Three Goddesses

## [source]

The **Three Goddesses** is the trio of the once the weakest group of deities from Faelor's Pantheon. They were on the brink of losing their godhood before they had allied themselves to Richard.

It was rare for deities to enter their peers’ kingdoms no matter how close they were, but Richard had catalysed the relationship of these three into something far more stable than a mere alliance.

## Three Goddesses

### Goddess of Forest

Divine force surged nearby and revealed a stunning woman in long green robes with golden eyes and a divine mark between her brows. This was the Goddess of the Forest, but all Richard could see with the Field of Truth active was an enormous ball of divine force.

### **Goddess of Hunt**

She suggested killing Richard before he had the chance to break the oath that they swore not to turn against one another. But was quickly shot down out of fear.

### **Goddess of the Spring Water**

Strongest of the three with divinity at the intermediate grade.

## Plot

The three are amongst the weakest of gods in Faelor. They decide to support an invader, Richard, in return for him growing ther faith in his lands.

Due to Richard's schemes, they became tied to Richard and his cause, especially after the war with Raymond Joseph. This one war had greatly changed their fates, saving the Goddess of the Hunt and the Goddess of the Forest from falling while the Goddess of Spring Water leapt up to become an intermediate god.

The Goddess of Spring Water even called down a miracle, allowing most worshippers who attended the coronation to listen to her oracle appointing Faylen as the pope. She also announced the creation of a central church at Bluewater.

Faylen instantly leapt up to level 15, while Fermi and Shea achieved level 13 and status second only to their popes. This was a huge improvement that reflected the difficult position of the three goddesses. Most popes in Faelor were level 18, some even approaching level 20 as well. And yet, the pope of the Goddess of Spring Water was only level 15 and those of the other two were only level 14.

The three goddesses had already become a powerful force that was developing quickly in the Bloodstained Lands. Although individually still weak, together they had shunned off the moniker of trash gods they used to be labelled with.

### **5 Years Later**

6;9 The three goddesses were thriving as well, their rate of expansion surprising even when considering all history. Only the greater gods could have such momentum. The Goddesses of the Forest and the Hunt were on the verge of becoming intermediate gods, while the Goddess of Spring Water had already made it to that level. They had more than 100,000 strong believers combined, with many times that number in casual worshippers.

Multiple times over this expedition the priestesses of the three goddesses had tried to seduce him, and even before that a large number of beautiful young girls had been gathered in Bluewater for the same purpose. He had also been informed that the goddesses themselves could descend for a night of pleasure with him if he asked.

The only reason Flowsand hadn’t pushed him on the issue was that the three goddesses were the core to their disguise as Faelorians. Although she wasn’t exactly happy that people were constantly trying to seduce him, she wouldn’t push out such allies.

The Highland Wargod hadn’t been much better off than the goddesses when they first came to Richard. His best path would have been to affix himself to Richard like them, but he had hesitated over the opportunity and missed it forever. Now, it was too late; Richard had chosen to use him as an example for all of Faelor’s gods. 6;27

### **Legendary**

The three goddesses were currently going all out in their divine battle with Runai, mainly because of the sheer number of legends and even two epic beings in Dragon Valley. From Faelor’s point of view, Richard had already reached the pinnacle of strength. Even the gods could not send avatars of equivalent strength down to the mortal world.

Richard’s gaze swept past the clerics and he suddenly understood what they were thinking. Their priestesses had always been trying to tempt him, but he’d shown no inclination towards them whatsoever. They had likely thought his tastes were rather eclectic, sending out two men who were no less beautiful than the women.

As always, he just couldn’t comprehend their obsession with sex.

### **Entering the Divine Kingdom**

When the lines of magic light dissipated, Richard found himself faced with a scenery that was rather strange. He was on a mountain forest, and in the distance he could see the greenery topped with clumps of red and yellow trees that dyed the world in a sea of brilliant colours. The sky was light blue with ribbons of all colours floating around it, illuminating the equally-colourful ground below.

However, before he had the chance to examine the beauty before him, his body lurched forward and he nearly lost balance. It suddenly felt like several tonnes of rocks had been placed on his back, a scorching pain running throughout his body as though he had been immersed in acid. He cast Thunder Fort immediately with a thought, the grade 8 spell barely managing to neutralise the discomfort.

During the process, he discovered something rather interesting. Within the laws of the divine kingdom, there seemed to be no difference between different types of defences. So long as one’s barrier was of a certain level, be if physical or magical, regardless of the element, it would work.

They grew fearful of Richard after slowly wilting down on Runai's divine power, forcing the fight a century forward. The Goddess of the Hunt continued to watch until he fell asleep, “Don’t you feel he’s becoming more terrifying? Those swords of his can harm our bodies! What if… and I mean, what if… he’s training in a way for mortals to kill gods?”

The Goddess of the Forest was shocked, “You’re saying he doesn’t just want Faelor, but… us?” They had been inconsequential when Sharon first entered Faelor, and with the Goddess of Spring Water now an intermediate deity while they were on the verge, they understood just how terrifying she was. Was this a powerhouse from a primary plane? Someone who could wipe them out herself? It wasn’t surprising that nobody had questioned her when she was heading to Dragon Valley. She had severely injured many powerful deities like Cerces and Lutheris, but in merely thirty years she had clearly recovered while Faelor was still struggling to recuperate.

It was obvious that this Sharon wasn’t just a special exception either. The appearance of the one known as the Celestial Sage had completely shattered their delusions; clearly, Norland didn’t just have a single powerhouse at that level.

With time, they become rather powerful and fearful of Richard. After seeing the divinity eating drones during the divine war against Runai, they become fearful and defensive against Richard. Hunt goddess and Spring Water goddess go against his commands to become more powerful, so that they can stand against him. Forest goddess is hesitant, but get pulled with the flow.

### **Aftermath**

All the way above Faelor, the divine kingdoms of the three goddesses were slowly heading south, carrying Runai’s fallen kingdom between them. The land was crumbling apart without its barrier, but a shield of light kept the damage from being too severe while the three divine kingdoms slowly absorbed whatever did dislodge. The land all around still carried traces of Runai’s control, so it would take time for the goddesses to assimilate all of it.

An inexplicable emotion was flickering in the eyes of the three goddesses as they stared at Runai’s divine kingdom from upon their thrones. Their current means of dividing up the kingdom was almost stupidly slow and ineffective, and given their status it would make much more sense for them to focus on strengthening their faith in the mortal world, but only decades ago they had been on the verge of falling and were unable to respond to the prayers of their priests. This was an extremely long time for humans, but for beings like them it was only a short chapter that had changed their lives entirely. Still able to remember the traumatic experience of their kingdoms on the verge of collapse, they just couldn’t bring themselves to give up on Runai’s.

They become antagonistic against Richard, going against his orders to kill Runai's remaining servitors. The Goddess of the Hunt sneered, “He’s only a mortal, even if he came from a powerful plane. How could he compare to us? Those who worship us have nothing to do with him. Have you forgotten all the times he’s disrespected us throughout these years? Now, he doesn’t even bother treating us as allies; he just orders us through our priests!”

### **Reapers Descend**

“You three have been working for me for a while now, I can give you a chance. Transfer to another of my planes, that should let you survive. You’ll have to give up all divinity, and you’ll lose your eternal life, but you can start again as legends and try to light your godsparks there.”

The three goddesses stared at each other in dismay. This choice was both simple and difficult at the same time, the crux of the matter being how powerful these enemies Richard spoke of really were. If what he said was true, then they would leave their divinity behind immediately; who cared for eternal life when it would be snuffed out in a few days? They would do anything to avoid the pure agony experienced when one fell from divinity, a pain of the soul that far surpassed any mortal death.

## References

1. ↑ Book 8 Chapter 47
2. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 15
3. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 16
4. ↑ Book 8 Chapter 47
5. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 47
6. ↑ Book 9, Chapter 26