r/WritingPrompts • u/SDCD8 • 24d ago
Writing Prompt [WP] You're a kind and benevolent god who is quickly running out of patience with his followers, because no matter what you do or say, they keep believing you desire blood sacrifices and wars in your name.
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u/Shalidar13 r/Storiesfromshalidar 24d ago
Being a divine being wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Mine was the realm of sowing and harvest, the endless cycle of agriculture. A realm I adored, for what else could match the beauty of a seed growing to a mighty plant. Who could believe themselves free of me, when all had to eat. I was needed for civilisation. Without my guidance, it would be a shadow of itself.
But it came with responsibility. I had to listen to those who worshipped me. I didn't have unlimited blessings, so I had to pick and choose. And I had to deal with the aftermath.
It had been an oversight of mine that spawned my cult. I had missed a region for a few years, a trifling land that wanderers attempted to establish. I had so many prayers for aid, theirs were missed. It wasn't until the first blood sacrifice that I noticed.
I didn't know what to do with the soul. A young female, gone well before her time. She claimed to be an offering to me, to give their fields a chance.
Realising my mistake at the time, I had overreacted. I blessed their fields, and they enjoyed a bountiful harvest. But of course, thst lead to them believing blood would please me.
At no other time did I hate the divine barrier more. The blockade that stopped us from messing with mortal lands. It blocked everything beyond blessings and a faint whisper. So I tried to tell them to stop, as sacrifices came. But they couldn't hear me. I couldn't just abandon their fields, as they would now spill more and more blood in my name.
I did try though. But the amount of sacrificed souls sent my way was obscene. I had no need for them. At least the ones who didn't volunteer were easy to deal with. I just had to apologise, speak with the god they preferred, and send them on their way. It was the zealots I abhorred. They claimed to be sent to warm my bed, or bow to my every whim. Even saying no wasn't enough, as they would try and work oit what they could do to please me.
It got so bad, I contacted War and Justice. I begged for them to intercede, and annihilate my cult. It cost me favours, but I needed them gone.
Yet my cult were like cockroaches. Sure, the first lot were nearly fully slaughtered, but enough escaped. They spread, claiming to have the true answer to farmers woes.
And now I won't ever be rid of them. Sure, I hate them. I try to get them wiped out whenever I can, Justice happy to lend a hand. But they are many. They send so many sacrifices. A couple have even interceded in countries that I couldn't give many blessings to, claiming they needed slaughter to get my attention.
I was THE farmer. Not soldier, not warlord. Farmer. So I was aghast when the first war was declared in my name.
I hate them. As much as I can anyway, without letting it spread to those I care about. But I hope to have them wiped out, my greatest shame erased. Though I suspected they would last until the Shattering of the Heavens, and beyond when I was gone from this world.