I'll take that challenge, Rex!
Tebryn Arbandi decides that he no longer wants to be the pawn of Hell. He betrays Ceridwen, then turns towards Junil for redemption, hoping to complete the Altar of the Luonnatar and save himself from Hell by calling in the One.
The people of the desert notice something odd. The sun no longer seems to shine on them as brightly as before. Their prophets no longer perform miracles, claiming they need to reserve their power for when it is most needed. An unusual darkness has enveloped the land. There are whispers among the people that the Malakim leaders have turned their back on Lugus, worshipping a dark god in secret in exchange for more power, but those who spread these rumors never seem to live very long....
There's always the
comedy gold inherent in the idea. I imagine vampires attempting to attend church only to recoil at the holy symbols inside, praying to a god that smites them for their blasphemy.
On a more serious note, the Calabim decide that their enmity with Lugus has gone on long enough, and begin constructing Empyrean temples in hopes of acheiving reconciliation. The god accepts them back probationally: He will not remove their curse (so Sun spells still harm them), but he will allow them to use his powers. Redemption may be a long time in coming, but perhaps the vampires will pull through...
Blah blah redemption blah.
Next!
Octopus Overlords/Kuriorates
Of all the creatures on Erebus, Eurabatres the Gold Dragon may be the only one who has discovered the truth of the Overlords. Danalin lies comatose, tormented in nightmares, but he is still a god. His abandomnent of creation has, by the terms of the Compact, left him with a great amount of power, and Hemah's existence proves that this power can still be exploited. The lands of the Kuriotates are filled with countless different peoples. Perhaps this diversity could be harnessed: If the Overlords themselves were created from the imagination of a single boy, imagine what the imagination of a dragon, backed up by all the diversity of the Kuriotates, could do...
The end was at hand. Corruption was spreading almost imperceptibly throughout Erebus. Try as they might, the Elohim could not possibly stave off the inevitable. Perhaps nobody noticed right now, but in a few generations... It was no use. They would fail. All they could do would be to keep Erebus struggling in its death throes as long as possible. Einion Logos tried to keep such thoughts out of his mind, to distract himself from his doom, but every night they would return to torment him in his sleep. Until that one night, when his nightmares took an entirely different turn. His bodyguards were disturbed by the sounds of manic laughter from his bedchamber. He had recieved a vision, and he now understood what had to be done. Oh, yes, there would be a few changes in how the Elohim did things from now on...
The Bannor experienced firsthand the horrors of Hell. For the first few generations, those horrors were fresh in their minds, as people could still be found who recalled the escape of the Bannor, and would tell these stories to inspire obedience and discipline. After most of those who'd been in Hell died out, however, a secret cult began forming among the Bannor. They read the stories of the trials of Hell, of demons stealing away children in the night, of enormous monsters that routed entire armies singlehandedly, but they took a different kind of inspiration from them. When they read these stories, they found tales of power, and they were envious...
"Are you implying that I joined the Elohim simply to learn their secrets? That I used my charisma to corrupt others to my side? That I gained influence to purge the 'true' Elohim and replace them with like-minded individuals? Ha! Ethne, you insult me! The facts are clear: The One has abandoned creation. We know better than anyone what has become of our beloved Erebus in His abscence. He could return and purge the world of all Evil, and yet He continues to delay His Final Judgement! No more, I say! We will force His hand! We will set the world ablaze, dragging it deeper into corruption, until the One has no choice but to intervene! Then, and only then, we will have truly vanquished Evil!"
