The climb began on the sand itself: a steady slope upward before even a trace of different terrain could be seen on the horizon. A loose and fickle surface underfoot made for slow going at first, but nature was nothing if not adaptable. Little by little, hour by hour, the beast of life left the Firewind Desert behind, though she did leave it forever altered. The vigorous essence eked out from the gorges in her barklike body left a trail of flourishing wildlife several hundred feet wide. Before, most of the Mahd River, along which she'd galloped for some time now, and with the exception of the River Valley, was merely a channel of muddy water cutting through the sand. By virtue of the natural way of things, some plants took root in the silt along the riverbed, and desert creatures often stopped to drink, but still the kind of life that inhabited the wasteland's sole stream had been paltry for years. Now, the entire length of it stood as an oasis on par with the Resort created by her ages earlier at the Vizier's prodding. An especially capable strain of fanlike plants arose from her passing quite readily, and thin-furred mammals reminiscent of flying squirrels or lemurs delighted in leaping from frondy tree to frondy tree over this new Luscious Mahd River. Predictably, all of this loveliness sparked in the middle of the barrens brought Slough no joy. Though perhaps this time her generation of an ecosystem had been intentional rather than the byproduct of a degenerative husk, she gave the plants and animals very little regard. For a time, several of the lemurs and a single, particularly dogged Crocody Doggle had traveled with her, but they reluctantly parted ways with her when she abandoned her course along the river to begin this long ascent. Scrubby, thorny plants sprang from the sand here, no different to look at dead than alive. Aside from the shadows of Dirigible Cloudwhales or lost Mottled Skyrays occasionally flying overhead, no living thing came to see its creator. Near the top of her climb, though, with the solemn, mist-shrouded peaks of an eerie cragland now clearly visible, Slough did encounter something not quite alive and not quite dead. Finding this creature filled Slough with a sense of wry nostalgia. On a little bluff, among a smattering of rocks, she discovered a beast that time and desolation had not mangled. Its four-legged, tomato-red body rippled with muscle, its cream-colored mane appeared gloriously voluminous, its horns and tail glistened in the evening sunlight like wrought cobalt, and within the white mask of its face shined eyes like coins as gold if not more golden than the beast's gaudy ornamentation. It raised its head when Slough approached, and while it appeared fine physically, the former Rottenbone was taken aback by the emotional suffering radiating from this creature as soon as their eyes met. Yet, more than anything she sensed a rush of relief and happiness, and before her eye it brought itself to its feet and bowed. [i]The proud soul of a jealous caretaker...[/i] The memories had been slow to come, but this beast excited them within her. For the first time, melancholy seized her, and her wings of root brushed the earth. From the ethereal beat of the light within its eye a sort of message was formed and transmitted to her former custodian. [i]I have been a bad master. I know you will follow, but I do not deserve your service. You do not even know why you serve. Here...[/i] Slough knelt, her wooden legs creaking softly, and turned her head so that her single brilliant eye shown on the mask of Esau with the light of all its secrets. It didn't take long, but when it was done, the hidden mouth of Esau began to move. With some difficulty it remembered how to speak, and then speak he did. [i]”You are blameless, my master. I didn't know the details, but I always knew why I stood by your side, pathetic though I am. You are my creator—that is enough. All might look down on you as the least of the gods, no more than a mindless animal oozing magic across the land, but you are my master, worthy always of my thanks, my love, my praise. Lead and I will follow.”[/i] Nothing more needed to be said, even if anything could. The two beasts rose and continued the ascent in silence, though this quiet held anything but awkwardness, animosity, or guilty. Less than an hour later they entered the Forgotten Cragland, and there began their search. [center]-=-=-[/center] With a mighty heave, the stone lid of the overgrown casket collapsed onto the ground. Both master and servant peered inside and within found a soul nestled amidst a fanciful assemblage of bones. Of course, neither suited the other, for that soul didn't belong to this world. Tinged with red and black, it beat to a tune totally separate from those that brought it into being. This aspect of independence made for a fascinating specimen, and Slough recognized what her power had recalled. [i]The brave soul of a malevolent maiden...[/i] At her bidding, the mote of light and dark rose up from its resting place and zipped into the cavity of her eye, gone within the miniature plane inside her body. There it would make company for the spirit pried from the Venomweald Writhe, and there, in ghostly forms well-suited to their restored memories, they might talk and pass the time though neither would know the other's name. Slough and Esau wasted no time by the now-empty tomb and quickly traversed the Cragland's treacherous and bleak terrain until they happened upon another, then another. [i]The proud soul of a crystalline dragon...the brave soul of a skybound sympathizer...the vast soul of a starlight scientist...the brave soul of a charismatic warhound...[/i] Only once did the once-ghoul find a grave already open, robbed of its contents. In that moment a fleeting and tranquil fury burning within her eye. [i]What is the Great One's must return to him.[/i] But it could not be helped. That pull toward the sky prodded her more strongly than ever, but Slough's quest was far from over. Now filled with noteworthy souls, Slough led and Esau followed through the Cragland until they came to a place that filled Slough with dread—one that she knew well. Here, before there lay a murky, stinking pool, there had been a pit half catacomb and half prison where the neglected bones of a wretched mongrel had lain for who knew how long. Slough shuddered, her wooden form crackling, and left the place hastily. At last, she stood on the edge of a precipice, with her custodian behind her. Far, far below lay a mess of mangroves, and beyond that lay the Fractal Sea. From here the view was beautiful, even breathtaking should she have any to spare, but she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that beneath those gently curling waves lay a grave and terrifying mistake that could not be allowed to subsist a moment longer. [i]Make your way down at your own pace,[/i] she communicated to Esau. [i]Then make yourself at home. Where I am going, I regret that you cannot follow.[/i] Silently the manticore nodded. Though unfortunate, such things could not be avoided. Slough took a step toward the edge, then, reckless, she threw herself off. Her mind was oddly at peace as she plummeted through the air. The sight of a deer completely rigid, with straight legs, might have been comical, but Slough made no motion until she hit the shoreline at terminal velocity. Instantly her wooden body shattered into splinters and kindling, but in less than a second after total annihilation the body began to fly back together. Brilliant green light surrounded her as her form constituted itself, some of the details a little different but overall appearing remarkably unharmed. [i]That is useful.[/i] Around her, Niciel's orbs hummed obligingly. Shortly thereafter she waded into the mangrove swamp, making her way among the gnarled roots and schools of tiny fishes toward the ocean. [center]-=-=-[/center] Though she'd never seen them before, the sight of the Drenched Flowerbed tickled Slough with hints of pride. The knowledge that such beauty existed on both land and sea because of her prior actions, accidental though they were, would have surely delighted any other being. But only the journey, and the necessities within it, occupied Slough. Her root wings streamed behind her like the fins of some reef fish, or like the hair of a woman, as she sway away from the rich Flowerbed into the open ocean. At the edge of the underwater ecosystem she'd found the decomposed birthing sac of an animal, distended to a huge side and broken open. Whatever had been within had long ago traveled into the deep, and so Slough followed in its wake. Only once, in the middle of the ocean blue, did she stop. A voice had come to her, and by some miracle she understood. One of the [i]others[/i] was calling her. He wished to be sure that she would never try and harm the other gods. Confusion filled her and disdain. Why would anyone bother with her now of all times? What harm could she ever be, after all, in the eyes of the gods? They were right to think little of her...but, then again, so very wrong. There would be no hoof-print on Toun's divine agreement, not now or ever. Instead, Slough swam. Down, down, down. The creature of land, ungainly but breathless, dove deep. Above her, the light of the sun, in which she always found an inkling of solace, drifted away. Darkness settled around her like a blanket, but with her goal in mind she plowed onward. Encounters with creatures were rare, but those she did happen upon were very strange. [url=http://hauntedhouse667.deviantart.com/art/Nope-Fish-405754633?q=favby%3AMisterMiener%2F68456228&qo=0]Fish[/url] the side of rhinoceroses swam perilously close, their tentacles lightly brushing Slough's useless wings. Vicious [url=http://orig09.deviantart.net/0ce3/f/2012/285/d/8/alien_sea_creature_by_yefumm-d5hmb31.jpg]crustaceans[/url] approached her as one might a delectable feast, but at the last moment the unfamiliar and frightening light in her eye warned them away, one by one. Bizarre [url=http://pre08.deviantart.net/3d2f/th/pre/i/2013/324/a/8/sefrinx_comm__creature_design_by_naomi_wiflath-d6ux5ux.jpg]things[/url] even more alien floated by like phantoms out of nightmares, and Slough ignored them too. A current wafted her way, one very powerful and portentous, and the other deep sea creatures seemed to be fleeing from it. After a great span of time, Slough stopped swimming. Despite the radiance of her eye, nothing could be seen in the stygian blackness that surrounded her for thousands of feet in every direction. Yet...she could feel...[i]something[/i]...very close. A sudden redness filled her vision. Only a hundred feet in front of her swam a massive squid. This awe-inspiring abyssal horror could have easily strangled a whale, or sunk a ship. Next to it, the god of life was practically a mouse. As she looked on, its enormous eye came into the white eyelight, but within it Slough saw not curiosity, but terror. Then the sea lit up. The fathomless depths were suddenly suffused with a wondrous cyan glow, as if the blue sky of day had visited the blackest depths. In the sudden illumination, however, Slough saw its source, and even she felt fear. To call the abomination a colossus would have been understating it. At the most basic level, it bore some similarities to an eel, but this bio-luminescent horror surpassed anything resembling natural life. On the surface, the Brush Beast towered over all creatures great and small, too large and formidable for even the warlord called Grot, who styled himself huge, to trifle with. The Leviathan was still wider and taller, and longer than several adults fit end-to-end. Like a boa stretching itself to swallow a capybara, the Leviathan could almost certainly unhinge its jaw to swallow a Brush Beast whole. To it, Slough was a flea, and she watched it snap up the giant squid like a person might a shrimp. Just the movement of the thing sent waves through the water that threatened to obliterate Slough despite her constant regeneration, which was already at work counteracting the water pressure that at this depth already came close to turning her to dust. If not for the souls inside her, Slough thought that she might already have faltered and been destroyed for good. One downside of this body as opposed to the pitiful carcass she'd been before—that form couldn't be truly erased from existence even if smashed to atoms, but this one held more investment. Animalistic thoughts of self-preservation came close to overwhelming her when the Leviathan turned its head slightly to look her way. [i]So they have noticed me, after all...[/i] She could not count its eyes, but it watched her, she she watched [url=http://pre02.deviantart.net/1f98/th/pre/i/2015/058/b/1/ever_wonder____by_rpowell77-d5hucvv.jpg]it[/url]. [i]So this is what became of you. The vast, inseparable souls of the Allwater's Duumvirate...[/i] [hider=Slough, Deerly Departed] -On the way to the Forgotten Cragland, Slough encounters Esau, and the two are reunited. -Slough and Esau travel the Forgotten Cragland, finding each soulsafe tomb and retrieving its contents, with the exception of the vast soul of a knowledgeable youth, which was taken by another. -Slough tests her survivability, and finds that she possesses extremely fast and powerful regeneration. -After traversing the mangrove swamp, Slough passes through the Drenched Flowerbed and proceeds into the depths of the Fractal Sea. -She comes face to face with her first Mistake. 1 FP spent to restore and empower Esau's soul 1 FP spent to recover the souls hidden in the Forgotten Cragland, near the Deadwood Sepulchre 1 MP spent to improve own cognitive and communicative abilities 1 MP spent to manifest ultra-fast regeneration 1 FP remains 18 MP remain [/hider]