BBeast

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

Ashalla

Goddess of Oceans and Storms

The storm which was Ashalla rolled over the northern coast of Atokhekwoi. While it was far easier for her to travel over land as a storm cloud, the sheer vastness of Atokhekwoi tired even her. It was ultimately the dry climate in the middle which made her turn away, for she had begun to lose water faster than she could recover it from the environment. So Ashalla returned to the ocean where she was most at home.

The storm rained heavily over the sea, the cloud slowly shrinking and lightening. A few hours later there were only a few stray cumulus clouds and strands of cirrus, and Ashalla was the ocean once more. Immediately she began to plan her next creation.

Kirron's mega-fauna and the smaller beasts of the forests elsewhere had inspired her. Many of these creatures were warm-blooded, breathed air, gave live birth and produced milk. This mammalian template appeared to be popular, so Ashalla decided she would attempt her own variation on the theme.

Ashalla began to coalesce some biomatter into several new creatures. While they would not be fish, their general form was quite similar to that of a fish, for that form was optimised for ocean life. The basic mammalian physiology needed a few adaptations. Respiration was the biggest modification. The lungs needed to be much more efficient, as did the storage and usage of oxygen. An extra nostril was routed through to their top-sides so they could breathe at the water's surface more easily. The salt balance in the bodily fluids needed to be adjusted so as to allow these creatures to drink sea-water as fish could. They were given extra layers of fat to keep warm in cold waters. A few other modifications were made, such as enhancing their hearing to make good use of water's ability to carry sound, and adjusting their sleep cycles to ensure they did not drown.

This was the basic template for her new life-forms, but she could still fit a lot of variety within this template. She made a few of them massive, larger than Kirron's dinosaurs, because given the buoyancy of the ocean she could do that without complication. The pattern was similar to the Eclipse Whale, but that was mostly by coincidence. The only thing abundant enough in the global oceans to feed such vast creatures was plankton, so these giant swimming mammals were given wide mouths and bristles of keratin in place of teeth with which they could filter out nutritious drifters from the water.

Ashalla also made smaller swimming creatures, although still much larger than most fish. These ones she decided would feast on fish, so she gave them teeth. She also ensured their eyes were near the front of their snouts so they had binocular vision, and their enhanced hearing was combined with the capacity to make sharp clicks so they could locate objects and prey using sound.

Ashalla painted their skin the colours of the ocean. As she inspected the creatures she had made, though, she felt unsatisfied. They were so utilitarian. Adapting a land-based physiology for life in the open ocean had been a fun exercise, but her creations needed a bit of artistic flair. So Ashalla taught them to sing and dance. They would call through the ocean, their thunderous voices carrying their songs for vast distances. They would swim around each other and leap from the water with great splashes. They would be social and have fun doing so.

Satisfied at last, Ashalla gave the creatures life. She named them whales and dolphins, or cetaceans collectively, and sent them throughout the ocean. Ashalla also created new species of fish which would swim in the open ocean in great schools for the dolphins and toothed whales to eat. These fish ate plankton and smaller fish. In their great schools the light would shine off them in dazzling ways as the group danced in their own manner in an attempt to appear larger and more intimidating towards predators. Not that it would stop them from being eaten, but it would give them some defence, and it made them more impressive. These fish Ashalla spread throughout the ocean with the cetaceans.

In roaming the world creating her new life-forms, Ashalla came to the north pole. She glanced at the ice sheet and reflected on it for a few moments. Then she made a decision. Fog rose from the ocean and a storm began to brew.

---

The great storm which was Ashalla billowed over the ice sheet at the northern end of the world. The cloud hung low, a blizzard raging across the ice and stirring up snow. She looked over the ice formations and sculptures, feeling them with her fog and snow. Most of them were different to how she had remembered them. Time, weather and sunlight had eroded away many of the original sculptures and new ones had taken their place. But these new ones contained only abstract forms with no sense of coherence, for the processes creating new sculptures were blind and dumb. Ashalla found it disappointing that the beauty of this place had faded over time.

But Ashalla was not one to wallow in defeat and disappointment. Rather, she was a creator. So she would create a solution. She would create creators to maintain the sculptures and create new ones, and she could marvel in their creativity. She just had to figure out what these sculptors would be.

Shards of ice and snow stirred around within Ashalla. The ice sheet was inhospitable to organic life, but Ashalla had seen from the Curators, cloudlings and Xiaoli that there were other ways to make life. A being of ice crystals and frilly snow formed within Ashalla's clouds. This entity would draw energy as a heat engine, converting heat flow between it and its environment into work and potential energy. Of course, as a construct of ice, it would only survive for long periods of time in areas which were freezing in temperature.

This entity was to be a sculptor of ice, so it would need an affinity for ice. Ashalla granted the entity the power to shape ice with its touch, melting and refreezing the water it touched with its spindly limbs to make the ice malleable. In this way the entity would be able to make ice sculptures and other structures of frozen water with relative ease. With the physical design established, Ashalla began to form more of these icy beings.

While these beings would be safest in the North Pole, if they stayed in the North Pole forever they would have no inspiration for new creations. So Ashalla gave these beings a migratory instinct, such that they would fly south during winter and return to the North Pole in the summer. She gave them a few more instincts to maximise their creativity, tying those instincts to their methods of reproduction.

Finished making these icy beings, Ashalla breathed life into their frozen forms, which accepted souls from the invisible soul ash around them. Then Ashalla withdrew her fog and the beings basked in daylight for the first time. The delicate ice crystals of their wing-like limbs shimmered in the light of Heliopolis, the beings fluttering about with their foot-wide wingspan. Spindly stalks of optically clear ice curled away from an orb at the head of their bodies, twisting and looking at the world around them. Icicle-like legs allowed the beings to land on the ice sheet and rest their wings. Soon all the beings had landed, basking in the sunlight as little rivulets of water ran up their legs and froze on their thoraxes.

After they had drunk their fill and were fat from the ice, a great breeze blew across the ice sheet and picked up the beings, carrying them southwards. Ashalla's voice was also carried on that breeze. "Fly, winter-spirits. Learn and create."

---

Anthony Greninger - Snowfall

The warmer seasons were resting in the Purlieu, leaving winter on Galbar. Many of the higher latitudes were receiving snow from the So'E at this time. The usual greens and browns of nature gave way to a blanket of pure white.

With the snow-falls came the winter-spirits. On the northern parts of Kalgrun, Kalgrun's mountains, Li'Kalla's Island, and even patches of Swahhitteh and Tendlepog the winter-spirits found perches in the snow-covered landscapes. They sat in the branches of trees made bare, having shed their leaves over autumn, or on mounds of snow or frozen ponds, but never in the shade. Their snow-dust wings spread out collecting the sunlight, providing them with the energy needed to replenish ice lost during their migration. During night time, once the winter-spirits had cooled to ambient temperatures, they were inactive, so some sought to find a safe perch out of the way of wandering animals before nightfall. Their actions were also sluggish when the weather was overcast, but when the sun was shining the winter-spirits fluttered about, studying the world around them with their sensory ice-stalks.

The winter-spirits had a curious nature, and flew up to inspect an interesting creatures they saw. And there were many interesting creatures. Kalgrun had griffons, trolls, dire wolves and bears along with a menagerie of other creatures and plants. On Li's Island were Parvus' beautiful insects, frogs and lilies, along with the strange creatures of mud, the beings of the salt-depths, and the monsters which lurked in the caves. On Tendlepog there were walking trees, cloudlings, exotic insects and numerous marsupials. On Swahhitteh, besides what had migrated from Tendlepog, there was also a great forest with muscular undergrowth and clear cords for trees which twisted the light in inspiring patterns. Some of the winter-spirits were crushed or eaten by the subjects of their study, as the winter-spirits were fragile beings, but as agile and harmless creatures with no nutritional value they usually avoided drawing undue attention.

The winter-spirits also practiced shaping ice. They mimicked the flora, fauna and terrain around them in their sculpting. They even built new perches for themselves. In this way ephemeral ice sculptures appeared across the northern latitudes during winter.

Once winter started its journey back to the Purlieu and the first signs of spring were beginning to enter into Galbar, the winter-spirits fattened themselves on the melting snow-patches before taking flight and migrating north. Like giant snowflakes in a snow flurry the winter-spirits carried themselves through the sky and over the ocean until they reached the northern ice sheet.

On the ice sheet the winter-spirits set to work sculpting the ice into shapes they had seen. Each winter-spirit claimed a patch of ice to shape its own sculpture, often using worn down unclaimed sculptures as a base to save on work. The process of sculpting was slow for the winter-spirits were not large, but over time a vast plain filled with art took shape. The forms of the beasts and plants of Kalgrun, Swahhitteh-Tendlepog and Li's Island were common, but other forms also emerged. Some created chimeric fusions of the forms they had witnessed. Some attempted abstract forms, playing with shapes or light. Some shaped landscapes and maps.

For each winter-spirit, the creation of elaborate art had an important purpose. As the sculptures were finished, the winter-spirits took off to inspect the sculptures of others. When a winter-spirit found a sculpture which impressed it, it waited around that sculpture until it could find that sculpture's creator. That second winter-spirit would follow the first back to its sculpture. If the second winter-spirit was not impressed, it would return to its sculpture, leaving the first winter-spirit. But if it was impressed, the two winter-spirits extracted a droplet of water from each others' abdomens and together they sculpted a new winter-spirit. In this way new winter-spirits were made from the best sculptors among them.

And so the cycle was established. During winter, winter-spirits flew south to study the world and gain inspiration. During summer, winter-spirits nested at the north pole, breeding and creating new sculptures from the inspiration they had learned in the previous season. Thanks to the work of the winter-spirits, Ashalla's ice sheet would never be lacking in beautiful sculptures.

Summary

Ashalla feels like creating marine mammals, so she creates cetaceans (whales and dolphins). Besides the utilitarian features, she also teaches them to dance and sing. She also creates oceanic fish which gather in impressive schools to feed the toothed whales and dolphins (baleen whales eat plankton). She spreads these throughout Galbar's ocean as an ecosystem.

At the north pole, Ashalla creates winter-spirits. These are extraordinary creatures made entirely of ice. They are powered mostly by the warmth of sunlight and consume ice and snow. They fly, and look vaguely (very vaguely) like butterflies made of ice and snow with a one foot wingspan. They can sculpt ice like it was wet clay.

Winter-spirits migrate south during winter, where they study flora, fauna and landscape. They are only present in places with ice and snow. They return to the north pole over summer, where they use this inspiration to create sculptures. They breed here, with the quality of the sculptures being the metric for sexual selection. Ashalla made them primarily to maintain the ice sculptures on the north pole's ice sheet.

Might Summary

Ashalla
Start: 1 MP & 5 FP
Spent: 4 FP on an ecosystem (enhanced by Oceans to encompass the whole ocean) involving cetaceans and oceanic fish, inhabiting all of Galbar's oceans.
1 FP on the winter-spirits, an extraordinary species.
End: 1 MP & 0 FP
Portfolios: 4/10 Colour
10/10 Ice

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

@Scarescrow No worries, Scarescrow. It takes some maturity to identify your capabilities. I hope you find an RP you'll enjoy.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

Ashalla

Goddess of Oceans and Storms


FP: 01 MP: 00

The wet soil of Atokhekwoi served as a blotched and dark sky as K’nell walked upside down, his boots stepping on the invisible veil of the sky as if he were walking upright. Any blue that the sky held was long gone, now cloaked in dark clouds that threatened rain. K’nell didn’t seem to mind; he sucked in a few deep breaths, and exhaled the electric soil tinged air, leaving a metallic taste to cover his tongue.

Truth be told there was too much on his mind to really take in the wonders of life, his hand firmly grasping the dream orb. The task of walking upside down did not in fact ease his thinking, he sighed, and suddenly fell to the ground. With a gentle shmuk he hit the wet soil, his boots standing firm yet somehow avoided collecting the mud. He pressed onward, a soft hum coming to his lips.

As he hummed in thought, his eyes returned to the image of a bird, one that had been following him for quite some time. He had seen it when it broke the horizon hours ago, but only now was it in danger of landing on his own shoulder.

He stopped. The black and white bird was the size of his forearm and held curious eyes that scanned the god many times over. A harsh mimicking hum came from the bird, matching K’nells own. A smile broke across K’nell’s face, “Ah.”

“Ah,” The magpie mimicked, soliciting a bigger smile from K’nell.

“It is a coincidence that you can speak,” K’nell feigned wonder, “Because I have a story, one about the very God of speech.”

“It’s ah!” The bird echoed.

K’nell held out his arm, and the bird landed, it’s tiny feet somehow not even bringing one wrinkle to his jacket. K’nell hummed gently and the bird copied. The two stood like that for hours, until hundreds and hundreds of Magpies flocked the skies. The humming stop and K’nell cleared his throat.

“Ah, very good,” He started, “Now with a proper audience, I shall relay to you a tale of my own eyes and mind.”

K’nell continued to speak, his words exiting his mouth as wisps of glowing white. The wisps held the story of Li’Kalla’s cry for help and the sudden appearance of Vakk’s deadly tentacles, ending it on the story of the subsequent coming of the beast and the splitting soul, and how through these acts Li’Kalla had been broken, only to eventually be saved.

The wispy words flew snugly into the bird’s ears, and before long the flock erupted in a cacophony, their bird tongues twisting as they all retold the story over and over, the moral of the story clear yet unsaid; the God of Speech is not to be trusted.

On and on they talked and on and on they told the story. K’nell nodded at the irony of the situation, his mind twisting with ideas, “A tale for the magpie, for all generations; let it never fade and let the moral stand. With this, I bless your family.”

He lifted his arm, sending the magpie off into a flurry. Without much more, K’nell shoved his hands into his pocket and continued on his way. The roaring flock broke into all directions above him, their voices thunder as they retold the tale of Vakk and Li’Kalla.

---

The walk was uneventful; the stormy clouds remained, as did K’nell’s many thoughts. His eyes fixed downward, and only after a few taps of his chin did he finally look upwards from the muddy plains. His eyes shot upward at the storm, it’s dark haze hiding the sky. K’nell squinted, noticing a large and familiar soul floating along with the clouds -- no -- was the clouds.

An orb of lightning lit up the area around K’nell like the sun. The orb was joined by a second orb, then the impression of a face formed with the two orbs in the place of eyes. "K’nell, we meet," Ashalla’s voice boomed like thunder.

The power of the voice called K’nell to blink as the wind pushed past. Taking a moment to readjust himself, he gave a curt nod, “It would seem so.”

There was a pause, only the sound of rain, wind and distant thunder between them. Ashalla was the first to speak. "I noticed a flock of black-and-white birds telling a rather peculiar story not long ago. Would you have had anything to do with that?"

“Yes,” K’nell took his hands from his pockets, “Did they disturb you?”

"No, although the story raises some questions," Ashalla said, "Where did the beast come from, and whose is it?"

“Li'Kalla,” K'nell answered simply, “In all regards.”

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully. "Of the battle between Li’Kalla and Vakk, I assume there was a physical counterpart. What was the outcome?"

K'nell had been finger deep in a small silver tin he had produced from his jacket as the question was poised. Quickly snagging a small finger long cigarillo he snapped the tin shut and slid it into his pocket.

“Ah,” K'nell said as if to hold his place in the conversation, “There was no living sign of Vakk, it appears he had fled.”

A wet huff issued from somewhere within Ashalla. The God placed the cigarillo between his lips and deftly lit it with a phantom flame. His eyes flickered upward and he went to reproduce the tin, “I'm sorry dear, how rude of me. Would you care for a cigarillo?”

The great orbs of lightning which were Ashalla’s eyes flickered imperceptibly as they looked at the miniscule tin and cigarillo. "No," Ashalla said. She then continued with her questioning. "If you only witnessed the aftermath of the battle, how do you know these things?"

The end of the cigarillo glew as K'nell took a long vanilla scented pull, he seemed to ponder the question for a moment. Finally he slid the cigar from his mouth and slowly blew a thick stream of smoke.

The smoke turned and floated upwards. As it did, the wisps of grey took on new shapes and eventually colors, until Ashalla was seeing --and somehow hearing-- K’nell’s own memories from the moment he had found the puddles, to the conclusion of his time within the dreams of Li’Kalla. The images were in such dimension as to match the many visions of a God, so much so that it is likely any mortal would have been driven mad attempting to see the story in the smoke. K’nell puffed out a ring of smoke, the new miasma ending the story with the image of the bright blue rose he had placed upon the sleeping beast’s snout.

Another thoughtful rumble echoed through Ashalla, this rumble bouncing off the landscape and lasting for some time. "You now seek to restore the lost parts of Li’Kalla," she eventually said.

K’nell flicked the stub of his cigarillo, the brown wrap disappearing into nothingness before it could hit the ground, “It would appear so.”

"I shall inform you if I happen to locate one of these parts," Ashalla said.

“That would be appreciated,” K’nell nodded with a respect smile, “Thank you.”
There was a lull in the conversation between the two. Ashalla broke the silence. "I met your creation Hermes not long ago."

“And how did you take to her?” K’nell seemed to crane is neck upwards in interest.

"She is a wonderful dancer and appreciates beauty, although her hubris is perhaps slightly greater than what is appropriate for a mortal and your design for her was lacking in a couple key details," Ashalla said.

“It is unfortunate that you feel that way,” K’nell replied with a polite smile. He paused in a humming thought, “Might I ask; how would you create a mortal?”

"If I am creating a fleshy creature, I bring together biomatter and transmute it to form a living creature," Ashalla said, "If you refer to design, the key differences is that I would include a means for the mortal to reproduce and I would include colour."

“Understandable and forthright,” K’nell nodded, “If I may perpetuate the hypothetical; what shall be the purpose of your new creation?”

"You are implying an intelligent mortal being similar to Hermes?" Ashalla said. There was a pause. "I do not know. I was speaking of living things in general."

“As was I,” K’nell smiled upwards, “Forgive the confusion.”

"I created a large bird very recently, near the north-eastern tip of this continent. I gave the bird wind in her voice, lightning in her plumage, thunder in her wings, and midnight blue feathers with a dash of azure. I made it to stand above the large beasts Kirron had made in that region."

“Beautiful,” K’nell’s voice began to swirl away from him, “but if I may ask, why?”

Ashalla seemed to be taken aback by the question. "To show my strength through my creations, of course."

“Of course,” K’nell nodded, his smile unending. A grainy hum swirled around the God for a moment, “Show to who?”

Ashalla rumbled for a moment, then answered, "Everyone."

At this point, K’nell’s smile had arced into a cheshire grin, his head bobbing in understanding, “I’m sure everyone will see.”
Ashalla’s cloudy face gave a nod. "Have you seen Hermes recently?"

“I have,” K’nell’s voice hung between them.

"Did you like my addition to her?" Ashalla asked expectantly.

“I did,” The God of Sleep’s smile flashed again, his voice returning to his mouth.

The clouds above K’nell burbled happily. "So, why did you create Hermes?"

“To see,” K’nell answered cryptically, “We are damned as well as divine. Tied to a purpose and driven by our own means; there are things even a God cannot see or create without a little help.”

Ashalla simply gave a wet huff in response. A smile cracked on K’nell’s face and he slid the tin back from out of his jacket, “Until next time, then?”

"Until next time, K’nell," Ashalla replied. The face in the storm disappeared, and the clouds blew away.

Summary

Taking a stroll on the Krablunds, K’nell is met by an army of magpies. With much on his mind, he decides to bless their mimicking voice and song, so that they retell the tale of Vakk’s assault on Li’Kalla and subsequent soul breaking things. He then sends them on their way.

He soon bumps (not literally) into Ashalla and the two talk about Vakk and Li’Kalla. Ashalla does not respond strongly to the story, but promises to let K’nell know if she finds any fragments of Li’Kalla.

The conversation quickly dies but then is revamped with talks about Hermes and then some deeper questions on what Ashalla would create, has created, why and for who. The talk ends on her fishing for a well deserved compliment, which she receives, causing her to burble.

She then asks K’nell why he created Hermes, his cryptic and somewhat demeaning (to Gods) answer causing her to huff. K’nell finds it amusing and bids her farewell.

Might Summary

K’nell
Start: 0 MP & 1 FP
Spent: 1FP spent on blessing the magpies with a never ending story
End: Nuthin’

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

Ashalla

Ashalla was drifting in the ocean currents once more, idly listening to the music box's tune. In truth, the music was starting to get dull, for the box seemed to have no creativity of its own. The music was all of the same style and sounds, and even some of the melodies were starting to get repeated. She would need to find another source of music at some point, for as Xiaoli had demonstrated with her flute there were many ways to produce beauty from sound.

Ashalla also took this time to reflect upon her meeting with Hermes and Xiaoli. She had liked Xiaoli. Xiaoli recognised and affirmed Ashalla's superiority. Although Ashalla lacked the physiology to properly appreciate the tea, her music had been beautiful and even her form demonstrated artistry using nothing but water and river matter. It was odd that Xiaoli, a divine being of water, appeared to have more in common with fleshy beings than herself, but perhaps that was due to her role as Shengshi's advisor. She would have to visit Shengshi some time to discuss Xiaoli, this 'etiquette' and 'manners', and other matters befitting two water gods.

As for Hermes, Ashalla had some mixed feelings. Hermes was a beautiful dancer and affirmed Ashalla's artistry, but unlike Xiaoli she was not submissive. In her hubris she had even attempted to form a pact of friendship with a god! Such a naive attitude was understandable from a simple being like Poppler, but Hermes was surely intelligent enough to know better. Yet she said she had successfully made friends with other gods, so this indicated as much about the other gods' characters as it did Hermes'. It was likely a minor misunderstanding, rather than a claim to godhood. Regardless, Hermes had appreciated her gift, and would surely remember her divine power and show it to all Hermes met.

As Ashalla drifted and mused, land came into sight. Ashalla did not remember there being land here, although she did remember a while back when she felt a vast amount of ocean being displaced and she mentally correlated the two events. A new continent, another feature in her ocean, had been formed. Ashalla quickened her pace towards the new continent.

There were lots of trees, except these trees were different to those which she had seen in the Eye of Desolation or on Kalgrun. She pushed part of her form inland, flooding an area and feeling all the wildlife, identifying some of the plants and animals native to this area. Large, furry, omnivorous quadrupeds stood out as significant, but there were many other species too. She even saw a few Gemstone Gardeners.

She navigated south down the coast, and for a time things appeared much the same. Further along, however, shades of red were added to the pallet of green and brown which characterised the flora and fauna. Ashalla tasted this new land, and could clearly identify Kirron's ichor. So Kirron painted this part of the land. Pretty.

As Ashalla looked further, she realised that Kirron had done much more than simply apply colour. She saw towering beasts of great strength and was inspired by them. Kirron had filled this part of the continent with powerful beasts. What better display of power and creativity than creating something powerful? And what better way to assert her own might than by creating something more powerful than what she saw before her?

The ocean began to churn and swirl as biomatter was drawn in from around Ashalla. The mass condensed in the centre of the maelstrom and began to take shape. Four limbs, a body which extended beyond the lower two limbs and a head which ended in a point took shape. As the flesh was sculpted further, it became apparent that this was the embryonic form of a very large bird, curled up without an egg. As Ashalla continued to shape the creature, it grew, and feathers began to sprout from its skin. These feathers were coloured midnight blue, and crackled with static electricity. It kept growing, its coat of dark feathers becoming complete, its wings and tail gaining a fuller form. From its feet sprung sharp talons and its beak hardened to be sharper than iron. As the great bird grew larger, the electricity in its feathers started to spark and crackle. It only stopped growing once it rivalled the size of Kirron's largest megafauna. As a final flourish, Ashalla added a long azure feather beside each eye, trailing backwards.

The creature complete, Ashalla withdrew from the vast bird, freeing it from its watery womb. Its eyelids snapped open, revealing a brilliant blue-white glow. It inhaled deeply, its voluminous lungs filling with air, its chest expanding and wings stretching out. It then exhaled, a great gale blowing across the ocean and pushing waves onto the beach. It flapped its wings to shake the seawater out of its feathers, producing a peal of thunder as it moved. Arcs of electricity continued to dance across its feathers and the water around it.

Ashalla watched the creature from all angles and admired her handiwork. This mighty beast would surely be a fitting display of her power in this land of great beasts. Ashalla remembered another thing - she still needed to find a home for the music box. Ashalla fashioned a simple harness and net from seaweed, put the music box in it and wrapped it around the great bird so that the box was held beneath its chest. The bird shifted awkwardly as the sling was tied around it, but otherwise did not complain.

With the music box secured, Ashalla withdrew from the bird once more and commanded, "Thunderbird, fly!"

The Thunderbird cried an ear-splitting "CAAAAWWW!" then took to the air in a single mighty wing-beat, producing a mighty pulse of thunder which caused the surface of the ocean to ripple. Ashalla watched proudly as it flew inland, sparkling with lightning and roaring with thunder.

Behold, the flight of the Thunderbird!

Yet, as Ashalla watched, a sour feeling of jealousy grew within her. While she was all-mighty in the oceans, on land she was weak. Her journey across the Isle of Twilight had shown her this. Yet countless species and beings on Galbar could travel over land with ease. It was not right for this bird which she had created to be a more able traveller than herself.

But the feeling did not stay for long, because she had devised a solution. She had seen enough of the world to be sure that this solution would be effective, both for overland travel and for portraying her strength. As the Thunderbird flew, the ocean steamed.

---

A herd of large creatures grazed on shrubs and grasses in the Great Hooflands. Their hefty tails lazily swung side to side as the afternoon sun shone on their tough, thick skin. As they grazed, a dark shape appeared in the sky, coming from the east and announced by distant thunder. The grazers glanced towards it, but did not give it any thought until the dark shape came much closer. The grazers looked up again to see a midnight blue bird larger than they were diving towards them. They turned their rears towards the bird and lifted their weighted tails menacingly.

The bird did not attempt to strike, but instead pulled up before the beasts with a single thunderous wing-beat. The clap of thunder pulsed through the beast before the bird, stunning it, and the terrific noise startled the other beasts who turned to flee. The Thunderbird then dropped on top of the stunned beast, its talons gripping the beast's back and lightning crackling down the Thunderbird's legs. The beast spasmed and writhed as electricity coursed through its body until it dropped dead. As the beast collapsed, the Thunderbird stooped down its head and began to devour the beast with its powerful beak.

As the Thunderbird gorged itself on its first meal, the eastern horizon darkened. The bird's nostrils flared and it looked up from its meal towards the horizon. It knew that a storm was brewing. A vast storm cloud blew in from across the horizon, carried by hurricane-force winds. The storm cast a deep shadow upon the ground beneath it, casting a darkness blacker than night illuminated by frequent flashes of lightning. Rain pelted the ground below, flooding the savannahs of the Hooflands.

The Thunderbird cawed as the storm drew near. It stretched out its wings and was swept up by the storm's mighty winds. The Thunderbird banked around and flew into the dark cloud, unafraid of the turbulence and heavy rain. Lightning struck the bird, but rather than harming the bird its feathers crackled more strongly until it discharged into the clouds. The Thunderbird easily found an updraft in the storm and rode it until the bird was above the storm. From this great altitude the Thunderbird saw the expansive Great Hooflands stretch out beneath it.

A voice like a buffeting gale spoke from the storm to the Thunderbird. "You have eaten. Good. Let us find a worthy roost."

"CAW!" The bird scanned the horizon. The western horizon was rugged from a distant, vast mountain range which tapered away towards the northern end. Yet just beyond the end of the mountain range proper was a lone mountain. "CAW!"

"Very well," said the storm who was Ashalla as the Thunderbird glided towards the lone mountain, riding her winds.

---

Raucous thunder rolled over Mount Chop as the Thunderbird landed on its plateau. Ashalla's howling winds soon followed, her form towering as a colossal cumulonimbus. Two orbs of lightning crackled into being near the exterior of the cloud facing the bird and Mount Chop. "Yes, this is a fitting roost. It has a commanding view of the surrounding countryside, ample flat space to make a nest, and you claim ownership over a landmark sculpted by divine hands. It would be hard to claim a better location," Ashalla said with a voice like pouring rain.

"Coo," the Thunderbird cooed, it's voice still carrying incredible force and volume despite vocalising calmly.

"Now, remove the netting," Ashalla commanded.

The Thunderbird hopped onto one foot, reached up with a talon and tore apart the seaweed ropes around its chest. The Box of Orchestration clattered to the ground. A forceful wind picked up the box and set it down the right way up. "Keep that box safe," Ashalla commanded.

"Caw."

Satisfied, Ashalla withdrew and blew away, deeper into Atokhekwoi. The Thunderbird watched the storm recede over the horizon. Then it circled around the plateau it had claimed as its home. A flap of its wings stunned a warren of small furry creatures, which the Thunderbird promptly devoured as a quick snack. It uprooted the trees which had attempted to grow on the rocky plateau and laid them out in a protective circle around the music box. It strutted some more until it noticed movement in the distant plains below. A herd of creatures. Dinner.

"CAAAAWW!" the Thunderbird cried as it took to the skies once more, thunder heralding its flight.

Let the kaiju battles begin!

Ashalla recovers her music box. She's starting to grow tired of it.

Ashalla reflects on her meeting with Xiaoli and Hermes.

Ashalla discovers Atokhekwoi and the Great Hooflands.

Wanting to one-up Kirron, Ashalla creates the Thunderbird, a gargantuan bird with wind in its breath, thunder in its wings and lightning in its feathers. She straps the music box to it and sends it inland. (-2 FP for a single beast of phenomenal power)

Ashalla claims the Storms Portfolio. (8 FP from the Maelstrom and 2 FP from the Thunderbird unlock it. -5 MP to buy the Portfolio)

To aid in overland flight, Ashalla adopts the form of a colossal storm of tremendous power. (-3 MP for a truly fantastical form, enhanced by the Storms Portfolio.)

We see the Thunderbird in action hunting its first meal, a dinosaur, using thunder to stun and lightning to kill.

Ashalla arrives as a storm. The Thunderbird has an unusual affinity for storms.

They fly to Mount Chop and the Thunderbird makes its roost there. The Box of Orchestration is left here for safekeeping.

The Thunderbird is now the alpha predator in the Great Hooflands.

Might Summary

Ashalla
Start: 9 MP & 8 FP
Spent: 8 MP & 2 FP
End: 1 MP & 6 FP, Goddess of Oceans and Storms
Portfolios: Colour 4/10
Ice 9/10

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

@Scarescrow If the aura is extremely bright, like sunlight, that is not something you could get for free. If it is just some gentle illumination or a soft glow, that should be acceptable.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

@Scarescrow To be clear, Anzillu can still be your parent if @LokiLeo789 wants. You just have to figure out a different way for him to be his parent.

For the abilities, the light part of Praise Be The Light might be stretching things depending how bright it is, although making others more likely to like you is appropriate. Sacred Bonds does not appear to fit under the Love Portfolio, and even if you could wrangle it in it sounds like a Blessing rather than an Ability.

Give us your revised CS when ready.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

Collaboratively written by AdorableSaucer, BBeast and Goldeagle1221

The great continental gears of Swahhitteh-Tendlepog dragged enormous arctic currents down towards the tropics. In these currents drifted Ashalla and her music box. With her touch she felt the vast ocean around her. With her hearing she listened to the melodies of the music box. And with her sight she watched Heliopolis and the clouds drift lazily across the endless expanse of Blue above her.

Yet there was another object, one small and anomalously fast. A pair of large watery eyes manifested in the water to stare more clearly at the anomaly. She triangulated the object’s position and velocity and determined it to be travelling at supersonic speeds. She also resolved that the object was actually two intertwined creatures of the two-armed-two-legged form favoured by many of the gods, although these figures were not familiar to Ashalla. Before she could resolve them entirely, they zoomed overhead and receded into the distance.

It took Ashalla only a moment to decide that she would investigate. What gave her pause was determining what to do with her music box. She could not swim fast enough to catch up while also dragging the box with her. Reluctantly, Ashalla released the box to float on the ocean. However, she did not intend to abandon the box completely. Ashalla gently tugged the ocean, and a small current broke off from the large one to carry the box after Ashalla. Then Ashalla was gone, rushing away as a submarine pulse.

While the anomaly was fast, Ashalla was much faster and soon overtook the two speeding people. Ashalla then drew herself up as a relatively small mountain of water, clearly visible in the open ocean, although she did not quite reach the altitude of the flying duo. Ashalla called out at the approaching creatures with a booming voice that reverberated from the entirety of her vast form. “What are you?”

Xiaoli looked down, spotting the unnatural formation in the sea through the blur. She squeezed Hermes a few times to grab her attention and tried her best to yell, “STOOOOOP!” through the chaotic winds, thumbing desperately at the mountain of water below them as she tried to hold on.

Xiaoli’s voice whipped past Hermes before her ears could even perceive it. Fortunately, her squeeze did not go unnoticed and the Dreamer slowed down, “What?”

Xiaoli let go of Hermes’ waist with one arm, clutching desperately on with the other as she pointed down at the funny pattern in the water. Hermes furrowed her brow, causing her spiral to squish up. She held Xiaoli tight again as she zipped down to the water, circling around it in examination.

The peak of the watery mountain shaped itself into a head which twisted around to follow Hermes. A vast tendril of seawater stretched up towards her, and Ashalla repeated her question. “What are you?”

“Hermes,” The Dreamer answered, suddenly coming to a complete stop, “What are you?”

“I am a god, and I am the ocean. My name is Ashalla,” the goddess answered. The tendril reached Hermes and licked at her sandals. “My question is unanswered. What are you?”

“I’m a Dreamer, and I am… Hermes,” Hermes cocked a brow, “Dreamer, Hermes,” She started counting off her fingers to make sure she got it all, “I beat Kalmar in a race; Befriended Narhak, Li’Kalla, Poppler, Xiaoli, and of course, Kalmar. I’ve explored all the lands of Galbar, was created by my God: K’nell, and I want to make more Dreamers, of which I am one, the only one. I was created to live, and to experience, which I have done very well, if I say so myself, but I am allowed more purpose than that as is natural.”

As Hermes spoke, the tendril felt its way around her. The one named Hermes was a mortal creature, yet she carried divine objects. Her winged sandals bore K’nell’s essence and the metal club on her back reeked of Narzhak. The tendril brushed against Xiaoli, then prodded her. “What about you, fragment of Shengshi?” Ashalla asked.

Xiaoli shuddered as saltwater licked at her body. Her grip around Hermes waned for a moment and she slip down slightly, causing Hermes to squeeze. “I-I-I… I am Xiaoli, first advisor to His Lordship Shengshi of the Thousand Streams, Your Holiness!” She kicked around with her legs, which were now dangling a little below Hermes’ feet.

“I, uhm, forgive my unacceptable rudeness, Your Holiness - I am currently not able to perform a proper greeting, as I am… Uh-...” She hesitated again, looking downwards at the sea far below.

Ashalla rumbled slightly, then said, “Your body types are suited to land. Perhaps this would be easier if you had land to stand on.”

Hermes nodded as she attempted to keep her grip tight around Xiaoli, who made an attempt to climb back up into a favourable position.

A line sprouted from Ashalla’s form and pointed over the horizon. “The nearest land is in that direction. A short flight at your speed.”

With a final nod, Hermes and her catch turned into a blur once again, leaving nothing but a loud clap of sound in their wake. Xiaoli held on tightly as they soared off.

---

The island was a jagged outcrop of rock off the coast of the Kick. In mere moments Hermes’ feet were planted on the ground again, her arms falling to her sides, and Poppler escaping her braid with a happy pop. Xiaoli held on to her for another second before letting go, seeming relieved to have solid ground under her feet. She looked around for where Ashalla had gone to, and saw a mass of water rise up from the ocean before them and adopt the figure of a woman staring down at them.

Xiaoli did not hesitate. She turned so her entire body faced the goddess, cast herself on her knees and leaned forward to press palms and forehead to the ground before the deity.

“Your Holiness - this servant apologises profusely for her uncultured tone as we met. This servant wishes to express such an arrogant request for Your Holiness to forgive her, and to listen as she vows to never again fail to express the appropriate manners before Your Holiness again.” She kept her pose after speaking.

Ashalla leaned in closer, a look of curiosity and confusion on her aqueous face. “What are you doing?” the goddess asked Xiaoli.

“It’s a special kind of manners,” Hermes smiled and nodded politely, her tone helpful. Poppler landed on her nose, crackling in what could have been agreement, or hunger.

Xiaoli sat back onto her ankles, still not facing the goddess quite yet. “Yes - as my dearest friend Hermes said - it is a manner of greeting. As this servant is but a pebble on the riverbed compared to Your Holiness’ grandness and eternal glory, it is expected of this servant to properly demonstrate her rank in relation to Your Holiness’.”

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully, processing this new information. Her face then twisted to face Hermes. “Why do you not do as she does?”

“Oh,” Hermes gave an apologetic smile, “It’s because I’m not her. We come from different places, and have different experiences. Please,” She looked down at Xiaoli, copying her speech pattern, “Allow me to show you my own custom?”

There was a moment of tense quiet. “Very well. Show me your custom,” Ashalla said.

Hermes zipped on over to Ashalla, hovering just in front of her. The cloudling whizzed around the two as Hermes extended a finger and placed it on Ashalla’s cheek. “A pact of friendship.” Hermes explained as she kept her finger on the watery surface.

The contact did not bother Ashalla in the slightest, but Hermes’ words did. A pact. From her pause, it appeared that Hermes wished her to reciprocate to seal the pact. Ashalla considered it for a moment, then receded from the finger. “You have not yet earned such a pact,” Ashalla said, her voice a disdainful ripple.

“I understand,” Hermes smile was unwavering, “Narzhak had reservations, too.”

She pondered for a moment, “We can talk, relax together, and then circle our way back at a later date. What do you like to do for fun?” Far below, Xiaoli looked a little concerned.

Ashalla perked up slightly as the conversation turned to herself. “I create all manner of beautiful things,” Ashalla answered.

Hermes looked down at Xiaoli, then back up at Ashalla, “I like beautiful things, can you show me?”

“Of course!” Ashalla said before her form collapsed into the ocean with a terrific splash, which promptly caused Xiaoli to hunker down behind a nearby boulder. After several seconds, a colourful web of algae floated to the surface. Within this algae danced jellyfish with many forms and fish with iridescent scales flashing in all the colours of the rainbow. Ashalla then rose back up beside her sampling of sea life. She pulled up a watery limb, flash-freezing the water into an ice sculpture of abstract, twisting forms which caused the light to dance and refract in a mesmerising pattern. Ashalla then pulled up another limb to create another ice sculpture, this one a remarkable rendition of a majestic feathered bird, the light sparking in the ice crystals. Ashalla then looked expectantly at Hermes and Xiaoli.

Xiaoli, who had been hiding behind the rock for half the spectacle, still appeared utterly awestruck, carefully walking closer to the shore with a slack jaw and wide eyes. She then grinned from ear to ear and applauded the sea goddess enthusiastically, clapping her hands and skipping in place.

“Absolutely marvellous, Your Holiness! A spectacle unforeseen in beauty and skill!” she exclaimed through the clapping and the cheering.

Hermes excited zipped around the sculpture, admiring its many angles, Poppler following suit. With twinkling eyes Hermes gave a big cheshire grin, “It’s gorgeous!”

Melodious laughter echoed from the goddess, swollen with pride. “What of you two? What have you created?” she asked with a cheerful swish.

Xiaoli stepped forward, bowed once more to Ashalla and presented her a small leather pack bound with elastic river weeds, which she had taken out of the band around her waist. A pseudopod reached out to grab the gift, lifting it out of Xiaoli’s hands and slithering around and inside the pack. The inside of the pack was divided into two sections: The left half was full of yellow flowers that gave off a sensual smell; the right half was almost empty, but at the bottom of the pack laid a few green leaves which gave off a gentle, soothing scent.

“Your Holiness - this servant wishes to introduce Your Holiness to a little treat the River Lord and His servant made together some time ago, now. It is known as tea, a drink made by putting the contents of that pack into almost-boiling water and allowing them to infuse the water with their tastes, scents and elements.” She bowed again. “This servant prays Her Holiness would be interested in a demonstration.”

“Art for the senses of taste and smell…” Ashalla mused. The pseudopod returned the pack to Xiaoli, only slightly damp - she accepted it with two hands and a bow. “Yes, do demonstrate it,” Ashalla said.

Xiaoli smiled and bowed once again. “The preparation will take a little while. May this servant trouble Her Holiness with waiting for a few minutes?”

“Such a wait is not an issue,” Ashalla said.

“Thank You, Your Holiness. The tea will be ready posthaste.” Xiaoli bowed yet another time, walked backwards for a few steps while still bowing before turning on her heel. She proceeded to stroll around and collect pebbles on the beach to, most likely, turn into a tea set.

Ashalla turned her attention to Hermes. “And you? What have you created?”

Hermes looked nervously at Poppler for a moment, the question hitting a sore spot, but a crackle later and an idea popped in her head, “I’d need Xiaoli to show you.” She turned to the River Avatar, “If that’s okay with you both?”

Xiaoli, at this point a bit of a distance away, turned around with her hands full of pebbles in all shapes and sizes. She hummed inquisitively. “Did you say anything, Hermes?” she yelled a distance off.

With an apologetic look towards Ashalla, Hermes suddenly darted off. She stopped next to Xiaoli, whispering in her ear, Ashalla’s hearing picking up the words, “Do you dance?”

Xiaoli flushed, nearly dropping her rocks. “D-dance?! I mean, I-... I can, but… It might not be how you think,” she said, making herself a little smaller.

Hermes pursed her lips, “What if I lead? K’nell has taught me all sorts of dances, they are easy.”

“S-sure,” Xiaoli said quietly, her cheeks a racey shade of pink. She put the pile of rocks on the ground and waved her hands a little. The rocks then slowly began to move and sand each other into different shapes: There was one teapot, one kettle, three teacups, one serving cup, one discard bowl and one spoon. She waved another hand, and the leftover rocks rolled over to the beach in front of Ashalla and formed a small tea table, which the dishware soon gathered on top of.

“Okay, ready,” she said, grinning nervously at Hermes.

Gripping Xiaoli’s hand, Hermes walked her back to Ashalla. She looked up at the God, “It’s not much, but here is what I can create.”

With little else Hermes pulled Xiaoli close and then took a step back. Then a step forward, and in a few moments the pair was spinning, stopping, and moving in such a way that one could just hear the notes of the music that must have been playing in Hermes’ mind. She would twist, and you could feel the vibration of the piano. She would suddenly stop, as if the brass called for her to do so. She would rapidly -- yet smoothly -- move Xiaoli and herself in patterns that dazzled, as if lured by the violin. In the end the orchestra of the Palace of Dreams was playing in her head, and expressed in her very movements, with Xiaoli acting as her second self.

As the performance drew to a close, Ashalla burbled cheerily. “Wondrous!” she exclaimed, “Beauty from motion.”

Xiaoli looked almost ready to pass out, but whether it was from exhaustion, embarrassment or entrancement was difficult to determine. Hermes smiled a wide cheshire smile, her heart aflutter with joy at the compliments. She let go of Xiaoli, but not before giving her a friendly tap on the shoulder, “We did it!”

The river girl snapped to and looked around, her eyes eventually fixing on Hermes’ face, followed by a wide grin. “Y-yes… You were beautiful,” she blurted out quietly, then promptly flushed again. “Uh, right! Tea! Apologies, Your Holiness - it will be ready shortly!”

With that, she scuttled over to the tea table and begun boiling some water in the kettle by heating a few rocks and setting the kettle on top of them. As she waited for the water to boil, she hummed sheepishly to herself. Eventually, the kettle began to radiate heat, as well. At that point, Xiaoli extracted a handful of flowers from the leather pouch, attentively measuring the ideal number that would fit in the teapot. She left the flowers in the discard bowl for the time being. Shortly thereafter, the water had, presumably, reached the ideal temperature for brewing, seeing as Xiaoli lifted the kettle off the hot rocks and poured the teapot full - she then poured the teacups and the serving cup full of hot water and set the kettle back on the rocks.

“The cups must themselves be warm - both to clean them and to keep the tea’s flavour from changing too much as it is poured.” Xiaoli tipped her torso in the direction of Ashalla yet another time. A subtle nod from the goddess indicated for her to continue.

The cups warmed sufficiently, at which point Xiaoli removed the flowers from the discard bowl and held them in her left hand; with her right, she poured the hot water out of the teapot and replaced it with the flowers. She then poured some more hot water over the flowers, discarding the hot water in the cups as they waited for the tea to brew. After merely thirty seconds, she poured the tea into the hot serving cup, and then from the serving cup into the smaller teacups. She picked up one of the cups, stood up and offered it to Ashalla with both hands and an inclined head.

“Your Holiness’ tea is complete.”

A watery pseudopod stretched out to the teacup, dipped into it and withdrew, taking all the tea with it. The darker water of the tea swirled around the end of the pseudopod. “Compounds in the flower have been extracted by the hot water, making them more prominent to the senses. Among the compounds is one which enhances bond formation in fleshy beings,” was Ashalla’s dispassionate analysis.

“An excellent analysis, Your Holiness. This servant created this tea with the intention of it being used as an instrument of peace, friendship and lo-... Love. The effect can be quite strong if it is brewed for too long, but that would also completely ruin the flavour. Speaking of, does Her Holiness have a comment regarding the flavour?”

“The flavour is amicable. An entire body of water made from this tea would be overwhelming, but in small quantities it presents no issues,” Ashalla commented.

Xiaoli shuffled back and once again kowtowed before the goddess, while Hermes and Poppler watched from atop a sitting rock. “Your Holiness’ words humble this servant deeply. This servant is eternally grateful.” She sat back up and held up the serving cup. “Would Your Holiness like some more?”

Ashalla looked blankly at the serving cup. “No,” she said.

Xiaoli’s smile faded somewhat, but she nodded curtly and sat back down. “As Your Holiness wishes. Would Your Holiness mind if this servant shared a cup with Hermes in Your Holiness’ presence?”

“You may,” Ashalla said.

Xiaoli grinned and beckoned Hermes over, pouring a cup for Hermes and herself. The Dreamer plopped down next to Xiaoli, Poppler stealing a sprinkle from Hermes’ tea before she managed to get ahold of it, “Thank you.”

Squirming, Hermes unlooped her club and her spear, and placed it down next to her as she took a slow sip, Poppler crackling nearby greedily. Xiaoli giggled and had a sip from her own cup, wincing a little at the heat. She hummed in satisfaction to herself.

“What do you think, Hermes?” she asked softly.

“It’s even better than the first time,” Hermes smiled, inciting a grumpy Zzt!. At his wits end, Poppler zipped into Hermes’ cup, his fluffy white body staining a deep tea color. Content pops crackled as Hermes attempted to shoo the cloudling between amused chuckles. Xiaoli let out a humoured sigh and refilled the serving cup with another batch of tea from the pot.

“Oh, Poppler - if you wanted some, you could’ve just asked!” She enchanted a rock into a cup and filled it with tea for Poppler to dip in.

Hermes placed down the cup that contained the bloated cloudling and inched towards the new cup, “It is probably easier if I just take his.” Xiaoli chuckled and had another sip of her own cup.

“Oh!” Hermes nearly spilled her tea as an idea popped into her head, “Xiaoli,” she slurped, having not quite swallowed the gulp she had in her mouth, “What if we added the sweet grass to tea?”

”...Pop?”

Xiaoli’s face lost all colour for a moment. “Y-.. You mean it’s not sweet enough for you?” she whimpered.

Hermes waved a hand, “No- no! It is, but I mean,” She looked for the words in her tea, “Just a new flavor -- a Tendlepog flavor.”

Xiaoli looked down in her tea and rocked her cup somberly from side to side. “I… I don’t know… I think it’s-... It’s fine as it is.”

“Okay,” Hermes returned to sipping her tea, but her voice was without conviction, betraying the idea that perhaps the conversation was not quite finished. Slowly her black eyes shifted to the side, casually glancing at the God of the Ocean, who had extended a pseudopod out to taste the metal club.

Xiaoli followed her eyes and looked up at the Ocean Goddess. In contrast to Hermes, she turned her entire body, inclined her torso and spoke, “Does Her Holiness believe the tea needs additional sweetness?” Hermes’ brow collapsed into a squint as she finished her sip, but silently awaited the response of the Goddess.

Ashalla paused, looking between Xiaoli and Hermes. “Fleshy beings instinctively desire flavours such as sweetness. Whether such a flavour will benefit the tea or unbalance its composition, I cannot say,” Ashalla stated. Her pseudopod crept onwards towards the spear.

Hermes shot a knowing glare at Xiaoli before smiling at Poppler, “What about you, Poppler?”

The small cloudling popped a few times before buzzing around the spear as well. Hermes gave Xiaoli a satisfied nod, who pouted quietly.

“Well… P-please do not add any to my cup, in that case,” she muttered into her cup, causing Hermes to purse her lips in concern.

At this point Ashalla let out a bewildered outburst with a voice like a crashing wave. “What is this thing?” Her pseudopod burgeoned in size as it tried to sweep up the spear, which stubbornly ignored Ashalla’s presence even as dust and gravel were stirred up into the pseudopod. “I can see it but not feel it.”

“Oh!” Hermes watched in confusion at first, but slowly the puzzle fell into place, “That's Kalmar's gift. It is for fishing, and makes no fuss of the water when you use it.”

Ashalla withdrew her quivering pseudopod and huffed with a sound like spraying water. Xiaoli eyed the situation intently, as if watching a performance with tea as her refreshment.

Hermes looked at Poppler helplessly, scooting closer to the spear, “Do- do you want me to show you?”

Ashalla gave the spear an icy stare for a second longer. “Yes,” was Ashalla’s terse response.

Hermes scrambled to her feet and picked up her spear. Walking over to the lapping waters by the rocky coast, she gave it a few test thrusts. She looked down into the murky waters, looking for a shallow enough place to toss it. After picking her target -- a little sandy bank by one of the rocky spires -- she tossed it with practiced agility. The spear darted through the air, and without a sound or splash slipped through the water like a sewing needle, embedding itself in the sand with nearly the exact same force that it was thrown.

Smiling up at Ashalla, Hermes presented the scene with wide arms, “See?”

Ashalla saw, but did not feel, even as the spear was thrown through her (although Hermes knew not that her form extended beyond what had an obvious shape). “Yes,” Ashalla said curtly, still apparently dissatisfied.

“Okay,” Hermes bit her lip, “Is something wrong?”

Ashalla did not answer. To answer honestly would be to admit weakness. A dishonest answer would be woefully transparent. So she silently considered her adversary, the untouchable spear. She flowed over it, and this flow moved some sand which in turn nudged the spear. This movement gave Ashalla a flash of inspiration. She lifted a watery limb out of the water, freezing into shape two rectangular blocks of ice. She then picked up the slabs of ice and clapped them around the spear. She lifted the blocks of ice, and they carried the spear with them.

Ashalla swirled triumphantly as she hefted the ice-encased spear up high. She then lobbed the chunk of ice at one of the island’s rock spires. The ice shattered and the spear clattered off the stone onto the ground. “I will not be bested by a mere tool,” she declared in a voice like a crashing wave.

“You did it,” Hermes encouraged, making her way over to the spear, a little unsure of the entire situation. She slipped the spear back into its loop and turned to Ashalla, “Is there anything else you want to try? To experience?”

Ashalla regarded the question carefully. “There is much I can create and do, but that is beyond your concern,” she answered. Ashalla then swept her gaze across the island and it fell on Poppler. She reached out with a narrow tendril and gave the cloudling a gentle poke.

The cloudling popped and sprinkled a thimble of salty rain. Poppler then floated along, following the tendril back to the source. Buzzing on up to Ashalla’s face, the cloudling began its investigation. It whirled around with thoughtful crackles before finally stopping in front of Ashalla’s face, hoving ever so slightly away from where a nose might be.

“Where do you come from, living cloud?” Ashalla asked.

“Pop!”

“The lands of K’nell and Eurysthenes,” Ashalla said. “Is that the continent which moves?”

“Crackle.”

“I thought so. And you travel with Hermes, drinking the scraps she lets you consume.”

“Zzt!” The cloudling spun in a proud protest.

“Then why do you follow Hermes?” Ashalla asked.

There was a thoughtful pause and then the cloudling resumed popping and crackling in front of the Goddess, as if explaining a long story. Poppler fell silent and landed on Ashalla’s “nose”, letting out a long crackle.

A bubble rose through Ashalla’s face. “Is that so? You’re unusually ambitious for such a simple creature.” A ripple shook the cloudling off Ashalla’s nose. “It is unlikely that you will surpass a god again, though.”

Poppler let out a quick pop that to the untrained ear almost sounded like a clicking tongue. The cloudling did a quick spin around Ashalla and then crackled.

“Remember your place, tiny one,” Ashalla admonished.

The cloulding let out a single pop and floated off back to Hermes, disappearing into her braids with a wet smack. The Dreamer looked at Ashalla with interest in her black eyes, “I think it is really neat that you can understand him. Though, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, it only makes sense.”

Ashalla shifted slightly in acknowledgement of the comment. Then her gaze settled on Xiaoli. “The motives of a simple water-being like Poppler are easy to understand. I am yet to learn much about you, though,” Ashalla said.

Xiaoli put down her cup, placed her hands on her thighs and bowed. “This servant is more than willing to answer whatever questions Your Holiness may have.”

“You are advisor to Shengshi and a fragment of his divinity. Yet you are nowhere near him. Why?”

Xiaoli tensed up. Her eyes darted first at the goddess, then at Hermes, then at the ground. There was perhaps slightly too long a pause before she finally opened her mouth. “His Lordship thought it best if this servant explored the world with Hermes, in order to learn more and return more capable at advising. This servant has learned much on her travels - she hopes her lord will be satisfied.” She kept her torso at a sharp incline towards Ashalla.

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully, then inquired, “What have you learned?”

Xiaoli looked to Hermes with a warm smile, who smiled back, then up at Ashalla with a slightly more servile expression. “Hermes has brought this servant to all manner of places, Your Holiness. She has taken this servant to see the Lustrous Garden, where we met Liana, the first serv-... Correction, good friend of Asceal; then she took this servant to see Tendlepog, her home, where she introduced the beautiful continent, like the stampeding trees, the dreamweavers, and this servant even got the pleasure of meeting His Holiness, K’nell. These experiences have taught this servant much about the cultures of these two deities, and His Holiness K’nell even bestowed upon this unworthy servant a magnificent gift.”

Xiaoli paused and presented with both hands the beautiful flute box to Ashalla. She opened it to reveal the flute within. Ashalla’s neck extended so she could look at it more closely. A watery tendril extended to taste the flute. “What is it?” Ashalla asked.

“It is a flute, Your Holiness. It is an instrument with the power to produce soothing music if played. Would Her Holiness like a demonstration?” Xiaoli said, smiling.

“Music? Yes, do demonstrate it,” Ashalla said enthusiastically.

Xiaoli extracted the flute from the box, discreetly dried the seawater off it using her oversized sleeves, and put it to her lips. She concentrated and blew a gentle puff of air that crescendoed calmly into a comfortably loud note, followed by a string of more notes that swung side to side in a soothing, almost somber melody. The sound from the flute coursed through the air like water through sand, dancing its way to the ear canals like a leaf blowing through a window. Poppler let out a weak zzt... and collapsed into Hermes’ lap for her to nurse with a few gentle pokes. Upon finishing the song, Xiaoli clutched the flute to her bosom and bowed.

“Lovely,” Ashalla said in a voice like a gentle trickle. “I had found a box which also produced music, although a different style of music. It seems that there are many possible ways to make beauty with sound.”

“Her Holiness’ observation is true; sound has a wonderfully vast potential in the arts. His Lordship thinks so, too, and often plays His harp in His chambers,” Xiaoli said and momentarily lost her warm smile. She glued it back on, however, and added, “This servant believes Hermes heard some when she first boarded Jiangzhou.”

“Yes,” Hermes nodded, “I did, it was nice.” She pursed her lips, “You found a sound box?” Xiaoli followed her gaze back to the ocean goddess, picking up her teacup again for a few more sips, only to find it empty.

“I did,” Ashalla answered Hermes.

“I found one once,” Hermes explained, “But I lost it over the ocean.” Putting the pieces together she went on, “Perhaps it's the same one?”

“Perhaps,” Ashalla said.

“Perhaps,” Hermes nodded, looking at Poppler uneasily, “You can keep it, if it is.” Xiaoli shot some worried glances between the two.

Ashalla’s gaze regarded Hermes for a moment longer before she said, “Thank you. It makes very nice music.”

Ashalla appeared to think of something as she looked at Hermes. She stretched out a pseudopod which licked against Hermes’ arm, causing her to squirm uncomfortably. Ashalla commented, “You lack pigmentation. Does K’nell not perceive different wavelengths of light?”

Hermes looked hurt, quickly glancing at Xiaoli then back at Ashalla, “You don't like how he made me?”

“Your design is lacking,” Ashalla said.

Ashalla's words seemed to hit deeper than they meant to, causing Hermes to defensively wrap her arms around herself. Without wasting time, Xiaoli put down her cup and hurried over to Hermes, casting her arms around her, whispering, “You are beautiful, my dear, but let us not dismiss a god so curtly.”

The goddess rumbled thoughtfully, then offered, “I can grant you colour.”

Hermes seemed to ponder this closely, “I like how I look… But what do you have in mind?”

“I can create pigmentation in all your external surfaces. But that’s not all,” Ashalla almost danced as she explained her idea. “Regular pigmentation is too simple, not a proper demonstration of my creative abilities. You will be able to change this colouration at will, and these pigments will be able to adopt every colour imaginable.”

“So I can be any color of any kind, whenever I want?” Hermes’ smile started in her eyes before turning her lips into a curl, “That's amazing!”

“Yes,” Ashalla said. Her pseudopod brushed a crackling Poppler out of Hermes’ lap before she said, “Hold your breath.” Xiaoli reluctantly let go of Hermes and shuffled back a little.

The pseudopod suddenly swelled to dwarf Hermes and surged forwards to swallow the Dreamer. Hermes was lifted from the ground as the water crept into every pore and crevice of her body. Her skin and eyes stung painfully from the intrusion. Hermes struggled in pain, causing a worried Poppler to circle the event with anxious popping and a concerned Xiaoli to place her palms over her mouth to hide her panicking gasps.

After several excruciatingly long seconds Hermes found herself sitting on the ground once more, soaking wet but unharmed. “It is done,” Ashalla declared.

Hermes blunk, frozen in shock. Her hands were a strange crimson, which faded into a dark orange as it crept up her arms, which in turn turned yellow, then slowly into green by her shoulders. Prying her shirt away from her neck with her thumb, she let out a gasp as she looked down, “I’m so…”

The colors of her body shifted to a totally new palette as she spoke, her eyes growing ever wider in wonder, “...I’m so pretty!”

Ashalla burbled proudly. “And as you wander the world, all shall see the beauty wrought by my, Ashalla’s, work.”

Hermes’ hair turned a solid black, and her skin copied the complexion of Xiaoli’s. The Dreamer wore a playful smile as she looked over to Xiaoli, who looked absolutely slack-jawed, then back at Ashalla. Suddenly shifting to a beautiful oceanic blue, her smile widened to that akin of K’nell’s own, “Thank you very much, Ashalla.”

Ashalla let Hermes appreciate her gift for a few more moments before her burbling stilled. “However, it appears that colour is not the only thing K’nell neglected when creating you,” Ashalla said more sombrely. Hermes’ smile faded and twisted into one of worry. Her brow collapsed on itself and all her new color seemed to drain away to the original. Ashalla continued, “You have no capacity to reproduce.”

“I know,” Hermes said defensively, her arms wrapping around her abdomen, Poppler landing on her crossed arms with a comforting crackle. Xiaoli, looking a little guilty, chose to stand by Hermes, but not to touch her.

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully for a long while. Finally she stretched out a line pointing vaguely northwards and said, “In that direction is the island of Arae, whose domain is family. She may be able to rectify K’nell’s short-sight.”

Looking out in the direction the God had indicated, Hermes gave a firm nod, “I think I will pay Arae a visit, then.” Xiaoli blinked, but soon formed a smile at her.

”Pop!”

Two and 70% Waters

Ashalla spots Hermes and Xiaoli zooming overhead and intercepts to investigate. After hasty introductions, they move to a nearby island just north of the Kick to be properly introduced.

In the pursuit, Ashalla left behind her music box, floating on the ocean. She’ll go back for it, but hypothetically someone could find it first if they were quick.

Xiaoli kowtows, and on questioning explains to Ashalla that this is a gesture of humility and recognition of Ashalla’s superior rank. Hermes refuses to bow and instead asks Ashalla to be her friend. Ashalla rejects the offer.

The suave divine diplomat she is, Hermes turns the conversation back to Ashalla, a topic Ashalla is happy to discuss. She demonstrates some colourful sea life and ice sculptures to show off her creativity. She then asks what Xiaoli and Hermes have created.

Hermes demonstrates dancing with Xiaoli as her dance partner, a talent she’d learned from K’nell. Ashalla considers it wonderful.

Xiaoli demonstrates tea and the tea ceremony, using the love tea flowers. Ashalla is indifferent, her senses not suited for appreciating food. Xiaoli and Hermes drink the tea, before Hermes suggests adding sugar Tendlepog sweet grass. Xiaoli objects, Ashalla is indifferent, and Poppler is all for it.

Ashalla then discovers the spear of fishing and that she can’t touch it, because it ignores water. This infuriates her, because it implies weakness. She eventually picks it up using ice and throws it, and her temper subsides.

Ashalla and Poppler have a conversation.

Ashalla then interrogates Xiaoli as to why Shengshi’s Avatar and advisor is not with Shengshi. Xiaoli claims she was sent to learn, and then tells of her travels. She then demonstrates the flute K’nell gave her. Ashalla likes it.

Ashalla mentions the music box she found. Hermes recognises the description, but lets Ashalla keep it.

Ashalla notes Hermes’ lack of colour, who gets offended at mention of her incompleteness. Ashalla then blesses Hermes with colour. Now all exterior surfaces of Hermes is colourful, and Hermes can change the colours at will. Ostensibly, this gift was given so that Ashalla’s artistry can be seen by all who see Hermes.

Ashalla brings up Hermes’ infertility, striking another nerve. Ashalla suggests that Hermes should visit Arae at Dragon’s Crown.

Might Summary

Ashalla
Start: 10 MP & 8 FP
Spent: 1 MP blessing Hermes with colour
End: 9 MP & 8 FP
Portfolios: 4/10 towards Colour
8/10 towards Storms
9/10 towards Ice

Bloopers

“I am a god, and I am the ocean. My name is Ashalla,” the goddess answered. The tendril reached Hermes and licked at her sandals.

“Dis some fetish shit, bruh.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

---

Hermes looked down at Xiaoli, then back up at Ashalla, “I like beautiful things,”

---

“Yes,” Hermes nodded, “I did, it was nice.” She pursed her lips, “You found a sound box?” Xiaoli followed her gaze back to the ocean goddess, picking up her teacup again for a few more sips, only to find it empty. Thus, she refilled it from the serving cup only to find it replaced with a bear. She discarded the bear with a sigh and put a fresh pot over the fire. Damn Tuesdays...

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

@Scarescrow Welcome back.

It seems that you have solid long-term plans. This is good. However, the IC has moved somewhat since you were last here. The only thing that impacts you is that Anzillu has turned its severed appendage into an Avatar, so that is no longer available as the story of Adam's birth. You will need to renegotiate Adam's parentage and origins.

Further, there are still a few other points I raised in the review that need to be addressed. You need to settle on some abilities. You need to elaborate on the personality. And some of Adam's short-term plans did not quite work, although with mortals getting closer that might be less important.

Submit a revised character sheet and determine the manner of Adam's birth, and we shall review Adam again.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

Ashalla

Ashalla swam with joyous pulsations. ‘Your reef is gorgeous,’ Azura had said. Someone thought her creation was gorgeous. She had always known that her creations were beautiful, yet the affirmation left her jubilant. Ashalla swam eastwards to find new parts of the world to inspire her next creation.

She found a new continent which was currently quite rocky. She circumnavigated the coast around the south. The great volcano of Muspell was still sitting where Ashalla had seen it earlier. As the coastline turned towards lower latitudes the barren landscape gave way to grasslands and forests inhabited by insects and colourful birds. A detour southwards to the Eye of Desolation revealed that all the islands of the crater were now covered in plants and life. Then she travelled back north to travel up the east coast of Kalgrun, looking at the forests there.

Ashalla marvelled at the beautiful diversity of plants and animals. This area tasted of Phystene’s essence. Ashalla felt inspired to create a few living things of her own. She took a lizard and modified it, giving it wider feet for swimming, waterproof eyes, and a long snout with nostrils on top so it could breathe while mostly submerged in the water. She took a few birds and gave them waterproof feathers and webbed feet. And she adapted a few trees to grow in shallow sea water, their physiology made to handle the extra salt and their trunk suspended above the water level by stilt-like roots so they would not have to fight against the ocean currents. Ashalla felt quite proud of her additions to this ecosystem.

As Ashalla swam onwards, she passed through a strait which seemed to have perpetual rain clouds. Across the strait was a large sandy island, the beaches held together by dune grasses. In the middle of this strait Ashalla found something quite peculiar sitting on the seafloor. It was a wooden box which tasted of Vakk’s essence. It was filled with water, so Ashalla could see that its interior was filled with intricate mechanisms of wood and metal. It was unlike anything Ashalla had ever seen before.

Ashalla opened the box’s lid, and when she did the mechanisms started to turn, but they appeared to struggle against the water’s drag. She closed the lid, lifted the box above the surface of the ocean, drained it of water, then opened the box once more.

A ripple washed over Ashalla as the notes began to play. There was something about the tone of each note, the harmonies of overlapping notes and the rhythms as the notes changed which made the music greater than the sum of vibrations in the air. The piece pulled on her metaphorical heartstrings and she was mesmerised by the beauty of it. It was like the birdsongs of Azura’s gemstone gardeners, yet meticulously crafted such that no note was out of place.

Ashalla listened to the music box for a long time, rain gently pattering around her. Eventually the sky began to darken and Ashalla was pulled out of her reverie. She reluctantly closed the lid of the box. She would have to find some place safe and dry to keep it. Ashalla continued swimming northwards, carrying the box above the waves.

She eventually reached the ocean north of Kalgrun, and the water here was much cooler. At higher latitudes, she even started noticing chunks of ice floating in the ocean. She inspected the frozen water, pondering its uses and admiring the abstract curves and shapes carved by the water and sun. As the sun came close to orbiting the horizon, Ashalla noticed that the seafloor was rising. Her curiosity piqued, she swam northwards until she found land at the top of the world.

The island was a couple hundred kilometers in diameter and was ringed by mountains. In its very centre was a stone spire which pierced the sky which glimmered with Azura’s signature colour. The barren ground had a patchy covering of snow and ice.

Ashalla looked at the island for a while. From where she was looking, it appeared quite utilitarian. She also noticed the blue sky shift, and realised that Azura must be present on the island. Ashalla thought she would pay her friend a visit and show her the music box she had found.

The ocean surged forwards and gathered on the shore. This wave continued to roll uphill in defiance of all known laws of hydrodynamics. Ashalla collected snow and ice from the ground and melted them into her form to supplement the water lost as she dragged herself across the ground. It was a tough climb up the mountain slopes, but Ashalla would not let something as mundane as a mountain stop her. Eventually she reached the top of the mountains, slithered through a mountain pass, then flowed downhill like a torrential river into the valley between the ring of mountains and the sky-piercing spire.

The valley was barren. Ashalla pooled in a depression as she drunk puddles of rainwater and snow and considered her next move. The central mountain was very steep and tall. While Ashalla would not have admitted it, climbing over the normal-sized mountains had been an ordeal, so climbing to the peak of this vast mountain would have taken a lot out of her. Ashalla considered calling Azura down to her when she noticed movement down in the valley.

It was a creature, if that word could be used, of floating stone and clouds. It was carrying a load of rocks and dust, which it dropped on a pile of more rocks before turning around and floating back the way it came. Another almost identical entity came with another load of rocks and did the same. As Ashalla watched, she saw a whole procession of these entities.

Curious, Ashalla approached the strange creatures, which did not react to her presence. A pseudopod of water reached out and brushed over one of the creatures, which recoiled from her touch before returning to its task as if nothing had happened. It tasted of Azura.

Ashalla stretched a head up to look along the procession, and noticed that they were coming from a ravine in the base of the mountain. Ashalla flowed past the procession and into the ravine. She traveled almost a kilometer from where the autonomous creatures were dumping their rubble loads, the walls of the ravine growing ever higher and ever closer together as she did so. The ground below her made of the same rubble the drones had been dumping outside, the creatures having clearly been pushing their deposit site further and further out of the ravine as more and more material had piled up, threatening to seal them in if they did not press on further and inadvertently reveal the location of their work to those like Ashalla. At first this uneven gravel pathway was slick with snowmelt that flowed slowly downhill, but as she approached the end this centimeters deep river was replaced first by snow proper, and then by ice, making the path a treacherous one for those who might walk it.

Eventually, after dodging several dozen drones Ashalla arrived at the end of the ravine. Above her the tops of the walls reached hundreds of meters above her and were but centimeters apart, having curved together until, here, they joined together. Past the final few meters, the now cave-like ravine was its end point, a bleak cliff face of stone into which a grand entryway had been carved, vast enough to accommodate even the most colossal of the Gods. The walls around the cavernous gateway were smoothly carved and engraved with wavy wind-like patterns that framed it and brought the eye to an engraving perched atop the entryway. There, carved in the language of the gods, was the name of this secluded tomb: The Vault of Souls.

As Ashalla approached the cavernous mouth of the Vault she felt more strongly what she realised she had been feeling softly during her whole approach- a gentle yet bitingly cold breeze emerging from the vault itself. Yet as the flow of air increased the flow of floating stone workers subsided. They where now found higher up, seemingly riding an air current that flowed in opposition to the one at surface level. Stretching a watery limb high up she discovered a warm breeze dragged into the depths of the tunnels and realised that the Vault, in a sense, breathed.

Beyond the entryway the smoothly curved tunnel travelled forwards a way before transforming into a staircase that plunged deeper below the mountain, the way down pitch black except for faint lights emanating from the stone workers who continued to ignore her presence. Ashalla paused to look down into the depths. There was a moment of hesitation, not from any sense that she might be trespassing, but rather on whether she would be able to climb back up after descending. Ashalla quickly overcame her trepidation and poured down the staircase.

It was unclear for just how long she descended the gargantuan staircase into the depths but as she did so it became clear that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, a soft glow similar to that emanating from the Vault’s curators. When she finally glided off that final step she became the first ever to see the depths of the vault, for it was a place its creator dared not venture. In the depths of the earth, below the north pole itself, was a vast tube shaped room that stretched up and down for kilometers. Around its outside where rings of walkways linked by a dozen sets of spiral staircases that all crept their way up and down its walls. All of these had sturdy stone banisters that warded human sized individuals from falling off, as well as columns of increasing thickness and decreasing frequency that would do the same for larger creatures. The Caretakers did not use these stairs, nor were they protected by the banisters, and yet they continued to carve them while extending the core of the vault ever deeper.

As Ashalla exited out into this near pitch black hub she was able to see, thanks to her godly dark vision, a series of carved plaques set into the nearest supporting pillar that described what was contained on each floor. Most of these were empty but those that were not contained descriptions in the format of: tunnel number, species categorization, date of arrival (denoted in days since creation) and name starting letter. The floor she was on for example contained, among many other things, "Tunnel 3: Mice, 0 - present, A-Z"

Looking along the walls of her floor Ashalla could indeed see a number of tunnels, each one with a number carved above it and a similar plaque set near its entrance. It was from these tunnels that the soft glow that just barely lit up the place emanated. Ashalla reached a tendril of water into one of the tunnels and looked inside. Into its wall were carved thousands of small shelves, each one housing a singular crystal. Below these shelves an inscription had been engraved on a small placard, consisting of a name, species, date of entombment, and a brief description akin to a obituary. Every single one of these Ashalla read pertained to some simple creature or plant. Every single one of their very simple descriptions, ones that were written in the manner a creature like the one it was describing might speak to a god, had ended suddenly and violently.

Ashalla picked up one of the crystals and tasted it. It was a soul, yet one given solid form. It was also very cold. Ashalla replaced the crystal and looked around the room and the vault once more. Azura had… frozen all these souls, if that was the right word. Souls of the dead, preserved forevermore. With nothing more worth seeing, Ashalla began the long climb back to the surface. As she climbed, she pondered why Azura might have done such a thing. Did she have some purpose for the souls? Was she considering using them as a power source, like she had done in the drones? Maybe she hoped to keep a record of the lives of all creatures on this planet. Ashalla wasn’t sure, but she could ask.

When she made it back to the surface, she called out to Azura, who was perched high above the clouds. "Hello, Azura. What have you made here?"

Ashalla got nothing but silence for a few long moments before she got a response in the form of a rapid-fire series of questions "Ashalla? What are you doing here? Where are you?"

"I’m down the bottom of this big mountain you made. I came to show you a music box I found but then I saw your floating-rock-cloud-creatures digging a hole in the mountain and found a bunch of frozen souls down the bottom." Ashalla twisted so her face had a better view up the mountain. "Did you want to come down and talk?"

"Oh dear," Azura said, followed by another lengthy pause. Eventually she added, "Yes. I’ll come and see you. Be with you in just a moment so sit tight."

As she peered up the mountain Ashalla saw a pair of large doors being thrown open on the vast twin ringed structure built around its peak, out of which the Colossal Bird Body of Azura emerged. The gates slammed shut behind her, after which Azura sailed around the blue in a few lazy circles until she seemingly spotted Ashalla, at which point she descended rapidly to the mountain's base. The Azura that landed just a little way away from her was a different compared to the one Ashalla had battled the storm haunting Veradax’s shadow with. Dust, damp and stray feathers marred her radiant plumage. She had bags under her eyes and they were also slightly red.

Ashalla noticed Azura’s weariness. The water of her form stretched out towards the big bird and licked Azura’s right wing. Ashalla tasted traces of blood and sap from mortal beings. "Have you been in a fight?" Ashalla asked, mildly concerned.

Azura tilted her head in confusion "Hmm? No… Not yet" she said before taking a moment to examine herself. "Hmmm. I am looking a little worse for wear I suppose. Haven't had much time for beauty sleep or preening lately." The massive bird shook herself, dislodging a few stray feathers and a touch of the grime, but it did little to improve matters. She looked away, perhaps a touch embarrassed at being seen in such a state, and ended up looking at the entrance to the ravine. "Ah, I can see how you found the Vault so easily," Azura commented as she watched another pile of rocks being thrown into to the slowly expanding gravel field. "I’ll need to do something about that. Can’t have just anyone snooping around in there." Azura locked her gaze firmly on Ashalla and said, "I need you to promise me that you won't speak a word of this to Katharsos or anyone who might let this slip to him."

For the second time in her existence Ashalla had been asked to promise something. Yet like the first time, she would not take making promises lightly. "Why should I promise that?" Ashalla asked.

The claws on one of Azura’s talons scraped against the ground pensively before she answered, "It could hurt me greatly if you told him. But I don’t even need you to lie for me though. Just don’t go out of your way to tell him of the vault and its contents for just a little while until I am ready to make this knowledge public. Please. I would be in your debt"

Ashalla rumbled thoughtfully. It did not appear to be a difficult promise which Azura asked. "Alright, I shall keep your secret," Ashalla said.

Azura breathed a sigh of relief, visibly releasing some of the tension that had gripped her since her arrival. Then she bowed her head and said, "Thank you Ashalla. I will remember this kindness," before raising back up and saying, "I also owe you an explanation my friend. What you just saw in the Vault of Souls was the results of my initial experiments into preserving souls by crystallizing them into a solid form after death to keep them from being pulled by the Vortex of Souls. So far I have only worked with simpler minds but I intend to work with more complex souls when I get the opportunity. My end goal is to prevent souls such as ours and those of mortals yet to come from being committed to Katharsos’s flame as those that came with us from the void were."

Ashalla pondered this for a moment before asking, "But why would you bother preserving mortal souls?"

Azura cocked her head once more as if the very question confused her, and then responded, "They are like us. They think, they feel. They love and learn. When I saw them up there in Katharsos’s Sphere I realised that were it not for the idle whims of the Architect we could have been in their place, lining up to be reduced to ash by a monstrous executioner. I also realised that if I had been one of them I would have fought my end with all my might with the hope that one of the gods was working to save me. By mere chance however I was that god Ashalla. I came to them in their hour of need. I tried to save them. I failed. I failed them all Ashalla. But I will not fail again!"

"So you identify with mortals. Interesting," Ashalla commented dispassionately.

"I empathise with them yes..." Azura responded, visibly disturbed by Ashalla’s lack of sympathy for the mortals’ plight.

"So what do you plan to do with the preserved souls? I noticed they could be used as a power source," Ashalla asked

Azura answered Ashalla’s question a touch sheepishly, "I uh, haven't really decided. Yes they can be used for power, the Curators’ simple souls take advantage of that fact, but I know I for one would not like to be used as a source of energy without my consent, so I do not intend to use those saved as such. I intend to discuss this with others in time, mortal and god alike, to create a suitable life after death for the souls that end up in my care. For the moment however the most important thing is to perfect the art so that all can be saved as soon as possible. What comes after is a concern for a later date."

Ashalla rumbled once more. She then decided to turn her attention to other matters. She pulled forwards the wooden box she had been carrying around and held it between her and Azura. "I found this on the bottom of the ocean," she said as she opened the box, allowing the melancholic tune to play.

"That’s an odd place to find such a thing," she responded before the music washed over her. She became calm, serenely so, a passivity that was broken infrequently by violent twitches which were quickly quelled by the perfect melody.

Ashalla’s face shifted to one of concern and confusion. "Is there something wrong, Azura? You are acting strangely."

"I’m fine," Azura responded calmly, "I’m just tired. And busy. Very busy." Then she flinched as if struck and then growled "Why are you here!" before serenity overtook her once more and she fell silent.

Ashalla closed the music box with a click and the music ceased. Azura shook her head but seemed to not have noticed that anything was amiss and instead simply commented idly that "The music was nice"

Ashalla then spoke. "As I swam here, I saw chunks of frozen water and had a few ideas. If you want to keep this place secret, then maybe some kind of physical barrier would help. A vast plain of ice and snow, perhaps."

"Hmmm." Azura seemed to ponder this for a few moments. "Yes that could work. Snow to cover the gravel, ice to hide the chilling of the area around the vault. I could modify the curators slightly. Make them only dump materials during snowfall perhaps." She nodded enthusiastically. "That would be a wonderful way to hide it. Bit like throwing a white sheet over it."

Ashalla rippled in excitement. "Excellent! I’ll get started right away," she declared before flowing up the slopes of the mountain range. "I’ll see you another time, Azura."

"Thank you so much Ashalla! That’s two I owe you now!" Azura shouted up after her.

Ashalla eventually made it over the mountains and back to the ocean. She drank deeply of the ocean’s vastness, replenishing lost water and expanding back out to a comfortable size. As soon as she was replenished, Ashalla deposited the music box on the shore of the island and receded into the ocean as she started the task of freezing over the north pole.

The mechanism of freezing water was simple enough. She just had to move energy from the water to the surrounding environment. Because the ambient temperature was already hovering around the freezing point of water, this was not especially difficult. Ashalla pulled half of her form out of the ocean and carried the water’s warmth with it, flash freezing a portion of the sea into a great ice floe topped with twisting pillars of ice. Ashalla continued her dance spiralling around the north pole, conjuring ice twisted into fantastical shapes.

She did not forget the north pole itself. While her original plans did not include moving ice onto land, Azura had requested it, and it was a simple enough addition. Ashalla drew herself up to mountainous heights and began hurling ice and water over the mountain range into the valley beyond. She could not actually see where the water and ice was landing, but she assumed it was probably fine provided she didn’t throw enough water to flood the valley and the Vault of Souls. She wanted to build a solid foundation for a thick layer of permafrost which would help conceal the contents of the valley. If the ice got in the way the Curators could just dig through it.

With what Ashalla believed to be enough ice deposited within the mountain range, she continued her dance around the north pole. As she progressed outwards, she got more creative with the ice formations she made. Where many of the formations were twisted bits of ice, she took a bit more care with a few sculptures. Some she twisted into elaborate abstract forms. A few she carefully formed to refract the light in dazzling ways. Others she carved into likenesses of living things. She made likenesses of each of the gods. Of Azura she made multiple sculptures. She also made sculptures of all the plants and animals she had seen, for she had a lot of space to work with. She even carved a few maps of places on Galbar.

There was no utilitarian purpose to these ice sculptures. They made the terrain harder to walk across, but such a goal could have been achieved with much simpler formations. Rather, Ashalla was loathe to create a blank and featureless ice sheet. With a new medium to explore and plenty of blank canvas to work with, it was only natural for her to experiment.

After many days of work, Ashalla had stretched the polar ice cap to over a thousand kilometers from the north pole. It was chilled by the Vault of Souls and by being only on the fringes of Heliopolis’ beam, so the ice cap would remain indefinitely, but it would shift and change over time for ice was not a durable material. The sculptures were ephemeral, although the lasting impact of Ashalla’s will meant that they would surely be replaced by other artistic forms as wind, sun and water carved the ice sheet.

Her work done, Ashalla swam underneath the ice sheet and burrowed up through the ice near the north pole to retrieve the music box. Although this was one possible place to store it, Azura’s strange reaction to the music box made Ashalla feel that this was a bad location to leave the box. She carried it with her as she swam southwards to warmer, more occupied waters. Perhaps she would find another home for it elsewhere.

Summary

Because Azura praised Ashalla’s creations (back at the Great Soul Reef), Ashalla now considers Azura a friend.

Ashalla navigates Kalgrun’s coast. She modifies a few creatures, creating mangroves, salt-water crocodiles and sea birds (default godly power of mutation under Oceans Portfolio).

Ashalla discovers the Box of Orchestration. She identifies its creator and finds the music to be beautiful. She decides to keep the box, even though it doesn’t work underwater.

Ashalla gets to the North Pole and identifies Azura’s handiwork. She hauls herself over the mountain range, where she discovers the Curators and the Vault of Souls. She explores the Vault of Souls, giving us a look at the inside, before returning to the surface and calling Azura.

Azura is paranoid and suspicious that someone had found her secret soul vault. She makes Ashalla promise not to tell Katharsos, a promise which Ashalla eventually agrees to, before explaining the purpose of the Vault. Ashalla does not sympathise with the plight of the mortal souls, in contrast with Azura’s deep empathy for the mortals. Azura also doesn’t have a plan yet as to what to do with the mortals she saves.

Ashalla shows Azura the music box she found. Azura also appears to find the music beautiful and serene, except for when she makes brief violent outbursts directed at the music which she promptly forgets about. It is unclear why Azura behaves this way, but Ashalla decides that it’s best to keep the box away from Azura in the future.

Ashalla then pitches her idea for a polar ice cap, suggesting it could improve security. Azura likes this idea, so Ashalla goes off to execute it. Ashalla freezes the surface of the ocean for over a thousand kilometres from the north pole, and also covers the ice cap with innumerable ice sculptures of all sorts. While the individual ice sculptures are ephemeral, Ashalla’s influence in the region means that there will always be ice sculptures of some description covering the ice cap. They also make the ice cap very difficult to walk through. She also dumps a bunch of ice inside the north pole valley, extending the ice sheet inland.

Might Summary

Ashalla
Start: 6 MP & 7 FP
Spent: 7 FP & 1 MP on creating the sculpture-filled polar ice cap (major terrain modification, enhanced a tiny bit by Oceans I guess)
End: 5 MP & 0 FP
Portfolios: 2/10 towards Colour
8/10 towards Storms
9/10 towards Ice

Azura
Start: 0 MP & 0 FP
No Might spent

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

The spiralling clouds of Skylord Aurora hovered over the ocean, with countless lesser air elementals flitting about her form. Soon, a great mass of liquid hydrocarbons rose out of the sea beside her, Arene the sea-lord. The ocean teemed with the great density of hydrocarbon elementals. Finally, a small mountain of rust-red stone reared up from the ground, revealing Ferrum, and the earth shook as myriad stone elementals surged underneath it.

We are all gathered, Aurora announced. It is almost dawn. Let us not tarry any longer.

Aurora and her retinue took to the skies, Arene and her forces sunk back into the ocean, and Ferrum and his army merged into the ground. The three elemental lords headed north across the ocean, heading towards Promethean territory.

~~~~

Elemental army at [-4.2,10.6] moving.
Elemental army at [60.1,3.9] moving.
Elemental army at [10.1,-1.32] moving.
Observation: Elemental armies moving at dawn.
Knowledge: Elementals apparently lack long-range communication.
Deduction: Elemental armies using dawn as cue to move.
Consequence: Remaining elemental armies will move when dawn occurs locally.
Factoring deduction into prediction of elemental army locations.
Route plotted for D0003051.
Launching long-range missiles.

~~~~

A storm of driving winds, sleet, hail and fog rolled towards the colony in the far north, concealing the great horde of elementals within. Great boulders and shards of ice hurled in front of the storm triggered many landmines before the elementals reached them. Railgun shells and missiles were hurled into the storm, but the Prometheans were firing blind, making it impossible to tell whether the bombardment was effective. Destroyers which flew into the cloud were swiftly destroyed by the overwhelming number of elementals within.

The cloud rolled forwards and enveloped the front line of Promethean defences. There was the thunder of railgun shells, crack of gunfire, buzzing of capacitors, flare of missiles, bang of warheads, searing of flamethrowers, billowing of wind, creaking of metal, rumbling of earth, sloshing of liquid, crackling of ice. One by one the radio voices of Promethean destroyers fell to silence, while the cloud was still vast and impenetrable, merely slowed in its advance.

Yet a beacon of hope remained for colony. A bright flare of rocket-fire marked the entrance of a new Promethean Destroyer as it swooped down from its sub-orbital trajectory to powered flight parallel to the ground. The three thousand degree torch of its nuclear rocket engine billowed out below it. The Destroyer, designated D0003051, passed over the great cloud, and wherever the flame touched the cloud instantly evaporated, along with any elementals unfortunate enough to get too close to the fire. The wash of super-heated gases expanded outwards and the fog which had been concealing the elemental army boiled away to a few pitiful shreds.

The cover gone, the Prometheans were able to bring their artillery to bear, and the larger elementals were picked off from afar. A furious stormlord turned its focus towards the thruster-wielding Destroyer and shot off in pursuit. Sensing the threat, the Destroyer launched several explosive shells at its pursuer, which burst in mid-air. This hindered the djinn's pursuit for long enough for the Destroyer to throttle up its rocket engine and manoeuvre the fiery jet to be pointed directly at the djinn. With a screech of tortured wind the stormlord burned away and from this great rocket thrust D0003051 launched itself away. There were more elemental hordes to deal with, and D0003051 could not afford to squander propellant on wasted manoeuvres.

~~~~

Gale force winds battered the coast of a Promethean colony. The ocean swelled as Arene and her legions surged forwards, driven by Aurora's mighty winds. When this swell hit the shore, it welled up into a tsunami which surged forwards, unfettered by gunfire and flaming oxygen. The great wave tossed Prometheans about, and the dislodged robots were set upon by the myriad elementals with-in the wave. The tsunami only stopped when it struck a dike which the Prometheans had built to defend against such an assault. The momentum of the wave spent itself on the earth wall and the ocean receded revealing the army of elementals within, which continued their charge along the beach and up the dike.

They were met by more gunfire and artillery from beyond the barrier. Oxygen being pumped out of vents along the top of the dike coupled with incendiary rounds set the advancing hydrocarbon elementals ablaze, crowning the wall of earth with a wall of fire. Overhead fighter jets engaged air elementals to clear the way for bombers, which rained explosives upon Arene's legions.

This bombardment could not continue as Stormlord Aurora was close behind, forcing the flying Destroyers to withdraw or be destroyed. Salvos of missiles burst against her, although they did little to harm her vast form. Aurora's winddjinn darted out from the cover she provided to deliver rapid strikes against the Prometheans. Aurora herself lifted up many hydrocarbon elementals with her cyclonic winds and hurled them deep into the Promethean's defences where they could wreak havoc.

Then Ferrum's stonedjinn burst forth from beneath the earth, tearing apart the dike and the oxygen pipes within it as they emerged. The hydrocarbon elementals surged forwards through the breach. They were met by more concentrated gunfire and artillery. Yet Arene saw this and she surged forwards as a mighty wave, carrying earth and hydrocarbon elemental alike, sheltering them from the bombardment and carrying them up to the Prometheans.

Long-range missiles arriving in: 12 s.
promethean.N0001045> missile.002492.set_target(enemy.001415) ("Storm elemental, colossal")
promethean.N0001045> missile.002493.set_target(enemy.025431) ("Hydrocarbon elemental, colossal")
promethean.N0001045> missile.002494.set_target(enemy.001415) ("Storm elemental, colossal")
promethean.N0001045> D0003050.update_task(Task=task.3001282.000049,Status="execute")
promethean.D0003050: Processing Task No. 3001282 Sub-Task No. 000049.

Arene stood amidst the Prometheans, swatting them aside with limbs like tsunamis. More stonedjinn emerged from the ground to assault the Prometheans at close range. As the artillery weakened, Aurora pressed forwards. Yet, while the elementals watched the ground below, only Aurora truly watched the skies above. There were three specks of light, rapidly getting brighter. Aurora could immediately tell what was coming and her form started to disperse. She called out a warning. Arene, look out! Above you!

The liquid colossus twisted her visage to look skywards, yet it took her precious moments to find what Aurora had warned her of. She started to dive out of the way, but it was too late.

The missiles, which were far larger than any carried by a Destroyer, burst open to deliver their payloads. Explosions hurled forwards great metal rods, adding to the speed of the missile. These metal rods delivered devastating amounts of kinetic energy. The rods pierced through Arene like beams of fire, vapourising much of her body and tearing apart the rest of it through the shockwaves. Then the missile itself struck, an explosive in the fuel tanks converting the remaining rocket fuel and oxidant into a ferocious fireball, consuming what remained of Arene. Two such missile struck Aurora, although with her advanced notice she had managed to dissipate enough to soften the blow. Nevertheless, the explosions still sent ripples through her form.

Arene! Aurora cried out. Yet all that remained of the once-grand hydrocarbon elemental was a patch of smouldering carbon and a cloud of steam. Ferrum, Arene has fallen. We need you up here.

"I'll need cover," rumbled a voice from the earth. Then the earth itself shook and quaked as Ferrum rose up. Using seismographs and gravimeters the Prometheans had been tracking Ferrum's rough location, so they knew to avoid leaving Prometheans too densely clustered in that area. Still Ferrum crushed a Destroyer under a colossal stone hand as he climbed up to the surface, weathering cannon fire and missile bursts.

Several of Aurora's skylords rushed forwards and covered Ferrum in an obscuring cloud of mist and dust. A storm of pebbles and rocks was thrown up to hinder missiles and confuse the Prometheans' radar. Ferrum raged against every Promethean he could reach, his enormous mass able to crush steel armour with ease. Yet the cover which the skylords provided was meagre at best. Aurora finished reforming and pushed forwards to catch up with Ferrum.

Yet Aurora's path was suddenly blocked by a horizontal jet of three thousand degree plasma, ionising her front fringe. An eye of lightning turned to look at the source and saw a unique Promethean Destroyer made entirely of black metal and with an incandescent nozzle from which it had spouted the flame a moment ago. It was large and rotund in form, had caterpillar treads on both its underside and topside, a total of four nozzles pointing in all four cardinal directions and an array of more conventional-looking weaponry.

The unique Destroyer, designated D0003050, turned to face Aurora more directly and released another jet of plasma - a rocket jet, Aurora realised even as part of her form evaporated and ionised. She tried to Aurora swirled around the Destroyed to try to flank it, but the jets on all four sides fired leaving no safe direction of approach along ground level. Aurora gathered above the Destroyer, her form sloping up and away from the Destroyer to keep clear of the rocket jets. The Destroyer fired mortars up at Aurora, although its mortar fire was much less impressive than its rocket jets. Aurora slammed down on the Destroyer, slipped her grip between the firing arcs of the rockets, then lifted the Destroyed into the air and hurled it.

The Destroyer fired its rockets as it spun. Plasma jets sliced through Aurora who recoiled in pain, while also attempting to stabilise itself. The modified rocket nozzles lacked the thrust to provide true lift, instead optimised for maximal energy flux, but they helped a little. The Destroyer landed on its treads with a terrible thud which dug a crater into the earth. Yet, to Aurora's horrified amazement, the Destroyer had suffered hardly a dent from a fall and landing which would have obliterated other Prometheans.

Ferrum, I need some help over here, Aurora called as the Destroyer crawled out of its crater, jets of plasma and bursts of machine-gun fire dispatching most of the lesser elementals which attempted to hinder it while its incredible armour shrugged off the blows of those which did get through.

Yet Ferrum had another target in his eyes. Long-ranged artillery from further inland continued to chip away at his form. Between him and the artillery was the Nexus of this colony, and there were surprisingly few Destroyers between him and the Nexus. There were enough to hold back the lesser elementals, but a mighty stonelord like himself? Ferrum spared one glance at Aurora and made a decision. "I have a better plan," Ferrum roared as he charged towards the Nexus.

Prometheans were crushed underfoot. Bullets ricocheted off his form. Skylords swept ahead to keep bombers out of Ferrum's path. The artillery fire became more concentrated, yet even that was not enough to stop Ferrum's advance. In moments he was upon the Nexus and great stone fists plunged through its steel hull and tore it apart like paper. Ferrum let out a booming laugh, which was cut short when he saw what was inside the Nexus: not the usual manufacturing lines and half-built Prometheans, but stacks and stacks of explosives.

Ferrum did not even have time to curse before the Nexus detonated. A great flare of light filled the Nexus as the high-pressure blast wave converted it into twisted high-speed shrapnel. The blast wave ripped through Ferrum, reduced him to gravel and dust, and also hurled him outwards. The blast wave followed by the expanding cloud of debris shredded elemental and Promethean alike, and the battlefield was covered in a thick cloud of dust.

Ferrum! Aurora cried out. Two elemental lords slain in one battle by the plans of these accursed machines. The Prometheans had known the elementals' plans and made their counter-moves, willing to sacrifice one replaceable colony if it meant killing two irreplaceable elementals. And all the while this black-hulled fire-spewing indestructible monstrosity of a machine mocked her and wore her down.

Aurora hurled a great lightning bolt at the Destroyer, to no effect. She knew that all but the most hastily constructed Prometheans were properly earthed so minimally affected by lightning, but she was frustrated. Aurora looked out towards the horizon. Distant Destroyers continued to fire artillery and a squadron of flying Destroyers were inbound. Closer at hand there was chaos, the remaining elementals brawling with the remaining Prometheans. But while the Prometheans suffered no ill feelings from the destruction of their Nexus, the morale of the elementals had been shattered and many were fleeing.

Reluctantly, Aurora issued a command, Fall back. The battle is lost.

The elementals swarmed away. Hydrocarbon elementals slipped back into the ocean. Earth elementals sunk back into the ground. Air elementals gathered into Aurora, who rose up and flew away. Even as the elementals were leaving, Prometheans were dispatched from neighbouring colonies to salvage and rebuild the ruined colony.

~~~~

All elemental armies destroyed or retreating.
Calculating casualties
Re-calibrating strategy
Conclusion: Elementals unlikely (p<0.05) to repeat this attack for at least 2.1 years.
Increasing priority of interplanetary colonisation.

Kzinti Lesson

A reaction drive's efficiency as a weapon is in direct proportion to its efficiency as a drive.

The elementals launch their largest attack on Promethean territory ever, with armies assaulting from all directions. The Prometheans saw this coming and had prepared accordingly.

One countermeasure was the Destroyer D0003051, which is a spaceship which uses its nuclear rocket engine as a weapon against elementals on the ground. It is a rapid striker cutting great swathes through elemental armies before flying off to deal with the next army. This is a direct application of existing spaceflight technology.

Another countermeasure was long-ranged missiles. The Prometheans don't have nukes, but they can still fit hefty 'conventional' payloads on sub-orbital rockets. This is a direct application of rocketry, ballistics, explosives and missiles.

Another one was Destroyer D0003050. It's made of adamantine, making it effectively indestructible. Its primary weapons are four nuclear rocket nozzles which function as the mother-of-all-flamethrowers. This required 1 MP for Adamantine Smithing (using Smithing Portfolio), and used most of the Prometheans' reserves of adamantine. (They probably also had adamantine-tipped tools before this, but nothing at this scale.)

A major battle involved three mighty elemental lords, Arene, Ferrum and Aurora. Arene was killed by long-ranged missiles. Ferrum was killed by a self-destructing Nexus. Aurora was repelled by by D0003050.

The elementals are repelled, suffering major losses. The Prometheans also suffered losses, but they can rebuild. With quite a few elemental lords slain, the Prometheans can turn more attention to space.

Might Summary
Teknall
Level 5 God of Crafting (Masonry, Carpentry, Smithing, Alchemy, Armaments)
Start: 35.5 MP (17.25 reserved by Workshop), 1 FP
Spent: 1 MP
End: 34.5 MP (17.25 reserved by Workshop), 1 FP