[IC] Godhood Lite: Cradle of the Gods

[Marshmellow]

Knit one...



Purl i...



Ah, there it is. The Supreme Cosmic Entity admired another hand crafted, one of a kind universe. Oh sure, you could just up an pick up a half dozen of those cheap mass-produced universes that have been so popular lately, but the SCE felt that making one's own lent it just that extra something special.

This little universe was now ready for habitation. But, before setting the clock to ticking on this one, it would need to be populated first with its caretakers. Gods, they would be, maintaining this universe and ensuring that it retained a high resale value. The next decision, then, was to pick out the gods to entrust this universe to...

Oh, any old group will surely do.

Rummaging around in the formless void, therefore, the SCE brought forth the gods most suited to the task, chosen by that time-tested method of "whoever happens to exist first."

Djinn, the Mirthful Flame; that was a good start. Nothing says warm and inviting like forest fires.

The Spiral, now there was a character. A bit of mathematical whatnot would do very well in this universe.

Neuron? Sure, why not. The SCE quite liked the massage chair with optional tentacle massage attachments one of his mortals had invented some universes ago.

Sigilo, the Assassin. It pays to have a good liar under employ so that you can blame any problems on him.

The It... hmmmmm. Things are getting rather dark in this universe. At least this one is... cheerful...

Chanda okay the next god in this formless void had better be a god of order or something because

Ah yes, Sylvan the Treefather. He'd keep things looking pretty.

And... oh, what the heck. The SCE just dumped the whole formless void into the universe. All done. And just in time for Dancing with the Stars...

----------

THE WORLD SO FAR



THE MOON SO FAR

[Marshmellow]

Girona felt that odd sensation of being picked up and placed that heralded the start of a new universe. It was always simultaneously a joyful and highly disturbing experience.

The sea began to boil as Girona pulled himself headfirst through the fabric of reality and into tangible existence. Aha, so this would be his canvas for this eternity! A bit... cramped... but he could make do. Looking left and right across the continents, he saw that it was empty. Could he be the first of the gods to arrive? How nice. He would savor these few moments of quiet while he could.

And just like that his quiet was gone, as more gods began poking their way between the threads of reality. Best stake his claim now, then. With a might swing of his spear, he declared: "'Tis I, Girona! Lord of the Ocean! I have claimed these seas as my own! Let all who come forth from the formless void be as one mind in the care of this new universe... but keep your grubby hands and miscellaneous appendages out of my oceans!"

And with that declaration he dropped beneath the waves, ready to begin filling this empty ocean with color and life of every kind.

[TheUnknowable]

Neuron appeared in the universe, wearing his Star Trek uniform. "Oh come on," he screamed into the sky, hoping the SCE would hear him. I was halfway through the collected works of Shakespeare in one of those universes where the dark ages never happened and he grew up with 1980s tech. "It's Romeo and Juliet in space!" he sighed. Well I guess I could have them ship my collection to me. Besides, it could be fun to work in a new universe. He could use the money to expand his action figure collection, and it was always nice to have a physical canvas to write his fanfics on.
He pulled out his tricorder (he was in his Star trek outfit after all) and looked over the map of the new universe. What? One sun and one planet? Well, that pretty much rules out any form of alien invasion. Well maybe a parallel universe, but I'd have to fill out a permit for inter-dimensional travel by mortal beings, and that was just too much work. It could take longer than an episode to do it.
Skipping over the fact that this world didn't even have a southern polar ice cap (seriously? Extremely low budget world), he chose a decent sized continent just below the equator that wrapped around the edge of the map, and staked a claim. The fact that it connected to other land by only a small channel meant that he wouldn't have to worry about the other gods sending mortals to mess with him until he was ready. Also, the few islands to the northeast and east of the island, as he'd need a place to run a few experiments, and, as anyone who's seen Jurassic Park knows, you do your mad science on a remote island so that when things go wrong you can just nuke the place and start over. Of course, that leads to things like Gojira (Godzilla for all of you people who insist on using the American version of the creature's name), but he'll deal with that when the time comes. And as long as none of the other gods start making Kaiju, he wouldn't do it either, except maybe on one of his islands for entertainment, or to defend his house.
He went to the largest of the islands (just east of his land) and built his own version of the Batcave under one of the mountains. I'll get around to building the watchtower later. He then called up the moving company and had them ship everything to him.

[Tatsua Aiisen]

Suddenly, Djinn

---

"Hey! That's not fair, you got a head-start!"

Just like that, sparks toss themselves through the skies and the heavens shine momentarily alight with a certain Goddess's flaming trail. Djinn tosses herself playfully through the atmosphere, circling the globe a few times for good measure before finally settling into a hover over the ocean. Her divine torch just floats there mockingly for a few moments, doing its best to glare at the ocean despite the smile stretched across its face.

After sticking her flaming tongue out at the Lord of the Ocean, Djinn gives a satisfied giggle and flits back off into her chaotic flight across the universe. Carving brilliant loops and spirals across the empty planet and newborn sun, she eventually settles above a particularly rocky, mountainous region. She stops, discontent with the state of things-

"Hmm, everything just seems so boring! How am I supposed to make a fire with nothing but rocks! Oh wait," she slaps herself on her imaginary forehead, as if she had just realized something obvious. "Magic, right, I'll just make myself a little home first..."

Seemingly deep in thought, Djinn stares carefully at the rocky landscape laid out before her. After a while, she seems to decide what to do with the place-

"Alright! I'll live in the desert!"

She raises her hand and a smaller flame conjures itself into her grasp, flickering between her fingers as she smiles dangerously at the mountains below-

"YOU'RE IN THE WAY."

With an explosion that you could probably feel on the other side of the planet, Djinn tosses the orb of fire at the surface of the mountains, shattering them into dust in an instant. As the dust settled magically, the kingdom she had created was revealed. Two oceans, one forged from stone and the other from water, graced the planet's surface. Hers was not nearly as expansive, but it was a lot cooler, she thought. Now...I wonder what the other Gods are doing?

[Toaw]

Sigilo awoke from his slumber, and saw the world that he would both shape, and rule. He took on his true form, due to the lack of mortals living in the barren wasteland, and looked for what has already been claimed or taken. The seas were clearly claimed by Girona, his memories of working with him were not clear, but he would bring wealth, and trade to the seas so he did not fret. He continued to look, and saw a small island claimed by the mad genius god Neuron, his work was unfamiliar to him, but he knew that it would become maniacal at best. Lastly he heard the loud explosions from another god, that he had not yet bother to learn about. Three so far had come before him, and he had a feeling he would not be the last, but for now he had to find his own piece of land to work with, in hopes that he could best these other gods.

He then eventually found himself in the middle of the far eastern continent, and sighed deeply, "I shall claim this land for my self, and all that comes with it, these people will deceive, lie, and poison for wealth if they have to, but that will come latter for now I will start simple." He waved his hand, and left carvings, and symbols of ancient words telling the story of the king of assassins, based of events from a previous universe he had watched over. It wasn't a complex or detailed story, but mortals were often simple creatures, and often considered things with a deeper meaning. It started off with a homeless man in search for meaning, and power, eventually learning to use skills that involved stealth, and poison in order to claim victims lives, in the end he became the wealthiest person to ever walk on the earth, leaving a trail of blood, and tears behind him, naming himself the king of assassins.

He stood their, and looked at the sky, it was bright, and the sun didn't seem to move. Maybe I should give the other gods a bit of a welcoming present from me. He then shouted with an almost seemingly thunderous boom. "I shall create the night, and all that is darkness, for those to run, and hide in the shadows. I shall create the serpent in order to one day spread its poisonous tongue to all that lives, and lastly I shall grace the land with gold to drive those who demand wealth, and power mad with envy." He gave a seemingly maniacal laughter, and built himself a small cave to live in as he thought of more things to build for the time being.

[SpiritofEmptiness]

-♋-
The world it has been assigned. The world it has been given. The Spiral, hidden, far, far way, looked upon this new world. This lifeless, rocky world. This was not sufficient. There needed to be more. More happening. The Spiral first exerts its will upon this plane, it knew that once sentience and life had been given to the creatures it and its compatriots would bring, it would need to descend into hiding. But this is not that time. There is still much change to spark. It is its duty. Its goal. Nothing matters but the goal. A world without change is no world at all. The Spiral itself had no true personality, at least not as many know it, but it did have a ferocious, constant obsession with goals. For the first, and possibly last time, a "galaxy" appeared, endlessly spiraling in all directions, in ways that seemed impossible. This massive sight, glowing green, and filled with fake starts, hovered above on island. A tiny, almost pitiful island, near the very bottom of the world. Almost like an eye, the false galaxy forced itself above the island. Two small beams of light fell from the cosmic being, one a man in a sharp, white suit, and the other an automaton with the moon's very visage upon it, Manic and Lucid, respectively. Manic looked upon the cold, lifeless sea from the rocky shore he had been deposited to.

Wᴇʟʟ, ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴀ ᴛᴀᴅ ᴏғ ᴀ ʟᴇᴛᴅᴏᴡɴ, ʀɪɢʜᴛ, Ms. Lᴜᴄɪᴅ? I ʜᴀᴅ ʜᴏᴘᴇᴅ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀsᴛ ᴊᴜᴍᴘᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅᴅʟᴇ, ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. Tʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀs ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ, ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀs ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ Aʀᴍᴀɢᴇᴅᴅᴏɴ ᴡᴀs ᴀʟʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ʜᴇʀᴇ!

Lucid did not speak.

Aʜ, ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs sᴜᴄʜ ᴀ ʙᴏʀᴇ, Ms. Lᴜᴄɪᴅ! Lᴇᴛ's ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴇᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴛᴛʏ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜɪɴɢs REALLY ɢᴇᴛ ɢᴏɪɴɢ! ...
...
Sᴛɪʟʟ ʟᴇᴀᴠɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ʜᴀɴɢɪɴɢ, ʜᴜʜ?

As Manic attempted to start conversation with his stoic coworker, the Galaxy above sudden;y rumbled, as if it was planning something more. Both Manic and Lucid looked at the False Image of the Spiral, as it frayed and shook in ominous ways. Sensing what was coming, both Manic and Lucid teleported into the sea, manic holding onto the statue, as it could not swim. The collection of fake stars and lying stardust suddenly let loose a massive beam, much large than the ones that brought Manic and Lucid into this plane. The Galaxy ended up being absorbed, almost imploded into the beam, expanding and strengthening it, as it soaked and tainted the tiny, pitiful island.

The earth buckled and cracked, as the Island expanded, thin, 3 foot wide, twisting lines of black sand spread from it, connecting it with every other island in the sea below the hemisphere. However, a far greater change was happening underneath the island. The depths below the island slowly became hollow, bending and spiraling in hundreds of ways. Structures began to form as this underscape spread across the entire world's depths, endless cities of spiral architectures, tunnels that never ends, and twisters that only increase in size. Caves that are bigger on the inside than the outside, staircases that defy even gravity. Tiny, glowing green Galaxies spread throughout these depths, illuminating the land and producing strange, multicolored gases. These Gases were all funneled, to a massive, Spiral Engine directly below the island, which would both multiply the gases and vent them to the above world, allowing, Manic and Lucid to moves wherever the clouds exist. With these clouds, came oxygen and other gases, in droves.

Large, almost endless, twisting pipes emerge from the formerly tiny islands, releasing the gas, and creating elevators (powered by the gases released) that would bring the lucky into the underscape, and the unlucky trapped in the Elevator's loop eternally.It was really a 50/50 chance. At least they had good elevator music. The Spiral made sure the underscape, aside from the area around the island, was truly in the depths, allowing the future civilizations to mine, but, should they ever dig too deep...

From a safe that suddenly appeared, inconspicuously in the ocean, floating as though it were driftwood, Manic pulled out a decidedly spirally Megaphone, and began to speak, in a tone so loud that even all the other gods could hear it.

Tʜᴇ Sᴘɪʀᴀʟ, Gᴏᴅ ᴏғ Cʜᴀɴɢᴇ, Mᴀsᴛᴇʀ ᴏғ Lᴏᴏᴘs, ᴀɴᴅ Lᴏʀᴅ ᴏғ Sᴜᴅᴅᴇɴʟʏ sʜᴏᴡɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏғ ɴᴏᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀᴛ ɪɴᴏᴘᴘᴏʀᴛᴜɴᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇs, ʜᴀs ᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴇʀʀᴇsᴛʀɪᴀʟ ᴀʙʏss ᴀs ʜɪs ʟᴀɴᴅ, ғᴇᴇʟ ғʀᴇᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴠɪsɪᴛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇ! Wᴇ sᴇʀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀᴇ--

At that last remark, Lucid took the megaphone, and crumpled it. Finally, there was one last message to the other gods, but unlike the others, it was no heartfelt speech or witty joke, but rather a twisted cacophony, the sounds of nails scraping on a chalkboard, cicadas chirping, and animals of every degree growing.

The Spiral had arrived.

[LetterA]

"You know what this place needs?"

The face of a cow with many eyes emerged from a veil made by the fabric of reality itself, easing its way out cheerfully. As It observed the surroundings, it nodded its head, continuing to pull the rest of its bovine body into existence. "There is a great lacking in BOVINES," wailed the god, stamping its left front hoof on the western most piece of land, missing and instead hitting a cluster of islands. There were two large ones with two much smaller ones that reminded it very much of a human with rather obnoxiously large arms. The image earned a chuckle from the god, and it took on its humanoid form, a large sleeves attached to a beautiful gown barely concealing hooves.

"Well, I didn't mean to claim this place, but as my hooves have graced it first," started the It, a smile on its face, "May bovines that look the most like me rest here. But rather than my all seeing eyes, replace them with hide as..."- hm. Well that was a dillemma. It didn't want these new creations to look exactly like him- it'd tried before and it was jarring to see itself massacred, though at the same time highly intriguing. The it pushed its dark hair from its face, the wailing bothering his thoughts when- "aha! Replace my many eyes with hide as dark as my hair. Perfect. Here the most perfect bovines will rest." The it nodded its head in pride, smiling under the dark hair that had fallen once more over its face, disappearing over the seas to the land it'd originally meant to claim.

"And here," stated the god, "Shall be where the rest of your bovine brothers shall roam. Some alike to the first in patterns, others not so much. There shall be... ones with horns! Because horns are great. Yeah. This is a good start."

[Tatsua Aiisen]

Djinn 2: Electric Boogaloo

---

"Hm? Did everything just get a little darker for a second?"

Djinn was no expert on darkness, as it always seemed to run away when she came near, but she knew immediately that this was the work of another God. At first, it was a neat enough experience in its own right, but something was really missing from the blank skies...

"I guess I'll have to fix that, huh?"

Flying into the sky like a firework, Djinn pierces through the atmosphere and hovers high above the planet the others were busy claiming for their own. Using the depths of her power, she reaches down towards the planet's surface below and allows her mind to grasp a massive, circular chunk of rock. With a single, earth-jolting pull, she hauls the massive piece of rock from its place and carries it through the clouds, eventually bringing it high up into the sky with her. There, it hung like a menacing, polished stone, reflecting the light from the sun so that it shone brightly even in the darkest of night skies.

However, Djinn wouldn't stop there. Extending her hand towards the moon, she summons forth thousands of flames from the depth of her consciousness, bombarding the stone in explosive power to create many, decorative craters upon its previously smooth crust. Then, as a final touch, she plants the seed of magic in its depths, turning it into a mythical entity that would provide power to those below.

It was then, naturally, that somebody appeared just in time to steal the Magic Goddess's thunder. She didn't need to be a magician to realize what she was seeing was a bit absurd, but she kinda just rolled with it anyways and let the Spiral do its work. Meanwhile, she spots a big cow doing cow things, but it doesn't particularly interest her at the time. Cows, while cool and all, didn't really do much.

Now, before somebody interrupted her again, is it finally time to mess with the others?

[TheUnknowable]

After he finished arranging his movie/tv show collection, an action that took all of seven seconds, he arranged the rest of his equipment around the cave, including his replicator. Let the people become Atheists when they hear the creation stories all of the other gods will tell them. At least my method of creation is based on science. He booted it up and loaded his planet-building simulator, which was in no way a knockoff.
There, he drew a mountain range on the southern half of his continent, a few hundred kilometers from the shore, and let it curve up on the western side by a bit. He then stuck two craters near the bend, then put asteroids made of Adamantium and Vibranium in them. Let's let the people figure that one out when there aren't even any asteroids in the universe. He added random metal deposits across the planet, including a few fictional metals like Orichalcum as a gift to the other gods, making sure that they could reject his changes at any time.
When he was done messing with the landscape, he loaded a few creature designs he had been working on. Nanite-built robot creatures, of course, as he was the god of science. For now, I'll just add a couple of basics, like cute little robot dogs. Yeah, they'll be androgynous, and every 10,000 backflips they'll reproduce. Their natural enemies will be, I know, the Woccas. Yellow ball creatures with pie-slice mouths that slide around trying to eat everything that they can put in their mouths. They'll be really weak if you hit their tops or sides, so they won't be too powerful. Reproduce every time they eat their body mass worth of food, no, like ten times, or a hundred. Wouldn't want them to breed too quickly. Add a bit of randomness and gene crossover so evolution works, and voila! I've got a basic ecosystem. He thought for a while, then added some robotic insects and birds, plus bats for his cave, and robo-plants for them to live off of. When he was satisfied with his progress thusfar he hit the "replicate" button and let the machine work.
When, a few minutes later it was done, he left his cave, nodding at the mechanical bats overhead, and flew over to the center of the continent. One more thing, just to see how the mortals handle it. He produced a copy of all of the "Star Wars" movies and books, put them on an eternal-battery powered tablet PC, and buried it under a 20 meter tall obsidian statue of Jabba the Hutt. If that wouldn't get them interested in Science Fiction, he didn't know what would.

[Lucian]

The Stag watched from afar as his kin made their claims upon the world. Many others had appeared as well, leaving their marks in various places. It was time, Sylvan decided, to leave his own. The skies darkened with their first storms. The rain came in torrents, and the thunder shook the heavens, heralding his arrival. Lightning struck, again and again. Instead of damaging the world, however, flora budded where the lightning hit. Soon enough, the world would be covered in grasses, flowers, and moss. At least, the parts of the world that the other Gods allowed. As the storm raged, Sylvan assumed the form of a young boy, walking on the clouds. The boy heaved once, and then coughed up a seed. The Worldseed. Sylvan used one each time he made the transition. It was the most enjoyable part of switching universes, for him. Worldseed in hand, he leaped from the cloud into a pencil-dive toward the stony earth beneath. When the boy that was Sylvan made contact, the earth parted before the force of his impact, and he sunk himself deep into the world. When he had reached sufficient depth, he deployed the Worldseed. It waited, hesitant, as if asking permission to do it's duty. Sylvan caressed it with one hand, and it began to shiver.

High above, on the world's surface, the entire planet trembled, as the roots of the Worldseed took hold. The roots spread with violent speed and incredible force. Entire forests exploded through the earth, all across the world. Sylvan ensured that the roots did not invade The Spiral's subterranean realm. He had no wish to make an enemy of the Changer of Ways. With the rumbling of the great storm, and the shaking of the earth due to the Worldseed's expansion, there could be no mistaking it, the Treefather had arrived, and the other Gods would know it.

Eventually, the rain and thunder subsided, and the clouds let the sun shine on the newly seeded world. Now, Sylvan, who was the great wolf, the runner, sprinted from forest to forest. Where he stepped, the ecosystem changed. Birds began chirping where there had been none before. Deer appeared, running beside him. All manner of forest-dwelling creatures began to populate the forests of the new world. Finally, the wolf's run was completed. The forests of the world were full of life, and the roots of the trees ran strong and deep. His conquest completed, the great wolf let out a loud howl of victory, loud enough for the world to hear. Now that the work was done, he took the shape of the young boy again, and brushed his hand across the trunk of one the trees. This one would be his home, for now. He climbed it to it's peak, and then commanded it to grow larger. It grew and grew, to the size of a mountain. From one of the branches, the boy that was Sylvan, smiling with confidence in his creations, watched to see what the others would do.

[Keia Vewyx]

No, no. No. No-no-no-no- Ooooh, no!

Asala was only just in between existence and the void when she beheld the utter monstrosity the fools were haphazardly creating. While the value of this world was undoubtedly skyrocketing, it was hollow, empty! These belligerent gods were tearing asunder His Supremacy’s work with half-thought shows of power that could barely be considered the act of gods! If left to their own devises, the world would collapse and His Supremacy would-

A slight gasp escaped Asala.

His Supremacy would be disappointed! Forgetting herself and her position as a being of power in her wrath, she vulgarly roared at the other gods as she fell towards the planet, bathed a blinding light:

“Oi, ya bastard-gods! What 'n His Supremacy’s name do ya think yer doin'?! Just 'cause I'mma wee bit late don't mean ya can corrupt that there pure newborn world inta one o' yer pleasure palaces, ya fools!”

Her rather ungodlike voice trembled across the stars and planet, a bloated wave of sheer power that carried with it all of the wrath of a god of Harmony. Landing upon the frozen top of the newborn world, she shuddered in disgust and anguish as she beheld what the other gods have been cruelly twisting to their own whims. Such decadence. Such mockery. As the keeper of balance, Asala will not tolerate it!

Clearing her throat, she began in a tone more befitting of a god:

“I am the keeper of balance, warden of harmony, leader of reason. I shall take upon myself the title of savior and protect this child that would otherwise fall prey to your corrupt grasps. From atop this ice throne above your wretched lands, I shall administer a fair and balanced realm. From this white crown that rests upon the planet, I, Asala, towards your forsaken and misguided rule announce unto thee:”

Asala stood in all her glory upon the center of the mighty glacier at that dominated the northern part of the world. As her icy eyes scanned the entirety of the world and its perversions forced upon it by the other gods, her visage slowly but steadily fell towards... well, let's just say that she made a funny face that one would usually see upon a terrified mortal about to lose their lunch. Most gods of harmony would likely abandon such a world. Asala was like most gods of harmony, but darn it abandoning the poor wreck right now would be disappointing and simply wrong, and there's no way Asala would want to be either. She took a few deep breaths and tried again:

“I, Asala, announce unto thee–”

But it was just born so it doesn't have too much value, right? It's worthless, she should just leave– No! Even if the world was trash, His Surpemacy brought her here for a reason, yeah! He was counting on her! And he was worth more than one thousand of these idiot gods that are leeching onto the planet!

“I announce unto– Yer kiddin' me, right?!”

Machines?! There were toys of technology before there were tools required to create them? No, even before that, there wasn't even any intelligent, organic life required to create them! For what purpose did they exists here, right now? And not just one or two out-of-place walking metal heaps, but an entire ecosystem of some purposeless, Neuron-damned robots! Fine then! Asala would accept this challenge! She will show them all what it means to create with a god's power! This unmoving sky and this unchallenged prosperity, those would be the first Asala shall balance!

And so did Asala extend her reach across the entire world and grip tight, for with a single twist did she set this new world into an eternal spinning motion. But she was far from finished. This world and the sun were too perfect for each other, and she threw the planet around the sun so that in one season the sun shall be close and scorch the land, while in another the sun shall be too distant to shower the planet in warmth and the clouds would rain ice. Between these two seasons, Asala allowed two more for a total of four. Let these beasts that exist upon this earth suffer and prosper with these seasons, and let the world itself maintain a balance with the heat and cold.

She huffed confidently. You see, foolish gods, she thought proudly to herself, this is a balanced creation befitting a god!

Her confidence waned immediately, though. While its good an all to add a bit of value towards the world, it doesn't matter if she doesn't fix the root of the problem: the unbalanced monstrosities the other gods laid upon the world. She thought of her previous dimensions to calm herself; dimensions effortlessly balanced between destruction and creation, light and dark, warmth and cold. There is no point in fixing a world if people are just going to continue messing it up, right? Right. This was in no way escaping. This was a legitimate strategy for harmony. Yes. Patience is best. Asala will let them run around and destroy as much as they wish until they get tired. She will stop, or fix, any critical balance issues, but for now let the children break their toys as much as they want. Yes. It is much too difficult to clean while they just make new toys to break. This is the proper etiquette of a god. They did come first, right? This is by no means abandoning the world. It is a strategic retreat. Of course it is. After all, if Asala had to spend any more time on this unbalanced orb of water and rock and chaos, she might just send the planet hurling into the sun and rebuilding from scratch~

But that's no good, because it wouldn't be His Supremacy’s world. Asala pulled back her form from the world so that she could see the other gods' chaos and plan on a large scale what needs to be done to ensure harmony survives. That, and she couldn't stand being on the same planet as the other gods of disorder and all things Asala despises. Though now that she is away from the madness, maybe she can continue where she left off. Though, she might need to change it just a tiny bit...

"I announce unto thee: Soon shall I take my rightful place upon the throne of ice atop of the realm. But, uh, not right now. Until then, I challenge you to do your worse in disturbing the worlds balance, for I shall soon... Wait, no. Disregard what I said. Please do not intentionally throw the world's harmony more off course than it already is. In fact, I challenge you to fix it– nay, I beseech you to fix it. I ask... I-"

Asala sighed, predicting that it probably will not matter regardless of whatever she says. Negotiations broke down and by all that is divine and holy, Asala swore that she would snap if the other gods start causing more chaos than they already are.

[SpiritofEmptiness]

Something started to twist and turn within the eternal Spiral's consciousness, both Manic and Lucid could feel it. The arrival of this god, this one specific god, had given the god a new, burning purpose. Balance is useful. Balance is necessary. Balance will be required to further evolve this world. But a world of solely balance, could not be tolerated, it would become stagnant, the same situations over and over again. This god had taken the skies, the beyond. It could accept this, as it had already taken the depths. In fact, it should gladly accept the Goddess of Balance's moves, as creating an endless rotation would allow for a great field of influence. The Spiral should be pleased, yes, as everything was going according to plan. Indeed, the Spiral was grateful, or, as close as it could come to being grateful. What truly offended the Spiral, as far as could be seen through its cold prison, however, was that a creature of such devotion to the Almighty would allow their actions to directly aid another god, especially one of near-opposite domain. It was sloppy.

As the Spiral further questioned the motives of its fellows, the Spiral's two children took to a different action. Creating blueprints for life. The two were producing statues in the underdark, made from the various clay gathered there. Many non-sapient creatures had already been completed, snails, crabs, nautilus, cave-dwelling insects, and various beasts, all infesting the depths. However, both had already begun designing their first drafts for civilized life. They knew that it was not yet time, but they had to be prepared. Their creations were a species known as the Calarians. Vaguely humanoid, but constantly covered in spiraling bandages and geometric plates. They would be attuned to the mystical arts, and their very bodies, in groups of four to 7, could even channel the Spiral. However, because of the extreme complexity of this creation, very few would exists, and it would be even more difficult to make more. They made sure not to make any plans for their personality, once the age of intelligence comes. It's simply not chaotic that way. Until the time came, these creatures would grow dusty in the bottom of the world.

Other creatures had already been made. You have common things, like the Hermit Crabs, snails, squids. Things similar to what almost every universe has made, but there were further creations. Far more creations. For example, the Helicoid, a tusked herbivore that wandered the purple, chaotic plains connecting the islands of Spiral's lands. these creatures had scaly green hide, and red blood. They moved in heard, and had twisting warts, the longer and pointier the wart, the older the Helicoid. The eyes of the Helicoids where a standard spiral, and as such, difficult to discern their current emotion. They survived using strong tusks, more curled the older the Helicoid is. They are usually timid, but will attack if approached, or anything vaguely "cubed" grows near them. They cannot stand cube-like shapes. There needs to be at least one smooth side in order to even tolerate it. As such, the architecture to coral them must be significantly alien. More of these strange, spiral beings would come. It was made sure of.

[Marshmellow]

All this time, meanwhile, Girona had been quietly fixing up his undersea domain. He'd been busy, in spite of all the commotion going on abovewater; the water was now teeming with life, fish of every color, stripe, and polka dot, plus corals and seaweeds and every other thing one can think of that belongs underwater. Yes, yes, things were shaping up nicely. Now that the basics were in place he would be able to do some more complicated things...

Suddenly, there was a great upheaval! He felt the oceans flowing into new shapes as an entire chain of islands twisted itself up! This in itself might not have bother Girona so much, if not for the influence of the newly formed island on the surrounding waters.

He took a closer look at it all. The influence of this newly reformed island was such that it was causing strange changes in his creations. The fish and foliage were mutated beyond recognizability in most cases. This would not do!

And so it was that Manic and Lucid now came face to face with a rather peeved God of the Ocean.

"You two!" he roared at them. "Your higher self has intruded on my domain! And messed with all my stuff!" Before anyone else could get a word in edgewise, Girona had produced what looked to be some sort of two-headed eel. With seven crab legs; clearly the result of a clash between the Ocean God's domain and the Spiral's.

"What even is this??" he said, shaking it around. "It's like a... it's just weird. What am I supposed to do with this, huh?" He started to squeeze the thing, intending to watch it really squirm in his grasp... and then it squeaked. "...Huh."

He squeezed it a few more times. It squeaked a few more times. "...Well I suppose it is kind of cute," Girona said, examining it a bit more thoroughly.

[Tatsua Aiisen]

DJINN LIKES BOBO

---

"Wow! That's...really awesome!"

Djinn watches in awe as the Goddess of Harmony does her work, throwing the planet into constant motion around the sun and generally making everything even. Inspired, Djinn does the same for her newly created Moon, drawing back her fist into a fire-y fist and punching it in the face. Sensing her intent, the Moon flies off into its own orbit around the planet, influencing everything beneath it in ways some might not imagine.

Admiring the crater she had made on her creation's surface, Djinn manages to distract herself momentarily before she decided it was about time to move. Spiralling downwards through the atmosphere, she swirls around the planet a few more times, looking for something fun and spreading warmth wherever she went. It doesn't take her long to find something fun, but she pretended to be surprised regardless-

"Hey! Isn't that sorta amazing!?"

She watches intently, stars glittering in her eyes as she excitedly observes the life and happenings above the Spiral's domain. For a good while, she simply hovers there, watching the creatures move about and do creature-ly things, not paying any attention to the flames watching over them from the sky. Something about Djinn's expression at this point might have frightened somebody, if they were actually watching.

"Alright, this doesn't look too hard! I'm getting pumped up!"

Transporting herself to her territory, Djinn looks down on her elements with a look of mad playfulness on her face. Grasped in her hands was the essence of fire, something with which she had become nearly synonymous. Something like this was ideal. Next, she needed a form, something really cool. How about...a lizard! Deserts like lizards! Oh, and I'll give it Magic too, of course. It can be really big, bigger than a mountain! What now...armoured skin! Immunity to Magic! Flaming breath that melts stone! Wings, so it can fly around and stuff! Now, I'll give it a name...

"It's done! Yeah! Bobo, meet your mommy! Meet the world!"

Bobo stares at Djinn, and for a moment, the two seem to reach an understanding. Deep inside, however, Bobo had only one thought.

DESTROY.

With a start, Djinn barely materializes in time to avoid being munched on by her new creation. She laughs cheerfully, but also feels a little disappointed. If it's immune to Magic, how am I supposed to teach it tricks?

Bobo, sensing her confusion, moves in to strike. Beating its immense wings, it rises up into the sky and blocks out all view of the sun. The massive, flying lizard swoops across the land, chasing Djinn with ferocious, bestial rage clutched in its heart. Dancing playfully out of its grasp, Djinn leads it on a wild chase across the planet's surface, scorching huge stretches of land in her wake.

"Well, you never know until you try! Bobo, heel!"

Bobo doesn't heel.