Southern Wingbardy. 6 PM. January 2nd, 1006.
In all of his days for years on end, Gumberto never felt this disgusted with himself. It was why he was out here, in the countryside on the first hunt of his life, no matter what his constantly surprised staff and friends mutter behind his back.
It all started yesterday, he awoke, as usual, with piles of empty bottles of wine around his bed, and his drunk and hungover friends all over his personal manor. Yet instead of the normal emotions he felt towards his hedonism, from contentment to wonderings on if he should try and seduce that griffoness he saw last night, he just felt... disgusted. So completely and utterly disgusted that he ordered the staff to clean up the entire manor, before leaving shockingly quickly in a car that Gumberto had never even driven in himself, with such competence that would make any griffon doubt if the griff drunk half a cask of wine the night before, which he had, and that thought alone made Gumberto stop at the side of the road and vomit over the side of the car before driving off again in one direction, his father and mother's manor. Breakfast was already cooked, with a more hastily prepared one for him, his staff called his father, when he arrived, and much to the surprise of his parents, he didn't complain about a single thing and refused a, though still joking, cup of wine from his father.
The conversation was weird, not just in that his parents barely talk to him despite being family, but in the fact that Gumberto's personality seemed flipped. He asked an off-claw question about a race, and when his father asked why he wanted to know, he said he wanted to race in it, leaving his father, though thankful his son is doing something more than boozing around, more than a little confused! Those little things throughout the conversation over breakfast only made the two monarchs more and more confused and worried for their son, until eventually, Talonuel got up and asked his son if he had taken any hard drugs. Instead of confirming or trying to deny it, Gumberto gagged at the mere thought of it before telling his father that he's just had enough of dealing with it all, the booze, the hedonism, everything.
Talonuel stood there in confusion as his son just... ranted about everything he hated about the lifestyle he had carried out for years! When Gumberto finished his ranting, he just kind of blinked and slumped down in his chair, clutching his head in his claws. Before either of the worried parents could move, Gumberto got up out of his chair and said he was going hunting, he needed to get away. Neither of his parents said a word, Talonuel in both worry and thankfulness, thinking that maybe the Gods themselves had influenced his son, and his mother in just worry.
Which led back to here, and his very improvised hunting. Despite never being on a hunt before, he just... knew how to do it. A hunter his father hired on to track prey quickly found himself not needed as the novice hunter who never hunted before managed to track a rather moderately sized non-sentient deer in a matter of minutes entering the forest. Of course, if only his damn bloody "friends" could shut up for a bit for him to actually get close enough to shoot the beast. The hunter advised him to just tell them to leave, but by that point, they were already so deep in the forest that honestly, his "slightly" drunk "friends" would just get lost and killed and the hunter rescinded his advice after being told this.
But finally, after hours of tracking, and with some careful shutting up of his "friends" the two of them managed to find it. Not an actual deer sadly, but an obvious grazing site, not so grazed to no longer be used, but still enough so for it to be recognized. This is where the hunter came useful, he brought some bait, all nice and sealed in his bags, to bring out any creatures. They planted it at the site and waited, shushing his "friends" every few seconds, much to Gumberto's quickly raising annoyance and anger, maybe he should've left them to die in the forest.
One minute passes, then another, then four more. Finally, Gumberto whispers, "I think the bait's not cut out of the jar".
The hunter shakes his head, "No I made sure, there's no way."
"Are you sure you're sure?"
The hunter blinks before slowly lowering his head with a blush of embarrassment barely showing through his feathers.
Gumberto sighs and looks over to his "friends"... before pausing... that one... uh... Erico... he seemed... Gumberto wasn't sure what he was thinking when he called him over, or when he asked him specifically to check the bait, he seemed no soberer than the others, or anywhere as competent. But something just screamed at Gumberto about him and without thought as Erico slowly, and somewhat drunkenly, walked over to the bait to check on it, Gumberto turned to the hunter, he was looking away, gazing out into the wilderness, Gumberto turned to his "friends" behind him, all of them were fucking around and doing nothing... they weren't noticing him.
Without a single word, Gumberto placed the butt of the rifle against his shoulder, he gave a small breath as he aimed in on the bait... and more specifically, Erico. It's only then that Gumberto realizes what's he doing before-
BANG
And the corpse that was once Erico collapses to the ground. There's sudden chaos as his "friends" behind him panic and flee into the forest, the hunter next to him gapes in horror, but Gumberto, almost absentmindedly, cycles the bolt of his rifle before getting up and slowly approaching Erico. His mind is racing, what the hell has he done? Why did he do this?
As he accidentally steps in the quickly enlarging puddle of blood, suddenly Gumberto collapses to his legs, clutching his head again, only this time he's seeing... something... it. It was Karthin... it was burning. He could see endless swarms of griffons, all clad in either strange green armor, or heavy body enclosing blue armor, stronger than any tank he could see. He saw massive tanks plowing through his home, through the capital of Wingbardy. And he could see... his griffs? Yes... soldiers. His soldiers were carrying a griffon, chained up tightly, his wings bound, and countless injuries across his body. But still the griffon escapes, and he's there, Gumberto is there, he's seeing himself fight this griffon, before using a pistol to shoot him in the head, just under the right eye, Gumberto's yelling... he can't hear himself but he's yelling about... a traitor?
It is then that he properly sees Erico's face in death. It's not good, he shot him in the head, just under the right eye, it clearly didn't go straight through since he could see the blood pooling up the wound itself before flowing down to the ground. He looks exactly like that griffon. It's then that Gumberto realizes every little thing that suddenly changed about him in the past few days, and within a second, he's vomiting out his breakfast on the floor of a forest in Southern Wingbardy, not knowing if he's going insane or not.
Northern Griffonian Republic. Whitetail Mountains 1 AM. January 2nd, 1006.
A griffon silently flew into a tiny village on the outskirts of the Republic. His goal is the largest building in this village, the church on the hill. The griffon was covered in a thick, obscuring cloak, drawing curiosity but no questions to the griff, he had come the night before, and it was likely he would come again, probably just another bandit trying to seek redemption. The cloaked griffon enters the still-lit church, this is why he came here specifically, the church operated midnight sermons, and the griffon needed that in order to make sure griffons back home don't worry about him. He quickly takes a spot at a completely empty pew as the priest rattles on about religion.
It then that the griffon sighs, and slowly raises his head, showing himself for but a moment. Blue feathers with a small straight mustache on his beak. Suntail, Reinhard Suntail. NRP Commander and Bandit Warlord of half of Republican-controlled Whitetail Mountains. He had come here for one reason and one reason only, nightmares. Horrifying nightmares the likes of which had caused the previously irreligious griffon to rush to church for two nights in a row. They were always the same, Kemerskai brings him and Rosewing, that damn monarchist, into a room and officially pardons them and their troops if they stop raiding. Before either he or Rosewing could respond, however, the room would collapse, revealing... what could only be described as a torture room. Whether from blinking or turning his head, Kemerskai and Rosewing disappear, leaving him with a single griffon. A tall albino griffon with rage-filled red eyes and a sinister presence around him.
That was when the pain began. Nails driven through him, knives cutting off slices of flesh like butchering, Maarite symbols carved into his flesh, and it was always when that happened did he hear it... it had to be Maar, whispering, demanding him to obey, to worship, to cry out in praise of that damnable god! Twice now he cried out in pain, praising Maar, just to make him stop, only for him to laugh and say he wasn't fervent enough. And then he would awake in the middle of the night, sweating through his clothing so much that it was useless to wear without cleaning.
He knew of this town because one of his soldiers came here every so often but now... Now Suntail didn't know what to think anymore. He couldn't think he couldn't plan he couldn't do anything, he just was... exhausted. Suntail raised his head a little as he realized that the sermon was coming to an end, he must have arrived later than he thought he did. He slowly got up, only for the priestess, a middle-aged-looking griffon, to clasp her claw on Suntail's shoulder before whispering into his ear, "I know who you are, Republican General, stay here and we can talk."
Suntail looked up to this griffoness in surprise and worry, and as the last of the churchgoers left and only the two remained, the griffoness continued, "You are clearly not in the greatest of conditions, general, especially since last time you were covered in sweat and even now I can see the sweat on your beak... night terrors?"
"Yes, you can say so..." and Suntail did say so, revealing, not all, but enough of his nightmare to the griffoness until she raised up a claw.
"You have been touched, general, touched by Maar himself."
Suntail's eyes widen in shock before the priest continued, "But I think I know a way to... if not dispel the touch, then at least weaken it. Please, general," she slowly started to shove/push the general to the altar, "Pray with me, general, please".
The general kneeled at the altar, as did the priest, and silently prayed. He never really did this much, not since he became part of the Revolution back in 978... is this why Maar saw fit to taint him? Was it really Maar? Was it just his mind? He... he did not know. He only knew that as he prayed, he could still hear whispering in the back of his mind.
Griffenheim. 5:20 PM. January 2nd, 1006.
Prelate Celeste Lightfeather was a staunch believer in Arcturius, after all, she was a priest of Arcturius, why wouldn't she? But she had been... troubled lately by odd dreams, dreams that forced her awake at night, not in terror, or even in confusion, though she would certainly feel lots of it, but in... awe and wonder.
Her dreams were always the same, she was walking down a hallway in the imperial palace for one reason or another, only for a red mist to suddenly start flowing from everywhere! She would start choking and coughing up blood from the mist and she would, obviously, start flying and running through the hallway's trying to escape the deadly mist, but it just never seems enough, until finally, her lungs giving out, she pushes out one more set of doors before coming across... Him.
It was... Grover... her Kaiser Grover the fifth upon a great throne, the mists flowing from it like water from a broken dam. For a moment, rage fills her body like the poison around her, before Grover speaks, not in one voice, but four. His own, a voice like a king should be, not like how Grover sadly was, a voice fit for any strong warrior and a voice of a motherly griffoness. And they speak as one, "Rise Celeste, rise once again," and the mist dissipated, and with it, her breath for but a moment. It was somehow the greatest feeling of her life and Grover spoke once more, "Know me, Celeste, for I am Boreas, I am Eyr, I am Arcturius, I am Grover, I am all of them, rise Celeste, and become a warrior of not just Arcturius, but Eyr/Boreas/Grover." Despite three voices speaking at once, she understood them easily and without confusion. "You will know me by my sign," they spoke, and slowly raised both claws, placing them flat on his... their? Their chest, making it look like... like a twin-headed eagle. And it would be then that she would wake up.
She hadn't confided this with anyone for obvious reasons, but she was worried not just about her dreams, but also about a sudden... and now that she was thinking about, obviously connected to those dreams, reverence to Grover! As if he actually was... what, possessed by the Gods? She needed some time to relax, and probably get those pills that cause a lack of dreaming, she really needed it.
Suddenly a pair of claws snapped in front of her, snapping her back to reality, "Celeste, are you listening to me?" it's Proteus, "You know, if you're having a problem, you can tell me, Celeste."
"Ah- No Archon, I was just... thinking," Celeste blushed deeply as Proteus sighed before sliding a document to her.
"This needs to be given to Grover, he's in the dining room I think around this time, it's needed for some military meeting but some idiot sent it here instead to Bronzetail. So please send it, unless you wish to stand here and gaze off to space more, my prelate," Proteus is jesting, of course, what with his amused smile, most of the prelates know that even if it's concerning for the Archon to so off-clawingly give off slights.
"Of course, Archon," she answered, taking the documents before leaving without another word.
When Celeste arrives in the dining room it's obvious that dinner is over and both Grovers are about to leave, only to run into Celeste. Celeste is about to say something as she hands over the document to Grover senior, only to pause. Her eyes widen. Grover's eyes are.... different. She's never spent that much time around him before, but she was fairly certain they didn't look that... golden before... golden like... like her dreams. Without thought, she raises one claw to her chest, making it look half like a twin-headed bird. Grover stares in confusion for a moment, but before Celeste is ready to laugh it off as a joke, his eyes suddenly sharpen, and his opposite claw to hers is raised and placed upon his chest, the other part of the bird. Just like her dream. Neither of them moves for a moment, until Grover younger grabs at his father's shirt, asking if they're going or not. Grover senior is suddenly back to normal, his eyes no longer the sheer golden they were before... though traces still remained, and he walked past Celeste, documents in claw.
Celeste stands there for a moment longer as staff leaves the room, leaving her behind. She is dumbfounded until... she falls to the ground in prayer, "Please All-Mighty Gods, please let Thine words and actions truly be being used by mine Kaiser, Grover, fifth of his name, please.... please let it be true..." tears slowly trickle down her face, trickling down to a beak with a wide smile in it.