[center][h3][colour=thistle]Mater Lei[/colour][/h3][/center] [hr] The night had been long. Gods had begun their lives and continued them. Beyond the walls of the Great Keep, the world was beginning to come to life. The day dawned, finally, on rebirth and change. Bright light crept up the walls of the citadel, giving it for the first time in its brief existence a kind of solemn warmth. Mangrove leaves rustled and received sustenance, and Rytia's birds rejoiced in the day. Yet Mater Lei gazed into the familiar sun and found it cold. All the universe, she realised. Falling into entropy, and these lights its dying sparks. No matter how far they looked, no matter how far they went, the gods of Galbar would gaze at the stars and find nothing looking back. [colour=thistle][i]I've made a mistake.[/i][/colour] Lei disappeared once more into the Vault, and sought through it for some time. When she emerged, she was carrying a simulation. [center][hider=A broken-unbroken prison for that which was not yet] [img]https://78.media.tumblr.com/5a8086bc0a8e4a89cd6cb76c7af06386/tumblr_nankr3BCzb1r70wouo1_500.gif[/img] [/hider][/center] [colour=thistle]"Malkut,"[/colour] she said, projecting the hologram of the thing into the air between her hands, [colour=thistle]"watch the skies."[/colour] And she ascended to the roof of the citadel as Malkut disappeared into deep space. A binary star was by far the brightest in Galbar's night, a furious and spiralling vortex of gravity between two giants of nearly equal size. Malkut watched, and far away, on grey concrete, Mater Lei seeded her creation with death. First in blinks and shudders and grinding screams did the spinning shells of the trap fall apart, and then in distant, distorted, laughing voices. Lei's virus ate away at the structure of the seal, and what replaced it was chaos, hot vibrant chaos, eager and alive. The glowing orb exploded, and the things that she had made left her grip, and leapt into the heavens, each second that passed doubling their number. They sought the lifeless void, and ate it, and birthed more and more of themselves to fill the emptiness- and one by one the stars of Galbar came alive. Mater Lei watched the sky. Even in the sheer blue, a certain pair of stars was becoming visible. [hr] [center][h3][colour=OrangeRed]Axnas[/colour][/h3][/center] Amidst the glistening musical notes of a serenade, emanating from nothing, but which had enrobed the brimless, sparkling pool of space. The twin stars danced a dance of harmony, held fast by one another's gravity. Masses of incomprehensible size, whirling, twisting, and churning amongst themselves in an enormous war that was too fast and too huge for the mind to contemplate. Unbeknownst to them, twin particles of space dust so minute it would have escaped notice even in the palm of one's hand, hurtled toward them, two particles amongst many; a myriad, myriad of myriads, as many as the sands of a thousand beaches. Yet, as it was with many great things, these tiny particles of dust, unknown and unnoticed in the vastness of the void, was a beginning. A flare of light marked where the particles of dust collided with the corona of each of the twin stars. A shockwave was sent rippling throughout the cosmos, reaching all corners of space. And from within the core of the star Axnas, an intelligence stirred as the ripple washed over it. For what seemed like millennia the intelligence sat brooding within the matrix of fusion, until it felt the emptiness of its innards change, become substance in itself, given form just by the mere desire of it. The intelligence paused as if to consider what to do next. But not too long: a pair of heartbeats passed by then it was expanding, growing in size until no longer could the core contain his divine form. Farther and farther it pressed, intent on reaching the surface, until, in an arc of ionized plasma, it burst through the photosphere. A titan stood upon the sun's surface, regarding reality through two great orbs of malevolent light. In the illumination of the corona, no flaw or imperfection marred its pale skin or long black hair. Everything from its jawline, which could cut diamonds, to its brow, to it's lithe and muscular arms and legs where shaped with strength deep in the center of his domain. As sudden as his conception, pain ripped through the giant, bringing it to its knees. Its twin, with eyes like black coals boring into his soul, began to quench its thirst with Axnas' flesh like a boy drinking greedily from the waters of a stream. As the corona dissipated so did the flesh of his body, his pale skin stripped from his muscle, leaving him naked. The giant screamed, and only knew rage. Teeth bared, it descended upon its brother, hurling energy enough to unmake whole worlds. Fear overcame its twin, it begged a wordless plea, but the titan heard nothing. It only fed. It fed and fed until all that was left was a furious maelstrom of superheated matter and plasma, consumed and absorbed by its gravity. Naked and ragged, Axnas rose, the corpse of his twin still coalescing with his own essence. A long moment of regard passed as the giant surveyed the aftermath of the short, yet furious battle. [colour=mistyrose][i]He is able.[/i][/colour] A golden creature descended to the solar spirit, the Prime Solarus. Malkut regarded Axnas with cool and even respect, matching his nuclear rage, and bowed. Its eyes now quasar-bright, the giant gazed at the newcomer. He was no star. Axnas made a grunt of assent and spoke, its voice a whisper the sound of a nova. [color=OrangeRed]"Who might you be?"[/color] [colour=mistyrose]"I am Malkut, son of Lei, Concierge to the Universe,"[/colour] said Malkut, [colour=mistyrose]"who has invited Gods and Solari alike to this world. I perceive that you are both."[/colour] [color=OrangeRed]"Lei? Who is Lei?"[/color] [colour=mistyrose]"Mater Lei, my creator,"[/colour] he repeated. [colour=mistyrose]"Who guards the Door to this world. She awaits on yon planet named Galbar,"[/colour] said Malkut, [colour=mistyrose]"to greet every god."[/colour] With no further delay, Axnas gestured for Malkut to take lead. The automaton shone a pale scarlet light towards Galbar, and stepped through hyperspace. Mater Lei awaited them on the roof of her citadel. When she saw the blazing figure approach them, she wolf-whistled. [colour=thistle]"Another naked man! I have to say, today could have gone worse."[/colour] With that she bowed. Like mother, like son. Axnas regarded the mysterious goddess. He took both their pleasantries or genuflections at face value. Their power trumped his own, and all those present, from what he could gather upon arrival. [color=OrangeRed]"Hello, Mater Lei. Axnas, is my name."[/color] [colour=thistle]"Your name,"[/colour] she repeated. [colour=thistle]"But who [i]are[/i] you, Axnas? You are not like the other Solari."[/colour] The Solari paused for a moment, considering her question. The answer came in a few heartbeats. Despite is short existance, his identiy had already been realized. [color=OrangeRed]"The 'others', submit themselves to their primitive instincts, eschewing their potential for greatness through ignorance and weakness. They are anathema to my eyes, and serve no purpose but to be consumed to bolster the strong-willed and able-minded. The Solari are capable of great things, yet only need a firm hand to guide them, and I will be that firm hand, bringing them to their full potential. I am not yet a king, only a prince."[/color] he paused to glance at his excoriated hand. [color=OrangeRed]"A flayed prince."[/color] Mater Lei stamped her crooked staff and laughed. [colour=thistle]"Glorious. May your reign be long and rich, little prince,"[/colour] she said, gazing at their own sun. [colour=thistle]"This world and its people will laud your conquest."[/colour] She looked back at him. [colour=thistle]"Perhaps."[/colour] Axnas considered this for a time. What happened on this world he may have considered to be of little consequence for a short time. Maybe it was Lei's grandiose proclamation of praise that awakened in him a selfsih desire for recognition. Yet he wouldn't hide this greed behind some veil of righteousness or duty. He knew his place in the universe, and what that meant for this insignificant rock and all life upon it. Instead he would induge himself, just this once. [hider=Axnas is born!] Lei looks upon the stars and the earth, and comes to realise that the night sky of Galbar is a beautiful but awfully lifeless thing to look at. Lei retrieves a Vault oddity and corrupts it 'til it breaks, creating the Solari. [b]Solari are star spirits that are born from emptiness, and as such occupy every uninhabited star, dwarf, and remnant in the galaxy. They are weaker than gods, but still quite powerful. Each one embodies a particular stellar object (a pulsar, a stellar nebula, a black hole, a neutron star, a white dwarf, red dwarf, supergiant, you name it). Obviously, the quasars and hypergiants are stronger than the white and red dwarves.[/b] In order to populate a new planet, you may have to overcome its Solarus one way or another. Because inhabited systems aren't 'empty', they don't tend to come back. The first and most powerful Solarus manifests as Axnas, God of the Cosmos. He and his twin, the bright binary system closest to Galbar, immediately fight, ending in his victory and consumption of his brother. Malkut watches, and afterwards welcomes him to Galbar. Lei blesses him and Axnas declares his intention to create a grand solar empire. [/hider] [hider=Might Bank Statment] [b]Previous Balacnce[/b]: 4 Might [b]Account Level[/b]: 1 [b]Expenditures[/b]: [indent][i]Defeat of Solari Twin[/i] -1 Might[/indent] [b]Current Balance[/b]: 3 Might [/hider]