[color=7bcdc8][h3][center]Palace of the Moon[/center][/h3][/color] [color=7bcdc8]"So. Up between Modzu Tsonya and Poya Tsonyamiri?"[/color] the goddess questioned, making a gentle but firm point of calling the rivers in her new language, over Zed or Croll's alternatives. [color=7bcdc8]"A safer passage up to the high lands. Hmm. That could be useful Croll, however... I do not see the tribe going that direction any time soon."[/color] The man nodded and then sighed, before creating the courage to make his proposal. "But what if we were to let an offshoot group go hunt up there? We need the warm furs and wool of the animals up there, we cannot wait for too long." The goddess side-eyed the tribal leader and rubbed her chin. [color=7bcdc8]"You know I am not for the idea of us splitting. It could lead to trouble, especially when I am not around to protect the tribe from monsters and hostile gods..."[/color] He adjusted himself, nodding in acknowledgement and yet not agreeing. "A split... sort of implies a full division. I do not wish to do that, I am saying, a group of say, six? Eight? Of course, from both tribes." This changed the goddess's disposition, she turned towards the tribal leader and seemed more interested. [color=7bcdc8]"That is more feasible. I will give it thought..."[/color] she straightened up her position and squinted her eyes. [color=7bcdc8]"And I assume your son will be one of them, yes? Not that that would be an issue, he is a good boy, growing up to be a fine man."[/color] He laughed nervously, his intentions unclear to the goddess, the suspicion of power play did not feel unfounded but she did not want to rush to conclusions. "Bah. Boy needs to keep his head on the ground. I get worried sick of he getting hurt because even during the hunts his mind is in the future." he complained. "But it would be silly to exclude him from a hunting group no matter what, perhaps some isolation will do him some good." The goddess chuckled. [color=7bcdc8]"He is young, it should be fine."[/color] she then looked towards the city centre. [color=7bcdc8]"Speaking of which, even if I allow the split group to leave for the highlands, I still want them to come back for the festivals, especially the marriage ceremony."[/color] "That seems fair." Croll nodded. "Wouldn't want my boy to go unmarried, right? I want grandsons after all. Though, again, can you believe him, such a dreamer that when I asked about what girls he had an interest in, he had the gall to... no offence my lady but... to add you to the trio. I had to shout off such insolence from his mind." The goddess laughed louder at that. [color=7bcdc8]"Now I will wonder what my position on that list was. Such a silly boy."[/color] at that she stepped back and bowed gently to Croll. [color=7bcdc8]"I think I will be taking my leave to rest for the night. Thanks for your hard work Croll, these new homes you are building are lovely and even Zed was forced to compliment them."[/color] The man smiled and nodded before taking his leave as well to leave his goddess to rest without worries. [hr] There was however no true rest to be had. As the humans went to sleep and the village chatter quieted down the goddess was left to think over things far greater than this village's mud walls and eel soups. She had aimed to be active and integrated with the community, almost letting them to forget she was a goddess, and in turn, she had learned there was some joy in truly not being a goddess. But the fruit of knowledge could not be regurgitated, the fate of the crucible and the taste of what she could really do were constantly in her mind. Today, she decided she would pay a visit to the node at the centre of it all again. With her cape and the cover of darkness slipping off from the village was trivial, so was traversing the volcanic swampland and rising up the volcano. The villagers were aware of the magical node and the volcano, they called it the Podja Fa, Red Lake, what they did not know, was that in the creation of this land a structure was made as if carved by the hands of man, not nature. It could perhaps be called Dza Padjilli, House of the Moon. However, with most of her power going to shape the land and seed it with life, the structure was left malformed, a stone skeleton of something clearly unfinished. On the day of the formation of these lands now called Twilight Swamp by many, she was too tired to fix it, but today, she was not. Once again she stood by the chamber with elegant black tiles, lit by the lava below, with the node at its centre, under the moonlight that seeped through the open roof. Focusing her energy, she placed her fingers down against the floor right by the node at the very centre of it, soon power started to surge, and the solid stone walls of the building started to be reshaped. [hr] Dzallitsunya was partial to designs that were solid, somewhat blocky with hard angles, it stood in contrast to the villagers who enjoyed round shapes for their home, however, they had imprinted in her some preference for high contrast decorations, though as a goddess she could work in platinum and gemstones instead of red paint made from squashing a type of bug with some clay. The entrance had been carved out of a reddish rock in contrast with the dark blue of the volcano. Cyan, purple and yellow in designs of stripes and triangles decorated the wall, pearlescent gemstones cut into lunar circles and bright yellow topaz cut into a rhomboid surrounded the trapezoid-shaped open entryway. Past that, one was greeted with a large corridor. Here the stone was cute in sharp squares, forming a smooth flat texture. This area tried to be more discreet than others, rock carvings decorated the borders of walls and windows, some plants and railings followed a series of small water canals and fountains. Light seeped in from the lava cave outside, filtered by colourful stained glass windows with very geometric patterns in them. The side doors of this zone led to a library, a kitchen, and a dormitory, among other amenities for the more bureaucratic side of godly work, clearly meant to be a place to be populated by her servants if she ever were to make some, at the end of the corridor were the staircases that led upward, to the node room and the garden area. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/KyLfYYj.jpg[/img][/center] The node area was the same one Dzallitsunya had visited before, now with some more flair and less dust, the difference was that now it was not surrounded by the void but an open garden area. This garden was mystically kept alive, this same magic also was imbued in the local decorations, shining stones and walls that looked as if decorated by the starry sky were common here, the same system of canals and fountains also decorated this area, along with the magical spring that condensed this water that fed the whole garden from the region's fog. The rooms in this area were meant for the gods, including Dzallitsunya herself, the main meeting area for the gods visiting Node 7 however was still above this garden, past the volcano walls. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/2tKbxPhl.jpg[/img][/center] A ring-shaped room existed above the node temple, inner walls were made of glass and there was no outer wall, instead, the roof was held by a series of pillars. The normal view of this zone was that of the misty twilight swamp and the highlands beyond, one could even see the sea past the mountains and the layer of clouds far below the observatory. However, the room was also able to cast an illusion, a view of the crucible as if one was high in the sky, of course, not a real one, just a pleasant version of it that was made of tamed pleasant nodes and a blue ocean hugging the land. Dzallitsunya felt this would help remind the gods of what was at stake if they were ever to hold a meeting in this carefully crafted meeting room. The goddess found herself in her room by the end of the process, looking up at the gold and silver stars that decorated the borders of the glass roof and the far more beautiful true stars above. In this bed, she could rest as Dzallitsunya the goddess, this whole palace was like an anchor keeping her linked to this higher world she was a part of. She smiled with the results and got up, ready to return to the village down below and the dingy mud hut barely held up from the swamp water by rough wooden stilts, she had an immortal time to come to inhabit this palace, but not so much to share with her mortal human comrades. [hider=Summary] Dzallitsunya and Croll talk about having a split-off group go up the highlands to hunt larger animals for their fur and wool, this generates some tension as the goddess is really, really keen on keeping the tribes united, but they find compromise. Then the goddess goes up the volcano and makes a neat palace for herself [/hider] [hider=Might] 1 might: won from the quiz -1 might: Spent to make a nice crib for Dzallitsunya 0 might remains [/hider]