[center][img]https://s31.postimg.org/forki384b/second_try.png[/img]
[color=Chocolate][b]The Meek
Level 1 Demigod of Crafting (Machinery)[/b]
16 Might[/color][/center]

The halls of the Celestial Citadel were rarely lively. There simply weren't enough beings living there to inhabit those halls. A few marionettes lingered, routinely maintaining the plants Teknall had brought up here, but while their mechanical natures were interesting they made poor companions. There were only the gods, and they tended to be quite busy. Plus, there was little to do here. Only so many little machines can be made with the leftovers of the Lifprasillian occupation, and there was little point with no one to use them. She might have spent years tinkering in Teknall's Workshop, but it was so small and she had no power to travel interdimensionally, so it would quickly become a prison.

But more so, there was so little life in either place. Life was so fascinating, inimitable by any artifice. And it held so much beauty. There was the confined plantation of Teknall's Workshop, and the pot-plants in the Citadel, but every time she looked out from the balcony of the Citadel she saw the vast masses of green below, which contained the tapestry of life in its full glory.

Kinesis had made up her mind. It was time to travel the world.

She packed her things, although she had little to take. There was a selection of tools and useful trinkets she had made. And there were the clothes on her back: her white cotton dress which had been adapted into a blouse, short-legged dungarees of brown leather, and a leather satchel to carry her belongings.

As she packed, she felt a familiar presence enter the room.

[color=Peru]"Are you leaving now?"[/color] asked the gentle voice.

Kinesis turned to see Teknall standing at the doorway. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Yes, father,"[/color] Kinesis answered simply.

Teknall gave a small smile and stepped forwards. [color=Peru]"Then I wish you a safe journey."[/color]

He stepped forwards again and embraced his daughter. Teknall planted a light kiss on Kinesis' cheek then let her go. [color=Peru]"If you ever need me, just call."[/color]

Kinesis bowed her head shyly. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"I will, father."[/color]

[color=Peru]"Good. I'll let you go now."[/color] Teknall stepped back and waved. [color=Peru]"I'll see you later, Kinesis."[/color]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Bye, father,"[/color] Kinesis replied. Then Teknall left.

A few minutes later, the young demigoddess stood on one of many balconies of the Celestial Citadel, overlooking the world far below. Butterflies danced in her stomach. Her nervousness was not of the heights, but of her soon departure from the security and familiarity of home. But she desired the independence to go out into the world and see its many marvels. So Kinesis took a deep breath, put one foot upon the quartz railing, lifted her other foot over, then dived through the atmosphere below. As Kinesis plummeted, ethereal wings manifested and turned her fall into flight.

Kinesis soared high above Galbar's surface, savouring the crisp air above the clouds. She descended when the lush green of the Deepwood came into view, and soon she was among the towering trees. The light filtering through the canopy above danced across the young demigoddess as she swooped between the trees. She watched the diverse gallery of life rushing past her, seeing all the marvellous creations of Slough.

Her flight was not aimless. She had a specific destination in mind, one remembered from her first visit here. Kinesis flew up through the canopy, and a sea of leaves spread out beneath her. And towering above this sea was a great old ash tree. This king of trees dwarfed the rest of the Deepwood trees just as the Deepwood trees dwarfed the trees her father had planted across the world. It was to this tree Kinesis went to, and she alighted upon one of its great branches.

The Kingash was a forest unto itself. This single tree, a titan among trees, hosted a biodiversity which surpassed whole forests. A group of stripe-faced aphids trekked across the branch in single file. A duster ooze had set up its slimy net between some lesser branches. A rainbow silky feasted on one of the Kingash's enormous flowers. A nectar blush skittered along the great bough. Birds and insects of all sorts inhabited the great branches of the Kingash, branches so massive that they are as thick as the trunks of even large trees. Kinesis walked down the branch, marvelling at the resplendent glory of nature. When she got to the trunk, Kinesis climbed up to the next colossal branch and explored it. By the time she had reached its end the day was drawing to a close, so Kinesis sat and watched the sun set over the Deepwood. The sky turned to a beautiful orange hue, clouds were turned to scarlet, purple and pink, and long shadows were cast across the forest canopy below her. Countless birds were flying to and from their tree-top homes as dusk approached. In the Kingash many pinpoints of light manifested as bioluminescent insects awoke for the night. Soon the sun had set and the great jungle was plunged into darkness, lit only by the faint light of the moons and stars above.

It was a truly beautiful vista, but now it was time for Kinesis to find somewhere safe for the night. Besides the cold and darkness, the clouds which had made the sunset so beautiful were actually approaching storm clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance, the sounds of Zephyrion's children at work. From her satchel Kinesis removed a metal rod capped with glass at one end. She flicked a switch on its side and light suddenly emerged from the glass end, illuminating wherever she pointed the rod. With this electric torch Kinesis navigated her way down the branch, around the wildlife, and towards the trunk. It was a long walk, and the first drops of rain were starting to fall as she found some shelter.

At the trunk she found a great hollow, evidence of a branch several metres in diameter which had once existed but had, at some point in the past, broken off from the Kingash and left behind this hollow, which had since become large enough to walk into. Kinesis stepped through the threshold and into the wooden cave, where numerous small mammals and birds had made their home. A nearby colourfully crested rodent shrieked in surprise and scurried away. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Fear not, my friends. I am Kinesis, a niece of Slough. I mean you no harm,"[/color] she cooed gently. This seemed to placate the animals, and they made space for Kinesis to enter and sit down.

As Kinesis made her camp in the hollow, the storm brewed outside. Rain started to pour down in sheets from the branches above, and the wind howled and beat against the tree, although the Kingash was unmoved due to its great mass. Despite the storm outside, the interior of the hollow was tranquil, a sanctuary, almost sacred. Kinesis felt compelled to do something to honour this great gift of nature. So Kinesis opened her satchel and removed a few tools. She stood up and approached the wooden wall of the cave and, with tools in her four hands, began to carve.

Several hours later, the hollow had been converted into a shrine. Carvings adorned the walls all around. As a whole, the carvings bore natural curves and lines which resembled the bark and grain of the tree from which they were made. But up close the details revealed artful depictions of every creature and plant Kinesis had seen in the Deepwood. And in the centre of the piece was a great and majestic deer, skeletal in parts although not macabre, and with antlers looking like flower-covered branches. Text in a basic runic alphabet was woven through the art. In a lower corner Kinesis carved a depiction of herself sitting cross-legged, with two hands folded in prayer and two hands stretched out in a gesture of meditation. Below that image Kinesis wrote 'By the sweat of her own brow, Kinesis the Craftsmaiden, Daughter of the Great Artisan Teknall, honours her aunt, the lifedeer Slough, with this shrine. May the life that springs from her thrive till the dusk of time'.

Kinesis stood in the middle, put her hands on her hips and looked around at the shrine she had made. She was quite proud of the work she had done here, but this high up in the centre of the Deepwood she thought that nobody else would ever see it. That was when she heard a flowing voice behind her.

[color=green]"It's beautiful."[/color]

Kinesis turned suddenly to see where the voice had come from, casting torchlight upon the newcomer. Standing in the back of the wooden cave was a female figure of translucent green. The figure's curved body was made of a viscous flowing translucent green liquid, held together by some unseen force into the shape of a woman. Her eyes glowed with a soft green light, and her head was adorned with long moss rather than hair. The sweet fragrance of a flower surrounded the figure like an aura. The figure gently bowed her head in greeting when Kinesis saw her.

Kinesis blushed at this stranger's compliment. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Thank you. And who are you?"[/color]

The figure gestured to herself and said in a voice like flowing sap, [color=green]"I am Chloryss, a dryad, waterspirit of the tree. We dryads tend to the trees and help them grow."[/color]

It took Kinesis just a moment to figure out what that meant. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"I see, you help bring the water up from the roots against gravity. That's how these trees can grow so tall."[/color]

Chloryss smiled widely. [color=green]"Yes, exactly. It is thanks to us that this tree and those around it can grow so tall. But what about you? Who are you, and how did you get all the way up here?"[/color]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"I am Kinesis the Craftsmaiden, daughter of Teknall. I got here because I am a demigoddess."[/color]

Chloryss gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, an action which made a sticky sloshing noise, then quickly flowed forwards into a bow. [color=green]"A divine being! I welcome you to the Kingash, Kinesis. I am humbled by your presence."[/color]

Kinesis blushed again and glanced aside in embarrassment. She was not used to such displays of fealty. A booming thundercrack and the flash of lightning interrupted the scene, leading both women to look out through the entrance of the hollow towards the storm raging outside. Water was pouring from the pitch-black sky above, illuminated only by Kinesis' torch and the occasional flash of lightning. The wind howled outside, whistling through the branches and blowing about leaves and sticks. Yet despite the chaos outside and the ferocity of the storm, the hollow was strangely calm.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Do you ever worry about those elementals?"[/color] Kinesis asked.

Chloryss shook her head. [color=green]"No. The skylords respect our domain of the trees and our place in the Natural Order just as we respect theirs. There is rarely any conflict between us."[/color]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"That's good then."[/color]

The two were quiet for a little longer, watching the storm outside, until Chloryss finally broke the silence. [color=green]"I must return to my duties now. This hollow will provide safe shelter from the storm. Thank you for this beautiful gift,"[/color] Chloryss stretched her arm out to gesture at the carvings on the wall. [color=green]"You are always welcome in the Kingash, Kinesis the Craftsmaiden."[/color]

Kinesis bowed her head. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Thank you, Chloryss. May we meet again."[/color]

Chloryss then stepped backwards into the wooden wall of the hollow, and her body of sap broke apart into streams and rivulets and flowed into the wood, disappearing into the innumerable xylem and phloem of the Kingash. Kinesis inspected her shrine by torchlight for a few minutes more, before finding a soft patch on the floor to lie down and sleep on.

When Kinesis awoke, the morning sunlight shined through the entrance, illuminating the hollow. Kinesis climbed to her feet, dusted herself off, picked up her satchel and stepped into the entrance. There, she turned to look back into the hollow, taking one last look at the shrine she had created. Then she stepped out of the tree to explore the world beyond.

[hider=Summary]
The contents of this post was based on a draft by Hygswitch.

This post is set some time before the Realta invasion, not long after Teknall finished his Workshop.
Kinesis sets out to explore the world.
Kinesis comes to an enormous tree in the Deepwood, the Kingash, which towers above even the Deepwood trees.
Kinesis explores the tree and marvels at the beauty of nature.
Sun sets and a storm approaches, so Kinesis takes shelter in a large hollow in the trunk.
Kinesis decides to carve a shrine into the interior of the hollow as a tribute to Slough.
Chloryss, a dryad, appears and is impressed by the beauty of the shrine.
Kinesis and Chloryss have a friendly chat.
The next day Kinesis sets out to explore the rest of the world.

Dryads are a sub-type of water elemental, perhaps better described as tree-sap elementals. Their main job is to control the flow of fluids in trees, allowing growth beyond what is naturally possible. Unlike other elementals, which manifest as predominantly masculine, dryads are predominantly feminine. Dryads are quite peaceful as elementals go.

10 Might spent on the shrine, making it a Holy Site. +5 Might production per Turn (now 8 MP/T). 6 Might remaining.
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