The town of Nakhwar in Iraq was starting to find peace after several terrorists were apprehended by the US soldiers stationed in the local base. It may have been only in the mind of Grim that this atmosphere was transitory. Fate has brought him here, he could see and feel its power condensing around the town. Ragnärok was coming, he was told to stop it. Fortunately, he wasn’t alone in this task. Others were, like him, chosen by the gods, he just needed to trust Fate to guide him to them.
The first he met was a stuntman. Sean, a Scion of Ogoun who has just finished filming the action sequences to another summer blockbuster out next year. He found him sitting in a restaurant and joyfully filling his body with liquor. They talked but it was difficult to get through to him. Grim said he would return later.
The second he met was a journalist. Ana, Scion of Miclántecuhtli, came to Nakhwar in order to expose the dirty secrets of Paragon Corps whose CEO, Santiago Borelli, came this morning to inspect the workings of his enterprises. She was quickly shut down with a no comment from Borelli’s assistant and a remark to Google her name if she wants to know it so badly. Not one to give up easily, she was following the crippled old man and his assistant through town when a man came up to her with words of a connected lineage. They finished their quick discussion of things to come and felt a sudden and strong wind pass by. When he left, she ignored his warning of the Scion of Ogoun sitting in a nearby restaurant and went to meet him.
The third he met was a librarian. Rupert, the adopted Scion of Athena did not expect to find another Scion in the library he worked in. He was brought here together with other researchers, mainly archaeologists, to study the remains of a strangely placed Ziggurat. His role was to sort out documents and ancient manuscripts as well as navigate the vast repertoire of knowledge hidden within the library walls. They were quickly interrupted by Dr Samuel Queen, the head researcher of the expedition, who was surprised to see someone talking to Rupert. Nonetheless, he quickly told Rupert he will need any information he can find on Marduk and left. Grim seemed to recall there being a god called Marduk who fought Tiamat, the primordial chaos, and so asked Rupert to look into it in hopes they would uncover why Fate has brought them here. Then he left to find a breeze outside. Before he reached his final destination, the wind grew in strength.
The fourth he met was a coroner at the military base. At first, he was barred entry but after flashing his FBI ID and asking the soldiers to call up Washington DC, they allowed him entry. He found Dr Hether, a Scion of Anubis, examining a man whose lungs contracted at about the time when a strange wind was reported yesterday. As they talked, the doctor’s assistant came in to inform them they were under a lock down due to a particularly large sandstorm raging outside. Grim remarked he would leave through the window if need be.
Meanwhile after Ana discussed things with Sean, she opened the door leading out of the restaurant only to allow entry for wind and sand. She could not close the door alone but Sean seemed to have very little problems helping her. As he walked over to her, he heard the name Tiamat whispered by the wind. The walls started shaking, the patrons began to panic as all could hear the roof about to be taken by nature. The Scions went upstairs to get everyone down to the basement, they were nearly done when the building broke in half. People were starting to fly away but Sean caught them and assisted in getting into shelter. The Scions covered their faces to protect themselves against the sandstorm and headed out into the chaos. If it weren’t for the two holding each other by hands, Ana would have flown away into the carnage. Yet, they could hear the wind speak to someone.
The window crashed at the base, the sandstorm entered the morgue. It was no ordinary sandstorm, that much was clear to Grim’s eye. When he looked outside he also felt a sentience within the wind.
“I demand you to stop!” he shouted, hoping for a reply.
“I cannot,” the wind replied. “Tiamat is rising, it is my duty to stop her.”
“Who?” he kept on. “Who told you this?!”
“My King Marduk, it is my duty to not let Tiamat rise.”
“This is not the way, we will stop Tiamat, leave this town be!”
“We? Who are you? Enemies of Tiamat?”
“Yes, we. I am the son of the Father of All. There are more like me, we will stop Tiamat from rising.”
“Very well, you have three days,” with those words, the sandstorm receded into a gentle breeze within minutes. Putting everything safely down on the ground.
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