The Tower of Passion

Fiona swore she would never leave the ground again. Penthi was amazing, wonderful, hot, strong and amazing. And she might... you know, ride her. If she was up for it. But she most certainly wouldn't ride her again.

Except for in the morning when they continued their journey.

She dug her toes into the soft dirt in defiance as the warmth of the fire danced across her shins. She'd pulled Ash's dog bed out of her inventory and her fox pet was brushing up against her side, snuggling into her while sleeping softly, tail wrapped under her head as Fiona gently patted her. Slightly groping the woman's exposed butt, admiring the skimpy outfit she'd put her in.

The party had their own fire slightly separated from the centaurs - clearly not quite friends yet, although it was partially their choice as well. Everyone was tired and saddle sore - or lack of saddle. Fiona particularly had an aching in her groin that for once wasn't driven by lust. Well, not entirely she thought as she looked over to the neighbouring fire where Pentha was wrestling one of the other centaurs, enormous powerful bodies clashing and laughing boisterously. Entirely naked lower bodies, which was okay cause they were horsebodies. But not horses. But you know, horse-sized appendages.

Fiona found herself confused.

"Do you think you can backflip as a Centaur?" Liddy's question broke Fiona out of inner thoughts she'd rather not share, to some rather strange ones.

"Probably not." She said after a moment's thought. "Too much spine."

"Think I could ask?"

"Probably."

"Do you think they can swim?" The gnome asked again.

"I don't know. Probably not." It would have to be messy. In Fiona's mind, they'd be great at running and fighting and probably not much else. "Why are you asking Liddy?"

"Trying to decide if it would be cool to be a centaur. Probably not if you can't flip or swim." Fiona smiled at her friend. Liddy was such a good part of her day, and she was always happy to be around her. Liddy noticed and smiled back, before sitting down next to Fiona.

Qae was watching from the other side, as Annabelle was cooking some of the provisions they brought from Climbertown over a fire. 

"I do... apologize for leading us into those creatures today" Qae started. "I was familiar with their existence, but believed I was far away from their mating grounds... it was my error that nearly ended in tragedy." 

The dragon seemed quite upset, one of the strongest emotions Fiona had seen on the woman's stern face.

"It's fine Qae. We wouldn't have known any better either."

"But I should."

"Why? We're all in the same tower."

"Because I have been receiving information regarding the tower for centuries. I have an idea of what we are meeting, maybe not specifics but... I should know."

"You're fine. You said you don't know specifics. That's a specific." Annabelle chirped in from next to the fire. "Can I ask you a question or two actually"

Qae remained silent but indicated to go ahead. Waited a second.

"It's not about dragon forms and fire is it?" She asked skeptically.

"No....." it very clearly had been but the goblin was pivoting.

"Actually, Liddy said you're the daughter of the time God. Does that mean that idiot lazy desire god I met is your aunt?" Annabelle's voice was curious. Fiona looked up. She'd thought about this as well but presumed asking about the gods might be suspicious. But everyone knew now.

"That's a good question" The berserker joined in. "I have been wondering how the gods work here, we know Ina and Oni and Chronos but the first two seem... very different to yours. Your dad. God. Whatever." She felt awkward.

"They are different. Creator is probably the most accurate. They are much, much younger. Younger than me in fact." Qae sighed. "I will conduct a lesson on the pantheons I supposed. Liddy, Ash I apologize if I say anything your personal religions find blasphemous." She leaned forward, legs crossed armour stashed to the side for the night.

"Is Aquarius real?" Liddy asked.

"Yes."

"I'm fine with whatever then." She nuzzled into Fiona, Ash shrugging from the other side, but ears perking up, paying attention.

"Right, ok I will keep this simple as we do not have time to go through the entire history - to keep it simple, there are two Pantheons." Qae looked at Liddy. "Set's of gods - families, if you will. They don't really have an official name... It's not really discussed." She thought for a moment.

"Let us call them the Gods of Forces, and the Gods of Emotions. Simple. The Forces are gods of the spheres, throughout this universe. Chronos, god of time. Aquarius, god of water." She nodded at Liddy. "Tides" The gnome spoke up. "On some spheres yes, it does vary. The forces cover various forces of nature, elements, and various concepts. Gravity, Entropy, Light and Dark. Fire" Ash shuddered, whispering. "Vulcan"

Qae nodded. "That is one of his names, yes." The fox pushed herself further into Fiona, who wasn't sure what was going on put patted her head softly. "There are a lot of them - they each have a chosen species, something that represents them, they created."

"And Chronos is the blue dragon clade?" Fiona asked.
"Exactly.  There are a few other dragon clades, but the creatures are as varied as the gods - even I don't know them all."

Fiona was a bit overwhelmed. She'd run into very little the dragon didn't know - and this should be her specialty. And it is beyond her made Fiona feel... Small.

"Do they all enter the tower?" Annabelle asked.

"I don't think so. Some forces - Like Chronos - have more interest in the universe itself, while the others are happy to observe, or just be in apathy or seem to not pay attention. Or simply do not believe there is any threat. We are likely to run into their representatives though, especially on higher floors... We tend to be some of the more powerful entities in the tower." She looked at Fiona and Annabelle. "Second only to transcended."

She grabbed one of the skewers of meat Annabelle seemed to have forgotten about, the dragon queen taking a tasteful, small bite. 
"The second group of gods. Gods of the Emotion.  Gods of the Tower." Another bite. Fiona couldn't look away. "You two have met Desire and Passion. There are many - and they're not strictly emotions either just... Behaviors, Emotion, they are... Interesting. And young. They were born with, or right after the tower." Her sharp teeth chewed through the tender grilled meat.

"Truthfully I don't know much about them, I haven't interacted too much. But while the Gods of Forces have entire species, and worry themselves about the entirety of eternity" She looked at the two transcended again.

"Each god of emotion is intrinsically tied to the tower. While the threat to the tower is to all eternities, they only care about the tower. And while each force spread all their power across their species, the emotions have less."

Qae finished her meat.
"Gods - whichever type, are not allowed to directly interfere. For me, when I enter my powers from outside have been limited, and they were always a fraction of Chronos. I get a system class, one that fits me and makes sense - some spheres have them before and they are kept. As I climb the tower, my outside powers, ones gifted by Chronos will be returned. For you two, however." Her stern eyes swapped between them again. 

"You two will gain the full power your gods can give you - whatever they are, they are twisted by your own personalities as well" The dragonqueen winked at Fiona then. "But they will grow with you, and fit you fully. Every group that has breached the higher floors has had at least one transcended." 

She reached for another piece of meat.

"Including my sisters' group."

As she spoke, the world shook. Fiona, Liddy, and Ash grabbed onto each other, and Annabelle who was standing up to get more food fell onto her rump. Qae - and the centaurs by the next fire looked calm, the wrestling stopping for a moment as everyone just waited it out. Qae supported herself against the ground, continuing to take small bites from her meal.

Bing

"Took her long enough" Qae scoffed.