Shadows enveloped the small room that the Master of Coins called his bed chambers, stretching across the floor and encompassing the walls and their heavy woolen tapestries. Brother Poe sat on the edge of his small encased bed, an elevated cot that was otherwise a box had it not held a straw mattress inside. Poe had always preferred the method of enclosed sleeping, as he gotten used to it at a young age where he was raised an orphan and taught a skill to become useful in the eyes of the Kingdom. His eyes stared straight ahead, wide and open but glassy as if the candle was burning but no one was home. His mouth hung limply open and he mumbled to himself.
"Gold that glitters, and shiny coins, count them all and stack them high. Make a wall and make a home, shiny and glittery the coins of all."
His black robes blended in with the darkness, but his face and bald head stood out in the sliver of moonlight that peaked through the high storm window across from his bed. His mouth continued to hang limply as he repeated the phrase over and over, drool beginning to hang from his bottom lip. One hand gripped the bed edge, but in his other hand he held a small black dagger, ornately carved runes on the handle seeming to glow a faint red. He stood up from his bed, his slippered feet making no noise as they caressed the stone floor. There was a knock on bed chamber door, soft and almost imperceptible.
"Poe, I do be wonder if you are ok?" Came the voice of Y'hrue, thick and almost mumbled together.
"The shiny and glittery, all to be mine. Held and to hold, all the riches." Poe continued to mumble as he crossed the bed chambers.
There was another knock on the door, but Poe wasn't seeing a door. His eyes were open and he was in his bed chambers but what he was seeing was completely different. All around him were great stacks of coins in all denominations. Copper, bronze, tin, and gold pieces both stacked precariously and haphazardly in a round ceiling room that resembled a cave. The walls were dank and dripping wet, with moss growing on the sides and the only light was that of a brazeer in the center of the room. Next to it was a chair made entirely of stacked gold, with a high back and arm rests, it had been neatly arranged and created. The mouth of the cave was covered in a fine golden threaded tapestry that depicted a scene of a great fat man laying on stacks of gold and holding aloft a massive double bladed sword. Somehow, Poe knew this place and knew the enormous man depicted in the art as himself...yet it wasn't himself as he knew it. Not Poe, but another name, an ancient name that hadn't been spoken in millenia.
Poe reached out and unlatched the door, in his vision he pulled back the tapestry. With a deft strike he knew a foe waited for him on the other side, someone to steal his riches and take his precious shiny and glittery coins.
"I hear you ta-" Y'hrue was cut off mid-sentence as the dagger slid in and out of his throat.
Poe saw the troll standing outside of the cave mouth and lunged with the sword, it slid cleanly through the thick neck and severed the head almost cleanly. Starlight flooded in to the cave mouth and Poe looked for more would be thieves but saw none. He kicked the body of the troll away from his home and closed the tapestry back. Wiping his blade on his enormous belly and walking back to his coin throne, he chuckled to himself. Knowing that thieves would always covet his riches but he would never relent, he would never give up the watch and guard of his most precious possessions.
Y'hrue clutched at his ruined throat, dark blood oozing from between his fingers. He couldn't scream and he couldn't run, Poe had cleanly severed the jugular and windpipe. He dropped to his knees, his eyes frantic and wide in desperation, he reached for Poe's robe but was met with a kick that toppled him over. He fell back with a thud and lay there as the world closed in around him, the click of the door the only sound as Poe was locking it back.
"The riches are mine, the power of coin. I will lend but then come calling for what is mine to have, to hold. To keep forever in my grasp." Poe mumbled as he crossed the room.
A mirror stood in the corner, leaning from the floor to halfway up in the wall, he paused for a moment. Still stuck between reality and the waking dream he was living, he saw himself in the mirror as the Poe he knew but there was something else...someone else. The man was easily three to four heads taller than Poe, and his girth was just as much. A great fat belly protruded from him, covered in scars and hair. His forearms were thick and sinewy like a tree trunk, and his upper arms twice that. His face was twisted and pale, deep sunken eyes stared back and an evil, almost shark tooth like grin smiled back. This was not normal, Poe knew that, but he couldn't shake himself awake and he couldn't shake that waking up would not end this.
He reached for the mirror and the great fat man laughed at him, "Speak my name. Make me whole."
Poe jumped back in alarm. Had he spoken those words or were they of the others volition? His vision was still split, seeing the room but also seeing the cave. Had he actually fought a troll or was that part of this dream scape? He had no idea as that part had seemed so real, his hands were wet and slick with dark blood. He had to have slain a troll, but where did the troll come from and was he transported to this familiar yet unknown cave? His mind reeled and spun with so many questions and so many unknowns. He stared back into the mirror.
"What...what is happening to me?"
The monstrosity in the mirror laughed, its double and triple chins shaking. "In the time after Cor deceived Shathari with her lies, they shattered in their fight. Bits of them becoming Gods to continue their fight for the balance of all. I am the great gluttonous one, known as Symbar."
Poe reached up to his face and could feel the stubble on his chin, but he also saw the thick arm of the man in the mirror reach up and touch his dimpled and scared chin.
"Am I going crazy? Has someone slipped me a poison?"
The man in the mirror laughed again, his belly jiggling, "I assure you, this is very real, Master of Coins."
Poe stared into the mirror, then around it, seeing both the cave and his normal bed chambers.
"I don't understand. Am I being possessed?" Poe asked as he sat back on the edge of his bed.
"Possessed is such a....temporary word. What is happening to you now, is very...permanent." Symbar said.
Poe ran a hand over his bald head and felt sweat beaded up on it. It was cold in the room but he was sweating. Was this some sort of fever, a hallucination or trick of the mind? He had to keep talking, keep asking questions, he needed information if this was real and if it wasn't...well then if was very entertaining for a fever dream.
"Why me? Why is this happening? What if I choose to not allow it?"
Symbar snorted a laugh, "You presume you have a choice in this matter, you do not. There have been changes in this world that have created the chances for me to be reborn and I chose you, Poe. The Master of Coins, the keeper of all that matters."
Poe blew out, trying to calm his shaking hands and nerves, this all felt so real, "What...what does this mean?"
Symbar smiled in the mirror and rubbed his belly, "This means that your war is trivial. It means that your life is forfeit. There will be some semblance of you left, but once the transformation is complete, I will be reborn."
"My war is trivial? As in the coming war between the Thanish, Flame Sect, and Emerald Kingdom ? How can that be, it's real, it's substantial." Poe questioned as he stood up and paced in front of his bed.
"Oh your war will have consequences, but there are bigger things at play. The Twins are here, as is Cor and Shathari. Soon, more will follow and the war will be between Gods."
"A war between Gods? Are you...evil? Will that make me evil?"
Symbar laughed again, his giant belly vibrating, "I am not evil, nor am I good. Your perceptions of right and wrong are limited to the mortal thinking that binds you. I simply am. My battle, is a simple battle. The coins, the wealth, the riches, that is my want and desire. My one feeding need to have and to hold, to possess that which corrupts and manipulates those bound by the regulations of right and wrong."
Poe paused, "But, the shattering...it was both Gods. Does that mean, you're part of both?"
Symbar nodded, his reflection in the mirror becoming more clear and defined, "I am the ambition of both Gods. The free will of wanting."
"Why am I seeing this cave and also my bedroom? Is this a dream?" Poe questioned, though he thought he might already know the answer.
"You are seeing where I am, and where you are. We are becoming one. The line between worlds, realms, dimensions, it blurs and is thin."
This was all a lot, Gods and rebirth. Just a few hours ago things were normal, just counting coins and keeping ledgers. Now, there was a...God...talking to him? Trying to become him or have him become the God. No scholar had ever documented this or mentioned this in any of the stories. A thought raced across Poe's mind.
"Symbar, do you know who has been stealing money from the Brothers of the Shadow?" He blurted out. If this was a God of gluttony and he only cared about money, then surely he would know.
The great obese God stepped forward through the mirror and materialized in front of it, no longer just a reflection but an actual being. He was massive in girth, easily three to four times the size of Nail or Y'hrue. He towered over Poe as he looked down and smiled. He wasn't quite a solid being, as the stone walls could be seen through his translucent body but Poe could feel his breath and the warmth his body produced, even his smell. Which was like a metallic and mossy combination that wafted through the room and tickled his nose.
"The thief of our money is dying right outside of your door. Stealing money from right under our nose, then sending it...actually giving it away to start a war. For what? A promise of power after the war is won. Pathetic."
Poe stared up at the massive translucent being, taking in his words. Slowly he turned around and crossed the room and grabbed the handle of the door. Who was he going to find on the other side of the door? He was terrified, his hands shook almost uncontrollably, if this was true then he was a murderer either way. The blood on his hands told him the truth of what Symbar said, almost black and sticky and beginning to flake off in dry spots . He opened the door and saw the crumpled body, a pool of drying blood surrounding the thick form.
"Y'hrue?" Poe gasped.
Symbar ducked from the room and stood beside Poe, he made a clicking sound with his tongue and shook his head slowly from side to side.
"In the end, money stolen will always get you killed. Especially when you're doing it to betray those that trust you."
There was a satisfaction to his words, as if he was pleased with ending this man's life over stolen goods. Poe had known Y'hrue and had conversations with him about his family and his life back in the islands. Was there proof? He spun and looked up to the large man, who only smiled down at him.
"What proof is there? Any? What if the crows and messages as well? Was that him and is there proof of that?" Poe demanded.
Symbar nodded upwards, as if pointing with his chin to move forwards, "Check his pockets."
Poe stepped back, "But he's dead. I don't want to touch him."
Smiling Symbar motioned at himself, "I am not yet fully here, so it must be your hands to search for mine would only pass through like a ship splitting the morning fog."
Poe looked the gigantic man over, he was only wearing a green cloth that somehow fit around his waist and hid his most private parts, most of it disappearing under the rolls of fat. He had a strap across his chest that was the sheath for the massive sword his carried and it's hilt protruded over his right shoulder. He could still see the doorway through him, and knew what he was saying was true. It would have to be him to search the Brother. He took a deep breath and walked closer, bending down and doing all he could to not look at his former employer's ruined throat. He felt something round and hard in his trouser pocket and he fished it out. He inherently knew that it would be coins, but the denomination and print would be the true answer.
"Open your hand and see the truth." Symbar whispered.
Poe stepped back from the body, it was taking up most of the hallway but his chambers were on the opposite side of everyone else's. Which now that he thought about it...why was Y'hrue here in the first place? He opened his hand, palm up and sucked his teeth. They were the mark of the Dutchie of Pines, old money. The only place in the Kingdom that kept that print was right here, and the only missing money was the print that Poe held in his hand. He looked back at the translucent God.
"How did you know? What of the crows and messages?"
Symbar raised two fingers to his eyes and then pointed the fingers back at Poe, "I see all, I am a God. For months he has been stealing and funding the civil war."
Poe was shocked by that statement, "You've been watching for months?"
Smiling a grin that held more mischief that malious, Symbar said, "Oh I've been watching for far longer, waiting to pick my soul. You've lived so neutral and secluded, I knew you would be perfect. Then I saw him and would watch, the lies and the betrayal burning a hatred inside because that was our money, our riches that he was throwing away."
"And the crows?" Poe asked as he pocketed the coins.
"You don't remember?" Symbar asked.
Poe looked perplexed, why would he remember? What kind of question was that? "No, there's no reason I would remember anything except that messages weren't getting relayed correctly and someone had sent a false message."
Symbar raised his furry red eyebrows, like two hairy caterpillars that were precariously placed above his eyes, "You did that."
"What?"
"You. Did. That." Symbar said slowly.
"I heard you the first time, but what? There's no way I did that. I have no recollection of that."
The smile again from Symbar, Poe knew something was up, "Well, I should say, we did that. Heavily influenced by my hand. As I stated before, that war is trivial compared to the coming war. We will have no dog in that fight and I care not for Battle Priests and their wants or needs."
Poe pushed past Symbar, like walking through a heavy mist in the forest, "This is too much, I don't agree with it and I don't want it. I will allow this transformation nor condone it."
Symbar turned and watched Poe as he walked through the doorway and close the door, latching the lock. He chuckled as he walked through the door and stood over Poe.
"I've already told you the truth of this. You have no choice, no say so, no nothing. What I have chosen will be done, despite your wants."
Poe rounded on the fat man, anger flashing across his face, "No! You do not control me, you do not own me or my body!"
Symbar's face contorted into a snarl, his sunken and hollow eyes seeming to burn with a rage, "Mortal, you have no choice!"
A flash of lightning illuminated the room briefly and Symbar was gone. Poe frantically looked around, spinning in place and searching in the shadows. He was breathing shallow and quick, his heart racing. Where had the God gone? Had he won, had he banished him through sheer will of not wanting to be over taken by him?
"He-hello?" Poe timidly called out.
There was no answer beside the rain beginning to fall outside, pattering against the stone of the keep and leather awning above the storm window. The sound of the rain was welcomed as his heart began to relax and not beat at a double time. He blew out a breath and placed both of his hands on the edge of his bed, his robe was soaked through with sweat. The body, he had almost forgotten about the body outside of his door. He had to do something with it, and he had to figure out what he was going to tell Nail. This was such a mess now, everything had turned itself upside down and he had to figure a way out.
He walked to the door and opened it again, Y'hrue lay motionless still, taking up over half of the hallway. The blood had stopped and made a sizable puddle. What was he to do with the body? Y'hrue was easily two times taller and weighed much more than he did, how could he move him or even get rid of the body? He turned towards his room to look for any instrument that could help, a searing pain dropped him to his knees as he cried out. He reached for the wall but it was too far away and he crashed to the floor. The hallway spun around him as the pain shot through his entire body, he curled into a ball and then sprang apart in stiff limbs. His eyes rolled back into his head and his mouth pried itself open but no scream came, his breath came in great heaves and lunges as body curled up again and then he went limp. He couldn't feel his arms but he saw them moving, pushing himself back up and on to his knees.
"You never had a chance." Symbar said from Poe's lips.