Author Games: Ragnarok

Task Four: Omelets with a Side of Painful Death

Be careful, bat-god. It would not end well if you dropped that.

Camazotz grunted, hoisting the large wooden barrel in his arms a few more feet before setting it down with a heavy thud! next to the tapestry. He leaned over, panting and wiping sweat like silver metal from his forehead.

"You know, most gods would get a mortal to do the heavy lifting," he commented dryly. "I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle or something getting this up the stairs. Did anything exciting happen when I was out?"

There were two fatalities. Sun-god. Cat-goddess. They died honorably.

"Apollo and Bast, hmm? Can't say I was fond of either of them. He was always a bit airy-fairy for my taste, and I'm allergic to cats. Was it at least gory?"

The blood present in their deaths is irrelevant, bat-god.

"Hmmph," he grunted, dissatisfied. "I bet it was gory, and bloody, and violent, and you made me miss it to get..." -he waved a hand in the general direction of the barrel- "...whatever this is."

Enough about the gore.

He was silent for a moment, staring at the new tapestry. The city remained, but it was utterly different- Camazotz could not see a single mortal in the entire place. Every now and again there was a flsh of furry movement among the ruined buildings, and trees grew in the street with other, smaller flora. It was a city abandoned to the wilds, and the wilds were slowly, steadily taking it back.

"So what's in the barrel? I strained myself getting it in here, so you might as well tell me what it holds."

Pure basilisk venom, bat-god. We do not advise sniffing it.

He leaped a full ten feet from the barrel, swearing in Ch'ol. The Fates watched him indifferently.

"You had me carry the the most toxic substance in the world up the stairs in some damn barrel?" He shouted. "What if it leaked? Do you have any idea what that stuff can do to a god?"

We are well aware of the properties of basilisk venom. That is we had you carry it.

"Well, that's very nice for you, O Inexorably Frustrating Ones," he fumed. "This much concentrated venom will strip me of my immortality and kill me in seconds. Then you'd be down a valuable servant."

How valuable can a servant be if they will not even move a barrel without dying?

He had no answer to that. Sighing, he shifted his gaze back to the tapestry, and to the gods moving about inside. 

"What are you planning to do do with this much venom?" He asked in a more reasonable tone. "It'll make for a short, terminal bath for somebody, but something tells me you have other plans."

You are correct.

The barrel burst. Camazotz yelped as clear, sickly-sweet fluid flowed rapidly outwards in all directions. He turned, running another twenty feet from the venom, then cast a glance over his shoulder. To his considerable astonishment, the venom had ceased to moved across the floor; instead, it was quickly, silently moving across the tapestry. He paused, watching in fascination. In a matter of seconds, the venom was a shining layer across the entire cityscape; then, with a gentle sigh, it was absorbed into the fabric. He was silent for a moment more, then turned to the Fates.

"You just exposed twelve gods to a mild dose of basilisk venom. You stripped away their divinity. Their all mortal now. Why?"

They are mortals. They shall compete with mortal means to retrieve their lost abilities.

"That's a very nice idea, but there are only two cures to basilisk venom. I don't know how you're getting phoenix tears in this economy, and I'm not going to go and fetch roasted dragon's heart. The barrel was enough danger for today."

There is a third.

"Oh? Exactly what-"

He stopped midsentence as he noted a flash of golden feathers between buildings, dwarfing the newly mortal inhabitants.

"Well. And they say I'm evil."

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Task Four: Omelets with a Side of Painful Death
The Arena: Atropos’s Silent City, Clotho’s city moved many years into the future. An unknown cataclysm has driven the mortals from their homes, leaving only their structures behind. The city is still majestic in places where the vestiges of humanity remain, but the changes are inexorable when the wilds reclaim their land. Of course, where the wilds go, monsters are sure to follow.
The Task: As if the shift in scenery weren’t enough, the Fates have released basilisk venom into the air. The wind quickly blew away the toxin, but its work had already been done. Basilisks are some of the most poisonous creatures in the world; while their venom can’t kill a god, it has a rather unpleasant effect- stripping all divine powers from the victim, including immortality. For the time being, the gods are mortal.
Fortunately, there is a cure to the venom that will restore one’s divinity, though not one’s immortality. Also fortunately, it’s fairly close.
Unfortunately, the cure is a roc’s egg. Unfortunately, a roc is a bird that lives in high places and has a wingspan of 100 feet. Unfortunately, they’re very territorial and have absolutely no qualms about eating a newly de-powered god...
And saddest of all, there might just be a tribute in the arena clever enough to find lack of immortality a golden opportunity to get rid of the competition.
Kills: 2 in the entry. Four people will go up for votes. Two will be eliminated.
+1 point for best quote
+1 point for best egg-napping

Due Date: Saturday, March 7, at 5 PM EST, 10 PM GMT