Terri
Keres shook her shoulders out as she listened to Majesty speak. Glossing over what she'd said as if the goddess hadn't spoken. Rage boiled to the surface of her mind at first, though Prey's presence in her mind was quick to mellow it out to simple disappointment. She did not appreciate being ignored, so she would reiterate her points again, summoning the full might of Pursuit's voice and whispering, a whisper so loud it could crack mountains and deafen whole continents. **"HMM. I FIND THIS STILL DISAGREEABLE IN SOME ASPECTS. PERSONALLY, I FIND THE IDEA OF MORTALS NEEDING TO SPEAK ALOUD AND GIVE A FOE WARNING TO WHEN THEY MIGHT CAST A SPELL IS POINTLESS, IF WE WOULD LIKE THE MAGICALLY ABLE TO BE EQUAL IN SOME WAYS TO THE PHYSICALLY ABLE, I PROPOSE THE IDEA OF CERTAIN SCHOOLS OF MAGIC BEING ABLE TO BE CAST THROUGH THOUGHT OR EMOTIONAL MANIFESTATION. A TIGER DOES NOT LET PREY KNOW IT IS ABOUT TO POUNCE, DOES IT MY SIBLINGS?"** Her stature grew as she spoke, her skin taking on a more rusty red hue as the horns curled and grew ever longer on her head, spiraling outwards now. The shadows behind her began to physically manifest into leathery wings on her back and the goddess seemed to be more physically and mentally savage.

◼️

**"I STILL FIND THIS IDEA OF MAGICAL ENERGY FLOWING FREELY THROUGHOUT CREATION DANGEROUS. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A MORTAL FOUND A WAY TO HARNESS IT ALL? WHAT DAMAGE COULD THEY CAUSE, DAMAGE THAT COULD BE IRREPARABLE."** Her wings gestured wide again, sweeping the room and revealing ludicrous size as the goddess continued to grow. The ceiling of the hall and its walls stretching to fit her increasing mass. **"I ALSO BELIEVE THAT IF OUR MOTHER IS AWAKE OR CONSCIOUS AT ALL. SHE WOULD DISLIKE US HOARDING THIS GIFT TO JUST OUR MORTALS OR THOSE WHO WORSHIP US. WHY SHOULD WE NOT ALLOW NEWLY BORN GODS TO CLAIM A FRAGMENT OF THIS ENERGY SO THAT THEIR MORTALS MAY WORSHIP THEM AND GAIN MAGIC. IT EVEN AFFORDS THE POSSIBILITY OF EVER-CHANGING VARIETY, SO THAT MAGIC MAY NEVER GO STALE."**
Kelly
They didn't understand. They didn't get it. They didn't grasp the simplest things. Silly seethed. Her blood boiled quite literally, and she crossed her arms, very visibly grumpy despite her oh-so-comfy seat in Vivienne's soft arms. Even Majesty didn't understand, but their goals seemed to align. Silly hated it, but her siblings were entitled to their own opinions, even if those opinions were wrong.

Well, she'd just have to change their minds. 

Turning her head, her jaw unhinged and she lunged at the banana bread, chomping down like a shark tearing apart its prey. With the bulk consumed, aside from the bread too close to Vivienne's fingers to risk biting, she greedily snatched the remainder and squirrelled it close to her chest. Idly, she gnawed upon the sweet bread, munching off little chunks and ripping out the crumbs with her ravenously sharp teeth.

Despite all the very incorrect ideas, she neglected to leave Vivienne's embrace. And yet, as some propositions were exchanged and reiterated, and overly controlling pacts were proposed, a very faint whistling sound could be heard. A slide whistle. The sound of something falling. And then- **HONK!**

With her most signature sound, Silly, another Silly, bounced near the centre of the grouping. "No-no-no! **Wrong.**" She huffed and shook her head from side to side. "You are wrong because you think wrong. Why do we grant mortals magic? Power? No! Even *Majesty*'s speech spoke of freedom, not might. And yet you squabble and cry and whine, understanding nought about the very beings you created. Nil. Nadda-yadda-doo!"

She twirled, pointing out a few gods as she did, shouting: "Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong-wrong, wrong!" She cried to Rav, Suzuhime, Triticea, Ethros, Onesifi, Bones, and many others. "And sadly, wrong." She pointed to Bea last, with a soft smile. "Your words ring true, youngest-ling, but this is not that. Fun for fun's sake needn't become a *Stupid* And *Petty* Scuffle for control: the anti- ant- anthe- antithesis of our very goals!" Silly stumbled over some of her words. Big words never stumped her, only the boring ones. But, in the desire to bring her argument out, she'd tapped into her scarcely used second brain cell.

"None of this picking and choosing. None of this 'power' and juggling control. Take it all, or take none. If you don't eat your veggies, you don't get dessert! An achievement done through the wave- **HONK** -of a hand is no achievement at all." To emphasise her point, the jester juggled a collection of beanbags throughout her rambles. Beanbags that morphed into cake and broccoli, before disappearing with a honk as she waved them away.

"And even you- Vivi and Nachos- Art for magic? *Art?* You limit them. Art is not painting or drawing. Art is *Expression*. Drawing, writing, performing and song. All-such mediums, even the expressions the smartest of us could not conceive of: why must such beautiful and bouncy things lack this connection? Why-oh-why?" Holding a hand to her chest melodramatically, the ranting Silly swooned, falling to her knees. 

Meanwhile, the Silly in Vivienne's arms clapped and cheered, munching on popcorn. Using her hat like a bucket, she'd taken it off only to reveal another underneath of a slightly different shade. Both jingled, and the one in her hands had a limitless supply of theatre snacks.

"If we must add a list of restrictions, then we've already failed. The tools must be free so that any might use them, or craft their own with the blocks they've been given." Hands moving fast, the Silly performer built up a tower of lego blocks. "Let the mortals discover and learn and craft and *Sing-a-song* Their own wonderful little paths, rather than lashing out to *Gut* And stab and take their achievements for your petty self." A fake plastic dagger jutted out of Silly's torso, the blade retracting as she'd stabbed herself with the prop.

Knowing some others wouldn't agree no matter how brilliant her performance, she flipped to her feet with a squeak and a honk, and skipped to the skeleton. It might get her. If the others wouldn't listen to her, they might listen to him. His bone pact was a detraction from the issue at hand, and perhaps a play at power, but she paid that no mind: the wrong-man that he was. "Explain it to them. Your bone-things do more without 'power' than they ever would with it. Tools and knowledge allow leaning. Power unearned stagnates and leads to boring and unfunness."

The fake dagger jostled about in her gut, confetti leaking from the fake wound. Her outfit wasn't even torn. The science of fun and comedy and her-ness and the mortal world- it was something Silly couldn't put into words. Something she just *Knew*. Magic had to be a *Choice*, a freedom of expression, an act where one traded and gained their effect of equal value. And, a system with no bounds beyond its innate limits. It had to be. Or, more correctly, Silly wanted it to be: because that was best for her Beautifuls and all the other beauti-mortals about the realms. Even ugly chalk-white bone-beings.
Nathaniel
Wyrd remained quiet for a long time, processing his thoughts and listening to the inputs of his younger siblings. Then, when a lull in the conversation presented itself, he spoke up. The god of monsters didn't intend to account for every objection and idea put forward, such a notion was absurd. The sheer breadth and depth of ideas was beyond him, but that didn't matter. 

The other were gods, just as he was. Each of their decisions was equally valid, even if they missed the greater picture. And such, his only goal here was to carry forth Gaia's will.

"All of this talk... Of power versus tool, of centralised against decentralised power... Frankly, I have no place in that race."

The great deer swept his gaze across his siblings. Several of them had his respect, even if he did not quite agree with all of their stances. Mr Bones, Silly, Calena, Majesty. The others... Well, he still respected them as gods, though their slight against him for possessing a different viewpoint were rather childish. That's what you had to expect from the younger gods, he supposed.

"I understand your... Concerns, my dear younger siblings. I respect your positions, and would appreciate your respect in kind for mine. I know my assertion that stronger magic should be wielded by stronger mortals sounds confronting, but I believe you have missed the point."

"I do not make this declaration out of some misplaced fear of mortals, or desire to extend the gap of power between the weak and the strong. I do not even mean simple physical strength when I refer to 'the strong', but rather the mortals we pour more of ourself into. Even a physically weak mortal may be spiritually mighty with our care and effort."

Gazing up at Gaia once more, Wyrd took a deep breath, the air whistling through his stone mask.

"My proposition is a simple rule of the world. The will of Gaia. Our boons and blessings may wreak havoc upon a mortal who is not powerful enough to wield them. Is it not natural that magic would act in the same way?"

Wyrd fell silent for a few moments, contemplating the prospect.

"If I may be frank, I am not even certain that this element even needs to be put into the ritual. Magic may simply harm mortals who attempt to use too much too quickly, as with all divine power."

"Now... If you are all vehemently against my ideas, I am willing to concede. If that is the case, I will be throwing my lot in with the gods who wish for free magic throughout the realms."

Wyrd paused for a moment to justify his stance, aware that it seemed utterly at odds with reserving magic for the strong.

"If magic cannot be granted selectively, then let it be a part of the world itself, wild and free. At least this way, mortals cannot have power beyond their limits placed into their hands."
Willard
Opinions still flew thick and fast, but there was a general air of consensus, now. As more and more voices affirmed their backing for Majesty's proposal, the more stubborn and extreme deities were forced to give up their unpopular ideas in favor of more acceptable compromises, all steadily moving towards a final resolution.

The Archfiend watched it all with keen eyes and an unreadable smile, waiting for her moment to come. Only when every voice had chimed in, when every god but one had revealed their position, did she finally swoop in to snatch them all up in her grasp.

Her voice came suddenly, and her words flew thick and fast. "Rav'nixander, here is Our answer. The threat you describe is improbable, but We acknowledge your concerns. *If* You are proven right, and Our principal source of magic one day falls, then let all here agree to join in ritual once more and raise your demiplane as a substitute." An easy compromise to make, given that it would probably never come to pass. It ought to assuage his worries, at least, without giving up her core position.

"Suzuhime, here is Our answer. The schools of magic used by mortals shall remain immutable and universal, but the natural magic that flows through the realms will take on a shape particular to each one. In short: your request is granted, and We will count on your support." With luck, handing the goddess this small but significant victory would help temper any lingering doubts from earlier.

Majesty glanced to Bea, then. The child-goddess was already on board, but seemed at risk of just wandering away at any moment. So the Archfiend walked over and conjured up a sheet of parchment, handing it to Bea along with a primitive box of crayons. "We have an important request for you, dear. Will you draw Us a picture of the proceedings, so that future generations may know of what transpired?"

With the starry-eyed child hopefully occupied for now, it was time to win over yet another deity. "Triticea, here is Our answer: should a god of magic come to us with such a wish, We will aid them in stating their case before a council of the gods. A major change of the kind you suggest would require majority approval, but if this future god is sincere in their desire, then We will make sure they receive the fair chance that they deserve." She'd cross that bridge once she came to it, she supposed. It was more likely than Rav's scenario, but this bargain would leave her some wiggle room, enough for her to come out on top one way or another.

"Onesifi, here is Our answer. We accept your proposal, and welcome your support—though should any other gods wish to join Mr. Bones and reject the presence of magic *Entirely,* We expect you will be similarly accommodating." Very talkative, that one, and potentially quite dangerous. She could have to watch him in the future... But this ought to settle him down for now.

"Bones, here is Our answer. We will give you Our name, and Our word not to go against the tenets of this ritual. While We will still hold influence over Our plane, We will exert it only to safeguard the very system We establish today, and for matters unrelated to its function." The other gods could quibble, but she had no problem letting him play the policeman if he wanted. Her logic on this was simple: his plan would only alert him to wrongdoing, and not necessarily give him the means to stop it. If she really did need to break her oath somehow, well... *We could take him.*

"Vivienne, here is Our answer. We find your idea to be a fine one, and thank you for your kind proposal... In short: We will permit written language to be used as a form of casting. It allows the mortals some flexibility, which they will doubtless make fine use of." Indeed, making magic work *Better* Was hardly something Majesty could object to. The Witch of Dreams had been helpful to her so far, as well, and this would serve to repay her.

_ _
"Keres, here is Our answer. Let it be known that no matter how much magic a mortal may harness, they could never hope to rival our power as gods. To us, such acts of creation and destruction are second nature, and any power we may gift them in our great generosity will never amount to more than a pale mimicry of our glory." True, a mortal who amassed enough raw magic power could cause some serious destruction. But anything on a scale that large would draw divine attention, and any god worth their salt could smack down the most powerful of mortal wizards as easily as the lowliest of flies. "Consider the casting of spells through written language a compromise: runes and sigils are silent, and may be easily concealed from sight. As for your last request, We will not grant it: any god who wishes to amend the system to their ends must exert the same effort we all put in today." The unstable goddess asked for a great deal, and Majesty wasn't giving her much. Assuming her other deals were met with a warm reception, she could tell difficult cases like the Wild Frenzy to take it or leave it.

Speaking of difficult cases—what *Was* Silly on about? She didn't know, and didn't truly care at this point. The rambling god seemed enthused about magic regardless, and Majesty doubted she'd miss the chance to have her part if the other gods aligned around her current compromise.

"As for you, Wyrd," She went on, bypassing the uncontrollable inconvenience that was the goddess of pranks and silliness, "Your wish is similar to Onesifi's. Magic will indeed flow freely through the mortal world, and will be absent only where the system as a whole is rejected. Aside from Mr. Bones, We have yet to hear of any who would choose this path."

She turned her palms upward, and took in a long breath. "Now. Ethros, Soldr, Nach, Calena, Agraothrust—you all accepted Our compromise readily, and for that We are deeply grateful. In their current state, We believe the agreement to be generally acceptable... Let us write it down now, for all to see."

Once more, tiny sparks left burned trails upon the scroll, and carved out the accord in clear terms. **The ritual will hereby enforce the flow of power from Majesty's offered source to the mortal realms, and protect it against interference. Once these energies arrive in the various realms, they will take on a form appropriate for each, and may be readily harnessed by mortals able to pay a proportional cost. These exchanges will be catalyzed through the use of mortal language, whether spoken or inscribed, and will naturally serve to regulate the use of magic based on individual dedication and merit.**
*- Mr. Bones, and any other god who wishes, may opt in this ritual to permanently exclude all magic from their realms. Excepting this, its presence will be universal throughout the mortal worlds.*
*- In the event that the source of magic is somehow destroyed or rendered nonfunctional, all parties agreed to aid Rav'nixander in establishing his plane as the new source.*
*- In the event that a god of Magic is born among us, and wishes of their own accord to be granted a place within this system, Majesty will call a new council to discuss the merits of their inclusion.*
*- The assembled gods will give their names to Mr. Bones, so that he may be alerted should one latter attempt to deliberately subvert or damage the system established by this ritual.*

_ _
"We trust all are content with this? We have addressed all concerns, and offered all We can by way of accommodations." Her open hands extended to either side of her, inviting. "If you are with Us, and agree to this solution, then join hands with Us now so that we may all begin. If you remain against, or have any final quibbles—then either settle them with Us now, or take your leave." Here was her ultimatum, her final call. 

From this point onward, matters would swiftly move from mere debate to the enacting of the ritual itself, and the process of creating their own magical schools. *That* Stage of affairs would fall under each god's own discretion, and though Majesty suspected some would not be happy with what others chose to create, she knew the opportunity to create something for themselves would be too great to pass up. *We are the children of Gaia, after all... It is in our nature.*
Lee
With the promise that the power would be vested upon a lord of magic should one be born by Gaia's will, the Wheatmother's major issues with the Queen of Tyranny's proposal were sated. She could not deny that she found the idea of forcing mortals to speak to use their magic objectionable, but not so much so that she would continue to insist upon eliminating such a clause. Still, she chose to make her remaining problems with the contract clear. "I cannot say that I agree that mortals should be forced to pay a cost to call upon our power, but I will agree to the deal nonetheless." She nodded. Good, that way she could make her stance clear yet still not raise further argument.

She took a moment to look over the contract, summoning a small existence over Majesty's shoulder so that she could read what had been written. After a moment, she nodded. "I cannot promise I will not change my mind about how severe I find this, if we ever have a meeting to revise this ritual." She warned, crossing her arms but holding out her hand. Despite her words, though, she closed her eyes and divine energy swirled out of her palm towards the contract, brilliant viridian power whirling like a summer wind and coiling around the contract that Majesty had summoned. The smell of freshly baked bread seemed to waft all throughout the room as the power of life, the power of the harvest, was vested into the contract.

Triticea's agreement to participate in this final version of the ritual was set in stone. Seeing this, though, the goddess had no reason to remain in her humanoid form. Twisting and bending in unnatural ways, her shape warped into her true form, the buzz of the goddess' wings joining the cacophony of the gods' discussion. Each and every deity in the room would be subject to scrutiny from several eyes at once, the hundreds of eyes dotting her form each dancing from one god to another as the divine existence took in the others. "Do not make me regret this." She warned Majesty and Bones.
Dale
The crystal sat silent through the new batch of arguments, even through Majesty's attempts to placate the concerns brought up including its own. And for the most part, Rav felt it was suitable... Almost. Something itched in its thoughts, something to bring up but first.

"I have one small addition. Of wording. To provide the last required safeguard. But first. I must address another."

The crystal lowered, moving over to in front of the Silly body that was not in another's arms.

"Your words. Your intent here. Is compatible with mine. But you know little of how to negotiate. I *Do* Want magic to be a tool. Available equally to all mortalkind. Were I creating it on my own. I too would make it an energy with no source. Just a flow across the realms. What you seem to not understand. Is that neither you or I. *Can* Create it on our own. And thus concessions and alterations must be made. You cannot simply call any proposal bar your own 'wrong'. And also expect them to agree to yours. Especially when some among this council. Hold irreconcilable differences to your own opinion. You must learn to *Negotiate*."

The crystal backed off and returned to its central position of observation.

"My last request is the addition of a third condition on the replacement of the font of power. A consensus among half of the surviving participants of the ritual."
Mary
During the latter round of negotiations Onesifi relaxed a bit in considering the deities' reactions. The first impressions were formed, and anything that did not considerably change them would not bear much space in their mind. That did not, however, mean they did not listen and note however they wanted to respond later.

Seeing Vivienne almost paralyzed at the arrival of Silly, before scooping the chaotic goddess into her arms almost made the deity's eyes roll. While Ethros's passiveness made Onesifi speculate on his connection to Majesty, these two were so openly and sickeningly in love that some part of Onesifi just wanted to send them to a separate room for some time. There was a place for love - but it was not during a world-changing ritual. They slowly breathed out, however; at least the two lovemoths' goals seemed to be working in harmony, unlike a certain other god's seeming submission to all terms Majesty proposed.

But turning back to the moth goddess's crush, the fun-loving goddess's thought processes were, to Onesifi's great disappointment, apparently far more rigid than everything else about her suggested. She was insisting on this meaningless distinction between tools and power; moreover, she somehow managed to create a dichotomy of power and freedom out of thin air. Was power not a guarantee of one's liberty? After all, without it, mortals were almost completely beholden to the whims of the divine; the whole ritual was about surrendering a degree of control through granting them even a fraction of the divine toolkit - the fraction that still made them infinitely more free. Onesifi sighed; perhaps it was time to cut their losses on that front.

A few more speeches passed their ears, and a few notes had been taken by Onesifi to include in their next speech. After that Majesty herself spoke with the terms of agreement, almost completely finalised. The deity of ambition listened carefully, finding themself mostly agreeing with the compromises made.

Since Majesty interpreted Suzuhime's request to be pertaining to wild magic, Onesifi had no problem with her. After all, a force of nature had no goals as to which it could aspire, so limiting it was not in any way comparable to limiting a mortal. The ability to shut magic off from one's realm completely still perturbed them, but they would not speak out against it; potential antagonising other deities on this issue would not be particularly constructive to their needs. The possibilities for transferral of responsibility were rational, and they had already given their name to Mr. Bones once - what harm would be another?

After a few other deities spoke, Onesifi decided to take their own turn. "I would like a few additional words, if you will allow me, Your Majesty."

They turned to Wyrd, now with the same polite smile they used on everyone else. They might not have trusted him yet, but there was no need to show it in an attempt to form a detente. "Forgive my hasty judgement, brother. I will admit, I did have a mistaken reading of your motives before. But allow me to ask you a question: what exactly do you believe the Will of Gaia to be? I may have been born long after the first gods, but from what I understand, before them there was nothing. Would this emptiness be the Will of Gaia, if that was all that surrounded her? But then gods started creating their realms, mortals, even bending the rules of the universe - and not once did She voice an objection. In fact, She has not declared opposition to any of our ideas. Would that not imply, then, that Her Will is for us to do whatever we, as a collective, desire with the universe She has birthed us into? The only exception, of course, would be attempting to destroy Her, but I do not believe there is a single deity who truly desires that. Not at this table, at the very least."

After that, they sharply turned towards the goddess of chaos, making their gown twirl, before speaking. "As it had happened before, esteemed Nach has uttered something that made me consider a new loophole - to be precise, the possibility of unintentional spells. I will have to disagree with her that it would be fun, unfortunately; it would make the mortals fear the instruments they will have. I know that the word "Harness", when applied to an intelligent creature, generally implies purposefulness; however, a plant also harnesses light without mind, and, therefore, intent. On that ground, I would like to propose a small amendment to the ritual: explicitly state that intent is required to cast a spell. I only note this because I am not sure how these small details omitted will shape the world; in the most absurd scenario, the current version could make every uttered word that is connected to a spell cast that spell - which is probably not something most of us would desire."

And lastly, they moved back to the circle, facing Majesty. "Other than this minor detail, I shall state that I support Rav'nixander's notion, although it is not something that, if not included, would make me turn away from the ritual. I praise your wisdom and the ability to compromise, and accept the rest of this agreement."

With a curtsy, they took their place, without much regard as to where they would end up.
Loretta
Suzuhime tried to figure out what words she could use to address the confusion of the situation, since it seemed other deities had mistook her exact asks in this situation... A process which... Honestly took a little while since she was not exactly the best with words, and going on around her was a level of chaos that was starting to cause... Thought pain, if she still had a physical form it would have been the kind that was felt in her circuits, either way... It was in the best intrest of her continuing to function corectly that she attempt to minimize dealing with that... Though one of them was there calling her wrong.

"You... You seem to missunderstand, I do not wish to limit the schools in my realm only control over what form wild magic will take", she gave as a general answer to those addressing her, with the antenna's that were attached to her head folding back as she did so...

But then, Majesty's reply came in, and sure enough, she was willing to go along with exactly what she was asking for in this case, it wasn't a total victory given earlier, but when is negotiations _ever_ a total victory, expecting to get every demand you make unless you can enforce it... Something she very much was unable to do here, nor really wanted to do here... Just leads to conflict, and destruction.

She gave a silent nod, and then a second one in response to this concession, not really wanting to add yet more words to this already noisy and chaotic meeting, but also making it clear that she was happy with this concession and would be more then willing to offer her support for it.

Trying her best to imitate a more veteran deity and not really sure... _how_ this was supposed to work, since it was her first time in one of these rituals after all, she held out her hand as well, and turned it so that the palm faced up... Letting the metallic fog flow from her and to the contracts location... It may be a blatant form of mimicry from her, but... Isn't that how every one learns? First by coppying and then applying there own twists later?
Joseph
Mr Bones turned to Calena. Admittedly, he hadn't fully thought on what would happen other than some vague promise of violence but it wasn't like a detailed plan was needed.

"I suppose that it will depend on the scale and severity of any transgressions. Could be anything from a stern talking to, a minor brawl or using my skeletal legion to, well, neutralise any potential threat. I would enjoy it if some of you assisted me, after all these are the rules we've all agreed on, but I should be able to manage on my own."

 The skeletal deity glanced around the room. No one that scared him. Though no one obviously weak. Hm, time would tell. Then it seemed like Tricitea was against Mr Bones' role in the ritual. He wasn't terribly sure why but it wasn't like someone being overly cautious was something Mr Bones could judge someone by.

"Do not worry Triticea. I do not intend on this ritual being a regretful experience for anyone here. Now then, let us begin."

Mr Bones stood up and walked into roughly the centre of the group of gods. His rib was jabbed into the hall's floor, a focusing point for the promises and divine power that was soon to flood the room. He then returned to his spot, offering two bony hands up for the ritual.
Sidney
As his brethren bickered and bargained around him, Aphot remained placid on his island of cool indifference, somehow impossibly sipping his drink while observing the ongoings with that air of simmering mirth. The usually chatty deity said not a word, watching the proceedings like a child occupied with a fascinating picture.

However, there did seem to be one thread that snagged his attention: Mr Bones' deribbing. The empty eye sockets narrowed ever so slightly in the death god's direction, the thoughts churning in his mind inscrutable. It was only natural for one such as he to want to have a finger in everything- and he was never one to miss an opportunity.

Without lifting a limb, small sigils defining Aphot's name inscribed themselves upon the proffered rib, shadowed in an underside where one would have to look to find it- and that was the extent of his contribution. Would he join in forming a "Magic school"? Oh, almost certainly; but not... Quite so openly, and what that would turn out to look like would be... A surprise. For the trickster, as always, had his own designs in store- for *Everything*.

He gave the slightest acknowledging nod Mr Bones' way, but otherwise continued to lounge where he was, by all appearances being very detached and disinterested in the situation.
Cynthia
Ethros mused to himself as he listened to the continued proposals and extra mentions. He wouldn't lie, he was quite thankful that this was being ironed down to the final shape of the deal.

He didn't show it, but he found Onesifi and his speech about mortals choosing their own destinies to be a bit, well, unrealistic.

Sure, he largely let his mortals do what they wanted, but if they crossed a line regarding each of the species or his immortal children, he'd deal with it without hesitation. 

He tilted his head to the side, seeing the skeletal deity with his rib, and nodded as a little wisp of light spiraled off of his fingers, burning Ethros' name onto the the bone, hopefully earning at least a token amount of trust.

He did look over with some interest at Triticea's true form, though he was certainly not intimidated. It was simply rather fascinating to see how his fellow deities were embodied.

He did give a glance over to the God that had remained silent throughout this endeavor, wondering what was going through his mind.

He then leaned forward some, listening to yet more clauses to this contract. Yet even as he did so, he said nothing pertaining to them.

"I agree to the contract, and with Mr. Bones."

He spoke, watching as the rib was jammed into the center and its owner returned to the assembly.

The Sky God raised his hands, storm clouds, lightning, as well as mist, manifesting around his forearms. A little wisp printed his signature on the contract.

Then he waited until the others were ready.
Daniel
Not even deities were infallible, it seemed. Mistakes, lost thoughts, and forgotten memories ran rampant, and it wasn't until Silly spoke up, said yes, even *She* Was messing up that everything snapped even partway into focus. She had been... Inflexible in her thinking. Rather than adding things in one by one, was it not simpler to flip things around? Allow all and only exclude what needed to be excluded? Had it been a simple mental trap she'd fallen into? Or in a way had she been unconsciously favoring her children, who specialized in more... Physical arts like embroidery? 

Either way, her mind was clearly scrambled. Outwardly, it might seem like it had been Silly's entrance that had frazzled her so, but it ran *Far* Deeper than that. Ever since their first meeting, ever since she had accepted that innocuous little request to throw her a birthday party, she'd been running herself *Ragged.* Perhaps it would do her some good to slow down a bit... Vivienne took in a deep breath, did her best to calm herself, and simply waited for Majesty to kick off the next round. With a tired sigh, the witch rested her head against Silly and just *Squeezed.* The goddess compressed like a stress ball, her hat jingling as she was jostled. Vivienne suppressed her smile as best she could, but she could already feel her tiredness washing away with each squish.

"May I have one as well?" The witch whispered, nodding towards the hatful of treats Silly had conjured up to watch her own show. "I haven't seen anyth-mmfph-" Halfway through her sentence, the smaller deity shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth. Or rather, *Against.* Shattered crumbs of popcorn tumbled their way down the front of Vivienne's robes, crushed between Silly's palm and her face. She only managed to taste a few pieces, and it was certainly... *Unique.* Definitely salty, and definitely like nothing she'd ever tasted before. Though it tempted her to take another bite, and perhaps another, she couldn't tell whether she actually *Liked* It. "Thank you, Silly..." Slowly, she brushed the crumbs off of her outfit, and turned her attention to the returning conversation. It seemed they would finally be getting to the meat of things very soon, though first she had to delay the proceedings a little bit longer...

"If I'm interpreting things correctly..." When she found a lull, Vivienne spoke, her eyes closed, her exhaustion becoming more apparent by the moment. Majesty hadn't responded to Silly's comments, which either meant that she hadn't understood them, or they weren't worth even mentioning. If it was the former, then her speaking in more... Coherent terms could help, while if it was the latter, well, it didn't hurt to try. "Silly's... Worries... Are twofold. First, that we are stunting our mortals' growth. Life is about experience, improvement. Just handing someone the power to wave their hand and solve all their problems, while maybe helpful in the short term, hinders their development in the long term. If one can simply conjure up a cake, they may not learn how to bake one. While the material end is the same in both cases, both Silly and I - and likely many others - consider the latter admirable and the former... Unworthy of mention. Because the latter fosters personal growth and a greater understanding of the world, while the former simply fulfills your desires. Essentially, magic should be lenient enough that it doesn't just devour its wielder, but not so lenient that it becomes a replacement for other tasks. An answer to everything, so to speak."

"The second is that we are being needlessly restrictive by limiting to certain arts rather than all forms of expression. I will admit, when I heard Nach's suggestion I got a little bit... Blinded. Just as speech is expression, or painting, so too is a performance. Limiting which forms of expression magic can take again only serves to stifle mortals' growth and creativity, and thus we should allow them all.

That is all I have to say."

With that said, Vivienne brought her two free hands together, cupped them, and crystallized her magic within. "Of course, whether or not these changes are accommodated, I will lend my support." She opened her palms, revealing a delicate, crystalline moth within. Upon its parchment-colored wings was a pattern of inky calligraphy. Vivienne perched the moth upon her finger and extended her arm. When the answer came, no matter what it was, she would release the moth, whereupon it would flutter its way over to the contract, and imprint her signature into it.
Elizabeth
*He watched each god, other then majesty and the others earlier he began to feel- bored, let down almost. As if he wanted chaos or battle. There was bickering and a few people on guard and agraothrust wasn't pathetic enough to let his guard down around so many beings, even if considering they seemed to be on the same general powerful level of he- he didn't doubt if groups of the gods formed he would still be vulnerable to death. But he also wasn't a coward as he summoned a small chair made of strange black bones that oozed blood that dripped before turning into nothing, even before the drops of blood touched the floor. He sat down making sure to still be on guard, he said nothing- he saw no reason to* 

*The magic seemed agreeable, the gods where chaotic but none of there strangeness or unnatural forms fazed him in the absoulute slightest, the god that felt similar to him and another who had many eyes atleast seemed interesting. And of course majesty who he still found cool as heck, although he tried to make it seem as if he was unbothered but perhaps via magic some of his eyes which watched her quite literally continued to spark, as in actual sparkles formed into the eyes.* 

*Other then them everyone seemed a bit paler, some interesting- some not, he didn't particularly care. He was ready to leave- to consume, to grow more and to create- but that could wait, this magic was intriguing to him as he listened to it all. Seeing the supposed God of death place a single rib in the center of the room and others signing the bone and placing upon there name, he was hesitant to do so as something told him that such deals where rarely forgotten... He understood that such a claim was permanent, but he decided to go threw with it as a new name began to Fuze itself onto the rib. ⏃☌⍀⏃⍜⏁⊑⍀⎍⌇⏁, agraothrust in his own language, the unspoken whispers of reality he decided to recognize it as. A strange... Edgy name but so was he. He knew not how he knew the language, but it felt orginal to him- it felt good, it felt like it was his.*
Ralph
When Keres started yelling, Soldr shot her an annoyed look. He stuck his fingers in his ears and could still hear it. He got her point but he didn't see why she had to yell about it. 

When Majesty moved the meeting forward that got him to listen. Soldr raised his eyes in surprise when she went and offered Bea some crayons. She'd seemed very slightly evil, but that was about the cutest thing he'd ever seen. Almost nurturing even. Now that it seemed like it was a done deal he was relaxing in his seat, though he made sure to read the terms intently, burning them into his memory. 

Soldr couldn't help but admire how easily Majesty was able to coordinate the gods around the table. As she called everyone to hold hands, Soldr normally would have hesitated. But he was all in. Hell, he was excited, grinning a little.

"Hey, good job up there." Soldr told Suzu, taking her outstretched hand. He knew that she was a little shy and speaking in front of everyone had likely been hard for her. For Rav'ni, he improvised, grabbing the very top of the crystal at it's tip.

"Alright, let's do this!" He said, his teeth looking a little more fanglike, his true form slipping through from his enthusiasm. His companions could see his eyes were glowing a soft orange color like a pair of coals.
Mark
*Though these Others raised their innane worries and continually put forward their silly little suggestions, our Nach was momentarily quite content with the state of things. Indeed, for this ritual she made out like quite the bandit! She successfully thwarted any attempts at being picky choosy with magic, she assisted in blocking an alternative to her dear beloved Magi-Magi's plane, she made reality itself bleed arcane forces into their world, and now to use magic at all mortals had to say or do such ridiculous things for it! She was indeed quite pleased with herself, and made a show of it with how she leisurely laid sprawled over the table snacking on whatever sweets were in front of her. Yes-yes, our Nach got all of what she wanted and more, paving the way for a burgeoning Nachiavellian and setting her sights on whatever laid ahead of them now.*

*Majesty likely has what she was after, as do most of these Others, but our Nach's victory was most decisive.*

*Yet still there was something nagging at the back of their skull, a matter of some importance which somehow slipped her mind. The potential for a final piece into a grand design, had our mad god wrack their mind for whatever was missing. Lethargically rolling over whilst stroking the lengths of her hair, she considered what more could be done to tie everything in together.* "Magi-magic... What a delightfully charming perrosss-peck for our most marvelous world, we do so adore it- so adore it we do! Aahhh~! We do so delight in imagining what our beloved creatures shall do, watch them dazzle and play shall we? Oh yes, oh yes-yes we shall... Everything's together so it'd seem, so it'd seem, our treat so perfectly spooned. But what of the cherry? The cherry for our pleasure, bright red juicy-juicy tasty cherry!"

*Our Nach's idle ramblings were of little use to these Others, as was often the case, yet they preceded an inexplicable wrench thrown into their work. When our Nach arose, standing however tall a creature so miniscule could upon their table, arms outstretched for an open declaration.* "ELEPHANTS!" *She cried, her attention on no one in particular.* "**ELEPHANTS!** WE REQUIRE ELEPHANTS!"

*What?*

"AahahahaHAahahHAAhaAhahaaaa~!" *But before anyone could ask for our Nach to elaborate on their meaning, the air around this mad god again crackled and chittered, space distorting within her presence whilst she cast her power into the ritual. Their mismatched pair of butterfly wings parted, to make room for what'd appear like a couple of spider legs branching out of their back to grasp ahold of whoever took their claws. Unto the contract etched her name, "NACH", each letter made of a dozen other "Nachs" And the letters for those were too written with Nachs, and so on and so forth.*

*But before magic could even exist, Nach was already tampering with it, for she sought to use her divine power to slip the sporadic sounds of an elephant's trumpet in every spell cast.
Tiffany
Once again I shall regale you with descriptions of Bea's consistent boredom with the opinions and debates of other gods. I mean *Really,* Every time one of her siblings opened their mouth, a speech tumbled out, dragging on and on as if they were on a podium rather than at a meeting table. It was getting excessive, all of the fancy schmancy language and the fancy schmancy arguments. Magic was supposed to be *Fun.* It was supposed to be *Creative.* Not limited by all this "Rules" And "Strength" Garbage.

She listened to Keres' wretched yelling and Nach's nonsensical proclamations of wrongness. She listened to Silly once again start to call out the deities gathered, even mentioning Bea in her speech and leaving the girl to puzzle over what an "Anti-thesis" Is. Though she had started paying attention (as much as she could with all the chaos), she hardly understood what the others were saying. She frowned. Shouldn't she know what they were talking about? Had she not prepared enough for the meeting? Was she just not smart enough to understand? Was she not *Good* Enough to understand?

Bea's eyes narrowed into glowing lines and her lips pursed. She clenched her jaw and tapped her fingers on the table in front of her, a set of cat-like claws unsheathed to make *Click click clicking* Sounds every time they hit the table. She couldn't be that bad a deity, could she?

Then, of course, she was presented with something new to occupy herself with.

She glanced at Majesty and gave her a small, but enthused **"Yes."** She was quiet so as to not talk over anyone else who wanted to say their piece.

Her role in this meeting had been that of a listener rather than a speech-maker from the moment the discussion began. It felt wrong to break the pattern.

She scribbled a drawing of the proceedings like Majesty had asked, distracting herself from her doubts she did so. She listened to the others as she drew, putting squiggly lines above crayon Onesifi because they would not stop talking, and therefore must be immortalized in her drawing as Onesifi the Smelly.

When most of the arguments were finally said and settled, Bea slammed down her crayon and perked up. **"_Finally,_"** She said, taking the hands of those nearest to her, **"You guys were taking foreveeeeer."** As she spoke, her name appeared on the contract in scrawly pink letters, surrounded by tiny purple sparkles.