, raining down slime creatures. Camilla hoped that Vankel and his troops were hungry because they were going to have a jelly feast.
"These are not natural weather patterns!" Shesha protested. "You can't jelly!"
"I am God, I don't need to reason!" Dice replied. "I said slime rain!"
At the end of the round, the weather on all continents changes with the seasons, and Dice leaves the persistence of the changes to chance.
"Who wants to go next?" The Moon Man raised his tentacles to answer Death's Jester's question. "The Mad King has it. To be fair, we'll play clockwise and I'll close the Mistral round. Moonman, what do you do?"
"To confirm, I heard I had a prophet," said the Moon Man. “Does this mean I have a cult?”
"Yes, I've said it a thousand times, you have followers," Camilla replied angrily. The Moon Man forgets his religious beliefs in almost every meeting, so that he has the smallest number of followers.
Sabla
Say more. When you're not as popular as the God of Destruction, you have to ask yourself some questions.
"In that case, I order all my followers to travel to the moon."
The statement was followed by a brief silence. "Come again?"Deathjeste
asked.
"We're playing Age of Exploration," the Moon Man replied calmly. "I ask my followers to brave the only true frontier - space. They will join my children on the moon so we can shake our tentacles in harmony."
"Wow, you skipped a lot of intermediate steps."
"That's great!" Weiland took the statement in stride. "I can introduce magic missiles in at most fifty years!"
Deathjeste
Sighed. "Only this?"
"One of my true prophets will lead my flock to the stars," the alien god added. "I already said that."
"Didn't Dice claim it first?" Ve
a
asked. "You too, Shesha?"
"He's easy," Shesha replied, and she claimed him. Somehow the way she spoke suggested something else.
"Shesha, you're next," said the Crow Prince of Crime. “Even if it’s hard to top the race to the moon, what do you do?”
"I command my church to invest in overseas tourism," Shesha said. She is the most calculating and practical of gods, preferring logistics to flashy displays of power. "To support the age of exploration, I've added rewards for exploring undiscovered areas. Exploration will become even more profitable as new dragon competition makes the monster hunting market overcrowded."
"Boring, but good," Deathclown commented.
"Then, I will issue banknotes to stimulate the economy, starting from -"
"Has been completed".
Sesha paused for a moment. "What do you mean, it's done?"
"Manlin Victor, Mu
mu
i
The Grand Chancellor is already planning to use paper clips as the official currency of the V&V Empire. "Jester of Death replied. "It's not official yet, but they've started using analog printing. Emperor Wankel agreed because he believed that this would earn less gold for Manlin and more gold for him. "
"How did you know, Jesty?" Camila asked as Sasha considered the news. "Have you been infiltrating that country?"
"Please," Deathclown confessed. "I have spies everywhere."
“I knew that place would be fun,” Sheisha said. "I increased all of my church's investments in the V&V empire and I closed my turn."
The next contestant is Veran, who, as usual, begins by ordering her worshipers to destroy the sun and Mithras. With a mortal wannabe warlord trying to conquer the surface, Fear III begins with her hiring Camilla and Deathclown, then a free Necromancer and Assassin, respectively, to assist her. Although the invasion failed, they were united by killing the knight and later became adventurers.
“Next, I will be working on Out
emo
de" introduces a new monster: the lava golem. "When Weyland spoke, a miniature monster appeared on the edge of the map, a huge magma giant, "Estimated level: fifty. Then, I specifically summoned a man who would make AK-47s in the Winter Kingdom. "
A dwarf-shaped wooden block appears on the north side of the map.
"Why would you summon someone who could create such a weapon in a country with minimal resources?" Shesha frowned.
"Because they are most likely to use it," Death Jester replied. "They have a big problem."
"On that note, now that dragons are getting more powerful, I think it's unfair to other people," Weiland added. "So I create and distribute new dragon-slaying trophies across the world, and I inspire my priests on how to forge more knowledge. It's my turn."
"As if it would do them any good," Camila said, laughing, when it was her turn.
"Xiao Ka, can you introduce the new undead again?" Death Jester asked hopefully. "I suggest using the dragon lizard. Please bring the dragon lizard."
"Liches are a class, Jesty, not a spontaneous state." Camilla reminded her ally. This didn't worry her. Considering how quickly dragons level up, success is only a matter of time.
What could she do? Unlike the Deathly Clown, who reveled in his horrific propaganda, Camilla didn't consider herself evil; she believed that if everyone could enjoy the pleasures of mortals in their immortal form instead of dying, the world would become better. She had been pushing for the legalization of witchcraft, and centuries later her wish finally came true. At this point, she just needs to encourage and keep the trend going.
“Things have been going really well for me during this time,” she admits.
"You didn't miss your turn, did you?"
"Of course not, Jester. I had my church officially recognize the V&V Empire; support a pension plan for their undead minions; and then promote it among my followers. Now it's possible for everyone to become a sentient immortal through a donation biology."
"Will you accept multi-religious bondage?" Shesha suggested.
"Of course, but immortality is still a fundamental right of every human being and the key to happiness," Camilla replied with political savvy. "I will not budge on this issue."
"Cam, Cam, you're mistaken," Deathclown said. “The secret to happiness is to kill everyone who makes you unhappy, and then one day you too will die forever.”
Camilla smiled back at him. Despite repeated failures, the assassin always maintained a positive attitude; even after failing dozens of times, he never gave up on his dream of killing Mithras. "Whatever you want, Jesty. It's my turn."
"Then I'm the only one left." Death Clown hesitated on the chair. His friends knew that the cunning gangster had planned to go last, so he could see the others' strategies first.
The scammer immediately moves to destroy it.
"I direct the wind and turn the brunt of the weather changes towards Gadmani," Deathclown said. "I could not allow my new favorite nation to suffer from sordid plunder for too long. Then, for the sake of retribution, I ordered my followers in the Night Blade to claim all dragon-killing weapons and distribute them To bandits everywhere. Finally, I set the trap in motion."
Another piece of wood, this time humanoid, appears next to Wayland's own.
"I have specially summoned one of my own lords in the Winter Kingdom, and I command him to kill your lord, Wayland."
"What?" The goddess jumped up in her seat. "Why?"
"Because there are too many guns. That's the end of my speech."
This is only the first continent.
They still have seven missions to complete.
