Hierarchy 2

"Before we get started I wanted to ask if this place is always so empty."

Upon sitting down, Don spat out the question that had been gnawing him for a while. Despite how much space there was to eat, he never really saw anybody else.

"Does everybody eat elsewhere?"

"My orders. I have informed them of the times we are to eat and requested that they be absent. They eat here, there is no other kitchen, but they are not here in the interests of privacy." The Captain cut off a slice of a vegetable before dipping it in a sauce. Despite its close appearance to celery, it was not nearly as fibrous.

"Is that necessary?" Don followed suit, keeping an eye on his form to avoid admonishment. "They can't understand us can they?"

"They can't understand YOU. They can hear what we say perfectly fine." The Captain put the food into his mouth, chewed to completion, and swallowed before continuing. "I can guarantee that my established crewmembers will uphold the desired level of secrecy, but I cannot say the same of the cadets. Many of them belong to the families of mid to high ranking nobles with strong ties to the Sanctum, but are ultimately a part of an external nation."

"Gotcha." Don too put the crudely cut veggie in his mouth. As this was a new taste to him, he let it sit for a little longer than the Captain before swallowing. "So anyway, back to that whole thing about gods and whatnot . . . hold on a moment."

There was a sensation growing in his mouth down the back of his throat, a hot one.

*cough cough* "Hooooooly shit that's spicy." Don started beating his sternum in a coughing fit. "What was that thing called?"

The Scholar gave an immediate answer. "I think they are called Fire Stalks."

"Remind me to never eat one of those again." He started stuffing bread into his mouth and drinking the provided beverage. It might not have been the hottest food he had ever eaten, but he didn't describe his capsaicin tolerance as high in the first place.

"I think you would have been fine if you swallowed it immediately after chewing Don." Diana barely experienced any burning at all. If anything, the slight sensation enhanced the flavor of the sauce that much more.

"Maybe. *cough* Maybe. Could we get back on topic?" Donovan would follow her advice and not let it saturate his mouth in the future.

"Right, Gods." The Scholar had focused on eating so that he would be able to give the long and short uninterrupted. "The first thing I feel you should know is that my knowledge about them is incomplete, everyone's is for that matter. Beyond their physical capabilities, appearances, and personalities they are complete enigmas, but what I know is enough.

The second thing you should know is that they are not monolithic, in any way. Be it politically, economically, militarily, culturally, or territorially, there are always a few at each others' throats. This lack of uniformity also extends to their nature, character, and power. What appeals to one may anger another, so try to research what they are like beforehand should you ever have the knowledge that you will indeed be meeting one."

"I would like to build off of that and say that a respectful air will pretty much always avoid their ire." The Captain wanted to guarantee they knew how to act around gods. "The vast majority consider themselves above a minor inconvenience or two, what with their longevity. It's no excuse to wantonly anger them of course, but so long as your offense isn't too egregious chances are they will just blow it off as a misunderstandings. Understand that there are exceptions to this as well, as the Scholar said they are about as differed as they come."

The Scholar nodded. "The only thing they have in common is the fact they are all powerful, especially when using split. As I mentioned to Diana earlier, they are also long lived, but the degree of longevity seems to vary drastically. Despite this, nobody really understands how they come about, not even the gods themselves."

Diana recoiled from that information. "What do you mean they don't know how they came to be?"

"Exactly as I said, they have no idea how it happens. Some had previous lives as regular people, and it just kind of happened. Others appeared with absolutely no clue how. A few were born from regular people as gods, some born from other gods as gods, but the offspring of two gods is not necessarily going to be a god."

The Scholar could only shrug at this intellectual deficiency. As much as he wanted to be the reservoir of knowledge the two of them needed, some subjects were beyond him. Gods were a subject beyond everyone.

"How they came about isn't important. What is absolutely vital to understand is their position in society. I discussed this with Diana earlier, but there are a slew of noble ranks and Gods are Ducal at minimum."

"Ducal?"

"One of the feudal ranks. Second level of authority from the throne at maximum. I'll get you up to speed on those soon, but for now we need to prepare you for your meeting with one of these gods."

"The Arboreal Maiden has contacted us and expressed her intent to meet you two. For a god she is uncharacteristically reserved, so you would probably be fine if you didn't learn the customs governing greeting her, but that would reflect poorly on our capabilities." The Captain gave them the name of the god they would have the pleasure of meeting. "We also need to start teaching you the proper ceremonies for an audience with the Great Csillacra, they are very different from those needed for people."

The Captain returned to eating his meal after that statement, finishing off the fire stalks before moving on to a crispy meat. This external charring appeared to have been an intentional act, the blackened bits softening greatly when dipped into a separate liquid. Don wondered if this was a function of the steak or the soup.