37 Balance (1/2)

”Master, what are your needs?” Asked the hauntingly beautiful drider, a second after she stated that she had a suggestion for me. There was a sharp edge to her voice, a tremble audible at the word ”needs” that made it clear that she hoped for opportunities to inflict violence.

It served as a needed reminder that for all of her beauty, she was a ghoul. That'd be an easy thing to forget if I wasn't careful.

I looked at her curiously and considered her question for a few moments. As I did so I was silent.

The truth was, there was only one thing I wanted, or at least one thing that she and the other undead could get me. And my thoughts about it were distorted by the part of me that was dark, tainted not just by the subdomain of corruption, but also now by the subdomain of necromancy.

Part of me wanted to order my undead minions to perform a ritual in my name. A ritual that involved them venturing into the forest and tracking down a powerful creature. That part of me wanted to order my worshippers to bring back whatever powerful creature they found and then sacrifice it to me, especially if I wasn't promised a reward for such brutal action.

Thankfully that urge was both not very strong and also so out of character for me that it was easy to spot as alien and reject outright. It was one thing for me to animate the dead that had died without my influence, but another thing altogether for me to order my followers to perform a sacrifice. I silenced the part of my mind that reveled a bit too much in the dark powers I now possessed and refocused.

I wasn't just influenced by the two twisted subdomains that I had a bit of influence over. I also felt the power and life-sustaining radiance of the subdomain of healing, and a smaller but equally life-affirming subdomain of agriculture. I didn't want something to die just to test my powers. I wouldn't let something die just for me to test my powers unless I was defending myself.

What I wanted was simpler than that. What I wanted was to get back to the task at hand, and inch towards enacting my plot to acquire living worshipers.

I looked at the drider and shook my head. ”No, there isn't.” I told them, lying so as to prevent unnecessary violence. I heard a soft chuckle in my mind as I said this, and wasn't surprised to hear a familiar voice in my mind seconds later.

[So you resisted temptation huh? Not bad Althos. Not bad at all. Especially because you have two dark subdomains working to influence you...] My companion remarked.

Internally I chuckled, but I didn't respond to the remark in a substantive way, or rather I didn't reply to the message in a substantive way. But it did make me think. For a second my mind turned to thoughts of Okig, who I knew I'd need to spend some time treating.

Breaking her mind wasn't my intention, even if it did award me a worshiper, and I needed to contend with that reality.

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For a moment I looked over at Okig. I studied her. I felt a pang of... something. This was the first time I focused on her in the wake of making her endure the odd and mind-breaking experience I put her through and now that I was doing it I recognized a few things.

Firstly, I recognized that it was an act of corruption. That wasn't an indictment of myself, it was an observation. The action was to test the powers over corruption, and over earth, that I possessed. And in that regard it was a success. An unabashed one at that.

I also recognized that it was excessive. It was me using my powers unnecessarily and irresponsibly. I had already won, and what I did was a form of violence. I needed to be careful to not do that.

And lastly, I knew that I either possessed the power to fix it, or I would gain the power to fix it. Fortunately, as I thought about that I learned something useful. It was more than likely that I possessed the power to fix her mind. I would fix it, if not today, then eventually.

[So you're working to maintain balance? Hmm... Well, we can't say that we hate that you're a neutral deity.] The system muttered, interrupting my moment of solemness and the vague sensation of regret that I felt.

[You do possess the power to heal Okig's mind. It's the result of you possessing power over both healing and minds. You can soften the damage her mind suffered, and that may just serve to endear her more to you. We'll teach you how to do it, if you can successfully enact your plot to bring the goblins to you.] The system promised, giving me more of a reason to exert my control over this situation.

I was a god, being in control was something I needed to master. It was time to act like a god.

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To get through the scene at hand I focused on navigating through the situation I found myself in. I'd have time to treat the ogress' mind soon enough but if I wasn't careful here I'd actively be responsible for deaths, which wasn't what I wanted. Not without a real cause.

”There will come a time for us to test our strength, and even now we'll test it in little ways, but I shouldn't let us get overly active. There is work to do, and deceptions to pull off. Now, if one of you would like to help me with one final task...” I told the creatures, leaving an opportunity to volunteer up in the air.