20 Meeting Mawby (1/2)
As I phased into the dream my flesh changed. It transformed into the form I had taken to speak with Alma. It was a pleasant, almost instantaneous transformation.
The dream I had phased into was not what I expecting. Based on my last experience diving into a dream, and the fact that goblins lived in a forest, I was anticipating that I would exit my mind-space and phase into a forest. Instead, I found myself starring into the depths of a dark cave. And that was only one of the differences between this dream and the last dream I entered.
One other key difference is that I could see Mawby, and the moment she raised her head from the floor she'd be able to see me. The goblin's head was touching the floor in what was obviously an act of prostration and she was muttering something reverential eerily quietly under her breath.
I grinned, knowing that I'd need to reward Troik once more. It seemed that my goblin friend had successfully told his fellow goblins to expect me.
I quietly activated one of my newest powers: the faith domain's power entitled ”Religious fervor”. My power took effect immediately, and the air around Mawby and myself took on a subdued blue hue as if to signify that it was suddenly part of an incomplete painting. A small part of me wondered if my friend here could see this hue, but I somehow suspected, instinctually anyway, that she couldn't.
I opened my mouth to greet the pious-seeming goblin.
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”Hello there. It seems that you were expecting me.” I said to the tiny creature.
At that moment the goblin fell silent. She began to shake, either from excitement or from fear, before hesitantly lifting her head off of the cave floor. She gasped when she said laid eyes on me, which to be fair was a reasonable reaction when someone saw an entity that could be described as omnielemental.
”Good evening Mawby.” I said to the trembling goblin, my airy eyes centered on her face and studied it leisurely.
This goblin had yellow skin. She had eyes that matched the skin color of Troik, and interestingly his eyes were the same color as her skin. She stood around a meter and two tenths tall, and her dream-form was clad in lightly colored fur armor.
”Hello... are you Cosecha?” She asked. Fear, awe, and curiosity were equally audible in her voice. She spoke in the language of goblins, which was fitting since she was a goblin. She had a soft, feminine voice, for a goblin anyway.
I nodded at her. ”I am indeed. It is nice to meet you little one.” I said to her, speaking regally. She began to smile, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
”So you are real...” She said, speaking to me in a hushed, awed tone. I smiled serenely at her.
”Yes I am. I am... not as strong as I'd like to be, at the moment anyway, so manifesting outside of dreams is challenging, but I can do other things.” I told the tiny goblin, speaking intentionally vaguely. My smile remained planted on my face.
”What else can you do?” She asked, curiosity coloring her tone.
”I can do many things little one. And I intend to reveal them to you and your friends in time.” I told her, a grin both visible on my face and audible in my radiant voice.
”Why not just tell us now?” She asked, slowly losing her fear as if curiosity were making her bold. I studied her for a moment, patience radiating out of me.
”Because I want to get to know you.” I said, truthfully. She considered this response for a moment, bringing her hand to her chin and looking rather thoughtful.
”Well, in that case, I'm Mawby.” She eventually said, reaching out a hand as if for a handshake. I chuckled and rose my tendrils. One of them was made of fire, and the other was made of water.
If I were to shake her hand as hand-shaking was meant to be done, with my opposing limb, then I'd either burn her or soak her hand. After considering it for a second, I opted to wet her hand and wrapped my fluid tendril around her hand. She winched in response to that but clearly appreciated the gesture.
”And I am Cosecha.” I told her, responding to her self-introduction with my own rather than reminding her that I knew who she was and that I had said her name earlier. She curtsied, a curiously polite gesture and I nodded at her, recognizing her manners with respect.
”Well Cosecha... how may I get to know you?” She asked me, curiosity and awe coloring her voice as she looked at me with an inquisitive gaze. I met her gaze with my own and considered her question for a few moments.
”Mawby that is a really good question.” I eventually said, after thinking about her question for a few moments. It took me a few moments to come up with an adequate answer, and before I could utter it I needed to ask the system something.
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”So I have an idea, but for it to work I'm gonna need you to partially unlock my ability to hear prayers.” I told the system, speaking solely in my mind.
”I want to be able to hear prayers that are uttered to me, in my various forms, and respond to them. But as I am now, I know that I am alerted when prayers to me are uttered, but I can't actually hear the contents of the prayers.” I told my companion, hoping to get an affirmative response.
[Hmm... You know what? That's a reasonable enough request. We'll allow it. From now if someone is praying to you, you'll be able to hear the actual words of the prayer and respond to it. If you wish too, you can respond without words but through omens and little physical phenomena, but if you want to respond with words you can. Your servants will hear your words in your divine voice.] The system answered, giving me an exciting answer.
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”If you wish to get to know me, engage in regular prayer. I wasn't able to make out the contents of your prayers earlier, but I feed off of faith and belief. Because of that, if you pray to me I will now be able to hear your specific words.” I told her, speaking softly and slowly. I was also telling her the truth, in a manner speaking.
”I wish to know you, and I will converse with you and your fellow goblins if you pray to me.” I told her, once again telling the youthful creature the truth.