When Serek stirred again he found himself buried in the earth. Time had passed steadily and the earth had changed around him, the stitched crow dug himself out from the unmarked grave which Shezmu had interred its god. Digging upwards through roots and soil, Serek clawed his way through the topsoil and emerged back into the light of day. The world above was unrecognizable. The collection of trees were different, the foliage. Nothing was as he recalled it. Centuries had clearly passed. The jungles were far quieter in this new era. He did not hear the screech of birds or chitter of animals in the undergrowth. All was silent. He wondered how his Guise had fared, but he need not wonder long.

The God of Blood returned to the arena he'd painstakingly built. There he found the Blood Games were being carried forward. More Guise than he'd seen before were packing the stands, the din of their cheers and shouts could be heard long before the arena could be seen. Inside the arena two of them sparred. A Guise wearing a thick bodied and furred beast for its host and the other was long limbed and spindly. The two fought, the thick bodied Guise lunging and snapping, relying on its bulk. The spindly one danced and swayed and returned each attached with flicks on blood-steel knives it held. The battle was not long, in a true conflict they rarely were, with several neat slices the spindly one flayed the larger Guise until it could fight no longer. The wounds were grievous, but the wounded combatant was taken off to the side and administered something to drink, no doubt the blood of Ch'ich Āmēyal-li, and his wounds healed.

"The undisputed champion Vez'ek'tin remains victorious!" shouted the announced of the pit fighting and the crowd went wild.

This time a pair of combatants entered they fought against another duo. After them came a trio, then back to single combat. The fighting seemed to have no end, hour passed and more combatants came and went. The host changed, much of the audience left but was replaced by new members, and still the fighting continued without pause.

In the coming days Serek would refamiliarize himself with his realm. He'd learn that the Guise had been wildly successful. With their knowledge of the hunt they had becoming the unrivaled predators of Shezmu. With the healing and regenerative gifts of the Blood Spring they did not die. With their ever expanding numbers they had eventually hunted down every wild beast of the realm. Physical bodies that the Guise wore now were left over bodies that had survived the passing of time and trauma due to the healing springs regenerative capabilities. Younger Guise, if they hoped to ever enjoy a body, had to win one win the arena, but this was no easy task as the veterans there had centuries of experience on their side.

The schism of Wildling and Ancestral Guise had faded, as there wasn't much in the way of Wilds anymore so the Wildling culture hadn't grown. Where a rift had opened up was between old and young Guise, the ever growing younger generation was envious of the bodies held by their elders, bodies which they had no realistic possibility of ever possessing. This had led to the Hunts. Bands of younger Guise would stalk their older counterparts and ambush them, then take to torturing them for days until the older Guise relented its physical form or was too weak to resist and was pulled out to be replaced by a younger Guise.

There had been talk of outlawing children, but the Guise were not unified or organized enough to pass any widespread law. Thus it did not come to pass and every day the number of young Guise grew and the strain of the older versus younger generation became ever worse.

In Shezmu this was an age of unfettered dominance and success, but that success had also created the problems that now turned Guise against Guise and which had hunted every other living creature in Shezmu to extinction.

Awaking underneath the soil of Shezmu, the God of Blood dug his talons up through the dirt until Serek Eztli emerged from his unmarked grave. The darklight shining through a dark burial shroud and into his black eyes, shimmering they looked around fetteredly. Nothing was recognizable as it once was, only the divine feeling and link to that which was his branch of existence since within the womb of the world tree. Yet when the Lord of Blood arose, it was not welcomed by the sounds of his realm, but an eerie silence. Once that spoke volumes as Serek could only see the life-blood of plant life remained now.

Ignorantly the God of Blood was worried of his mortal's lives. Serek traversed to the arena of the Blood Games, there he saw in droves unlike before many Guise participanted and watched. Seeing within the undisputed champion of the Guise in these games. Their outcomes and battles in bloodshed was something that brought great pride to Serek, to have created such a strong pack of hunters and predators. The matches went on and on without end though. It was clear this was their entertainment, their pass time, and even their livihood. The way they used the vital fluids from the blood spring were intelligent and ingenuitive.

Serek saught to reward their ever champion, yet now was not the time. Shezmu and the Guise's deity had been separate from them for some time. The God of Blood has to spend time getting intimate with what was going on, in learning the new lay of the land, the issues that have come forth. Yet Serek was appalled and shocked to learn a fear had came true, the Guise had hunted all else into extinction as they had blown up in population. Now the young had hunted the old, and descent raised among the two expanding generations. Serek had removed the cycle of life and death within them unwittedly. Unprepared for his hibernation, Serek did not consider the far future as he should have.

With the return of the Lord of Blood, there was much on his plate. If handled poorly the Guise's unhappiness would turn on him and eachother further. Among the first issues was the reproduction, expansion, descent of his people, the second was the return of other life within Shezmu, the third was to answer their call to blood.

Making a grand announcement of his return, Serek walked onto the fields of battle within the Blood Game's arena. Pulling at his blood from his winged arms, it spread and touched the spilt blood splattered across the arena. All of it rose and moved intricatedly until it made a large ball in the sky under the various roots and branches of the old beast Warren now repurposed. "My Guise, your Lord and God has returned, awoken by your years of hunt and battle. Yet now the only thing to test your strength is eachother, and saddening me the only thing left to be hunted within Shezmu is now eachother. Many of you have gained your experience and power as those younger than you envy it without ever having gained that taste. Death now avails you as your life and desire grows and spurs new Guise who shall grow envious of your claims." As their Lord spoke, Serek manipulated the blood to make a showing of the Guise hunting and taking bodies of their prey, showing the extinction of others, playing out the act of Guise slaying eachother in the arena, the reproduction of Guise, their feeled envy, and even the act of hunting and mutilating the older generation.

"The chief desire of all life is for food and reproduction. This, of course, is true, but with the animals and creatures reproduction is a periodic and involuntary incident whereas the desire for food is conscious, constant, and formative. Indeed the whole kingdom of life, including you, is but a walking appetite. If you watched any wild thing for but a moment and you will see it kill and eat something. The chief difference between all other life and you my Guise, is that the latter has many appetites besides mere sustenance. Ones you have fulfilled unfetteredly without any sense of balance or give and take. Now all that remains here in Shezmu are you, I, and the tattered remnants of the life that once existed. It is now time that I ban the reproduction of any Guise without my approval. You are to not sastiate any desire to procreate with one another until proven worthy by me. The illicat attacks and hunts on one another are events led to by the older generation, it was your own making that has brought this tragedy among you. This is another act in which I ban. Those of ages old and far proven by your grown masks, shall work along side me to train and reign in the ever present young in our ways, you are called to work alongside me at Ch'ich Āmēyal-li and will share and give up your fleshy bodies. The Guise have become overly attached in their desire of the flesh, wearing bodies that are not their own for far too long. All Guise within Shezmu shall aid me in bringing back vitality to this realm, the task of bringing back the lives of the creatures you robbed. Understand, that while I was absent, you were your own masters, one with me and one within this realm. Your calious disregard has wrought my anger, my wrath is that of Shezmu's, my feelings are those of the Guise at core in their unhappiness. If you would disagree with me, than I challenge you to come down into this arena and face that unfettered wrath that boils my blood so." Any Guise, who dared to step into the arena, were immediately struck with blades, nets, talons, and a field of spikes from manipulated blood. Guise were thrown from their possessed bodies. Only to watch the body of the desceased creature be marionetted by a strand of blood, added to the power of their Lord within the arena.

"We will toil to train and share our experiences to eachother. As well, we shall learn to bring vitality and life to those dead or wounded. We shall all grow so that we may reign above all else from the top in a cycle of balance and bliss, or you shall all perish as I reap the very seeds you have sown. While you are all vital and dear to me, Shezmu would not exist without me and me without Shezmu, however your existence is one we can continue without just like all those creatures you hunted to extinction. Without them all you would have died alongside them had I not blessed you with Ch'ich Āmēyal-li. So you should count your blessings, as the Blood Spring has now become your very heart, and without it you will all carry like dust in the wind. Carried away, you made yourselves more vulnerable than ever. My ever strong pride in you is now tarnished. YOU WILL, work to correct these errors. For with them, I can not carry you to other realms for our exodus hunts."

Serek would then remain at the Ch'ich Āmēyal-li, where his power was strongest should any try to turn on him. As well the very heart of his people. Now resided. The first among his tasks, was getting an accurate account of the older vs younger generations of Guise. The older would need to train the younger in how to fight as they shared their fleshy bodies, split into equal groups for teacher to student as best a ratio Serek could manage. Training them how to use other bodies, giving them a taste of what they had for so long in all ways. The second among his tasks, was to familiarize himself with flesh of the deceased at the blood springs. How to rejuvenate life into the dead. If it was possible within biology, within medicine, and within his pools of healing blood. Somewhere within was a key to life. Was it an esoteric magic or something present he could resolve or learn? Serek would need to toil and experiment endlessly to unlock the keys of life within his domain. How does one bestow life?

Another task among his many, Serek devised the reigning champion and other hardened veterans who agreed with him to help act as enforcers for his new laws. Presenting any guilty to him first hand for their punishment. To be robbed of their flesh, and even possibly their lives. For if they brought in new life against his rule, they were to work to train them all they knew, and then finally devoured and sacrificed to their God. It was the best way Serek knew to keep their population from further expanding.

Striding to the center of the Blood Arena, Serek announced his return with a fiery speech and condemntation for the Guise and the state in which they now found themselves. There was silence as he spoke. When the speech ended the onlookers murmured amongst themselves. A dozen of the gladiators jumped down to take up the God of Blood's challenge to fight his changes to their lives. They quickly learned that a mortal is no match for a god when the dozen hardened fighters were each summarily dispatched. Then the crowd fell to silence.

Great changes were announced. There were to be no new Guise born. The elder Guise were to give up their bodies, which was received with great enthusiasm from the younger members in the audience. The news that the young were to stop attacking their elders was cheered for the embodied Guise and greeted with sullen silence from the younger generation. A great upheavel of Guise society was coming from all sides. This much was certain.

Returning to the Blood Spring, Serek set to experimenting to test the boundaries of this divine spring. He learned a few things quickly. It could heal any wound, restore illness and push back old age. It was even nourishing and this was how many Guise kept themselves alive since animal blood was now gone. What the Spring could not do was restore life to dead flash. Once the spark of life was gone the Spring had no effect. But through his experiments Serek learned the blood could be bottled and it retained its restorative effects for several weeks after being bottled, though not forever.

Serek had tapped several Guise to serve as his guardians. He had chosen the Blood Arena champion Vez'ek'tin as one of them. The gladiator reported to him some weeks after the announcement. "The Guise are restless. Many are adhering to your commandments, but there are still children born in secret. There are also only enough bodies for a tenth of all Guise. The Hunts have slowed... but not stopped." So the news was that while Serek's edict had slowed or mitigated a great many of the pressures of this age, it would take more than a commandment alone.

Serek worked at his experiments endlessly, though it gave him knowledge on Ch'ich Āmēyal-li and it's abilities and longevity. Failing at uncovering the secret of restoring life so far. The Lord of Blood was received by one of his new guardians, the champion Vez'ek'tin reported accurately the ongoings of the Guise within Shezmu. Serek nodded understandingly, thinking to himself as he worked on his craft and the dead flesh within one of the blood pools. Talons working endlessly as they pulled at strands of blood and flesh. Parting them and putting them together alongside the healing blood. No matter how he did things differently, life did not stir within.

Looking to gladiator champion, Serek's eyes stirred for a moment as he cleared his throat. "A tenth is fine for now. We shall work a cycle of youngest to eldest to recieve the bodies of flesh to change with the cycles and moons. Those who held the bodies before will help train those who they impart the bodies onto. This will leave eight tenths without flesh while two tenths work together in sharing, teaching, and learning. The oldest ones training the younger until the cycle repeats to them once. Then the cycle while change from oldest to youngest each previous cycle of fleshlings shall teach and impart to the next cycle."

There was a vicious gurlge and caw from the God of Blood then, "My word is to be adhered to, I want all the Guise to understand that they have brought themselves to the teetering edge of extinction and death across all of Shezmu. We shall reign in the youthful upstarts and their unsettled envy. Any Guise who are found or suspected of baring child are to be brought to me for trial, as well their young are forfeit to be raised under me and my guard. Those found guilty will either be permanent trainers until the child is of age then sacrificed or be immediately devoured. Spread word that those who bring them in and aid me and my guard are subject to reward in having their placement in flesh arranged sooner, finding themselves in favor to be allowed reproduction, or to be allowed in our armies for off realm of Shezmu to taste new flesh, blood, and worlds unlike here. This ruling applies for any who are found committing unlawful hunts. As well, I permit any guard the first access and rights to flesh, as well if they catch a Guise within an unlawful hunt, access to kill the culprit or bring them in by any means necessary. Any who are found conspirating along side either these hunts or procreations shall find their masks permanently marked and banned from flesh and any blood from Ch'ich Āmēyal-li until proven worthy again. We must bring order and balance to Shezmu, those who are not willing to listen, learn, change, and to hold temperance and patience where there was once nothing but unending desire and consumption; shall be the Guise's downfall and doom. We work to bring back life and hope within our people and realm now, to correct the utter desolation awaiting us."

The bloodied black talons moved eerily as they beckoned Vez'ek'tin to come closer. Within Serek Eztli's other hand, a divine power pooled and gathered. The blood dripping from the Guise's Lord made a floating liquid ball within his grasp. Moving it forward slightly towards the champion. "Will you take a solemn oath of devotion under me for our realm Shezmu and our people the Guise? To help carry the burden and responsibility as the Guise's age old champion in carrying them forward through the centuries? To take my power as your own until death or until I request their return? I warn you, to not adhere to my request and return of my gifts is to accept death my child. As well, I ask if you shall follow my heed and words, to aid me in upholding what is best for all of us and herald the God of Blood & Guise through the ages and realms in triumph and glory through wars of devouring, talks of alliance and peace, and to barters and trades? To shadow my will and that of Shezmu's above that of the Guise should they not prove capable or just in their wroughts of desire and destruction? Remember that heavy is the burden of those with power and the ability to use them wisely."

If Vez'ek'tin said yes to all and accepted the oath purposed, Serek Eztli would allow the Guise champion to consume the divine blood and be bestowed his Lord's gift. Making Vez'ek'tin his heir and uplifting him as a hero, granting him the Incidental Powers of Dismembered Body & Grafted Body. "By my decree as God of Blood, Lord of Shezmu, and Father of the Guise; I grant thee Vez'ek'tin the titles Heir of Serek Eztli, Herald of Shezmu, and Champion-Hero of the Guise. I trust you with my eradicts."

If his new heir had any questions, Serek would cater to them. Afterwards dismissing them, the God of Blood had to find other experiments to solve the issue of extinct wildlife and creatures. The pools could keep the expended bodies fresh, but not living. They were missing the beating of hearts, the drum of vitality, and the life of souls behind their eyes. What was missing wasn't a physical affliction, but something more. A hint to this was how the Guise possessed these bodies, filling it with their spitual being.

Serek would have Guise that changed bodies aid him in his experiments. Trying to find the pull and strings between them and if he could trace them in feeling or awareness. There was something unseen behind the scenes and the God of Blood was destined to find the ties between blood and the life that flows inside it.

Knelt before the God of Blood, the Blood Arena champion of Vez'ek'tin did not question the commands given to him by Serek, he merely nodded along in acceptance. When asked if he would swear his fealty there was no pause or hesitation, he agreed to these terms as readily as the prior instruction. Satisfied, Serek laid a hand upon the guise who had been tested by battle in the arena and won countless victories, he poured into him divine blessing and power.

In that moment the surrounding jungles and the waters of the Ch'ich Āmēyal-li trembled. Vez'ek'tin was elevated to Heir of Shezmu, the land had become a part of him as much as it was Serek. At the same time he was elevated to hero, and gifted two of Serek's own divine powers. When Vez'ek'tin rose to his feet again he looked visibly unchanged, but none could divine the mantle of divinity that now clung to him.

500 Souls spent to elevate Vez'ek'tin to a Hero.

Note: The incidental powers granted to Vez'ek'tin are unavailable to Serek until they are returned.

The newly empowered champion of the arena set to his duties and there were quick results. Dozens of Hunts were violently quelled with many youths put to the iron talon or, if they surrendered, had their masks scarred and were cast out from guise society. With his already prodigious skill coupled with the newly appointed divine gifts, there were none who could stand up to the Blood God's appointed heir.

While the Hunts were one part of this new order, the other part was quashing any who were violating the order of having no children. Those found to be violating this divine order had their children taken, those taken youths were then raised to serve as Serek's own personal guard, and their mothers were put to trial before Serek himself.

There were a number of these trials and while the culprits varied, their arguments essentially boiled down to the same thing. "Our entire existence has been to wait on others, to wait for a body that will never come, to wait for blood that was long ago hunted to extinction. Now we are barred from the joy of raising a child?" Some were defiant, some were angry, some were defeated. But most of them only had the regret that their children had been stolen, not that they'd born them in the first place.

Between the updates on the crack down across Shezmu and the series of trials to which Serek served as judge and executioner, Serek devoted what free time he had left to the puzzle of death. The Ch'ich Āmēyal-li was powerful, but try as he might, every experiment to revitalize dead flesh failed. He had Guise experiment with possessing dead bodies, but this only resulted in their own spirits snuffing out. The Blood Spring had been made to heal and to promote longevity and it did both of these things to miraculous fashion, but this was beyond the scope of the abilities for which it was crafted.

While Serek Eztli had several known aggravations and issues ongoing across the state of affairs within Shezmu, the Lord of Blood was however pleased with the progress on the enforcement of his eradicts and the efforts of Vez'ek'tin and alongside the guard. His hopes that the youth would turn from hunting the elder generations to those who broke his decrees hadn't seen real fruition yet. However there was only so long until the Guise's dissatisfaction would turn to Serek and how he handled things.

During each trial, Serek made it known that the current grievouses were partly majority of their own making and now he had to work to fix these mistakes. The God of Blood's judgments and arguments would gain repetition as more were brought to trial infront of him, "With every child born it only adds to the weight of suffering felt across Shezmu. A new youth will only be born into a world full of sufferage and add to the inequality among the Guise carrying the same grievouses as the parents. I only asked for patience and my word to be heeded as agreed from the beginning of my arrival by all Guise. The unlawful hunts were done by those very children and those too impatient for me to fix these affairs that plague you and all others. With every disobedient Guise to my eradicts, it adds weight to those very problems you would try running or alleviating yourselves from. Death has been almost wholey eliminated from the Guise's life cycle, if you have waited this long to embody or hunt flesh never to come, then why can you not await it with that hope to come that I promise and work towards?"

Tenuously, Serek Eztli began to work on the processes he has spoke of and set in place, as well of how he would allow and approve Guise for baring child during the ban. For he knew he could not curb their desire to have and raise child, just like he could not curb their desire for flesh in all its' ways.

Seeking an audience of the Guise, the God of Blood made an announcement. "My Guise, we are in an age of many troubles and sufferage. It is my wish that we carry these burdens together and look to aid and alleviate the suffering of our brothern together. To this point, I have made my current eradicts that I continue to wish followed through during this time. With each Guise death and outcast is another wound on my heart. I ask for your patience and assistance in all matters. To help fix these issues, I announce that I shall make a Grand Military of the Guise. Those who are Veterans and showing promise within my personal guard now shall be heads of this military to recieve my boon. The Herald, Vez'ek'tin shall be appointed as leader underneath only myself. I request and order all of those who currently possess bodies to adhere to my eradicts and enlist immediately as proof of your abilities to posses a body. As well we shall accept all Guise who would enlist without a body. Those who own flesh but do not enlist shall have their bodies rendered from them with no penalty or punishment, as having it ripped or hunted from you is punishment enough for disobeying. As well, I permit full restoration of the blood games and their use during training. This shall be the way until life is restored to all else within Shezmu.

Within the military I shall implement my system for body exchanges and training further. As well for those seeking to bare and raise children, I shall begin to consider allowing Guise approval. To be a parent, you must enlist and serve until you have received a body, trained in it and the skills of your predecessors, as well trained another to use that flesh and pass down your skills all at least twice. Both you and your partner must meet this requirement, those approved will be allowed a maximum of two children. As well they will be allowed to retire from the Grand Military to raise your children to adulthood. Once they are of age, you shall present yourself as sacrifice to me to meet death or re-enlist to the military permanently without reapplication for more children during current circumstances. Those within the Grand Military who have raised children may choose to be the first among the Guise ranks to go off world from Shezmu.

The laws and trials on those who bare children unapproved will not change. Those who have been participating in the unlawful hunts, know that if you truly want to hold flesh within Shezmu, you must now enlist, win, or commit high treason to Yawar
Awqaq suyu, the Blood Army of Guise and your Lord of Blood. Treason which will continue to be met with extreme measures and out casting. It saddens me that this is how I must present things, but until life is restored to the realm of Shezmu I am left with little choices."

Serek wanted to instill now some sort of order and discipline within Guise society between the military and his personal guard. Those within the personal guard were made to be up holders of the laws and eradicts within Shezmu. Eventually the Lord of Blood would pass along judging to Vez'ek'tin.

(Blessing 6 Guise to Special Units -400 souls)

Between his busy schedule and day to day life now, Serek had to continue to experiment and try to figure out the biggest puzzle yet. Giving up on using the Bloodspring as a catalyst for resurrection of the soul and body, he only used it to restore and keep fresh the dead bodies. The lose of Guise in trying to possess dead flesh was put to a short end. Any further type of experiments with Guise would only be with those he condemned to death.

Instead, Serek began to meditate and find a center of balance and awareness. Trying to be find the true difference and feeling between a dead creature and one living possessed by a Guise. Trying to feel that which was metaphysical and gather its' shape and understand it. Serek's hope was to find some hint at resuscitation or their spiritual signature. A process of walking blindly through the dark and grasping for straws, one to be met with many errors. In some experiments led by frustration, Serek would remove all of the blood from the body and then pour it back in, going as far as to even try filling one deceased creature entirely with his own divine blood after having their own entirely drained.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:26, Fri 01 July 2022.

Order was being thorough stamped upon Shezmu as Vez'ek'tin continued to be highly effective at quashing any violent uprising, generally single handedly given his new gifts. Raising up several more soldiers as his Personal Guard, these guise served dutifully. Guard was more title than actual scope of their duties, as there was little that could truly threaten Serek within Shezmu, their real work came to enforcing the Blood God's will, serving as his eyes, ears and hands in places where the god was not.

400 souls spent to create 6 Personal Guard

Enforcement of the new laws was being much more stringently enacted and compliance with these new laws grew steadily, though not always gladly. But Serek had foreseen the simmering discontent. Reinstituting the Blood Games served as a distraction, one the guise welcomely embraced as these blood sports had become an important part of their culture. The concept of a military was a strange and foreign one and they also started to implement Serek's enlistment protocols and body swapping. It was slow going. While the guise were highly talented hunters and pit fighters, a standing military was a different beast.

+5% Military advancement

Lastly, Serek continued his personal experiments. His previous failures had spurred his experiments in another direction. Trying to pinpoint why the guise could inhabit the living, but not the dead. He tried to determine what was the fundamental difference between living flesh and dead flesh. Serek, for all his lust of violence and force, was a deceptively smart god. Putting these powers of observation to use, he made several important discoveries.

Firstly, he found that the guise required a living host because when they affixed their mask to another creature they were essentially riding their subjugated host. In dead flesh there was nothing for them to affix to, instead their energies dispersed throughout the dead creature and diffused as they unsuccessfully tried to energize every nerve and muscle which was beyond their abilities. This limitation also led to another insight. The guise would only be able to use creatures of flesh as hosts for this same reason. Their god was one of blood, therefore it seemed natural that they could only inhabit creatures that possessed a nervous system and circulatory system of some sort.

The last discover, and perhaps the most important, was that Serek found that when a creature died, some vital part of itself left. When the crucial workings of a creature stopped, something more than flesh, blood, bone or sinew fled. It was a fleeting thing, something only a god could sense, and one looking carefully at that. One might call it a soul. Watching as one of his condemned guise was put to death, Serek watched this delicate trace fled. And he watched where it went.

New Realm Discovered: The Myopic Fields of Death

With the Herald Vez'ek'tin leading the charge against most threats and uprisings, more dutiful Guise filled the ranks of Serek's Personal Guard. Spreading the Blood God's reach and laws across Shezmu to be adhered by the Guise. Despite the despondent nature against it, more steadily grew to follow and accept these new laws. The Blood Games holding a more important place now than ever considering their ties to it over the centuries, it was a part of their very lives and culture. One that Serek fervently encouraged for now.

While the concept of a military was foreign to the Guise and their previous ways. Serek Eztli would ease them into it. Allowing the division of Guise by generations firstly for the purpose of his body swapping and training. The Blood Games would also help act as a training field for Guise to participate in. Serek had to also build his idea for a military from the ground up. From how it was run and handled to the very structure and backbone of it.

As the numbers grew, Serek would put into place the division of ranks. Those who are yet to have been trained in a body, just enlisted, and still undergoing their first cycle of training were of the lowest 1st rank, Jawan. Those who were training them with experience or during the second cycle having already been trained once, are of the 2nd rank, Private. Those who are within third cycle onward and have successfully finished training a Jawan as a Private and no longer contain flesh are of the third rank, Petty Officer. Those Petty officers who have gone through the cycles to recieve a body in training again, must then compete within the Blood Games and take full in the lessons being taught by those superior and veteran to them. Only through victory and keeping your body throughout a full cycle will bring promotion to the 4th rank, Chief Petty Officer. Those who wished to bare child must achieve and be among the 4th ranked Guise.

Of the Chief Petty Officers those within cycles without a body are to train their lesser Petty Officers to win and attain equal rank, then they must await the cycles to attain flesh within them a third time and win a match inside the Blood Games against one of equal rank to be promoted to the 5th rank, Warrant Officer. Warrant Officers will see the start of leadership and be in charge of new Jawans and shadow their training process through to that of 5th rank, then they are to test their mettle and win in at least a 2v2 match with their trained Warrant Officer against a similar pair. The victor will attain the 6th rank of Corporal. Guise who are 6th rank shall now see positions of leadership over their risen trainee 5th rank Warrant Officer, the pair who lost to them, and their subordinate Jawan to Warrant Officer. Requiring the Corporal to get all three Warrant Officers under them each attain 6th rank for themselves to attain the 7th rank, Sergeant.

Guise who achieve the rank of Sergeant have attained flesh through the cycles numerous times now both for themselves and during passing in seeing that many underranking Guise attain strength, glory, and rank in order for themselves to. They are in charge of a Squad of Guise, their three underling 6th ranks, and each three of 5th ranks under those 6th ranks and subsequent 5th rank trainees.

For a Guise Sergeant to achieve 8th rank, Staff Sergeant, they must raise their three 6th Rank Corporals to Sergeants and nine 5th Rank Warrant Officers to Corporal. Then participate and win in a battle of their own 13 Guise squad vs the 13 Guise squad of another Guise Sergeant. Achieving 8th rank puts them in charge of those previously under them and those who lost against them. Giving the Staff Sergeant two Squads of Guise underneath them. Only by uplifting a subordinate Sergeant to Staff Sergeant and winning in battle with their two squads against another Staff Sergeant and their two squads will a Guise achieve 9th Rank, Lieutenant, putting them in charge of a whole Platoon of Guise. The previous subordinates and that of all those who lost against them.

This process then repeated itself for the next ranks: 10th Captain in charge of a Company, 11th Brigadier leader to a Battalion, 12th Colonel head of a Brigade, 13th Major who ran a Division, 14th Commander of Corps, 15th General to a Field Army, 16th Blood Knight master of an Army Group, and finally 17th Herald of Yawar Awaqaq suyu, the Blood Army. Vez'ek'tin was now the one and only Herald in charge of the Blood Army.

Even if the discipline and craft eluded the Guise for now. Serek was sure to set the foundation and teachings to secure it's structure and power.

OOC: The generations are broken up into 10 groups which equals the 10 cycles, during which 2 groups will always have flesh. A full repition will see a Guise wear flesh once and get through Ranks 1-3. During a Guise's second repition and those cycles, they can attain Ranks 4-5. 5th Rank Guise will have to go through their third and fourth repitions at least to attain 6th Rank. 6th Rank Guise will have at soonest 7th rank with their fifth and sixth repitions. All those after would have spent significant time within. It should probably go slowly, but as time progresses things should fill out.

Though what truly bore fruit now, were the God of Blood's efforts in finding the difference between those living and dead. Grasping understanding at the Guise's abilities in a truer sense, Serek could see more of their limitations as well intimately figured the process of their possession. The discoveries disclosed were all important to Serek Eztli, and each drew him closer to the answer he sought. With each experiment and his endless curiousity attentively aware of the ongoings, too afraid to miss more. Did he finally find a trace of that fleeting connection to life when one died.

Witnessing the death of a Guise, Serek caught glimpse at that fleeting connection. With all his awareness and senses carefully alert, Serek followed this trace in death as the Guise's soul fled from life within Shezmu. Following after it he found that which was not of here or him. A place afar yet fixed to all.

Looking out at the world for some time in contemplation Serek sought then to prepare himself. Taking grasp of his blood-steel scythe, several fresh vials of Ch'ich Āmēyal-li, and then toiling at crafting himself a chainmail of blood-steel under his garments. Serek Eztli left Shezmu, following after the souls of the dead into The Myopic Fields of Death

Taking the time to provide structure to this burgeoning concept of a military, Serek assigned ranks and titles and status. This new framework for the military would dictate would report to who, which rank could give orders and to whom they could give them. It was meticulously laid out from the ground up. It was a beauracratic framework which ensured layers of diffused responsibility and redundancies which would protect against the loss of any one central figure.

+15% Military Advancement

The results were... mixed. The guise were not a collaborative people by nature. They tended towards internal squabbling and factions and this new structure of military demanded a level of collaboration and cooperation which clashed with this nature. While it was possible to attain, it would not be an easy road to get there. The first day of training broke down entirely as guise of different ranks balked at the orders they were being given. A military wide brawl broke out. There was certainly room for improvement in the coming days.

But Serek had found something else that demanded his attention. A new Realm. A place where the dead were being going. Following the traces of a fleeting soul, Serek disappeared after it.

Moving to the Myopic Fields of Death

Serek reappeared within Shezmu. Some time had gone by, he could see it in the growth of the plants and the changes in the masked guise faces he first encounterd. It was a little over a decade since he'd gone wandering out onto the plains of death. Back in Shezmu the God of Blood found that his appointed heir and personal guard had kept up his decrees during his absence. Order was now firmly in place in guise society. There was a sizable population of banished guise, but Vez'ek'tin had instituted hunts, turning these outcast guise into makeshift prey to replace the missing natural variety. These hunts had proven highly popular and a lottery was being held to see who was allowed to participate in hunting their fellow guise.

Aside from the solidifying control of Serek's laws, the rest of Shezmu was much the same. The fledgling military was struggling to deal with internal strife and work together, the blood sport of the arena was a wildly popular past time, and most of the guise population sustained itself from nourishment from the Ch'ich Āmēyal-li.

Returning to Shezmu, Serek Eztli could tell that some time had passed in his absence. From the growth of the realm's plants to the changes upon the masked faces of Guise seen before. Serek did not expect a lot to change in his departure, however the changes he did find were somewhat startling. Rather than shift interest in the growth of the military and guard, there was a new hunt similar to the one the God of Blood wished. Their impromptu fix for the rush of the hunt was replaced with the hunt of their own through a lottery system, or at least hunts of those out casted by his now solidified law.

Serek hadn't expected all of the other life to suddenly return to Shezmu, in fact it was a very realm problem they still all faced. The Hunts and Blood Arena held popularity among the Guise. Yet the strife and fumbling within the military was slightly displeasing. Though they had no true idea of what a military was, yet neither entirely did Serek. He had hoped to use it's system to help reign in those who would be outcasts to lower the amount of Guise who were disobedient to his laws. Yet instead the number of out casted grew.

Serek wanted a system that could and would work in his absence, yet that would take much time. As well more of the God of Blood's effort and attention. Deciding instead to round up all of those who had joined his ranks. Having them heed his call, Serek had them follow his lead.

Bringing the many Guise across the realm and towards the rocky plateu near the edge to nothingness and Shezmu's border. Finally arriving there, Serek turned to those who comprised the beginning roots of his future military. "Here is where you shall train underneath me. I shall instill into you discipline, routine, order, comradery, and rivalry. You shall be spurred furth as the start to something grand, the very blades and shields of the Guise and Shezmu. To strike our foes deftly and send terror into our future enemies, to reap the flesh and blood of those foolish enough to cross our path, to uphold our ways and defend our homes from those seeking our demise and heart. To hunt and feast upon the spoils of battles."

"We will commence here and now. Separate by rank and form appropriate groups with those underneath you. I want two squads to immediately head back and begin a supply chain to this area. After you return, two more squads will do as the last two did. It is an important skill to be able to be in control and understand what supplies are needed and necessary to keep our people strong, unified, running, defended, and fed. For the rest of you squads and lesser, it is time we start the skirmishes and training. We must learn how to lead, how to engage, how to aid and destabilize strategies to ensure victory. Fights are quick and brutual, however battles and wars are drawn out with complications. The goal is to see as many of your own standing and your foe in defeat or surrounder."

It was from there that the God of Blood extended his will, and watched dutifully over their development. Increasing his own as he could. Expanding and learning, enforcing the ideas and disciplines he saught and required.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:18, Thu 14 July 2022.

Gathering his military, Serek brought them away from the distractions of the other guise. On the edge of Shezmu where the world fell away to nothing the God of Blood restarted their training regiment. With strict oversight fights were reduced, though they did not disappear entirely. Drills were run and skirmishes were fought. Many of the guise were capable fighters, many of them being decades or even centuries old and having partaken in the Blood Arena, but fighting as a unit was very different than fighting alone, or even as a pair or trio. Progress was made, albeit slowly.

+5% Military Advancement

But Serek had already dedicated himself to the hunt. He'd made great strides in understanding the quiet stalking of prey, the way of creeping through undergrowth and lying in wait. To hunt was to be in touch with a bestial side of oneself, a side that understood that violence was a necessary means to nourishment. Through this understanding of the hunt, Serek's studies had left an indelible mark. It echoed across the world tree. This was part of his legacy.

OOC: For being the first to achieve a skill rank in Hunting in the World Tree you are able to establish a Legacy of the Hunt. You may choose one of the following.

The Questing Beast: In every realm there would come to be a beast of mythic renown. A creature which was so fast, or strong, or elusive, that only the greatest hunter could bring it down. In doing so they would be elevated to Hero status and be a hunter whose name would forever be known through their lands.

Night of the Hunt: Every Realm will have a Night of the Hunt. In some realms it may be once a year. In some it may be once a decade, but every realm would have it. On this night some danger would manifest itself and hunters would rise up to meet the challenge. Succeed or fail, the hunt would end at the first dawn.

The Yet-To-Be-Written Legacy: Or devise your own legacy. This will impact every realm of this world tree. It must relate to the Hunt in some manner. Discuss the specifics with the GM first.

Progress came slow as the God of Blood started the training of the Guise over again. He could not entirely stop infighting, not without better understanding the nature of why they were breaking out. Considering that the Guise had no other foes, prey, or predators to contend against other than themselves was a main reason he set forth the way it worked. Having hoped for more of a rivalry similar to contenders in the arena rather than infighting and disobedience among the ranks. There were many skilled fighters, though it did not blend well when numbers were so large. Many of the older generations had learned true the ways of the hunt, the ways of both ancient tribes of Guise were but a blended and destroyed memory with the current state of Shezmu.

The bodies possessed by the Guise were the various extinct creatures of the realm. That in itself tore away some of the unity, as well the fact that bodies were in dire need across the realm. For a moment, Serek considered ridding them of the ancient flesh until things were solved, however he figured it better to not. Instead he spent time to speak and be among the Guise within his ranks. Especially those who fought outside of training. Hoping to better understand them.

Among the supplies, Serek ordered for bulk amounts of raw blood from Ch'ich Āmēyal-li. It was to be rationed carefully for food, aid, and crafting. The supplies of blood-steel products were lesser, wanting them to learn what was necessary and what was excess and finding how far they could stretch what out.

Working more tactfully on how skirmishes between units fought, Serek ordered some of the Guise to act as lead, support, defenders, and attackers. To try and work as a fluid group he shifted their roles within and gave orders for movement and position changes. When to attack, when to defend, when to retreat, to group up or separate. If he found over time that they were having difficulty picking it up, he switched to bringing them closer to the edge of the overgrown and vibrant jungles. Giving orders for one unit to defend and the other to hunt, interchanging them and eventually having each unit hunt. Serek worked on the exercises that they held and reinforced the command structure of the ranks as well their importance to have many individual minds working together and undernearth each other. That without it, it led to addled chaos and arguing while within the field of battle. "In a real hunt, in the fields of battle, a mistake and hesitation will cost you your life, as well the lives of your brothern in arms, even the whole of Shezmu. In the times of old, there were vast predators that required the Guise to work together as a unit to bring them down. Some of you remember this well while others do not. Many of you have learned the serious stakes of life and death within a hunt. Yet until you learn how to properly defend yourself from multiple skilled and tactful foes, your aggression and will be meaningless without creativity within the field of strategy. To scout, predict, and counteract your foe before and during the battle is to claim victory. To understand your foe is to know their strengths and weaknesses, with that is the knowledge to overcome them as you grasp at victory."

Shifting some of his focus in training the Guise into a blend with hunting, helped uncover part of the God of Blood's legacy within the world tree. That Serek Eztli was dedicated to the hunt and was attuned to its' nature and being. An undeniable part of existence and the animalistic nature of life. Being intune with its' subversities itself now, Serek could feel a stretch of power intune with the tree itself as it outstretched from his divinity and dedication.

Deciding that the God of Blood's legacy would stretch across all of the realms of the world tree would cross even generations yet to come. Serek grasped at the idea and power, then released it to be so across existence. Night of the Hunt, chosen.

Taking on the role of drillmaster, Serek worked to devise a military from the ground up and also implement it. It was not knowledge he'd inherently been born with, but he worked to make do. There were a number of mistakes along the way, miscommunications, drills that turned out to be ineffectual, but Serek was learning, as were the guise. It was a slow, laborious process, but they were learning.

+10% Military advancement

Serek enacted his legacy. Across the World Tree there was a ripple. The Night of the Hunt was enacted and it would carry on through the ages. The shape it would take would differ from world to world, but it would always present a night of danger and turmoil which would require those to face it. The severity and frequency of these hunts would vary, but they would always come. What form that danger took would be tailored to the realm. Serek, as its originator, also had some ability to influence these hunts.

Now that the Night of the Hunt had been set into motion, Serek could sense it in the future of Shezmu. It was like a dark cloud on the horizon. It was more than a century away, Serek could feel. But what was there to hunt? The world had been hunted barren. However, the Night of the Hunt was a divine occurrence, if there was not a natural threat to occur, it would manufacture one. Serek could sense that when the Night of the Hunt came a surge of predators would come from the darkness and stalk through the jungles, only to retreat back to parts unknown come the morning.

In other realms this would not be so clear to Serek, but as Shezmu was part of himself Serek had a keener insight into the upcoming nature of the Hunt. He also sensed he could manipulate it, pull the night closer or push it further away, he could also increase or decrease the potency of the effect. This would be possible to influence in other Realms too, but there it would cost him Souls as he worked to impact realms that were not his own.

Manifesting and creating the Night of the Hunt, Serek Eztli's legacy was settled firm across the World Tree. Yet as its' creator, the God of Blood was found privy and able to change its' course in several ways. For Shezmu, it was a bit more than a century away however its' danger and presence hung above the realm foretelling a dark night with much danger indeed. The lands were barren of any predators or threats, yet they would not seem to stop it from manifesting across Shezmu until the break of dawn. Serek considered lessening its' potency or the time of night. However Serek would find himself reaching out and extendeding the night. To better to see what it brought in raw, to understand and prepare for the next time .

Now however, was the time to prepare. Extending heed to the Guise, Serek passed along his message through carriers across the realm. "In the near future, more than a century away, Shezmu and all of the Guise shall face foes across the whole of the realm. It will be known as the Night of the Hunt, upon nightfall creatures, foes, and dark predators shall crawl from the reaches of the jungles to hunt us, only retreating with the break of dawn. Yet it shall be us who hunts them, so prepare yourselves to stay strong, work together, familiarize yourselves further with the stretches of Shezmu's land. I emplore all Guise to participate within the Night of the Hunt or retreat into safety."

From there Serek hoped the looming danger or thrill would help bring in more Guise to arms underneath him. On the other side, they were still figuring things out from within the army and military. Serek Eztli sighed as he considered wishing for help from one of the two gods of war in exchange for something. However that would require being able to see one of the two who secluded themselves in preparation for their own infighting. Though, Serek then felt his wounds across the stretches of the World Tree, well aware of their why and how. Reminding him how even outclassed his was in the face of such raw power.

How would the God of Blood attain such raw strength to compare? How would he be able to strengthen his meek mortals to even his level? The uncertainty wracked his brain. Reconcentrating instead on the training of the Guise, Serek Eztli rose several of his higher ranking mortals to help benefit the training of the army. Making his own drill masters to help follow his lead and that of their own creative forthcomings.

(-300 souls for 6 special units)

Yet as Serek gave out his blessings, he felt that he could craft more special Guise. Yet these were different fundamentally to some point. They embodied the presence of a drill sergeant or announcer. Loud and full of presence as their mask chitterings and chattering echoed with their voice, their claws scrapped and sparked brilliant lights against one another, their flowing and billowing cloaks glowed with a shifting of florescent colors either at will or passively. Yet even their masks seemed to have spots that glowed with bioluminescence to accentuate their markings, grooves, and growth. They were truly special in the nature of their makings, two of a kind.

(-2 4th of July special units)

When Serek announced the arrival of a horde of beasts, there wasn't fear or worry from the guise, but rather excitement. The idea that a proper hunt of guise vs beast was something that hadn't occurred in an era. Even better, there was a date provided for the occasion! A century to many mortals would seem like an impossible length of time to wait, but for the guise who were essentially immortal so long as they had access to the Blood Spring, a century was not so long.

Drawing on his divine strength to reinforce his training, Serek raised up several guise to be drillmasters. With a spark of the divine placed in them their words gained greater weight and their presence had a greater impact. Six of them were raised, and then two more whose voices boomed even louder and whose masks had colorful bioluminescent markings. These eight individuals worked to enact Serek' plan of a military. With their added authority the frequent brawls and infighting cut down significantly.

+15% Military advancement


And thus the time passed. A century is not so long a period. During those intervening years Serek's laws were cemented and became ironclad. The illicit births became nearly non-existant. The only lingering resistance were the outcasts, those guise who had been exiled from guise society. They continued to do as they saw fit, whether that was having children or attacking those who faithfully followed the laws. Their lives were difficult ones, cut off from the Blood Spring they now aged and died, thus their population remained relatively small despite their births. But they were a secondary concern.

The years had passed and the Night of the Hunter was only days away. Serek could not pinpoint precisely when it would start, but he could feel it. There was a tension in the air. The nights seemed dark, occasionally strange animal cries could be heard. The guise were all eager anticipation. In only a few short days a night of beasts and violence would be upon them.

With the Guise waiting in anticipation and excitement over the coming Night of the Hunt, the God of Blood reminded them to have an air of caution, that they too were being hunted. With it's darkness looming near to Shezmu, Serek felt it might be a force to reckon with well enough. It wouldn't take Serek too long to find the largest carved out section of Shezmu for the outcasted Guise. Strolling into the community, Serek spoke, "I know that you do not obey or adhere to my command and laws as I have asked. Mainly out of the repercussions of the Guise's actions over the era, many among our people are previously guilty of the very things you find yourself in banishment for. I offer you the chance of reprieve from outcastment and a return into the fold as a larger part. All of those who have been found guilty and outcasted, exiled and hunted by your brethren as you have hunted them. Should you survive the Night of the Hunt and bring back to me proof of your victory over the dark shadows that will stalk you and all Guise. Then I shall uphold my promise and give to those who do, a new home and appeal from Guise banishment. As part of this deal, I further ask of you the same that I did all Guise upon my arrival. I ask that you to follow my very rule and being, in exchange for my favor and the fruits of my lead."

Serek then changed the way he trained his army. Instead commanding them to return to the center of Guise population among the realm. Shifting them to split up in guarding the main community for providing shelter and defense to any who would run from being harmed and hunted by the coming night. The others to run as units around the main community and jungles, hunting packs to attack and aid in defense. Though he gave no order to the whole of the Guise, allowing them to hunt and learn. Only reminding them what exactly it was they risked, especially for the newer generations. Serek Eztli himself would stay at Ch'ich Āmēyal-li to ensure the heart would remain protected properly, leaving the rest of Shezmu and the Guise to themselves. The main of the military will be as applied learning and showcasing hopefully their current efforts.

Serek visited the outcast guise and for the first time in his divine life, he was not warmly received. In all his prior visits to the guise he'd been greeted by the guise falling to their knees and praising him. There was none of that love to be found in the camp of the outcasts. They did not attack Serek. They knew what happened to those who faced Vez'ek'tin, they knew there was nothing they could do to the god himself. So they listened. Then they waited until Serek left. Whether they had accepted or not it was hard to say, their masks did not reveal much in the way of emotion. Still, the message was delivered.

And so the Night of the Hunt fell.

As the sun set and the sky darkened the insects of the evening began to chirp and buzz. There was something else too. A cry of birds. It was a soft sound, but startling by its very presence. It had been centuries since birds had existed in Shezmu. As the shadows deepened and the last remnants of the days sun faded, the world transformed. The heartbeat of the jungle seemed to quicken. The pulse that ran through trees and vines and bushes beat faster in anticipation. This night felt like old Shezmu. The Shezmu of those early days. Then the forests came alive.

Things could be heard stirring the underbrush. The stamp of feet and claws ran along the dirt and half seen shapes stalked through the overgrowth. Serek had chosen to wait out the Night at the Ancestral Grounds of the guise, the place closest to the Blood Spring. His army he had appointed to guard the other collections of guise where they could be found. He did not know how they fared in those first few moments of the night, he only bore witness to what happened here.

What came next was the hunt. It was as Serek had said. The guise were not the only ones hunting. From the night leapt forth animals not seen naturally for centuries, great predatory cats leapt from the night and pounced on guise to drag them screaming back into the night. A four armed tree crawler dropped from a tree, snapped a guise in half and continued to maul it while the other two arms hauled it back up into the tree. A shrieking bird sailed down and tore the mask off a guise who fell screaming to the ground. These moments of violence would happen suddenly, there would be long periods of quiet and stillness. Serek had wielded his influence to increase the potency of the Night and it was potent indeed. The guise had been without prey for long centuries in their jungle and were encountering their wild origins in one fell night. In the first house Serek counted at least two dozen guise consumed by the predators of this Night.

For their part, many of the guise had also gone out into the jungles, eager as they were to experience their lost tradition of hunting. It was impossible to say how they were faring. Serek could only see what was occurring in the immediate area of the Blood Spring.

Amidst the violence Serek heard something else. A great deep rasping sound, like a mountain being drawn across wood. It was accompanied by a soft tremor in the ground. It lasted only for a moment, but Serek recognized the sensation though it had been centuries since he'd felt it. The Hungry Shadow had returned from extinction for this singular night. The Veracazco was stalking Shezmu again. Previously it had taken bands of highly trained Wildlings or a whole village of organized Ancestral guise to bring down one of these predators. There was little chance any singular hunter could bring down such a powerful foe on this night.

Serek was not greeted warmly. Though the God of Blood expected it to some extent, he was afterall part of the reason for their current state. However, he extended a branch and offer to them for now. Their lack of reaction and current outcasting pained Serek's heart. As he did not truly wish for things to be this way. Such however was the outcome for ruling in fear and command rather than love and patience. Despite these feelings, Serek did not have the time or capability to mend things nor second guess himself. Only able to move forward and seek new options and opportunities as he figured things out. The departure from the Guise outcasts was as cold as his welcome though.

With the fall of the dark-sun came the Night of the Hunt, prolonged by his divine intervention. The familiar comfort of the insects and blood moons hung around his senses. Yet it was the nostalgic beating of Shezmu's heart and jungles that pumped Serek Eztli's blood. As the forests came to life, the God of Blood released a loud series of caws to call out the start of the hunt.

There was much going on around, short violent attacks that went for the kill. The darkness that was Shezmu's revenant wildlife pounced viciously upon unprepared Guise as they hoped for the savors of prey. Serek did not know how the members of his army faired, though he figured there would be a vital difference between those who stayed in groups versus not. Though the bodies of Guise pilled, such was the way. A bloody reminder of the dangers life held and how comfortable they had made themselves.

Yet among the shadows of life that stalked the colorful forests and brush was a haunting beast. One that would spell many deaths of unprepared Guise. The first trophy of carcasses and bones among Shezmu, the fearsome Veracazco. Serek knew that if there were many hunting the Guise, this Night of the Hunt would be more tragic than not. Yet the God of Blood thought if this was the spirits way of vengeance for their souls.

Stirring up, Serek Eztli extended his winged arms as he pulled the blood-steel scythe to him. Grasping its' pole and handle, the God of Blood released another series of caws loudly across the cool night winds. Hoping to garner Vez'ek'tin to his side. Yet there was no guarantee to their arrival, calling to a nearby Guise to go deliver his message. "Come, protect Ch'ich Āmēyal-li, the Veracazco stalk the Guise. I shall send them back into the darkness. A beast worthy of my hunt."

If there was no arrival, he would stay and guard vigilantly the ancestral home of the Guise along with the Bloodspring. If they came, Serek would stride into the jungles of his home. Seeking a thrill to satiate the hunger of stalking the apex terror of Shezmu.

Serek's heir was at hand. When the God of Blood called he crossed the village to meet him. The hardened warrior of the arena bore several deep gashes from his own encounters with the rampant beasts of the Night, but nothing life threatening. "As you wish, Bloody Lord, I will guard Ch'ich Āmēyal-li." The heir confirmed. He was up for the task it was clear as he threw a blood-steel knife and it plucked a bird that was in mid dive, neatly pinning the predator to a tree.

That freed Serek for greater things. The God of Blood had his eyes set on bringing the Hungry Shadow to heel. With his scythes in hand, the god went out into the dark jungle.

Prompt: You may write up defeating the Veracazco. You'll defeat it through your godly level of endurance more than anything else. You'll still take a point of damage doing so given how mighty a beast it is. I look forward to reading how the fight unfolds!

Nodding respectfully to his heir, Serek departed deftly as he submerged into the jungle foliage. Following the direction of where he had heard the Hungering Shadow, though it took some time to accurately find its' tracks. Finally coming to a slight clearing underneath the tall glowing trees, Serek found the path left by its' mountainous body. From broken branches and tree limbs to fresh steps in the dirt and muddy waters. The saliva from its' maw pooled slimily over the large exotic leafs. The God of Blood found little difficulty in trailing the serpent. Stalking through the brush and the hanging moss upon clutters of vines, Serek closed in slowly but surely.

Despite his divinity, Serek Eztli was not near as fast as the beast. In fact there were many Guise who surpassed even him in that domain. There was a fleeting freshness to Veracazco's trail. One that spurred Serek's veins to pump their blood faster as he broke into a sprint across the harsh terrain. As his heart beat it fell intune with the excited drum of Shezmu's all around him.

With the rush of blood dripping through the woods, it did not take Serek Eztli long to catch up to the stalking Veracazco. With each step he took, he could feel its' massive steps tremors. Without a moment of hesitation whole still unnoticed, the God of Blood leapt up and kicked off a tree. Launching himself upwards adeptly as they raised the blood-steel scythe high above with both hands clasped tightly on the haft. With all the force he could muster, Serek drove the long curved blade into the mountrous serpent's backside. The metal had a moment of strong resistance against the large scales, yet with all the force at a singular point it broke through. From there the sharpness cut cleaning through the parting flesh. Until getting stuck. A sign of his inexperience in battle.

Getting taste of the first blood in the fight, Serek Eztli rended fresh blood straight from the wound as he pulled the scythe out and kicked off the beast for distance. An effort that was in vain as it whipped around at its' assailant mid-air, bashing Serek cleanly back and against a tree tangled among the glowing vines. Despite the speed and strength of the retaliatory blow, Serek endured as felt the harsh trauma across his body.

With the blood taken from the Veracazco, Serek thinned it out and sliced the vines entangling him in a surge of fluid motions. Flapping his wings just as he fell, the divinity narrowly avoided maw of teeth coming from the beast as they shredded the large tree. Feeling it's hot ragged breath all around him, the God of Blood tumbled their landing in the soft dirt and foliage. Congealing the beast's blood into a singular hardened blade, Serek drove it into the leg of the Hungering Shadow. The manipulated blood grew as it soaked in extra blood being pulled from the wound.

This time however, Serek Eztli was not fast enough to defensively respond to the lightning quick flurry from the Veracazco. Its' tail caught him with a hard slam slashing itself against his scythe. Just as it pulled up long viscious claws striked into Serek multiple times. Against the God of Blood's divine flesh and bone they found it harder and sturdier. Yet as his flesh parted at the attacks, Serek stood as he was unrended by the mauling. There were a serious of agitated clicks and clacks from the god's beak and talons against the blood-steel polearm. The claws had removed his daze from the heavy tail.

With his own blood and that of the Veracazco's tail dripping freshly from his sutures and wounds, Serek ran his hand across the sanguine fluid. Making a second pool of blood float among the air air, he pulled them both to make a solid ball above the Hungering Shadow. Spikes coagulated and hardened as they grew around the ball. Rushing forward, Serek's hooves slide against the ground then his legs as he dove underneath the head of the massive beast. Catching himself just short enough before getting bit, Serek could see death flash before him as it did with Jannik. As the thrill of death pumped the adrenaline through his veins without a moment to think, the God of Blood drove the spiked ball of blood directly on the back of its' head and swung upwards with his scythe through the mouth with desperate instinct.

The Hungering Shadow crumbled upon its' own weight onto the jungle floor, causing Serek to released his weapon and controlled blood as it slide slowly down towards a bayou creek, stopping between two large trees. Giving out a long sigh, more blood than usual poured from Serek's feathers as the white ones were dyed red momentarily. Ragged breaths escaped from his lungs and battered body as he walked over to the fresh corpse. "A true hunt indeed. I see now why you were such a trouble for the Guise to topple. You have the respect of the God of Shezmu as being worthy of having been the apex predator. This fight would have been different if I were not already injured, yet I stand Victor. Now your flesh will bring me nourishment and rejuvenate me from this hardened battle. " Bowing his head softly at the dead beast. Serek pulled at its' meat and sinew from the open wounds with his beak and talons, washing it down with the still warm blood of the kill.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:38, Wed 20 July 2022.

Sun was beginning to glow on the horizon. Serek's hunt and subsequent battle had raged throguh the remainder of the Night. Trees lay toppled from the Veracazco's writhing girth and now the God of Blood stood in a new clearing atop the still cooling body of the once again extinct super predator. As the horizon lit up brighter the shrieks, caws and howls of the forest started to ebb away. The returned predators of the ancient jungles were receding, vanishing back into memory. When the first edge of the sun showed itself the jungle had fallen fully silent once more.

With the danger having passed and the Night of the Hunt now behind them, Serek went to assess how the guise had fared. Back at Ch'ich Āmēyal-li bodies littered the grounds. Now that it was safe guise were coming forward to bathe and drink in the blood spring to heal the wounds they'd suffered during the night. It took time to sift through the corpses to determine which were beasts and which were guise. The casualties were high. Dozens upon dozens of guise were laid out and they kept coming.

Traveling to where the military was posted, Serek found an even greater scene of carnage as those in the area hadn't benefited from a divine empowered guardian. The soldiers had held, for the most part, but the Night of the Hunt was not a night for armies or soldiers, it was a night for hunters. The most that the army had done was hold a small corner. The true battles had been fought out in the dark of the jungles where those guise had gone out to meet their quarry. Because so many had gone out into the dark of the jungles it took weeks to get a final death count.

All things tallied, a third of the guise population had died during the Night of the Hunt. The deaths were almost entirely amongst the younger generation of guise, most of whom had been born long after all the wild beasts of Shezmu had been hunted to extinction. The old guise had experienced what it was to stalk through dark jungles and know something was stalking you in turn. They had fared far better. Many of them now wore new bodies of beasts they had overcome during the Hunt. While the beasts had fled with the coming morning, their bodies, whether slain or claimed, had not. Now with the population slashed and the influx of new bodies, it was a new age of plenty. Serek had gone to visit the outcast encampment and found it abandoned. If any had survived they were now too few to congregate. A great many of Serek's problems had solved themselves, it had only come at the cost of sea of death and blood. An appropriate cost for a God of Blood.

Despite the heavy losses, the morale among the guise was the highest it had been since Serek had awoke to the Age of the Hunts. Any who might have previously voiced dissenting opinions were dead or subjugated by the laws of blood. The Hunts that had defined the age were a thing of the past, largely because the upcoming generation was decimated, but that was no real cause for concern as the older generation would not age and die.

Serek had accomplished much. Now it was a matter of setting a course for his people for the next age to come. There were only so many hours in a day after all and while a god may which mortals to do everything at once, there was still far more to learn than time allowed. It was a matter of priorities.

Focus on the Hunt: Serek could task him people with maintaining, and even elevating, the ancestral way of the Hunt. This would foster and nurture the knowledge of stalking dark forests, of setting traps and snares, hunting by dagger and bow.

Focus on War: Or Serek could place his newly budding military at the center of guise advancement. This would ensure it would continue to grow and expand. His command structure was in place, his drillmasters anointed. It was just a matter of making sure that military tradition remained important.

Focus on Craftsmanship: Or there was Hemocrafting. The fledgling art of bloodsmithing had been overshadowed by hunting and Serek's new hobby of war training, but Serek could shift the guise priorities so that the art of bloodsmithing was studied and advanced in the coming generations.

With the sun's cool light breaking across the horizon, Shezmu's excitement and liveliness died down. With it some sense of sadness fell upon Serek as the dark-light crossed his face while standing in the clearing. The hunt was successful for him, as he hoped it was for many others. There was some sense of return to the way things were at the start, yet that feeling was ripped from him as it was his people. Yet for the now near immortal Guise, time stretched whenever he slept, this problem was the main cause of many issues within Shezmu.

Dragging what he could of the extinct Veracazco back to the ancestral home of the Guise, he ran across dozens of dead that littered the jungles. There was a heavy feeling with it as it took weeks to gather all the dead and even further to sift the Guise out from among them. Knowing what laid ahead for all of those living within Shezmu, or even the rest of the world tree, spurred his sadness into the will to do more. To do better than he has.

There was some dissatisfaction with how the soldiers faired, but it was to be within expectation. Yet when he went to see to those who were out casted, there was not a sign or trace of any remaining Guise. There was a slight worry that none made it. However little of that mattered now as the Lord of Blood received a final count of the Guise. With many of the younger generations dying out, it fell to experience and those with skill or talent to survive.

The Guise are at their happiest since the start of the Age of the Hunts, the numbers of Guise cut, and an influx of new bodies that would come again in an untold amount of time. Many problems were solved in one bloody night. A potent legacy of his divinity indeed.

Now however was the time to look ahead and at their future within Shezmu. Serek's goal was to try and blend what ideas he had of a military with that of hunters and wildlings. There also needed to be a balanced blend with settlements, buildings, and other such devices. Serek did not wish for his people to detach themselves from the world around them however. Considering that his new delving into military was a necessity and that the way of hunting was rooted in their ancestry and ways, there was a tear to what he should devote his time to with the Guise.

However upon his parallel visit to Aeon, Serek considered the Guise's craft was one in dire straights. He gave the foundations, yet diving into it to reinforce it would require much time and effort to impart well upon their culture, architecture, and craftsmanship.

There was a necessity to do things once at a time to make the changes required. The way of the hunt was vital especially for the next coming Night of the Hunt, however until there was life again within the realm it was just passing along knowledge as many other things as they experimented to uplift it and themselves. The upkeep and press of the military to ensure it doesn't decline but grow would require much nurturing and leadership. Yet for now, Serek would prioritize the way of cultivating hemocrafting, Focusing on Craftsmenship within Shezmu.

With the first Night of the Hunt resolved and Shezmu restructured and reordered, Serek gave the direction that the guise should put their efforts towards improving their craft. Hemocrafting was a fledgling skill hardly out of its infancy, with this direction Serek ensured that in the coming generations it would continue to be practiced and refined. With that order given the God of Blood felt weariness settling over him. He'd accomplished much and it was now time to rest. When he awoke, Shezmu would be quite different.

OOC: Closing the thread to start preparing to open a new Age. You can continue to interact in the Feast thread or return to the Astral Lounge in the meantime.