[h3]Over a Month Ago[/h3] Voligan & Astus Voligan made his way towards Astus’ base of operations, fairly easily following the direction that the 12 earth eating colossi came from. They weren’t subtle creatures, taking after their creators in that way. He needed Astus's help. He had a vision in mind for helping the mortal’s creations and their expansion, but he needed someone who was as interested in the materials and their uses as he was. That would be his brother of Industry. He arrived at Astus’ base and was impressed, despite himself. His brother had been busy, now that land, resources, and mortals were out and about. Plus, Astus hadn’t killed anyone to make it. That was more than several of their siblings could say right now. “Astus, it’s Voligan! I need to talk to you about something I would like your help on!” He called out as he landed on the base. His form took on a metallic, humanoid shape that was devoid of any features. There was a crashing sound within Astus’ wooden base, and a second later a large explosion took out half of the visible structure. Black smoke rose from the debris, even as the walls began to visibly repair themselves. From the smoke came Astus, shirtless and covered in what looked like tar. His whole head was on fire, but he seemed unbothered, laughing loudly upon seeing Voligan, who waved in reply. “Look who’s come to visit us, Astus! If it isn’t our favourite ol’ pal, Voligan.” The charcoal-skinned god exclaimed, quickly walking up to Voligan and forcefully shaking his hand. Voligan did not return the shake, but it didn’t appear he needed too. Astus continued, “I’m glad to finally meet you in person, metal man! I gotta say, you did a pretty good job setting up all this land. I’m not the only one to recognize that either am I? Our boss thinks the same. So tell me Vol,” Astus grinned behind the flames enveloping his head and slithered up next to Voligan, placing his arm around Voligan’s shoulders. “What can your pal Astus do for ya?” Voligan waited patiently for Astus to finish his spiel, turning his head to face the other god. “I have set up the land, and you have seeded it with minerals, gems, and ores. I would like to make both of those more useful to the mortals that I’m sure you have noticed popping up all around the land. Our sister Aethel has created magic throughout the world, and powered it through a great tree. I would like to use that magic to make parts of both of our creations stronger and better than it would be normally. To make a realm where the magic of the tree is combined with land and minerals to then be returned to the earth as magical land and minerals. “ Gold that is as strong as steel, iron that resists ice and flame, rubies that increase strength, obsidian that absorbs magical energy, and countless other possibilities. On my end it would allow mortals to craft and utilize stronger and more powerful technology, helping them fight against Iqelis, Yesaris, Ruina and their creations. On your end, it would allow your industry to work more quickly, and help your servants protect themselves from the likes of Phelenia. I’m sure you noticed her tantrum over the Bjorks having the gall to make dams. It would benefit us both, and help protect the mortals that we both want kept safe. Albeit for different reasons.” Astus rubbed his chin for a moment, face scrunched up in thought. Eventually, he nodded and relaxed. “You speak exactly how I imagined it. Yes! I agree with your line of thought, Vol. Think we have enough time to set up Mana-Infusion Pumps all around the Galbar, though? I know it’d take me about 50 terms to build enough to get started with the project.” “I would prefer that we created the realm first, and then you make your Mana pumps. Aethel seems protective of her creation, so I would rather not risk tipping her off to what we plan and have to fight against her while trying to set up pumps, create the realm, and spread its magical creations across Galbar. You’ll have enough trouble keeping your pumps up and running after we get the realm set up, I imagine. Your creations are not popular with several of our siblings, and that’s not even including Ruina and her obsession with ‘testing’ things.” Voligan paused, looking over to the north where Aethel’s great tree was. “Besides, your pumps will doubtlessly be better and stronger if you have experience working with the source of mana itself, rather than trying to collect it with no idea of how it works.” Astus closed his eyes and scrunched up his face, almost as if he was in pain. Still with his eyes closed, he spoke. “Y’know what, I’ll do you a solid and follow your plan this time, Vol. Consider it payback.” He finally opened his eyes and pulled away from Voligan, dusting himself off and putting out the fire that had been enveloping his head for the last couple minutes. “So that big ol’ tree is still being maintained by Aethel, then? Sounds like an undertaking. Should’a just covered it in pesticides and go build something else. Back on topic though, in order to make this realm we will need to make sure it is securely tied to the Galbar. We should create a lotta entry points all over the world and then cover them up. My pumps can then redirect mana into the realm and let it do its thing in there.” Voligan nodded. “Since you decided to do me a solid, I’ll return the favor and let you name the realm.” He looked over in the direction of the tree, musing partially to himself. “Hmm. Until we can get your mana pumps up and running, we’ll have to use the tree itself to power the realm. I suggest taking a root and connecting it to our realm. That should provide more than enough mana to get us started, and make it harder for Aethel to remove it should she take issue with what we’ve done. Then, if she does have a problem, by the time she removes the root the realm will have your mana pumps to keep it afloat. Then it’s only a matter of collection for our followers, which I’m sure you’ll have no problem figuring out yourself.” He looked back over to Astus. “Unless you have a better plan?” Astus shrugged, “Vol, I said I was gonna follow your plan and that’s what I’m gonna do. Plus, I decided the realm is gonna be called The Volilands. Heh.” Astus smirked. Voligan shrugged. “If you’d like. Follow me to the tree then please.” He headed off towards Aethel’s magical tree without checking to see if Astus was following. The other god would. There were too many opportunities that he couldn’t afford to pass up by not following. Voligan landed at the base of the tree, his form shifting to loose and crumbling dirt as it touched on the ground. Astus landed next to him soon after, a shovel in one hand and a pickaxe in the other. Voligan looked up at the massive, shining, creation. “Hmm. I suppose we’ll have to start from the roots to create the Volilands. Digging down here is as good a place as any.” Voligan declared. A grin broke out on Astus’ face as he threw his pickaxe onto the ground and moved to the spot to be dug, just in time for Voligan to move his hands outward in a parting motion. he ground in front of him opened a tunnel down at an angle into the root systems of the Tree of Harmony. Far down the tunnel, a bright light shone with the power of Mana. “There it is.” Voligan then descended down the tunnel until he was able to touch the root with his hand, Astus once more arriving soon after. “I will need your assistance for this, brother. Creating another realm within Galbar without ripping the planet asunder will require both of our efforts.” “Wait, we're doing this the magicky way? C’mon... Why did I even bring the shovel, then?” Astus sighed and threw away his shovel and closed his eyes. “Ready when you are, Vol. Guide the efforts and I’ll support you whenever you hit a snag.” He said as he crossed his arms, with all his muscles visibly tensing up as a spark came from the mana concentration. “Whoops, we can’t allow you to destabilize just yet, Sparky. Vol, get to it while I keep it stable. The Mana’s trying to scatter now that we’re here.” “Of course we’re doing it the magic way. The physical way would take eons.” Voligan replied, amused at Astus’ complaints. Voligan concentrated on bending the mana of the root to his will. The root glowed with brighter and brighter colors as it drew from the Tree and it began to writhe like a snake in his hands. Right as the power of the tree began to be too much for the two gods to handle, Voligan thrust the root into the ground beneath them and directed his vision. The earth beneath their feet rumbled and groaned and then exploded downwards with an intense magical force. The two gods fell downwards, blinded by a swirling storm of mana. Out of sheer instinct, Voligan unleashed his true form. One hand grasped the root which, seemingly feeding off of his divine energy, also grew in size with him. The other cupped Astus to prevent the other god from being thrown around or hurt by the writhing storm of magical and divine energy. Voligan landed with a crash still grasping the, now massive, root. As his vision cleared he saw that the mana was acting exactly as his will desired. They were in an endless cavern that held all sorts of impossible and beautiful sights. Mountains of rubies that glowed with an inner flame, dunes that stretched down from the ceiling and up from the ground to form and endless hourglass exchange of sands, gold that flowed like water, massive mountains that rose and crumbled into dust off in the distance, a giant sunstone ground across the ceiling while an equally large moonstone moved in perfect tandem on the ground. “Hmm. Yes, this will do nicely.” “Nicely? Vol, this is one hundred percent amazing! Imagine all the new machines I can create with these things! Oh, I’m gonna have a good time delving in here!” Voligan and Astus’ pleasure at seeing their work coming to fruition was cut short by gigantic bolts of mana ripping into and across the ceiling. It was trying to force its way out. If it did so in its current form there was no telling what kind of devastation and destruction it would wreak once it reached the surface. “Astus, could you take care of those bolts. Create a way out for them that won’t result in explosions across the face of Galbar, or something similar.” Astus tapped his chin for a moment, then nodded. Immediately, he got to work. He dug up through the ceiling in many places and created vents. After some time, he came back down to meet up with Voligan and wiped some sweat off his brow. “There we go, pal. 238 Mana Vents ready for service. They will open and let out some of the pressure accumulated by the Mana currents down here every now and then. It will be safe, probably. Also now that I’ve made these vents, Volilands isn’t really fitting. Let’s go with… The Labyrinth. Tons of dumbass mortals are gonna get lost here, so the name fits well.” “They will, especially once tell of the entrances I put all around Galbar reach them. They will be drawn to the riches promised by the Labyrinth, and the strong will survive to use those riches for their own betterment.” Voligan looked around again, pleased with their work. “Hmm. Now we only have to hope that Phelenia doesn’t murder them for daring to be industrious, or that Aethel doesn’t throw a tantrum over us borrowing her tree root.” “Hey hey, I get tired of Gods and mortals saying ‘Phelenia this, Phelenia that’ all the time! All she did was squash some little fleshy watermelons! It was quite industrious I gotta say. To be so bold so early!” Astus laughed, both hands on his hips. “Aaand yeah, I think we’re done here. We heading home now or do you have any more stuff you need my help with, pal?” Voligan looked around at their work, shaking his head. It was already exactly what it needed to be. "I believe we're done for now. Thank you for your help, Astus. If you are looking for other projects, mortals have been spread over much of Galbar. They could use someone to teach them of Industry." Voligan began follow the root they had pulled down, heading back to the surface of Galbar. "Though I would caution you against brushing off Phelenia's actions. She killed mortals for building dams with wood. If you wish to expand beyond your home, consider how she would react to your devices." They returned to the earth under the tree, Voligan now in a featureless vaguely humanoid dirt form. "Thank you for your help Astus. I wish you luck in your endeavors." Astus nodded, “See ya around, pal. You’ve got my word--I’ll be using the resources we just created to make our world even cooler.” He said before floating out of the burrow. Voligan followed soon after, covering the burrow to make it as if they had never dug down to begin with, and then left. He had other things to create. [hider=Summary] Some time in the past, before Astus had built the Prime Astalonians and stolen the Homurans, Voligan visited. Together they decided to make an underground realm that stretches across the world called the Labyrinth. They do so by travelling up to the Tree of Harmony, digging down and finding a root with a particularly high concentration of Mana, which Voligan then uses to create the Labyrinth while Astus keeps the mana stable. After the Labyrinth has been created, the two Gods go down to check it out, which ends up with Astus creating several hundred Vents in order to keep Mana Pressure manageable down there, and Voligan creating lots of entrances on the surface. Fin. [/hider] [hider=Vigor] -Voligan: 2 (reduced from four) to create the Labyrinth, a magical realm in the center of Galbar that creates magical gems, minerals, ores, whatever is of and comes from the earth. Rubies that grant fire resilience or generate heat constantly, iron that never rusts, gold that is strong as steel, diamonds that allow you to turn invisible, anything and everything. You just have to get there to collect it. And survive there as it’s always changing and moving, and there is no edible food or water. There are countless entrances that spew forth magical minerals, ores, gems, etc etc. Some are only big enough for whatever they’re spewing out to get through, others big enough to march an army through. Ending vigor: 3 -Astus: Starting= 6 Vigour 1 Vigour used to create several hundred Mana Vents to keep a stable amount of mana pressure down in the Labyrinth. Whenever the Vents open (and they’re automated at the moment, so they know when to open), a lightning bolt of pure Mana shoots up into the sky on the surface and infuses the clouds over it with supercharged mana. Ending= 5 Vigour[/hider]