Expanding Influence

On the 7th day of my relative downtime, I began to become tired of something. I was tired of not being worshiped by Htraeans. Sure, I had some worshippers among the humans of this world, but as I began to expand my influence among the people of Silverok I truly thought about my lack of Htraen worshippers for the first time.

While it wasn't something that truly bothered me, it was something that left me annoyed when I thought about it. And now more than ever I had the power to change it. In fact changing it would be easy. Now more than ever I had the ability to spread my worship exceedingly quickly among anyone I wanted to make my worshipers.

The source of my confidence hailed from some of my newer powers, powers that I had over law and over enchantment. Both of them were tremendously powerful spheres of influence whose true power hadn't really begun to manifest until I acquired my second tier of influence over them. They were far from the most powerful abilities I had acquired, but they were still incredible, life-altering powers, and they were perfect for me to utilize to expand my influence.

As midnight rolled around and brought an end to the seventh day during which I was being comparatively inactive, I began to finally move once more, in ways that would spread my devastating influence throughout the world of Htrae.

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One of the aspects of a vastly interconnected world that was the most interesting to me was how important the lives of celebrities were. As a deity with power over all aspects of the arts and technology I received all sorts of notifications about the lives of celebrities on Htrae, as well as elsewhere but Htrae was where I was presently located and was my current focus.

Humans in this world, at least ones that lived in moderately technology-heavy societies, were incredibly fascinated by the lives of those who were richer and better known than themselves. This was most noticeable with people such as actors, especially the sorts that starred in fancy movies. I myself had never seen a "movie" but my powers over knowledge, technology, and the memories I had taken from the Htraeans I had interacted with allowed me to not only know what movies were but also have memories of movies I'd never seen.

Personally, I wasn't super into movies, but I suppose in a fairly peaceful world without magic or monsters movies could be seen as a safe way to experience excitement, danger, adventure, romance, and other things that might be lacking. I couldn't imagine movies ever becoming an especially popular way to kill time in a world like Torus.

That said, despite my feelings towards movies the celebrities they were responsible for creating and uplifting as famous individuals presented me with an easy opportunity. If I gained celebrity worshippers in this world they could easily become leaders who not only indoctrinate their peers but even their fans into my faith. And a handful of my new abilities made it far easier for me to gain worshipers.

For the sake of experimenting with my powers I went ahead and designed a new toy that would serve as a symbol of sorts, the Rainbow Emblem, and gave it a few unusual properties. And then I snuck into the dream of an actor who was a rising star.

[Symbol Table:

Name: The Rainbow Emblem

Description: This is a multicolored symbol in the rough shape of a man. It resembles many different acting awards and is actually based on them. The symbols are mobile, and though their innate form is that of a trophy, they can just as easily attach themselves to clothing and be carried by those who possess them without taking up an entire hand.

Properties:

Obsession: This symbol, taking from the subdomains of corruption and enchantment induces obsession in those who possess one. This obsession isn't instantaneous but it is impossible to resist. Those who possess this symbol will want others to see it and will want to proselytize to them about you.

Blessing: This symbol greatly improves the charisma of those who hold it, whether they were gifted one by you directly or by someone who possesses one. Those who possess one are also able to build them by hand, though the effect on their charisma isn't quite as intense if someone received one created by someone else, unless you consecrate the symbol.

Sentient: These symbols are alive and intelligent. Even ones created by your servants. They even have a goal; to be owned by every moderately famous actor or actress and convert them into Althonians. They themselves are pious worshipers of yours, and seek to ensure that everyone else is as well. They won't interfere with other living beings who worship you, but unless you say otherwise they view everyone who doesn't worship you as an Althonian-to-be and will target them.

Hypnotic: This takes from your power over enchantment. These symbols are hypnotic and can mesmerize those who possess them. They quietly whisper into the minds of those who possess them and don't seek to disrupt their professional lives, but will seek to corrupt their personal lives to some extent.

Channeling: You can channel your powers through these symbols, allowing you to use them to target and direct your abilities. This can allow you to demonstrate your divinity to those who are in the presence of one of your worshipers but aren't actually worshipers of yours yet. You can also speak through the symbol, but you can already speak directly into the minds of every other being if you want too so that's not very necessary.]

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Upon entering the dream of the B-list actor whose mind I had infiltrated I immediately activated a pair of my newer abilities. The powers I activated were entitled "Hypnotic Presence", and "Hypnotic Voice". They were powerful enchantment abilities that turned even extraplanar entities to putty in my hands, causing my very presence and even my voice itself to become potent weapons that could erode wills.

The dream I had infiltrated, one of several I was in concurrently, was taking place inside of a fancy penthouse suite. I found myself sitting on a luxurious couch, and I was shirtless. Behind me the dreamer himself was making himself a drink. I heard his lithe and uncalloused hands lightly touching the glass as he poured himself a scotch. It was as he was pouring the drink that I decided to speak.

"Hello there. Can you make me one too?" I asked, teasingly, my voice catching the man off-guard which only amplified the effects of my new powers. I heard his heart begin to pound in his chest, or at least that's what he dreamed. Physically, or rather in the physical world, he didn't really react to my words.

He stopped moving, and I felt him try to resist. I sensed the struggle he was putting up with every fiber of his being. I chuckled and admired his resistance for a moment, before targeting him with a sloth-based mental attack. I transmitted a spike-like spear of mental sloth and did away with his efforts to resist my voice. I felt his resistance shrivel up and die, and chuckled inwardly.

I almost felt bad for the man. Almost. But I didn't want to spend time dealing with his concerns. Plus I wasn't going to hurt him, nor was I going to do anything bad to the man. All I was doing was making him my worshipper. I wasn't even really planning to lie to him. I was going to tell him the truth, that I was a god and that he was my worshiper.

A few moments after I discarded his resistance to my voice using my powers over sloth the man walked over to me and he brought me my drink. He placed it in front of me quietly, like a waiter serving a glass of water to a couple who were in the middle of a big and dramatic fight.

It was the same sort of scotch he was drinking, which was unsurprising. Nathan was not known for being especially creative, and upon actually examining the man and activating one of my other, newer, knowledge based abilities, I learned that that rumor was accurate.

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Days ago I had given myself an array of new powers. One of them was the ability to read a soul, and in doing so learn every single detail that there was to be learned about lifeforms that weren't extraplanar, vestiges, or other higher-beings. I was annoyed by that limitation, but even just being able to use this power on mortals or undead was a powerful asset in and of itself.

Nathan Pendergrass was the human whose dream I was invading. And I knew everything that there was to know about him. He sat down in front of me and his eyes were wide as he beheld me. In fairness to him I was the embodiment of beauty, a creature whose appearance was so stunning that nothing could behold me and not feel some part of them stir, even if they felt no romantic or sexual attraction to me, I was at least aesthetically pleasing to them.

I studied the man and I took the drink he offered me. Of course me "studying" him was mostly for dramatic effect. He was silent, his facial expression one of awe and delight. My hypnotic abilities were too powerful for him to resist and so he was fully enraptured by my very presence. After a few moments of silence I took it upon myself to speak.

"Hello Nathan." I said, speaking gently. My voice washed over him and I felt him lose more of himself in me. It was amusing to so easily disarm a man. I felt powerful right now, but it was a different sort of power. It was a sort of power that felt intimate. I knew if I wanted too I could simply declare that I was this man's whole reason for existence, and in merely uttering those words I would become what I said I was. It was fun to hold such power, even if I had no reason or desire to use it.

"My name is Althos. And I am your god." I declared, continuing without really skipping a beat. The man in front of me began to smile, which was an amusing reaction. It was at this point that I took a sip of the drink he offered me. It tasted smokey, which was intriguing to a god of fire. I took another sip, and this time I let it linger on my tongue, in my mouth, before I swallowed it.

While I was swallowing the drink Nathan began to speak. At first he spoke excitedly, speaking in a rapid-fire sort of way, asking all manner of questions, but then he got a hold of himself. When he did he took a second to be quiet and then began to speak again.

"Hello Althos. I have... Many questions." The man began. He was not the smartest man, but he possessed a childlike curiosity. One that was quite fascinating. It was indeed why he liked being an actor, it gave him a chance to slip into new lives and to learn new things in each role that he assumed. I was silent in response to his statement, but I gave him an approving look and to the energetic human that was apparently enough.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, apparently quite content to start off with a simple question. I chuckled and replied to the man an instant later.

"Nathan... I know everything there is to know about you. I know your favorite color. I know that the last time you saw your mother you two got into a heated argument. I know that you've always wanted a cat but you were afraid that one day you would forget to feed it. I know that you are afraid that no one will accept the real you. Though you don't need to worry about that anymore. I am here. I accept you." I said, speaking sincerely. Every word I had just spoken was the truth. Nathan's eyes widened as I spoke, as I revealed bits and pieces of his soul.

The man felt naked, but also seen. He felt accepted. He felt loved. My words comforted him and made him feel happy. I felt happy as well, because I could already see this man eating out of the palm of my hand. Him feeling seen was one of the biggest things he needed at the moment. He had a decent standard of living, in terms of economics, but he didn't have the sort of connection he craved. I gave him that. He was going to become an excellent cultist of the arts and of emotion. I knew that too.