Will and I both asked for a break to gather our thoughts as Mr. Lee took us back to his actual bookstore and he went to grab what he said were snacks and more tea.
"He has to be lying, there is no way the gods would allow this."
Will said as he paced in my mind
"We signed the contract, Mr. Lee can't lie, even if he wanted too."
I said lacing my fingers as I stared at the floor.
"He could be lying, we never read the fine print, for all we know, its fake and he is just fucking with us for the fun of it!"
Will yelled as a pain shot through my head as he lashed out an arm.
"So, you think he gets a kick out of messing with us, I don't think he would go through all the things he did unless there was a reason."
I mumbled as I heard Mr. Lee return back to the desk as once again, we were rushed into my mind where Will was pacing behind me, the chair he had been it, was thrown across the room as Will slammed a hand down on the desk.
"Do you get some sick joy in messing with us, because were low level and can't do anything back to you, huh Mr. Bookstore owner!?"
Will yelled as he ran his arm across the desk, the tray of small butterscotch cookies and two new steaming cups of tea going flying before slowing down inches from the floor. Like time in reverse, they slowly move back up to the table as Will glares at them before returning to his pacing.
"I can understand your apprehension to accept this, as well as the fact that what I am presenting can come across as both strange, and foreign, but I have no motive to lie in this situation."
I stared at the cookies for a moment before I looked up.
"If that's the case, then why don't the gods do anything about this? They are the creators of everything, so why don't they step in?"
Mr. Lee took a moment to sip his tea as he let out a small sigh.
"Before I can answer, like before a groundwork must be created, tell me Mr. Hollowcreek, what do you know of the divines?"
I took a moment to think before I said.
"Well I know of Freyungen, the goddess of love, and In'rack the soul guide, but for the most part that's it."
Mr. Lee nodded as 27 playing cards appeared on the table. 12 of which were closer to Mr. Lee, 12 were closer to me, a set of two sat to the side, and a final one sat in the middle.
"To explain the gods, I must explain the bit of a mess the pantheon is experiencing at the moment, as I had said before each being has a string of fate, this includes the gods, but while mortals will hold a string of fate no thicker than a pencil, the gods strings can often dwarf the very form of the god themselves."
I stared for a moment confused as I began to speak, but Mr. Lee held up a hand to signal me to give him a moment.
"The gods string is larger due to the amount of energy it takes to be a god as well as the fact that the gods pass their strings down to make way for new gods."
At that I stared in bewilderment. Will walked back over slamming his chair down still pissed, but now in the conversation.
"So your telling us that the gods not only can die, but die often?"
"Well its not often, though it is consistent, as just like elves know the day they are going to die, the gods know when the approach of the inheritance is when they are given their power. The inheritance being where the god will select someone to become the new divine, and in return the god steps down and makes way for them, thus allowing the cycle of 14 to continue."
I glanced back down at the table where the 27 cards sat as I asked.
"Uh, but there are a lot more than 14 here, none of the groups have 14, only 12 at the most, so what's this cycle of 14 thing, and who even does this inheritance ritual thing, is it the gods themselves?"
Mr. Lee held his hands up in an almost mock surrender as he said.
"I can't answer 100 questions at a time that quickly, so slow down a bit, to start lets look at the outliers first."
He reached out and flipped over the one card to the side and the other two that were paired up to reveal 3 cards. The paired two were
E-tum the quiet shouter, god of pride, writing, and runes
Magentina the great betrayer, the god of theft, language, and communication
And the one to the side that was alone however was more ominous.
Htaed Lla, the god of true death
Mr. Lee tapped the pair first.
"E-tum and Magentina are the gods that are apart from the others because they were locked up by the gods in a vault created by the other gods in the center of Fortunz, a place most call the divine tomb."
"Wait, so two of the gods are in prison, what did they even do?"
I asked in surprise as I looked over the two cards. E-tum was depicted as a gray skinned humanoid with glowing white eyes and horns curling from his head, though he seemed to be lacking a mouth. Magentina on the other hand looked to be a beautiful woman with a golden yellow glow and a massive bronze ring floating behind her back.
"Honestly, it's because they kept arguing."
Mr. Lee said casually as he took a sip of tea. Will and I looked at each other in confusion as Will asked.
"They just argued and got imprisoned?"
"Well it started when Magentina created spoken language, E-tum ended up using it to constantly boast about himself nonstop for a few hundred years until finally Magentina stole his mouth. In retaliation E-tum corrupted Magentina's beautiful words by making written language, and thus the two started arguing until the other gods got so fed up they locked them away where they have been every since."
Will and I sat slack jawed as I stammered.
"B-but that's so… so."
"Human, well believe it or not the gods once were human, every god was, the position of pope in the churches is not one sought for political power, it's who the gods pick when they are going through the inheritance ceremony, well most of the time at least."
Mr. Lee said shrugging as he took a bite out of a cookie and chewed it quietly.
"So your telling us that the gods were once mortal, and people want to be pope because they are made gods once the old ones step down? When is this even supposed to happen, and how could have written language only been made 10000 years ago, there are history books dating back beyond that."
"Well the gods arn't just given a blank canvas when they ascend, instead they receive the title of creator as each god takes a facet of the lineage they inherited, so while the name of the god changes every 10000 years, their domain and accomplishments don't. As for when it happened, that was 38 years ago."
I jumped up, my chair sliding back.
"So the god's have only been in power for 38 years now!?"
"No, instead something else happened, you see Htaed Lla over here is in charge of the ceremony, as he is the one to cut the strings and grant them to their predecessors, however the old gods rebelled, so instead of them being killed they fought back, and while their strings were damaged, and the bits being used to make the 12 new gods, the old gods are still around."
As if on cue, the plates flipped over and the gods were revealed.
The ones closest to Mr. Lee seemed to be the old gods as I read over the list
In'rack the spirit guide, god of remorse, kindness, and memories
De'kan the soul thief, god of vanity, corruption, and lies
Seeheld the great watcher of none, god of the future, fate, and prediction
Qie-Kai the dread mist, god of monsters, evil, and slaughter
Sinoc Valba the gamemaster, god of luck, games, and deceit
Freyungen the hearthfire, goddess of love, home, and family
Conkyutus the souljudge, god of the afterlife, souls, and verdicts
Hagnal the snow queen, goddess of cold, music, and storms
Helomast the beastking, god of nature, healing, and animals
Harmonious the magic weaver, god of magic, invention, and development
Draconian the brightest spark, god of dragons, power, and regality
Gundenclang the forgemaker, god of crafts, creation, and sustainment
I glanced down at the list closer to me as I asked.
"If the normal rule is 14, then what about Htaed Lla, E-tum and Magentina?"
Mr. Lee took a moment as he set down his tea cup.
"Htaed Lla is the one being in the world without a string and serves as the mediator of the divine, though he is said to leave the divine realm and travel when not actively preforming the inheritance, as for the other two legend has it that Htaed Lla couldn't get into their vault so they are both trapped and eternal."
I nodded more out of confusion than anything as I looked to the list of new gods. In some I saw similarities to the old gods, but in others they were entirely new and foreign.
The imprisoned king, god of slaves, revenge, and rage
Qe-tan the thousand voices, god of snakes, monsters, and poisons
Moon the returned, Goddess of the moon, stars, and dreams
Sun the burning bow, Goddess of the sun, fire, and growth
Betromoth the frozen axe, god of ice, survival, and the wilderness
Astrofan the eye of all storms, goddess of natural disasters, change, and destruction
Enu the timekeeper, god of time, progress, and leadership
Arcata of 7 faces, god of emotion, peace, and space
Moonblade the starslayer, god of weaponry, combat, and triumph
Letan the silver gamble, god of oaths, bets, and trickery
Lka the self bound prisoner, goddess of laws, vows, and promises
Ragna the introspective, god of self, karma, and accountability
As I finished reading the cards they seemed to sink into the table for a moment as Mr. Lee grinned a polite smile and asked.
Now, what will your final question be?