After taking her leave of Asceal, Phystene spent some time wandering the island. She wanted to take in her new creations. Enjoy their unique light while observing how the acted. But that was but one reason, and a minor one at that, as to why she spent time leisurely wandering about. She needed time to think. To work on some of the problems she had found herself with. Orvus was certainly the first, and largest, of those issues but some of the things Asceal said had helped nudge Phystene’s mind into considering other sources of trouble. She had completely forgotten about Melantha. At the same time she had never considered Melantha to be as great a threat as Asceal seemed to consider her, at least not yet. Phystene could understand Melantha’s actions and couldn’t fault the goddess for seeking a balance between light and dark. Katharsos was a deity Phystene hadn’t even considered up until Asceal had mentioned him. She wasn’t quite ready to deem him a threat. Death was, after all, an important component of nature, thus Phystene couldn’t find any fault with him overseeing that aspect. Assuming that was all. If he was anything like Orvus, seeking only to spread death and destruction with no regard for the balance of nature and the suffering of others….

Phystene needed to gather more power and strengthen the life of Galbar if nature was to defeat Orvus and the other forces of destruction. And, as she had previously discussed with her fellow god, Kalmar’s continent would serve as the base from which she created that strength. It was past time she returned. And it was past time she stopped simply running from continent to continent. 

She gathered some of her power, refining it before merging it back into her being. All plant life on Galbar was linked, in one way or another, through the World Tree. If she were to merge her essence with a nearby plant, it was possible that she could travel along that link to another plant to a distant location. Traveling in this method would still take a measurable amount of time, but it was certainly going to be faster than running. The other issue was that she couldn’t merge with any random plant. It would have to be something sufficiently large enough to house her essence in, no matter how fleeting her presence would be. She would have to use trees. But that was fine, trees were almost everywhere on Galbar now.

She turned to a nearby tree, its glowing leaves swaying gently in the wind. Leaning against the tree, she let herself fade into it. For a moment she and the tree were one being, inseparable in every way it matter, and for that moment she felt as she had before the Architect had summoned her. But then the moment passed, and with it behind her she stretched out her senses towards Kalmar’s continent and the trees that called it home. Finding a tree near where she went out she reached towards it and in doing so separated her essence from the tree she had melded with. 

The sensation was… odd, but not necessarily uncomfortable. As her essence traveled between the two trees, she technically didn’t exist. Well… that wasn’t entirely true. Her essence, her soul, certainly still existed, but not in a way it could interact with Galbar in any way. She didn’t know how long or fast she had traveled, but on some level Phystene could sense she was moving at a speed that far outstripped her running speed. With a jarring suddenness her essence all but crashed into the tree she had set as her destination.

[color=forestgreen]“That,”[/color] Phystene commented to herself as she slowly separated herself from the tree, [color=forestgreen]“is going to take some getting used to.”[/color]

She took a moment to gather herself before moving on to the next task. She had to think of a way of combating Orvus, but her mind simply didn’t work that way. She was a being of nature and her mind naturally defaulted to fight or flight, not sustained campaigns of attrition. As much as she hated to admit it, the greedy ones from her original world would have felt right at home waging war on Orvus. In a sense she had spent centuries observing the greedy ones and should have been able to use that knowledge of her own ends, but it wasn’t quite that easy. Before the Architect had summoned her she was in a more dream-like state than anything, aware of what was going on in the world, but not truly cognizant. On top of all that her mind simply didn’t work in the right way. It was like she had been a child watching ants. She could observe them, but had no real understanding of why they did what they did.

But that didn’t mean Phystene couldn’t make a being whose mind did work that way. She hadn’t missed how the mortal Xiaoli helped Shengshi. He had called her an… advisor. Yes, that was what Phystene would make. An advisor!

This mortal would be special. And not just because she was to be Phystene’s advisor. She would serve as a means for Phystene to experiment with ideas for any future race she might want to create. And she would be the first being made from Phystene’s blood.

She bit her thumb, intentionally drawing blood. She let a few drops of her ichor fall from the wound onto the ground before healing the injury. Then she focused on the ichor. The ichor responded to her will, drawing a few materials from the forest floor around it as it began to grow and assume a more solid consistency. As it grew it took a more definite shape, emulating the two arms and legs form Phystene herself possessed. But once the ichor had assumed the general shape of an adult female humanoid, that was were its similarities to Phystene began to end. Instead of feet the new being grew hooves. Her wooden antlers quickly thickened and took a shape similar to the horns of a ram. And her skin and hair were closer to silver or white than anything else.

Phystene couldn’t help but smile as the new being, her daughter, took her first breath. And then Phystene proceeded to cram as much of her knowledge and observations of the greedy ones as she could into her daughter’s head. It was only after her daughter had fallen to her knees and let out a scream in pain that it occured to Phystene that the mind of a mortal couldn’t handle quite as much as that of a deity.

[color=forestgreen]“Are you alright?”[/color] Phystene asked as she knelt down next to her daughter.

[color=darkseagreen]“I… just give me a moment.”[/color] Her daughter gasped out. Phystene put a comforting hand on the mortal’s shoulder and patiently waited. After a few moments the mortal said [color=darkseagreen]“I… think I’ve sorted everything out.”[/color]

[color=forestgreen]“I’m sorry.”[/color] Phystene said. [color=forestgreen]“I should have known better than to do that to you.”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“You should have.”[/color] The mortal said, although the lack of heat in her tone and small smile took any bite out of the agreement. [color=darkseagreen]“The least you could have done was give me a name first. Actually don’t. Please. I’ll come up with my own name.”[/color] The hurt look Phystene gave the mortal quickly had her adding [color=darkseagreen]“Not that I think your name is bad or anything. It works for you, I just think I should come up with my own name.”[/color]

[color=forestgreen]“Is my naming sense really that bad?”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“Eh… do you really want me to answer that.”[/color] Phystene simply stared at the mortal for a moment before closing her eyes and shaking her head. [color=darkseagreen]“So I was thinking Atalantia would be a great name for myself.”[/color]

[color=forestgreen]“And you think I have a bad naming sense?”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“Oh shut up.”[/color] The two women stared at each other for a moment before both cracked a grin and shared a short laugh.

[color=forestgreen]“Do you understand why I created you?”[/color] Phystene asked after the moment had passed.

[color=darkseagreen]“Honestly? No. You were a little too busy cramming knowledge about a species dooming its own world to bother with a minor detail like that.”[/color]

[color=forestgreen]“Well I’m glad sarcasm is working well as a coping mechanism”[/color] Phystene commented with a raised eyebrow. She then described to the mortal the state of the world, the other deities, her interactions with Orvus, and her revelation that she needed an advisor.

[color=darkseagreen]“I believe you need a strategist more than an advisor.”[/color] Atalantia stated once Phystene was done.

[color=forestgreen]“What’s the difference?”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“In this case? Thankfully none”[/color] Atalantia slowly spun in place as she gathered her thoughts. [color=darkseagreen]“From your previous confrontation with this Orvus character it's clear that he has a distinct advantage on you. You really aren’t set up for combat to begin with, but the interaction between your powers and his is far worse. Facing him head on will simply result in you creating more warriors for him. Thus”[/color] She stopped spinning and faced Phystene, [color=darkseagreen]“you’ll need to make your own warriors to combat him in your place. Or at the very least to support any deities who may fight him on your behalf.”[/color]

[color=forestgreen]“I have an idea for the first such warrior.”[/color] Phystene said after a moment. She looked around the surrounding forest for a moment before spotting one of the many lizards that called it home. [color=forestgreen]“Come here child.”[/color] She beckoned and the lizard happily scurried to her. [color=forestgreen]“Are you willing to be a champion of nature?”[/color] The lizard pondered her question for a moment before feeling sorrow that it was not strong enough to be a champion of anything. It was barely strong enough to keep itself alive. [color=forestgreen]“Fear not,”[/color] Phystene said with a smile. [color=forestgreen]“I’ll give you the strength you need.”[/color]

She poured her strength into the small lizard and as she did so it grew in strength. And its size and shape changed to meet that strength. Its back legs grew larger and strong enough to support its full body weight, causing it to have a more upright appearance. Its head grew larger too, large enough that it matched, if not surpassed, Shengshi’s boat in size, with powerful jaws and sharp teeth to match. Its scales became tough and color feathers grew to cover small portions of its body.

[color=darkseagreen]“That’s… one big lizard.”[/color] Atalantia commented.

[color=forestgreen]“Big and durable.”[/color] Phystene said. [color=forestgreen]“He’ll possess at least some ability to resist Orvus’ vile aura.”[/color]

Towering over Atalantia and Phystene, the now massive creature lowered his head to get a better look at his two companions. He looked at Atalantia with a massive eye as his telepathic voice commented [color=darkkhaki]“So tiny.”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“Only from your perspective, Pyrdon”[/color] Atalantia shot back.

[color=darkkhaki]“Pyrdon. I… like it.”[/color] The massive creature responded.

Phystene gave Atalantia a bemused smile. Atalantia responded with a smile of her own. [color=darkseagreen]“We both know you would have tried to name him after a flower or something. I simply could let that travesty occur.”[/color]

Phystene rolled her eyes before turning her gaze towards Pyrdon. [color=forestgreen]“You are to protect this continent and Atalantia from all who would cause them harm.”[/color] The massive lizard, Phystene had to admit that Pyrdon was probably a better name than anything she would have come up with, gave a single nod of his massive head. [color=forestgreen]“As for you,”[/color] She turned towards Atalantia, [color=forestgreen]“continue… strategizing.”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“Sure.”[/color] Atalantia gave a shrug. [color=darkseagreen]“It would help a lot if I wasn’t contained here though. As nice as this continent is, staying here won’t give me much of an idea as to what your peers are up to.”[/color]

Phystene frowned for a moment before nodding slowly. [color=forestgreen]“I suppose so.”[/color] She placed her hand on Atalantia’s head. [color=forestgreen]“I shall grant you the power of treewalking then.”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“Treewalking? Really?”[/color]

[color=forestgreen]“You can stay on this continent for all of your existence if the name bothers you so much.”[/color]

[color=darkseagreen]“Oh no no. That won’t be necessary.”[/color] Phystene gave her daughter a small smile.

[color=forestgreen]“Do as I have ordered and enjoy life while you are at it. I’ll stay in contact.”[/color]

And with that said she melded with a nearby tree and was gone.

[hider=Summary]Phystene returns to Kalgrun and creates a mortal, Atalantia, to act as both a strategist as well as a testing platform for future mortals. Atalantia is given some of her observations of the actions of the “greedy creatures” from Phystene’s original world to help her come up with ideas.

Phystene then creates a beast of phenomenal power that is named Pyrdon by Atalantia. He is ordered to protect both Kalgrun and Atalantia. Both beings are granted Phystene’s treewalking ability.[/hider]
[hider=Might Expendature]
Starting: 6 MP and FP 8

2 MP: Gain Treewalking ability
2 FP: Create beast of phenomenal power (Pyrdon) (boosted by animal port)
1 MP: Grant both Atalantia the treewalking ability

Remaining: 3 MP and 6 FP[/hider]