The Gods Are Us (Open)

[AshenBlade]

Athtar turned upon hearing Fylakas' threat. They let out a sigh then said something.
"Come on guys we just got out of town. Exalsis how can you already be so bored?" They then turned to face Fylakas, "and if you slit her throat I do expect you to carry her."
They then walked over to Exalsis.
"If you're so bored we can talk. Whatever topic you'd like."

[Vyries]

Kovan glanced back from the front of the group, his eyebrow raising as he took in the scene behind him. While the heat did not get to him yet due to his short hair and light clothing, he was nevertheless disgruntled as he was unable to change his appearance as he once would be able to. He felt way too exposed and vulnerable in this state. Nevertheless, he found himself smiling in amusement at Exalsis' antics. He admired the goddess of thievery, even before the loss of his power. Where she lacked in the skill and depth of illusionary magic, she more than made up for it with her agility and combat capabilities. He had watched her work in the distance many times through the centuries.

Kovan watched as 敖雀 turned away from the commotion, her expression disinterested once more. He felt somewhat sorry for her, being with people who are culturally different from her. He had never known of the existence of the goddess until now, and he was intrigued by her. In what situations would it be considered out of the balance? Does she have trouble differentiating the ying from the yang, just like the rest of them? He thought of all the times when he had caused massive destruction and havoc among the human race. Did she disapprove of them? In his defense, though, it was all an accident.

Throughout the centuries, Kovan's curiosity had led him to learn other human languages, and while he was not good at Chinese, he was relatively certain that he could pronounce her name right. It was with this certainty (and his curiosity/foolishness) that he decided to approach the elder goddess.

"Hello, 敖雀, you look troubled. What's the problem?"

(Sorry for the Chinese, I'm on mobile and it is easier to type than to copy and paste the name)

[taerin]

seeing two ex-gods turn upon him, perhaps they just based their reply off his threat. not once had fylakas killed anyone lr anything, unless having your followers do it counted. either way, he didn't want to make an enemy of the whole group, so he said, "hmph. fine," fylakas huffed. fylakas still continued walking at the same pace as exalsis, clearly stare-glaring at her.

[Zeve]

Exalsis gives a huge toothy grin over at Fylakas, "I am simply watching the beauty around me I wouldn't do anything to anyone here, certainly not you." She lets the branch pass over them since to much attention had been drawn the game wouldn't be as fun anyways.

She turns to Athtar and replies, "I just wonder why we must move so constantly. We barely stay a week or so in the towns now surely we can afford to stay a little bit longer."

Exalsis thinks of the little ragamuffins she had left behind. She barely had time to even play around let alone teach them better survival skills than begging for food. She lets out a sigh of frustration. At times like this she wished she was still a goddess then at least she could still drift whenever she felt like it.

[AshenBlade]

"If we stay too long someone might become too attaachted to one of the townsfolk. It's easier to leave when you aren't close to any of the townsfolk. They'd have to leave at some point so the townsfolk don't get suspicous.I'm sure one day we'll be able to regain our statuses as deities then you can spend as much time as you want in the towns. But for now we have to keep moving."Athtar glanced up at the sky for a second.
there must be some way to return to being gods. Athtar thought. They took a glance at all the others.
we'll do it one day. I'm sure of it.

[Sphye]

Khojasha closed her eyes, exhaling lightly through her nose. The sounds of disorganized words and arguments nearly concealed the sounds of the journey- of footsteps, some nearly in time with one another and others chaotically drumming against the earth; of the breeze, fickle as it was; of even the nature surrounding them. A part of the goddess wanted to simply snap at the others to quiet themselves and, if not enjoy themselves, to be at peace with the journey.

She reopened her eyes, keeping her head facing forward but looking at the others through the corners of her eyes.
No, they didn't deserve that. To snap wouldn't dull the emptiness they all felt without their powers- but that emptiness only made her long to feel the joy of traveling unimpeded even more.

One goat-like ear flicked. The sunlight warmed it and her short, messy hair quickly, the darkness absorbing the light. She ran a hand over her own head, feeling that warmth against her knuckles. The coldness of the nights... it was new to her, at least, as a goddess most active in daylight, but it did give a new appreciation for the light and warmth of the sun, only slightly dampened with bitterness towards the deities whose powers still remained.

She let herself focus on the conversation that she had been ignoring.
"...sure one day we'll be able to regain our statuses as deities then you can spend as much time as you want in the towns."
Khojasha scoffed. Whether Athtar knew more than the rest of them was anyone's guess, but she doubted it.

[Goddess of Searching] [Currently interacting with: Open]

[ιηƒιηιтє.]

Áo Què slowly turned her face to gaze at Kovan, giving them a few measured blinks as she simply... Stared, from the looks of it, although her gaze wasn't entirely present -but not entirely lost, either. The silence had stretched on for a quite long and awkward amount of time before she finally spoke.

"I cannot speak well." She slurred, shrugging slightly, not as perturbed by the fact compared to a minute ago. The annoyance was still there, but it was more directed at the heat, now, sitting heavily on her shoulders and making the leather of her pants stick uncomfortably to her skin. She hated walking, hated being combined to the ground.

She gave Kovan another long glance before turning away, picking at the hem of red silk that peeked out from the confines of scratchy brown cloth.

The rest of the conversation jumbled together into an unintelligible mix. Áo Què tilted her head back slightly, blowing a thin stream of air against some hair that had drifted against her face. Maybe because she had understood a key phrase or perhaps simply due to coincidence she turned back and fixed Athtar with something akin to a tired glare.

"They do not want us." She uttered suddenly. "We can go back, we will still be turned from our..." She struggled to find the word, lapsing into a long silence. "...Panthen. Panthe... Pantheon." She muttered after a long minute, spitting the word out like it was something poisonous.

[Vyries]

Kovan blinked, unsure of what the long stare meant, but had just enough self-preservation left in him to not press further and risk angering Áo Què. Without his powers, he couldn't defend himself if anything happened.

Listening to the conversation, Kovan hummed thoughtfully. For the time being, he did not mind travelling, but he considered all of it a little pointless. It seemed rather counterproductive to their goal to be regain their statuses. Would it not be better to try to regain the townspeople's beliefs? They had been thrown from the pedestal by the Major Gods under the request of richer or more powerful humans, but surely some of the poorer people may still wish for their existence.

Kovan gathered his thoughts and added, "Moreover, would it not be more beneficial for us to stay in one place longer, and convince the people to keep their faith in the lesser gods? Maybe if enough people believe in us, they could request for the Major Gods to reinstate us?"

Even though they had lost all their powers, some of them are still quite skillful. It might be possible to get the people to believe in them... or not. However, it's worth a shot.

[taerin]

fylakas let himself believe her, and so started fast-walking for a bit to get away from her. his ears picked up kovan's reply to ao que, and he almost let out a scoff. the gods, continuing their life of luxury, threw fylakas and the others out for a reason. "we won't be the same again," fylakas murmured, and he was sure nobody heard him.

[Zeve]

As Fylaka's began wandering off after his response Exalsis glanced at Khojasha and heard a scoff at the response. Tilting her head Exalsis quickly caught up to Khojasha giving a big toothy grin and saying, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Exalsis runs her hand through her hair a bit frustrated herself. She missed the freedom and some of the powers. Wandering felt more or less pointless but until they found some sort of a plan or idea what to do it was the only thing she could do. It was frustrating being stripped of her powers; she paid no mind to the higher gods but they had so spurned her that her powers were stolen. It wouldn't be the same if she got her powers back. No one steals from her.

She feels anger take hold for a moment her eyes growing sharper and more cold and her brows furrowing down as she frowned. She can feel her fists beginning to clench until she notices an object in front of her. A chunk of wood that had fallen from the trees. She picks it up and pulls out a knife from her sleeve. She begins whittling at the piece of branch using her knife. Carving quickly and quietly waiting for Khojasha to respond as she allows herself to calm down and let her troubled thoughts settle.