[center][h1][color=darkgoldenrod]Khthon[/color][/h1][/center]

Yes, yes, yes!

His creation was even more beautiful than he could have imagined! That wonderful yellow shine, the subtle weave of it throughout the stone... Such beauty! Hidden deep and unseen by all, except him! A treasure for his eyes only!

This new substance, the first natural metal, would need a name, for it would not remain the only of its kind for now. Its color was inspiring, somewhat reminiscent of Khthon's loudest and most boisterous God-Brother, Alechior. It would need a striking name, something worthy of its beauty.

"Gold". 

Yes, "gold" felt right. Khthon might not have Sarhush's arrogant love of naming things, but even he could acknowledge a good name.

He would not stop at just gold. It was beautiful, yes, but it was alone, and lacking in variety. It's beauty would only shine brighter when joined by other treasures.

From the same base that birthed precious gold, Khthon made many more metals to paint his subterranean domain. An orange metal that would grow green-grey when exposed to air, and white gleaming one that felt as shined as bright as gold. Some painted in veins, others in small lumps, most in small flakes. Some metals he used extremely sparsely, only present as accents in his increasingly complex work of art, while he spread others liberally, mixing them with stone as he saw fit.

Names came quickly afterwards. Copper, silver, lead, aluminium, platinum, zinc, tin... Many of them seemed similar at first glance, but Khthon knew that their beauty laid as much in their properties than in their appearance.

As he prepared his next metal, a hardy, grey thing that grew red when exposed to air, Khthon had a new idea. From the bases of "stones", he had made "metal". What if from "metal", he made "stone" again?

He put his idea in practice, taking his metal, "iron" he had called it, and willing it into stone as he had willed the primordial sand into stone. From it emerged a new thing, both rock and metal, dark, solid, and gleaming. He tried the same with a few of the rarer pure metals, and was ecstatic to see similar results, in many different colors and textures. These new things, both stone and metal, would be called "ores".

Khthon spread these ores far and wide, encasing them in the walls of his caverns and in between pure metal veins. Large chunks of buried stone would be replaced with a mix of these ores, waiting for someone to find them. When at last Khthon was done filling the earth with metallic treasures, when he thought he was finally done building his hoard, he was struck by the feeling of something... [i]missing[/i].

His crystal roots felt close to this missing piece, but not quite the right answer either, not that he could make more if he wished to; their power and movement spelled something... ancient, and much too alive for him to replicate. He thought back to the small, white crystal he had accidentally created, his very first treasure, which he still cradled with his body. Khthon had momentarily forgotten it, overtaken by awe at the discovery of said crystalline roots, but it held potential, as well as a certain sentimentality.

The roots were beautiful, but they were... the same. Large and twisting, uniform in color and luster. He could make something similar, his own crystals and gems. He could make them any color he wanted, any shape he wanted, any opacity he wanted. They would be the last piece of the puzzle.

Soon, millions of gems appeared underground, peppering the rock where they would be the most beautiful. Some were as clear as air, and shone in every color when illuminated. Others were a deep, deep red, as red as freshly spilled blood. Rubies, sapphires, garnets, emeralds, quartzes, diamonds, opals... Every kind of jewel that could have ever been imagined filled the bowels of the earth.

Finally, Khthon was satisfied. He had created a vision of true beauty, one hidden from would-be plunderers by the deep crevaces of the earth and his unyielding stone. Such frantic and abundant creation had left him tired, however, and he felt the desire to rest.

He awoke slowly from his trance and was left surprised at what he saw; the surface had changed dramatically while his divine mind wandered underground. It was so much louder than it had ever been before, even without his louder God-Siblings nearby. Life filled every crevice, and even covered some of Khthon's own body: a soft, green thing had grown over a good bit of his exposed torso. Even the soil had changed somewhat. The top layer, once a sandy and sterile thing, had been transformed into rich, life-giving humus.

Humidity lingered in the air, along with the smell of ash and smoke. Critters scurried everywhere, plants rustled in the breeze, and strange creatures, similar in shape to some of his God-Siblings, walked through the wilds, foraging. They, by far, were the noisiest of the bunch. Some of them wielded what seemed to be tools made from his stone. This was... clever, the God thought. He had created stone to serve as a solid base for the world to rest upon, and as a place for him to find solitude when desired. He had never imagine that it could be used in such ways.

Khthon rose from the ground, unearthing his massive lower body, and shook off the excess soil. He began lumbering away, unheeding of the shocked cries of the bipedal creatures at his sudden awakening. How long had they been here? Did they think him a vulgar boulder? Were they afraid of him?

He had wanted to find one of his deeper caverns and rest in silence within, and perhaps follow the crystal roots to their destination. But it seemed he would first have to find whichever God-Sibling was responsible for such drastic changes, and ask a single question, borne from simple curiosity; why create all of this?

Perhaps the arrogant one, Sarhush, would have an answer.

[hider=Summary]

Khthon creates a bunch more precious minerals, and then finally becomes aware of the surface world again. He notes how loud and alive everything is, that some moss has grown over his body during his trance, and startles nearby ur-humans as he begins to move again after a long period of immobility. He finds the usage of stones to create tools both unexpected and very clever. Though he wants to find some calm in a deep cavern somewhere to further study the crystal roots he found, he first wishes to find the other Gods to ask about the recent events on the surface, starting with Sarhush.
[h3]Actions[/h3]
- Khthon creates widespread native deposits of a variety of metals (veins, flakes, nuggets, etc. of pure metal), including silver, copper, and platinum. (Hazy. In-Domain, widespread. 1 conviction.)

- Khthon creates the first ores (as in, rocks from which certain minerals can be extracted, without being purely made of that mineral) and creates widespread deposits of those ores, such as magnetite and hematite (iron), bauxite (aluminium), and various sulfides and oxides (lead, silver, mercury, copper, etc.). (Hazy. In-Domain, widespread. 1-2 conviction.)

- Khton creates and spreads a multitude of gems and crystals, such as diamonds, sapphires, quartzes, and opals. (Hazy. In-Domain, widespread. 1 conviction.)

(Note: The rarity of each new natural resource is intended to be similar to that of our Earth, so you won't find things like mine-worthy veins of lead or lakes of mercury anywhere. For now at least.)
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