[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1006946319472001246/1009999217193918474/CelestineToken1.png[/img][/center]

[center]The [url=https://youtu.be/rbrQO8B7wzY]gathering storm[/url] of [color=gainsboro]War[/color][/center]

[center]Location: Earthwall
Interacting with: None.
Mentions: None[/center]

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Celestine stood atop the high tower of the divine palace, looking towards the horizon of the mainland. She did this often these days, seeming to shut herself away from the hustle and bustle of the daily city duties for hours at a time. It was somewhat unbecoming of her, but for the generosity that she had been giving to Earthwall, it was entirely fair that she might take some time to herself to dwell upon things.

And the things that she dwelled upon caused her a great deal of concern.

The near attack of Wyn upon her city and the creations and actions of other deities yet unmet spelled an almost certain future for Earthwall and its people: Conflict was coming, and like it or not Earthwall, the first city, was going to end up being wrapped up in things beyond her control even if she wanted little more than peace and prosperity for her people. Something would need to be done, then.

For that, Celestine figured that perhaps it was time to arm herself a bit better. It was unbecoming of a war goddess to be unprepared for battle. Thus, she set out to finalize the armament that she had started on by restoring duty to its unbroken form. Returning to her quarters, Celestine stepped over to a stone desk and began to weave together raw divine energy into something new.

The basic shape came quickly, a simple heater shield design with little in the way of frills. But Celestine began to iterate upon this, adding in some decorative heraldry and changing its color palette to resemble her current cloak and armor combination with a deep red base color and silver accents. Sizing up the shield a bit, Celestine adjusted the grip of the shield to make it more comfortable upon her right arm before finalizing the shield's physical form. Nodding to herself, she dubbed the shield Loyalty. It would do just fine.

But then she almost immediately grew dissatisfied with it. To defend Earthwall would likely mean inevitably going blow to blow with other divines, and as such such a simple shield would likely not last more than a blow or two. Setting the shield back down upon the desk, Celestine began to iterate upon her designs for it.

Firstly, she made the shield unbreakable. At least by most physical means. It could still simply be unmade by the will of another divine, but in a conflict less decided by the expenditure of divine energy it wouldn’t do to have the shield fail before she did. Secondly, she decided to make the shield a great deal more practical to carry around and equip. Setting the shield into its best position upon her right arm, Celestine then began to merge it with the gauntlet upon her right hand.

The process took only a moment, but once that moment was up the shield was gone. Turning and stepping into the main space of the room, Celestine brought her arm up as if to block a blow, and in that moment Loyalty manifested in her hand. Lowering her arm, the shield remained. Willing the shield away, Celestine repeated the motion, but willed for the shield to not appear. Thus, it didn’t. Excellent. All had gone according to plan.

But then more thoughts came to Celestine’s mind, and she manifested the shield once more. Focusing upon the heraldry that she had added, she infused the ability to manifest a barrier into the shield, one that would serve to be quite potent, even in the face of divine fury. Summoning and dismissing the barrier a few times, Celestine adjusted it until it was two meters around her, and was then satisfied. In the event that she needed to protect a few people, it would do quite nicely.

But a shield alone would not save Earthwall from what troubles might assail it. For Earthwall to be truly safe, Celestine would need to return what fury was given to her in equal and perhaps greater force. Drawing her sword, Duty, Celestine began to focus energy into it as well. First, the edge of the blade was sharpened. Then more. Then more than that. Celestine kept going until the blade was almost sharp enough to cut the air around it while idle. Then, much like Loyalty, she reached into its heart and strengthened the core of the blade until it was unbreakable. She recalled the state that it had been in when she awoke from her long slumber, broken and useless. No more. Not if she could help it. As a precaution in the event that it would be needed, she also poured a small ember of her fury into the blade, enabling it to cut through even divine defenses as needed. She had no longing to become a murderer of deities, but if they threatened her city and her people, she would do what she must.

Stowing her enhanced equipment and returning to the top of the divine palace, Celestine once more looked out to the horizon. But her gaze did not linger there for long. Instead it trailed downward to Earthwall itself, and soon Celestine began to pace around the top of the divine palace, watching the elves go about their lives within its protective walls. They were her people, and she would defend them. So long as they were within her walls and gave her their fealty, she would be their armor against whatever the harsh world would bring to bear against them, and she would not restrain her wrath against those who sought to take them from her. Their shield, and their sword.

With this thought came a deepening of understanding. Armor and its components started to have their details manifest within Celestine’s mind almost as if it was second nature. She began to tweak and tune at her own armor set, making it a bit less bulky and a bit better of a fit, enhancing her mobility slightly while retaining all of the protection that it offered. Which, while a bit meager against other deities, was still more than nothing. Perhaps it too would need enhancing.

Following this, Celestine began to have various weapon plans pour into her head. Longswords, shortswords, spears, halberds, longbows, shortbows, recurve bows, crossbows, and even things like ballista, catapults, and trebuchet. Everything one would need to defend a city, or take it from someone else. All she needed to do was contemplate what the role of a group of soldiers would be, and the best weapons and armor to give to them filled themselves out almost instantly. Cavalry would do best with heavy armor and long lances, while supporting archers would do fine with longbows and light armor in order to stay mobile.

Then in order to take a city, catapults and ballista would be needed. She would have to teach the elves on their use, but even now she could see where these weapons would be best placed upon Earthwalls defenses. She would have to see about training the elves in their use. For now, she was tired and needed rest. Returning to her chambers, Celestine found herself once more gazing longingly at the ring she had.

What would she think, Celestine pondered…

[hider=Summary]
Celestine is hanging around the top of the divine palace, thinking about a lot of things. She’s become a bit of a recluse as she watches what goes on about the world. Still, she resolves that the defense of Earthwall isn’t something that she’s going to slack on, and goes on to make a shield, Loyalty, in order to have more options in combat should another deity pick a fight. This gives her enough of an understanding about armor that she’s capable of making it second nature to her, taking up the aspect of Armor for her efforts.

She also beefs up Duty, her personal sword, in order to have it actually be a threat to other divines. This qualifies her to take Weapons as an aspect, which she does, resolving herself to defend Earthwall with both shield and sword as needed.
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[hider=MP/AP summary]
Starting MP, from turn III with the grace period.

5/5

2 MP: Create Loyalty, an unbreakable shield that Celestine can manifest from her right-hand gauntlet at will. (2 points towards Armor, 3/3 Total.)

3 MP: Take up the Armor aspect, making armor second-nature to her.

3 AP: Enhance Loyalty with the ability to create barriers, bringing it up to being a strength 5 artifact.

0/2 remaining.

Turn 4 MP/AP.

5/5

2 MP: Enhance Duty, making it both unfathomably sharp and unbreakable. (2 points towards Weapons, 3/3 Total)

3 MP: Take up the Weapons aspect, making weaponry of all kinds second nature to her.

3 AP: Enhance Duty, allowing it to cut through even divine defenses and bringing it up to being a strength 5 artifact.

0/2 remaining.
[/hider]