Son of Talos

Many people held deep-seated stereotypes about Talos. They assumed that as the leader of the Gods of Fury, Talos had to be a raving lunatic who threw a tantrum at the slightest provocation. Even Talos's own followers knew that if they ever failed to summon their courage, they would either be banished into the barren cosmos or dragged straight into his divine realm—the Towers of Ruin. The former was exile, leaving you to fend for yourself, while the latter usually meant Talos intended to vent his fury upon the coward's flesh. For abandoning one's faith only to be hauled into a divine realm was exceptionally rare, which was why Talos was often regarded by other deities as a madman—a mercurial madman who lived only to destroy. In truth, Talos had the temperament of an unruly, spoiled brat. He was short-tempered and volatile, yet in certain ways remarkably naive. His power manifested as cataclysms capable of laying waste to worlds, but it was closer in spirit to a child pouring boiling water down an anthill purely out of mischief. Thus, even though Talos was a formidable deity of the Chaotic Evil alignment, he was distinctly different from the pure depravity of demons. Talos actually had things he appreciated, whereas a demon's sole delight lay in destroying and defiling everything. Lately, Talos had taken a great liking to Ariel. Amidst a horde of dull-witted brutes, a clever person who "understood things" had suddenly appeared, like a rather large white ant popping up in a nest of black ants. What a fascinating little creature. With his spoiled-brat personality, Talos had instantly grown fond of Ariel. She was a delightful toy; if a tempestuous storm could be harnessed by reason to strike enemies with pinpoint precision, how entertaining would that be? And so Ariel had received an extra boon from Talos: an iron hammer infused with the divine power of storms, capable of calling down world-rending lightning with a single strike. Yet that seemed not quite enough. Ariel had grown cautious, and cautious people always preferred to look before they leaped. In Talos's eyes, she was being a bit too prudent. She was not under enough pressure. Talos wanted to witness the courage and intellect that would burst from her when backed into a corner. He wanted to see Ariel become like a hero out of epic poetry. Perhaps he could create a hero himself. This thought had lingered for a long time, but Talos was hardly known for his wisdom, and he genuinely could not come up with any amusing way to give Ariel that push. Until just now, when he heard the prayer of the King of Raging Tide. Within that ruined divine realm, the hundred-meter-tall titan of a deity broke into a grin. With wild frenzy, he sliced open his own arm and molded a man from his divine blood. The man's physique looked as though it had been chiseled by the finest of sculptors, with resolute features, eyes shining like brilliant stars, and long blue-and-white hair. Yet his face was crisscrossed with lightning-shaped scars, making him appear grotesque and terrifying. Talos reached out, caught the hideous man, and proclaimed in a voice of rolling thunder, "I bestow upon you your true name: Aeolus. My blood, my son! I grant you my blessing—so long as the ocean waves never cease, your body shall never perish!" Vivid expression began to animate Aeolus's cold visage. As the man drew his first breath of air, the phantom silhouette of a tsunami surged behind him. As his heart began to beat, boundless magic flowed through his veins. In that single instant, Aeolus broke through into the legendary realm, claiming a divine favor of his own. Yet Aeolus had no time to study his newfound power. Hurriedly kneeling within Talos's colossal palm, he said with deep reverence, "Father, I thank you for granting me life. My will and my very existence shall fight for you." Talos shook his head. "My child, I am not sending you to wage war for me. I am sending you to woo a fascinating mortal." Talos swept a finger, and lightning coalesced into a mirror, upon which Ariel's face appeared. "Aeolus, your task is to take this mortal as your wife. However, you must not do so in my name. That would be far too dull." If Aeolus arrived brandishing Talos's divine decree to seek Ariel's hand, she certainly would not resist. That would turn it into a terribly ordinary god-ordained marriage, which would be utterly boring to Talos. Could an ugly, powerful man of mysterious origins ever win Ariel's heart? To ensure Ariel would not connect him to his own divine power, Talos did not bestow his strongest lightning upon Aeolus; instead, he granted him the power of the sea. The deities of the ocean were no friends of Talos, so Aeolus was bound to face plenty of trouble once he descended into the mortal realm. And to make Ariel despise Aeolus at first sight, Talos had sculpted his son's features into something hideous. That was fine. That was precisely the story he wanted to see unfold. Even a son born of his own blood ought to endure the baptism of the storm before earning the right to stand at his side. "Go, Aeolus. Fulfill your mission, and make Ariel your wife. Remember this above all: this is my trial for you, so no matter what trouble you face, you are forbidden from acting in my name." Aeolus said with utmost respect, "I swear upon my soul, I will accomplish my father's command." "Splendid. Then go, and make this plane a livelier place." Talos gripped Aeolus's body, unleashed a streak of wild lightning from his palm, and hurled him downward. The lightning pierced through space, traversed countless folds of time and space, and finally reached the Prime Material Plane. A waterspout suddenly whipped across the tranquil sea. Dark clouds congested the sky, and a small boat bobbed violently in the gale, on the verge of capsizing. Aboard the small boat, a young orc gripped the hull tightly, straining to steady himself. Watching the waterspout draw closer, the young orc could not help muttering, "Am I really this cursed? Since leaving the mountains, I haven't run into a single stroke of good luck. Ye gods, I'm no longer a slave! Your punishment shouldn't fall upon my head!" Kargor Kluman—that was the name he had only recently reclaimed. An orc slave who, upon gaining his freedom, had left the Orc Kingdom. For the first time, he learned that wretched places called deserts existed in the world, where one could walk for a dozen days without finding a single water source. Having survived by pure luck, he uncovered information about his nemesis and prepared to take to the sea. Kargor Kluman had never seen the ocean; he only knew it was a very, very large lake. So he had gathered a few extra days of rations, taken up the oars, and set out. His luck had been decent at first. Several days at sea had brought no major wind or waves, and the pleasant, sunny weather had led him to believe the ocean was nothing special. At most, it was just bigger. Drift long enough, and you were bound to find land. Yet now, the waterspout had arrived, and with it the storm clouds, giving Kargor Kluman the sensation of being back in the Orc Mountains—his homeland that was perpetually shrouded in thunder, never seeing the sun year-round. Just as the boat was about to be sucked into the funnel, a blinding bolt of lightning tore across the sky. Kargor Kluman had seen countless flashes of lightning in his life, but never one so immense. The bolt shattered the waterspout as effortlessly as a blade cleaving a stalk of wheat. To Kargor Kluman's eyes, that lightning was powerful enough to split a mountain in two. He was surely done for. Who would have thought that after escaping his thunderous homeland, he would still meet his end beneath a bolt of lightning? Kargor Kluman shut his eyes; he was not yet ready to face death. After waiting a moment, however, all he felt was his body soaking in seawater—no sensation of being ripped apart by lightning. When he opened his eyes, the waterspout and thunderclouds had already vanished. The sea was calm once more, as though everything he had just witnessed had been an illusion. No, not an illusion—right before his eyes, some poor wretch had been struck dead by lightning. Kargor Kluman looked toward the naked corpse floating on the water, thinking that perhaps he could switch up his diet today. Rowing his oars over, Kargor Kluman reached out toward the "corpse." To his astonishment, the moment he grabbed the man's arm, the body sprang to life, bounding upright from the sea like a reanimated corpse. The naked man planted his feet upon the surface of the water, standing right before Kargor Kluman. Kargor Kluman could not help asking, "What kind of creature are you?" He had never seen the sea before. Was this an ability unique to oceanic humans? Able to run on water? He certainly wasn't an ordinary human; he looked uglier than a goblin. Aeolus shook his dizzy head. His father Talos was hardly a gentle soul; a bolt of lightning piercing the planar barrier to deposit him in the mortal world carried no small shock, leaving his head swimming even now. Hearing Kargor Kluman's question, Aeolus barked out a harsh rebuke: "Ignorant, insolent mortal! I am Aeolus, the Lord of Storms Talos's—" Dizzy as he was, he nearly slipped up, hastily correcting himself: "I am the most loyal believer of Talos, the Lord of Storms! Mortal, who are you?" Kargor Kluman frowned. "Are you out of your mind?" Kargor Kluman decided against eating this man. Eating someone with a sick head would make him sick too; he would turn into a lunatic. With a sweep of his oars, Kargor Kluman guided his small boat slowly away from Aeolus. No need to waste energy on inedible things. Seeing this, Aeolus hurried forward across the water to cut off the boat, blocking Kargor Kluman's path. "Wait, do not leave just yet. Tell me, where is this place?" Aeolus had only been alive for a few minutes. Though he had been stuffed with some fundamental knowledge, his understanding of this mortal world was pitifully scarce. He didn't even know where he was, so how was he supposed to find the Ariel he was meant to marry? Though the mortal before him was hideous, at least he was capable of communication. He could always punish the fellow for his insolence once he finished questioning him. Kargor Kluman frowned upon hearing this. "You're asking me? Are you blind? This is the ocean!" Aeolus said hastily, "Of course I know it's the ocean! I'm asking where in the ocean! Do you know where Ariel is?" "Ariel? Who's that?" Kargor Kluman asked in bewilderment. "My wife." "You really are sick in the head. She's your wife, and you're asking me where she is?" Kargor Kluman was now certain that this oceanic human had a screw loose. He pulled on the oars once more to leave. This time, however, Aeolus grabbed hold of his boat and demanded again, "Mortal, I will give you only one chance. Tell me where Ariel is!" Kargor Kluman narrowed his eyes, his hand reaching for the scimitar at his waist. Just as tension between the two reached a boiling point, a dark silhouette faintly emerged on the horizon. Kargor Kluman reacted first, pointing into the distance and shouting with excitement, "Land! It's an island!" Aeolus turned his head as well. An island meant people, and people meant he could find Ariel's whereabouts. Yet the moment he turned his head, Kargor Kluman's scimitar flashed with dark light, severing Aeolus's neck. Aeolus's headless body collapsed with a thud, sinking into the ocean alongside his severed head. Without sparing a glance at the oceanic human's corpse, Kargor Kluman dissolved directly into a shadow, slipping into the water and darting toward the island. Shadow Meld could not be maintained indefinitely, but for this distance, it was enough. A few seconds after Kargor Kluman vanished, Aeolus resurfaced, his severed head already completely regrown. As long as the ocean waves never ceased, Aeolus was immortal and undying. When would this boundless sea ever be still? Aeolus was essentially immortal, unless a deity stepped in to strip away his authority of eternal life. Looking at the empty boat with no trace of the orc, Aeolus let out a furious roar. The waves coalesced into a colossal hand, crushing the small boat to splinters. Aeolus resolved then and there: marrying Ariel was only his first task. His second task was to track down that mortal and teach him the true meaning of the storm's fury!