[center][h1]Work, Wealth and Wonders[/h1][/center] The waves lapped the shore as fish swam through the sky and birds flew through the waters of the sprawling river delta leading out into the ocean where that endless blue met the 12th realm. Ships plied the waves, but despite what might be expected of Xavior’s mercantile people, there were few trade ships plying the waves, for beyond the numerous floating towns dotting the marshy lands, there were few ports to be found on forighn shores. Thus most of the merchant ships that did make their way down to the ocean were here to bargain with those who did ply the wider salty waters. Fishers, divers (and the odd pirate) ruled the waves, roaming far and wide on their new dusklander made sails across seas mostly uncontested by other nations, and reaping the bounty without much foreign competition. All this piled into the local markets, where it was either bought by the herders and farmers of the plains on either side of the river delta, or purchased by merchants and shipped upstream to feed the ever growing and ever hungry capital. One such merchant was Jubilee, a russet woman clad in fashionable yet still practical dark robes and with a wide brimmed hat covering her long curly auburn locks, who had passed up the stalls of micro penguins and regular fish and was instead at that moment examining a little shelled thing with critical amber eyes. “And what is this then? And how is anyone supposed to eat one?“ she asked the tanned and athletic man who was trying to sell her it “We call that an oyster ma’am. You gotta pry the shell open first you see, to get to the meat inside” he said, taking out an old bronze knife and offering it to her. She waved him off and drew an immaculate blade of her own, which bore the signature mark of the god of merchants. “Seems a bit fiddly” she said, as she gave it a go, before finally wedging the blade in there and cracking the shellfish open with an “ah, there we go” before frowning a little at the contents. “That doesn't look particularly appetizing” she said, before squinting at something else inside. She reached in and picked up the anomalous object and then interrupted the man while was telling her to not knock the shellfish meat before she tried it to ask “what is this?” “Hmmm? Oooh. Lucky. That’s a Pearl. Pretty rare to fund one of those. Pretty isn’t it?” he said as they both admired the shiny stone. “Very…” Jubilee replied as she turned it over in her hand, before asking “How much for it?” “Ah you found it so it's already yours Ma’am” the seller said, to which Jubilee raised her brows and then after a moment pocketed the pearl. And then she had second thoughts, her mercantile instincts set in and booted short term gain aside. “No no I can’t. Do you know how much I could sell this for back in the capital?” she asked, and then answered her question when he shook his head with: “Quite the pile of golden godheads, that I assure you. Why I could take all your oysters and even if I fail to sell a single one and have still made a profit, I’m quite sure” “Oh? For that little thing? You're Joking Ma’am… You are joking, right?” the fish seller replied and then went pale when she told him she was deadly serious. “Now, how many of these can I buy off of you? The pearls I mean.” she said, before waving an hand an adding ”oh and the oysters too I suppose” “Well I dunno how many pearls there are, but they are rare, so that might be the only one in the current batch.” “Oh well, can you get more?” she asked, and then when she found out how small their team was they said that they should just just hire more people and do more dives, something the merchant disagreed with the ease of. “Oysters are tricky to get, you gotta dive down for them and that’s risky even for me and the lads and lasses who’ve been doing it since we got there, let alone for an amateur. This guy Kenny came with us a week back and nearly drowned, the stupid guy” he explained “Plus, even we have limits. We can't exactly breath under water after all,” he joked “so there’s only so deep we can go for em” “You know what… tell me about more about this operation of yours, let me in on it so i can work out just how profitable it can be, and maybe, just maybe, we can do something about that little human limits issue” she replied with a smile, as her hand subconsciously caressed the handle of her divinely crafted knife. [hr] *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Crack* The freshly imported steel pick finally broke through the tunnel wall where it had sounded hollow, and the dirty miner had to shield his eyes at the sudden and impossible glare coming in from the newly open hole. “Oy. Derik! What’s the hold up” came a shout from the shift leader from behind the miner “It’s…. Its…” Derik stammered as he blinked while his eyes adjusted, and then starred as he saw what he had unveiled, “It’s beautiful” [img]https://i.imgur.com/3J9e0pi.jpeg[/img] The miner starred out at the vast underground cavern that he’d found, one impossibly filled with both light and life. Massive fungi towered over mossy floors and cavern walls, through which crisp cool water flowed and pooled into lakes and ponds that reflected light coming from the swaths of massive crystals that sprouted from the floors, walls and ceilings. The glow of the crystals was not static, however. No, instead it ebbed and flowed as raced around inside the crystals, causing the room to pulse, as if it were alive. It was oppressive and yet at the same time alluring, resulting in the miner and his fellows stumbling into the subterranean world, causing jewel encrusted [url=https://i.imgur.com/rLkYdba.jpeg]cave lizards[/url] to scatter into hiding in response to their home being invaded by outsiders. Once they overcame their initial awe they explored further, climbing up fungal roots and avoiding the predation of larger [url=https://i.imgur.com/N2HxbvL.jpeg]gem beasts[/url], and as they did the older among them were reminded of the long march through the unformed realm and the story of how it had been tamed. Indeed, they stood in the roots of the end of that story, within the roots of the ore filled mountain storms end, which had been used to earth the living lightning predator. Yet they had dug that ore for an age and it had been mundane. So it was instead an earlier part of that story they found to be the source, tales of a titanic blast of metal shards used to unsteady the titan of thunder, and it was one of these they found, suspended in the crystal heart of the cavern, out of which the rest of the resplendent shining wonder filling the caves had grown, the lingering essence of the predator once more refusing to die. The wise might well have seen this, and, having learned of the nature of this place, left the primordial crystal well alone. The humans, of course, saw it as a treasure trove and soon enough had raised their pics and gotten back to work. [hr] Xavior sat upon his throne, a wooden affair which was decorated with an ever expanding number of intricate carvings that he one of his favorite traded tributes, in a distracted state. Since the mysterious snow god had drifted on by Benea had locked herself in a guest room, insisting that she not be disturbed while she rested. Given what he had learned from Monica about the ‘familiar’ god he almost could not blame her, though he was concerned that only he seemed to have been ignorant among them. He seemed to have missed a revelation at the dawn of his life, and now he worried about what else he did not know, because given what he just had learned, what you didn’t not know very much could kill you.. He had directed scouts to try and track the figure, as well as warnings to his dask land and queendom embassies, but as he knew all too well from failed attempts at messenger sending, having mortals try to catch up or outpace a god was unlikely to succeed. Still, while uncertainty and dangers loomed, the affairs of state must go on. In this particular moment, that involved the god king was holding court, a time during which supplicants, suitably filtered by his priests performing their oldest of duties, came to barter and beg for his divine support. Those mortals crowded the back of the long throne room in which he had met Fredrick a few days earlier, waiting to be brought forward to make their case. “Madman Jubilee and company, please step forwards” spoke one of the robed priests, now marked more by their divine seal bearing garb than their no longer unique horns of office, prompting the merchant to step forwards, along with a mix of her ship’s crew and the divers with whom she had set up a joint business venture who all carried several chests between them. “Xavior, our divine patron,” Jubilee said, giving the god a bow before making her case, saying “I present to you the bounty of the ocean, fetched from its floor by brave and stalwart swimmers who have dared its depths” before her help set down the chests and threw them open, revealing a glittering bounty within. Xavior leaned forwards and looked closer at the contents of the bulging cheats, which were positively overflowing with colorful corals, radiant seashells, sharks teeth, vials of poisons and toxins and, most precious of all, pearls that had been growing since the seafloor was formed. “And these aren't the only things we have acquired, but I assumed you would not appreciate the scent of shellfish, so we have left those outside, but can also provide those to your kitchens and storehouses within the hour” she added, “I assure you, the rich meats are quite delectable” “I think I’ve had some once or twice, but I thought they were quite the rare dish due to the difficulty of acquiring them in any number.” Xavior said mouth slightly watering at the memory, before noting that “You seem to have increased diving operations” “I have, and it is with regards to that that I have come to bargain with you” she said, before pausing for permission “go on,“ “As you said, the dives are quite difficult. Taxing. I have helped uncover the worth that can be gained from the ocean floor, and this has brought more people into the diving profession. However, there are limits, of course, to how deep we can go, leaving the greater bounties out of reach. Even those with the strongest wills can only hold their breaths for so long after all” she explained “And some of the new divers have pushed themselves too far” added one of the treasure bearers. “There have been some…” she picked her words carefully “Unfortunate incidents yes,”before insisting that “but that is something that my request could prevent!” “And it is?” Xavior said, eyes narrowing upon finding out that there had been a cost in blood for this treasure. “The ability to breath under water” she replied, which surprised him and it showed. “Or at least the ability to hold breath much longer. There are beasts who can do both, so I’m sure it's possible?” “It is, of course, but to change people is a costly endeavor” Xavier replied slowly to ensure she knew the weight of what she was asking. “But think of the benefits. So much more of our shoreline becomes harvestable, perhaps even farm-able. You can see the benefits to the whole nation, not just myself, yes? I’m sure there are, uh, military applications as well?” she tried, which did set Xavior thinking beyond the scope of her own desire for this boon. He leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard as he did what he sometimes did, which was to take the request and boil it down to what they really needed rather than what they specifically requested. People did not always know what they wanted after all, plus, it always did to tinker with a request to make it more university applicable in his opinion. As he thought he looked over the others waiting to meet him, and saw among them a group of miners, and was reminded of reports of the air underground becoming toxic or simply unbreathable and the accidents that had occurred as a result, and had a thought. Breathing water was difficult, but producing breathable air? Well, that was what plants did already. All they needed was a little boost and perhaps… The god stood then, and walked towards the chests of treasures without a word plucked from the glistening piles of treasure a stray strand of kelp that had been included by mistake while the chests had been packed. The mortals looked embarrassed or shocked that the god seemed to be nitpicking their offering but then all stepped back as he cupped the kelp in his hand and a burst of flame erupted between them, consuming the plant. Then he opened his palms and revealed a set of seeds. “Take these, plant them and grow them in sea water. Then harvest the fronds. When exposed to breath in an enclosed space, they will rapidly turn that very breath back into breathable air” “Ex… exposed to breath?” “Indeed. Fill a bag with the cuttings, and place that bag over the moth and nose. I imagine the dusklander’s wax will help in ensuring the bag and seal is airtight” he explained, before adding that “This should be useful for more than just you, you understand, as those working around smoke, or down the mines, or in other places where breath becomes difficult will also benefit. So I’m sure the state would be interested in entering an arrangement with you to acquire it for those purposes, yes?” handing the woman another business opportunity to add to her sub-aquatic farming and harvesting plans, and tacitly suggesting she enter into an exclusivity agreement with the city’s government when it came to trade of the kelp. “I… yes, thank you my god” she replied, graciously taking the seeds and cupping them close to her chest as if they were worth more than their weight in gold. Which they, of course, were. “Good good. Kyle will be able to help facilitate that future trading, and, perhaps, sponsorship of your burgeoning business by myself or the state at large” Xavier added, calling up a priest to handle the fine details “and the transfer of the rest of your tribute, of course” “Of course… of course... Thank you again, Xavior” she replied. Despite being not given exactly what she had asked for, she had gained something even greater. Her fortunes, and those of her associates, were assured. What were a few chests of treasures when compared to that? “My pleasure” Xavier, who had just increased the nation's food supply and the safety and efficiency of its mining, forging, burning for demon creation and other operations that put people in contact with dangerous air, replied, before adding “I look forwards to watching your career and your development of this resource with great interest” before returning to his throne. The merchant and her supporters stepped away along with the priest helping them work out the fine details while their tribute was dragged to sit beside the throne by other priests. Then the next group was called, who turned out to be the very same miners Xavior had noticed earlier and been inspired by, which boded well, he thought, as they were introduced and started to make their own case. “And that’s where we found these!” Derik, said after explaining the discovery of the hidden subterranean ecosystems, before unveiling a cart filled with large glowing crystals, which caused gasps to echo among the assembled group. “Remarkable” Xavior said, before flicking a finger and causing one of the smaller hand sized crystals to leap from the cart and into his awaiting hand “and you said these were simply growing down there” “Yes my god. We cut a line in the rock near one, you see, and in a few days it had gotten ever so slightly bigger. We even tried planting one and it seemed to grow too, though they seem to need to be deep down to do so” Derik explained “A renewable resource you say? How useful. We could maybe replace torches with these?” Xaviro mused “We’ve done so aye. Good to not worry about smoke and such, though the pulsing is a bit annoying if I’ll be honest” the man admitted before someone could stop him from devaluing their goods. “So. Pretty. Somewhat useful. I’d say these were quite valuable, and I’m glad that the lingering chaos within has not produced anything harmful” Xavior said, and was about to ask what they wanted from him before he was interrupted by one of his priests “Pardon me, but could I see that, Xavior?” The man, who had the red skin of a demon and who’s ascension had resulted in him sporting a pair of towering curved horns and very little in the way of wing or added bulk, stepped up beside the throne to ask. The god tilted his head slightly before saying “Certainly Damian, here” and handing him the crystal. The demon, who had had the privilege, and the will and determination, to try and decipher the small and haphazard assortment of spellbooks Xavior’s people had managed to acquire on the black market (and which were of very dubious quality as a result) when the attempt at a deal with Brey fell through, turned the crystal over once in his hand once while muttering about it calling to him. Before Xavior could even turn back to the miners however, the rock suddenly started pulsing faster and faster, the lazy heartbeat of power rapidly quickening from that of a slumbering whale and to that of a frantic mouse. “Fascinating” the Demon said, even as Xavior’s eyes went wide, the sight of that energy building sending his mind back to when he had faced the node’s thunderous guardian. The god made a grab for the stone, snatching it from Damian’s hand and pushing him away before the god pressed the pulsing crystal (which now had streaks of red lighting arching over it’s surface) to his stomach and curled up around it. And then he exploded. Xavior’s immaculately carved throne was reduced to burning splinters and the god himself slammed into the wall of the throne room as the crystal detonated, leaving the god slumped against the back wall, his body slightly scorched, his garb a tattered burnt mess, and his expression dazed. Several things happened at once in the moments that followed. People panicked and some tried to flee the room, while both the miners and the Damian where sized by other priests (and even a few other supplicants) as accusations of “assassins” and “traitors” echoed throughout the room “I swear, we didn’t know it was dangerous!” Derik the miner insisted, his hands raised and with a knife at his threat, while as Damian shoved off his own would be arrester with a “get off of me you idiot" and declared that “we must dispose of these crystals before they destroy us all!” which brought everyone’s attention to the massive cart filled with explosives currently sitting in the room they were all in. There was a pause, and then several rushed to try and do so, only to be halted from a shout from their god. “No wait” Xavior, who had been stunned more by the shock of being hurt at all than the actual damage of either impact, said as he picked himself up off the floor and pushed past people trying to help him and, with a strange manic look in his eyes and a wide smile on his lips, declared breathlessly “We can [i]use[/i] these” [hider=mp] 1 mp used to create a special breed of kelp that, when its fronds are cut and exposed to breath, rapidly convert that breath into breathable air. This lets them be used to make rebreathing gear that can be used to avoid drowning, toxic gasses, and other threats to breath. The cuttings don’t work forever, withering visibly and producing a bad smell once they are close to being used up, but they can be revitalized using salt water and sunlight before they perish completely. Present tech will result in horse feed back like masks that can last for a few hours, while further innovation will allow miniaturization and optimization of the tech. 2 mp used to fund research into primordial/unstable crystals produced from crystals tainted by the chaos infected remnants of the projectiles from Xavior’s shotgun attack on node 12’s guardian. The crystals can be farmed due to their non-geological growth speeds, making them a useful renewable resource once the current reserves are stripped from the earth. Present research allows them to be used as bombs when empowered by demonic magics, while future tech advancements will likely find further uses for them. 0/9 mp [/hider] [hider=summary] We jump to the south west of node one to a river delta where much of the ocean bound shipping is based, and most of that is used for fishing the mostly uncontested waters of the crucible. Within said markets, a merchant woman named Jubilee finds a pearl in a selfish she is thinking about buying. She informs the merchant selling the shellfish of the pearl’s true value, and then offers to start a joint business with the seller and his diver friends looking to acquire first more riches, and then divine aid to surpass human lung capacity. Then we cut to caves under storm’s fall, a metal fluid mountain also in node 12, where miners discover an underground cavern filled with life all growing under the glow of pulsating crystals that are filled with chaotic energy originating from a splinter of Xavior’s divine shotgun blast against the node guardian back when he was first fighting to claim it. Finally we cut to Xavior’s throne room, where, while worried about his sisters and the snow god, he still has work to do. Specifically seeing people who want to buy his divine aid. First comes the merchant Jubilee, who ends up trading chests of seafloor booty for a type of kelp that can be used to make rebreathing gear. Second come the miners, who’s attempt to use the newly discovered crystals to purchase divine favor is interrupted by a demonic mage (who has learned via poor quality blackmarket acquired magic tomes) who destabilizes the crystal, and causes it to blow up Xavior. People panic, accuse both miner and mage of being assassins, but mage draws their attention to the cart full of crystals brought by the miners and implores the others to get rid of them before they all explode. Xavior, only lightly scorched by the explosion, stops them, seeing value in these crystalline bombs, and then implicitly starts the research of them. [/hider]