GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Warshaw matched into the midst of the council without a greeting to the council members or the chief.

It is one thing not to greet the chief, seeing as he is dying, but the council members are the strongest members of the tribe. To ignore them like this is disrespectful. It is an amount of disrespect that is greater than the amount of respect they have for the shaman. After all, the status of the clergy has fallen since the disappearance of the gods.

But no one stood up to admonish her because, just like the chief, she is dying. Even worse is that she is old and senile. So they were willing to give her a pass. That was until she started spouting nonsense.

Warshaw stood in their midst and shouted at the top of her lungs, "THE GODS HAVE RETURNED!"

She shouted it for the second time. Then the third. Then the fourth.

Everyone was looking at her with the same look in their eyes.

One of the council members muttered to the others, "It seems she has finally snapped."

Another one replied, "It is a long time coming."

A third joined in, "Frankly, it is impressive that she has held on until now."

"Do you think she took something messing with her mind? Like mushrooms. It helps with back pain, but she might have taken too much."

All the signs are there. She is full of energy and has a crazed look in her eyes. Her usually hunched body is straight, and she is moving about in ways she should not be able to. There's also the fact that she is seeing things that don't exist.

It is clear that she has gone crazy. It is either natural or she took something that is messing with her mind. Most crazy of all is the fact that she thinks that the gods have returned when there haven't been sightings of any god in thousands of years.

Now they know not to entertain her. They sought to get rid of her immediately. So one of the council members said to the acolyte. "It seems you will be the new shaman soon. You should start taking that responsibility by bringing her to rest somewhere. Take care of her. Let her spend the rest of her days in peace."

Warshaw finally stopped proclaiming the return of the gods. She snarled at the council member, "I am not crazy, you ignorant fool. The gods have returned, so I advise you to be careful of what you say lest you commit the sin of blasphemy."

Strangely, that accusation caused the crowd to become silent and solemn. The gods may be gone, but the accusations of blasphemy can still be remembered as the greatest sin. It is a sin that will get any mortal killed.

Warshaw might be senile, and the gods might not be real, but to risk blasphemy is to risk their lives. It is an offense that is culturally unacceptable.

The council members felt frustrated. They didn't know what to say or do now that Warshaw has brought up blasphemy. Will they just have to listen to every deranged thing she has to say or risk blaspheming the gods by telling her to leave?

It was the chief that spoke. He is already dying, so he doesn't have much fear towards dying. He said, "It is good that the gods are back. What do you want us to do for them?" Warshaw was quick to reply. "We have to build a temple and acknowledge the 9 Crowns. He is the god of 9 dominions. All power and authority in the mortal and divine realms will belong to them."

"Them? Is the 9 Crowns not a single god?" The chief asked in confusion.

"He is both a single god and nine. The gods are mysterious that way. Their existence is so far above ours that we cannot comprehend them. You can think of the 9 Crowns as a god with 9 manifestations."

Some of the council members snickered while others did their best to hold back their laughs. But the chief nodded in understanding. "So a god with 9 manifestations. That's normal. So do we build 9 temples or just one?"

Warshaw didn't know, so she turned to ask Legion. Legion replied while scowling at the chief. It was a good thing the chief couldn't see them, or he would die of fright.

No one else could see them either. All they saw was the old Shaman speaking to empty air before she turned to the chief and replied, "One temple would do."

The chief smiled and said, "That's a good plan. Very efficient and can be achieved quickly. I will do it as soon as I am healed."

He didn't ask to be healed outright, but he has made it a condition for him to build a temple. He has also tied the chances of him becoming whole to the chances of building a temple. Those chances are nonexistent.

He didn't mock her outright, and his dig at her gods was subtle, but Warshaw was not fooled. She was not happy with it either.

Warshaw's eyes narrowed. She bared her teeth and asked, "You dare to bargain with god? You dare to put up a condition for your servitude? All that you are and will be belongs to them. You should do everything in your power to please them."

The chief nodded again. "I agree. But I am currently powerless."

He spread his hands towards the council members and said, "All these people are just waiting for me to die so that one of them can take my place. They won't listen to me. What can I do for god in this situation?"

Warshaw was about to blow her lid, so the chief hurriedly tried to placate her, "How long do you think I have to live? A day or two? Maybe less. Either way, it is a waste of time to try and convince me. Why don't you return when the new chief has been selected? The new chief will have the power to do what you want. If you can't heal me, then you should not waste your time on me."