Riverlands, Isles of Faces
Neferion
The Eye of Magnus began to glow with a blue-gold light, and a moment later, purple arcs of lightning emerged from it. Leaf watched it all with concern from the lakeside, but he was certain that his plan would work. Okay... Almost certain... Or he hoped that everything would go according to plan.
He slowly walked up to the energy-bubbling artefact, and arcs of energy struck it, filling it with magicka. Placing his hands on its surface, he began to manipulate the virtually limitless energy generated by the Eye.
Seeing as even his body was swelling slightly from the amount of magicka currently filling him, he had to admit that he had perhaps slightly underestimated the scale and amount of energy he would have to pass through his body.
And that was just the beginning of the whole ritual; now came the hardest part. Neferion began to shape the magicka into the form he had given it in his mind, mixing it with the ambient magic of the world itself.
At some point he lost track of time and couldn't tell how much time had passed before he opened his eyes and looked around. A smile spread across his face. The connection to the eye was stable, and he and the Aedyr artefact were in a space-time pocket, surrounded by emptiness on all sides. The Eye of Magnus levitated calmly in the air, emitting stable magicka.
With a single thought, Neferion was transported outside, and I found myself standing before a gargantuan tree that glowed with golden light, reaching all the way to the sky. The trunk itself was not only larger than the Isle of Faces itself, probably several miles across, and it looked as if it was emerging from the lake itself.
A crown of golden leaves filled the sky, and a great shadow would have fallen over much of the Riverlands, were it not for the fact that the tree itself, for its size, gave off such a powerful glow that it bathed the area for hundreds of miles in golden light.
"WULD NAH KEST!" (Whirlwind, Fury, Tempest)
His shout echoed, and in the twinkling of an eye, he found himself on the shore of a lake whose surface shimmered with reflected light.
Standing on the shore of the lake, he took a deep breath, and with it, magicka flowed from the bond connecting him with his eye, which, with a single thought and a light gesture of his hand, he formed into a ball of light levitating above him.
He looked at the Child of the Forest standing nearby, who was staring at the golden tree with her eyes wide open.
"Hey, Leaf. I think my entire battalion of Battlemages is already within my reach."
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then replied in a tone full of admiration and delight. "I really don't know what you're talking about, but I have to tell you that your crazy plan worked, and that thing, that golden tree, is magnificent."
"Erdtree," he interjected.
Leaf just looked at him incomprehensibly.
"Erdree? What's that supposed to mean? Is it some word from your native language?"
Neferion shrugged. "Yes, I don't know, and no to all three of your questions. It's just a word that came to mind, and I liked the sound of it."
She just shook her head in disbelief. "You really couldn't think of something more, I don't know, significant?"
He sighed heavily. What did this inhuman woman want from him? A name is a name.
"And what was I supposed to call it? The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Yggdrasil?" he asked.
"Are these names supposed to mean something to me?"
"And how am I supposed to know? They just came to mind. No, no, that's enough," he replied, slightly irritated. He created a magical tree the size of a mountain, and the biggest problem was what to call it. He can't do such tricks with him.
He took a few steps forward and then spoke seriously.
"In my name, that is Neferion, Dovahkiin, Ysmir, etc. I give you your new name. Erdtree, the tree of the god, Lightbringer."
Leaf looked at all this with narrowed eyes, folding her arms across her chest, and then said, "You know, we've only known each other for a few days, but I can say one thing for sure. You sometimes act more childish than befits someone who calls himself a god."
He just laughed as an image of a grey-haired god dressed in a purple jerkin immediately materialised in his head.
"Then be glad you didn't have the chance to meet Sheogorath. Believe me, he would drive you crazy." He replied, grinning from ear to ear.
"Never mind. Let's move on to more important topics… What now?" Leaf asked, stepping closer and looking at him expectantly. "Are you going to return to Dorne now?"
"No. We have a few more stops on the way." He replied, then began to form magicka and cast a spell that was strictly forbidden in Tamriel. A second later, he rose a foot off the ground. "While Eby deals with the Reach army, we'll take care of our immediate problem, the Lords of Vale.
Leaf nodded and then suddenly started laughing, and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Did I say something funny? Then I guess I don't understand your people's sense of humour."
"No, that's not it at all," the leader of the Children of the Forest denied, her distinctive features giving her wide smile a more ferocious edge than it had any right to have.
"I just imagined the reaction of all those Andal priests when one of those deities tells them that they have to serve another god."
Neferion had to admit that it would be a truly comical sight. He wouldn't be surprised if the High Septon had a heart attack. Unfortunately, he had to take care of the Kingdom Mountains and Vale for now and then stabilise the Westerlands.
"Well, that's a fun thought, but we have a different goal now. Jump in," he said, jerking his thumb toward his back.
Leaf looked at his levitating figure, then with exceptional agility and inhuman grace, she jumped onto his back, grabbing his neck.
"Ready?" he asked, and when she grunted in the affirmative, he rose a mile into the air in a matter of seconds, then sped toward the Vale army already marching through the Riverlands.
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Reach, West of the Cider Hall
King Garth XIV Gardener
The last few moons have been one big stretch of madness. Not only did some powerful sorcerer calling himself a god show up in Dorne and start performing spectacular miracles left and right, but their own gods decided to take matters into their own hands and use his army to fight this Dovahkiin.
In addition, the betrayal of young Lord Hightower and his purification of the Citadel and the city from the septons had been a shock to him. Not to mention the fate that befell him at the hands of the Seven.
The events leading up to where he now stood were just as mind-blowing. When Father and Mother, the two aspects of their god, suddenly disappeared, abandoning the dead bodies they controlled, he knew something was wrong.
And now he knew what had happened. In fact, the worst thing possible had happened.
In front of him and the miles of his army stood a single knight, clad in silver armour. But it wasn't human; he could tell that for sure. The aura it gave off was overwhelming.
Before he could react in any way, even ask who it was, it spoke, its voice carrying far away, full of authority but also a blunt threat.
"Children of Reach, I bring you glad tidings. The Seven who are One are gone, crushed by the mighty fist of Neferion, the Dovahkiin, the Lightbringer, He Whose Voice Shakes the World, the new and only god of Westeros."
As the meaning of those words sank in, Garth felt as if he had been struck in the head, and his legs seemed to buckle beneath him. It was impossible. Their gods could not have fallen; it had to be a lie. Though he had never been a devout follower of the Seven, belief in them had been a staple of his life and that of the lords and people of the Reach for millennia, for their ancestors had embraced it willingly.
The faith in the Seven was a bond but also a tool for exerting influence, both on his subjects and on neighbouring kingdoms, thanks to the fact that the main centre of their faith was located in his kingdom. These and thousands of other thoughts flew through his head; soon only one remained. If this new god won and he sided with the Seven, then his life was forfeit.
He had experienced the power of Father and Mother firsthand, so how could he have ever dreamed of fighting an entity that had defeated seven of their kind?
His desperate thoughts were interrupted again by the voice of the divine messenger. And the words he spoke extinguished the embers of hope that still smouldered within him.
"You once worshipped me as a Warrior of the Seven, but now I stand before you as a servant and champion of the One and True God, in whose light the whole world will soon bathe. I have an ultimatum for you. Kneel and swear allegiance to the God-Emperor who holds dominion over all of Westeros." His voice caused even more commotion and anxiety.
The peasants were terrified, and even his lords and knights looked uncertainly in his direction, searching for guidance.
However, one brave fool, Tarly, yes, of course it had to be him, decided to speak up. "Lord Warrior, you said this was an ultimatum and that we should kneel, but what if we don't? Are we going to die?"
The deity regarded them with a hard gaze, but Garth thought he looked at Tarly approvingly, as if appreciating his courage.
"It seemed obvious to me that the choice was simple: kneel or die."
"New times are coming. The dawn of a new era for not only these lands but the whole world. Choose wisely, for death is the end of everything for you, and your life may soon change for the better."
"I speak especially to you Smallfolk. Do not look to your king or lords, whose lives will fade like a candle flame, turn your hopes instead to the one who is immortal."
After these words, a heavy silence fell over the green plain, and Garth watched in horror as one by one the commoners, but also knights and lords, fell to their knees, like fields of grain laid by the wind.
Garth himself threw himself desperately to the ground, hoping that he would save his life after all.
Warrior watched this unmoved, but when he spoke again, there was obvious satisfaction in his voice.
"Good. Now, as a first gesture of faith, bring me the head of your king, which I will present to our God-Emperor. He is unnecessary to us."
Garth, hearing these words, instinctively wanted to jump to his feet and seek escape, but there was no salvation for him. The lords and knights closest to him rushed at him, grabbing his arms and legs to brutally drag him before the divine champion Neferion.
His cries and pleas were quickly silenced as pain pierced his face and head. Someone must have hit him with something hard.
A moment later, he felt a steel glove grab him by the throat and lift him into the air, the powerful grip also cutting off his access to air.
With blurred vision, he looked at the Warrior holding him, and a moment later there was only darkness.
However, the darkness was not final, because a moment later he saw a flash of blue light, and some strange creature appeared before his eyes. An extremely tall being resembling a human-bird hybrid with blue plumage and two bird heads, holding a staff in its paw.
The presence of this creature was terrifying, to the point that if it still had a body, it would have scratched out its eyes just to not be able to see it.
"Garth Gardener, another pawn in its place." The beast's monstrous voice rang out, and its very sound made its soul seem to tremble. This creature was worse and more powerful than Warrior.