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[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/2b4925ee-b215-4b89-a794-5058a6c53e13.png[/img]
[colour=lightseagreen][h1][b][i]Ashalla[/i][/b][/h1]
[b]Goddess of Oceans, Storms and Ice[/b][/colour]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/7oQVf7m.png[/img]

Feat. [colour=blanchedalmond][b]a certain vegetable partitioner[/b][/colour][/center]

The great storm which was Ashalla rolled over the frozen north of Galbar. Winter-spirits burrowed into the ice to avoid the blizzard which scoured the ice sheet. Tendrils of fog curled through the endless plain of ice sculptures, feeling their myriad forms.

There were many varieties of trees and plants and even a few mushrooms. There were depictions of many beasts such as wolves, monkeys, bears, foxes, moose, penguins, seals, direwolves, griffons, trolls, ghouls, whales, molves, crows, alma, aquatic serpents, long-necked armoured flippered creatures, shark-like creatures with wings and legs, gemstone gardeners, vitasaurs, magpies, elk, goats, bilbies, tree-eaters, possums, and countless more. There were a few sculptures which depicted some specific creatures: a direwolf with only one eye; a sleek quadrupedal predator with a clubbed tail; a five-headed dragon; a collection of abstract curves collected into a vaguely humanoid form with two pole-arms; a whale with some kind of armour; a tyrannosaurus rex; a humanoid woman with antlers and hooves. There were multiple sculptures of a fine manor in various stages of disrepair. There were also sculptures of little huts, of Dreamers, of a Shengshese manor, of Hermes and Xiaoli and Arya and Laurien.

As Ashalla inspected the sculptures, learning about what land-dwelling creatures the winter-spirits had seen, she came across one ice sculpture much too large to have been made by the tiny winter-spirits. It was almost a hundred metres tall, and looked exactly like Chopstick Eyes. This meant someone else had been here, possibly Chopstick Eyes.

Casting her senses about, Ashalla detected another peculiar specimen. This was a winter-spirit, but rather than being the normal white and blue of ice, it was painted in red, green and gold. An eddy pulled the winter-spirit into the clouds which were Ashalla. A brief taste told her the colouring came from algae living on the surface of the icy being.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“What wonderful colours,”[/b][/colour] she burbled. The algae required the winter-spirit to acquire some salts beyond its normal diet of just water, but these were readily available in the ocean. Several other winter-spirits she could sense also had colourful markings.

She tasted the winter-spirit again, this time analysing the flavours more closely. She knew that if she looked hard enough, the signature of the artist would be present. Then she found it, faint as it was: residue of divine essence. Chopstick Eyes’ divine essence.

Now that her senses were attuned to faint traces of divine essence, she noticed trails in the ice. The statue had indeed been made by Chopstick Eyes, and that goddess’ trail (after considerable wandering) appeared to lead approximately north. But there was another set of trails which Ashalla noticed, heading due north. Three distinct essences mingled in this trail: one she recognised as Kalmar, another she could identify as Arae, and a third she could not identify but it had a stench of death about it similar to Katharsos.

Ashalla looked north. These gods had gone ahead to Azura and her vault. The clouds within Ashalla twisted into tight eddies. The wind changed, and Ashalla flew north.

[hr]
The towering mountain at the top of the world rolled across the horizon and into view. Azurian constructs patrolled around the mountain, including two very large ones which mirrored what Ashalla had seen in the winter-spirits’ ice sculptures. Overhead flew Alma, although Ashalla’s presence diverted the flight paths of many of the birds. One of the Alma dove ahead of Ashalla and projected an image of a familiar whale.

[color=royalblue]“Hello there. What brings you...”[/color] the whale began to say again, only to be interrupted by a faint voice nearby wherever it was transmitting from.

[color=lightblue]“Oh thank goodness. It’s just Ashalla. You don’t need to stall this time Luis. Yes I’m sure, you don't need to frown like that. I can sense it even if she looks different. It’s a god thing,”[/color] Azura told her gigantic companion before drifting up into the view of the Alma, the goddess of wind currently in a Merfolk form which swam through the air as if it were water. 

[color=lightblue]“Hay, hello!”[/color] she said once she was visible. [color=lightblue]“It’s lovely to see you again.”[/color] Azura was mostly smiling pleasantly but there was a hint of worry visible as she asked, [color=lightblue]“Is this a social visit?”[/color]

Ashalla rumbled briefly. The form did not look like Azura last time she met her, but the voice was the same, and this new form possessed numerous motifs which were similar to Azura’s original form. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Yes,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla answered. Ashalla continued to fly towards the Isle of Twilight, the message-delivering Alma being blown along with her.

The brief pang of worry slipped off of Azura’s face at the word [color=lightblue]“Excelent excelent. Please do come up,”[/color] she said via the wind swept Alma, [color=lightblue]“Oh, and Choppy is visiting as well. I’ll introduce you once you arrive if you have not met already.”[/color] 

In the distance, a tiny figure attempted to leap onto a hammer-drake and missed.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“How convenient. I had been hoping to see her,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said.

Ashalla soon reached the ring of mountains surrounding the north pole. Where before she had struggled to scale the steep slopes, as a cloud she easily flew over the obstacle. As she passed, wind and rain licked against the various constructs, tasting them, and a symphony of Verse accompanied her passing.

When Ashalla reached the polar spire, she wrapped around it. She noted that the trails of Kalmar, Arae and the death-touched deity did not descend into the Vault. Then the ascending winds driven by the Sky Bastion caught Ashalla, and she rode those winds up into the Blue. There she blossomed outwards, Ashalla’s form engulfing the floating fortress, tendrils of mist creeping through the corridors.

As she settled atop the castle in the sky, Luis, and one of the free floating temples which Choppy had been launching her hammerhead capture attempts from, drifted closer. The erratically designed structure, older than the continents of Galbar, was a ball of masonry, soil and foliage with no real top or bottom that drifted lazily through the air at the behest of Azura’s winds. Azura herself was found sitting on the wrong side of a parapet of a tall tower that currently jutted out horizontally from the floating structure. 

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Hello Azura,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla greeted with a voice like a monsoon. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Hello… Choppy.”[/b][/colour] The name was said uncertainly.

[colour=blanchedalmond][sub]“Hello Ashaaaaaaaaaa...”[/sub][/colour] trailed off the scream in the distance as the god disappeared into a low speck, then inflated again into a silk chevron. 

[color=lightblue]“Hello Ashalla! It’s so to see you again, though I would appreciate it if you ceased probing my home before-”[/color] Azura began before one of Ashalla’s tendrils of mist was met with a violent gust of wind trying to force it back out of the room it was invading, the rush of power accompanied by a great deal of swearing.

[color=lightblue]“Ah, too late. I see you have found my...”[/color] Azura paused momentarily, unsure as to how to properly describe the person she had once been given a second life.

[color=lightblue]“That you have found Cerule,”[/color] she concluded, her tone apologetic.

Ashalla did not push into the room she had been rejected from, but she did not withdraw from the rooms she had filled either. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Who is Cerule?”[/b][/colour] Ashalla asked.

[color=lightblue]“She’s who I was before I came to the Architects realm. Or a compressed version of her, anyway. Long story short, she made a deal with a being in the void known as  Ludicium to find redemption after abandoning her home realm. The price of this redemption was death, and from her ashes I arose. Yet she feared death, as we all do, and so hid a part herself away inside my newborn mind rather than commit to the deal in full. There’s more, but I won't bother you with the details, tales of memories suppressed and the Watcher from the void, but in the end she and I have split apart and now both wield the power I was given here,”[/color] Azura explained.

There was a surprised pop followed by a long rumble as Ashalla processed this new information. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Interesting,”[/b][/colour] was her eventual conclusion.

Then a slit-like window on the section of the wall outside the room Ashalla had attempted to enter was violently expanded, the stone turned back to wind by a divine hand.

Out of this new window leaned Cerule. Her semi-avian Armonia body still wore the cloak of many colored feathers with which Azura had adorned it’s shoulders while she lived in it, but beneath this the old goddess had put on a scarlet robe. Arcane symbols relating to protection had been stitched into it with copper wire, mostly focused around the cuffs and hem of the outfit, however the runes of magic from a distant world lacked the ability to direct magical power in this land so far and different from their home plane.

[color=007fff]“I’d appreciate it if your guests wouldn't make a mess of our work while you’re taking a break, Azura!”[/color] Cerule complained, waving a loosely sleeved hand fruitlessly at the mist enveloping the fortress with one hand.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“I go where I please,”[/b][/colour] asserted the mist with a peal of thunder.

[colour=blanchedalmond]“Same!”[/colour] chipped a smaller figure, stuck outside one of the very same windows Cerule had temporarily evaporated. [colour=blanchedalmond]“Turns out hang-gliding is really, [i]really[/i] easy in the Sphere of WindoooOOh OOoh shit I’m slipping ffff-”[/colour] There was a scrabbling sound as a fresh drizzle wet the stone of the fortress and Chopstick scrabbled to keep her grip. Within a few seconds she had failed, and her face disappeared from the window.

[color=007fff]“The sentiment is nice and all, and it could be said I’d be a hypocrite to complain,”[/color] Cerule complained while Azura dove down from her island perch after the falling Choppy. [color=007fff]“But I’m trying to wrap my head around ‘zura’s experiments in here and having a consistent environment is kinda important for that. It's a lot harder trying to use this divine magic stuff than just watching I’ll tell you that. Especially when none of the old stuff works. Old dog, new tricks, etc.etc.”[/color]

There was a wet huff from Ashalla.

Cerule, having finished complaining, slumped against the frame of her new window rather than continue to bat fruitlessly at the invading mist. [color=007fff]“Ah whatever, it can wait. Wasn't getting anywhere anyway. So, what brings you here, your wateryness?”[/color] she asked the stubborn fog floating outside.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“I came to speak of what you are doing with the souls,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla announced in a voice like crashing waves, audible to all present.

[color=007fff]“Yeah? We get that a lot. Kalmar, Arae and Roog came by earlier asking the exact same thing,”[/color] Cerule responded as Azura and Choppy reappeared into her field of view, the former carrying the other. The fishy goddess approached the wall and carefully dismantled it further to form an entryway into which she landed and placed Choppy inside.

[color=007fff]“I swear you're doing that on purpose,”[/color] Cerule murmured to Choppy, who stuck her tongue out as Azura dusted herself and turned to the misty goddess.

[color=lightblue]“Come on in, then, and I can show you around now that Cerule has put her work on hold,”[/color] she told Ashalla before heading into the magical laboratory. The clouds which were Ashalla billowed behind Azura. They stretched out to touch everything in the room.

[colour=blanchedalmond]“...So, you keeping busy?”[/colour] said Chopstick Eyes, looking around into the merry fog and storm.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Yes. I’ve been teaching selka about music and art, and I had just come from a lovely concert K’nell hosted for me. It was most wonderful,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla chimed. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I noticed a few winter-spirits which had been coloured with algae, and identified it as your handiwork. It is a beautiful addition.”[/b][/colour]

[colour=blanchedalmond]“Aww, thank you!”[/colour] Chopstick made a heart-symbol with her hands. [colour=blanchedalmond]“You should show me your work some time. Who’s Selka? I might be able to pass on some tips and tricks myself, if he seems nice.”[/colour]

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“The selka are a sapient species who live on the south-east coast of Atokhekwoi. Their anatomy can be described as halfway between seals and dreamers,”[/b][/colour] after a moment, Ashalla decided to add, [colour=lightseagreen][b]“who themselves are patterned after the common form adopted by many of the gods. It would appear that Kirron is their creator.”[/b][/colour]

[colour=blanchedalmond]“Oh, rock boy. He flattened me once,”[/colour] said Choppy, who fully intended to return the favour… one day. [colour=blanchedalmond]“Where’s Atokhekwoi, is it a Sphere? I’ll pay ‘em a visit. Take some on tour to my water forest. It’s warm and sunny and amazing, apparently.”[/colour]

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Atokhekwoi is the largest continent of Galbar,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla explained. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“This water forest- do you refer to the one in the ocean west of Dragon’s Foot with the overgrown leviathan angler chained beneath it, or the lava-bearing growths in the boiling strait?”[/b][/colour]

[colour=blanchedalmond]“...The Saluran? Don’t be silly. Forests have leaves,”[/colour] said Chopstick. [colour=blanchedalmond]“Glad to see you met my big fish, though. Ain’t she just a cutie?”[/colour]

There was a huff, although Ashalla admitted, [colour=lightseagreen][b]“It is a specimen of considerable power. The forest too is quite a well-made ecosystem.”[/b][/colour]

A soft ‘yaaay’ travelled down the corridor.

As the titanic and tiny god conversed, the two goddesses of the wind had engaged in a combination of hushed discussion and impromptu tidying of the large room they were all in. Helping them in this was Sun Jian, who had remained out of sight while Cerule mouthed off at the ocean goddess. His Armonia body was clad in a similar robe to Cerule, though it was unadorned by defunct runecraft. 

[color=lightblue]“This is Sun Jian,”[/color] Azura eventually introduced the servant, [color=lightblue]“A mortal whose Soul Crystal has been enshrined within a construct known as an Armonia to gain life after death.”[/color] 

The undead servant bobbed with a bow to greet the two guests. “A pleasure to make your acquaintances. It is especially good to be graced by your presence once more, mighty Ashalla. I have been aiding noble Azura with her quest ever since she plucked me from the sky pyres, sparing me from a second fiery death, and gave me an opportunity to be a part of this project.”

The clouds swallowed Sun Jian briefly, leaving him slightly damp. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“That’s one use for the soul crystals.”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“There are a few others like him, and we intend to raise more. The work I do is for mortals, so it is only right that they play a part in shaping the way we surpass Katharsos’ vision of death,”[/color] Azura explained. [color=lightblue]“And this laboratory is where we have begun to chart our journey down that path.”[/color] 

The laboratory itself was something of a mess, with a large array of experiments littering benches and tables, but could be split into two areas. The first, Azura and Cerule explained, was for researching ways to replace Katharsos’ pyres with a more ethical form of death and rebirth. 

First there were two sets of jars or containers. The first contained soul ash in very small amounts, held back from escaping by their storage receptacles. The ash instead swirled and cycled within, restlessly seeking out new life yet unable to reach it. The ash, it was explained, was not sourced from the burned of the void souls, but instead had been formed raw by Divine power. The process was, Azura admitted, excessively inefficient at the moment and thus un-viable unless better means where found.

Another bench was littered with various materials: crystals, stone, metal, jars of fluid and gasses. All of these had had information inscribed into them, attempts to replicate the personality-housing abilities of souls. None had been particularly successful however.

Finally the largest section contained a number of enclosures for simple creatures, predominantly the Tonnikala equivalent of krill. There were also numerous soul crystals, utterly tiny and feather light ones, that had been harvested from other, now deceased specimens. The purpose of all this became clear once Azura performed a demonstration. First she picked up one of the tiny soul crystals. Then a flying krill egg was formed by her will. Finally the two were introduced to one another, the soul crystal regaining its incorporeal form which was pressed into the egg, ejecting the blank soul that had formed there already, which was whisked away to the pyres, already decaying as it went due to its utter lack of identity.   

[color=lightblue]“Reincarnation,”[/color] Azura explained, [color=lightblue]“To live life after life after life, to accrue generations of knowledge and wisdom from all races and cultures of the world. It is, in effect, immortality without the risk of stagnation and also a way to walk in the shoes of all others.”[/color]

[colour=blanchedalmond]“Oooo,”[/colour] said the shortest god in the room, trying not to fidget, or fiddle with the equipment.

There were a vast number of logistical and magical barriers in the way of actually implementing an automated reincarnation system, but the principle was there, demonstrated for all to see.

[color=lightblue]“Now a decision has not been made as to how exactly we will be going forwards. We have entered into a pact with the party that came with Kalmar earlier to postpone such a decision until a proper conference can be called with all the concerned gods. Including Katharsos himself,”[/color] Azura explained, her tone showing clear dislike at the prospect of meeting the god she had stolen from not so long ago.

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully for a long time. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I see you have already made progress in determining how to avoid the collapse of the life cycle. This is good. There is still much to be done, but my estimates give at least a thousand years before there is any notable reduction in the soul ash concentration.”[/b][/colour]

[color=007fff]“1000? I’ve done more with less,”[/color] Cerule casually gloated.

[color=lightblue]“But we’ll do it right this time,”[/color] Azura chided her reckless predecessor.

There was a pause, then Ashalla asked, [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Did Kalmar suggest that this was beyond your power?”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“The hunter didn’t give predictions about the feasibility of my plans and we agreed to disagree on what to do should I fail. He was more interested in knowing that I was working on the issue and extracting concessions for his support in the matter.”[/color]

[color=007fff]“And for party’s non interference,”[/color] Cerule added.

[color=lightblue]“That too. Mainly that to be honest. The specifics of cooperation need to be ironed out, likely at the same time as we decide on a course of action, but even the tacit agreement of support means I can safely assume they won't be meddling. The less I have to watch my back in this the better,”[/color] Azura explained.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“That is convenient for you,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Barring interference from other deities, I am confident in your ability as a god to achieve this task. As divines we command reality itself - do not let anyone tell you otherwise.”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“Oh? Thank you! Your confidence means alot to me,”[/color] Azura responded, genuinely pleased at the external source of validation.

[color=007fff]“Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of everyone being at least neutral in this,”[/color] Cerule said, directing attention to the other set of experiments in the room.

The second was newer, and dedicated to solving the little problem that Orvus had introduced to the vault. Several corrupted gems where held for examination by metal stands, while the culprits for their damaged state could be found nearby. A large glass tank held numerous Soul Fiends, the rotten husks of soul crystals given life by Orvus to destroy and multiply. The numerous beasts hacked and clawed at their enclosure or tried to eat a sealed entrance at the top of the tank, yet so far they had failed to escape. A pair of imp sized Armonia watched the bugs, standing on either side of the Soul Fiends enclosure atop the same bench. Their tank was placed upon numerous tentacles of Verse extending from their backs ready to lash out and recapture the beasts should they succeed at escaping.

Finally a number of krill soul crystals, all featuring various stages and intensities of corruption, were arrayed near the tank. Some had been partially dissected, or showed signs of the decay being healed.

[color=lightblue]“This corruption is the work of Orvus,”[/color] Azura explained, [color=lightblue]“he snuck into the vault when I was away and infested it with these awful creatures, that corrupt and decay the souls of the dead.”[/color] 

“We have exterminated or captured most of them, or so we believe,” Sun Jian added, “but the monsters still managed to destroy or damage many of my fellow dead before we discovered the rot.”

The clouds studied Azura and Sun Jian for a few moments, before saying, [colour=lightseagreen][b]“That is unfortunate for you. Although it appears to be something well within your capacity to handle.”[/b][/colour]

[color=007fff]“I’d almost be insulted by how little power was used to do this if it wasn't so insidiously effective,”[/color] Cerule said. 

[color=lightblue]“Only because I was too blind to discover it sooner,”[/color] Azura muttered bitterly. [color=lightblue]“Were it not for curious mortal minds...”[/color] she shuddered at the thought of a vault filled with nought but screaming splintered husks and swarms of Soul Fiends.

Cerule sympathetically patted her new self on the shoulder, while Sun Jian politely refrained from commenting on the Goddess’s gross negligence. There was a wet huff from Ashalla.

After pulling herself back together Azura asked, [color=lightblue]“Well, now you know what I have been/will be up to, but how about you? What plans do you have for the world?”[/color]

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“I have been sharing with the mortal races the means to create beauty, with music, painting and other forms of art,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla answered.

The traces of guilt and regret were pushed completely off Azura’s face as she heard this, her eyes lighting up at the news. [colour=lightblue]“That’s wonderful to hear! Which ones? Where? I’d love to go see and listen to what they have made some time.”[/colour] 

There were some distant, vaguely affirmative bangs and clatters from wherever Chopstick Eyes had wandered off to.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“The selka, on the eastern coast of Atokhekwoi, the largest continent,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla answered.

[color=lightblue]“That... doesn't narrow it down that much,”[/color] Azura said sheepishly.

[color=007fff]"It's not like we have maps for her to point out where she means exactly,"[/color] Cerule said, before snapping her fingers, [color=007fff]"except we have the Blue! Hey Ashalla, wanna see the best thing about the sphere Azura made? All we need to do is go up."[/color]

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Yes, that seems like something good to see,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla answered.

[color=007fff]"Alright alright,"[/color] Cerule said as she strutted over to the window. Then she whistled a complicated little song. Powered by her divine power it echoed out and caught the attention of its intended target. From the skies a sky serpent came roaring, plunging down to them. Yet even that mighty beast was cowed by Ashalla’s presence, slowing before it hit the storm and instead gingerly slinking up to the window.

[color=007fff]"Coming?"[/color] Cerule asked the gods and mortal within as she mounted the terror of the skies.

[hr]
The Sky Serpent swam through the air, bearing its three passengers who clung to its back, one behind the other, with varying levels of intensity. Ashalla rose beside them as a colossal cumulonimbus, Chopstick a speck gliding on her updrafts with a bag of questionably obtained scientific apparatus.

Around them flitted all kinds of Tonnikala, making it appear as though they were in a surreal waterless sea. Many passed through the cloud which was Ashalla, and there was a burbling from her. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I am pleased to see you have taken inspiration from my sea life for your own ecosystem here.”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“The first was something of a coincidence,”[/color] Azura said, smiling softly at the memory of the tuna incident, [color=lightblue]“But the rest was definitely inspired by your work. And. Borrowed. Slightly,”[/color] she said, in reference to the ascension of the various northern sea life into the sky before adding, [color=lightblue]“Luis is particularly fond of the cetaceans you made.”[/color]

There was a burble in response. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Your own creative touch is also quite good.”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“It was an enjoyable indulgence. I intend to teach mortals how to summon them as Cerule did, along with the Armonia, but till then they make nice decoration and watch dogs for the Vault,”[/color] Azura explained.

There was a brief rumble. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I have also taught a few mortals how to call and control storm spirits using music. Perhaps there can be some collaboration there.”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“You have? Great minds think alike then it seems. I’m still thinking about how to deal with the power problem for living mortals, to project the songs up into the Blue and form the bodies of Armonia from the air. The dead can draw energy from the heat around them for power, the same power that rules them. Their soul crystal forms are designed with the intention of wielding that power however, while I fear that having living mortals draw from their own energy could be dangerous indeed. Regardless, I’d still love to trade arts. Perhaps once we have seen what Cerule wishes to show you?”[/color]

There was another contemplative rumble. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Yes, that would be beneficial.”[/b][/colour]

The serpent soared higher and higher, the sky bastion below falling away. And yet the Blue continued, far beyond the point that the air should have thinned and the lesser void should have claimed the breath from their lungs. 

Below them Galbar fell away, yet so too did its horizons. Space shrank, bent and contorted till all the world was splayed out below them, a distant atlas of the planet the bickering gods had painted together.

[color=007fff]"Good, isn’t it,"[/color] Cerule said.

“I’ve heard of so many of those places,” Sun Jian said from where he clung to the sky serpent's back, “But to see them all laid out like that. Truly fascinating.”

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“A most peculiar distortion, although one with utility,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla commented.

[color=lightblue]“It’s old. One of the first things I did,”[/color] Azura said, dismissing the marvel despite the pride clear in her tone.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“To warp space in such a way is a marvel,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said.

[color=lightblue]“Thank you. You're too kind,”[/color] Azura replied. 

Chopstick admired in silence all the places she had and had not visited on her early flights, but her gaze kept creeping back to the spiralling rainclouds of Ya-Shuur’s island.

[color=007fff]"So where are these artistic selka?"[/color] Cerule said, [color=007fff]"Because from up here they’re just a short drop away."[/color]

A strand of cirrus stretched out from Ashalla, and pointed along the south-eastern crux of Atokhekwoi. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I taught selka all along that coast about music.”[/b][/colour] Another strand stretched out, pointing to the large island just south-east of the continent. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I taught the Wuhdige tribe there about painting.”[/b][/colour]

Azura followed the strands with curious eyes. [color=lightblue]“I see. It has been quite some time since I last went to Atokhekwoi.”[/color] She’d been there chasing the Alma when they had discovered the Ihokhetlani there. She wondered how they were doing. 

[color=007fff]“Then we’ll have to pay it a visit in the future,”[/color] Cerule said.

[color=lightblue]”When we have the time or need,”[/color] Azura said. There was still so much to do after all.

[color=007fff]“You need to get out and have fun more often ZuZu. Speaking of which,”[/color] Cerule clicked her heels again the sky serpent’s sides, turning its snout downwards. 

“Oh no,” said Sun Jian as she realised her intent.

[color=007fff]“Here comes the fun part. Race you there!”[/color] Cerule said, before sending her mount into a nosedive back down towards the Sky Bastion.

Ashalla descended after the serpent, but since her current form was so buoyant, there was no way she could fall faster than it. Her individual forms all had their limitations, and here one of those limitations was embarrassingly apparent.

As Cerule grew more distant, humiliation was replaced by determination. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“I am the Goddess of Water. I have mastery over my own form,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla declared.

The vast cloud which was Ashalla’s form rapidly contracted and condensed into a single massive globule of water. As gravity took hold of the droplet, it elongated and froze into a slick, streamlined icicle. The great iceberg which was Ashalla plummeted down through the Blue, continually accelerating. It was not long before Ashalla was falling even faster than Cerule’s serpent.

[color=007fff]“Holy crap that was fast!”[/color] Cerule shouted after the rapidly descending shard of ice. [color=007fff]“Why are you so bad at that?”[/color] she then asked Azura. The fishy goddess just glared at her stone double.

Ashalla broke the sound barrier before falling past the Sky Bastion. Having reached the goal, Ashalla sublimated back into a great cloud, which billowed turbulently as it cancelled her velocity. 

Several moments later the sky serpent caught up, diving deeply past the Bastion itself until it managed to pull up and join the goddess. A bright leaf-looking thing tumbled slowly down after them, cursing befuzzledly and wondering where her wind had gone.

[color=lightblue]”Skillfully done. You beat Cerule fair and square,”[/color] Azura commented as Sun Jian asked to be let off Cerule’s the wild ride in the background.

Ashalla puffed up pridefully. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Naturally,”[/b][/colour] she said.

Cerule grumbled perhaps a bit to bitterly over her loss, but Azura merely smiled. Their rapid return had drawn a lot of attention. Luis had left during their conversations inside the Bastion, but had now returned along with a school of whales. The other Undead had also rushed to one of the entrances to see what had caused a shard of ice to descend upon their home from the heavens.  

[color=lightblue]“I think now might be an excellent time to trade songs, seeing as you appear to have attracted an audience,”[/color] Azura said, drifting up and away form Cerule’s mount.

Two orbs of lightning crackled into existence within Ashalla’s form and gazed across at the gathered mortals. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Yes, I think so too.”[/b][/colour]

The tone of Ashalla’s wind shifted and became more resonant. Her voice sang out melodious and sweet. [colour=lightseagreen][b][i]“Come to me, squalls, come to me, and happy I will be.”[/i][/b][/colour] Squalls flickered into existence. A choir of Ashalla’s voices chimed in, their melody directing the squalls to spiral and dance around, Ashalla’s own cloudy form leading their dance. There was no pre-set structure to the song. Rather, the music adapted and improvised with the temperament of the squalls.

Azura drifted over to the sky temple she had brought close when Ashalla arrived, swaying gently as she went while she picked up the improvisational rhythm of Ashalla’s song and matched something of her own to it. First she began humming a simple tune, and in response to it and the power fed to the song wind and verse spun together to form a small Armonia, holding a flute. The little one joined in her song and was soon joined by another, and then another. Other Armonia with other instruments were formed, forming a small orchestra. Then Azura formed a small conductor’s baton to direct her musicians and began to sing.

Her songs were more rigid and structured than Ashalla’s, and each called out to one of the beasts of the Blue, who joined in with their parts when conducted. Yet from small rigid structures a greater melody formed, weaving from one tune to the other, the singers reacting to each other and to the squalls till all were in harmony.

Once they had the rhythm Azura tossed aside the baton and became a voice in the crowd, the music having taken on a life of its own. The squalls danced along with the music of Azura’s orchestra, flitting about the Tonnikala and Armonia. Ashalla interjected with her own countermelodies, which lifted the squalls from idle motions to perform stunts of wind and rain.

Folding her kite behind her like the wing it was not, a certain godlet descended upon Ashalla’s drafts, timing her descent among the tumbling bundles of cloud and fog tossed by the squall choir, picked her mark among the giant banks of white, and landed feet-first on top of a cloud.

[colour=blanchedalmond][i]“I saw two flying fish today
A girl and whale, out to play.
I saw a lass without a face,
And a funny floating place.

"I saw a cloud that spoke to me,
It rained and cracked and sang in key.
I saw some tunes in magic suits!
They played on little floating flutes.

"I saw two flying fish today.
Soon I'll be gone, but that's okay:
I'll see more things on my way.”[/i][/colour]

Chopstick let herself fall off the cloud and disappeared into the hazy drizzle, teasing squalls with her kite on the way down until she found the perfect draft. As her solo ended so to did the music, each player slowly dropping away until silence reigned once more.

Then came the sound of clapping, a few lonely pairs of hands that was quickly joined by the other undead once they were encouraged to copy the alien custom. The resulting sound paled in comparison to the performance that had been given, but it was all that could be given. Ashalla burbled at the applause. Meanwhile the squalls dispersed, scattering across the Blue and the ice sheet.

There was a shout from below. [colour=blanchedalmond]“Ashalla!”[/colour] called Chopstick Eyes, almost disappearing on the wind. [colour=blanchedalmond]“Have you seen Li’Kalla anywhere?”[/colour]

The ball lightning which Ashalla was using as eyes turned to look at the little goddess. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“No,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla replied with a voice like drizzling rain. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Last I heard, K’nell was seeking her fragments to restore her and had recovered one, although that was long ago.”[/b][/colour]

[colour=blanchedalmond]“Thank you,”[/colour] said Chopstick Eyes, and swept into the horizon.

Ashalla watched Chopstick Eyes depart, then turned back to Azura. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“That was a beautiful performance.”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“It was wonderful to be a part of. I feel like I learned a great deal on top of it being beautiful to hear,”[/color] Azura replied, drifting back down from the floating temple which had hosted her orchestra.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Likewise,”[/b][/colour] Ashalla said with a voice like a refreshing breeze. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Although, we both have work to return to.”[/b][/colour]

[color=lightblue]“Ah, yes. I suppose we do,”[/color] Azura responded with a mix of sadness and determination.

[color=007fff]“Damn right you do. It’s my turn to be on break,”[/color] Cerule interjected from where she sat among the Undead.

[color=lightblue]“It has been lovely to meet you again dear Ashalla. Please, don't hesitate to stop by again in the future if you come by our way again,”[/color] Azura said.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]“Indeed. I look forward to our next performance together.”[/b][/colour]

[hider=Summary]
This post was started before Tendlepog’s disappearance, and is thus set shortly before those events.

Ashalla inspects the work of the winter-spirits on the North Pole. She finds the giant statue and the coloured winter-spirits made by Choppy, and she enhances her divine-essence-detecting senses to ascertain the artist. She also sees the trail left by Kalmar, Roog and Arae, and follows north.

Ashalla is invited to the Sky Bastion by Azura. There she meets Choppy and Cerule. Azura explains Cerules’ pre-Universe origins. Choppy converses with Ashalla, who complements Choppy’s handiwork. Sun Jian and Luis also appear in this post.

Ashalla is shown the Armonia. Azura and Cerule gives a tour of their lab. They show the prototype projects for creating soul ash ab nihilio, creating artificial souls, and reincarnation. Ashalla gives Azura encouragement, saying that it is within the power of the gods to rewrite reality in this manner.

Azura speaks of the deal struck with Kalmar. Azura and Cerule show the work they have been doing to counter the damage caused by the Soul Fiends. Ashalla is asked about what she’s been up to, which is teaching selka about arts.

The party flies up through the Blue on a sky serpent. Ashalla complements Azura on the Tonnikala, and notes her own influence. From high in the Blue, they can see the whole world laid out flat beneath them, and they marvel at the sight. Ashalla points out where the aforementioned selka were, and Azura/Cerule makes plans to visit.

Cerule challenges Ashalla to a race back down. Ashalla can’t win as a cloud. So she claims mastery over Water and achieves her FINAL FORM (I honestly hadn’t expected such a light-hearted moment to be this moment, but there you go), which she uses to win the race.

In the presence of the mortals of the Sky Bastion, Ashalla and Azura put on a show, where Ashalla shows how to control squalls and Azura shows how to summon Armonia and Tonnikala. Chopstick Eyes caps the performance with a song.

Choppy asks Ashalla what she knows of Li’Kalla’s whereabouts. She shares her outdated information.
[/hider]
[hider=Might Summary]
[u]Ashalla[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 8 MP & 8 FP
[i]Spent:[/i] 1 MP to gain Level 1 Detection.
5 MP to acquire the Water Cluster (with Oceans, Storms and Ice)
1 MP to acquire the ability [i]Phase Change[/i] (Discounted from 3 MP by Oceans/Storms/Ice, Enhanced by Water Cluster)
[i]End:[/i] 1 MP & 8 FP
[i]Portfolios:[/i] 8/10 Colour
5/10 Music

[i]Phase Change[/i] - “I am the Goddess of Water. I have mastery over my own form.” This ability allows Ashalla to rapidly shift between her water forms at will. Ashalla can also shift into hybrids of her water forms (e.g. big storm with flying ice shards and water pseudopods; water form with ice fists).

[u]Azura[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 7 MP & 13 FP
[i]Spent:[/i] None

[u]Chopstick Eyes[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 16 MP & 12 FP
[i]Spent:[/i] None

[u]The Windweavers[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 8 Prestige
[i]Spent:[/i] None
[i]Earned:[/i] 2 Prestige (minor role, collab)
[i]End:[/i] 10 Prestige
[/hider]