[center][h1]Binding the Storm[/h1]
[i]Collaboratively written by BBeast(Ashalla ) and Draco(Azura)[/i][/center]

The storm tore across Galbar’s ocean, whipping the sea into a frenzy. Dark clouds blotted out the light of the stars and the Lustrous Garden, with the only light left under the storm being that provided by arcs of scarlet lightning. The storm followed directly beneath Veradax, illuminated in full by the light of Heliopolis on the far side of Galbar. Supersonic winds whipped around the ferocious storm, enough to cause utter desolation wherever it went.

Which was why Ashalla wanted to stop it. The storm was terrifyingly fast, but Ashalla was faster so was able to catch up. The sea surface had been churned into a mist so thick that there was no well-defined surface. Colossal waves heaved out in the storm’s wake. Ashalla might have calmed the sea if she could have afforded to stop, but the storm was moving so quickly that she had to keep moving. Ashalla swam under the storm, and in the storm’s epicenter she looked up and saw Veradax framed by the twisting black clouds. This storm was being pulled by the Sphere. Any efforts to deal with the storm would need to break or at least weaken that connection.

Ashalla expanded to fill the ocean beneath the storm, then tried to oppose the storm’s torque and deprive it of moisture. Yet the storm flayed the water of her form, and Ashalla felt pain for only the second time in her existence, the first time being on entry to Galbar’s atmosphere. Being stretched out dulled the sensation, but as she was gripping the storm with her whole being it attacked her whole being, so there was no ignoring the agonizing assault on her form. Eventually she relented and withdrew from the storm, which had barely been slowed.

As Ashalla’s attack on the storm ceased Azura’s began. She came roaring out of the Blue in the path of the storm accompanied by a a great torrent of wind that she wrapped around herself in a spiraling drill. The goddess struck the destructive gateway like a cannon shell, punching deep inside it before expelling a vast explosion of air in an attempt to dissipate the phenomenon. The dark storm bulged, its extraneous clouds pushed further from the center as a brief opening of clear sky was formed where Azura had punched through and then detonated. Yet Veradax’s shadow could not be so easily erased and the storm soon closed in on Azura with a vengeance, the clouds being pulled back under the baleful moon. Azura, now flapping her wings as hard as she could simply to stay inside her cleared area, could only watch as her entryway was sealed off and the dark walls closed in. 

[color=lightblue]”No. NO! Stay back. I demand that you stay back!”[/color] she screamed at Orvus’s gateway only for it to respond with crimson lightning that lashed out from every side, striking the Goddess of the wind out of the sky. Azura plummeted, her decent uncontrollable, as the storm became whole once more above her.

As she fell, the ocean rose towards her. A great watery maw opened up around Azura, swallowed her then dragged her deep beneath the surface. The water was calmer in the grip of the ocean. A bubble of air opened up around Azura, and Ashalla’s face sculpted itself onto the inside of that bubble.

[color=lightseagreen][b]”Feathery one, it is good to see you! We do not have time to chat. We need to stop the storm,”[/b][/color] Ashalla said, her voice echoing in the bubble.

Of all the terrible ways to discover that you are claustrophobic, Azura’s last 10 seconds of existence had to rank pretty highly on that list and she freaked the hell out as a result. As Azura was dragged down into the abyss she wildly flapped her badly burnt wings in a vain attempt to reach the freedom of the sky. When all at once they found a grip on air rather than water as Ashalla’s air bubble opened up the wind goddess was somewhat relieved, even more so when the water formed the friendly face of the sea goddess. Still, being trapped in an air pocket deep below the surface of the ocean was not an enjoyable experience no matter how pleasant the company nor how closely aligned their goals where with yours 

[color=lightblue]”Yes. Storm bad. Now please let me out of here!”[/color] she agreed with inelegant urgency as she attempted to work out how she could escape if Ashalla turned out to be uncooperative.

Despite Ashalla’s poor empathy skills, even she could notice Azura’s distress. The bubble rose up through the water and breached the surface behind the storm. [color=lightblue]”Thank you”[/color] Azura gasped as she surfaced.

Ashalla spoke, the goddesses’ voice heard clearly despite the ferocious noise of the storm. [color=lightseagreen][b]”The storm appears to be linked to the moon. If we can break the connection between the moon and the storm, we might be able to stop it. I noticed the storm weaken slightly when you brought the daytime sky with you.”[/b][/color]

Azura floated on her back on the stormy seas as she tried to calm her breathing as her large body was being bobbed up and down by the angry waves that had been left in the wake of the storm. It took about a minute for her to compose herself, during which her lightning wrecked body slowly pulled itself back together, burnt feathers regrowing and regaining their former luster. This gave her plenty of time to think about the problem they were facing. Options like ‘Destroy the moon’ and ‘second sun mk2’ where quickly discarded. By the time she was ready to speak she had decided on two options.

[color=lightblue]”Ok... Ok. So the storm follows the moon and is also fueled by the moon right? So then maybe we put something between the moon and the storm? Like a… smaller moon or perhaps a large flying creature that shadows the moon and absorbs or reflects its power.”[/color] Azura’s shouted loudly in an effort to be heard over the rumbling of the receding storm. [color=lightblue]”Or we work together to trap and bind the storm to one place that would bear the brunt of its fury each and every time the moon comes overhead. Either way, bind or chase, I could give the martyr of the moon’s wrath my aura to try and soften its burden.”[/color] 

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully, then said, [color=lightseagreen][b]”Yes, that could do it. You block the moon, then I’ll move the storm away and bind it in place. I think I know a good place to bind it, too.”[/b][/color]

Azura floated idaly for a few moments before responding. [color=lightblue]”Oh. Right. both.”[/color] before rolling over onto her front. [color=lightblue]”On it”[/color] 

With that she began to flap her wings rapidly, sending water splashing in all directions until she pushed herself skyward, at which point the wind caught her once more and her flight became far more graceful as she chased after the storm. As she flew she caught glimpse of a chunk of Veradax sunken deep below the waves and came up with an idea.

[color=lightblue]”Sunken slab of hostile stone.
For your violence you must atone.
Take wing and rise up into the air!
The mortals of this world you shall spare
from this vile destructive typhoon.
To do so you shall block out the moon!”[/color] 

Her verse spiralled down into the ocean and wrapped itself around the fragment of Veradax which slowly began to change itself to match her song. A few moments later a titanic whale, one the size of an island, breached the surface. It’s underside was pale as moonrock while it’s almost perfectly flat top was dark as Orvium. The whale did not crash back down into the waves however, but instead continued to ascend skywards on colossal feathered fins. Azura landed atop the great beast’s head and sang: 

[color=lightblue]”Faster faster you must fly!
To take your rightful place in the sky
Hunt down the moon and steal its power
So that we may dock the storm in its harbour”[/color] 

When she finished the wind picked up to aid the whale, obeying its will to surge its speed ever faster and send it soaring ever higher. Up and up the pair soared, past the clouds and into Galbar’s upper atmosphere. The wind followed them bringing air up from below and down from the Blue to push them forwards through the thin air as Azura used the same ability she used to throw herself into space to surge their speed even faster. The whale added its wingbeats and tail stokes to this and soon they were racing forwards to catch up with the storm. As they flew she sang a final verse.

[color=lightblue]”Titan you will shine so bright
And bring day to darkest night
Like the home of dear virtue
turn blackest of night bright blue”[/color] 

It flowed into the great whale’s feathers, making them shine as radiant as her own and in doing so brought the sight of the Blue to the skies above the storm, making the moon more distant as its dim light now had to pass though her sphere to reach them. As the Blue surrounded the whale the depths of its dark metallic skin where suffused with a rich cerulean, turning the desolate metal from a source of destruction to a heat sink for it. The great whale, now complete, soared above the clouds of the angry storm, eclipsing the distant moon and cutting line of sight between it and the storm it fueled. Instead the moonstone made flesh absorbed the power of its progenitor, consuming the energy meant for the storm even as the desolate energies wracked its body. Azura felt guilt at having brought life into the world only for it to suffer even as she urged the beast to endure. Perched atop it she too writhed beneath that terrible moon, finding penance in the shared agony.

With the night sky replaced by the Blue and Veradax hidden, the great storm’s furious pace began to slow, its supersonic winds rapidly dissipating energy and momentum. The ocean beneath the storm lurched at Ashalla’s pull, creating powerful currents beneath the storm. The storm started to drift off its original course, slowly at first but accelerating as it deviated from Veradax’s path.

As the storm’s trajectory was changed, the ocean currents picked up speed. Far beneath Galbar the Abyss churned to drive these vast currents. Hot water from the Saluran Mendidih met cold water pulled down from the arctic by Swahhiteh-Tendlepog, the meeting of hot and cold further fuelling the currents being orchestrated by Ashalla. Soon the storm had been pulled clear of Veradax’s path, and while its winds still raged, crimson lightning still crackled and dark clouds loomed, its strength waned slightly as it left Veradax behind.

The currents would keep carrying the storm for three days until it would reach a point near the equator south of Swahhiteh, about 5000 kilometres from the storm’s current location. There Ashalla had established a mighty whirlpool bounded by a ring of islands which would keep the storm bound to that location, and this whirlpool was fed by a vast gyre, all backed by her divine will. The mixing hot and cold waters which fueled the gyre would enhance the natural aspects of the storm, and lesser storms would be birthed from this great maelstrom, but no longer would a supersonic storm of desolation lay waste to vast swathes of Galbar.

Ashalla had prepared these things over the course of several hours. The eclipse whale would need to follow the storm until it reached its destination to ensure that Veradax did not regain a hold on the storm, but otherwise no more supervision was necessary. Out of the direct gaze of Veradax, the destructive energies flowing through the eclipse whale were much weaker.

[color=lightseagreen][b]”Feathery one, your plan is working,”[/b][/color] Ashalla called up from the ocean. [color=lightseagreen][b]”In just three days the storm will be bound to a single location, and your flying giant rock fish should be able to protect it until then.”[/b][/color]

A slightly frazzled looking Azura landed swooped down to fly just above the ocean, leaving the great whale floating in the sunless blue sky above the storm. She was feeling rather chipper about the fact that they had successfully corralled the storm even if the prospect of having to defend the area was a daunting one. 

[color=lightblue]”That’s wonderful news”[/color] she called back to the ocean, [color=lightblue]”but when you say protect, do you fear that the storm’s creator will return to free it? Do we even know who the stormcrafter is?”[/color] 

[color=lightseagreen][b]”Until the storm reaches the maelstrom, the moon might be able to regain a hold of it as it passes overhead. The flying fish needs to stay around for at least that long,”[/b][/color] Ashalla said. Her form drew up near where Azura hovered so that they could see each other. [color=lightseagreen][b]”As for the stormcrafter, that would be Orvus. There is a possibility he might return and free the storm, but I doubt your flying fish could do much to stop him if he tried.”[/b][/color]

[color=lightblue]”No. I suppose they would not be able to stand against a god. Perhaps we could make some way for my creation or yours to warn us that Orvus approaches? Sadly he is not the only one who causes crisis and danger.”[/color] Azura sighed deeply, the joy of success having been quickly been worn away by the knowledge that numerous Gods that still needed to be confronted or opposed. [color=lightblue]”Death, darkness, desolation. Three of our kind act only to bring destruction and I fear that there are more of their like.”[/color]  

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully. [color=lightseagreen][b]”The storm is more than just a storm. It is also a passageway to the moon. It is very likely that Orvus will travel through it. What we don’t know is whether he will expend the effort to destroy the binding. I have not found anyone else likely to interfere with the binding. Although… you seem to be concerned about other things.”[/b][/color]

[color=lightblue]”Yes. I suppose I am. I’ve spoken with Aelius and Asceal who made the Suns and they told me of some troubling events. Melantha attempted to destroy the first sun soon after it was made, and someone else succeeded in destroying the second the monet it was lit. They also told me of Katharsos and how he is burning all the souls that came with us from the void to ash. I have been to his realm. I have seen the slaughter with my own eyes”[/color] Azura shuddered at the memory, one still fresh in her mind. [color=lightblue]”We don’t know why he is doing it but those souls that still remain must be saved. Somehow.”[/color] The degradation of Azura’s mood completed its tumble from the lofty heights of success and landed the parrot in a pit of dejection.

Ashalla rumbled again. She had nothing to add regarding the suns, but on the souls she did have more information. [color=lightseagreen][b]”I know why he is making the soul ash. It is from that ash that new souls for new life are made,”[/b][/color] she said.

Azura blinked in surprise, having not expected to run into a source of information while being sidetracked by the storm. [color=lightblue]”Where did you learn this?”[/color] she asked excitedly, her mood poking its head out of the sadness pit, wanting to learn everything she could.

[color=lightseagreen][b]”I watched the soul-ash in action and I spoke with Katharsos. About a third of the way around the world eastwards from here, a great ethereal vortex collects the souls of the dead and deposits large quantities of soul-ash.”[/b][/color] As Ashalla described the scene, her form morphed to also depict the scene, picking up matter floating in the ocean to add to the diorama. [color=lightseagreen][b]”The soul-ash made everything in that part of the ocean much more virile, and great blooms of plankton filled the sea. But the soul-ash also bore impurities which bore a bitter taste, so I called Katharsos down to deal with the issue. We created some oysters to purify the soul-ash in the area, and I built a vast reef in the area. Would you like to see it?”[/b][/color]

The ramifications of Ashalla working with Katharsos could wait till later, this was big.  [color=lightblue]”Yes! More than anything!”[/color] Azura responded with aggressive interest before calling herself a little to respond in a more dignified fashion. [color=lightblue]”I mean. yes. I’d be very interested in seeing this place for myself. Do you mind if I pop over to the east and take a look. Right now. If you need help I’ll come back as fast as I can.”[/color] 

Ashalla was bubbling with excitement and pride. Here was someone who was excited about her creations. [color=lightseagreen][b]”Better, I’ll go and show you.”[/b][/color] Ashalla collapsed back into the ocean and pulsed away beneath the surface.

[color=lightblue]”Right now? Ok then!”[/color] Azura ascended higher into the sky and then raced to follow after the water goddess, wings hammering and wind churning to keep pace with her speedy guide.

A few hours of travel brought them past the Kick before the shallow water of the Great Soul Reef came into view. It was shaped like a vast spiral, although it was too big to be seen all at once. Just beneath the surface of the ocean was a dazzling array of colours. Coral, algae, fish and more painted the sea floor with dancing patterns. Ubiquitous in the reef was a particular species of oyster.

Ashalla manifested a head above the water and two waves swept out from her like outstretched arms. [color=lightseagreen][b]”Do you like it?”[/b][/color] she asked Azura.

Azura fluttered too and fro, taking it all in. The place was one of contrast Azura felt. Below was  vibrant ecosystem full of colorful marvels that she longed to explore. [color=lightblue]”Your reef is gorgeous,”[/color] she told Ashalla truthfully.

Above however was the Vortex of Souls, a vile maw that must have devoured the souls from the void in the same way it now consumed the spirits of the creatures the gods had made. Down from the Vortex rained soul ash which that she could see all to clearly now that she was looking for it. She watched it suffuse itself into the eggs of fish and blossomed into a simple soul and in doing so she gained something of an understanding of why Katharsos was doing what he was doing. She also saw that some oysters were seemingly eating the ash and decided to investigate. Finding one close to the surface she carefully raised the stone it was on with her mind to inspect the mollusk and in doing so discovered the soul pearl within. 

 [color=lightblue]”What is this?”[/color] she asked the ocean goddess     

[color=lightseagreen][b]”Those are soul oysters. They cleanse the soul-ash,”[/b][/color] Ashalla explained. [color=lightseagreen][b]”Within are the impurities in the soul-ash condensed into a solid and inert form.”[/b][/color]

Fascinated, Azura plucked the tiny pearl from the oyster and brought it before her, turning the gemstone too and fro to examine it. It was strange and beautiful. Soulstuff made solid. Free of a body yet also free from the pull of the Vortex. 

It gave her an idea.

[hider=summary]
Ashala and azura both try to combat the storm following Veradax’s shadow individually and both fail.
The two meet up and agree to work together, Azura creating a massive flying whale that blocks the storm’s connection to Veradax while Ashala drags the storm to a ring of islands containing a whirlpool to bind it. 

The initial part of this plan is pulled off, but during the subsequent 3 day transportation period of the storm to its binding point the two get side tracked while talking about Katharsos. Ashala invites Azura  to tour the reef beneath the vortex of souls and the twho leave the whale and storm to complete their journey unsupervised. Ashala shows of her beautiful reef and Azura learns more about Katharsos from his vortex and ash. In the process Azura finds, and is told about, soul pearls. Then she got an idea. [s]An awful idea. The Birb had a wonderful, awful idea.[/s]
[/hider]

[hider=Might Summary]
[u]Azura[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 5 MP & 25 FP
[i]Spent:[/i] Created the eclipse whale, a single beast of phenomenal power, for 2 MP 
[i]End:[/i] 3 MP & 25 FP
[i]Portfolios:[/i] Tonnikala (7/10) 
Birds (6/10)

[u]Ashalla[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 6 MP & 15 FP
[i]Spent:[/i] 8 FP on creating the Maelstrom which binds Veradax’s Gateway (major terrain modification, enhanced by Oceans)
[i]End:[/i] 6 MP & 7 FP
[i]Portfolios:[/i] 2 FP towards Colour.
8 FP towards Storms.
[/hider]