[center][color=f6989d][h1][center]Arae[/center][/h1][/color]
10MP | 26FP

([@Kho] Special mention to you, cuz this directly addresses Seihdhara)[/center]

When Arae opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. Rather than lying on her tree in her sphere, she was standing on a stone floor. The room she was in contained a large amount of portraits and mannequins, many of them worn out over time, as well as a few glowing artifacts of power. The room had no windows, but the ceiling was open. Despite that, little sunlight shone through due to a massive cloud of black smoke. The door shuddered at regular intervals from withstanding powerful blows from the other side, and it seemed like it wasn't going to hold much longer. 

Arae was confused by this sudden development, but soon realized a number of things. First, the place was practically radiating the energy of a god she recognized as K'nell, the God of Sleep. In other words, she was dreaming, and presumably this was K'nell's handiwork. She wondered what could possibly make the scenario she was in. His sphere, perhaps?

Secondly, this dream she was having was a memory, and it was one of her worst ones too. She hoped she would never have to relive it, but apparently that hope was not going to be. This memory was the day her fate was sealed. The [i]war[/i] was finally ending, and the world began its descent into oblivion. Arae shed a tear. 

[color=f6989d][i]Everyone... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you...[/i][/color] Arae thought to herself, closing her eyes just as the door finally broke down with a loud, splintering crash.

[hr]
Arae woke with a start. She shakily sighed, trying to brush off the horrible feelings from her dream. It was a bad memory, but that was all it was now: a memory. A thing of the past. There was no need to worry about what had already passed. What she needed to do now was focus on the present and future. Arae looked around, admiring her handiwork with the Pantheon. The lake was clean and crystal clear, and the Familial Trees were standing tall. Some of them were a little damaged, presumably reflecting the gods' current states, but that was fine. Nothing a little time and recovery wouldn't fix. 

It was then, however, that Arae spotted something that made her eyes go wide with shock. It was so unbelievable that she remained frozen for several seconds before leaping and gliding over to the source of her concern. One of the trees was completely barren of leaves, and the flesh underneath the bark was dry. If Arae had not sensed the tiny bit of life force remaining within the Tree, she would have thought it was dead. Arae recognized this tree as Seihdhara's, the Goddess of Martial Combat. If her title rang true, that she could hardly imagine anyone actually besting her in combat. The fact remained, though, that something must've happened to Seihdhara that brought her to a state of near-death, if not outright death. 

First things first, Arae had to determine Seihd's current state, and see if anything could still be done. Arae placed a hand on the tree trunk, getting a lock on her familial bond. Then she climbed up Seihdhara's tree and used that momentum to leap into the air, shooting upwards before arcing back downwards into the Pantheon lake. As she dove into the water, her body began to disappear as she used her power to send herself to Galbar. Once she was through the Gateway she had made, the water began to settle, and her sphere was quiet once more.

[hr]
The water began to shudder slightly, the tremors only increasing in strength over time. The ground underneath was rising, all the way up to the water's surface. Soon, a crown of dirt and stone broke through, and it rose high into the air, trapping a small of portion of water within it. The ground continued to rise, molding itself to form an island around the crown. Then, the tremors stopped, as the island finally finished forming. Things were still for a moment, before a tremor started again, but this one was different. It was weaker than the one that formed the island, but it still radiated power as the water within the crown began to glow and shake.

Arae burst out of the water's surface, roaring as she shot up through the opening in the crown's top, and stopping to hover in the middle of the sky. Under normal circumstances, she might have wondered why she had roared, or what she had just created on Galbar, but right now she was focused on following the trail of Seihdhara's familial bond. Being so faint, Arae was having a bit of difficulty following it, but it was still there, and she could still find it. With that in mind, Arae flew off across the water, traveling southwards until she came across a piece of land. Arae continued flying, continuing to follow Seihdhara's trail while looking for any sign of her, until she sensed her power coming from an orange river. 

Examining the contents of the river, Arae wasn't entirely sure what she was looking at, but she was getting an uncomfortable feeling just looking at. She then began traveling upstream to locate the source, and soon came across a pool of the liquid. Peering through the liquid's surface, she thought she could see something at the bottom. It was certainly the source, but certainly not part of the landscape. In fact, it kind of looked like...

Then the thought clicked for Arae. This river was flowing godly ichor! Seihdhara's own blood made up the river! And what was buried inside the pool was Seihdhara's body! Well, part of it, at least, but it was there all the same. Arae was filled with concern, wondering how Seihdhara could have gotten herself into such a mess. There was so much power radiating out of the river that it was its own monument now. Arae's first thought was to retrieve Seihdhara's body from the lake, but she didn't know how she should go about doing so. For one thing, this river was already well integrated into the land, and it seemed like trying to haphazardly alter it would cause extensive damage. Even if it could be repaired, it would most likely take an extraordinary amount of time and effort. In other words, it was too late to clean any of it up. 

Well, if it had to stay, then Arae figured that it might as well be protected. She landed near the Seihdh Lake and began to poke several holes into the ground around it, and a sapling began to grow from each one. As Arae continued to channel her power into them, they grew larger and larger, and a portion of their roots began to extend into the Seihdh Lake. When they made contact with the ichor, though, they began undergoing changes. Most of them seemed to suffer some backlash when they made contact with the ichor in the lake and were about to die, but Arae was quick to reinforce their bodies with her power to better withstand it and even overcome the ichor afflicting them. It was difficult, and the trees were barely hanging on even with Arae's power, but she hoped they would persevere. The trees continued to slowly take in the godly ichor through their roots, and overtime, they continued to adapt and recover, enough so that Arae no longer needed to aid them. In fact, once the trees had absorbed enough of it, they underwent some radical changes. Some remained thin and flexible while others grew thicker and taller, and some didn't have any bark while some had multiple layers. All of them, however, had extensive roots that burrowed deep and wide into the ground, and flexible yet sturdy branches that could move with plenty of freedom. 

Arae was a little surprised at the current development; she hadn't expected them to form so differently from each other, and wondered if it was the result of the lake's power. Furthermore, they turned into something much different than what she originally intended. The trees were supposed to provide a barrier around the Seihdh Lake, using the lake itself as its power source and additional nourishment to sustain it. Instead, the lake seemed to have mutated them into something else, and each of them held quite a bit of power in them. Also, from the way they moved, Arae could have sworn they were much more alive than what trees should normally be. Arae approached one of the thinner trees and raised a hand to examine one of its branches. In response, the tree bent forward, leaning towards her hand and rubbing against it slightly, as if it wanted to be touched. Arae was very curious about this development. She could sense that the trees were still capable of performing their intended function of protecting the lake, so she decided it was alright to leave things as they were, but she did wonder what future these trees would bring.

With the trees complete, Arae felt that her job here was done, and was just about to launch herself into the air once more when she sensed Seihdhara's familial bond coming from another direction. And unlike before, the bond was feeling like a fresh and strong rope, far different from the faint and almost dead thread Arae had been following before. That could only mean that Seihdhara had managed to overcome her predicament, and was presumably alive and well now. At the very least, Arae hoped so. With no time to lose, Arae launched herself towards Seihdhara's location, angrily sending a mental message her way, [color=f6989d][i]Seihdhara!!! I'm coming over to you! Wherever you are, you better be alive, and don't you [b]dare[/b] go get yourself killed again![/i][/color]

[hider=Summary]
-During her nap, Arae finds herself in the Palace of Dreams, reliving a rather traumatic memory of her past. After she wakes up, she forces herself to stay calm by not focusing on the past, but rather the present and future, using her Sphere as the anchor. 
-Arae notices that Seihdhara's Familial Tree at the Pantheon lake is near-dead, and is very alarmed to see that a goddess was reduced to such a state. In light of this discovery, Arae creates a Gateway to Galbar using the Pantheon as one opening, and creating a new island, Dragon's Crown, as the other. 
-Arae follows what's left of Seihdhara's familial bond and comes across the River Seihdhar, using it to find the Seihdh Lake. From there, she discovers the source of the lake as the godly ichor flowing out of Seihdhara's body, and realizes that her ichor was what made up the river. She initially wanted to clean the river away and restore Seihdhara's body, but ultimately decides not. Instead, she chooses to protect the lake.
-Arae intends to create Sanctuary Trees (trees capable of generating a barrier around them, which can also be strengthened and enlarged by combining barriers from other Sanctuary Trees), but due to the influence of the Seihdh Lake, they managed to mutate into Guardian Trees (possesses two different forms, one thin and nimble, the other thick and tank-like. Intelligent enough to be sentient, but not sapient, and are even quite friendly if they do not perceive a threat. Possesses martial prowess from the Seihdh Lake's effects, using their branches and roots as appendages, and can still generate barriers as Arae intended.) 
-Arae believes her job is done and is about to leave when she senses Seihdhara's familial bond strengthening as she returns from the Sky of Pyres. Realizing that Seihdhara is alive again, Arae flies off towards her, sending her an angry/distressed message.
[/hider]
[hider=Might Usage]
-7 FP to create the Gateway.
-2 FP to create the Dragon's Crown island, which houses the opening for the Gateway to Arae's sphere.
-3 MP to create the Sanctuary Trees, which can also mutate into Guardian Trees under the influence of the Seihdh Lake waters. 
(3/5 Might spent towards the Sanctuary portfolio)

MP: 7
FP: 17
[/hider]