POV: The deer that need names.
Date: Mörsugur 16th, 999. (Alt: 29th Dec, 999 AD.) Location: Götaland (Ancient Sweden.)
A few hours had passed after Heath had finished prophesying a potential future. It was a slow process as their newly expanded consciousness returned to an uncomfortable reality.
*Rustling, Bleating and Groaning* Their limbs were heavy, their senses overwhelmed them with colours originally unknown and new knowledge that bore them down from its required processing. Tedious and mind-numbing for the 237 Deer in their respective nesting grounds.
Many tried to stand up unsuccessfully, while others were within their thoughts. They felt the memories that were mostly run through emotion and instinct, it was foreign to their newly developed psyches, much like an adult's remembrance of a baby's thoughts who had little to no form of consciousness. There were no thoughts, only reactions. And it scared them into stillness. All except one. The Doe that had brought Heath to their compound in the first place. She was learning at an alarmingly rapid pace that put the others around to shame.
The other memories, like the language that was implanted within them were being put to good use, quickly understanding its vocabulary, structure and speech patterns. And in thanks to Egill's provision of this knowledge, there was an approximation to its tongue.
"Hae - Hee. . ." It was almost painful hearing her say her first word, the intonation was terrible in that it sounded closer to a cry than a word. This repeated for a few minutes, trying dozens of different starting points, until she finally did it. "Heath. . ." She was able to say the name of their saviour. Though with the long snout, it sounded closer to a dry utterance. It was met with surprising stares by the others, this single name helping a few break out of their collective silence. Some excited to finally being able to communicate with their herd.
The Doe watched them in curious wonder as her rangale continued this process for half an hour. Until they started being able to speak in full sentences. Though much of it was praising Heath for his gift of intelligence towards them. (Of course it is.)
"It would be best for us to meet with our saviour." One of the older deer that Heath had healed comments, the others nod beside him in full respect to the situation. "No, it would be best for us to rest. Which was why he had brought us here. He will come back once he is ready." The Doe comments, knowing enough of his character to see the best course of action. The older deer snorts in dissatisfaction but sees the truth of her opinion. They were caught at an impasse though no tension was rising, knowing it was ultimately useless.
"We will follow her choice on the matter." A confident, rich-inflected voice had spoken from behind the Doe, her mate chose to join in this conversation. Soon coming up as if he was never sick in the first place, his masculine voice giving him attention by the group.
"We would simply be troubling him if we did go. She is right, so we should gather what is necessary for his arrival." The Doe's mate looks around "Any suggestions on what may be best? From my love's understanding, dried grass was not our saviour's preferred food." His leading tone was met with closed eyes from the healed, showing they were thinking about what may be best. "We have seen the mennskr have a drink in the past, with the berries provided, we should learn how to make a beverage." One of the female elders commented.
"Our hooves are dirty and have trodden upon all manner of gods forsaken material! It is best not to." A winny, high-pitched voice came from one of the older calves. Proving a great point, each sees underneath themselves, and one even sniffed at it and gave a gag reflex.
"Rather than a drink, we set up a nice relaxation area, yeah? They wear heavy cloth for a reason, after all." A doe with an almost Scottish accent comments offhandedly, gaining looks from the others. "That may work if our saviour agrees to it." The Doe nods, though it did not solve their issues. "I wish we had some hands." The calf that commented beforehand whines and stomps his front legs. They silently judge the young calf's overreaction but hear his words in self-reflection. 'We do need hands.' Many of them think at the same time.
"Let us hope that the three mennskr who were part of a hunting party would not be seen." The Eirikr-like deer from a previous page comments gruffly, eyes furrowed in a frown-like expression. It remains unsaid, but many of them were killed or hunted for their meat.
All stay still for the dead for a moment, then return to the conversation. They may not voice it either, but having their saviour help those who once aimed towards their family? Very dithering. "They did not know better, we were once common creatures. We ate birds, lizards, and snakes when we craved meat. If they suddenly became as intelligent as us, they would have the same dilemmas against us as we do to them now. As long as they stop, I believe it can be rectified." The Doe voices a reasonable, positive outlook on the situation.
"You were not one of them, being hunted." The Eirikr-like one says snidely, soon staring with melancholy towards the centre of the forest, where their original compound, or more to the direction where the bones and corpses were once kept. He closes his eyes, thinking.
"It is only fair if we punish the hunters." A mutterance that caused a stir in a few of the deer nearby, who thought of the same thing but did not voice. Those who did and those who did not wish for this began staring at each other, creating a standoff that was quelled just as quickly in thanks to their non-confrontational instincts. "What if Heath can solve this issue?" One of the deer in the background says aloud, and everyone who heard turns to him simultaneously and judges him quite visibly from their body language.
One of the elderly deer speaks on the group's behalf. "We cannot. He already gave us new life. If we ask for more, that would be us being greedy." But the deer stood his ground, trying to appear confident. A moment passes, and he breathes heavier, but he does not back down.
"I see." The elderly deer nods to him, then looks around. "Does anyone else agree?" From that question, an immediate jump by the younger calves who, while impulsive, understood this situation requires Heath, the older ones finally accept this outcome begrudgingly.
Now, there are different matters to be solved. In their own opinion, they could not simply ask Heath without compensating him for his work. Though they are stuck on what to do. "Should we do a tributary gift? Ask him to return to our grounds? Or something else?" The Doe's prospective answer was met with agreement on both terms, and for something else? They will send one of their own out through the portal, as they understood that it was based on thought. As long as they think of being near Heath, they would definitively reach him.
"I vote for my mate to go through the portal." The Doe's mate comments on her behalf, his commanding setup gaining sway over a few. "I believe it would be best for her sister to go." One of the elderly doe comments about an otherwise unspoken character.
The Doe's sister has a greater focus on communication, while the Doe herself is an all-rounder. There were a few other candidates, but they did not gain as much traction in part of their lesser popularity. There was a close to even split between the two until it began moving towards the sister. With her major goal being an ambassador and communicator about the dead deer from the past and to manoeuvre around the Völsung Clan. So, she now carries herself a greater purpose, and they say their goodbyes before moving towards the north.
"I will see you soon, sister." The Doe says affectionately, she moves in to rub her nasal and forehead scent glands as a reminder of familial bonding that they had chosen to be in. While quiet, her sister obliges and rubs her own onto her. "You will." She whispered an agreement.
She has a final meal before this frontier, a large tray of berries with a side of dried grass. Simple and nutritious. After this occured, she moved through the portal as she remembered she had done in the past. 'Closest to Heath.' The Doe's sister thought to herself.
She closes her eyes to reduce the vertigo while portaling through, though it barely helps. She starts losing her balance and is now falling onto the smooth concrete below. A loud *THUNK* is heard, reverberating throughout the portal room, with her lying still.
A few seconds pass before she gets back up in embarrassment. *Eugh* 'I am lucky no one saw me.' She dusts herself off by shaking her fur, then walks around the room, a lens of a new future that she could never have guessed in front of her.
High walls made of stone-like materials that she could intrinsically feel were concrete. A series of portals that absorb the ambient magic in such amounts that it could be physically noticed around her or condensed enough to form small wisps. She saw a large slab of metal with rivets within and a handle for people not like her, she tried to push open the door but it was locked. So in the situation she was in, she tried to do what she could best. MAKING NOISE! *BANG BANG CLANG BANG* Her hoof struck the door in bursting echoes.
The noise went through the hallways like charging phantoms, catching the attention of the group. Heath scanned ahead, knowing that the Dökkálfar would not resort to such simple means for gaining attention. "Gorm." He says in full, allowing everyone to hear.
Gorm gave him his full attention. "I believe this is an ambassador for the deer I newly ascended, it would be best if we are at our best behaviour." Heath then puts down his glass of whiskey and cleans any residue and breath left with his magic. They agree and put down their drinks too. Leif and Sigrid do the same, though they appear confused as they were not included in these conversations. "You made deer intelligent? Do we not eat them?" Leif asked, knowing it would be awkward as he had deer stew a few weeks ago.
"I saw they had potential, and while they may have qualms with those who hunted or ate them, this can be mended with my partial intervention." Heath comforted him and patted him. "Trust me." He says with as much confidence in his tone that he can muster.
". . . Alright. Lead the way." Gorm says, trusting his decision. They walk in front of the door where the Doe's sister was, and they see her. 6.51990965626 Model meters (2.1703-m (7 foot 1.4.)) Incredibly tall for her species before magic adaptation, she towered over normal people like Gorm, Leif or Sigrid. Her darkened fur from the winter's chill gave her a regal look that they had not seen before. Its eyes showed clarity that would only be matched by a mennskr. And all of that intelligence was focused on Heath, looking fully starstruck.
The Doe's sister remembered that Heath was not the group's leader, then turned to Gorm with shyness, which mennskr could not read thanks to her being a different species. She lowers her front left knee to bow towards him respectfully.
"Thank you for waiting, it has been a long journey. I have come to greet the Völsung in behalf of my people. I am the sister of the Doe that brought you there, Heath." She forces her voice to be in a normal tonal range that if it was in the modern world, it would be a 'customer service' quality. "I could see the resemblance, it is nice to meet you. I remember healing you while you were sick. How is your chest now?" Heath asks concerned, in case he missed any potential pain she was in. "No, it was perfect." She says with a warm feeling in her chest.
'He remembered me?' She internally acted like a fan girl, though on the outside she stayed calm and collected. Sad for her that he remembers every face or unique soul signature thanks to his photographic memory, the thought still counts however.
"Clan Leader, I have come to ask for our deceased's bones to be given a proper ceremony." The Doe's sister asks, hopeful. Though Gorm's face stayed still and his body language was stiff, knowing that they had used many of the said bones in their stews. However, Heath luckily came to rescue the situation. "The bones could not be found after moving to the Cavern. However, I have a way to bring back your dead without the bones, and make them like you are now." He continued, now noticing a widening of the Doe's sister's eyes.
"YOU CAN BRING THEM BACK!?" She asks in a full shout. "Sorry, I did not mean to be so loud. But how can you do such a miracle?" She asks in an innocent pry. "I will be back." Heath flies off for a few Model minutes, then comes back with Agnarr in tow.
"This is Agnarr, Hervor's husband. Whose bones were left buried but was instead brought back as a pure copper being." He introduced him with pride in his voice, obvious that the new body he created, while awkward to make at first, was in the end a great product for Agnarr's soul to comfortably reside in. The Doe's sister wanders around Agnarr in astonishment, even testing his leg with a hoof, hearing the thick yet still hollow metallic *Ting Ting Ting.* She walked back to Heath, then suddenly kneeled to his surprise.
'Not this again. . .' Heath says, groaning internally. Heath lifted her up easily from the front. "I am not a man who is into kneeling. Please, stay up." Heath says, where even if he did not understand a deer's body language or facial features, he could tell she felt reverence.
"But you control life and death. How can I not?" The Doe's sister says, and those behind Heath also nod, as they felt the same when they saw Agnarr alive, in a sense. "I do not control it, I work behind the view of Hel and hide their fate after one dies by bringing back the four pieces of the soul that are forcefully separated and unified again." Heath suddenly thought of an issue that may arise. "If Hel notices that the souls of the soon-to-be dead not arriving. . ." He fades in colour, thinking of the potential wrath of the Goddess of Helheimr.
He refocuses, trying to hide his sudden change in expression, though everyone easily notices his sudden shift of aura. "What is wrong?" Gorm asks, hearing his murmur. He could guess what the issue may be. Heath comes up with a potentially dangerous idea.
"I may need to create a soul-mimic with as many identical properties as I can muster of every person originally destined to die. Otherwise, I may have the ire of the gods that reside over life and death of this pantheon." Heath says tiredly, though he gives a forced characteristic smile towards them to show confidence. "I will figure it out." He hits his chest, creating a resounding *Thud* that sounds like a war drum, the cloth creating a soft aftereffect. But under all that bluster, they could feel his rising stress about the situation.
"We would have helped if we knew the process. We are sorry, Heath." Leif comments, nodding in solace. "What are you apologising for? I was the one who created the method, of course I will figure the rest." Heath chuffs gently, then gazes back to the Doe's sister.
"Do you have a name?" He asks, knowing she has never said it before. "Our people do not. We do not know what would be best." She says wistfully. "Go back to your people and tell them of what I told you what I can do, and also ask them if it would be fine for me to give them their names. I made them as they are now, after all." Heath says with genuine warmth to it. "You would do that?" The Doe's sister now feels so excited that her short tail wags quite strongly. "Of course!" He commits those words by holding his hand to his heart, which she understood the gesture and internally jumped for joy.
"I will go now and ask them." The Doe's sister looks towards the three others and respectfully nods to them. "Thank you for your time. And may you all have a blessed day." They nod back and she walks off into the room and through the portal again.
Leif playfully punches Heath, showing his growing care for the gentle giant. He is grateful for the many things accomplished. And while Heath has commented that he will seek payment later, he knows it is a lie. He understands now why his father had said he was too innocent. 'Loyal to a fault.' Leif thinks to himself before Heath asks a decisive question. "Do you wish to use Den höga ormtungan now that it is complete? The flight inauguration will look beautiful when you are near the top of the skyline in the towers." But Heath hides something.
He is planning to coordinate with the workers to do air patterns with music, then launch fireworks into the air after the show! They will have quite beautiful colours as well, now that he has an (elemental farm.) They feel his mischievousness, but they do not ask him about it.
They imagine how it would appear within either of the two towers, wondering how it would appear at such a tall height. They have never been above the clouds before, after all. Even if they were artificially made due to the rains on the farm. "How about I show you now?" Heath asks with a smirk, as there are already portals set up to these destinations. "Alright, alright." Leif says aloud, and Gorm and Sigrid smile and nod. "It will be interesting. I only flew below the clouds with the hoverboard beforehand." Gorm tells of his past experiences.
"And we had heard how you were faster than a blink. That was dangerous, was it not?" Leif shot back. Sigrid now looked away, as not to appear awkward in this situation. "I was alright, Heath was there to help." Gorm, being comfortable, allowed for some banter.
They laugh at the end and saunter towards the portal, then travel to the top of the left tower facing north. "Why is this room so large?" Sigrid asks, seeing that it was not held up by pillars or walls, only showing on every end the windows that had a grand view. "How else could we fit over 1,000 people?" Heath asks what he feels is the obvious. "Now I need to build the furniture. . ." He mutters to himself, thinking about what would be best for this scenario. The group walk off while he does this towards the northeast windows, and down they look.
They saw the sun, bright and glaring as if it were still midday from how high it was above the ground. The clouds diffused the light and created a light-show they had not seen anything close to, with the best comparison being the light along a foamy ocean's waves.
And how beautiful it was to them. While for a modern person it would be a common sight, to them it was truly magical. "So this is how it feels to be above the world. . ." Which was ironic, being that they were still underground. But Heath thought it better than to say anything, thus ruining the moment. So to not be bored, he warps in enough materials like spruce wood, stone and metals to mould as furniture for a minimum of 2,000 seats, 1,000 tables, 500 rolling tables for transporting food and drinks, 10 long carpets that fit under 10 tables each,
50 hanging TVs, 10 cameras and 5 servers to allow for multiple angles and viewing areas for people sitting down away from the windows. To increase magic efficiency, he had designed the TVs and cameras fully electronically, all knowledge gained through a runic injector.[1]
'And I should redesign the golems now to be hybrid, as I talked about it quite a while ago.' He puts it down to be done during the night. Lastly, Heath added to his intent that it is to be a self-sustaining power generation, and for the connection to work instantaneously in any amount of space through the usage of micro-portal magic. Useful not just for faster-than-light communication but also for easier development. Additionally, rather than using a more complicated runic combination, he only needed a self-repair function for the furniture.[2]
He hides the copper that keeps the runic scripts that were shown beforehand below the gold plating that makes the furniture and tables, and the wood used a beeswax coating, making them appear fanciful and striking, as if they were in a royal palace.
He did the first template of the furniture, then replicated it by using up all the leftover material. Creating everything in under a few minutes. He now transports everything to their needed areas, and places the TVs through a hanging stand by the middle of the room in a square-like formation, their incredibly large screens glinting against the room's light. They are about the size of a 175" curved screen Ultra HD, meaning one could see the flight around the tower as if they were truly there. "The wonders of technology and magic." Heath muses.
Heath looks back to the group, then thinks of bringing the others around as well. So he goes through the portal to ask for Agnarr, Asdos, Egill, Eirikr, Hervor and Valyria (Which they had taken under 'supervision' while Heath was busy.) They were quite excited, to be honest!
And they also had that same reaction as Gorm, Leif and Sigrid, exceptional wonderment. Both with the view, then all of them saw the furniture as well. And their reaction was unexpected. "This is too over the top. Your furniture is gaudy with all of that gold on it." Hervor says, knocking on the hardened gold plating. "It is lovely and of high quality, though." Agnarr says, so as not to hurt Heath's feelings. "You are made of copper, of course you would like metallic fitments." Hervor jounces back with an exasperated, yet light tone.
Hervor and Agnarr stare at each other for a moment after this reaction. Then laugh with each other. They hold hands and walk off to sit down near the middle, seeing Heath's explanation of the TV screen, cameras working, and them seeing the sky through it in all its splendour.
"This was normal in his realm?" Hervor asks, befuddled. "Seems so, love." Agnarr says, kissing each other with soft pecks onto their faces, then both stare back at the TV.
[1] ᛉ (Protection / Shield / Elk,) ᛇ (Yggdrasil / Yew Tree / Dream Rune,) ᚱ (Horse / Ride / Journey / Thor Rune,) ᛟ (Heritage / Estate Rune,) ᚾ (Need / Hardship Rune,) ᛗ (Man / Human / Self Rune,) ᚠ (Cattle / Livestock / Wealth Rune,) ᛖ (Horse / Twin Forces Rune,) and ᚨ (Odin / Inspiration / Wisdom Rune.)
[2] ᛟ (Heritage / Estate Rune,) ᚾ (Need / Hardship Rune,) ᛃ (Year / Harvest / Earth Rune) and ᚷ (Generosity / Gift / Spear Rune.)
To self-repair and an additional function that if one was damaged beyond repair, one could manually duplicate another instead.