the angels never arrived, but i can hear their choir

CHULANE

let's set the world on fire

Eyes as blue as the skies above roamed over the lands on wings of brown black and a spattering of white. The great mirror below him could draw his attention for an age, but he couldn't appreciate its beauty, its grandeur, not right now, not when she was…

Off exploring. Discovering new realms, new creatures, in the name of the guild for which she was mistress of. With Wessex, who he'd only ever met once but did not get the impression that she was the careful sort - not when she had the ability to teleport wherever she wanted, enabling her to go virtually anywhere and never harbour concern of whether or not she herself would be able to return in one piece.

Kiada was strong, far stronger than he, and yet he still wished that he was travelling in her place, on this quest, this task. But he had responsibilities, things to attend to in Halo, and he was still too untrained, too soft for this world yet.

He wanted to fix that. To enact change on this world, he had to be strong. And to be strong in this world, he had to embrace it, to recognise that the gods of this world were very different to the gods of his homeworld - they were real here, for a start.

Landing from his flight with a shift into his leopard form, he rose into his human form within another stride. He looked, unfocused, his mind entirely elsewhere for a moment, before taking a breath and recentring himself to the here and now.

Kneeling before the shrine, he laid before him a hunting dagger - a sentimental token more than anything, one of the few things that had remained on his body when he portalled through. "Deities of Caido," he said, unsure of how to address such things but wanting to do it right. "I ask that whoever gifted me with the ability to attune accept this offering, that I might thank them."

--

Seeking any old God (ideally whoever would like to take credit for attuning him/correct his misconception), to thank them, and ask for help getting stronger.

we can burn brighter than the sun

.

The gods? They ain't listenin', little Attuned. They have bigger fish to fry. Actual fish. There's shit goin' down, y'know?

But, aw, don't be sad, we can still shine some celestial light on ya. Plenty of that to go around. Pleeeeenty.

A bright beam of sunlight envelops Chuy. Bright and warm.

Warmer....

....hot! Hot hot hot hot hot!

Might have to blink and clear your eyes, but don't worry, Chuy, you aren't blind. Just a little burnt. It'll wash off.

---

Chulane has been cursed! His skin is perpetually in a state of post-burn peeling and itch, eww.

To break his curse, Chulane must do the following:

1. Bathe in salt water
2. Bathe in fresh water
3. Bathe in glacial water

RaNdOM EVENT

CHULANE

let's set the world on fire

He didn't know what to expect. He reflected on the advice given to him about the gods of this world. Patience, he recalled, and expect nothing.

It was more difficult than he could ever have guessed to go there with no expectations. In a world of magic, where almost everyone had a story about the gods and gifts from the gods (and curses too), he would be lying if he said he succeeded in expecting nothing from this visit to the shrine.

Perhaps, on his home world, he would have expected nothing, because that was all those 'gods' ever did.

It got… bright. So bright, he wondered if he had died, and was being carried to the fabled heaven of light - but then, that was an Earth god, not a Caido god. As the beam shone down on him, he leaned back and opened his arms, to accept the light, shutting his eyes against it on instinct, wondering if this was some kind of test, or perhaps introduction to whichever deity deigned to appear for him.

But… no deity came. Only warmth. Which quickly became heat, scorchingly so. Folding back in on himself with a sharp grimace and a flinch, he went to move but found his body - his skin - aching in a hauntingly familiar way. The beam of light seemed to dissipate, to leave him scorched, fried, his skin blistering and varying shades of pink and maroon - and with no other discernible change.

Being from the sunburnt country meant he was grossly familiar with becoming sunburnt himself. "Ow," he muttered to himself, sighing, and wincing from it. It seemed that despite the layers of clothing, the burn ventured across most of his body.

And despite it all, he barked a soft laugh out.

After everything, he really still hadn't quite accepted that there were truly deities, or spirits or gods or other such things capable of enacting such big change on the world (and him), but this confirmation, painful as it was, helped to seal it in his mind for him.

Moving gingerly, he plucked up the knife he had offered - there was little use in leaving it behind - and tucked it away. Even more gingerly still, he moved to rise, to stand once more. "Sunburn huh? Neat trick. Feels like home." He quipped in the direction of the shrine, before testing how big a step he could take as he slowly turned around, and wandered away.

~Fin

we can burn brighter than the sun

.