Ch-9
The ritual performed that night which had been performed on that night had been performed on some scale in Westeros for thousands of years, the first men did it on the very first kill they ever made sacrificing their innocence to the god of the hunt.
It also held much more power in the days before the Andels who cut the Weirwood trees and stole the names of the gods from the First men.
But not all the names, in the smallest of villages or the most isolated regions in the North and beyond the wall were spoken of in whispers, only sustained from the smallest of sacrifices and offerings.
But that changed in the night Rodrik and Meera joined in on the ritual, their souls and offerings were that of the Age of Hero's when the Gods themselves guided men.
It pulled Cernunnos from the brink of fading and empowered him to affect the world even in the smallest of ways, it also gave his pantheon enough power to stave off oblivion for a while longer.
With the little power gained he used to peer into the mind of Rodrikas his actions were directly in his domains, there he saw so much and gained too many ideas in that moment he made a gamble and threw himself down into the realm of men.
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Cernunnos found himself for the first time in over 6,000 years in the realms of men, he felt the earth beneath him and smelled the pines.
He stumbled for a couple of steps then ran among the trees like he did with his hunters so many years ago till he came to a young boy half starved stalking a rabbit white knuckling a bow.
He moved to touch the boy's shoulder and moved his head to be right beside the boy's ear and in a whisper he spoke, "Raise your arm higher you'll miss."
The boy half starved assumed the voice and the deer face in the peripheral of his vision was a hallucination but listened anyway.
He raised his elbow higher, took a breath and let loose an arrow that sunk into the heart side of the rabbit falling dead.
As the rabbit died the soul of it began to flow out which the dying god plucked from the air and absorbed it into himself.
[Gods will not play a big role right now and I do not have plans of them being a huge part but they will be more active now. No forced quests or anything like that they will be doing their own thing in the background solidifying the faith and their belief. They will also be acting like the gods from American Gods needing belief to live and grow in power.]
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June, 5th 285AC
Most of the village of Drammen was still passed out from the ritual and hallucinations when the dawn came, the two nobles among them wearing their skins and furs.
But the field where the Weirwood Tree and surrounding fame fields had seen a massive spike in growth, the tree which while old had been sickly now its red leaves looked to continually drip blood onto its white trunk that now carved with the animals sacrificed the night before.
The smallfolk slowly awoke and returned home with their families talking about the night's events and the blessings the village now received.
As all of those that participated and witnessed the ritual felt that the gods had taken their sacrifice and blessed the village with a good summer crop and revitalized the Weirwood tree.
The observers from the University were running all over the place taking soil samples and growth measurements of the area as the surge of growth had even affected the nearby wood plantations.
The nobles not used to the rituals did not awaken till mid morning who were in awe at the surge in nature around them, most of all Meera, a woman who in both her lives had no faith in gods just witnessed borderline divine intervention.
She didn't fully believe that the gods were real but she was now a little more willing to listen but her current suspicion was on the old lady.
The nobles returned to the hall where they ate and rested for the day as they had two more days of travel till they reached Barrowtown.
They ate silently and gave each other the occasional glance till Meera broke the awkward silence, "So...that was an interesting night."
"That it was interesting, I know the Theology researchers are extremely interested in the event as including myself the power behind them was astounding I'll have to write my own paper on the night." He simply ate the provided food, he had come to term with the gods being real since his first death.
Meera looked at him filled with questions, she knew there were beings outside understanding hell she had killed one. But the events of the previous night proved her theory on the idea that something was behind her powers, something greater than Scion.
The enigma of her betrothed is ever expanding as he seems to be not bothered in losing himself to something, the way he speaks has also confirmed her belief that Rodrik is similar to her in he remembers his old life.
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June, 6th 285AC
Rodrik with the Theology and agriculture researchers walked the fields of the village with them some local farms and elders.
A couple of their students gathered some soil samples, while little can be tested currently but what can shows an large increase in small microbes and bugs in the soil and suspicious that a ton of nutrients has been introduced as well.
With early material science he has introduced a handful of simple chemical tests to show the presence of different elements in the soil needed for crop growth.
But with the current tech level and production capacity any more advanced tests for the soil are not possible in the field and need to be sent to the university for analysis.
While taking the measurements of the soil and plants Rodrik Pulled a crystal device similar to a thermometer, but instead of degrees of temperature it had increments measuring the ambient magic in the air.
The cause was obvious and concerning as such an upsurge in magic in the air meant a number of these small folk would manifest magical abilities naturally.
He was able to measure this scientifically with the gifted knowledge about familiars he could feel the wild magic flowing through the village and around the Weirwood tree.
Elsewhere, Meera, while an academic herself wasn't one for measuring plant growth, helped the local hunters and their hunting dogs where she exchanged information and tips on training animals.
Her talent for domestication applied to all animals those she could connect with mentally were affected by having a human mind connecting to it.
Lizard-Lions were far too intelligent for mere animals, animals who normally stayed solitary should not develop pack hunting so easily as they did even when outside her direct control.
She let them loose while still keeping her control there but loose and watched them stalk and take down deer, they acted more like wolves breaking up herds to find the weakest link of sick.
They also communicated through some sort of subsonic and roars that only they could comprehend allowing them to hunt down bears, they even showed knowledge of simple tools like rocks to take down small prey.
Meera focused on that language with her powers, it couldn't really translate it but she got simple meaning like prey, stop, dangers which would help her in the future when she would eventually breed her monster to get even bigger.
The noble and their entourage would rest and study for the next two days conducting interviews and writing outlines for research papers and grants.
When they were rested and recovered they broke camp and readied for their last days of travel where after weeks on the road till they reached renovated Barrowtown.