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INVESTIGATION 00394M_BA[break][break]

following rumors of enim ad minim veniam in [REDACTED] of the myca desert, sierra squadron was deployed to investigate. findings were lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit ultimately inconclusive, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua single casualty. [break][break]

ADDENDUM[break][break]

duis aute irure dolor in, reprehenderit in voluptate next of kin cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur cooperative. after a review conducted by magna aliqua, officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum, an invitation to woon ie seng was extended.

the visitors leave offerings on the banks of the oasis, sometimes. the pious leave food, the visionaries burn incense, and the clever leave bodies.[break][break]

after all, the gods must feed, and the gods must be fed.[break][break]

the boy collects the offerings as the sun goes down. here, the prayer is silent, embedded in the ritual — he sweeps the tombs, he lights the incense, he bows three times, no more, no less. the food he wraps, the joss sticks he arranges according to the wind, and he brings a horse with him if he has to, for everything else.[break][break]

it's dark, when he takes the offerings out into the desert. you must be careful, in these cities without walls — there may be times where you might be feeding a god without knowing it. the sand and smoke gets everywhere, don't you know? every murmured, bitter thought, breathed out into an empty room; that's a prayer, too, calling to an unnamed, unloved god of unspoken things. [break][break]

the unnamed ones are the most dangerous, you see. without a name, they are vesselless, no mouth for their hunger. it's why he names every sliver of divinity he sees, on nights like these: the scorpion with the white, filmy shell, scuttling over the dunes; the dusty fox with its wide, ink-dark eyes; the red-skulled carrion bird that flies in slow, lazy circles overhead. even the blue-scaled daemon whose side is an old wound, a gaping, netted mass of flesh, whose eyeless skull swings from side to side as it scents the air. hello, baba, sorry to keep you waiting. were you hungry?[break][break]

he lays out the offerings. sometimes, they are still moving.[break][break]

sometimes, the gods get confused, and mistake him for prey. it's an easy mistake to make. it's why the shrinekeeper's dance is done with a blade; it's why he doesn't travel unarmed.[break][break]

he kills them if they get too close. then, he speaks their names into the smoke and surrenders them to the dawn, so that they may once more return.[break][break]

feed your gods. sing to them. worship them. but remember — you have your needs, too. what makes you less holy than them?[break][break]

keep your gods on a leash. it shouldn't be that difficult.