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[center][h1][color=gainsboro][i]Celestine awakens the Virtus Elves[/i][/color][/h1][/center]
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It had been some amount of time since her meeting with Thaa, and during this time Celestine had simply sat upon her throne overlooking The Longhall. No souls were yet present from her bargain with Thaa, but she didn’t mind this. The souls were offered a choice of where to go, and only one had been effectively secured thus far. All Celestine really cared about was making good upon her promise of a reward, and she had indeed accomplished that. However, part of what Boudicca had said intrigued Celestine. She had explained that the recent transition from warring state to peaceful hegemony had left some of the residents of Ha-Dûna restless.

Celestine understood this restlessness. A soldier that was suddenly deprived of purpose and unable to find purpose anew would naturally begin to feel rather at odds with their existence. This train of thought led Celestine to the conclusion that perhaps all they needed was an example. A guiding light to aspire those who were lost back to the paths that they wanted to tread. Teaching Boudicca about tournaments had been a good start, but Celestine was beginning to believe that a full warrior culture might serve as a better example of what a soldier might accomplish in times of peace. A standing army could easily be converted to an effective guardian force. Soldiers who needed to feel the grit of steel against steel could partake in tournaments like Boudicca had been taught, and beyond that new battlefield techniques could be theorized by someone with direct experience to the faults of the standing traditions.

However, Celestine felt like merely teaching people would not be suitable. It was one thing to teach the science of war, but another to teach the art of it. Thus, Celestine concluded that perhaps a shining example of what could be done would be better than attempting to convert an existing culture to one that suited her. But how might that be accomplished…

It was then that Celestine saw one of the many elves that bustled in and around her castle exit into The Longhall to replace a jug of wine with one that had not been sitting for so long. It was entirely unnecessary since the divine nature of the wine meant that it would never spoil, but Celestine had the answer she sought. The elves that had been surrounding her since her inception could be more than distant and servile extensions of her will, they could be placed upon Galbar to serve as an example of a shining beacon of chivalry and a peaceful warrior culture. Something to give the restless mortals something to aspire to, or at the very least a place to call home.

However, Celestine knew better than to simply send them out to Galbar unprepared. She remembered the wars that had taken place, and did not want her people to endure suffering caused by an excess of haste in trying to set her idea into motion. They would need to be empowered to not just survive Galbar, but to thrive upon it. As she thought about how she might prepare them for existence upon Galbar, Celestine's thoughts turned back to the statues that she had seen within Cadien’s realm. Each of them being a perfectly beautiful representation of that particular races ideal beauty. Celestine nodded to herself as she came to a conclusion from her experience with them: She would send her elves to Galbar in a state of perfection, or not at all. Or, at the very least, something as close to perfect as she could realize since she was not a goddess of perfection. Celestine contemplated seeking the advice of Cadien for such a lofty goal, but then decided against it. This project was already going to be complicated, and too many hands upon it would cause those complications to exaggerate. Not to mention that she wanted a distinct outcome for this project and having the influence of others upon it might cause that vision to err from the course she wanted.

But before this grand plan could be set into motion, Celestine knew that she needed to first awaken them fully. Closing her eyes and harnessing her divine senses she projected herself outward and looked out over the entirety of her realm. Taking a moment to watch the little silver flickers of life that were the elves inhabiting her realm bustle about their routines. When she looked upon herself she saw a shining beacon of silver light and knew what needed to be done. 

Dipping her hand into the font of divine energy, Celestine began to touch the small flickers of silver light, emboldening them with more of the divine light that she siphoned from herself. As she did this a deep exhaustion began to set in as she drained away more and more of her divine power to give the elves full and independent souls. When she was done the shining beacon that had been her font of divine power was more akin to a small candle in its luminescence. Exhausted and spent, Celestine pulled her divine senses back into their passive state and rose from her throne to observe the fruits of her labor.

Many of the elves stopped what they were doing to look around. Celestine figured that for many of them it would be like awakening from a daydream. Shuddering slightly from the large expenditure of her divine power that awakening the elves had been, Celestine slowly walked to the edge of the platform. Taking a moment to compose herself and to lean upon the railing, Celestine began to speak. As she did her voice rang out across her realm, reaching the ears of every elf within. [color=gainsboro][b][i]”My beloved elves, hear me. The mortals of Galbar need a shining beacon that they can look towards for hope and inspiration of what those who follow chivalry can accomplish. You will be that beacon of virtue, my Virtus Elves. But I do not have plans to send you all to Galbar without preparation. I will be bestowing you all with as many abilities as I can muster to prepare you for life outside of this realm. You shall be a shining beacon of all the virtues that I wish to be embodied within the other mortals upon Galbar. Until that time, please continue as you were. I will be resting for a time.”[/i][/b][/color]

As she finished speaking. Celestine turned and began to walk towards a room that had, until now, gone unused. Stepping into her private chambers Celestine first approached the bookcase that stood against one wall. Unbuckling the belt that held her sword at her side, Celestine hefted it gently and placed it upon the rack. Once this was done she stepped gently over to the armor rack and began to relieve herself of the plate armor that she had worn since her inception. The resulting loss of its typically comforting weight was an alien sensation to Celestine, but she knew that armor and resting were typically not things that went well together.

Turning to the four poster bed in the room, Celestine lifted the covers and shuffled into them gently before laying her head against the pillow and drifting off to what could be called sleep.

An unknown amount of time later, Celestine awoke and sat up gently. She felt much more refreshed than before, but could still feel a sort of hollow sensation due to the expenditure of divine energy that she had recently undertaken. Dressing herself in her usual garb and taking up her sword once more, Celestine returned to the throne overlooking The Longhall and sat down within it gently. It would take time for her divine energy to replenish itself, and all Celestine could do would be to wait for that to occur. She did contemplate taking a trip out to antiquity to try and socialize, but she then considered that her newly awakened elves might require guidance now that they were their own people. Thus she decided to stay for the time being.

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[hider=summary]
Celestine has awakened the elves that populate her realm. Dubbing them the Virtus Elves, she plans on buffing them up before sending them out to Galbar. She also took a nap because dumping lots of divine energy is exhausting.
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[hider=MP/DP summary]
4 MP spent to awaken the Virtus Elves. 1 MP/ 5 DP total.
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