Of Gods and Tragedy

I am a little calmer now.
I am.
I will be.
 
...
 
How can a day be both the best day of your life and absolutely horrible at the same time?
 
...
 
Alright. So. I will write this now. We made it down to the level below, though I honestly cannot remember what level we are on right now. It's not important. Well, it is, but somehow I just don't care right now? There are other, more important things to process.
 
After fighting some statues-come-alive and tossing Ganoes into some disgusting green jelly (I'm sorry, and also, it was his idea! ...I just didn't execute it very well.) we found a mostly clear pool of water. Finally! Some nice, unoccupied water with a few fish and space enough to swim! So, obviously, I stuck my hand in it. I mean, wouldn't anyone? It's been a dreary lack of large bodies of water down here, and I still kind of smell like burnt fish, so I would very much like to take a swim if possible.
 
What I didn't really expect (though I should really know better) was for the water to talk to me. "There's been a long time since anyone's been down here," it said in a somewhat female voice. And so it proceeded to invade my mind, and we had a nice conversation in Primordial.
 
The voice belonged to a being that introduced themselves (herself?) as Herreshura, God of the Crushing Waves and Raging Storms or some such. I probably used the wrong words and capital letters there, but that's the gist of it. They've been down here for 'a dragon's lifetime' (1000-3000 years, which when you think about it is pretty unspecific), and was expecting us to be minions of Ashura's come to off them once and for all. Thank Caba we weren't, then! I would not fancy a battle with a God, however reduced they might appear.
 
Damn, I notice that I haven't really been writing with the proper respect a deity deserves. I'll be better, I promise. I'm just a little out of it right now. Forgive me, Caba, Herreshura.
 
As reduced as they were, Herreshura did seem to have enough power to keep both the demon ant and a centipede (? I don't think we've seen this, but she mentioned it. We should keep an eye out.) at bay, protecting us while we were there. Thank you. They also asked for our help; In order to regain some of their lost strenght they needed worshippers and shrines, and asked us to spread the word of them in return for them telling us all they knew. That sounds reasonable to me - Caba will always be my God first and foremost, but Caba's might will not be diminished simply because Herreshura is no longer dying. And if as simple a thing as telling people of them can help them heal, then can we really say no in good conscience?
 
So I agreed to their deal, and they asked for a little of my energy to be able to talk to the rest of the group. I did not really understand all they told us, and I will not ponder it now. But I will write it down while I still remember some of it, so that I have the option to ponder it later, at least.
 
We asked about the Numbers of Heaven, and while not given an entirely clear answer we were told that the Numbers themselves were not a weapon. They were more like a code to activate the weapon, or perhaps a code to enter the Vault of Heaven that they also mentioned? I cannot recall what they said about this, only that it was not power we should mess around with. They also told us of the God called Ashura, which elves in another country worship. Ashura has apparently given out a bounty of immortality to whoever can wipe out a million souls. What a horrible thing to give out a bounty for! Ashura is apparently also the God keeping the Great Mirror from crashing down on our world, and the God who wants this world for themselves the most fervently. I am unsure of what the Great Mirror is, but I think Herreshura mentioned that it is the sound my Toll of the Dead makes?
 
It doesn't really sound like anything I would like to be involved in.
 
Another thing I would really rather not be involved in is this feud between Herreshura and whoever resides within Ganoes. Well, I suppose we have a name for him now; Ruthbrak, the storm tyrant. He apparently tried to bring Herreshura into the world as his pawn, and they are still angry at him. They describe him as 'an archmage at best', and tells us that he gave himself the name of 'storm tyrant'. Pretty sad, really.
 
And then he ran off. Kez is gone, and Ganoes says that he can no longer feel Ruthbrak inside his mind. I think Herreshura might have scared him off. To be honest this relieves me a little; Ganoes has worried me, and I was very uncomfortable with something unknown residing in his mind.