[centre][img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/divinus-iii/images/d/df/Shengshi-logo.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/310?cb=20190112093445[/img]
[h3]Shengshi[/h3]

[colour=Red][h3]Kirron[/h3][/colour]

[@Kho][/centre]

After Urhu had left, the snake slithered back up to his chambers. He quickly grabbed the scroll and walked back out on deck. He smelt the air for a moment and looked in the direction he presumed to be…

Wait, what should they call the directions?

Shengshi waved the thought away. That was likely something he would have to agree upon with his siblings. Either way, he was pretty certain the top of the Middle World was this way. He sniffed once again - this was the direction that reeked the most of the sea. Shengshi sneered. While he admittedly did not wish to wander out to sea, it was the truth of the universe that all rivers eventually lead there - thus, he himself had to see it.

The Giant’s Bath was filling up; now was the time. Shengshi mounted the dragon’s head at the front of his ship. He swirled the waters below it to turn the ship in the right direction. He unrolled the scroll and compared the wall of the Giant’s Bath to the observations Urhu had made. The terrain was no ideal for larger river valleys, but in time, future rivers would sand away the jagged terrain and carve newer paths until great valleys would form. For now, though, all he needed was a single one.

“Waters flowing, fresh and clean -
Hear your master’s call!”

The waters in the Giant’s Bath began to whirl and foam on the edges.

“Waters foaming, not yet free - 
Make a waterfall!”

Like a sieging battering ram, the waters recoiled before blasting against the upper wall of the Giant’s Bath, breaking apart the upper layers of stone. In a violent display of gravel and foam, the beam of water flowed out of the elevated lake and down into the shale below, hammering at the rocks and cliffs below until they, too, succumbed beneath the sudden flood. The terrain caused the water to flow in all directions at first, something Shengshi found regrettable. He clenched his fists, pulled his hands back and, in a fabulous manner, brought both fists forward in a sudden motion.

The water falling from the waterfall began to twist and spin. It struck against the ground like a drill against rock, forcefully carving a way ahead through the nooks and crannies that offered the least resistance. Before long, Shengshi proudly looked upon the first river on Galbar.

“I think I shall name it… Beihe,” he said to himself. He slithered upstairs and grabbed a calligraphy set, which he used to write down the characters of the river into one of his poems.

[i]Stranded among stone;
Freedom comes with Beihe’s birth;
The flow continues.[/i]

The snake nodded in approval at his work and steered the streams under his ship so they pushed the vessel towards the falls. The ship obeyed its watery rudders and soon tipped over the edge and into the frothing depths below. The snake nodded and headed inside and up to his chambers to take in the view. Shengshi did not worry about his ship, however - he was confident the rivers would catch him completely safe-

[i]CRRNK![/i]

Everything not secured to the deck lurched forward. While nothing fell overboard, the snake himself was tossed out through his windows and crashed into the neck of the dragon’s head on the deck below. The wood of the ship's stern hollowly rebuffed the water that pushed at its rear. They had stopped, but the river still flowed below.

[colour=Red][b]"Huh?"[/b][/colour] A deep and familiar voice barked out from beneath the prow. [colour=Red][b]"What's a hunk of wood doing out here?"[/b][/colour]

Shengshi lifted his face off the dented planks. It would seem that his enchantments did -not- make the ship impervious to physical impacts from divine beings. A thing to keep in mind for the future. No time for that, however, for another being had entered the vicinity. At the head of the ship's hull was the hulking red form of the god of blood, chest-deep in the rushing water.

Shengshi stood up, dusted himself off a bit, and greeted his brother with a bow.

“Ah, to think I would meet the beating heart of our family here. My most humble greetings to you, dearest brother Kirron. You would not happen to feel generous today, would you? I seem to be stuck.” The snake gestured sheepishly to the tilted ship.

Kirron lifted one arm out of the water to shield his eyes from the new sun. He parted his mouth and squinted his eyes. [colour=Red][b]"Stuck!? You can move just fine up there, Sheng."[/b][/colour]

It only took a small crane of the head for Shengshi to notice Kirron's [i]other[/i] arm outstretched and clutching the front of the ship's spine.

[colour=Red][b]"I'm feeling about generous enough not to wreck your floating house for running right at me,"[/b][/colour] Kirron continued. [colour=Red][b]"But I've greater cares, brother. Tell you what, you can purchase my forgiveness by answering some questions. I'll just take your ship out the river while we talk, eh? Don't want you drifting off like some dreamer..."[/b][/colour]

Kirron braced both his arms against the stern and hoisted up. With an almighty creak, the ship tilted forward. Or, rather, the stern lifted up out of the water. Shengshi clutched the nearest object, the stern railing, and let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank you, thank you! You are much too kind! J-just… Please put her down gently - GENTLY!”

There was another loud creak, though this came from the sudden weight on the luxurious planks as the ship hull smacked into the rocky ground underneath. At least the maiden voyage really got to test the ship’s capabilities, Shengshi thought, though he would definitely have to inspect the damages later. He got back to his tail again and slithered over to the edge of the deck and peeked over to spot his red-skinned brother.

“Thank you, truly,” he said somewhat sourly. “I would just like to add that I did not intentionally sail Jiangzhou in your direction - the flow merely guided it as such.” He cleared his throat sheepishly. “Now, what did you wish to ask?”

[colour=Red][b]"Well, it happens I'm looking for something..."[/b][/colour] Kirron waded out of the current and onto the shore. With the ship leaning to one side on terra firma, it was a simple matter to pull himself up over the railing. [colour=Red][b]"The blood spilt in the Architect's cave. Some of it went somewhere. I'm trying to find it."[/b][/colour] Kirron pointed at Shengshi. [colour=Red][b]"I followed the smell to you. Here, upriver. Know anything about that, Sheng?"[/b][/colour]

The snake scratched the hair behind his left horn and looked up towards his left temple as to look extra pensive. Though, in truth, he had absolutely no idea. “I mean, it is unfortunately not quite in my nature to hunt for, uhm, blood to the extent that it is for you, dearest brother, so I admit that the only thing I can offer is perhaps some refreshments.” As with Urhu, he gestured towards the gates of the spire.

As Shengshi raised his hands to point, there was a blinding flash of fire and fury in the sky. Both gods shot their gaze to the spot which recently had housed Asceal’s little project - one that now had, apparently, been blown to smithereens. Shengshi’s jaw dropped.

Kirron stroked his chin. [colour=Red][b]"Heh, nice trick."[/b][/colour]

“Well, if anything, that looks like a bloody endea-...” The larger pieces of what they assumed was the remains of the celestial machine entered the young atmosphere in another display of fire and light before finally crashing against the surface with a solid boom. Shengshi himself was unsure of what it was, but a weak yet ominously present wave pulsed through the aura of the surrounding environment, teasing that something unusual had happened. Kirron pulled a frown. He sensed it as well.

“I propose we look a bit around." Shengshi suggested. "Maybe we will find this… Whatever you’re looking for on the way? With everything that has happened lately, we may even find the planet’s first blood bath,” he said jokingly. “Though this river cannot take us all the way. It will likely only take us to the oceans in to the bei.” Shengshi scratched his chin. “Though I could carve more, I suppose… With your permission, of course, dearest brother.”

Kirron had been staring sternly down the horizon. Only after a second did he give Shengshi a glance. [colour=Red][b]"Hm? Sure, whatever you like. I don't plan on throwing it again."[/b][/colour] Kirron stepped back onto the rocks and shoved the ship back into the river with one foot. It scraped into a splash but stayed afloat, even [i]clonk[/i]ing against the opposite bank of the river.

A moment after, Kirron bounded back onto the top deck and righted his balance. Without showing a hint of his previous joviality, he walked up to the bow and looked out. [colour=Red][b]"Take us downriver. It smells like...What was that you said we would find, Sheng?"[/b][/colour]

“A blood bath?” he proposed as he absent-mindedly twisted the streams a little to shove the ship forward. “Oh my, I merely jested.” His face went pale - there was indeed another flow of fluids in the distance. He hoped only that it was merely the work of another god.

It did not take long for his clear water to succumb to the pollution of the foul ichor that flowed from further inland. The grimy substance sickened Shengshi to the point where he found himself retching, yet there was a familiar essence about it that kept his curiosity piqued enough to keep his own bile down. The snake waved his hand in the stern manner with which he commanded all the fresh waters in these realms and found the flaming red river insubordinate. He gritted his fangs and glared down into the foul flows beneath.

“The arrogance…” he spat and tightened his hands around the ship’s railing with such ferocity that the wood planks, even with all their enchantments and reinforcements, groaned and snapped. “To have the audacity to not only create a gruesome excuse for a river like this - but to have it poison -MY- waters! Who did this?! Who perverted this beautiful flow into a poor excuse for… For curry?” Shengshi jumped down into the river and tasted the essence. He froze in the water, eyes wide and horrified. The substance was thick and wretched - almost metallic in flavour. The essence within it stabbed at his mind and body, as if trying to twist him into something he could never be. He immediately clawed his way back onboard.

“SERVANTS! CLEAN ME!” 

Swiftly, globules of water soared out of the main gate to the castle and packed themselves around their lord, licking and wiping off the ichorous substance. Shengshi sat down, his face chalk-white with shock.

[colour=Red][b]"Now you're starting to get it, huh,"[/b][/colour] Kirron finally cut through Shengshi's rage. He looked down on the watery god with a deep frown. [colour=Red][b]"This was no mere spit in your face, river man. We go to its source."[/b][/colour]

Shengshi did not say anything, but the flows turned the ship and forced it upriver towards the source of the ichor. After sailing upriver for a time, he looked back at Kirron, then slithered towards the edge of the deck, staring down into the wicked goo licking against his beautiful ship’s hull. He retched again.

“No… We must halt for a moment! There is something I must do!” In a hurry, he slithered to the stern of the ship.

Kirron followed his movement and folded his arms.

At the edge, Shengshi made great effort to slow the disobedient torrents below. The world’s beasts and plants could not be allowed to confuse this for his own clean, nutritious waters. No, this sacrilege demanded an equally heretical response. Shengshi tightened his fists and reached out to the moisture in the air; the rivers underground; the water spirits still uncorrupted in the stream beneath his ship. To all surrounding water, the lord of a thousand streams called.

“The flow is eternal - and in most circumstances, all should congregate in one great river…”
 
The earth behind the ship began to crack and heave as water from the air and the rivers drilled and dug its way deep underground. 

“However, I care not what the purpose of this gruesome act was - it shall -NOT- be given the sanctuary of my realm!”

Massive shards of rock and stone erupted out of the ground across the horizon behind the ship, propelled by fuming blasts of water.

“You, cruellest waterway of filth, are banished from my realm!”

The earth shattered and quaked as the flow of ichor was interrupted by a wall of towering plateaus and peaks that soon stretched from the oceans in the distance to Shengshi’s right and curved around the horizon like a great dam. The reddish ichor slammed against the mountain walls, raging with all the foam and fury of a beast suddenly trapped. Soon, however, it realised its futile efforts and began flowing along the mountains towards the oceans. Shengshi wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

“This is your prison, monster! May you never pollute my waters again!” Shengshi said, glaring down at the red river testing the new terrain. He gave the mountains a look, too. Some of them were still steaming from the heat of their birth. They were thin and sharp with small bases. Shengshi estimated that the tallest of the peaks could be no taller than five thousand feet, but that they should be more than enough to keep the red menace out of his pure domain.

“I think I shall name them Qiangshan… Yes, yes, a fitting name for their honourable task.” Shengshi wrote the characters in the air in front of him. There was a gentle shake as the mountains received their name. Shengshi let out a tired sigh and realised the enormous strain on his mind as the tumultuous torrents below struggled to be free of his control. He snarled and redoubled his efforts, quelling the resistance and forcing his ship upriver and onward. He slithered back to the bow and gave Kirron a fake smile supported by a furious glare.

“Now we can head to the source.”

Kirron looked down at his brother. His frown parted into a shark-toothed grin. [colour=Red][b]"I was wrong about you, Sheng. I had you down as a pushover."[/b][/colour] He looked ahead. [colour=Red][b]"I thought I was going to have to boil your blood to shut up your dry-heaving."[/b][/colour] Kirron clapped a hand roughly on Shengshi's back as he strode to the railing. He leaned down on his hands and squinted his eyes ahead. His grin lowered. [colour=Red][b]"We're getting close."[/b][/colour]

[hr]
The first visual signs started with steam rising over the craggy hills. Amongst the soft breeze fluttering by their ears, the gods heard another sound from the barren land. A churning and bubbling. The waters were so thick with the red ichor that Shengshi's hold over the water that bore it reduced, slowing them down. But it was no barrier for the gods to overcome. After struggling up the thin creeks aloft an upwards-flowing bed of water, the ship finally tipped up and onto a vast body of red liquid, hissing, steaming, and boiling beneath the hull.

[colour=Red][b]"It's just ahead here,"[/b][/colour] Kirron remarked.

They drifted forward for only a short time through the clouds of heat and steam until Kirron noticed something down beneath the water. He raised a hand and, mysteriously, the ship gently slowed to a halt.

Stepping back from the railing, Kirron lifted a hand as if to gently pick an invisible fruit. With it, a long, thin globule of red hot ichor emerged from over the side of the ship and drifted to a point over his hand. Kirron opened his mouth and willed a tiny droplet onto his tongue. Immediately, he shuddered and bared his teeth, letting the rest of the ichor splat in a steaming puddle on the deck.

[colour=Red][b]"What a gruesome way to die."[/b][/colour] Kirron lashed his tongue as if to air out the taste.

Shengshi slithered over to inspect the ichor further. His short dip into the stuff had left him disgusted, and with Kirron’s confirmation, the presence of divine essence suddenly made a lot more sense.

“Was it a battle?” he inquired, voice cracking ever so slightly with confused sorrow. “Or was the Architect’s task too much on the mind?”

[colour=Red][b]"No. It was a...an avoidable accident,"[/b][/colour] Kirron sniffed. [colour=Red][b]"A mistake. Something flew at speed. Must have sheared her in two if what I'm sensing at the bottom of this lake is what I think it is."[/b][/colour]

The strain on the snake as he attempted to control the now highly concentrated ichor below forced forth a pained groan from the god. He clutched his head and looked to Kirron.

“Would… Would you mind taking over for a bit? I will have the servants fetch us something to… Dull the senses a little.” He yelled out the command and there was a hint of a scramble of metal and glass from the decks below. “How did it come to this?” he muttered. Out the spire gates came a globule carrying two wine bottles and a pair of small cups on a tray, which it placed at the gods’ feet before sliding back inside. Shengshi filled his cup and flushed its contents down in a swift motion. He gave Kirron a nod.

“You go on ahead. I need a moment.”

Kirron paused in his thoughts to eye the bottle and cup. He took his hand away from his chin to swipe the bottle up off the ground. He sat himself down. [colour=Red][b]"There's something I don't get."[/b][/colour] He snapped off the top of the bottle with his other hand and drank down half of its contents in a single swallow. He wiped his mouth on his arm and continued. [colour=Red][b]"It was just a chunk of...rock, I think, that got her. Why didn't she defend herself? Not like she didn't want to -- the memory didn't have a, uh, resigned feeling to it. Was she really that stupid?"[/b][/colour]

Shengshi took another drink and shook his head. “If the Architect truly made us what we are, he would not make us vulnerable to mere… Mere rocks.” He furrowed his brow into a scowl. “No… Even if she was a fool of the most barbaric stupidity, rocks brush off our divine skin like water off a mountain, no matter the speed. This must have been a result of conflict. A cruel plot between feuding siblings. The question is… Who would do something like this?”

Kirron snorted. [colour=Red][b]"I dunno. [i]I[/i] might have done it if she pissed me off enough."[/b][/colour]

At that moment, a large dot in the sky beyond the Blue glowed with warm light and swelled at enormous speeds. Shengshi looked up.

“Is that Orvus making another meteorite?” he said, placing his hands on his hips with a disapproving scowl on his face.

Kirron only gave it a glance before looking into his broken bottle and swirling his wine around. [colour=Red][b]"Would've thought you'd be used to it by now."[/b][/colour]

The stone in the sky grew bigger and bigger at a frighteningly rapid pace. Then, it finally stopped.

“Did he just make our planet a sibli-?”

The cracks of fire and lava that spread across the sphere were visible from the surface of Galbar. The following violent turmoil of cosmic forces broke apart the new moon, and pieces of debris entered the atmosphere is a display of fire and flash. Shengshi let out another sigh.

“I wish we could all just have some time without all this chaos.”

Kirron stopped swirling his wine and lifted his eyes to Shengshi. Suddenly, he threw back his head with a hearty guffaw, showing all his gleaming sharp teeth. He slammed a fist on the deck and laughed some more. 

[colour=Red][b]"Sheng, you gotta learn to lighten up!"[/b][/colour] Kirron gulped down the rest of his wine and tossed the glass over his shoulder. It shattered into pieces on the deck behind him. [colour=Red][b]"This place is getting to you, I can tell. Why don't you show me what you've been up to before you put your boat up on a hill in this place? I'll only grab a few more bottles of that drink before I'll let you be, so you may as well."[/b][/colour]

Shengshi raised his head and pulled at his chin inquisitively. “What I’ve been up to, you say?” He pointed across the fresh mountain chain clogging the image of the horizon. “Well, I basically just arrived from my home in Fengshui Fuyou. If you would like to see it, well…” He looked around, then at the ship’s deck at his feet, then at the mountains.

“I may have made it a little hard for us to return to the river Beihe…” he confessed sheepishly. “Tell you what, I’ll tell you the password and you can go have a look if you would like! You simply need to present the water in the Giant’s Bath -- I think that’s what Urhu called it -- with a figure that looks like that.” He gestured to the dragon’s head at the bow. Kirron leaned to one side to look at it.

“Don’t mind me, I will find a way out of this…” He retched. “... Oh my, I will never be able to have curry again after today…” He shook his head and looked back to his sibling, a fanged smile on his face. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll sail the ship around. Also, help yourself to as much wine as you can. Bottom floor, room towards the stern. If the door appears to be locked, it isn’t, the handle is just being silly. Go grab some, please! I, uh, I need some rest.”

Kirron pulled a thoughtful frown and hummed. [colour=Red][b]"Appreciate it, Sheng,"[/b][/colour] he remarked before Shengshi slithered out of sight.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Shenshi's sleeping basket was not the end of his excitement for the day. He was permitted peace to lay down for all of four minutes before the world lurched to one side. Wood strained and creaked as gravity righted itself again, save for an odd bouncing motion unlike any ripples on a lake. The snake groaned angrily to himself and slithered out, scowling.

The first thing Shengshi noticed when he peered out of the nearest window was the craggy lands of the continent, and most definitely no water below. Shengshi had a vague idea of what was going on and looked across the room to the windows on the other side. Through them, all he saw was the majestic Blue dotted with red spots of burning meteors. He slowly pulled his hand across his face and let out another, surlier groan before slithering outside.

Upon arriving on deck and peering over the tilted side, his suspicions were indeed confirmed: The ship was being carried - and he would not require omniscience to estimate who was doing the lifting.

“Deeeeaarest brother Kirron,” he opened through a fanged, faked grin. “While I am -certainly- very appreciative of your aid in getting me home, I can assure you - you are much, much too kind! Please, do go on ahead! I will catch-!” There was a larger bump than usual and the snake was briefly slammed against the railing. “... Catch up shortly.”

[colour=Red][b]"Settle down, Sheng!"[/b][/colour] Kirron called back from under the hull. His voice was only slightly constricted by the weight on his shoulders. [colour=Red][b]"Rest your weary cartilage. I'm just borrowing your ship to show its figurehead to that bath you told me about. If you really want to stay back 'n' enjoy the scenery, I ain't going to force you to stay riding."[/b][/colour]

Shengshi pinched the bridge of his flat nose and let out a sigh. “No, you know what? Fine, be my guest. Just… Warn me before we get to the mountains, alright? I have to secure some of my wine casks…”

[hr]
Kirron did not warn Shengshi when they reached the mountains. The snake had taken a break between tying together pots and casks and securing them against the wall when he noticed the ship came to a halt. He raised his head and looked around. Had they arrived already? Then, he felt a dip, then another one, as Kirron was testing the ship’s weight. Then, it dawned on him.

“Oh no…”

Everything around him creaked, cracked and crumbled as every natural force objected to the ship’s godlike acceleration. Even the snake was flattened against the floor by the sheer suddenness of the push, which then shortly after turned into a tingling tickle in the snake’s belly and a horrified stare as he realised that the remaining casks if wine began to float in the air. Fruitlessly, the water god tried to swim through the air to pick up the flying barrels, but had to resort to clawing at the floor to get any sort of forward motion. He manage to catch a few before his divine instincts told him that there was something very hard coming towards him at a very high speed. Shengshi placed himself underneath his precious caskets and prayed.

The impact shattered what remained of the poor wine pots that he had not managed to save. The snake laid weeping on the floor which was filled with nearly a foot of wine. He clutched his remaining two pots as if their were stuffed animals and curled up in a ball to mourn the loss of so much delicious drink… Until he remembered that he did not, in fact need to mourn it at all. His godly powers could easily fix this! He stood up, wiped his wine-splattered face with his hand and licked that hand.

Wait, what was that flavour? He had a sip of the rest of the wine on the floor. It was coming from somewhere… It was sour, but weak. Very weak, compared to the rest of the fragrant wine surrounding him, and yet its flavour was complemented by a gentle fizz. He slithered over to the source of the flavour and found a basket of old apples which had taken a swim in the alcoholic pool. He took one out and had a taste. Nothing special - they tasted like normal apples, albeit a little soft and stale. He tasted the water around the basket. What was this? The fizz and sour tang were back. Had the wine yeast eaten the apples?

His hypothesis was confirmed with some further testing in the bouncing room. The water around the apples, permeated with wine yeast, had become a new drink. A very weak one, granted, but perhaps one even mortals could enjoy in moderation. Shengshi kept a few bottles of the stuff for later examinations, cleaned up the room and headed out.

He peeked over the side of the deck. Sure enough, his red brother was still carrying the ship. Shengshi climbed down and caught up to him. Kirron looked around his arms as they held the ship aloft. [colour=Red][b]"I see a glint in your eye. What have you got there?"[/b][/colour]

“Good day again, brother. It so happens that a serendipitous miracle happened in the briefly ravaged wine cellar and this was made.” He presented the bottle. “Care to have a taste?”

[colour=Red][b]"Hah! Who am I to say no?"[/b][/colour] Kirron shifted the keel of the ship to rest on his shoulder and slowed to a stop. With one hand holding up the hull, he took the bottle in the other and brought it to his lips. He did not bring the vessel down until it was completely drained, at which point he exhaled with satisfaction and tossed the bottle back into Shengshi's arms. [colour=Red][b]"You're getting good at making brews, Sheng! That drink left a tingle in my stomach -- a spring! Hop back on the boat, brother! I feel like picking up our pace a little!"[/b][/colour]

Kirron shifted the ship back into both his hands as he spoke. Already, he was virtually arcing with energy. His big grin and wild look in his eyes spoke of a dangerously brief last leg of the journey.

The snake grinned from ear to ear. “Why, you are most kind to commend this humble one’s drink. I will make sure to make a little extra just for you to bring along!” With that, he climbed back onboard.

[hr]
Shengshi went back to the wine cellar for further experimentation. How had this substance not appeared in Fengshui Fuyou? Granted, there had not been any wild apples lying around, but this sort of flavour ought to have popped up while he was brewing. He pondered for a time. Perhaps it was the change in environment? Perhaps his siblings had made some microbial life forms that enhanced his yeast, or perhaps replaced it entirely. He tested his other brewing batches. Some had indeed grown fizzy and fresh. He sampled the contents and compared the strains of yeast in all of them. None of them were of his making; if they were, they had been severely altered. 

“I suppose this is what I get for telling the Sleeper’s Sand yeast not to live in waters that other life depends on,” he muttered to himself, though there was no anger in his voice - if anything, he marveled at this property of yeast. He closed his hands around the jars of samples.

“Inhabitants of my waters, listen to your lord.” The samples began to glow. “You are not inherently of the Flow, I sense as much. You thrive in waters both running and still…” He sighed. “Yet you possess qualities that I want. As such, I give you sanctuary in my realm, and bless you with growth and strength on your paths to the other realms of fresh water.” The samples in the jars began to swirl and bubble.

“In return,” Shengshi continued, “you will obey these commandments given to you by your lord.” Shengshi let go for the jars. Their contents continued to glow, however, and went completely still as if to show their attention. “Firstly, you shall never produce any brew strong enough to kill. No matter the size of the beast, nothing shall die from outright drinking you. Whatever happens after, though, is not your fault.” Shengshi shrugged unapologetically. “Secondly, you shall never more infest other brews. While I forgive you this time, others will not be as joyous to find their batch of wine destroyed. Thirdly, you shall only eat fruits. You shall shun all other forms of sweetness apart from fruit. In return, you shall have the capabilities of creating everything from delicious dry brews, to sweet and sour drinks, and I will grant you the power to grow in old fruits even without the purpose of making wine.” Shengshi scratched his chin. “Lastly, you need a name.” A somewhat more melancholic thought dawned on him. “I think… I think I shall name you after our fallen sister. While her… Blood may have done the surrounding lands a disservice, her death is a tragedy regardless. A beautiful goddess that should be remembered with this wonderful drink.” Shengshi picked up sample jar, poured himself a glass and lifted his cup in a toast.

“I name you - cider.”

Around the time Shengshi swallowed, the ship dipped again to signal that it was time for another short flight. Shengshi called his servants in as fast as he could and had them surround the barrels and pots like belts. As the ship soared up into the sky, some pots succumbed to the pressure or simply fell out of the piles. Even though restoring the wine inside was a simple task, the feeling of loss stabbed Shengshi’s heart like a dull lance.

He slithered up on deck again and let out a sigh of relief. Kirron was atop the deck with his arms crossed, they were back in the Giant’s Bath, and Hemen had already recognised the dragon’s head. The waters before the ship sprouted two wide ribbons of water that first extended high up into the air, and then intertwined at the top, forming beautifully intricate arch of water knots as they stretched downwards along one another in a spiralling pattern. Through the dew dripping across the gateway from the top of the arch, the gods saw the tranquil sight of Fengshui Fuyou.

“Well, we have arrived. Would you like a smaller ship so you can go inside and explore?” Shengshi asked smiling.

[colour=Red][b]"I was going to borrow one anyway,"[/b][/colour] Kirron said. [colour=Red][b]"I can carry plenty on my own, but my arms can only wrap around so many of those round barrels."[/b][/colour] He pointed a thumb off to the side, where one of the ship's dinghies resting on a frame on the deck, laden with a small stack of wooden casks.
“Of course,” the snake reasoned. He clapped his hands and his servants brought up a smaller vessel, large enough to fit roughly one Kirron and however much wine this one Kirron would like to bring along - up to maximum of ten barrel-sized pots. It was evident that the vessel had been fashioned from leftover planks from the construction itself, for some of the planks were uneven and it was not as laden with gold and ornaments as its mothership was. It also included an oar, as opposed to the mothership. Shengshi scowled in disappointment and turned to his servants, who were busy zooming around in circles in order to stay alive.

“This is what you bring when your lord demands a boat?!” Shengshi turned back to his brother and bowed deeply. “My most sincere apologies and requests for your forgiveness, dearest brother. They possess not minds of reason… Nor minds at all, when I think about it-...”

Kirron raised a hand to interrupt, smiling. [colour=Red][b]"It's perfect."[/b][/colour] He walked towards the vessel, clapping Shengshi on the shoulder on the way past. [colour=Red][b]"You're a real pleaser, Sheng. Thanks for everything."[/b][/colour] He took his previous dinghy and unceremoniously poured is selected casks in a rumbling pile into the new ship. Already, the servants brought up a few more pots of wine and cider to line the extra space.

While the servants hoisted the ramshackle boat into the waters below, Kirron turned around with his fists on his hips and flashed a grin. [colour=Red][b]"I'll see you around, river man! I had [i]great[/i] fun today! Fare yourself well!"[/b][/colour]

And with that he stepped over the railing and landed on his new vehicle.

Shengshi still grimaced at his agreement to send off Kirron on what in his eyes was such a shabby piece of flotsam, but he had by now learned that it was better to just let his brother do what he wished and avoid stalling him further. The snake leaned over the railing and waved to his brother. The red god was making a wake behind him with an oar in hand.

“I return the sentiment, dearest brother of mine! Have a safe and fortuitous journey!” A thought popped into his head. “Oh! And please do not mind the mud worms. They may bite, but they never bite hard. Oh, and do not mind the huge floods that may occur. They do that, sometimes!” Yet another thought surfaced. “And please do not throw any huge rocks around-... And he’s gone.”

[hider=Two Gods in a Boat]
Continuing from last time, Shengshi finishes up filling up the Giant's Bath to let his ship run free on the huge new river [i]Beihe[/i].

He hits an obstacle at the base of the hill. It's an incredulous Kirron, following the trail of this missing blood he's been wondering about.

Kirron [s]asserts[/s] kindly asks that Shengshi help him out.

Kaboom! Asceal's sun thing explodes.

The gods sense something icky. They decide to investigate downriver.

They reach the river Seihdhar in Shengshi's boat.

Shengshi does not take the ichor in his river system very well. While Kirron is interested in getting to the 'bottom' of the matter upriver, Shengshi has to stop and, in a seething rage, make a dividing mountain range between the river Beihe and the river Seihdhar to satisfy his constitution. He names the mountains [i]Qiangshan[/i].

Kirron, having assumed that Shengshi was kind of a wuss up until then, gives him some props. They continue to the lake at the Seihdhar's headwaters.

At the lake, Kirron tastes the near-pure ichor, reads the memory of its spilling, and wonders how Seihdhara succumbed to such a mundane accident. Shengshi suspects foul play. They talk about it over some wine.

Orvus' new moon breaks up overhead. Shengshi facepalms mentally.

Without any solid conclusions, the subject goes to the general chaos of this early universe. Kirron tells Shengshi to lighten up.

Observing just how bothered Shengshi was with the godly ichor all around them, Kirron suggests Shengshi shows him Fengshui Fuyou.

Shengshi tells Kirron how to get in there by presenting the Giant's Bath with something resembling the figurehead of Shengshi's ship. Rather than spend time boringly making such a key for himself, Kirron opts to carry the ship over the new Qiangshan mountain range with Shengshi still inside.

Shengshi has to suffer the rough ride while his wine pots tip and break everywhere.

Serendipitously, the wine yeast mixes with some nearby apples and Shengshi tastes the result. Through some new commandments, he conceives a drink to commemorate Seihdhara's passing: Cider!

He offers some cider to Kirron. He really likes it because of the fizz it has!

Eventually, they get back to the Giant's Bath and the ship enters Fengshui Fuyou. Shengshi supplies Kirron with a rapidly constructed boat filled with casks and pots of booze and they go their separate ways, reflecting on the interesting day and their new friendship(?)
[/hider]
[hider=Might Usage Summary]
Shengshi at the start of the turn: 5MP/21FP

MP -1 for making cider yeast, effectively introducing fermentation and rot to fruits. 
FP -10 for Qiangshan mountains and Beihe river.
(2/5 Might towards Brewing port.)

Shengshi after: 4MP/11FP

Kirron MP/FP: 10 MP / 20 FP - [i]No change[/i]
[/hider]