[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/827282844661186560/827934265827262464/CelvanyaToken.png[/img][/center]

[center][i]War awakens beneath a bleak sky, and a [color=limegreen]goddess[/color] rises from the ashes of what was…[/i][/center]
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[i]”Hold your lines! Hold your damn lines!”[/i]

The commander sweat profusely as his soldiers began to give ground to the group of monsters pressing in on them. This small group of soldiers had once been the pride of their homeland, an army capable of defending the nation from any known threat. But this threat was unknown, and they fought for a homeland that now no longer existed. The will to survive kept them going, but even that force had begun to wear thin.

Shouting again, the commander took a small opportunity to lunge forward with his sword. This turned out to be a mistake, as even though he was capable of piercing the inky hide of the creature that had backed off of his shield he made himself open for another to rip into him. The armor he wore did little to protect him against the rending claws of the beast, and the last thing he ever said was a loud gurgle.

The rest of the soldiers knew that they were already dead. Only one was able to vocalize the fear that now ate away at them. “Flee! Flee for your lives!” The lines broke, and soldiers who once considered one another brothers now almost trampled one another in order to try and survive. Two were snapped up by the monsters almost immediately, while one was fortunate enough to remember his senses and slash away a clawed hand that attempted to grab at him.

Well, this wouldn’t do.

As the soldiers fled, a brilliant golden light bathed the area for a brief moment. From within that light emerged a figure that was neither human nor monster. The monsters balked at this brilliant light, while the soldiers were entranced by it. It had been too long since they last saw the sun, and to them such a light was surely a beacon of salvation. Fortunately their expectations would be met this day.

The light that signaled the emergence of the goddess faded, but this light was replaced by another as she held aloft a sword that glowed with the brightness of dawn. Taking her first breath, Celvanya shouted an order. [color=limegreen][b]”You will stand your ground! Shields together, now!”[/b][/color] This caused the soldiers to snap from their daze. Instinct that had been drilled into them time and time again upon the training fields took hold once more, and they quickly stepped shoulder to shoulder once again to bring their shields to bear against the enemy.

Unfortunately for Celvanya, not all of the monsters had been stunned by the sudden flash of light. Since it had been mere moments since her birth, Celvanya’s divine senses were not as sharp as they should be. This proved to be disadvantageous when a monster previously unseen leapt at her. A rending claw sliced into her cheek, and pain screamed from this touch. Unfortunately for the monster, this pain sharpened Celvanya’s senses to their full strength. 

Using the momentum from the blow to roll away, Celvanya twisted to face the monster before planting a foot onto the ground and launching herself forward, kicking up a cloud of dust and pebbles as she did so. Bringing her sword to bear Celvanya carved out a large portion of the monster's torso. By all logic it would soon be dead, but Celvanya was not one to take chances with an enemy such as this one.

Twisting in the air once again and landing harshly upon the ground, Celvanya launched herself forward again. When she brought her sword down again she bisected the monster vertically. Following this blow, Celvanya unleashed a flurry of slashes to turn the monster from a coherent form into little more than a pile of shredded flesh. With her work finished, Celvanya shouted to the soldiers once more. [color=limegreen][b]”Don’t hesitate! These nightmarish creatures can be felled! They can be beaten!”[/b][/color]

A rallying cry came from the soldiers and soon thereafter they were able to carefully bring an offensive to bear. With coordinated strikes they were able to bring one of the beasts down. This victory caused their morale to soar. Now the two remaining beasts didn’t seem so scary. Meanwhile Celvanya was taking a moment to check on the wound that had been inflicted to her cheek. Pain aside, it had barely broken the skin. If she had been fully aware it wouldn’t have broken the skin at all.

Wiping away the single drop of blood that had been drawn from the wound, Celvanya ran a finger across it. Healing the minor scratch, but also immortalizing it. A scar to remind her of the cost of not maintaining absolute vigilance. When Celvanya heard the death wheeze of one of the creatures the soldiers were fighting, she grinned. Leaping into the air, Celvanya landed sword-first upon one of the beasts. As it recoiled from the blow she brought her sword up and beheaded it with one swift motion. Rolling to the side and kicking herself free from the beast, Celvanya used the momentum from her spin to repeat the move on the remaining creature before landing on the other side of it.

The soldiers cheered for this victory, but Celvanya was taking no risks. Approaching their corpses with sword still blazing she made short work of their forms, reducing them to unrecognizable piles of meat in short order. When she was finished, Celvanya turned towards the soldiers and nodded in approval before speaking. [color=limegreen]”Well fought, all of you. Have you homes? Families?”[/color] The slow shaking of heads told her everything she needed to know. Turning her vision upward, Celvanya studied the sky for a few moments. Magic coiled and wreathed both overhead and all around them. Following the movements to their source, Celvanya saw what appeared to be a rift laying far to the east. It disgorged magic at an obscene rate, and was perhaps one of the many reasons why the world was barren and dead.

Nodding to herself, Celvanya raised her sword and pointed it towards the rift. The soldiers could not see it, not with their mortal eyes, but that was no issue. Speaking once more, Celvanya issued a new order. [color=limegreen]”Far in the distance there is a rift that spills magic into the air at a vast rate. If we might perhaps be able to stabilize it or close it, we may be able to make things a bit safer. If you would take this journey with me, then fall in!”[/color]

Raising her sword high, Celvanya began to march. With little hesitation, the eight soldiers that she had saved fell in behind her. Despite their best efforts, the soldiers could not march for long. They had been running and fighting for an uncountable amount of time, and their rations had been running thin for a long while. They called out to Celvanya and expressed their plight, and thankfully it did not fall upon deaf ears.

Stopping in her march, Celvanya nodded. Lowering her sword to the ground she carved a wide circle into the ground, and when it was complete a barrier surged into existence to shield them from the outside world. The interior filled with dim light and, for a brief time, things were calm. Bringing a scabbard into existence, Celvanya’s sword stopped glowing. As the glow vanished, it was revealed that the blade was in fact much shorter than they had initially been led to believe. But in spite of this it fit into the full sized scabbard just fine. Binding the scabbard to her right hip, Celvanya gathered the soldiers and spoke clearly. [color=limegreen]”Remain here and rest. The barrier will keep you safe from roving monsters. I will be leaving to see if anyone else can be found and saved. I request that you remain here until I return, and be assured that I [i]will[/i] return.”[/color]

Nods of confirmation came from the soldiers as they were able to stop and rest for the first time in too long. Before departing, Celvanya had one last gift for the soldiers. With a clap of her hands she brought a covered basket into existence and then set it down. Following this, she created eight jugs, each filled with water. Removing the lid from the basket, Celvanya revealed that it was filled with a type of [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/79/f4/bc/79f4bc73277c25738d756972dfce7a2e.jpg]meat bun[/url] that contained meat and egg. With this done, Celvanya spoke once more. [color=limegreen]”Eat and drink your fill. The jugs and basket will replenish themselves over time. Partake of them generously, for they will be unmade when we make to move again.”[/color]

The soldiers nodded and thanked the goddess for her aid. Celvanya smiled and nodded in return before departing the barrier to see who else might be saved.

[hider=Summary.]Celvanya comes into existence to save a group of soldiers. Rallying them to hold the line, she’s ambushed by a monster due to her divine senses not running at 100%. Dispatching the monster, she finds that it is genuinely barely a scratch, but immortalizes the scar to remind her of the price of not being vigilant.

Following this, the soldiers she rallied manage to kill a monster on their own with some encouragement, and Celvanya dispatches the other two with little hesitation. She then butchers the corpses to ensure that none of them are only pretending to be dead.

With the area safe for a moment, Celvanya checks out the magic that’s pouring into the world, and finds that an unstable magic rift is barfing magic into the air far to the east. Resolving to stabilize or close it, Celvanya begins to lead a march towards it. Unfortunately, mortals will be mortals and the soldiers cannot keep up the march for long. Understanding this, Celvanya creates a barrier for them to sleep in and then creates an everlasting basket full of meat buns and bottomless jugs full of water for the soldiers to eat and drink their fill of.

With that done, Celvanya states that she’s going to scout for anyone else that might be able to be saved nearby and assures that soldiers that she’ll return. They thank her, and she smiles before leaving to do just as she said.[/hider]

[hider=Major Actions.]None done, as everything created doesn’t have a major impact on everyone else’s story.[/hider]