“Ugh, what now?”
There was a very large cloaked figure floating above Savepoint. Arkay was rather unamused by this, because it was interrupting his free time, yet again. He was supposed to be finishing his shift, having a shower then going to his room to snuggle with one of his partners, but no, there was something getting in the way of that, and the Guardian of the Thantir wasn’t really in the mood to do any complicated guarding stuff right now.
At first, Arkay thought it was Deathven, the guy mostly in charge of Decay Lord society overall, but, having met the guy in person a few times, there was no reason why Deathven would float up in the sky. Also, the being was a little too large to be Deathven. And it lacked those dog-like ears.
Arkay’s second thought was that it was another large, powerful Decay Lord. As he grabbed his gunstaff and threw on some armour, Arkay went through his head, trying to think of a Decay Lord who looked like that, but he was coming up short. Mostly because most local Decay Lords liked standing on solid ground. Gravity was sparse in the Periuniversal Void, so many beings made the most of their time whenever they were somewhere which had an actual gravitational pull.
Arkay’s eventual conclusion was that the being was a Voidborn. However, he didn’t come to that conclusion himself. A tap on his shoulder from the Thantir’s first and second official Voidborn members made him think that.
“Hi Phovoula, hi Vekeus. Have you two got a problem with me going off and dealing with that Voidborn?”
Both Phovoula and Vekeus were Voidborns, but despite Phovoula having fur, she was a pure-blooded Voidborn, while Vekeus was the hybrid son of an insanely powerful and now dead Stolen Prince, one of the powerful Void Lords that somewhat used to rule the area. However, Vekeus was technically a Decayling and thus lower ranked among the Thantir, but Phovoula was a much younger Voidborn and was a little inexperienced.
“Actually, I was going to ask if I could go and deal with it!” Phovoula smiled, just a little. “This is my territory, after all. And Vekeus thinks I ought to slowly start expanding my territory too.”
Arkay glanced up at the Voidborn floating above them, then shrugged. “You want to deal with it?”
“Yes.”
“Well… alright then. I guess I’ll watch from down here. If you need help though, let me know and I’ll go and smite it.”
“She’ll be fine!” Vekeus smiled as well. “Phovoula knows what to do. I’m just here for moral support.”
“Alright, go on then.”
Satisfied, Phovoula summoned one of her strange double-ended blade weapons, then kicked herself off the ground and into the air. She flew straight up towards the being, who seemed to be waiting for someone to greet them.
“Hello.”
The being was definitely a Voidborn. A pretty standard one, standing at about 6m tall and covered in mostly black armour. Four arms, antlers, hoofed feet and a mask across its face. This one had purple glowing eyes and only small amounts of gold on its body, and it was also wearing a cape.
“Hello.”
Phovoula inspected the being some more, then decided to introduce herself. “Hi. I’m Phovoula, I’m the local Voidborn of the Athata Rift, I’d like to let you know that you are in my territory.”
The Voidborn stared at Phovoula for a bit, then grunted. “Are you the leader of the Athanatean League?”
“Ah…” Phovoula hesitated briefly. “They don’t exist any more.”
“They do not?”
“They were killed off by a Decay Lord.”
“A single Decay Lord?”
“Indeed…” Phovoula frowned. “I took over this territory via a truce between myself and the local Decay Lord sect. We offer each other assistance and protection from each others’ threats.”
The Voidborn glanced downwards. “There is another Voidborn down there, a Stolen Prince, by the scent of them.”
“Vekeus is an ally of mine. He’s not a Stolen Prince though.”
This Voidborn was now somewhat confused. They summoned a map and inspected it. “I thought these territories were part of the Golden Doom Cult Alliance?”
“Nope. That’s all gone. The last of the Golden Doom faded away with the destruction of the Crystal Doom in the Goldtorn Remains.”
“Are there… any cults here?” the Voidborn asked.
“The only Voidborns within the Kinigian Wilderness, the Ventra Expanse and the Goldtorn Remains are all Adogtic, but we have a small alliance between each other. Vekeus holds territories in the Ventra Expanse, I hold this area here and our other ally Theocydes holds territories across the Kinigian Wilderness. The only cult vaguely nearby is the Silver Sanctifiers, and they are located in Deathspore.”
The Voidborn seemed somewhat saddened by this. “That… that is unfortunate.”
Phovoula inspected the Voidborn some more. “Are… are you alright? You seem to be looking for something.”
“I was… looking for a cult to join. I have travelled a long, long way, on my own, ever since I was exiled from my original, now nameless cult, for daring to tell them that they were heading towards their own downfall in their bids to destroy the local groups. But most of the Eniapents I have passed through have been ridden with Corruption or Life Goddesses, and my clearly outdated map suggested that this was a Voidborn territory.”
Phovoula thought to herself. “So… you are looking for a place to call home?”
“Yes.”
“Well… How about I speak to the local Voidborns? We don’t have a cult, we don’t plan on making one, but perhaps, with some terms and conditions, we can allow you a small amount of territory you can call home, in exchange for doing what we all do, keeping the territory safe and purged of Corruption?”
“I would like that. I am tired of travelling.”
“Okay, I’ll arrange something. For now though, the safest place for you would be the Pink Paradise, it is a Voidborn-friendly Life Oasis in the north western Kinigian Wilderness. Covered in pink lights, you can’t miss it. Stay there, and we will call you when we have arranged something.”
The Voidborn bowed. “I appreciate your kindness. What is your name, Youngling?”
Phovoula bowed back. “I’m Phovoula Tromeros, but you can call me Phovos. What is your name?”
“I am Stenonarkos. It is an honour to meet you, Phovos. I appreciate your kindness.”
Phovoula smiled. “We need to be kind to each other, sometimes. Anyway, you should head off now. Go and rest, and we will speak soon.”
Stenonarkos bowed once more, then drifted off. After he reached a certain distance, he seemed to disappear, teleporting back to his ship.
Satisfied, Phovoula smiled to herself, then abruptly thought of something. She headed back to solid ground, so she could inform Vekeus of her sudden new idea.