[color=7bcdc8][h3][center]The Prelude to Dzallitsunya III[/center][/h3][/color]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/mYWBEV5.png[/img][/center]

A sword fell to the ground and met another one, their blades fusing in the ripples of the thin layer of water against salt. All around the Node there was nothing but this great natural mirror and the many blades used to slay the monster that acted as its guardian.

This was not the first time Dzallitsunya had met a monster, she had met another, in the north of her province.

In there lived a giant chameleon-like creature with copper-like scales, a crafty creature which had successfully gatekept the twilit goddess from the ocean, forcing her to return time after time to the Twilight Swamp with nothing to show but a collection of wounds. Ultimately she gave up, not for a lack of courage, but from the fact her humans tended to overreact to the idea something out there could hurt a god.

This second creature, which took a shape of something close to a bull, made for much easier combat. The creature was simpler, in body and mind, and with Benea's help the goddess had been able to easily manage it. Her style was obviously to dart around the 'prey' at high speed, and deliver sudden swings at a high velocity. The idea was sound but her weapons were lacking, initially, she used stone axes, spears, but those broke too soon, now she had been conjuring simple metal blades, but they had been too heavy, too blunt, even when she struck a perfect cut her momentum would be so great that the sword would slip from her hand, launched off all across the battlefield, forcing her to summon another sword.

In total, about eight swords stood around the pillar, each standing up, their tips planted firmly against the salt flats of this new land. With a sigh, the goddess went and picked one of them and looked around to see the shape of this new land.

The Mirror Marches, as she came to call it. Directly to the East of the Twilight Swamp, the 8th Node. Benea had inspired, perhaps even commanded, her to take it, that goddess' gentle words melting away any sort of doubt Dzallitsunya had. At first, immediately after the battle, after Benea left and she was left alone to her thoughts, she had felt unsure, it had dawned on her that she did not truly have a drive or reason to claim land yet.

Then she touched the Node pillar, and everything felt right.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qcpElvX.png[/img][/center]

The whole area was a highland, growing higher and colder the further north one went. 

The central area was a dry and cold desert. Salt flats spread out like mantles of white in many areas, normally this gave the land an even more desolate look, but when the snow from the north fell down as rain, a thin layer of water formed over the salt, making the land into a massive natural mirror that spread from horizon to horizon. The node was on a small island in the middle of a central salt flat, and this one was always in a mirror-like state.

These were however not the only reason for the land's name, northwards was the realm of snow and tundra. Deep lakes with their surface frozen up existed on the cold plateau, with peculiar animals swimming underneath the ice. In other areas, crystalline growths spurred from the land in pastel colours, one's face reflected in the pure and cold geodes.

The lands south were far less fantastical but far more liveable. Rolling hills of green, a dry-ish air but a land that was nourished by the sand and ice from the higher regions. Cypress trees were spread all over and groves and small forests existed, but it was mostly a land of bushes and flowers. Of note, was that this green land was more connected not to Dzallitsunya's Node 7, but a node of an unknown god south of it. It did not feel usual, but the dusk goddess did not worry, Benea seemed familiar with that god and had promised peace between the whole council of gods. And she had no reason not to trust Benea.

No unnatural fog kept this land in eternal shadows, but, the goddess' bias still showed, and it had only gotten stronger. Sunrises dragged longer, the horizon seemed to peek up just a bit, even without mountains, just so the sunset happened early and left most of the afternoon to the afterglow, and the sun was always dimmer, especially when near the horizon, while the moon and the stars shone brighter. 

Little adventure East finished, it was time to return to the true core of her rule. But, to mark his new land, to consolidate the realms of the twilight, she decided to make a structure at the border between Node 7 and Node 8. It also served some purpose for the mortals that would one day come to cross the snowy mountain passage with frequency, as it was a warm, sheltered spot to rest and ideal to hold supplies for a long time. She could even imagine government officials and traders living there permanently, keeping the road in safe for all, and firmly under control.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/VGKrpXf.jpg[/img][/center]

[hider=Summary]
Dzallitsunya has claimed Node 8. A cold land of dry sand and salt flats with the north being straight up covered in snow all year. The south is nice and Mediterranean like. She ponders about why she even did it, realises Benea influenced her to it, but thinks that was good.
Before leaving, she makes a pretty gateway in the mountain path between Node 7 and 8
[/hider]

[hider=Might]
Intial: 5

Create Structure (-1): Inn/Gateway between Node 7 and Node 8

Remaining: 4
[/hider]