(In the display room)
In glided a woman with cinnamon brown skin, long legs carrying a lithe body and a smile that made most of the men accidentally smile before returning to being stern. This was Sabina Cassius, the hero of Desire. Oddly enough, nothing came out for her demonstration but instead she walked up to the box where the ambassadors were sitting. Her eyes, already a vibrant shade of green, began glowing. With her smile no less worn, she approached the group from Maha Alahadara and said, “I know you boys have your eye on the last guy that came in here. I can see why. Rivera’s a decent guy and with his power set, you’d be hard pressed to find someone more suited to a country that controls as many ports as you guys do. I don’t think you’ll have much issue with him, but I’d also watch out for the people from Ode. An island nation like them could probably benefit from that power”, barely pausing to take a breath she turned her attention to the guys from Cestny, “Everybody knows for a fact that you’re going to pick Briggs, so why are you here? He’s literally the only option for you guys”, the veiled woman tightened her hand as Sabina went to the people from Schaffen, “Same for you guys. You’ll probably take Nikolas, him being the hero for fire and crafting, but I can sense… oh yes, you’re not just known for your ore deposits are you? You also are home to several medicinal plants. So, Clara is probably who you’ll go for next.”, The well dressed man from Schaffen twisted the rings on his fingers as she turned to the men from Torthuil, “And you guys… oh, oh I see”, a knowing smirk passed over her face, “I see, that’s quite the clever move on your part. You’re much wiser than I would’ve thought. Good work”, then she turned towards the Rathborians, “And it’s quite obvious you guys are going to ask for Adam. He is the most powerful hero, and I can see that since your country is the juiciest target for the demonic hordes, you’ll probably get him despite protests. Hmmm”, she cast a mock-discerning eye across the board, “I think I’ve made my point.”
Without even waiting for someone to get her, she strode out the door. Needless to say, after Sabina left, there was much arguing between the delegates. Some of the ambassadors accused the Pontifex of favoritism, which the old elf had to spend several minutes assuring the ambassadors of the Pantheonites objectivity for this process. While the ambassadors weren’t completely satisfied with the Pontifex’ promises, they agreed to hold off on discussing the matter until the rest of the heroes could demonstrate their power
(In the debate room)
With Mahad Alhadara being a seafaring country, naturally, it was also a hub for international trade, so a country of merchants felt natural making their selection. Now it came down to the last two countries.
“Our country shall recruit the two heroes that appeared next”, Chief Duncan spoke out suddenly. Up until this point, the ambassador from Torthuil had been oddly silent. Between his choice for who he wanted to recruit as heroes and his lack of argument with Rathbourne, whom the country had always had a rivalry, the other countries were caught rather flat footed, “That is our final decision.”
But considering, who they wanted, despite the potential for power, few would argue with their decision.
(In the display room)
The next hero to appear was a woman with dark brown hair, arms like corded rope and eyes so green, they seemed bottomless. This was Christina Curran, the hero of the Nature god, Natura. Compared to the rest, Christina didn’t seem to care about the proceedings and just looked at the ambassadors with an impassive look. Turning her back to them, she knelt down and closed her eyes. Spreading her upturned hands, beads of sweat began forming on her forehead as she began raising them like she was lifting something. At first nothing happened and the ambassadors were whispering conspiratorially before the room started shaking. The flagstones began cracking and shattering entirely. In their stead, grass, trees and flowers of all sorts began sprouting from every square inch of the room. Soon, the more impressive specimens Christina managed to grow had sprouted to the point that the ambassadors had to crane their necks to see the tops. The foliage was so thick that everyone began narrowing their eyes to see the hero, but her creations were too close knit. Just as the Pontifex was about to request one of the guards to find her, a loud whistle was heard from inside the plants. After such an impressive display, they weren’t sure what they were expecting but the sounds of people outside the room shouting only deepened their confusion. As the shouting grew louder and crashing sounds drew closer, the ambassadors grew slightly nervous. For a moment, the sounds stopped, then the trees began parting as though they were bowing, showing Christina in the center. She made a beckoning motion. With a crash, the doors flew open and inside two of the Rathborian dragons, a few megalania, several birds and a small horde of insects found their way inside. All the creatures gathered around her and lowered themselves in subservience to the woman.
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Turning to the onlookers while she rubbed the heads of the dragons as if she owned them, she simply said, “Satisfied?”
The Rathborians looked incensed that this girl who wasn’t from their nation, let alone their world, could so easily turn the loyalty of their prized beasts. The representative from Schaffen just looked uncomfortable at how she seemed to be so unbothered by being touched by insects. But what she did next, even the Pontifex raised his eyebrows. Christina made a banishing motion with her hand and all the creatures began leaving, but she didn’t stop there. The trees and other plants began uprooting themselves and literally walked out of the room with the others. The room was still in disarray, but everything that the Nature hero had made for her demonstration was gone and said hero with it..
In next, strode the friendly face of Jimmy with a casual whistle on his lips. After the literal earth-shaking performance of the last hero, the ambassadors weren’t sure whether they were disappointed with the lackadaisical attitude of the Agriculture hero or maybe a little leary in case he did something equally as insane as the others.
“Hi there, y’all”, Jimmy called out with a jaunty wave. Most of the ambassadors seemed surprised at how polite and cheerful this hero seemed to be compared to the others. Jimmy looked at the ground and looked thoughtful, “Well now, I can certainly work with this.”
Taking off his shirt, Jimmy began picking up some of the destroyed flagstones, some of which were twice his size. Moving quicker than expected, he soon cleared a quarter of an acre of ground from all the rubble. Holding his hands over the bare dirt, he made a similar lifting motion as Christina and for a moment, the ambassadors were worried there would be another explosion of flora. And while they weren’t wrong, the result was quite different. Compared to the gargantuan trees, the waist high grass and the swath of exotic plant life the Nature hero had raised up, Jimmy’s plants were a bit more humble. In a few moments, he grew a plot of golden grain, rows of roots vegetables, vines of tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. There were even a few rows of bloody red apple trees, sunset orange oranges, and light green pears. There was even a a small separation for spices such as pepper, garlic, rosemary and thyme. After breathing out and wiping his forehead, Jimmy put his hands on his hips and nodded in satisfaction at his handiwork. At the Pontifex’ orders, some servants came in and helped to gather the rather sudden harvest. After everything was safely stored away, Jimmy went the extra mile and returned the bare stocks and trees to the earth below. Most of the ambassadors thought the Agriculture hero did well enough, but were struggling to find a reason why they might recruit him. While the rest were commiserating though, the ambassador from Torthuil had the ghost of a devious smile on his lips.
(In the debate room)
The Pontifex himself was surprised at the snap decision of the Chief from Torthuil, “Chief Duncan, are you certain? With your country’s reputation for having such fertile land, I can understand recruiting the Agriculture hero, but the hero of Nature is notoriously difficult to control. She could prove to be rather insubordinate.”
As a rule, the Nature priests often held no loyalty to any sovereign nation. Since they worshiped the wild and untamed aspect of the world, they very rarely submitted to anyone. But Duncan merely nodded his head, “Our country is well aware of what is needed and we will rise to the occasion. Don’t worry about us.”
Sitting up straight, General Titus, who had also been oddly silent made his decision, “Since every other country has made their decision, that means the Rathborian Empire will take the Sky and Knowledge hero. And we will broker no argument in this case.”
