[center][h1]Excelsis, the Lord-Eminence[/h1][/center] The unshaped lands had held Excelsis like a captive for a while now. He could fly over every forest and discover something new. The trees shimmered from young saplings to ancient colossi. The mountains could be jagged, young peaks or rounded, aged hills. In one place, you could discover a thousand new things and never move. Excelsis had taken his leave here, where the defining influence of his kin wasn't so strong. It felt right to let the world be for a bit. Meris was looking over the chosen mortal civilization while Anakalypso was tending to the stability of the world. The God-Orb wasn't sure what exactly changed but something had. His god-sense told him. It was time for him to return. But his travels through the Unshaped Lands did not leave him without inspiration. It was time for ever greater plans and ever greater understanding and it would start with the Shifting Trees. [center]~[/center] Ahelu was hammering the copper hard. He was alone, his hut pushed outside of the village because of the incessant clinking at night. They didn't understand. Regular people couldn't understand copper as he did! The beauty of it, the potential. But in truth, neither did he. He kept hammering, forming the copper into a teardrop shape. A rough ruby was sitting on the bench next to him. A generous gift from Khton, who had a tiny shrine in Ahelu's hut. The old man was frustrated. He stagnated these last few years. He felt stuck. The material he worked with had no challenge anymore. There was a rush of wind for a moment. Ahelu ignored it. Whatever caused it, it couldn't be more important than this. Because this, the piece of jewelry he was working on, was the key. His muse and drive would return if he finished it. He kept hammering, and kept hammering and kept going. Every little mistake he made, he corrected. But with every correction, he saw a new imperfection. He kept hammering, frustrated now. The harmony of the piece was crumbling fast. Until all sense of shape and beauty was gone from the pieces in the eyes of its creator. The craftsman threw the piece of copper and his hammer away in raw frustration. It failed! It failed again! Then a polite knock echoed from the door. "What!?" Ahelu snapped as he opened the door, assuming it must have been some distant neighbors complaining about the noise again. Instead, a strange cloaked and hooded figure stood before his door. Despite the guise, Ahelu immediately knew what this man was. "What do you want?" He sneered. [b]"A piece of art, worthy of a god."[/b] Excelsis said as he stepped inside. [b]"And to give you a final chance."[/b] "A chance for what?" Ahelu asked. [b]"To feel like you are actually the greatest artisan of your generation."[/b] Excelsis said as he waved his hand over the workbench. Amongst the ruby there were other pieces now too. Polished elephant tusks and yellow-orange gems. They drew Ahelu's attention immediately. That's what he needed, something new! Something else! He rushed over, picked one up, and held it before his small forge. These yellow gems were translucent but not perfect. Something was captured within them. "What is this?" Asked Ahelu. [b]"Amber. Fossilized sap from a tree. The world is yet too young to have any naturally."[/b] Explained Excelsis. Ahelu turned to look at him. "You mean... these pieces..." [b]"Are the only ones in existence."[/b] Said Excelsis with a challenging smile. It took days and nights of work. The ivory was carefully chipped and polished into shape. Ahelu didn't eat or drink. He completely forgot to maintain himself. It didn't matter. The piece was to be his masterwork, or he might as well walk into the desert and let it take him. He worked ceaselessly to polish the amber, making sure not to remove too much material from such a precious resource. Now he could see it well. In one bit of amber, tiny leaves were locked. The leaves shimmer a bit, like they were aging backwards and then forwards again. It took Ahelu three days to notice that. After nearly five days of work Ahelu collapsed right after he set the last bit of amber in the circlet of ivory reinforced by copper. Excelsis knelt beside him. [b]"You have my thanks, master. No god could craft what you have made here. You will be immortalized. I know you feel it. Your Spark. When you die, it will remain and for ages you will have students."[/b] He said as he rose again and picked up the circlet. He left Ahelu on the floor for fate to decide what is to happen to him. [center]~[/center] Anakalypso left the circlet wrapped in large leaves deep within the underground ravine for the Lord of Stone to find. She herself was hauling a large chunk of deadened, broken root upwards. It would take some effort to get it where the Lord of Eminence wanted it. All along the way, she hoped that Khton would accept the trade. [hider=Summary] Excelsis is a little lost in the Unshaped Lands. He likes constantly discovering new things but something he can verbalize calls him back. He finds an artisan of copper jewelry with an unignited Spark. The man is old and frustrated. Excelsis charges him to make jewelry out of copper, ivory, and amber. The latter being a substance that logically couldn't exist yet in the world. It was a one-of-a-kind substance. The craftsman works tirelessly on the piece until he collapses when it finishes. Excelsis gives him the joyous news that he'll be immortalized and then leaves. Anakalypso left the circlet of copper, ivory, and amber wrapped in protective leaves, where once there was a large piece of broken off root. She is hauling the broken crystal root upwards and hopes the circlet will be enough for the trade. [b]Conviction:[/b] - 2 Conviction - Hazy Terraforming - Turning parts of an Unshaped Tree into amber, ossified sap of a tree that takes normally millions of years to form (-1 conviction regularly, -1 conviction tax) [/hider]