lord, I fashion dark gods too; RESULTS

[Carnage]

lord, I fashion dark gods too;

One by one, they leave. Wrynn calls to her sister, to an army of children who died too young (Gail aches and looks for her own children, wonders if the child with a caul is here, her bad omen). She fades, carried by their magic, their love. Gail does not go with her. Nihlus finds an aunt and a great grandmother, and they take him to a place, an imperfection in this strange realm. He jumps through without saying goodbye and she watches the space where he was, knowing the seam would spit her back out into this place. She knows this is where she’s meant to be, a woman condemned. Kellyn finds an aunt and uncle, who take her to another seam, a black cave. She elicits a promise that they will help the others if no one else will. It is kind. Gail does not know if it would work. She hopes they don’t have to try. Ramiel finds grandparents. His grandfather burns the forest, burns through and into somewhere else, and he is through too. Rhy finds her lover’s father (father of another quest contestant, the spotted boy who had been too late), and then her parents. She climbs onto the night king’s broad back and he flies her up, up, up, and he returns alone. He comes to Gail, after, asks her. She does not go. Trekk is the last. He does not find anyone. She does not know if it is because he is paralyzed with fear or if there is no one. She watches, helpless, as he ages, as his back sways and eyes grow cloudy. When he collapses she lets out a small, horrified cry because she never meant for this to happen, for any of it to happen. Then the body is gone and replaced by another. “I thought we should be alone,” says Carnage, solid and beautifully there amongst the pale ghosts, who have sensed the dark god and walk away, leaving them be. Not that it matters, because her world spirals down to him in this moment, and for all she knows the world is ending around them the way he always promised. “What’s another word for love?” he asks, lips to her hair, and oh-- “We’re indefinable,” she says, laughing. He will not stay forever – he never does – but for now they are here, in a land in-between, a place made for them, for all the ghosts of Beqanna, a dark god and an apocalyptic goddess, wrapped up in each other like nothing’s changed. It began like this. ***** Thank you all SO MUCH for completing this, it was a joy to host and to read everybody’s gorgeous responses. This quest was also part of Beqanna’s changing landscape. The ‘afterlife’ realm that was created by a piece of the beach breaking off and going through the wormhole will become a permanent part of Beqanna (board coming with the new layout), a place where dead horses can be played. So regardless of the prizes, you got to be an integral a part of the Beqanna mythos. Naturally judging this last portion was incredibly difficult, so I made it a combination of my usual judging (creativity, style, my own personal preferences so please don’t be offended, etc.), and some cumulative judgement as well (how well the top six did throughout the quest). While this might not be as ‘fair’ as stuff that’s solely timed, I’d rather get to see y’all flourish, and hopefully you feel the same! Trekk - you failed to respond to the final round, and therefore ‘died’ in the underworld realm. Carnage took you back, but Trekk will have Undead Appearance (non genetic) – this means rotting/peeling flesh, undead stench, etc. Kellyn & Wrynn - For their efforts in the quest, both Kellyn and Wrynn will receive Mediumship (genetic). This means they can communicate with the ghosts/spirits on this island, but cannot come to the realm itself. Nihlus - For his effort in the quest, Nihlus will receive Astral Projection (genetic). This means his spirit can leave his physical body and go to other realms – including the land of the dead, so he is one of the few live ones who can visit this realm, although he can only stay for short periods of time. Nihlus can bring up to one other horse with him on these projections, but doing so will exhaust him and can only be done sparingly. Rhy & Ramiel - For their efforts in the quest, both Rhy and Ramiel will receive Ghost Shifting (genetic). This means they can shapeshift into a ghost version of themselves. While in this ghost form, they will have all the obvious ghost traits (transparency/invisibility, can pass through solid objects, telekinesis) and can also travel to the underworld realm while in this form. They can bring up to two other horses to the realm, but doing so will exhaust them and can only be done sparingly.