milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

belar,
strength

(no subject)

There's a brief flash of blue light, and Belar is there with his usual sign on the table:

ANSWERING PRAYERS
BACK IN 15 MINUTES

SECURITY SHIFT STARTS AFTER THAT

He promptly leans back with his eyes shut and lets the amount of time on the sign start decrementing down to zero.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Strength arrives at the moment the clock says "Back in THREE minutes".

She can wait that long.

Yeah, not a problem. As the clock hits zero the top part winks out in another flash of blue light, and the bottom switches to SECURITY MEMBER ON DUTY.

"Hey there. WHat can I do for you?"

"I saw your sign and decided to come and pay you a visit."

And now she's here.

"Oh, yeah, I put that up a lot," says Belar. "Lets me cover my duties back home and here."

"Multitasking," she says with a grin. "One day I'll learn to do that, and then I will be able to tend to more people at the same time."

She pauses.

"Though they won't get the personal touch from me should I do that."

Seems that, for the cards, the holistic approach with sentient races is the way things are done. Lots of care, time and attention to the individual's needs to chart the ideal course of action.

Maybe that's why they're not gods.

"Even when I'm physically present among the Mongols these days I don't stay with any one group very long," Belar says. "It's a personal policy. I don't play favorites with any of my people. They all get the same amount of attention."

You could almost call Belar's approach "communistic". If, that is, you didn't understand communism.

"We're not designed for that, I'm afraid. Since we don't get as many 'callers' if you will, we spend as much time as is possible with them as we can. We don't answer prayers for rain, a good harvest or a pretty girl ten years your junior to marry, so much as it is personal growth and development. Which practically begs the personal touch from us."

Pause.

"Sounds easier to just answer prayers for rain, grain, and maidens."

"Oh, we get those. And 'don't let me drown' and 'please let this batch of beer come out right', 'help me find my lost yak', all that kind of thing. I mean, I do, anyway. Nedra mostly gets prayers about money, but he's always been weird, so his people kind of reflect that."

She laughs. Yes. A certain percentage—hovering somewhere around 60%—has to be about the little things. Those would be fairly easy to answer, even when you're geographically-and-chronologically distant from the "caller".

"So what would bring you to Milliways, now that you've arranged it for Eriond to control your world. Can't just be a little r-and-r, since you still answer prayers and serve on security."

"I've got a position as prosperity god of the Dorbed tribe of Mongol nomads," says Belar. "Which is great, you know, they're wonderful people, but sometimes it's good to get away from the yaks and all, y'know?"

More laughter.

"Given what I deal with, spending a little time amongst yaks wouldn't sound so bad."

Belar nods. "I hung out with the Dorbed for six years before anybody said anything about adding me to the pantheon," he says. "They thought I was an anthropologist at first. It's bad manners to horn in on the local gods' territory, but they invited me aboard themselves, so that's how I wound up accepting."

"Though Eriond is now the god of your old world, other worlds will find ways to keep you busy," she observes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only