The Blood Gods(Closed&U/C)

[TheWorldIsNotOurHome]

History

The oldest records of mythology date back to the dawn of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamia. It was told that the gods created man to worship and serve as well as plough and work the fields. These gods were hungry for blood sacrifices and often laid waste to humans’ cities over simple quarrels. They required huge temples be built and for them to be full of priests and priestesses to serve and worship. What many did not know is that these were no gods at all, they were simply a far older and more powerful species than humans and knew how to manipulate humans to feed from their worship and blood. The two most notorious of the goddesses were Ishtar and Ereshkigal two sisters that were conflicted with each other, and jealous.

Ereshkigal was once a sky goddess kidnapped by a dragon and made his Queen of the underworld, an intricate system of caverns underneath the Earth’s crust hidden by magic where many restless souls and evil beasts wander. Unhappy, and hungry for power, she eventually killed her husband and consumed his flesh to absorb his mana and great power. She then bred with a major demon, resulting in the birth of Queen Mephista. What modern humans call vampires are her descendants hungry for pain and blood.

Ishtar was the goddess of storms and love and was in many ways the opposite of her sister. Through her intense compassion for humans and connection with nature’s energies she discovered the Vale of Shadows. She alone had the power to tap into this source of mana without leaving Earth and she shared this knowledge with her family so they no longer had to raise temples and feed off the people’s energy through worship. They instead entered this alternate universe and have remained ever since.

Ishtar was the goddess of storms and love and was in many ways the opposite of her sister. Through her intense compassion for humans and connection with nature’s energies she discovered the Vale of Shadows. She alone had the power to tap into this source of energy without leaving Earth and she shared this knowledge with her family so they no longer had to raise temples and feed off the people’s energy through worship. They instead entered this alternate universe and have remained ever since.

After Ereshkigal murdered her husband and consumed his power Ishtar began to worry about Ereshkigal’s ambitions. In an attempt to overthrow her sister, Ishtar traveled through the seven gates of the Underworld but was thwarted by Ereshkigal’s demons and imprisoned. Though Ishtar had been captured, Ereshkigal could not kill her sister for she left her body in the Vale and had traveled in her astral form. Enraged Ereshkigal told her sister she would remain until she found a proper replacement. Ishtar then, with help from her human priests and priestesses of the temple, spied her husband, Dumuzi, was not mourning her supposed death and chose him to take her place. Since Dumuzi was also their brother Ereshkigal accepted the trade and turned him into a lizard like creature that she uses as her tracker. Ishtar, knowing her sister would eventually want her power, used mana from the Vale so she could mate with a human so she alone did not hold the power in its entirety. Since women already had the power of creation she gave her daughters the ability to tap into the Vale as she did, but to her sons she granted limited access but increased strength to protect their female counterparts. She then disappeared in the Vale of Shadows to protect the sacred mana herself. Ereshkigal soon followed leaving the Underworld to her daughter Queen Mephista.

Currently

With the gods out of the picture humans were left to do as they pleased. Silently, Queen Mephista was breeding a vampire demon army under the Earth’s crust, and Ishtar’s children were left to prosper. For a while, there were many “witches” living happily among humans until Mephista began slaughtering them all. This started the famous witch hunts of medieval times, and soon the witch population was reduced to a small handful. Feeling the great power, they now had the remaining coven cast a spell so their children could live 18 years without being tracked by Dumuzi, and hoped that was enough time to teach them all they needed to know of the power of Ishtar which flowed in their veins. Still many were found by Dumuzi and consumed by Mephista until a single couple survived. The two realized their power was greater than ever before so they kept the secrets of their heritage but renounced their magic so they could blend in. The great power gave them long life but once their two children were born they felt a pull from the Vale and knew they had little time to prepare them for their destiny.

 

[TheWorldIsNotOurHome]

Tara

Tara.Tara.Tara.[URL="http://i.imgur.com/RqpXEeP.png?1]Tara[/URL]​

http://i.imgur.com/nLgp36x.png​

The light was always just out of her reach. It was right there, seemingly feet in front of her but with every step the air felt thicker and she was tiring quickly. Soon, the air was so thick she had to crawl on her hands and knees feeling her way across the soft, uneven ground. There were shadows surrounding her, trying to lead her astray, whispering her name, telling her to give up, but she knew better. The light was the answer, a blue and purple streak amidst the darkness refracting dancing waves of energy as if a stone had just been dropped into a still pond. Struggling against the urge to give up, Tara gritted her teeth and crawled further but was suddenly looking down from a cliff. She could now see movement near the light. There was a battle taking place in a small valley below her, or two masses seemingly battering against each other, it was hard to see clearly through the thick, acrid air, but she felt a desire to reach the light, but could not see a way to get their unnoticed. Then, a familiar face flashed at her from below… “Mother?” She gasped, her mother and father had been dead for a few years, they died on her brother’s 18th birthday, or that is what the police assume. Their bodies were never found.

As if her mother had heard she turned and made eye contact with Tara, “You must stop her, Tara. When your power is unlocked, you will not be safe. No one will be!” Her mother’s voice echoed in her head. Screaming out for her mother, Tara awoke dripping in sweat and fear.

Immediately a frazzled, very aged, petite woman was through the door securing her white robe around herself. Within seconds she was sitting on the side of Tara’s bed holding her speaking in a quiet soothing tone and rubbing her back. Knowing the fit would end soon she simply kept repeating, “It’s okay, we are at Granny’s house. No one is going to hurt you. Granny’s here.” When Tara was finally done sobbing Granny eased her firm hold on Tara and looked her in the eyes. “You had that dream again. You can tell me about it if you want to.”

Without taking Granny May’s arm off her shoulder, Tara swung her legs from the side of the bed so she was sitting next to Granny. Tara was wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt, and her sweat was making it cling to her curvy yet petite frame. Her blonde hair was also plastered to the side of her face and she looked like she had just stepped inside from a rainstorm, except her skin was scalding to the touch. She shrugged and confided, “It was the same except this time I could see something other than shadows and light. I saw… my mother. I don’t know what she meant but she said we weren’t safe.”

Granny simply nodded gravely and then took Tara’s hands in her own for a moment before standing. “I know there is a lot I don’t understand about you and your brother, and I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have lost your parents so young. All I do know is that I love you both and will do anything to help you. Now, today is your 18th birthday, and I want to make sure you have the best day. I will let you wake up and shower while I run to the market for few things for your party today.” Granny always knew when to make a big deal out of something or to when to leave Tara to her thoughts, and this morning she was more grateful than ever. As soon as she left Tara had her t shirt off and tossed into the hamper by her bed. She walked to the bathroom connected to her room in nothing but her black cotton bikini underwear and ran an extra hot shower for herself.

When Tara was done, she went down stairs expecting Granny May back any minute, she had been in the shower well over an hour. The dining room was decorated in pastel purples and teals with streamers and balloons everywhere. Rolling her eyes, she giggled at Granny’s efforts. “You’re the sweetest old woman I will ever know,” She declared to the decorations as she walked by and into the kitchen to grab an orange for breakfast. Midway through peeling the orange she noticed an intricately carved box sitting in the counter, next to it was two different large objects in brown paper. Out of curiosity she crept closed noticing the objects were addressed to her and her brother.

Feeling drawn to what she assumed were her presents she set the orange down and planned on unwrapping one of the larger objects that had her name on it. Being closer she noticed the handwriting was very familiar but was not her brothers or Granny’s. Slowly, she began to peel the corner of the paper back revealing the edge of a very old book and as she touched it she felt a static shock jolt through her body. Just as she was about to finish unwrapping the book she heard an ambulance fly by her house with sirens blaring. It was immediately followed by two police cars and Tara felt her stomach twist and flip. They were heading straight to the market.

The book sat completely forgotten on the counter but you could just make out the words on the spine, Book of Shadows. Tara was sprinting as fast as she could down the three blocks to the farmer’s market where the ambulance had indeed stopped.

 

[TheWorldIsNotOurHome]

[...]​

 

[The Jeffinator]

Conner had risen from his bed fairly early, heading out for a bit of last minute birthday shopping while his sister Tara was still asleep. It was the day she turned eighteen, and he knew with that came the awakening of her dormant power as a witch, as had happened to him on his own eighteenth birthday. But being a female, her awakening would be very different...

He was fairly confident his sister would be in no immediate danger, their parents having constructed multi-layered veils over their Los Angeles manor to conceal all magical activity within. However, he had to admit to himself he wasn't sure what to do after that. Their parents had apparently died in a horrible vehicle explosion when he turned eighteen, but the bodies were never found. It was their parents car, and since they vanished, the State eventually declared them deceased.

Now Conner was twenty-four, and Tara was eighteen. She had inherited the blonde hair of their mother's side of the family, but he had a darker shade, much the same as their father. They were both adults, and he did not know what that would bring. A great many thoughts flowed through his brain as he walked down the street listing to a metal playlist on his smartphone, the music blaring through his earbuds. But then he suddenly felt a strange sensation overcome him...

He stopped and pulled out his headphones, looking around confused as a sense of impending danger filled his mind.

https://i.imgur.com/kNlDG2e.jpg

He concentrated hard, trying to focus on the feelings he was receiving, a vision becoming clearer in his mind's eye as fog faded away to form an image. He felt a stab of pain in his heart as he realized he was viewing the death of Granny May at the market. She had been attacked by a strange woman wearing red and black, flinging red energy bolts at the old woman, screaming, "Where is the girl?! Take me to her! NOW!"

Conner was traumatized by this until he spotted someone's phone screen within the vision -- it was showing seven minutes in the future! Granny May's death hadn't happened yet! He still had seven minutes to save her! Summoning all his willpower and energy, he sprinted off in the direction of the market, running as fast as his legs would carry him, a determined gaze in his eyes.

https://i.imgur.com/uGPw5oN.jpg

He soon arrived at the market, breathing a sigh of relief to see Granny May sitting peacefully on a park bench, going through the items in her bags she had purchased. Then he looked over and saw the red and black woman from his vision approaching her. He immediately ran to her aid, standing between her and the woman.

"Move out of my way, boy," she said with a sinister growl. "This old hag hides a secret that my mother is desperate to uncover."

"What makes you think that?" he replied, standing firm. She scoffed.

"Because I have seen it!" she spat. "A vision revealed it to me, just as I'm sure a similar vision led you here to stop me. But I do not know the location of the witch I am after -- only this decrepit bitch can lead me to her. So where is she?!"

"You will not find her, I'm afraid," he responded fiercely. He had no idea who this woman was or exactly what she wanted with Tara, but he would protect his sister at all costs. "You'll have to go through me first."

"Very well, then!" the woman screamed and powered up red energy in the palms of her hands. Then, to distract Conner, she looked up and flung several blasts towards a plane flying overhead, then pulled it down upon the market, causing destruction and explosions as people screamed and shrieked and ran for cover. She looked back at him and powered up her palms again as sirens could be heard in the distance. "Are you going to protect the hag or save people from the fires I've just created? Hmmm?"

https://i.imgur.com/Ro4J90G.jpg

Conner glared angrily at her, but refused to leave Granny May. He then cursed under his breath as he saw Tara running towards the market, the sirens having likely drawn her to make sure Granny was okay. The red woman turned and smiled as she realized who Tara was. "Well, look at that! Here she comes!"

"Tara!" Conner screamed. "Run! She is after--UGH" before he could finish his sentence, a red energy blast sent him flying across the park and smashing through the windows of the commerce center on the other side.